NEON ICON

SODOM & GOMORRAH

2011-11-30T22:42:00.000-08:00

Sodom & Gomorrah is an EP constructed similarly to my Interiors/Exteriors EP in that both consist of two long tracks, each S&G half being around 15 minutes of swirling drones, circling tribal drums, moaning guitars, etc. Semi-apocalyptic rambling movements that flow into one another and attempt to evoke images of the notorious biblical landscapes sprawling with sin-filled streets, such as scenes of violence, prostitution, or false idolatry. Each track represents one of the twin sin cities and loosely imagines the wanton depravity that is always associated with those landscapes, the consequent mass destruction of the cities by a jealous god, and the resulting aftermath of rebirth, new life and possibility in the wake of total societal collapse. Perhaps I am not successful in evoking such imagery with my material but that's the concept in any case. I imagine that my vision of Sodom and Gomorrah, the places, are more so used as broad representations of the malleability of society taken en masse, herds with a collective subconscious that, in generalized terms, often daydream of or occasionally veer toward chaos, persuasion, reckless abandon and violence rather than stability and structure. Mass societal bodies tend to be over-generalized but there is a truth in the way that populations will often conform to the norms and conventions that develop for whatever reason, and conformity to these conventions can frequently be embraced without question, conventions no matter how outlandish will be conventions if accepted by the majority. But that isn't to say that societies are always full of blind followers that are easily manipulated. However, the way the concept relates to the wayward cultural breakdown of biblical Sodom and Gomorrah is part of what inspired this project.

DOWNLOAD:
SODOM & GOMORRAH (EP)

Track List:

01. Sodom
02. Gomorrah

A CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR YOU

2011-06-08T23:45:00.000-07:00

A Christmas Gift For You From Randall & Garrett is an EP that my brother and I recorded during last Christmas season in order to give out as Christmas gifts to our family. We handed them out and received a glowing response from our grandmother (who spins the disc whenever we visit now). The EP consists half of ambient tracks and half of cover songs (mostly '50s and '60s ones), the latter of which feature mostly standard instrument arrangements of guitars, bass, drums, and keyboards as well as vocal duties evenly tackled by my brother and I. Although it was titled for and produced during the Christmas season, there is not a hint of any holiday spirit or reference in any of the tracks, it was intended to be a Christmas time gift and not a Christmas music album. I should have made this album available during the holidays but it seems I forgot or it was forgotten, I'm not too sure. I am basically making available now to anticipate the impending completion of our current album project, which will be an LP entirely of various covers (again most of them will be from between the '50s to the '70s. Although I am proud of this effort, the new LP will be an improvement with more songs and our interpretations of a myriad of older/classic songs with radical invention and departure.

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A CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR YOU FROM RANDALL & GARRETT

A Christmas Gift For You From Randall & Garrett track list:

01. Intro
02. In Spite of All the Danger (The Quarreymen)
03. Lonesome Town (Ricky Nelson)
04. Interlude
05. Spider and I (Brian Eno)
06. Ride Into the Sun (The Velvet Underground)
07. Outro

DREAMLIFE OF THE SLEEPLESS

2011-04-25T22:19:00.000-07:00

Dreamlife of the Sleepless is an LP with content aligned with the other albums I've been working on lately, in that these albums are less stylistically uniform and more varied with most of the tracks fairly different from one another. That said, it still sounds generally like the Neon Icon sound with slabs of drones, groans, bleeps and squeals chopped up, blending sputtering loops with percussion of varying types. And truthfully, a lot of the tracks are still very much based in the ambient, atmospheric realm but there are tracks such as the title song that are attempts at happy little instrumental jams. Expect a handful of similar minded albums currently in the works!

