i'm just looking at listening stats for some of the stuff i've been posting recently and, god, people have short attention spans nowadays. a desire for instant gratification.
pro-tip: when a song is five, ten, fifteen minutes long, it's hard to get an understanding of it from listening to the first 10-20% of it. that's just the introduction. i mean, we don't usually judge books by covers do we? with a large piece of music like this, there's usually a process in listening to it. the music has a shape: a start, a middle and an end. often, the song shifts dramatically through those ten minutes, incorporating radically different genres throughout it's length. sometimes the climax comes halfway through, and sometimes you've actually gotta even listen to the whole thing to get to the high point.
and, no, a solution is not to cut out the atmospherics and just focus on the intense sections. music that is meant to be digested as an art form cannot be reduced to an advertisement jingle. a cat is not a dog. when music is written with a process, the climax often *doesn't make sense* without the process that leads up to it.
i mean, if somebody wants to accuse me of not being an exciting rock artist, or a viable pop musician, i'll plead guilty to that. i'm not trying to be that, and never have been (except maybe for a few delusional moments around '97/'98). people that are looking for that kind of thing are going to be disappointed. but, that's why i'm not tagging any of this stuff with 'miley cyrus'. i'm tagging it with 'kosmische', 'post rock', 'glitch' - genres that generally attract people with longer listening spans.
i guess what i don't understand is why people bother pressing play at all if they don't intend to actually listen to it. i mean, what are they really doing? looking for something they've already heard? rejecting it the moment they don't recognize it?
grargh.
the flip side is that it seems to be that when somebody actually does listen to a full song, they listen to several. i'll go two or three days with nothing but partials, then get 30 full listens in a row - clearly all by the same person. that's encouraging...
i just wish i understood the psychology behind the partials. it doesn't make sense to me.
i mean, i sort of get that some people are going to grow bored of a four minute ambient intro. fine. they're not going to enjoy my music. that's ok.
what i don't get is why they'd click through the progressive rock tag to get there, notice the song is seventeen minutes long and then expect to understand what's going to happen at 12:37 after listening to the first four minutes.
am i being presumptuous to think that clicking on the prog tag, noticing the lengthy track length and then pressing play anyways pre-supposes an understanding that one needs to let the track finish before judging it?
i'm hoping this might help.
the music here has shifted dramatically over many years, from roots in punk/grunge through to experimental synth pop and into a type of kitchen sink post-rock with heavy electronics. the only consistency throughout is a lack of consistency, guitars and an impressionist aesthetic. "blender rock"
blender rock is what i've been calling myself for a while (check page description). no google hits except me. i like that.
"kitchen sink post-rock" brings up an article about trans am, who were a pretty neat 90s act. could have worse company.
Saturday, November 30, 2013
publishing warning (inri029)
this was my grade 12 final project in electronic music design. the assignment was something along the lines of creating a piece of music with a social message.
the message is part dystopian, but focuses more on the idea of identifying certain threats that would become a problem in the upcoming century. remember that this was the end of 1999. how close was i?
1) intro
2) war
3) noise pollution, or pollution in general
4) conformity (or the collapse of individualism)*
5) chemical warfare
6) global warming
7) outro
*i was thinking in terms of personality/uniqueness, rather than something political. and i think the extreme conformity underlying gen y social attitudes have played this out frighteningly well, actually. it's a reaction to the radical mindset of anti-conformity that dominated gen x, but it's still a very real thing that will have very real ramifications in the upcoming decades. if you thought the 50s were creepy, wait until you see what these kids grow up into!
i should have included something about inequality. i also removed a vegan track, partly due to time restraints. besides that, i think i got all of the broad ideas right.
most of the tracks are slightly remixed/resequenced versions of tracks from inri or inriched. track 5 is brand new, and recorded on the school's synthesizer (part of the project requirements).
noting that this contains a section i've title "symphony #0", i'm going to label this piece of music my zeroth symphony.
recorded over 1997-1999. constructed in this form in june, 1999. as always, please use headphones.
credits
j - guitars, effects, bass, synthesizers, drum programming, sequencing, sampling, digital wave editing, cool edit synthesis, tapes, production, found sounds, strategies
released june 20, 1999
1) this is track 1 from the original inri cd demo.
2) this is a combination of tracks 5 & 11 from the original inri cd demo.
3) this is a combination of tracks 3 & 7 from the original inriched cd demo.
4) this is track 19 from the original inriched cd demo.
5) this was an original track recorded on the school's synthesizer to fulfill the requirements of the project, but becomes track 7 on the original inridiculous cd demo.
6) this is track 19 from the original inri cd demo.
7) this is track 1 from the original inriched cd demo.
the message is part dystopian, but focuses more on the idea of identifying certain threats that would become a problem in the upcoming century. remember that this was the end of 1999. how close was i?
1) intro
2) war
3) noise pollution, or pollution in general
4) conformity (or the collapse of individualism)*
5) chemical warfare
6) global warming
7) outro
*i was thinking in terms of personality/uniqueness, rather than something political. and i think the extreme conformity underlying gen y social attitudes have played this out frighteningly well, actually. it's a reaction to the radical mindset of anti-conformity that dominated gen x, but it's still a very real thing that will have very real ramifications in the upcoming decades. if you thought the 50s were creepy, wait until you see what these kids grow up into!
i should have included something about inequality. i also removed a vegan track, partly due to time restraints. besides that, i think i got all of the broad ideas right.
most of the tracks are slightly remixed/resequenced versions of tracks from inri or inriched. track 5 is brand new, and recorded on the school's synthesizer (part of the project requirements).
noting that this contains a section i've title "symphony #0", i'm going to label this piece of music my zeroth symphony.
recorded over 1997-1999. constructed in this form in june, 1999. as always, please use headphones.
credits
j - guitars, effects, bass, synthesizers, drum programming, sequencing, sampling, digital wave editing, cool edit synthesis, tapes, production, found sounds, strategies
released june 20, 1999
1) this is track 1 from the original inri cd demo.
2) this is a combination of tracks 5 & 11 from the original inri cd demo.
3) this is a combination of tracks 3 & 7 from the original inriched cd demo.
4) this is track 19 from the original inriched cd demo.
5) this was an original track recorded on the school's synthesizer to fulfill the requirements of the project, but becomes track 7 on the original inridiculous cd demo.
6) this is track 19 from the original inri cd demo.
7) this is track 1 from the original inriched cd demo.
jack and the bean...
psyche.
life there is..........?
*crickets*
life's been weird here. haven't been drinking or smoking basically at all. that's been good for me; my head seems clear. but kind of empty.
i dunno. i'm swinging wildly between "life is perfect" and "life is meaningless".
perfectly meaningless. meaninglessly perfect. both, maybe, even.
still thinking of you. strangely. still a loose end. a splayed wire. a loose thread. a hair out of place.
a noodle hanging off the plate. yes, one of those long ones that just won't follow proper table etiquette. grrrrr.
i'm 10 hours away. in a different clime, even. consider this: there's no snow here yet. that's how far away i am. so it's safe to talk...
if you'd like.
j
life there is..........?
*crickets*
life's been weird here. haven't been drinking or smoking basically at all. that's been good for me; my head seems clear. but kind of empty.
i dunno. i'm swinging wildly between "life is perfect" and "life is meaningless".
perfectly meaningless. meaninglessly perfect. both, maybe, even.
still thinking of you. strangely. still a loose end. a splayed wire. a loose thread. a hair out of place.
a noodle hanging off the plate. yes, one of those long ones that just won't follow proper table etiquette. grrrrr.
i'm 10 hours away. in a different clime, even. consider this: there's no snow here yet. that's how far away i am. so it's safe to talk...
if you'd like.
j
Friday, November 29, 2013
Thursday, November 28, 2013
oxykitten as inspiration for chiptune project
i should point out that some of these chiptune things i'm cleaning up are from as far back as '97. i hit an apex in the style around '02, and then sort of faded out of it in favour of building a sort of guitar-driven electro sound, as explored in my 'tetris' project. i also had to x a bunch of the stuff under pressure from collaborators, as they thought it sounded 'too cheesy'.
the reason i'm doing this now is that i'm realizing i have enough material in the style to put together into an lp. it's a convenient way to order things.
that being said, here's a recent act in the style that's had an effect on me.
the reason i'm doing this now is that i'm realizing i have enough material in the style to put together into an lp. it's a convenient way to order things.
that being said, here's a recent act in the style that's had an effect on me.
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
inridiculous (original album mix) (inri033) now fully uploaded
i've decided not to alter this in any way.
i was moving, conceptually, to more serious styles of music. i wanted to write these epic 20-minute trips that reached into every genre imaginable. you can hear that shift over the last few things i posted, and it really accelerates moving into the year 2000. this is my last kiddy recording...but it isn't really a kiddy recording.....
see, i had a bunch of noise tracks that i'd been putting aside for a third demo, trinri, that was meant to carry on with the same concept as the first two: "songs" and "collages" would alternate over 19 tracks. the problem i ran up against with trinri was that i was no longer interested in writing songs. what was coming out, instead, were these fifteen minute journeys. that's ultimately the driving reason that i switched things up: the format had worn itself thin.
so, i pulled the noise collages together (along with some older collages that i had pulled from various sources as far back as my first demo tape) into this thing. i became aware at some point, very suddenly, that the whole idea and product was sort of ridiculous. hence the title.
this recording is consequently void of actual songs. it isn't easy to listen to, and offers few reprieves, but if you're a fan of the genre that includes bands like coil, psychic tv, dvoa, nurse with wound and hafler trio (i hesitate to use the i word in context) then you may find something of enjoyment here.
cover art is from 1999. how the hell did the greeks think mesopotamia was an ocean, anyways? surely, they had contact with babylonians, if not indians. that's never made sense to me.
recorded from 1996-1999. this is my third record. as always, please use headphones.
credits:
j - guitar, effects, bass, keyboards, tapes, synthesizers, live drums, drum programming, hammerhead (909 emulator), sound raider, sampling, cool edit synthesis/sequencing, loops, digital effects processing, digital wave editing, flute
released dec 10, 1999
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inridiculous
i was moving, conceptually, to more serious styles of music. i wanted to write these epic 20-minute trips that reached into every genre imaginable. you can hear that shift over the last few things i posted, and it really accelerates moving into the year 2000. this is my last kiddy recording...but it isn't really a kiddy recording.....
see, i had a bunch of noise tracks that i'd been putting aside for a third demo, trinri, that was meant to carry on with the same concept as the first two: "songs" and "collages" would alternate over 19 tracks. the problem i ran up against with trinri was that i was no longer interested in writing songs. what was coming out, instead, were these fifteen minute journeys. that's ultimately the driving reason that i switched things up: the format had worn itself thin.
so, i pulled the noise collages together (along with some older collages that i had pulled from various sources as far back as my first demo tape) into this thing. i became aware at some point, very suddenly, that the whole idea and product was sort of ridiculous. hence the title.
this recording is consequently void of actual songs. it isn't easy to listen to, and offers few reprieves, but if you're a fan of the genre that includes bands like coil, psychic tv, dvoa, nurse with wound and hafler trio (i hesitate to use the i word in context) then you may find something of enjoyment here.
cover art is from 1999. how the hell did the greeks think mesopotamia was an ocean, anyways? surely, they had contact with babylonians, if not indians. that's never made sense to me.
recorded from 1996-1999. this is my third record. as always, please use headphones.
credits:
j - guitar, effects, bass, keyboards, tapes, synthesizers, live drums, drum programming, hammerhead (909 emulator), sound raider, sampling, cool edit synthesis/sequencing, loops, digital effects processing, digital wave editing, flute
released dec 10, 1999
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inridiculous
inrimake (initial 2013 expansion) (inri032) now fully uploaded
something that happened in the late 90s, when fans of bands started getting together and talking on the internet, was the phenomena of the unauthorized remix. schemes were hatched all over the internet to create remix records, tribute discs, fan collaborations and whatnot. in hindsight, given what the internet turned into, it was actually a refreshingly productive use of networking.
different artists have reacted in different ways. i got yelled at by the now deceased singer of god lives underwater for one of these. trent reznor, on the other hand, eventually went so far as to set up a competition (which i didn't take part in, as i'd moved beyond the idea by that point).
once i'd put a few remixes/recreations together, and received more positive feedback doing it than with any of my own songs, i began to realize that if i could get somebody's attention then i could construct myself a launching pad. it seems like that's what a lot of people were thinking; it didn't work out, but i did end up with a number of remixes.
unfortunately, i've lost a lot of them. about a third of them ended up on a cd-r i threw together at the end of 1999. a third just sat on my hard drive, and a third disappeared into the internet. i'm putting them all together here under the title of the 1999 release, 'inrimake'. the initial release ended after "the day inri messed the world up"; the last five songs are 'bonus tracks'.
i was very much going for the *abstract* remix sound rather than the club-friendly mix. you can't really dance to these. you're not supposed to. you're supposed to blare them through headphones and trip out into them.
in terms of my own work, this record very much extends a bridge from the inri period into the deny everything period, to the extent that it arguably realizes the goals of both phases better than either phase does.
recorded sporadically, and without cohesive intent, over '98 and '99. originally compiled in the fall of '99. augmented and minimally edited over november, 2013.
