Album: 'Solar Sessions: a charity album and zine'
Directory: solar-sessions
Date: September 21, 2018
Date Added: September 16, 2023
URLs:
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0JVq5p3x9EhKw0WcSRnGcDgFXWJ-DvsO
Cover Artists:
- Circlejourney
Color: '#aa6d94'
Groups:
- Beyond
Wallpaper Artists:
- Circlejourney
Wallpaper Style: 'opacity: 0.85;'
Cover Art File Extension: png
Track Art File Extension: png
Commentary: |-
Handshake Collaborations:
Jam-packed with art, writing, and tunes inspired by our solar system, “Solar Sessions: a charity album and zine” is our biggest collaborative project yet, and we’re so excited to share it with you!
Join Handshake Collaborations in raising money for the Evergreen Satellite Food Bank with our biggest project yet! Pay what you want to get thirteen tracks, sixteen works of art, and ten short stories and poems all inspired by our solar system and beyond. If you’re a fan of the starry, ambient, glitchy, bizarre, and beautiful great unknown, you won’t want to miss out.
Organized by [[artist:helena-ruth|Helena Ruth]] and [[artist:psithurist|Jo Latta]]. Based on an idea by [[artist:poisonedelite|PoisonedElite]].
# Additional Files:
# - Title: Digital Zine
# Files:
# - Solar Sessions low-res digital zine.pdf
# - Title: Full art
# Files:
# - art files go here
---
Track: Sun ☉ Chariot
Originally Released As: track:chariot-time-and-tide
Duration: '4:45'
URLs:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLpLycFnFNc
- https://soundcloud.com/circlejourney/sun-chariot
Cover Artists:
- the_polyblank
Commentary: |-
Circlejourney:
The sun is remarkably multivalent symbol across historical, cultural and scientific realms, carrying almost as many meanings as there have been groups of people to study it. Ancient agricultural communities knew the sun was the source of all life and livelihood; millennia later, scientists confirmed it when they learned of the role of photons in driving photosynthesis in plants. Numerous groups across history have held it at the centre of their rituals and imaginings about the nature of the universe, depicting it as a god, a monster, or a chariot of fire.
It was initially difficult to decide which angle to approach the music from in order to best capture the sun in all its importance and wonder. Eventually, I settled on a style that combined its mythic and scientific connotations through a combination of orchestral and synth instruments.
The title of Chariot refers, naturally, to Helios, the figure from Greek myth whose chariot is said to pull the sun across the sky. In both structure and harmony, this track draws heavily upon Reel Around the Sun, the music of the opening sequence from the Riverdance suite, which celebrates the sun's benevolence as a bringer of light and life. Synths, glitching effects and bitcrushing signify the other half of our relationship with the sun: as a destructive, disruptive force, drowning out satellite transmissions, drying crops, irradiating the earth. The piece is eventually topped off with drums and an electric guitar ostinato, transforming its initial exuberance into a fiery aggression.
When I signed up to make a track for the sun, my first thought was, “how do I musically interpret a celestial body with so much significance and so many meanings?” and I think what I ended up making is a track about that significance.
The earth revolves around the sun in more ways than one–it’s the source of life, the powerhouse of the planet, and several cultures hold it at the centre of their cosmogenic mythos. The track is a celebration of it! (And also heavily inspired by Reel Around the Sun.)
---
Track: Mercury ☿
Artists:
- Whimsy
Duration: '3:46'
URLs:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yMVJKhICsQ
Cover Artists:
- Apex Altra
---
Track: Venus ♀ Beauty Mark
Artists:
- psithurist
Duration: '5:14'
URLs:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J29MaZhPwIo
- https://soundcloud.com/psithurist/beauty-mark
Cover Artists:
- Symon Coy
Lyrics: |-
Beauty mark
I watched you move across the sky last night
I reached my hand out but try as I might
You just felt like you weren't the kind to hold
Work of art
I want to know the colours of your light
I'll dream a thousand 'till I get it right
So I can read the story you have told
I
Don't
Know
How
You
Can
Walk
So
Slow
Where
I've
Ran
From
Bird of prey
You came to take me at the break of dawn
Coerced my eyes towards your graceful scorn
And let me fall with nothing left to see
Ecstasy
There wasn't any of you left for me
And I don't mind but maybe there could be
A kinder ending
---
Track: Earth ♁
Directory: earth
Suffix Directory: true
Artists:
- psithurist
Duration: '4:45'
URLs:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF5QvGLfLpA
- https://soundcloud.com/psithurist/earth
Cover Artists:
- LunaGlitch
---
Track: Moon ☾ Lunar Love Song
Artists:
- Blue Lennox
Duration: '5:07'
URLs:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTIlaI4cv1Y
- https://open.spotify.com/track/4PVjcB5sqr6dQEuC7F7arI
Cover Artists:
- glimsprout
---
Track: Mars ♂ prejudice
Artists:
- adrasteiya
Duration: '3:12'
URLs:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87VfvNaBNVA
Cover Artists:
- Cryomancerlex
Commentary: |-
adrasteiya:
Despite his bright colors and relative proximity to the sun, Mars is actually very very cold.
Not in nature, but in physical temperature.
Oh, what I would give to meet Mars in person. To fly like a rocket and escape this planet.
To be earthbound no longer.
---
Track: Asteroid Belt ❊ Polymorphic Virus
Artists:
- Robogauntlet
Duration: '3:58'
URLs:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5O8Cp8tFaY
Cover Artists:
- snufkings
Commentary: |-
Robogauntlet:
The initial idea was for the music track to represent several leading themes for each of the biggest asteroids in the belt, to symbolize the mass and chaos. But during the composing it evolved into this story of a Polymorphic Virus, which was a pretty fun and interesting idea to explore whilst associating it with our asteroid belt - a huge uncontrolled mass in space.
