what's an 'aeos'?

The name 'aeos records', as our logo suggests, is derived from 'acoustic, electronic, organic, atmospheric' - which kind of encapsulates the various aspects of music I'm interested in. I also chose it because it's an aesthetically pleasing short word that sounds like it might mean something but, apparently, doesn't... but then I got to thinking:

what if it did mean something? if it had a meaning, what would it be? why not, in short, give it one?

in 1976 Richard Dawkins published his seminal work The Selfish Gene, in which he proposed a new concept and a word to go along with it: the meme. The meme was to be a metaphor for the gene; instead of being a self-replicating unit of biological information, it would be a self-replicating unit of cultural information. Like an 'idea', but defined in terms of how it propagates through the culture and either succeeds or fails, according to the same sort of evolutionary principles that determine the success or failure of a gene sequence in nature. The idea took off, and has since entered the lexicon.

However, since then it strikes me that the meme has come to be associated specifically with verbal language, and with the kinds of ideas and information that are best expressed through it. Many artists on the other hand, myself included, are concerned with what I like to think of as 'non-verbal languages' (music, sculpture, dance, colour, pattern) and things that are perhaps better expressed through those different media...

So, what about a term for a self-replicating unit of aesthetic value? Is there a word for that? To my knowledge, there is not. But there could be... and so I propose: the Aeos. It's concise, has four letters (like gene and meme) and feels like it might be related to the aesthetic realm somehow. OK, so it doesn't rhyme, but still... 'aeme' just doesn't cut it, in my opinion. 'Aestheme' isn't a whole lot better.

Another reason I like the term 'aeos' is that it sounds like it might be related to 'aeon', an unimaginably long span of time... and I think that one of the defining characteristics of true aesthetic value is that it transcends time. I have always been interested in music that is timeless, not 'date-stamped' with current trends or fashions.

so where does this leave us? what does a unit of aesthetic value do? what could it possibly mean? What is 'aesthetic value' anyway?

Without getting into an extended treatise, I would offer that it has to do with appreciation - and that which commands it... that unidentifiable something that captures the attention, burrows its way into the consciousness, without ever being quite conscious. That mysterious quality that brings an image or a melody back to your mind, seemingly at random, days or weeks or years after you first saw or heard it... that's an aeos at work.

And so, whether my little semantic proposition catches on or not... I am hoping that my music will be that for you, and I am willing to bet that if you hear it, you're going to want to share it with your friends, colleagues, whatever - which is how the aeos of my music will hopefully survive and prosper in the wild. The Virusonic system allows me to offer an incentive, to use the music itself to reward anyone who wishes to take part in the process.