the post for april 12 is inri024, the compilation of all of the tracks reclaimed from source material over the summer of 2015. these are the versions that came directly from tape, remixed and remastered to sound better - and they sound way better.

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when i sat down to complete my discography in the fall of 2013, one of the first problems i came up against was what to do with my first two proper records, inri (inri015) and inriched (inri021). in some sense, these records were complete: they were early works, but they were complete recordings and the records were sequenced with quite a bit of detail. it would not be right to modify them in a structural sense, as they were completed as they were when they were. however, the mixes had been degraded rather substantially through compression and the vocals had a lot of problems. further, i knew the source material was incomplete, but did not actually check the master tapes to see how incomplete they were. 

i decided that the best thing to do was to try and remaster them using izotope. the result was noticeably "better", and they were released in that form. i also released a compilation of shorts that focused on instrumental sections as inricycled b. however, i had to make a lot of compromises to get to that point. further, the fact that i couldn't remove the vocals continued to bother me. 

i finally got around to digitizing the tapes in december of 2014, as an archival step. i did not expect to be able to do anything with this material, but i wanted it digitized to prevent the tapes from deteriorating further. what i learned through this process was that the masters were far more complete than i thought. samples and continuity were missing, but i seem to have dumped most of the sequencing and a lot of the digital noise generation. this forced me to rethink what i was able to present. i decided that if i was going to go through these tracks and recreate them then i was going to do it comprehensively, which would mean completely recreating a number of the tracks. i decided that this would be a project better left for a later date. 

by june of 2015, i had made it through the discography to the end of the second period and began finalizing the aleph sequence of dvd and bd flac/mp3 compilations. i decided that the only cohesive way to present period one is as a single disc, which meant i needed to address reconstructing the tracks immediately in order to close it. 

the material was digitized via the exact same tascam four-track it was recorded on to, sent out track by track. however, the material was bounced heavily when it was recorded, which means the digitized tracks generally have multiple parts. the four tracks generally exist as follows: 

1) an electronics track. drum machines, synths, sequencers, loops, noises. 

2) a guitars track. there are usually several guitar parts in this one track. 

3) a bass track, or a synth bass track. 

4) a vocal track. 

unfortunately, digitizing the tracks one by one left them out of sync at a rate of around a half a second per minute, but there is no clear pattern in how they are out of sync. shifting them back in sync was a time consuming process done in cubase by importing the remastered tracks and trying to find markers in the wave files, then using a sort of "newton's method" to compress or decompress the files until they lined up with the master. this issue was compounded by the fact that the initial masters were sometimes subtly out of time. once they were shifted back in sync, the tracks had to be equalized very carefully to try and isolate the constituent parts. for example, a track with a drum machine and a synth may have been split across a high and low shelf to isolate them in the mix. with the exception of this heavy equalization work (and amp simulation for the bass parts), these songs have not been modified from their original form - except to remove the vocals. 

this release has rendered the previous inri009, inricycled b, as superfluous and consequently replaces it in the sequence. it has now been moved to inri022. 

i am very happy to finally be able to present this material in a form that i would find listenable, today, as an adult. this has been a very long process. i hope you feel that the results were worth the effort put into it, periodically, over many years. 

initially written and recorded between 1996-1999 and remixed over the summer of 2015, with a lengthy pause due to malfunctioning electronics. final compilation date is jan 3, 2016. finalized dec 17, 2016. lp004. as always, please use headphones. 

this release also includes a printable jewel case insert and will also eventually include a comprehensive package of journal entries from all phases of production (2013-2016). 

released january 29, 1999 

j - guitars, effects, bass, synth bass, drum programming, synthesizers, octavers, noise generators, sequencers, sampling, found sounds, cool edit synthesis, digital wave editing, loops, mic noises & vocal relics, production

the april 11th post is the glitch-focused remix collection, inrimixed. this is inri023.

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when i sat down in late 2013, my intent was just to collect all of the tracks that were leftover. however, it became apparent quickly that i had a pile of these weird, glitchy remixes that i meant to do something with, but just never did anything with. they seemed to form an idea of their own, so i split them off into this inrimixed ep. 

i feel that this decision was a good one, and that this collection has now become an important part of the discography - so much so that i am adding some tracks to it that were initially overlooked and then promoting it to 'remix lp'. 

i need to be clear that this is a remix lp full of damaged, glitchy mixes. these tracks were left unscathed by the great remastering of 2013-2016. many of them are sourced from 112 kbps mp3 files, or worse. some are sourced from mono. i'm presenting the artifacts in the compression as a part of the glitch aesthetic. but, these are truly sad excuses for waveforms. 

example: the cover art is actually the waveform for track 2; similarities to the mirror reflection of the cover of any seminal eponymous records from the late 60s are purely coincidental. waveforms like that do not bear any resemblance to any physical reality whatsoever. they fail, as waveforms. yet, these are the waveforms we have before us, and these are the sounds that such absurd waveforms make. 

