One Foot in Babylon - Doctor Jones Mix Sequence #23

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=N953KFDZ

This mix is the closest of any that have come to being a kind of narrative. As I general approach to sequence construction I aim for some kind of overall character with the hope that each stands apart from the others. With One Foot In Babylon, I hear a story; a gritty one with a promising start and a bleak outcome; a future society, streaming technology, information. Gradually, these wonders are abused. Then there are giant sentient mechanical chugging perversions; borderline steampunk, though just as garish but not as, y'know, lame. An end brings a new dark and twisted dawn.

One-Thousand Gospels - Doctor Jones Mix Sequence #23

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=HMJ8YWWR

Nature has many tricks wherewith she convinces man of his finitiy, - the ceaseless flow of the tides, the fury of the storm, the shock of the earthquake, the long roll of heaven's artillery, - but the most tremendous, the most stupefying of all, is the passive phase of the White Silence. All movement ceases, the sky clears, the heavens are as brass... Strange thoughts arise unsummoned, and the mystery of all things strives for utterance. And the fear of death, of God, of the universe comes over him, - the hope of the Resurrection and the Life, the yearning for immortality, the vain striving of imprisoned essence, - it is then, if ever, man walks alone with God.

"The White Silence"
- Jack London

As the London Lamps Do - March 2011 BRR Mixtape Brigade

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=11DY31CS

But first let me gaze at this solitary figure, who come hitherward with a tin lantern, which throws a circular pattern of its punched holes on the ground about him. He passes fearlessly into the unknown gloom, whither I will not follow him... He fears not the dreary path before him, because his lantern, which was kindled at the fireside of his home, will light him back to that same fire again. And thus we, night-wanderers through a stormy and dismal world, if we bear the lamp of Faith, enkindled at a celestial fire, it will surely lead us home to that Heaven whence its radiance was borrowed.

Nathaniel Hawthorne

...and Suchlike Wonders - February 2011 Mixtape Brigade

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TUYVU217

They turned their horses up the ridge, which was crowned with the dark pines. The first trees stood deployed like outposts. Their trunks were as straight as masts, and the bark was purple in the shade. The ground under them, deep and spongy with brown needles, supported no grass. The grove was quiet except for a little whispering wind. Birds took no pleasure in the pines, and the brown carpet muffled the sound of walking creatures. The horsemen rode in among the trees, out of the yellow sunlight and into the purple gloom of the shade.

“Be still a moment, Tom,“ Joseph said languidly. “There’s something here. You are afraid of it, but I know it. Somewhere, perhaps in an old dream, I have seen this place, or perhaps felt the feeling of this place.” He dropped his hands to his sides and whispered, trying the words, “This is holy – and this is old.”

- John Steinbeck

Basilisk Stare - January 2011 BRR Mixtape Brigade

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=G0ABGI7U

When I started this blog I swore that I would never apologize for a “lack of updates”. While I am absolutely tickled that you take the time to read “Doctor Jones” I continually work under the mindset that I owe you exactly diddily squat. The ebb and flow of this blog will swell or abate at my whim, desire and motivation. So, with that, you will receive no apology or justification for my inactivity. In fact, you should be thanking me for this 5-month lull. My schedule this past season has been a strenuous exercise in self-discipline and time management. My efforts were simply placed everywhere but here.

But, just because little has been posted doesn’t mean that my wit and charm hasn’t been skillfully pressed to the face of the grindstone of this crazy thing called life. Indeed, dozens of ideas have been formed and are incubating to maturity, each at different stages of development. “Doctor Jones” is on the brink of a cathartic gushing. Like those egg batches in Aliens, each post and Mixtape is gonna burst forth and hug your face as if nobody’s lookin’. It’ll be good for the both of us. And the facehugging begins now, with this month’s Mixtape. Yes. I’ve had a great deal of mental potential energy building these past few months…“Basilisk Stare” is the release.

Phaseplane Differential - July 2010 BRR Mixtape Brigade

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=KI6OUSM9

“What is the human brain?” Orphu asked rhetorically. “I mean, all of us morevecs have a piece of one. What is it like? How does it work? Like the binary or DNA computers we also carry around for thinking purposes?”

“No,” said Cho Li. “We know that the human brain is not like a computer neither is it a chemical memory machine the way the Lost Era human scientists believed. The human brain… the mind… is a quantum-state holistic standing wavefront.”

