Illusion of Safety & Wilt now on Bandcamp / Decaycast review / New Releases / Final Distribution

Download features a bonus 23 minute "remix overview" piece set to video ( https://vimeo.com/87319213 ) by Dan Burke himself. There is also an excerpt from a live Illusion of Safety performance on WLUW's Delirious Insomniac Freeform Radio Show. In addition to that, "Surrender" was initially released with white letters on the cover, an edition of approximately 20 copies before being recalled and revised. There is a "demo version", so to speak, of the final track, "Access to Core", expanded upon by Dan Burke.

"Somewhere, an old T-shirt from Illusion Of Safety exists (the last we saw was affixed to Sigtryggur from Stillupsteypa some 10 years ago) with a deadpan/ironic catch-phrase "Illusion Of Safety gives you that soaring feeling" next to an image of a man tumbling headfirst out of a skyscraper window. Such a calculated juxtaposition of word and image was emblematic of the '80s art world (e.g. Barbara Kruger), often speaking to the underbelly of callousness, cruelty, violence and general amorality within consumerist society. 

Outside of this bold piece of iconography, Illusion Of Safety has operated within a more liminal state of mysteriousness through signifier and meaning. Even in their most placid albums of soft-focus ambience, the specter of some unknowable threat lurks in the background. 

More common in the Illusion Of Safety catalogue is an iron-fisted grasp of that sense of foreboding and dread through psychologically tense sound design. Over three decades in existence, this Chicago based project has been whittled down to its core member Dan Burke - with a few comrades-in-arms joining him occasionally - and is probably the longest running American industrial project, having produced a very impressive body of work. 

The 2014 album Surrender fits comfortably next to some of the masterpieces of the IOS back catalogue (e.g. Cancer, In Session, Historical, etc.) through the trademarked juxtaposition of noxious frequencies snaking in and out of harmonic phase patterns only to snap out of existence with a razor-cut edit into an electrical burst of tesla coil noise (for example). Disjointed rhythms, mediated collages, decontextualized field recordings, and psychoacoustic phrases map this album with incredible control and precision. Illusion Of Safety proves once again that they are one of the greats of industrial culture. Grab this album before it disappears...." - Aquarius Records

WILT is James Keeler's main project since the late 90s, and Wisconsin's best kept secret as far as I'm concerned. The feeling of rural desolation just oozes from these tracks, which maintain or expand on an industrial infused dark ambient sound nicely. There is a sense of brooding, but nothing beyond the residue of anything like a dirge exists. Masterful reverb, factory engines in the distance. Crumbling layers of synth loops being thrown off of a cliff, metallic swamp clang, utter dread and resignation. Keeler's particular take on imaginary horror soundtracks comes off like he's able to walk into an abandoned mental hospital and put all of the essence into a jar without any unnecessary bells and whistles.... or accoutrements of any kind. For those who notice the difference, this work stands alone.

There are definitely a lot of vintage synths somewhere in here, but "80s synth soundtrack" would be too lazy of a tag to place. Lots of little elements comprise a sound where no particular texture is too prominent. It's hard to tell what is a synth and what is processed field recordings of strange insects. The whole album though, could easily fit into those moments of epiphany in a horror movie, where the group of naive and sex-crazed teen day campers/life guards, in their tent in the middle of the night, realize by lantern light that they're trapped with something much stronger than them, and it's something they can't know or see, much less escape from... Moments before the axe comes down. It's hard to explain. There is an unspoken complexity in this artist's body of work. With Keeler's own "Institute for Organic Conversations" label, he's worked with subject matter expanding upon Buckminster Fuller and Lovecraftian ideas, while others are still rehashing the same emotionally stunted, serial killer bullshit. 

WILT's releases always are a complete package, as Keeler is not only an accomplished sound artist, but also a graphic artist and visionary. Every detail is attended to. Through his work with various projects; Hedorah, Astronomy, and various collaborations, he's worked with several well-accomplished labels, such as Ad Noiseam, Angle, Phage, Small Doses, Urashima, Danvers State, Chondritic Sound, Cipher, Husk, Bloodlust!, Hospital, RRRecords, Turgid Animal, the list goes on. 

Truth be told, WILT was the first noise act I saw live in 2003, and I still remember it fondly. The man did amazing things with a brick and some rusted sheet metal that he'd affixed little knobs to, while a video ran that seemed like a 16mm film that was pressed on dirty church windows. With that said, I'm extremely proud to present this new release and important part in the story of Wilt's body of work.

My friends at DECAYCAST (also behind the surrealistic costume noise acts Styrofoam Sanchez and Nerfbau) did a darling little review of Sequencer Works Volume Two on Out-of-Body Records.  Thanks fellas!

This one was released back in march of 2015 on one of our all time favorite labels here at DECAYCAST, OUT OD BODY RECORDS. This is some of the most intense / frantic offerings I’ve heard from Mr. ARVO ZYLO of Chicago, IL. ARVO has been making experimental music in multiple genres and formats for decades and their work is always dark, unnerving, at times whimsical but always unique, and “Sequencer Works, Volume 1” is no exception. According to the label description , some of these tracks are out takes from the now underground famous “333” album Arvo released several years ago, but this work breathes it’s own breath without a doubt. 

