Unicorn

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Unicorn
Unicorn cover
Studio album by Ugress
Released January 28th 2008 | [TL]
Genre Electronic
Length 38:08
Label Uncanny Planet Records
UPC/EAN 842994010425
UPPC UP 009
Ugress chronology
Chromosome Corrupt
(2007) 		Unicorn
(2008) 		The B Vault
(2008)
Album on ugress.com
Buy this album now

Unicorn is the third studio album of Ugress, released January 28th 2008. It had been in production for over three years, and the release date was published relatively late, along with the ignition of the Unicorn Countdown.

It includes the voice talent of Christine Litle and Heidi Marie Vestrheim and the bass talent of Jørn Rathe.

Contents

[edit] Track listing

  1. Redrum [03:08]
  2. Lost In Time [02:39]
  3. Evil Jeans [02:27]
  4. Fail To Grow [02:50]
  5. Kommisär Kontemporär [02:40]
  6. The Ultimate Fix [02:21]
  7. Harakiri Martini [02:48]
  8. He Is My Listener [05:02]
  9. Zombie Eagles [03:31]
  10. Blue Magnetic Monkey [02:51]
  11. Regression 22 [07:51]

[edit] Towards the release

An album progress page has been up on Ugress' website from October 1st 2005, counting approximate numbers for file counts, gigabytes, songs and averages on the previous. On November 26h 2007 (countdown day T-64) the tracks for Unicorn were finished.

Unicorn will have a total of 11 tracks. [1] On December 20th 2007 a single called The Ultimate Fix featuring Christine Litle was released, and later Redrum on January 14th 2008 (exactly two weeks before release of Unicorn).

3000 copies of Unicorn have been printed, with the goal of 1000 copies sold by 2008. [2] Official preorders started January 22nd, although other, Uncanny-independent stores have been preselling for days. [3]

Unicorn has UPPC "UP 009", but on the actual disk it is printed "UP 003", this is due to miscommunication between GMM, his manager and the pressing plant.[4] UP 003 is actually for the Sophisticated Wickedness EP.

[edit] Album cover art

A 1418 by 1418 sized cover was released in celebration of 2008.

A number of interesting things can be discovered in the artwork. The essential trademarks of an Ugress album cover are included too; the audio wave (in the tube with 3480 under it) and the Ugress skull logo (in the monitor below it).

There is an origami unicorn on the leftmost monitor (The one that Gisle has his hands on). Two floating heads can also be seen in tanks to the right of Igor. These heads belong to Heidi Marie Vestrheim and Christine Litle.

The artwork also features a lot of numbers, probably related to the forthcoming riddle. Examples of these are the numbers 22 in the top left corner (possibly a reference to any or all tracks in the 22 theme). There are also the numbers "6581" on the telegraph at the far right end of the table, and "3480" underneath the "oscillator tank" to the right of the floating heads.

[edit] Reception

The album only stayed for at week at the Norwegian hit chart VGLista at #33 (Week 6, 2008)[5]. However, this is the first album with higher sales in USA and Europe than Norway, and more digital sales than physical copies[6].

Several Norwegian newspapers reviewed the album, aftter the release. The reception was mixed, dice throws ranged from 2/6[7] to 5/6[8]. The reviewers opinions ranged from:

The sound-forger from Bergen balances elegantly between too much and too little. He manages to suprise and takes the listener on a musical journey from seventies disco, via punk, metal and cabaret and a quick trip to the far east.[9]

to:

«Unicorn» will probably work as a backdrop at parties, but the album is generally un-elegant and less influenced by fun ideas than earlier albums.[10]

[edit] Extra album riddle

Spoiler warning: Following details may spoil surprises for you. Continue at your own risk.

The album booklet contains a Data Matrix code on one of the pages, similar to that on the back cover for the Ninja 9000 EP Bit Collapse. Using a semacode reader an URL can be obtained. This hidden webpage presents the user with the riddle, which asks the user to input a verb and a noun. Per each guess, both words will be jugded separately; as such, one could know for sure the correct verb without a clue of the noun.

See the full article at Unicorn Riddle.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ↑ http://gmm.ugress.com/post.asp?id=401
  2. ↑ http://gmm.ugress.com/post.asp?id=452
  3. ↑ http://gmm.ugress.com/post.asp?id=488
  4. ↑ http://gmm.ugress.com/post.asp?id=455
  5. ↑ http://lista.vg.no/album_info.php?AlbumOp=show&albumId=10223&albumtype=album&albumtype_id=1
  6. ↑ http://farojournalen.gan.no/id/1614
  7. ↑ http://www.adressa.no/kultur/musikk/anmeldelser/article1015402.ece
  8. ↑ http://www.side2.no/musikk/anmeldelser/article1565889.ece
  9. ↑ http://www.side2.no/musikk/anmeldelser/article1565889.ece
  10. ↑ http://www.adressa.no/kultur/musikk/anmeldelser/article1015402.ece
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