@joelmchale joel, I am friends with one of the folks who put that auction together and dude, your stock just went up in this house. – 05:38 PM GMT
@poupou @ratchikndogmous pink! – 05:39 PM GMT
@elizarde @BitterOldPunk eeeeyagh. best wishes to all. – 05:47 PM GMT
@arthurwyatt @LeavittAlone @JoeTheDough crystal skullf.. erm – 05:58 PM GMT

(Archival post, dumped here to save it from the MFT migration. originally posted there circa 2008.)

As I was going through tapes to digitize, I was quite surprised to discover a long-forgotten direct-to-four-track recording which Dan Willems kindly executed for us sometime in 1990.

The flipside of the tape is a live performance by Hoedown Syndrome, and it’s really great – the crowd sounds as if Andrew had tilted their collective heads back and dumped handfuls of amphetamines in. Dan is looking for his copy of this and with luck it will make an appearance from his more-sensitive hands, but worst comes to worst I did grab it when I ripped this tape.

Vortex was a very short lived project that I put together after the demise of Modock in Fall 1989. I was verrry busy finishing school, working full-time and attending school full-time from September 1989 until I left Bloomington in August 1990.

I don’t recall exactly how I roped everyone in to the project (although I expect that Steve Bouton will have a clearer recollection). I do remember that the idea really started between Steve and I, as in conversation we realized that I had enough gear in the basement of the house I was living in to toss people at it and see what came out. Steve remarked that he knew how to run a guitar, and we were off. I asked my good pal and former Litter Box roomie Mike Goss to sing; I really had to sell him on the idea as he felt very strongly that he had no sense of rhythm or melody, objections I idealistically waved away in the spirit of anybody-can-do-it. Here’s a chord, here’s another: now form a band!

Tim Hommey, I learned somehow (I know he’s on facebook! I must point him over here!), was a pretty good drummer, and somehow a kit was procured. I don’t recall if it was Tim’s or someone else’s.

I should note here that until the photo of our lone gig embedded at the top of this entry surfaced, thanks to Angela Everson, I had forgotten that Tim drummed for us, as well as the existence of this tape.

As I recall, we pretty much just sketched the songs, and I gave Mike a few basic ideas for the lyrics and said, “make shit up.” I was sooo busy that I have little recollection of practice and strangely for me I don’t remember having a specific aesthetic goal or set of practices I was interested in accomplishing with the project. The bass I had at the time, a cheap-ass early sixties violin-body Hofner copy had flatwound strings and the combination of those weird factors meant that the instrument produced these intense overtones, and I wanted to use that in the construction of the songs. Steve suggested he could play along against the surface of this overdriven sound front that was coming out the bass amp and we could go from there.

Dan had recorded Modock earlier using a sketchy direct-to-four-track method that involved closemiking the amps and drums to one track each with no attempt at audio isolation. I remember him kind of crouched behind some storage boxes or something to isolate his headphones as he mixed it down to the tape while we played.

It seems to me that what Vortex did was pretty much just dump the set into the mikes. I was in a big hurry to do everything back then and you can hear me pushing us on to the next song between takes. I doubt we did multiple takes of anything, especially given the feedback howls at the end of the last song – I think we were just running out the tape.

At the time, I remember being really frustrated and disappointed with the sound we ended up with, not so much on the tape, but in general. If I had taken a few minutes to think about it at the time, I would have realized that what was aggravating me was how much of a hurry I was in. Listening to this again with really fresh ears (having forgotten it existed), it’s not nearly as terrible as I recalled it being. If there had been more time, or I hadn’t known I was leaving town, it sounds to me as if the influences of the Fall, ATV, Wire, James White, and other early-postpunk noise-and-rhythm specialists I hear on this today would have borne a more seasoned fruit. Mike’s offbeat sense of time actually sounds cool to me today but at the time I was frustrated with it. I suppose that’s an inherent problem with a bassists’ point of view.

