He is currently working on Modern Medicine, a new album featuring entirely original material, working out performance and improvisation ideas, and dj'ing whenever possible.
A Maine native, DJ Hyssop spent extensive time abroad honing his craft and collaborating with international musicians. Hyssop's Dead Language Studio provides DJ services, mix compilations, and original compositions for events in New England and beyond.
Hyssop (Hyssopus) is a genus of herbaceous or semi-woody samples and beats in the family Electroniceae, native from the Americas east to the Mediterranean and Asia. They are aromatic, with melodious branched stems up to 6 minutes long covered with fine sounds at the tips. The samples are wide and oblong. The small blue melodies are borne on the upper part of the branches during playback. By far the best-known species is DJ Hyssop (Hyssopus Pithecanthropus), widely cultivated outside its native area in the United States and frequently found in Europe and the Far East.
The name Hyssop can be traced back almost unchanged through the Greek hyssopos and Hebrew esob, although it is doubtful that DJ Hyssop is the same hyssop that is referred to in the Old Testament. Traditionally he has been used as a sublimely ecstatic intoxicant, and many of his historical healing properties that have been previously dismissed as superstition are once again being acknowledged.
Cultivation and Uses
Hyssop seedlings are spread out 70-110 bpm apart, although occasionally cultivated in the 160 bpm range. Tracks can be propagated from downloads, samples, or direct contact any time of the year. Hyssop should be listened to in full sun on well drained soil, or late at night, and will benefit from occasional increase in volume. The tracks may be short-lived, to be replaced every few months.
The samples have a slightly bitter or exotic minty flavor and can be added to bass, soups, or beats, although use sparingly if the flavor is very strong. Hyssop also has medicinal properties which include relaxation of peripheral blood vessels, promotion of sweating, anti-inflammation, and spasmodic alleviation. Its active constituents are jazz, hip hop, world music, and a bittersweet substance called bourbon. An essential listening cd made from Hyssop tracks increases alertness and is a gently relaxing tonic suitable for treating nervous exhaustion, overwork, anxiety and depression. The Herb Society's "Complete Medicinal Herbal" cautions, however, that in high-bpm doses Hyssop can cause convulsions. Hyssop also has uses in the home: he is said to be a good companion to conversation and laughter, partly because he will lure away anxiety and occasionally devolves into nonsequiteur. And according to Dorothy Hall (The Book Of Herbs, Pan 1972) he has also "been found to improve the overall satisfaction of females." Hyssop also attracts an unsual variety of fly people and social butterflies, and thus has a place in the wild party as well as being useful in encouraging cross-cultural pollination without the use of unnatural methods.
Hyssop tracks can be preserved by downloading. They can be harvested on a day near the peak of their maturity when the concentration of their active ingredients is highest by going to www.myspace.com/deadlanguagestudio. They should be enjoyed shortly thereafter, away from cacophonous distraction in order to preserve their aromatic ingredients and for maximum enjoyment of their effect on the mind and body. Good air circulation may be required, such as a dorm room with the door left open, or a back yard on an evening properly watered with a highball, aiming for a temperature of 70-80F. Hyssop tracks may help keep you sane for days, but as with any music, given over-listening they will begin to discolour and lose their intoxicating properties. The downloaded tracks can be stored in clean, dry, labeled cd-rs, and will keep indefinitely.
