May 31, 2019
The Mercury Tree is an experimental prog band from Portland, Oregon, and we interviewed them in the middle of their Spidermilk tour across the U.S. Spidermilk is entirely in 17-tone equal temperament, though the band have also used microtones previously (Permutations, Cryptic Tree EP). Spidermilk is a particularly exciting album because the band went entirely microtonal on it. On this episode, we discuss the challenges of going microtonal as a successful band, what the future holds, the writing process for these songs, and, of course, the TRI-TAD. At the time of release, the band consists of Ben Spees, Oliver Campbell, Connor Reilly, and Jason Yerger. If you haven’t listened to Spidermilk already, you should (and you’re missing out)! You can find it on Bandcamp!
Support the show
We need your support! Please rate Now&Xen on iTunes, and tell us how we could improve! And tell your musical friends about it! Remember, microtonality is for everybody!
Music
Intro: The Mercury Tree -
Interglacial (from Spidermilk) [17edo]
Brendan Byrnes - Zibra Island (from
Micropangaea) [non-octave 12/7 based tuning]
Wendy Carlos - Beauty and the Beast [Wendy Carlos tunings]
ZIA (Sevish remix) - Greater Good (from Drum n’ Space) [Bohlen-Pierce]
The Mercury Tree - Arc of an Ilk (from Spidermilk) (17edo)
Brendan Byrnes - Electric Seven (from Neutral Paradise) [7edo & 14edo]
Jacob Collier - In My Room (from In My Room) [12edo]
The Mercury Tree - Interglacial (from Spidermilk) [17edo]
The Mercury Tree - Tides of the Spine (from Spidermilk) [17edo]
The Mercury Tree - I am a Husk (from Spidermilk) [17edo]
The Mercury Tree - Kept Man (from Spidermilk) [17edo]
The Mercury Tree + Cryptic Ruse - Change Your Passwords (from Cryptic Tree EP) [17edo + 23edo]
John Smith - The Star-Spangled Banner (re-tuned in 24edo)
The Eagles - Hotel California (re-tuned in 15edo)
The Mercury Tree - Tides of the Spine (from Spidermilk) [17edo]
The Mercury Tree - Vestments (from Spidermilk) [17edo]
The Mercury Tree + Cryptic Ruse - Diffractions and Halos (from Cryptic Tree EP) [17edo]
The Mercury Tree - Superposition of Silhouettes (from Spidermilk) [17edo]
City of the Asleep - Midnight in the Garden of Missed Connections (Map of an Internal Landscape) [27edo]
Randy Winchester - Five Hemispheres (mvt. I - 7edo)
The Mercury Tree - Kept Man (from Spidermilk) [17edo]
The Mercury Tree - Vestments (from Spidermilk) [17edo]
The Mercury Tree - Disremembered (from Spidermilk) [17edo]
Outro: The Mercury Tree - Disremembered (from Spidermilk) [17edo]
Socials/Projects
https://www.facebook.com/mercurytree/
https://themercurytree.bandcamp.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheMercuryTree
Follow
https://www.facebook.com/nowxen/
Subscribe
RSS: http://nowandxen.libsyn.com/rss
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/n…
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1mhnGsH…
Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/nowxen
Twitter: https://twitter.com/now_xen
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nowxen/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnmYNMpemAIq8DnK5HJ9gsA