#1: how to stop smoking (subliminally) and other miscellaneous addictions

this release takes material from many sources and creates a new narrative of sounds, drawing from early 78s, field recordings, children’s records and self-help tapes. the overall effect is a sound world of lonely bars, after-school specials, and late-night television. it also includes a series of tracks based on fossil fuels and our society's unbridled consumption of them. finally, a third stream of pieces is present, using samples from numerous folk musics. the result is a map of sounds dealing with all sorts of addictions (both real and imagined) in humorous and thoughtful ways.

uses samples, 4 turntables, tape recorder, keyboard and electronics.

on the two mp3 excerpts: "cambodia" was made from the "cambodian cassette archives" cd released on the sublime frequencies label. the source material is strange and beautiful; by itself it is an amazing commentary on hybrids of culture and sound. the piece that comes out of this material combines several styles and recordings, and lets them move in untraditional directions. "fool's oil" is a combination of sos signals, american military drumming and traditional persian music. the musics try to dominate one another, to no avail. the piece––much like political jostling––at first occupies an uncomfortable and grotesque grey area, somewhere between dialogue, manipulation, and control. it then deteriorates into a kind of ominous lament (hopefully, that description just brightened your day).

a limited run of 50. the package includes a signed and numbered cd, images, a cigar box, and (shamelessly) candy.

total time: 44:13, 2005

tracks:
1. stopping smoking (0:31)
2. electric arc overture (1:00)
3. you can’t be true, dear (0:47)
4. so right (2:10)
5. anne and abe (2:03)
6. secret (1:09)
7. last cigarette (3:58)
8. cambodia (4:40) [mp3]
9. fool’s coal (3:24)
10. jesus and me, smoking (3:46)
11. fool’s oil (3:49) [mp3]
12. conversations with coal miners and with death (8:49)

13. mac, george, and joe (4:23)

UPDATE: SOLD OUT!