i suppose that the reason i have all of these glitchy mixes from the period is that i was planning on making a glitch lp. it's not that i specifically recall that as being wrong, so much as it is that my memories of it being right are not of clear strength. i sort of remember wanting to make a glitch record. the evidence exists that i wanted to make a glitch record. now i have the glitch record that it seems like i always wanted to make. at the least, my current self very much likes the idea that i released a glitch record in 1999. 

constructed over 1998. compiled and remastered in late 2013. released dec 27, 2013. the first two tracks were corrected to stereo in sept, 2014. the last two tracks were added for re-release as a remix lp in dec, 2016. re-released & finalized as lp003 on dec 17, 2016. first liner note release added on feb 20, 2020. as always, please use headphones. 

this release also includes a printable jewel case insert and will also eventually include a comprehensive package of journal entries from all phases of production (1998, 2013-2020). as of feb 20, 2020, the release includes a 72 page booklet in doc, pdf & html, with an html5 audio frontend, that includes journal entries from the remastering process over sept-dec, 2013. 

released january 28, 1999 

j - guitars, effects, bass, synthesizers, piano, drum programming, sequencing, vocals, cool edit synthesis, noise generators, found sounds, sampling, loops, sound design, digital wave editing, digital effects processing, noise reduction, a broken tape deck, production.

the post for april 10th is the download-only outtakes collection, inrijected. this is inri022.

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this is a collection of rejected tracks from the inri/inriched period. it's just chronologically sequenced. download only. 

recorded over 1998. compiled and remastered in late 2013. released dec 27, 2013. corrected to normalize for stereo in september, 2014. expanded incrementally between dec, 2014 and dec, 2016. merged with inricycled b and then finalized and re-released on december 16, 2016. first liner note release added on feb 15, 2020, to include the initial 2013 release in 192 kbps mp3 only. as always, please use headphones. 

this release will also eventually include a comprehensive package of journal entries from all phases of production (1996-1999, 2013-2020). as of feb 15, 2020, the release includes a 23 page booklet in doc, pdf & html, with an html5 audio frontend, that includes journal entries from the remastering process over sept-dec, 2013, as well as the initial 2013 release in 192 kbps mp3 only.

released january 27, 1999 

j - guitars, effects, bass, bass synth, synthesizers, vocoders, octavers, drum programming, sequencers, noise generators, sound design, vocals, found sounds, cool edit synthesis, digital wave editing, loops, windows 95 sound recorder, sampling, production.

i just slept all day again, and i'm still blurry.

what am i actually doing tonight?

1) i never had time to finish my start of the month cleaning. i want to do that, primarily.

2) i need to figure something out regarding a google voice replacement. i'm thinking i might be able to install some software on the 90s laptop, along with using an old microphone. then, i can use that computer for the specific purposes of calling out. i don't even want an inbound number....leave me a message, and i probably won't call you back.

3) then, i want to get to august, if i can. i think.

as has been the case for a long time though, now, the first thing i need to do is eat.

i'm going to catch up on my daily posts first, though.

i was up on sunday around 10:00, took iron pill #2 at about noon and really haven't done anything except eat. no, really. and, now i'm going to fall asleep.

the only reaction to iron pill #2 seems to be some diarrhea, which i wasn't getting previously.

i was going to get something to eat and then go out to get some groceries, but one of the things in the list was raspberries, and, as it happened to be, i was out. so, i decided to take advantage of the last nice day in this warm snap to girl myself up a little, and get the groceries first.

and, it was nice, certainly, but not nearly as nice as last wednesday, which was just glorious.

regardless, i got through a small grocery run before i got home, then had to go to what is the new far store for some soy milk. the wind was picking up, and it wasn't as pleasant as i hoped because of that. i've noticed that living here - the winds can often cool the city down quite a lot, and it's rather annoying when you're outside trying to enjoy the heat, especially when you do it by bicycling. i like these hot, sweaty slogs on my bike, like i'm in a hot sauna, and the wind makes it seem like i'm in a gross, air-conditioned room, instead. everything has it's down side here, it seems. *shrug*.

the process took a little longer than intended, because i found myself needing to stop to enjoy the weather. unfortunately, by the time i got back, it was starting to rain and i had to rush to get in.

did i get an energy rush from the iron? it's hard to say. i'm used to biking on next to no energy - it's been my life, for as long as i can remember. i didn't seem particularly pumped up. but, on the way back i noticed what i think is the first notable result of the iron, and that's increased blood flow to my ears.

i heard a train going by and mistook it for a house party, so i circled around a little hoping to bump into it. after all, i was looking nice. but, after circling around and not finding it, it clicked: it was the train. wishful thinking?

but, i took a shower when i got in and noticed i could hear the rushing water in a much greater amount of detail.

