It is my sad duty to inform you that, until further notice, This Plague of Dreaming netlabel is on suspended status. We may return after some internal reorganization, but for the time being we are closed to submissions.
Our music will still be available for free download, and I will continue to maintain the blog and website. Watch for our return!
In the meantime, visit our brother netlabels:
ParaLucid
Mauve Zone Recordings
=PD
Showing posts with label confusion and delay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label confusion and delay. Show all posts
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Website Down; Don't Panic
To be clear: we still exist, all the music is still available, and, well, we're on it.
UPDATE: We're back online and all is well.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
This is Rumor Control.
Sorry I've been out of touch for a while. A lot has happened, but contrary to popular rumor This Plague of Dreaming is still operational.
Here are the facts: There has been a serious shakeup at the Plaguedream Institute. In brief, the Dept. of Exploration tried to take advantage of the Jane Guy situation to get this blog gagged and the Outreach program shut down--and This Plague of Dreaming with it. There was the usual drama, the furniture got kicked over, and I had to call in some heavy favors from some very strange and difficult people, but finally Central got around to granting us a provisional license to operate (pending the results of the Guy inquiry).
To Repel Ghosts put in a timely and unexpected reappearance at the height of the interdepartmental dustup and spoke eloquently (if ironically) about the need for greater transparency, both within the Institute itself and in our relations with the public. I admit that I am not entirely sure of their motives, but I can't fault their results: TRG are known, insofar as they are known at all, for their adherence to a strict policy of reticence and subterfuge, so their sudden clarion call for openness seems to have made a strong impression on Central, and may have been the deciding blow in the skirmish. Under the circumstances, it should hardly be surprising that, immediately following the council decision, these champions of accessibility retired to a lengthy closed-door meeting with representatives of the D. of E. (details classified, naturally), which culminated in the typically abrupt departure of one of the group aboard the Anodos (destination--need I say it?--classified). The remaining members of To Repel Ghosts, meanwhile, refuse to speak about their extended absence, or their arrangements with Exploration, and have simply returned to work as if they had never left.
This is what I have to put up with.
Anyway, back to business: we are currently in contract talks with an exciting new musical artist. Watch for updates in the near future! In the meantime, we continue to appreciate your patience and support.
Don't get caught.
=PD
Here are the facts: There has been a serious shakeup at the Plaguedream Institute. In brief, the Dept. of Exploration tried to take advantage of the Jane Guy situation to get this blog gagged and the Outreach program shut down--and This Plague of Dreaming with it. There was the usual drama, the furniture got kicked over, and I had to call in some heavy favors from some very strange and difficult people, but finally Central got around to granting us a provisional license to operate (pending the results of the Guy inquiry).
To Repel Ghosts put in a timely and unexpected reappearance at the height of the interdepartmental dustup and spoke eloquently (if ironically) about the need for greater transparency, both within the Institute itself and in our relations with the public. I admit that I am not entirely sure of their motives, but I can't fault their results: TRG are known, insofar as they are known at all, for their adherence to a strict policy of reticence and subterfuge, so their sudden clarion call for openness seems to have made a strong impression on Central, and may have been the deciding blow in the skirmish. Under the circumstances, it should hardly be surprising that, immediately following the council decision, these champions of accessibility retired to a lengthy closed-door meeting with representatives of the D. of E. (details classified, naturally), which culminated in the typically abrupt departure of one of the group aboard the Anodos (destination--need I say it?--classified). The remaining members of To Repel Ghosts, meanwhile, refuse to speak about their extended absence, or their arrangements with Exploration, and have simply returned to work as if they had never left.
This is what I have to put up with.
Anyway, back to business: we are currently in contract talks with an exciting new musical artist. Watch for updates in the near future! In the meantime, we continue to appreciate your patience and support.
Don't get caught.
=PD
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
News Flash!
Dear readers, the Plaguedream Institute has just received a radio transmission from the lost airship Jane Guy! The brief encrypted message cut unexpectedly into one of our regular communication channels shortly before 11pm last night, at the height of a powerful electrical storm, and was repeated at five-minute intervals until our antenna was damaged by the high winds. The auxiliary receiver was powered up as quickly as could be managed, but the signal could not be recovered.
The Dept. of Exploration, who continue to presume their sole authority in the case, have not yet released the decrypted message (to Institute-wide consternation), but new orders were immediately flashed to the Man-Cub, and the crew of the airship Anodos has been placed on alert (the D. of E. denies that there is any connection between these events, but you can guess what I think of that).
I will continue to report what I can, when I can.
=PD
The Dept. of Exploration, who continue to presume their sole authority in the case, have not yet released the decrypted message (to Institute-wide consternation), but new orders were immediately flashed to the Man-Cub, and the crew of the airship Anodos has been placed on alert (the D. of E. denies that there is any connection between these events, but you can guess what I think of that).
I will continue to report what I can, when I can.
