Music for WorkCats

I have a few Slacks (as in chats, not pants) with #music and #jams channels where I feel obligated to post music I find good. I love sharing music. It’s why I got involved and loved my years on WUVT and WMUC DJ’ing, why I have always had a side-‘job’ as a DJ, why I made mixtapes in high school and recordings of my sets to share.

This was going to be a tweet thread but turned into something longer. So as a peek behind the scenes, here’s how’s my workday sonic rotation works!

The Sonic Atmosphere

There are a lot of times I have nothing playing, but I am listening to what’s around me, inside and out. Often I go on listening walks for both meditation and exercise. I might even pick up an instrument in my studio and play a bit.

Do I have it on vinyl?

If I think of something, like a style or a specific artist, I will first check the stax of wax. It could be anything from Zappa to John Cage or Autechre to Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.

Is it easily accessible vinyl?

This is actually a requirement of the previous item, except that it will depend entirely on the artist or piece in question. If I have a hankering for an original UK release of an early ’70s Jethro Tull album, I’m gonna have to hit the big shelves.

Do I want random play?

Then it’s to iTunes, hit random, ~2600 albums worth of tracks can show up in any order the pseudo-random (it plays repeats a LOT) algorithm chooses. The fun part here, of course, is family members experiencing the avant-garde nature of a huge swath of my collection (e.g. Merzbow’s 13 Japanese Birds: Karasu just came on random followed by a track from Funky Desert Breaks).

Do I want a specific artist or style not on vinyl?

Self-explanatory I think. If I have the artist on vinyl, that wins. If I don’t have it, I check my digital collection. Very rarely I will come across something I know I have somewhere in 500+ CDs but not on-disk and I’ll take that chance to rip it.

Do I want a specific artist I don’t have or want more of?

The first place I check is <them>.bandcamp.com, then a Discogs search. YouTube helps with more obscure stuff, too. Pro tip: if you’re sharing music, check if it’s on Bandcamp first! Tracks are all embeddable.

On the BBQ porch with only an internet-connected streaming device?

That’s easy: Somafm. My go-to is Cliqhop or Groove Salad(s). Drone Zone is always great too, and some of the loungey stuff is great dinner music. I also never miss Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me.

What I don’t do?

I don’t buy streaming services. I donate to Somafm, I use my own collection. I won’t bother listing them, but there are some I won’t even use embedded. I’m pretty firmly on the David Crosby and Marc Ribot side of this argument.

That’s it!

Easy enough, but I do have a huge collection to my advantage. I understand that streaming services are very easy for a large majority of people to be exposed to new music, but this is why I share. Hit me up on twitter if you want some more music suggestions!

DIY Audio: UNPLUGGED

Probably around five years ago now, while much further in the depths of a thrice-laid-off financial hole the technology industry bestowed upon me, I became fixated with actually building my own electronic instruments. Ensuing the expertise to make music that way, I departed into the wide unknown universe of DIY audio.

The first time I encountered a small, personal modular synthesizer was during a long gallery installation and collaborative work by Achim Wollscheid in Chicago (I also happened to have given him a ride to where he was going his first night there, and had rich conversations for the short time we were all together). I had my motley collection of contact-mics and sampling objects and looping pedals and probably what could be called a portable John Cage concert, which I used to improvise alongside Achim as he did the same over enormous loudspeakers placed in the ceiling of the large public space in this gallery (yes, I recorded). Anyway, someone else coming in to collaborate set up next to me on the balcony overlooking the space, revealing a portable Doepfer A-100 suitcase model.

That’s when it was over. That’s the exact moment when a lot of things clicked, but apropos to our topic it was definitely the first time I felt the urging pang of modular desire, and barely realized it.

Fast forward ten years; as of 2012 I am the proud owner of a new disease known casually as idiomatic modularsynthacropy, or the addiction to building complex systems realized by modular synths. I think it’s genetic, because this is an occupation my wife lovingly calls “The Rocket” due to my studio resembling a half-built starship cockpit (or at least the bar in one), and my brother being an actual rocket scientist.

It first manifested itself after Chicago “event” in the form of electronic tinkering and eventually the building of my own simple devices, made specifically to be used alongside other analog/acoustic instruments of improvisation. As it happened certain events also related to my unlucky job streak in the Internet business ended up affording me a barebones entry-level one 3U rack half-full beginner outfit: 8 ‘eurorack’ style modules, the format Doepfer popularized, and in fact some are the very same kind I had first seen in that suitcase ten years ago.