as a musician, i welcome this, but it's got me wondering over all. is part of what i've been dealing with for all this time reduced blood flow to my ears? is that the "interference" i spoke of earlier? is it at the root of why i'm struggling with the sound? and, is getting my iron stores up going to help with it?

after the shower, i made some eggs and passed right out, not walking up for nearly another 12 hours - not as hard a crash as the one the other day, but still a very large amount of sleep. the exhaustion is still pretty real...

so, what happened?

well, i left here early on saturday morning, with the idea being that, if i was feeling queasy from the blood test three days on, then i'm better off getting to the hospital in the lowest volume period. what did i want them to do?

i realized at that point that i needed iron immediately, but i was also hoping that the hospital might have better access to a hepcidin test than the local blood labs, as they might have more reasons to test what is essentially a liver hormone. so, i was hoping they'd test me for hepcidin to essentially determine whether i was having an emergency or not - if my hepcidin levels were to come back elevated, it would indicate that my abilities to absorb iron were almost nil and i'd need some kind of serious intervention almost immediately. but, if my hepcidin levels were to come back low then i guess i'd have to take some iron pills and hope it works.

i was expecting a lengthy wait, but i brought myself there in the dead of night with the hopes that they'd deal with me at the dead of night and i didn't see a doctor until around 10:00. see, this is an emergency room, and it's not like i don't get it, but the logic they use is so absurdly restrictive - i have to actually be passed out from low hemoglobin before they'll treat me, i can't just be feeling like i'm going to pass out, and concerned that i'm running on iron fumes. i mean, it doesn't take a lot of foresight to look at my lab results and realize that, while my hemoglobin is merely running just a little low at the precise moment, my ferritin is rapidly depleting and it's just a matter of time before i am actually passed out, and then what? there's nobody here to call me an ambulance.

so, the nurse gave me some attitude, but i asked her to tell the doctor to look at the lab results and it'll be obvious why i'm here once he does. i didn't look like i was dying, granted, but all they'd have to do is look at the lab results...

now, i should point out that i verified that the results would be available during triage. in fact, i had the nurse double check it for me and she was able to read off the results, for me. for that reason, it wasn't necessary to print the patient reports that i had on usb key in my pocket.

unfortunately, when the dr finally shows up, he pretends he can't access the data - which was just utter, steaming bullshit. we talked a little about potential causes, agreed that i don't seem to be bleeding anywhere, and eventually got into a disagreement over the availability and utility of the existing lab results, and the subsequent utility of his assessment without looking at the data. this doctor then made a series of comments that were contradicted by the lab data, which he refused to consult, even when i pointed it out.

you couldn't script a more absurd encounter.

before i tell you what happened next, i need you to really understand the context here. i had three completed lab reports done in the last month that were quite detailed in scope, and this guy decides he wants to diagnose me without looking at them. i didn't go to the er to consult a clairvoyant, i went to the er to ask for some direction from a doctor; what happened was baffling, and there's no explanation for it besides base stupidity on behalf of the doctor. of what value is this doctor's diagnosis - whatever it is - if he refuses to look at the data, and just makes it up by looking at me, instead?

what he ordered was a complete blood count. again. he was not interested in monitoring the ferritin levels, which were the source of the hemoglobin. i pleaded with him to look at the existing blood work instead, and he refused. i told him i was in here in the first place because i was feeling oozy from the last blood test three days ago, and he seemed entirely unconcerned. so, i told him not to bother and stormed out.

while i understand that the er is reactive by design, this is one of those situations where their refusal to look ahead by even a day makes them come off as borderline retarded. i mean, these people would be terrible at chess - they don't even look two moves ahead, and they yell at you when you ask them to. it's a complete lack of any sort of foresight, and it's intentional - it's by design. any halfways competent, reasonable person would look at this and declare it dysfunctional and idiotic. but it is what it is.

he didn't care what my hemoglobin was yesterday, and he didn't want to hear a logical argument about what it's obviously going to be next week, without intervention. the sole, important consideration to him was what my hemoglobin levels were at that exact time, which is retarded.

the one piece of useful information i got from the doctor is that he didn't know what hepcidin was, why it was important or what i was even talking about. he did not believe that a hepcidin test had ever been ordered at the hospital, and he didn't seem to know why somebody would order one, or how to read it if it were ordered, anyways.

so, i tried to get the basic fact across - if he prescribes me pills, and my hepcidin is too high, i'm going to be in here in a week looking for a transfusion. why not just order the test?

and, the actual reason he couldn't order the test is because he didn't know what i was talking about. ok. fine.....i get it...

after storming out, i ended up at the clinic i intended to go to in the morning before i got oozy and fadey and the doctor there at least looked at the lab results - and then agreed with me. but, she didn't know what hepcidin was, either. this doctor had to get iron injections herself, not that long ago, and told me i shouldn't be apprehensive about it. so, maybe i sort of fluked out there in finding a doctor with some experience with low iron, who was willing to prescribe as a result of that.

so, i went home and took my first iron pill - and felt nothing from it.