Category Archives: EPHEMERA

ACQUIRED: Squarepusher – KAMMERKONZERT (Limited Edition)

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The new one from Squarepusher, KAMMERKONZERT, just arrived. I’ve been listening to the download from Bleep since it released a couple weeks ago. This time around we hear Tom Jenkinson (the pusher himself) inhabit an entire jazz orchestra sprinkled with his trademark bass guitar gymnastics, electronic jabs and throbs, frantic drums (both real and programmed) and a full compliment of string, horns, and woodwinds played at a thousand notes per second down to softer, thoughtful, languid interludes. In other words, it’s a Squarepusher record all right. But die-hard fans of his drill & bass style might be disappointed in this much more organic, flowing, modern classical form (see also: ULTRAVISITOR), echoed in the album art that features multiple exposure black and white photos of what seem to be traditional acoustic instruments on a dark and mysterious stage. All very Blue Note Records-esque and it’s obvious that Jenkinson wants this to be considered a recording of a sweaty, intense live performance despite it all coming from just one guy. At times it can come off as a bit of an impenetrable whirlwind, but its mastery of the form is undeniable.

NOTE: This is the first time I’ve ever seen a hidden track on a vinyl record. It’s on Side 1 where after the third track there is a silent locked groove (meaning it will just keep spinning but not moving the needle forward.) But there is a fourth track beyond that that can only be heard by picking up the needle and placing it on the track manually. (You can see the gap in tracks in the photo below.) This hidden track is a short piece a la SOLO ELECTRIC BASS 1.

PHOTO: This is What You Want

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Working on a custom paint job for the Cross Bone Gundam Maoh and realizing it’s a bit like the (literally) crazy robot in Hardware, one of my favorite movies. Really. If you like industrial music even a little, you need to see it. It’s kind of beautiful (and kind of bad, but still). I covered “The Order of Death”, the PiL song used in the end credits. It’s in the Endless Compendium.

ACQUIRED: Earth Tongue – DUNGEON VISION

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Got the new album DUNGEON VISION from the New Zealand fuzz rock duo Earth Tongue. Artwork is fantastic (I passed on the super deluxe version) and perfectly reflects the music’s mystical and arcane feel. The amount of power these two infuse into their often dirge-y yet playful classic metal songs is impressive. Their videos are also all spot on and worth checking out.

PHOTO: What’s He Building In There

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grainy low-light photo of a very small plastic skull and separate jaw clamped to a DIY cardboard block

My wife and I have fallen back into the grip of Gundam/Gunpla building. We more-or-less straight built a few of them decades ago, and this time around we’re learning more about painting and detailed finishes. I have to admit that I don’t enjoy painting nearly as much as building them, but it’s been an interesting new process to learn about at least.

Unsurprisingly I’m drawn to the more esoteric models, like the one pictured here, the XM-X9999 Crossbone Gundam Maoh. Obviously it’s all about the giant shrieking laser skull for me (although at 1/144 scale it’s laughably small.) I have big plans for a completely different paint job, and if it works you’ll see it here first.

I promise this (probably) won’t turn into a gunpla blog. But I do have…a few more waiting in the wings.

ACQUIRED: Drone Not Drones 2026 T-Shirt

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Recently received the new 2026 DRONE NOT DRONES t-shirt. According to their site: “ALL PROFITS [GO] TO MINNEAPOLIS legal/rent/resources MUTUAL AID orgs in response to the DHS armed occupation of our city.” That city being Minneapolis and surrounding area. Abolish ICE.

I’ve played at the 28-hour drone festival a couple times over the years. It’s an extraordinary occurrence featuring dozens of participants taking turns playing a small part of one unbroken performance across two days. Recordings of my own sets from 2014 and 2017 are available in THE ENDLESS COMPENDIUM.