HEADPHONES ARE MANDATORY TO EXPERIENCE THIS AS INTENDED.
credits:
j - guitars, effects, bass, synths, drum programming, digital wave editing, cool edit synthesis, sampling, sequencers, loops, remixes, reconstructions, reinterpretations
released october 15, 1999
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inrimake
different artists have reacted in different ways. i got yelled at by the now deceased singer of god lives underwater for one of these. trent reznor, on the other hand, eventually went so far as to set up a competition (which i didn't take part in, as i'd moved beyond the idea by that point).
once i'd put a few remixes/recreations together, and received more positive feedback doing it than with any of my own songs, i began to realize that if i could get somebody's attention then i could construct myself a launching pad. it seems like that's what a lot of people were thinking; it didn't work out, but i did end up with a number of remixes.
unfortunately, i've lost a lot of them. about a third of them ended up on a cd-r i threw together at the end of 1999. a third just sat on my hard drive, and a third disappeared into the internet. i'm putting them all together here under the title of the 1999 release, 'inrimake'. the initial release ended after "the day inri messed the world up"; the last five songs are 'bonus tracks'.
i was very much going for the *abstract* remix sound rather than the club-friendly mix. you can't really dance to these. you're not supposed to. you're supposed to blare them through headphones and trip out into them.
in terms of my own work, this record very much extends a bridge from the inri period into the deny everything period, to the extent that it arguably realizes the goals of both phases better than either phase does.
recorded sporadically, and without cohesive intent, over '98 and '99. originally compiled in the fall of '99. augmented and minimally edited over november, 2013.
HEADPHONES ARE MANDATORY TO EXPERIENCE THIS AS INTENDED.
credits:
j - guitars, effects, bass, synths, drum programming, digital wave editing, cool edit synthesis, sampling, sequencers, loops, remixes, reconstructions, reinterpretations
released october 15, 1999
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inrimake
k. so, i'm pausing for a little bit.
1) my headphone cords should be in the mail early next week. that means:
(a) i need to wait for them for the deny everything material, which exists in multiple ways.
(b) when they get here, i'm going to have to closely listen to what i've uploaded, which may mean some track replacements. the songs won't change, but the sound of them probably will.
2) while i'm waiting, i'm going to work on converting some old stuff into chiptune tracks.
i've uploaded a huge amount of stuff over the last two months. 3 demo tapes, 5 cds, 3 eps, 2 singles. all of it before the beginning of 2000. it's in listenable form. so, while i'm pausing, feel free to stream the records as records.
1) my headphone cords should be in the mail early next week. that means:
(a) i need to wait for them for the deny everything material, which exists in multiple ways.
(b) when they get here, i'm going to have to closely listen to what i've uploaded, which may mean some track replacements. the songs won't change, but the sound of them probably will.
2) while i'm waiting, i'm going to work on converting some old stuff into chiptune tracks.
i've uploaded a huge amount of stuff over the last two months. 3 demo tapes, 5 cds, 3 eps, 2 singles. all of it before the beginning of 2000. it's in listenable form. so, while i'm pausing, feel free to stream the records as records.
superhappyfunsong & drumk (original album mixes)
these were rescued from the initial demo tape and slightly modified to segue better into the noise aesthetic.
recorded in the spring of 1999. edited in december, 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/drumk-2
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/superhappyfunsong
recorded in the spring of 1999. edited in december, 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/drumk-2
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/superhappyfunsong
tribute (original album mix)
through '99 and '00, and generally very early in the morning, i could often be found recording very long ambient guitar sections into my machine. really, i was just expressing myself. my first proper symphony ended up built around this concept.
when i went to construct this demo, i needed an extra few minutes of ambience to segue between tracks. so i pulled one of the files off the drive and shaped it a bit...
recorded in the fall of 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/tribute
when i went to construct this demo, i needed an extra few minutes of ambience to segue between tracks. so i pulled one of the files off the drive and shaped it a bit...
recorded in the fall of 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/tribute
book it! (original album mix)
this is another lost track that exists in a sort of an ill-defined alter-reality. the track mixes idm, new age, jazz fusion and progressive rock into a ridiculous, hyperfruity masterpiece. it's a mash-up of return to forever and mike oldfield, as remixed by coil.
it came out of a jam in my basement that fall. i was feeling a little more lonely than usual. see, i was quite literally the only person in my social group that bothered doing grade 13. so, school was converted from my only real social grounding (and i was always an extremely introverted loner) into a place of isolation and alienation. i skipped a lot of classes, actually, in a desire to escape the people. looking back, i sort of regret not reaching out to the people around me a bit more; it would have helped in more than just a social context. but, in hindsight, i'm also able to understand the separation better as one of class; as much as i regret keeping myself isolated, i think i would have been better off not carrying on with school at all.
i mean, i did well. my average was over 90. but i felt hopelessly out of place. i knew i didn't belong there....that they would never accept me unless i became the kind of pretentious jerk i despised. nor did i want anything to do with them, anyways. i really hated the superior attitude that i found myself immersed within. so, i just kept my physical distance and my mouth shut, hoping the condition was temporary (it wasn't).
the flip side of this is that i was also working a part-time job in a fast-food restaurant and i hated it just as much. i didn't fit in any better there, amongst the kids with no aspirations in life except to work in order to exist.
so, i found myself stuck between worlds, not wanting anything to do with either. in both cases, though, what i found the problem was was the people. "i don't mind the job, but i'm repulsed by the staff".
what i really wanted was just to be able to lock myself in a room and never have to engage with anybody ever again. i think that i'm the only person that could have written this. it exudes my idiosyncrasies in surreal, tongue-in-cheek humour. but it's also dead serious.
"i'd rather have a book than a friend.
it's loyalty will never end,
doesn't succumb to fashion or trend,
and all the information it sends,
will never get lost along the way.
when things get as tough as they may,
it will always know exactly what to say,
'cause books don't hurt...
...or do they?"
musically, there's some fancy playing here. everything is completely live: no loops (except the drums, programmed into a 909 emulator). that guitar part is sort of tricky. and check the bass part in the breakdown.
the thing i really like about this the most, though, is the gorgeous kosmische ending section, which is built up on overlapping sixths and is just the most dreamy thing to escape into ever. dramatic ending chord care/of a day in the life.
and, indeed, this is the dramatic ending chord for inri.
recorded in the fall of 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/book-it-raw-mix
it came out of a jam in my basement that fall. i was feeling a little more lonely than usual. see, i was quite literally the only person in my social group that bothered doing grade 13. so, school was converted from my only real social grounding (and i was always an extremely introverted loner) into a place of isolation and alienation. i skipped a lot of classes, actually, in a desire to escape the people. looking back, i sort of regret not reaching out to the people around me a bit more; it would have helped in more than just a social context. but, in hindsight, i'm also able to understand the separation better as one of class; as much as i regret keeping myself isolated, i think i would have been better off not carrying on with school at all.
i mean, i did well. my average was over 90. but i felt hopelessly out of place. i knew i didn't belong there....that they would never accept me unless i became the kind of pretentious jerk i despised. nor did i want anything to do with them, anyways. i really hated the superior attitude that i found myself immersed within. so, i just kept my physical distance and my mouth shut, hoping the condition was temporary (it wasn't).
the flip side of this is that i was also working a part-time job in a fast-food restaurant and i hated it just as much. i didn't fit in any better there, amongst the kids with no aspirations in life except to work in order to exist.
so, i found myself stuck between worlds, not wanting anything to do with either. in both cases, though, what i found the problem was was the people. "i don't mind the job, but i'm repulsed by the staff".
what i really wanted was just to be able to lock myself in a room and never have to engage with anybody ever again. i think that i'm the only person that could have written this. it exudes my idiosyncrasies in surreal, tongue-in-cheek humour. but it's also dead serious.
"i'd rather have a book than a friend.
it's loyalty will never end,
doesn't succumb to fashion or trend,
and all the information it sends,
will never get lost along the way.
when things get as tough as they may,
it will always know exactly what to say,
'cause books don't hurt...
...or do they?"
musically, there's some fancy playing here. everything is completely live: no loops (except the drums, programmed into a 909 emulator). that guitar part is sort of tricky. and check the bass part in the breakdown.
the thing i really like about this the most, though, is the gorgeous kosmische ending section, which is built up on overlapping sixths and is just the most dreamy thing to escape into ever. dramatic ending chord care/of a day in the life.
and, indeed, this is the dramatic ending chord for inri.
recorded in the fall of 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/book-it-raw-mix
Monday, November 25, 2013
let freedom ring (original discarded outtake)
so, this is an interesting thing to have sitting on my shelf. it's the 'i have a dream' speech, orchestrated with some soaring guitars.
i should point out immediately that i got a lawsuit thrown at me by the king estate when i tried to upload this back in early '00. i thought that was really trite, but it's not really a legal battle i want to have. i would react more or less the same way should i be threatened a second time, except to point out this time that it's fair use so long as i remove the price tag and basically just do that.
the story behind the song is not very remarkable. the working title for the track was just 'progblues thing'. it was intended to be a structured instrumental guitar track that mixed the flair of hendrix with the minimalist structure of steve reich. the speech sort of came to it by accident.
it was also the result of my dad getting himself a drumkit for christmas that year, which my step-mother promptly placed in my bedroom as a disincentive for further use. score, i guess. but it didn't survive the move a few months later. in the mean time, i got some recordings out of it - as well as a few moderately crazy drunken weekend jam sessions.
i'll note that that christmas also produced a grand piano a few feet outside my door. it's intended recipient was my sister, but she wasn't around much. me? new pc, with a convenient recording interface, and some more functional microphones. despite talk of family jam spaces, one might suspect my father was actually conspiring in my favour. there is probably a great deal of truth in this suspicion. these conditions held for less than a year, but i made the most of them.
so, the idea of the track was initially about experimenting with the new reverb system built into my new soundcard interface, by triggering it with the drumkit that had recently magically appeared out of good fortune. it had been a few years since i'd played the kit much, and, unfortunately, it kind of does show. i had spent a little time practicing along with "nevermind" and "siamese dream" for a few weeks to get back in shape, but i wasn't really "there" yet at the time of this recording. i didn't want to program loops into the song, so i compensated by splicing the track up. of special interest in this wave editing is the backwards cymbals, and especially how they intersect with the soaring guitars.
and of those soaring guitars? a fairly simple blues pattern. sure is lovely, though, isn't it?
the speech became attached to the track when chance managed to have them playing simultaneously for me. i had cnn on in the corner. it was doing some kind of special on mlk, perhaps related to an anniversary that is related to a yearly holiday. placed together, it knocked me flat on my ass.
the idea in my mind from the start was integrationist, if not really consciously so. on the one hand, the guitar part is raw southern blues. on the other hand, the structure is sterile white minimalism. i didn't just realize this juxtaposition, i was trying to exploit it, even if the racial context hadn't occurred to me. when king's speech was played over it, though, the idea really exploded; the context became much deeper. it was an instant exponentiation in profundity.
i also thought it would work well as a foil to the doonesbury sample that is in the track that follows this one [entropy (original mix)].
in hindsight, there are some problems with this. i was a moderately wealthy white kid from canada. there was never much chance of me turning a profit on this, but if i did it would be a type of appropriation. this track does appear on the deny everything demo (jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/deny-everything) but under the title of "a commercial break" - and without the dr. king samples. that's probably for the best.
that doesn't change the feeling i got when i first heard the two things together, or take away any of the power that the pairing produces.
i think this is worth sharing.
recorded in january, 2000.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/let-freedom-ring
i should point out immediately that i got a lawsuit thrown at me by the king estate when i tried to upload this back in early '00. i thought that was really trite, but it's not really a legal battle i want to have. i would react more or less the same way should i be threatened a second time, except to point out this time that it's fair use so long as i remove the price tag and basically just do that.
the story behind the song is not very remarkable. the working title for the track was just 'progblues thing'. it was intended to be a structured instrumental guitar track that mixed the flair of hendrix with the minimalist structure of steve reich. the speech sort of came to it by accident.
it was also the result of my dad getting himself a drumkit for christmas that year, which my step-mother promptly placed in my bedroom as a disincentive for further use. score, i guess. but it didn't survive the move a few months later. in the mean time, i got some recordings out of it - as well as a few moderately crazy drunken weekend jam sessions.
i'll note that that christmas also produced a grand piano a few feet outside my door. it's intended recipient was my sister, but she wasn't around much. me? new pc, with a convenient recording interface, and some more functional microphones. despite talk of family jam spaces, one might suspect my father was actually conspiring in my favour. there is probably a great deal of truth in this suspicion. these conditions held for less than a year, but i made the most of them.
