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[VariantX04]

Alright then

Agent Whiskers levels up! Stage 2: The Path Untaken is Agent Whiskers' sophomore album, a sprawling electronic experience featuring 7 tracks that take you on a journey from the album's mysterious and eerie beginning to its vengeful end. Stage 2 is an adventure that unravels with every track, offering a cohesive structure while setting an atmosphere and tone that lasts throughout the album.

DOWNLOAD CODES

Hey, GAF! Please help a fellow GAFfer out by showing your support and spreading the word! If you could pay for the album, I'd be grateful but your support honestly means more than a few bucks. Get your download code in post #114. Quote to reveal the codes. Tell me what you guys think!

BOMBA! Special offer at Bandcamp! Buy the album for $3 or set your own price.

iTunes :: Bandcamp :: CDBaby :: Amazon

Official Agent Whiskers Website
Whiskers@Twitter
Whiskers@Facebook
Whiskers@YouTube
FIRST ALBUM: Official "Abstract Forms of Solace" NeoGAF Thread

Cover art by GAF's own Retro.

Track listing

1. Awaken (A Paradise in Ruins)
2. Contagion (A Dance With Death)
3. Rescue Me (Deep Sleep)
4. Retribution (Feeling Alive, Battle Scars and All)
5. Downpour (Finding Love in a Post-Apocalyptic World)
6. The Getaway (Just Drive)
7. The Final Chapter (The Godless King of No Man's Land Awaits)

Hey guys! I'm excited to announce that my new album, the video game-inspired journey "Stage 2: The Path Untaken", is now available on iTunes and Bandcamp. I'll be updating the thread with reviews and backstory on how I developed this album. Thanks to everyone for supporting me.

Why Stage 2? Why The Path Untaken?

During the recording of this album, I realized how much of my influence from video games translated into the music, and along with the narrative structure and this being my second album, I decided to give it that name. The Path Untaken is basically the overall sound of the album. It's a far cry from my first album and I hope it shows how diverse I can be. The Path Untaken also serves the story and premise of the album.

About

I started writing this album right after the release of my first album "Abstract Forms of Solace" and completed it in less than 3 months. This was a very ambitious (I was lucky, it just happened) album for me in that I wanted to completely absorb the listener and transport them into a world with a constantly shifting narrative. No filler, just a pure video game-inspired journey from beginning to end.

What's Changed Since "Abstract"?

I learned a lot from writing "Abstract". I realized I had this knack for cohesion in terms of where the album would be going next, although I feel I didn't capitalize enough on that with the first album. This is something that translates really well into the second album but I went further by adding the story elements, something secondary to invest in as you go through the album.

I also completely overhauled the drums. Being a drummer for 5 years, the stock Logic drum samples I used for the first album quite honestly bore me. Even though they lent a lot to the music, I still felt they were very limiting in terms of beat variation and fills. So I decided to write every single drum note on the album (aside from Awakening's first two minutes and Logic's Latin Fire percussion sample). I believe the extra work I've done on the drums give the songs more personality and power.

Last thing that's different is that this album is 11 minutes longer, despite it being a 7-track album. I've heard your grievances over why some songs were so short and now almost all tracks are at the 5 minute length with absolutely no breathing room. I tried to pack in as much music as I could into this album without it sounding generic or engineered. I aimed to make it natural and free-flowing.

Equipment Used

I produced and recorded this album on a 2.53GHz Core Duo, 8GB RAM MacBook Pro (#thankssteve), Logic Pro 9 and its basic instruments. Nothing flashy at all as I'm entirely new to the technical part of recording music.

Album Cover

After winning the contest by making that awesome cover for my first album, I decided to work with Retro again since I'd already thought out what I wanted out of the album cover and he was beyond capable of delivering. We wanted to give off a video game/adventure vibe out of the cover along with a hint at the narrative core I tried to firmly implant into the music.

More info in Retro's post (#49) below.

