Published on Imbolc, 2023 (Feb 1st) my second album, Layers of Abstraction, is a child of 2022. It was started on the spring Equinox, after my first album was published. Mastering was finished just after the New Year. It's a little more traditionally ambient - if there even is such a thing - and a little less experimental. The sound sources on it can largely be categorized into two groupings: modern synthetic/sampled sounds with heavy emphasis on sound design, and vintage analog synthesizers. For the former, I don't know why, but I am really drawn to the Nordic influenced Luftrum and Triple Spiral. For the latter, there are a few excellent software emulations - especially the ones by Arturia - which for various reasons, I prefer over fiddling with hardware synths. On this album, the synthesizers are predominantly the Minimoog model D and the Yamaha CS-80. I am extremely fond of both of these synthesizers, which were foundational to my interests in the sensual aspects of sound.

A few notes on names:

Layers of Abstraction is a term much beloved by software developers when designing large scale software systems. It turns out that it's also a useful paradigm for thinking about and organizing many concepts, which is why it spoke to me.

The Love of my Life has two meanings on this album. First, I have always been drawn to the sound of closely heard resonances from grand pianos. It's certainly one love of my life. I rather doubt that I am done exploring this yet. Second, and much more to the point, it is dedicated to the real love of my life, my wife of 32 years, Kelly.

Ringed by the High Mountains is a term that will make sense to anyone who has ever visited Taos New Mexico, where we spend a good part of our time. To the east, there is the wall of the Sangre de Cristo mountains. To the west, slashed by the deep Rio Grande gorge, is the horizontal plane of the mesa. And then, in the distance to the South, West and North are yet more high mountains - El Pedernal (much beloved by Georgia O'Keefe), and extinct volcanoes such as San Antonio and Ute Mountain - that are visible for dozens and dozens and dozens of miles.

A smell of Turpentine pervades the Whole has its roots in an apocryphal story that my mother was fond of telling. But when the family researched it, we found - greatly to our surprise - that it was true and the back story was riveting. This explains it better than I ever could: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/03/31/turpentine-prevails/