Suss Müsik amassed enough decent material from the latest collaborations with artist B.G. Madden to put out a proper release. Co-Process Volume 2 continues the path forged by Co-Process released earlier this year. It’s all glitchy, droney, ambient weirdness. Sound was created from audio scans of Madden’s visual art, which was provided in the form of postcards delivered via US mail. (These quarantine days necessitate drastic creative measures). The scans were then manipulated using all sorts of technical gadgets, from grain synthesizers to DIY electronic devices. The album is available on Bandcamp, and more of Madden’s beautiful artwork can be seen here.
Category: News
Junto Project 0455: Inner Invertebrate [repost]
Someone suggested that Suss Müsik repost our contributions to the weekly Disquiet Junto projects, because they enjoy reading the explanations of the tracks. While you’re reading the original post, make sure you check out the other contributors’ works as well.
Jellyfish have three essential life functions. They eat, have sex, then they die. The rest of the time, they simply float about the water trying to avoid being attacked by predators. It’s not a bad way to live.
The jellyfish mating ritual is typically the outcome of chance encounters experienced while drifting about the ocean currents. Think of it like aquatic low-speed dating in today’s pandemic climate, with potential partners randomly hooking up while trying to stay away from each other.
Suss Müsik considered the art of avoidance in developing this short piece. Two synth engines were modulated to allow their waveforms to “drift” unpredictably, with a small dollop of spring-reverse reverb to create a “bounceback” effect. An alternating pattern for fake dulcimer provides the melodic “current” that brings these two mates together.
Jellyfish die not long after mating, and such is the case with this piece. A few brief piano notes symbolize the fertilization process and portend the coming demise. What once was clear becomes opaque and drops to the ocean floor.
The piece is titled Scyphozoa. The image is a public domain photograph by Lydia Jacobs.
For Those Confined to Shelter in Place
We’re navigating a period of tremendous challenge. Hopefully most of us will emerge on the other side. Of greater concern is the state of our communities and whether we’re strong enough — physically, spiritually, economically — to survive what will likely be degradation of historical proportion.
Suss Müsik can’t mass-produce hospital equipment or develop vaccines. Suss Müsik can’t even tell you that everything is going to be all right, because who knows what’s going to happen.
The only thing Suss Müsik knows how to do is make sounds. A number of listeners report that some of Suss Müsik’s output has a calming effect on them, a sort of vibroacoustic conditioning that elevates concentration, improves mental outlook, and reduces stress.
Suss Müsik won’t even begin to pretend that an hour of ambient noise will successfully halt the decimation of global life. All that can be hoped is that, possibly, this piece can serve as a mentally therapeutic diversion for those who need it.
The piece is called Quiescent and is offered for free to anyone* who wants it. The running time is exactly 55-minutes. Put it on as background while you work, meditate, mourn, heal or rest. Or listen intently and think about a better future that can’t arrive fast enough.
*Subject to Bandcamp limitations on free downloads per month. If the download isn’t available, contact Suss Müsik and a download link will be provided to you.
Egret Zero EP
Things slowed down a bit on the Suss Müsik communications network; however, there was a great deal of activity behind the scenes. For one thing, we launched a new musical project with the very talented Wm. Wolfgang Allen called Egret Zero.
The first EP was released at the end of 2019, with easily another three albums’ worth of material yet to be mined. The EP is available on all the usual channels (YouTube, Spotify, Amazon, Bandcamp) with a possible vinyl release under discussion.
There is every possibility that Mr. Allen will release at least one or two solo albums within short distance as well, and you would be well within your senses to explore his guitar and electronic landscapes when they become available.
NON Released
Suss Müsik has released a new album entitled NON to close out 2018. NON is described as “four electroacoustic pieces based on live improvisations using piano, percussion, Moog synthesizers, electric guitar, primitive electronics, sampled wind instruments, hitting things, obfuscation.” This is as good a description as any. NON is available on Bandcamp and will soon be released on the usual commercial channels.
Next “Singles Project” Release
As part of a continuing effort we’re calling The Singles Project, Suss Müsik is developing an extrapolation of musical motifs centered on the invention of the telescope. The release will consist of two short pieces built around the same sonic framework with different arrangements: one performed solely on piano and violin, the other using more ornamental instrumentation (keeping with the “fake orchestra” concept) and electronics. The basic structures are in place, now on to finalizing the composition and recording/mastering the output. The release will be titled Lippershey.