Random Tidbits

There's this weird distorted bell sound at the very beginning of "Awaken" and at the end of "The Final Chapter", I'm leaving it up to the listener to determine what that is in terms of the story that takes place. Stripped down, it's originally intended to signal the beginning and end of the story.

Also in the first and last tracks, you'll hear a voice saying "Alright Then" just before the dramatic climax of a song. In my own nerdy little way, I like to think that this is the protagonist facing imminent danger and persevering in the end. It especially hits home in "The Final Chapter" where you feel at the beginning of the track the odds are against you. As soon as that "Alright then" is uttered, the battle begins and you're kicking all sorts of ass.

Reviews

Agent Whiskers is a name to remember. Stage 2: The Path Untaken, is one of the most intriguing and exquisite albums to come out this year. This is one piece of music that you will want to give a listen to. You can tell all of your friends you knew about Agent Whiskers before he took over the music world as we know it.

Agent Whiskers is back with his sophmore release. Even before reading the biography for this album it’s clear what is driving this album. Perhaps it’s abundantly clear to me because I am a bit of a gamer. The underlying tone of each track are video games. It reads like a soundtrack to an RPG with sprinkles of old 64 bit games. This time around it feels a lot more fun and specialized. His previous instrumental release was driven to be ambient keys to keep your ears occupied without too much distraction. It’s clear he changed his direction slightly and it works. I thoroughly enjoyed the flow of “Downpour (Finding Love in a Post-Apocalyptic World)“. The rain plus thunder added a nice feel to it. A majority of these tracks could easily be heard as you slay virtual dragons and cast spells as you explore and conquer levels. It’s a solid follow-up to his debut.

Agent Whiskers is a talented electronic wizard with very solid songwriting skills. As an instrumental album, the electronic adornments soar to new heights with various percussion, sounds, and ambient bliss.

Agent Whiskers certainly has a way with using melodic hooks to evoke a mood and Stage 2: The Path Untaken manages to present each song as its own chapter in the story. Although most listeners depend upon and prefer lyrics to provide the narrative, gamers and fantasy buffs will undoubtedly gravitate towards this release. Considering that it ends with ominous bells and an explosion, could a sequel be in the works? Only Agent Whiskers knows for sure.

 

[VariantX04]

Updated the thread with details and backstory.

 

[Echoes]

I also completely overhauled my drumming dynamic. Being a drummer for 5 years, the stock Logic drum samples I used for the first album quite honestly bore me. Even though they landed a lot to the music, I still felt they were very lacking. Knowing that, I decided to write every single drum note on the album (aside from Awakening's first two minutes). I believe the extra work I've done on the drums give the songs more personality and confidence.

Fuck. Awesome. I'm just done with my first listen, but going to relisten with that in mind.

Random Tidbits

I immediately noticed how the album begins & ends with the same feel, right before reading this paragraph.

This album is above and beyond your previous one, and I loved that album so much.

Real impressions very soon!

 

[Particle Physicist]

Awesome. Will check out when I have time.

 

[VariantX04]

Thanks guys! I really hope this album gains traction and at the very least gets my name out there. I put a lot into it.

 

[Echoes]

I absolutely love the game-y sound in this album. It's mixed with the same sense of solitude of the first album, which is one hell of a mix. Contagion makes me think of quirky videogames; Pac-Man, Dig Dug, and such. And amidst the quirkiness, there is that solitude feel I'm talking about. It is really hard to describe feelings when it comes to music (hell; art in general), but I really love this blend. I can easily identify it as your work.

Retribution is fucking ace. From the first second I yelled: MEGA MAN! At certain points, it feels like a Dr. Wily battle theme, while at others it feels like a Dr. Wily stage. It has that Danger! feeling, which Mega Man games had perfected in their latter areas. It could've easily ended at the 3-minutes mark but I'm so glad you pushed more ideas in it. It's the "battle theme" of this album and I just can't stop loving it.