@arthurwyatt it’s so weird, as if Victorian news bulletins were somehow time traveling – 12:26 AM GMT
@sculpin pricetag? – 12:27 AM GMT
@sculpin mmmph, at that price I shan’t be brewing beer in them – 03:10 AM GMT
@mubay nice! vague recollection of the story; specific recollection of the tactic but from WW1 sims vs. rotaries (Camel, DR1, others). – 03:17 AM GMT
@hell0jed current (not mine) project: desura.com/games/bomb – 03:20 AM GMT
@hell0jed abandonia zep line sim: abandonia.com/en/games/612/Z… – 03:22 AM GMT
@hell0jed there’s others. DoA III had a fully-functionial multiposition crewed combat zep sim as an a/c option. 1-player piloting. – 03:23 AM GMT
@hell0jed they never implemented the cabin interior art, which was a drag, and there were other inaccuracies besides 1 man in control cabin – 03:24 AM GMT
@hell0jed but you were flying a damn zeppelin. – 03:24 AM GMT
@hell0jed your pardon, DoA II, not III. mike.whybark.com/archives/00183… – 03:26 AM GMT
@arthurwyatt @hell0jed Crimson Skies. The Bomb crew look to it as an inspiration. – 03:34 AM GMT
@arthurwyatt @hell0jed i think. that is. which is to say my assertion might be incorrect. – 03:34 AM GMT
@arthurwyatt @hell0jed DoA II was the most-immersed in any game I have ever been, hours and hours every night. Zeps present as robos too. – 03:36 AM GMT
@arthurwyatt @hell0jed so if you got tired of the dirtnap racetrack you could go whale hunting. – 03:37 AM GMT
@arthurwyatt @hell0jed at some point during this era, Goodyear sent one of the blimps here for Seafair or something. So for several days … – 03:37 AM GMT
@arthurwyatt @hell0jed … you would randomly look up wondering what that humming sound was to see an LTA at 1500 feet. – 03:38 AM GMT
@arthurwyatt @hell0jed all week I was constantly in my head climbing, climbing, climbing until range was acheived – 03:39 AM GMT
Search warrant in Greenwood shooting phinneywood.com/2014/02/28/kin… – 03:48 AM GMT
@BoringPostcards ich bin lieben das ist nicht, uh huh – 05:09 AM GMT
Gosh, so far I don’t remember *any* of these S07 TNG episodes. It’s like getting a whole new season! So far it’s pretty good. – 05:12 AM GMT
@BoringPostcards youtube.com/watch?v=Qtrmeo… – 05:21 AM GMT
UNC, I am dissapoint. (The whistleblower goes to church with my folks.) businessweek.com/articles/2014-… – 05:59 PM GMT
@cstross my lizardbrain actually woke me up at 4am to run news updates by my eyeballs, so yes, apparently i have – 07:08 PM GMT
RT: @handsomefamily: The story behind “Weightless Again” or at least some of it:awkwordpapercut.com/the-handsome-f… – 07:09 PM GMT
@PicPedant ha ha, “fedora tier,” excellent – 07:15 PM GMT
@zipties they mention Texas. The story is more about how the university has treated the whistleblower, & if titles are in jeopardy (prob). – 07:31 PM GMT
@zipties also notes athletes are entering college with less literacy than 20 years ago. Implicates federal education policy. – 07:35 PM GMT
@zipties absolutely. hm, just who is it we associate with that federal education policy? 😉 – 07:36 PM GMT
@SaraAstruc @BerthaDigsSR99 are you kidding? i lost it back around the fourth monorail vote, never got it back – 07:40 PM GMT
@BitterOldPunk you can do it, man. slap on some DOA and rock out. Joey Shithead’s there for ya. – 10:28 PM GMT
@BitterOldPunk true story: remember my old Black Flag / Nasa bomber jacket avatar here? Jacket has a full DOA logo back piece. – 10:31 PM GMT

ok, my tix in hand for Wind Rises @ cinerama, Sunday 12:30n – 12:05 AM GMT
@arthurwyatt @hell0jed seconded. i occasionally get audiofx from it in dreams. “skitter skitter” “they’re everywhere”. Have an iPad version! – 05:25 AM GMT
@matthetube or died: Jimi, Kurt, Janis. Then there’s a special case: Elvis. – 06:33 AM GMT
@hell0jed @arthurwyatt there are some modern engine ports too, haven’t played through them – 04:03 PM GMT
@surlygourmand m.youtube.com/watch?v=03VWAQ… – 06:02 PM GMT
RT: @lorenacupcake: rock-n-roll dudes are basically my little ponies who you can score weed from – 06:24 PM GMT
@arthurwyatt public internet-based recounting of cancer + begging for money, hm, why does that ring a bell – 07:17 PM GMT
@arthurwyatt well, that’s true of course. but my intended implication was rather more cynical, a remark made with no looking into deets. – 07:41 PM GMT
@mathowie they think, wasn’t that guy eaten by wolves? – 08:12 PM GMT