so, the idea of the track was initially about experimenting with the new reverb system built into my new soundcard interface, by triggering it with the drumkit that had recently magically appeared out of good fortune. it had been a few years since i'd played the kit much, and, unfortunately, it kind of does show. i had spent a little time practicing along with "nevermind" and "siamese dream" for a few weeks to get back in shape, but i wasn't really "there" yet at the time of this recording. i didn't want to program loops into the song, so i compensated by splicing the track up. of special interest in this wave editing is the backwards cymbals, and especially how they intersect with the soaring guitars.
and of those soaring guitars? a fairly simple blues pattern. sure is lovely, though, isn't it?
the speech became attached to the track when chance managed to have them playing simultaneously for me. i had cnn on in the corner. it was doing some kind of special on mlk, perhaps related to an anniversary that is related to a yearly holiday. placed together, it knocked me flat on my ass.
the idea in my mind from the start was integrationist, if not really consciously so. on the one hand, the guitar part is raw southern blues. on the other hand, the structure is sterile white minimalism. i didn't just realize this juxtaposition, i was trying to exploit it, even if the racial context hadn't occurred to me. when king's speech was played over it, though, the idea really exploded; the context became much deeper. it was an instant exponentiation in profundity.
i also thought it would work well as a foil to the doonesbury sample that is in the track that follows this one [entropy (original mix)].
in hindsight, there are some problems with this. i was a moderately wealthy white kid from canada. there was never much chance of me turning a profit on this, but if i did it would be a type of appropriation. this track does appear on the deny everything demo (jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/deny-everything) but under the title of "a commercial break" - and without the dr. king samples. that's probably for the best.
that doesn't change the feeling i got when i first heard the two things together, or take away any of the power that the pairing produces.
i think this is worth sharing.
recorded in january, 2000.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/let-freedom-ring
missed connection (original discarded outtake)
this was initially written to be the first track of my third record, which i was calling trinri as a working title. yet, it was written about the same time as i was finishing up my covers disc. i wanted to add at least one more track to the disc to make it a bit longer. for whatever reason, i ended up using it as an introduction to the hummer cover, rather than as it's own track.
i've pulled it out here, in instrumental form.
recorded in sept. 1999. isolated on nov 25, 2013.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/missed-connection
i've pulled it out here, in instrumental form.
recorded in sept. 1999. isolated on nov 25, 2013.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/missed-connection
hummer (remix/cover for inrimake)
this is two things.
the introductory synth section was created independently as the introduction to a theoretical third demo (which became deny everything). i had also already decided to compile the covers disc and ended up using it for an introduction to this cover of hummer, instead. so i "lost" the section. i've regretted letting the part go a few times since. and, going this route factored into the decision to include the first two tracks (which are not covers). anyways...
the rest of it is actually two different approaches to the same thing. i ended up using them both by stringing them together rather than one or the other.
i was also feeling trapped in the covers project, generally. this is something that took a huge amount of time and energy. why wasn't i applying that towards original material? the samples at the end are meant to represent me breaking free of myself, and letting myself loose to get back to my own ideas. so i could live again. i plead guilty to all counts of being a drama queen.
i also ended up co-opting the song, mildly. i focused solely on the instrumental part in the second half of the track, which has a very carefree quality to it. it's not explicitly about rejecting war. but it fits.
musically, for the second part, i need to weight two tendencies. first, it was consciously meant to have this silly fake-jazz strut to it. second, i was clearly more interested in free jamming than composing anything with structure. it's a weird juxtaposition that sounds kind of dorky. sometimes, you have to begin analyzing something by determining whether it accomplished it's goal or not. i feel this did, but the intent was admittedly unusual.
this is so dramatically different from the original that it's reasonable to say something like that it's "inspired by" the original rather than a remix or a cover. it does contain creatively reinterpreted samples of the original.
created in sept & oct, 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/hummer
the introductory synth section was created independently as the introduction to a theoretical third demo (which became deny everything). i had also already decided to compile the covers disc and ended up using it for an introduction to this cover of hummer, instead. so i "lost" the section. i've regretted letting the part go a few times since. and, going this route factored into the decision to include the first two tracks (which are not covers). anyways...
the rest of it is actually two different approaches to the same thing. i ended up using them both by stringing them together rather than one or the other.
i was also feeling trapped in the covers project, generally. this is something that took a huge amount of time and energy. why wasn't i applying that towards original material? the samples at the end are meant to represent me breaking free of myself, and letting myself loose to get back to my own ideas. so i could live again. i plead guilty to all counts of being a drama queen.
i also ended up co-opting the song, mildly. i focused solely on the instrumental part in the second half of the track, which has a very carefree quality to it. it's not explicitly about rejecting war. but it fits.
musically, for the second part, i need to weight two tendencies. first, it was consciously meant to have this silly fake-jazz strut to it. second, i was clearly more interested in free jamming than composing anything with structure. it's a weird juxtaposition that sounds kind of dorky. sometimes, you have to begin analyzing something by determining whether it accomplished it's goal or not. i feel this did, but the intent was admittedly unusual.
this is so dramatically different from the original that it's reasonable to say something like that it's "inspired by" the original rather than a remix or a cover. it does contain creatively reinterpreted samples of the original.
created in sept & oct, 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/hummer
Sunday, November 24, 2013
the day inri messed the world up (remix/cover for inrimake)
alt.music.nin is a thing that existed, and you can imagine that the release of the fragile was a pretty big deal there. it was the first nin record released in the internet age - the first chance to discuss something new.
in fact, it hit the place like an explosion from friendly fire. giant arguments erupted, quickly giving way to a strange kind of silence. people that had been posting regularly for years couldn't even be bothered to post an opinion. i realized later that it was the first of what were several generational shifts in trent reznor's following. it actually seems to happen after every record. my shift out was "with teeth".
personally, i have a complex relationship with the disc, but this isn't a review of the fragile. it's an explanation of my remix of the track's first single, the day the world went away.
the single was released a few months before the record. people were posting remixes almost as soon as it was released. i actually didn't want to, but i had a few requests so i approached it on that level.
i wasn't entirely sure what to expect from the record, which it seemed like i had been waiting for my whole life. trent had been obfuscating and coy. it was hip-hop. it was orchestral music. it was prog. it was pop. i was just waiting with an open mind. the single didn't help form expectations: two versions of a mopey ambient thing, and a frighteningly awful tongue-in-cheek stadium rock dig at marilyn manson (who i gave zero fucks about, except in the context of him reducing reznor's songwriting quality). how does one approach this?
no. i didn't want to. "c'mon, i wanna hear your interpretation". fuck. fuck. no.
i listened a few more dozen times. i had aged five years, but the lyricist hadn't. i wasn't really connecting to it. but, the musician had aged fifty years and i was connecting to this. the production was.....actually really thin.
strangely.
musically, he had a good idea, but the execution struck me as completely botched. or, maybe, just minimized by record executives? either way, i decided i could make this thing bigger, more epic and more powerful.
that's the central idea in my reconstruction. i just wanted to take the idea in the original track and make it more dramatic.
i got a better response from this than i've ever gotten from anything else. randoms accused me of leaking a track, or even secretly being trent reznor (ok, those accusations were mostly not serious). many people admitted they liked my version better than the single version. i had such a huge spike at my mp3.com page (remember mp3.com?) that some of the tracks hit the top ranking in their categories. inri: mp3.com industrial rock superstar.
my plan was working! finally!
i can't tell what kind of feedback i got on the site. i had forgotten my password, and the site didn't have a mechanism to recover it. they got bought by some huge company soon after (i think it was vivendi) and all the indie artists got kicked to the curb.
drats. foiled....
recorded in the summer of 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/the-day-inri-messed-the-world-up
in fact, it hit the place like an explosion from friendly fire. giant arguments erupted, quickly giving way to a strange kind of silence. people that had been posting regularly for years couldn't even be bothered to post an opinion. i realized later that it was the first of what were several generational shifts in trent reznor's following. it actually seems to happen after every record. my shift out was "with teeth".
personally, i have a complex relationship with the disc, but this isn't a review of the fragile. it's an explanation of my remix of the track's first single, the day the world went away.
the single was released a few months before the record. people were posting remixes almost as soon as it was released. i actually didn't want to, but i had a few requests so i approached it on that level.
i wasn't entirely sure what to expect from the record, which it seemed like i had been waiting for my whole life. trent had been obfuscating and coy. it was hip-hop. it was orchestral music. it was prog. it was pop. i was just waiting with an open mind. the single didn't help form expectations: two versions of a mopey ambient thing, and a frighteningly awful tongue-in-cheek stadium rock dig at marilyn manson (who i gave zero fucks about, except in the context of him reducing reznor's songwriting quality). how does one approach this?
no. i didn't want to. "c'mon, i wanna hear your interpretation". fuck. fuck. no.
i listened a few more dozen times. i had aged five years, but the lyricist hadn't. i wasn't really connecting to it. but, the musician had aged fifty years and i was connecting to this. the production was.....actually really thin.
strangely.
musically, he had a good idea, but the execution struck me as completely botched. or, maybe, just minimized by record executives? either way, i decided i could make this thing bigger, more epic and more powerful.
that's the central idea in my reconstruction. i just wanted to take the idea in the original track and make it more dramatic.
i got a better response from this than i've ever gotten from anything else. randoms accused me of leaking a track, or even secretly being trent reznor (ok, those accusations were mostly not serious). many people admitted they liked my version better than the single version. i had such a huge spike at my mp3.com page (remember mp3.com?) that some of the tracks hit the top ranking in their categories. inri: mp3.com industrial rock superstar.
my plan was working! finally!
i can't tell what kind of feedback i got on the site. i had forgotten my password, and the site didn't have a mechanism to recover it. they got bought by some huge company soon after (i think it was vivendi) and all the indie artists got kicked to the curb.
drats. foiled....
recorded in the summer of 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/the-day-inri-messed-the-world-up
sleepy weekend. got stuck in the loop. don't know if other people are familiar with this.
it starts off by sleeping too little. 3 hours, let's say. but you're not tired for whatever reason, so you get up and check your email or whatever. within three or four hours you're sleepy, because you didn't get enough sleep. but you did get a little sleep so you only sleep for an hour or two. when you wake up you're still tired because you didn't get enough sleep, but you can't sleep because you're not tired. after about 36 hours of this nap/read cycle, it seems like you've had an exceedingly long day and need a long sleep - even though you've been barely able to stay awake. so you crash for like ten hours.
i think i just snapped it. annoying, though.
it starts off by sleeping too little. 3 hours, let's say. but you're not tired for whatever reason, so you get up and check your email or whatever. within three or four hours you're sleepy, because you didn't get enough sleep. but you did get a little sleep so you only sleep for an hour or two. when you wake up you're still tired because you didn't get enough sleep, but you can't sleep because you're not tired. after about 36 hours of this nap/read cycle, it seems like you've had an exceedingly long day and need a long sleep - even though you've been barely able to stay awake. so you crash for like ten hours.
i think i just snapped it. annoying, though.
Saturday, November 23, 2013
liquify (original album mix)
this track was meant to be a new beginning, but, instead, exists in a sort of purgatory. musically, it's radically different than anything else labeled 'inri'; thematically, it's a logical extension of inri. i really wanted this to be a fresh start, but in the end i had to leave it in the inri pile. in places it's sort of evil, in other places it's just a little too precious.
my dad swapped houses in mid 99. again. this would be a frequent annoyance over the next few years. i can date this clearly to the summer of '99 as the first thing i did in my new basement. that change of surroundings contributed to the feeling of wanting to do something different...
while it is an original track, it ended up on the covers disc for two reasons. first, the lead guitar loop that cycles through the track came out of a stoner jam session in the basement of a friend of mine. it's sort of hilarious to realize it took three years for another human being to get an influence here, even if it was a throwaway jam session. that was really just an excuse though. the real reason it's here, rather than on inridiculous, is that it fits in better on the prog theme of this disc than the noise theme of that one.
the lyrics have been a problem since they were recorded. sex sells. shock sells. i had to psyche myself up to do it. it's all tied together, though. where was i going with this, anyways?
'99 was the summer between grades 12 and 13 ("oac"). yes, ontario had a grade 13. get your laughs in. it was actually a pre-university year. universities would take the grades from the "oac" year as the entrance requirements. we didn't do SATs or anything. most universities have something like this for "mature students"; the weirdness is in making high school kids do the extra year. a few places (like quebec) still have similar types of pre-university screening...
anyways, i'm going into the oac year and i haven't even really given the whole vocation thing a passing thought, other than to reject the idea of defining my life through the concept of labour. there were a few weeks in the summer where i had sort of decided not to go to oac at all. i was actually *excited* about escaping school, focusing on a minimum wage job and spending my free time smoking pot and writing music. i really didn't want anything more out of life than this. and, if i happened to get lucky and sell some records, even better. i was eventually talked down from this position through a process of bribery. that didn't magically construct vocational aspirations, though; i ended up overloading on oac credits for the simple reason that i didn't know what i wanted.
