November 23, 2024

Skylight Webzine

Online since 2000

COMPOSER & MATHEMATICIAN LAWRENCE BALL BRINGS PETE TOWNSHEND’S LIFEHOUSE PROJECT TO FURTHER FRUITION WITH THE RELEASE OF HIS DOUBLE-CD SET METHOD MUSIC – IN STORES TODAY


Meditative yet propulsive. Structured yet sprawling. Gossamer yet muscular. Inspired yet meticulously constructed.  METHOD MUSIC by Lawrence Ball is all of these and more, a double album of highly adventurous electronic music by a master innovator of algorithmic composition.

But this album possesses a unique and illustrious lineage that, despite the clear difference in style and genre, connects it to one of the most famous works in the rock music repertoire – the ideas behind METHOD MUSIC are both the outgrowth and the foundation of the legendary LIFEHOUSE project by Pete Townshend, the conceptualizer and co-producer of the album, and presents a theoretical system of musical portraiture in which a listener’s personal data is translated into a unique composition.

Utilizing the conceptual underpinning first implemented in The Who’s “Baba O’Riley” (a track initially part of the original LIFEHOUSE project, and one mirrored on the opening cut of METHOD) along with Ball’s own computerized compositional system called ‘Harmonic Maths,’ Townshend, with Ball and programmer Dave Snowdon, created a website called The Lifehouse Method which turned this theory into reality.  While active during 2007-2008, the website offered users the ability to instantaneously create a customized piece of music, and during its run generated over 10,000 unique works based on the users’ own individual characteristics and personal traits.

What you hear on METHOD MUSIC evolved from the tests conducted by Ball and Townshend, which proved the viability of The Lifehouse Method system. Disc One, Imaginary Sitters, features a disparate set of portraits designed to showcase the potential diversity of the Method, while Disc Two, Imaginary Galaxies, expands the forms into larger structures with greater permutations, variables, and variety.

Lawrence Ball’s METHOD MUSIC was produced by Pete Townshend & Bob Lord and is available worldwide today on CD and Digital formats through Navona Records.

“I hope the listener feels as if held in a sonic cradle, watching and experiencing the dances of an intricate musical mobile.” – LAWRENCE BALL

“The fact remains that Lifehouse, despite my best attempts, is a book that simply will not let itself be closed. That there is more to come is inevitable, what form it takes remains to be seen.” – PETE TOWNSHEND

To tie-in with the release of METHOD MUSIC Lawrence has also created his new Meditational Music Blog: The Sonic Shapes of Lawrence Ball, which, among other things, details his work with Pete Townshend, Lifehouse-Method software engineer Dave Snowdon, and synthesized & cyber-music in The Who’s music.
Click here to visit Lawrence’s Meditational Music Blog.

METHOD MUSIC TRACK LISTING:

DISC ONE: IMAGINARY SITTERS
1. Meher Baba Piece
2. Sitter 09
3. Sitter 10
4. Victoria
5. Sitter 11
6. Sitter 12
7. Sitter 13
8. Sitter 14
9. Sitter 15
10. Sitter 17
11. Sitter 16

DISC TWO: IMAGINARY GALAXIES
1. Galaxy 01 (for the late Syd Barrett)

2. Galaxy 02 (for the late Hugh Hopper)
3. Galaxy 03 (for the late György Ligeti)

FOR MORE INFO ON LAWRENCE BALL VISIT:
http://www.lawrenceball.org

FOR MORE INFO ON PETE TOWNSHEND VISIT:
http://www.eelpie.com

Source: http://www.eelpie.com