 The first track on side A, “Hypnochondria” is a spastic, arrhythmic exercise in sequenced chaos, starting off overloaded and blown out the track slowly gives way to more musical sections, funky freak downs, chaotic synth stabs and textured low end bass rumbles all sequenced in a choking, nervous fervor. Some of the sections are dialed in with intricate precision, as if Aphex Twin was taking stabs at post industrial music, or inversely, if Nocturnal Emissions covered Squarepusher . About halfway through the first side, the track begins to clarify even more, getting further reduced to just the essential rhythmic synthesizer elements. Stabby, no frills Bass elements , abridged hi hats and snare like punches and mid range rhythm exercises, ARVO has worked the sequencer inside and out. 

The a side eventually slows down and as the dust settles, the listener is left with a more ambient , atmospheric piece which continues onto the B SiDe ARVO IS NO STRANGER to creating dark , esoteric sound collages and dense, textured scrapes and the B side of “Synthesizer Works, Volume 1” is further proof of that indeed. The B side is much more reminiscent of many of the works from the “333” album we have all grown to know and love, or even his delicately crafted, masterful, yet playfully dark radio collage exercises. The B side’s two tracks really open up the scope of sonic territory on this album. Dense, decaying percussion hits, phased out static walls of distortion and arrhythmic exercises round out the album nicely. The second Side is definitely less rhythmic and structured overall but still holds a nice tension and tight compositional choices. 

This album covers a wide array of noise, synthesizer music and collage techniques glued together to create the soundtrack to your nightmare stuck inside. Dying pinball machine buried under the earth. Beautifully packaged full color artwork printed on transparent j card with an underlay, as does everything on Out Of Body Records, this tape looks and sounds fantastic! Highly recommended!
____
A little bird told me about this master thesis because it used an article I wrote on noise in the bibliography:
Extreme Audio Culture in the New Digital Underground By Tamatai-A-Rangi Ngarimu A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Media Studies
It is 149 pages and seems to go into great detail on the various ways "urban culture" has used technology of pop culture and created something new, not to mention an extensive list of odd noise releases packaged in children's gas masks and whatnot.   Enjoy!

My split c60 with Critter Piss is ready from KaRyeEye Tapes, as is the Blood Rhythms pro CDR "Skin Flint" featuring my work with Wyatt Howland (Skin Graft).  Feel free to get in contact : kretapes at gmail dot com.  Limited to 30 copies.

The Upheaval cassette is now available from Tymbal Tapes.  It looks and sounds great in person, and comes with a download code.

Arvo Zylo's work is often the product of literal years of toil, the potent result of countless hours refining, perfecting, and focusing wild energies. Projects like his "333" and "Assembly" feel more like they've been finished in a metal refinery than a mastering house, their labyrinthine vertical layers chosen and fixed in place with firm force.

These Upheaval versions, each created in a single sitting from one block of material, act as industrial etudes, a peek behind the curtain at Zylo's unique approach to sound, space, and the art of the edit. Enjoy these fluid sessions of extemporaneous work from a master aural sculptor.

Keep up with Arvo Zylo at: nopartofit.blogspot.com

credits

releases December 12, 2015

Production Notes:
Recorded in May 2015. Created from samples of divas holding sustained notes. Each version of Upheaval must be completed in one sitting. 

Blood Rhythms "Assembly" LP is just about sold out from NO PART OF IT HQ here.  There are two copies with covers by Ron Lessard, and that's it.  However, there are some copies that should have arrived at Malignant Records and Crucial Blast Shop by now.  They may not be on their website yet, but these are the final copies with my covers and the extra 12" anti record.  There is no skimping either, these copies are made with razor blades, plexi glass, sheet metal, sand paper, and everything else (pics here).  Feel free to inquire with these fine establishments.

ONE MORE THING:  The diligent Culture Is Not Your Friend! site is ending, but for a final hurrah, they are soliciting submissions for a Christmas compilation, and I've been told that Pigswill will be contributing a remix version of Arvo Zylo's 333.  Keep an eye out in the coming weeks for that.   

Black Friday (Pre-Order Extravaganza)

The cover art for a new release of mine, by the artist, Tiny Little Hammers. I think it balances intricate with dynamic very well, and is a perfectly abstract/conceptual fit for the audio.   TLH does concert posters along with a number of other diverse, quality works, and is the exclusive cover artist for the new label Tymbal Tapes, headed by Scott Scholz, who also runs the podcast/review site Words on Sounds.  It is to be my first full length release of entirely "Upheaval" versions.  For those that don't know, "Upheaval" was a track I did in 2005, based entirely off of several samples of various divas holding long notes.  It was proposed for a compilation, but was rejected because of possible copyright infringement.  Since then, whenever I am given an opportunity for a compilation track, I rework a version of "Upheaval".  There are over 80 versions in existence at this time.  You can hear the original version Here.  Tymbal Tapes seem to have sold considerably well, considering the label started less than a year ago, with several reissues of releases coming and going quickly.  Interested parties would be advised to keep an eye on their bandcamp page. Ombrelli Sciolti and The Dept. of Harmonic Integrity are among my favorite releases of the year so far. J-cards are printed on "luxurious linen".  This one is printed with rustic blood red ink.   Grab the tape (pre-order) and check out chewy morsels in the rest of the "batch" of somewhat darker new artists on this incredibly discriminate and flavorful label  here.  I remember discussion about Bran (...) Pos, IXTABI (I think) and a Romanian band who doesn't communicate directly on the internet at all, but they have a "handler".  This goddamn label is important.

