STYLUS : I VOW TO THEE, MY COUNTRY : THAXTED
A discredited theorem on celestial electromagnetism + astrologic mythology overlay before the Graduate Student Forum, Princeton 1953

Saturday 20 July 2013
Lucy and Vernon Wright Theater 
The University of Baltimore Student Center, Baltimore MD USA

Worlds in Collusion, a project of High Zero Foundation supported by The Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts and University of Baltimore present a live performance from Washington, DC-based STYLUS turntable ensemble, using prepared vinyl recordings + live digital editing in a score informed by Morse code, musica universalis + failed research methodology.

.. -. /  .--- ..- .--. .. - . .-. /  .- -. -.. /  .. - ... /  -- --- --- -. ... /  .-- . /  .... .- ...- . /  .- /  ... -.-- ... - . -- /  -. --- - /  ..- -. .-.. .. -.- . /  - .... . /  ... --- .-.. .- .-. /  ..-. .- -- .. .-.. -.-- .-.-.- /  - .... . /  .--. .-.. .- -. . - /  .. ... /  -.-. --- .-.. -.. --..-- /  -.-- . - /  .. - ... /  --. .- ... . ... /  .- .-. . /  .. -. /  -- --- - .. --- -. .-.-.- /  .. - /  .- .--. .--. . .- .-. ... /  .--. .-. --- -... .- -... .-.. . /  - --- /  -- . /  - .... .- - /  .. - /  ... . -. -.. ... /  --- ..- - /  .-. .- -.. .. --- /  -. --- .. ... . ... /  .- ... /  -.. --- /  - .... . /  ... ..- -. /  .- -. -.. /  - .... . /  ... - .- .-. ... 

"In Jupiter and its moons we have a system not unlike the solar family. The planet is cold, yet its gases are in motion. It appears probable to me that it sends out radio noises as do the sun and the stars." Immanuel Velikovsky

I VOW TO THEE, MY COUNTRY : THAXTED uses the Morse code transcription of Immanuel Velikovsky's comments on radio noises from Jupiter as notation for each turntable part, which is then played staccato + legato on vintage Classical recordings. The records are variously inscribed with block letters spelling C-O-L-L-I-D-E + J-U-P-I-T-E-R. Radio wave drones, Morse code, MIDI piano + live mixing/effects are also interspersed with the punctuated vinyl outbursts as turntablism roles/responsibilities shift between the players, in subtle mimicry of the transitions + transferences of radiographic energy. The piece closes with a melancholy epilogue for transistor radios, piano + cello.

STYLUS performs with multiple vintage classroom turntables as their instruments, using locked-groove + prepared vinyl to create a sound that is minimalist, pulse-like + hypnotic, yet also dynamic + punctuated. 

STYLUS participants for this performance: JS Adams (artistic director); Jeff Bagato; Michael Denny; Chester Hawkins; Guillermo Pizarro (live mixing + loops); Gary Rouzer + Jeff Surak. 

STYLUS warmly embraces the modern compositional elements of turntablism + the contemporary sound-art of Christian Marclay + Philip Jeck. Other influences include such historic constructs as the Futurist manifesto L'arte dei Rumori, Dadaism, Automatism + Russian Constructivism along with Louis Braille, Samuel F.B. Morse, Milan Knížák's Broken Music, the graphic scores of Cornelius Cardew + Fluxus performance, plus the prepared instrumentation + happenstance of John Cage.

WEB: www.stylus.adams-dress.com

THANKS! Chris Videll (audio recording); Raquel Leone (photograph); Jeff Carey : High Zero Foundation (Baltimore MD); Sonic Circuits (Washington DC); James L. Roth (MIDI); Doug Poplin : BLK w/BEAR + Bach Sinfonia (cello); H. Paul Moon : Zen Violence Films

© + ℗ 2013 Trace Music

STYLUS : I VOW TO THEE, MY COUNTRY : THAXTED : LIVE @ WORLDS IN COLLUSION

BLK TAG :: Backing Track for 04 MAY QU23 Fundraiser

Our selfless journey to reimagine + deconstruct 20th Classical + Neue Musik continues unabated. 

