Belgian composer Jean-Marc Lederman proves with his latest proposal to be as imaginative in the presentation as he has, so far, been musically. His new work, Sci-Fi Revisited can be accessed through a video game in which you will find the songs and solve some puzzles. As for the compositions, this time they serve as accompaniment to ten science fiction stories read by old acquaintances of the author, such as Tom Shear, Emileigh Rohn or the journalist and also musician Ken Magerman.
We have written about Jean-Marc Lederman on many occasions and, we can already tell you, we are going to do it a lot more in the near future. Or rather he will do it. Jean-Marc played with Fad Gadget, with the Goth band Gene Love Jezebel and even with the more electronic formation of The The. He came to the forefront with his projects The Weathermen (whose “Poison” is again and again being re-released and appearing on compilations like the Control I’m Here that Cherry Red released just yesterday), Kid Montana, Ghost and Writer, LEDERMAN/ DE MEYER and lately the inspired duo Roh-Lederman. He has also released a whole series of themed instrumental albums and other “collaborative albums” as good as Letters to Gods (and Fallen Angels).
Coming back to the particular album we’re dealing with today, I am goint to start with the game: when you buy Sci-Fi Revisited, you will receive an email to access a secret website. After entering the required password, you will arrive at the… laboratory. There you can listen to the tracks by simply clicking on the cathode ray tubes. In order to download all the tracks and the beautiful comic that it’s included, you will have to find a number of objects that do not belong to the era displayed in the screen. In doing so, you will also travel in time. Nothing complicated, but an original way to present the tracks.
Regarding the sci-fi novels, we have Tom Shea from Assemblage 23 reading a classic episode of The Twilight Zone, The Long Morrow. Comic book writer Christina Z, who also collaborated with Lederman in the past, narrates one of her stories. Jim Semonik, with whom Jean-Marc worked on The Raven, recites a novel by Jim Marcus. Tom Shear, along with Mari and Mila Shear recreate a work by Nima Miller. After this, Jean-Marc himself reads us Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics. Emileigh Roh, his partner in the duo we mentioned earlier, takes on a text of her own while journalist and singer Ken Magerman narrates a story by the great Philip K. Dick. Daz Sharp brings to life a novel by W. H. Young, while Julianne Regan of All About Eve recites a poem by Ray Bradbury. The “album” finishes with Jim Marcus (Die Warzau) and Sapphira Vee reading a text by JM Lederman himself.
But what does this new invention of Mr. Lederman sound like? After putting music the world of dinosaurs, the last voyage of the Titanic or Allan Poe’s The Raven, Lederman creates an ode to old sci-fi radio serials with a retro-futuristic sound and, like everything the compoer of “Poison” does, extremely detailed and inspired.
