Album Notes

Crossover artist Timothy Moberly and Vertebrate Records present Faux Normal, a collection of sixteen original instrumental works in the electronic classical vein.

Although each piece bears Moberly's distinctive compositional stamp, there is a particularly strong bloodline among many of the works tracing back to modal counterpoint and Stravinsky. In addition, you can hear influences including Celtic music, rock, minimalism, and the tango. As original and remarkable as the music is the full wrap-around cover design by Patrick McWhirt.

Faux Normal contains stand-alone pieces and selections from larger works such as "Twelvemonth" and "System", as well as a complete multimovement study in cyclic brevity, the "Interludes".

Favorites include "Mercury", "November", and "The Valentine from Hell Fugue". "Fugal Palindrome" utilizes a fascinating formal structure combining imitative counterpoint, multilevel palindromes, and serial material, while "Venus" offers a light-hearted touch. "Overture" is something of a cumulative passacaglia with a starkly demarcated approach to phrasing. The sexual overtones of "Squidnot" are felt in the composer's live breathing and slide guitar buried in the mix. "York" is an atmospheric glimpse of the distant past, while "April" fires off the collection with a driving series of shifting contrapuntal textures.