The Lower Third

The Lower Third is James Crane, a visual artist who has been composing music with assorted instruments and music software on the computer since early 2003....in 2004, he developed and completed material for his first CD. This was a hurried project so more completed material was added and songs reworked for the second release in 2005. Coming from various reviewers, the album has been considered warm and organic, a blend of retro and modern, from 70's-esque ambient analog synth pieces to rhythmic new wave/electro dirges with comparisons to Bowie's "Crystal Japan" early Pink Floyd and Jean Micheal Jarre. Comprised of many genres of music, most notably dark ambient - ethereal and alternative/gothic rock, the majority of the sound is instrumentally energetic & dreamy, with "take you away to another time and place" resonances, creating a spiritual "trip" full of flights of fancy for the listener. In addition to the ethereal instrumental sound are songs which are rock oriented with shaded toned lyrics examining the fundamentally murky nature of the human condition. The work is ever evolving, moving in many directions with priority given to dark emotional soundscapes which might be the core element for the forthcoming CD.

I've played guitar in my teens and twenties, been working with music software since 2003..near the end of 2004 after becoming more eager about composition, I became much more interested in getting the sound heard which resulted in my second CD release of the self titled "The Lower Third". A life-altering injury occurred shortly after, resulting in everything coming to a grinding halt. A half dozen or so, songs were developed during the next couple years with hope's of more on the way. The desire remains...

Since I compose all my music with computer, with the exception of additional guitar and keyboards, no live shows are produced and to be honest, performing the same songs repeatedly would become stale quite quickly.. The creative process, the path to the completed work has been much more attractive whether it's with music, highly detailed surrealistic drawing, painting with various mediums, writing or whatever else that catches my attention for a few years before moving on to something else.. Money or fame is not what I strive for, rather I challenge myself to strike a level where I have surpassed my goals, never giving myself a time limit but allowing myself the freedom to achieve my goal.. The concept of time has no meaning except when I have business to attend to with the people who reside inside the box..

My influences are widely varied from the sounds of the city at night, the many voices of nature, surrealistic exaggeration and soundtracks of thriller-horror movies. As for other musicians, the jazzy improvisational sounds combined with the complexity of Frank Zappa's compositions, the structured chaos of Captain Beefheart, Peter Gabriel. the new age artists such as Kitaro and the Windam Hill musicians, particularily the "guitarist from another planet", Michael Hedges, electronics of Ultravox, Depeche Mode, Brian Eno, the darker tones of Midnight Syndicate, Dead Can Dance, Aphex Twin, The Cure, Tool, A Perfect Circle, guitarists such as Randy Rhoads, Steve Vai. the genius of Pagannini, to name a few.

An MTV Music Generator computer software disc, Sony's "Acid" music program is used on the last song, a Gibson Epiphone SG, an Edirol PC-50 keyboard as well as sound- bytes taken from nature, my own voice, friends voices and odds and ends which produce interesting sounds. All is then cleaned up with Sony's Sound Forge Audio Studio.

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