Experience Upheaval in full analog glory with this gorgeous C40 cassette. J-card printed in rust-red ink on luxurious linen paper. Edition of 50.

Cassettes begin shipping on 12/12/15. 

Includes digital pre-order of Upheaval. You get 2 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it's released.

Arvo Zylo's work is often the product of literal years of toil, the potent result of countless hours refining, perfecting, and focusing wild energies. Projects like his "333" and "Assembly" feel more like they've been finished in a metal refinery than a mastering house, their labyrinthine vertical layers chosen and fixed in place with firm force.

These Upheaval versions, each created in a single sitting from one block of material, act as industrial etudes, a peek behind the curtain at Zylo's unique approach to sound, space, and the art of the edit. Enjoy these fluid sessions of extemporaneous work from a master aural sculptor. 

credits

releases December 12, 2015

Production Notes:
Recorded in May 2015. Created from samples of divas holding sustained notes. Each version of Upheaval must be completed in one sitting. 

Split tape: These just happen to be coming out around the same time:  I did a split with Critter Piss featuring even more versions of Upheaval.  My side is pretty harsh material, with heavy machine loops and extreme layering.  This is a c60 with printed labels, and cover art by yours truly.  CP has a deceptive name, but his work sways around the hardened veins of dark ambient, of the inspired horror soundtrack by-way-of-noise variety.  A bonus piece of information:  I was sent   a bunch of unreleased tracks and was given the liberty to choose my favorites of this artist's material for the split.  I aim to please, and I wouldn't steer you wrong.  It is limited to 30 copies on Ka-Rye-Eye Tapes.  As I write this, I'm told that many of the copies are dubbed and labelled, but the printing of the covers isn't quite sorted out.  I don't expect these copies to be around for long, so feel free to secure yours now.  The label is accepting pre-order inquiries.  I'm sure it will be ready in the next couple weeks.  

Also on the brink from KRE Tapes: a pro CDR from Blood Rhythms titled "Skin Flint".  This time it's Arvo Zylo & gritty industrial noise filth veteran Wyatt Howland (Skin Graft, SK SK, Blackfire, Dead Peasant Insurance), high speed drunk-driving with no headlights.  Car alarms going off everywhere.  Leaning on the horn and accelerating instead of stopping at stop signs.   Two lengthy tracks (and a 19 minute "bonus track") of the dark, rhythmic, and heavy variety.  Recorded/improvised live together at SKSK studio in Cleveland, and refined/assembled/edited/revised by Arvo Zylo several times.  Most of the editing was done to keep the overall outcome minimal and to-the-point, but I still ended up layering the hell out of some areas.  The title track was originally 62 minutes long.  Approx/ 52 minutes running time total. Listen loud or not at all!  I'm confident that if you contacted the label, and allowed 2 weeks for delivery, they'd be ready in time, and you'd be a satisfied customer.    kretapes at gmail.

I've been active a lot on the Undressing Underground Podcast.  I was interviewed about influences and reasoning behind what I do, at length here.  I also contributed a bit about my involvement in a collaboration with Bryan Lewis Saunders, to follow his interview on there.   It is a necessary listen.  Hear him talk in a thick southern accent about torturing himself on stage with veteran sound artist John Duncan, and about training himself to talk in his sleep, the world population problem, and other mostly vulgar and disturbing, illuminating subjects.  The man is extremely bright, and a total character.  There is also a soundtrack provided by me, from a gallery installation called "Grand Guignol"
some years ago.

If you didn't catch my forewarning, Undressing Underground Podcast aired my old interview with travis from ONO, from my old radio show.  I initially spoke on the phone for about 15 minutes about my deep admiration for the subject, quite eloquently, I might add, as travis is  a dear friend and collaborator, but it was accidentally erased.  I have also interviewed the whole band prior to this, for the record.  ONO has been a savior to Chicago's music scene as far as I'm concerned.  Nevertheless, ONO has a new double LP out featuring Al Jourgensen of Ministry, and the recent addition of the extremely talented Ben Billington (Tiger Hatchery, Quicksails) as drummer (one of many on the record, among numerous other members and guests, remote or otherwise) and Brett Naucke, Chicago synth darling and head of Catholic Tapes.  They are touring as I write this.  I'm genuinely happy for them.  Core members travis and P. Michael show the age of entitlement virtual octogenarians a thing or two about vigor and resilience.  

The new ONO record (released on Devil's Night 2015) deals intimately with racial elements and obviously other personal subject matter, as if it were a shootout in the old west; tenderized into abstraction, funereal utterings and frenetic outbursts that communicate resignation almost as eloquently as nagging historical conflict.  travis once had me over and explained to me how he writes.  A 5 line poem can be a distillation of several characters and stories.  I'm pleased to have periodically seen the development of this record live (even though the recorded versions are dramatically different from what I remember live) and I even marched with them as travis lead a crowd through Pullman district introducing himself to onlookers as "The Nigger Queen" in a full-on wedding gown.

