Mellotronists

My apologies for this AD intruding into the discussions here. I
won't be bombing y'all with this since I'm usually only a lurker
here and don't post much of anything. Something like this AD will
show up here maybe once a month to remind you that the album is
available. It's a fine line between doing promotion and spamming,
I know, so we're trying to keep it down to a minimum on the prog-
related elists and newsgroups.
+++++
"Soundtracks For Imaginary Movies", Systems Theory, 2004. A
mellotron-drenched emusic/spacerock/world-fusion/ambient hybrid.

"...might just be the best Mellotron album released in years..."
(Peter Pardo, roundtable review at Sea of Tranquility).

"...as epic as a David Lean film and the compositions may actually
call to mind such films as Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago..."
(Steve Pettengill, roundtable review at Sea of Tranquility).
<www.seaoftranquility.org/reviews.php?op=showcontent&id=2018>

After numerous false starts and almost a year since we thought
we were going to release this album, it's finally a reality. So
we will beat Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel to the punch...LOL! As
of Dec 17th it became an official CD. As of Feb 1st, we're
shipping product.

I'm dropping this lengthy post in here so those of you that are
interested can think about acquiring a copy of "Soundtracks For
Imaginary Movies". We've posted it to ngs that have *some* musical
relationship to the tone of the album -- progrock, spacerock,
psychedelic, ambient, newage, experimental, world. There's bits
of all of those things in our sound.

Some of you have heard "demo mixes" of the album, starting with
the copies I handed out at Baja Prog last March. We think the
released version smokes all of these (it had better, eh?!?). The
final track-list is a bit different than what was on these "demo
mixes", and different than what was discussed as recently as early
December at Progressive Ears:
<www.progressiveears.com>

Early roundtable reviews of the album can be read at the Sea of
Tranquility site:
<www.seaoftranquility.org/reviews.php?op=showcontent&id=2018>

The final versions of the production-ready artwork have now been
posted to Progressive Ears in small footprint (<300kb) jpegs. These
replace those I showcased a month ago. You will need to set up a free
membership at PE to view them (takes a couple of minutes, and can be
done without providing any personal info). View the jpegs at:
<http://www.progressiveears.com/photos/photoalbum.asp?albumid=228>

There's a thread about the album at Progressive Ears. You can read
threads as a guest without signing up for membership:
<http://www.progressiveears.com/forums/thread.asp?ForumID=1&TopicID=37409>

*The music*
===========
So what made it to the album? We laid the CD out like it was an old
fashioned vinyl project. A three sided album, where the tracks either
flow into each other, where one ends the next begins, or have
intentional cross-fades. There's a 12 second "count-down" in front of
sides two and three. Alternate and/or early demo versions of some of
these tunes can be found on our soundclick page.

If you want a really good idea of what "Soundtracks For Imaginary
Movies" sounds like, listen to "Concentrate #1" on our soundclick
page. It's a 12 minute crossfaded distillation of the album put
together by Mike Dickson, with a couple of broad hints of what's to
come on the 2nd Systems Theory album "Codetalkers". You can hear
this MP3 (stream it in lo-fi mono, hi-fi stereo, or d/l it) at our
Soundclick page:
<www.soundclick.com/systemstheory>

'side one'
1) Green Miata Baja Bound [6:39]
2) The Cool Vibe Of Asia C [5:44]
3) Four Piece Suit [13:18]
(a) A Wolf In Sheep's Breeks
(b) Larks Loons In Linen
(c) Technopants
(d) Solar Flared Trousers

'side two'
4) Silent Service [11:36]
5) A Lifeboat, Tallulah And Me [5:00]
6) Water Through Fingers [7:21]

'side three'
7) Zero Sum Equation [7:20]
8) One Step To Freefall [7:12]
9) Last Letters From Stalingrad [9:36]

*Personnel*
===========
Greg Amov, Steven Davies-Morris and Mike Dickson (instruments and
programming) [Mike's mellotron is all real, on every track, no
'tron samples or emulations used.]

*Guests*
========
Diane Amov (flute), Brian Daly & Dun Strummin (guitar), Michael
Futreal (dulcimer), Cyndee Lee Rule (violin)

*Label and Soundscan*
=====================
The album is released under our arrangement with Independent Records,
USA. It's catalog number is IR24612. It's barcode number is
43157 24612.

*Artwork*
=========
Paul Whitehead did our graphics, and the image "Mobius Oscillator"
is the December picture for his 2005 calendar. At least I think
it's the December image. I saw it briefly at the recent Whittier
gig by The Musical Box. Looks pretty damn fab to me! Paul's work
was perfect for us, though not what one might be expecting if you
only associate him with the three early 70s Genesis albums.
Paul's art can be viewed online at:
<www.clearlight888music.com/paulwhitehead>
<www.paulwhitehead.com>

*Promo copies*
==============
We're shipping promo copies to magazines, prog radio, online review
sites and distributors interested in carrying the CD. If you are a
legit reviewer, radio person or distributor, please request a copy
of "Soundtracks For Imaginary Movies" in this thread or email
systemstheoryATyahooDOTcom with all of your particulars. We've
earmarked 300 copies for promo giveaways so if you'll review it,
showcase it, or might stock it...step right up! We'll also be
providing extras to radio stations that want to run some sort of
promotional giveaway in conjunction with an album showcase.
We will be offering volume discount pricing for distributors.

*How to order a retail copy*
============================
Our Systems Theory Paypal link isn't active yet, but hopefully will
be in the next couple of days for online ordering from the official
web-site:
<http:/systemstheory.net>

and our Soundclick page:
<www.soundclick.com/systemstheory>

We'll also be hooking up the ordering code to Greg Amov's site:
<www.gregamov.com>

and my vanity page at Geocities:
<http://www.geocities.com/mvdbmswizard/>

In the mean-time, here's the way to order a copy in the old fashioned
way, by check, money-order or international money order. We discourage
ending cash, but we won't turn our noses up at it if you must. If you
send cash, please send it in a registered letter for your protection,
and ours.

If you are ordering from within the US, the cost is $12 pp.
If you are ordering from outside the US, the cost is $16 pp.
If you want to order 2 or more copies, take $1 off the price of each
copy ($11 pp and $15 pp per copy). We're only offering the discount
on orders placed in this manner, BTW.

Make your personal check (US only), money-order (US only) or
international money order out to: Sandy Gill. You might want to note
in the reference field that it is for Systems Theory SFIM CD.

Send it to:
Systems Theory SFIM
c/o Sandy Gill
1574 Andrea Circle
Simi Valley
California 93065
USA

Make sure that your order includes an email address so that we can
acknowledge receipt of your order, and notify you when your order
ships.
-- 
Cheers,
SDM -- a 21st century schizoid man
Systems Theory internet music project links:
soundclick <www.soundclick.com/systemstheory>
garageband <http://www.garageband.com/artist/systemstheory>
"Soundtracks For Imaginary Movies" CD released Dec 2004
"Codetalkers" CD coming late fall 2005
NP: The Watch "Vacuum" (quite good vintage Geneclone)