Conspiracy Theory by Runningonair
Conspiracy Theory is the first full Runningonair release from Joe Evans since “Out of Process” in 2009. After a period of experimentation, the album began to emerge in 2014. At first progress was slow, but from the beginning, the idea was to create a thread throughout using artificial voice. This was initially intended to be in the form of found sound and field recordings, but as more lyrical ideas developed, narration was increasingly added.
“Artificial voice technology has become so pervasive that we hardly notice it. We talk to machines and they talk back. There is a cold remoteness to those voices, they lack expression, emotion can only be inferred from the words, not the inflection. As a result, they often form a better partnership with electronic musical instruments than natural human voices”. – Joe Evans
In common with the previous album, the styles remain eclectic. Opening with a dark paranoid synthwave track, moving on to retro 90s digital minimalism, sombre solo piano, nostalgic jazz inflected electronics, analogue electronica, epic ambient soundscape and booze-soaked easy listening.
The instrumentation is equally diverse. Analogue electronics and 1980s digital synthesizers make up a large part, but also software from the early 2000s, various voice generators, field recordings along with the most recent software effects and synthesizers.
While on the surface “Conspiracy Theory” may appear to be a loose collection of tracks, the result is tinged with escapism, subversion and a necessary detachment from an increasing divisive world.
Tracklist
| 1. | Conspiracy Theory | 5:06 |
| 2. | Sleeping | 5:03 |
| 3. | We Are Where We Are | 4:02 |
| 4. | Less Than Human (Stadium Mix) | 3:31 |
| 5. | Passage Of Days | 2:33 |
| 6. | Wonders Of The Modern Age | 5:05 |
| 7. | Self-Driving Cars | 2:44 |
| 8. | Cocktail Hour | 4:52 |
| 9. | It's Better In Here | 6:09 |
| 10. | Impermanence | 5:05 |
| 11. | I Got My Dates All Wrong | 1:02 |
