Category: music

Venus Vulture album – Air and Eyes on Zenapolæ

~ Sean Monaghan ~ Leave a comment

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In between all the traveling and novel writing and trying to get my head around the general oddness of the world, I neglected to mention that the Zenapolæ netlabel released my Venus Vulture album Air and Eyes in May.  I’m grateful to Arnd for curating this collection of five tracks – in this case effectively becoming producer as we whittled the number of tracks, and worked a couple into better shape.

I’ve always made music to listen to while I write. It usually turns out that I can’t listen to my own stuff more than, say, once, but that’s okay, there’s more out there, including lots from my labelmates on Zenapolæ.

Air and Eyes is a free download.

Muscari TZ.-1 : New Venus Vulture album out now.

~ Sean Monaghan ~ Leave a comment

Venus VultureWhile for the most part I pursue writing as my main creative outlet, from time to time I also create ambient music.

With Kendall Keener of December Nightskies I make up one half of Shadows on the Snow. We exchange music back and forth, remixing snippets of each others work to create something new. Most of our combined music appears on archive.org, some on netlabels and  occasional pieces appearing on compilations.

Solo I make music as Venus Vulture. My latest release is Muscari TZ.-1. The long, ambient tracks, with deep levels of repetition. I’m a fan of FM3’s Buddha Machine, so much of my recent music has reflected some of that repetition aesthetic.

I first started writing music because I liked having something in the background while I wrote stories. I couldn’t find enough, so Venus Vulture was born.

Musicari TZ.-1 is available on Bandcamp. You can stream it there. If you’ve read this and it sounds like you might like a listen, PM me/comment and I’ll send you a free download link sometime in late May.

December Nightskies – Rainbowdrone

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rainbowdroneKendall-my Shadows on the Snow bandmate- has a solo adventure as December Nightskies. Prolific ambient musician that he is, he has numerous releases on various netlabels – Haze, Petroglyph, Zenapolae, etc.

His latest release, however, is a physical CD from This Winter Will Last Forever. Kendall’s CD is right at the edge of the label’s usual fare, which tends more toward the metal end of the music spectrum. I guess the dark-metal, dark-ambient collision makes for a good fit.

Anyway, after many years of collaborating with Kendall, and listening to numerous downloads of his, it was very cool to listen to a physical CD. Yes I do like CDs.

Rainbowdrone fits right there with my list of “music to write to”, or perhaps Eno’s “interesting enough to be engaging, discreet enough to be ignored” (I can’t find the exact quote). An hour of background drones, at times deep and dark, at other lighter. Perfect to put on to unwind, chill, relax. Or write to.

When I first began listening to ambient music it came from a love of that background soundscape that worked well with my writing. It’s cool to personally know someone who’s creating exactly that.

Rainbowdrone is available for €7 from This Winter Will Last Forever’s store.

Ganymede – new album from Shadows on the Snow

~ Sean Monaghan ~ Leave a comment

ganymede20coverKendall’s been busy again, keeping up the releases from our band Shadows on the Snow. This one has sounds mostly by me, recrafted and textured brilliantly by Kendall. This is the kind of thing I like about our collaboration – how we each bring in something new.

You can download Ganymede for free from archive.org.

Check out Kendall’s new December Nightskies album Rainbowdrone from This Winter Will Last Forever records.

 

To check out the full catalogue of Shadows on the Snow releases, see archive.org – here.

 

New Venus Vulture track on Xernex compilation album – Into Hidden Visions

~ Sean Monaghan ~ Leave a comment

a3899940275_10With some upcoming writing news any day now, it’s cool to have some music news.

By day I’m a writer, by night I tinker with ambient music as Venus Vulture. There are a few Venus Vulture releases around, as well as numerous collaboration albums with Kendall of December Nightskies as Shadows on the Snow. I’m also grateful to Kendall for steering me toward some compilations (like this one).

The lastest Venus Vulture track, ‘Basalt Arches’, is out now on the Xernex compilation Into Hidden Visions – a free download from Bandcamp. My track’s a slight departure for me; less drone, more busy-ness. There are even some drums.

There’s quite a line up of artists there. I’m pleased to be able to discover some new people and new sounds.

Here’s the list, taken from discogs (link also includes more images).

