Album of the Week #34: Quadraphonic

Project name: [early keyboards]
Album name: Quadraphonic
Release date: unreleased (recorded in 1987)
Release format: cassette
Studio name: none

Tracks:
1. Left Back
2. Launch
3. Horizons
4. Image of Old
5. Coeur de Coward
6. Treasure Hunt
7. For Elise
8. Level Field
9. Swans
10. Confusation II
11. It Says I Love You
12. Speed
13. Classical

This was the follow up to the Diversity au Troi tape. And once again, it was named in reference to which tape it was in the series ('quad' because it was the fourth tape).

Whereas Diversity au Troi experimented in early 'multi-tracking', this tape was experimental in style. Most of these songs abandoned the verse-chorus-solo build to use a more random structure. "Launch" was nothing more than starting at the low end of the keyboard and slowly working its way up to the high end, using a rumbling, rocket-launch sound. "It Says I Love You" was named because the particular sound Jason created, while played in fast appregiation during the song, actually made the keyboard sound like it was saying 'I love you'. There is one cover song, "For Elise". It was included for the same reason the cover songs were included on The Deuce, it was a song he had played many times on the piano.

This tape also features the infamous song "Coeur de Coward". You can read about that here.

Although there are thirteen songs on the tape, it was never considered finished. There is enough material to consider it as an "album", but it was shorter than the previous three tapes. And this was probably due to the fact that it was in early 1988 that he experimented with a new solo project called X-Selsior. Also in 1988 the Two-Tones started recording music. And it was in 1988 that Jason started playing electric guitar exclusively (for the Two-Tones). So because of that band, his solo career was put on hold (until 1990 when Mune Mud was created).

Since the tape was never finished, most of the songs (and the album itself) did not have names. So on January 1, 2004, everything that did not have names received them. It was then that the tape was considered 'complete'. Chronologically, this was the last solo tape using the Yamaha keyboard that Jason would record. There was one more tape, Songs to Enjoy, but that was recorded in March of 1987, during the recordings of Diversity au Troi and possibly Quadraphonic.


Next week's Album of the Week: Songs to Enjoy from 1987.