This March: Boycott the RIAA

Alright, we've been following the RIAA's increasingly frequent
affronts to privacy and free speech lately, and it's about time we stopped
merely bitching and moaning and did something about it. The RIAA has the power
to shift public policy and to alter the direction of technology and the Internet
for one reason and one reason alone: it's totally loaded. Without their millions
of dollars to throw at lawyers, the RIAA is toothless. They get their money from
us, the consumers, and if we don't like the way they're behaving, we can let
them know with our wallets.
With that in mind, Gizmodo is declaring the month
of March Boycott the RIAA month. We want to get the word out to as many people
as humanly possible that we can all send a message by refusing to buy any album
put out by an RIAA label. Am I saying you should start pirating music? Not at
all. You can continue to support the artists you enjoy and respect in a number
of ways.

Boycott the RIAA

via Gizmodo

know what to boycott, use RIAA Radar

Leavin' Here-uh

...packin' mah bags, takin' a trip...be back in a month or so...

Those Pesky Swedish Pirates

In an effort to help stamp out pesky Swedish pirates, FBI agent Andrew Myers and the MPAA have given a group of six Swedish police officers extensive training on how to effectively combat piracy and catch people who engage in illegal downloading from the internet...

Together, Agent Myers and the MPAA's instruction to this new Swedish anti-piracy unit ranged from rules and regulations governing copyright enforcement and piracy, to examples of anti-piracy initiatives in other countries that have already proven effective. The most shocking revelation is a report of a lecture given by the MPAA in which officers were shown the ins and outs of movie camcording, or "CAM-ing."

When the police were asked about possible conflict of interest by having a private interest group such as the MPAA involved in the training of enforcement personnel, they apparently saw none.

Swedish anti-piracy force

via Boing Boing

(also...viva The Pirate Bay)

Lke the Cello, the violin, the human voice

Born Clara Reisenberg, Rockmore was a child prodigy on the violin and entered the Imperial conservatory of Saint Petersburg at the age of five. Unfortunately, bone problems due to childhood malnutrition forced her to abandon violin performance past her teen years. That however led her to discover the newborn electronic instrument and arguably become the greatest ever virtuosa of the theremin.

Rockmore had several gifts that enabled her to play the theremin so well. Her classical training gave her an advantage over the many theremin performers who lacked this background, including the instrument's inventor. She had absolute pitch, helpful in playing an instrument that generates tones of any pitch throughout its entire range, including those that lie between the conventional notes. She had extremely precise, rapid control of her movements, important in playing an instrument that depends on the performer's motion and proximity rather than touch. She also had the advantage of working directly with Léon Theremin from the early days of the instrument's commercial development in the United States. Rockmore, as the mature musician she was, saw the limitations of the original instrument and helped to develop the instrument to fulfill her needs, making several suggestions to improve the theremin as a performing instrument. Such suggestions, like a faster volume antenna, wider musical range, and control over the instrument's tone colour were incorporated by the inventor in later versions. It is also remarkable to mention she had a special theremin tailored by Leon Theremin himself to meet her very unique requirements.

She developed a whole technique for playing the instrument, including a fingering system, which allowed her to accurately perform fast passages and large note leaps without the much known glissando on theremin.

Rockmore was without peer as a performer in the early decades of the instrument's use. While many listeners have heard the theremin played poorly or used mostly as a spooky special-effects device, Rockmore used it to perform classical works. Under her control, the theremin sounded like a blend of the cello, violin and human voice.

Clara Rockmore - The Art of the Thremin



Theremin World

Theremin Vox

Art's Theremin Page

Not Those Magnetic Fields Disrupted

Sproton Layer: With Magnetic Fields Disrupted (CD/LP/cass)
New Alliance 055: released 1992 OOP
Recorded in 1970 at 1117 Brooks St.

This was Roger Miller's (Misson of Burma, No Man, Birsongs of the Mesozoic etc) first original band, from 1969 to 1970. Roger played bass, sang, and wrote most of the music; Ben played searing psychedelic guitar and sang, eventually contributing compositions; Larry Miller played drums in a highly unorthodox non-backbeat fashion; and Harold Kirchen (brother of Commander Cody guitarist, Bill Kirchen) played trumpet . Very "post-psychedelic", with a strong Syd Barret-era Pink Floyd and early Soft Machine feel. All members were in High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Roger Miller: Bass Guitar, Lead Vocals (piano, second guitar)
Ben Miller: Lead Guitar, vocals
Larry Miller: Drums
Harold Kirchen: Trumpet

1. Gift
2. Pretty Pictures, Now
3. In the Sun
4. Sister Regis
5. Bush
6. Tidal Wave
7. Up
8. The Blessing of the Dawn Source
9. Nocturnal Mission
10. Point of View
11. New Air
12. The Wonderful Rise

"(Sproton Layer) sounds like Syd Barrett fronting Cream" - Michael Azzerad, from the book "Our Band could be Your Life".