Various  ‎–  Into Hidden Visions, Label: Xernex ‎– XE40
1 –December Nightskies – Then Darkness Covered The Land 05:29
2 –Badrich – Bog Corpse 06:15
3 –Grodock – Abgleiten 04:21
4 –Visqueen (2) –  Downers 03:35
5 –ELMA – The bridge 03:35
6 –BERTHELOT Perturbateurs endocriniens 05:53
7 –Jimmy Watt – Caronte on the banks of the seventh sea 06:36
8 –ZUMAIA – Intense Drama 02:11
9 –Twilight Of Emptiness – Black Stars 03:24
10 –Paranoid Movement – The Hunt 05:12
11 –Venus Vulture – Basalt Arches 03:32
12 –Nebelwächter, Thomas Bannier – Birdtalker 05:24
13 –Thlaaflaa – The Gospel 04:46
14 –Goat tunnel – Last Sorrow Drained 06:29
15 –VAULT (6) – Eridamus Weeping 06:10
16 –[ówt krì] – Attention 04:33
17 –Krāllār – Faster 02:29
18 –L_Arsenne – Âme noire 05:19
19 –No-Joy – Sperma 05:11
20 –PKWST – Untitled 04:06

Environments – experimental music compilation from Scriptsound Recordings.

~ Sean Monaghan ~ Leave a comment

environments - ArtworkI’m pleased to have the Venus Vulture track “A Sidelong Glance Reminds Jeanne of the Time She Lost Her Keys” appearing on the ScriptSound Recordings “Environments” compilation. This is a new venture for me – into some darker and busier sound work – and I’m pleased to say I feel right at home with the other artists there. Some familiar names too – nobodisounz, December Nighskies (thanks Kendall for the pointer).

It’s a free download from archive.org.

Full Tracklist:
1. La Horde Poliorcétique – Berthelot
2. A Sidelong Glance Reminds Jeanne Of The Time She Lost Her Keys – Venus Vulture
3. If I Were Invisible – Ricky Tesla & The Noise Generator
4. A Temporary Thing – Ricky Tesla & The Noise Generator
5. Spirits At The Crossroads – Ian Quiet
6. Consumed By Midnight – December Nightskies
7. Strangers In A Foreign Land – Ricky Tesla & The Noise Generator
8. Low Matter – nobodisoundz
9. Liberation – Dr. NoiseM
10. Abandoned Machinery Succumbing To Nature – Ricky Tesla & The Noise Generator
11. Esthetique Des Publicites Lumineuses – Painful Defecation
12. Matanza – 5ebuts
13. Sleepless Hysteria – Sir Edgar Carpenter

Venus Vulture track on Behemoth Compilation

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behemoth20various20artists20compilation20coverKendall Keeler of December Nightskies has put together another compilation of ambient and dark ambient tracks.

Behemoth has 21 tracks by various artists, including my own Venus Vulture track “Components From Air Filter Residue, Daytona Speedway, February 2016”. One of my longer pieces – a little over 14 minutes – that I hope covers a lot of ground, while still being very unobtrusive.

I also sneak in with a Shadows on the Snow (my collaboration with Kendall) track “The Snake is on the Prowl”.

This follows Kendall’s Leviathan compilation from October/November last year. Many of the same artists return. This is shaping up to be a fine series of eclectic sounds. I’m honored to be a part of it.

Behemoth tracklisting – total time is almost 3 hours
1. BERTHELOT – La caverne du Behemoth
2. December Nightskies – Heaven Or Hell
3. Ari Porki – A Great And Mighty
4. Sean Derrick Cooper Marquardt – Short Poem For Aretha Cooper
5. eisenlager – NCC-1701
6. Venus Vulture – Components From Air Filter Residue, Daytona Speedway, February 2016
7. Everything From Nothing And Head Joint – The Revolutioner’s Dream
8. Gun Urrainn – Discontact
9. Globoscuro – The Glowing Eye Of NGC 6751
10. Something Like Squids – Imaginary Fireflies (Excerpt)
11. Pixyblink – Observer J
12. nobodisoundz – blakk solarsolstice
13. Shadows On The Snow – The Snake Is On The Prowl
14. Hilyard – Exodus
15. Robert G. Rough- 42 Days (Part 3)
16. CNTV – Renace
17. December Nightskies With Scott Lawlor – The Judgement Of Satan (Excerpt)
18. Mach Feedback – A Fool For Illusions
19. Oystein Jorgensen – Cold Wave
20. VAULT – Presents for Katherine
21. Sir Edgar Carpenter – Perversis

100,000 words. So far.

