Update

Hey now-just a reminder that 'Light Slows Down' is still available from the Gallery of Potential Life Studios, and 'Twilight Year' remains a free download from Twilight Luggage-links are to the right. I hope folks that read this have a really wonderful holiday. Coming up in the new year, a couple of tracks for two really interesting compilations and a couple more solo releases slated for the first half of '09. Cheers everyone!

Twilight Year

This will be my last release for the year, and for some time. I don't think I have ever been so blessed creatively as this year. To be sure there were a number of trials to overcome, but part of that work has helped the music out so much. I am truly very glad to be gradually widening the list of considerate listeners and hope you will keep following me down the path. My releases have seen progressively better distribution areas, from handing out samplers at NPV shows, to starting this blogsite, to Light Slows Down which is still available for $7 all going to the Gallery of Potential Life (go to link in the side bar), and now a release through Norweigian Net-Label Twilight Luggage (link is to the side). I have been slowly getting word out to various labels with some of my work, and Hans and Andreas were very excited by it. Andreas created this amazing artwork (it could be a poster!) and it is available for FREE download exclusively through their website. While you are there please check out the other artists who range from dark ambient to full on harsh noise, and consider making a small donation so they can continue to produce amazing art. I am so humbled to be part of their roster, and hopefully people around the world can now get into some of my music.

Live 10/24/2008

Joe from Carbon Records and many different groups was kind enough to photograph and record the solo set I did on 10/24. I am pretty critical of my playing, but for something that was primarily improvised I think it came out alright. One of the pieces will be appearing in a different/improvised manner on a future recording, the rest were completely improvised in and for the moment. This gives a pretty good idea of my playing style, and I'll look forward to playing out again in the future. Thanks again to Joe, The Gallery of Potential Life Studios, and the other performers from the evening. Enjoy and share as you see fit.
http://www.archive.org/details/MattHenshawLive_24102008

Unfurled

Another harsh enigmatic release. No need to "bring the noise" as this 75+ minute piece has plenty to share. Not recommended for those close to losing sanity. A sample is available here for your observation: http://www.archive.org/details/MattHenshawUnfurled . As with my other noisier releases, I leave it up to each listener to conclude what they wish about instrumentation and themes. Suggested volume setting at "close to intolerable".
Hand-assembled, packaged in a DVD case then "mummified" in an atrocious tie!
Read a review here http://memorywavetransmission.wordpress.com/2009/06/07/matt-henshaws-unfurled-finally/

Light Slows Down

New CD available exclusively from The Gallery of Potential Life Studios. I've been participating in some really intense and interesting sessions on Sunday nights with the curator (Jeremy) and other musicians. I approached Jeremy about doing a release exclusively through them and all of the proceeds going directly to the gallery. He was quite enthusiastic about this, agreeing to handle the art side which I am blown away happy with. On the musical end, you are getting over an hour of new music touching on a variety of forms and moods; here you'll find drone, noise, and more melodic work-recorded entirely live and mostly improvised with quite a bit of post-production (some of this too was actually improvised). This is a really special release to me, and I hope you will visit the Gallery's website, http://www.potentiallifestudios.com, and remember that purchasing the cd directly and completely supports this great facility. Much thanks again to Jeremy and Colleen for their art design contributions and their support!

Buying my CDs now cheaper and more convenient

Hi everyone-I am excited to announce that I am set up to accept Paypal transactions for purchasing CDs. With this change I am also going to revise my pricing structure. First a brief word on how Paypal works. It does "cost" me a little to accept Paypal (specifically 1.9% to 2.9% + $0.30 USD of every transaction). Keeping this in mind, CDs are now for sale at a price you choose. That's right, much like Radiohead and NIN have successfully implemented this year, you choose what you pay for my CDs! So when you know what you want to buy, head over to Paypal and send your payment to "thebizzle76@yahoo.com", be sure you include the CD or CDs you want to order as well where to send the order to. Once funds have been received I'll follow up with you as far as what you ordered and when I ship it out. Remember that I do everything myself, so your patience is really appreciated, but I should be able to turn orders around in a matter of days. It probably costs me in total about $3.00 per cd, so you can use that as a "floor" if you'd like. Your consideration and fairness in doing business this way will help determine how much more music I can produce and get out to people. Thank you very much!

The City Is The Corner I Stand In When I Am Bad

"A game is an activity among two or more independent decision-makers seeking to achieve their objectives in some limiting context."
-Clark C. Abt, Serious Games, Viking Press, 1970, p. 6

My move then. Using some of the same elements which created "320", and expanding upon them, "The City..." consists of one epic track called "Practical Power". The music is all original and new, although it will sound familiar to those who listened to "320". Maybe there is more of a narrative here, a lonely soul trying to go home but stopped by various obstacles. The soul toils and pleads for release, but none comes. In the end, one interpretation may be that we get out of the game by refusing to play anymore. Another may be that we find the cracks to squeeze through and escape by using the game against our opponent. "Games are for playing, not for living" is an idea I like at the moment. My hope is that this piece will permit you to tap into your own practical power and to achieve what you wish with it. Your move.

