Revolution Void

Motion is a film project by Jeff Emtman which I am honored to have had my music used for. It is a short film created by compositing 683 still photos, all taken by Jeff.

Labels: video

User darjan84 posted a video to my track As We May Think (named after the article by Vannevar Bush ostensibly foreshadowing the Internet) that I am really digging and happy to share with you. I don't know who darjan84 is, but I know is that darjan84 did a great job on the video, pairing the track, which is a kind of cerebral piano-hiphop in 5/8, with nature footage. The arpeggios in the track are kinda reminiscient of Philip Glass so perhaps they took some inspiration from Koyanisqaatsi. Thanks, darjan84, whoever you are!

Labels: video

The Indiworks Channel, started by Valentin Spirik, has used a track I did in their preview commercial. The track he chose is an oldschool hiphop-inspired groove titled Back In The Day. It was released as part of the web-only Hiphop White-Label Collection.

You can view the Indiworks Channel commercial here:

indiworks channel

preview for the indiworks channel, 1 min.
watch/download

More of Valentin's work can be found here.

Labels: video

I'm excited to announce the forthcoming release of the Cheshire Records website. I am hard at work getting the site coded (and learning Ruby on Rails in the process) and it should be online by the end of May, 2009. In the meantime, I put together this spiffy (albeit a bit oversized) splash page here: www.cheshiremusic.net


Cheshire Records is a label I founded this Spring of 2009 as a way to release some of the music projects I've been involved in, as well as the music of my friends and colleagues. So far, the artist roster includes almost exclusively projects I'm involved in, but this will change as the label develops.


Upcoming Cheshire Records releases lined up for 2009 include ...

• Multiple new UltraCat singles in the works, including the long-overdue Orbiting the Earth (with remixes + B-sides) and sugar-coated vocoder track Talking To My Mind. Additionally, you can expect to hear some UltraCat remixes of other artists in the near future.


• Another instalment of the DJ mix series Back To Roots done under the UltraCat moniker. This second volume will focus on rarities and underground classics. The first Back To Roots mix (available here) had a lot of mainstream dancefloor classics and anthems. This time around, the focus will be on more of the underground tracks and rarities:  eclectic B-sides, that sort of thing.


• Minimal dubby techno project, as yet to be named. Not much in the way of details for now but I am putting together a release of some chill dubby techno tracks along the lines of Fenin. I have maybe 7 or 8 tracks that I am feeling pretty solid about.


• Downtempo mix series by DJ Grande, aka Alex Grande. Alex is the band DJ for Seattle-based Ska funk band Leisure Sound and has been ripping it up around town with his unique blend of dub, downtempo and minimal techno.


• New Revolution Void material. The new tracks have a pretty raw, Medeski Martin and Wood type vibe to them. I have been getting into recording with vintage ribbon mics, tube preamps and so on. A lot of the material will be run out through tube amps and then recorded back to the computer to give it some grit. This release needs a while to gestate so I'd anticipate a Fall or Winter 2009 release.

As you can see, there are quite a few planned releases in the coming months.  You can subscribe to the Cheshire Records mailing list to keep informed when the site launches, and when new releases are posted online.

Subscribe to Cheshire Records

Email:

Visit this group

Labels: cheshire records

View the album on Jamendo Full album information coming soon.

The instrumental hiphop album All's Fair in Love of Wax has been uploaded to Jamendo and is awaiting moderation. It should be online within 48 hours. I will post links here as soon as it comes online. Update: Here it is! Thanks for listening! -Jonah

Labels: hiphop

I am excited to announce the forthcoming release of my debut instrumental hiphop album by new recording project The Insider.

The album will be much less eclectic than my Revolution Void material, but should still contain enough variety to be interesting. I am hoping it will be different enough to add something new to the genre, while remaining true to my intentions of creating a relatively straightforward instrumental hiphop album.

So far there are 15 tracks which are candidates for the album, but I am going to cull it to around 10. The songs are all essentially finished, and at this point I am just fine tuning various things, as well as mixing and mastering a few tracks. Also, I am trying to add in some unobtrusive samples and little details, flourishes if you will. The album is probably fine to release right now but I like adding little "easter eggs" for astute listeners to notice.

I am reminded of the quote, perhaps by Mingus (not sure, please tell me if you recognize it):

"I know I am finished with a song not when I can't add anything else, but when I can't take anything else away."

In that spirit, although I am adding little details here and there, I am always keeping in mind that less is more, and that for everything added, something else is taken away.

Another challenge in producing an album in this digital age is the tendency to be a perfectionist to the point of losing the humanity from the recording. Since it is easy and free to spend as much time as you like in post production fixing mistakes, it is a common pitfall to keep fixing mistakes until the music loses its vitality, trading visceral experience for sterility.

I am reminded of another quote, whose author I also can't place. (Perhaps a French filmmaker?). The quote is,

"A masterpiece is not perfect, it is full of mistakes. It is the triumph of the mistakes which makes it a masterpiece."