Downpour is so dreamy, you can't not love it. The Getaway had me on the 30-seonds mark; the percussion added a new layer of depth to the rhythm, it's amazing. I love the extended time for each track; it seriously changes dramatically when you compare how it starts and ends. And the way Getaway ends on the start of The Final Chapter is brilliant. Probably my favorite thing in music is when an artist chooses to blend two (or more) tracks together. Pure orgasmic effect. The last track is perfect. I love its dreadfully exciting sound (is that even possible?).

I personally think it surpasses your first album by miles. There is more rhythm and sound, and the fact that your shortest track is 3:25 long (while your longest track on the first album is 4:03) shows how much ideas you put on this record, and how much you moved forward and developed as a composer.

Two thumbs way up, man! I love it!

 

[VariantX04]

Thanks for the detailed impressions! I'm glad you enjoyed it as much as I did making it. I also feel like this is a gigantic leap from "Abstract". This is something really personal to me and I hope more people get to hear it. Thanks again!

 

[WrathOfOtaibah]

I shall inform the religious police of your TREASON FOR MUSIC

Spoiler

Will buy and give you feedback sooner than later

 

[VariantX04]

THEY'LL NEVAR TAKE ME ALIVE!

Spoiler

Awesome. Can't wait to hear what you think!

 

[VariantX04]

Made a few adjustments to the OP. More impressions!

 

[VariantX04]

WAKE UP, GAF! Help a brotha out with some more impressions.

 

[Echoes]

Took a trip to the beach for some Polaroid shooting (Polaroid 600 with a Silver Shade film, if you're interested), and was rocking the album all the way through.

It's seriously amazing. Sitting in the car, with no one around, checking my films & listening to this, is soundgasm. While not as ambient as the previous record, it makes a darn good job at surrounding you with its sound. Beautiful.

I paid more for my coffee yesterday. I'd be glad to pay double –hell, triple the asking price. Can't wait to see you go big and compose some shit for a game or a film. I say get in touch with some iOS developers.

 

[VariantX04]

I have some interesting projects lined up soon. If one of them in particular actually happens, I'll be doing backflips out of the country.

 

[VariantX04]

Album is out on Amazon in some parts of the world. The rest should follow soon.

 

[Crimson Clown]

Curse you Agent Whiskers for taking another chunk of cash out of my Arkham City fund!

 

[VariantX04]

Tell me if it was worth it.

 

[VariantX04]

I've spoken to Rolling Stone Middle East to have the album reviewed. They said they'll decide whether or not the review will be in the print edition and contact me. Can't wait!

 

[Crimson Clown]

Tell me if it was worth it.

It certainly was. Keep doing what you're doing, I can't get enough.

 

[PhoenixDark]

Will be checkin' this out

 

[VariantX04]

I won't be stopping any time soon. Thanks, crimson!

And I look forward to hearing what you think PD.

 

[WrathOfOtaibah]

I fucks with dis ish, brah.

Honestly though there's nothing I dislike about it, the first two are good and are on the "like" category but dizzamn at the stretch from "Rescue Me" to "The Final Chapter". Especially the last 3!

Downpour and The Getaway are your best songs.

 

[VariantX04]

Thanks! Yeah the wheels start turning faster as you approach the end.

 

[VariantX04]

Amazon is taking its sweet time getting the album up. Usually doesn't take this long.

 

[WrathOfOtaibah]

No worries bro, also I have some electronica fans so I'll hit them up with this next time I hang out with them. Best of luck with reviews, sales and all!

 

[Gomu Gomu]

Alright, I'm not gonna lie: In the previous album's thread, I thought "Oh dear, he's using the boo hoo I'm from a country that doesn't support my hobby as his shtick and for attention". And believe me, I've seen many so called musicians that are relying on that, instead of actually being good at what they do, and letting their work talk for them. So, in all honesty, I thought that about you.
But, damn, did you prove me wrong. You are truly talented. Your music is amazing. The 1st album wasn't bad, tbh. But this one is just brilliant. I could easily see a bright future for you as an indie games composer, or even bigger than that.

