Friday, May 07, 2021

 New album: Is It the Future Yet?

New Autohypnosis album out today: Is It the Future Yet?

It's on all the major digital/streaming music platforms. Have a listen on any of them or on my site: autohypnosis.net.

Is It the Future Yet?


Saturday, June 03, 2017

Watch the new double music video


The first music video from the new Autohypnosis EP, Nothing If Not Careful, is a double — for the songs "Hopeless American Summer" and "Beyond Beyond," the EP's bookends. It features the amazing Lola Chan.

For all things Autohypnosis — music, videos, links and information — visit autohypnosis.net

Download/listen to Autohypnosis on virtually all major music platforms, including:

Friday, June 02, 2017

New EP: Nothing If Not Careful


The new Autohypnosis EP, Nothing If Not Careful, is out now. Listen to it and watch the first music video from it at http://www.autohypnosis.net.

Download/listen to Autohypnosis on any of these platforms and virtually all major music sites:

Bandcamp — https://goo.gl/Yqq5iM
Amazon — http://goo.gl/qMWeM
Spotify — http://goo.gl/Gi8cC
Pandora — https://goo.gl/CKG1pu
CD Baby — https://goo.gl/18msxu

Google Play — https://goo.gl/BimREt

Friday, January 20, 2017

New EP: President and Chairman of the Void


To mark this disgraceful day in American history, here's the new Autohypnosis EP, President and Chairman of the Void.
Listen/download:
• Bandcamp ($1) — http://bit.ly/chairmanbc
• iTunes — http://bit.ly/chairmanitunes
• Google Play — http://bit.ly/chairmangoogle
• Spotify — http://bit.ly/chairmanspotify

Sunday, May 03, 2015

Wednesday, May 07, 2014

My new ambient music project



The debut album from my new ambient side project, Shadowy Lines, titled “Mindless Pleasures,” is now available for listening and downloading.

Sunday, February 09, 2014

TV Mania Los Angeles

My latest music project is called TV Mania Los Angeles, and it's a five-part music video series, which you can watch here: http://autohypnosis.net/tvmania

I think it's pretty well known that Duran Duran is my favorite band and biggest influence. TV Mania is a Duran Duran side project by Nick Rhodes and Warren Cuccurullo, created in the mid-'90s but not released until 2013. As part of the release, of their album ("Bored with Prozac and the Internet?"), they created a "franchise" project, in which fans could create their own songs and music videos by mixing samples from the TV Mania album with their own material.


My five-part series incorporates elements from all 11 original TV Mania songs, although I don't actually use any samples. The instrumental music is 100 percent mine, while the vocals are reworkings of the singing and vocal samples from the original album. The five instrumental tracks I created will likely become a part of the next Autohypnosis album.

Three of my all-time favorite albums turn 10 this year




Tuesday, March 12, 2013

"Glamorama" by Bret Easton Ellis

The latest Autohypnosis project/experiment is me reading a chapter from one of my favorite novels — Glamorama by Bret Easton Ellis — set to an excerpt from my track "Pedestrian09."

Watch and listen here:



Thursday, August 09, 2012

Download the new Autohypnosis album for free




The new Autohypnosis album, "Pedestrians," is out now. You can download it for free via Bandcamp.

"Pedestrians" is quite a departure from the previous Autohypnosis releases. The music style is ambient electronic instrumental, and the album consists of 10 tracks, each precisely one hour long. With a total playing time of 10 hours, it's obviously a large download -- more than 1GB, in fact. The download includes high-quality mp3s of the songs as well as a 15-page digital album booklet and a hi-res cover image.

Part of the idea behind the extreme length of "Pedestrians" was to create an ambient musical work long enough that you could start it before going to sleep and it would still be playing when you wake up. Try it sometime.

Download the album for free here: 
http://autohypnosis.bandcamp.com/album/pedestrians

And be sure to follow Autohypnosis elsewhere online:
http://www.autohypnosis.net
http://autohypnosis.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/autohypnosis
http://twitter.com/autohypnosis
http://www.youtube.com/autohypnosis
http://www.vimeo.com/autohypnosis
http://www.soundcloud.com/autohypnosis
http://plus.google.com/103964955006459058177
http://www.myspace.com/autohypnosis

"Pedestrians" is recommended for fans of Brian Eno, Cliff Martinez, Dilate, Steve Roach, Sigur Rós, Tycho, Patrick O'Hearn, Vangelis, Jean Michel Jarre, and David Lynch and Dean Hurley.

