Aaron Dilloway to Release NO SKILL COMEDY MIND READING via Dais Records
The Wolf Eyes alum and Hanson Records founder will tour select cities this fall.
Aaron Dilloway returns to Dais Records with No Skill Comedy Mind Reading, his first full-length album since 2017, a collection of characteristically jarring, absurdist material. Marked by his signature distortions and contortions — feedback-shrouded found sounds, field recordings, and vocal improvisations — No Skill... collects nearly a decade of select solo work and feels distinctly in the present, a scattered product of volatility, both harsh and humorous.
Few contemporary experimental artists over the past quarter-century are as prolific and revered as Dilloway, a pioneer of the American Midwest noise scene, a former member of Wolf Eyes, and the founder of the Oberlin-based label and record shop Hanson Records. But for wielding such an immense catalog, he has released only two proper solo LPs, amid a steadier output of tape releases and collaborative projects, with No Skill... completing what has become an ambiguous album trilogy starting with his 2012 landmark Modern Jester.
'I almost feel like they're kind of part of one piece. All three records are trying to find humor in the worst possible situations. Depending on who is listening and what their mindset is, they could be seen as funny or just horrifying, horrible records.' Half-serious, Dilloway continues, 'This one to me, it's the result of, you know, fed up stuff: mental illness, medications, divorce, funny s. Immersion into weird stuff always fascinates me in one way or another.'
Alongside the aforementioned inputs from the human experience, No Skill... draws on several technical and aesthetic curiosities: the methodical sound design of Alvin Lucier, Andy Milligan's low-budget 1989 cult horror film The Weirdo, and the pop eccentricity of film composer Hugo Montenegro. Dilloway came upon the latter's oddball belongings through a storage-unit auction, which included notes from the composer's early electronic experiments. Some of the album's most unnerving moments can be traced to the impact of this truly unusual find.
No Skill... also follows recent artistic excursions: Dilloway's realization of John Cage's 88-tape loop Rozart Mix, his original score for The Absence of Milk In The Mouths of the Lost, collaborative albums with Lucrecia Dalt (Lucy & Aaron), and Kim Gordon & Bill Nace (Body/Dilloway/Head). While working on these and other projects, he kept a mental folder for his next Dais record, setting aside recordings that fit a fairly nebulous vision. 'This record has kind of consumed my head since I finished The Gag File [2017]. At first, I was thinking it would be more of a pop record, but then the Lucrecia project kind of got that out of my system. It started to flow more like my live sets.' He landed on a sequencing that keeps the listener slightly guessing, whether startled, amused, or confused; by design, the effect may lead one to think something is broken.
No Skill Comedy Mind Reading will arrive October 30, 2026 on Dais Records.
Tracklist
Raw Hyde
My Brain Has Finished Growing
Forced Auctioneer
Find a New Way to Laugh
Bring Me the Head of the Unknown Comic
Possession Audition Tape
The Levitation Hacker
Supporting Actor (for Pieter & Phil)
Tour Dates
Sep 25 Los Angeles, CA – Threshold
Sep 26 Cleveland, OH – The Bent Mace
Oct 08 Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle
Oct 09 Louisville, KY – The B-Side
Oct 30 Pittsburgh, PA – Woodstreet Galleries
Photo Credit: Doug Coombe
Photo Credit: Doug Coombe