~ Sean Monaghan ~ 5 Comments

hard at work 1

A slower start this year, but I’ve still hit over a hundred thousand words so far. That’s averaging a bit over 1400 a day. I’d like to be at 1500, but hey. I think that’s a little bit of “failing to success” (Dean Wesley Smith has a good article about that, here, from 2014, but the idea of achieving well, but slightly below your goals is still relevant). My overall posted goal for the year is a half million words, so I’m well on target for that.

I’ve published one novel (The Eye, the third volume in The Hidden Dome trilogy. I’ve also completed the draft of a contemporary thriller, written and submitted a couple of science fiction stories, and I’m halfway through the draft of a Canal Days, the sequel to last year’s Arlchip Burnout. Hope to have that out later in the year.

I’m in the process of prepping the next two sci-fi novels – Gretel and Cisterns, both standalones (at the moment). Should have those out by the end of March and the end of April respectively.

I do need to get on top of print versions. Haven’t got to that for The Eye yet, so there’s a dropped-the-ball moment. Should get that out with print versions of those other two. I should also bundle the three books of The Hidden Dome series so people can get the series as a set.

I’ve had a story in Aurealis and have signed contracts for another couple of stories coming out later this year (one a reprint). More on those closer to the time.

My story “The Molentstraat Music Festival” from the September 2015 issue of Asimov’s is a finalist in the Asimov’s Readers’ Poll and also in the Aurealis Awards. That’s pretty cool. I’m hoping it will also get on the ballot for New Zealand’s Sir Julius Vogel Award.

As Shadows on the Snow, with Kendall from Decembernightskies, we’ve also had more music come out this year. Feels like something for another blog post.

I do need to update my website. Seriously. Need to learn more about marketing. And discoverability. Also that garden that needs one or two weeds (or more) pulled.

So, even with a few glitches of my own making, I’m happy with this start to the year. How is yours going?

2015: The year that was

~ Sean Monaghan ~ 3 Comments

japan 1drt6gAs far as writing years go, 2015 was pretty good. I’ve acheived my goals, realized some dreams, and learned a few lessons.

I had numerous publications over the course of the year, and was pleased to be in the pages of Asimov’s Science Fiction and Landfall once again. My second stories in each of those magazines, over consecutive years, and that suggests to me that the first wasn’t a fluke. I may actually be doing some things right.

I also had stories in Perihelion, Capricious, Takahe, SQMag and Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine. A good mix of literary and science fiction.

Good news on the competition front too. I was first equal in the Gernsback Amazing Stories innaugural competition this year for my story “Penny of Tharsis Montes”. That should be out in the first issue in February.

I self-published numerous short stories, and five novels. Sales of these have been unspectacular. Included in the plans for 2016 is more learning about marketing, discoverability and the like. I’m confident I have a good product: I lack the skills to get it noticed.

I’ve also taken more courses and read more books about writing and business. I’ll continue that next year.

As Shadows on the Snow, Kendall and I had a lot of music come out. Kendall’s brilliant at getting the stuff out into the world. Thanks Kendall!

I managed to fit in a jaunt to Japan (hence the photo), which was fabulous. Almost a month there visiting Hiroshima, Kyoto and Naoshima Island among other places, sampling okonomiyaki (yum) and green tea ice cream (not so yum).

For the fourth year running I wrote every day (including on the trip, albeit slower). Also for the fourth year in a row, I wrote over a half a million words. Funny thing; the goal is 500,000, but I hit that on November 19th. With forty-one days left, I wondered what to do. Why not write another novel? So I ran with that. Athena Setting will came in at around 57,000 words and I’ve just finished it tonight, New Year’s Eve (squeaked in at 11.59). These days, it’s not often I’m up at midnight for new year, but there you go. I celebrated finishing the novel (as I usually do) by starting the next piece. Might even be a new novel.

For the first year since starting that word count, I also published over a half million (about 100,000 over that – not bad). I have more words (should say complete stories/novels) written this year and last, that haven’t made it out yet. Next year.

Next year’s goals remain the same, with clear additions. Write every  day, write a half million words, and publish ten novels. Also; learn a whole lot more around business and marketing and so on.

Happy New Year everyone.

 

New Venus Vulture track on Leviathan compilation

~ Sean Monaghan ~ 5 Comments

So mostly I’m talking about writing here, but on occasion I have some of my music as Venus Vulture show up.

My ambient track “Night of Cerulean Sharks” has just come out on Petroglyph Music‘s Leviathan compilation from Kendall Keener of December Nightskies. I’m stoked to be included among such a cool group of ambient and experimental musicians.

It’s available to stream from Petroglyph Music’s Bandcamp site, and for free download through Archive.org.