As for the title, All's Fair in Love of Wax is an obvious parody of "All's fair in love and war", a common proverb derived from John Lyly's Euphues (1578). (Incidentally, the original quote which the proverb was derived from is "The rules of fair play do not apply in love and war").

In my case, I have always been infatuated with vinyl and am an avid record collector, but have shied away from sampling in my other recording projects. For The Insider, I decided I would just go for it, copyrights be damned! So the title is a way for me to express a similar sentiment, sort of, "All's fair in love and war and sampling!"

Since the album is basically finished, you can expect it to hit the web anytime as early as next week or as late as the end of April.

Thanks for reading (& listening)!

Labels: hiphop, news

I'm happy to announce a new record label that I am founding, Cheshire Records. It will release music by my recording projects such as Revolution Void and UltraCat, as well as music from other musicians.

For 2009, here are some of the releases to look forward to:

• UltraCat - Talking To My Mind (Single)
  This new UltraCat track is a catchy dance number drenched in vocoded vocals. It is currently in the post production and album art phase. It will be released initially on the web under a Creative Commons license.
  
  
• UltraCat - Orbiting the Earth (Single)
  Listen now on thesixtyone.com
  
  I intend to release a single for this track as well, with a remix and perhaps 1 or 2 B-sides. Not sure if it will be released as vinyl or not but I do plan on releasing an UltraCat vinyl of some sort, perhaps a full album (2xLP) collecting the singles.
  
  
• Revolution Void - Untitled new album 2009
  Already have some tracks in the works, just a matter of time. As always it will be released under a Creative Commons license. If there is demand I may print up a 12" vinyl but I am thinking to release Increase the Dosage as a double vinyl first.
  
  
• Hiphop instrumentals
  I have about 10 downtempo hiphop instrumentals and turntable/sample collage tracks. I am still working on a name for this project. Yuriko suggested Son of Superfly, which kind of has a ring to it, but I am not sure. Suggestions welcome!

  Update: I've decided on the name The Insider. It is a bit ironic since I have always felt like an outsider in the various music genres and scenes I have been a part of (jazz, electronic music, et al.). I also think "insiders" have kind of a bad rap -- independent musicians disdain mainstream Hollywood insiders, for instance, and conspiracy theorists are always writing scathing exposés of government and corporate insiders. So, I'd kind of like to reclaim this term to be something more personal. We are all insiders of our own self-contained universe, our friends, families, the places we go and so on. In the spirit of reclaiming this much-maligned term, I have decided to name my new hiphop project The Insider.

  The music will be along the lines of DJ Premier, DJ Hi-Tek, DJ Cam, you know, chill instrumental hiphop. There are also a few sample collage and turntable based tracks.
  
  
• Minimal tekno and ambient electronic
  I've always had a soft spot for "pure" electronic music. Minimal tekno like Jeff Mills, Derrick May, Juan Atkins, Richie Hawtin, and ambient electronic soundscapes of Klaus Schulze, Jean Michel Jarre and Brian Eno. For many years, I performed live in a purely electronic capacity without the use of samples. There is something uniquely captivating about the kinds of sounds you can evoke with synths, and I have quite a few tracks in this vein that are burning a hole in my hard drive. It's my desire to start a new electronic project and get at least one solid release out there this year.
  
  
• Other projects in the works
  Additionally I have some Medeski Martin & Wood inspired improvisatory jams and a whole lot of miscellaneous tracks in different genres. I am trying to be less controlling and up front in my decision making when composing tracks now in favor of a more easy going approach which lets the song develop on its own accord. This has yielded some unusual (and unusable!) results, but if I get one good track out of every ten "experiments," I'll be happy.

Thanks for reading (and listening).

I'll post some new tracks soon!

-Jonah

Labels: news

• nice delay one shot flanged rhodes.wav
• nice rhodes loop 1.wav
• rhodes abstract hiphop loop 2.wav
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• rhodes chick-ish 1.wav
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• rhodes flanged chords.wav
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• rhodes hiphop descending chords slows down.wav
• rhodes introspective loop.wav
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• rhodes minimal tekno 4.wav
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• rhodes one shot nice chords.wav
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• rhodes oneshot hi smells like teen spirit.wav
• rhodes reverse abstract 1.wav
• rhodes sun ra esque oneshot full chord.wav
• rhodes sun ra esque oneshot long.wav
• rhodes sun ra esque out there 2.wav
• rhodes syncopated 1.wav
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• rhodes yuriko - delay effect reverse.wav

Labels: samples

I just got a Fulltone ChoralFlange effects pedal on eBay. It arrived yesterday and I have been using it non-stop. I can just get so many nice tones and stereo 'sweetening' out of this box. It's absolutely my favorite chorus/flange that I have used, though admittedly I mostly have experience with digital and VST effects.

Hi all,

Thanks for your support through 2008 and here's wishing everyone a great 2009.

I have a few projects in the works ...

• New Revolution Void album
  I am working on material and hope to release a new album online by summer.
  
