It’s always in the news. Artificial Intelligence, that is, and depending on which demented viewpoint you choose to hold, said technology will either free the human race from the slavery of being human or round all humans up and bomb them into apathy. The important question, however, is whether artificial intelligence can actually compose a decent tune which takes me on to the subject of the “TV3” album by Transient Visitor.
Transient Visitor – aka Alex Cargill and Martin Jensen – have been doing their loop and don’t talk thing for a while now and, despite sometimes sounding like escapes from the dancefloor, their mix of beats and samples does manage to evoke the sound of the big city of today quite effectively. “TV3” duly brings more of the same with perhaps a greater degree of polish than their previous releases which might well, in consequence, prompt you to think of ordering an upgraded sound system with your next Audi.
The thing about “TV3” is that it works better than it should There are no lyrics and all that is looped, which is just about everything, manages to sound, if not actually organic, altogether more mechanical than the product of some digital intelligence. That, I might suppose, is the appeal of music like this. It has the comforting sound of the machine yet there is enough that is real contained therein to make it accessible even to those who do not own an Audi with the Bose sound system upgrade.
So, could artificial intelligence produce an album like this? Not today but maybe one day but that day is (hopefully) a long way away.
The album is available from Bandcamp and there is even a vinyl option.