Something about time...

It's unbelievable to me that I announced the release of 'The Mesmer Eye' a year ago today! New and (I hope!) interesting things will be taking place here at sublevel9 studios this year. Please stay tuned!

New square_wave album: The Mesmer Eye

At last, I’m proud to announce a new square_wave album, 'The Mesmer Eye'. Three years in the making, this album returns to the short-form presentation begun with 'Aerodrome'. This album also marks the first time outside participation has crept in. One track includes sonic elements that resulted from a bad rip of a CD by Phil Western (aka Philth) (Download, platEAU, Beehatch) who was kind enough to sign off on my experiment. And a true highlight for me is the artwork provided by Chris McBeth (Beta-lactam Ring Records) whose gorgeous works grace the covers of many BLRR releases.

While working on this album I found myself thinking about stasis, detachment, and decay – that is, a sense of collective isolation that has receded to the background and become a deep-seated fabric upon which we continue to pile Meaningless upon Meaningless. I was also taken with the story of Henry Cavendish, an 18th century experimental scientist who discovered several laws and principles before anyone else – yet he didn’t publish any of them. The most significant was his discovery of Ohm’s Law before Ohm. He conducted his experiments, made important discoveries and took notes, but remained detached from the scientific community. Perhaps because of my fixation on Cavendish, I frequently found myself juxtaposing mental images of the promise of 18th and 19th century science against a future lost in material gain and the perpetuated despoiling of our world. "I'm really not at liberty to discuss this..."

https://squarewavehq.bandcamp.com/album/the-mesmer-eye

Mach Ångström (excerpt)...

For those who require more than a 30 second preview of a 30+ minute long track:

Mach Ångström (excerpt) by square_wave

New square_wave album: Mach Ångström

Things don't always happen in the order they're supposed to, and that's alright. So the second of two new albums is ready first. I'm excited about this one, as Mach Ångström is my first full-on drone release, and contrasts nicely with the other album-to-be.

This thirty-plus minute piece is comprised of Serge analog modular synthesizer drones coaxed into sumptuous other-worldliness by spectral layers of ensemble generators, cured in spring reverb baths, and aged inappropriately by delays of the bucket-brigade and magnetic tape categories; augmented by dusty, ethereal guitar motifs. Recorded over two late nights in December 2008.

https://squarewavehq.bandcamp.com/album/mach-ngstr-m

bananaSLOTH ate my serge...

bananaSLOTH ate my serge by square_wave

Trust your senses...

After systematically turning everything off in the house, I finally discovered the source of an annoying hum that was most pronounced in the same spot as my favorite chair in front of the stereo/TV. I wasn't sure when it started, but it coincided (in retrospect) with another annoying phenomenon: cancellation of some low end frequency at head-height while seated in that same favorite chair. What rotten luck! I just couldn't believe I hadn't noticed this cancellation before, and until I had eliminated the annoying hum, I hadn't connected the two phenomena.

So what was it? It turns out the external USB hard drive sitting in my basement studio was the cause of the hum. Somehow the frequency of the hum from the spinning platters in the drive was sympathetically transferred upstairs via the surface the drive sat on, up the studio walls, through the living room floor boards and into the air... directly overhead to where my favorite chair sits. This hum's frequency (117 Hz, as I later determined) was loud enough to mix with the audio coming from the living room stereo, and caused destructive cancellation of that frequency -- a frequency well within the low end range that a subwoofer is concerned with, and very noticeable when it disappears. I was really pleased to find I had actually fixed two problems when I had only set out to isolate one. Make that three problems solved: sitting in my studio afterwards, I noticed that the room seemed quieter. I must have been subconsciously ignoring the hum down here. In any case, this was all a good reminder to listen to what your ears are telling you!

Shouldn't have said it...

TWO MONTHS AGO this day, I said I was in the final mix stages of this next album. I should have known better. That's precisely how one curses a project: divulging too much about it. As we speak, Fate's agents are ransacking the place, rewinding my clocks, burning my notes, leaving milk on the counter... Meanwhile, I'm listening to these tracks, teetering on that dangerous precipice of When To Stop Mucking With It. It's close. And I will say no more until it's done...