 Taken as a whole, "Spooks" is like an elaborately woven and thoroughly disorienting allegory, which will reveal new and surprising elements at each listen. I've always admired travis' ability to sound like Arthur Brown and George Clinton at the same time (I still wonder if he knows what Arthur Brown sounds like).  Multiple drummers and other scrawling synths, feedback, guitar skronk, reverse speech up the wazoo, skittering drum machines, and paradoxically laid back, cool bass lines roll through a lot of sort of speak/sing delivery, which punctuates even more when travis kicks on his baritone gospel surrealism or his screeching southern drawl sermons.  There's such a reeling-in-and-casting-out feeling going on here.  It feels like once a rhythm gets going, and it seems the listener can settle into any level of head-bobbing (or headbanging), something so dissonant or damn near absurd kicks in to remind you to either listen with your throat, or sit your head back aghast.  An element of controlled madness is afoot, and you can ride its coat-tails all the way through the tunnel if you try.

The record doesn't quite capture the over-stimulation and total environment that a live ONO set casts (but how could it?); leaving fans uninhibited enough to dance and scream, but not so unconscious that they aren't still confused by all of the things that are going on.  However, this record does take their process of recording to another level, where the listener is able to almost picture how free and spirited the band must have been in the studio; an element that I find to be extremely rare in contemporary records.  ONO's performances are never the same.  I've seen them perform the same song three times in one day, and it was always very significantly different.

I really have to commend Al Jourgensen for taking part in this project, they've been friends with him to some extent since high school.  I can only imagine how disappointed some industrial/metal heads might be, if they were to frollick into this forest.   It is a thing of beauty in the sense that it is unlike anything I have ever heard or will ever hear again.  At moments, it is more compelling than CAN or any other kraut-rock band.  At other times, it is like a sort of fractured synthpop sci-fi death opera, maybe almost bringing to mind David Bowie's "Outside" album, or a derailed Vaudeville play gone wrong.   In terms of "sweetness of sounds", it is not a thing of beauty; it is largely a chaotic and free-flowing mess in terms of traditional "songwriting".  Players seem to start and stop when they feel like it, and they also seem to go as hard as they want regardless of sonic balance or dynamics or well, balance.  At the same time, the whole 54 minutes of the album seem to have the structure of a play with three acts, a prelude, an overture, and everything else.

With all of the delightful, versatile female vocals (Rebecca Pavlatos and Shannon Rose Riley provide lead and backing vocals throughout) and lovely little orchestral keyboard (and synthesizer) nuances, the over-arching impression of Spooks comes off as an absolute train wreck and a disaster, debris and shrapnel everywhere, and I think that's precisely the point (a good thing).  One can't help but marvel at it. A song will sound like Diamanda Galas one moment, and My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult the next.  Like certain poetry, the conscious may not understand it, but the subconscious does.  There are certainly very epic moments of beauty, like that of "Ma Laveau" and "Invocation - The Nigger Queen", but they almost seem as accidental as they did natural.  "Punks" starts off with a nice little bar-room piano melody, the segues into throat singing, then it bursts with extremely dense synth funk with so many goddamn layers of instruments, it simply must be unraveled with some dissonant bass lines, and then come to an abrupt and premature halt.  There can never be too many cooks in the kitchen for ONO, the more the merrier!   The best way I can summarize the album is that of a runaway ugly stepchild zooming through the dark woods in an attempt to escape to new frontiers, amidst the fallen trees, thorns, and the dead leaves blowing in the heavy wind.  No looking back.  This is not for superficial listening.  With deep listening, it is a dancing, haunting masterpiece.  I'll return to SPOOKS again and again, and like ONO in general, my thoughts on the subject will always remain somehow satisfyingly unfinished.

 The interview here was done only a couple years after they reformed from a couple decade long hiatus, before any of ONO's old records from the early 80s were reissued, and certainly before they ever toured AS A RULE (they used to say they'd never go on tour, but they did honor me by playing my final tour date of my first tour, in Columbus Ohio, buncha sweethearts that they are).  Much has changed, but the core of the interview is based in layers of development, and it's rife with timeless insights and wild stories.  As Rob, the podcast maestro says, "Amazingly Interesting!".

In other news:

Notes From Chaos: Page 17 by Otomo Hava on Mixcloud

The title track from my collaboration with Dental Work entitled "Velcro Bismol" was aired on Otomo Hava's "Notes From Chaos" podcast along with a lot of fledgling artists I haven't heard of, and also Social Junk!  It's pretty good, give it  a swirl.   I did a guest podcast for this show a while back, check it out here.

My project Blood Rhythms was on a tribute to Little Fyodor a while back, from a live set that was recorded at Denver Noise Fest 2011.  The live set featured GX Jupitter-Larsen, Elizabeth Floersch, Clayton Counts, Bryon Tenebra, and a lot of other people throwing around boxes full of broken glass and wielding belt sanders against sheet metal. At the end of the set, there were broken lamps and mirrors in abundance.   The Aural Innovations website did a review of the tribute, wherein Blood Rhythms was mentioned.  The Cd is still available and recommended.  The new 7 inch by Little Fyodor and Babushka is also recommended.  8 tracks of new material, including covers of the Ramones and the Beatles.