“Exactly!” cried Orphu. “The post-humans used this intimate understanding of the human mind to perfect their Brane Holes, time travel, and quantum teleportation.”

“I still don’t see how,” said Prime Integrator Asteague/Che

[Orphu]“If you assume an infinite or near-infinite set of alternate universes, then many of these have necessarily been imagined through the sheer force of human genius. Picture them as singularities of genius – Bell-state analyzers and editors of the pure quantum-foam of reality.”

- Quoted from the Dan Simmons novel Olympos

Under the Entry Roar - June 2010 BRR Mixtape Brigade

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ILBRMRC1

This mix is pretty slick. It’s a submersion into a groovy neon underworld full of weirdo denizens that strut and scurry and do their thang. Don’t be shy - say hello. Ask one of them to do the multi-strobe trick with his fingertips. They’ve all got different visual knickknacks like that. Explore caverns textured with phosphorus filaments; ascend towering structures - naturally formed or otherwise. It’s going to be a place you’ll want to write home about, or, at least, transmit via Alphawave Comm Nodes – if that’s your gig.

Sonically, the mix moves like a thread of smoke. It stretches outwards, curls back into itself, and always intent to rise someplace higher. It’s fun to listen to. A dabble of trip hop, chemical beats, copious headspace, wickedly delicious groove.

Drudgery - May 2010 BRR Mixtape Brigade

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=P4WLDGYC

Kalkrut came to a halt. He drew a deep, wheezing breath; filling his giant lungs with the sulfurous bog air. Shin deep in bubbling sludge, he straightened his posture and adjusted the harness that came over his bare shoulders. Arcing backwards, as far as the oblong crag of limestone would allow, sounded out a rapid sequence of hollow pops. Reaching out to either side, Kalkrut grabbed hold of Cyprus trees to use their intertwining root system as resistance to stretch his broad pectorals. He strained and groaned.

After a few brief moments he became lightheaded. He then relaxed and, with great resolve, exhaled, boring a hole through the dense fog; A tunnel which brought hope, focus. But no sooner could these thoughts solidify into something tangible, Kalkrut’s glazed eyes witnessed the fog quickly fill in and once again became homogenous with the stifling blur that was all around. The oppressive grey air seemed to buzz and cling to his hulking physique in retaliation.

He sensed that there was still a great distance to go, and the humidity was sapping his strength; the limestone grew continually heavier; every heaving muscle ached for rest; the gunk in his lungs seemed to churn hotter with each breath; his hands clenched as frustration and rebellion simmered…

And just then, he blinked and quickly recalled the super-charged slaveband locked around his neck - a band that could easily encircle four or five of his puny captors. So, even if Kalkrut had had the strength to remove the rock and hurl it deep into the mangroves followed by a roar of triumph, he would still have to explain for returning to the building site with an empty harness; the penalties of which are far worse than trudging your way through a bog with a two ton chunk of limestone strapped to your back. Likewise, at this thought, he felt his weight cause him to sink deeper into the muck.

He ran a hand down his bald head and flicked globs of giant sweat into the murk. He slowly closed his eyes, took another deep breath, and with the strain evident in his facial expression Kalkrut pulled a bare foot out of the bog’s stubborn suction and took a stride forward…

Best keep moving.

OH, MY MY MY! - March 2010 Mixtape Brigade

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JVMVGPP7

LOL! Check it out! He's totally farting on the face of King George! LOL!

Indeed. This mix is my answer to the inevitable cabin fever that sets in around this time of the year caused by extreme wintry conditions. Or, better yet, this is for anybody who needs a new weapon to battle boredom. Play it in the background as you undertake that long-overdue personal project, home improvement projects, whatever. So long as you crank it to eleven, jam like nobody's watching, and fart on the face of boredom.

The Air in Meager Valley - February 2010 BRR Mixtape Brigade

Feb 16, 1908

Our hope is frail, now. Be there any sound louder than a whisper and it will dissipate, swirl away right before our eyes. It is gray all around. This curtain of snow masks the detail of anything that is ahead. The surrounding ranges continue to exist; their outlines rising and sliding, dancing as if in mockery. Or is it encouragement? Puzzling. The unbroken trail before us will prove challenging. But, oh, what a place, this valley.

Our supplies are dwindling, gear worn and weathered, grub almost gone. We’ve ceased lunching altogether. Set mealtimes only encourage eating more than what is essential to sustain. Roseblood is skittish, but continues to bob her head to the rhythm of unheard ‘ol timey ditties.

