• Azusa Plane

    Where The Sands Turn to Gold

    This luxuriously and lovingly packaged double CD with DVD is a labour of love in memory of Jason DiEmilio (1970-2006) aka the Azusa Plane. Two CDs feature over two hours of music spanning the breadth of the Azusa Plane catalogue. The DVD features a thirty-minute live set and 65 MP3s split between 11 folders; which include rare tracks, never released Azusa Plane live recordings, an interview with Jason and a previously unreleased recording. An expansive booklet is included with the release which contains essays, thoughts, reflections and memories of DiEmilio's life and musical output.

    An integral part of Philadelphia’s experimental scene, the Azusa Plane was the lo-fi, drone-rock, improvisational recording and live project of Jason DiEmilio of Clifton Heights, Pennsylvania. Performing almost exclusively on a Fender guitar and usually through numerous effects pedals, DiEmilio was very prolific releasing three full-length studio albums, a live disc, a number of singles and tracks on various compilations. (Full discography included in the booklet).

    Here are some extracts from Apples author Richard Milward’s piece in the liner notes about the Azusa Plane:

    Your eardrums were designed to listen to the Azusa Plane. Leaving no electrical frequency untouched, the music of Jason DiEmilio, Jason Knight and sometime percussionist Quentin Stoltzfus is at once dense and sparse; the musical equivalent of sleepwalking on feathers with ton-weights attached to your hands and feet. At times heavily distorted—at others, light as cloud matter—the guitar sprawl swims back and forth from one end of the musical spectrum to the other; creating the most wondrous, devastating, effervescent soundwaves. It is music which both challenges and celebrates the senses.

    While the Azusa Plane exemplifies the term ‘experimental’—in fact, at times, the pieces seem almost like scientific research into atonalism, feedback manipulation, circuit bending, and the search for ‘full consciousness of the hidden harmony’—there is such obvious soul to the music, it never appears clinical, or sterile. The band was not merely a group of La Monte Young-a-likes in lab coats. Recognising the guitar as an electrical, endlessly-exploitable machine, DiEmilio pushed that machine to its very limits and, in doing so, purged the darkest limits of his emotions. His guitar was like a six-stringed stress-ball; a release from what he described as ‘the ever despair and struggle of my life… a constant battle against depression and the ever feeling of heading absolutely nowhere with no control whatsoever… and so music gives a good place to sort this all out.’

    An extract from Jason DiEmilio’s eulogy:

    Jason suffered from a chronic and seemingly incurable pain. He had a seriously debilitating condition known as tinnitus and hypercusis that was brought about by extreme sound exposure; a result of playing in bands most of his life without protection for his ears. The nerve damage was severe and irreversible. Recently it had become even more acute. He held out for as long as he could and lived as he died. With grace and indefatigable courage. Jason was open to the simplest beauties of the world and never could stop being enraged at what fouled it.

    An album launch party in Philadelphia in October should provide fans and the community surrounding the Azusa Plane with a celebration of Jason’s life work. 

    FULL TRACK LISTING FOR THE DVD:

    --------------------------------------------------------

    30 Minute live concert of Azusa Plane

    Azusa Plane Music MP3 folders:

     

    01 RESONATING SUBTLETIES

    Hi, How Are You

    Ode To The Mountain Goats

    Pop World

    George Harrison Plays Sitar

    Emeralds

    Underground Velvet

    Cambridge

    Pop World II

    Khyber

    Dream

     

    02 7" SINGLES 1996-1997

    Fall

    Meander

    Beyond Infinite

    Every Wave Has Its Own Integrity

    Hal

    A Minimalist Plot To Destroy Modern Rockism

    Fender: Six Strings Of Tonal And Atonal Vibrations

    Moog: 32 Keys Of Polar And Bipolar Oscilations

    She Was Into S&M And Bible Studies.

    Calvin Johnson Has Saved Rock For An Entire Generation

    Lou, Nico, Sterling, John, And Maureen

    An Unrecognizeable Paradigm Shift

    Mechanical Sound Constructions

     

    03 7" SINGLES 1998-1999

    The Last Of The Famous Electronic Playboys

    Live At Leeds

    Philadelphia 1999

    Song For Claudia Cardinale

    United States Direct Investment In Other Countries

     

    04 10" and 12" SINGLES

    Lou, Nico, John, Sterling And Maureen (Live)

     Hi, How Are You (Live)

    Autumn Lament (Live)

    Pop World (Live)

    Lou, Nico, John, Sterling And Maureen (Live)

    Autumn Lament (Live)

    1863

    1872

    1875

    1875 Part 2

    A Magnetic Breakthrough

    Eric Gaffney

    Cheltenham  1

    Cheltenham  2

     

    05 COMPILATION TRACKS

    Me And Wayne Rogers

    Shooting Speed With Lou Reed

    Two Views Of The New Zealand Landscape

    Imperivm Neptvini Regis

    Death Of A Microphone

    Drinking Scotch With Delmore

     

    06 MAGAZINE COMPILATION TRACKS

    You Said I Could Bring My Guitar

    An Acoustical Triumph

    Song To The Killers

    Tokyo Guitar Flashback

    Implications Of Holomovement (Live)

     

    07 CASSETTE TRACKS

    Erone

    Panic On The Streets Of London

    Nebraska

    Listening For The Dinosaur

    The Magic Of Psychoacoustic Sound

     

    08 TERRASTOCK 1 LIVE OUTTAKES (26thApril 1997)

    Terrastock 1 Song 1

    Terrastock 1 Song 2

    Terrastock 1 Song 3

     

    09 THE GARAGE LONDON LIVE OUTTAKES (14thSeptember 1997)

    The Garage Song 1

    The Garage Song 2

     

    10 INTERVIEW WITH JASON DIEMILIO / UNRELEASED TRACK

    Jason DiEmilio Interview

    Silver Simeon

    Tracklisting

    1. CD ONE: Two Views Of The New Zealand Landscape
    2. You Said I Could Bring My Guitar
    3. She Was Into S&M And Bible Studies. Not Everyone’s Cup Of Tea, She Would Admit To Me....
    4. Meander
    5. United States Direct Investment In Other Countries
    6. The Last Of The Famous Electronic Playboys
    7. Every Wave Has Its Own Integrity
    8. CD TWO: A Magnetic Breakthrough
    9. Me And Wayne Rogers
    10. Eric Gaffney
    11. Ode To The Mountain Goats
    12. Mechanical Sound Construction
    13. Tokyo Guitar Flashback
    14. George Harrison Plays Sitar
    15. Death Of A Microphone
    16. Beyond Infinite
    17. Shooting Speed With Lou Reed
    18. This Is Not Spacerock
    19. Lou, Nico, Sterling, John And Maureen
    20. Calvin Johnson Has Saved Rock For An Entire Generation
    21. Live At Leeds
    22. Cheltenham 1
    23. Fender: Six Strings Of Tonal And Atonal Vibrations
    24. Cheltenham 2

More by this artist...

More on this label...