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ARTIST BIOGRAPHY & TRACK INFORMATION
Mollusk features the work of Malcolm Bly, who became interested in the possibilities of web music through work in web design. The music of Mollusk is created entirely through digital means, including sampling and sundry DSP applications. Bly has also experimented with the process of encoding MP3s, often choosing lower kbps rates in order to create a "low resolution" sound.
The Sea 7.34 (track 1)
One of the tracks on Accretions that presents the original low resolution "mollusk" sound, The Sea utilizes a loop from Debussy's La Mer as a jumping off point.
Argonautica: Three (with Jonathan Hughes) 5.04 (track 2)
One track (part three of four) from a collaboration with Jonathan Hughes (who has also recorded several albums as Subspace). Argonauta Argo, also known as the Paper Nautilus, is actually a small octopus that lives in the Mediterranean, and quite unlike the Chambered Nautilus of the Pacific Ocean (which is, in fact, a separate genus). The female Argonaut builds a parchmentlike structure (not a true shell) with a specialized tentacle in she lays her eggs. The Ancient Greeks thought this cephalopod was actually sailing in the shell as if it were a boat, hence the name Argonaut.
Barnacle: Archipelago 10.04 (track 3)
Barnacle: Island 5.09 (track 11)
These two tracks are actually based around the same samples, and developed as different elaborations on a common theme. Barnacles are not actually mollusks at all, but small, hard shelled marine crustaceans that attach themselves to submerged surfaces.
The Evolution of the Snail's Brain pt.1 2.29 (track 4)
The Evolution of the Snail's Brain pt.2 4.19 (track 5)
The Evolution of the Snail's Brain pt.3 5.28 (track 6)
The Evolution of the Snail's Brain pt.4 5.15 (track 7)
The Evolution of the Snail's Brain pt.5 2.34 (track 8)
The Evolution of the Snail's Brain pt.6 4.50 (track 9)
The evolution of the snail's brain is the result of cephalization, that is, a thickening of the ganglia in the head. This process has provided the snail with a modest brain.
Hadal 4.21 (track 10)
Hadal is defined as "of, relating to, or being the parts of the ocean below 6000 meters, the bottom portion of the deep system. Derived from Hades, the Greek underworld."
The Cry of the Distant Nautilus 5.09 (track 12)
For millions of years the oceans have been populated by many varieties of the phylum Mollusca. Some of these ancient species, like the nautilus, survive to this day little changed from their prehistoric ancestors. Fossil nautiloids measuring nearly eight feet across have been found, but todayıs Chambered Nautilus rarely grows larger than six or seven inches in diameter.
Other terms...
Littoral (adj.) of, relating to, or situated or growing on or near a shore especially of the sea; the littoral system refers to the seabeds where chlorophyll-producing plants can grow, stretching from the area bathed by sea spray to the lower limit of where chlorophyll-producing algae can still grow. This is the primary habitat of marine mollusks.
The big secret...
At least for a time the big secret about this project was that Mollusk/Malcolm Bly was, in fact, Foundry main man M. Bentley. Of course that's no longer a secret, and the experiment of MOLLUSK.NET has come to an end.