“One Track Mind” features a Washtenaw County artist or band discussing one song from their latest release.

Standout Track: No. 2, “Maneuvers Through the Prominence of Tau Ceti,” from Michael Skib. The Ann Arbor artist’s latest album, The Distance Between Two Stars, is an electronic and cinematic journey into another realm. The album includes several references related to stars, planets, and space pollution.

On “Maneuvers Through the Prominence of Tau Ceti,” he takes inspiration from the star Tau Ceti in the constellation Cetus. “I was reading about exoplanets—planets outside our solar system—actually. Tau Ceti has been a star of interest in the search for exoplanets for a while because of its proximity to Earth and its sun-like properties. It’s also in reference to The Dispossessed, which takes place on planets in Tau Ceti’s orbit. I sort of imagine whatever mission might have been taking place, in the loose-fitting storyline of this album, might have been related to the search for hospitable planets.”

Musical Motivation: On “Maneuvers Through the Prominence of Tau Ceti,” Skib features extraterrestrial electronic sounds and samples interspersed with contemplative and melancholic sonics. “I imagine I’m focused on piloting some spacecraft through dangerous environs to some sort of worn-down spaceport full of assembly robots that are doing security scans, ship maintenance, and other tasks. The second half of the song is more of a lamentation, to me. I wanted a moment of something beautiful and sad there.”

Sonically, the song reflects Skib's love of IDM and appreciation for electronic artists, sound designers, and film composers. "Particularly, Autechre, a little Aphex Twin. Brian Eno's ambient work, the sound design work of Ben Burtt, classic Detroit techno artists like Juan Atkins and Model 500. The Haxan Cloak. Local musician David Minnix has a project called Xinniw that I quite like. There's a cinematic aspect to this music, too, but to tell you the truth, I couldn't point to one specific film composer or film soundtrack; it's more of an amalgam of cinematic ideas in my head."

Future Possibility: The Distance Between Two Stars could potentially soundtrack a sci-fi film of the same name. “You know, a couple of people have mentioned that they think there could be a really compelling visual component that would pair well with this music. I’d be interested in doing that, but don’t really have any expertise in it myself, nor [do I have] any specific plans. If any visual artists see this and are interested, hit me up!”

Lori Stratton is a library technician, writer for Pulp, and writer and editor of strattonsetlist.com.