Conceived & Directed by: Jeff Arnal
Choreography: Estelle Woodward
Music: Gordon Beeferman
Video: Donald O’Finn
Installation: Clyde Forth & Iain Machell
Performers: Jeff Arnal, Michael Evans, Clyde Forth, Anders Nilsson, Jane Rigler, Tomas Ulrich, Jonathan Vincent, Elizabeth Ward, Estelle Woodward
Read more about this work at Estelle Woodward’s Vimeo page.
Craig Colorusso – “Strap Parts” - Mudd Industries
10″ white vinyl, with a unique twist on the whole A-side/B-side thing– both sides start more or less the same, but end up in dissimilar places. Colorusso cites “different needs” as his reason, but the “choose your own adventure” aspect of the outcome is enough reason for me, not to mention an interesting glimpse into his artistic inner workings. Recommended for multiple listening sessions, especially with a nice stereo to take advantage of this very lovely, warm recording.
Ernesto Diaz-Infante, Jeff Arnal – “Brooklyn Mantra” – Generate Records
7″ 33rpm on colored vinyl, available through Arnal’s own Generate Records label. Arnal provides rich– but not overly busy– percussion, and Diaz-Infante sends out wave after wave of enveloping 12-string pulses. This is one hell of a mood-setting record, so flipping it is a bit of a drag. But then again, there aren’t too many seven-inchers I’ve been this fond of playing over and over, either. Although I technically heard this duo as part of the Focus Quintet (on Sachimay Records release “1-8 in 1″) I suppose my ears had been a bit lazy. “Brooklyn Mantra” re-introduced me to Arnal’s well-placed percussion textures, and has given me a good reason to look him up in a large number of other recordings.
Eyes Like Saucers – “Parmalee, Tribute to a Dog” – Ruralfaune/Ikuisuus
I really enjoyed Eyes Like Saucers’ previous release, “Still Living in the Desert,” so I’m pleased to have a chance to hear where else Jeffrey K. will take this project. As with the aforementioned album, it is the wandering nature of these songs that appeals most to me– no obvious thematic concern or dramatic arc has me looking too far into the future, so it’s much easier to stay in the moment, and enjoy each bit as it comes down the pipe. I imagine this is how animals might listen to music. Appropriately, this occurs to me on an album devoted to Jeffrey’s beloved animal friend who graces the BYG/Actuel-inspired cover. “So when my mind is in a fog/I reach for wisdom of the dog…” Nice stuff, definitely recommended.
Tristan Perich contacted me a few minutes ago, to hip me (and you!) to tonight’s activities at the Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center. This is why I wish Lemp was a little closer. And now, watch me cheat the blogging gods by quoting liberally from Perich’s e-mail:
“I’m a New York-based composer, lugging a harpsichord around the country and playing a new composition for it with low-fi 1-bit electronics (an extension of 1-Bit Music, my circuit-in-a-cd-case album from a few years ago). Lesley Flanigan performs on her own hand-built speaker feedback instruments, which generate tones that she layers on top of her own voice.”
For my next trick, I will attempt an astounding feat of journalistic prestidigitation– copy-pasting the press release!
“New York artists Tristan Perich and Lesley Flanigan team up this Fall for a series of unique electronic music performances across the United States. Perich’s duet “Dual Synthesis” (for harpsichord and 1-bit electronics) and Flanigan’s “Amplifications” (for voice and speaker electronics) explore the viscerality of electronic music. Mixing primitive sounds from their own hand-constructed instruments with the harpsichord and voice, each choreographs intersections between acoustic and electric sound.
For composer/inventor Tristan Perich, “Dual Synthesis” comes on the heels of finishing his new album, “1-Bit Symphony.” An electronic composition in five movements on a single microchip, “1-Bit Symphony” expands on the format of his 2005 release, “1-Bit Music.” A departure from traditional recordings, “1-Bit Symphony” literally ‘performs’ its music live when turned on. A complete music circuit, programmed by the artist and packaged inside a standard CD jewel case, plays the composition through a headphone jack mounted in the case itself. Probing the foundations of digital sound, “1-Bit Symphony” celebrates the virtuosity of electricity. The new album, to be released by Cantaloupe Music, will be available exclusively for presale at performances during the tour.
