Scratch Pad: Harmony, Scale, Aliens

From the past week

At the end of each week, I usually collate a lightly edited collection of recent comments I’ve made on social media, which I think of as my public scratch pad. I find knowing I’ll revisit my posts to be a positive and mellowing influence on my social media activity. I mostly hang out on Mastodon (at post.lurk.org/@disquiet), and I’m also trying out a few others. And I generally take weekends off social media.

▰ Are we ever gonna get another Mountain Man album?

▰ Morning trio for power saw, passing bus, and washing machine

▰ Little known fact: guitar pedals were originally created to make practicing scales sound more interesting

▰ According to Discogs, there is currently no band on record, so to speak, named Dense Fog Advisory. Just sayin’.

▰ The great hilobrow.com site is running a series of short essays on “our favorite sympathetic villains.” Mine, about the Xenomorphs from Alien, is up next. I’ll mention here when the piece goes live. Here’s the list to date. Super fun.

▰ Read a ton, finished nothing.

Decades

Me in high school:

The Beatles: 24/7
The Who: a close second
The Rolling Stones: don’t get it
Led Zeppelin: I’m scared

Me decades after high school:

The Beatles: been a while
The Who: who?
The Rolling Stones: hell yeah
Led Zeppelin: pour it into my veins

Disquiet Junto General Instructions Update

One person, one track

A pretty straightforward project this week. Should be fun. There is one clarification I wanted to note first. The instruction template for the Junto projects has been slightly adjusted. The instructions on uploading tracks now reads:

Upload: A person participating in the Disquiet Junto should post only one track per weekly project (SoundCloud account preferred but not required). If on occasion you feel inspired to post more than one track (whether to a single account or across multiple accounts), you should clarify which is the “main” rendition for consideration by fellow members and (if on SoundCloud) for inclusion in the SoundCloud playlist.

Previously it read:

Upload: Post your track to a public account (SoundCloud preferred but by no means required). It’s best to focus on one track, but if you post more than one, clarify which is the “main” rendition.

And that about covers it. I am, as has been far too often the case, behind on email. I am catching up.

Disquiet Junto Project 0716: Dense Fog Advisory

The Assignment: That's your band's name; now record something.

Each Thursday in the Disquiet Junto music community, a new compositional challenge is set before the group’s members, who then have five days to record and upload a track in response to the project instructions.

Membership in the Junto is open: just join and participate. (A SoundCloud account is helpful but not required.) There’s no pressure to do every project. The Junto is weekly so that you know it’s there, every Thursday through Monday, when your time and interest align.

Tracks are added to the SoundCloud playlist for the duration of the project. Additional (non-SoundCloud) tracks also generally appear in the lllllll.co discussion thread.

Disquiet Junto Project 0716: Dense Fog Advisory
The Assignment: That’s your band’s name; now record something.

There is just one step this week. You’re now recording music under the name Dense Fog Advisory. Record a new track, appropriate to your name.

Tasks Upon Completion:

Label: Include “disquiet0716” (no spaces/quotes) in the name of your track.

Upload: A person participating in the Disquiet Junto should post only one track per weekly project (SoundCloud account preferred but not required). If on occasion you feel inspired to post more than one track (whether to a single account or across multiple accounts), you should clarify which is the “main” rendition for consideration by fellow members and (if on SoundCloud) for inclusion in the SoundCloud playlist.

Share: Post your track and a description/explanation at https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0716-dense-fog-advisory/

Discuss: Listen to and comment on the other tracks.

Additional Details:

Length: The length is up to you. How long will this seasonal fog last?

Deadline: Monday, September 22, 2025, 11:59pm (that is: just before midnight) wherever you are.

About: https://disquiet.com/junto/

Newsletter: https://juntoletter.disquiet.com/

License: It’s preferred (but not required) to set your track as downloadable and allowing for attributed remixing (i.e., an attribution Creative Commons license).

Please Include When Posting Your Track:

More on the 716th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Dense Fog Advisory — The Assignment: That’s your band’s name; now record something — at https://disquiet.com/0716/.