Author: john ingram

This iteration of John Ingram was created in response to increased demand in global John Ingramness. Previous incarnations were less suited to fulfill this need.

Ihokas – Live @ Pauanne

Live @ Pauanne, recorded in Pauanne Finland on July 17, 2004, captures the very first live performance of longtime experimental electronic artist, Ihokas. The minimal set opens with a languid, almost innocuous, thudding pulse that lumbers nearly unchallenged for the first ten minutes of the performance, gradually taking on a vaguely sinister feel before fading into the subtle dirge of a soft, low melody. Slowly introduced to this are deep electronic murmurs and jarringly abrasive microphone manipulations, which persist as the melody fades into the shadows from which the closing movement’s mumbles, whirrs and clashes have emerged.

To call this performance restrained would be an understatement. Ihokas demonstrates remarkable patience and mastery over the elements he has employed in this piece, creating a phenomenal live performance.

[Rating:4.5/5]

Dust – Six

Six decades walking this planet can give a person much material from which to draw. That is precisely the concept behind Dust’s Six. Sixty years of soaking up the noise of human living has been regurgitated in this series of six tracks, featuring snippets of harsh distorted beats, minimal synthesized drones and shakuhachi. The disparate sounds are agglomerated into a strangely homogeneous, though not repetitive, collection. While some elements work better than others, the overall experience is one that I can only hope to duplicate when I have six decades under my own belt.

[Rating:3.5/5]

D’Incise – Eloge de l’usage et de la lenteur

A dancing menagerie of synthesized metallic clanks and burrings, perilously balanced on the liminal edge of consciousness, Eloge de l’usage et de la lenteur becomes a nearly imperceptible soundscape. Though disappointingly brief, this release does well to envelop the listener in a subtle series of electronic sounds that defy melody, yet transcend cacophony, offering an inobtrusive aural experience. Though well produced, the release failed to inspire in me a sense of having truly experienced art. If you’re looking for something that will readily fade into the background, this should work; but if you’re looking for something a little more involved, you may want to skip over this one.

[Rating:3/5]

Banned From The Pubs

First order of business: Check this out. The audio won’t be available until the official release date of September 7th, but I thought one or two people might be interested in seeing the tracklist in advance. It was a phenomenal turnout and I want to thank everyone who contributed a track for making it a successful return to the wide world of random experimental music compilations. This has certainly given me the motivation to roll out another project, and I have just the thing in mind. I need only confer with an interested party before announcing the project, so stay tuned for more news on that.

Second order of business: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World was a truly unique movie experience. At first I felt a little uncomfortably “too old” for the movie, but that passed pretty quickly as the story got underway. It was bombastic, nerdy, quirky and amusing; and the action scenes were surprisingly… for lack of a better word, astounding. I wasn’t expecting the action to be so intense.

Third order of business: The Expendables was horrible. My initial reaction was that it was the worst movie I’ve ever seen. I later amended that to “it’s the worst movie I’ve paid to see since I got suckered into seeing Dumb & Dumber on opening weekend”. Granted, nobody walked into that theater expecting great cinema, but Jesus this stuff was terrible. It was downright boring. Twice I almost walked out of the movie, but I remembered that it was 97 outside, so I started to convince myself that I’d paid $9.00 for two hours in the AC and the movie was secondary entertainment. The plot was a mess. The dialog was atrocious. All of these guys look like total shit (seriously, Mickey Rourke looks good compared to Stallone, Lundgren and Schwarzenegger), and the tacked on subplots that were supposed to flesh out the characters were amateurish and hackneyed. Terrible on such a level that I weep for all these guys.
(The one redeeming scene is owned pwned by Terry Crews. You’ll know it when you see it.)

Fourth order of business: Will have to wait. It’s time for the new episode of Warehouse 13. Huzzah!

Until next time, skanks, etc. etc.

Drop Box!

After playing around with SoundCloud for a few weeks, I’ve decided that I like it. I’ve found some great music through the site, and though it seems the selection is a tad limited right now, I think the site has potential.

With that in mind, I decided to simplify my life a little for upcoming compilation projects. I set up a new profile for Intelligent Machinery and added a Drop Box (look right –>) to the widget sidebar. I tested it out, and it is pretty damned easy to use. Just click on the box, browse to an audio file, fill out the relevant info and submit. The only catch being that the submission requires email verification from the submitter before I get the file. But, I figured it would be a nice alternative for people who use YouSendIt or a similar service.

Feel free to test it out, if you want.