The beautiful 12" vinyl version of our album is pressed on translucent clear 180gram vinyl and comes with a digital download card.
Includes unlimited streaming of To Combat Loneliness: Compositions Based on the Works of David Foster Wallace
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
ships out within 3 days
$20USDor more
Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Item comes in a standard plastic CD jewel case with full color printing. Liner notes on the inside booklet.
Includes unlimited streaming of To Combat Loneliness: Compositions Based on the Works of David Foster Wallace
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
“Infinite Jest” is the book that put DFW on the map. A meteoric magnum opus landing on the face of post-modern literature that continues to fascinate and intimidate readers/scholars to this day. An entire album could have been built around the contents of Infinite Jest, but instead the focus was put on two of its main characters: brothers Hal and Mario Incandenza. This piece is about Mario, while Hal gets his own piece on Track #8.
Mario Incandenza is a teenage, yet pre-pubescent student of the Enfield Tennis Academy. Plagued by several birth defects, his body is a malformed nightmare of angles, thin appendages, and weak muscles. Despite this he is able to get around on his own through the use of sturdy, high-tech crutches and a series of locks, bolts, and various lattice-type support systems connecting metal and body together. The cumulative effect of all this winds up freaking people out more than if he just used a motorized wheel chair. Besides having to lug all of that around, Mario is never seen without a backpack full of lenses and a few cameras slung around his neck (still shot and video). He is the unofficial photo journalist for Enfield, and in the opinion of most, produces exceptional quality pictures and videos, especially given his age and obvious physical limitations. Mario is allowed to attend Enfield because his older brother, Hal is a student there as well. Mario adores Hal, and can often be found in his company, tagging along everywhere, constantly chronicling events on film. Once strangers/students get over the initial shock and pity they inevitably feel for Mario, he becomes a “fly on the wall” in every situation he is in. Nobody knows what’s going on in Mario’s mind because he never communicates. Most think he is mute, and mental problems are assumed. Right away people feel sorry for him and imagine how hard his life must be; sad that he will never experience a “normal” human existence. But if the right person or group of people were to peer into Mario’s mind, or ask the right questions, or perform certain tests, they would find one of the most fascinating and powerful human brains on the planet. Mario is operating on a completely different plane than most people, and sees/experiences things in such a peculiar way that they would never understand. If they knew, they would no longer feel sorry for Mario, and may well feel sorry for themselves instead. A tip of the iceberg of what Mario could offer the world is a complete, down to the smallest detail retelling of what it was like to be born; and indeed, what it was also like to be inside of his mother’s womb. For his remarkable memory bank of vision, feeling, and dreams extend back that far.
Aaron Kerr:
I don’t remember exactly what I was thinking with this one. Like the rest, I read the letter and started composing right away, so this was some kind of gut reaction to it. I’m guessing I wanted there to be some kind of contrast between the more angular parts that sounded mechanical with the chromatic improv part that sounded very inner-thinking. Also, I used the one-beat imitation like I used in “The Soul . . .” (I’ll have to remember this compositional device as it works really well).
Produced by Tyson Allison and Justin Deleon
Recorded at IPR studios in Minneapolis, MN
Engineered and mixed by Justin Deleon
Mastered by Tom Garneau at AUDIOACTIVE in Minneapolis, MN
Copyright 2019 Humble Mumblings ASCAP
Emperor Penguin Records began in 2003 in St. Paul, MN and later moved to Milwaukee, WI in 2015. The label is run by
musician/producer Tyson Allison. EPR enlists and caters to singer/songwriters, introverts, experimental weirdos, bookish people, and crafters that paint pictures with words and toy with your emotions on a well-placed chord. Thank you for your interest!...more
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