Terre Thaemlitz is preparing the release of a multi-media package called Soulnessless, featuring more than 30 hours of music, video and text.
Though many know him as a deep house DJ and producer who sometimes goes by the name DJ Sprinkles, Thaemlitz has always had a serious intellectual streak, especially when it comes to music, politics, gender and identity. Soulnessless is primarily concerned with music and spirituality. By featuring such a huge amount of varied content, it aims to push "the boundaries of the album format in today's post-CD era," and at a whopping 16 gigabytes, it nearly defies the digital download era as well. According to Thaemlitz's label, Comatonse Recordings, "this is both an attempt to explore the unprecedented recording lengths offered by the MP3 format (a feature which goes largely unrecognized as a result of its near exclusive use as a format for quick downloads), as well as an act of resistance to online distributorships."
In terms of content, Soulnessless focuses on the spiritual or religious aspect of music, which Thaemlitz, a staunch atheist, believes is unavoidable. In the piece "Rosary Novena for Gender Transitioning," Thaemlitz states: "I concede the inescapability of religious and spiritual dogma to one degree or another in all corners of life—from extremist religious militarism to the seemingly harmless transcendental pretenses of 'soul music,' ambient, new age, classical, pop, rock, folk, house... In a media marketplace that demands soulness, I can only offer soulnessless." For an extensive summary of the album, head over to Comatonse's official website.
Soulnessless will be available as a 16GB hard drive (or to be more specific, a Class 4 MicroSDHC Card). There will also be two vinyl EP extractions, featuring remixes by DJ Sprinkles and K-S.H.E (both pseudonyms of Thaemlitz) of pieces from the album.
Audio Tracklist
01. Canto I - Rosary Novena for Gender Transitioning (Soundtrack Version)
02. Canto II - Traffic With the Devil (Soundtrack Version)
03. Canto III - Pink Sisters (Soundtrack Version)
04. Canto IV - Two Letters (Soundtrack Version)
05. Canto V - Meditation on Wage Labor and the Death of the Album
Bonus: Agnostiko sa Dabaw (Agnostic of Davao)
Bonus: Women in Bands
Bonus: Rosary Novena for Gender Transitioning (Alternate Version)
Bonus: Rosary Novena for Gender Transitioning (Homosexual Spirits) (K-S.H.E Remix)
Bonus: Rosary Novena for Gender Transitioning (Spirits, Lose Your Hold) (K-S.H.E Remix)
Bonus: Meditation on Wage Labor and the Death of the Album (Sprinkles' Unpaid Overtime Remix)
Comatonse Recordings will release Soulnessless on May 31st, 2012.
