The first quarter of 2025 has been busy for me. I got to play some great shows with Stop Motion Orchestra, Dream Eater, and Big Sky Collective. I recoded and am in the process of mixing 3 new Dream Eater songs. I got to record 5 new Stop Motion Orchestra songs at Dog Star Studios. And I played in the orchestra for the 3rd workshop of Peter Stopschinski’s opera “Wildman in the Palace”.
Concurrent to all of this I’ve been working on several of my own recording projects. Four of them are going to be available over the next four months. You can get them all via Bandcamp or by supporting me on Patreon. Some (not all) will also be on the streaming platforms.
Today (April 4) I released the first of four on Bandcamp. This is a collection of songs from 2 sets of sessions. The last 3 songs are ones I recorded with Mike Rosch (Bass) and Aaron Parks (Drums) in August 2024 as part of the Senses Shattering session. The other songs were based on a December session I did with Cameron Page (Drums) and added Carolyn Trowbridge (vibes) in February. These represent an expansion of the group with some new arrangements for 4 piece.
In May, I will release Fear the Duckdog. This is a set of 4 funk/exotica songs that started by having Zack Humphrey play drums along with simple electronic compositions. I then added real instruments and built full compositions and had a lot of fun with hybrid acoustic and electronic arrangements. I shared an older version of this with my Patreon supporters in January, but have made some improvements since then.
In June, I will release The Ancient Ones, a document of roughly 2 decades of my electronic compositions condensed to one 3-sided 45 minute odyssey (Patreon supporters received Side A on April 1). If you listen to this, you will witness me occasionally attempting to sound like Aphex Twin, failing, and embracing the line between the consonant and dissonant, the mechanical and expressive, the misanthropic and the affectionate. Perfect playlist for a short-attention-span dance party.
In July, I will release Meatbots, a 5-song singer-songwriter EP. These are songs that I always loved that didn’t fit on previous releases with drums by Pat Kennedy and Chuck Fischer. I updated the arrangements late 2024 and early 2025 and added whole new sections to freshen it up, so it’s more new than old. My Patreon Supporters got this in February, but I am updating some of the vocal performances and mixes for the full July release.
This post is over. Stop reading now. thanks.
Sam Arnold, Musicianator 