A Massive Experimental Electronic Release from Mr. Roswell's Neighborhood

An endlessly fun and experimental electronic record from Mr. Roswell's Neighborhood, delivers a massive 75 tracks that bring together chiptune, electronica, synth pop, dance, and some heavier, edgier tones along with loads of experimental approaches that let this record literally have an atmosphere that's all it's on.

The album opens up with the track called 'Symbol Sick", which definitely gives off a bit more of that edgier tonality with distorted synths, more of a driving beat, but still somehow has this sort of vast undertone to it.

A lot of the record keeps to a bit of a blend of color and edge. There is almost always a sort of spaciousness beneath the surface, but some of the time there is a lot more brightness, while others boast a little more darkness. This is an absolutely massive record that spans so many tracks that by the time you get halfway through it, you already know to expect the unexpected.

"Downheart" is an example of a track that utilizes this sort of classic, almost 90s, semi-chiptune synth-pop approach, and the synthesizers and beats are sort of classic to me. They really give off this great danceable vibe, and it's full of flavor, melody, and color.

Meanwhile, songs like "Relic" come through with decimated sounds, corroded tones, and gritty-sounding synthesizers that sort of give you some more of that edgier feel but in a different manner.

The record does have several ways of sort of branching off, keeping you on your toes, and giving off some surprises around its corners.

"Soft Crush", for example, gives much more of a glitch vibe. You can tell that there was a lot of attention paid to the shopping and glitching aspect of songs like this one. It's sharper, a little hyperactive, and very in your face.

Meanwhile, tracks like "Clear Text" boast something completely different. This one is like a more subtle, sort of delicate-sounding track with softer tones that are based a bit more on melody, and they still have some great approaches in terms of the experimental and a little bit of edginess coming from the beets.

I like songs like this one because they take you off to different lands. It's sort of fantastical and a strange sense, but I really loved getting whisked away to these otherworldly places.

"No Humans Involved" brings us back to a very robotic, glitch-based approach. The song sounds sporadic, rambunctious, and a bit wild. That is part of the approach to half the record.

The whole album manages to blend the symphonic melody aspect with the glitchy and sort of post-industrial hard edge, and because of that, the record starts developing an aesthetic.

The record is heavily based on sound sculpting. It's about taking synths, keys, beats, and more, and layering effects on them so that they come through in a different manner. Whether it's decimation, distortion, reverb, delay, whatever it is.

The sounds are bent and broken, morphed and changed into something different from how they began.

The producer is really into doing these things so that the record could take its own shape and form.

Decimation is definitely a big part of the sound. There are a lot of beats and synths that are corroded and feel a little bit rusty or dirty. This adds to the edginess and whole robotic undertone of some of the songs on record.

"The Love of Decay" is probably one of my favorites. This one utilizes a lot of great synth pads to bring a certain kind of brightness, but a spacious feel. The upfront synths and keys are unique and sort of bounce off the background ones. The beat is still a bit wild, but there's a sort of strange sense of calm that comes with songs like this.

It is very atmospheric, and although a lot of the record does have both heavier electronic sounds, you still have that sort of sense of freedom. Some of the stuff is quite relaxing.

A good portion of this release feels like the score of an avant-garde sci-fi movie.

You can still hear these elements of hope and spirit coming throughout the record, along with a bit of darkness and edge, but it all comes together and feels sort of confluent.

It was ingeniously experimental but held together. Somehow, the songs and tones layer themselves. There are so many beautiful textures to chew on throughout this release that you end up getting engulfed in it all.

I don't mean that in a bad way whatsoever. This was a brilliant piece of work that was extensive. It's meant for you to get swallowed up and literally kind of float around in the soundscapes.

It is not afraid to be hard-hitting or melodic. It's outside the box and built with far fewer boundaries than whatever you may be used to.

This is what I feel like some of the future of electronic music will be moving towards.

Being able to create for the sake of creating. Making something with no walls built around it.

Those are some of the attributes you can feel while you listen to this record.

This is a huge body of work that really stands out among electronic music, especially in the experimental world, and I think that it's something you should listen to with headphones on.

