john ingram – Page 19

Flurry of fury!

An unprecedented flurry of frenetic activity this week (especially tonight) has resulted in the rough mixes of all the constituent tracks of a new Controlled Dissonance album. My goal is for another limited-run of handmade CDs (the design is well underway, and easily the most ambitious CD package design I’ve ever conceived), along with a digital single. Traditionally I’ve done these singles in the form of a video, but I might do this one as a remix release.

Anyone still reading this thing interested in remixing a Controlled Dissonance track?

Around town.

Seen around town in the last week.

Design originality may not be this person’s forte (isn’t the tag script passe yet? please?), but you have to concede that this is a fine example of modern, urban wit. Magnifique.

I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I never realized this sign depicted a woman, until I saw this addition. It’s not that I’m a chauvinist, or mired in heteronormative ideals, I just never really thought about it.

This painting hung on the wall next to our table at the bar Rob Roy. It is perfectly designed to draw all attention to the crevice of the ass. Luring and lurid. Class. (This is the same bar that spikes its urinals with citrus slices…)

And that, boys and girls, is why this country boy moved to the city.

Slow Motion Warfare – Error: 02

Touted as the “second attempt at melding the genres of noise and drone”, Slow Motion Warfare’s Error: 02 is lumbering and abrasive, and yet peaceful. While the album fails overall in its endeavor to amalgamate noise and drone, it does strike a pleasant balance of minimalism and structural evolution, tempered by carefully reined distortion. And while minimal, attention to spatial details was not spared, offering dizzying stereo effects for the headphone listening experience.

Given the subjective nature of most genre definitions, and especially those of less mainstream styles, I’m willing to concede that the artist’s interpretation of drone or noise may differ from my own; therefore I am not considering intent in my final review summation. However, I am considering the listening experience, which I found to be “ideal for trying to digest the tribulations of a strange day”, precisely as advertised.

[Rating:4/5]

Project in Progress: Dead Voices; White Noise

“Electronic voice phenomena (EVP) are electronically generated noises that resemble speech, but are not the result of intentional voice recordings or renderings.”

The act of capturing EVP activity to support paranormal research is a source of much contention between skeptics and believers. Dead Voices; White Noise disregards the arguments and goes straight to the heart of the matter – the recordings. Tracks for this compilation should include EVP recordings, either as samples to complement a composition, or manipulated to become the basis of the composition itself. Preference will be given to submissions that fit the standard Intelligent Machinery project motif: dark ambient, noise and drone.

Public Domain and Creative Commons EVP recordings can be found at Archive.org

For submission information, click the Contact button above. Deadline May 15, 2011.

Divine inspiration (read: New Compilation Project!)

Sitting here in my sassy spandex polo shirt, chugging red wine like it’s Christ’s blood and I’m the most discriminating of vampires, I was struck with a bit of the Divine Inspiration™. It is high time to fill that sad and empty Compilation box in the right navigation bar, and I finally have an idea I think might fit the bill.

Dead Voices; White Noise will explore the contentious world of Electronic Voice Phenomenon, featuring tracks that contain, in some form, EVP recordings. These recordings can be integrated as samples to complement composed work, or can be manipulated to form the basis of the composition.

Public domain and Creative Commons source material can be found at Archive.org.

Submission deadline May 15, 2011. Use the Contact button above for submission information, if you’re otherwise uninitiated. Cheers!