@arthurwyatt @phirephoenix I will happily build a non-Occam-compliant argument that Apple turning to shit is the result of NSA meddling. – 01:30 AM GMT
@arthurwyatt @phirephoenix WHO KILLED STEVE? – 01:30 AM GMT
@arthurwyatt @phirephoenix well, enough to provoke uncertainty and fear, as befits MY LORD ARIOCH – 01:33 AM GMT
TODAY is yet again MEAT PIE DAY pic.twitter.com/RqmWehG4vW – 01:36 AM GMT
@hell0jed digital currency investment sim, you have to pay $2.99 per powerup to keep from losing everything – 01:48 AM GMT
@arthurwyatt @hell0jed FLAPPYCOIN – 01:50 AM GMT
@arthurwyatt @hell0jed (candy crunchtime) – 01:51 AM GMT
@arthurwyatt @hell0jed i resign, art’s comedy powers have kilt me – 01:52 AM GMT
@hell0jed @arthurwyatt but that’s a recut of the indie office game! make it about the commute. or finding a roommate. say now. – 01:53 AM GMT
@gjcharlet woah – 01:54 AM GMT
@arthurwyatt @hell0jed you are candy crushing me sir – 01:55 AM GMT
@arthurwyatt @hell0jed $2.99 powerup = 15.49 hrs gameplay. – 01:56 AM GMT
PIE TIME pic.twitter.com/yO18vemRSs – 02:34 AM GMT
@arthurwyatt surely they know if they drop it the being inside will be unleashed – 02:41 AM GMT
TNG s7 e03 “Interface.” What a beautifully written and acted episode. Every word carries freight; so great. cc @levarburton – 03:56 AM GMT
RT (M-OS) @theseantcollins #TrueDetectiveSeason2 pic.twitter.com/jFac5fJmnx // cc @fantagraphics @xaimeh /// can we get a witness? – 04:03 AM GMT
viv has decided we are watching idol help what happening hlep – 04:14 AM GMT
PIE DAY RULES except for the crust manufactory and the cleanup – 04:30 AM GMT
TV ads are very weird – 04:32 AM GMT
I think the last time I watched commercial TV that had commercials it was the Superbowl. About what, a month? – 04:39 AM GMT
@paulconstant pic or – 04:44 AM GMT
@paulconstant awww. that’s not the quality of tweeting i would expect from the LRB. 😉 – 04:53 AM GMT
RT: @CarrotTopRecord: They’ve done it! #1 in Barbados!The Handsome Family Worldwide iTunes Performance 2014-02-26 “Far From Any Road”kworb.net/itunes/artist/… – 05:24 AM GMT
@dduane Asterix! – 05:35 AM GMT
@zipties @mason_bryant @sben most confusticating! fitbit implemented bad wireless sync drivers, damaging your mac mobo. but not. – 05:56 AM GMT
@zipties @mason_bryant @sben anyway: glad your axe works now. – 05:57 AM GMT
RT: @matthetube: If Kurt Cobain is an argument ~against~ taking drugs, isn’t Ted Nugent an argument FOR taking drugs? – 07:15 AM GMT
With regard to twitter.com/mwhybark/statu… and twitter.com/mwhybark/statu… – 07:46 AM GMT
Note tray “Books and …” in screenie #1, shown in full on screenie #2, “Books and Mags”. This has been a reminder to you that iOS7 is shit. – 07:52 AM GMT
@mubay cf twitter.com/mwhybark/statu… – 03:28 PM GMT
TAL / bostonmag collab on that dude the FBI shot after the Marathon bombings: bostonmagazine.com/news/article/2… – 03:36 PM GMT
OC crew culture at WDL. Great piece at OC Weekly. ocweekly.com/2014-02-27/new… – 09:21 PM GMT
Do not miss the slideshow of their colors. Fantastic. ocweekly.com/slideshow/disn… – 09:22 PM GMT
@poupou yum – 09:43 PM GMT
@poupou then you get his job? is it like a klingon ship? – 10:13 PM GMT
@poupou @manwhoyells FHC sez Cinerama tix good for entry prior to use as well, so we could start in Everett at 1 and then head down for 3:45 – 10:14 PM GMT
@surlygourmand kingabon! – 11:22 PM GMT