The Brothers Miller record together once every ten years:
In 1969-1970 they formed Sproton Layer (described as "Syd Barrett fronting Cream" in "Our Band Could be Your Life", a book by Michael Azzerad). An album/CD was released by New Alliance/SST in 1991: "With Magnetic Fields Disrupted" (rec: 1970); and a 45rpm slab: "Lost Behind Words." (rec: 1969).
In 1989-1990 they recorded the first M3 CD: "M3", on New Alliance. (One of the "best guitar albums of the year" - Guitar Player Magazine, 1993).
In 1999-2000 they recorded this second M3 CD: "Unearthing", for Sublingual Rare Editions.
Who knows what they'll come up with in 2009.

In the mid-'70's they formed The 4th World Quartet, a precursor to Birdsongs of the Mesozoic. In the punk/post-punk era, Laurence and Benjamin damaged Michigan in Destroy All Monsters (with former members of the Stooges and MC5) while Roger damaged his ears in Mission of Burma. Currently, Benjamin is performing his solo Degeneration guitar work in the Chicago area; Laurence (alias "Mr.Laurence") performs rock songs for kids in the Ann Arbor area; Roger maintains The Binary System and The Alloy Orchestra in Boston. All members have recorded numerous CDs and vinyl slabs.

Sproton Layer - With Magnetic Fields Disrupted

Roger Miller

Further Proof the Machines are Taking Over

Remko Scha is a professor of computational linguistics at the faculty of humanities and Institute for Logic, Language and Computation at the University of Amsterdam. He is also heavily involved with The Institute of Artificial Art in Amsterdam, which is an independent organisation consisting of machines, computers, algorithms and human persons, who work together toward the complete automatization of art production.

Machine Guitars is an automatic electric guitar band, consisting of electric fans, drills and sabre saws. As much an art installation as a musical performance, the machines have "performed" in Amsterdam, Brussels, London, Berlin, New York and San Francisco. Produced in collaboration with Van Lagestein.

What does it sound like? Minimalist drooooone, sure. Steve Reich as imagined by Glenn Branca...yep, 'cept oddly enough, more humane than that...strange coming from a bunch of machines.

Remko Scha - Machine Guitars

Alan Licht's Minimal Top Ten

A Musical Interlude

Electrosonic (1972)
Label: KPM
Cat: KPM1104

1 Quest
2 Quest - fast
3 Computermatic
4 Frontier of Knowledge
5 The Pattern Emerges
6 Freeze Frame
7 Plodding Power
8 Busy Microbes
9 Liquid Energy (a)
10 Liquid Energy (b)
11 No Man’s Land
12 Depression
13 Nightwalker
14 Electrostings
15 Electrobuild
16 Celestial Cantabile
17 Effervescence
18 The Wizard’s Laboratory
19 Shock Chords

This is a rip from the original vinyl (of which images are included), rather than the forthcoming (extremely limited-500 copies) CD rerelease. All credit to the original ripper.

Delia Derbyshire is best known as the woman who created the sound of the original Doctor Who theme. This one piece is so globally famous that it has overshadowed the wide ranging work of one of the most creative women working in the 1960s and ’70s. Delia collaborated with many of the most significant figures of the era and was admired by many more. Her story involves such names as Paul McCartney, Yoko Ono, Pink Floyd, Anthony Newley, Frankie Howerd and The Rolling Stones, in addition to work with the National Theatre, seminal electronic innovators and, of course, the BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop. Since her death in 2001, Derbyshire has gained cult icon status and her influence over artists who weren’t even born when she made some of her groundbreaking recordings has never been stronger. John Cavanagh (BBC Radio, Phosphene, author of The Piper at the Gates of Dawn etc. etc.) has found a rare album Delia recorded with Brian Hodgson (the man who created the sound of the TARDIS) and Australian mood music composer (who also scored some Doctor Who episodes) Don Harper in 1972. This was originally an lp of what is known as library music and was only made available to film, tv and radio organizations when originally issued.

Delia Derbyshire & Brian Hodgson - Electrosonic (1972)

Chance Meeting on the Internet, in two parts

PART ONE


Nurse With Wound - "I've Plummed This Whole Neighborhood"

PART TWO

The Greatest NWW List Blog of All Time

also...categories strain, crack and sometimes break, under their burden - step out of the space provided

NWW

NWW List

Nurse With Wound i/v -
Steven Stapleton

Meth to paws feddle

"parking lots" are for pussies...

Deaf to false meddle