Sunday, June 03, 2012

Done.

The new Autohypnosis album is finished. Details coming soon.

https://www.facebook.com/autohypnosis

http://twitter.com/#!/autohypnosis

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Portishead



I listen to and am inspired by a lot of music, but the album that has most directly influenced Autohypnosis over the past few years is Portishead's self-titled release from 1997.

I was a fan of their single "Sour Times" (from their first album, Dummy) in the mid-'90s, but after that I didn't listen to them for years. It was in 2004 that I got introduced to the self-titled album, and I immediately connected with it.

Crashing beats. Dark, moody, mysterious instrumental music. And Beth Gibbons' tortured vocals that are intermittently -- and sometimes simultaneously -- frail and aggressive. These elements combine to form one of the most unique works of music I've ever heard.

I think part of the reason I felt such a strong connection is that I heard in their music some of the things I hoped to accomplish with my own, particularly in terms of combining big beats with nuanced but kind of dirty-sounding instrumental music. After getting a good sampling of that album for the first time and feeling very inspired, I quickly came up with the drum beat that drives my song "The Numbers." (Listen here.)

As the years have passed, that album has remained a favorite to listen to and an inspiration. It's pretty common for artists of any medium to discover works by others that they feel they're constantly chasing, in terms of trying to achieve that level of greatness. There are a few albums that fit that scenario for me, and Portishead is near the top of the list.

On Tuesday of this week, I got to see Portishead live for the first time. While they only did two songs from the self-titled album ("Over" and "Cowboys"), it was an incredible show, and it has me reenergized for creating more music.


Nathan

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Listen to every Autohypnosis song and get a free mp3 of "In the Loop": autohypnosis.net

Monday, September 26, 2011

The dialogue (and lack thereof) of "Post-Everything"


Post-Everything by Autohypnosis

One of the most experimental songs I've ever recorded is "Post-Everything," the closing track on Conversation (in) Pieces. It also turned out to be one of my favorites.

Of particular note is the first two and a half minutes of the song, which features a collage of voices speaking over a swelling wall of sound.

I had the album just about wrapped up in terms of recording and editing, but the last remaining puzzle piece was the "Post-Everything" intro. I had recorded several other ideas for it, but none of what I'd come up with felt satisfying.

Then it hit me what the song -- and the album -- needed: other people's voices. When the idea came, it seemed so obvious, especially considering the tone, theme and lyrics of the rest of the album.

So I solicited help from friends and fans who had the ability to record their voices on their computers. A handful of folks signed up, and I sent them each a few lines to read, encouraging them to record each line several times and read them slightly differently each time. I'll be forever grateful to those awesome people who contributed.

It was a detailed and time-consuming but very fun process to edit them all together, and I'm still blown away by the great readings I got. I think the cumulative effect of all those voices coupled with the background sounds is pretty powerful, and I'd be curious to hear what others think.

Nathan

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Listen to every Autohypnosis song and get a free mp3: autohypnosis.net

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Some song and performance history

Autohypnosis performing live in Greensboro, N.C., in 2005.

A bit of Autohypnosis trivia: Some of the songs on Conversation (in) Pieces date back as far as 2003. In fact, more than half of the album was written at the time The Surface was released in March 2006.

A few examples:
  • I wrote the oldest of the songs, "The Blame," in the spring or summer of 2003. At the time, I was the singer in a rock band called The Big Secret, and we played "The Blame" at a few gigs that summer.
  • "Recurring Dream" was also written in 2003. That fall, my friend Jason and I traveled from North Carolina to Louisiana to catch a Radiohead concert. The day of the show, I played a stripped-down version of that song for Jason on the piano at my parents' house, which was the first time anyone heard it.
  • "Thanks a Million," "Sleeper Down" and "Fake It" were all written in 2004, when I was working toward finding a sound that lived somewhere between electronic and rock music.
  • I wrote both "Electricity" (from The Surface) and "In the Loop" during the summer of 2005. I briefly considered including "In the Loop" on The Surface but ultimately decided it was better suited for a different project (which, of course, turned out to be Conversation (in) Pieces).

