Esotronika is an artist whose ears are informed by the sound of the Rising Sun, whose elegiac ruminations are predicated on a lament for youthful ideals amidst a transmogrified, post-industrial reality. His introspective esotronic works occupy space as a singular entity, juxtaposing a tensile sobriety with the gravitas of the age – all set against the backdrop of an uncaring Universe.
Audio samples were taken from a cassette tape recorded long ago on the road with the US Navy Band UNITAS, somewhere in South America, processed using radiaL and Traktor. Soundscape recycles one of Directive 14s fortnightly radio shows along with trendy beats. This is a test of different video production software but the rest is the same: a Traktor mix with video generated by my Vizzie software. Music is by Zen Tyrants, aka myself and djandyredrum. Produced at the cold Lumberjack Research Shack in December, 2013.
Whilst laid up after yet another intestinal surgery, I discovered the therapeutic healing properties of Dan Senn's huffabirds. Video created (after Senn) using Max Vizzie modules; the techno mix was a real hodge-podge of disparate elements, but I started with a live Traktor mix and added a few other layers of electronic sound. Produced at Murder Hospital, Malone, NY.
Esotronika remix of dj andyredrum vis a vis Fnoob Techno Radio vis a vis Directive 14, produced at the Lumberjack Research Shanty, October, 2013. Videography by Esotronika and Ash Mae.
Remix of Depeche Mode's "Higher Love" vs. Pan Pot's "Gravity", produced at the Lumberjack Research Shanty, June, 2013. Videography of Chateaugay Lake, Paul Smith VIC and Saranac Lake and sound production by Esotronika.
Crackers of Mutilation from their upcoming album "Baphomet Glam." Drum n bass mashup in Golden Ratio Secret Anunnaki Style, dedicated to the two fellows who threw me under the bus this evening. As usual, I don't know the names of anything although Jim Morrison is in there. I created the artwork of Jim Morrison a few years ago, using MAX/MSP/Jitter, and the music was produced using Traktor and Reason.
Valkyrie Parabolic, part 3 of a dance suite in three parts by the Zen Tyrants in Rabid Viking Proggy Remission and the Trans-Babylon Tech Style. The music was taken from dj andyredrum's debut episode of "Directive 14" on Fnoob.com "Live Techno Radio" http://fnoob.com/radios/fnoob-techno-radio , remanipulated in Traktor, then remixed/remastered in Propellerhead Reason. Video was produced using TaterViz video manipulation software created using Vizzie modules in MAX/MSP/Jitter. Original video was shot on location at Chateaugay Lake, Brainardsville, and Ellenburg Hill, NY, Sept., 2013. Ice sculptures and photography by Tom Holmes, tomholmes.com
An imaginary view of North Country techno, through a dark neo-Dadaistic lens. Conceived at the Owlyout. Sound and Vision by Esotronika, produced at the Lumberjack Research Shanty, July, 2013 in Max/MSP/Jitter and Traktor.
Yo an' NOW, ah SAID, let me show in uh figure how far our nature iz enlightened or unenlightened:
BEHOLD! HUMAN BEINGS living in an underground den, which has uh mouf open toward da light an' reaching all along da den; here dey gots been from they childhood, an' gots they legs an' necks chained so dat dey cannot move, an' can only see 'bfoe dem, being prevented by da chains from turning round they heads.
Above an' behind dem uh fire iz blazing at uh distance, an' between da fire an' da prisoners dere be uh raised way; an' you will see, if you peep, uh low wall built along da way, like da screen which marionette–players gots in front o' dem, ova which dey show da puppets!
Yo ah see.
an' DO YOU SEE, ah said, niggas passing along da wall carrying all sorts o' vessels, an' statues an' figures o' animals made o' wood an' stone an' various materials, which appear ova da wall?
Some o' dem is jivin', others silent.
YOU gots SHOWN ME uh strange image, an' dey is strange prisoners.
LIKE OURSELVES, ah replied; an' dey see only they own shadows, or da shadows o' one another, which da fire throws on da opposite wall o' da cave?
TRUE, HE SAID; how could dey see anythin` but da shadows if dey wuz never allowed ta move they heads?
an' o' da OBJECTS which is being carried in like manner dey would only see da shadows?
yeea , he said.
an' IF dey wuz ABLE ta converse wif one another, would dey not suppose dat dey wuz naming what wuz actually 'bfoe dem?
VERY true.
an' SUPPOSE FURTHER dat da prison had an echo which came from da other side, would dey not be sho ta fancy when one o' da passers–by spoke dat da voice which dey heard came from da passing shadow?
nahh queshun, he replied.
ta dem, ah said, da truf would be literally nuttin' but da shadows o' da images.
dat iz certain.
an' NOW peep ag'in, an' see what will naturally follow if da prisoners is released an' disabused o' they error.
At first, when any o' dem iz liberated an' compelled suddenly ta stand up an' turn his neck round an' walk an' peep toward da light, he will suffer sharp pains; da glare will distress him, an' he will be unable ta see da realities o' which in his former state he had seen da shadows; an' then conceive someone sayin` ta him, dat what he seen 'bfoe wuz an illusion, but dat now, when he iz approaching nearer ta being an' his eye iz turned toward mo' real existence, he has uh clearer vision – what will be his reply?
an' you may further imagine dat his instructor iz pointing ta da objects as dey pass an' requiring him ta name dem – will he not be perplexed?
Will he not fancy dat da shadows which he formerly seen is truer than da objects which is now shown ta him?
