The Squid's Ear Magazine
Squidco Harvest Sale!
Friday through Sunday Save 10%-15% on all new items!



McCormick, John Collins

Healthy Alternative To Thinking [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD]

McCormick, John Collins  : Healthy Alternative To Thinking [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD] (Eh?)

Two sound works from multimedia artist John Collins McCormick (Sky Thing) recorded using a multi-channel, portable sound system that employs up to 8 subwoofers in drum stands, amplifying low frequencies and rattling odds and ends he collected over the years, creating a rolling and controlled cacophony of quick rhythms and unusual asides from objects placed on the subwoofers.
 

Price: $7.15
Price Was: $7.95
Squidco Harvest Sale:
Save $0.80




Quantity:

In Stock

Quantity in Basket: None

Log In to use our Wish List
Shipping Weight: 4.00 units

Sample The Album:



product information:

Personnel:



John Collins McCormick-composer, performer


Click an artist name above to see in-stock items for that artist.




Label: Eh?
Catalog ID: 122
Squidco Product Code: 33572

Format: CASSETTE
Condition: New
Released: 2023
Country: USA
Packaging: Cassette
Recorded by the artist.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"[...] Just under thirty minutes of sound produced by up to eight subwoofers in drum stands, low frequencies, and "rattling odds and ends" makes for a sound that is Industrial, in that it's characterized by a rumbling, ceaseless low grade thrum, much like the sound of dental drill on a tooth or a jackhammer a few blocks down the street. The musical aspect comes from the overtones which arise within the mixture of the elements utilized by Collins McCormick. The listener is advised to be patient; they're there, but they don't jump out at first. This is not easy music to digest, but it hits that nerve that many people have, the one that can become entranced by simple sounds that repeat over and over again. Disaster Amnesiac has noted as well the engineering for Healthy Alternative, in that I'm guessing that John utilized close mic techniques for what I'd imagine is sound capture from a pretty delicate configuration. Dude is a sculptor, after all. To put that another way, this release doesn't scream obscenities at the confluence of large avenues, but instead whispers peculiarities from an (imagined) sitting room that is filled with books about Topics. Imagine Martin Heidegger pulling up rich, German earth with a powerful tractor, and you'll have a pretty good mental film with Healthy Alternative To Thinking as its soundtrack."-Mark Pino, Disaster Amnesiac



"John Collins McCormick was born in 1983 in Fort Wayne Indiana. He played drums in Dead Letter Auction from 99-2002 and attended the School Of The Museum of Fine Art, Boston, Purchase College State University of New York and Herron School of Art and Design earning a Bachelors and Masters of fine art degrees in sculpture, using sound as a material. McCormick performed and released albums as Sky Thing from 08-13 after which he's used his full name for all his projects."-eh?