In 2005 and 2006, I did solo Autohypnosis live performances in North Carolina. In addition to songs from The Surface, I played "In the Loop," "Sleeper Down," "Fake It" and "Razor-Sharp and Paper-Thin" at various times. I kept a meticulous log of my live set lists, which you can read here.

It's been five years (where did the time go?) since I've performed live. Will there be more Autohypnosis shows? I honestly don't know. One of the hardest decisions I have to make is whether to devote most of my all-too-scant free time to working on new recordings or preparing a live set and trying to book gigs.

Nathan

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Listen to every Autohypnosis song and get a free mp3: autohypnosis.net

Wednesday, September 07, 2011

PAST /// PRESENT /// FUTURE ::: years and music

Conversation (in) Pieces took five years to complete, which is a ridiculously long time. But there are a couple main reasons why it was such a lengthy process.

First, during that five-year period, I moved halfway across the country twice -- first from Greensboro, North Carolina (where I wrote 95 percent of the album) to my hometown of Thibodaux, Louisiana (where I recorded the bulk of the album); then from Thibodaux to Los Angeles (where I wrapped up the recording, went through the grueling process of editing all the tracks, and got the album mixed). Moving and settling into a new city is always time-consuming, but it can also be inspiring creatively, and that was the case with both of my moves.

Second, during the time I spent recording and editing Conversation, I was also working on lots of other music (which I continue to refine) that I plan to gradually put out over the next few years. So while I was not happy about having a five-year gap between the first two Autohypnosis releases, I'm planning on making up for that by releasing new material more often.

Nathan



Listen to every Autohypnosis song and get a free mp3: autohypnosis.net

Tuesday, August 09, 2011

New album + music video + free mp3

The new Autohypnosis album, Conversation (in) Pieces, is out today.

Visit the official Autohypnosis site at www.autohypnosis.net to listen to the entire album and download a free mp3 of the single "In the Loop."

And here is the brand-new music video for "In the Loop":

Monday, July 25, 2011

New Autohypnosis album available for pre-order


Hi, everyone. I am very excited to announce that the new Autohypnosis album, Conversation (in) Pieces, is finally finished. It has 15 songs, is more than an hour long and is quite musically diverse.

You can listen to clips of all the songs and learn more about it here:

http://www.autohypnosis.net/preorder


The official release date for it is August 9, but this week only (July 25-29), I am having a special pre-sale in which you can buy the CD very inexpensively (and I'll ship CDs anywhere in the world).

Here's where you can get more details on the pre-sale and place an order:

http://www.autohypnosis.net/preorder


It's taken me a long time to finish this album, but I'm very happy with it, and I hope you all enjoy it.

Thanks a million for your patience,

Nathan



CONNECT WITH AUTOHYPNOSIS ONLINE
http://www.autohypnosis.net
http://facebook.com/autohypnosis
http://twitter.com/autohypnosis
http://myspace.com/autohypnosis
http://www.youtube.com/autohypnosis

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

New Autohypnosis album coming late this summer

I'm very excited to announce that the audio of the next Autohypnosis album is finished. I'll soon be sending off files to have CDs manufactured, and a release date and more details will be forthcoming. I invite you to sign up for the Autohypnosis mailing list and connect on all the social networks you use: http://autohypnosis.net/connect

Saturday, March 05, 2011

"Electricity" used in student-made energy-conservation video

A team of students from Edgehill Elementary in British Columbia used the Autohypnosis song "Electricity" in a video they made for an energy-conservation campaign/contest (the BC Green Games).

Check it out and vote for them!

http://www.bcgreengames.ca/component/project/?id=377

Friday, December 31, 2010

Happy New Year

My 2010 roundup of art/media

MUSIC
It should go without saying that when Duran Duran releases a new album, it's the highlight of the year for me in terms of music. Their new release, "All You Need Is Now," is no exception. I love it even more than I expected to -- it's an instant classic.

The non-Duran music-release high points of 2010 for me are the dreamy-yet-dirty brilliance of "Transit Transit" by Autolux, and "Dark Night of the Soul," an experimental modern blues-rock album by Dangermouse & Sparklehorse (featuring numerous excellent guest musicians, including David Lynch and Nina Persson).

Other notable music releases include the self-titled debut by Chicanery (which I've already written about here), "Metallic Spheres" by The Orb featuring David Gilmour, "Record Collection" by Mark Ronson & The Business Int'l, and self-titled albums by Stone Temple Pilots and Interpol.

