Dead Weather Machine
Encyclopedia
Dead Weather Machine is the second album by dark ambient
artist SleepResearch Facility
, and is the first of a two-part set, the second part being Dead Weather Machine Re:Heat
(also known as DWM Re:Heat).
SleepResearch_Facility made a three-minute recording of the Tango2 heater (manufactured by Dimplex
Heating Ltd), and created DWM and DWM Re:Heat from it, "using only about three or four very powerful pieces of software to mutate and mix/layer the sound". The manipulation is so thorough and extensive that it's impossible to guess the original source of the sounds. For listeners who are interested, the original recording has been included as a hidden track at the end of the album, and a photo of the inside of the heater is available from the Audio Project Archive page of the official website. More detailed information about the album's creation can be found in the Foreshadow Magazine interview with SleepResearch_Facility.
The promotional text for the album, written by Manifold Records
, encourages the listener to imagine being shrunk to microscopic size and "trekking through some enormous, dying mechanical landscape, the sounds of world-sized storms swirling all around you". The album's overall sound is very dark and deep, industrial and mechanical, impersonal and unemotional. The album's main aural components are: smooth noise in various forms, rumbling bass, and droning chords (particularly in "2.5" and "2.7"). At times, the sound is more structured, such as a steady rhythmic element in "2.5" (sounding rather like a dripping water tap), random bleeping sequences in "2.2", and a regular heavy reverberating booming in "2.3". Each track flows smoothly into the next, with no gaps of silence in-between, and as with all of SleepResearch_Facility's music, DWM is very sleep
-conducive if played at low volume.
The original release in 2004 was a limited edition – only 1000 copies were manufactured.
(*) Follows "2.7" after 6:30 of silence
The following text is printed on the back of the CD box: "untitled x 7 + 1 hidden = sum", indicating that the seven main tracks have no official titles. However, on the back of the CD cover, the numbers "2.1" to "2.7" are printed, together with the duration of each corresponding track in minutes and seconds. This suggests that "2.1" to "2.7" are potential titles for the seven tracks. The use of the digit 2 at the beginning of each title may well be a reference to the fact that DWM is the second album by SleepResearch_Facility.
In 2005, some of the album was broadcast on Dutch Radio 4FM (now known as NPS Studio 6).
files:
A 60-second sample of "2.1" is available from the Manifold Records website, although the page incorrectly indicates that the sample is taken from "2.2".
Hungbunny's 50th podcast, Silence is Golden, begins with "2.1".
Dark ambient
Dark ambient is a subgenre of ambient music that features foreboding, ominous, or discordant overtones. Although it had its roots in the 1970s, Dark ambient emerged in the 1980s and 1990s with the introduction of newer, smaller, and more affordable Effects units, synthesizer and sampling technology...
artist SleepResearch Facility
SleepResearch Facility
SleepResearch_Facility is a dark ambient artist from Glasgow, Scotland, specializing in sleep-conducive beatless ambient music which is both artistic as well as functional.-Overview:...
, and is the first of a two-part set, the second part being Dead Weather Machine Re:Heat
Dead Weather Machine Re:Heat
Dead Weather Machine_Re:Heat is the third album by dark ambient artist SleepResearch_Facility, and is the second of a two-part set, the first part being Dead Weather Machine ....
(also known as DWM Re:Heat).
Overview
The album is summarised by the text on its cover:- As an exercise in sample manipulation, DWM draws exclusively from source audio generated by swinging a cheap microphone in front of a misfiring heating unit, itself congested with the fibrous dust of advanced decrepitude and exhuming a near death-rattle from its fractured internal respiritory systems.
SleepResearch_Facility made a three-minute recording of the Tango2 heater (manufactured by Dimplex
Glen Dimplex
Glen Dimplex is an Irish-based consumer electrical goods firm. It is the world's largest electrical heating business and holds significant market positions in the domestic appliance industry worldwide...
Heating Ltd), and created DWM and DWM Re:Heat from it, "using only about three or four very powerful pieces of software to mutate and mix/layer the sound". The manipulation is so thorough and extensive that it's impossible to guess the original source of the sounds. For listeners who are interested, the original recording has been included as a hidden track at the end of the album, and a photo of the inside of the heater is available from the Audio Project Archive page of the official website. More detailed information about the album's creation can be found in the Foreshadow Magazine interview with SleepResearch_Facility.