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DREAMLIFE OF THE SLEEPLESS (LP)

DAS RHEINGOLD

2011-04-03T16:01:00.000-07:00

Das Rheingold alludes to Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen and the opening track is indeed a "cover" of the prelude to Wagner's Das Rheingold, the first section of the opera. The prelude's drone-like composition, perhaps one of the first drone compositions ever conceived, famously (and perhaps apocryphally) came to Wagner as he lay half asleep and was meant to evoke the flowing water of the river Rhine. The rest of the EP consists of less direct references to Wagner's opera but the tracks are also sort of inspired by that concept of drone music evoking bodies of water and flowing rivers. Most of the album was composed with a keyboard and is basically beat-less, as I was attempting to explore soundtrack-like atmospheres akin to '70s German bands like Popol Vuh. The prelude cover was recorded with my brother Garrett Leong on additional guitar who also performed the song with me at our most recent live show at Warbler Records in downtown Santa Barbara.

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DAS RHEINGOLD (EP)

ARCANE DESIGNS

2011-01-31T23:02:00.000-08:00

Arcane Designs is the sister album to In a Valley of Gilded Shame. So it similarly explores ambient and drone almost exclusively, with the exception of opener "Mono Lake" which features a simple bongo rhythm. It's perhaps slightly denser than Valley with longer tracks and a cleaner, more austere approach. A very small, limited CD-R run of the LP has been made available if anyone is interested.

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ARCANE DESIGNS (LP)

IN A VALLEY OF GILDED SHAME

2011-01-17T02:24:00.000-08:00

In a Valley of Gilded Shame is an LP I just completed that I basically made in preparation for the impending release of Arcane Designs, a rather ambitious LP that I finished about a month ago. They are essentially sister albums, this one being shorter, with a major focus on ambient and drone, styles that I've never been a stranger to but while my previous work tends to flip-flop between atmosphere and structure, these albums are almost pure ambient. In a Valley of Gilded Shame opens with a drone song trilogy of sorts that was recorded onto tape, while the rest of the tracks were recorded digitally. I sample and loop a great deal of myself playing and my own instruments for many of the tracks here, including the occasional drum or beat for the last few songs, sort of breaking the "pure" ambient nature of the rest of the LP. Stay tuned for the release of Arcane Designs as well. I also plan on making physical copies of both these albums available (with color artwork!).

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IN A VALLEY OF GILDED SHAME

In a Valley of Gilded Shame track list:

01. I Wish I Were Going Home/Orchids/Ceremonial Headdress
02. Soft Death
03. Impossibly Devoted
04. Midnight Paranoia 2
05. Evening Redness
06. Rolling Valleys
07. The Silver Palace of Invisible Girls
08. Shadow & Shade
09. Fading Day

CRIMSON AND CRYSTAL

2010-10-21T22:07:00.000-07:00

"Crimson and Crystal" is a single track release that I recorded the other day that indulges in an extended intro and outro but the meat of the song revolves around a repetitive throbbing bass line, sprinkled with atmospheric guitar bits. I've really wanted to post something on the site since it's been a few months but my computer breaking down a couple months ago has really put a damper on recording and releasing material. I still haven't fixed my computer (I'm broke) but luckily with other computers in the house I've recently finished an LP and nearly another one as well. Hope to post those soon.

DOWNLOAD:
CRIMSON AND CRYSTAL (SINGLE)

JESUS FREAKS

2010-07-10T23:26:00.000-07:00

Jesus Freaks is an LP completed a few months ago that further explores the religious and sacrilegious preoccupations that the "icon" portion of my Neon Icon moniker was more-or-less intended to evoke. Raised in the Catholic Church, I am naturally quite fascinated by the mythology and meanings of Catholic and Christian culture. As for the sound of the album, the tracks don't stray too far from the ambient/psych-rock/pseudo-industrial texture and mood that I have been exploring for quite some time now, as usually samples or loops will swirl and explode with tribal beats and eventually sputter out into blissed-out drones.