Even though I always disagree with you, and almost every other Saudi-Gaf here, on your hate and loathing for this country, I must set my differences with you aside, and tell you that you are talented, and wish you good luck on your future endeavours .

 

[reptilescorpio]

Great music is great. Nice work man.

 

[VariantX04]

Alright, I'm not gonna lie: In the previous album's thread, I thought "Oh dear, he's using the boo hoo I'm from a country that doesn't support my hobby as his shtick and for attention". And believe me, I've seen many so called musicians that are relying on that, instead of actually being good at what they do, and letting their work talk for them. So, in all honesty, I thought that about you.
But, damn, did you prove me wrong. You are truly talented. Your music is amazing. The 1st album wasn't bad, tbh. But this one is just brilliant. I could easily see a bright future for you as an indie games composer, or even bigger than that.

Even though I always disagree with you, and almost every other Saudi-Gaf here, on your hate and loathing for this country, I must set my differences with you aside, and tell you that you are talented, and wish you good luck on your future endeavours .

Thank you, man. I sincerely appreciate you coming in and writing that. Yes, I am pretty vocal about my grievances with this country but you should know that I don't hate it here. I just don't really belong as my personal views are unanimously frowned upon. Having been raised in Virginia only to end up in Saudi was by far the worst thing to ever happen to me at the time (2001). Regardless, I'm seriously thankful for your support.

Great music is great. Nice work man.

Thanks! Spread the word. I need more GAF members to chime in.

 

[VariantX04]

Just set up a Facebook Ad covering the Gulf countries initially. Will expand soon.

 

[trinest]

I have to say, I don't mind Agent Whiskers stuff.

 

[VariantX04]

Thanks, I guess.

 

[Damon Bennet]

Just heard it on bandcamp. Is there a way for you, to get this on zune marketplace? i have no idea how this stuff works, but I would prefer to buy it there, as I dont like to use my credit card information on stores other than the ones i regularly use

 

[VariantX04]

It should be up on the Zune Marketplace in the next few days. You could use PayPal at Bandcamp, have you tried that?

 

[Damon Bennet]

It should be up on the Zune Marketplace in the next few days. You could use PayPal at Bandcamp, have you tried that?

i dont have a paypal account, since i never really used ebay for expensive things. I may be the only person I know without paypal.

 

[VariantX04]

No problem. Shouldn't be too long until it shows up on the Zune Marketplace.

 

[VariantX04]

Added a few more links to the OP. Considering writing the overall story idea that plays out in my head whenever I hear the album. Sort of cheesy in a way, though lol.

 

[VariantX04]

More impressions! Don't let me down, GAF.

 

[VariantX04]

Got an interview lined up with an Egyptian radio station to talk about the new album! Should be fun.

 

[VariantX04]

i dont have a paypal account, since i never really used ebay for expensive things. I may be the only person I know without paypal.

Is it still not up on Zune? Even amazon is slower than it normally is. Hopefully after the weekend it should be up.

 

[VariantX04]

Just to note, the full album can be heard at Bandcamp. Forgot to clarify that earlier. Major derp on my part.

 

[big ander]

Great album, everyone should check it out.

 

[VariantX04]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.

 

[VariantX04]

I got 4 reviews (maybe 5) incoming this week. The Facebook ad I set up was a pretty good idea, even though most people who Liked are out of the demographic who actually listen to electronic music. But hey, it's a start. These things take time and require a fuckton of patience.

 

[warthog]

I just got your first album from itunes 2 weeks ago. I really like it. At first I was like: "Just to support a fellow gaffer. But meh, this will be some electronic generic bland stuff." Then I listened to it and liked it. I listened some more, and liked it even more. It kinda reminded me of some Plaid stuff.

