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The Antikythera Mechanism

by Nathaniel Johnstone

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stormfay
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stormfay Beautiful fun and creative music about Greek mythology? Yes please. Love the voice, love the energy. Excellent music all around. Favorite track: Cassandra Knows.
Angela Fortin
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Angela Fortin Steampunk Greek mythology music? Is the Nathaniel Johnstone Band monitoring my dreams? Because this is something desperately needed in my life. Favorite track: Stone Woman.
Richard Lewis
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Richard Lewis This is an awesome album. It's got Greek Mythology, Steampunk and the awesome vocals of Dogwood! Snugglefish is hilarious. "Release the Kraken!" My favorite character from myth (poor, poor Medusa) has her own song, even! What more could you want? Favorite track: Stone Woman.
Anna Retallick
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Anna Retallick I listen to this album when I write stories. It's a great source of inspiration and helps me get the creativity flowing
Ming-Hua Kao
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Ming-Hua Kao I just can't get the image of Poseidon petting and cuddling the kraken out of my head any more. Just too funny! Favorite track: Snugglefish.
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Snugglefish 03:49
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Stone Woman 04:55
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Pythia 03:32
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Stardust 02:45
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Epitaph 02:29
This is the translation i used from the original Greek. Any errors are ALL MINE. We recorded this with love, reverence, and gratitiude to our musical forebears: While you live, shine Seek no trouble or sorrow at all For we are here just a short while And time will always demand its toll

about

This all started in October 2013 when I read an article about the sophisticated science and technology of Ancient Greece. Reportedly, they had death rays, steam technology, and were making clockwork devices that rival the elegance of modern Swiss watch makers. Our whole world is thick with the influence of Greek art, music, knowledge and philosophy. For instance, the oldest known complete musical composition is from Greece (it's dated to somewhere between 200BC & 100AD).

The title of the album comes from an ancient artifact found in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of the Greek island of Antikythera in 1900-1901. The corroded bronze object had obvious gear work and after years of care and investigation was found to be a device used to predict the movements of the heavenly bodies - eclipses, the phase of the moon, and the wanderings of Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Venus, and Mercury through the heavens. Scholars and scientists today are still puzzling over the complexities that the mechanism has to offer. The sophistication required to make this was lost and didn't reappear again until nearly 1500 years later. Seriously, go google it and have your mind be blown.

So, anyway, as I was pondering this incredible legacy I began to hear music in my head. From there it was just a matter of time before I knew that I had an album's worth of material. I pitched the idea to Alyssa and she agreed that this would be a suitable followup to Narratives, our previous collaboration. Several weeks and chat conversations later we had enough lyrics for the whole album! It seems like not a day would go by but that there would be a new lyric in my email box. We hashed out songs about Ikarus, Medusa, Cassandra, Eos (the Goddess of the Dawn), Aphrodite, and a whole bunch of others.

Of course, seeing as we're both totally into Steampunk we knew that we had to add some science fiction to the project. So we've taken a few liberties with the stories. If you've heard our previous album, Narratives, you'll get what I mean.

credits

released May 24, 2014

Music by Nathaniel Johnstone (except for Stone Woman and Persephone Rises: Erik Brown and Nathaniel Johnstone)
Words by Alyssa Rosenbloom & Nathaniel Johnstone (except for Snugglefish: Nathaniel Johnstone, Kate McKnight, & Alyssa Rosenbloom)
Recorded and Mixed by Nathaniel Johnstone
Mastered by Doug Krebs
Album art by Phil Foglio & Cheyenne Wright

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about

Nathaniel Johnstone Seattle, Washington

Multi-instrumentalist Nathaniel Johnstone (violin, viola, banjo, mandolin, and guitar) LOVES to play music with his many musical friends. He's played with many bands and has as yet been unable to settle down with one instrument or musical genre for too long.

Each album is different but there are enough through-lines that you can get a sense of where he's been.
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