54 Minute Mirage

Cylob is an electronic music producer from the UK. Active since 1993, he has released 17 singles and 12 albums since then, on the labels Rephlex, Breakin' Records, Power Vacuum and his own Cylob Industries imprint. Although Cylob's music is predominantly instrumental, ranging from ambient styles to aggressive dance-floor sonics via pop pastiche and electronic funk, his most well known tracks have been the underground hits "Rewind" and "Cut The Midrange, Drop The Bass", which pioneered computer-generated rapping and singing on top of signature Cylob beats. His remix credits include reworkings for Mogwai, Aphex Twin, Soulwax (2 many DJs), Cristian Vogel and Mike Flowers Pops.

Cylob Industries was set up in 2007. It has so far released 7 albums and 3 singles of new or previously unreleased material, including under the alter-egos Ambient News and nonprivate. In addition, the label has reissued most of the Rephlex material.

Six years in the making, 54 Minute Mirage demonstrates the more melodic side of Cylob's music. In part, the sonic territory recalls albums such as "Cylobian Sunset" and the two Ambient News installments, with playful melodies and stirring strings. Acid lines play their part in four of the tracks. The sound palette, following on from 2015's "The Quantum Loonyverse", is almost entirely the result of modular analogue synthesis. Compositionally, some of the tracks push forward Cylob's interest in alternative time signatures. A new feature is the introduction of so-called "sliding harmony", where the tonal basis of a piece slides gradually up or down, sometimes creating different relationships between neighbouring chords than would otherwise be possible.