Indeed, there is something queer about this valley.

The wooden sign before the broken town two days past read “Meager Valley.” Its abandoned structures were in shambles. Windows were shattered, the roofs collecting and spilling snow drifts. Rusted store signs dangled haplessly, sheltered wooden walkways gray and splintered with age. And yet, the place did not feel vacant. I dare say haunted, though I haven’t the morale to entertain such idiocy; Ernie would certainly lose his head at the very mention. I find it necessary to conclude that this town grew very quickly and then vanished like fingers pinching out a candle’s flame.

There is an air here in Meager Valley. Intoxicating, almost. The wind that blows on our backs, coming from the abandoned town, carries more than wintry chill; it carries the echoed wills and ambitions of all of those that have ever passed through. Even the ranges that now surround us seem to be carrying us onward. Not like the sirens of Homer’s Odyssey. No. The mystery is not before us, it is already here. The air carries strange vibrations, undercurrents, unseen ribbons of influence. As if the souls that once lived in that ramshackle town followed us out and now inhabit these very peaks, and in blissful solitude sing out with strength and salve, smeared somewhat by distance and wind, but still ring true.

Yes.

We can make the journey.

Muck. - January 2010 BRR Mixtape Brigade

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=72VMI4MV

The composition, intent, and, ultimately, late arrival of this month's mixtape is as timely and complex as it is ironic.

Muck. is the soundtrack to your already-failed new years resolutions.

It's my bitter antagonistic view towards the universal folly that the new year is some kind of clear distinction, clean break, and threshold to a new and better lifestyle; as if all the dumb decisions, laziness, and failed ambitions of the past year have vanished. *POOF* Gone! It's a new year. A new decade, even! Make it a good one! yay! :=)

Nuts to that. New Years resolutions are lame. They are initiated by the weak-willed. Muck. is intentionally dense, grimy and forty-frikkin-fathoms to keep you from making shallow benchmarks and convincing yourself that you can "make it through this tough time." Hey, you know what, Nancy? Quit whining. It's all hard, all the time. So, buck up, utilize time more effectively and, above all, realize that you've got an entire year - nay- an entire lifetime to make sense of it all, and not just when advertisers say so.

Indeed, Muck. is here to help you develop your sea-legs, to be able to roll with this crazy and exciting thing called life. It's not always pretty, but, hot diggitydog it's a slammin' good time - and I wouldn't want it any other way.

"Hey, where do these stairs go?"
"They go up."

Nukes and Good News - December '09 BRR Mixtape Brigade

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=M7ZI696I

"Still the calm continued...

We ate dinner, a hurried and anxious meal for me with eighteen men abroad on the sea and beyond the bulge of the earth and with that heaven-rolling mountain range of clouds moving slowly down upon us.

Wolf Larson did not seem affected, however... His face was stern, the lines of it had grown hard, and yet in his eyes, - blue, clear blue this day, - there was a strange brilliancy, a bright scintillating light. It struck me that he was glad there was an impending struggle; that he was thrilled and upborne with knowledge that one of the great moments of living, when the tide of life surges up in flood, was upon him...

He was daring destiny, and he was unafraid."

- Jack London

Sufficient for our Needs - November '09 BRR Mixtape Brigade

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=783MWZM0

HAIL! Fellow denizens, the time for scraping, drudgery and grinding our weary bones has come to an end! We know not from whence this parcel has come, but gratefully engage in it's nourishing properties. Indeed! Spacious, capable and fully amplified sonic soundscapes that are sure to wax strong in even the most timid of persons. This winter will be formidable, that much is certain. We are but a simple people, and need only the modest of sustenance. We are now armed with the necessities and power to overcome all adversity. PRAISE BE!

Sauntering About - Oct 09 BRR Mixtape Brigade

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=3OSACWVA

October is my favorite month ever. EVAR!

This is the time when the scourge of Cleveland summers begins to wane and the cool breath of God flows down from the Great White North. This is the onset of the harvest; when the fruits of labors are rewarded. This is the season of Fall Festivals, hoodies, hay rides, antique fairs, skyscapes. The scent of autumn is pronounced, exciting and far surpasses the shallow whiffs that spring can only manage to blow about.

This is peak foliage season, folks. This is when earth colors are both vibrant and muted. Light takes on a different attitude. The chilly morning air now has that certain bite that only occurs during the days of October. Indeed, mornings in general are palpable, divine, sober.