AND :  The cat is out of the bag!  As many of you know, NO PART OF IT operated outside of the internet for two years.   There were some releases that still have no representation on the internet, of any kind. If you did not get my newsletter or come to my show, you blew it.  One such release, up until this point was "T.A.Z." - "Communique #2", an anti record that came with sun-dried ink printed covers in an edition of 25.  It is a conceptual side project of members of T.O.M.B. and Dreadlords.  Wm. Berger aired it on his My Castle of Quiet radio show (I don't know/recall how he acquired a copy) alongside Container, Pregnant Spore/Torturing Nurse, The Birthday Party, PIL, and a whole bunch of other cool obscure shit.  I have 2 left, and I'm not selling them online, wink wink.

"Consumed By The Other", c90 cassette ltd to 1 copy, buried in the ground.

"If you're not consumed by one thing, you're consumed by the other"

Officially "released" today: "Consumed By The Other", a c90 cassette limited to one copy.  10 exclusive tracks that will not resurface in any other form. "Heavier than a death in the family".  It comes in a wooden box and is buried in the ground at an undisclosed location.  Planted around the box are perennial plants which will grow back again and again each year, and a "grave marker" lit by a solar-powered cross.  Cassette includes a download code.  J-card includes a message written in blood.  The cassette itself comes in a norelco case inside of a black plastic bag, within the wooden box.  This may give it 6 months before the audio tape erodes, if that.  Only the mountains truly know.  Goodnight.

Interview, Poe reading, Airplay, New Fluxus Hjuler tape, Haunted House recap

I did a reading of an Edgar Allen Poe story for Undressing Underground podcast, which is now up.  I also was interviewed for a full hour (whereas I had been on for 15 minutes or so before).  I answered questions about my beginnings, the essence of what I like about solo artists, and a bit about how I got to this point.  Also a bit about my appreciation for Delia Derbyshire, Foetus, Coil, PIG, and more.   I'm told the Poe readings will be part of a cassette that will be available for pre-order soon.  Thanks Rob!  Rob will be re-airing an interview I did with travis from ONO next week.  It's a good one, be sure to tune in.

Scott Scholz played the new Sequencer Works Volume Two cassette on his excellent WORDS ON SOUNDS podcast this week along with Richard Pinhas, Wume, BBJr, and Majeure.

WILT aired on Little Fyodor's Under The Floorboards radio show, and the Blood Rhythms LP was aired on another episode here.  Bryan Lewis Saunders & Arvo Zylo's tape The Pleasure Tunnel / The Temple of Paradise was aired the week before here.  Thanks to Little Fyodor!  Check out his band Walls of Genius doing covers of Harry Smith folk tunes on their new album here!

A 27 minute piece between myself and Kommissar Hjuler und Frau called "UND WSB"  has been released on a split "FLUXUS" cassette with John  M. Bennett and C. Mehrl Bennett.  It is limited to 30 copies.

Photo by Brian Klein

At first I intended only to be a patron on Halloween at my friend Brian Klein's haunted house, but I ended up being a guest actor.  There I sat in the first room which was totally black except for a video of Family Feud (the 60s cast of Batman, including Vincent Price, and the cast of Gilligan's Island), or The Price is Right, with some unreleased material of mine blaring along with Bob Barker.  I was supposed to sit with a rat on my lap and get the first scare, but when I made the rat squeak, someone jumped out from behind the couch where people were commanded to sit, and scared them further.   I also acted in a bathroom with some kind of spraypainted black baby that had 8 tree branches tied to it.  It was supposed to be a spider, but I made this dadaistic monstrosity twitch around in the bathroom sink with fishing wire until the time was ripe to scare the hell out of them.  In addition to that, I had another scare by jumping through a window, and yet another from climbing through a fog-laden tunnel made of cardboard and newspaper.  I only wish I had a go at the chainsaw maniac position.   It was a very well-executed DIY haunt, and a considerable amount of people showed up.  Thanks to Brian and his brother Greg for having me!

Haunted House activity / Edgar Allen "Poecast" / Pleasure Tunnel reviewed by Heathen Harvest

Poe portrait by Marilyn Manson

I have contributed unreleased music to a DIY haunted house that is being built by my friend Brian Klein.
There is a great deal of unreleased material of mine happening.  I may also act in said haunted house, if time prevails.  More information as it's available.

I have also contributed a reading of an Edgar Allen Poe story to the Undressing Underground Podcast (Edgar Allen Poecast).  I'm told it will air on October 27th.

ALSO, Heathen Harvest has just reviewed the collaboration with Bryan Lewis Saunders.  It is reviewed by Jacob DeRaadt, who performs under the name "Sterile Garden".  HH is getting to have an all-star cast of sorts, for reviewers on experimental music.  One thing though, I was the one reading BLS's transcript upon waking near the end of Side B there, but otherwise the review is golden.  Thanks HH!!

Breathing is one of the most metaphorically loaded sounds in the human audial repertoire. The connotations are scattered throughout various psychological/physiological states: sexual activity, heavy physical labor, asthma/emphysema, the experience of focusing on one’s own breath cycle during meditation, the respiratory system being exposed to hostile or poisonous conditions, air supplies to the human body in outer space or deep-sea diving, fear, anticipation, etc.  The A-side of this tape is almost exclusively composed of this primal element.  It’s a dense, constant loop that slowly morphs over the course of the entire side.  Hypnotic approaches a description of the overall effect on the listener.  I tried to listen to this while driving through the countryside of Maine and had to pull the tape out of the stereo.  The internal environments were overwhelming my external experience of the changing pastoral landscape.