Muffwigglers is the forum for this disease, and there’s even a forthcoming documentary. A lot of the musicians I admire the most are modular users, and I’m happy and fortunate to join their ranks along with a pretty decent wealth of electronic building knowledge under my belt in addition to the musicality. So I shared some of my accumulated knowledge recently on that forum, and wanted to post it here and add a bit of history.

 


Everything listed here except for the first book were published after I started into the DIY world of audio, and after spending literally DAYS of searching and reading electronics tutorials and articles online, they have become my ‘go-to’ stack for reference and inspiration.

1. If you aren’t familiar with Forrest Mims, get familiar with him. I just picked up Vol I. of his “Engineer’s Mini Notebook” series, which is titled: Timer, Op Amp & Optoelectronic Circuits & Projects. It should have been titled: The Building Blocks of Analog Modular Synthesis, and I wish I had discovered it five years ago when I first started into building this stuff, cause it is indispensable. All the “how do i build a 555 timer?” and “how do i correctly power an opamp?” or “what frequencies do i get if i change these resistors?” questions that you search for hours on the Internet? It’s all in here – there’s even a chapter on photocouplers – aka ‘varactors’ – which are used a lot for CV audio systems.

2. Another specific project-oriented book but much more glossy and full of awesome examples and a DVD (which I haven’t gotten around to watching yet, shame on me) is Handmade Electronic Music by Nicolas Collins. This one is specific to DIY audio hacking and electronic building, covering everything from building oscillators (different chips than the Mims books!) to circuit bending and experimental electronics.

3. Make has started releasing awesome print publications (I have two of the Maker’s Notebooks and love them). The one I’ve found the most applicable and helpful to audio DIY is by Charles Platt and is one of the first: Make: Electronics. Simple, easy to understand tutorials on the foundations of… well, making stuff. With Electronics.

4. Finally the most general of all of them but something that is a great learning resource for a wide range of electronic applications, by Michael Jay Geier, How to Diagnose and Fix Everything Electronic. The title doesn’t lie. Every chapter is basically a Cliff’s Notes on that particular subject or piece of equipment, summarizing how it works, what might go wrong with it or often does, and how to troubleshoot and fix it. It also includes quick introductions to fundamentals of physics and other things related to electronic parts and machines… and most importantly to us, a wonderful introduction to oscilloscopes and how to both choose and use them.

All these books together will probably cost you as much as a good VCO module! lol But they are worth it, I highly recommend any of these to the DIY audio muffer.


Fullerton Art Walk Menagerie

Here’s my own collection of aural glass animals for you to enjoy… a mix of groovy and beaty dreamscapes (3:38 @ 256K cbr mp3), recorded live for the Fullerton Art Walk on Friday (April 6), accompanying tattoo artist Jon Kelly (known for Olde Tyme Tattoo) as he applies his latest in biomechanical fashion.

=== e d  i   t ===

…by the way a vinyl mix…

 

120 Hours For John Cage

As you may or may not know, 2012 is the Centennial of John Cage’s birth, and among its many celebrants (including myself, details to come…) is “transmission arts” collective Free103point9, who work in conjunction with WGXC 90.7-FM in upstate New York to present works specifically designed for air-borne electro-magnetic transmission – Radio, that is.

As you also may or may not know, John Cage wrote an abundance of pieces that called for either radios as instruments or as the listening medium (i.e. works designed specifically for radio play). Many of these are some of the first electro-acoustic works ever, predating most electronic music, and an inspiration to countless followers.

In fact I plan on submitting my own radio-accompanied piece (in graphical notation no less) influenced by Cage, written over a decade ago while still studying his music in grad school, called Riverbroadening. I have two really nice recordings by Comma in both DC and NYC, and will be putting together a 2012 version with (hopefully) some, all, or slightly more than the original folks involved.

SoundWalk 2011 is coming

Just in case you missed it, SoundWalk Long Beach 2011 is just around the corner! Check out the newly posted set of mp3’s from last year’s event at craque.net (or download a zip file of flac files directly).

