Stir Up Summer!

Stir Up Your Grey Matter, the pseudo-label/Bandcamp under which I post my and friend's music, posted a song a day to our Facebook page throughout (most of) the summer. Each track is either thematically tied to summer activities or was recorded during on a summer day sometime within the last 20 years. 

Check out the full collection of tracks below!

1. "Solstice (2012): sing.eg.grat" by Thirsting Quench
from Memphis Transitions & Variations

2. "Burn Hazard"
by Thirsting Quench and the Captains of Industry
from Moving Gates

3. "Johnny, Row That Boat Ashore"
by Dr. Kamikaze and the $35 Sound
from Do Business in Outer-Space

4. "Sky Blue" by Farewell Scalar
from Archives Vol. 1

5. "Suedesugarwatermelon"
by Thirsting Quench
from The Simian Script

6. "Brazil"
by Electric Bolts
from Electric Bolts

7. "Dear Steve pt. 1"
by Casey Bye
from Who Writes the Songs? Why, I Write Them!: Commissioned & Produced Work

"The Spikes Go Down"
by Dr. Kamikaze and the $35 Sound
from It'll Work, and Nothing Will Happen: The Lost Tapes

"Today I Bought a Dog Names Lilo"
by Thirsting Quench
from An American Cup of Wine: The Lost Tapes

"I Go Swimming" by Peter Gabriel
performed by The Literacy Program
from Tarps & Blankets: 15 Years of Stir Up

"The Analytical Engine"
by Today's Lovelace
from 072206 (The Amazing Graduation Day Friendship Jamboree)

"Premise 2: Become the Good Practitioner"
by Dr. Kamikaze and the $35 Sound
from Do Business in Outer-Space

"Fit the Third: Boxes, Portmanteaus, and Bags"
by Dr. Kamikaze and the $35 Sound
from An Agony in Eight Fits

"Think Hard, Pink Hearts"
by Dr. Kamikaze and the $35 Sound
from The Money Goes Up

"nɔʁ....jɔ̃ trāl"
by Thirsting Quench
from /lo͞op/

"Let's Play...Fire Ball!"
by Diametric Correlator
from Diametric Correlator

"Sun Block"
by Farewell Scalar
from Archive Vol. 1

"Oh, Wot a Dream!"
by Casey Bye (written by the amazing Kevin Ayers)
from Who Writes the Songs?

"Grasshoppers"
by Diametric Correlator
from Strikes (again.)

"Swimming with Sharks"
by Thirsting Quench and the Captains of Industry (written by Tom Heil)
from Tarps & Blankets: 15 Years of Stir Up

"Casual Friday!"
by Melkbox
from Protosyrup

"Good Night, Moon!"
by Lauren Svacina
from Oh, My Stars!
 

"Knee-Jerk Cookout" (originally "This Way To...")
by Thirsting Quench and the Captains of Industry
from Moving Gates

"Dick Bacon" (excerpt from "Collage VII: Heroes"
by Universal Chickenhawk
from Vol. III

"Summer Blinds (instrumental)"
by Farewell Scalar
from Faux?! Su!

"Gesture 6"
by Thirsting Quench
from Figurative Study

"escher and dali, and hell, boesch for that matter, all make great dorm-room posters, but as fodder for your skin..."
by Diametric Correlator and the $35 Sound
from D(iametric)-Compositions

"In Retrograde"
by Thirsting Quench
from An American Cup of Wine: the Lost Tapes

"Tonsillitis"
by Thirsting Quench and the Captains of Industry
from Tonsillitis single

"Ars Notaroria"
by The Furry Murrays
from No, Thanks

"Variation: Aug. 16, 2011"
by Thirsting Quench
from Memphis Transitions & Variations

"A Sad Ending for Horace Roye"
by Melkbox
from Melkbox

"Variation: Aug. 18, 2011"
by Thirsting Quench
from Memphis Transitions & Variations

"Quarternity"
by Dr. Kamikaze and the $35 Sound
from Quarternity

"Broken"
by Thirsting Quench
from The (Possible) Origin of...

"Garden Party Rally"
by Lauren Svacina
from Oh, My Stars!

