MELD: prog, rock, funk, jazz, grunge, electronica – fusion
MetaQuorum had a Live Jam on Samhain eve. Here is a funky snippet – enjoy!
We are delighted to announce the release of our new single – CHICKEN AND EGG. It’s a great collaboration of art, music and philosophy.
This track is the musical expression of an ongoing question we each face every day when we try to understand the causes and effects behind what’s going on in our lives and in the universe as a whole: what comes first and what follows? The universal timeless dilemma of the chicken and egg.
Here is a link to a review of Alexander’s art @ Randomstein https://goo.gl/teM0ju
If you are in London, you can visit his exhibition @
6 Pall Mall East, SW1Y 5BF (corner of Whitcomb street and Pall Mall East, entrance in Whitcomb street via black double doors) 27 Oct. – 6 Nov. 2016.
The rhythmic track is a meld of various styles: jazz-rock, funk, prog & electronica, great polyrhythmic drum breaks from Koos; and a fusion of mixing techniques. The result? The unmistakable sound of Meld music, pioneered by MetaQuorum.
For the story behind the track and some improvisation on theme, watch the short video below – it was our first attempt at a live Facebook video, so apologies for all the glitches, poor lighting etc.
You can listen, download, buy the track on Bandcamp or following any of the links in the Liner Notes below:
CHICKEN & EGG
Dmitry Ermakov scribbled the sketch for this track as fragments of a score many years ago in a very different time and place: St. Petersburg, in a crumbling Soviet Union. The fragments rose from the ashes in 2016 while MetaQuorum were recording their second album, Witchcraft Jazz, in MQ’s recording studio in Weardale, North Pennines.
Genres (iTunes): Main Genre: Rock: Prog-Rock; Alternate Genre: Jazz: Fusion
Genres (MQ definition): Meld: Funk/Prog-Rock/Jazz/Electronica/Hip-Hop – Fusion
Time: 3:45
Written and arranged by Dmitry Ermakov.
Keyboards, synth and key bass – Dmitry Ermakov.
Drums, audio-engineering – Koos van der Velde.
Recorded, produced and mixed by Dmitry Ermakov & Koos van der Velde @ Low Bishopley Studio & Market Place Studio, Weardale, UK.
Mastered by Chris Longwood @ SugarHill Recording Studios, Houston, TX, USA.
Cover art by Alexander Voitsekhovsky.
Cover design by Dmitry Ermakov.
© Dmitry Ermakov, 2016.
℗ Dmitry Ermakov & Koos van der Velde, 2016.
UPC: 5056052738489
ISRC: UK-682-16-24116
CAT N.: MQN011
STREAM:
Spotify: https://goo.gl/pjFvTu
Tidal: https://listen.tidal.com/album/65157460
YouTube: https://goo.gl/jMeVuR
Napster: https://goo.gl/ooKwxn
Deezer: http://www.deezer.com/album/14093368
DOWNLOAD:
iTunes: https://goo.gl/sWw6Vw
GooglePlay: https://goo.gl/z0XQtE
Bandcamp: https://goo.gl/ZrIiBH
Amazon: https://goo.gl/JsWNsI
Digital Tunes: https://goo.gl/Q6eMSM
Juke: https://goo.gl/QwRfIW
Junodownload: https://goo.gl/bhRX4O
Medianet: https://goo.gl/Gpp81K
Qobuz: https://goo.gl/Gpp81K
Till next time 😉
MetaQuorum Team
Just got call from Markus Bluesharp from Switzerland who played a fantastic harp solo on MetaQuorum’s single The Piper & The Frog. Markus reports Radio X Basel @ https://www.radiox.ch/ will have a short presentation of this single around 18:30 Swiss time. So you can tune in following the link below. Press ‘Livestream’ and off you go!
Candian ProgCore Live Radio is devoting most of this Friday Show to MetaQuorum – featuring Midnight Sun [Remastered] as well as all five of this Summer singles.
You can tune in @ http://progcoreradio.com/ or via Facebook event @ https://www.facebook.com/events/307094412977804/
The show will be on-air @ 26 August, 7:00 pm EDT. In case that’s too late for you, will post a Mixxloud link the following day.
Here is a jingle collection we recorded for the show:
Cheers!
We’ve just released the last in our series of summer songs: City Folk – Folk/Prog/World Beat Fusion track inspired by the pulse of urban life.
This track is quite different from our other pieces, a more lilting tune with plenty of space, punchy shuffle drums and oriental percussion opening out into soaring rock organ harmonies.
