MDS 2018 Wrap-Up & Bonus; New BC Listings; Abundant Misery, Misfortune & Dread
•29 December 2018 • Leave a CommentHello all:
I hope that everyone out there is having an enjoyable & fulfilling end to their year, in the company of supportive friends and relatives.
Firstly, the last of the 2018 Monthly Digital Singles has been posted! You can find the December single here. I haven’t posted links to the singles since August, so links for the singles from September to November are listed below:
Endless thanks to everyone who has supported this MDS series! It made a tremendous difference in what was otherwise a relentlessly stressful & difficult year. For a more concrete way to thank you, I’ve created a bonus, 13th single for the series, which will be made available for free to anyone who purchased the full set of 12. Throughout January, I’ll be sending out download codes for the bonus single via email; if, by chance, there is anyone who did buy all 12 but hasn’t received a code by mid-January, please get in touch with me at irrappext@gmail.com so I can remedy the oversight. I’ll try to be thorough, but mistakes are sometimes made.
(Bonus 13!)
Secondly, I’ve also listed 5 items from the irr. archives to Bandcamp; 4 which are out-of-print, and one of which has never been released.
‘Neornithes Rex Imperator‘ collects two long-form tracks originally released as separate limited 3″ CDRs (‘Neognath In Machina’ in 2012 & ‘Neognathæ Portentosus’ in 2013) by the much-missed Petit Mal Music label. The first release paid homage to the beauty & variety of birds by taking mechanical & other non-avian sources and altering them to sound bird-like, while conversely taking bird sources and altering them to sound more like machines. The second release continued this tribute by utilising the extensive archive of bird recordings I’ve been accumulating for 25+ years and modifying them (but also sometimes not modifying them) in as many ways as I could come up with at the time. ‘Orny ‘Arry says ‘allo!
This combined & remastered version was going to be released on vinyl, but that plan fell through. With luck, I’ll eventually find another way to make it happen. I decided to make the tracks available digitally in the meantime. This reissue is dedicated to the memory of my dear friend James Kaiser, who manufactured the original 3″s and provided the motivation for the whole idea in the first place. Sadly, he died just after we had discussed the idea of having a third installment in the series.
‘While Unconscious In Compost I Was Temporarily A Motile Vesicular Cluster‘ is another long-form track that was originally released by Nihilist Records as half of a split LP with Panicsville back in 2007. The guiding concept behind it is no doubt completely explained by the title. The track has been fully reconstructed from the original audio sources, each of which has been individually scrubbed, polished & sonically optimised.
“This is probably the most astonishing work ever created in the entire history of recorded sound” — Heinrich Hertz, 1887.
“I use it to lull my earthworms to sleep every night” — Jean-Paul Sartre, 1967.
“The perfect party record! I never stage an orgy without it! The ideal soundtrack for salad tossing” — Phyllis Diller, 1979.
‘Tellurium-Ergot-Contingency‘ is yet another long-form track originally released by Nihilist Records, this one in 2010 as part of the 3-cassette box set ‘New Directions In Experimental Music’. Again, I’m sure the title makes the concept behind it obvious enough to make any further explanation unnecessary — except perhaps to say it reflects on the nature of mass delusion being assimilated as profound truth, the unnecessary being regarded as indispensable. (Thanks for that, Captain Obvious.)
Extensive remastering was done in 2011 when I had plans to include it as part of a CD collection; in keeping with a long-standing trend, that release never came to pass. Some additional audio polishing has been done, but the heavy lifting was already taken care of with the 2011 revision.
‘Blue Tongues Ignite/To Render The Chalaza‘ is an unreleased track (“a long-form track?” I hear you ask; why, yes, indeed it is!) from 2008 that was intended for release as a 3″ CD on the Ferns Recordings label. Ferns had invited me to contribute to their 3″ series, so I created this track and artwork, sent it to them, and subsequently never heard another word from the label in reply. They didn’t acknowledge receiving the material, but also never asked after the status of my contribution, nor responded to any of my inquiries, so I can only assume they were so unimpressed that they chose to pretend they had never made the invitation. This had already happened often enough (with what would have been the 2nd full-length irr. album ‘Foreign Matter, Nor Frequency Carrier’, and with what would have been the 5th full-length album ‘Not Hidden, But Concealed’, and with what have been the 6th full-length album ‘Radiant Black Future’, to name a few examples) that it wasn’t too unexpected; but it was discouraging enough for me to abandon the material. However, I did adapt & integrate re-recorded versions of some of the techniques developed on ‘Blue Tongues’ into later projects (like the layered prepared guitar percussion, which was re-recorded for ‘Tellurium-Ergot-Contingency’).