Live+ :: Queering Sound :: Rhizome DC :: 03 June 2023
Live Recording :: Gary Rouzer
Mix+ :: JS Adams
Christopher Mathews-Larsen (euphonium + digital percussion programming) :: RA Martini (violin + bass) :: Nick DePinto (percussion) :: James S. Adams (score / audio manipulations / prepared vinyl + a/v record players) :: Gleb Kanasevich (digital contributor)

THAT MAJEURE :: Rrrrrrr....Fünf Jazzstücke

Glitch Pop for a Smart + Mobile Peoples

00:00	drookit
03:16	gaku-no ampee
05:50	brics bach
09:48	ham sandwich
11:19	taps aff

JS Adams : Korg-littleBits
Chester Hawkins : Korg-littleBits feed + effects
Doug Poplin : Korg-littleBits + effects
Chris Videll : Korg-littleBits feed + effects

Steve Sanford : live recording
Chester Hawkins : board recording
JS Adams : mix

David Szauder aka Pixelnoizz : image
http://www.davidszauder.com/

Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, Saturday 31 May 2014

(c) + (p) 2014 Adams / Hawkins / Poplin / Videll

LITTLEBYTES @ QUEERING SOUND 2014

THAT BIG CLOUD :: YOU NƎ VƎR UN DƎ RST OOD MƎ // YOU NƎV ƎR RƎALLY TRIƎD
15 OCT 2023 @ No Place Like Home :: QUEERING SOUND celebrates RHIZOME DC

THAT CLOUD // THAT BIG CLOUD

JS Adams :: loops . processing + manipulations . prepared vinyl . Aztec death whistle . cloud whispering
Christopher Mathews-Larsen :: guitar + effects . cloud whispering 
Chris Videll :: electronics 
RA Martini :: bass + violin
Josh Maxwell :: bass

[ in absentia ] CK Barlow 
[ samples ] Lewis Chiodo :: Broken ES-1 Glitch Pack 
[ recordings ] Markus Meier 
[ image ] Greg Mercer @gregleemercer

thatcloud.bandcamp.com/

THAT BIG CLOUD :: 15 OCT 2023 :: LIVE

STYLUS track for District of Noise Vol. 4 vinyl release; a mix/mash-up of our Kennedy Center and Pyramid Atlantic live recordings. The title comes from an artwork by Robert Rauschenberg.

STYLUS _ combine.monogram

MASSED PLAYBACK + HANDI VARISPEED DISRUPTION

AN AMBIGUOUS RECURRING LAMP POST AS SEEN THROUGHOUT  A RANDOM SERIES OF CARDBOARD NEIGHBORHOODS 

WILLOW STREET GALLERY ● WDC 20012 
SUNDAY 27 JULY 2025
4:00-6:00 PM EDT

audio + video recording :: Markus Meier
audio edit + mix :: JS Adams




MASSED PLAYBACK + HANDI VARISPEED DISRUPTION

THE SLOTH ENSEMBLE + VJ POPPINS : HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE

I. PROLOGUE
II. NUCLEOSIDE/NUCLEOTIDE REVERSE TRANSCRIPTASE INHIBITORS (NRTIS)
III. NON-NUCLEOSIDE REVERSE TRANSCRIPTASE INHIBITORS (NNRTIS)
IV. PROTEASE INHIBITORS (PIS)
V. COBICISTAT (TYBOST)
VI. FUSION INHIBITORS
VII. CCR5 ANTAGONIST
VIII. INTEGRASE INHIBITORS
IX. FIXED-DOSE COMBINATIONS
X. EPILOGUE

Sonic Circuits + Rhizome DC present
Queering Sound 2017 : Recordio
03 June 2017
Washington DC USA

The Sloth Ensemble
JS Adams : electronics . score
CK Barlow : electronics
Patrick Gillis : electronics
Guillermo Pizarro : guitar + effects [ digital contributor ]
PD Sexton : electronics [ digital contributor ]
+
Renée Shaw / VJ Poppins : live video mix

Steve Sanders : recording
Joseph Dress : video recording
Amber Leigh Dunleavy : video recording
Chris Videll : photography
Jeff Surak : photography

℗ 2017 Trace Music

THE SLOTH ENSEMBLE : HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE

BLK TAG : FLASHCARDS FOR AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE

BLK w/BEAR : Washington DC USA
present upon or either (work in progress) : 02.00
www.artbear.com
(c)+(p) 2012 Trace Music

JS Adams : loops . prepared vinyl . effects . turntables
Doug Poplin : cello . effects
PD Sexton : bass . guitar . electronics . effects
Renée Shaw : live video mix

present upon or either

STYLUS : OUR SIGNATURES BLEW UP IN SPACE : Live @ Rhizome DC
JS Adams : turntable + electronics / score + backing track
Christopher Mathews-Larsen : turntable + recording
Patrick Gillis : turntable
Beau Finley : turntable + backing track

STYLUS : OUR SIGNATURES BLEW UP IN SPACE : 22 DEC 2019

LIVE : SONIC CIRCUITS FESTIVAL : SATURDAY 05 OCTOBER 2013 : ATLAS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER : SPRENGER THEATRE : WASHINGTON DC USA

00:00 BALANCE TEST 001
01:50 BALANCE TEST 002 
03:10  A WORM IS AT WORK : MORSE CODE DECONSTRUCTION (MOORE + BLEGVAD) 
06:45  CLOUD SEEDING
28:03 AN EVER EXPANDING + WIDENING BLK HOLE SEEKS TO ENGULF US ALL…RUN!

