Break the core

I've been listening to a lot of breakcore and drum and bass lately, so it's no surprise that when I found myself possessed by the urge to throw together a new mix, it ended up being... breakcore and drum and bass. After slaving away into the wee hours last night, I proudly present:

DJ Abstract 8: Black Eye Mix



It's pretty nasty. Lots of ragga and jungle with some breakcore and evil tossed in for good measure. Not to mention a nice little joke at the end...

01 Soundmurderer - Bad Sound
02 Christoph De Babalon - Nightlife
03 DJ Throttler - Elements
04 Venetian Snares - Find Candace
05 2nd Gen - Malady Made Simple
06 The Bug Vs The Rootsman - WWW (Tech Level 2 Remix)
07 Rusuden - Membrane (Enduser Remix)
08 Noisia - Monster
09 Ed Rush & Optical - Bacteria (Pendulum Remix)
10 DJ C - Billy Jungle
11 Com. A/Wicked Act - No Heathen (Ghetto Plazma Mix)
12 Kid 606 - The Illness (Album Mix)
13 Tech Level 2/Wayne Lonesome - Who Wan Seek War
14 Napalm Death - You Suffer

Yep, that's Napalm Death's "You Suffer". All 2 seconds of it. Somehow it seemed appropriate, given breakcore's roots in grindcore (at least in my opinion). Anyway, if anybody would like a copy, let me know.

Dancing matilda with me:

Various - DJ Abstract 8: Black Eye Mix
(takes you out into the alley and beats you 'til you beg for death)

78bpm - Red Moon
(extremely quirky jazz-inflected downtempo from Thailand)

Rekhmire - The Deviant Lounge
(if CHUDs did triphop, it would sound like this)

Rachel Kann - Ptolemaic Complex
(spoken word set to dark soundscapes)

Rachel Kann - 3 New Shits
(more spoken word with tracks courtesy of Enduser)

Karmic PS

Seems Mr. DeLay has decided to step down as House Majority leader after being indicted by a grand jury (if can you believe it, a TEXAS grand jury!) on conspiracy charges.

Ain't the law a bitch, Tommy? With any luck he'll be convicted and have to resign completely.

One down, the rest of them to go.

Black as midnight, black as pitch...

Discrete rumblings

As anyone who has followed my blog for a while knows, I've been single for almost three years; an occasional date or two here and there, but nothing solid in all that time. Now, it hasn't been a question of not meeting people; it's been a question of meeting people who are worth the effort (and risk) involved in putting yourself out there. Sure, I've encountered countless cute chicks (they're pretty thick on the ground here in New York City), but cute does not equal interesting or exciting. It had gotten to the point where I'd begun to believe that my heart (or soul or whatever) had begun to atrophy and then I would end up staying alone simply because I just didn't care any more.

But now I find myself in the beginnings of being in Like.

After several days of silence (she was dealing with family stuff), Thea called me and invited me out for a quick bite and a movie. We noshed at Sidewalk Cafe and then caught a showing of "The Constant Gardener". Dinner was a blast, mostly taken up with a conversation about God, the similarities of organized religions, and the nature of humankind. You know, standard shallow meal conversation... ;-)

Did I mention she was mad smart as well as being hot?

The flick was excellent. I'd recommend it to anybody who likes well-paced, introspective films with a bit of intrigue and passion thrown in. There is a scene where Ralph Fiennes's character returns to the apartment he shared with his now-dead wife. He breaks down in the garden, able only to look in through the glass door at their former shared domain. The visual metaphor of being able to see your memories but being utterly separated from them was incredibly powerful. The movie is full of moments like this, as well as beautiful cinematography and a moving story. Go see it.

Fiennes and Rachel Weisz


Both Thea and I felt the same about the film, gasping at the same parts and occasionally turning to each other to whisper our thoughts (rude motherfuckers that we are). In all, an incredibly fun (if entirely unexpected) evening. So much for my plans to make dinner at home and call it an early night...

Such is the power of hope and desire.

Now comes the part that I'm really bad at: negotiating the pace of things and figuring out if she is indeed interested in "that way". I'd have thought that a call for an unplanned outing would be a great sign, but hey, I'm a fucking moron when it comes to this type of thing.

At least in the beginning.

Too bad there's no such thing as relationship representatives: "I'll have my people talk to your people"-type stuff. Well, so far I've been honest about my interest in her. I guess I just have to keep doing that and hope for the best. Hopefully it won't all end in tears (thanks, 4AD).