The music track starts off the story with mysterious horn-like instruments, partnered with noise, as if the virus is "sleeping" until it gets a chance to spread itself. The second part of the track, more heavy and upbeat, represents the process where the virus corrupts and feeds off of everything it can reach in order to live and thrive. The noisy percussion and panning lead synths eventually culminate and slow down, meaning the virus eventually kills itself off after an attempt to spread out of its area of origin, and continues to exist only within asteroid belt, in the waiting and calm state.
snufkings:
For the asteroid belt visual art, I was heavily inspired by medieval art during the Black Plague. The person in a black cloak represents the virus, while the person next to them represents a star, and in general all lifeforms since it is said that it’s the Sun that provides energy for all living creatures. The virus is seen beckoning the star, while the star hesitates because it can’t recognize what it is (as the virus has many different forms and is constantly mutating). The plague doctors’ colors are based on the planets of the solar system, to represent where the asteroid belt is in our solar system. They don’t seem to be affected because the virus cannot spread outside the asteroid belt.
---
Track: Jupiter ♃ my queen in veils
Artists:
- Helena Ruth
Duration: '4:13'
URLs:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhtbJqdnIXg
- https://open.spotify.com/track/4t26SAiLAtIE57nAVsb8bT
Cover Artists:
- Catarina Pulli
Cover Art Dimensions: 2358x2357
Lyrics: |-
Every hour that I drive, add on another hour
And down, it floats, the light
A faucet flowing under
It's another world, it's the otherworld
It's the air, stirred, honeyed waters
It's the neon lights, the sodium lights
Great saucers, pouring under
This is the sea of what should not be
This is the fog of sweet eternity
My queen in veils (Something called out on that)
She hails (Quiet night)
At one (Can you hear it?)
You see (Can you hear it?)
Jupiter, sing (Something called out through that)
And swell (silent light)
Envelop (Can you hear it?)
Me (Can you hear it?)
Every hour that I drive, add on another hour
And I'm swimming through the light
Through hazy waves broke under
It's another world, it's the other world
It's the storm, yet, lacking thunder
It's the neon lights, the sodium light
Great crowns of fire and umber
And this is the sea of sweet eternity (Four stories high, her spine, tall, stiff with spite)
A ship that won't sail, through pale, sight split from me (Copper alight, she sighs, she lifts her pipe)
Jupiter's haze, her days (And called me from the other side) (Down from her lips)
Envelop me (The drifts, of mist alight) (I heard it, I heard it)
My queen in veils, she hails (She called me from the other side) (King of the sky)
How sweet she sings (I heard it, I heard it) (Veiled high, she robs this night blind)
Commentary: |-
Helena Ruth:
in the witching hour, a vision, she overpowered me.
---
Track: Europa ⚮ noli mentī iuppiter
Directory: europa-noli-menti-iuppiter
Artists:
- Helena Ruth
Contributors:
- psithurist (bass)
Duration: '2:31'
URLs:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAruIxapbyA
- https://open.spotify.com/track/4t26SAiLAtIE57nAVsb8bT
Cover Artists:
- Alannah Journeay
Lyrics: |-
Sigh, sigh, storm of the eye
caught in the light, hot heart of the sky
Lie, lie, Iuppiter fine
Dust on the wind is the fog in my mind
Life in the rough, breed in the tough
Sleep in the deep, dragon sweet, it's enough
Blood in the freeze, light on the breeze
The knife in the teeth of my mind, not at ease
Sigh, sigh, heart of the lie
See, I don't believe that your name means your mind
Lie, lie, Iuppiter I'd
Christen you mine if I knew we'd survive
Lie, lie, lie, taken far, far, far (Life in the rough, breed in the tough)
What's more bizarre, the truth, or the farce? (Sleep in the deep, dragon sweet, it's enough)
Lie, lie, lie, like that heart over sea (Blood in the freeze, light on the breeze)
A name stole from thee, a soul meant for me (The knife in the teeth of my mind, not at ease)
Sigh, sigh, heart of the sky
Caught in the light, hot tear from an eye
Lie, lie, see, Iuppiter I
Claim the divine like it's always been mine
---
Track: Saturn ♄ Mission to Saturn
Artists:
- Pascal van den Bos
Duration: '3:33'
URLs:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUB5EnVn6p4
- https://potatoboss.bandcamp.com/track/saturn-mission-to-saturn-solar-sessions
- https://soundcloud.com/potato-jams-94172520/saturn-mission-to-saturn-solar-sessions
Cover Artists:
- cute-anonyme
---
Track: Uranus ♅ Frostbitten Clouds
Artists:
- PoisonedElite
Duration: '3:12'
URLs:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB3gJDx5RQE
- https://soundcloud.com/poisonedelite/uranus-frostbitten-clouds
Cover Artists:
- Kamoria Art
Commentary: |-
PoisonedElite:
Nearly at the end of the albums availability I'm uploading my song for Solar Sessions! I am so thankful to have been apart of this amazing album! :>
---
Track: Neptune ♆ The Siren's Call
Artists:
- Blue Lennox
Duration: '2:16'
URLs:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhLM7xsKe-k
- https://open.spotify.com/track/0Ou6yJaZg1Zoqf4ds76iW8
Cover Artists:
- Saron Penrose
---
Track: Pluto ♇
Artists:
- SerialSymphony
Duration: '2:55'
URLs:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xASjHPMqsw
Cover Artists:
- briarpatcharts