11/27/06::: A review of "Beats & Drones"
Pascal Thiel of DisAgreement.net was kind enough to review Beats & Drones. His review is a good description of the release, and made me very happy! If you are interested in getting a copy, please see the item below.
10/26/06::: Two of my drones released on "Beats & Drones!!!"
I am happy to announce the release of "Beats and Drones," a compilation released by Jarrod Fowler, under his "Distribution as Rhythm" aegis, that includes two drones of mine and some beats (with drones!) by Durlin Lurt and Oscar P. McLure! Density is the first word I think of when listening to this release. It also has awesome art by Liv Rodriguez, who did the art for my SPUT release! Layers upon layers of sounds make for music you can sink in to and in which you may discover more going on than you initially noticed. This is a limited edition, like all the "Distribution as Rhythm" releases, and costs $6. You can get them from me or Jarrod. Email me at scutopus at gmail dot com for one!
P.S. The cool little favicon of my head was done by mi amigo Thomas! Thanks, man.
08/22/06::: It has been too long!
Oh, dear--it has been almost four months since my last update! My apologies. I took a brief hiatus from making music--to recharge the creative
battery as it were--and have since been working on a variety of things, some of which you will hear about shortly.
I have finally capitalized the text on the site, barring "scutopus," which is as it should be even when it begins sentences.
04/25/06::: Tomorrow is Foghorn Day!!!
Tomorrow, the 26th of April, is the two-year anniversary of my first field recording of a foghorn. It was this recording that compelled me to make more field recordings, and I have since made a few more forghorn recordings. Please take a listen to the fifteen minute, fifteen megabyte MP3 of the recording I made at the bluff of Nobska lighthouse on April 26th, 2004. The wind was mostly still that night, so a foghorn from Martha's Vineyard is audible, as is a bell buoy and the surf breaking on the rip-rap. Thanks and appreciation to Nick Locasio for lending me his microphone which I used on this recording.
I have yet to create a field recording page due to the size of the MP3s and the size of the navigation bar to the right, so please contact me at scutopus at gmail dot com if you would like this and other recordings on a CD-R. A list and descriptions of each recording will be included on the coming field recordings page.
04/21/06::: A second remix of Jarrod Fowler
Visit the remixes page for a remix of a track from Jarrod Fowler's recent release "On Pulse, Repetition, Percussion and Layers."
04/14/06::: More older tracks
The older works section of the music page has four more tracks for your listening pleasure.
04/03/06::: A remix, older tracks
I have uploaded a remix of WIPthrash's Betong EP to the remixes page, and three tracks from 2000 or so to the older works section of the music page.
03/24/06::: scutopus.com has RSS
I am pleased to announce that scutopus.com will now have an RSS feed for those who dig that sort of thing. In thinking about how to notify readers of updates at my site, I had to choose between an email list and RSS. RSS won. The RSS feed will contain most, if not all, of the text found in the news items on scutopus.com itself.
The .xml file's link--the link you copy into your RSS aggregator--is the one linked from the orange "xml" button at the left of this website, below the navigation links. The "html" button is a web-readable version of the xml RSS feed.
I'm using Feedreader for my RSS aggregator cos it's simple and straightforward, and Listgarden to create my RSS feeds.
Enjoy!
02/12/06::: Two new remixes
At the bottom of the comparatively large Time of Orchids section of the remixes page lie two freshly uploaded remixes based on material from their excellent recent album Sarcast While. I was thinking of saving them for a possibile release in the future, but I want people to hear them so here they are! The Sarcast While remix takes elements from across the album and has been lying around for a while (see above, re: possible release), while the Swarm of Hope remix grew from elements solely from that song and is very recent. The Sarcast While remix and the Infidel?/Castro! remix share similar compositional/sound-design methods, and work well side-by-side. Try it! The swarm of hope remix is one of the prettiest things I've done so far. These two remixes, along with the Pattern is Movement and Infidel?/Castro! remixes, show the best of my drone-based work.
Also, I am beginning work on a cover song--my first as a solo musician. It will be new for me because there will be lyrics and I will be using my voice. Of course, I will have some help on the vocals from a certain someone... those involved with the original song have given their O.K.--thanks, y'all! Specifics will arise when the cover song does.
02/05/06::: Oceans news
This has nothing to do with my music per se, but it does have to do with my pseudonym being an deep-sea, bottom-feeding, shell-less mollusc: "U.S. gets a D+ on ocean policy reform." By studying bottom feeders like Aplacophorans (Scutopus is among these)--among many other techniques to study the oceans--scientists can better understand how our oceans are changing; to better understand an ecosystem's changes, look to the animals/life at the bottom of the chain.
