News
16 October 2026 – Geologist and Kyle Simon Release The Sirens and Turn Actual Moonlight Into Experimental Electronic Music
By Editorial Team - October 16, 2026
Summary
Animal Collective's Geologist teams with artist Kyle Simon on The Sirens, translating telescope moonlight data at Farrington Observatory into modular synthesis.
Key Facts
- Experimental LP created at Joshua Tree's Farrington Observatory using an optical telescope and photodiodes.
- Celestial light from the moon and stars directly modulates electronic voltage control signals into a modular synthesizer.
- Released via Outside Time following recent collaborations between Weitz and Animal Collective's Avey Tare.
- Entities: Geologist, Brian Weitz, Kyle Simon, The Sirens, Outside Time, Farrington Observatory, Joshua Tree, Animal Collective, Avey Tare, The Opening
- Tags: geologist, kyle-simon, the-sirens, animal-collective, experimental, ambient, modular-synth
Animal Collective member Brian Weitz (Geologist) and visual artist Kyle Simon have released The Sirens through Outside Time, offering one of this week's most conceptually adventurous recordings. Recorded on location at Farrington Observatory in Joshua Tree, California, the pair transformed lunar and stellar light into dynamic synthesizer voltages.
Their setup channeled astronomical telescope data through optical sensors and photodiodes directly into a modular synthesizer rack, allowing environmental moonlight fluctuations to drive sound synthesis in real time.
The result is an extended improvisational suite previewed by "The Opening", mapping celestial physics into tactile electronic drones and shimmering harmonic overtones.
Coming on the heels of Weitz's recent collaborations with Animal Collective bandmate Avey Tare, The Sirens bridges scientific instrumentation and experimental sonic art. Discover more avant-garde coverage across our experimental music section.