Last of the six releases in the Islands series, eM's Click Pop infuses laptop explorations with a melodic focus. eM's previous releases have explored the terrain of abstract analog electronics (Djinn), binaric derivations (Greater than zero, less than one) and techno flecked concrŽte ( Motor Sessions EP), but, with Click Pop, eM turns toward meloldy within the digital environment.

"I count pop high among my musical influences," says Michael Bentley (who records as eM), "including Mancini, Bacharach, the Beatles, and Motown. I followed King Crimson and Yes into their prog rock retooling of the pop song, and more recently The Cardigans, Louis Philippe and Bjšrk have captured my imagination. On Click Pop I begin to focus my compositions on melodic and harmonic content in a different way than I have before, while maintaining a microsonic and experimental palette of sounds. There are a couple of songs here, but this is hardly a pop record!"

Recorded over the past two years, the tracks on Click Pop include pieces from the Greater than zero, less than one (0<eM<1), Motor Sessions EP, and Import sessions, as well as more recent work, imbuing this release with a variety of sounds. The song Circle, and the tracks Convoloptic, Edison Naps, and Vox Attractor are recent experiments in drawing melodic content out of digital manipulations of audio material. Little Robot, The Small Life, and The Great Attractor were composed using the same techniques that produced 0<eM<1, the conversion of raw binary data into sound files. The longest piece on Click Pop, Coded Chaos, is a song that emerged out of work with an analog synthesizer during the recording of the Motor Sessions EP. A common attempt to draw focus on melody unites these tracks and also points the way to future projects.

"I'm very interested in writing more songs," confesses Bentley, "and to continue to play with this hybrid of styles and genres. I'm trying to redefine what pop music can be for myself and listeners within the context of new digital media and aesthetics."

This CD is available through the following sources, as well as directly from the Archipelago. (Amoeba Music, Drum Machine Museum).

Circle (words/music M. Bentley ©2000)

I can hear your winds a-blowing
I can see your fingers cross'd
Waiting on the smallest message
What is on will soon be off

Why aren't your thoughts a-growing
Like grass between the concrete blocks
Let the world return to morning
Time subsides when the circle's taut

Coded Chaos (words/music M. Bentley ©2000)

dust... whirling
noise... our cares
only chaos... everywhere
the world turns around us
there it goes, turns again

sound... in air
a voice again
and I am there
the world turns around us
there it goes, turns again

beating... layers turn
tones sing
trying to leave the ground
trying to find the air
the world turns around me
there it goes, turns again

sunlight... your hair
a scent is there
your scent is there
the world turns around you
there it goes, turns again

your arms... my head
whats between them in the air
the world turns around us
there it goes, turns again
the world turns around us
there it goes, turns again

what's between us... in the air
coded chaos is everywhere
the world turns around us
there it goes turns again
the world turns around us
there it goes turns again

Coming soon...