Combine these feelings of contentment with the nip in the air, the theater of deciduous forests and wandering paths within, and these twelve rustic tunes and you will only kind of glimpse how enriching I find this time of year. Dig it.

These Guys - Sept 09 Monthly Mixtape Brigade

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=0L3OKT0X

Perhaps it's a pang of guilt? Perhaps that ain't hunger gnawin atchoo belly. If you succeed at failing are you a success or a failure? STOP! Who stole my lighter!? It's the one with a grizzly bear catching a trout. That's it, everybody uses their own lighters from here on out. No, Harold is fine, I'm not using barbed wire this time. No, really! I must be going soft in my old age. Gangly, gnarled, salty. Maggots will clean the wound. Remember that part in Fantastic Planet? When they...Ugh, Just why are flashlights black, that never made sense to me. This is taking too long... oh wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait... yeah, this is taking too long... oh wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, w -w-w -w-w -w-w-w-w-w---w-w -w-w-w -w- w-w-www.icanhascheezburger. That's it, I'm calling Gregg. Why? Because. Because Why? He's upstream and doesn't like the shenanigans. Did you just say "pods of grilled bananas?"

Badass Boss Battles - Aug '09 BRR Monthly Mix Brigade

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VBZ4A02Y

The idea for this mix came suddenly. Here I was polishing off what was originally intended to be August’s mix, and then – BAM! It was an itch that wouldn’t subside until I indulged in scratching it. When promptings are this strong and this sudden you run with it!

“Badass Boss Battles” is the soundtrack to the hypothetical METROID: The Movie – the greatest movie never created. Oh yes!! I’ve ALWAYS - always always always - thought that the Metroid series would prove to be a solid foundation for a slammin movie. And thanks to modern advancements in cinematic production the feasaability for a movie this huge and this awesome is now all too real. Think about it:

- A foxy protagonist who is like a cross between Laura Croft and Lt. Ripley. Indeed! An interstellar amazon warrior woman sealed within a wicked cool space suit fitted with all the fixins to capture her bounty.

- Flying neon energy-sucking parasites that, once they’ve latched on, only get angrier and more vicious the more you struggle to shake them loose;

- Teams of technologically advanced space pirates who are addicted to a rare radioactive mineral and will do anything necessary to obtain it;

- Huge, ominous caverns, lit by winged luminescent octopods, that undoubtedly house little alcoves and nooks in where powerups are attained;

- Ruins of an extinct noble alien civilization situated in a snowy canyon under a sapphire sky

- Haunted spaceships, eons after crash landing, that are home to indigenous creatures and flora both beautiful and deadly…

Basically, the game has an overall perfect melding of futuristic technology, extraterrestrial geography, and alien biology. Put in the right hands, the cinematic production of these locations and characters would catch the attention of anybody with a set of eyeballs and even a rudimentary understanding of what makes stuff awesome.

But, to get to the main point: I adore the musical element in all of the Metorid titles. They convey space and atmosphere in each of the massive levels like the ones described above – Hence, the overall goal of this mix.

It’s critical to acknowledge that Metroid is not just a shoot-‘em-up-with-everything-you’ve-got type of game; There are rarely waves upon waves of cracked out aliens fuming to get at you. NAY! 75% of the game is spent EXPLORING! And through it all, the music is appropriately composed and non-intrusive. These locations are included in this months mix.

On the flip side: I’ve played other games with a constant trancey/techno soundtrack and after a while it just sounds repetitive; totally ineffective when the time calls for a hard, driving beat… Like during a Badass Boss Battle!

The bosses in Metroid are awesome! They come in all shapes and sizes. From a single massive spherical entity with pustules that birth tentacles intended to whip around and knock you off into the pool of acidic excrement, to the mother of all mother brains who will eventually morph into a slobbering 50 ft. steel skeletal figure. I love the initial panic that’s felt when the boss battle begins because chances are you’re not exactly sure how to take this monstrosity down; what is it’s head and what is it’s rear end? What are these swooping flashing neon rings spewing out of that one orifice on it’s… I guess it’s abdomen??? Why are my super-missles completely ineffective?!!? AND IS THERE SERIOUSLY NO WAY OUT OF THE BATTLE ARENA?! Ah, well then… It’s time to jump in headfirst! Indeed. And during it all, a pulsating 140BPM track is much needed to enhance the experience of fighting a Badass Boss Battle. These tracks are also included in this month’s mix.