Here’s a couple of pix from last year’s event…

Craque performing at SoundWalk 2010 in Long Beach, CA

Dave doubles as stagehand and soundmaker improvisor

Later in the evening, up close with participants

“Booglitchoo” Synth Prototype

Here we go… I’ve optimized the way I’m using power, love the way the dual jfet opamps (TL082) sound, and have the mixing elements mostly decided.

To be done on this prototype:

  1. use either capacitor switching or a simple 4017 sequencer to change up the textural possibilities of the oscillator
  2. add switches to the voice modulator to allow for “skipping around” pitches instead of only up or down changes
  3. CV input

I went through quite a few opamps before finally deciding on the dual jfets, and now I really dig how they’re working with the complex waveform of the four NAND gates (NTE4093)… I use it first as a multipole low-pass filter to shape the sound of the chained oscillators.

Because of the nature of the sounds I don’t find much use for the vibrato section of the voice modulator (HT8950), but don’t mind at all because it reduces the component count and I’m finding an incredible amount of possibilities already. You’ll also notice I’m using my fingers on a couple of resistors to change the pitch… I discovered this by accident, but really like the gestural aspect of it so much that I’m planning on building a touch interface into the final design. 🙂

The whole thing is finally mixed into another dual opamp, with a follower/buffer and a high-gain resonant Q notch filter to add some harmonics and really cool sweep possibilities.

Excited to have this core design done, LOVE playing with it! Now it’s just a matter tweaking and expansion.

Why am I silent?

Incredibly, when I was a young boy I assumed everyone was supposed to know everything. It wasn’t until I was probably 30 that I realized things are meant to be learned and practiced, never known outright or assumed to be perfect.

But I spent a long time growing up thinking the opposite, that because I didn’t know something meant I couldn’t belong.

When I was thirteen, between finishing The Lord of the Rings and discovering Playboy, I locked onto a character in David Eddings’s The Belgariad; a wizardly type bloke who espoused silence and the ability to listen, leaving speech to those who knew not how to think. I locked step, it made sense. There wasn’t ever a time I felt like speaking up in a crowd, my opinions didn’t seem that important, and for some reason my brain always seemed busy doing other things, so speaking up is never a real priority for me.

What does this mean in the long run? There are a lot of times when I think I am incubating some genius, that there is buried deep within my soul a discovery I could only make by living this long… up until now nobody has caught on, if I am truly guided by intuition. Or am I? I wonder if I have already encountered my own Fitzcarraldo, or if it has yet to come; my instinct is that it is in the near future.

Even so it scares me to jump into something as if it were the last promontory of the final peak of some long meandering cliffside where I haven’t learned anything but where to go next, can I reach that handhold just beyond my grasp. There are moments where I can see clearly into the future, precisely recognize a moment or passion, but it soon falls away into a sense of loss, where I cannot understand the pathway to that end.

Halloween Mixes by DJ Craque

This past weekend we presented ourselves in regalia of the zombie, partying until the early single digits at my good friend Chad’s.

I have played music at his Halloween parties for as long as I’ve lived in California, down in Newport Beach as well as Fullerton. In 2010 the digital world has provided us with methods of being the DJ while joining the party; what follows are the set lists I prepared for the costume extravaganza at Chad’s, each on its separate ipod in different themed rooms:

Weird Spooky Alien Evil Beats

Matterbuss  –  Craque –  Gamma
Into The Lung  –  Fisk Industries –  Analog For Architecture
Rocky (Soft)  –  Byetone –  Death Of A Typographer
Hypnotic  –  T Spigot –  Experiments In The Hypnotic Production Of Crime
Auto Pilot  –  Lusine –  Serial Hodgepodge
Tear Strips Off  –  Tipper –  Surrounded
Blood (Brassica Remix)  –  Fisk Industries –  Magnetic Fisk Remixes
Woodface  –  Funckarma –  Dubstoned EP
Licht  –  Craque –  Density Operator
Radio Bombay  –  Hol Baumann –  Human
Bell Jar  –  Craque –  Jawbone
1  –  Gescom –  Key Nell
Phoenix Rising  –  Bluetech –  Phoenix Rising
We Are The Music Makers  –  Aphex Twin –  Selected Ambient Works 85-92
Old Twisted Trees  –  KiloWatts –  Ground State
When I Leave  –  Biosphere –  Light
Black Sabbath  –  Venetian Snares –  Sabbath Dubs
Crowley  –  Fisk Industries –  Magnetism, That Electricity..
Topless  –  Craque –  Supple
Interfere  –  Craque –  Density Operator
Steppen  –  Landau –  Thepicompromise
Break Charmer  –  Cujo –  Adventures In Foam
Adrift for Days  –  Tipper –  Surrounded
June Second (B)  –  Proswell –  Konami
Pable Cath  –  Funckarma –  Dubstoned EP
Frekvenssi  –  Ø –  Oleva
Dasein  –  Loess –  Wind And Water
UFO Over Trenchtown  –  Eat Static –  New World Dub 01
Orgaslsp  –  Craque –  Gamma
Bayreuth  –  Farben –  Textstar
Spacetime Continuum, Mix 01  –  Muslimgauze –  From The Edge
Dael  –  Autechre –  Tri Repetae
Shoot The Moon  –  Lusine ICL –  Iron City
magnesium  –  ilkae –  light industry+
Tunnels OV Set (Autechre Remix)  –  The Black Dog –  Final Collected Vexations
Zeal  –  Plaid –  Spokes
Contain  –  Plastikman –  Kompilation
Tankraken  –  Autechre –  Quaristice
Organ In The Attic Sings The Blues  –  Deadbeat –  Wild Life Documentaries
Slicktoo Stack  –  Craque –  Metathreading
preyWithMe (b0t23 mix)  –  logreybeam –  rem.rem
Strawberry  –  The Bionaut –  Lubricate Your Living Room
Untrue  –  Burial –  Untrue
untitled (proem remix)  –  logreybeam –  rem.rem
Attalal (Remixed By Biosphere)  –  Download –  Biosystems: The Biosphere Remixes
Kaksoisvinokas \ Twinaskew  –  Pan Sonic –  Gravitoni
Cresent Suns (w/ Slinky Wizard  Jewel)  –  binah
Professional  –  Craque –  Meat Hacker
Hours  –  Hol Baumann –  Human
schoen  –  Loess –  Burrows
Base Metal (Re-mix)  –  Download –  Sidewinder
Lusid Crystalin  –  Craque –  Supple
Electric Funeral  –  Venetian Snares –  Sabbath Dubs
Mo [A.mo.re – Aeroc Mix]  –  Murcof –  Utopia
Blood  –  Fisk Industries –  Magnetism, That Electricity..
Lebensformen  –  Håkan Lidbo –  Clicks + Cuts 4
Blackboard  –  Deru –  Autonomous Addicts
Raygun  –  Zainetica –  Future 740
Handcut Ice Cubes (Phil Western Silent Night Version)  –  Phil Western / Tanya Pea –  Handcut Ice Cubes
S-bahn  –  Ø –  Oleva
What The Night Reveals  –  Bluetech –  Phoenix Rising
Clipper  –  Autechre –  Tri Repetae
V-Proc  –  Autechre –  Draft 7.30
Montreal  –  Autechre –  Amber
beetelguise (Craque Orion Conjecture)  –  logreybeam –  rem.rem
Further  –  Autechre –  Amber
Garbagemx36  –  Autechre –  Garbage
rew(1)  –  Autechre –  Move Of Ten
Ghostwaltz on the third floor  –  Anders Ilar –  Twilight Rainfalls
evac’s false premonition  –  logreybeam –  rem.rem
Room 23  –  Shpongle –  Tales Of The Inexpressible
DMT Original Russian Bootleg  –  Shpongle –  Divine Moments of Truth EP
Shpongle Falls  –  Shpongle –  Are You Shpongled
Catch 22  –  Lackluster –  Container
GAMMA GOBLINS ‘Its Turtles All The Way Down’ Mix  –  OTT –  Hallucinogen In Dub

