Michael Mildren launches the third Process album: Free Electronic
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Melbourne electronic music virtuoso Michael Mildren releases the third in his epic Process series of mini-albums, with Process 3: Free Electronic. Free Electronic follows on from Process 1: Studies in Kraft, where Michael recreated the music of Kraftwerk, and Process 2: Post-Kraft, where Michael applied the lessons of Kraftwerk’s production methodology to his own original work. Whereas Process 1 and Process 2 releases were created within tightly-specified musical parameters, with Process 3: Free Electronic, Michael explores a free-form improvisational aesthetic, largely discarding drum machines and utilising his live improvisational skills to create a selection of extended freeform pieces of atmospheric and kaleidoscopic nature.
Process 3: Free Electronic aims to reconcile two seemingly opposed ideas – complete creative freedom in the moment versus the machinelike nature of electronic music technology. To achieve this, Michael drew inspiration from many sources. In the 1960s, free jazz artists such as Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane aimed to jettison restrictive musical structures and express themselves directly from the subconscious. In the early 1970s German electronic artists such as Tangerine Dream and Cluster experimented with early sequencers to develop a “motorik” style, where the rhythmic momentum was driven by arpeggiated synth patterns rather than conventional drumbeats. And more recently, Michael Mildren performed an epic 12-hour improvised set in the 2016 Melbourne Fringe Festival entitled Music Non-Stop where he was able to explore this freeform approach to electronic music performance.
To create Process 3 Michael utilised his extensive collection of classic electronic instruments, ranging from new Arturia synths to rare vintage items like the Farfisa String Orchestra, Roland SH1000 and Korg Poly-800. The results are a stunning collection of extended electronic pieces that are evocative, meditative and suggestive of an undefined narrative yet to be written. Michael’s experience with electronic music goes back over several decades, his virtuosity allowing him to draw inspiration directly from his machines without the interruption of conscious thought – the ideal of Free Electronic.
Process 1: Studies In Kraft and Process 2: Post-Kraft from Michael Mildren are also available now from Clan Analogue. Process 3 will be launched at Swamplands, 744 High St Thornbury, on Saturday the 22nd of September at Analogue Processes, part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival.
Track list:
1. Submersive
2. Incoming
3. 300 Below
4. Siren
5. Space Dust
6. VHS
7. String Theory
8. South-Southwest