(i ended up grudgingly accepting entrance into a software engineering program, literally switched to cosmological physics within a few weeks, switched to math after that, then bounced around from music to english to women's studies and ...)
so, again, i'm stuck between grade 12 and 13 and really dreading what the future holds. finding a way to sell some music would be an escape from this. i concluded that, tactically, my best approach at the time would have been to focus on something sexually explicit that gains it's power from it's shock value. there's a bit of desperation underlying this.
so i wrote a sort of graphic depiction of sexual domination within a male homosexual context. see, the thing is that it isn't very convincing. it isn't very convincing because it's contrived for profit. i'm being bluntly honest about the logic that produced this track because seeing myself in the mirror like this actually had a large effect on me. once i realized what i'd created, i was completely disgusted with myself. in it's initial form, liquify was the first 3:36 of this track. it sat on my hard drive for several weeks, waiting for me to finish questioning myself - who i was, what i was doing, whether it was worth it.
i came to two conclusions.
the first was that contrived music sucks. i realized i wasn't going to get anywhere faking it, anyways. if i wanted to build an audience, the only serious approach i had was honesty.
the second was that, even if it works, being fake isn't worth it. i was rejecting the beaten path because i didn't feel i belonged on it. accepting some kind of Official Alternative Beaten Path wasn't solving anything.
so, i should just do what i want, and tell anybody that doesn't like it to fuck off.
the second part of this track flowed from that epiphany. it's a pure prog workout, discernible from 1972 solely in it's updated use of technology. probably for the first time, the notes really mean something to me, here. if you listen, you can tell.
the ending scene of the jim carrey masterpiece, the truman show, fades the track out. it's meant to document the importance of the film in helping me work through what i was working through. i've mildly modified the track to fade out the truman show ending, which was just a little too cheezy & precious.
so, yeah. there's a few more inri tracks. but this is really the point where inri dies.
recorded over the summer of 1999. edited on nov 23, 2013.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/liquify-inrimake
my dad swapped houses in mid 99. again. this would be a frequent annoyance over the next few years. i can date this clearly to the summer of '99 as the first thing i did in my new basement. that change of surroundings contributed to the feeling of wanting to do something different...
while it is an original track, it ended up on the covers disc for two reasons. first, the lead guitar loop that cycles through the track came out of a stoner jam session in the basement of a friend of mine. it's sort of hilarious to realize it took three years for another human being to get an influence here, even if it was a throwaway jam session. that was really just an excuse though. the real reason it's here, rather than on inridiculous, is that it fits in better on the prog theme of this disc than the noise theme of that one.
the lyrics have been a problem since they were recorded. sex sells. shock sells. i had to psyche myself up to do it. it's all tied together, though. where was i going with this, anyways?
'99 was the summer between grades 12 and 13 ("oac"). yes, ontario had a grade 13. get your laughs in. it was actually a pre-university year. universities would take the grades from the "oac" year as the entrance requirements. we didn't do SATs or anything. most universities have something like this for "mature students"; the weirdness is in making high school kids do the extra year. a few places (like quebec) still have similar types of pre-university screening...
anyways, i'm going into the oac year and i haven't even really given the whole vocation thing a passing thought, other than to reject the idea of defining my life through the concept of labour. there were a few weeks in the summer where i had sort of decided not to go to oac at all. i was actually *excited* about escaping school, focusing on a minimum wage job and spending my free time smoking pot and writing music. i really didn't want anything more out of life than this. and, if i happened to get lucky and sell some records, even better. i was eventually talked down from this position through a process of bribery. that didn't magically construct vocational aspirations, though; i ended up overloading on oac credits for the simple reason that i didn't know what i wanted.
(i ended up grudgingly accepting entrance into a software engineering program, literally switched to cosmological physics within a few weeks, switched to math after that, then bounced around from music to english to women's studies and ...)
so, again, i'm stuck between grade 12 and 13 and really dreading what the future holds. finding a way to sell some music would be an escape from this. i concluded that, tactically, my best approach at the time would have been to focus on something sexually explicit that gains it's power from it's shock value. there's a bit of desperation underlying this.
so i wrote a sort of graphic depiction of sexual domination within a male homosexual context. see, the thing is that it isn't very convincing. it isn't very convincing because it's contrived for profit. i'm being bluntly honest about the logic that produced this track because seeing myself in the mirror like this actually had a large effect on me. once i realized what i'd created, i was completely disgusted with myself. in it's initial form, liquify was the first 3:36 of this track. it sat on my hard drive for several weeks, waiting for me to finish questioning myself - who i was, what i was doing, whether it was worth it.
i came to two conclusions.
the first was that contrived music sucks. i realized i wasn't going to get anywhere faking it, anyways. if i wanted to build an audience, the only serious approach i had was honesty.
the second was that, even if it works, being fake isn't worth it. i was rejecting the beaten path because i didn't feel i belonged on it. accepting some kind of Official Alternative Beaten Path wasn't solving anything.
so, i should just do what i want, and tell anybody that doesn't like it to fuck off.
the second part of this track flowed from that epiphany. it's a pure prog workout, discernible from 1972 solely in it's updated use of technology. probably for the first time, the notes really mean something to me, here. if you listen, you can tell.
the ending scene of the jim carrey masterpiece, the truman show, fades the track out. it's meant to document the importance of the film in helping me work through what i was working through. i've mildly modified the track to fade out the truman show ending, which was just a little too cheezy & precious.
so, yeah. there's a few more inri tracks. but this is really the point where inri dies.
recorded over the summer of 1999. edited on nov 23, 2013.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/liquify-inrimake
Friday, November 22, 2013
intro to liquify (original album mix)
my time stamp on this is too late; i specifically remember working on it before i moved in the summer of '99, but i don't know how much before. this may have been more like spring, 1999.
either way, i put the track aside to be worked on and didn't get back to it for quite some time afterwards. when i was compiling this (and inridiculous) as the end of my inri phase, i had to make a tough choice as to whether or not i wanted to finish it as a post-inri project or leave it as it was and move forwards. i really prioritized that cut-off point...
half of me wants to finish it now, but it wouldn't sound the way i wanted it to, originally. and it works well as this introduction.
recorded in the spring of 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/liquify-inrimake
either way, i put the track aside to be worked on and didn't get back to it for quite some time afterwards. when i was compiling this (and inridiculous) as the end of my inri phase, i had to make a tough choice as to whether or not i wanted to finish it as a post-inri project or leave it as it was and move forwards. i really prioritized that cut-off point...
half of me wants to finish it now, but it wouldn't sound the way i wanted it to, originally. and it works well as this introduction.
recorded in the spring of 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/liquify-inrimake
chemical warfare will burn off your nose hairs (original album mix)
recorded late into the evening in my high school's secret synthesizer room. it was some kind of basic 80s analog/fm thing.
recorded in june, 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/chemical-warfare-will-burn-off-your-nose-hairs
recorded in june, 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/chemical-warfare-will-burn-off-your-nose-hairs
Thursday, November 21, 2013
slow down (original album mix)
this is the last one of these sample collage things; my noise pieces after this are at a higher level of abstraction.
there's a bit of a shape of a trip in it's rise to a peak and slow fall.
created in february, 1998. remixed in dec, 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/slow-down
there's a bit of a shape of a trip in it's rise to a peak and slow fall.
created in february, 1998. remixed in dec, 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/slow-down
the wonderful noise (original album mix)
this is taken directly from my first demo tape:
jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/the-wonderful-noise
it's a cleaner recording, here, actually.
recorded in november, 1996. edited in dec, 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/the-wonderful-noise-2
jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/the-wonderful-noise
it's a cleaner recording, here, actually.
recorded in november, 1996. edited in dec, 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/the-wonderful-noise-2
medicated to the one i love (remix/cover for inrimake)
this was for a project on the god lives underwater mailing list. it's a pretty abstract remix that has a few things of note:
1) this is the first thing i can recall recording directly into the computer, without using the 4-track as a temporary medium. well, i was still using it as a mixer for a little bit, but i wasn't recording directly to tape. it was just pragmatism: i had constructed the drum loops using a wave editor and didn't have the right cord to transfer it to tape without it getting all full of tape hiss. i also remember being a little sick of having to run everything through noise reduction (which adds these high pitched burbles and other weirdness).
here's the thing, though. it's 1999. i'm 18. i don't have cash to shell out on fancy software like cakewalk (now sonar) or logic (now garage band). warez existed, but internet connections were slow. dial-up slow. there was also restrictions regarding the speed of my pentium I, or whatever it was; i managed to find myself an 'evaluation copy' of logic, but the computer was only able to use it as a sequencer.
so, i had to improvise. i didn't realize the ramifications of the approach i took until years later when i took a math course in wavelet design, of all things. the approach i settled on wasn't merely a shift in technology, it had a *dramatic* effect on the composition process.
what i did was pretty crude - i recorded files in one at a time and pasted them on top of each other. what i didn't realize is that this is actually carrying out a type of *synthesis* rather than a type of *mixing*. this creates a blurry sound that produces an impressionist aesthetic that i would learn to take full advantage of.
2) this is my first conscious attempt at something trip-hop.
3) some time after i posted it to the list, i got a snotty email in my box from david reilly (singer of god lives underwater) that said something along the lines of "i am aware of what you did to my song", as though it was some kind of travesty. i laughed...
recorded in february, 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/medicated-to-the-one-i-love
1) this is the first thing i can recall recording directly into the computer, without using the 4-track as a temporary medium. well, i was still using it as a mixer for a little bit, but i wasn't recording directly to tape. it was just pragmatism: i had constructed the drum loops using a wave editor and didn't have the right cord to transfer it to tape without it getting all full of tape hiss. i also remember being a little sick of having to run everything through noise reduction (which adds these high pitched burbles and other weirdness).
here's the thing, though. it's 1999. i'm 18. i don't have cash to shell out on fancy software like cakewalk (now sonar) or logic (now garage band). warez existed, but internet connections were slow. dial-up slow. there was also restrictions regarding the speed of my pentium I, or whatever it was; i managed to find myself an 'evaluation copy' of logic, but the computer was only able to use it as a sequencer.
so, i had to improvise. i didn't realize the ramifications of the approach i took until years later when i took a math course in wavelet design, of all things. the approach i settled on wasn't merely a shift in technology, it had a *dramatic* effect on the composition process.
what i did was pretty crude - i recorded files in one at a time and pasted them on top of each other. what i didn't realize is that this is actually carrying out a type of *synthesis* rather than a type of *mixing*. this creates a blurry sound that produces an impressionist aesthetic that i would learn to take full advantage of.
2) this is my first conscious attempt at something trip-hop.
3) some time after i posted it to the list, i got a snotty email in my box from david reilly (singer of god lives underwater) that said something along the lines of "i am aware of what you did to my song", as though it was some kind of travesty. i laughed...
recorded in february, 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/medicated-to-the-one-i-love
jesus gets fucked on robitussin (original album mix)
robitussin was never a recreational drug of choice, but i was sick enough for a few days that spring that i had to stay home from school so i decided to experiment with some very high doses. this is kind of what i ended up feeling like...
recorded in mar, 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/jesus-gets-fucked-on-robitussin
recorded in mar, 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/jesus-gets-fucked-on-robitussin
publishing gene-o’s – a soundtrack for an italian breakfast cereal (inri027)
somebody asked me to do this for them for a school project. we're both italian. silly joke, no offense intended.
i never saw the final version, but the guy described it to me. it was an anti drinking and driving ad (think madd) for a marketing class. they sequenced it up with shots of one of them stumbling towards a car, getting in and driving off. very clownish, apparently.
recorded in the spring of 1999. released as a standalone single on nov 21, 2013. as always, please use headphones.
this track eventually appears on my 3rd record:
jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inridiculous
credits
j - hammerhead (909 emulator), digital wave editing
released march 9, 1999
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/gene-os-a-soundtrack-for-an-italian-breakfast-cereal
i never saw the final version, but the guy described it to me. it was an anti drinking and driving ad (think madd) for a marketing class. they sequenced it up with shots of one of them stumbling towards a car, getting in and driving off. very clownish, apparently.
recorded in the spring of 1999. released as a standalone single on nov 21, 2013. as always, please use headphones.
this track eventually appears on my 3rd record:
jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inridiculous
credits
j - hammerhead (909 emulator), digital wave editing
released march 9, 1999
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/gene-os-a-soundtrack-for-an-italian-breakfast-cereal
gene-o’s - a soundtrack for an italian breakfast cereal (original album mix)
somebody asked me to do this for them for a school project. we're both italian. silly joke, no offense intended.
i never saw the final version, but the guy described it to me. it was an anti drinking and driving ad (think madd) for a marketing class. they sequenced it up with shots of one of them stumbling towards a car, getting in and driving off. very clownish, apparently.