Jesus Freaks track list:

01. Thee Sacrilege ov Thine Wicked Heart
02. Ignorant Sun
03. Night of the Long Knives
04. A Spectre of Destiny in the Eye of Ra
05. The Martyrium of Hippolytus
06. Ancient Offering
07. The Angelic Conversation
08. To Dismember an Evil Child
09. Blood of a Heathen

DOWNLOAD:
JESUS FREAKS (LP)

WHERE THE BLACKBIRDS GATHER

2010-06-30T18:09:00.000-07:00

Where the Blackbirds Gather is a two track LP, recorded around May 2010, in which I attempt to explore minimalist drones and loops in the most elongated form I have tried thus far. Inspired by Nurse With Wound and, of course, Current 93, I used treated keyboard loops and other samples (including a recording from a Hawaiian Catholic mass that I recorded) to create these two extensive and minimalist pieces.

Where the Blackbirds Gather track list:

01. Where the Blackbirds Gather
02. Where the Blackbirds Roam

DOWNLOAD:
WHERE THE BLACKBIRDS GATHER (LP)

GEMINI MOON

2010-04-27T21:38:00.000-07:00

Gemini Moon is an LP of recently recorded material, most of which was recorded in late March to early April. Overall, the tone of the album is fairly consistent with a lot of my other recent albums such as Satanic Dreams of the Pale Star and Jesus Freaks, two albums I have yet to post on this site. So basically, it has a lot of dense drone, atmosphere, and the occasional dance or tribal beat. Enjoy!

Gemini Moon track list:

01. Casting of a Wicked Shadow
02. Chicken Hawk
03. Flame Mountain Purification
04. A Most Excellent Charm Against the Hordes of Devils that Assail in the Night
05. Dingir Xul
06. Sick
07. June 1984
08. The Green Morning
09. Gemini Moon

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GEMINI MOON (LP)

NEON ICON?

2010-04-27T15:13:00.000-07:00

With the current influx of "Neon"-related monikers among today's musicians (Neon Blonde, Neon Trees, etc.), I've become slightly tiresome with the pseudonym that I created, especially now that Neon Indian has blown up as a pioneer of low-fi chill wave. But I have no real intentions on changing my project's name... I just wanted to express mild frustration.

HILDEGARD VON BINGEN

2010-03-15T03:30:00.000-07:00

A track named for and inspired by the vocal style of the liturgical works by the 12th Century German composer (amongst other things, including Christian mystic) Hildegard von Bingen. The song was composed entirely by voice with treated loops, of course, as well as several layers.

HILDEGARD VON BINGEN

CLEANSING (EP)

2010-03-10T14:32:00.000-08:00

Cleansing is an EP of all new material recently recorded, most of it sort of ambient, drone and synth-driven. There's a lot of tape manipulation and loops used as well. The last track is a loose cover of the classic 1963 surf instrumental "Wild Weekend" by the Rockin' Rebels.

Cleansing track list:

01. Cleansing
02. Sphinx
03. Unclean
04. White Oak
05. Wild Weekend

DOWNLOAD:
CLEANSING (EP)

THE MIRROR OF ORPHEUS (FEATURING SUBJECT)

2010-01-07T15:16:00.000-08:00

The first post of 2010 is a brand new collaboration between myself and Subject (Paul Grant) that meanders through ambient valleys and sequels all recorded on glorious cassette tape. The first track is an extended ambient jam, the second a loop collage of sorts, and the last a shorter, tape-manipulated piece.

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THE MIRROR OF ORPHEUS (EP)

A SPECTRE OF DESTINY IN THE EYE OF RA

2009-12-17T01:43:00.001-08:00

A brand new track that might be part of a new, much more subdued ambient album that I'm working on, which might not work since this track has an ambient intro and outro but the middle section is anything but...instead it turns into tribal drumming and keyboards. Also, other things currently in the works include another new album type thing heavy with samples and loops in the post-ironic, tropical drone vein as well as a split release with Santa Barbara/San Diego/Los Angeles-based band MOTHLIGHT, which should be very exciting!

