Gaia (2026)
— Studio Recording

Gaia is the cornerstone track from my 2026 album “Daydream Observatory,” an album that points its lens towards self-examination and charts a course through a constellation of interior worlds. Sparked by a misunderstanding of the term ‘'psychogeography,” the album inhabits landscapes of consciousness, personal reflections, and skittering emotions through a collection of ten synth-saturated, drum-driven, “zone poems.” Gaia refers to the ancient greek personification of the Earth, imagined here using repetitive synth pulses and arpeggios to build a framework for propulsive drum playing and incendiary flute interjections.

Written, Recorded, Edited, and Mixed by Matt Evans at Worm World Studios 2024/25
Mastered by Stephan Mathieu
Artwork, Layout, and Design by Ana Vasquez

Gaia, arranged for Aquatic House (2026)
— Live version for 2 guitars, trumpet, flute, drums, and electronics

This live arrangement of Gaia features a mixture of direct transcription of the original musical material with additional material added in response to the idiosyncrasies of the collaborators and the unique instrumentation. Realized with limited rehearsal time, this performance leaned into elements of improvisation.

Performed by:
Chris Ryan Williams, trumpet
Laura Cocks, flute
Jennae Santos, guitar
Ben Seretan, guitar
Matt Evans, drums and electronics

An Infinite Cybernetic Meadow (2020)
— Studio Recording

An Infinite Cybernetic Meadow is from my 2020 solo album “New Topographics,” an aqueous collection of drum driven, hypnotic soundscapes that collage together the sounds of writing, typing, morse code and others— swirling sonic byproducts from our communication systems— with percussive improvisations and synthesized “creatures” to trace imagined landscapes. Synthetics and acoustics cross currents, unifying rubbery harmonies, wandering melodies, and incidental noises into a dreamy cybernetic ecology. An Infinite Cybernetic Meadow refers to both the glossy 2000’s digital design style Frutger Aero and Richard Brautigan’s poem All watched over by machines of loving grace, musically imagining this fictional space through squiggling synths and simple drum patterns.

Written, Recorded, Edited, and Mixed by Matt Evans at Pioneer Works 2018
Mastered by Heba Kadry
Artwork “Fluorescent Anomaly” (2014) by Devra Freelander

An Infinite Cybernetic Meadow, arranged for Wild Up (2023)
— Live version for violin, saxophone, percussion, electric bass, drums, and electronics

This live version was developed over a week of rehearsals and provides one of the most nuanced performances of these arrangements. The tone and color of each part was meticulously worked out to develop a perfectly dreamy, alien sound world.

Performed by:
M.A. Tiesenga, tenor saxophone
Sidney Hopson, vibraphone and percussion
Andrew Tholl, violin
Stephen Pfeifer, electric bass
Matt Evans, drums and electronics

Hyperbolic Time Chamber (2022)
— Studio Recording

Hyperbolic Time Chamber is a cut from my 2022 solo record, “Soft Science.” The album is a collection of brightly-hued maximalist miniatures that combine squiggly free drumming and alien synthesizers to sew together equal parts millennial iconography (mushrooms / house plants / anime) and retro-futurist sci-fi (Sam Delaney, THX 1138, Ursula Le Guin) in an expression of waning utopic yearning. Hyperbolic Time Chamber refers to a a fictional dimension from the Dragon Ball series featuring extreme time dilation, here imagined using overlapping synth arpeggios and complex rhythmic cycles.

Written, Recorded, Edited, and Mixed by Matt Evans at Tunnel of Light Studios 2021
Mastered by John Thayer
Art & Design by Steve Rosborough

Hyperbolic Time Chamber, arranged for Bearthoven (2024)
— Live version for piano, bass, drums, and electronics

This live arrangement of Hyperbolic Time Chamber is likely the most meticulously transcribed from the original, mapping the intricate synthesizer arpeggios onto the piano with bass and drums holding down the complex rhythmic interplay. To achieve this effect, the arrangement was fully notated with little improvisatory space for the performs.

Performed by:
Karl Larson, piano
Pat Swoboda, upright bass
Matt Evans, drums and electronics

For Oyster (2026)
— Studio Recording

For Oyster is the first track from my 2026 album “Daydream Observatory,” and one of the most personal in my discography. The title refers to both the biological species and a nickname for my partner, here imagining a hopeful sensation through the use of colorful synthesizer counterpoint and intimate field recordings.

Written, Recorded, Edited, and Mixed by Matt Evans at Worm World Studios 2024/25
Mastered by Stephan Mathieu
Artwork, Layout, and Design by Ana Vasquez

For Oyster, arranged for SoSI Open Ensemble (2026)
— Live version for 25+ musicians

This is the most open of my arrangements. Commissioned by the So Percussion Summer Institute, this version was devised to be played by a large group of musicians with very little rehearsal and very few necessary specifications, with the goal to get as many musicians involved as possible. The jammy nature of this music favors inclusion over stipulations, with For Oyster as the concert’s finale.

Performed by:
2026 So Percussion Summer Institute Participants, percussion and synthesizers

Sundogs (2019)
— for 2 violins, 2 violas, and boombox

Sundogs was commissioned by andPlay duo and Aperture duo in 2019 for their 2020 performances of [ a place is a place ].  The composition represents the title—a natural phenomenon where frozen water droplets refract the light of the sun to create mirage-like mock suns—while simultaneously using this phenomenon as a poetic expression of the refracted ways we experience a person after their death.

Listen to 9:00 to hear a dissonant chorale that interlaces with sparkling harmonics.

mesh ii (2017)
— for violin, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, trombone, bass and drums

mesh ii was commissioned by Exceptet in 2016 for their performance at Roulette. The music is a relatively short spiraling lattice that links rhythmic cycles and just-intonation harmonies to create a music that spins towards harmonic and rhythmic consonance in tandem.

Listen at 18:00 to hear polyrhythmic tension resolve into the works groovy conclusion.

Quilts (2016)
— for 2 drumkits, maraca, and synthesizer

I wrote Quilts in 2016 to play with my percussion ensemble Tigue. Inspired by Sol Lewitt’s wall drawings, logical systems govern the form of the composition by layering a small collection of rhythmic material in alternating permutations to create a whirling declaration of neon energy.

Listen at 8:00 to hear interlocking drum patterns highlighted by glowing synth drones.

Still Life No.1a + No.1b (2015)
— for piano and violin

Still Life No.1a + No.1b is the first classical composition I wrote after moving to New York. Clocking in at nearly 30 minutes, it’s an austere work of subtle variation that explores the expressivity of simple melodic permutations on the piano and the violin.

Listen at 17:40 to hear twinkling piano lines over a whispering violin.