Artist/vocalist Lesley Flanigan’s tour of “Amplifications“ introduces her first solo album for speaker electronics and voice. Moving among a cluster of wires and microphones, she builds compositional frameworks that grow and break apart. Her speaker instruments, employing a built-in microphone, create pulsing tones through their own feedback, which Flanigan samples and weaves into her own vocal patterns. The result is music that hovers somewhere between noise experiments and lyrical song, resonating with organic transparency.”
So here’s the moral of the story– if you’re able, get over to Lemp and check these folks out– and when you’re standing in line for that sweet pre-sale copy of “1-Bit Symphony,” remember to pick up a copy for the awesome blogger who told you about it!
New York artists Tristan Perich and Lesley Flanigan team up this Fall for a series of unique electronic music performances across the United States. Perich's duet /Dual Synthesis/ (for harpsichord and 1-bit electronics) and Flanigan's /Amplifications/ (for voice and speaker electronics) explore the viscerality of electronic music. Mixing primitive sounds from their own hand-constructed instruments with the harpsichord and voice, each choreographs intersections between acoustic and electric sound.
In the past, one of my goals at STARTLING MONIKER was to write a mid-sized music review each day. This didn’t work out well for me; it was tiresome, difficult, and simply could not keep pace with submissions. It’s hard to keep one’s sense of accomplishment from turning into a mixture of guilt and dread in such circumstances. That’s why I’m changing things up, starting today.
First off, I’ll be featuring a lot more reviews on STARTLING MONIKER. They’ll be quite a bit shorter, and more immediately focused on the things I find interesting in the recording. Finding out about new music is a lot of fun for me, so I want to share that discovery process with you. Alongside quick, daily reviews of new music, I’ll be working in older material for reviews as well. You’ll notice that the older recordings are often linked in some way to the more current ones being featured– being a good listener doesn’t necessarily mean keeping up with every new release, but it does often mean re-visiting past recordings armed with new knowledge. Hopefully, I’ll be able to help with that.
You’re also going to start seeing a lot more netlabel and creative commons action. Previously, I’ve avoided reviewing freely-available recordings because I believed that listeners were assuming no risk in simply trying them out. While I still encourage all listeners to jump in on their own, I’ve neglected the fact that it’s a big freakin’ ocean of sound out there. I see our musical future as being an amalgamation of physical labels, netlabels, creative commons endeavors, boutique cassette runs, p2p, blogs, and any number of unimaginable things yet to come– there’s usefulness in starting to map it out.
Of course, I’ll be continuing to do my weekly liveblogged broadcast entries for each episode of “It’s Too Damn Early.” With a bit of luck, I’ll be able to get the recording/download situation for past episodes worked out as well! WDBX’s new stream could help this immensely, so keep your fingers crossed!
Mininova went legit the other day, deleting millions of torrent files in their headlong rush towards useless legal ass-kissing. As I understand it, Mininova basically just deleted everything without bothering to attempt to sort anything out, so my show recordings were caught in the mix. For now, all the links (except the MediaFire ones) to show downloads are dead. I’ll be working on fixing this soon– just hang in there, or contact me directly if there is something specific you need a copy of. –DaveX
Today’s show is dedicated to Acid Mothers’ Temple, Katie Holmes, and Fred Savage. If you were listening live, you know why. If not, you should have been!
Just got a call– “Are you on the radio? Are you playing that random weird music? It feels like I’m on a spaceship. What are you on?” Ugh.
Synchronicity abounds. Last Visible Dog Records sent a copy of the brand new Eyes Like Saucers CD, “Parmalee, Tribute to a Dog.” The cover is a straight-up tribute to BYG-Actuel cover design… of which today’s Terry Riley/Pierre Marietan record is a sterling example! See for yourself…
Terry Riley — Keyboard Study 2
Eyes Like Saucers — Sun and Moon
Eyes Like Saucers — Owl Creek Bridge
Craig Colorusso — Strap Parts
Eyes Like Saucers — Warrigal Part Three
Cluster & Eno — Ho Renomo
Cluster & Eno — Schone Hande
Cluster & Eno –Steinsame
Cluster & Eno –Wehrmut
DaveX — Skin of Octopus, North Sea Foam, Space Suit
Gaybomb — Untitled, Side B (from Isle of Man split LP with Zack Kouns, “Nature’s Orphans/A Bomb A Nation”)
Ilhan Mimaroglu — Agony
John Cage — Fontana Mix
Ernesto Diaz-Infante, Jeff Arnal — Brooklyn Mantra, pts. 1 & 2
The Moore Brothers — Fishes With Faces (from split 7″ w/ VNC, on Brick Factory)
Hard to believe it’s getting on this late in the year, isn’t it? For today’s show, I’m hoping very much to get a chance to go back to work on those “small sounds” I wanted to hear last week. With a bit of luck, my regular coterie of performers won’t be too worn out from the past three (highly successful) days of taking over the SIUC Student Center during the “All Together Now” fest. I assume that footage and recordings will start leaking out over the coming week, but I’m pretty confident saying that it will be no substitute for having been present. Nick definitely did the Southern Illinois oddmusic community a solid by putting this thing together. Thanks, Nick!
