2004 release ** Limited to 250 numbered copies as an unbound book housed in a sealed heavy kraft box. "Continuing the label's tradition of beautifully packaged, limited edition releases, Endingsis the second text + music project from Crouton founder Jon Mueller. An established and diverse drummer, playing with indie instrumentalists Pele, Collections of Colonies of Bees, and a myriad of improv ensembles, Mueller's written works offer unique glimpses into the strange reality of a clearly eccentric artist whose role is never merely complimentary. Endings combines eleven very short stories (in a boxed, spineless book) with a 30-min. CD-R of reading music, and several black-and-white illustrations by Kaveh Soofi, the Bay Area graphic artist who designed the cover for Pele's last album. Mueller's stories are by far the most exciting piece of the puzzle. Theauthor uses the concept of "endings" to create postcard length vignettes launching the reader into a darkly absurd and chaotic worldwhere narrative seems to strive immediately toward a prophetic conclusion. The extreme shortness of the texts provides that no character or scenario is developed outside of a series of scrupulous, often ridiculous details serving only the anticipation of some unifying finale. Mueller's musical accompaniment is unlike anything I've heard from him yet and clearly serves the box's theme. A faded symphonic loop plays over and over to simulate a continuous, regenerating "ending," essentially a false ending that, in its 19-sec. length, reminds me of the obscured, darkened tones of a Badalamenti score played out like one of William Basinski's Disintegration Loops, only without disintegrating. The atmosphere is soothing for a small second, but ultimately turns to a sinister, anxious tension, both apt and almost nauseating when coupled with Mueller's words. Soofi's illustrations are less fitting, but interesting nonetheless. From the look of it they are digital images arranged comic-strip-style but without any explicit narrative. The images are almost all stylized, grey toned portraits, progressively clouded, shadowed, fragmented, cropped, and later barraged by clusters of nail-covered blocks. I can see comparisons to Francis Bacon's portraiture, with the sectioned murkiness and sketchy inaccuracies reminding me of animations by South African artist William Kentridge, though Soofi's work has an unsettling geometric base that feels very unique. Endings is well worth itto anyone keen on interesting packaging and multimedia formats; I am still involved in picking apart and connecting the contents of thisbeautiful release, no end in sight."