Revolution Void

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