Cyberia Xl

QUADRUMATRIX

The Story

Cyberia XI was a mammoth undertaking, inspired and spawned by volumnous .mp3 downloads through certain channels of questionable legalities -- regardless of the RIAA's efforts to curb creativity and the spread of new ideas, approaches, styles, and musical directions. This edition could very well have been subtitled Against The Odds on account of the additional personal challenges and stress that had unexpectedly reared their ugly heads during the period of its creation. It may have also been called Monster as a result of the 60-track beast it grew into.

Blurb: "Even more grotesque, disorienting, and cyber-extreme is the work of Bill Sienkiewicz, whose Stray Toasters series epitomizes the darkest side of the cyberpunk comic style. The story -- a mystery about a boy who, we learn, has been made part machine -- is depicted in a multimedia comic-book style, with frames that include photographs of nails, plastic, fringe, packing bubbles, toaster parts, leather, Band-Aids, and blood. This world of sadomasochism, crime, torture, and corruption makes Neuromancer seem bright by comparison. There is very little logic to the behaviors and storyline here -- it's almost as if straying from the nightmarish randomness of events and emotions would sacrifice the nonlinear consistency. In essence, Stray Toasters is a world of textures, where the soft, hard, organic, and electronic make up a kind of dreamscape through which both the characters and the readers are moved about at random. As Bruce Sterling would no doubt agree, an accidental or even an intentional electrocution could come at any turn of a page."

Once again, the Cyberia XI compilation broke new ground:
1. It is a quadruple album.
2. All tracks -- bar the sound effects used -- were grabbed off the 'net in .mp3 format.
3. Mixing was done almost entirely with a specific software DJ tool.
4. One of the discs is a CD-Extra, featuring a music video in line with the animé and mash-up themes.

Indeed, much of the new territory that was introduced with Cyberia Four had since Y2k become regular and standard features: 80-minute media, specific themes, ripped DVD Audio, embedded .mp3s, true mash-ups, and unlisted tracks!

The Music

Disc A features mostly Trance tunes (some of which had been featured in this series before, albeit in older guises), thus presenting another interesting parallel with Cyberia Four. The introduction and the following track had been eagerly awaited for four years!

Disc B, conversely, concentrates on mostly House music and includes several Madonna mixes, as well as some of the best mash-ups this side of the phosphorus. This disc is a personal favourite.

Disc C has, from a chronographical point of view, the shortest content -- since it's a CD-Extra. Its musical direction leans primarily towards Techno and can truly boast next to nothing but remakes, remixes, rehashes, and general updates. Become a motherfuckin' test pilot!

Disc D: Funk. Pop. Rock. Disco. Remakes. Snippets. Eighties. Nineties. Noughties... great stuff!

The Artwork

Producing a quad album creates its own unique set of challenges in the art department: Not only four times the regular amount of CD labels were required -- the front and rear cover formats are somewhat different from the established norms. Hence, far more time and effort were exhausted when compared to previous editions -- considering that a mixture of the Matrix data flow, television, and japanimation imagery was sought.

The Data

Total Running Time: 79:27 + 79:56 + 69:15 + 79:15

Compiled: April 29th to September 1st, 2003

Released: September 1st, 2003

Recordable Media: TDK

Disclaimer: Cyberia XI © 2003 8007L36 R3C0RD5. The copyright of this compilation and artwork is owned by 8007L36 R3C0RD5. Individual tracks and/or samples may or may not be owned, partially or in full, by their respective copyright holders. Unauthorised copying, hiring, lending, public performance, broadcasting, or resale of this compilation is strictly prohibited. Enjoyment in any form by private cybernetic organisms is highly encouraged by 8007L36 R3C0RD5. Although all reasonable efforts were made to minimise vinyl scratches and other analogue noise prevalent on the source music carriers, some may remain audible to the human frequency receptacle at times. Optimisation enhancements are welcome. Snide verbal remarks are frowned upon. Music Piracy and P2P sharing remain illegal. Made in a digital world.