Artists

John Norseen passes Sept 27

We are saddened to announce the passing last weekend of our esteemed friend and colleague John Norseen, whose words and videos have provided much information and entertainment to us over the last few years. He was 53.

John was introduced to us as an employee of Lockheed Martin, as a semiotics specialist and brain researcher in the area of Biofusion, a field of study which turned out to mean the weaponization of the mind. Johns many emails became the source material for a manuscript, "Outlaw Technology", which remains unpublished, though aspects of it have appeared on this website. In our lengthy correspondence, I found John to be unusually forthcoming on all those weird topics that Intelligence types refrain from discussing---from mind control, to UFOs, to underground labs, to psychotronic technology, to life after death, to telepathy, Zero Point Energy, psychic warfare, to time portals and all those myriad venues of contemporary myth-making that constitute the shadow cast by a mechanistic and reductionist Science. As such, he was a true anomaly among men; well trained intellectually and scientifically, a consultant to numerous branches of the military, think tanks and alphabet agencies, and by my reckoning, a witness to many of the things we casually dismiss as over-the-top nonsense. It is also intensely ironic that at a very challenging point in his professional and personal life, John discovered a wealth of support and friendship among the creative and free thinking community of individuals he reached out to over the last several years of his life.

In spite of his preoccupation with fringe ideas and technology, as a person John was a very conventional individual. He prayed at church, adored his wife and children and dog, loved Penn State football games, lived in a suburb and was passionate about the United States of America, the Armed Services and the people who served with him professionally, both in the service and in industry. In spite of these virtues, John was possessed with an almost heretical belief that something deep and important was missing in his life, creating profound bouts of depression. This conflict became apparent to me through many conversations where I took the role of Devil's Advocate, challenging the morality of the research initiatives he participated in or described. We had finally reached the point in this argument where it was scheduled to become a public debate this fall, at the Pell Center for International Relations in Newport, R.I, thanks to its Director, Dr. Peter Liotta, who recognized in this deliberation an echo of Senator Pell's own fascination and struggle with these topics. It is a wonderful testimony to John that he would stand up in front of an audience of this kind and be willing to publicly confront issues that are so universally swept under the rug by politicians, military and media alike.

I have to believe, in retrospect, that John witnessed things he could not entirely live with, and in turned rebelled against them in a fundamentally deep way, which perhaps he didn't entirely understand himself. We mourn his loss. We grieve with his family and friends, and we wish there were more like him to carry on this debate.

Justin Boreta

Justin Boreta

Justin Boreta of Slidecamp and Glitch Mob fame, paid the studio a visit in early July. He plugged right into the IBVA, bio-sensors and the Eventide Harmonizer. His extensive audio production experience allowed him to transform the signals coming from the sensors into a hauntingly rich atmospheric sonic experience with Ableton Live and Native Instruments Reaktor and Absynth.

Give a listen to the 45 minute mixdown by the electronic wunderkind, David Last.

Water Music Remix in Newport, RI

30 June, 2007

Saturday Evening, June 30, 2007
Fort Adams State Park, Newport, Rhode Island
Tickets: $25

Water Music Remix Schedule
9-10 Nalepa with Light Table Drawing VJ Set by David Lublin and David Last
10-11 Brian Kane (EBN) - Audiovisual Set
11-12 Aerostatic with VJ Synesthete
12-1 David Last with VJ Benton-C Bainbridge

Photos of the event are available on flickr:

And a coverage on the local ABC news affiliate is here:

In support of the newly released Water Music Remix EP.

Water Music Remix EP
Various Artists

Available exclusively on the iTunes Music Store

Release Date: Jun 12, 2007
Total Songs: 8
Genre: Electronic
(C) 2007 Newport Classic

Newport Classic presents 'Water Music Remix', an EP featuring reinterpretations of Handel's most famous work by eight rising stars of the international electronic music scene. Released this week as an iTunes exclusive, it is available for download for $5.99 featuring over 45 minutes of music from RD, Marsen Jules, Nalepa, RaNDom, Aerostatic, David Last, Rena Jones and Kraddy. The project was developed in conjunction with a live audiovisual event in Newport, RI during Tall Ships weekend as part of the Newport Music Festival.

RD, whose star is fast on the rise thanks to his super tight live sets and quality releases on both Andrea Parker's Touchin' Bass label and his own Designed Disorder imprint, leads off the album with eight and a half minutes of blissed-out downtempo on 'Music for the Royal Pyrotechnics', a reinterpretation of Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks which is often paired together with Water Music in recordings.

Dortmund, Germany-based artist Marsen Jules, a master of orchestral ambient whose recent full-length on City Centre Offices received massive critical acclaim, delivers the beautifully lush and mesmerizing 'Bourèe from Water Music'.

LA-based electronic musician and mad scientist collector Nalepa (Native State Records) runs Handel's masterpiece through his patented ambient glitch dub technology spitting out the dreamy, romantic 'Suite in F (Ambient Glitch Refix)'.

RaNDom, an Italian dub scientist based in Tokyo, drops devastating bass over tight, deep beats and mind-bending psychedelic effects in his epic take on Handel 'Water Music in Dub'.

Brooklyn-based Aerostatic's piece 'Diffraction: Light Through Water' illustrates the hybrid style of Terry Golob and Michele Darling (composer for Sesame Street), combining atmospheric landscapes with downtempo microbeats and subtle, sophisticated, hallucinatory effects.

David Last, who earned heaps of praise from pivotal cultural gatekeepers Pitchfork Media when they declared his debut album 'the best record yet' from the respected Agriculture label, demonstrates his impressive range with his cinematic re-orchestration 'Water Music (Electroacoustic Remap)'.

Cellist, violinist and electronic music producer extraordinaire Rena Jones unfurls the gorgeous 'Adagio e Staccato in Binary', a piece similar in style to her celebrated Native State Records release Driftwood which has kept her busy performing at festivals around the world.

Kraddy, usually known for slaying crowds with his cohorts in west coast supergroup The Glitch Mob, shows off his experimental side by closing out the album with 'Experiment 01', a piece reminiscent of the work of John Cage and the early electronic pioneers.

Todd Thille

Todd Thille working the IBVA

Todd Thille (VJ Synesthete) has been a regular visitor to the studio. Most recently he worked with Gordon on an Arduino based sensor box. He used the Arduino box at the We Are Hacks event in New York.

Todd has been instrumental in the Mind Meld gatherings that have taken place each Summer at the studio since 2006. He facilitated the presentation of the Rock Music paper and performance at the Spark Festival in 2008.

Masahiro Kahata

Masahiro Kahata, the inventor of the IBVA (Interactive Brainwave Visual Analyzer), visited the studio with Jon Mack and Remy Chevalier of the Big Igloo Project.

Masahiro Kahata and Jon Mack
Masahiro, Jon Mack and Duncan
Duncan, Masahiro, Jon and Remy Chevalier
Masahiro Kahata and Jon Mack
Jon Mack with the Purr Generator