2017 has been a full-on, productive year for us all here at MQ, and the New Year is alreay looking good!
Exciting news for 2018: we’re releasing the new album – Witchcraft Jazz – on vinyl! A limited edition, double LP with funky artwork courtesy of Dmitry will soon be available for pre-order. It’s a limited edition, copies are numbered, so watch this page for the pre-order link as the campaign will only run for 49 days. No turntable? No problem – we’re giving a free digital download with each record bought, and we’ll be making a few CDs, too.
Here’s a sneak preview: Dmitry listening to the final DMM master of a track from Side 1: The Bartender.
We are delighted to announce the release of our new single – CHICKEN AND EGG. It’s a great collaboration of art, music and philosophy.
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.
Art
The cover art was drawn by our dear friend Alexander Voitsekhovsky and by happy coincidence, his exhibition in London coincides with our release. Like Dmitry’s music, Alexander’s art is ‘full of humour and mischief; it intrigues the soul.’ Or as one critic put it: “you can’t stop wondering how these small, childly naive pictures can shine with so much artistic and human sincerity and light.”
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.
Dmitry and Alexander by the sea near Dunstanborough Castle, Northumberland, UK.
Music
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.
Listen and Enjoy
You can listen, download, buy the track on Bandcamp or following any of the links in the Liner Notes below:
CHICKEN & EGG
A new single from the forthcoming album Witchcraft Jazz by MetaQuorum
Release Date: 27/10/2016
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.
Well, Koos and Dmitry have managed to snatch time in their busy schedules to finish mixing two tracks for the new album: Socket Swing, and Swagger. We’ve just got the masters back from Chris Longwood of SugarHill Recording Studios – he’s worked his magic – great results!
So that means we’re one step nearer to our NEW ALBUM – WITCHCRAFT JAZZ. It’s going to be another great album, and we’re especially pleased that Victor Mikheyev is joining us again on bass, for three tracks.
Victor and Dmitry working on tracks in Bulgaria, Byala, 2013.
And last but not least, to give you a taster of the album, new single CHICKEN & EGG will be released on October 27.
This video footage is from the first Low Bishopley Sessions, February 2015, when Dmitry and Koos were selecting tracks for recording and production. Here, Dmitry improvises around the main theme from Chicken & Egg and discusses how it could be developed. Actually, it took quite a different turn in the end…
Above is some early archive VIDEO material for CHICKEN & EGG, new single from MetaQuorum’s forthcoming album WITCHCRAFT JAZZ.
Cover art by Dmitry’s old and dear friend Petrovich, known in the West as Alexander Voitsekhovsky.
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.
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 🙂
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.
Markus ‘Bluesharp’ Bossert (Photo courtesy AndreaA-rt)
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.
Koos pondering sound-engineering techniques. (Photo by Carol Ermakova)
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.
A UK based progressive rock project by Dmitri Ermakov and Koos van der Velde recently put out two new songs: “Jonathan Livingston” and “Migration.” The band that grabs inspiration from plenty of different genres talked with Progarchy about their creative chemistry.
MetaQuorum 