Loachfillet — The Automated Bowl of Soup
Loachfillet — Somnambulist Synchronisms, Part 2
Loachfillet — Hell
Harold Budd, Brian Eno — Not Yet Remembered
Harold Budd, Brian Eno — The Chill Air
Harold Budd, Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois — Their Memories
Harold Budd, Brian Eno — Among Fields of Crystal
Harold Budd, Brian Eno — Wind in Lonely Fences
Harold Budd, Brian Eno — Failing Light
Harold Budd, Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois — Foreshadowed
Harold Budd, Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois — An Echo of Night
Harold Budd, Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois — Still Return
Karlheinz Stockhausen — Momente, side A (1965 version, Nonesuch)
The Guitar Factory — King Herod’s Song
Karlheinz Stockhausen — Momente, side B
DaveX — Improv w/ “Yakety Sax” 45rpm single
John DuVal — Distress Call
Benge — “1972 Serge Modular” From “Twenty Systems”
kkonkkrete — Untitled 1
cebec — Transformer Substation
Hans Grusel — Quarintimes
Electronic Waste Product — Picket Fences
Carlos Giffoni — All the Mistakes I Made During the Caribbean Winter
Tom has outdone himself now. Here’s his “official” promo clip for KNOBS, followed by an unofficial one– the aforementioned BEST PROMO EVER:
and…
I can’t wait to send this to Sonny!
…and he’s making a promo for “KNOBS” as well!
If you somehow missed it, I’m performing the world premiere of John Cage and Lejaren Hiller’s “KNOBS” this Wednesday, as part of the “All Together Now” inter-arts festival. So far, I’ve been quiet about other activities happening (and this IS a HAPPENING) so check out the schedule:
WEDNESDAY is our kickoff. Like the start of a roller coaster ride after being secretly slipped some psychedelics; get pumped and hold tight.
4:30 – 6:15: ALL TOGETHER NOW takes over the INTERNATIONAL LOUNGE, showcasing Photography, 2-D and more by Jason Wonnell, John McCowen, Bridget Ryan, Kaley Venable, Photogenesis and more!
6:30-7:00: we will break into the student center auditorium for the OPENING RECEPTION/PERFORMANCE:
SIUIU (Improv unit) with DUAL KIT DRUMMERS MATT LIND and SAM from INFINITY WIZARD and POETRY by DAVE NELSON.
7:00-7:15: INSTRUMENTAL TRANSITION by James McKain (guitar/sitar) with PSYCHEDELIC MASHUP PROJECTION
7:15-7:25: AMBER GIRADO reading/DRAMATIC INTERPRETATION of EPIPHANY FERREL’S “Last Person on Earth” with zombie mashup PROJECTION
7:25-7:35: KEVIN FLINN POETRY set to a DEREK SMITH PROJECTION
7:40-7:55 INTERNATIONAL LOUNGE INTERMISSION: GET SOME DINNER!
8:00-8:25 Back to the AUDITORIUM as DAVE X orchestrates WORLD PREMIERE OF JOHN CAGE score KNOBS
8:25-8:45: KARTHIK KAKARALA SOUND/PERFORMANCE ART
8:45-9:05: PREGNANT TONGUES (formerly cloud cuckoo) performing to LIVE PAINTING
9:05-9:15: DANNY BROWN SPOKEN WORD
9:15-9:40: BLACK ON BROWN performs to PROJECTION
9:40: PEACE OUT TILL THURSDAY!
