Sep 15 2026

New Album, Layercake, Serves Up September 29th, 2026

Almost three years after the release of my last album, Canvouver, I’m excited to announce that my third album of . . . instrumental neoclassical electronic art rock, I guess . . . is forthcoming. The new album is called Layercake, and it will be released on September 29th, 2026, via Bandcamp. The pre-order for the digital edition is live, and as of today, you’ll get two tracks, the title track and “Greenbrier Parkway”, to download now. A CD edition is also planned, with the announcement forthcoming. The artwork is another one of my own illustrations, featuring a rather disturbing slice of cake with googly eyes:

Layercake took so long in the oven as a result of a pretty eventful few years–right before Canvouver was released at the end of 2023, I received a promotion at my “day job” (actually graveyard shift), which brought with it a more stable existence and some more intellectual stimulation, but more hours and less music-making time. My father, aunt, and uncle also all passed away during a seven-month span in 2025. Amidst this, I also had to help re-situate my now 97-year-old grandmother, who was constantly in and out of the hospital, and after my father’s passing, I had to move back into my parents’ house to watch over my mother, who has been experiencing significant cognitive decline over the past couple years. Being the only able-bodied adult left in the immediate family, it has meant trying to manage the affairs of five other people beyond myself, which has been daunting, to say the least.

While the new cake in town has its glossier moments akin to its immediate forebear (arguably the two road tracks, the motorik “Greenbrier Parkway” and the 14-minute-long closer, “Barnes Road”), Layercake also features plenty of downright weird stuff, albeit in more calculated, intricate, drawn-out (and dare I say . . . layered) ways than Electrical Gremlin‘s shock factor approach (pun very much intended) over its 63-minute runtime.

The calculation is indeed quite literal, as many of the tracks feature odd meters, polyrhythmic workings, and numerological obsessions, often veering rather noticeably in the directions of math rock (“Crabwalk”), IDM (“Cloverdale”), and Wetton-era King Crimson (“Aumsville”), not to mention the raging borderline jazz fusion/funk of the title track (which even happens to be predominantly in the Locrian mode).

As far as the plans for streaming services, Layercake will be getting served up there on a layer-by-layer, track-by-track basis, until the whole cake is eventually assembled later in 2026. The “first layer”, containing the title track, is now up (Apple Music | Spotify | YouTube). The second layer, which adds “Greenbrier Parkway”, will launch on the same day as the full album release on Bandcamp (September 29th, 2026), with details about the third layer and beyond coming soon.

If you’d like to get an early taste of “dessert”, I’ll also be hosting a Bandcamp Listening Party one week before release, on September 22nd, 2026, at 7pm US Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7:00). For those wondering how that translates to other timezones:

  • US Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7:00): September 22nd at 7pm
  • US Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4:00): September 22nd at 10pm
  • British Summer Time (UTC+1:00): September 23rd at 3am
  • Central European Summer Time (UTC+2:00): September 23rd at 4am
  • Japan Standard Time (UTC+9:00): September 23rd at 11am
  • Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10:00): September 23rd at 12pm

I hope you all check out the new album and find it enjoyable!

-Alex

Sep 15 2026

Store Moved To Bandcamp

For those of you who are looking to purchase my music, either my recent electronic albums or the digital versions of my older sheet music, everything that is currently available is now over on my Bandcamp site. The mangled attempt at opening a storefront here directly on the site has been shelved, at least for the foreseeable future.

For those looking to pick up the digital (PDF) sheet music for my older classical works, the order process works through Bandcamp’s Merch system. Once the order is placed, you’ll then get an email with the PDF files attached within 48 hours (as I have to manually send the email, and need to be at my desktop computer at home). Relying on an existing commercial storefront also allows me to focus directly on products and service, and also makes it far easier for me to be able to service orders outside the US, since Bandcamp handles VAT and sales taxes, and the portion of sales that they take is very reasonable.

If there is interest, I may eventually start offering physical, printed sheet music at some point, though it may be quite some time before I am able to do so.

-Alex

Apr 05 2024

Electrical Gremlin Anniversary/Bandcamp Friday Sale

Sunday will mark one full year since I unleashed my oddball album Electrical Gremlin on an unsuspecting world. In order to celebrate that, I’m having a flash sale on my Bandcamp page, just in time for Bandcamp Friday (today!), though I’ll be running it through the 9th. The digital editions of both Electrical Gremlin and its sequel, Canvouver, can be picked up for just $4. Both also include the option to download the albums in lossless formats (including WAV and FLAC).

Also, work continues, slowly but surely, on Album No. 3–here’s a snippet of a work-in-progress polyrhythmic track that’s likely to end up on there (and yes, it’s in C Locrian):

Hope you enjoy!

-Alex

Nov 03 2023

Canvouver Has Arrived

As of a few hours ago, my new album, Canvouver, has officially gone live on all the streaming services, and is also available for purchase, both digitally (including lossless formats) and on CD (thanks to the awesomeness of Atomic Disc).

Canvouver CDs

Today (November 3rd) also happens to be Bandcamp Friday, so if you decide to pick up the new album there, Bandcamp is waiving their revenue share, meaning artists (including myself) will get a larger cut.

Here’s all the links:

Purchase

Streaming

And here’s the full tracklist:

  1. Whirlygig (4:24)
  2. Canvouver (9:43)
  3. West Richland (2:46)
  4. Walker Lake (6:20)
  5. Aloclek Drive (6:13)
  6. Rio Salado Parkway (5:00)
  7. Arroxeado (9:19)

 

Hope you all enjoy the new album–it was a lot of fun putting this one together (much as it was for its predecessor, Electrical Gremlin), and I’m already plotting what kind of shenanigans I can get into with Album No. 3.