Listening to it again a full decade later, I think it’s actually a rather good track — although, as with all tracks I recorded that long ago, it was in serious need of some deep cleaning, EQ and remixing. Since it never was released, I took the liberty of also adding some new sources to give certain sections the oomf that was lacking in the original.
‘Observation Affects The Outcome‘ is the first collaboration between myself and Pentti Dassum’s experimental project Umpio. I’ve been a fan of Pentti’s since discovering his old band Deep Turtle back in the days of the Bad Vugum label, and it was great to have an opportunity to collaborate with him. ‘Observation’ was released on CD in 2013 by the Monochrome Vision label in Russia; my own copies sold out years ago, and following the tragic accidental death of label boss Dmitry Vasilyev earlier this year, the physical version is now definitively out-of-print.
On a happier note, the second Umpio + irr collaboration ‘Permutable Schema’ (a double CD this time) is now in production, and should be available in January. More news on that when news on that has more news.
Lastly, a bit of an update on my personal situation. This part doesn’t contain any release news, so you can skip it without missing any irr-relevant information.
My current living circumstances are in a state of disintegration, which means having a functional studio space, and perhaps even private computer access, will be coming to an end before long. I’ve got a grace period of perhaps a year, although nothing is completely certain at this point. I’m a bit overwhelmed by everything that’s been happening… a year and a few days ago I nearly dropped dead without any warning, and while still in the process of trying to piece myself back together physically & psychologically, I learned that the one thing I thought was stable in my life — my housing situation — was coming to an unexpected end. I’ve spent the past few months exploring what options are available, and the realities are turning out to be pretty grim.
I’ve been fully self-employed as a musician & artist for the past 12 years, and this was only possible due to the inexpensive housing I’ve been lucky enough to have during that time. My self-employed work has required a lot of different skills: audio recording, production, mixing & mastering; graphic & design work in a variety of media and creating printer-ready layouts; business accounting to figure my self-employment taxes every year; creating & maintaining my web shops & social media profiles. Unfortunately, I don’t have any outside credentials for any of these skills, so, as far as the job market is concerned, I could almost have been doing absolutely nothing for the past 12 years. My resume has always been rather feeble, but, at this point in time, none of the places I’ve been employed in the past exist anymore, so I have no references. This is also the case with my unusual living situation: I have no ‘official’ renter’s history or references, which puts my ability to secure a place to live (even if I can manage to find one I can afford) into question.
I’ve registered with several job search services, and next month I’m signed up for a slew of employment assistance seminars: ‘career exploration’, ‘resume writing’, ‘interview technique’, etc; but the early indications are that the only jobs I’m likely to get right now pay at minimum wage or very close to it, which (I’m sure some of you already know well enough) are not actually living wage jobs — that is, aren’t jobs that provide enough money to keep up with the cost of rent & basic living expenses. I’ve also been exploring the possibility of moving to the UK or the EU, but the financial & bureaucratic obstacles are overwhelming… and of course the timing of that could hardly be worse with both poised on the brink of the Brexit abyss.
I find myself as a car-less, mobile phone-less, college degree-less, job & housing reference-less, functionally resume-less, unmarried & child-less nearly-50-year-old trying to figure out how to move forward in an area where I don’t have a social network… I’ve spent all my time shut up in my studio working on my own, so I still barely know anyone here in Oregon. Honestly, the situation scares the piss out of me. I’m running out of ideas. So I’m throwing my net as wide as possible to bring in as many good ideas & strategies as I can before things become dire.
If anyone out there has some useful information they can share in regards to how to find reasonably-paid work & affordable housing, or know of any resources that can help with this kind of thing, please contact me at irrappext@gmail.com.
best wishes to all,
–msw
‘A Transfigured System’ & Some Special Blanks
•23 September 2018 • Leave a CommentHello All:
It’s been a tumultuous time here, with lots of different projects being juggled and lots of unexpected developments trying to prevent me from finishing them. I keep inching them forward regardless, and hope to have more news to report on that before long.