@manwhoyells could be, current content plan is every time I notice something tweet it. – 08:05 PM GMT
Wind Rises plan info: 12:30 showing on Sunday. Morning showings unavailable. movie is 2h long. FHC closes at 5. Barely doable. – 10:40 PM GMT
Meet at Cinerama, arrange rides on your own. Will drive, unknown seats available. – 10:41 PM GMT
attn @DanEngler @zipties @poupou @manwhoyells et al, see preceding – 10:42 PM GMT
@poupou THE FEET – 10:42 PM GMT

RT: @StarTrekDaily: Captain Jane Kirk & Her Enterprise Crew Return to Action bit.ly/1bGY3RT #StarTrekDaily – 01:18 AM GMT
@arthurwyatt (they let us skip carousel out here) – 01:20 AM GMT
RT: @mubay: . @manwhoyells @schmangee One does not simply walk into the suburbs. – 01:52 AM GMT
@DanEngler you are learning the spells – 01:56 AM GMT
RT: @andy_hurst: ME: If Seattle gets an @NHL team, what should they be named?@HeyMikeGuay: The Seattle Freeze! – 03:00 AM GMT
RT: @anildash: Corporate welfare $ paid to Boeing would fund over 75% of the entire Temporary Assistance for Needy Families budget: america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/… – 03:02 AM GMT
aw man, i stashed this Bitter American like nine months ago and it is NOT shelf stable. Dammit. – 03:07 AM GMT
@elfrankenstino what happened when the rabbi, the songwriter, and the buddhist walked into a bar? ouchlellujah! – 03:10 AM GMT
@jkonrath that would be SO GREAT – 03:10 AM GMT
@DanEngler didn’t peg you as a Damien Hirst fan – 03:13 AM GMT
@mubay naaaaw – 03:13 AM GMT
RT: @cortesi: So practice matches theory – I have fully transparent interception of all the things. And still no patch for OSX. – 03:31 AM GMT
@ardaniel facepalm – 03:31 AM GMT
KURTWOOD SMITH as THE FEDERATION PRESIDENT – 04:48 AM GMT
@DanEngler whereas a piggy – 04:48 AM GMT
@hell0jed i find never sleeping, never eating deals with that – 04:50 AM GMT
@manwhoyells HA! no that was a diversion, there’s another in the beer fridge. – 04:52 AM GMT
RT: @herasings: Taking things off walls, moving house for a while… Had this article hanging in the hallway instagram.com/p/k00aeXN3OT/ – 04:54 AM GMT
@surlygourmand pic.twitter.com/3RdwVdfxxk – 05:05 AM GMT
@surlygourmand pic.twitter.com/Yx70HXIlp1 – 05:05 AM GMT
@surlygourmand we can only surmise – 05:22 AM GMT
What all did Sulu get up to with the Excelsior, anyway? I would like to know. (@GeorgeTakei any info?) – 05:50 AM GMT
old pal in NYC tonight, me not. missing that thing where to an extent everyone is performing for everyone around them at all times. – 05:56 AM GMT
This fusion thing in the 3/3 NYer is great. newyorker.com/reporting/2014… – 07:34 AM GMT
“… no one I could find to ask where he was. I heard my footsteps echo down the long, sunlit corridors as I looked for him.” – 07:40 AM GMT
@tracicle indeed! they did! – 07:40 AM GMT
“design and the manufacture … have been split apart in ways that are politically expedient but are at odds with engineering prudence.” – 07:49 AM GMT
@deathmtn @metroidbaby (pssst… needs autoscroll toggle…) – 04:49 PM GMT

WTF? twitter.com/ShanaMlawski/s…attn @praguepainter – 01:57 AM GMT
.@DanEngler this puzzles those of us who know you, due to your not being an asshole. – 02:26 AM GMT
@DanEngler (@arthurwyatt) GREENWOOD DEATH ZONE – 06:35 AM GMT
@arthurwyatt @DanEngler TWO WINGS ENTER – 06:39 AM GMT
@arthurwyatt greenwood cries out for manbat to return from his long Himalayan exile – 06:44 AM GMT
@praguepainter yeesh – 07:37 AM GMT

