In a world saturated with AI-generated slop, Colorado’s Golden Brown (the instrumental project of Stefan Beck) is affirming the messy, wondrous, eclectic nature of humanity.
Almost all of his records come with deep thematic elements, including Whisker Fatigue from earlier this year. But with his new one, Patterner, it is a bit more obvious. The music is inspired by the Earthsea books by the late, great science fiction novelist, Ursula K. Le Guin. I am familiar with Le Guin, though I’ve yet to read the high fantasy Earthsea series or any of her books. Shame on me!
Stefan has obviously taken great inspiration from them, and the liner notes on Bandcamp explain this in more detail:
“Le Guin’s voice is needed now more than ever as our society embraces state violence and authoritarianism, and we continue to disregard the clear signs of climate collapse.”
In a message on Bandcamp announcing the release, he goes on to say:
“It feels weird to promote my music in this broken time in the world. I’ve been trying to get more comfortable with it. I really do think that reading books, listening to music, and engaging with art made by humans is key to holding onto our humanity in the face of fascism. People in power want us to feel isolated, useless, and afraid. That’s why they’re pushing AI on us in every medium. So I am trying to fight back by sharing real music made by real humans (me and Sara Jean), inspired by real books written by a real and extraordinary human, Ursula K. Le Guin.”
I find this incredibly refreshing. I, too, have been feeling weird about working on Third Eye, writing about music, or simply writing at all lately, especially because of AI.
I have spent much of my life building a writing career in journalism and other fields, and suddenly, it feels like those like me are being automated away.
That’s why musicians and artists like Golden Brown matter. Not only is the music on Patterner the type of pastoral and cosmic instrumentals he has perfected, but his deep commitment to his craft is inspiring.
So, sorry if you were looking for a deeper dive or musical analysis of Patterner. If you like Golden Brown’s previous work, I trust you will enjoy this one, too.
I rather felt it necessary to point out the virtues behind the project this time. If you’re looking for an artist who actually values art and human creativity, look no further than Golden Brown.
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