Sep/100
Video : Stephan Bodzin × Marc Romboy × Skydiving
Amid my ongoing current obsession with minimal techno, I came across this video. Stephan Bodzin × Marc Romboy × eight minutes of base-jumping and skydiving = hypnotic, and kind of amazing.
Mar/100
Ephemera : Keepon
Keepon is an interactive robotic toy designed to be used in social and behavioral therapy. His simple interactions can aid in developing communication in kids with autism or developmental disorders. He’s something of a YouTube celebrity (he stars in Spoon’s “Don’t You Evah” Video), but this simple drum exercise is my favorite demonstration.
Mar/100
MountainX Feature on Asheville’s Electronic Music Scene
Last week, The MountainX ran a cover feature called “The Body Electric,” focused on Asheville’s burgeoning electronic music scene. The articles cover Asheville’s place in the world of electronic music (The Body Electric), the subgenres and styles of DJing (DJ Heroics) and the critical role of promoters and venues in growing the scene (Predicting the Weather).
Featured performers and interviewees include: Sonmi Suite, Panther God, Telepath, Cleofus Williams, Brett Rock, DJ Bowie, and Marley Carroll, in addition to promoters and artist collectives like Under One Beat and Low Frequency Ops.
Here’s an excerpt:
”
At first glance it might seem that Asheville is stacked in favor of roots music, what with a guitarist on every corner and an Americana band in every bar. But there’s also much to suggest Asheville as an electronica hot bed, despite that scene’s apparent underground status.Exhibit A: Asheville is where Robert Moog — pioneer of electronic music and inventor of the Moog synthesizer — worked as a research professor of music at UNCA, based his electronic musical instruments manufacturing company and lived out his final years.
Exhibit B: Asheville has (perhaps in spite of itself) embraced live band-electronica fusion acts like Telepath (since moved on to Philadelphia) and electronic music/arts festivals like Trinumeral.
Exhibit C: Take a walk around downtown and check out the posters affixed to power poles and displayed in shop windows. Every other one is for a DJ show. Same thing with Facebook events. Many electronic artists eschew conventional publicity methods in favor of new media. Not seeing many electronica shows? Go online.
Exhibit D: Even the rootsiest of venues is booking electronic acts. The Rocket Club is home to a free weekly Super Dance Party (Wednesdays at 10 p.m.), with DJs Crick Nice and Adam Strange (GFE) and DJ Mark Davis (who has been spinning underground dance music in Asheville since the ’80s). Mo Daddy’s welcomes its first-ever hip-hop show with local artist Foul Mouth Jerk, PyInfamous from Crystal Springs, Miss., and Charlotte’s One Big Love on Friday, March 5. The Grey Eagle hosts Baltimore duo Beach House on Friday, April 30.
But even with new developments — and nearly everyone seems to agree the local electronic scene has grown exponentially in the past few years — electronic music isn’t a new phenomenon. Its roots reach back to ’70s-era disco, dating the genre older than not just its current practitioners, but many of their parents.
Fueling Asheville’s newfound fondness for electronica is certainly the live band/electronic fusion — anything from the live instruments-meets-computers of The Nova Echo to live sequencing of engineered loops and beats as performed by Freepeoples Frequency. But more than sonic accessibility, it’s technical accessibility that brings new fans to the multifaceted genre. Music makers no longer need to be piano or guitar virtuosos — computer proficiency and a desire to create are the instruments of this under-represented but increasingly available art form.
Want to know more about local electronic music? Read on … “
Feb/100
Selected : Grizzy Bear – “Ready, Able” (Music Video)
This is one of those music videos that makes you experience the song in an entirely new way. Transportive, fantastic, beautiful. Video directed by Allison Shulnik.
Jan/100
Ephemera – Fever Ray Acceptance Speech
Fever Ray’s acceptance speech at Sweden’s P3 Guld 2010.