Get additional information at Disaster Amnesiac

Artist Biographies

John Collins McCormick

Education
2014 Master of Fine Arts, Sculpture; John Herron School of Art and Design, Indianapolis, IN
2007 Bachelors of Fine Art, Interdisciplinary Studio Art, Sculpture and Drawing; School of Art and Design, Purchase
College, State University of New York, Purchase, NY
2002-03 Studio Art, School of the Museum of Fine Art Boston, Boston MA
Relevant Work Experience
2018-19 - Audio Visual Technician/Preparator, Indianapolis Museum of Fine Art
2017/18 3D Foundation,(F123) Junior, Senior, Graduate Sculpture,(S300/400/500) Herron School of Art and Design,
Indianapolis, IN
2015/16 Mellon Digital Arts Fellow, Marlboro College, Marlboro VT, Sound as Material I & II, Sculpture I, Marlboro
College, Marlboro, VT
2014/15 Sophomore Sculpture (S201/02) Herron School of Art and Design, 3-D Fundamentals of Three Dimensional,
Sound as Material (Rotating Topics in Sculpture) Herron School of Art and Design (F123)
Art Appreciation (ART 110-01), University of Indianapolis
Americorp Public Allies, Big Car Collaborative
Residencies
2014 Artist in Residence, Art Farm Nebraska, Marquette NE
Solo Exhibitions/Public Commission
2018 "Recentering / No Most Fatigue and How to Spend" StorageSpace, Sound and Sculpture Installation
Indianapolis, IN
2017 "Why Not See?" Solo Painting Exhibition, Middle Space Gallery, Indianapolis,IN
2015 "Wood, Metal, Sound" Sound Installation, Drury Gallery, Marlboro, VT
2013 The Daniels Leadership Foundation, Artist (creation/fabrication of sculptural award)
2013 "Flow II", Reconnecting Our Waterways at Big Car, Sound Installation, Indianapolis, IN
2011 "John Collins McCormick Drawings", Friends and Relatives Records; Ypsilanti, MI
2010 "Flow", Space Camp Micro Gallery, Indianapolis, IN
Selected Exhibitions/Performances
2019 "Hacked, Found, Repurposed" Group Show, Center for New Music, San Francisco, CA
2017 Midwest Tour with John Wiese (OH, MI, IN)
2017 Concentration Club (series curator) Middle Space Gallery, Indianapolis, IN
2016 Sound Performance; John Collins McCormick, Feeding Tube Records, Florence, MA
"Noise-Brunch" Firehouse Gallery, Worcester, MA
Sound Performance; John Collins McCormick, Pharmacy, Philadelphia, PA,
Ratchet Series (duo with Aaron Zarzutzki) Cafe Mustache, Chicago, IL
2015 Sound Installation for Summer Solstice, 100 Acres Sculpture Park, Indianapolis Museum of Art
Sound Performance; John Collins McCormick "9 Rules of the Avant-Garde" General Public Collective, Indianapolis,
IN
Performance, Excess Gallery, Bloomington, IN
Performance, Totally Awesome Fest, Ypsilanti, MI
2014 Stop Hate in America; Zine Issue 1, Curated by Nick Hoffman, Eugene, OR
Making Memory; Group Exhibition, Sound Installation, Marsh Gallery, Herron School of Art and Design
Sound Performance; John C McCormick; Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Fine Art Center, Indianapolis, IN
2013 Works for Prepared Library, The Cincinnati Public Library; Cincinnati, OH
Hammer, Anvil, Stirrup: People Make Things That Make Sounds, Group Exhibit, Sound Installation, Lux Center for
the Arts, Lincoln, NE
The Wanderer Project; Transmediale Festival, Group Exhibit, Photography; Berlin, Germany
"Dum Dum Zine", Drawings, L.A. Zine Fest; Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
2012 Sound Performance; Sky Thing; Indy Indie Artist Gallery; Indianapolis, IN