Yummy earfood:

Various - The Lo Fibre Companion
(from experimental electronic to ambient to altpop)

Various - The White Cliffs Of Dover
(WWII top forty, kids)

Various - TIP Records TIP CD1
(acid trance your brain out your nose)

The Final Cut - Consumed
(yes, they have the fear)

Swartalf - The Golden Section
(flirts with black metal, but stays ambient and operatic)

Fervor? For sports?!?!

I'm not a huge fan of organized sports. I'm not one of those fellows who take every opportunity to plonk down in front of the television to watch The Big Game. And yet this is the second blog entry in a row regarding the Yankees.

It's just been exciting.

In past years, reaching the post season has always been kind of a non-issue. The rules of baseball simply dictated that the Yanks make the playoffs; kind of written in stone. And yet this year, things are far from guaranteed. There are only six games left and we are DEAD TIED with the Sux. Meanwhile, the rest of AL is making the wildcard race very interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever cared about the results of as many different games as I have in the last couple of days. Each victory or loss bodes well for the Yankees or is a harbinger of doom.

I am really looking forward to our last three games against Boston. I may actually watch all of them. What a concept!

I wonder if there really are people who constantly feel like this about sports? I’d image it would be fairly life absorbing…

Today’s 7th inning stretch themes:

Rasputina - My Fever Broke/Lost And Found
(two great EPs, including a fabulous cover of "Tourniquet" and "Wish You Were Here")

Cranes - Particles & Waves
(icier and colder than anything I've every heard by them)

Halo - Guattari (From The West Flows Grey Ash And Pestilence)
(doomy sludge metal from Australia)

Sofa Surfers - See The Light
(on the down tempo dub tip)

Nasum - Human 2.0
(more neck snapping grindcore; it makes me happy)

Things as they should be

For two months now, each time I've updated the ranking tables to the right, I've had to look at the SECOND line on CNNSI's standings screen to get the Yanks record and the first line to get the Sux record.

Boo. Hiss.

But the natural order of things has been restored. Last night, Randy Johnson pitched the Yanks to another victory over the Baltimore Orioles. Mariano gave me a few unaccustomed moments of pause, but didn't blow it. Meanwhile, those tenacious Tampa Devil Rays bitchslapped the Sux. Our combined efforts put Boston in second place (where they belong) in both the AL East and the AL Wildcard races.

Sweet.



Wouldn't it just be glorious if the Sux didn't even make the playoffs? Oh, that would be so great. At this point, it matters more to me that Boston get shafted than that the Yanks win the World Series. I'll be happy just as long as we do better than the Sux. Wooooo! I am a vindictive prick!

But with only ten games left in the season and our lead tenuous at best, I'm still biting my nails. Those last three games against Boston (9/30-10/2) are going to be insane to say the least.

Randy says suck on this.


Today's lo-card specials:

Various - Comfort Stand Sampler
(tons of weirdness from this great weblabel)

Various - Noisia's DOA Mix 092005
(hyper speed break beat and jungle tasty)

Various - California Dreaming
(FFRR in 1993? who would like it?)

Authist & Dub One! - Dub Illusions EP
(it's da neodub vibeage, mon)

Beastie Boys - Licensed To Ill
(yeah, what about it? whatchu gotta say? you lookin' at me?)

Slave to the grind

Taking a brief respite from work right now (I've allotted myself 10 minutes to write this), as things have gone quite a bit nutty since yesterday morning. I've been here since 8am this morning and I didn't leave the office last night until a little after 10pm. This was especially sucky because I was supposed to go see Derek's band last night.

It’s times like these that the whole "bein' filthy stinkin' rich" thing really would appeal to me.

I know I am lucky to have a good job. Still, there are times when the disadvantages of having a position of responsibility (i.e. time commitment, stress level, etc.) outweigh the advantages (i.e. decent pay scale, challenging work, etc.)

Sometimes I wish I'd just been a carpenter like my father.

I think this has a lot to do with the nebulous and transitory nature of what I do. Sure, in most cases I'm starting out with almost nothing, simply an idea in my or someone else's head, and ending up with a finished application or website. But this hardly compares to starting out with a pile of wood and ending up with a new set of cabinets or a deck or a whole house. Those are the kinds of results that my father gets to see.

