Playlist Notes: Novas 0.1: The Clouds Run Parallel

(previously: Mixtape of the Found Decade)

(previously as overture: Novas 0)

(previously in story time: Novas 0.01)

(previously in story time: Novas 0.02)

(previously in story time: Novas 5.3)

Never say never again, I guess.

There is a Novas 6, which takes the story of the Novas a little further into the future, and I think concludes it, but for now I’m leaving the story details of that unsketched. All I’ll say is that Cat Stevens performed in New Zealand and that reminded me of the odd driving beat of Angelsea, which seemed to connect to the equally odd beat of Peter Gabriel’s Solsbury Hill, and then somehow I stumbled on Scriabin’s Preparation for the Final Mystery, and a musical line seemed to form between those two points.

And I thought that was that, but then a Cold War vibe seemed to keep creeping back into my head. And then: Stranger Things Season 3, which referenced both R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A. and Neverending Story…. and the often uncredited female singer on that one, Beth Andersen, also did Dance Dance Dance for Scarface (1983), and the riff seemed the same as something, but what? And suddenly: Squares And Triangles.

And so this one was constructed as a musical palindrome, to match that strange sense of parallelism and tension the Cold War gave us. Every track of the first ten matches another one counting from the other side. Here becomes There. Up becomes Down. But it requires an eleventh to unlock the final code.

THIS BEGINS PROGRAM ELEVEN/I.

This story takes place before 0, just after 5.3. It is 1980. Jack is now an Operator for Astradyne. Susan is a mere Agent, under the neural control of SYSTEM.

Novas 0.1: The Clouds Run Parallel

Inspiration is what we hunger for. There must be changes, it’s part of the law.
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Playlist Notes: Novas 5.5: This Song Sends Love Through Act 1

(previously: Mixtape of the Found Decade)

(previously: Novas 0, Novas 5.3, Novas 5.4, Novas 1, Novas 4, Novas 2, Novas 5.1, Novas 5.2, Novas 3)

It is an alternate 1987. Two years ago, New Wave singers Susan and Jack fled an Earth in the throes of revolution to activate an approaching alien probe. Although they were successful, their stolen spaceship was destroyed by Company agents and Susan was caught in the blast…

Novas 5.5: This Song Sends Love Through

Act 1: Harmonic

There’s a threat approaching from the stars. All the horrors from Venus and Mars. Everybody better be on guard when the flying saucers land.
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Playlist Notes: Novas 5.4: In The Land Of Angels Act 1

(previously: Mixtape of the Found Decade)

(previously: Novas 5.3)

It is an alternate 1981. A young New Wave musician and a corporate security agent have become trapped inside an advanced military simulation.

This story takes place one year after Novas 5.3 and one year before Novas 1.

Novas 5.4: In The Land Of Angels

Act 1: Control

Some other time, some other place. Hey don’t bother me now. I just wanna feel the wind in my face. So hey don’t bother me now.
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