Album Notes

submodern writes ambient electronic listening music influenced by artists such as orbital, black dog, autechre, and ulrich schnauss. their music is melodic and spacey, with catchy synth lines and quirky electronic beats, and places an emphasis on live performance. their live sets are set up in a way that allows for more flexibility and improvised structure than is heard in most live electronic music, with the end result being a continuous set of music that flows together like a dj set but retains the uniqueness and unpredictable nature of a live music performance. their recorded work is then based on the sound and structure of these live performances, with some additional twists, again in contrast to a lot of modern music that is created in a studio before ever being played live before an audience. dallas and art have been performing together live in this way for several years, playing at west coast venues varying from dance clubs to bars to private parties to the burning man festival.

to follow up their debut cd "object oriented mood management", which was largely based on the sound of their live set, submodern took their remaining songs and secluded themselves in their studio. by limiting themselves to a half dozen songs, and intentionally trying to take each of the tracks in a new and different direction from its live version, they were able to focus on honing their recording skills and exploring new production techniques while avoiding the pressure of producing another full length album. they also experimented with collaboration, working with long time submodern friend bryan campbell on two of the six songs. the result is the "inner mission ep", which explores some of the same classic melodic idm territory covered by "oomm", but with a slightly more polished edge and more of a variety in production styles. while the collection of songs on "inner mission" might lack the cohesive feel of a proper album, it rewards the listener with an engaging variety of quirky electronic tracks that suggest an interesting new direction for submodern.

highlights of the ep include the dark, brooding "lurp", the electro-shoegaze pop of "stuck", and the dreamy, playful "flicker".