Psychic Enemies Network Updates

Just updated the Psychic Enemies Network page to include a link to our song that was released by Oddeo Netwerx


Pen & Mallet · Page psychic enemies Posting as icastico All psychic enemies network releases are available (name your price) at bandcamp.

Empathy Circuit (Oddeo Netwerx) featuring Psychic Enemies Network

After a short 15 year break, Psychic Enemies Network has a new song available as part of the 2015 Oddeo Netwerx release Empathy Circuit. Available at your favorite on-line music source as single tracks, or as a continuous ambient mix. 

You can listen here. 

And here's a video from the album.

Fez Dispenser - Reduction

If you like this, you might also like boom dispenser

I Feel - psychic enemies network

My brother seems to have put up some videos...this is from the first psychic enemies network album. I always felt like these tracks were soundtrack music for movies no one had made yet. Matt seems to have made one that works nicely. 

Thanksgiving - giving music

 Happy Thanksgiving all. Just thought I would post the download links to all the music available here on Pen & Mallet. Not sure how many hours worth it ends up, but it would take ya all Thanksgiving day to listen to it, at least.

 ambient; experimental; noise; drone; improv; dream pop, warped, psych-folk, etc. 
ABOOMBONG: anaphora

ABOOMBONG: atrophic

ABOOMBONG: admixture

ABOOMBONG: amnemonic 
ABOOMBONG: asynchronic 
ABOOMBONG: aboombong 
ABOOMBONG (w/ dustdevil & crow): Taking Blue Mountain by Stages 
dustdevil & crow: accidental music

dustdevil & crow : .​.​.​and chuang tzu dreamed that he was me
dustdevil & crow: while speaking softly you can hear the insects sing 
Boom Dispenser: A Chronic Groove Feeder 
AZWARM: shelter 
AZWARM: a morning's work 
¡para!helion: Midaq Alley 
¡para!helion: 3 Miles From Mecca
¡para!helion: >3
¡para!helion: When Technology Fails
¡para!helion: Harpers Bizarre Film Festival
Icastico: The-ambient-Sundae bar 
Icastico: Étude for Six Mirrored Hands
Blotter: Once and Again - Minus Four - in Stereono 
Blotter: Sludge the Butcher
Blotter: Songs for Mommy
Psychic Enemies Network: Valis (with bonus tracks)
Psychic Enemies Network: P.E.N. (with bonus tracks)

Punk; No-wave; Post-punk, etc.
Waltz Bop Shop: All My Idears are Flawed in Sum Way + Quartet
Waltz Bop Shop: Name Dropping at Angela's and Melting
Waltz Bop Shop: All my idears are played live today
Waltz Bop Shop: A whisper in the airwaves
The Jonny Cats: Last- Ode to Sergio
The Johnny Cats: Burns Rubber 7"
Swayback: Outer Space Tonight
AOS: Rip It up! + live tracks
AOS: live and Raw in the Pit also (some cleaned-up live tracks)
DJJ: Throw it out there, not away

Shoegaze; Rock; etc.
Choke: Choke (e.p.)
Choke: Hard to Swallow
Choke: Gauze/Total Reverence
[redacted]: left blank 
Super Naam: two rough cuts

 Most of these links will allow you to download in FLAC, MP3 and Ogg Vorbis. Let me know if you have a request for a FLAC/WAV version of any of the other MP3 only files.

soothing sounds for baby

Back in September of last year, Marc Weidenbaum over at disquiet posted a sampler of ambient music put together by some of his friends from LuvSound in honor of his then newly arrived baby titled Soothing Sounds for Baby. The title, of course, was inspired by the classic work from the early 1960's by Raymond Scott. While I thoroughly enjoy both of these collections, I have found that they don't quite do the trick for my newly arrived baby. But with their inspiration, I have been searching for baby soothing sounds far and near. The search afar has come up with some sensuously soothing finds including Quiet Evenings, Bing Satellites, Darren Harper, and Meczûp. From the search nearer afield, I have put together a mix of some of the more soothing sounds from aboombong, psychic enemies network, and azwarm that entrances our little guy every time. I think the trick is rhythmic low tones and avoidance of abrupt transitions. If you have contributions to add to everyone's soothing sounds library, drop a note in the comments section here. In the mean time I thought I would share my mix with ya'll: A little trip back to the womb...enjoy.



