Jones, Mason

***After the pandemic sent us all home, live noise shows moved online, and paradoxically made it easier to “play” while giving it all sort of an artificial feeling as we pre-recorded “live” video and then watched ourselves while interacting via chat. Weirdly fun but not quite the same thing. In the process of doing a number of shows this way, MASON JONES ended up with a noisemaking setup in place in the studio, and started constructing an assemblage of pieces recorded direct to stereo. These are almost exclusively played on a “chopped guitar”, a very cheap guitar cut down to fit in a suitcase, with a shortened neck and reduced body size. Played table-top, it provides the physical interaction and organic sound source, then processed through an array of effects. Here and there are occasional other bits of sound: an old analog synth, a full-sized guitar, and even some vocal noises. These intense noise recordings were then cut and assembled into the two side-long pieces presented here: “Permanence” on side A, and “Perseverance or Persistence” on side B. The title refers to an appreciation for the folks in the noise scene finding ways to stay connected and continue sharing and working together even while everyone’s stuck at home. After all these years of creating an international noise community, everyone perseveres. Mason Jones is an avant-garde and psych-noise musician, and owner/operator of the Charnel Music label since 1990. Recording as TRANCE beginning in the late '80s, he founded the band SUBARACHNOID SPACE and currently plays with NUMINOUS EYE in addition to COLLISION STORIES and other group and solo works. Edition of 200 copies on black vinyl.