"Variation: Aug. 23, 2011"
by Thirsting Quench
from Memphis Transitions & Variations

"The Man in the Custom Tailored T-Shirt"
by Electric Bolts
from Electric Bolts (Brazil pt 1)

"HWY 16"
by Diametric Correlator
from Cut the Slats

"I Love You More Than All The Other Fishes"
by Thirsting Quench and the Captains of Industry
from The Sentimentary EP

"Concession Stand: Gotta Put Ketchup On A Hotdog"
by Art in Underpants
from Audio Erection

"Domestically Challenged"
by Thirsting Quench
from The (Possible) Origin of...

"Escapism and Pep"
by Dr. Kamikaze and the $35 Sound
from Do Business in Outer-Space

"Dupe On A Stick VII"
by Dr. Kamikaze and the $35 Sound
from Effempty

"It's Only A Lifetime"
by The Literacy Program
from Paradigm Waltzing in a Holographic Universe

Nema Reve Third Anniversary

Three years ago I recorded this little jam called Nema Reve. I've recorded a lot of junk ever since I was fifteen and first went halfsies on a four-track recorder with my then bandmate and good buddy to this day, Eddie. And then I handed out or sold for a buck cassettes of things I would make under the "label" Stir Up Your Grey Matter. One day in October of 2010 I realized I had put together forty-nine "albums" between myself, my bands, and a few friends' bands. So I figured I should mark that momentous occasion with a very special fiftieth release.

The problem was I hadn't written any new music in a while so I had nothing recorded to compile into a release and not even any songs to record for a new project. I was listening to a lot of Stereolab and Steve Reich that month so drones and minimalism were on my mind. On the El ride home from a day of tutoring, I came up with the idea to mix the two by using layered instruments playing either one note or simple melodies all in the same key (occasionally shifting from major to minor) in various time signatures, then using that backing drone to develop various chord patters that would segue in and out of each other. I named the idea "Variations" and labeled the different patterns with roman numerals. One track was guitar-based patterns, the other piano-based. I was, at the time, finishing up the first draft of More Like a Siren, Less Like a Bell , and had written about seventy pages or so while listening solely to Reich's Music for 18 Musicians on repeat. So that's definitely in the piano-driven piece.

Over a two-day period I recorded these two tracks along with the below shorter track, "Gypsy Pogo," which was based on a similar concept of shifting chordal drones and interlocking synthesizer patterns/melodies that would develop to a natural climax.

The final track, "Nema Reve," was simply a looped synthesizer track with effects (delay, reverb, deterioration) gradually added and faded in over the course of the song. Another looped track of field recordings of various mechanical devices is layered above this.

My then girlfriend, now wife, Jessa had this weird photo of her playing on the counter at her grandmother's house which just happened to have been shot right as the TV next to her displayed some creeper, wide-eyed and close-up, as if some creepy-deepy Exorcist stuff was about to go on.

My wife, Jessa, being possessed by a TV demon. This may be why, to this day, we're forced to watch so much Netflix.

Anyway, that's my pretentious way of saying I threw together an album in two days to mark an occasion that no one gave a butt about except for me. I posted Nema Reve   to my bandcamp on November 2nd, 2010 and, somehow, it struck some sort of chord with people who download obscuro music online, or at least one very important person who downloads obscuro music online.

Author, Warren Ellis (Red, Transmetropolitan ) found it a few days later and wrote the following on his blog: "I’m listening to the first track right now. It starts like an outtake from 'Fur Immer' (I’ve been listening to NEU! all afternoon, which made for a weird moment when I had to check if I was streaming audio or still in iTunes).   And then it stops.  And then they sort of go through a time-travel portal and put their other foot directly into 90s postrock while still strumming the motorik.  At which point, yes, it’s total comfort food for old rockist tendencies, but by the time they start digging power chords out of their guitars with rusty screwdrivers, I’m off with the fairies.  Thirsting Quench and the Captains of Industry, we salute you."

Then a slew of other blogs, having read Mr. Ellis' ridiculously kind post, gave Nema Reve  a listen and wrote their own kind thoughts on it. Outside of some of the larger shows I've played with bands (mostly battle of the bands type situations), Mr. Ellis granted me the largest audience I've ever had for my music. And I've been chasing that feeling unsuccessfully ever since. Thanks for making happiness and fulfillment so unobtainable, Warren Ellis.

 NEMA REVE CAN BE STREAMED AND DOWNLOADED HERE