As one third of Melbourne’s Electric Jellyfish, Michael Beach has spent the last three years in a constant state of writing, rehearsing, and touring. Solo performances began as a way to keep playing when the band was on a break, and soon developed into an outlet for different material and types of expression.
BLOOD COURSES is the debut album from Michael Beach, and is both a catharsis and a celebration. It is a haunting exploration of life, death, beauty, and darkness. The California-born, Melbourne-based songwriter sought to replicate his intense live shows by focusing on sparse instrumentation and the use of tension and space. Recorded entirely analog at Heap Gap Studios in Melbourne, and mastered by Adam Dempsey at Deluxe Mastering, the album faithfully represents both of these things. The album was independently released in September of 2008, on both CD and vinyl, before being toured around both Australia and America.
Michael Beach solo performances remain a faithful reproduction of the material from BLOOD COURSES, as well as a launching pad for both new Electric Jellyfish and solo material.
“Somehow these songs seem to exist outside the framework of popular music, their structures both classic and completely individual. As such, Blood Courses is an album that will hopefully be regarded as a fully realised work long after its contemporaries have faded from memory. It avoids the pitfalls of genre, fashion and commercial considerations so successfully, I’m tempted to call it timeless.”