A while ago I created a side project called Puree of Heart to explore a more esoteric side of anxiety and, well, death. The album was to have been called "The Bursted Soul" and each song explored either a different facet or means of dying be it spiritual or physical... facing inner darkness and losing as it felt as I was doing so at that time back in 2006. Having grown from that time and evolved a bit more I look back on it as a more whimsical romp... almost gallows humor if you will. That of course was helped along by my good friend and musical hero - Bryin Dall (4th Sign of the Apocalypse, Loretta's Doll, Thee Majesty). He got a hold of what I had done and completed it, twisted it, smacked its audio ass and sent it out into a world so bizarre it has to be real!

Very recently I made the decision, for personal reasons to return the purpose of this collaborative work to its originally intended matrix. So now The Unquiet Void Vs. 4th Sign of the Apocalypse are proud to bring you the debut album (I certainly hope there is more to come) - PUREE OF HEART.

www.myspace.com/pureeofheart

Now we are actively searching for a label to release this work as someone has shown interest. That's as far as the news goes for now... I'll keep you posted.
What does this album sound like? Even if you go to the myspace site you'll only hear three songs from the album (there are 11). The only way to know what it sounds like is to hear it in its entirety. I'm very fond of it and at some point in the future we hope you will be as well.

I'm a HUGE Cramps fan and it broke my heart when I heard that Lux Interior had passed away. So in honor of Lux and Poison Ivy...

this is for you (the first video I ever saw by The Cramps)

Folks,

   please watch this and spread the word. This is an important piece!!

Hey everybody!

   I went delving into The Unquiet Archives and decided it was time to introduce the world to another of the songs on the 4-song EP "The Unquiet Music" which was originally self released as "The Unquiet Demo CD #1". The song is titled Memories, Scarring Moments which ironically was co-named by an ex-girlfriend in what turned out to be the exact moment I knew our relationship was over. The track was done in 1995 recorded back to back with This Lost Soul which was a re-recording and much improved over the original. It's a bittersweet piece and listening to it now it fills me with a sense of being in my 20's when the world was new and exciting. Not to say that I'm a pessimist, I'm growing out of that, but there's an innocence about it that I truly love. I hope you enjoy it. Also, over the weekend I'll be posting a couple of others for your listening pleasure as well.

Jason

PS - last minute addition: "Shut Up and Dance" is a cover of the Loretta's Doll track of the same name. That was done in 2005. I am also posting a remix (by Bryin Dall) of "Angels" from Between the Twilights called "Angels (The Tortoises Are Nodding Mix) which features a random answering machine message left for Bryin by the late Lady J. P'Orridge (wife of Genesis P'Orridge of Psychic TV). Lady J. had passed away last year and in posting this I would like to pay tribute to her in her absence. I'm sure that many will say that she is indeed an angel!

Well I have some news that will definitely please Unquiet Void fans!

Very soon I'll be sending off both the Closet Space and Montauk Unveiled scores to Middle Pillar for review as digital only releases through iTunes. Unfortunately that's where technology is leading us... I'm not thrilled about it but printing up even 500 CD's is frickin' suicide unless you're Linkoln Park. So I'm just happy that the possibility exists that they may even see the light of day. If I knew the interest was there I might be inclined to press a very limited edition of them both for fans... but that seems unlikely with these particular releases.

I spoke with James Babbo (The Mirror Reveals / Middle Pillar Presents) and he's feeling collaborative these days... he also contributed to two of the tracks on The Shadow-Haunted Outside. Have you done the math yet??? The third Lovecraft release is going forward. I will send him what I have done and he will add to it and that is going to be it with the Lovecraft work for a while. So at least it's happening!

