The music for "Doctor Phibes" was originally inspired by a Scooby Doo episode, but as we worked on arrangements for the "Dissonant Creatures" CD, the song became somewhat darker than the cartoon episode that remains its namesake.

The vocalizations in the song were originally sung in Portuguese and the lyrics followed the plot of "The Abominable Dr. Phibes," the Vincent Price B-Movie cult classic; however, by the end of the project, we decided to move the vocals and lyrics to an accompanying role. The resulting piece a rhythmic dreamscape with gothic and world music undertones.

The animated short film "ManHang" by Hyun-suk Kim provides excellent textural fabric that visually weaves the elements of the song together. In fact, these two projects fit so well together that we wound up mixing some of the film's original sound effects into the final video we've posted here. The images Kim created are - at the same time - wonderful, bizarre, beautiful, and slightly disturbing,... which make them a perfect fit for our project.

ABOUT DISSONANT CREATURES:
"Dissonant Creatures" is the second release from cellist and composer Aaron Kerr. For the Dissonant Creatures project, Aaron teamed up with the rock band Swallows to arrange and produce the album.

"Dissonant Creatures" began as a series of minimalist compositions featuring cello and piano. Swallows Tyson Allison and Jeff Crandall added ambient soundscapes to Aarons original tracks using analog keyboards, guitars, homemade effects and loops, environmental sounds, percussion and vocals. The finished pieces balance musicality and rhythmic pulse with ambience and space.

The overall feel of "Dissonant Creatures" is sensual and meditative, and the pieces are colored with dark tones and rich textures. Stylistically, the compositions are cinematic in nature and incorporate modal folk, gothic and avant-garde classical themes.

"Dissonant Creatures" was recorded at Covert Transmissions Studio in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and is was released on Emperor Penguin Records in May 2009.

Learn more about Aaron Kerr and Swallows at www.myspace.com/dissonantcreatures
Purchase Dissonant Creatures at: www.cdbaby.com/kerrswallows

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
AARON KERR released his debut solo cello CD Arco 71 in 2006 and was awarded a 2006 McKnight Foundation Fellowship for the compositions on the album. Aaron's work has been featured in several theater productions, including Passage by Edward Bok Lee, Vincent, a dance production by Decadance, and We, an adaptation of the novel by Yevgeny Zamyatin. In 1999, The American Composers Forum awarded Aaron with a New Music Series grant.

Aaron has lent his compositional and performance skills to several bands and recording artists over the years, including Anahada Nada, The Semiconductor Orchestra, Mellow Drunk, The Sleeper Pins, JazZen, Michael Campbell, Thinland, Leigh Gregory, The Urban Hillbilly Quartet and Swallows.

SWALLOWS are an eclectic rock band from Minnesota. The quartet is known for their blend of classic blues, rock, Americana and folk. Swallows 2008 release Songs for Strippers (and other professions) was recently lauded as one of the top albums of 2008 by "Consequence of Sound" magazine.

Animated visuals and additional sounds from:
"ManHang (Ephemeral Epiphany)"
Animated, Edited and Directed by Hyun-suk Kim
Produced by Hyun-jee Kim
Digital Photography by Natthanan Junthongpipat
Production Company: School of Visual Arts
Animation Screening Room 2001
Copyright 2001 Hyun-suk Kim
hyunnat@aol.com (less info)