recorded in mar, 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/gene-os-a-soundtrack-for-an-italian-breakfast-cereal-2
i never saw the final version, but the guy described it to me. it was an anti drinking and driving ad (think madd) for a marketing class. they sequenced it up with shots of one of them stumbling towards a car, getting in and driving off. very clownish, apparently.
recorded in mar, 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/gene-os-a-soundtrack-for-an-italian-breakfast-cereal-2
publishing pop music (a tribute to carbon doxide) (inri028)
i can't date this exactly. i know it was the first half of the second semester of grade 12, which was spring of 1999. further, i'm taking it forward to about midway because the first part of the course was about voice-leading and i spent it orchestrating the beatles' something.
i was lucky: i went to a high school with a big music department. not an arts school, mind you. just a school that had enough funding to run a wide array of course options that are outside the basic core topics. there were three main assignments in the course, and while i don't remember the exact assignment questions, i do have two pieces to show for it.
this, here, is a conceptual piece about pop music. all of the sounds are created from pop cans. yes, puns are fun. the samples run from pouring water out of pop cans into the sink, to crushing and smashing pop cans, to opening them, to exploding them, etc.
i used the tab of a pop can as a pick as i played the ambient guitar parts. it's all thrown together, processed, warped and perfected in a wave editor.
recorded in the spring of 1999. released as a standalone single on nov 21, 2013. as always, please use headphones.
this track eventually appears on my 3rd record:
jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inridiculous
credits:
j - guitars, effects, samples, loops, digital wave editing
released april 15, 1999
i was lucky: i went to a high school with a big music department. not an arts school, mind you. just a school that had enough funding to run a wide array of course options that are outside the basic core topics. there were three main assignments in the course, and while i don't remember the exact assignment questions, i do have two pieces to show for it.
this, here, is a conceptual piece about pop music. all of the sounds are created from pop cans. yes, puns are fun. the samples run from pouring water out of pop cans into the sink, to crushing and smashing pop cans, to opening them, to exploding them, etc.
i used the tab of a pop can as a pick as i played the ambient guitar parts. it's all thrown together, processed, warped and perfected in a wave editor.
recorded in the spring of 1999. released as a standalone single on nov 21, 2013. as always, please use headphones.
this track eventually appears on my 3rd record:
jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inridiculous
credits:
j - guitars, effects, samples, loops, digital wave editing
released april 15, 1999
pop music (a tribute to carbon dioxide) (original album mix)
i can't date this exactly. i know it was the first half of the second semester of grade 12. further, i'm taking it forward to about midway because the first part of the course was about voice-leading and i spent it orchestrating the beatles' something.
i was lucky: i went to a high school with a big music department. not an arts school, mind you. just a school that had enough funding to run a wide array of course options that are outside the basic core topics. there were three main assignments in the course, and while i don't remember the exact assignment questions, i do have two pieces to show for it.
this, here, is a conceptual piece about pop music. all of the sounds are created from pop cans. yes, puns are fun. the samples run from pouring water out of pop cans into the sink, to crushing and smashing pop cans, to opening them, to exploding them, etc.
i used the tab of a pop can as a pick as i played the ambient guitar parts. it's all thrown together, processed, warped and perfected in a wave editor.
recorded in april, 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/pop-music-a-tribute-to-carbon-dioxide
i was lucky: i went to a high school with a big music department. not an arts school, mind you. just a school that had enough funding to run a wide array of course options that are outside the basic core topics. there were three main assignments in the course, and while i don't remember the exact assignment questions, i do have two pieces to show for it.
this, here, is a conceptual piece about pop music. all of the sounds are created from pop cans. yes, puns are fun. the samples run from pouring water out of pop cans into the sink, to crushing and smashing pop cans, to opening them, to exploding them, etc.
i used the tab of a pop can as a pick as i played the ambient guitar parts. it's all thrown together, processed, warped and perfected in a wave editor.
recorded in april, 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/pop-music-a-tribute-to-carbon-dioxide
inriverted (remix/cover for inrimake)
tricil and i were on some of the same lists in the late 90s. he put out a request for remixes, and i took it up.
dating this exactly is difficult. the mp3 i have is time stamped to early 2000. tricil suggests it may have been late '98. there's the possible window. yet, judging from the style, i think it has to be post-demo. i have a lull in the april-june period. judging from other tracks of the period, it also seems to coincide best with my 'shockingly crude samples' phase.
regarding those samples. well, they're from reservoir dogs. three levels. first, i was thinking, listening to it, that it would work well with reservoir dogs. i eventually rejected the idea as too restricting, but i was entertaining the idea of working in film scores at the time. what i'm saying is that the music reminded me of the scene rather than the other way around, so i tossed the scene in. second, once i actually got it together, i enjoyed how twisted it sounded, 'cause i was like that. third, i was thinking a lot about huge dicks at the time - coming off the rejected ruiner cover and in general. i should note, however, that i've removed roughly 45 seconds of the track due to the reservoir dogs samples (the john hughes / madonna scene) being pointlessly crude.
musically, what i've done here is take the chord progression in the track and build something entirely different out of it. there's but a single loop in the track. i'm basically just jamming with myself in building up the different tracks. yet, it's a radical departure that exists firmly in the pivot point i was taking.
this is so dramatically different from the original that it's reasonable to say something like that it's "inspired by" the original rather than a remix or a cover. it does contain creatively reinterpreted samples of the original.
here's something more recent from tricil:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gITRmVkZp7A
recorded in may, 1999. edited on nov 21, 2013.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/inverted
dating this exactly is difficult. the mp3 i have is time stamped to early 2000. tricil suggests it may have been late '98. there's the possible window. yet, judging from the style, i think it has to be post-demo. i have a lull in the april-june period. judging from other tracks of the period, it also seems to coincide best with my 'shockingly crude samples' phase.
regarding those samples. well, they're from reservoir dogs. three levels. first, i was thinking, listening to it, that it would work well with reservoir dogs. i eventually rejected the idea as too restricting, but i was entertaining the idea of working in film scores at the time. what i'm saying is that the music reminded me of the scene rather than the other way around, so i tossed the scene in. second, once i actually got it together, i enjoyed how twisted it sounded, 'cause i was like that. third, i was thinking a lot about huge dicks at the time - coming off the rejected ruiner cover and in general. i should note, however, that i've removed roughly 45 seconds of the track due to the reservoir dogs samples (the john hughes / madonna scene) being pointlessly crude.
musically, what i've done here is take the chord progression in the track and build something entirely different out of it. there's but a single loop in the track. i'm basically just jamming with myself in building up the different tracks. yet, it's a radical departure that exists firmly in the pivot point i was taking.
this is so dramatically different from the original that it's reasonable to say something like that it's "inspired by" the original rather than a remix or a cover. it does contain creatively reinterpreted samples of the original.
here's something more recent from tricil:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gITRmVkZp7A
recorded in may, 1999. edited on nov 21, 2013.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/inverted
why I’m not uploading ruinri
i have a cover of a nine inch nails song, ruiner, that is time-stamped to mar 27, 1999. i'm going to choose not to upload it (it might be the *only* completed track that i skip) for two reasons:
(1) it was never released anywhere else.
(2) the sampling and vocals are both terrible.
i did the cover for two reasons. first, i really wanted to get on a nin remix disc. all caveats aside, it's an interesting piece of music that i'd pick over a lot of the more recent nin remixes. second, i wanted to do a cover of the guitar solo. that's the primary thing that drove this specific song.
so, it's this meandering 14:00 mess centered around myself doing a lengthy adrian belew impersonation. which is sort of masturbatory. and i definitely picked up on that. now, the song, ruiner, seems to be about erections on some level. how did it get so big? i dunno, trent. so, masturbation. penises. me under the age of 20. you can see where i went with this.
there's about five minutes of penis samples, sequenced in a narrative that goes through such twists and turns as explaining a 5 foot penis as the result of a nuclear accident and shaming the listener for listening to such filth.
if it was my own song, i could shrug it off. but this is a cover. i don't feel comfortable unzipping this....
sorry. i should stop before i begin.
as i'm sorting through my work, though, it stands out as an important track in my development. you'll notice two things in my description of the track: 14:00, lengthy guitar solo. da fuck? everything since the cassette demos (which, until last month, meant everything i'd released) was relatively short, starkly focused and mostly free of solos! what urged you to meandering prog all of a sudden and out of the blue?
now that i've uploaded those demos, it's a little more clear that the "meandering prog" (the terms 'pronk' and 'psychedelic' are better descriptions) is where i was, musically, to begin with. rather, it's the fairly short drum machine period that sticks out. and, that's what happened. writing songs based on drum machine patterns enforces a level of discipline. the machine doesn't tangent. using a drum machine like the ry30 to record music is like composing at boot camp. it's very strict! introductions, bridges and endings must conform to the tyranny of the beat.
once i was done the two demos, i pulled myself away from it. i need to be clear: i liked the way it sounded, i just needed more flexibility to express myself. and i've really rejected the idea of working with drum machines ever since. today, i use a number of different strategies for percussion, including an electronic drum kit.
so, i started creating loops in the wave editor out of samples instead of in the machine. instantly, i had total freedom. i could do a six minute keyboard solo to open the track, if i wanted, and there was nothing the machine could do to stop me! ha!
the pendulum swung almost immediately. hard. going forward for the next little while, 14:00 is more like the average track length.
i just can't upload this, though.
(1) it was never released anywhere else.
(2) the sampling and vocals are both terrible.
i did the cover for two reasons. first, i really wanted to get on a nin remix disc. all caveats aside, it's an interesting piece of music that i'd pick over a lot of the more recent nin remixes. second, i wanted to do a cover of the guitar solo. that's the primary thing that drove this specific song.
so, it's this meandering 14:00 mess centered around myself doing a lengthy adrian belew impersonation. which is sort of masturbatory. and i definitely picked up on that. now, the song, ruiner, seems to be about erections on some level. how did it get so big? i dunno, trent. so, masturbation. penises. me under the age of 20. you can see where i went with this.
there's about five minutes of penis samples, sequenced in a narrative that goes through such twists and turns as explaining a 5 foot penis as the result of a nuclear accident and shaming the listener for listening to such filth.
if it was my own song, i could shrug it off. but this is a cover. i don't feel comfortable unzipping this....
sorry. i should stop before i begin.
as i'm sorting through my work, though, it stands out as an important track in my development. you'll notice two things in my description of the track: 14:00, lengthy guitar solo. da fuck? everything since the cassette demos (which, until last month, meant everything i'd released) was relatively short, starkly focused and mostly free of solos! what urged you to meandering prog all of a sudden and out of the blue?
now that i've uploaded those demos, it's a little more clear that the "meandering prog" (the terms 'pronk' and 'psychedelic' are better descriptions) is where i was, musically, to begin with. rather, it's the fairly short drum machine period that sticks out. and, that's what happened. writing songs based on drum machine patterns enforces a level of discipline. the machine doesn't tangent. using a drum machine like the ry30 to record music is like composing at boot camp. it's very strict! introductions, bridges and endings must conform to the tyranny of the beat.
once i was done the two demos, i pulled myself away from it. i need to be clear: i liked the way it sounded, i just needed more flexibility to express myself. and i've really rejected the idea of working with drum machines ever since. today, i use a number of different strategies for percussion, including an electronic drum kit.
so, i started creating loops in the wave editor out of samples instead of in the machine. instantly, i had total freedom. i could do a six minute keyboard solo to open the track, if i wanted, and there was nothing the machine could do to stop me! ha!
the pendulum swung almost immediately. hard. going forward for the next little while, 14:00 is more like the average track length.
i just can't upload this, though.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
inrijected (first version) (inri022) now fully uploaded
this is a collection of rejected tracks from the inri/inriched period. it's just chronologically sequenced.
recorded over 1998. compiled and remastered in late 2013. please use headphones.
credits:
j - guitars, effects, bass, synth, drum programming, lyrics, samples, loops, cool edit synthesis, digital wave editing
released feb 27, 1999
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inrijected
recorded over 1998. compiled and remastered in late 2013. please use headphones.
credits:
j - guitars, effects, bass, synth, drum programming, lyrics, samples, loops, cool edit synthesis, digital wave editing
released feb 27, 1999
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inrijected
inriched (original album mix) (inri021) now fully uploaded
this is very much a follow-up to the previous demo (there's a pun, here) and in fact is largely constructed of "leftover tracks" from that period. this demo may be a bit glitchier/noisier than the last one, http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inri-lp.
some of these songs are reworked versions of tracks i had recorded previously. in almost all cases, i consider the versions here (and on the previous demo, inri) to be the authoritative versions of these tracks.
the demo is consciously constructed to alternate between "conventional songs" and "experimental pieces", although both definitions are stretched. it generally takes the form of connecting passages. it's meant to give the record the feel of a cohesive work rather than a collection of songs.
lyrically, i'm still a teenager, but i'm starting to grow into myself a little more. there are some points of significant embarrassment on this recording, but it's really only the sixth track that makes me cringe to the point of regret. i was also experimenting with an "ironic distance" type of spoken word style that, in hindsight, doesn't come off so well.