Ambient Horror and Dimensional Rifts

Daddylonglegs  –  Higher Intelligence Agency & Biosphere –  Birmingham Frequencies
ohm  –  kate carr –  automatic crossing
Copper Doors (Anodized)  –  Craque –  Wind Space Compost
Vainamoisen Uni \ Dream Of Vainamoinen  –  Pan Sonic –  Gravitoni
my bed is my boat  –  Herzog –  the autumn parade ep
ambelio  –  Arovane –  Atol Scrap
For Mark Rothko  –  John Kannenberg –  The Sonics of Art Spaces
First Point Of Aries  –  Deepchord Presents Echospace –  The Coldest Season
Sabina Seat  –  Speedy J –  A Shocking Hobby
Ready Let’s Go  –  Boards Of Canada –  Geogaddi
Sleepdeprivation2  –  The Black Dog –  Music For Real Airports
Notre Dame De L’oubli (For Olivier Messiaen)  –  Naked City Absinthe
Ancient Campfire  –  Biosphere –  Shenzhou
Parallelogram Bin  –  Squarepusher –  Music is Rotted One Note
Endless Park  –  Hol Baumann –  Human
Kausaaliton  –  Ø –  Oleva
Dub Stack  –  Craque –  Metathreading
Ó God Protect Me  –  Ben Frost –  By The Throat
Sleepdeprivation1  –  The Black Dog –  Music For Real Airports
Dub For Cascadia  –  Loscil –  Endless Falls
Nowhere  –  Aidan Baker –  Pendulum
Leo Needs A New Pair Of Shoes  –  Ben Frost –  By The Throat
Ruins  –  Axiom Ambient –  Lost in the Translation
Overand  –  Autechre –  Tri Repetae
Ricycle  –  Craque –  Jawbone
Autsaidnait  –  Tanox –  Astronomia de Balcon
Sanguineo  –  Craque / Zitt –  Bookends
Aquamarine Reprise  –  The Bionaut –  Lubricate Your Living Room
Canon (Part 1)  –  Bill Frisell –  Hal Willner Presents Weird Nightmare: Meditations On Mingus
caliper remote  –  Autechre –  LP5
Rarradar  –  Eye –  Plays
Chain Smoking  –  Bluermutt –  Uncertain Data Packed In Red Boxes
Housesonthehill  –  Biosphere –  Shenzhou
Unien holvit  –  Ø –  Oleva
Man From Deep River part two  –  BJ Nilsen & Stilluppsteypa –  Man From Deep River
Spring/Summer  –  Blamstrain –  Aurora 2
Space  –  Lackluster –  Spaces
Tripside Syndicate  –  The Black Dog –  Final Collected Vexations
Val De Travers  –  Naked City –  Absinthe
Pathleadingtothehighgrass  –  Biosphere –  Shenzhou
Meltwater  –  Higher Intelligence Agency & Biosphere –  Polar Sequences
Plinth  –  The Black Dog –  Final Collected Vexations
Louange Á l’Éternité de Jésus  –  Naked City –  Grand Guignol
Puppetmaster  –  Ghost in the Shell –  Original Soundtrack
Pan-Fried Fern  –  He Can Jog –  MiddleMarch
Supple Network  –  Craque –  Supple
Tlit  –  Craque –  Supple
Gruven  –  Craque –  Gamma
Ocean Of Emptiness  –  Deepchord Presents Echospace –  The Coldest Season
Virtual Crime  –  Ghost in the Shell –  Original Soundtrack
Basscadubmx  –  Autechre –  Basscadet
melve  –  Autechre –  LP5
Mojave  –  Ø –  Oleva
Santa Ana  –  Craque –  Wind Space Compost
Butterfly Bush  –  Craque –  Wind Space Compost
Nightshade  –  Kilowatts –  Undercurrent
Bronchusevenmx24  –  Autechre –  Garbage
Inborn sea flowing  –  aless –  i’mmobile
Semi-Fabulous Witches  –  Ten and Tracer –  Makyo
Noise Garden Stack  –  Craque –  Metathreading
SonDEre-ix  –  Autechre –  Quaristice
Untitled Transient  –  Ben Frost –  By The Throat