Me, I'm just some programmer geek. If you were to come back in 50 years, the things my dad builds will still be here (valuable antiques, no doubt). In the same 50 years, people will be too busy communicating telepathically and dodging laser beams from the Star Wars program to bother with databases and the other stupid shit I do. This is because mine is a field with an innate obsolescence. Sure, I change with the times and learn the new languages, but because of the ever changing nature of information management, the old simply becomes the old. There's no such thing as a classic in my business.

More succinctly: you'll find people who will pay thousands of dollars for a chair some average guy made in the 1600s. You'll never find ANYBODY who would pay ANYTHING for a database written in dBase in 1983.

OK. That took only 6 minutes, not the full 10. Good for me.

Ideas that have been forming in my brain for some time:

Skinny Puppy - Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse
(ambient percussiveness?)

Hardfloor - TB Resuscitation
(ride the acid line to funk)

Dimmu Borgir - Enthrone Darkness Triumphant
(growl roar and roll)

Bassomatic - Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Bass
(William Orbit does the dance thing... really really well)

Enduser - Apocalypse Music MP3 Compilation
(lovely bits of breaks from here and there)

Come get some

Linin' dem pockets

In yet another halting speech (the man talks like a record with a scratch on it), Dumbya pledged the full support of the federal government to the citizens of New Orleans in the rebuilding efforts after Katrina. Now that he's finally there and has taken a look around, it's good to know that El Presidente holds a warm place in his heart for the people of the Cresent City. It's also heartwarming to see that he and his fellow cronies haven't forgotten their friends either.

Yep, seems the good folks at Halliburton Co. and Shaw Group Inc. have already snarfed up a bunch of the rebuilding contracts. Coincidence? Of course it is. Never let it be said that any company with close ties to government (i.e. they gave a lot of money) has been shown preferential treatment.

That would dishonest.

I'm sorry to hear that Halliburton is not making enough profit off the various wars we're conducting around the world. It's good to know they'll be able to pick up the slack with the killing they'll make in the Gulf Coast states.

Way to go, guys. And God bless America.



Dick Cheney rocks out to:

DJ? Acucrack - Killing Mobius
(hang onto your seats as the bass plummets)

Enduser - Comparing Paths
(battered jungle and breakcore madness)

Cranes - Loved
(strangely beautiful desperation)

Keane - Hopes And Fears
(floating, graceful and affecting)

Edge of your seat

The Yanks are in 2nd place for both the AL East and AL Wildcard. There are only nineteen games to go. It's gonna be close. Cleveland is a game ahead of us for the wildcard, but we don't play them again this year. However, our last three games are against Boston. In Boston (oh, jeez). This is shaping up to be a nailbiting finish.

Unless the Yankees completely fuck up over the next few weeks...

Helping to calm my noives:

The Jesus And Mary Chain - 7 Years On The Leading Edge: 10 Smash Hits
(the Brothers Reid build the wall of sound)

Sub Dub - Dancehall Malfunction
(deep space dub transmission, mon)

Halo - Buried In Light
(giving Godflesh a run for their money)

Enduser - Comparing Paths
(rasta ragga ragged ripping riddims)

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland
(because I am a voodoo chile)

Party all the time

I had the priviledge of spinning Bianca's birthday party on Saturday. What a shindig! Much good music and not just from me! Derek spent some time behind the decks, as did the birthday girl her bad self. We covered quite an amazing realm of tunes, from gothic/industrial (always wondered why those two are always paired together) to drum and bass and breakcore to electroclash and hiphop to dub and downtempo (not to mention techno, house, and a bunch of other stuff). Much fun. I got home about 5am on Sunday, completely wiped.

I've been burning the candle at both ends a lot lately. While I'm having a great time, I'm starting to feel like my body is falling apart. My legs are still recovering from Enduser, my mind is still recovering from Merzbow, and there's no end in sight. While this week appears to be fairly mellow, The White Stripes, T.Raumschiere, Dead Can Dance and a bunch of smaller shows loom on the horizon.

It's good to be me. Just tiring.