the guitar work is one of the things that separates the sound from a typical industrial aesthetic. i've never been a fan of heavy metal and largely shied away from creating that kind of thing. yet, i found myself connecting more with psychedelic guitar at this point than punk rock. industrial psych generally implies something like trance, but it need not to. industrial hendrix? well, maybe it ends up sounding more like synth pop, which has historical roots in psychedelic music and progressive rock. the point is that the music does manage to carve out a unique space between industrial music and synth pop that i don't know of any clear comparisons to. people have suggested mid-period swans, the legendary pink dots and nine inch nails - only the last of which was a significant influence, and none of which are really that close. a better comparison, although still not a significant influence at this time, would be joy division - who would become a significant influence after this phase. my actual influences at the time would have been more like brian eno (through his 70s and 90s work with david bowie, as well as his work with u2), early prog (genesis/floyd/crimson), peter gabriel, the beatles, radiohead, the smashing pumpkins, REM, sonic youth, the tea party and a bit of contemporary electronic music (prodigy, nin, coil, foetus, autechre, nitzer ebb, ministry, econoline crush, gravity kills, stabbing westward, skinny puppy and side projects). the sense of humour is coming from frank zappa and matt groening, if they are not actually the same person. i wasn't listening to much tears for fears, i don't think, but you can hear them lurking underneath everything.
this material was recorded throughout 1998 and the very beginning of 1999, but some of it was written as far back as 1994. unfortunately, i decided that the songs sounded better in mp3 and consequently compressed everything before burning. i understand now that i was hobbling together a crude mastering process, but it means (unfortunately) that the closest thing i have to the finished tracks are low quality mp3s and a cd-r. these tracks were taken off of a cd-r and edited mildly (mostly the removal of badly placed simpsons samples) over the middle of november, 2013. as always, please use headphones.
credits:
j - guitars, effects, bass, synthesizers, drum programming, sequencing, sampling, digital wave editing, vocals, cool edit synthesis, production, found sounds, strategies
released feb 10, 1999
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inriched-lp
some of these songs are reworked versions of tracks i had recorded previously. in almost all cases, i consider the versions here (and on the previous demo, inri) to be the authoritative versions of these tracks.
the demo is consciously constructed to alternate between "conventional songs" and "experimental pieces", although both definitions are stretched. it generally takes the form of connecting passages. it's meant to give the record the feel of a cohesive work rather than a collection of songs.
lyrically, i'm still a teenager, but i'm starting to grow into myself a little more. there are some points of significant embarrassment on this recording, but it's really only the sixth track that makes me cringe to the point of regret. i was also experimenting with an "ironic distance" type of spoken word style that, in hindsight, doesn't come off so well.
the guitar work is one of the things that separates the sound from a typical industrial aesthetic. i've never been a fan of heavy metal and largely shied away from creating that kind of thing. yet, i found myself connecting more with psychedelic guitar at this point than punk rock. industrial psych generally implies something like trance, but it need not to. industrial hendrix? well, maybe it ends up sounding more like synth pop, which has historical roots in psychedelic music and progressive rock. the point is that the music does manage to carve out a unique space between industrial music and synth pop that i don't know of any clear comparisons to. people have suggested mid-period swans, the legendary pink dots and nine inch nails - only the last of which was a significant influence, and none of which are really that close. a better comparison, although still not a significant influence at this time, would be joy division - who would become a significant influence after this phase. my actual influences at the time would have been more like brian eno (through his 70s and 90s work with david bowie, as well as his work with u2), early prog (genesis/floyd/crimson), peter gabriel, the beatles, radiohead, the smashing pumpkins, REM, sonic youth, the tea party and a bit of contemporary electronic music (prodigy, nin, coil, foetus, autechre, nitzer ebb, ministry, econoline crush, gravity kills, stabbing westward, skinny puppy and side projects). the sense of humour is coming from frank zappa and matt groening, if they are not actually the same person. i wasn't listening to much tears for fears, i don't think, but you can hear them lurking underneath everything.
this material was recorded throughout 1998 and the very beginning of 1999, but some of it was written as far back as 1994. unfortunately, i decided that the songs sounded better in mp3 and consequently compressed everything before burning. i understand now that i was hobbling together a crude mastering process, but it means (unfortunately) that the closest thing i have to the finished tracks are low quality mp3s and a cd-r. these tracks were taken off of a cd-r and edited mildly (mostly the removal of badly placed simpsons samples) over the middle of november, 2013. as always, please use headphones.
credits:
j - guitars, effects, bass, synthesizers, drum programming, sequencing, sampling, digital wave editing, vocals, cool edit synthesis, production, found sounds, strategies
released feb 10, 1999
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inriched-lp
epilag (original album mix)
during these years, i spent an unhealthy amount of time on an off-topic internet mailing list that was populated by fans of skinny puppy, named epilag. this track is based on pictures of the people on that list; i ran them through a program called coagula, that converts light into sound. some shaping followed.
recorded in january, 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/teenage-jesus-original-1999-cd-mix
recorded in january, 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/teenage-jesus-original-1999-cd-mix
boogeyman (original album mix)
this is the final version of boogeyman; it only differs from the discarded version in the vocals. i was feeling the need to keep a beat poetry ironic distance at the time, and i don't think it serves the track well, in hindsight. the version on my '96 demo is far superior, but i can't sequence it here because it doesn't include the drum machine part. the discarded version also has a terrible vocal mix, which is why i redid the vocals in the first place. i'm not sure what the problem was with this track specifically, but i do have a vague recollection of being sort of adverse to it's poppiness and feeling an obligation to ruin it.
recorded in december, 1997. edited in january, 1998 and again in january, 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/boogeyman-original-1999-cd-mix-2
recorded in december, 1997. edited in january, 1998 and again in january, 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/boogeyman-original-1999-cd-mix-2
too cold (original album mix)
FINAL PROPER 'inri' TRACK.
kind of a long story. see, i went through a string of extremely cold basements in the late 90s. it was half heating costs; on that level, i could even agree for environmental reasons. but it was half because my step-mother legitimately prefers absolutely frigid, air-conditioner-level temperatures and didn't want hot air rising from the basement to ruin the chilly temperature upstairs. you can understand how that might get frustrating sometimes.
i was offered a room upstairs, but then i'd have to go to bed at 10:00 pm rather than stay up until 4:00 am recording music and chatting on the internet. clearly an unacceptable proposal....
the song is more than a silly story, it was legitimately a sort of morbid fantasy i was having. not that there was any real chance i was going to light the basement on fire, or anything. if i were to do that, i might ruin my guitar, and then i'd be worse off. the story runs a little off the rails, but that is it's charm.
musically, this is a pivot into the electro-prog phase that followed and that really defines who i am, musically. so, i sort of see this both as my first real recording and the last recording of my childhood.
recorded in february, 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/too-cold-inriched
kind of a long story. see, i went through a string of extremely cold basements in the late 90s. it was half heating costs; on that level, i could even agree for environmental reasons. but it was half because my step-mother legitimately prefers absolutely frigid, air-conditioner-level temperatures and didn't want hot air rising from the basement to ruin the chilly temperature upstairs. you can understand how that might get frustrating sometimes.
i was offered a room upstairs, but then i'd have to go to bed at 10:00 pm rather than stay up until 4:00 am recording music and chatting on the internet. clearly an unacceptable proposal....
the song is more than a silly story, it was legitimately a sort of morbid fantasy i was having. not that there was any real chance i was going to light the basement on fire, or anything. if i were to do that, i might ruin my guitar, and then i'd be worse off. the story runs a little off the rails, but that is it's charm.
musically, this is a pivot into the electro-prog phase that followed and that really defines who i am, musically. so, i sort of see this both as my first real recording and the last recording of my childhood.
recorded in february, 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/too-cold-inriched
resurrection (original album mix)
the only logical way to end 2 years of sacrilegious christian mockery is with a resurrection. musically, this is a simple but haunting ambient piece.
i hadn't completely torn myself away from being inri just quite yet. that would take a bit longer. but, i was nearing my 18th birthday, and i wanted to reinvent myself. i toyed with the idea of naming my third proper recording 'trinri', but instead went with a total inversion - i called it 'deny everything'.
this is also meant to act as a mirror to the first track on the first demo. i wasn't entirely sure what i wanted to do next, but i knew i wanted inri/inriched to be self-contained.
recorded in january, 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/teenage-jesus-original-1999-cd-mix
i hadn't completely torn myself away from being inri just quite yet. that would take a bit longer. but, i was nearing my 18th birthday, and i wanted to reinvent myself. i toyed with the idea of naming my third proper recording 'trinri', but instead went with a total inversion - i called it 'deny everything'.
this is also meant to act as a mirror to the first track on the first demo. i wasn't entirely sure what i wanted to do next, but i knew i wanted inri/inriched to be self-contained.
recorded in january, 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/teenage-jesus-original-1999-cd-mix
drive (original instrumental mix promoted to album mix)
this actually wasn't for an rem cover project but for something on the radiohead list. i can't remember exactly what spurred it on.
...but, it's consciously in an ok computer ambient-pop style for that reason. i rather like this instrumental version...
recorded in january, 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/drive-2
...but, it's consciously in an ok computer ambient-pop style for that reason. i rather like this instrumental version...
recorded in january, 1999.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/drive-2
graphic porno (original album mix)
of all the purposefully dumb things i recorded during this period, this is probably the dumbest. it's meant to be a parody of pornography. maybe pornography is the dumbest thing i decided to go after, though. and there's actually a backstory.
there was a highly hyperactive kid in my programming class named andy that, upon finding out i was a "dj" (and i've always cringed at that designation), decided to send me ridiculous samples of himself and other things over icq, mostly to troll me. remember icq? anyways....
pretty much all these samples came from andy. it was more or less constructed to make him laugh; and, in truth, he actually thought it was pretty funny.
it's really more his sense of humour than mine.
recorded in december, 1998.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/graphic-porno
there was a highly hyperactive kid in my programming class named andy that, upon finding out i was a "dj" (and i've always cringed at that designation), decided to send me ridiculous samples of himself and other things over icq, mostly to troll me. remember icq? anyways....
pretty much all these samples came from andy. it was more or less constructed to make him laugh; and, in truth, he actually thought it was pretty funny.
it's really more his sense of humour than mine.
recorded in december, 1998.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/graphic-porno
piggy (remix/cover for inrimake)
this is a fairly bizarre reworking of piggy, which gave me the opportunity to really play out my obsession with 90s nin remixes as they were constructed by the likes of coil, thirlwell, etc. i had a lot of fun with this. it was blaring on my stereo for quite a while in late 98 and early 99.
recorded in december, 1998.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/piggy
recorded in december, 1998.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/piggy
untitled (remix)
this is a combination of a few sound collages. i ended up using parts of it in other tracks.
recorded in december, 1998.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/untitled-remix
recorded in december, 1998.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/untitled-remix
earthquake (original discarded outtake)
i was attempting to create the sound of an earthquake. i'm not sure i succeeded as well as i did with the hurricane one; sounds more like an attack by aliens. that being said, use headphones.
recorded in december, 1998.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/earthquake
recorded in december, 1998.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/earthquake
suicide (original album mix)
yeah, i didn't do this once but twice. lol. the programming and production are better, but the track is not substantially different.
first recording:
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/suicide
recorded in december, 1998. edited on nov 20, 2013.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/teenage-jesus-original-1999-cd-mix
first recording:
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/suicide
recorded in december, 1998. edited on nov 20, 2013.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/teenage-jesus-original-1999-cd-mix
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
viewless (original album mix)
this was re-recorded significantly earlier, but left to sit. i updated it over the christmas holidays, re-recording some sections and adding samples.
the star wars samples have actually been removed. that required a bit of splicing, but it's the only actual editing on the track.
original version:
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/viewless-2
initially, it was a song about being young and not listened to. as i grew up, i realized this is a general condition of society that is not limited to young people. so, i've generalized it here to reflect the illusion of what we call democracy.
recorded in december, 1998. edited on nov 19, 2013.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/teenage-jesus-original-1999-cd-mix
the star wars samples have actually been removed. that required a bit of splicing, but it's the only actual editing on the track.
original version:
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/viewless-2
initially, it was a song about being young and not listened to. as i grew up, i realized this is a general condition of society that is not limited to young people. so, i've generalized it here to reflect the illusion of what we call democracy.
recorded in december, 1998. edited on nov 19, 2013.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/teenage-jesus-original-1999-cd-mix
anticipation (original album mix)
this was constructed as a bridge between tracks 16 and 18, which are conceptually linked. it samples the initial demo tape recording and adds some noisy sequencing.
recorded in december, 1998.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/teenage-jesus-original-1999-cd-mix
recorded in december, 1998.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/teenage-jesus-original-1999-cd-mix
circus (original discarded outtake)
i spent the entire fall with this, only taking a break to do the offspring cover. i eventually got really frustrated by my inability to get the tone i wanted, put it aside, then went back to it, then gave up altogether. it might be the first example of me getting lost in overproduction, and in that sense it's sort of important.