JS ADAMS : TAPES . EFFECTS . PREPARED VINYL . CALIFONE TURNTABLE . VOCALS
CHRIS VIDELL : ELECTRONICS . EFFECTS . PERCUSSION 
GLEB KANASEVICH : CLARINET  . GUITAR . EFFECTS
GUILLERMO PIZARRO : GUITAR . SCRAP METAL . EFFECTS
JEFF JOBSON : VISUALS
STEVE SANDERS : LIVE RECORDING 
MARK BEAZLEY : MIX + MASTERING

THANKS : MELISSA KELLER . JOSEPH DRESS . MICHAEL DENNY . PAT GILLIS . JEFF SURAK + SONIC  CIRCUITS . ATLAS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER . CHESTER HAWKINS . RA LANGLOTZ . JUSTIN WATSON . MARTIN OTIS

BLK_TAG.ADAMS-DRESS.COM

© 2013 : BLK TAG : CREATIVE COMMONS

WHOOPS. I THINK WE JUST BLEW UP THE ATLAS CENTER…

ORIGINALLY RELEASES ON ŌNYŪDŌ NET LABEL

BLK TAG :: THAT WHAT CANNOT NOR SHOULD NOT BE UNDONE

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION DOWNLOAD
17 OCTOBER 2020 :: CLOSED CIRCUITS II

* HORSE HEAD
* HORSE MANE
* HORSE TAIL

DOWNLOAD HORSE TAIL 06.21

DOWNLOAD HORSE MANE 09.19

DOWNLOAD HORSE HEAD 06.21

THAT CLOUD :: LES CHANTS DE MISOPHONIA

JS ADAMS
CHRISTOPHER MATHEWS-LARSEN
CHRIS VIDELL 
LOOPS + PROCESSING / EUPHONIUM / FX / ELECTRONICS / GUITAR / SPRINGZINGER BOX / MELODICA / PREPARED GUITAR / PERCUSSION PROGRAMMING / VOICE / SHARUTI BOX 

GUILLERMO PIZARRO
MASTERING

JEFF CAREY + IMAGINARY NETWORK TOPOLOGIES / PD SEXTON / MARK L. BEAZLEY / JEFF SURAK + DOM-ZERO / TJ NORRIS + TONESHIFT / RHIZOME DC
THANKS

© 2021 : CREATIVE COMMONS

THAT CLOUD_THE RUSSIANS ATE THE JANITOR

BLK w/ BEAR advocates a communications aesthetic wherein audio/visuals are distilled to key base components through image pixelation and sound/time manipulation. We celebrate the physical manifestation of misfired communications, broken language and broadcast interference. We champion delay and decay. We champion audio bleed, field recordings and the deconstructed surface noise of altered vinyl recordings. We herald cyclical repetitions and misappropriated realignments, intentional over-processing, signal saturation and digital malfeasance, audio pranksterism. Through aggressive enlargement and recontextualization of the mundane and every-day we hope to usher listeners and viewers into a deeper introspective relationship with previously familiar – now unstable – environs.

Trace Recordings artists BLK w/ BEAR have garnered glowing reviews and international airplay for the thought-provoking and moving 'Wish for a World Without Hurt' collaboration with London's ROTHKO and the limited edition 'fahrenheit_drafts' 12-inch single. Audio has accompanied film/video projects in NYC and London and selections from 'Wish for a World' were used in the Discovery Channel's poignant 'The Flight that Fought Back' program. The four-track 'Version 3' extended play is available for download at the Long Division with Remainders '14 versions of the same EP' project site and now available in a box set collection with all fourteen versions plus an additional digital-download outtakes EP including a 21-minute remix of BLK w/ BEAR's Version 001. Additional material has been released through Little Cracked Rabbit, Public Record, and Sonic Circuits - District of Noise.

Addition projects :: THAT / BLK TAG / STYLUS / the sloth ensemble / Littlebytes / Halfbytes / THAT CLOUD ... more.

BLKwBEAR

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