In terms of concerts, the unquestionable highlight of the year was seeing Roger Waters perform Pink Floyd's "The Wall" at the Staples Center. Other great shows I saw were unsung rock geniuses Codeseven (opening for Circa Survive), Autolux, Imogen Heap, Spleen United and Thom Yorke (with Autolux as an opener, no less).


MOVIES
I haven't had a whole lot of interest in new movies lately and didn't see many this year. I also missed one or two that I did want to see (notably "Black Swan"). The two worth mentioning that I did catch are "The Social Network," which deserves every accolade it has received and more, and "Inception," which despite its flaws is still an ambitious and fun ride.


BOOKS
The two novels published in 2010 that I'd been highly anticipating -- Jonathan Franzen's "Freedom" and Bret Easton Ellis' "Imperial Bedrooms" -- both turned out to be incredibly enjoyable reads. "Imperial Bedrooms" has its flaws but still has a strong impact, and "Freedom" proves that the big social novel is far from dead.

The true literary highlight of my year, though, was meeting Bret Easton Ellis (my favorite writer) after attending a panel where he was interviewed at the L.A. Times Festival of Books.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Autohypnosis update + art/media I've been consuming

I'm happy to report that the next Autohypnosis album is currently being mixed, and the photography/artwork/design for the CD package is coming together nicely.

I don't have a release date nailed down yet, since the audio has to be completely finished before I can determine that. But one of these days, I really will have some new music out.

To those of you who've been listeners for years, thanks for your patience.

Nathan



What I've been listening to lately:

-- Transit Transit by Autolux
-- Dark Night of the Soul by Dangermouse and Sparklehorse (featuring many great guest musicians)
-- Miles Fisher by Miles Fisher (which is a free download)
-- Past is Prologue by Tycho
-- Wicker Park soundtrack by Cliff Martinez
-- ( ) by Sigur Ros
-- Stone Temple Pilots by Stone Temple Pilots


What I've been reading lately:

-- Imperial Bedrooms by Bret Easton Ellis (twice, actually)
-- Reunion by Alan Lightman (reread)
-- Jealousy by Alain Robbe-Grillet
-- 60 Stories by Donald Barthleme
-- Pricksongs & Descants by Robert Coover
-- Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis (reread)


What I've been watching lately:

-- World's Greatest Dad
-- The Wire (halfway through Season 3)
-- Stella: Live in Boston
-- Following (an older favorite)
-- Anchorman (an older favorite)
-- Inception (only movie I saw in the theater this summer)

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Chicanery




The adjective that won't leave my mind when trying to describe the music of Chicanery is "swirling." Perhaps it's the blades on the "Solid Gold Helicopter" (the title of one of their tracks) that conjure this circular vision. More likely, though, it's the head-spinning combination of the often heavily effected guitar by former Duran Duran, Missing Persons and Frank Zappa guitarist Warren Cuccurullo and the bizarre (but in a good way) vocals by singer-songwriter Neil Carlill of Delicatessen.

There's a great diversity to Chicanery's self-titled debut album -- a blending of the organic and the synthesized -- yet it feels cohesive. This is modern psychedelia that actually works, the textures and lyrics as wonderfully askew as the house on the album cover.

Like "Medazzaland" (Duran Duran's most experimental -- and in my opinion, best -- album), the 13-track release draws you into a world that's much like our own, but a bit more dark, twisted and unpredictable. What's more, it doesn't shy away from being funny at times, something that's often lacking in even the best pop music.

Standout tracks for me: "Alien Chant," "Gold Pavilions," "Solid Gold Helicopter."

Have a listen with the music player below.


Chicanery @ Facebook: facebook.com/chicanerymusic
Chicanery @ MySpace: myspace.com/chicanerymusic
Chicanery @ Twitter: twitter.com/chicanerymusic
Chicanery @ YouTube: youtube.com/chicanerymusic



 

Tuesday, March 02, 2010

10 great albums you've never heard of

As a much leaner follow-up to my Top 100 Albums of 2000-2009, I present 10 great albums of the 2000s that you’ve never heard of:

Autolux – "Future Perfect"

Brookville – "Wonderfully Nothing"

The Dial. – "The Dial." [EP]

East Hundred – "East Hundred" [EP]

East Hundred – "Passenger"

Elliott – "Song in the Air"

Engine Down – "Engine Down"

Heavens – "Patent Pending"

Lovedrug – "Pretend You’re Alive"

Slipdisk – "Ruckus"

Monday, January 25, 2010

Buy music, help Haiti victims

For two weeks beginning today (Jan. 25), when you purchase my CD (or any CD) through CD Baby, $1 for every CD sold will be donated to relief efforts in Haiti.

