Further On, on the web

You can read about/hear the new Warning Light CD Further On at this website.

It won't be out until the beginning of 2010, but this is still super exciting for me.

Fallow work

Today I recorded and mixed two new songs that I had been mulling over for a while for the Fallow album: a short piece with pads and synths called "Sensing Backwards" and a longer drone synth number I'm calling "Pools of Time" for now. I managed to get the edits done on "Awaiting the Gates" and fix up a basic tracklisting. The album is still short a song, but is nearly 50 minutes as is (people want that?).

Hopefully, this next one won't take as long as Further On to come out.

Ensemble

Coming up, I'll be working with a couple of people in a spirit of collaboration and sound manipulation under a broader concept of the name the Warning Light Ensemble. I've talked to my friends Allen and Chris, and a few other surprise guests.

So look out for all that...

Oh, and we have a show January 21st at the Drunken Unicorn.

Great Records #2

#2. Eliane Radigue "Geelriandre & Arthesis" 1972-1973 French LP. Two pieces, each just shy of thirty minutes, and it's some of the most brilliant work in the minimalism field.

What this record has in spades is subtlety. It blows my mind. The synthesizer is used as a generator of tone, with slight shifts and alterations in sound to create atmosphere. Not really knowing anything about concepts of minimalism won't hurt a listener here; this is just great music.

Possible live show

The label would like a live demonstration sometime around the release of the record in the coming January. I will likely play a slightly abbreviated version of "Sea Rations" from Further On, an old song called "An Early Winter Approaches," an ambient piece "Ringing Over Mountains, Far From Here" and very possibly a new song. I've been trying to come up with a way to make the performance a bit more memorable, hopefully I will come up with something so people won't just have to stare at me playing synthesizers and twiddling knobs.

--

And on a personal note, several years ago I was lucky enough to be in a band that opened up for Maserati after mr Jerry Fuchs had joined. Not only did we have the great opportunity to begin with, but we got to meet mr Fuchs, and he was a kind gentleman. It was great enough to see him play, but to say hello to a guy who I had listened to in several bands was pretty exciting. He was a huge talent and a genuine nice guy. Goodnight, mr Jerry.

Great records #1

From time to time, I like to write about random records. My hope is that you might track them down and give them a listen.

#1. White Hospital "Holocaust" 1984 Japanese LP. It's not quite what you would think, coming from that scene . This record isn't really in the school of Merzbow or Government Alpha, it's really more avant garde with a tinge of early industrial. It's not "noise" in the newer sense of that genre, just something different. This album is one of the few records I've heard in my lifetime that seemed to really be able to mix beauty and brutality, and to make it work. "Holocaust" really made an impression on me when I first heard it; I even tried for a couple months to start a band called Hospital Whites!

New work

Update on a release date for the Further On CD on Stickfigure Recordings ... they have been talking to me about having it ready to go in January. Yep, January 2010, unless something crazy comes up. And I might play a couple of live demonstrations of certain tracks off the album. I'll keep you updated.

With work on Fallow progressing along, I thought I would post one of the more experimental tracks for your enjoyment. It's a nearly five minute droner that is comprised of found sound and a manipulated synth loop called "Walking Down Your Street":

Download

Micro sound

Sub tones and little things have begun to intrigue me in a very big way. I'm hoping to work them into the next record. I'll be posting a sound collage that is a demo/test run for certain elements of the things I've been working with in the next couple of days. It's alot more chaotic, but it has little textures that I think might be involved.

A vow

Well I vowed not to touch a keyboard for Warning Light related business for a month and I ended up doodling around with tape recorders, making hours of tapes of the city outside my window. Listening to the tapes has recharged my batteries a little- that and listening to Roger Eno. Anyhow, it has me thinking about where this project is going. I want more space in the next recordings. I want huge wide open spaces, like laying in the middle of the field at night, staring up at the stars and not seeing a thing on the horizon, only stars.

So I'm turning back on the keyboards. We'll see what happens.

Oddly

So even though I've been talking about it for over a year, the upcoming CD, now entitled Further On, is finally being mastered for a release on Stickfigure.

Crazy. I don't think I ever would have guessed when I started working on it in late 2007, that it ever would have been such a long road... Three bands came and went, I moved twice, and something in the manner of five other Warning Light releases were recorded in between work on this one record.

Even though the record itself is a kind of fable about the end of human civilization, it also encompasses all the other little things that happened along the way. I dunno if I could have written "Nights on the Vacant Sphere" without visiting NYC for the first time and staying up every night staring at the city below. And some things I had tried to work into other bands I had been in, but none of it had worked until I sat down and made it Warning Light music. Go figure.

With work on Further On completed in late April, I've finally moved on to other music. My hope is to continue in the relatively "pop drone" vein of Further On (hopefully containing a tad more collaboration with other sound artists) with another full length while pursuing new ideas in the "pure atmosphere drone" realm on some new CDrs.

Microphones...

Up in the wilds of North Georgia I recently recorded about an hour of nature sounds to use on my next recording. I've been working on another full length called "Fallow" that will be a more experimental, more atmosphere based.

Mastering for "Further On" is still awaiting more money being saved. Thanks for waiting.

Different Geographies

   2008 was a strange year for Warning Light, though I was able to get a double album of atmospheric drone out in the Spring called "Different Geographies." After the variety and length (78+ min) of 2007's "Eternity Drones" I wasn't sure where I could go next. So I practiced alone for weeks, trying to come up with something new. The album really just takes the extended drone motif from the longer "Eternity Drones" tracks and lets it stretch out to a more relaxed length. It was a bit of an undertaking to juggle over two hours of music into one release, but I think it came out well. "Different Geographies" is definitely a listen that requires patience and is definitely populated with quieter atmospheric drones that alot of the heavy keyboard stuff I do. I'm going to post a few parts for people to download and enjoy.

Track one, "Twilight Across Empty Woodlands" (34:11)

      This is the first track of the first disc. While I think this can be enjoyed on its own, this is the piece that sets the tone for the entire double album. It's comprised of crescendos and valleys of pure drone, made from a synthesizer and effects.

Track five, "Oceans Filled with Miniscule Kingdoms" (13:36)

      This is the second track of the second disc. It's a shorter piece that utilizes a slow building loop of processed synthesizer drone that fades in and out and plays on differing textures.

If people enjoy, I'll post a little more of this record. I'm pretty sure the Stickfigure Distro still has a few copies of this, but I'm all out.

A new year

After much hassle and such, the Warning Light CD on Stickfigure is closing in on being sent away to be mastered. These are exciting times.

There's a new CDr on Tiny Kraken called "Unknown Clearing" that you might be able to get ahold of, you might not. It's limited to 30 copies. I might post the files on this blog after the CDr is out of print.