So, to bring this back around to the legitimacy of becoming a movie… Taking all of this into consideration how awesome would this be in a fully equipped cinematic environment? Yeah, that’s what I thought. To deny the movie’s plausible awesomeness is to deny the very existence of the universe itself.

The tracks in this month’s mix CD would be mixed in surround, with more a little more emphasis on volume in the side and rear speakers. A cinematic production can get as CGI-intensive and 3D as it frikkin wants, but it is bupkis – BUPKIS! B-U-P-K-I-S- without surround sound.

But, until then (if ever) trip to these tracks and create your own Metroid experience.

As Above So Below - July '09 BRR Mixtape Brigade

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CIAX6GBV

“As Above So Below” originates from an ancient school of philosophical thought and refers to the observation that nature – reality – mimics itself on every scale imaginable. I include “imaginable” because: though science can compute, deduce and evaluate, it takes some good old fashioned humanoid wonderment to even get to the point of scientific discovery and concrete understanding. We have limited perspective, yes, but imagination and inspiration transcends all. All it takes is an abstract idea - to have the power to ask, "What if..." and work upwards from there.

Neal A. Maxwell: “Appreciative affirmation of the central realities is the mark of the astute, while tardy acknowledgment is the response of the naïve, the proud, or the wicked… With a sense of perspective comes a sense of proportion about life. Proportion would help us with our priorities.”

A mix CD is an offering by its creator. Sometimes the motives are more involved. Other times it's just a simple way of saying, Hey, I think these songs are super-sweet, I shall share them with you! With July's mix... well, I guess it's the both of these. I hope that its vibe and majestic grandeur will open channels of imagination and inspire you to some conclusion in life; to bring things into perspective; to feel the joy of riding these musical updrafts. Likewise, I also think that these tracks are absolutely stunning...

I shall share them with you!

When the Crazies Come Out - June '09 BRR Mixtape Brigade

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=LFYIUYCK

Hello, Children. It's been a while.

I'm going to post June's BRR mixtape a couple of days early for two reasons: One of them being that we haven't been able to leech a decent wireless signal from our place in several weeks Now we actually have to leave the comforts of our home to use the internet. *gasp* I know, right?!? Bummer. No complaints, though... I think.

The other reason is that this summer is looking to be exponentially more busy than I was initially hoping for while doubled over at the finish line of this past spring semester. These next three months are going to make or break me. I've been given the rope; do I climb or hang myself? That's the fun of it all. No complaints, though... I think.

So, yeah, that's why the mix is up a couple days early and why posts might be sparse for a while. I've got a couple topics swirling around in my head that may eventually get posted. One of them will be titled "Why I am the greatest driver in the world." Ho, baby, it's gonna be a good one.

- Anyways -

"When the Crazies Come Out" is actually a thought that came to mind when the weather started warming up. Now everyone in our residential "community" is outside at crazy hours of the night yelling at each other from across the parking lot. They're outside with their cheap grills charring everything that they slap on and stink the area up to high heaven. The watering hole at the end of the street has opened up their patio section and now everybody hangs out there and gets all polluted and belligerent, hooting and hollering with zero disregard to the dozens of residential units that surrounds them. This is the time of the year when losers will cruise around in their Monte Carlos and Honda Civics with their subwoofers rumbling away (another topic that's soon to come) at, again, crazy hours of the night. And don't even get me started on the single Harley Davidson that thinks our street is a drag strip and comes rip roaring down at, once again, crazy hours of the night.

Yessir. Summer is upon us, and the Crazies have indeed come out, adding just enough sweet & sour to the expierence. This mix was created in the spirit of such personification - Perhaps slightly exaggerated but still... These songs have just the right amount of sideways awkwardness, bloated discomfort and immature unconventionality. But in the end, like summer, it was all a slammin' good time.

Struttn - May '09 BRR Mixtape Brigade

Songs with stride. Songs that are on their way somewhere. Songs that sound like spiffy British guys in derby hats, carrying collapsed umbrellas struttn their stuff down Brandenburryshiressex lane.

Dig it.

kthxbye

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=EN4GS6KL

This is a mix I put together to help me rhino-charge through the last remaining days of one of the most soul sucking semesters ever - these last 4 or 5 weeks especially. Add in a couple of recent 12-hour work days and I'm sure as shinola gonna need the crutch of some slammin' tunes to keep me up and balanced enough to finish the 2148-8#*8098 projects that are due in five minutes. Hence, this mix.