The promotional text for the album, written by Manifold Records
Manifold Records
Manifold Records is a US-based record label and mailorder store specializing in experimental, ambient and other hard-to-define audio materials. Begun in 1993 by writer and zine-publisher Vince Harrigan, the label has released works by Gravitar, Final , Mick Harris, Lull, Steve Roach, Jeph Jerman,...
, encourages the listener to imagine being shrunk to microscopic size and "trekking through some enormous, dying mechanical landscape, the sounds of world-sized storms swirling all around you". The album's overall sound is very dark and deep, industrial and mechanical, impersonal and unemotional. The album's main aural components are: smooth noise in various forms, rumbling bass, and droning chords (particularly in "2.5" and "2.7"). At times, the sound is more structured, such as a steady rhythmic element in "2.5" (sounding rather like a dripping water tap), random bleeping sequences in "2.2", and a regular heavy reverberating booming in "2.3". Each track flows smoothly into the next, with no gaps of silence in-between, and as with all of SleepResearch_Facility's music, DWM is very sleep
Sleep
Sleep is a naturally recurring state characterized by reduced or absent consciousness, relatively suspended sensory activity, and inactivity of nearly all voluntary muscles. It is distinguished from quiet wakefulness by a decreased ability to react to stimuli, and is more easily reversible than...
-conducive if played at low volume.
The original release in 2004 was a limited edition – only 1000 copies were manufactured.
Track listing
| Track | Name | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "2.1" | 11:54 |
| 2 | "2.2" | 6:40 |
| 3 | "2.3" | 13:34 |
| 4 | "2.4" | 6:06 |
| 5 | "2.5" | 9:00 |
| 6 | "2.6" | 8:40 |
| 7 | "2.7" | 8:09 |
| Hidden track (*) | 3:12 |
The following text is printed on the back of the CD box: "untitled x 7 + 1 hidden = sum", indicating that the seven main tracks have no official titles. However, on the back of the CD cover, the numbers "2.1" to "2.7" are printed, together with the duration of each corresponding track in minutes and seconds. This suggests that "2.1" to "2.7" are potential titles for the seven tracks. The use of the digit 2 at the beginning of each title may well be a reference to the fact that DWM is the second album by SleepResearch_Facility.
Miscellaneous CD text
The following phrases are printed either on the inside of the CD tray, or in the CD booklet:-
[ working with finite sound sources reinforces concepts of liberation through limitation] -
[ passage through the digital domain spawns interesting new paradigms] - 55.8 -75.3
- all noise integral
- 00.76-847-5-52
- further data added upon subsequent iterations
- patience is a game worth playing.
Response and public exposure
Steve Roach, a highly-respected ambient musician, has written a very complimentary review of DWM on his website, and even sold the album from his online store while stocks lasted. The album has also been highly praised by Aural Pressure, a website specialising in dark ambient, experimental, industrial, rhythmic noise, power electronics and neoclassical music.In 2005, some of the album was broadcast on Dutch Radio 4FM (now known as NPS Studio 6).
Free audio
The Audio Project Archive page of the official website links to the following relevant MP3MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
files:
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| dimplex.01.128kmp3.mp3 | The first 9:35 of "2.1". |
| dimplex.03.128kmp3.mp3 | The raw unmixed version of "2.2". On the album, this starts fading into the mix at 9:15 in track 1, and continues until the end of track 2. |
| dimplex.04.128kmp3.mp3 | The raw unmixed version of "2.5". |
| dimplex.05.128kmp3.mp3 | The raw unmixed version of "2.4". On the album, this starts fading into the mix at 11:44 in track 3, and continues until the end of track 4. |
| dimplex.07.128kmp3.mp3 | The raw unmixed version of "2.6". On the album, this starts fading into the mix at 1:13 in track 6, and ends at 8:13 in the same track. |
| dimplex.00.128kmp3.mp3 | The hidden track at the end of the album (the original three-minute source recording). |
A 60-second sample of "2.1" is available from the Manifold Records website, although the page incorrectly indicates that the sample is taken from "2.2".
Hungbunny's 50th podcast, Silence is Golden, begins with "2.1".