This is a great way to support the crucial efforts there and get something for yourself in return.

You can buy the debut Autohypnosis CD, "The Surface," through CD Baby here: http://www.cdbaby.com/autohypnosis

I also recommend the following bands and artists who sell their music through CD Baby:

East Hundred
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/EastHundred

Slipdisk
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/Slipdisk

The Dial.
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/dial

Zaemon
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/Zaemon

Morgan McPherson
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/MorganMcPherson

Tami D'Mar
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/tamidmar

Warren Cuccurullo
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/WarrenCuccurullo

Songs of Water
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/SongsofWater

R-Three
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RThree

Viva la Venus!
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/VivaLaVenus

Parklife
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/parklife

Emotep
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/Emotep

Mindi Abair
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/MindiAbair

Stan Harrison
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/StanHarrison

Serious Vanity Records (compilations)
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bangsrock
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bangsgoth

You can get the "Glue" Duran Duran tribute album that I contributed a cover of "Girls on Film" to here:
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/duran

And you can also get my old CD "Shooting the Decoy" (which I released under my own name in good ol' 2002) here:
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/nathanstack

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Autohypnosis news bits

First, happy new year, everyone. I'm excited about the prospects for 2010, namely the (eventual) release of the next Autohypnosis album, which I am working hard to finish up.

In the meantime, here are a few Autohypnosis-related things going on that I wanted to bring to people's attention:
  • For one of the songs on the forthcoming album, I'm inviting fans to literally be a part of the music (although no musical ability is required). It's a spoken word experiment that I'm hoping will add an interesting dimension to my music. I've already received some great submissions from people, but I'd love to have a few more. To get more details about this project and for information on how to be a part of it, read this.
  • Releasing music is, unfortunately, an expensive endeavor. To help fund the release of the next album, I'm having a sale on the first Autohypnosis release, The Surface. Click here to get it at the best prices ever (and the more copies you buy, the better the price gets).
  • With us starting a new decade, it was a good time to look back at the previous decade. To read lists of my top albums, films and books of 2000-2009, check out the three posts on this blog that precede this post.
  • Finally, it's always nice to have fans' help in spreading the word about my music, and that can be done with little time or effort expended. So if you're interested in helping out, here are some quick and easy suggestions:

I wish you all the best for 2010.

Nathan

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

My top 100 albums of the decade

The following are my top 100 albums of 2000-2009. The albums are not ranked as a whole (I just wasn't up to that task with a list this long); rather, the list is alphabetized by artist. However, for cases in which an artist has multiple albums listed, I've ranked that artist's releases in descending order (with my favorite first).

I've included genre information with each listing for anyone who's not familiar with these artists or records and might want to check them out. Also, most of them link to pages where you can listen to clips from the albums. There are only three compilations on the list, and I've counted EPs as albums for the purpose of this list because there were some exceptionally good EPs this decade.

I haven't yet gotten to listen to all the music from the '00s that I'd like to, but from what I have heard, these are my favorites. One more disclaimer: The list doesn't take into account many of the great individual songs from the decade aren't on my favorite albums. (That includes, for example, almost all the hip-hop I listened to during the past 10 years.)

This is a big list, and I recognize that most people won't take the time to sift through it all and check out the music they haven't heard. (And, if I haven't made it obvious, the main point of the list is, in fact, to encourage people to explore these albums.) So if you're interested in checking out some music but would prefer a smaller list with more specific recommendations, I encourage you to get in touch with me and tell me the kinds of music you're into/looking for. I'll be more than happy to customize a list for you.


The links below are Amazon referral links (advertisements).
My top single of the decade that's not on any of the above albums is "Nobody Knows" by Simon Le Bon and Nick Wood.

And, finally, here are some of my own personal awards:

Band of the decade: Radiohead
Solo artist of the decade: Imogen Heap
Unsigned* band/artist of the decade: East Hundred

*
Meaning a band or artist who's never been signed.