Create your own story/theme/narrative; I can only speak for my own experience listening and performing. Plenty is there for the considerate and erudite listener. Best for listening on headphones but watch the volume, it can become quite noisy at times. Operation of heavy machinery is not recommended when listening to this CD.

A 5 minute sample is posted here for your scrutiny: http://www.archive.org/details/MattHenshawPracticalPowerExcerpt_3

Hand Assembled, Packaged in a DVD case with a key to enter, escape, or unlock the practical power necessary to "win" the "game".

320

Fresh recording from the road! Born out of exhaustion and despair, recorded in solitude in a slightly altered state of mind, this is life for the lonely professional. Recorded and composed entirely live, with post-production done immediately afterwords, I am quite pleased with how this turned out. I'd like to think of it as a little more than an average field recording. I may write something up on the process and "instrumentation" used but I think I'll go the enigmatic route and just say listen and analyze for yourselves...
Free to listen to at http://www.archive.org/details/MattHenshaw320

Packaged in a plastic sleeve with cover card and a copy of a comment card.

Pull Him Along

If you had told me I would have recorded music today, and in fact, enough to warrant a release I probably would not have believed you. But somehow, here is my latest CD recorded and put together in the space of the last 5 hours or so. A short CD (EP really) returning to simple melodies and chords, a 180 turn from the last couple of CDs. All songs were spontaneously composed and ever so slightly produced to cut back on all that "terrible noise".

FREE DOWNLOAD: Folks going here can download and listen to "pull him along" in it's entirety.
http://www.archive.org/details/MattHenshawPullHimAlong_2 .

Packaged in a plastic sleeve attached to a floor tile with song and title cards enclosed.

Order A CD

I now accept Paypal payments for CD orders-see first October 2008 post for details.

I personally burn and verify CDs before they go out and assemble the packaging myself.

Included with your order I'll also include a 30-40 minute sampler from CDs you didn't order.

All of my work is under Creative Commons copyright and I encourage you to share your comments with me and share my music with others as you see fit (please be sure to send them by this site as well so they can buy if they wish)

Your support helps me to continue to share my work with a broader audience so I humbly thank you for your interest in what I do musically and sincerely hope that you come away from listening to my music as having had a personal experience worth recalling.

Thank you

Bury Me Before I Die

Recorded in May and June of 2008 shortly after Hollow Stone Space. A further refinement and exploration into drone, noise, and improvisation. Different from what came before it and certain to lead to something new in the future.
Hand packaged in a DVD case, including a small handmade cut-out and sample of dirt for burying what you wish to leave behind

Check out a review of the cd here: http://memorywavetransmission.wordpress.com/2008/09/13/a-listen-to-matt-henshaws-bury-me-before-i-die/

Hollow Stone Space

A return to more consistent recording in 2008. These are two companion pieces growing from the Suite For Bad Neighbors set. Any more to be said would be telling...
FREE DOWNLOAD: you can hear both of these pieces in their entirety here
http://www.archive.org/details/MatthewHenshawHollowStoneSpace

Hand packaged in a DVD case, including additional photos/instructions and a small hand painted stone for contemplation, meditation, etc.

Suite For Bad Neighbors-Compositions for Piano and Guitar

Amidst a flurry of personal and professional upheavals (some good some bad) 2005 and 2006 were lost years on the musical front. I had recorded one piece in 2004 that, while I was pleased with it, did not seem to fit thematically with anything else. Inspiration came from a number of sources musical and "extra-musical" and a new composition was forthcoming in middle to late 2007 which gave the first piece an added dimension of meaning. What is here is extremely volatile and angry-a curse which allowed me to come to some level of peace and opened new musical possibilities in the releases that followed.
Hand packaged in a DVD case and including a short essay on the pieces.

A System Of Unknowns

"#6 in an ongoing series"-Similar in tone to Failure To Complete and in many ways its companion. It would be a couple of years before I returned to recording music for "public" consumption. Another relatively short-length CD with a bonus track.
Hand packaged in a DVD case

Failure To Complete

2004 saw the production of two shorter CDs and another longer piece. This is the first of the CDs-a marked attempt at shorter duration pieces of varying flavors. New influences are felt and progress and evolution are apparent.
Hand packaged in a DVD case

971682APE

A mini-project and third recorded output. An experiment in long form improvisation over shifting time signatures. It would be several months until the next pieces I would record.
Individually created artwork with order, packaged in a (randomly selected) colored plastic sleeve.

A Ghost, A Key, A Way Out

My second solo CD recorded shortly after Black Binder Clips and Tears. A little more varied in it's approach exploring various textures and a more experimental post-production process. First song is a "cover" of Frank Zappa's "Watermellon in Easter Hay" showcasing some of my influences up to that point.
Hand packaged in a DVD case

Black Binder Clips

This is my first CD of solo music. Previously I had played in the jazz-rock collective known as The Band Without A Name and had recorded a (now lost) project called HiVE. These recordings were made several years after this work, and reflected a different direction in my music. These were recorded in 2002 and 2003.
Hand packaged in a DVD case.

Welcome

I'll be posting available cds for purchase up here soon. Thank you for your interest.