2AM Extravaganzic Dance Hour

You’re Only SQL (BCN Mix)  –  The Black Dog –  Final Collected Vexations
Kiu_Kiu  –  Twerk –  Living Vicariously Through Burnt Bread
Windowlicker (Acid Edit)  –  Aphex Twin –  26 Mixes For Cash
Plasticine  –  Plastikman –  Kompilation
Tophapy  –  Plaid –  Booc
Ne Contsom A Coltsom  –  SCSI-9 –  The Line of Nine
Boogie Down Bronx (Gescom Remix)  –  Man Parrish –  Mask 500
Mango Drive  –  Rhythm & Sound –  Rhythm & Sound
Yellow Fingers  –  Håkan Lidbo –  Meta-Matic – EP
Musical Box  –  Wagon Christ –  Tally Ho!
CCTV Nation (Slam Mix)  –  The Black Dog –  Final Collected Vexations
Skinclock (Silicone Soul Mix)  –  The Black Dog –  Final Collected Vexations
808303  –  Richard Devine –  Autonomous Addicts
Doubledip uuh…  –  Pantytec –  Pony Slaystation
minreal  –  Craque –  Hpynagoiga
Tango Acido  –  Losoul –  Getting Even
Roots And Wire  –  Deadbeat –  Roots and Wire
Seventy Four  –  Martyn –  Great Lengths
Vletrmx  –  Autechre –  Warp 10+3 Remixes
Out To Funk  –  Savvas Ysatis –  Select
Chrysanthemum  –  Download –  Effector
Breed  –  L’Usine –  Autonomous Addicts
Raggafuzzer  –  Håkan Lidbo –  Sound Molecules
Windowlicker  –  Aphex Twin –  Warp20
squance  –  Plaid –  Double Figure
Near Dark  –  Burial –  Untrue
Toooly Hooof  –  Download –  III
seeing but not seen  –  Phil Western and Tim Hill –  Dark Features
Sex Deluxe  –  Håkan Lidbo –  Sound Molecules
The Grid  –  Peverelist –  Round Black Ghosts
Trouser Mouse  –  Blamstrain –  Exosphere
Nele  –  Kit Clayton –  Nek Sanalet
Booc  –  Plaid –  Booc
Bike  –  Autechre –  Incunabula
On the Hook  –  Savvas Ysatis –  Select
BBRobot (Senor Frio Remix)  –  Ion Driver –  DDD033
I Wanna be Your STD  –  Jimmy Edgar –  Warp20
Tweak Sauce  –  Tipper –  Autonomous Addicts
Ulysses [Fax Mix]  –  Murcof –  Utopia
he never showed up  –  Phil Western and Tim Hill –  Dark Features
Moth  –  Burial & Four Tet –  Moth / Wolf Cub
Alspacka  –  The Tuss –  Confederation Trough EP
Jarvik Mindstate  –  Peverelist –  Jarvik Mindstate
Sun Step  –  Oxia –  Sun Step EP
Northern Wish  –  Artic Hospital –  Terminal
Cornish Acid  –  Aphex Twin –  Richard D. James Album
Whole Life  –  Oxia –  Sun Step EP
Kamaco  –  Craque –  Jawbone
Channel Two  –  2562 –  Round Black Ghosts
Moongomery  –  Ricardo Villalobos –  Fabric 36 – Ricardo Villalobos
Memoria [Sutekh‘s Trisagion Mix]  –  Murcof –  Utopia
The Dragonfly Who Thought He Was a Mockingbird  –  Akufen –  Appleseed Original Soundtrack
My Head Feels Like A Frisbee  –  Shpongle –  Tales Of The Inexpressible
Epilepsia  –  Dinky –  Anemik
I Love Acid  –  Luke Vibert –  Warp20
My Red Hot Car  –  Squarepusher –  Go Plastic
Uhm  –  Download –  FiXeR
Into the Duster  –  Pantytec –  Pony Slaystation
Pathfinder  –  Savvas Ysatis –  Select
Glacial  –  Dinky –  Anemik

Appearing in variety…

Audiobulb has released a free sampler of music from eight artists on the label, including a track off Supple (see post below), subtly arranged and expertly mixed by label owner David Newman. Others included are: Jimmy Behan, Biosphere, Ultre, NQ, Mark Harris, Hans van Eck and He Can Jog. I’m honored to be among the talent in that lineup, and the music is just awesome.

Also recently, Xynthetic produced their Second Statement, a stunning cross-section of the artist roster that displays the wide variety to be had on the netlabel. My track “Herbsttag” is a taste of some dub to come, so keep yer eyes peeled for more Craque on Xynthetic. 🙂

A new .microsound project has come around again, this time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of William Burroughs’s novel Naked Lunch [player will auto-start].

Uncle Bill was a huge influence on the way I thought about putting things together to arrive at previously impossible conclusions, plus I was drawn to his relationship with my favorite beat, Paul Bowles. In fact, I wrote a piece for Comma called Sevenroughs just after he passed to the next level. This time around I still used the number 7, but applied it to divisions of the time limit, 3 minutes. I also kept to the fractured use of text (Sevenroughs uses The Western Lands), and the title is the first two words of the score: Making Pink [6.4MB 320mbps mp3].