THURSDAY DAY 2
is AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION day. YOU bring it, we BLAST it for all to see and hear!
3:00-5:00: BALLROOM D- GALLERY TIME! Wednesdays favorites and NEW PIECES. BYO ART! Have it displayed! No Rules except No Pricetags! For the love of the game!
5:00-6:30: head back to the AUDITORIUM 4 SIU’s FILM ALTERNATIVES curated STUDENT SCREENINGS! and HOUR and a HALF of SIU auteurs. AGAIN, bringing your own work is ENCOURAGED!
6:30-6:45: INTERMISSION
6:45-7:45: SPECIAL SETS by MUSICIAN/VIDEO artists ALEX RYTERSKI, TOM VASILJ, and PATRICK BRENNEN; each performing ORIGINAL MUSIC to ORIGINAL PROJECTIONS
7:45-8:15: DUENDE ENTENDTRE (sound art/poetry)
8:30-10:30: BALLROOM D becomes a forum for LIVE ART MAKING and TUTORIALS on STENCIL MAKING and CIRCUIT BENDING, with lessons by graffiti artist GABE GOWER and sound artist DAVE X. Materials for creating your own stencils/circuit bent toys will be provided, but interested parties are encouraged to bring their own.
IMPROMPTU PERFORMANCES TBA
FRIDAY DAY 3
will be the end of the party.
6:00-9:00: BALLROOM D will again become a gallery presenting the best work from the three days.
SIUiu will be performing along with MATT and SAM,
PREGNANT TOUNGUES will play a set to live art,
and as a FINALE SIUiu will perform with an experimental film by DERON WILLIAMS accompanied by JOHN MCCOWEN
Today’s broadcast has a number of performers, which has necessitated quite a large setup time– that’s why it’s taken so long to get this liveblog going!
Karthik Kakarala and Tom Vasilj took the first set, spending about 30 minutes as Solar Shadows. Karthik mentioned a “visual element” to the set beforehand– I did not realize this would take the form of rocking out on miniature Happy Meal guitars, haha.
Three new friends (I feel so much like Amy Adams saying that) joined us for miniature sets following Solar Shadows. Malaria (Columbia, MO) went first. Short, but sweet. Lots of very dig-able sounds. Oblive just finished, drawing a late-night traveler’s phone query as to the state of our radio station’s health. Wilmer Incognito is performing right now. I’m not sure what he’s going to do, but he’s very loud. I’m blaming my super-cl0se mic job.
Up next– I’ve requested all six of us join to make “quiet and small” noise. Let’s see how that goes!
I’m back! Last week, a combination of overwork and cold, wet weather had me feeling terribly low. I’m still a little hoarse, but more than capable of putting together a good show– so thanks for tuning in!
Hint: Totally blown away by Chefkirk/Ironing’s “Notorious” disc. Better pick one up before I add it to my Happy Neat-O List, don’t you think?
Thanos Chrysakis, Wade Matthews, Dario Bernal-Villegas — III (from “Enantio_ΔPomia”)
Thanos Chrysakis, Wade Matthews, Dario Bernal-Villegas — IV
Frank Rothkamm — Ectoplasm Rejects
Frank Rothkamm — Self-Levitation Science
Frank Rothkamm — The Betrothed of Wyoming
Frank Rothkamm — Overcome By Art
Wadada Leo Smith — Al Shadhili’s Litany of the Sea: Sunrise
Wadada Leo Smith — Pacifica
Wadada Leo Smith — Umar at the Dome of the Rock, pts. 1 & 2
Chefkirk, Ironing — Notorious (from “Notorious”)
Chefkirk, Ironing — American Science
Chefkirk, Ironing — Skin Trade
Chefkirk, Ironing — A Matter of Feeling
Chefkirk, Ironing — Hold Me
Chefkirk, Ironing — Vertigo (Do the Demolition)
Mike Hansen — The alarm went off sooner than expected
Mike Hansen — Once held a lighter high in the sky
Jim Ryan’s Forward Energy Trio — Jumpin’ In (From “FE3 Oakland”)
Jim Ryan’s Forward Energy Trio — Paper Flower (From “FE3 Oakland”)
Art Jerks — Like Things
I’ve got a few different entries worth of stuff to share with you all, but I’m going to try cramming it all into one post.
