The angle and sun damage did not inspire confidence
Off-Kilter Radio
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Emiliano Pennisi’s Visions
An instance of Envion
Italian sound artist Emiliano Pennisi (aka Avenir) develops software instruments that range from complex drum machines (Assembly-7) to geographically determined environment generators (Interfera) to “unstable” noise sources (Vortessa). This example video features an instance of Envion, another Pennisi project, which he describes as an “ecosystem … designed for algorithmic and procedural composition, musique concrète, and experimental sound processing.” The Envion system allows for numerous opportunities to select presets and work on freely available internet-based audio samples. The example here explores “lowercase” music, in the spirit of the late Steve Roden, with an emphasis on extremely quiet and subtle sonic signatures. A hallmark of Pennisi’s work is that it is as visually striking as it is sonically. To get a sense of Envion’s potential, here’s another piece composed with it, an homage to Autechre:
On Repeat: Lanois, TKB, F32.0
Home/office playlist
On Sundays I try to at least quickly note some of my favorite listening from the week prior — things I would later regret having not written about in more depth, so better to share here briefly than not at all.
▰ This track, “Steel Mill,” is a taste of the forthcoming Daniel Lanois album, Belladonna Nocturne, due out June 19. The core band is Lanois (piano, pedal steel, and “dub orchestration”), D’Angelo veteran Jermaine Holmes, and bassist Jim Wilson, of Rollins Band. In addition to drummer Brian Blade, Emmylou Harris is listed among the guests, so presumably it won’t be entirely an instrumental album, but this glitchy soulful ambience is certainly appreciated.
▰ Track one is super murky aquatic ambience. Track two has a rusty pulse that is quietly alarming. Track three sounds like someone struggling to be heard. It’s dark, rich, encompassing. That’s Lo on the Ilm by TKB, released by Burgan Triangle Tapes. Embed isn’t working, so check it at the label’s Bandcamp page. Follows up last year’s Relentless Ambience.
▰ Been spending a lot of time with trackers. Amazing what can be done on the modern equivalent of an old Game Boy, or on a Game Boy itself. This is Ukraine-based F32.0 doing some dub techno.
Scratch Pad: STT, Dumplings, Interfaces
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 tag on what books I may have finished reading. Knowing I’ll revisit my social media posts, I’ve found, serves as a positive and mellowing influence on my online 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.
▰ My go-to speech-to-text app transcribed “Disquiet Junto” as “Disquatento” and I’m like, “Do you even know me?”
▰ Dan dan noodles for lunch. Also, dumplings and a bao, but offscreen. Also, experimenting with filters.
▰ May the Force be with Bru’
▰ The appropriate way to celebrate May the 4th is to play the Mos Eisley Cantina music in 5/4
▰ Was discussing a new and still quite inexplicable piece of music gear with friends, and we were flummoxed by the contrast between its reported capabilities and its exceedingly minimal input interface. I found myself replying, “My money’s on neural chip implant or plant-based telepathy,” which is the most it’s-Friday thing I’ve said since … well, maybe last Friday. In any case, I took it as a sign to log off social media for the weekend. (Also, I think the input answer is that the screen is a touchscreen, and likely most of the scripting happens on a laptop, to be ported over.)
Henke Goes Back in Time
To 2004 and 1989
Robert Henke’s new album, Signal to Noise – Volume II, is all about time, or more to the point, can be experienced as an expression of, a reflection on, time. To begin with the tracks are all drones, lengthy extensions of tone for its own sake. They aren’t just held notes. No, as drones, they are dense, ever-shifting totalities in constant sonic flow. The longest of these is nearly 13 minutes, and the shortest is more than half that. There is well over an hour of music on this album of just seven tracks. In addition, this second set of Signal to Noise reaches back in time, doubly: first to 2004, when Henke’s first Signal to Noise album was released, and second to 1989, when the instrument on which this music was made, the Yamaha SY77 FM, was introduced to the market. This is meditative music that is, itself, a meditation on these various interwoven concepts: immersive listening, harmony and texture as artistic ends unto themselves, the long influence of ancient machines, and the through lines of individual artistic legacy.
The Bandcamp embed code isn’t working, so check out Signal to Noise – Volume II directly at roberthenke.bandcamp.com. The record was released on Thursday, May 7, 2026.