THE BEGINNING
Actually, the basic theme for this track was the very first thing Dmitry played on his Yamaha Motif when it came out of the box back in 2004 when he was living in London.
So City Folk reflects the rhythm of urban life, and we’ve dedicated it to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, a city where arts meet business, Georgian architecture blends with super-modern structures, and the River Tyne flows through it all.
THE MIDDLE
Koos and Dmitry ran into serious technical trouble with this track – we won’t bore you with the details, suffice to say, we had to take the hard drive apart with a drill…
THE END
But we managed to salvage it all in the end, and Chris Longwood did a great job on the master, so we’re proud to present: CITY FOLK.
You can stream and download the track on all the usual channels:
STREAM:
Spotify: https://goo.gl/dCSyCv
Tidal: https://listen.tidal.com/album/62190575
Microsoft Groove: https://goo.gl/z5MypA
YouTube: https://youtu.be/sae_zbBnlqA
Rhapsody: http://goo.gl/P3edTl
Deezer: http://www.deezer.com/album/13395567
DOWNLOAD:
MQ Shop: https://metaquorum.greedbag.com/buy/city-folk-3/
iTunes: https://goo.gl/BzCQyX
Google Play: https://goo.gl/Dwucxp
Bandcamp: http://metaquorum.bandcamp.com/album/city-folk
Amazon: https://goo.gl/QxjAoL
Juke: http://goo.gl/snLgex
Medianet: http://goo.gl/37VvGa
Gobuz: http://goo.gl/l4L1sb
Release Date: 10/07/2016
Time: 3:53
Written and arranged by Dmitry Ermakov.
Keyboards, synth and key bass, vocals – Dmitry Ermakov.
Drums, audio-engineering – Koos van der Velde.
Recorded, produced and mixed by Dmitry Ermakov & Koos van der Velde @ Low Bishopley Studio & Market Place Studio, Weardale, UK.
Mastered by Chris Longwood @ SugarHill Recording Studios, Houston, TX, USA.
Cover art by Dmitry Ermakov.
© Dmitry Ermakov, 2016.
℗ Dmitry Ermakov & Koos van der Velde, 2016.
UPC: 5056052738465
ISRC: UK-682-16-24115
CAT N.: MQN009
WHAT NEXT?
We’ve got one more single ready to release in September and are working on a couple of EPs, so we’ll have lots of new stuff for you in the Autumn.
Meantime, have a relaxing summer!
Koos, Carol, Dmitry
The latest in our volley of new singles, Cyber Funk. Here’s what Dmitry has to say about it:
“I was curious to see how we could fuse some elements of IDM dance music into our meld style – although I don’t listen to IDM much, I do like some stuff, so for this track we used an IDM-like drum sequencer for the first few bars, alternating it with Koos live on his Roland V-drums kit. Fun!
And of course, we love our funk, so Cyber Funk is partly a tribute to George Duke and his fantastic instrumental funk.
And we called it Cyber Funk because, well, it’s a cybernetic sound!” 😉
We had some technical trouble with this one, but rather than bore you with the details, we wanted to share our ‘eureka moment’ with you 😉 (Thanks for capturing it on film, Carol!)
And you can listen to the finished product here:
STREAM:
Spotify: https://goo.gl/Fru2y6
Tidal: https://listen.tidal.com/album/60950721
Microsoft Groove: https://goo.gl/npoGQF
YouTube: https://goo.gl/2cUVUD
Rhapsofy: http://goo.gl/Kp4gCs
Shazam: http://www.shazam.com/track/319822089/cyber-funk
Deezer: http://www.deezer.com/album/13181292
DOWNLOAD:
Greedbag: https://goo.gl/jlqQB1
iTunes: https://goo.gl/USlXkT
Google Play: https://goo.gl/xsYlim
Bandcamp: https://goo.gl/HTBmXR
Amazon: https://goo.gl/WGtB6n
Digital Tunes: https://www.digital-tunes.net/releases/cyber_funk
Juke: http://goo.gl/kWByLb
Junodownload: http://goo.gl/q3p779
Medianet: http://goo.gl/pwkWd7
Gobuz: http://goo.gl/9qe2n0
Roaring dance sequencers and G-Funk leads combined with jazzy piano improvisation, slap and Boogie synth bass, strong, upbeat drums, Go-go percussion and Electro Funk vocoder – Cyber Funk is a rollicking Funk Jam piece, an unusual meld of several styles and beats.
Release Date: 28/06/2016
Time: 5:01
Written and arranged by Dmitry Ermakov.
Keyboards, synth and key bass, vocoder vocals – Dmitry Ermakov.