Great work!

I'm listening to the next 1 on bandcamp now. Will give my opinion about it later.

 

[VariantX04]

Thanks, man. Yeah, it's really hard to get people to listen to your work, especially when you're trying to promote it yourself. I'm glad you took the time! Hopefully, others will follow.

 

[VariantX04]

Album's finally out on Amazon! If anyone could check Zune that would be great.

 

[Agent Cooper]

Yes! I can't wait to buy it! You should update your website with the links to buy it. :3

 

[VariantX04]

Yeah, I contacted the guy who runs my site and he's going to take care of that. Tell me what you think when you hear the album!

 

[VariantX04]

The great Bear McCreary got his hands on my album and told me he absolutely loved it! He said it had an epic RPG game feel to it. I'm truly honored.

 

[Retro]

Alright, finally getting to this thread after being on vacation for a week; Whiskers and I were hammering out the album art the night before I left. Having been listening to this for the last month or so, I can say that this is definitely some great music for getting into a groove while working.

I would *love* to build a game around the soundtrack and my own personal idea of what the story is (which I might post later, don't want this one to get too long). It's a great album.

The album art was an interesting journey; upon hearing the album for the first time it immediately jumped out as video-game oriented, so I initially wanted to do something in that regard. I've been doodling side-view platformer levels since I was a little kid and it's just something I tend to do when I'm bored or warming up creatively. Here's the examples I sent to Whiskers when I pitched the idea;

http://oi54.tinypic.com/2n249jq.jpg

http://oi51.tinypic.com/16jmti.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~retrogames/long.jpg

Unfortunately, the size of the album cover limited this approach; the levels just sort of stacked up on each other and it just looked messy and cluttered. I did have one interesting idea on how to approach the scale and have a really interesting look, however. Instead of just being linear platforms, the 'stages' would start at the center and spiral outward. Here's a quick scan I did of that concept;

(Here's a larger version)

However, the lack of space and flow lead to things just looking like long hallways filled with doodads, so I wasn't even crazy enough to keep going that route. You can see the first and second stage (Awaken and Contagion) are there, though.

Here's some concept sketches I did for Contagion; I wanted to have something other than the obvious "Big tanks of chemicals";

It was clear the hand-drawn approach wasn't going to work, and I'm *terrible* at pixel art. We did like the spiral concept, however, so I did a quick concept design where each ring is a stage, with just some very basic imagery for each track (only 1, 2, and 5 are done);

However, this really didn't feel 'adventurous', nor did it incorporate any kind of imagery relevant to the album title (there are no paths untaken). It was also very busy and I think both Whiskers and I favor a more clean, minimalist look.... so, I honestly spent too much time and energy trying to get the whole platforming thing to work when I should have realized earlier on it was a dead end. It got to the point where Whiskers wanted to get the album out but I was taking too much time to get the cover done. So he tossed me an idea on what he wanted; "A white cover with footsteps leading somewhere with a sword lying on the ground."

I ended up doing a quick sketch of it on my phone (since I was out at the time but felt that surge of creative energy that usually accompanies last-minute projects);

Rather than a full white, I wanted to try a half-black / half-white balance with the artist and album title inverted. The sword and footprints are there, but I added some blood splashes to counterbalance the weight. Whiskers preferred an all-white cover, however, and I honestly have to agree that it worked out for the best. I have a tendency to over-think things and in this case I was carefully balancing the image elements rather than just letting them flow naturally.

We finally ended up hashing out some ideas and putting it together in the span of maybe 3 or 4 hours, and the end result is in the OP. There was a minor glitch in the image (a stray black line I somehow missed) so Whiskers had to edit that out himself (since I was already 3 or 4 hours into a 6 hour drive).

Overall a great album with my terrible 'art' dragging it down.

 

[VariantX04]

You're too hard on yourself. Everyone I know has been raving about the cover. Couldn't be happier.