01/27/06::: New page devoted to remixes
I have separated the remix work I have done from the Music page and have created a Remixes page. This separation was necessary for webpage space purposes, as the previous music page was getting rather full and unwieldy. One key difference between my remixes and my original music is that the source material for the former is based on others' work, while the source material for the latter is mostly created from scratch. But a strong commonality between my remixing and creation of original pieces is the manner in which I employ compositional techniques: a tool I used in a remix might be useful in an original piece of mine, and vice versa. Because of this, I feel my remixes could be considered re-compositions, or de-compositions to keep with the narrative of scutopus, the detritus-feeding deep-sea mollusc!
Please enjoy the easier navigation of the new remix page, and please consider the remixes an integral part of scutopus' musical output.
01/22/06::: New remix, new links
I finished a remix of Pattern is Movement's song "People and Touch," which can be found on the remixes page. It is vaporous.
I've also added two bands I was in to the links page: Delusions of Grandeur (high school, four-track, two-person band), and We Are the Musk Brigade (nonexistent, four-track-trading band).
12/23/05::: Two new remixes, Paypal set up
On the remixes page you can now find a remix of Jarrod Fowler and a remix of Deerhoof.
Also, Paypal purchasing has been set up for both "Scutopus Pegasus Unicorn Tiger", and "Feeding".
11/28/05::: Uploaded a remix and live track
The remixes page now contains one (1) remix of the excellent band Infidel?/Castro! and one (1) live beat I did at the Bowery Poetry Club on the fifth (5th) of this month. For more on this gig, see the two (2) news items below.
11/15/05::: Recounting of BPC gig, et. al.
My time in NYC during the extended weekend surrounding november 5th was a blast! I will be posting edited versions of the 3 beats I played in between bands' sets soon. The 3 field recordings I played and manipulated will have to wait. Many thanks to everyone who came out to the show, to Stefan Zenuik for organizing the evening, to Trio Convulsante, Friendly Bears, Doctor Nerve, PAK, Zs, and Snuggle/Stencil for rocking severely, and the Bowery Poetry Club and its staff for hosting such an enjoyable evening of music!
P.S. Seeing Whitehouse live on the 3rd was one of the most amazing musical experiences of my life. It was inspiring, rejuvenating, even cleansing. No joke. It was such a peculiar ("distinct from all others") celebration. The best noise I've heard, too. I now urge you to "wriggle like a fucking eel."
P.P.S. Seeing Craig Wedren on the 4th was such a treat. Wickedly good pop-rock with sing-along-tastic tunes. Plus, he's a really sweet fellow who uses his gobs of charisma for good.
10/23/05::: Upcoming live "gig"
I am pleased to announce that I will be playing music in an interesting manner on the 5th of November at the Bowery Poetry Club in New York City. I will be providing the music in between the bands' sets on that fine evening. What makes this interesting is that I will be providing a semblance of respite to the patrons' ears from all the avant-rock going on. My friends Friendly Bears will be playing that evening, as well as the excellent bands Zs, PAK, Trevor Dunn's Trio Convulsante, Doctor Nerve, and Snuggle/Stencil. It is $10 to attend. Thanks to Stefan for asking me to participate!
10/8/05::: SPUT review
The first review of SPUT is linked in the SPUT info section on the music page. He liked it! YEEEEE! (like stimpy's excited squeal)
09/02/05::: New techno album
I am pleased to announce that Scutopus Pegasus Unicorn Tiger, my second techno cd, is complete! Get yrself to the music page to hear bits of it, read about it, and get your hands on one!
update 09/20/05::: When clicking the above link to SPUT, you may have to refresh the page to be placed in the right spot. I am working to find a way to counteract this.
08/24/05::: Uploaded remixes, t-shirt link
I put two remixes of Genghis Tron's song "Arms" up on the
remixes page. They are rather fun, but are a different sort of fun than that of Genghis Tron, whose musical fun is neverending.
Many thanks to the Genghis Tron guys for letting me party with their song. Click away
to the remixes and enjoy.
Please go support Genghis Tron because they recently survived a car accident that
totalled their car, trailer, and their music equipment that was in the trailer.
In other news, Nicole Sanches makes the coolest Machinedrum t-shirts. Mine rules. How can you argue with a hand-drawn, hand-silkscreened, Machinedrum tee?
08/14/05::: Website things
I added a yoko ono quote to the front page with all the odd grammar--but more importantly all the meaning--intact. I also made a page of older news items (linked at the bottom of this page), and made the upper-left-hand-corner pic a link to the front page.
