If the abbreviation »AI« scares you because artificial intelligence means the end of the music world, take a look at Jasmine Guffond. The Australian composer translates »AI« as »Alien Intelligence«. During an artist’s residency at the Groupe de recherches musicales (GRM) in Paris, Guffond noticed that the Serge modular synthesiser she was working with was indirectly influencing her compositional decisions. She developed an interface between the synthesiser and the music development environment Max/MSP to give technology the same influence on music as people.
The boundaries between the composer and the devices she uses become permeable. It’s a creative form of artificial intelligence, even »alien intelligence«. The album offers gentle modulations in the minimal-ambient track »Serge and Maxine Variation One«, deep drones on »Serge and Maxine Variation Three« that later turn into oscillating frequencies, and a melodic, almost playful lightness on the 15-minute »Serge and Maxine Variation Two«. What can be attributed to »Alien Intelligence« and what to the artist remains the Jasmine Guffond’s secret.
