fzzy recollections

FZZY PMPR came about after I bought a used desktop PC that was curated by ECC's Mark Gunderson.

He loaded it up with the entire internet circa 1996 with every game, oddity and software package ever, along with some ECC ephemera. I eventually started experimenting with audio editing programs like Cool Edit and the like, trying to do "cut ups" of my own, which were just failed sound experiments really. Eventually I crafted an album of sample-based material, which was the Samarkand album "Continua". Eventually the megalomania took focus and a la Evolution Control Committee, Samarkand became FZZY PMPR which had as its members, what, DJ Arse and others, I think?

Megalomania gave way to regular mania and today it's not even a memory! That's the way Huntington's Disease works, I start off with this bossy, overpowering and seductive uhh drive to just point out every single thing in the universe which gradually cools until it's like it never even happened & I'm just this regular maniac instead of a megalo one. Uhh. Right.

Sound quality and posterity were not our strong suits.. none of the FZZY "masters" are available at the moment. The last time I tried to upload to Bandcamp it didn't accept the files, so for now...............................

They're DEEP in storage, put it that way. A lot of files might still reside on the old PCs which are in storage...

and a friend's sample remix project provided many early tools and samples, that was keith hanlon's zapruder red project, which was a CD loaded with software and samples galore......

I borrowed that working method for the FZZY PMPR "crzytrn" Remix album.

During that time I also did some remixes and cover versions, including "Bump Clap" for Daniel's album........ I haven't heard it in a long time but I think the drum beat.. I can't recall off hand. It might've been from MJB's drumming, maybe.

There was another album, called "cntry xms" which featured some samples & loops from the cheesiest music software I ever heard, reassembled in the wrong order and I think it's some people's favorite now! Hah!

FZZY will be back eventually, I mean it's just a matter of time, literally me sitting down with the software. Who knows, it might come back mashed up itself with another of my (long-dormant) projects.

Comments

Unknown Samarkand track circa 1999-2000

Judging by the drum & bass loop I'd say this recording predates any PC multitracking attempts. I was definitely in the zone with the guitar, though. It sounds like an old Cure riff that was abandoned at birth. Maybe it was, who knows. Ian C Stewart - 1999-2000 Unknown Samarkand Track MP3 The other side of the cassette is labeled CLUB AUTO NARRATION SOURCE. My Tokai and BC Rich guitars, circa summer 1987. Posed seductively on my bedroom floor.... in the basement.... Speaking of basements, anyone who came over to my house to jam from 1989 onwards would've had this low-hanging ceiling light to contend with. By contend with I mean leave skin and hair cells upon. The number of times I and everyone else smashed our heads on that thing was quite funny, thinking back.

THESE CHORDS ARE LIKE FAMILY TO ME

Ian C Stewart "These Chords are like Family to Me" MP3 From the 2003 made-to-be-made-not-made-to-be-heard album I Don't Know Why You Think I Won't Kill You .... this is the last song. This was the beginning of my dabbling with intentional randomness in songwriting. The lyrics for the whole album were compiled from albums by other artists that I enjoyed a lot, such as Adrian Belew's Twang Bar King , The Cure's Pornography , Voivod Nothingface , Mercyful Fate Melissa etc. I wrote out entire lines of their phrases and chopped them together. I think at the time I described it as 'sad psychedelic love songs about satan' overall, which is really being too generous. The music was also randomly chosen from tablature found on t'interwebs for favorite songs of mine. In general I played the chords in reverse order to the original songs but I can still kind of tell in a couple of places what the songs were. The titles were my own, obviously. Although I did cho...

EXGIRLFRIEND

SAMARKAND FRENZY WEEK, DAY THREE Samarkand "Exgirlfriend" MP3 This song is from the limited release cassette Sensitive , which was issued in a handpainted edition of 10 in January 1993. Naturally. Sensitive was 60 minutes of almost entirely brand new material, only one or two songs were recycled. It was recorded during what I thought would be my winter break from Berklee in 1992. Of course that turned out to be my permanent break from Berklee in 1992 since the cash had completely run out for my tuition. All the songs were recorded on a borrowed 4-track, possibly Ray's Porta 05. I also had my uncle's massive Carvin PA, Sennheiser mics & Ludwig drums in my basement. All of which feature prominently on this here release, along with the brand new Zoom 9002 effects. Which was an amazing combination at the time, I really felt like the boundaries were down on the equipment end of things for the first time. "Exgirlfriend" is a riff recycled from Domestik Quarrel...

Ian C Stewart Archive of Sound

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