Texture Studies

Digital circle study 1

Digital circle study 2

Pen and ink texture study 

Scratchboard texture study

Above are a few select images of some digital and traditional texture studies that I have been experimenting with periodically in my free time. The first two (from the top) are digital vector renderings of circles layered and arranged repetitiously in patterns. The last two are densely layered linear pen & ink and scratchboard drawings.

I've been feeling inspired lately by all things linear and geometric but I think these "drawings" better represent an obsession with the idea that I could make something organic and textural, create a sense of depth, or evoke some kind of emotion with elements that are synthetic such as lines and simple shapes.

For those interested in these experiments I recommend checking out the Geometry Daily blog for tasty minimalist drawings that are updated daily.

On a related note, I recently made a Tumblr to showcase cursory postings of my artwork and related content. Check it out here: http://redntoothnclaw.tumblr.com/

Hintergrund - Nemesis Digital Release

Album Cover

I'm happy to say that the new Hintergrund album, 'Nemesis', our second release is finished and is now available for free to stream and download. I'd like to say a few things regarding details about the albums production and completion.

What we were able to accomplish with 'Nemesis' encompasses a much more expansive sonic range than our previous effort, Signal Blister. The sounds range from crushing walls of dense distortion and feedback, to screeching oscillation, to airy and colorful ambience. One of the beautiful things about noise and the likes of experimental music is the process, which many times is a wholly improvised matter that always leaves room for the possibility of failure and spontaneity, an aspect that is unfortunately all too often alien to music. In noise this additional element played a large role in how the album was created. We worked with what we had at the time; a broken guitar, an old broken karaoke microphone, prepared saxophone, circuit bent electronics, and whatever else we could find that we felt was worth recording. Much like the sound of 'Nemesis' the instrumentation directly reflects this brokenness. I think it is safe to say that, for me at least that 'Nemesis' is not only to be heard as a piece of music but to be seen as being representative of an exercise in experimentation, our instruments not simply being used as they were intended to be but rather used as an extension of our collective ideas, improvised and elaborated on in that moment.

From this point on I will be focusing on putting together the artwork for a physical release of the album. You can stream and download 'Nemesis' at the links provided below. Enjoy.

Download Nemesis Here

Also, Brian recently finished his latest solo effort under the name Glasslung entitled 'New Martyrs'. You can download and stream that here: Sleeping Glass.

Links:

Nemesis on Last.fm

Brian Sopher on Soundcloud

Tyler Thompson on Soundcloud

Moosick Records

Hintergrund - Signal Blister Physical Release

Album Cover

Over the summer of 2011 friend and fellow musician Brian Sopher and I released a full length album entitled Signal Blister under the name Hintergrund consisting of improvised compositions created utilizing treated guitar, synth, a cheap broken microphone and plenty of digital processing. The music on the release is comprised of seven somewhat long droning compositions interlaced with traces of melody and rhythm all buried beneath layers of tectonic ever shifting walls of distortion and colorful textures.

Previously, I had written several blog posts including information as well as images and samples from the album. The album artwork is derived from a series of edited photographs of an abandoned factory I shot during the production of the album. One of my favorite aspects of purchasing a piece of music in a physical format, whether it be a CD or vinyl copy has been the artwork that accompanies it, something that gave me a reason to buy it as oppose to simply downloading a digital copy or pirating it. The artwork often times provides a deeper look into the music, sometimes exemplifying a more personal aspect of the music that wouldn't be present otherwise. I feel as though the artwork that accompanies the album does well in visually representing the sounds within the recordings, providing images to stimulate the listener; this idea of layers of paint and concrete having been removed, decayed, weathered, and worn away to reveal an underlying surface, much like the sounds on Signal Blister. The physical copies of the album were finished in October of last year and are handmade, therefore limited to only thirteen unnumbered copies, all of which will be given away to close friends and other desirables. Above is a cropped image of the album artwork and below is the physical release displaying the gatefold style packaging as well as the CD and sleeve. There is a link provided below to a free download of the album in 320 kbps which includes the artwork. Enjoy.

Thanks goes to Kyle Plaskon for photographing the album packaging. You can check out more of his photography here.

Check out the Last.fm page

Brian Sopher on Soundcloud

Tyler Thompson on Soundcloud

Click here to download

On Repeat: Orphan School - Secret Admirer, Burial - Kindred EP, Mustapha Mond - Keeping Secrets, Ben Frost - Discography

Choice Cinema: Wim Wenders 'Wings of Desire',  Jim Jarmusch 'Stranger Than Paradise'

inb4track Logo / Banner

I recently designed a logo / banner for inb4track, a music review blog about independent /mu/sicians that I and a mess of other people write for. I thought it would be nice if the site had a logo of it's own so I created one. Once again going off of the triangulated Andy Gilmore inspired theme, I designed the type around a triangular pattern. 

As for the design, the logo is pretty much self explanatory. The name of the blog plays off of the 'inb4' meme, a popular internet meme used on internet forums that generally refers to a person posting a reply, a thread, or a statement 'before' another user post an obvious and often times critical response. 'Inb4' is followed by a single word (i.e. 'track') or a short phrase that will indefinitely appear in the topic.

The 'b4' was substituted with a set of arrows that doubles as the rewind button on a cassette or CD player. I experimented with multiple color pallets and variations in placement of color beside color with the end result ultimately coming down to the combination you see above. All of the colors are slightly dulled to what I feel is colorful and fun without being gender biased or appealing on a male or female basis. In other words I feel like this is a logo that works in the context of what the blog is about.

Check out the page and let me know what you think of the design: inb4track.wordpress.com

Some recent reviews I wrote: Vasko Enough Enough, Mont Saint Michel, Studying / Carved Our Names In Snow split

On Repeat: Mont Saint Michel - Sediment, Dementia & Hope Trails - Parts of the Sea I & II, Caust - Page Turner, Studying / Carved Our Names In Snow split