A couple things that have been finished:
The new irr. album ‘A Transfigured System‘ has been posted to Bandcamp. The album was actually started in 2015 based on some unused material originally generated for ‘I Made This For Someone Else’, and then occasionally tinkered with between other projects before almost (but not quite) being completed in mid-2017. After that, I got distracted by others things and forgot it was there. I stumbled across it again earlier this month, was happy with the shape it was taking, and decided to finish it up and make it public without any further delay. I’ll sort out a physical-format release later, but there’s already a long queue of physical-format releases and I didn’t want drop this one back in limbo at the end of that slowly-moving list.
Also, the Monthly Digital Single for August was posted to Bandcamp at the end of (wait for it…) August, and is available here. The single for September is just about ready to go and will be posted on schedule at the end of (you guessed it) September.
I’ve recently learned that my housing situation — the main ingredient that has allowed me to pursue my music full-time for the past several years — might be coming to an end very soon. If this happens, it throws a big, sinister question mark over how (but hopefully not if) I can continue pursing my creative work. Sinking back into the time-devouring day job quagmire seems inevitable, but first I’m going to attempt to find part-time work and see if I can keep a music career and a day job going at the same time. There is the added question of who will be willing to hire an approaching-50 experimental musician without a car, a mobile phone or a college degree, and who’s official resume is underwhelming at best. I might need to brush up on my dish-washing skills. On the other hand, the whole situation might turn out for the best: some degree of stable income might allow me to be more productive, and free me to concentrate better on specific projects rather than having to scramble every month to pay the bills and then start over again at zero the following month.
I’ll take a moment here once again to say a big thank you to all of you who have been so supportive over the years! You have allowed me to spend the last 12 years pursuing what I love to do, and that is a rare & beautiful thing that a lot of people never get to experience.
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I’m working to put together a few sale items to raise some funds to prepare for whatever situation might await at the end of the year. The first of these has become possible thanks to the generosity of Mr. Bill Bailey at Equation Records, who kindly send me his three archive copies of the limited single-sided LP + single-sided 7″ irr. release ‘The Other Side Is Blank’, which has been out of print since 2013. To try to make the copies more appealing, I’ve added 2 things:
First, a CDR with all the original audio for the LP & 7” before it was edited to fit on vinyl (a couple of the LP tracks had to be slightly trimmed down), housed in a handmade gatefold sleeve. The sleeve includes an 8-page booklet, and between the gatefold and the booklet reproduces all of the artwork used for the LP sleeve & inserts from the vinyl release. The booklet also includes a surplus collage that was not used. Each copy will be signed, numbered & personalised to the recipient. These handmade gatefold sleeves were designed especially for this, and are something I plan to develop further for future projects to avoid any more drab jewel-case packaging.
Second, one of the collage inserts from each of the LPs has been hand-tinted, using scintillatingly handsome hand tints derived from genuine tinted hands (but applied by foot). Examples are below. The coloured inserts will also be signed and numbered. The full set of original, non-tinted inserts is still included in the package (in the event you are unmoved by my tinting skills).
I’m asking $120 per copy for the ss-LP + ss-7″ + gatefold sleeve CDR + hand-coloured insert set. It’s a hefty amount, to be sure, but I think the full package is worth it — and, also, the whole point is to raise a useful sum of money before the apocalypse arrives. I have 3 copies from Mr. Bailey to sell: #22 of 100, #66 of 100 and a xxx numbered promotional copy. On the off-chance there are 4 interested buyers, I have an extra copy from my own archive that I can sell (#4 of 100). Only 3 of the hand-coloured inserts have been made, so there will be a delay before shipping if someone buys the fourth copy (I didn’t want to take to time to colour another insert when I’m not yet sure anyone will be interested in any of these sets). The package weighs 32 ounces, so in the U.S. Media Mail shipping is $4 and Priority Mail is $13. For overseas destinations, First Class International shipping is the predictably horrendous $23.50 (with Priority International an absurd $46).