Keeping me awake and functioning:

Various - Wrecking Ball 9/4/2005
(Edgey and Enduser rip the top of your head off and look inside)

Marilyn Manson - Smells Like Children
(spooky spooky spooky)

Marilyn Manson - Mechanical Animals
(Brian taps the Bowie vein in a big way)

Soundmurder - MP3 Compilation
(drop dem when de bad sound come)

Souns - Lights
(deep, mellow ambiences)

Let them stay

The idea of forcibly evicting people from their homes in New Orleans is simply ridiculous. If these people want to stay, let them stay. Certainly the conditions in most of the city are atrocious, but if the residents want to stay, no one should make them leave. The fact that they've survived at all is testimony to their ability to weather some pretty awful stuff.

Somebody should simply draft a form that will absolve officials of responsibility should anything untoward happen. That way, if any of these folks run into trouble, they can't shake their fist at the government and say, "You didn't help me." Other than that, leave well enough alone. I think what one of these guys said sums it up perfectly: "Treat me with benign neglect." If that's what they want, let them have it.

This ain't no zydeco:

Various - Cyberdrome Alien City Part 1
(hardcore will never die; gabber in the house)

Body Count - Born Dead
(seems Ice was serious about this after all; still really funny, tho)

Tom Waits - Franks Wild Years
(it is more than rain)

Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones
(never could stand that dog)

Merzbow

No cute title for this blog entry. No nifty play on words or reference to some obscure ditty that only I and ten other people in the world know about. To do so would minimize the impact of what I witnessed last night.

I went to my first concert at the age of thirteen. I've seen hundreds of shows in the ensuing years. Rock shows, gothic shows, industrial shows. Jazz, glitch, metal, gospel, techno, swing, drum and bass, breakcore, latin, funk, and hiphop. Hundreds of different genres by hundreds of different bands. But nothing in this world could have prepared me for Merzbow.

Nothing.

His is the sound of glaciers breaking apart at a thousand miles an hour; a million hurricanes of shattered glass; the solar wind shrieking through the blackest depths of space; continent-engulfing sandstorms; waves of radiation that melt everything in their path.

Four other bands played before Masami Akita of Merzbow took the stage. I do remember what these bands did. Some of it I liked; some of it I didn't. But in the end, it just didn't matter. Because listening to Merzbow live is like cleansing your sonic palette with acid. It simply erases everything.

Everything.

The first thing that will strike you is the utter physicality of this sound. It vibrates your skin. It rattles in your bones and churns the very jelly in your eyeballs. It rumbles in your guts. I refer to Merzbow's "music" as simply sound because I’m hesitant to call it "music" in the classic sense. He is a noise artist; or, more accurately, THE noise artist. His mastery of generating and manipulating ear shredding static and punishing bass rumbles is simply unmatched. There are no melodies. There is almost no percussion and what little there is is comprised of jagged shreds of noise crushed into rhythmic patterns. And these don't last long, quickly becoming obliterated by the surrounding miasma of epic sonics.

Endless black waves of roiling noise, hitting you again and again; abrupt sonic changes that leave you literally breathless and dizzy, as if the floor had simply dropped out from under you. Listening to Merzbow's recordings is difficult enough (yet extremely rewarding), but hearing him live becomes simply a test of endurance. How much of this power can you absorb before you simply burst apart? Yet the resulting emotional reward is magnified in kind. There were more than a few points in the concert when I wished it would stop, the discomfort caused by this sonic assault becoming almost too much. But I had to keep listening. I had to keep listening because I knew in my heart that when the denouement finally arrived, when the punishment finally abated, it would be glorious.

I've no idea how long Akita played. It could have been hours, it could have been days, so deep is the trance his brand of noise can engender. You lose all track of time. All I do know is that when he finally cut off all sound, I was transported. A weight was lifted, a journey completed.

Many folks are going to read this and think I'm completely out of my mind for subjecting myself to this type of thing. But here's the rub. It's a completely different experience from anything you will ever encounter sonically. This sounds like nothing else. Sure, there are a myriad of musical genres to pick from, but they all share many common elements. This sound is completely alien and therefore takes you places no other type of sound does. These are primal places; deep, but not necessarily dark, places.

There is no hate in this music. There's also no love. Yet to call it sterile would be a gross injustice, for nothing could be further from the truth. This is music that PUSHES. Where it will push you to depends on who you are, I suspect. But one thing that I do know is that even if YOU don't who you are, Masami Akita's noise does. And it will take you places where you'll find out, like it or not.

Undoubtedly the most intense sonic experience of my life. Brutal, uncompromising, and utterly transcendent.