@mcgee_gorgo @arthurwyatt (of course he is) – 03:03 AM GMT
@hell0jed yeah, move! – 03:04 AM GMT
RT: @SarahThyre: Dr. Peter Venkman, Gimli, & David @ Krewe of Chewbacchus instagram.com/p/kvN6bPPgSg/ – 03:06 AM GMT
@gjcharlet oh man, you’re makin my heart hurt. Pendletons reunion at Saturn Bar upcoming, can’t make it. 🙁 but, you know, keep it up. – 03:08 AM GMT
RT: @DaveSFoley: Can’t believe they’ve made an action movie about the Noah fable. What’s next? “Russell Crowe Is Paul Bunyan. One Man,One Ox, One Destiny.” – 03:14 AM GMT
i suppose that’s one way to force an upgrade. fuck you, Apple. – 03:22 AM GMT
“Admiral – I am receiving whalesong.” – 04:22 AM GMT
RT: @PicPedant: “Himalayas from space! Frozen Venice! Eclipse from orbit! Tornado and rainbow!” the robots blare at you, owners laughing atop piles of cash. – 04:55 AM GMT
@arthurwyatt @mcgee_gorgo well, i sure do. – 06:05 AM GMT
RT: @mathowie: In Orange County homosexuality occurs up to 2ft above the ground, so guys lift their trucks to avoid those feelings. pic.twitter.com/3RXtuEDBdV – 06:06 AM GMT
@madamjujujive woah, so great – 06:09 AM GMT
@arthurwyatt @mcgee_gorgo plus indie to the max and on and on. the appeal to me, middle aged white guy who hates Eminem, is obvious – 06:11 AM GMT
@arthurwyatt @mcgee_gorgo there is the Gladwell unpleasantness of course – 06:11 AM GMT
@arthurwyatt @mcgee_gorgo it is the finest song written on the topic of sake to date – 06:12 AM GMT
@arthurwyatt @mcgee_gorgo I mean they had their release party live on reddit. They are our actual people. – 06:13 AM GMT
@arthurwyatt @mcgee_gorgo younare havin a runb of tybos, i dig it – 06:13 AM GMT
@arthurwyatt @mcgee_gorgo soooo regretting not getting the photo-op with @wanz at Safeco last year – 06:15 AM GMT
@arthurwyatt @mcgee_gorgo but let me be clear: I LOVE that record, bought it, and have played it a great deal over the past 18 months. – 06:17 AM GMT
@arthurwyatt @mcgee_gorgo Gladwell unpleasantness excepted. – 06:17 AM GMT
@arthurwyatt @mcgee_gorgo legit basis for haterade, i get it. My take is they had no idea it would be that big, as with everything else – 06:18 AM GMT
RT: @arthurwyatt: @mwhybark @mcgee_gorgo Heather has to drive around the Dicks shoot to pick India up from something. – 06:19 AM GMT
er, fumblethumb RT there. Art’s awesome though, so, uh, find a tweet I meant to RT! Enjoy! – 06:20 AM GMT
@arthurwyatt with dubai in between and also beyond all at once – 06:26 AM GMT
@mubay wait i thot that was slated for memorial day – 06:12 PM GMT
.@zipties present since 6.0 – daringfireball.net/2014/02/apple_… – 09:20 PM GMT
@mubay oh! Fun! – 09:20 PM GMT
@manwhoyells @mubay for some reason i thought they were ww2 howitzers. Man, I bet DOT dudes fight for that gig. – 09:21 PM GMT
@zipties lol – 09:22 PM GMT
@manwhoyells @mubay I was close! Korean War recoilless rifles. snovalleystar.com/2011/03/30/sta… – 09:23 PM GMT

@wasta how do you drink a pizza? i like this kind of tech disruption! – 01:51 AM GMT
@LeavittAlone expect this to happen more and more for items under $10-15. – 06:34 AM GMT
@achewood cornelius gets a gold star – 06:39 AM GMT
Soo Catwoman’s website. soocatwoman.com – 07:07 PM GMT
on iOS @mcgee_gorgo if people I grew up with are siblings of different races then etc etc, so, yes – 11:57 PM GMT