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The other item I’m offering for sale is the original charcoal drawing used for the 2005 ‘Perekluchenie’ album cover. The drawing was made in 2003, and marked a significant development in my drawing style at the time. The piece has been very nicely framed (as pictured above) using high-end, archival materials: acid-free double matting with a textured mat on the top and a fully acid-free, archival backing. I’ll keep the glass in place, and will add multiple layers of padding and protection to insure as much as possible that is stays intact during shipping. If you’d like to buy it but would prefer the glass be removed, just let me know. The back is sealed with black paper which is signed, titled & dated, and this will have to be sliced open if I remove the glass.
I’m asking $800 for this piece… the total is inflated a bit by the expensive framing materials used. I know it’s a long shot that anyone will be able to afford to hand over such a sum for something like this, but I thought I’d give it a try. I’ve held back this piece for a long time due to the personal significance it has for me, and if I let it go I want it to be worthwhile. The package looks like it will weigh around 70 ounces; for U.S. destinations, this is too heavy for First Class and original artwork doesn’t classify for Media Mail, so I’ll have to send it either Retail Ground ($23) or Priority (which ranges up to $47 depending on location; I’ll figure the exact amount from your zip code). Unfortunately, due to size & weight I also have to use Priority International for overseas shipping, and that will be a dreadful $57.
Questions about any of these things are welcome, and can be directed at irrappext@gmail.com.
thanks for your time, and best wishes to all
-msw
New Monthly Digital Singles & A Few From The Archives
•2 August 2018 • Leave a CommentHello All:
Firstly, the personalised, hardback-format edition of 4 Orphans has sold out, and all copies have shipped. If you bought one, hopefully you have it already. Sincere thanks again to everyone who supported this project! It involved a very steep (and time-consuming) learning curve in regards to materials & assembly, but I think the results were worthwhile. Particular thanks need to be lavished upon the heroic Colin Potter, who made the overseas bundle shipping possible, thereby allowing me to cut the postage charges nearly or exactly in half, and asked for nothing in return. So, if you bought a copy and you’re overseas, please send him your appreciation — or just buy a load of stuff from the ICR shop (https://icrdistribution.com/).
Several things have recently been added to the irr. Bandcamp page. Apologies to those of you who don’t like digital releases: I’ll be getting around to more physical-format releases soon. Bandcamp is starting to become reasonably useful in helping me to keep the bills paid, and it allows me to release or reissue material much more frequently than I could otherwise. This will ultimately help me get more physical releases going, although the physical versions will sometimes lag behind the digital ones.
The Monthly Digital Single for July was posted on the 31st, and can be obtained here. This month’s entry includes both bread and pudding, so it’s practically a full meal between the two tracks.
The single for June has yet to be announced on this page, so here’s the announcement and here’s the single. There’s no shame in crying from the overwhelming excitement of it all.
A trio of archival releases have also been recently posted to irr. Bandcamp wonderland. All three have been painstakingly sonically optimised, and some have been extended and/or elaborated a bit.
The first is the irr. entry (being #3) in Enterruption’s ‘Hermetic Archival Cassette Series‘, originally released as scarce, small-edition c15 in 2008. Both tracks have been given a thorough digital cleaning and remastered from stem to bubble, as the original tracks were definitely a bit wobbly in places. Also, a few sources that had to be left out of the mix at the time due to technical limitations have now been reintegrated so the tracks are bit longer. New graphics have been assembled, but the original cassette cover is included as well.
The second is #10 in Twenty Herz’s ‘Drone Works‘ series (the final entry in the series, I believe), released in 2005 and out of print for over 10 years. The 21-minute track (nearly 22, actually) has finally been given a title (‘Anticyclogenesis‘) and has also received not only a deep-down cleaning, but a bit of revision and embellishment to give it the droney-workable oomph it was always supposed to have.
The third is ‘Night Wearing Feathers‘, the first collaboration between irr. and At Jennie Richie. This digital version includes both sides of the LP released by Black Horizons in 2013, ‘NWF’ and ‘Sunshine Bus Rider’. These tracks have also been remastered — primarily to repair some of the murky quality & missing high end in sections of ‘NWF’ — but are in overall content identical to the LP versions.
A few other archival items are being prepared for digital release: the ‘…Motile Vesicular Cluster…’ side of the irr./Panicsville split LP and the ‘Josephine & Elsewhere’ live album are probably next. New physical releases are being formulated. Remember the ’10 Stations’ release which was forthcoming back in November? No? Well, it’s still forthcoming. But it is a bit more forth in it’s comingness than it was before.