08/10/05::: Uploaded live set
To complement the recent upload of the "Feeding" MP3s, I've uploaded a live noise set I did in July 2004 at Northsix basement to the liveset portion of the music page. Thanks to Jae and Ed for advice and consent.
07/18/05::: Uploaded noise album
MP3s of the tracks from my noise album "Feeding" are up in on the music page. Go there and click the "noise" anchor near the top of the page for some off-kilter noise brutality! Please note that the MP3s are encoded at 128kbps, which makes for some interesting aliasing in the high frequencies. Also note that this aliasing is not indicative of the original tracks' sound.
07/02/05::: Uploaded pic, inoperative MP3 links
Uploaded a pic from the Knit show, courtesy of a cool cat named Tristan. Peace to him and his crew.
Also noticed that with the RAP server inoperative, there are more MP3s out of comission than I previously realized. I am going to hold off on uploading them to the scutopus.com server for the time being, because there are a few upcoming projects that will be posted soon and I want space for them. After those are up, then I'll see about getting some of the missing MP3s back up. Thanks for your patience and understanding!
06/30/05::: Knit show afterglow, upcoming works
The Knitting Factory Old Office show was a blast! Thanks to all that came out! I had a lot of fun. I haven't felt that good about a set in a while. Thanks to Chuck from Time of Orchids for getting me the gig, to Orchids, Genghis Tron, and Behold... the Arctopus for having amazing sets, to the folks who came up and talked with me after my set, my friends who came out to hear me, and the Knit for running a tight ship. An MP3 of the set is availible on the music page.
In other news, I have a few things in the works including mastering other folks' works, remixing other folks' works, and finalizing the packaging for my second techno album. And a bit of reorganizing on the music page.
06/17/05
Knitting Factory show update::: apparently the Knit has booked a bunch more bands on the bill for the night of the 26th, which means I will be going on first. Really first. Like, as soon as they open the doors first. So if you wish to have your ears caressed and pummeled by my sound, arrive at 7pm.
05/20/05
scutopus will be playing a live set sunday, June 26th at the Knitting Factory Old Office. The doors open at 7pm and I will be on first. $8 to hear things. Also on the bill are mis amigos Time of Orchids, the tech-metal gods Behold... the Arctopus (no similarity to a scutopus, by the way, although the genus of plant that is Arctopus grows on the forest floor, while the genus Scutopus lives on the ocean floor. but I gleefully digress...), and techno-metal gods (from my collegiate stomping grounds of Poughkeepsie, NY! PO-MO-FO-TOWN!!!) Genghis Tron.
In other news, it looks like the RAP Foundation's site is down at the moment. I'll see if it'll be back up soon or if it'll be down indefinitely, so in the meantime if a link to a song/album you want is inoperative email me at scutopus at gmail dot com and I'll connect you and the music you desire.
04/01/05
R.I.P. Mitch Hedberg. you are still one of my favorite comedians. (Maria Bamford is another, and she's still kickin'...)
"I can't get into flossing, I can't. People who smoke say you don't know how hard it is to stop smoking.
Yes I do. It's as hard as it is to start flossing:: 'You seem jittery.' 'Yeah, I'm about to floss.'
03/25/05
My music falls under the stipulations put forth by the following Creative Commons license (click on the graphic):::
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
03/22/05
Updated links and info page.
03/14/05
Updated the music page with more recent MP3s and gave all pages more comprehendible layout (dem wittle color bars). All this would not be possible without high-speed internet, to which I recently gained access.
03/08/05
Updated links page.
03/02/05
Here is the beginning of scutopus.com. It is maintained by myself, Wendell Edwards, to be the web-presence for the music I make under the scutopus moniker. I hope to keep this page up-to-date with the things I am doing in music, from playing gigs to making more MP3s availible on the music and remixes pages.
Each page is outfitted with some initial content, so take a look around.
Upcoming, ongoing, near and distant future projects::: a remix using material from the forthcoming Time of Orchids album "Sarcast While" (released April 2005 on Tzadik); audio documentation of cape cod landmarks; an album integrating my different interests in music (instead of exploring each to its limits); Shark Bites; a handful of unconfirmed possibilities...
When I get high-speed internet (should be soon) I will upload more recent MP3s than those linked to on the music page.
Until I set up a host-based email account, please drop me a line at scutopus at gmail dot com.
Thanks to Chuck Stern of Time of Orchids for the artistic rendering of an Aplacophora found on the front page and in miniature elsewhere.
Thanks to Tim Byrnes of Friendly Bears for the suggestion of gray text.
I made this site with a text editor, Mozilla's Firefox, and Elizabeth Castro's excellent book on HTML for beginners while staring at 1280x1024 resolution.