Artist description Skincage is a project exploring the state of being a mind trapped within the confines of a body and other "cages" with absolute awareness of those constrictions, the fleeting joy of distraction,and the return to this awareness. Recordings produced by skincage are intended for use in exploring the listener's mind in its various states.

Music Style uneasy listening

Musical Influences coil, skinny puppy, nurse with wound, dvoa, q.r.ghazala, and about a thousand others.

Similar Artists a hidden microphone in the tower of babel

Artist History skincage has existed for roughly 2 years after various name changes and experiments with various forms of sound. after more than a year of experimenting with new techniques and honing production skills, the new skincage work "axon" is available on CDR. go to http://www.infin8ty.com/order.asp for details.

Group Members skincage is jon ray. please direct all feedback and questions to skincage@hotmail.com, as both are welcome and requested.

Instruments cpu, various mutation and sequencing software, casio sk-1, korg poly 800, ordered chaos, sleep deprivation

Albums current CDR work: "axon" previous cassette works: "xanadu in ruins", "line noise"

Press Reviews "..I received this album about a week ago and have been playing it close to non-stop, and even while i'm listening to it today it still sounds as fresh as when I first popped it into my CD player. It's a constantly changing, morphing nebulous mass of sounds as intricate as some surreal, pernicious roccoco painting. Well, that is not to say it's "dark" and "evil", because its variety doesn't allow for something so simply said. It's more like a psychological peregrination into the human condition, while occasionally confronting forces out of our control.One thing that amazes me about this album is its intricacy of meaning, symbolism, sounds, and moods. It's incredible how much thought and time went into each and every song, every one with its own story and meaning, some obvious while others are more enigmatic, yet holding to an encompassing theme. Actually, the entire album has a rather numinous quality to it, never ceasing to pique interest and wonder. It's extremely cerebral and visceral simultaneously--you can lay down and listen it to intently, or drift along to it. Of all my CDs, this is probably the best headphones experience I own.The music itself, if you want to tag genre descriptions to it, ranges from dark ambient, electro-acoustic, churning soundscapes, noisy collages, and shit I can't even catagorize. I honestly have no clue as to where I should place this. No, you wont find dance beats or cheesy, hackneyed lyrics, thank god--although some songs do have a rather unsettling and ebullient rhythm. Overall the album sounds extremely organic, taking found-sounds and classical instrument samples to create a completely colorful collage of sound. The overall mood changes constantly from dark, introspective, claustrophobic, unsettling, to uplifting, comfortable, warm, and so on.Another reason I love this disc is because Skincage's skill in personifying his music so abstractly is nearly unequaled, as far as my experience delivers. That's why I can say his music "feels claustophobic" or "warm" or "introspective." In the song "Giza" you get a feeling for the pyramids, what they symbolize, the toil that was put in to create them, their antediluvianity. The same goes for every song, it contains a character that's bound to it. "Ichor" reminds me of some menacing Lovecraftian Old One. Of course this is all relative, but they're meant to provoke *something*-- anything.This album reminds me a little of Stone Glass Steel, minus the music sampling and so on--it constantly morphs and changes, but with a completely different aesthetic and sound. If anything I like Skincage a lot more. It also reminds me a little of Coil, in its variety and daring creativity. You get collages of electro-acoustic noise, dark ambience, and then folky strings, disembodied voices and violins, and some tribal sounds as well; you get machine noises, some churning beats and rhythms floating in and out, and even insect and modified animal sounds it seems; and with "House-hold gods" I get a little taste of IDM, until it's washed over by another deluge of sounds. It does have a collaged feel to it, but there is always a deeper structure floating and creeping throughout, sometimes overcome by chaos (but knowing the theme and the album's purpose this is intentional); it definately has its structures andcompositions and rhythms, most of them the most unique and well thought-out that I've heard in awhile. With all the sounds used and the detail he goes into with every song it's hard to get tired of listening to it and trying to dissect it, finding relationships between sounds and rhythms, or just letting it carry me in.Not to continue sounding like I'm some idiot trying to SPAM the group with a "must-buy", but I seem to fail in trying to find something wrong with the album. Some parts of it might seem a little muddy, but I can't help but think that it's intentional and used as texture--it fits the feel of the album. The song "Ichor" sounds a little muffled here and there, but that seems intentional due to the "airy", schitzophrenic bass that wafts in and out--it's still one of my favorite songs, though. If anything, the album could use a little help from professional mastering, but regardless it's a great release that sounds excellent. Labels look out."-zoviet squid, on RMI" As morbid as it sounds, rough times usually make for the most brilliant art, whether it be the tortured artist's painting, the sick obsessive's love poems or the musician's pain and loss manifesting itself into beautiful sound. It's been a rough year for 22 year-old Jonathan Ray of North Carolina, currently attending college. Over the course of the year, the progress of "Axon" has been slowed down by schoolwork, hardware failure and most importantly, the loss of his mother after a long illness. Be warned, there is deep horror in this CD but there is also great beauty. For about 72 minutes, Jon opens up his world, his nightmares and his heart onto one of the most powerful things I have heard in a long time. It bleeds with emotion without having a sung word anywhere, it moves and pulses without the need for a cliche drum machine beat, it challenges security and by the last song I am in tears, reading the interactive liner notes on the website. Currently this is only a CD-R available through him directly at his website - at skincage.infin8ty.com. I doubt this will last long before we see a professional release of this on LP and CD - so get it before it's a collector's item." - Jon Whitney in "The Brain" www.brainwashed.com/brain/

Additional Info learn the glitch, find the gleam. scratch the itch, mend the seam.

Location Greensboro, NC - USA

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