To prepare a score, I started on page 1, with the last printed entity on the first line, page 2 the last entity on the second, and so on. Punctuation was taken alone, words only half-hypenated, and once I had reached the bottom of the page, I’d start back up on the first line. There were several happenings of the [ .” ] combination, so those became major delimiters of form. The outcome [fixed-font best for viewing] is a full cut-up of Naked Lunch, upon whose text I layered improvised sounds, with additional form and structure derived from the placement of the randomly intruding punctuation.

In addition to these recent projects, I’ve posted an archival recording of a live gallery show at Fetiço in Chicago, 2001. It’s in three parts, and is the most recent entry on CraqueCast, also subscribable and previewable in iTunes.

A special treat for blog readers: my collection of ringtones, RINGTONALITY! Great name huh? Well, these are loopy sort of poppy sometimes glitchy electronica beat things that I’ve made along the way, and are pretty loud with all sorts of variety. There are two versions available for download: the “m4r iPhone” version [6MB zip], and the FLAC version [42MB zip] for those who want to convert and use on another platform, or just want them otherwise. Feel free to pass them around.

Despite being laid off from my job in May, I’ve been trying to stay positive and keep active doing things: gardening, reviewing stuff for job interviewing like perl and networking and other unix/linux peculiarities, job searching of course, but also a good bit of music making. Other than some possible releases of newly improvised excursions, I’ve been attempting to make contact with some local galleries (Orange County, CA) for presenting experimental sound work and/or events. So as you can see, creativity continues to attempt its way out of my subconscious, and I continue to be hopeful that the perfect job is right around the corner.

“Supple” out now on Audiobulb

Presenting: an electro-acoustic album of experimental sound sources and improvisations punctuated by iterative percussion, i.e. glitchy ambient slightly funky dance music. 😉

Supple is the way I’ve seen things come together over several years after moving to California, and owes some to dance forms that made this area of the country so important to electronic music development and culture. They are presented in a sort of story-form (I’ll blame my operatic tendencies for that), where endings and beginnings aren’t so easily discerned, and overall structure blends them in a sort of high-contrast, watercolor way… which I think is matched in visual form by gl0tch (check out the release page to see different versions of the cover art morphing), giving it all this primordial evolutionary cybernetic aspect that I love, as if everything is a petri dish of mechanically chaotic musical questions.

artwork by gl0tch, mastering by twerk

The tunes span from when I first moved here in 2002 up until 2008; “Navfrakure” was laid down as a  one-night brush stroke back on a chilly October night, and grew into something quite deeper. Although “Lusid Crystalin” is the oldest, written within a month of my relocation from Chicago, “Topless” contains samples culled from a recording session with the trio Comma – recorded in Brooklyn way back in I think 1999.

Many of these tracks contain and/or are built with free improvisations I do on my homemade instruments and improvisation rig (read my blog further for some descriptions and pics). It’s an on-going process, building a morphing performance engine, a lot of which was originally from and inspired by my work with Comma, Gray Code, and the free improv scene in general.

Objects and constructions are sampled, voices rendered, and recently my simple DIY analog synths have given an entirely new dimension, all combined together with an array of acoustic instruments (mostly guitar, cello, prepared piano and african hand percussion), and processed with hardware looping and delay devices. In some cases the improv remains relatively intact, in others it is pieced out and chopped as if… Burroughsian perversions, perhaps? Joycean slips of the tongue, a composting of ideas and pursuasions that melt together as if merging stained…

“Sextant” is a poem I wrote around 2004:

Blue chrome carriage
Mouse brown hair
Dark shadowed eyes
Cold mean stare

White-armed glove driver
Sunshine in your car
If the signal never signaled
Would you have gone that far?

The Audiobulb release page contains links to eMusic, iTunes, Thrill Jockey and boomkat sites for purchasing the album. There’s also an interview with me including other details about the album and music making and creativity and things like that, with clips from some of the tracks I’ve mentioned here.

Lend Me Your Ears has a feature on Supple, as well as an interview that has different questions from the Audiobulb one, very little repeat info! super bonus! There’s also a free download of track 2, “Navfrakure.” Double Super Bonus!