Sound Performance, (D)(B)(H); Dreamland Theater, Ypsilanti, MI
Sound Performance, Sky Thing; The Hideout; Chicago, IL
Drawing Exhibit, "Systemic Abstraction"; The Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN,
Drawing Exhibit, "EX: Collaborative Creation", International Arts Movement; New York City, NY,
Drawing, "Quickest Flippest" Zine; Issues #1,2; Eugene, OR
2011 Drawing zine "Book Store"; Drift Station; Lincoln, NE,
Group Drawing Exhibit, "Psychogenic Fugue"; House Bar; Bloomington, IN,
Colorless Green Ideas; (Zine) Issues #9,10; London, England,
Sound Performance; Sky Thing; Totally Awesome Fest 7;Ypsilianti, MI,
Sound Performance; Madame Gallery; Minneapolis, MN,
Sound Performance; Myopic Books; Chicago, IL
2010 Sound Performance; Sky Thing; It Looks Like It's Open; Columbus, OH
Sound Performance; Roots and Culture; Chicago, IL
Sound Performance; Big Car; Indianapolis, IN
2009 "Drippy-Droppy, Lovebugs, Haters and Couch Potaters"; Artlink Fort Wayne, IN
Pro You Zine Release; Fort Wayne Museum of Art; Fort Wayne, IN
Sound Performance; Sky Thing and The Fort Wayne Ballet w/ David Ingram, Fort Wayne, IN
Selected Bibliography
2012 David Winship, "John Collins McCormick Mysteries of the Ordinary" MinimalExposition.Blogspot.com April 7
James Payne, "John Collins McCormick's Line Drawings" BeautifulDecay.com March 26
Jack Chuter, "Garbage Strike" Attnmagazine.co.uk July 31
2011 Demian Johnston, "Cooler Heads Prevail" DeadFormats.Blogspot.com December 15
2010 Dan Swartz "Populous" Fort Wayne Reader, February 202009 Dan Swartz "Pro You" Fort Wayne Reader, May
18
Discography
2019 Trapping Configuration; Audio Recording, Solo, Eminent Observer, Cincinatti, OH
Ad for Nails; Audio Recording, Solo, Gilgongo Records, Tempe, AZ
2018 One Bone in the Arm; Audio Recording, Solo, Pan y Rosas Discos, net label, Digital Release Chicago, IL. No
Most Fatigue; Audio Recording, Solo, Impulsive Habitat net label, Digital Release, Lisbon Portugal.
2016 Pluperfect; Audio Recording, duo w/ Ben Bennett, Eh? Recordings, San Francisco, CA
There Never Was An Underground; Audio Recording, Solo, Self Released
2015 Icky Vicky; Audio Recording, trio w/ Andy Israelensen, Katie Kroko, Pan y Rosas Discos net label, Digital
Release, Chicago, IL
2014 Beyond Antibiotics; Audio Recording; (D)(B)(H) sextet w/ Justin Rhody, Marty Belcher, Daniel Wick, Joe Stone,
Chris Rall, Human Conduct Records, St. Louis, MO
2013 Lisa's Hat; Audio Recording; Sky Thing, solo, Faux Pas Recordings; North Hampton, MA Virgin Journalist;
Audio Recording; Sky Thing; quartet w/ Stephen Peck, Megan Mirro, Justin Rhody, Eh? Recordings, San Francisco,
CA
2012 Your Reality Check Bounced; Audio Recording; Sky Thing, FM Dust Recordings; Ann Arbor, MI, Master Pieces
of Objective Reporting; Audio Recording; (D)(B)(H) quartet w/ Marty Belcher, Jay Kreimer, Justin Rhody, Gilgongo
Records; Tempe, AZ
2011 Cooler Heads Prevail; Audio Recording; Sky Thing, Solo, Eggy Records; Portland, OR
Garbage Strike; Audio Recording, Solo, Pan y Rosas Discos net label, Digital Release, Chicago, IL
2010 Howdy Cloud; Audio Recording; Sky Thing, Friends and Relatives Records, Ypsilanti, MI-John Collins McCormick Website (https://johncollinsmccormick.files.wordpress.com/2023/05/john-collins-mccormick-cv.pdf)
10/2/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