=PD
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Brief and Unilluminating Update
In the early morning of the 22nd, after being delayed by heavy weather, the air-clipper Man-Cub reached the last logged position of the missing airship Jane Guy. There was no sign of the lost ship or its crew, nor any clear indication of what may have happened to them. Some scraps of metal were found on the ground nearby, but they were determined not to have come from the Guy. Weather reports from the time of the disappearance do not indicate any hazardous or unusual conditions, and discrete inquiries among the local residents have turned up nothing (though many of the people interviewed appeared red-eyed and haggard, and some complained of sleep disturbances, a frequent marker of PDI operations in the vicinity).
The last transmission from the Jane Guy has also been declassified, though it is not at all clear what we are meant to glean from it. I reproduce it here in its entirety (minus call signs and other radio arcana):
when shall the laurel and the vocal string resume their honours when shall we behold the tuneful tongue the promethean hand aspire to ancient praise alas how faint how slow the dawn of beauty and of truth breaks the reluc
Analysis quickly revealed that the text is taken from the opening of the Second Book of The Pleasures of Imagination, by 18th century poet Mark Akenside. The message was delivered in clean code with a steady and unhurried hand on the key, but was cut short mid-line and mid-word. Whether the poem was intended to convey specific information which they dared not transmit openly, even encrypted, or whether the Guy's radio operator was just being inscrutable (a propensity which I have been led to believe is endemic to the vocation), we do not yet know. Akenside's poetry is not unknown to our technicians, though it has not been found to be particularly active under laboratory conditions. Further experimentation and field testing is, no doubt, indicated.
Once again, if you have any information concerning the whereabouts or fate of the airship Jane Guy, I ask that you contact the Institute without delay. I will continue to post updates as they become available.
=PD
The last transmission from the Jane Guy has also been declassified, though it is not at all clear what we are meant to glean from it. I reproduce it here in its entirety (minus call signs and other radio arcana):
when shall the laurel and the vocal string resume their honours when shall we behold the tuneful tongue the promethean hand aspire to ancient praise alas how faint how slow the dawn of beauty and of truth breaks the reluc
Analysis quickly revealed that the text is taken from the opening of the Second Book of The Pleasures of Imagination, by 18th century poet Mark Akenside. The message was delivered in clean code with a steady and unhurried hand on the key, but was cut short mid-line and mid-word. Whether the poem was intended to convey specific information which they dared not transmit openly, even encrypted, or whether the Guy's radio operator was just being inscrutable (a propensity which I have been led to believe is endemic to the vocation), we do not yet know. Akenside's poetry is not unknown to our technicians, though it has not been found to be particularly active under laboratory conditions. Further experimentation and field testing is, no doubt, indicated.
Once again, if you have any information concerning the whereabouts or fate of the airship Jane Guy, I ask that you contact the Institute without delay. I will continue to post updates as they become available.
=PD
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Breaking News
Four days ago, the Institute lost radio contact with the airship Jane Guy in the midst of a coded transmission. After repeated attempts to restore contact failed, the Dept. of Exploration dispatched the air-clipper Man-Cub to the Guy's last logged location (not without a certain smug air of step-aside-we'll-handle-this, if I may say so). It may just be a down transmitter. But if it's not, the Dept. assures us that crew of the Man-Cub is trained to handle "these kinds of situations." Updates will be made available as soon as they are declassified.
If you have any information pertaining to the whereabouts or fate of the Jane Guy, please contact the Plaguedream Institute immediately. Your prompt action may prevent disaster.
- - - - -
In other news, the members of To Repel Ghosts have been on unofficial (and unauthorized, dammit) leave since the completion of their recent album Partisan Songs. I apologize to any and all correspondents who have been awaiting responses to their queries while TRG are away. I have been trying to get them to forward me their login information so that I can take care of administrative tasks like approving MySpace Friend requests, but in the meantime I respectfully ask for your patience.
I suppose I can't blame them for cutting loose once in a while - they're unnaturally wed to their research, and I'm sure it takes its toll - but a little bit of notice (or a contact address, or something) would have been appreciated.
=PD
If you have any information pertaining to the whereabouts or fate of the Jane Guy, please contact the Plaguedream Institute immediately. Your prompt action may prevent disaster.
- - - - -
In other news, the members of To Repel Ghosts have been on unofficial (and unauthorized, dammit) leave since the completion of their recent album Partisan Songs. I apologize to any and all correspondents who have been awaiting responses to their queries while TRG are away. I have been trying to get them to forward me their login information so that I can take care of administrative tasks like approving MySpace Friend requests, but in the meantime I respectfully ask for your patience.
I suppose I can't blame them for cutting loose once in a while - they're unnaturally wed to their research, and I'm sure it takes its toll - but a little bit of notice (or a contact address, or something) would have been appreciated.
