Taxon

CD / 2018 / Groove Unlimited / GR-260

About Taxon

Taxon is my second album for Groove Unlimited, and it reflects on the darker and murkier aspects of biology. As a child, I dreamed of becoming a biologist or a palaeontologist. Eventually I got a bit side-tracked and opted for the chemistry lab instead. But my old fascination with mysterious zoological collections remained, and I can never resist a visit to the local museum of natural history when travelling.

 

Nature is aesthetically pleasing,  awe-inspiring and even amusing at times. But most of its actors experience it quite differently… Imagine being a small rat. Imagine the panic and shock of the viper’s sudden attack. Imagine the white-hot agony as the venomous fangs pierce your soft warm belly. Imagine the suffocating panic as scaled coils of steel muscle crunch every single bone in your body. Imagine the final view of a quivering red throat exhaling vapours of the digestive saps down below… Basically, Life is just a vast mass of proteins continuously changing owners. A murky, dark affair governed by the cold indifference of nature’s laws. Some of these considerations went into the making of Taxon.

 

I also wanted to bring homage to the “Wunderkammer” – the famous curiosity cabinets of the Renaissance. These first attempts at collecting the scientific knowledge of their time were not yet devoid of supernatural and bizarre artefacts. The rigors of natural history were still tainted by the wonders of magic. Authentic taxidermied animals still shared their display with the dessicated mummies of fabulous creatures…


Glazed stares from bleached specimens suspended in turbid fluid.

Weathered shells, meticulously aligned in arithmetic patterns.

A dragon's claw. The scales of a mermaid.

Terrifying wonders from distant dominions.

Creation on a shelf.

 

My steady companions during the recording of Taxon.
My steady companions during the recording of Taxon.

Tracklist

  • Chimära
  • Salamander
  • Alraune
  • Nixen
  • Perlboot 
  • Vipern
  • Conchilien

Personnel

  • SD:  synths: Wavestation SR, Prophet 12, Sledge/ loops / toy horn / conch shell / electric guitar.

Cover art

Painting by Birgit Schweimler: The X-Rayed Newt (2018) - acrylic, and mixed media on canvas. Colour treatments by SD.

Below is the original painting

Birgit Schweimler - The X-Rayed Newt
Birgit Schweimler - The X-Rayed Newt

Video