More soon…
–msw
Orphan Update
•7 June 2018 • Leave a CommentFirstly, I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who bought an Orphan: it’s been an enormous help during a difficult time! Your support, as always, is sincerely appreciated. Now I have a proper bit of breathing room to continue work on the next project, which I promise will be a doozy.
The first 48 copies (plus a couple later ones that needed to go in the UK bundle) have all shipped. For those of you in the States or who paid for direct overseas postage: if you haven’t received it yet, it should arrive soon. For those of you who had copies going in the UK bundle: Colin Potter has received the bundle and mailed out all of the individual packages today, so you also should be receiving your copy soon. Huge thanks to Colin for helping out in such a significant way!
There are still 25 copies available. If anyone else is interested in purchasing one, please read the previous news posting to get a full explanation about the release, how to get it, and to see some images of what you’ll be getting.
I’ve been working hard to finish the last 35 copies, but there have been a lot of interruptions. I’m still hoping to get all of the remaining copies assembled by the end of next week and mailed out soon after that. There are 9 pending overseas orders towards another UK bundle (again, take a look at the previous news post if you need the details), so I just need another 6 UK or EU orders to make that work. Colin has graciously agreed to play intermediary a second time.
Secondly, I’d like to thank everyone who has been supporting the Monthly Digital Single series (and any of the other Bandcamp releases): this also has been a considerable help, particularly since ‘4 Orphans’ took about 3 months longer for me to complete than I had planned. The single for May was posted a week ago, and can be found here.
more soon(-ish)
–msw
4 Orphans Expanded
•15 May 2018 • Leave a CommentHello all:
I’ve been working feverishly on the ‘4 Orphans’ handmade project, and although the edition is not 100% finished I’m just going to spill the beans about it now to see what kind of response I get. It’s only 8 weeks behind schedule, so I’m doing better than usual! But it was a particularly rough 8 weeks. I usually avoid doing pre-orders, but it’s so close to completion that it’ll barely be a pre-order for most people: about a week for the first 40 or so orders, and between 2-3 weeks for the rest.
The details:
This is a handmade, hardbound-packaged CDR version of the irr. app. (ext.)/Nurse With Wound ‘4 Orphans’ collaboration.
The disc includes all 4 original tracks, plus 3 additional tracks: ‘Formless’, a drastic reworking of the original sources which was created in 2015, and ‘Burren Amateur Zoological Survey 2006’ and ‘A Walk In A Strange Field’, two new tracks built almost entirely from recordings made at Cooloorta and in the Burren. This is almost 30 minutes of extra material, bringing the total duration to slightly over an hour.
The packaging is a hardbound book-style cover containing a 7-page booklet with the full text about the origins of the project (as is included with the download version). The last page of each booklet features an original ink drawing of ‘Bufo gillespianus’, the scarce & elusive Bearded Burren Toad, rendered on a photograph of it’s natural habitat around Mullach Mór (examples below). Also included is a comforting slab of black foam with the edition number & owner’s name hand-inscribed in silver (see photos). The edition number & owner’s name will also be written on the toad drawing page.
More details:
The labour & materials for this project far (far) exceeded what I had anticipated, so I’m asking $40 per copy. This is more than I had intended to charge, but the main point of the project was to raise some funds while I recovered from my medical misfortunes, so I hope you’ll forgive the large-ish price tag this time around. I’m planning to do more handmade editions, but am experimenting with other methods & materials to try to keep the costs lower in the future. This first attempt was slightly rushed, and involved a steep learning curve and several missteps before I got everything figured out properly.
The edition size is 85 copies. I have 45 of those just about ready to stroll out the door. Part of the reason for doing this as a pre-order is that I’m not sure of how much interest there will be (especially with the higher price). If only get 20 orders, then I can adjust the edition size down to 50; if I get 50 orders, I have the assembly procedures streamlined well enough now that I can get the remaining edition of 85 ready within a couple of weeks.
Even more details:
The packaging is not factory-made: it is very much a hand-assembled item. I mention this again because there are the inevitable rough edges and irregularities unavoidable with a hand-made project, and I want everyone to be fully aware of what they’ll be getting. But I’ll also add that I put considerable effort & attention to detail into every aspect of this, and I think that results are very nice. After seeing the completed package, Steve, Colin and Andrew each gave me an unreservedly enthusiastic response.