FAR truer.
an' IF HE iz COMPELLED ta peep straight at da light, will he not gots uh pain in his peeps which will make him turn away ta take refuge in da objects o' vision which he can see, an' which he will conceive ta be in reality clearer than da things which is now being shown ta him?
TRUE, he said.
an' SUPPOSE ONCE mo', dat he iz reluctantly dragged up uh steep an' rugged ascent, an' held fast until he iz forced into da presence o' da sun himself, iz he not likely ta be pained an' irritated?
hen he approaches da light his peeps will be dazzled, an' he will not be able ta see anythin` at all o' what is now called realities.
NOT ALL in uh moment, he said.
HE WILL REQUIRE ta grow accustomed ta da sight o' da upper world.
an' first he will see da shadows bomb, next da reflections o' niggas an' other objects in da water, an' then da objects themselves; then he will gaze upon da light o' da moon an' da stars an' da spangled heaven; an' he will see da sky an' da stars by night bettah than da sun or da light o' da sun by day?
Certainly.
LAST o' ALL he will be able ta see da sun, an' not mere reflections o' him in da water, but he will see him in his own proper place, an' not in another; an' he will contemplate him as he iz.
Certainly.
HE WILL THEN PROCEED ta argue dat dis here iz he who gives da season an' da years, an' iz da guardian o' all dat iz in da visible world, an' in uh certain way da cause o' all things which he an' his fellows gots been accustomed ta behold?
CLEARLY, he said, he would first see da sun an' then reason 'bout him.
an' WHEN HE REMEMBERED his old habitation, an' da wisdom o' da den an' his fellow–prisoners, do you not suppose dat he would felicitate himself on da change, an' pity dem?
CERTAINLY, he would.
an' IF dey wuz IN da HABIT o' conferring honors among themselves on those who wuz quickest ta observe da passing shadows an' ta remark which o' dem go 'bfoe, an' which followed afta, an' which wuz together; an' who wuz therefore bomb able ta draw conclusions as ta da future, do you think dat he would care fo' such honors an' glories, or envy da possessors o' dem?
Would he not say wif Homer, "bettah ta be da poor servant o' uh poor master," an' ta endure anythin`, than think as dey do an' live afta they manner?
yeea , HE SAID, ah think dat he would suffer anythin` than entertain deez false notions
an' live in dis here miserable manner.
IMAGINE ONCE mo', ah said, such uh one coming suddenly out o' da sun ta be replaced in his old shit; would he not be certain ta gots his peeps full o' darkness?
ta BE sho, he said.
an' IF dere wuz uh CONTEST, an' he had ta compete in measuring da shadows wif da prisoners who had never moved out o' da den, while his sight wuz still weak, an' 'bfoe his peeps had become steady (an' da tyme which would be needed ta acquire dis here new habit o' sight might be very considerable), would he not be ridiculous?
niggas would say o' him dat up he go an' down he came without his peeps; an' dat it wuz bettah not even ta think o' ascending; an' if anyone tried ta loose another an' lead him up ta da light, let dem only catch da offender, an' dey would put him ta deaf.
nahh queshun, he said.
dis here ENTIRE ALLEGORY, ah said, you may now append, dear Glaucon, ta da previous argument; da prison–crib iz da world o' sight, da light o' da fire iz da sun, an' you will not misapprehend me if you interpret da journey upward ta be da ascent o' da soul into da intellectual world according ta muh motha fuckin poor belief, which, at yo' desire, ah gots expressed – whether rightly or wrongly, God knows.
But, whether true or false, muh motha fuckin opinion iz dat in da world o' knowledge da idea o' pimp-tight appears last o' all, an' iz seen only wif an effort; an', when seen, iz also inferred ta be da universal author o' all things fine an' right, parent o' light an' o' da lord o' light in dis here visible world, an' da immediate source o' reason an' truf in da intellectual; an' dat dis here iz da power upon which he who would act rationally either in public or private life mus' gots his eye fixed.
ah AGREE, he said, as far as ah be able ta dig' you.
MOREOVER, ah SAID, you mus' not wonder dat those who attain ta dis here beatific vision is unwilling ta descend ta human affairs; fo' they souls is ever hastening into da upper world where dey desire ta dwell; which desire o' theirs iz very natural, if our allegory may be trusted.
yeea , very natural.
an' iz dere ANYTHin` SURPRISING in one who passes from divine contemplations ta da evil state o' nigga, misbehaving himself in uh ridiculous manner; if, while his peeps is blinking an' 'bfoe he has become accustomed ta da surrounding darkness, he iz compelled ta fight in courts o' law, or in other places, bout the images or da shadows o' images o' justice, an' iz endeavoring ta meet da conceptions o' those who gots never yet seen absolute justice?
ANYTHin` but surprising, he replied.
ANYONE WHO HAS COMMON–SENSE will remember dat da bewilderments o' da peeps is o' two kinds, an' arise from two causes, either from coming out o' da light or from going into da light, which iz true o' da mind’s eye, quite as much as o' da bodily eye; an' he who remembers dis here when he sees anyone whose vision iz perplexed an' weak, will not be too ready ta laugh; he will first ax whether dat soul o' nigga has come out o' da brighter life, an' iz unable ta see cuz unaccustomed ta da dark, or havin` turned from darkness ta da day iz dazzled by excess o' light.
an' he will count da one happy in his condition an' state o' being, an' he will pity da other; or, if he gots uh mind ta laugh at da soul which comes from below into da light, dere will be mo' reason in dis here than in da laugh which greets him who returns from above out o' da light into da den.
dat, he said, be uh very just distinction don't make me shank ya!