As I said before, there's a lot of texture to soak in, and when you listen with headphones, you can really pick up on all of the melodies, layers, and effects that let this record sort of feel alive and breathing.

It's all quite beautifully done, and there's a strange elegance about the entire thing that I found intriguing.

The record is called The Love Album.

What it actually is is a combination of several record releases that you can find on Spotify.

This explains why it's such a big release. You can only find this album in its 75-song entirety on Bandcamp, as far as I can tell.

Again, a lot of these songs will be there throughout different records on Spotify, but listening to the whole shebang is just an amazing experience.

I'm definitely including all the links, but the Bandcamp blank is the one where you can take in the full record.

It's not for me to say whether or not you have the time to listen to the full record in one session, but it's so much cooler that way.

The experience is different.

You can dig into a lot of these songs in either place, and I suggest you start doing exactly that, especially if you love experimental electronic music.

Upon listening to this gigantic record, I had to have a sit-down with the artist behind it all and ask a few questions.

So, while you listen to the album, have a read-through of our interview with Aaron Newcome-Beill, the man at the helm of it all.

Remember where you heard it first.

Let's talk about The Love Album! This record was massive and took on brilliant electronic undertones and cinematic backbone!  Where did this album come from?

- This album was a literal labor of love - hence the title (The Love Album) - and essentially came from a passion for my own music and trying to give back to listeners and express that in a way that was simple and practical - and this seemed like the best approach to doing that - there were also a bunch of free codes distributed because we want the music to be accessible and enjoyed by as many people as possible

I'm hearing a few different approaches to this record! Who are some of your biggest musical influences?

- My influences come from a wide range and can include some rather obscure genres, but most commonly, my influences come from artists such as Pink Floyd, Skinny Puppy, Download, and The Birthday Massacre - quite honestly there are too many influences to include - I think each track has it's own unique influence from one of the many artists I listen to, but those are the most significant

Did you record this at a home setup, or at a big studio?

- Everything is recorded and produced at a home setup - my main work-horse/DAW is Reason 12 and have been using that along with my own samples and some hardware including an ESX-1 and Arturia Minibrute

The album spans an incredible 75 tracks! Why so many songs on one record?

- The main reason for the length of the album as previously stated was to make the music as accessible as possible - one of the biggest barriers to new listeners is suggesting where they start whenever they ask, and there is essentially no good or ideal answer for this - so putting all of the tracks on one album provides everyone with one solid place to start listening (but obviously, people can always start from any of the albums if they want to)

How did this all start for you as an artist?

- This all started as a fun project which complemented what I already knew about music, and over the course of several years found myself dedicating larger chunks of time into it and building a larger catalog which I felt the need to share with others because whether the music itself is subjectively "good" or "bad", art itself can't exist in a vacuum, there's an inherent need/desire to make it public in some way

Do you do any live performances?

- Due to some technical limitations, there are no live performances planned for Mr. Roswell's Neighborhood at this time

Now that this is out, what's next for you?

- I already have some more experimental albums out on Bandcamp which are more IDM influenced but am taking a short break from making music to focus on painting and making other artwork

Who's in your headphones right now?

- the artists I have on heavy rotation right now include The Blood Brothers and The Dillinger Escape Plan

What would you tell people they can expect on this release?

- I would tell people they can expect some hard hitting electro-beats that are fun to listen to and hopefully inspire them in some way while also challenging contemporary electronic music they may be used to.

Before we go, what would you like to express to fans of the music?

- I would like to express to listeners that although the album is extensive, it is in many ways only the "tip of the iceberg" in the sense that the compilation only spans roughly 3 years of work and frankly was shortened in the sense there were alot of tracks I omitted from the compilation and originally planned to have more artwork accompanying the album - I say this because there is likely more music on the way and it's my hope that fans will keep listening and finding some sense of enjoyment from my music. Earlier I expressed that art does not exist in a vacuum and would like to expand on that by saying that I couldn't have made it to this place without the support of the many listeners and fans out there, so thank you to everyone. 

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