Tracklist (about 90 minutes - wav, flac, ogg vorbis, mp3):
1) valis from valis by psychic enemies network
2) I feel from P.E.N. by psychic enemies network
3) Jiang Qing, Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan, & Wang Hongwen in Dahomey from amnemonic by aboombong (edit)
4) of so many from P.E.N. by psychic enemies network (edit)
5) gnomonic from valis by psychic enemies network (edit)
6) drag along behind from asynchronic by aboombong
7) come crumbling from valis by psychic enemies network
8) in its streets (aboombong remix) bonus track from P.E.N. by psychic enemies network
9) noon from amnemonic by aboombong
10) in this city from P.E.N. by psychic enemies network (edit)
11) Trinidad from a morning's work by azwarm

Psychic Enemies Network: a fez bong boom dispenser

It seems that about every 10 years, my brother and I get involved in a musical collaboration of some type. In the late 80's it was AOS. In the late 90's it was Psychic Enemies Network. Now, ten years later, we're just putting finishing touches on a new release (Fez Dispenser remixs aboombong; aboombong remixs Fez Dispenser) . As a teaser while we master the new album , we've decided to update the first Psychic Enemies Network release by offering it up for lossless download over at bandcamp with a couple of bonus cuts.

Psychic Enemies Network was, in many ways, the gate-way project for both aboombong and Fez Dispenser. Fez Dispenser grew out of the track "Bowl Cut" from Psychic Enemies' second release Valis, while the seeds of aboombong were planted, methinks, on a couple of tracks from the first album: "of so many" and "in its streets." For this re-release I've revisited "in its streets" by having aboombong do an extended remix of the track. Of course, you can still buy a physical CD of the original release if you want to party like it's 1999. Stayed tuned for the remix album and other goodies coming soon.

Artist: psychic enemies network
Album: P.E.N.
Style: ambient
Release: 1998
Players: my brother & me - guitar, electronics, tapes, loops, percussion
Available in a variety of formats from http://psychicenemiesnetwork.bandcamp.com/ (set your own price)

vast active living intelligent system

Cdbaby is a great company. They have done a lot to make it easier for artists to release their own material. As is apparent from their name, however, they are really about selling CD's. Their support for on-line, digital releases is pretty bare bones. Ever since we ran out of hard-copies of valis, it has bothered me that the only format available was mp3. I have decided to rectify that situation. As of today, valis is now available in a variety of lossless formats over at bandcamp.com...To entice you further, I have included some bonus material.

Ambient soundtracks for your portable cortical theatre. Enjoy.

Artist: psychic enemies network
Album: valis
Style: ambient
Release: 2000
Players: my brother & me - guitar, electronics, tapes, loops, percussion
Available in a variety of formats from http://psychicenemiesnetwork.bandcamp.com/ (set your own price)




This album is still, of course, available at CDbaby, on itunes, and through various other on-line sources.

Slow Mohicans in the Family

I am in the process of going through my many minidiscs in order to put together a collection of unreleased ambient and experimental tracks. It's not ready yet, so I am doing a quick detour today.

My brother has a new release out, Slow Mohicans, so I thought I would spread the word. If you have Rhapsody, you can preview it (if you don't, you can set up an account and listen for free).

The record is available on iTunes, on Rhapsody, at CD Baby, and at other fine outlets. More information and plenty more music is available at the Skin & Barrel website.

The CD Baby page allows you to hear 30 second snippets.

3 days til sunrise: ambientrance darkdub (p)re-mix

Today we have a (p)re-mix of the track "Sandfall" off of valis. Valis is the second release from a collaboration between my brother and I called psychic enemies network. The first release, P.E.N., came about as a result of my purchase of a vintage 128k MacIntosh with an ancient midi-sequencer program. The soundscapes on P.E.N. come mainly from pushing the limits of this set up. Many of the sounds on P.E.N., in fact, result from errors and glitches in the technology. For valis, on the other hand, most of the soundscapes are created from looping and layering live sound sources (environmental or instrumental) using a new toy (at the time), a mini-disc recorder. "3 days til Sunrise" was one of the more ambitious attempts to use the mini-disc to ping-pong tracks against a DAT player to layer live performances. By the time valis was done, this track ended up as part of the coda in "Sandfall," but I always liked the raw track, so I thought I would share it.

Sandfall: 3 days til sunrise (p)re-mix.
Style: darkdub rhythm drone
source: a room full of percussion, a Linn drum machine, and me with too much time on my hands.

(Was I listening to too much muslimgauze?..........nah).

Welcome...a head start

This blog is intended to share musical moments from my life.
While you wait for more substantive postings, feel free to get a head start by visiting cd.baby where you can buy/download a couple of albums that my brother and I recorded a few years ago: valis and P.E.N. (also available on iTunes, of course).

Update: You can preview both albums in full here.