Kirlian Selections

Infobox Album |
Name = Kirlian Selections
Type = Album
Artist = The Flashbulb


Released = April 5, 2005
Recorded = August 2003 – Early 2005
Genre = IDM
Length = 72:35
Label = Sublight
Producer = Benn Jordan
Reviews =
* [http://www.barcodezine.com/revtheflashbulbkirlianselections060405.htm Barcode] (8.4/10)
Last album = "Red Extensions of Me" (2004)
This album = "Kirlian Selections" (2005)
Next album = "Réunion"
(2005)

"Kirlian Selections" is the sixth full-length album by The Flashbulb released in April 2005.

Due to the vast amount of money and time that was put into this release (unlike his other releases, Jordan had been working on this one non-sequentially, working on it off and on since August 2003, around the time of "Girls Suck But You Don't"'s promotion), Jordan had strongly considered not releasing the work at all, considering it more of a testament to what he was capable of achieving than as a piece to be openly acquired (and subsequently criticized) by the public. If he did in fact release it, he preferred it to be either a Super Audio CD or a DVD-A, as the album was mixed in 5.1 surround sound, and for it to be released under his real name, so as to disassociate any expectations that would come with it if it were released as The Flashbulb. However, Sublight Records received the material and managed to convince Jordan to release it on CD as The Flashbulb, suggesting that it would sell more copies if released under that name. Several months later, Jordan finished mixing the album down to 2-channel stereo from the original 5.1 mix and "Kirlian Selections" was released.

According to Jordan, over tens of thousands of dollars of expenses were taken advantage of in the recording of this album. It is his first album that was recorded entirely outside of his own bedroom, taking advantage of string orchestra/brass sections that he was working with at the time doing work for film scoring and advanced acoustic environments and recording equipment that were previously unavailable to him along with this. Alongside his trademark drill'n'bass songs like "Lawn Wake IX" and IDM tunes such as "Binedump" and "Melann", The Flashbulb employs slower, less abrasive songs like "Shortcuts" and "Miles and Miles". At the other end of the spectrum, he shows his more hardcore side, with the pair of "Kirlian Isles II" and "Dishevel".

Benn is known to have a long list of tracks on each album with a short running time for each, and "Kirlian Selections" is no exception. Even with 28 tracks on this album, only 10 reach the 3:00 mark.

Track listing

# "Eyes of June" – 1:15
# "Binedump" – 3:42
# "Passage D" – 2:00
# "Lawn Wake IX" – 2:35
# "Mellann" – 2:11
# "Kirlian Isles I" – 1:37
# "Kirlian Isles II" – 3:35
# "Dishevel" – 2:26
# "My Life of Loving Ghosts" – 2:09
# "Kirlian Shores" – 3:19
# "At One Last Night" – 1:19
# "Blackout" – 1:25
# "Creep" – 3:05
# "Autumn Insomnia Session" – 3:25
# "Shortcuts" – 2:50
# "Kirlian Choices" – 5:03
# "OFE Highways" – 1:51
# "IPSE Highways" – 3:19
# "Dakota June" – 1:53
# "Parkways" – 2:48
# "Lifeless Indoors" – 1:43
# "Six Months Without Light" – 3:03
# "R" – 2:32
# "California Dreaming" – 3:43
# "Kirlian Changes" – 1:46
# "Kirlian Isles III" – 2:13
# "Miles and Miles" – 3:03
# "Five Karots" – 1:45

Track 24 is a cover of the classic song by the Mamas and the Papas. Apparently Jordan actually purchased the copyright to the song before he released this album. The titles of tracks 17, 18 and 23 are at least partially if not entirely written in the Cherokee writing script. Track 3 featured in the award-winning Dove "Evolution" campaign in 2006.

Personnel

*Benn Jordan: Composer, producer, performer, recording, mastering, photography, design and art direction
*Mark Messing: Additional composition on "Kirlian Isles I" and "Kirlian Isles III", brass
*Greg Hirte: Violin
*Claire Nicholson: Cello
*"California Dreaming" originally recorded by the Mamas and the Papas.

External links

* [http://www.theflashbulb.net/ Official site] ( [http://www.bennjordan.com/ mirror] )
* [http://www.theflashbulb.net/ks/ "Kirlian Selections" mini-site]
* [http://www.sublightrecords.com/ Sublight Records]