Where “The Pleasure Tunnel” slowly builds upon itself, “The Temple of Paradise” is full of twisted passageways and abrupt turns.  Creeping, cold, vaporous drones emanate from the depths of the subconscious, worked into a cut-up style the brings to mind early works ofNurse with Wound.  Only halfway through this seemingly endless hallway do we hear Bryan Lewis Saunders’ twin stereo vocals begin to describe this fractured dreamscape.  Finally, there’s the startling payoff of white-hot harsh frequencies evaporating the memory of dreamstate.

The liner notes for this collaboration are illuminating and thought-provoking; seldom is a working process explained in such detail.  Rather than robbing the mystery from the work, it operates on a curatorial level of providing a specific context and deeper appreciation for the circumstances contributing to such a superb end product.  Here’s an excerpt:

“One time while I was ill with a severe lung infection I had extremely similar dreams on two consecutive nights.  Both nights I entered the most vibrant and wonderful places ever created but they were now totally vacant, desolate, voids of despair and in ruin and disrepair.  Amazingly, the recordings I made of them were almost equal in length as well as being extremely similar in sound quality.  Over the course of 2 nights my subconscious had become a reflection of my phlegm and I was drowning in it.” —Bryan Lewis Saunders

_____________________________________________________

Track List:

A1) The Pleasure Tunnel
B1) The Temple of Paradise

Rating: 9/10
Written by: Jacob DeRaadt
Label: No Part of It (United States) / None / Tape
Experimental / Noise

Guest podcast, Reviews, Velcro Bismol added on Bandcamp

Guests From Chaos 1: Arvo Zylo by Otomo_Hava on Mixcloud

I did a guest podcast for a series in Greece.  Normally the show is called "Notes From Chaos", and I had the pleasure of being the first of a series of guests; "Guests from Chaos".  The theme is industrial, but rooted in the experimental, cerebral qualities that began with the movement.  Otomo Hava, the host, has a knack for incorporating the raw and abrasive with the particularly ratty compositional avante-garde and classical elements.  

PLAYLIST

1.  Delia Derbyshire / Barry Bermange ‎– Falling - Inventions For Radio: The Dreams 

2.  Haus Arafna - Today You Died [Did You Know Who I Am]

3.  Women of the SS - Silent Weapon 

4.  COIL - The Gimp, Sometimes 

5.  DOME - Danse - Dome 3 

6.  GLOD - Black Song For A Dead Sun 

7.  State Research Bureau - Non-Place  S/T CDR self released

8.  Ptôse - Stalking in the Dark 

9.  RUTH - She Brings The Rain 

10. Theatre of Ice - excerpt from The Haunting cassette Side A 

11. Ono - Ennui  

12. Illusion of Safety - Fade-N-Die - More Violence and Geography CD 

13. Throbbing Gristle - Catholic Sex - Journey Through A Body 

14. dave phillips - The Possibility of Life's Destruction - Collection of Hair 2CD 

15. Nurse with Wound - Futurismo (excerpt) - Merzbild Schwet  UDT/RRR cassette

16. Gyorgy Ligeti - Lontano - The Shining unofficial soundtrack 

17. Frans Zwartjes - Excerpt from Anamnesis film soundtrack extract 

Review on Memory Wave Transmissions, here is the summation...
Falling Tower, Terrible Fountain is a solid release, and Arvo Zylo has proven time and again that his noise is something much deeper than the simple twist and turn of knobs. This tape is like a void, easily sucking the listener into the whir of noise aberrations, and one should attempt to find this tape by contacting punkferret138 AT yahoo.com (since Side of the Sun doesn’t really have a web presence).

Illusion of Safety reviewed at Heathen Harvest.
Now I will say first, that I think this is one of IOS's best albums.  I know I'm biased, but while the writer overall fails to latch onto, it find it to be one of the most engrossing sonic adventures I've heard.  There is a difference between being able to find meaning in something and being able to find substance.  This is a surrealistic journey, a damn near cyber punk outing in digesting the whole, that brings up different subtleties in every listen.  Never the less, I respect this writer's effort.  

....One can only guess at the reasoning behind this down-turn in productivity outside of the obvious, but it’s clear from the onset of Surrender that Burke’s will to craft marvelously complex experimental compositions from a variety of sources is still as intact and impressive as it ever was.  Virtually any element that you’ve ever heard in experimental music can be found interwoven with other assorted, sometimes seemingly incompatible sounds:  mathematical digital beats, distant pipe-organ dirges, feedback loops, squalling disharmonious harsh noise, engulfing bass-end drones, manic shifts in atmosphere and volume, a vast assortment of samples and field recordings, and fragmented electro-acoustic general weirdness.  Impressive in its scope and intricacy, Surrender—at face-value—is an experimental sonic-sculptor’s dream; it is an epic journey through all manner of digital visions and vivid hallucinations, wherein we are led everywhere from the bleak and barren cut-up introduction of “We Numb” as it develops into an EBM-meets-free-jazz freak-out passage to the raging angelic inferno of synthetic choir layers in “Popular Delusions.”