Aiding in my recovery:

Abstract Audio Systems - SomeNothing
(peaceful and floating; pull you back from any edge)

Building Castles Out Of Matchsticks - Please, Try Not To Forget Me
(finely crafted melancholy)

The Mystifying Oracle - Quintessence
(dusky, dusty, basking in the sun music)

Dertli Dolap - Sufi Music: Kaside & Ilahi
(a prime example of the form, brought back to me from Turkey by my sista)

Blatant self-promotion PS

Well, after some nice remastering by Wink of Sound-O-Mat and some new artwork and liner notes, "The Ivory EP" by Abstract Audio Systems (also known as me) is now available on CDBaby. You can listen to snippets of the tracks and pick up a copy of the CD if they strike your fancy.

Sonic abuse rituals

I continue to be amazed by the incredible music I've had the good fortune to take in during the last couple of months. Last Sunday was certainly no exception. Bianca, her friend Ariann and I jetted to the Lucky Cat (former home of the now extinct Dogs Blood Rising... sniff...) to catch a drum and bass/breakcore show of epic proportions. The night was hosted by Society Cleaners as part of their regular bi-weekly Wrecking Ball event. In this case, they were celebrating the arrival of breakcore god Enduser, who has just relocated to New York from Cincinnati.



Things got off to a great start with Migraine spinning some incredibly sick tracks. The great thing about this fellow is that he incorporates speed metal and other craziness into his mix of breakcore and drum and bass visciousness. He threw down some Slayer and Pantera and I think I heard a couple of snippets from Prong and Morbid Angel. A wild, wild mix.

Unfortunately, things got slightly derailed after Migraine's set. The first live act of the evening was Speak Onion and he was... not good. The first tune he did was OK, involving a lot of tweaked beats and squelchy bass lines. Interesting, but not outstanding. However, at the start of his second song, he reached for a mic. I was immediately apprehensive. Bianca obviously had similar thoughts, as we turned to look at each other at exactly the same moment; further proof that we share the same musical brain...

It was just terrible.

I don't know why, but nasal screaming and yelping are great when done over lightning fast guitars and a double kick drum (man, do I love death metal). When done over electronic noodlings, it sounds like crap. So went Speak Onion.

We fled.

Luckily, Ariann's brother was throwing a party just down the street at a really beautiful bar which I will frequent again, God willing. We retreated there and were treated to some really nice reggae and dub tunes by a great DJ (whose name I failed to get). After about half an hour, we judged it safe to return to the Cat. Indeed, when we got back, the evil of Speak Onion had passed and all was right with the world, for The Lab now held sway on stage.

This guy was great. Using a Prophecy, an old MiniMoog and some other keyboard I couldn't identify, he created an incredible sonic stew of sweeping bass lines and twisted breaks. Very, very good. Additionally, he had some amazing visuals spitting out of a bank of monitors he'd set up in front of his audio gear. This mix got my feet moving pretty quickly and I was soon lost in dance land.

Once The Lab had done his thing, Edgey took the stage. This was the first act of the evening that I was already familiar with, being a big fans of his since his days on MP3.com. In retrospect, I suppose I should have brought some of his old discs with me for him to sign or somesuch. Then again, never been much of the fan boi type, so no big deal. Anyway, Edgey just shredded the place with his signature dark beats and thunderous bass. At one point, he created a wall of noise the likes of which I'd not heard in ages (but will no doubt hear tonight at the Merzbow show). No discernable beats or melody, just a mass of ear ripping static and noise. It was a beautiful thing. Most people would hate it, but fuck dem, mon. This was the type of noise that you can completely lose yourself it. Primal, but intricate, containing elements you really needed to listen for to catch. Very cool shit.

Edgey's spectacular performance definitely got the crowd jacked for Enduser. And man, did he deliver. The Man From The Queen City (and now NYC) really brought it, slamming us with cavernous bass riffs, rocket propelled beats and ragga samples. The normally sedate crowd went nuts, bopping up and down like maniacs. This was pretty amazing, given that most breakcore scenesters don't dance (something I just cannot understand). Then again, the reason for this may be because when they do, they do it badly...

Anyway, all insults aside, Enduser really did give us the goods. He played a bunch of tracks I'd never even heard as well as all my personal faves. Unfortunately, the Cat isn't very big, so there was not a lot of room to move. We made due, however. I think Enduser continues to be the premier breakcore artist in the States. Simply amazing. A fantastic mix of speeds and textures. Mind blowing.