Jan/100
Ephemera : NPR on the Loudness Wars
NPR has done a great job of summarizing the loudness wars in this article. The infographic [.pdf] is beautiful, even if it documents the degradation of audio quality over the last thirty years.
The backlash against excessive compression and loudness has already begun (see: fans petition remastering of Metallica’s Death Magnetic). Hopefully in time we can bring back some dynamics to recorded music.
Dec/090
Video : Pelada [Trailer]
Music from Melanaster will be featured in the upcoming soccer documentary Pelada.
Check out the (awesome) trailer below, and be sure to follow them on Facebook and Twitter for information on the final release date!
The filmmakers are still seeking donations (it’s almost done!) – here’s how to help:
“
If you’d like to help us finish this film, take it to festivals, and ultimately to the big screen and DVD, please support us by donating. Every little bit helps!
Click on the DONATE tab at:
http://www.pelada-movie.com
Two soccer players take off around the globe exploring the other less glorified side of soccer: pick up games, impromptu contests that happen anywhere and between anyone.
“
Oct/090
NYT Article : The Song Decoders at Pandora
The New York Times just posted a really insightful article exploring the algorithms employed by Pandora to customize listeners’ playlists. It also delves into the discussion of music taste based on social and cultural context rather than the music itself, which is one of my favorite thinking points (see: this post from about a month ago). Example: if you didn’t know who Celine Dion was, how would your perception change if you were to hear a song of hers?
I’m really into the idea of doing away with a lot of the “extra-musical” context of artists – where they’re from, what social scene is associated with them, whether your friends think their cool, what they wear, etc. In an ideal world, you would just take music on its merits, but this is clearly impossible in the Internet age. I’m certainly guilty of contextualizing artists outside of their musical merits – it’s one of the reasons I can’t stand to listen to Kanye West, for example. It’s not that the music is bad, it’s that he’s such an incorrigible egomaniac that I dismiss it “on principle.”
Pandora seems like the closest thing we currently have to this kind of ideal, because it offers you music based on your taste, not that of your friends (iLike), major label preference (radio stations), or hipness (blogs). Anyway, the article does a really great job of summing all of these thoughts, so here you go (click image for link):
Graphic : New York Times
Oct/091
Ephemera : Winter Soul Soup Recipe
And now for something completely different.
This week I’ve been feeling completely overworked, co-opted, sickly, and cold (the temperature in Asheville has taken a swift nosedive on the way to “wintry”). I decided to forgo what probably would have been a fantastic night of music on the town (both Bonobo and Bassnectar are playing next door to one-another) to stave off complete SAD burnout and recreate Jen’s “magic soup.”
And I did, and it was awesome. I rarely have successes in cooking, so when I do, I have to let the world know. Here you go:
Unflattering picture of the finished product. Photo credit : iPhone
Winter Soul Soup (The Healer)
• 4 tsp Better Than Bullion
• 1 tbsp fresh chopped garlic
• 1 tbsp fresh chopped ginger
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper (± according to preference)
• 1 egg, beaten (optional)
Directions : chop garlic and ginger. Bring 4 cups of water to a gentle boil. Add Better Than Bullion (4 tsp = 4 cups) and stir. After broth becomes consistent, add garlic and ginger. Bring to a rolling boil and slowly add the beaten egg (you’re looking for the feathery egg-drop-soup effect), stirring while you pour. Lower heat to low / medium, simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Finally, add cayenne pepper to taste and stir.
That’s it! The ginger is good for digestion, the garlic is good for the immune system, the egg (my idea) adds a touch of protein, and the cayenne helps clear up your mucus membranes. Makes 2-3 servings, and it’s probably unwise to down it all yourself (like I did).
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Erykah Badu – The Healer
Oct/090
Event : Marley Carroll DJ Set at the Hookah Bar 10.15
Not pictured : Marley Carroll
Solo DJ set this Thursday, October 15 at The Hookah Bar in Asheville. $3, 10PM.
Advanced DJ techniques, challenging music and and an inviting atmosphere!
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