To begin with, the first Mystery Tapes are now in the wild. Some of these will be much easier to find than others, as I have been taking my usual absurdist approach to placing them. I nearly put #3 under a few dozen tons of concrete I watched being poured the other day… the paleontological ramifications of this were exciting, but even I had a hard time picturing anyone actually finding the tape in the future. Keep an eye out, and maybe you’ll find one!
I’m also working hard on my upcoming performance of John Cage and Lejaren Hiller’s “KNOBS” composition. This will be the world-premiere performance of the piece, so I’m taking it very seriously, and hoping to do a great job with it. The premiere will be helping to kick off the three-day “All Together Now” inter-arts festival at SIUC’s Student Center. I really hope that all my local readers can make some time on the evening of November 18th to come down to the Student Center Auditorium and check it out. It’s at 7:30, and will be free. Bring your kids, your friends, and your friends’ kids.
Getting ready for the performance has been interesting so far. I’ve never worked this in-depth with an actual score, so this is a new experience for me. The score is very precise, so I’ve been developing a method for keeping exact time during the performance, as everything occurs in five-second intervals. Making matters more complex is the addition of a troupe of modern dancers to the mix. Normally I’d avoid this sort of thing, but I think it’s in the spirit of the festival itself (which is a cooperative and improvisational event) and with John Cage, whose life-long partnership with Merce Cunningham often resulted in such collaborations.
At the same time, I’m literally “gearing up” for teaching a circuit bending workshop on the second day of the festival. The Create-A-Smile Thrift Shop was nice enough to donate a good amount of electronic toys for me to work on, so there will be more than enough interesting possibilities presenting themselves throughout the workshop. If you’ve got any interest in circuit bending, this is a free chance for you to give it a shot– just get up to the Student Center “E” Ballroom on November 19th in the evening time and check it out.
WDBX is having trouble AGAIN with the webstream, it’s just not working for Mac users. I talked with Brian about it, who assures me that he’s trying to find a new host for our stream– if you know someone reliable and technically-proficient who is not a total dumbf**k, not the sort of person who will let our stream be down every other day or encode it in a Microsoft-user-only format, or insist that 64kbps sounds great, please put them in touch with us. That would be AWESOME.
Finally, I’m pushing the re-vamp of STARTLING MONIKER back a bit to December. Getting back to reviewing music is a goal of mine, but I’ve got a couple health-related goals that are going to need to be accomplished before I feel good about dedicating more time to sit at the computer. Winter is coming, and with it, my usual sense of dread and depression. I’m going to see if I can get ahead of it this time around, so bear with me. In the meantime, keep listening, keep commenting, and keep your head up. –DaveX
Had a call this morning from someone, wanting to make a birthday request. As you most likely have realized by now, this is often a bit of an issue for me. Generally, I enjoy being helpful and getting something on the air that people can be enthusiastic about. What I don’t enjoy is being someone’s jukebox. So when the caller asked if I would play something by a band that I’m unfamiliar with (by streaming them through YouTube no less!) I had to tell them no. Then they whipped out the old “but I’m a community member of the station” bit on me. Okay, thanks. I appreciate your help keeping WDBX going. I’ll even go so far as to say that I’ll check out this band another time, and play them some other day if they work for the show. Nope– it’s gotta be now– it’s a birthday! And I’m a community mem–CLICK!
This happens all too often. Anyhow, I played “Satyrium,” and dedicated it to all birthdays occurring today. Figure that covers things. Moving on…
Sabrina Siegel is sick this week, so she won’t be able to join us for a call-in set. We’ll definitely be re-scheduling, so don’t worry. I’m going to play some of her stuff anyway!
I can’t say enough good things about the new Aural Terrains release, “Enantio_ΔPomia”. It definitely requires a lot of faith on part of the listener, even seeming “wrong” in parts, but just… wait. This is a really fine disc, and you’ll be glad you did.
I’m playing some of Audiomachie’s “Logomachie” disc now. This is a Vincent Bergeron project, with help from a number of talented collaborators. Lots of good ideas here!
