This compilation is the first in a new series where other musicians are inspired by and reinterpret the music of Orphax; and more specifically, his Dream Sequence series. Dream Sequences is a continuous series of experimental ambient / drone pieces with a dreamy touch.

After the release of Dream Sequence # 3 I asked some friends to listen and to collaborate on a new release. The first reply came from Haarvöl, whilst Jos Smolders also followed with interest. Hence – the idea of a compilation with music by friends inspired by the Dream Sequence series began to make sense. To complete the series, I asked Rutger Zuydervelt to join in the same way with Dream Sequence # 2. He recorded a quiet remix of this work and completed the first compilation.

As musician, I am really excited with this possibility: to hear others use their own ideas on music to make something new inspired by my own work. And it makes me even happier that the result is so amazing. I am proud of the musicians who made such a great effort in creating these new reframed versions and making this happen.

Sietse van Erve (Orphax) December 1st, 2017

Concept by Orphax
Mastered by Jos Smolders at EARLabs
Artwork by Rutger Zuydervelt

1. Haarvöl – Present Ruins (for M.N.A)
Composed by Haarvöl (Fernando José Pereira, João Faria, Rui Manuel Vieira).
Performed by Haarvöl with Ricardo Santos on modified bag pipe.

2. Jos Smolders – Functional Neuranatomy Of Human Rapid Eye Movement Sleep and Dreaming
Composed and performed by Jos Smolders

3. Orphax – Dream Sequence #2 (Machinefabriek Remix)
Composed by Orphax (Sietse van Erve), reworked by Machinefabriek (Rutger Zuydervelt).

Additional information by Haarvöl about their work for this release:

Faced with the challenge of having a dialogue with Orphax’s “Dream sequence # 3”, the essential question was, as always, what to do? We started with two decisive components: the form – sounds, and semantics – the title.

We wanted to make a theme in which the dream idea would somehow accommodate our aesthetics. The basic idea emerged from a field recording recorded in the engine room of a Nanotechnology Laboratory, a kind of zone of exclusion from reality inside the city. An almost surreal dimension that leads to imagination and dream, such is the distance between reality and the noergic zone that the Laboratory represents.

To this field recording the sound of an analogue instrument was added: the bagpipe (modified for this purpose). It is an instrument that is associated with Celtic culture and is highly popular in the northern region of Portugal, especially in a particular area: Miranda do Douro. It is in Miranda do Douro that there is another zone of exclusion from reality. A zone in the Tarkovskian sense of the uniqueness of what goes on there. A modernist city with a huge Le Corbusier influence, in the middle of nowhere. Built in 1958 and now in ruins. A utopian dream now turned into dystopia. Our dream is embodied in a naturally surreal but also mechanical sequence; in dystopia seeking return to its original utopian condition at any moment: to the dream.

In Tarkovski’s film “Stalker” it is said that in the zone our desires – dreams – are fulfilled, hence their interdiction, hence the notion of zone. In our theme, the zone is embodied in sounds that are offered as a kind of a trip, an invitation to the interior of the zone, that is, to the dream. At the same time, it is a small tribute to one of the late architects of the modern city ruined in the meantime: M.N.A., who is flying there embodied in Haarvölian sonorities. In our dream, of course.

Jos Smolders and Machinefabriek didn’t have any extra notes they wanted to share but the music itself.