Moving on, "Velcro Bismol" by Arvo Zylo & Dental Work is now on Bandcamp, with a reminder that one can purchase prints of the cover art in numerous sizes and shapes.  

I am working almost entirely with a wide-ranging slew of sounds by Dental Work, from demented disco to coke snorting, all kinds of madness. The result is constantly compared to Nurse with Wound, and at other times, extremely harsh noise. Deep bass medleys, HI SPEED CUT UPS, screwed dirge, splish splash tape loops. I did the cover art, and it was part of a series of collages I did for an art exhibition of the same name. All art is from collaged women's magazines.

credits

Bryan Lewis Saunders & Arvo Zylo - "The Pleasure Tunnel / The Temple of Paradise" now on Bandcamp

Bryan Lewis Saunders is a creative juggernaut.  He's probably best known for his art book of daily self-portraits on various different mind-altering drugs, if not his huge collection of found photography, his aptitude for surrealistic visual art glossolalia and his "Stand Up Tragedy" Performance Art.  He recorded 2 different dreams that took place at the same dream location. He has done dream recordings hundreds of times, including his multi-volume audio book "The Confessor". This was the only time he returned to the same location in his dream, so he put the two audio recordings together, because they also happened to have damn near the same length. Saunders had a severe lung infection at the time, so it's doubly weezy. I did what I could to honor this magical place "The Pleasure Tunnel / The Temple of Paradise", including recording myself reading the transcripts upon waking, and making a soundtrack to it. It comes on pro cassette with 2 colors on clear no liner shells, a full color, double sided 5 panel J card with dream transcript, liner notes from each artist, and is a c40 or so on Chrome tapes. Mastered by Zach Adams.  At this time there are 4 copies remaining.

Bandcamp download includes dream transcript text file and original recording of Bryan Lewis Saunders' two dream speeches fused together.

In the process of digifying things that are still in print since the "off-the-grid" money order/xerox newsletter period for the label, there will be more from Illusion of Safety and WILT, among others, with bonus tracks and other items.  

Sequencer Works VOLUME TWO

Copies of the SEQUENCER WORKS VOLUME TWO are here!  This also marks the end of the "off-the-grid" era of NO PART OF IT label.  I will still give discounts to people who want to send money orders to my mail box, but I will no longer neglect the possibilities that the WORLD WIDE WEB provide.  This is the sequel to VOLUME ONE on the excellent OUT-OF-BODY RECORDS label.

Sequencer Works Volume Two  is co-released with 3 other labels, and seems to be the last release on the venerable C.I.P. label, which has now closed its door and shape-shifted into the extremely intimate and specialized BALLAST label.  Also taking up the torch are RAINBOW BRIDGE, and FOREVER ESCAPING BOREDOM.  The copies arrived today.   This is technically a PRE ORDER, although I have the copies on hand and will ship immediately.  The download will not be released until October 15, because I want to make sure the other labels have copies at that time.  I will leave them to writing a descriptive scrawl on the nature of this material, I am no good at being poetic or even vaguely hyperbolic about my own work.  I will just say, as I have said before, I had no idea about experimental music at this time, basically, and I thought what I was doing was totally ground-breaking.  I usually tried to start making a song, but it often delineated into me messing with sounds, layering as much as I can, and just letting the machine do its work. The goal was to finish a piece not knowing how I made the sounds that happened.  In that context, this is the most musical of the output, the least expansive and freeform.  VOLUME THREE is already bubbling, and that will be my most insane material.  I feel like every track on this one is very unique and still stands out compared to other instrumental/experimental music, certainly very few people write entire albums on a single sequencer alone, much less spend a decade or more messing with its character traits.

The tape includes liner notes, a full color, two sided 4-panel j-card, a two color imprint on black cassettes.  60 minutes.


Here is a tidbit of history for how the first track came to be-

Originally, this piece started out as a backdrop to my first performance in 2003, where I played a noise arrangement entirely from applause sounds on the sequencer, at an extremely loud volume. The police arrived shortly after. Later on, I was given the offer to open for the now defunct band Coughs, in Detroit, and I made this piece beginning from those applause sounds and expanding for the show, among other things.




Also, I was interviewed again on the UNDRESSING UNDERGROUND podcast, it was released today.  I talk about this release, the Transitory Reflection project I'm working on, and the recent debacle with Tonetta.   You can download directly HERE.  I come in at about an hour in.  An artist called SassyBlack who refers to her work as "psychedelic sci fi funk" is also interviewed, as well as poetry recitals of craigslist missed connections.

Here is the short description.

Material recorded between 2000-2003 entirely with a Yamaha Rm1x sequencer in a closet or crawlspace. Among Arvo Zylo's most musical work to date, much of the material took up the entire memory of the sequencer, because of the amount of automation. Culled from dozens of hours of archives, either released in extremely limited quantities in 2004 or before, or previously unreleased. A Sequel to Sequencer Works Volume One on Out-of-Body Records.  Mastered by Zach Adams

CASSETTE VERSION : Co-Released by NO PART OF IT, C.I.P., Rainbow Bridge, and Forever Escaping Boredom, this is a professionally duplicated c60 cassette with two-sided, full color 4-panel j-cards in a norelco case, with liner notes. . Cobalt tapes, 2 color Silver and Violet imprints on black tapes. Limited to 100 copies.

