there's a sound in the air, a place in the trees where the light bends. it draws us in. existence swirls on the edge of vision. there is no choice but to proceed. sensor readings capturing our experiences within will be left in caches behind us.

surrendering now to the vortex.

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FOREST VORTEX is an encounter with the psychedelic microhorror of life. nature as toxin — and its allure. life spirals in destruction and renewal and we are thrust into it — biological creatures awoken into consciousness, in terror at the world and ourselves. but we are drawn in, drawn to know what we cannot, drawn by the beauty and terror of existence — every bloom and pattern of growth. and drawn by the hypnotic ecstasy of being alive.

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the music on this project was an opening-up of possibility. I've started ever-increasingly using a process of recording improvisations, cutting them up, layering them and looping them — accentuating patterns that emerge, harmonizing sounds together, letting interference bloom and time stretch and shift. collaging sound, sculpting static. it resulted in a sort of microphasic music where everything is constantly shifting in and out of phase with itself. headphones recommended.

there's aspects of this approach in its earlier stages on TECTONIC, but starting here and on a series of releases to come I really embraced this new way of working and embraced also its noisy chaos along with it. it led to incredibly creatively fruitful results, taking me to places of sound that I still can't believe, and resulting in tons of recordings that I'm extremely excited about but that have required a lot of work and attention to get to a releasable stage. I'm thrilled (and relieved!) to finally start bringing this whole period of work out into the world.

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I've set the price of this release at $1 since free releases or pwyc $0 downloads can't be streamed within the Bandcamp app or added to a user's collection. so I set it at the $1 minimum for those that are in the Bandcamp world. however! I also have this project available as a free download of mp3s on my website at jeffhu.me/forest-vortex. please do download this and all my music for free. I’m not looking to make money from this and it’s a difficult time for all. send money to and support causes of justice and mutual aid if you are able. any money that is paid through Bandcamp I will give to FoodShare Toronto.