Daniel M Karlssons Mapping the valleys of the uncanny is an investigation into a process and method, colliding with questions relating to what can be known to be real, within the field of algorithmic composition. This music and text-based work examines the roles and signifiers of instrumentation and timbre as they unwittingly conspire to designate access, power, status, work and ultimately class. Paradoxically, Karlsson uses this critical-analytical standpoint as a means to build a large-scale instrumental work of structural and sensorial beauty which creates a kind of mirage, extending and augmenting the perception of the real for the listener.

Timbre and entrances and exits are the essential building block used to create the work contained within this release. They serve as a vehicle for a harmonic language which moves through sets of densities, at times making the music appear translucent, and at other times, opaque. Due to the acoustic origins of the sound objects used within this collection of pieces, and the extensive processing applied to them, the resultant sound is that of a constantly shifting array of imaginary rooms for music populated by players free from the constraints of the laws of acoustics - a dream of an impossible ensemble music that never was.

Mapping the valleys of the uncanny is also the accompanying text. This labyrinth-like text was written at the same time as the music was composed and can offer an insight into Karlssons thought process regarding the making of the work and the practice of composing electronic music, as well as reflections on the social and political role of the artistic identity as a whole. While the musical work is rigorously structured within a finite set of parameters the text approaches its subject from a different point of view, drawing extensively from philosophy, political theory and popular culture. The narrator of the text is a shifting character. It moves restlessly and humorously through a myriad of perspectives and references throughout the text.

This release was made possible by generous support from The Swedish Arts Council.