Electricity is Magic

Commissioned by the Saskatchewan Arts Board for the 2010 Lieutenant Governor’s Awards.

Featuring
Carmelle Pretzlaw – Violin
Kieran Conway – Cello
Elizabeth Curry – Double Bass
Nigel Taylor & Cheney Lambert – Trumpets
Kory Gibbs – Sruti Box & Percussion
Eric Powell – Bass Clarinet & Bassoon.

Listen to "City":

Written, Performed and Produced by Max except as noted

“Plane Interior Steady Cruising (The Movie Remix)”
Cymbals and shakers sampled from "Certain Blacks" by The Art Ensemble of Chicago
Flutes and rain sticks sampled from an unmarked new age CD-R
Modems and fax machines sampled from findsounds.com
Soundtrack to LOLCats: The Ballet: The Movie, edited from Plane Interior Steady Cruising EP (2010)

“Ruins”
From the soundtrack to Matthew Kelly’s film Ruins (2008)

“Liquid & Mobile States”
From collaborative installation project with Michelle Menzies (2010)

“Nettwerkd”
Unreleased. Written for/premiered at “Electric Lights” event at The Nightingale, Chicago (2009)

“About to Speak (or Speaking)”
Vocals performed by the Art Slut Choristers (Eric Powell, Emily Pearlman, Kathleen Hepburn, Will Goss, Kierin Gorlitz, Galen Elfert, Tif Bullard, Davy Bisaro, Max Alexander)
B-side from Cast a Widening Circle (2009)

“Hyposuction”
B-side from Lions. Created using custom Max/MSP software and whistling. Software since lost. This piece is no longer performable. (2007)

“Good Locomotive (Will)”
From the Good Locomotive video project (never completed or released). Recorded from a performance using custom Max/MSP software and heartbeat monitor at the Thompson Center, Chicago, IL (2008)

“Theme from Mind Dance”
Violin performed by Shuwen Ye
Cello performed by Chun-Hei Yip
From the soundtrack to Yating Hsu’s film Mind Dance (2010)

“Portofino (Model Home)”
Audio from Portofino video collaboration with Andrea Slavik and Andrew Lochhead (2008)

“Heartbeat Study no. 1”
Unreleased. Created using custom Max/MSP software and heartbeat monitor (2007)

“Latex Studies”
Soundtrack to video collaboration with Alexandra K. Deitz (2007)

“Mammogram”
B-side from Lions (2007)

“Kiss Me on the Bus”
Edited on a Greyhound Bus going from Detroit to Chicago using piano sketches for the Mind Dance soundtrack (2010)

“1400 of Anything”
From an uncompleted Vas Deferens (Max Alexander and Tif Bullard) record (2009)

“Crime”
B-side from Ornament & Crime (2009)

Listen to "Kiss Me on the Bus":

written and produced by max alexander
in chicago, il may - aug 2009

drums on “one hundred bees” by galen elfert
tenor saxophone on “the frosted” and “synonumeral” by luke griffin
violin on “make new human” by owen pallett (live at the pitchfork music festival july 2009)
"synonumeral" contains a sample of "50 ways to make a record" by kid cudi

cover art by ali seradge

licensed under creative commons 2011 by electricity is magic

Listen to "Yellow Magnetic":

Written and produced in Chicago, March - April 2010

released 21 April 2010
Cymbals and shakers sampled from "Certain Blacks" by The Art Ensemble of Chicago
Flutes and rain sticks sampled from an unmarked new age CD-R
Modems and fax machines sampled from findsounds.com

Plane Interior Steady Cruising was written for LOLCats: The Ballet, a futuristic extravaganza by Cash Sage & Davy Bisaro, first performed at The Fishbowl Gallery in Chicago, Il, May 1, 2010

Listen to "Plane Interior Steady Cruising":

An audio portrait of the slowly-dwindling small towns across Western Canada.

Written and performed by Eric Powell

Listen to "Caron":

Written, produced, and recorded by max in Chicago, 2008-2009.

"Thorn", "Wooden", and "Sparkle" feature the voices of the Art Slut Choristers (eric powell, kathleen hepburn, will goss, kierin gorlitz, galen elfert, tif bullard, davy bisaro, and max alexander).
Poem "Praise Song for the Day" by Elizabeth Alexander.

Images by Adam Neese.

Listen to "The Mediator":