=PD
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Hiatus
Due to the ongoing technical difficulties of our file hosts, the Internet Archive, we have decided to hold off on further releases until the remaining problems are resolved (or we get tired of waiting and decide to take our chances, whichever happens first).
Many of our files are still only sporadically available, for which we can offer only a shrug and an impotent apology. Our frustration is tempered only by the knowledge that the Archive technical staff are busting their collective tail to overhaul what is, ultimately, a free service.
The situation is subject to rapid and unpredictable change, so it's worth checking back once in a while.
In the meantime, we're still knocking on hidden doors and developing new machines for dreaming. Stay on the beam for our Post-Repair season!
=PD
Many of our files are still only sporadically available, for which we can offer only a shrug and an impotent apology. Our frustration is tempered only by the knowledge that the Archive technical staff are busting their collective tail to overhaul what is, ultimately, a free service.
The situation is subject to rapid and unpredictable change, so it's worth checking back once in a while.
In the meantime, we're still knocking on hidden doors and developing new machines for dreaming. Stay on the beam for our Post-Repair season!
=PD
Monday, December 3, 2007
Work continues, as usual
Winter - meteorologic, if not astronomic - has arrived at the Plaguedream compound, and most of us were relieved from our usual morning duties to chip ice off everything. The automatic de-icer on the auxiliary transmitter tower froze up (yeah...), so I spent the pre-dawn hours up in a lineman's harness with a blow-dryer and a really long extension cord, thawing out the delicate coils on low heat. Not how I planned to spend my Monday, but it did turn out, on balance, to be to our great benefit, since my unusual vantage point revealed a worn insulator that, left to itself, could have burned out the entire unit, at a cost far exceeding the minor annoyance and windburn it took to find it. That's how it goes around here (and good thing, too, despite any grumbling at the time).
(Apologies for the minutiae, but I still have my feet in a warm-water bath as I type, so it's on my mind.)
More relevant to you, dear reader, I am pleased to say that To Repel Ghosts are putting the finishing touches on Partisan Songs, to be released very soon (assuming that the server difficulties of our long-suffering file hosts, the Internet Archive, are resolved promptly - stay tuned). The engineering stage of the album proved trying for all of us at the Institute - TRG's methods are not without their hazards - but things have quieted down since they went to post-production, and what I've heard of the album sounds like it was worth the damage to the studio facilities (which was extensive but, fortunately, mostly cosmetic).
Lastly, I would like to reassure the many listeners who wrote to us concerning the Noel Towers album that what you are experiencing is perfectly natural, and that the psychosensory effects, though unsettling to some, are ultimately beneficial, and will become less noticeable over subsequent playings.
Watch for more news as the month progresses - we have some good things in store!
=PD
(Apologies for the minutiae, but I still have my feet in a warm-water bath as I type, so it's on my mind.)
More relevant to you, dear reader, I am pleased to say that To Repel Ghosts are putting the finishing touches on Partisan Songs, to be released very soon (assuming that the server difficulties of our long-suffering file hosts, the Internet Archive, are resolved promptly - stay tuned). The engineering stage of the album proved trying for all of us at the Institute - TRG's methods are not without their hazards - but things have quieted down since they went to post-production, and what I've heard of the album sounds like it was worth the damage to the studio facilities (which was extensive but, fortunately, mostly cosmetic).
Lastly, I would like to reassure the many listeners who wrote to us concerning the Noel Towers album that what you are experiencing is perfectly natural, and that the psychosensory effects, though unsettling to some, are ultimately beneficial, and will become less noticeable over subsequent playings.
Watch for more news as the month progresses - we have some good things in store!
=PD
Monday, November 20, 2006
New Release Addendum:
As some of you probably noticed, several of the tracks from the recent Sypha Nadon release ended rather abruptly. This was not intentional. The damaged files were up for the first dozen or so downloads, but they have since been replaced. If you were one of the enterprising, though unfortunate, early downloaders, you might wish to return to the download page so you can hear the full release as it was meant to be heard. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Instabilities in the Fabric
The netlabels at archive.org are changing servers, and all is in disruption. Our address, for instance, is changing (adjust your bookmarks as appropriate). The changes will, for the most part, be good - it will be easier for artists to update or fix broken collections, and the URL's of the download pages will be considerably shorter - but it also means going back in and changing all the links at thisplagueofdreaming.net and our other promotional venues.
We do apologize for any difficulty you may have accessing the music in the meantime, and we'll let you know when it's straightened out.
[Update: it looks like the collection itself is back up and available for download. There are still some problems (e.g. download statistics not updated), and I still have some links to change tonight, but the music is there if you want it, and that's the important part.)
We do apologize for any difficulty you may have accessing the music in the meantime, and we'll let you know when it's straightened out.
[Update: it looks like the collection itself is back up and available for download. There are still some problems (e.g. download statistics not updated), and I still have some links to change tonight, but the music is there if you want it, and that's the important part.)
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