Music

In addition to writing, I'm a published musician and composer under the name 12 Followers/Meteo Xavier and you can find anything and everything I do under that name (besides what you find here) at www.meteoxavier.com.

I currently have two albums out and you can find both of them here.

ESPERS (2011)


The first full-length album by 12 Followers and Meteo Xavier has been released on Aardvark Records/Lightfall Records as of 9/7/11.

Espers, by yours truly, is 8 tracks and one full hour of soundscape based new-age, ambient, world, and electronica music all rolled into a highly complex package of unique, expressive and slightly experimental music. It was started in April of 2009 purely as a need to get something done and go the distance and expanded into an ambient project that literally nearly killed me.

Ambient music that can kill? I should use that in my advertising.

The choice to make it ambient and new age was a personal challenge I sought, as most electronic artists start out with some ambient dirge no one, not even themselves care about, I challenged myself to create an ambient record that broke that mold. My goal here was to do ambient soundscape-driven music that didn't move but evolved; that had aural meditation with energy; that fit many conventions but broke them at the same time. It is very prog-rock based (in terms of concept, not execution) and no song sounds like any of the others on Espers; ending on a deliberately counteraction with a 10 minute, melodic, solo piano to counter the sparse, electronic, colorful atmospheres that came before it.

Considering my level of production at the time, and how many times this album tried to stillborn itself, it came out remarkably well thanks to production creativity and genius by Zircon and the piano performance and interpretation skills of Michael Hwang, who performed that 10 minute piano track.

I only wish now I could've had more resources to mix the production even better and add more stuff to some of the sparser songs (Tracks 2 and 5, respectively) and maybe that will be possible some day, but right now, this album, for a first-time attempt by an amateur, no-name composer with bad production tools, little if any training, major technical issues built purely on will power alone (as of 2009 anyway), is awesome, and I encourage you give me money for it.

Lots of money!

Actually, just $5.99 for the digital album on cdbaby.com gets you the MP3 album, and $7.99 (plus shipping and handling) for a physical copy on Kunaki (which these pictures are of).

Support this artist so that he may give you even higher quality music in the future, with actual rhythms, chord progressions, and strong melodies. Thank you all for your support and I hope you enjoy!





METEOCRITY VOL. 1 (2011)

 

Good morning, afternoon or evening, ladies and gentlemen. It is my proud honor to offer, on behalf of Wardriver, this free collection of assorted tunes and tracks I have worked on over the past few years in my bold and delusional pursuits to become a video game composer - re-mixed (not remixed, sadly) and remastered by bLiNd and then as a whole by Daniel Lippert (Usabellchan).

Meteocrity Vol. 1 by 12 Followers/Meteo Xavier is a very sharp contrast to my previous album, ESPERS. Very little ambiance and new age here, this is instead 18 tracks of SNES-PS1 style mid-to-fast tempo, melodically based tracks that were all done on commission or request in previous projects that, for one reason or another, never came to fruition or have yet to be published in any game form.

Why should they sit on my hard drive unused?

While I won't claim this album will blow your balls off or anything like that (it is free after all), I would hope fans of the 16-32bit sampled era of videogame music would find stuff to like here. Most, if not all, of these were done 2-7 years ago and done to strict employer demands (for better or worse), so if you don't like the music, you know what to kiss and where to find it. :)



All tracks except #9 and #18 loop twice and fade out. #18 is a full song and #9 loops four times by accident, but considering what my then-employer asked me to do with it, it seems fitting.

Not sure what else to tell you about it except I hope you enjoy it and I hope you spread it throughout the internet so I can grow and improve as an artist.

Now to give credit where credit is due:

Composition/Arrangement/Mixing: Meteo Xavier
Album Art: Meteo Xavier
Mastering: bLiNd for Tracks 1, 3, 8, 14, 16.
UsabellChan for Album mastering
Posted to Wardriver and assistance in release by: Suzumbachi, Fusion2004 and Ramaniscence from thasauce.net

If I've left anyone out, please contact me and let me know so I can credit properly.

Finally, reposted links for convenience.

* Meteocrity Vol. 1 by 12 Followers/Meteo Xavier
* Facebook Page for these tracks and more!
* Wardriver's Main Page featuring other releases by Bustatunez, JMR, Overcoat and others
* Thasauce.net - Thank you once again guys!
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