recorded in november, 1998.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/circus-orginal-1998-outtake
recorded in november, 1998.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/circus-orginal-1998-outtake
circus (original album mix)
i had spent the last three months frustrated by my inability to get the tone i wanted for this. often when i ran into that problem, putting it down for a few days and approaching it fresh solved it, but that wasn't working.
there was a power outage that knocked my computer out as i was running a part of the track through a transform. the track - and all the digital additions i had added to it - were largely destroyed. what was left was this completely corrupted wave file.
i've never been a religious person (obviously), and i don't want to say i took at as a sign or something. yet, i let chance assert itself; the corrupted wave file became the final version of the track, and i moved on to the next thing.
the closest thing to a completed version of the actual track is here:
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/circus
recorded in november, 1998.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/circus-original-album-mix
there was a power outage that knocked my computer out as i was running a part of the track through a transform. the track - and all the digital additions i had added to it - were largely destroyed. what was left was this completely corrupted wave file.
i've never been a religious person (obviously), and i don't want to say i took at as a sign or something. yet, i let chance assert itself; the corrupted wave file became the final version of the track, and i moved on to the next thing.
the closest thing to a completed version of the actual track is here:
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/circus
recorded in november, 1998.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/circus-original-album-mix
circus (zoo mix)
i was playing around with some guitar ambience stemming from a track i was working on (circus). i had bigger plans for this that would eventually be realized with {e}.
recorded in november, 1998.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/circus-zoo-mix
recorded in november, 1998.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/circus-zoo-mix
Monday, November 18, 2013
idiotic (original discarded mix promoted to album mix)
when i re-recorded this, i created two versions. the first is an instrumental version with bad panning, the second is a vocal version with dumb samples designed, primarily, to mimic a skinny puppy song, rivers.
i guess i'm moving to riverz end, here. the samples make the track unlistenable. there were continuity reasons why i went with the sample version the first time around, but it was against my better judgement, even then. i should have followed my gut.
(meaning, i've placed the non-sample version where the sample version originally was and kicked the sample version out to inrijected)
recorded in aug, 1998. edited on nov 18, 2013.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/the-harsh-truth-is-that-only-idiots-wish-for-happiness-v2
i guess i'm moving to riverz end, here. the samples make the track unlistenable. there were continuity reasons why i went with the sample version the first time around, but it was against my better judgement, even then. i should have followed my gut.
(meaning, i've placed the non-sample version where the sample version originally was and kicked the sample version out to inrijected)
recorded in aug, 1998. edited on nov 18, 2013.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/the-harsh-truth-is-that-only-idiots-wish-for-happiness-v2
dirty magic (remix/cover for inrimake)
somebody on their mailing list was putting together an offspring cover disc. this is half-serious and half tongue-in-cheek - as the band was at the time. while the reaction on the mailing list was polarized, the truth is that it's not outside of the realm of imagination to think they could have released this on smash or ixnay as an 'intermission' or something. well, minus the noise aspect, i guess.
keep in mind that this was just before 'pretty fly' was released (this was oct, that was nov), which had a large effect on the band's fan base. not to say that the offspring were an underground punk band in 1998 or anything, but they had yet to really hit that crossover audience. they were a popular punk band, rather than a punk-influenced pop band.
personally, i didn't like 'americana'. at all.
what this, here, is, is a cover of a track on their second record, ignition, which was released in 1992. even there, it stood out as a sort of a pop/rock song that wouldn't have been out of place on a police record. that's kind of why i went with it. in fact, the offspring have revisited this track themselves on multiple occasions, although i can't cite precise track names.
i think it works on a post-punk level.
recorded in september, 1998.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/dirty-magic
keep in mind that this was just before 'pretty fly' was released (this was oct, that was nov), which had a large effect on the band's fan base. not to say that the offspring were an underground punk band in 1998 or anything, but they had yet to really hit that crossover audience. they were a popular punk band, rather than a punk-influenced pop band.
personally, i didn't like 'americana'. at all.
what this, here, is, is a cover of a track on their second record, ignition, which was released in 1992. even there, it stood out as a sort of a pop/rock song that wouldn't have been out of place on a police record. that's kind of why i went with it. in fact, the offspring have revisited this track themselves on multiple occasions, although i can't cite precise track names.
i think it works on a post-punk level.
recorded in september, 1998.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/dirty-magic
stupid (original album mix)
this was initially an anti-tobacco song, here converted into an anti-tobacco-and-tongue-in-cheek-pro-pot song by loading it with silly samples. there's a completely instrumental version of this i'm putting on inrijected that, in hindsight, should have been the released version.
the initial write-up stands:
jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/stupid
even at the time, i preferred this instrumental version (which also has an extended ending) and don't remember the logic behind including the sample/vocal version. i think i may have honestly made an error in construction and then never fixed it.
recorded in aug, 1998. edited on nov 18, 2013.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/stupid-2
the initial write-up stands:
jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/stupid
even at the time, i preferred this instrumental version (which also has an extended ending) and don't remember the logic behind including the sample/vocal version. i think i may have honestly made an error in construction and then never fixed it.
recorded in aug, 1998. edited on nov 18, 2013.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/stupid-2
so, i finish doing the dishes after making some scrambled eggs and i look down in the sink and see a little worm type of thing squiggling around.
i'm aware of the tremendous diversity that exists amongst worm species, which is why i'm curious to know what the fuck. the thing is that i've never seen this before, anywhere. harmless worm i should not be concerned about? parasite i should be extremely concerned about?
it was small, but far from tiny. about 2 or 3 cms long. definitely a worm - too thin to be a maggot. it did not change it's shape in response to stimuli (in this case a knife that was trying to kill it). nor was the knife successful in splicing it. it didn't seem to have a head, so i don't think it was a snake (and therefore a vertebrate that would be hard to chop in half). i didn't really want to let it stick around long enough to find out. i transported it to the toilet on the knife and flushed. it seemed to still be alive as it disappeared.
i spent a little time on google, and "sink worms" are actually a real thing, but they're generally described as black and extremely small. none of the pictures at all describe what i saw.
if i had to guess, it struck me as a parasite. but a parasite of what? the only thing in the sink was a green pepper that was washed and chopped, which is a process that makes it hard for parasites to come out undetected. i haven't brought any raw meat in here and probably never will.
has anybody else ever seen a feisty little worm in their sink?
i think i can safely deduce that whatever it was did not originate inside of me in any way. i didn't shit in the sink. honest.
nor did i cough in the sink. there's just no way...
...so, i'm slowly coming to the conclusion that it's not likely to have been parasitic. parasites have lots of different life cycles, but none of them land one hanging out in my sink.
i'd still like to *know* though.
bottom line is i think i should bleach my sink. can't see where else it may have come from. the green pepper thing is just...
i mean, you slice a pepper in half. you run it under the water and play with it in your hands. you take the seeds out. i surely would have seen something.
i suppose it's not impossible that i hallucinated it. i've been thinking about parasites recently. see post about smoking.
i'm trying to convince myself that it was the larval stage of a bug i see around, but i can't find anything that fits.
and i haven't seen any bugs around either, lately, for that matter. i think i kicked the roaches out by patching a few holes and leaving the lights on, and that chased the centipedes away. well, after they ate all the spiders, i guess.
i'm aware of the tremendous diversity that exists amongst worm species, which is why i'm curious to know what the fuck. the thing is that i've never seen this before, anywhere. harmless worm i should not be concerned about? parasite i should be extremely concerned about?
it was small, but far from tiny. about 2 or 3 cms long. definitely a worm - too thin to be a maggot. it did not change it's shape in response to stimuli (in this case a knife that was trying to kill it). nor was the knife successful in splicing it. it didn't seem to have a head, so i don't think it was a snake (and therefore a vertebrate that would be hard to chop in half). i didn't really want to let it stick around long enough to find out. i transported it to the toilet on the knife and flushed. it seemed to still be alive as it disappeared.
i spent a little time on google, and "sink worms" are actually a real thing, but they're generally described as black and extremely small. none of the pictures at all describe what i saw.
if i had to guess, it struck me as a parasite. but a parasite of what? the only thing in the sink was a green pepper that was washed and chopped, which is a process that makes it hard for parasites to come out undetected. i haven't brought any raw meat in here and probably never will.
has anybody else ever seen a feisty little worm in their sink?
i think i can safely deduce that whatever it was did not originate inside of me in any way. i didn't shit in the sink. honest.
nor did i cough in the sink. there's just no way...
...so, i'm slowly coming to the conclusion that it's not likely to have been parasitic. parasites have lots of different life cycles, but none of them land one hanging out in my sink.
i'd still like to *know* though.
bottom line is i think i should bleach my sink. can't see where else it may have come from. the green pepper thing is just...
i mean, you slice a pepper in half. you run it under the water and play with it in your hands. you take the seeds out. i surely would have seen something.
i suppose it's not impossible that i hallucinated it. i've been thinking about parasites recently. see post about smoking.
i'm trying to convince myself that it was the larval stage of a bug i see around, but i can't find anything that fits.
and i haven't seen any bugs around either, lately, for that matter. i think i kicked the roaches out by patching a few holes and leaving the lights on, and that chased the centipedes away. well, after they ate all the spiders, i guess.
Saturday, November 16, 2013
got your mail...
From: Jessica Murray <death.to.koalas@gmail.com>
To: grandmother’s email address
things are ok here. glad to hear things are better with leo.
my fancy, high end headphones broke but they're easy to fix (the cord is replaceable), so i should be able to send a check out on the first of december for them.
i kind of forgot about the mail. i've updated the address at the banks and odsp, so there shouldn't be any more bank stuff coming. the student loan people are going to want me to send them a form and update the address. i should update my address at carleton, too, as well as with cra. thanks.
i'm going to go with an internet phone that will be very cheap, but the number is just for local calls. really, i just need the phone so that i can get documents to cross the border with. otherwise, i wouldn't bother.
i've been working on uploading a lot of music i wrote in the 90s, and getting back to a website i've been working on. the goal is to get that done before the new year, then finish the projects i've left half done. i'm going to start looking for something part-time in the spring, as i'm going to be running up against an odsp review in the fall that i'm not certain will be renewed.
everything i've been doing is accessible from here:
http://dghjdfsghkrdghdgja.appspot.com/
i'm spending all my time alone, but i think i've needed the space, and i think i'm going to need a bit more.
i'll try to get that stuff cleared up on monday.
j
To: grandmother’s email address
things are ok here. glad to hear things are better with leo.
my fancy, high end headphones broke but they're easy to fix (the cord is replaceable), so i should be able to send a check out on the first of december for them.
i kind of forgot about the mail. i've updated the address at the banks and odsp, so there shouldn't be any more bank stuff coming. the student loan people are going to want me to send them a form and update the address. i should update my address at carleton, too, as well as with cra. thanks.
i'm going to go with an internet phone that will be very cheap, but the number is just for local calls. really, i just need the phone so that i can get documents to cross the border with. otherwise, i wouldn't bother.
i've been working on uploading a lot of music i wrote in the 90s, and getting back to a website i've been working on. the goal is to get that done before the new year, then finish the projects i've left half done. i'm going to start looking for something part-time in the spring, as i'm going to be running up against an odsp review in the fall that i'm not certain will be renewed.
everything i've been doing is accessible from here:
http://dghjdfsghkrdghdgja.appspot.com/
i'm spending all my time alone, but i think i've needed the space, and i think i'm going to need a bit more.
i'll try to get that stuff cleared up on monday.
j
publishing eat my fuck (inri016)
this is something i did between inri demos. i needed a break from structured writing. just wanted to make some noise...
i suppose this is the biggest sample collage of them all, but it's best not to take it too seriously. the idea here eventually morphed into a project called "fuel true anarchy in the americas" (jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/ftaa), a play on the ftaa trade agreement, which itself got toned down in scope.
there's everything from science docs to hitler in here. it's meant to be a passive trip through real and imaginary time that is experienced with the aid of psychedelic drugs, rather than any kind of political statement. it's quite consciously absurd, often juxtaposing ironic statements with their contradictions.
the core of the ambience was produced by a program called sound raider. i then took the sound it created and shaped it by adding in vocal samples, looping certain parts, running things through effects, sequencing the noise into a more melodic shape, etc. it's consequently a sort of a collaboration between myself and the machine, rather than the work of the machine itself.
no sane person could really listen to this passively. you basically *need* drugs to get anything out of this at all.