One released I am definitely planning to do a limited run on CD for fans is a collection of my early work... from 1993 - 2001. I would like for it to be a double disc celebrating TUQV as it has been around since 1989. It's going to be a cohesive album though... not a retrospective or singles collection. This album, for me, needs to see the light of day. To me it's the alpha and omega of my work. It will also close this chapter of my life creatively so that I can move forward. This is an extremely important work for me, very personal, and I intend to give this release the TLC that I feel it deserves. So Meridian is what I am calling it and I feel that I truly want to start work on it next year in 2010... got a lot of work to do on this one. But this is a disc I want to hold in my hand, absorb the artwork and read the liner notes while I experience the sounds. Tracks included will be: This Lost Soul, The Burning Razor-Like Thoughts, Chrysalis (hopefully), and lots of others you guys haven't heard like my cover of Lycia's "Down" if they're cool with it... and "This Heaven Breathes". I'm really excited about the prospect of bringing the old school UQV into modern times.

   So that's it for now... gonna go and do stuff!

You know, this album came out back in 2006 and I find myself gravitating back to it in a sense that out of all the work I have done... it's the one album I just cannot relate to personally in any way. I remember being confused and even a little miffed that it got very little attention when it was released. I even questioned the guys at Middle Pillar about that... was the album promoted properly? And even though it hasn't even sold 500 copies yet doesn't mean it wasn't a success. In fact I think it was a tremendous success even though I only have 5 reviews of the album that I know of.

Now when I say the album was a tremendous success I mean that it is exactly what I wanted it to be and does exactly what I wanted it to do. My friend Bryce and I were having a discussion about this last night and it was intensely in-depth. In fact he plans on writing a blog about it in the near future and I anxiously await what he has to say about it. The slogan I attached to the album was a paraphrasing of the following quote:

"And if you gaze for long into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you"
~ Friedrich Nietzsche

Funny thing is that isn't far from what happened to me whilst creating the album. So form definitely followed function, art imitated life... as I have spoken about in the past I am a method composer... I existed in that head space for a few years in order to create Poisoned Dreams and its follow-up. It got really nasty and I cannot stress enough how that is true and not a gimmick to sell more copies. It was a really rough album to make... listen to it and find out for yourself. It was designed to overwhelm and devour you. The interesting thing about this album is that when you listen to it - it crawls into you and eats you from the inside. I have had a select few tell me that it is "purely Lovecraftian" which is about the highest praise I could receive. It is a punishment... an indication that Lovecraft was right!

   Some people actually believe that I was channeling Lovecraft... or maybe even something worse. Some people think I am a cultist, some people think I'm flat out off my rocker! When anyone takes an emotion or experience in their lives and exorcises it through a separate medium... that's suffering for your art. That's why it is so hard to do a third, I need to find a way about it because there's no way in hell I'm going back to that terrain... ever. Besides, it was done and there's no need to be repetitive despite the fact that it was a damaging project to exact. I haven't listened to it in quite a while and I think I'm due for another sitting.

   When I recorded it I took many loops and samples (as well as creating sounds on my own synths) and effected and distorted them so that I was physically and mentally uncomfortable with them. Then I figured out an arrangement for those sounds... a movement for them so that if anything people wouldn't be bored listening to it. If it hit me entirely the wrong way then it was perfect for the release.
So then it just built up and the end result, as one reviewer had said, it leaves a mark. If I understood Lovecraft any more thoroughly then I do I would fucking off myself so it is very healthy to keep a safe distance.

    OH! And that's why there weren't many reviews... albiet good ones anyhow... because unlike Poisoned Dreams, when you listen to this album there is no safe distance. You are in it and it is in you. And THAT is what makes it such a huge success for me. It is audio BILE that squirms and slithers into your subconscious much like the unnamable horrors of Lovecraft's writing. I don't mean to toot my own horn here but I am very proud of what I was able to accomplish with this CD... it just has to stay an entity unto itself because I won't revisit that unpleasantness. So for the most part I believe that people simply cannot handle the monstrosity. On the other hand the fanatics of Lovecraft understand what it is and appreciate it as such and even then... there's a limit as to how far people want to go with it because I took it pretty far out there with this album.

So all in all, for the nay sayers... I dare you to sit through this album in a dark room with absolutely NO light available!! I DARE YOU! Why you ask? Find out for yourself! I designed it so that people might feel and hear things they swear did not come from the CD. I have been told it works. And that's why I'm so proud of it. When Bryce does his write-up I'll post a link to it for anyone interested in reading it.