Drums, audio-engineering – Koos van der Velde.
Recorded, produced and mixed by Dmitry Ermakov & Koos van der Velde @ Low Bishopley Studio & Market Place Studio, Weardale, UK.
Mastered by Chris Longwood @ SugarHill Recording Studios, Houston, TX, USA.
Cover art by Dmitry Ermakov.
© Dmitry Ermakov, 2016.
℗ Dmitry Ermakov & Koos van der Velde, 2016.
UPC: 5056052738458
ISRC: UK-682-16-24114
CAT N.: MQN008
Hope all this has cheered you up!
We’ve got one more track in the pipeline, out next month, so we’ll be in touch again soon.
Meantime, stay well!
Carol, Koos & Dmitry
Midnight Sun (Remastered) was released on 18 June through all our usual digital distribution channels. And we are waiting for a bunch of limited edition CDs to arrive later next week. Why the need for Remaster? , you may ask. Well, the original master wasn’t really loud enough and it didn’t have this ‘big sound’ we developed for the 2016 releases. So Dmitry decided to remaster the album so that it comes closer to this new sound. We think it was a success. The tracks sound bigger and more 3D with many nuances coming to the fore. Give it a listen and see for yourself 🙂
http://metaquorum.bandcamp.com/album/midnight-sun-remastered
Cheers,
MQ
A couple of articles about MetaQuorum appeared in the local newspapers this week: The Chronicle
Full text is here: http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/metaquorum-continue-working-new-material-11477671
and Weardale Gazette:
OUR THIRD TRACK IS OUT NOW!
An electrifying track with a hip hop beat, some snazzy effects and a funky vibe, The Piper and The Frog takes us from Celtic pipes through tropical frogs to a soaring crescendo as guest artist Markus ‘Bluesharp’ Bossert from Basel,Switzerland, carries us away with his bluesy solo on the harmonica. The Piper and The Frog – an IDM/Hip-Hop/Funk/Prog crossover with a sense humour.
BEHIND THE SCENES
Koos and Dmitry worked on producing the track in the Low Bishopley Home Studio last spring. The biggest challenge was trying to fit the original recording – an MP3 recorded on a stereo mike from the speakers, made back in 2000 – to the new grid to even out the rhythm.
We’d not worked with a guest musician before – Markus sent several versions of his solo over from Switzerland so we had to pick the best and join them together to make a smooth, seamless track.
THE TRACK
The Piper and The Frog is an electrifying track with a hip hop beat, some snazzy effects and a funky vibe. It takes us from Celtic pipes through tropical frogs to a soaring crescendo as guest artist Markus Bluesharp carries us away with his bluesy solo on the harmonica.
STREAM:
Spotify: https://goo.gl/SGknv9
Tidal: http://listen.tidal.com/album/60135741
Microsfot Groove: https://goo.gl/GnCgPh
Google Play: https://goo.gl/07cosG
Bandcamp: https://goo.gl/phIzM0
YouTube: https://youtu.be/aw90JzNLzA0
Rhapsody: http://goo.gl/IUBJ7F
DOWNLOAD:
MQ Shop: https://goo.gl/2LkUvL
iTunes: https://goo.gl/uBYzB6
Amazon: https://goo.gl/MJdd35
Digital Tunes: https://www.digital-tunes.net/releases/the_piper_the_frog
JUKE: http://goo.gl/iawH9b
Junodownload: http://goo.gl/RcCqpl
Medianet: http://goo.gl/QLQXWa
Gobuz: http://goo.gl/fa8jjv
Genres (iTunes): Main Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap: Hip-Hop; Alternate Genre: Electronic: IDM/Experimental
Genres (MQ definition): Meld: Funk/Prog-Rock/Jazz/Electronica/Hip-Hop – Fusion
Release Date: 12/06/2016
Time: 5:09
Written and arranged by Dmitry Ermakov.
Keyboards, synth and key bass – Dmitry Ermakov.
Drums, audio-engineering – Koos van der Velde.
Featuring Markus ‘Bluesharp’ Bossert – harmonica.
Recorded, produced and mixed by Dmitry Ermakov & Koos van der Velde @ Low Bishopley Studio & Market Place Studio, Weardale, UK.
Mastered by Chris Longwood @ SugarHill Recording Studios, Houston, TX, USA.
Cover art by Dmitry Ermakov.
© Dmitry Ermakov, 2016.
℗ Dmitry Ermakov & Koos van der Velde, 2016.
UPC: 5056052738434
ISRC: UK-682-162-4103
CAT N.: MQN005
MetaQuorum 