Computerchemist is the ongoing solo project of Dave Pearson, who lives in Székesfehérvár, Hungary, after moving from the UK in 2008. Ever since the early 80s Dave's music has been strongly influenced by "classic" Berlin School performers such as Tangerine Dream (mostly from the '72-'86 period) and Klaus Schulze, as well as taking inspiration from newer, more contemporary musicians with a diversity ranging from The Mars Volta to Csaba Vedres. Computerchemist's fourth album was released in December 2009, an album of solid Berlin-school-style jazz-rock, perfecting a blend of raw guitar work and uber-precise sequencer lines. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Credits: Music Composed by Dave Pearson Dave Pearson: keyboards, drum/sequencer programming, bass & lead guitars Uwe Cremer: guitar on "aqual measure" Equipment: cubase sx3, behringer bcf2000 control surface, maudio 88es, tascam us-122l, behringher hellbabe, hercules 16/12, behringer mdx2600 compander, behringer t1953 valve preamp, behringer di4000,yamaha bass, customised behringer guitar, zoom guitar effects pedal, yamaha customised drum pads Percussion: VOXXlab L2S (licenced under CC sampling+ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/sampling+/1.0/) Terrainflight is a trading name of Each2 Kft. Artwork and design: Angiewoman Back photo: Keith Hopkins Recorded and Produced by Dave Pearson at Terrainflight Hungary ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- REVIEWS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Beginning at the Beginning, naturally, with Tantric Race, a staggeringly robust piece of EM, the gentle opening of which is quickly substantiated with a lovely damp arpeggiated riff which progresses out of itself without leaving it’s basic pattern behind. Unusually, the choral washes are bolstered with a generous percussion spine and a wash of what I would term "Bird of Prey" guitar, which climbs and swoops over the sounds cape infusing the whole thing with that precious organic taste, so often missing from EM meanderings. For my own part, I had a definite visual image somewhere in the back of my mind of near naked greek athletes running backwards toward the end of the song, but... well, those are my fantasies and I’m entitled to have them! Danube Flow comes into its own around its four minute mark, when the pattern gets much, much more spacious allowing Mr. Computerchemist to throw his imagination into the water and let it run with the tide. From that point, the float becomes a real ride with eddies, tides, patches of white water and majestic scenery woven into sound. It must have hit a nerve, because by 7:45 I was performing a rather expansive arms and torso dance on my computer chair, but in my mind, I was in a ravine looking up at tall trees. Big skies and a castle Count Dracula would be happy to call home. Mirage is by far my favourite piece of the album, a strikingly atmospheric piece blending together a breathy background with arpeggiated riffs which drop seamlessly into the fuller picture with drums and guitar which has more than a touch of Huw Lloyd Langton’s E-Bow style to it, no complaints there, the sustain and volume control helps the piece along beautifully. All in all, this track is probably as near to one of the more lengthy improvs from the Hawkwind Halcyon Days, late eighties stylee. And none the worse for it. I swear I could feel the hot slow wind of the Sahara blowing through my nightie while this was playing. Aqual Measure, the title track of this album, posesses an almost medieval stately beginning, reminiscent of some fair maiden lost in the forest awaiting the resourceful rescue efforts of one Knight in Shining what sit. Found myself thinking back to the scene in "First Knight" where Richard Gere (fwoah) is, despite the pouring rain and the good soaking they had five minutes hence, showing Guinevere how to aquire a drink of water from a leaf... I digress... This is a beautiful track, full of imagery and emotion, the guitar work is soaring yet melancholy, full of the stuff of reverie. So really, the word play, Aqua, has come through quite admirably even at the start, and the rhythmic turn around midway through merely turns on a different kind of flow, whirlpools and waves smashing against rocks... Poetry mate, pure poetry as the remainder of the track slows down to a stately walk in the pouring rain, with the sea spray atomising over the sea wall .. And we retreat, soaked, stupefied with salt, yet satisfied... Monumental and just a little bit worrisome, Standing Waves takes us on a flight over a dark heaving ocean that you really shouldn’t mess with. Feeling the power beneath the waves without straying into the big bangs and splashes is the name of the game here, it’s a deep, dark, powerful beast which needs not force itself, because it IS force without trying. Lie back in the dark, feel this track when you need to relinquish yourself to things elemental. Imagine if you will, the dark depths, illuminated only by BioLuminescent creatures and the dusty luminescence of plankton illuminated by the distant full moon. And you are one of those creatures, blessed with supersense, guided by the celestial bio clock above... What can you see in the deep Atlantic Rift? There’s a lot of inner earth which we know nothing about, but if you want to imagine it, or set a soundtrack to one of those wonderful Voyage To The Bottom of The World’s Deepest Ocean movies, I guess you could do a lot worse than set this track up to play you out to sea. Be prepared for an abrupt turn of events late on in the day, as the artist takes an assertive stand, leading you to something you weren’t quite prepared for... unexpected, and not altogether unpleasant, rather like a quick cycle in the washing machine. Do I like it? Oh yes." - Nemesis J (Hawkwind, Sendelica, Tubilah Dog), October 2009 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "And it's amazing... Atlantic Rift - it builds and builds and the first time I heard it I knew there was a big finish coming up... but it just became a Hendrix sort of thing. Great. It seems to be almost equally bordering on electronic and metal. I love it.... Dave is combining two kinds of music that are so far apart on the musical genre that it would seem ludicrous to try to combine them but he has. And it works." - Bruce Gall, Sunday Synth, ARFM ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Dave Pearson is stuck in the 70s, and that’s exactly where I like him. Creating music under the name Computerchemist, Pearson is one of the foremost flagholders for solid Berlin-school-style jazz-rock, perfecting his blend of raw guitar work and uber-precise sequencer lines. And now he's come along with Aqual Measure. Forget all the allusions to the obvious inspirations at work here. Computerchemist is his own artist, forging exciting new paths through a well-trodden musical wood, and Aqual Measure is another very listenable Computerchemist homage to the great music Pearson cut his musical eyeteeth on and continues to worship. The opening track, “Tantric Race,” should not be listened to while driving as it will, in fact, cause you to get a speeding ticket. It's just one of those songs—your pulse races along with the music, a classic blend of anxious, angular sequencer lines twisting around each other and a delicate synth flute. Then, about four minutes into it, Pearson kicks the blocks off the guitar and just cut loose. Aqual Measure is different from earlier Computerchemist releases in large part due to Pearson’s decision to put his guitar work more to the forefront. This is a decision I wholeheartedly endorse. By and large, it's aggressive, razor-slash rock guitar, all attitude and energy. But there's soul here, too. Check out the slow, Middle-Eastern-influenced, heartfelt wail that forms the middle of "Mirage." Even more so, there's buckets of the stuff to be had when Pearson calls on guitarist Uwe Cremer (aka Level Pi) to handle the chops chores on the album's title track. Cremer replies by baring his bluesy soul in long, sweat-soaked solos. Pearson assails the strings one last time in the closing moments of the final track, “Atlantic Rift” and gives off the simple feel of a garage band hell-bent on making it big. In between the guitar attacks, Pearson constructs cool melodies and sonic landscapes of classic synthesizer-crafted beauty. He's an incredible instrumentalist and a versatile musician. Start to finish, there's a lot to like in Aqual Measure. It's much more than just another trip down an electronic memory lane. This is solid music for now, inspired by then. And it's another Hypnagogue Highly Recommended CD from Computerchemist." - John Shanahan, Hypnagogue ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------