T.D. Skatchit & Company — Voodoo Skatch
T.D. Skatchit & Company — Aurora Rising
T.D. Skatchit & Company — Carnival of Skatch
T.D. Skatchit & Company — From Beyond (for Toyoji)
T.D. Skatchit & Company — Popcorn Skatch
Domenico Sciajno, Kim Cascone — Satyrium
Sabrina Siegel — G (fill in your name) d’s Music
Aperiodic — Louder
Eddie the Rat — Food for the Moon Too Soon, pt. 1 (recorded live @ Artist’s Television Access, SF 3/16/01)
Eddie the Rat — Cannibal
Eddie the Rat — I Ovulate In Mode
Marcelo Radulovich — Swastikas
Art Jerks — Like Things
Art Jerks — Reach Out
Bodies of Water (Gordon Beeferman, Jeff Arnal) — I Dip My Hands Once Again In the Ocean
Rogue States (Gordon Beeferman, Jeff Arnal) — Pirouette On A Pin
Rogue States –In White Haze
Thanos Chrysakis, Wade Matthews, Dario Bernal-Villegas — V (from “Enantio_ΔPomia”)
Thanos Chrysakis, Wade Matthews, Dario Bernal-Villegas — VI (from “Enantio_ΔPomia”)
Audiomachie — Audiomachie
Audiomachie — Une ombre vacille en serpentin virevoltant
Audiomachie — Bruissement de griserie
A new mixer in the studio? With inaccessible inputs, racked-mounted at my shins?? I’m going to cry now.
Alrighty, just got done with my “after-hours” set for Noise FeSTL folks committed enough to stay awake this long, and now I’m moving on with the remainder of the broadcast. Also going to catch up the playlist– that damn new mixer totally threw me off– why would they install a mixer with access to the inputs/outputs so obscured? My paranoid side has answers, but I better not leap to any conclusion.
I played some of Adam Cornelius’s interesting noise documentary, “People Who Do Noise.” I thought it would be interesting to hear some more people speak about this, even though listeners wouldn’t be able to see the film itself. It’s definitely worth your time, though– here’s their website.
Hmm… Karthik reports trouble with the WDBX stream. I haven’t had any other complaints; anyone care to verify this?
Philip Samartzis, Michael Vorfeld — Wams
DaveX — Live at WDBX-FM, 10/17/09, “After-hours set dedicated to Noise FeSTL attendees”
Philip Samartzis, Michael Vorfeld — Krause
Thanos Chrysakis, Wade Matthews, Dario Bernal-Villegas — I (from “Enantio_ΔPomia”)
Thanos Chrysakis, Wade Matthews, Dario Bernal-Villegas — II
Francois Bayle — Erosphere, pt.1
Novasak — Right Hook to the Jaw
Novasak — BHT (to maintain freshness)
People Who Do Noise, directed by Adam Cornelius
DaveX, Brandon Beachum — Live at WDBX-FM, 10/17/09, “Long Wire Demo for Brandon”
Stenchworm — Sex With a Chainsaw
Stenchworm — Screaming Machine
Stenchworm — Psychic Apparitions
Stenchworm — The Howling Blizzard
Stenchworm — Anxiety Attract
If you haven’t gotten your NoiseFeSTL tickets yet, you’d better hustle! I won’t be able to make it this year, but there’s more than enough weirdness and ear-damage to go around regardless. This year, Karthik has encouraged me to do a telematic “after-hours” set, so this Saturday’s show is one you won’t want to miss! I’ve worked up something special, so be sure to tune in.
Here’s the full Noise FeSTL 2009 lineup:
FRIDAY:
Swim Ignorant Fire
Justice is Revenge
Plasmic Formations
Solar Shadows
The Man and the Scientist
Lucky Bone
To-Night Golden Curls
Public shallows
Charlie
Ghost Ice
Realicide
Teeth Collection
Custodian
Peter J Woods
Instinct Control
SATURDAY:
Green Pasture Happiness
Dr. Rhomboid Goatcabin
BOAR
Human Shallows
Daytime Television
Spunky Toofers
Sigulda
Willful
BOKEH
Yawn
Baculum
Danny McClain/Dave Stone
Diaphragmatic
Brain Transplant
Jigsaw Rhetoric
SUNDAY (3:00 PM matinee show):
Day Care
Wilmer Incognito
Agrarian Pillbox
Color blind
Dawson Family Players
Grandmother
Infirmary
SUNDAY (Later Show):
Clusterfuck
Off Right
Malaria
Tom Vasilj
Tony Renner
Oblive
Greg Sabo
John Tamm-Buckle
Dark Inside the Sun
Hefner
The cat is out of the bag– I announced my annual call for New Year’s submissions just moments ago on the Oddmusic list, so unless you’re a subscriber, you’re already behind the curve. I know, it’s only October; I thought I’d give folks a little bit of time to prepare something extra nice.