-Alex

Oct 21 2023

New Album, Canvouver, Wheels Out November 3rd, 2023

On Friday, November 3rd, my second album, the absurdly-titled Canvouver, wheels out the door, a mere seven months after its predecessor, Electrical Gremlin.  And it again features my bizarre cover art, this time featuring some sort of . . . sentient, self-driving giant can of “fancy whirlygigs”, the best of which are apparently imported from West Richland, Washington.  (The more you know.)

Canvouver is currently available for pre-order on Bandcamp, and you’ll get to download the three previously-released singles from it (“Whirlygig”, “West Richland”, and “Walker Lake”) to tide you over until the full thing goes live.  You can pre-save it on Spotify here.  It’ll also be coming to Apple Music, YouTube, Amazon Music, and all your favorite streaming services on release day as well.

Overall, Canvouver is a mellower-yet-mathier affair than Electrical Gremlin, and actually has a fair bit of New Wave, shoegaze, and atmospheric ’80s pop influence amongst its unusual mix of inspirations.  “Aloclek Drive”, for instance, sounds like Claude Debussy and Phil Collins teamed up to write the theme music for some legal drama, while “Arroxeado” is fueled by lo-fi shoegaze-y guitar haze.  Also, much as the title track on Electrical Gremlin saw my theremin’s circuitry fail, the title track on this one involved my guitar going out of commission.  (Thankfully, both the theremin and the guitar are repairable.)

To give you an additional taste . . . here’s a snippet of the title track, “Canvouver”, which shapeshifts throughout its nearly 10-minute runtime.

Also, as an added bonus, here’s Vibe Cat visiting some Tanasbourne-area office parks and attempting to figure out the 7/8 groove on “Aloclek Drive”:

I hope you all check out the new album when it lands next month, and I look forward to being able to share the whole thing with you very shortly!

-Alex

Sep 12 2023

New Single: “West Richland”

My latest single, which will be featured on my upcoming second album, has just landed on the streaming services and on Bandcamp.

The title of the new track is “West Richland”, named after the city of the same name in the eastern part of Washington state (a title which, no doubt, will be of great amusement to a certain portion of my fanbase).  It’s a short, hypnotic little tune with synths and detuned cello, imbued with a sense of semi-arid pastoralism (befitting its namesake), and featuring a cavalcade of meter changes.

I’ve decided to offer it as a pay-what-you-want download on Bandcamp for the month of September–and yes, that means getting it for free is an option (though Bandcamp will limit the free option to the first 200 who choose to do so).  You can pick up “West Richland” here.

And here’s some streaming links:

Spotify

Apple Music

YouTube (also see below)

Things are progressing quite well with Album No. 2, and I will be unveiling its tracklisting and rather absurd title and album art fairly soon (hint: it involves a popular spoonerized misspelling of another city in Washington . . . which also shares its name with a major city in another country, though the Washington one actually came first).  If you’re looking for a further taste of what’s on the next album, the Walker Lake EP is also available–both tracks on it, “Whirlygig” and “Walker Lake”, are also going to be on the track list with “West Richland”.  (Also, I somehow released three singles with “W” names, strangely enough.)

Hope you enjoy!

-Alex

 

Jul 07 2023

Walker Lake EP Released

In other news, the Walker Lake EP is now live.  It features the previously issued “Whirlygig” alongside a new track, “Walker Lake”, both of which will be on my next album.

“Walker Lake” is a languid, meditative track with synthesizer and electric violin, inspired by the lake of the same name in the Nevada desert (just north of Hawthorne).  You can read more about the actual lake here.

The new EP is now streaming on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and others, and you can also pick it up for just $2 on Bandcamp, iTunes, and other digital storefronts.

You can take a listen to “Walker Lake” below:

Hope you all enjoy!

-Alex

Jul 06 2023

Check Out My Interview With Custom Made Music Mag

Check out my interview with Dave Allison at Custom Made Music Mag here.
We talk about my album, Electrical Gremlin, how I shifted from contemporary classical to experimental rock, the odd gear I used on it, and how I discovered one of my favorite bands at the Washington Square Macy’s. Thanks to Dave for the great questions!
Also, the Walker Lake EP launches tomorrow (and may have launched some places already,  since it is the 7th in some parts of the world).
-Alex

May 19 2023

New Single: “Whirlygig”

The first single off the sequel to Electrical Gremlin is now available!

“Whirlygig” is slated to be the opening track on the new album (as of yet untitled . . . perhaps Electrical Gremlin Vol. 2: Electric Boogaloo?) and is a dizzyingly moody, mathy romp with percolating synths, an angular, stabby bass line, and brooding viola over a skittering beat.

It’s now streaming on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and others, and can also be purchased via Bandcamp and iTunes (among others).

You can take a listen right here:

And, of course, Electrical Gremlin remains available for purchase (both on CD and lossless digital on Bandcamp) and on streaming.  I hope you all enjoy this new track, and stay tuned for more new sounds!

-Alex

 

Apr 13 2023

Electrical Gremlin CDs Have Arrived!

The first batch of the CD edition of Electrical Gremlin has now arrived, and can now be ordered on my Bandcamp page, for $10 plus shipping.  Many, many thanks to Atomic Disc, just down the road in Salem, Oregon, for doing such a fantastic job on these.

The CD edition features a snazzy LP-style protective sleeve, a small booklet, some heptatonic manifolds (which do indeed relate to the modal structures used on the album), and gremlin’s face even makes an appearance on the disc itself.  Here’s a few images:

Front of Electrical Gremlin CD edition. Inner view of Electrical Gremlin CD edition, showing the gremlin's face on the disc. A box full of Electrical Gremlin CDs, ready to go.

-Alex