Category: Controlled Dissonance

Bedroom Dancing

It’s been a strange, Cabernet Sauvignon-influenced weekend. The audio for the new Controlled Dissonance album is mastered and ready. I have one last graphic to invoke to complete the packaging artwork (though I’m going to be a few days until I have the disposable cash to invest in a few new paper products to see everything to fruition), and then the prototype will be finished. What may turn out to be the most notable feature of this release is not the release itself, but the potential sticker graffiti ideas spawned of it. I’m already perusing the Sticker Guy website and calculating how I can divert funds from my general survival to facilitate one such venture. Oh, the mistakes I’m going to make tonight…

The last few days have had me dreaming, tasting and smelling cigarettes. Fuck, the life of an addict denying their vice is fraught with temptation. I’m currently engaged in a fine act of balance. On one side are the health benefits of being smoke and nicotine free. On the other side are the emotional benefits of being weak and easily assuaged by chemical addictions. My brain says “John, in the long run, you will appreciate the benefits of a smoke-free lifestyle.” While my body says “Oh, for fuck’s sake. It’s not like you’re going to live forever. Just have a smoke and a smile, and tell your brain to shut the fuck up.”

Bastards. If only I could divest myself of them both. *sigh*

Until then, etc. etc.

Flurry of fury!

An unprecedented flurry of frenetic activity this week (especially tonight) has resulted in the rough mixes of all the constituent tracks of a new Controlled Dissonance album. My goal is for another limited-run of handmade CDs (the design is well underway, and easily the most ambitious CD package design I’ve ever conceived), along with a digital single. Traditionally I’ve done these singles in the form of a video, but I might do this one as a remix release.

Anyone still reading this thing interested in remixing a Controlled Dissonance track?

Nipple Stools – Decision Points

Whew. Busy night. This hot off the press from the Bicephalic Records mailing list:

BC002 – Nipple Stools “Decision Points”
Nipple Stools is Carl Kruger and August Traeger. These two have been involved with various solo work, collaborations and side projects for a number of years. The music of Nipple Stools tends towards the ambient/glitch end of the noise spectrum with Decision Points falling well into the glitch side. These 14 tracks sputter and crackle their way through some beautifully rich sonic territory. These are abstract and dense compositions that reward deep listening.
More info & audio: http://www.bicephalic.net/bc002.html

This is the first in a series of 3-inch CD releases

Upcoming releases:
BC003 – Controlled Dissonance : Terrains Vagues (Washington State “harsh drone / soft noise”)
BC004 – Khristian Weeks (North Carolina electro-acoustic soundscape artist)

A. Traeger
Bicephalic Records
http://www.bicephalic.net

Seriously

I still can’t get that fucking Steve Perry song out of my head. It’s. Driving. Me. Bananas.

Just got in from a lovely dinner at a local Vietnamese place. My friend ordered pink snapper, only to discover, much to her surprise, that it is fried and served in toto. The waitress graciously de-boned it for her while we watched on in plebeian awe. I made my friend kiss the fish’s head before she could eat it. I giggled. The fish won that battle, but most decidedly lost the war. Note to self: No matter how reasonable an idea it may seem first thing in the morning, under no circumstances are you to walk again to work without a jacket until it is unarguably summer time.

As was alluded last week, my current streak of TCB* has rekindled a desire to create some noise. I’m starting work tonight on a new collection of tracks that shall ultimately be released under the title Mitten Foot and the Noise Scout. Full credit will be given at the appropriate time.

If you’ve been living under a rock, you might not get THIS. But if you aren’t, then you should. And it is pretty damned entertaining.

Until then, etc. etc.