A few other details I feel I should mention. I added the foam piece because the the spine turned out a bit wider than was really necessary, and I wanted to add some support so the packaging didn’t get damaged during shipping. To make it more relevant than just padding, I added the hand-written name & number. THE FOAM IS NOT EDIBLE.
I also added an obi strip (see photos above & below) so the title would be visible from the spine when placed on a shelf; this did not turn out in an entirely satisfactory way, since the printed paper I used does not crease as cleanly as I would have liked. I’ll investigate some better option next time, but I felt it’s a minor enough point to let pass on this one.
The final detail is that I couldn’t find a resealable sleeve the right size that didn’t have the adhesive on the flap. My experience with sleeves having adhesive on the flap is that they inevitably (& annoyingly) stick to the packaging when you’re removing or replacing the item, and this can sometimes cause damage. To avoid this, I’ve trimmed off the adhesive strip and added my own adhesive tabs to the body of the sleeve, where sticking & damage are far less likely.
The bottom line:
If you want a copy, you can send $40 + postage via Paypal to irrappext@gmail.com. I’m not going to make a shop entry for this yet: I’m hoping it won’t be necessary and this announcement will be enough. For addresses in the US, the total with Media Mail postage is $44 ($4 for a 7 oz. package). If you want it sent Priority Mail instead, the total is $49.
For overseas addresses, the postage is more complicated. The USPS has raised its international rates yet again, so a mere 7 oz. package now costs $14 to send to the UK or Europe. To lower this amount, I’m trying to work something out with a friend in the UK where I send him a Priority Mail bundle of 15 discs together and he’ll send along the individual packets. This would lower the per-disc cost for the bundle down to $5 each. The Royal Mail 2nd Class rates for a 7 oz. (198g) parcel appears to be £2.95 ($4), so that would bring the total UK postage down to $9 ($5 USPS + $4 Royal Mail), and I can knock a couple of dollars off to make a $47 total for the UK. Royal Mail International Standard rates to most European countries is £4.45 ($6), and again dropping off a couple dollars makes it $49 total for Europe. Delivery time will obviously be somewhat longer doing it this way.
Of course, this only works if I get at least 15 overseas orders and my friend agrees to do it. So if you’re in the UK or Europe you can send $40 to reserve a copy of the disc, and I’ll contact you with postage details once I have 15 orders. If the bundle plan works, that will be an additional $7 (UK) or $9 (EU). If it doesn’t, both will be $14, and if anyone (understandably) finds that too expensive, I will refund their $40. Sorry this is so complicated! I hope to get a more straightforward strategy worked out before next time.
Feel free to contact me with questions at irrappext@gmail.com.
thanks for your time
–msw
A Quick One Before The Orphans Arrive
•24 April 2018 • Leave a CommentHello all:
I’m still working to get the copies of ‘4 Orphans’ assembled, but there are a few brief bits of news to mention in the meantime.
I will have little or no computer access between April 25th and May 3rd, so any messages or orders will have to be dealt with after the 3rd.
To keep on schedule with the monthly digital single series, I posted April’s entry a little bit early. You can find it here.
Also newly posted to Bandcamp: a freshly-scrubbed and slightly augmented version of the third irr. app. (ext.) album ‘Their Little Bones…‘, originally released way back in 1999. This was my first handmade project, packaged in a frame box with a unique little bone arrangement and hand-modified photograph. You can view a sample of both in the graphics files that have been included with the download. I made 108 of these villains before running out of materials and retiring the box version for good.
Added to this digital version of the album is the rare track ‘Whittling Little Crosses For A Half-Sleeping Heresiarch‘, recorded around the same time as ‘Bones’ and released by Plate Lunch in 2000 as half of a super-scarce split 7″ with the Australian project Rats With Wings. This 7″ was so scarce that for years I didn’t possess a single copy of my own (the record label never sent me any) until Christoph Heemann found one at a record swap in Bern and kindly passed it along to me. The quality of the original track was pretty dreadful, so this version has been fully reconstructed from all of the constituent sources for optimal audio fidelity (at least as much fidelity as old cassette sources will allow).
Full details about ‘4 Orphans’ in the next post, probably around May 10th.
–m
