Stipes & Patibulum

A collection of pre-Brutum Fulmen material, mostly recorded on a 4-track cassette deck under the name Stipes & Patibulum. The recordings span eleven years: 1987-1997.

Some material was originally released on the Stipes & Patibulum C45 Vestal for the long gone Sonic Deligts cassette label. Much has been digitally remastered, remixed, and partially re-recorded. This early retrospective includes found sound collages, improvised sound experiments, spoken word pieces, and other oddities and embarrassments.

Other tracks were originally recorded as Plastic Messiah, a 4-track mail collaboration with Ken Pfeifer.

Allegedly also re-released by Origami on cassette and Choco on CDR in limited editions.

1. Avatar

   Feedback in a reverb unit, constructed on 4-track.

   The last thing recorded using the name Stipes & Patibulum and possibly my favorite.

2. Quartet for Plastic Toy Horns

   Plastic reeds from toy noisemakers

   Odd piece created for Noise Kills Punk Dead compilation, before I really figured out how to properly record acoustic sounds at all.

3. Head

   Synth. Plumbing. Metal rack in a bathtub. Guitar.

   A plastic messiah piece.

4. Don't Go to Sleep with the Radio On

   Radio transmissions. Music samples. Found sounds. Synthetic sounds.

5. In Your Room

   Broadcast mic stand springs. Voice. Metal.

   Recorded live to cassette in studio at WRPI, Troy, NY.

6. Snake Bell

   Voice. Feedback.

   Improv recorded to cassette in studio at WRPI, Troy, NY.

7. Mirage

   Spoken word. Test tones. Ambient sounds.

8. Dead

   Reading of an Emily Dickinson poem. Guitar. Car keys.

9. A Strangely Familiar Tune

   Voice. Radio. Car horn. Ambient sounds.

   Improvised while driving the Massachusettes Turnpike at midnight during a heavy rainstorm. Recorded to cassette on a boombox plugged into the cig lighter.

10. Love Song

    Voice. Feedback.

    Improvised to cassette in studio at WRPI, Troy, NY.

11. Oroborus

    Guitar. Digital delay.

    From 1987, this improvisation is our oldest recording.

12. Asshole

    Roommate's answering machine tape. Synthesizer. Broken CD noises.

    Another Plastic Messiah 4-track mail collaboration.

13. Woman (Hole Lotta Love)

    A found music collage featuring AC/DC, Slayer, Led Zepplin, Yoko Ono, Dead Kennedys, German Alpensangers, Holst, and more.

14. The Power of the Tongue

    Found spoken words.

    A maddening found speech collage featuring a Christian evangelist obsessed with his tongue. Also includes gregorian and bhuddist chanting, a Pentecostal minister, and Lil Louis.

15. Eye Teeth

    Guitar. Vocals. Drum Machine. Growling dogs. Public Service Announcement tape about keeping you pets from attacking the postman.

    A rather embarrassing proto-rock song into which we attempted to squeeze as many lyrical cliches as possible.