I’ve always felt somewhat down around New Year’s, but it wasn’t until 2005 that I decided to make something out of those feelings, by asking artists to send in their “future” recordings:
“As in years past, I am somewhat upset because I have once again failed to receive my personal jet pack. When I was a child, it was more or less promised that by the year 2000, I would not only have a jet pack, but would be partially robotic, vacationing on Mars, eating sea kelp grown by intelligent machine farm workers in the ocean, and living part-time on the Moon. None of these things has happened. In fact, humans have not been back to the moon since I was a child. For all the fascinating and intelligent people in the realm of experimental music that I come in contact with through my radio program and this list, I ask you to please focus on helping to create a healthy and innovative future that we can all look forward to. Without the possibility of an intriguing future, it is hard to dream (or to work towards) better days and a more pleasant life for us all.”
I’m asking again this year– set your time machine for sometime yet to come, and bring us back a recording of that tomorrow. Imagine something startling, new, and worth aiming for. I’m counting on you!
Send your submissions to:
WDBX c/o DaveX’s New Year show
224 N. Washington St.
Carbondale IL 62901 USA
HarS wrote (with greatly catching enthusiasm) about ubiquitous mobile devices, and their involvement in a future “turning point” for music consumption and production.
“For pretty much anyone currently alive on this planet the concept of music cannot but be indissolubly linked with the possibility of the unlimited identical repetition of a relatively limited number of sound recordings. We call them songs, or tracks, numbers, pieces, compositions. These you may hear again, and again, and again. The listening to (which significantly differs from the – soundless – ‘remembering of’) music at any time other than that contemporary to its creation (when you’re at a concert, or playing the piano) roughly has been a common practice only since technologies of recording became available for the public. This consumption of music recordings is a consumption of music as an immutable form; of music as rigidly filled out stretches of time; of intervals that permit the identical displacement of themselves, both in space and in time: you may listen again, at the place and time of your choice.”<!– I have no idea whether somehow someone in some context ever researched along similar lines, but it seems obvious that this continuous exposure of human beings to a limited number of sound recordings (which, adding but a little bit of abstraction, I think of as 'temporal emotive identities') has a big influence on who and what we (think) are. It is therefore that surely, in a time and age with no sound recording and playback technologies available, music must have been a thing very different from what we know it to be. –>
I think you might see where he’s going with this.
“The recent possibility of delivering ‘music’ to popular and widely used consumer devices not as immutable, unchanging recordings, but in the form of more or less open-ended, dynamic processes, the sounding result of which will always be different, is the potential new turning point in the way in which we consume (and produce) music that I hinted at.”
He’s brought the discussion to both the “soundasart” and “oddmusic” Yahoo groups, where the reaction has been everything from outright dismissive to full agreement. My links direct to the opening message of each thread.
Here’s my take on the matter:
“I gotta say, Harold– this is probably more one of those instances where the potential revolutionary aspects of a device are presenting themselves to excitable folks like you, me, and a handful of others; but is just another case of “won’t catch on because the listening public has zero imagination”. Hell, I’d love to see someone use a combination of wireless and GPS capabilities in a handheld device to create textural works where large crowds hear portions of a single work, which shift as they move amongst one another.
You could create music that reacts not only to your own data (accelerometer, location, etc) but that of others, taking into account what they’re listening to, and creating on-the-fly amoebic conglomerates of sound. Train stations could develop into a pulsing meta-noise building in climax as hundreds of listeners board a packed subway car, sharing a sound event, and hearing their eventual release scatter as the train delivers them to their individual destinations, each taking a grain of this social sound with them into their day to be developed further. Cities might develop “signature” sounds, with “aural hallmarks” eventually making its way into the lexicon of every travel guide.
We might someday debate the relative qualities of a strain of New York sound as we similarly discuss a San Francisco sourdough, or a true Chicago pizza. Even more interestingly, rural locations might develop radically different local sounds– the work of years of a listening hermit’s solitary activities resulting in a previously-unheard evolution toward an unimagined sound destination!”
What are your thoughts on this?