  
• Increase the Dosage vinyl release
  I intend to release Increase the Dosage as a limited edition 1000-run double LP to be sold exclusively online. It will have the same artwork and tracks though I may remaster it to be optimized for vinyl.
  
  
• New releases from UltraCat
  UltraCat is a collaboration with my partner, Yuriko Miyamoto. We have a bunch of unreleased material in the funky house vein and I hope to put together a number of web and/or vinyl releases for this music. Labels, please contact me if you are interested in releasing new UltraCat tracks.
  
  
• Minimal funky dubby tech house
  I have an as-yet-unnamed tech house project in the works as well. It will be in the vein of artists like Fenin and Swayzak. My friend Alex turned me on to Fenin a couple months ago and I have been listening to the Fenin station on Pandora quite a bit, which has served as an inspiration for a lot of minimal, dubby tekno and tech house tracks.
  
  I don't have any tracks online yet but you can check out a mix I did in a similar vein here:
  
  Tech House DJ Mix - Bringin' In the New Year (1 hour, MP3)
  
  

Best wishes in 2009!

-Jonah Dempcy
Revolution Void

Since it's been a couple of days and The Politics of Desire still hasn't been published on Jamendo (it's currently awaiting moderation), I went ahead and uploaded another track off the album to thesixtyone. Enjoy!

Hi all,

I'd just like to announce that I am releasing a new Revolution Void album, The Politics of Desire, today, June 21 2008. This album was truly a labor of love and has gone through many iterations, both in production/recording and post-production (mixing, mastering), but it's finally ready to go. Of especial significance to me is that today is the summer solstice, so I felt it would be an auspicious time to release the album.

It's currently uploading to Jamendo so check back later in the day and I'll post a link (or check the Jamendo Revolution Void page).

Thanks for listening!

-Jonah

Labels: jamendo

I decided to release the first track off The Politics of Desire before the rest of the album. Kind of a sneak peek at the album, if you will. The track, Time Flux, is a dark and moody breakbeat track with Latin-tinged guitar. Let me know what you think! More at thesixtyone

I'd like to announce the upcoming release of a 4th Revolution Void album, The Politics of Desire, to be released for free in its entirety through the Creative Commons. It will include 10 new tracks spanning downtempo to midtempo jazz breaks.

I was hoping to release the album on 4-4-2008 to coincide with my partner Yuriko's birthday, but the mixing and mastering process took longer than expected. Right now there are 10 tracks, 5 of which are mixed and mastered. I expect the remaining tracks to take a couple weeks to finalize.

A large part of the mixing/mastering process for me is cyclical: each iteration involves doing a mix at my home studio, burning to CD-R and listening to the tracks on as many different soundsystems as possible. I take notes on what sounds good and what doesn't, fix the mistakes and start the process over again.

In any case, the album will be released sometime later this month or in early May. I'll post links here once it's released.

Thanks for reading (and listening)!

-Jonah

Variations by Michelle Anderst

This piece is from the series Drugs & Social Networking which looks at Seattle coffee shops as both social networks and drug dens. Familiar views of local coffee shops are shown, such as Capitol Hill's Cafe Vita.

I especially like this piece, which depicts a vintage organ.

From a press release by La Familia gallery, who is currently hosting a show by Anderst:

Anderst (who moved to Seattle from Medford, Oregon) wanted to pay tribute to the caffeine (drug) phenomenon, which serves as both a meeting/social scene as well as office space to many. "I believe the show is an accurate portrayal of these businesses that play a large part in the cultural life and art scene in this amazing town," says Anderst.

Labels: art

I learned about this while attending audio engineering classes at Shoreline Community College, but whenever I told anyone, they didn't believe me. Finally, thanks to a post on Boing Boing (and the magic of the Internet), I have located scientific evidence to back it up!

Figure 1 shows the pattern that produces this illusion. Two tones which are spaced an octave apart are alternated repeatedly. The identical sequence is played to both ears simultaneously, except that when the right ear receives the high tone the left ear receives the low tone, and vice versa.

Despite its simplicity, this pattern is almost never heard correctly, and instead produces a number of illusions. Many people hear a single tone which switches from ear to ear, while its pitch simultaneously shifts back and forth between high and low. So it seems as though one ear is receiving the pattern 'high tone - silence - high tone - silence' while at the same time the other ear is receiving the pattern 'silence - low tone - silence - low tone'. Even more strangely, when the earphone positions are reversed many people hear the same thing: The tone that had appeared in the right ear still appears in the right ear, and the tone that had appeared in the left ear still appears in the left ear.

The octave illusion has another surprising property - righthanders and lefthanders tend to hear this pattern in different ways. Righthanders tend to hear the high tone on the right and the low tone on the left, regardless of how the earphones are positioned. Yet lefthanders vary considerably in terms of where the high and low tones appear to be coming from. Moreover, the tendency to hear the high tone on the right and the low tone on the left is stronger among people with only righthanders in their family than among those with a lefthanded parent or sibling.