tracks from a bygone era.
When I first started making music, I didn't really have anything grand in mind. My early works were largely derivative, as I tried to imitate artists I liked to make tunes I would hopefully enjoy as well. Later works became more refined, but even then, there were no albums, no self-contained projects, no stylistic cohesion.
By late 2022, I felt disillusioned with my musical career. Despite having produced music for a handful of years, I had little to show for it. My discography consisted mostly of disconnected, amateurish singles. The one major, long-term project I had embarked on had entirely stagnated years prior. And I simply didn't resonate with my preexisting brand anymore: rainbow clipart and mathematical perfectionism just weren't me. I wanted a fresh canvas, a second chance. And thus I forged a new alias, a new logo, and a new aesthetic.
Thing is, I couldn't create an artist without creating art. And I didn't want to plan out yet another endeavor that would never get off the ground. So I haphazardly compiled some old and unreleased material, and gave it the light of day. Plainly put, Selected Works 17-20 was born out of necessity.
A large portion of the album consists of salvaged pieces of the aforementioned long-term project, Logarythmic. The idea was both simple and ambitious: subdivide the octave into n equal parts and make a song out of it, for n equals one until I get tired. I would then release these songs in chunks of twelve. Ultimately, only a couple of tracks got completed, of which Intro (1), Juvenoia (5), Insanity (11), Magnetar (11), Bass Monster (15), and Polysaccharide (31) made it into Selected Works. I simply didn't have a coherent enough vision and scope to pull through with this idea.
The remainder of the album was created from whatever spare finished tracks I had, all made under very different circumstances. Horizon takes a special spot as being the only track I actually uploaded on my channel back in the day. Missing also saw use in some math videos I made that I don't feel like digging up. Decession is probably the oldest track of the collection, and I probably intended for it to be part of another smaller project that also went unreleased. Finally, Disoriented and Fight or Flight are essentially vent art for how I was feeling at the time I was leaving high school. The latter of the two is definitely quite clashing in style with everything else, but I think it's a very appropriate ending to a project that signifies a stage in life I've grown out of.
Overall, I'm really proud of this album. Despite its improvised nature, I still find it cohesive and replayable to this day. And the initial momentum of its release, carried over with Escarcha and Entrante, played an undeniable part in establishing my new works since. Sometimes, all you need is a fresh perspective and an initial push.