SIDE A



1. Healthy Alternative 1 13:00

SIDE B



1.Healthy Alternative 2 12:59

Related Categories of Interest:


Cassettes
Physical Releases that include Download Codes
Electro-Acoustic
Organized Sound and Sample Based Music
Sound, Noise, &c.
Installation Sound Work
Solo Artist Recordings
New in Experimental & Electronic Music

Search for other titles on the label:
Eh?.


Recommended & Related Releases:
Davis, Miles w/ Tadd Dameron
Revisited
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Between his work with Charlie Parker and before his own personal success, trumpeter Miles Davis joined the influential ensemble of pianist, composer and arranger Tadd Dameron, heard in six large ensemble pieces at New York's Royal Roost in 1949, and then in a quintet at the Paris Festival International De Jazz the same year, in both hearing a unique and confident facet to Miles' playing.
Other Recommended Releases:
Directives
Glimmer
(Aubjects)
A series of instrumental compositions from D. Petri (Dog Hallucination), structured as songs of a rhythmic nature using synths, samples, field recordings and effects, eight embraceable and upbeat work with layers of detail, influenced by Petri's love of explorative electronic music including YMO or Tom Ellard, or labels like Mille Plateau and Raster.
Wilson, Kelsey
A Workmanlike Approach [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD]
(Marthasville Fine Audio Recordings)
Two distinctive works of sounds and noise from Atlanta sound artist and drummer Kelsey Wilson composing extended works using field recordings collected between 2020-2022, volume/feedback and synthesizers; first a howling and heavy journey in "Bootstrap Story"; then a rich and ringing birthday party for Nick Cave that ends with haunting bells and running water.
Lockwood, Annea
Glass World [CD & BOOK]
(Room40)
Twenty three succinct recordings sourced from glass and related objects--wine glasses, glass bulbs, water jars, glass rods, &c.--each allowed to resonate or sing its unique characteristics, released as a vinyl album in 1970 and here remastered by Lawrence English under the guidance of Annea Lockwood herself; a unique album opening a microcosm of richly translucent sound.
Jerman, Jeph / Ted Byrnes
Passenger [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD]
(Tsss Tapes)
Two western-US, like-minded sound artists and improviser who started their musical lives as drummer/percussionists, Jeph Jerman and Ted Byrnes present nine relatively succinct tracks of unusual and unidentifiable sources, typically formed around a rhythmic center and always actively engaging, finding logic in curious or even chaotic interaction.
Orasique (Don Malfon / Fernando Barrios / Marco Albert / Misha Marks)
Ixtlahuaca (CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD)
(Eh?)
A mix of chaos, awe and humorously inspired improvisation from the quartet of Don Malfon on alto saxophone, Fernando Barrios on drums & objects, Marco Albert on voice and Misha Marks on latarra (a form of home-built guitar), recording in Colonia Buenavista de San Pedro Ixtlahuaca, Oaxaca, Mexico for 7 peculisar and absorbing improvisations.
Surak, Jeff
Eris I Dysnomia [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD]
(Eh?)
Washington DC-area sound artist and Zeromoon label-leader Jeff Surak, creating audio environments since the 80's home taping days, in a set of sound recordings of electro-acoustic drones, tape generated musique concrete, "plus a heavy dose of weirdness"; five tracks of diverse approaches to sonic experimentation, particularly the epic "Parasite Lost".
Lareau, Charles
Stasis (CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD)
(Eh?)
Sound artist Charles Lareau, a member of Naturaliste with Bryan Day, Chris Fischer & Lonnie Methe, in six solo compositions of assertive electronics and noise, using recordings, found sounds and various electronics while often incorporating his environment to add aural excitement and unexpected moments between sections of slowly shifting, static textures.
Onda, Aki
Brisbane September 25 2004 (CASSETTE)
(Room40)
As part of a 2004 performance series at Fabrique in Brisbane, Australia, Lawrence English invited experimental cassette and field recording artrist Aki Onda to present his unique approach to reusing and rupturing recordings using cassettes, Walkmans, delay pedals and fender twin amps, improvising this extended work & its coda, blurring concrete and inexplicable sources in remarkable ways.
Weston, Matt
Sparky 6 [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD]
(7272music)
The 6th and final installment in percussionist & composer Matt Weston's serialized opera for percussion ensemble + electronics, a set of narratives and counter-narratives that explore mental health struggles as they develop over time in varying circumstances, realized through a combination of site-specific graphic, multidimensional and instantaneous scores.
Kubo, Tomomi / Camila Nebbia
Polycephaly [CASSETTE + DOWNLOAD]
(Tripticks Tapes)
Amongst the most unique of early electronic music instruments, the Ondes Martenot is heard in six duo recordings performed at the Barcelona studio of Spanish Ondiste, Tomomi Kubo, in conversation with tenor saxophonist Camila Nebbia, both using loop pedals and Nebbia adding her voice at times, creating otherworldly and unconventional interactions of free improv.
Motl, Kyle / Carlos Dominguez
Field of Fried Umbrellas [CASSETTE + DOWNLOAD]
(Tripticks Tapes)
An apt title for this collection of improvised works for double bass and feedback mixer between long-time collaborators Kyle Motl and Carlos Domínguez Reinhardt, both members of the band Not the Circus and having previously released the duo album Artabotrys Hexapetalus, this album recorded in 2020 at Rat's Mouth in Florida for five diverse and often abrasive interactions.
Munden-Dixon, Adrianne / Leo Chang
Some Time [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD]
(Notice Recordings)
Unusual interactions between electronically manipulated violin and an AMPIRI--an electronically enhanced Korean double reed instrument--from the Brooklyn duo of Leo Chang and Adrianne Munden Dixon, seven improvisations numbered "Sixteen" to "Twenty-Two", each a uniquely idiosyncratic exchange from quick slippery dialog to raspy dissonance of unexpected directions.
Comte, Richard
Endless Tapes [CASSETTE]
(nunc.)
An immersive drone performed on acoustic guitar, captured and extended through loops and effects and recorded to 4-track cassette, from French improviser Richard Comte (Hippie Diktat, Vegan Dallas), a single extended piece that begins with actively repeating chords that evolve into rich layers of textured, expansive loops, a seemingly infinite work that begs to be looped.
OTONN
Two Crumbling Shapes [CASSETTE + DOWNLOAD]
(esc.rec.)
The electroacoustic duo of singer Andrea Silvia Giordano and drummer Nicholas Remondino, working with Pierre Bastien, E-cor Ensemble, Gianluca Verlingieri, Maria Dybbroe and Torstein Lavik Larsen, create uniquely motioned works of decay, deconstruction and destruction, percussion and voice weaving amid unusual sonic sources both abstract and rhythmic.



The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-, Squidco LLC