"'We transfer to Freeside now?' he asked, eyeing a shred of Yeheyuan tobacco that had drifted gracefully up out of his shirt pocket to dance ten centimeters from his nose.  There was no smoking on shuttle flights.

'No, we got the boss's usual little kink in the plans, you know?  We're getting this taxi out to Zion, Zion Cluster.' She touched the release plate on her harness and began to free herself from the embrace of the foam.  'Funny choice of venue, you ask me.'

'How's that?'

'Dreads.  Rastas.  Colony's about thirty years old now.'

'What's that mean?'

'You'll see.   It's an okay place by me.  Anyway, they'll let you smoke your cigarettes there.'"

The Color of Television, Neuromancer-inspired album, Track #9 - "Maelcum"

This week we have the theme of the chill Zion member, Maelcum - who helps Case when they get to low earth orbit near Freeside.   The gang hangs out at Zion Cluster, a rebel Rastafarian enclave in space where Molly is known as Steppin' Razor.   There they meet Aerol, the Zion elders, and especially Maelcum, who helps Case by piloting the space tug, Marcus Garvey, as they unfold the Kuang virus in cyberspace.

In the novel, William Gibson writes about the Zion dub constantly playing through the speakers in the Zion cluster out in orbit.   Even Wintermute plays the Zion elders what they call "a righteous dub" to win their favor.    This is my little attempt at interpreting what that would be like, and is also the slowest track on the album.   I added a little chiptune flavor to it as well in the arps and a nice PWM lead that comes in briefly that is supposed to be Case hard at work laying the groundwork for the Straylight Run (it's his instrument, btw).   The drunksax makes a reappearance as well, representing the unfolding Kuang virus and I even tried to make a little cannabis leaf in the first channel on the waveforms as an easter egg but it ended up looking more like a maple leaf with a limiter on it (which is fine as William Gibson lives in Vancouver).   Just think of it as an "M" for Maelcum.   There is a little bit of a lofi hip hop influence in this track, too and I had some fun with the chordal jazz samples.

Thanks for listening so far!  More to come!  Next time I submit it is the song of the clone herself, Lady 3Jane Marie-France Tessier-Ashpool!  I’m in Denmark for a few weeks playing Wood Chip Fest and Chipwrecked and I’m without a laptop so it may not be until August. 

The full album is here for free licensed under CC Non-Commerical Non-Commerical Share Alike with all M8 song bundles included: https://disposableplanet.bandcamp.com/album/the-color-of-television

The Full Length Album Music Video on Youtube

The Free Album on Bandcamp

All character names and quotes from Neuromancer by William Gibson.

This album is entirely unofficial.

Dedicated to my folks, Ralph and Sandra.  RIP and infinite love.

Tags: dub, hip hop, maelcum, neuromancer, reggae, week 27 2024, zion dub, View by:Disposable Planet