In all, this was one of my favorite shows of the year. I'll be completely switching gears tonight with Merzbow (bring on the brain melting noise, baby), but hell...

That's how we roll.

Part of this complete breakfast:

Depeche Mode - Violator
(nine tracks of pop perfection)

Meat Beat Manifesto - Edge Of No Control
(Orbital and Consolidated take a swipe at Jack and Jack smacks back)

Various - Spintrax 9
(another DJ Abstract compilation of the best and brightest)

Headcase - Crosseyedrabbit
(Dean Garcia from Curve shows us the beats and the bass)

Austere - Curio
(mystical, magical, marvelous)

Further signs of the apocalypse

Hot on the heels of Katrina comes another disaster for this country: the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Now President Bush will have the ability to nominate not one, but two Supreme Court justices. Additionally, he can elevate a current associate justice to Chief Justice; Scalia, no doubt (he has seniority and Thomas has always been a lapdog anyway). There has been talk that Dumbya might ask Justice O'Connor to stay on as Chief Justice, but who are we kidding? You know that GW is just gleefully rubbing his hands together at the thought of stacking the court with right wingers. Never since it's inception has Rowe vs. Wade been in such a precarious position. Likewise our civil rights. It chills my blood to think of the possible changes in the country over the next couple of years. Batten down the hatches, everybody, and get prepped to go back to the 50s.

In other news, it seems that my plans for dating have been derailed. Disappointing, but manageable. I've been single for so long now that it's not a huge priority. After all, I'm really happy with my life. My music stuff continues to go well, I'm enjoying my job, and I'm busy as hell socially. I feel like I'm in a position where I can truly say, "Yes, having someone in my life would be great, but it's not a necessity." I'm not looking for anybody to complete me, as I feel complete. Everything I want, I pretty much have. The things I wish I had but don't are either not of any real importance or are suitably long term goals that are in the works (more musical success, perhaps owning my home, etc). In all, life is cool.

At least until George Bush brings about the end of the world.

Thumping from Planet Ben FM:

Enduser - Enduser On Breezeblock
(lovely MP3 of Da Man on a British radio show; seeing him tonight! aw yeah!)

Charles Mingus - Mingus Dynasty
(the madman genius on the bass)

Rammstein - Sehnsucht
(I don't Hast these guys in the least)

Ministry - Twitch
(Al - eurofaggy pop + Adrian Sherwood = their first good album)

Public Enemy - Yo! Bum Rush The Show
(you gotta fight for what you know)

Back from the dead

After several days of being miserably sick, I have returned to the land of the living. I had started feeling yucky Sunday night, but wrote it off as allergies. However, by the end of work on Monday, I was pretty miserable. I made it through a half day on Tuesday before I threw in the towel. But thanks to the miracle of TheraFlu, I was fully recovered by yesterday afternoon.

And not a moment to soon.

As I mentioned before, I had the good fortune of striking up a conversation with a woman named Thea at the last Contempt. Well, we finally got together last night and took in some really great Brazilian jazz at Zinc Bar. The act for the evening featured vocalist Patrick De Santos, who was just stellar. The man has a three octave range, soaring from beautifully smoky lower tenor notes to a delicate yet powerful falsetto; truly an amazing singer. He was so solid and comfortable in his upper range that there were times that I would have sworn I was listening to a woman (and this is by no means an insult). While the vocals themselves were all in Portuguese (at least Thea seemed to this so), there were also times where he broke into a kind of scat, wordless vocalizations that fluttered around the top of his considerable range.

Meanwhile, Thea and I had a wonderful conversation covering everything from home studio gear, books, the music we love, and all manner of other subjects. We finally left the bar a little after midnight.

What a great evening. I plan to make Zinc Bar a regular haunt, methinks. In the meantime, I'm out with Marti this evening, then a wedding tomorrow. I'll be taking in the Enduser show on Sunday night (should be AMAZING) and then Merzbow on Tuesday next. Hopefully this all won't make me sick again...

A solid dose of audio antibiotics from:

Plumbline - Pin-Points
(clicking and tumbling glitch constructions)

Plumbline - Circles
(perhaps more delicate than Pin-Points, making it all the more lovely)

Freq. Magnet - Principium Somniferum
(the latest side project from Austere; minimal guitar ambient confections)

Various - In Order To Dance 5
(3 discs of hardedge techno from the ever dependable R&S label, circa 1994)