In 2008, Aaron Dilloway released a cassette and CDR titled Modern Jester through his label Hanson. Primarily featuring the sounds of crude 8-track loops treated with tape delays, the editions were identical save for a re-imagining/speed-doubling of the release’s first track serving as a sort-of bonus on the CDR. Dilloway was clearly unable to close the book on Modern Jester during the four years following its initial release  (the grainy photo of the rubber masked man has become somewhat of a calling card for Hanson), and this year we are graced with a 2xLP bearing that same name. The Modern Jester of 2012, however, bears little resemblance to that of 2008.

The final version of Modern Jester stands as perhaps the most cohesive and nuanced set of music that Dilloway has released thus far. On tracks such as “Body Chaos,”  we find him further honing his Burroughs meets Blockaders sound philosophy into a nearly nineteen minute side of pure psychedelic sound collage. This is music that demands your attention and will forcibly take it if you don’t comply – machine music that is unsettlingly human and flawed to perfection. With that in mind, the quote from KW Jeter’s The Glass Hammer — which adorns the record’s back cover —  must have been printed in sarcasm. The excerpt reads, “People could screw up — you expect them to — but machines are made of finer stuff. They’re not supposed to begin talking, in a new voice, out of the blue, about death and weird shit like that.” Dilloway has taught his machines to speak, and what they have to say is completely and utterly vital.

Aaron Dilloway: “Body Chaos”

Modern Jester was recently released in an edition of 500 copies and can be purchased from Hanson.