Vital Weekly Stalemate Review

Pretty good write-up by Frans de Waard:

MIKE SHIFLET & DANIEL MENCHE - STALEMATE (CD by Sonoris)
To make noise is pretty a not very difficult thing, but the main question remains: is it interesting for the listener? This where lots of noise makers leap away and do an endless barrage of distorted sound and think that the more is the better, and the louder it gets adds to the fun all around. I beg to differ. There is good noise and its not always about being the loudest for the longest duration, but to actually compose with unusual sources. It needs skill, imagination and experience, I guess. Mike Shiflet (former boss of Gameboy Records) and Daniel Menche have exactly those qualities. They work here with Hammond organs (odd, just like Golden Serenades on 'Hammond Pops' - see Vital Weekly 702) and electronics an create a three piece suite of electronics that is both minimal and maximal. Minimal towards the sounds they use, the actual composition and sometimes to the volume. Maximal to some of the louder parts of this work. They use a variety of layers in this work, built them up in a great, never letting go of the idea of 'noise', but at the same time think of the listener: what do we want to create that is also interesting for him/her to hear, who is so far away? They succeed well. This is a well-crafted, thoroughly composed work, loud, menacing but a great pleasure to hear. This is the noise I like very much! (FdW)

Perhaps a bit too much emphasis placed on our desire to create a listener-friendly work, but it could just as likely be that I'm reading too much into (or completely misinterpreting) his words. Copies of this should be arriving any day now. I'll post again when I have them for sale.

Pink Meadow

I took the above photo back in September and it's image has continued to pop into my head on a regular basis since. I decided recently to use it as the inspiration for a new work as - similar to the images used for my Ichinomiya CD - it doesn't appear to have any intention of vacating my memory's forefront.

Last night I printed it out, stuck it above my studio computer and decided I should share it here as well. The image links to the full-size original photo (5.4 MB) if you'd like a copy for whatever reason.

Stalemate

Menche.

Shiflet.

CD.

Soon.

Very.

Two New Cassettes

Cycles has been released by 905 Tapes, who previously released my Opening Act cassette, and Disrobed, Spitting Blood - previewed here - is out now on the Canadian label Scotch Tapes.

Get both directly from me for $13 ppd (USA) or $16 ppd (World). Paypal to ms [at] gmby.net

And if you are interested, I've also posted a clearing house list of items from the GMBY disto at make-offer prices on the Chondritic Sound board. Contact the same email above if you see anything you like.

Monolith Dream (Against Monoliths)

Last night I had a dream I was a sculptor. My works looked like little piles of post-apocalyptic waste with R2D2-like droid features poking out here and there. Whenever someone criticized or spoke about one of my works (in any way - negative or positive), either a small object would be added to the sculpture or an arrow would pierce, sometimes shatter, the work.

As a response to this, I constructed an Skyscraper-esque monolith that absorbed and destroyed all the critical and communal debris. The final image I remember is of a magnitude of arrows impotently clinging to the top of the structure, which for some reason was in the shape of a Spartan helmet.

This dream moved me quite a bit. For years I have been a proponent of the open interpretation of my work (often leaving what I considered key elements as intentionally hazy as possible) but have begun slowly moving to conceptual areas in which the thematic parameters are more defined. I hope that, despite this, there will still be room for middle ground in the creator-listener relationship and that I don't become too much of an audio dictator. I don't really want to build monoliths. I just have some things I need to say.

Editions Shiflet Mixtape 04: Unkool Thing

ES Mix 04 is an odd collection of tracks. It begins with one of my favorites, "Do Yourself a Favor and Forget" from the split LP with Mykel Boyd. Released in an edition of 100, the LP track is actually the most widely available work included here. Also in the mix are some compilation tracks, an outtake from a forthcoming collaboration with Raglani, and material from Blanco Niño, my duo with Brent Gutzeit. Enjoy.

Tracklist:
01. Do Yourself a Favor and Forget
02. For Talbot
03. Kintetsu
04. Collab Outtake [with Raglani]
05. Swords in the Sand/Bitches No More (Excerpts)
06. Blanco Niño Track 5 [Blanco Niño]
07. Haiku for Painted Black Windows (Excerpt)

Download HERE

Quartet

Here's short-but-sweet live set from a August that featured the gentlemen from Wasteland Jazz Unit and Pete Fosco.



Download