The Music of Liminal States 02.06.12 - Zack - permalink

Originally planned as an LP, the music of Liminal States was produced by Conelrad, but never finished due to time constraints. The tracks are provided in an unfinished state with the artist's permission. The titles of each track reflect their rough position in the context of the story. The placeholder cover art is derived from a work by Dan Sollis.



Track # Title Length Link
1 First Transit 2:08 mp3
2 Briars and Brambles 3:17 mp3
3 The Stag 9:18 mp3
4 The Oscuras 2:32 mp3
5 Growth Tangent 11:19 mp3
6 Return String Determination 8:58 mp3
7 White Trees 2:16 mp3

Enjoy the music while you read Liminal States or as a rough stand alone work.




Two Rough Tracks from Conelrad 01.29.12 - Zack - permalink

Today I bring you two rough tracks created by Conelrad for the Liminal States project. The first is a short, onimous drone I have titled First Transit. It was actually done when the project was still in the pitching phase with the publisher. It conveys the ominous presence of the early chapters. You seem to be reading a traditional Western story, but a terrible storm is building.

Download - "First Transit" by Conelrad

The second track, Briars and Brambles, is a prickly track that sounds a bit like an old west tune playing through a broken phonograph. The New Mexico Territory, as portrayed in Liminal States, is more terrible than beautiful. Nature and men alike conspire to do harm. Rather than an inspiration, the looming mountains, plains and sweeping skies serve as a reminder of a man's pitiful place in creation. Every step is through the brambles.

Download - "Briars and Brambles" by Conelrad

Over the next few days you may notice some changes in the site layout, with previous content being organized into various sections so it is easier to access. This is in preparation for the serial, which will begin Friday, February 3rd.

Be sure to Like us on Facebook (over on the right there) and join the mailing list for updates about future ARC giveaways.




Rough Track: "Return String Determination" 01.16.12 - Zack - permalink

After a forray into guitar for the Liminal States soundtrack Conelrad returned to more familiar territory, with this swelling, ominous piece I have entitled "Return String Determination." The second book of the novel is set in 1951 and follows a detective named Casper Cord in his efforts to solve an impossible murder and a mystery from his past. His search for the truth leads him to an odd place in the desert of New Mexico that has been referred to as The Center.

I came across a cafeteria stifling and heavy with the smell of old food. The eating area was very large, and all the chairs had been piled in a heap reaching up to the ceiling. The longest of the walls was decorated with a stylized mural of identical men standing in a line. Each had the same blond hair and strong jaw, and each was facing west, looking to a glowing horizon full of promise. The men were differentiated by the clothes they wore. One was a soldier, another a laborer, another a doctor, and the man in the foreground wore a padded white uniform and a stylized pilot's helmet over his head.

On the third floor I discovered a row of ten rooms, their doors close together, and each with PILOT stenciled on the door in gold lettering. Inside, the rooms were small and carpeted, and indentations in the carpeting suggested chairs and desks. Some walls bore the marks of framed photographs and holes from hanging nails, but the pictures were long gone. In the last room in the series I discovered a large wad of paper. I unraveled it and flattened it on the floor. CONGRATULATIONS, TOM! was spelled out in three-inch letters.

I was growing delirious from walking in the hot, unventilated building. I repeatedly passed several minutes shuffling from room to room without any idea of where I was going or what I was seeing. The stripped sameness of the halls and rooms was disorienting.

I came to heavy double doors of the sort used in hospitals to join wings or outbuildings. The doors were painted red, and there was a square of adhesive plastic, possibly a sign of some sort, that was defaced and illegible. There was no handle or bar to push open the doors, but I discovered a flat, metal button on the wall.

I pressed it. The doors swung open towards me, slowly and silently, sweeping all the way to the walls and revealing the large chamber beyond. It was much colder than the rest of the building, rising three stories and illuminated by light falling in dusty shafts through the yellow-tinted sunroof.

As he wanders its abandoned halls he begins to realize the scale and strangeness of the conspiracy, unaware that a darker truth waits within. Conelrad's track provides a suitable accompaniment for Casper's lonesome exploration. Please enjoy "Return String Determination."

Download - "Return String Determination" by Conelrad



Rough Track: "The Oscuras" 01.04.12 - Zack - permalink

When I first approached Conelrad about getting involved with LIMINAL STATES my original concept was of an an LP released at the same time as the book. For months we labored towards that goal, but it became clear that it was never going to quite come together. There was too much ground to cover thematically and the man behind Conelrad was busy getting a Ph. D.

Nevertheless, the collaboration has produced several full-length tracks in a rough, but complete state. All of them have working names like "rough track 7" or "test track 5" but I have assigned them titles based loosely on what was being discussed in relation to the narrative. With the artist's permission I will be posting these tracks periodically here on the site along with a little background information.

I have titled today's track "The Oscuras" after a small, ominous mountain range in New Mexico. I like the name of the range and its location makes it central to the events of LIMINAL STATES. When Conelrad discussed creating this track we talked about sparse landscapes and using guitars. The resulting track is probably the least like anything Conelrad fans have heard before, but it is one of my favorites.

Download - "The Oscuras" by Conelrad








































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