Josh Mason                   





A Reliquary
Oct 2022

Relic / Relic / Relic / Relic / Relic / Relic

Program
22:18
Careless approval without examination, and a subsequent deception for want of warning. Honors rendered to sampler detritus—the bones and dust of pilgrims and martyrs; of thieves and asses—enclosed in a vessel with candles lit before it.


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Art and Sound by Josh Mason
Filed under:
Digital


Utility Music
Sep 2021

Newport, 5 July, 1969 / Juan-les-Pins, 25 July, 1969 / New York, 20 August, 1969 / Copenhagen, 4 November, 1969 / San Francisco, 9 April, 1970

Program
32:12
Westheimer's Discovery: A couple of months in the laboratory can frequently save a couple hours in the library.

Utility Music is the result of a year long exploration of a Doepfer A-100 modular synthesizer system of my own planning, beginning on January 1, 2019 and ending December 31, 2019. It was my attempt to learn more about the foundational building blocks of synthesis and to explore the idea that interesting and compelling synthesizer-based music can be realized without the aid of modern DSP and "shiny" hardware within the format.

The final audio portion of the project is a mosaic assembled from these weekly stems. Accompanying the CD is a 72 pg. perfect-bound book containing further information on the project as well as weekly point-to-point patch notes and insights into process.


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Edition 3 (50, 50, 75)
Artwork, Writing and Design by Josh Mason
Technical Assistance Andrew Weathers
Filed under:
CD, BookDigital



Hellified Irie
Jun 2015

Century Ambulance / Florida Light & Power II / Wavewalker / Timecode Beach / Continued On Chart 11484 / Warp Thing / Joy Will Not Protect You

Program
37:47
Hellified Irie, at it’s core, is a ‘surf’ record both in tone and concept. Continuing ideas laid out in Timecode Beach, there is a focus on change and adaptation. One minute you’re riding a wave and the next you’re bobbing, waiting for the next set with your mind wandering to who knows where and when. As adults, we often do not have the luxury of embracing that drift.

The style and sound of the recording is an homage to the guitar-centric bands of the mid 60’s such as the Ventures and The Challengers as well as compositional techniques found in Smile-era Beach Boys material, which lends itself nicely to that theme of changing gears. Like a Wallace Stevens poem, it’s a meditative and philosophical sound. A sonic discourse from a deckchair that skates a line between imagination and the reality of every day.

The accompanying 70 pg. book contains found images and personal photos (taken with a disposable camera that fell into a pool,) as well as recollections of the recording process, the concept of home, the weather of the mind, and family.


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Label FET Press (NY)
Edition
50
Mastered
by Seth Chrisman
Artwork, Writing and Design
by Josh Mason
Filed under:
Book, Digital






©2024
My wristwatch is broken, but my life is repaired.