Includes digital pre-order of Sequencer Works Volume Two. You get 3 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it's released. 

Tonetta problem.

LET IT BE KNOWN:  I have tried to send a xerox of Moneygram information twice, and it has been returned to me both times.  This is regarding payment in advance for the s/t Tonetta cassette I released earlier this month.  My honesty is being publicly called into question, and here is my modest evidence.  Please forgive the quality, I couldn't find my camera, and I used a flip phone to take the picture.  Anthony Jeffrey's address is obscured in the event that it is actually his real address, to protect his privacy.   I initially spoke to him on the phone, but his number is no longer in service.  I have tried to send the MoneyGram info to Jeffrey online, but he won't accept it, unless it's sent by post for some reason, and now he is calling me a scammer.  The man doesn't own a computer, or a bank account, and now also a phone line.  He's not exactly making it easy for me.

.  When I announced the release of the cassette, I said that he was paid in advance, because it had been 3 weeks since I had sent him the Moneygram information, and I wouldn't be surprised if I never heard from him again.  Literally the day after I made the announcement, the first letter was returned to me, at which point I sent it again.  He obviously doesn't know much about the flaws of the American postal system.  Make of it what you will.  If this stubborn, counterproductive nonsense continues, I will burn the remaining cassettes in the street.   I didn't do this for money, I did this to support a person whose music lifts my spirits, and who has been screwed over in the past.  No good deed goes unpunished, as they say.

Update 09/23/15-

Here is my receipt for mailing a registered letter to Anthony Jeffrey.  This includes the Moneygram information for him to pick up cash at any Moneygram location with a valid ID.  The tracking number is re126770295us, and a signature will be required.  Hopefully this address works this time.  I have been told he hasn't moved, and there was just some error twice in a row, mysteriously.  Here is the link to USPS tracking for this letter.

9/24/15-  My comments are being deleted.  Here are those that I remember, I'm sure there were more.  

UPDATE 09/26/15:  Now he's saying I owe him 500 dollars and is sending supposed "representatives" after me.  I only agreed to give him $100 in advance and an unspecified amount of copies.  I also went over the tracklisting with him on the phone, and he told me to credit D.L. Waters as the songwriter for one of the songs, which I did do.  I have removed the album from bandcamp and ceased the sale of copies.  I probably won't make them available again.

UPDATE 09/28/15

An animal sacrificing type of Satanist with bad grammar has contacted me as his "U.S. Rep", trying to perpetuate Tonetta's lies with equally bad grammar.
I commented with the following statement:

Tony, I'm not selling your cassettes anymore. I stopped immediately when you had your "US REP" contact me. I am going to burn the rest of the copies. I'll post a video of it. I don't want any more to do with you. I wanted to help you. You have the reference number, you can pick up the money any time. A copy of the info is in the mail to you registered. You neglected to give me your apartment number so the letters were returned. You should really get professional help.

UPDATE:
More comments have ensued, they're even more redundant, nonsensical, and erratic than before.  People like to waste time.  However, I did get in contact with the head of Black Tent Press, the label that Tonetta alleged to have ripped him off.  Here is what he had to say:

Hi, my name is Dirk Knibbe, I run Black Tent. I’d like the opportunity to respond to the recent accusations implied in the newly released video work of Tony Jeffrey, known to all as Tonetta. Our relationship began a few years ago under the agreement and understanding that there would be little money in this venture and that the art, and its purpose was the primarily goal to share, promote and focus on. I have repeatedly encouraged him to play shows and tour a little so he could make money on his own with his work. Even facilitating musicians in Toronto who were willing to back him as his band. Where profits have come in they have been paid out to Tony. He has received well over 2 grand in sales payments actually. Why he has chosen to imply that he has not received any payment is simply false. Like many of you know as fellow musicians and music lovers there is very little money in selling records these days. Especially the variety of high quality and expensively produced hand printed limited edition LP’s by such a NSFW explicate and provocative artist such as Tonetta. On top of the large investments into producing shows by his request, professionally documenting his work, travel cost to Canada to do work with him, the purchase of new audio and video and gear for him, the re-mastering of poor quality audio, sending out large of amounts of free LP’s & CD’s to share this remarkable artist with all there has been very little return of profits in this venture.

When I met Tony for the first time I was the first person to set foot in his apartment in 10 years. He lives in an isolated world that is his. And as much as it is remarkable it has not always been in tune to a larger reality. Having to explain what I now explain to you, dear reader to a man who stopped listening to music in 1980 and didn’t know what downloading off the internet meant, has been, lets say, interesting.

I do this all by myself. I work full time outside of this to support just myself. I do this because I love it and believe fully in the works of the artists I have worked with and shown to people. I am not claiming I have done things perfectly. This entity is a challenging beast to feed and keep afloat. But I feel honored to have worked with such a truly remarkable, brilliant, albeit challenging person such as Tony. It is unfortunate that our trust has been marred, but he has chosen to stop communicating with me over these last few months so there has been little I can do to mend things. I hope there is a record label that can give Tony what he now seems to most desire. A steady paycheck. I hope to do his work honor in this last release from black tent press.

Best

Dirk Knibbe

UPDATE 09/29/15
This is my final word on the matter.