...and i think i'm probably the only person that ever experienced it properly. hey, it's never too late...
created in the summer of 1998. released as a standalone ep on nov 16, 2013. as always, please use headphones.
this track also appears on my third record:
jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inridiculous
i suppose this is the biggest sample collage of them all, but it's best not to take it too seriously. the idea here eventually morphed into a project called "fuel true anarchy in the americas" (jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/ftaa), a play on the ftaa trade agreement, which itself got toned down in scope.
there's everything from science docs to hitler in here. it's meant to be a passive trip through real and imaginary time that is experienced with the aid of psychedelic drugs, rather than any kind of political statement. it's quite consciously absurd, often juxtaposing ironic statements with their contradictions.
the core of the ambience was produced by a program called sound raider. i then took the sound it created and shaped it by adding in vocal samples, looping certain parts, running things through effects, sequencing the noise into a more melodic shape, etc. it's consequently a sort of a collaboration between myself and the machine, rather than the work of the machine itself.
no sane person could really listen to this passively. you basically *need* drugs to get anything out of this at all.
...and i think i'm probably the only person that ever experienced it properly. hey, it's never too late...
created in the summer of 1998. released as a standalone ep on nov 16, 2013. as always, please use headphones.
this track also appears on my third record:
jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inridiculous
credits
j - sound raider, sampling, cool edit synthesis/sequencing, digital effects processing, digital wave editing, flute
gauntk9 - anti-social quip
released july 1, 1998
gauntk9 - anti-social quip
released july 1, 1998
ignorance is bliss (cynicide mix)
this was never meant to be recorded like this, only played live, usually drunk, but a friend of mine talked me into recording it for inclusion in a radio rock project we were hatching up. well, he was hatching up. i didn't really have much of an artistic investment in it, i just agreed to play bass, because my friend needed a bassist more than any other reason. he wanted this to be a "hidden song". i obliged.
however, he was a little taken aback by the result. he wanted it to be twangy and country, which indicated a misunderstanding of the content. it's comical on a surreal level, but it's not a cheap comedy skit. his ideas would have devalued it and that sort of pissed me off; my refusal to redo it pissed him off. this was part of the reason that the project never went anywhere, except to spark rabit iz wolf:
jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/rabit-iz-wolf
recorded in the spring of 2001.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/ignorance-is-bliss-cynicide-mix
however, he was a little taken aback by the result. he wanted it to be twangy and country, which indicated a misunderstanding of the content. it's comical on a surreal level, but it's not a cheap comedy skit. his ideas would have devalued it and that sort of pissed me off; my refusal to redo it pissed him off. this was part of the reason that the project never went anywhere, except to spark rabit iz wolf:
jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/rabit-iz-wolf
recorded in the spring of 2001.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/ignorance-is-bliss-cynicide-mix
hexonxonx (remix/cover for inrimake)
i put together a skinny puppy tribute disc over the summer of 1998 called 'the souls that create'. this was my contribution to that disc. the original version is found on skinny puppy's 1989 record 'rabies', which is better known as 'the one that al jourgenson fuckered up'.
it's based on a combination of reconstruction and sampling, with the vocals performed by a text-to-speech program.
for those curious, the walk/ogre version of dig it with the text-to-speech vocals was released a few weeks after this, and it's hard to think i had nothing to do with that.
recorded in july, 1998.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/hexonxonx
it's based on a combination of reconstruction and sampling, with the vocals performed by a text-to-speech program.
for those curious, the walk/ogre version of dig it with the text-to-speech vocals was released a few weeks after this, and it's hard to think i had nothing to do with that.
recorded in july, 1998.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/hexonxonx
eat my fuck (original album mix)
this is something i did between inri demos. i needed a break from structured writing. just wanted to make some noise...
i suppose this is the biggest sample collage of them all, but it's best not to take it too seriously. the idea here eventually morphed into a project called "fuel true anarchy in the americas" (jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/ftaa), a play on the ftaa trade agreement, which itself got toned down in scope.
there's everything from science docs to hitler in here. it's meant to be a passive trip through real and imaginary time that is experienced with the aid of psychedelic drugs, rather than any kind of political statement. it's quite consciously absurd, often juxtaposing ironic statements with their contradictions.
the core of the ambience was produced by a program called sound raider. i then took the sound it created and shaped it by adding in vocal samples, looping certain parts, running things through effects, sequencing the noise into a more melodic shape, etc. it's consequently a sort of a collaboration between myself and the machine, rather than the work of the machine itself.
no sane person could really listen to this passively. you basically *need* drugs to get anything out of this at all.
...and i think i'm probably the only person that ever experienced it properly. hey, it's never too late...
recorded in june, 1998.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/eat-my-fuck-2
i suppose this is the biggest sample collage of them all, but it's best not to take it too seriously. the idea here eventually morphed into a project called "fuel true anarchy in the americas" (jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/ftaa), a play on the ftaa trade agreement, which itself got toned down in scope.
there's everything from science docs to hitler in here. it's meant to be a passive trip through real and imaginary time that is experienced with the aid of psychedelic drugs, rather than any kind of political statement. it's quite consciously absurd, often juxtaposing ironic statements with their contradictions.
the core of the ambience was produced by a program called sound raider. i then took the sound it created and shaped it by adding in vocal samples, looping certain parts, running things through effects, sequencing the noise into a more melodic shape, etc. it's consequently a sort of a collaboration between myself and the machine, rather than the work of the machine itself.
no sane person could really listen to this passively. you basically *need* drugs to get anything out of this at all.
...and i think i'm probably the only person that ever experienced it properly. hey, it's never too late...
recorded in june, 1998.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/eat-my-fuck-2
wish (r2d2 mix)
i ran the track through a digital noise reduction and it came out sounding like this.
recorded in may, 1998.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/wish-r2d2-mix
recorded in may, 1998.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/wish-r2d2-mix
the phantom of the washing machine
glitchy phantom backing tracks, with basement sounds.
recorded in may, 1998.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/the-phantom-of-the-washing-machine
recorded in may, 1998.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/the-phantom-of-the-washing-machine
slipping away (remix/cover for inrimake)
this is a reconstruction of a stabbing westward song that was meant for inclusion on a fan-made compilation that i'm not sure ever came together or not. it received positive feedback on the mailing list. it's not very similar to the original; really, this is so dramatically different from the original that it's reasonable to say something like that it's "inspired by" the original rather than a remix or a cover. it does contain creatively reinterpreted samples of the original.
recorded in may, 1998.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/slipping-away
recorded in may, 1998.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/slipping-away
why (wtf mix)
this is a glitchy, instrumental remix of the track 'why' that i only vaguely recall putting together.
recorded in april, 1998.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/why-wtf-mix
recorded in april, 1998.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/why-wtf-mix
Friday, November 15, 2013
inri (original album mix) (inri015) now fully uploaded
my first cd demo represents a dramatic shift in sound that, at the time, was meant to be permanent but that ended up being merely a step in a long journey. on one hand, the shift in sound reflected my changing tastes away from alternative rock and towards industrial music. on another level, it was a return to my childhood roots in 80s synthpop. i was also expanding my tastes into glitch, noise and what could be called "musique concrete".
the shift to using drum machines was dominant in the new sound, as was the reality that i had a synthesizer available to me starting in the beginning of 1998. another major factor was the use of a pc. however, my main songwriting tool remained the guitar and these are still mostly guitar-driven pieces.
the guitar work is one of the things that separates the sound from a typical industrial aesthetic. i've never been a fan of heavy metal and largely shied away from creating that kind of thing. yet, i found myself connecting more with psychedelic guitar at this point than punk rock. industrial psych generally implies something like trance, but it need not to. industrial hendrix? well, maybe it ends up sounding more like synth pop, which has historical roots in psychedelic music and progressive rock. the point is that the music does manage to carve out a unique space between industrial music and synth pop that i don't know of any clear comparisons to. people have suggested mid-period swans, the legendary pink dots and nine inch nails - only the last of which was a significant influence, and none of which are really that close. a better comparison, although still not a significant influence at this time, would be joy division - who would become a significant influence after this phase. my actual influences at the time would have been more like brian eno (through his 70s and 90s work with david bowie, as well as his work with u2), early prog (genesis/floyd/crimson), peter gabriel, the beatles, radiohead, the smashing pumpkins, REM, sonic youth, the tea party and a bit of contemporary electronic music (prodigy, nin, coil, foetus, autechre, nitzer ebb, ministry, econoline crush, gravity kills, stabbing westward, skinny puppy and side projects). the sense of humour is coming from frank zappa and matt groening, if they are not actually the same person. i wasn't listening to much tears for fears, i don't think, but you can hear them lurking underneath everything.
some of these songs are reworked versions of tracks i had recorded previously. in almost all cases, i consider the versions here (and on the follow-up demo, inriched) to be the authoritative versions of these tracks.
the demo is consciously constructed to alternate between "conventional songs" and "experimental pieces", although both definitions are stretched. it generally takes the form of connecting passages. it's meant to give the record the feel of a cohesive work rather than a collection of songs.
lyrically, i'm still a teenager, but i'm starting to grow into myself a little more. there are still some points of embarrassment, but it's really only the 8th track that is causing me any serious grief. my singing style has changed quite a bit though - most of the lyrics here are in a spoken word style, rather than sung. it's partially the result of insecurities with my voice, but it's mostly due to the shift to something electronic. i found the dead pan vocal delivery more appropriate. it's something that stuck with me though until relatively recently.
some of this material was written as far back as 1994, but was only sequenced in the second half of 1997 and recorded in the first half of 1998. unfortunately, i decided that the songs sounded better in mp3 and consequently compressed everything before burning. i understand now that i was hobbling together a crude mastering process, but it means (unfortunately) that the closest thing i have to the finished tracks are low quality mp3s and a cd-r. these tracks were taken off of a cd-r and edited mildly (mostly the removal of badly placed simpsons samples) over the second week of november, 2013. this is my first official record; as always, please use headphones.
credits:
j - guitars, effects, bass, synthesizers, drum programming, sequencing, sampling, vocals, cool edit synthesis, windows 95 sound recorder, found sounds, strategies, soundraider, hammerhead, sound design, metronome, digital wave editing, production
released june 20, 1998
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inri-lp
the shift to using drum machines was dominant in the new sound, as was the reality that i had a synthesizer available to me starting in the beginning of 1998. another major factor was the use of a pc. however, my main songwriting tool remained the guitar and these are still mostly guitar-driven pieces.
the guitar work is one of the things that separates the sound from a typical industrial aesthetic. i've never been a fan of heavy metal and largely shied away from creating that kind of thing. yet, i found myself connecting more with psychedelic guitar at this point than punk rock. industrial psych generally implies something like trance, but it need not to. industrial hendrix? well, maybe it ends up sounding more like synth pop, which has historical roots in psychedelic music and progressive rock. the point is that the music does manage to carve out a unique space between industrial music and synth pop that i don't know of any clear comparisons to. people have suggested mid-period swans, the legendary pink dots and nine inch nails - only the last of which was a significant influence, and none of which are really that close. a better comparison, although still not a significant influence at this time, would be joy division - who would become a significant influence after this phase. my actual influences at the time would have been more like brian eno (through his 70s and 90s work with david bowie, as well as his work with u2), early prog (genesis/floyd/crimson), peter gabriel, the beatles, radiohead, the smashing pumpkins, REM, sonic youth, the tea party and a bit of contemporary electronic music (prodigy, nin, coil, foetus, autechre, nitzer ebb, ministry, econoline crush, gravity kills, stabbing westward, skinny puppy and side projects). the sense of humour is coming from frank zappa and matt groening, if they are not actually the same person. i wasn't listening to much tears for fears, i don't think, but you can hear them lurking underneath everything.
some of these songs are reworked versions of tracks i had recorded previously. in almost all cases, i consider the versions here (and on the follow-up demo, inriched) to be the authoritative versions of these tracks.
the demo is consciously constructed to alternate between "conventional songs" and "experimental pieces", although both definitions are stretched. it generally takes the form of connecting passages. it's meant to give the record the feel of a cohesive work rather than a collection of songs.
lyrically, i'm still a teenager, but i'm starting to grow into myself a little more. there are still some points of embarrassment, but it's really only the 8th track that is causing me any serious grief. my singing style has changed quite a bit though - most of the lyrics here are in a spoken word style, rather than sung. it's partially the result of insecurities with my voice, but it's mostly due to the shift to something electronic. i found the dead pan vocal delivery more appropriate. it's something that stuck with me though until relatively recently.
some of this material was written as far back as 1994, but was only sequenced in the second half of 1997 and recorded in the first half of 1998. unfortunately, i decided that the songs sounded better in mp3 and consequently compressed everything before burning. i understand now that i was hobbling together a crude mastering process, but it means (unfortunately) that the closest thing i have to the finished tracks are low quality mp3s and a cd-r. these tracks were taken off of a cd-r and edited mildly (mostly the removal of badly placed simpsons samples) over the second week of november, 2013. this is my first official record; as always, please use headphones.
credits:
j - guitars, effects, bass, synthesizers, drum programming, sequencing, sampling, vocals, cool edit synthesis, windows 95 sound recorder, found sounds, strategies, soundraider, hammerhead, sound design, metronome, digital wave editing, production
released june 20, 1998
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/inri-lp
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