The Facebook group I started and affectionately named Music Nerds was meant for people who take the Nerd part of the equation to the extent that the people in the new documentary The Computer Accent do, though that seems like an unreachable goal. These guys? Wow.
The group known as YACHT, absolutely not to be confused with Yacht Rock (which I love, sue me) is an acronym for Young Americans Challenging High Technology. Not going to lie – these guys are quite out there, which is both a compliment and a consumer warning; they’re not for everyone and they don’t want to be.
Jona Bechtolt and Claire L. Evans are YACHT, with Robert Kieswetter, and what is documented in this film, is their experiment wherein they collaborated with Artificial Intelligence to make an album of music. Yes, it is heavily math nerd, code, and science stuff – but the idea was to see what would happen if they let AI help compose the songs, write lyrics, and even create the artwork, videos, typography, and press photographs. The whole deal.
The result was their seventh album, Chain Tripping, which was nominated for a GRAMMY Award for Best Immersive Audio Album.
Look, I’ll be honest, there are sections of the film that will be more appealing to computer nerds, rather than music nerds, but the cool thing is to see, through this experiment, where those two merge, fuse, become inextricably linked.
I thought it was an interesting watch, and as the musicians wrestle with the possibility that AI will overtake the creative process of real live musicians, ultimately we realize that the software programs of this nature are designed to assist, rather than replace the artists.
The film is embarking on a slow roll theatrically out, but keeps it in mind for when it’s in your town or on demand, etc. Here’s the latest info from their official website that will be continuously updated.
I really feel it’s important to watch the trailer below to get a good feel for what’s happening here:
