MCSD CH2: Imaginary Kraken

by Ben Stapp

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Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of MCSD CH2: Imaginary Kraken, Eono Jux, Theta Harmony in Four St¥les, Myrrha's Red Book - Act II, Myrrha's Red Book - Act I, Return from Panapolis, Eight Houses for Brass & Electronics, and Ben Stapp Trio. , and , .

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1.	Summoning 01:58	buy track
2.	Liquid Underworld 02:30	buy track
3.	Tentacles Like Medusa 00:56	buy track
4.	Stone Sharp Suckers 01:06	buy track
5.	Beak Maw 01:28	buy track
6.	"Sing to Me, Now" 00:46	buy track
7.	Language of the Deep 02:16	buy track
8.	Taken Down into Its Dreams 01:10	buy track
9.	Its World 02:50	buy track
10.	Cool, Wet 02:12	buy track
11.	Established Communication 04:32	buy track
12.	Bardic Love Song, A Tribute 02:10	buy track
13.	The Cave 03:54	buy track
14.	Bioluminescence 01:52	buy track
15.	Dancing Tentacles 02:48	buy track
16.	Songs of the Deep 04:06	buy track
17.	Feelings After the Dream Transformation 04:54	buy track
18.	Architeuthis the Hermaphrodite 04:12	buy track

about

The Mind Creature Sound Dasein (MCSD) projects come from my fascination with monsters and the mental constellations that arise when confronted by them. The terror or awe of something monstrous or unknowable can immediately send someone running or it can be a source of inspiration - helping us to observe and examine our own reactionary mental processes.

After finishing the first MCSD, I was looking for new inspiration for the next one, specifically new and compelling creatures. By luck, I came across James Wright's novel, The Kraken Imaginary, and was immediately impressed by his descriptions of the beast and the story he created around it. There was one scene in particular that I based this composition on, where upon the protagonist finds the creature in an underground grotto and witnesses the Architeuthis and one of its devotees engage in a ceremonial union of sorts. The author describes the ambience of the scene in such detail, alluding to sonic textures and song, that after reading it, the project was inevitably underway.

Both MCSD and MCSD, Ch.2: Imaginary Kraken are based in extended techniques. For me this represents the unknowable. The composition is a really a map where certain players act as conductors cuing players and sections, sometimes asynchronously with others. The piece was written with Sam, Stephen, Olivia, Sarah, and Tyler in mind as many sections were built around specific extended techniques that they've developed over the years and are characteristically their own.

Different from other projects, Imaginary Kraken, and the original MCSD (Fundacja Słuchaj Records) are really built around shaping and directing the extended technique sound world as a thematic focus.

credits

released February 24, 2022

Ben Stapp - Composition, Tuba
Sara Schoenbeck - Bassoon
Sam Newsome - Soprano Saxophone
Olivia De Prato - Violin
Tyler J. Borden - Cello
Stephen Haynes - Cornet, Flugelhorn, Solo Alto

Recorded Live at Ibeam October 26, 2019
by Juan Montoya
Mixed and Mastered by Juan Montoya
Album Artwork by Jessica Stapp

Based on a scene from James Wright's Novel: The Kraken Imaginary.

An Uqbar Music Production

license

about

Ben Stapp New York, New York

"...Stapp's imagination is limitless, his influences truly diffuse, and he realizes his vision due to a type of daring that few artists possess. This record is certain to appear on a number of best of 2015 lists." -- Cisco Bradley, Jazz Right Now

"...one of the best discs of the week and unlike anything I've reviewed in recent times." Bruce Lee Gallanter, DMG ... more

benstapp.com

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