DOWNLOAD:
A SPECTRE OF DESTINY IN THE EYE OF RA

SLENDER CANYON (MUSIC VIDEO)

2009-11-12T20:25:00.000-08:00

Another music video I shot and edited for an unreleased track called "Slender Canyon."

INTERIORS/EXTERIORS

2009-10-26T01:36:00.000-07:00

INTERIORS/EXTERIORS is a new two track EP that I made under the conditions of being very tired and a state of nearly passing out. The result is a lot of loops, piano, synth sounds, and drones of course.

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INTERIORS/EXTERIORS (EP)

BABY, DON'T YOU CRY

2009-10-18T00:43:00.000-07:00

Baby, don't you cry
Baby, don't you die

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BABY, DON'T YOU CRY

REVERSE MIRROR (MUSIC VIDEO)

2009-10-16T01:08:00.000-07:00

Here's a music video I made for the song "Reverse Mirror", which is on the RING CYCLE DREAM cassette EP.

INTIMIDATOR

2009-10-12T19:29:00.000-07:00

INTIMIDATOR is an LP I wrote and recorded sometime during 2008, mostly throughout the summer. It contains a personal favorite (if I may be self-indulgent for a moment), "Yankee Farm", a song about Cody Barry's house and which is usually performed whenever I do gigs. "Intimidation" is a song that I have also performed. "Mother, Can I Be Reborn?" is essentially about the birth of my NEON ICON project after abandoning the name OBSORNIGAN, which I deemed too difficult to spell, pronounce or remember. "Dawn N." is a track about a very special girl who works at a Wendy's restaurant in Goleta, CA.

DOWNLOAD:
INTIMIDATOR (LP)

Track Listing:

1. Mother, Can I Be Reborn?
2. Falling Into Itself
3. Intimidation
4. The Golden Mountain
5. Abscess
6. Dawn N.
7. Blind Contour
8. Push It Forward
9. Yankee Farm
10. If I Can't Remember

ANTISOCIAL 7"

2009-07-18T14:41:00.000-07:00

A virtual 7" of cheesy fun new material sort of inspired by watching Tron recently.

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ANTISOCIAL [7"]

RING CYCLE DREAM

2009-07-13T11:47:00.000-07:00

The first official Neon Icon release on Obeast Tapes. Get the physical copy at http://familytimemusic.wordpress.com/obeast-tapes/

DOWNLOAD:
RING CYCLE DREAM

STALKER

2009-04-25T19:22:00.000-07:00

New single!

DOWNLOAD:
STALKER

HE'll ASK US, INSTEAD

2008-12-28T01:27:00.000-08:00

A random new single!

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HE'LL ASK US, INSTEAD

BRITNEY SPEARS CIRCUS REMIXED

2008-12-09T21:43:00.000-08:00

I did some "remixes" of the new Britney Spears album "Circus" for a friend's birthday yesterday. The track list is probably out of order nor did I do all of the tracks on the album.

BRITNEY SPEARS CIRCUS REMIXED

I (NEON ICON) (LP)

2008-12-09T21:23:00.000-08:00

The debut Neon Icon LP is sometimes simply called "I" or self-titled and was recorded throughout spring and summer 2008.

I (NEON ICON) (LP)

AN ISLA VISTAN SUMMER (EP)

2008-12-09T21:20:00.000-08:00

Here's an EP recorded during my 2008 summer stay at the Manley CO-OP House in Isla Vista, California.

AN ISLA VISTAN SUMMER (EP)

ALEX & EVA (EP)

2008-12-09T20:55:00.000-08:00

Here's an EP recorded sometime before summer 2008 using Alex's and Eva's acoustic guitars, although not exclusively, and dedicated to them.

ALEX & EVA (EP)

GOATHORN EARTRUMPET - MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. (EP)

2008-12-09T20:10:00.000-08:00

Here is an EP recorded within a few hours from last Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY (EP)