Aperus - Weather Anomalies

Glass mastered CD limited to 100 copies. Packaged in a 4 1/2 x 6" sleeve. Album ships with eight photos chosen at random from a lot of fifteen with liner notes printed on heavy card stock.

In August of 2020, a lightning strike set the mountains near Santa Fe on fire for twenty-eight days, leaving the smell of smoke hanging in the air just outside our door. Against the backdrop of an already apocalyptic year, I wished I could escape to any time other than now.

With the forces of nature weighing on my mind, I decided to make an environmental album as a way to process what was happening around us. I returned to an older track, "Leaves, Waves" from Tumbleweed, for inspiration to see what would happen if I combined field recordings from that time period with current technology to create a new collection of songs.

In keeping with the spirit of those early days, I mixed everything live through an analog mixer. Results from these experiments came quickly and easily. "Echoes of Thunderbirds" could be considered "Leaves, Waves Part 2" while "Weather Anomalies" builds on a storm recorded in '03 with a pair of microphones pointed out into the open sky.

Going against my usual impulses, I decided not to over-analyze the material found here. Coming to terms with what we ve been through, it feels appropriate to leave the sound of mics distorting in the rain as the central track reaches its end and fades out into silence.

APERUS : Soma Lyra-8, DSI OB6, Korg Trinity, Roland Juno 106, Software Sampler, Processed Guitar, Field Recordings, Shortwave Radio, Tapes, Loops, Effects

KARLA K McWILLIAMS : Flutes on "Somewhere Else, not here", "Descending from Alto" and "Collective Memory"

GEOSCIENCE : Modular Synth on "Weather Anomalies" and "Shadow of a Shadow"

IVAN BLOCK : Guitar on "Abandoned Rituals" and "Up in Flames"

All songs written and recorded by Aperus at the Sound Observatory except "Up in Flames" by Aperus / Block. Audio processing on tracks 2, 4, 5, 6, 8 by Stephen Matheiu. Album sequencing by Aperus. Levels and final edits with Jason Goodyear. Artwork and photography by Aperus.

Thank You to Karla, Ivan, Matthew, Jason, Stephen and Richard for their help during the making of this album.