Misophonia
Suss Müsik is continuing to release “The Singles Project,” a series of thematic two-track recordings each based solely on a given concept or theme. All releases are issued and distributed under the self-formed Lůno banner.
The latest of the series is titled Misophonia, now available on Bandcamp and soon to be available on your favorite music streaming vehicles: Google Play, Amazon Music, YouTube, Apple Music, iTunes, Spotify etc. Suss Müsik further penetrates the world with our post-modern nonsense.
Misophonia consists of two tracks, each around eight to ten minutes in length, based on the compositional idea of cyclical phasing. The pieces consist of percussion (mostly vibraphone and marimba), slide guitar, little rocks dropped on strings, birds, and vocals. If you love the music of Steve Reich (comparable to his album The Four Sections), then it’s possible that you might like this. Full description below:
The door to the Suss Müsik studio leads to a wooden gate, behind which is a garden where birds of all types assemble. Occasionally we walk the path with a small box of birdseed and let the creatures fight it out. At one point, we counted as many as forty birds fluttering about the property.
In totally unrelated news, Suss Müsik has been reading about the pineal gland. This is the part of the vertebrate brain that splits the two haves of the thalamus joint and produces melatonin, the hormone that modulates circadian and seasonal sleep patterns. The pineal gland is also known as “the third eye,” a term of metaphysical significance to those who pursue a higher spiritual consciousness.
There is a theory that the pineal gland is the gateway through which we are able to communicate with non-human lifeforms. Suss Müsik wonders if the birds have a similar means of instinctual, non-verbal communication. Perhaps there are sounds we find repetitive or annoying (repetitive dripping water, chewing gum, the tapping of a pencil, etc.) that enable communication with extraterrestrial species beyond our audiophiliac astral plane. But that’s another topic for another time.
Misophonia I and Misophonia II were originally composed and submitted as part of the Disquiet Junto global collective of weekly music projects.
A Record Label Called Lůno
Suss Müsik is in the process of remastering and reissuing a back catalogue of releases under a new label called Lůno. The whole idea of a “record label” seems wonderfully anachronistic, given the way music is distributed and consumed in today’s world driven by small screens and short attention spans.
In any event, the short-term intention is to establish a consistent and commercially accessible library of Suss Müsik material. We needed some sort of vehicle to accomplish this, so we created Lůno as a way to build a properly viable distribution network.
In the longer term, it’s not impossible that Lůno may encompass additional avenues or collaborations. There is already a YouTube channel of meditative, “sound healing” experiences which will hopefully be expanded.
The first two Lůno releases Zygotes and Hiko are available in all the usual spots: Apple/iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, Spotify, YouTube Music, and probably some other places. The next release will likely appear this coming week. All seven fans of Suss Müsik are undoubtedly teetering on the edges of their seats.
Live Studio Improvisations
Suss Müsik is releasing a series of live improvisations, recorded straight to 8-track in the studio. This effort (working title Non) is in conjunction with an upcoming announcement regarding Suss Müsik’s distribution of material. We’re very excited about these developments.
Anyway, the first release of the series is titled Op-Ed and was performed on treated piano, guitar, electronics, organ and percussion. It got a little crazy after a while, but this excerpt of three and a half minutes was captured nicely.
2018 Refresh
Now that Zygotes has been released, Suss Müsik is exploring new paths in sound creation. We learned quite a bit making music for fake orchestras, and we’re looking to expand that palette into new realms and languages.
In no particular order, here is what has Suss Müsik excited for the time being:
Creating rhythmic signatures involving tuned and found percussion. This comes from a long fascination with non-western musical influences, including the drumming practices of such artists as Babatunde Olatunji.
Use of the Slonimsky-Schillinger symmetric system for creating notation logic using randomized scales. We don’t pretend to understand quite all of it, but it’s an interesting way to work.
Extrapolation of live recordings into sequential patterns. In other words: playing live in a studio for some amount of time and drawing small bits of material from the session. For example, the results of what happens when a digital delay artifact is compressed and randomized with other voices (not unlike the work of Markus Popp, only using instruments rather than software).
Greater accessibility. Suss Müsik was encouraged by the response to our most recent Disquiet Junto submission, which has us thinking that it might be fun to create a series of quirky, danceable dub compositions. Think early 1980’s bands like Maximum Joy or The Pop Group.