As most of you may or may not know there is a bit of a change to this myspace site. I have opted a more subtle theme from the more ominous Lovecraftian one. The fact of the matter is that I'm in a place of great transition in my life. I am making the conscious decision to enjoy my life rather to constantly be lost within a barrage of dark thoughts and feelings. Whilst that had its place in my life I feel there has to be something more. So I'm toning it down for a bit and exploring other avenues of my life, my feelings and my psyche.

I don't think people really understand how badly "The Shadow-Haunted Outside" kicked my ass. There's nothing even remotely human or pleasant about that work. Now I fully acknowledge that is exactly what it needed to be but it took its toll. You see, much like method actors who submerse themselves in a role to evoke certain behaviors and characteristics... I'm a method composer. I existed in the frame of mind, for several years, to actually believe in Lovecraft's warnings, his darkness and I can't even describe what that was like. The best I can offer you is to listen to those two CD's. It was really rough on me and I don't have the heart to revisit it in that way again. I have NO musical equipment at this time so realistically, between those two components, a third trilogy album seems just about impossible right now.

Now this doesn't mean it won't happen but it sure as hell isn't happening now and possibly not even soon. I'll have to see how things go. But what stops me from getting out there and doing a third Lovecraft disc is the fact that I can't put myself into it the way I would need to in order to make a worthy third installment. That has to come out of some form of grief or trauma and I'm just not willing to subject myself to that kind of exposure at this time. I've a had a really rough time and I need some air. So I'll keep you posted on this, nothing is written in stone either yay or nay. I'll keep that open because there's more exploring to do in that universe. I think I need to find a new perspective and a new way to explore.

    There are other things I would like to do as well such as a re-issue of "Scorpio" which is my first album. My best friend Bryce and I were discussing this just last night and he used a term which sparked in me a new willingness to experiment and even return to creating music. Mind you Bryce and I are now great friends but we were in contact back in the 90's when I'd send him cassette tapes of mixes I'd done of my early work. He said he loves Scorpio because it's "old school Unquiet Void" - it really touched me that someone said that and that it came from such a dear friend. I also want to mix, master and release the early catalog that hasn't been released yet including the track "This Lost Soul" - the truly ethereal and delicate yet emotionally tumultuous This Mortal Coil=esque side of what I do.

   Then there's the "Closet Space" and "Montauk Unveiled" soundtracks which have been finished for a couple of years now. I'll be honest with you, if it weren't for the fact that my friend and studio hero Bryin Dall helped me with the Montauk CD I probably wouldn't even have it released... who knows what's going on with that film. It's been more of a headache for me than anything else... possibly for Bryin too. But it will see the light of day at some point because I think it's really strong work and I'm proud of it. I may have to release it myself and if that's the case it'll be a website exclusive thing. I'm going to be revamping the Unquiet Void website pretty soon too.

    So anyhow... things are looking up, certainly more positive. I'll have another Lovecraftian track up soon for folks to hear. I promise you that. I'm also still waiting to score that film Inner Demons which I am still quite excited about. All in due time, all in due time.

    But I want you all to know, those of you who care, you will never know how much I appreciate your support! You will simply never know - Thank You!

Me? I grew up on Wax Traxx, Play It AGain Sam, 4AD, Beggars Banquet, and Nettwerk in the 80’s. I’ve been listening to the radio with my oldest son (12... I consider him my step-son without the step) and I just can’t believe how shitty and unimaginitive the music is these days... and everybody loves it! I truly don’t get it. I’m weaned on Clock DVA, Neon Judgement, Ministry, Thrill Kill Kult, Dead Can Dance, Clan of Xymox, Fields of the Nephilim, Legendary Pink Dots, Skinny Puppy, Severed Heads, Pailhead... etc. The list goes on and on.

So what’s the point? I am going old fucking school is the point. My favorite Ministry album is Twitch and I’m currently working on a cover of "Isle of Man" and I hope to have it done and posted this year of ’08. Plus with the last 8 years of the Bush administration and dealing with people who are devoid of the basic components that make us human beings... I’m just fed up! So the message of the song is clear and I think that Alain Jourgensen (circa 1988) would be proud. I’ll post it here when it’s completed.

"We get what we deserve!"