June 30, 2006

Scanner

British artist Robin Rimbaud traverses the experimental terrain between sound, space, image and form, creating absorbing, multi-layered sound pieces that twist technology in unconventional ways. From his early controversial work using found mobile phone conversations, through to his focus on trawling the hidden noise of the modern metropolis as the symbol of the place where hidden meanings and missed contacts emerge, his restless explorations of the experimental terrain have won him international admiration from amongst others, Bjork, Aphex Twin and Stockhausen.

Scanner is committed to working with cutting edge practitioners and has collaborated with artists from every imaginable genre: musicians Bryan Ferry, Radiohead and Laurie Anderson, The Royal Ballet and Merce Cunningham and Random Dance companies, composers Michael Nyman and Luc Ferrari, and artists Mike Kelley, Derek Jarman, Carsten Nicolai and Douglas Gordon.

Since 1991 he has been intensely active in sound art, producing concerts, compositions, installations and recordings, the albums Mass Observation (1994), Delivery (1997), and The Garden is Full of Metal (1998) hailed by critics as innovative and inspirational works of contemporary electronic music. In 2004 his Sound Surface work with Stephen Vitiello was the first ever Tate Modern sound-art commission and he is currently producing Night Haunts for Artangel for 2006-2007, whilst sound-designing a new car horn for the USA.

He has performed and created works in many of the world's most prestigious spaces including SFMOMA USA, Hayward Gallery London, Pompidou Centre Paris, Kunsthalle Vienna, Bolshoi Theatre Moscow, Tate Modern London and The Royal Opera House London.

His work has been presented throughout the United States, Asia, Australia and Europe.

HEAR / LISTEN (mp3's)

„As slow as possible“

I'm a month behind in finding this out, but was just tuning in to the BBC online to check out some radio when I caught the following news:

John Cage's Organ2 ASLSP (As slow as possible) has changed note. The next change will be in three years time, and the piece will finish in 631 years.

The next change of tone will be on July, 5 th in 2008.

*ahem... that's now two years time, also time to update their website ;)

LISTEN TO CURRENT SOUND

 June 28, 2006

The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement


(graphic by Nina Paley)

What is the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement?

VHEMT (pronounced vehement) is a movement not an organization. It's a movement advanced by people who care about life on planet Earth. We're not just a bunch of misanthropes and anti-social, Malthusian misfits, taking morbid delight whenever disaster strikes humans. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Voluntary human extinction is the humanitarian alternative to human disasters.

We don't carry on about how the human race has shown itself to be a greedy, amoral parasite on the once-healthy face of this planet. That type of negativity offers no solution to the inexorable horrors which human activity is causing.

Rather, The Movement presents an encouraging alternative to the callous exploitation and wholesale destruction of Earth's ecology.

As VHEMT Volunteers know, the hopeful alternative to the extinction of millions of species of plants and animals is the voluntary extinction of one species: Homo sapiens... us.

Each time another one of us decides to not add another one of us to the burgeoning billions already squatting on this ravaged planet, another ray of hope shines through the gloom.

When every human chooses to stop breeding, Earth's biosphere will be allowed to return to its former glory, and all remaining creatures will be free to live, die, evolve (if they believe in evolution), and will perhaps pass away, as so many of Mother Nature's "experiments" have done throughout the eons. Good health will be restored to the Earth's ecology... to the "life form" known by many as Gaia.

It's going to take all of us going.

 June 27, 2006

Universal Buzz Radio

WOW. So many good things to listen to here! How did I not know about UNIVERSAL BUZZ before today?

Giant Microbes

I can't decide which is cuter-- the Black Death, Syphilis, or the Pimple. Choices, choices...



(I think the Mono plushie is hypnotizing me with its false eyelashes!!)

About GIANTmicrobes:
We make stuffed animals that look like tiny microbes—only a million times actual size! Now available: The Common Cold, The Flu, Sore Throat, Stomach Ache, Cough, Ear Ache, Bad Breath, Kissing Disease, Athlete's Foot, Ulcer, Martian Life, Beer & Bread, Black Death, Ebola, Flesh Eating, Sleeping Sickness, Dust Mite, Bed Bug, and Bookworm (and in our Professional line: H.I.V. and Hepatitis).

Many thanks to my co-worker pal GB for the link!

 June 23, 2006

New Daevid Allen & BCO release!



Finally available from VOICEPRINT MUSIC

Das Duz Dae Duz Das (Daevid Allen)
SFO Sound School 1
Tracks:
1. 21st Century Prog Rock Man
2. Clown is Petrol
3. Master Freek
4. Barnicool Bill
5. Not Smiling Shaving
6. Artscrew 7. Stuckinmybrain 8. I, Planet
9. No Udder Radio 94.1 FM Berkley

This album forms part of the limited set of releases on the Bananamoon Obscura label and as such will be limited to just one thousand copies.

This is another off the wall release from the enigmatic leader of Gong and includes material written by Daevid over the past twenty years with the Bigcityorchestra. The album also includes previously unheard new material...

 June 22, 2006

No Other Radio audio archives (6/20)

SPOTLIGHT: 9th Annual People & Thingamajigs Festival



SPECIAL GUESTS: Krystyna Bobrowski & Eric Glick Rieman

hosted by dAS (co-host, Ninah Pixie)

Audio archive:
20060621-Wed0000.mp3

Playlist is available at the No Other Radio blog

More photos HERE

 June 20, 2006

TONITE: KPFA 'No Other Radio': THINGAMAJIGS FESTIVAL

11:59pm (PST) ::: RADIO: 94.1 FM / Berkeley CA

:::: NO OTHER RADIO NETWORK ::::

listen to KPFA ONLINE (live internet stream)

LIVE SPOTLIGHT: 9th ANNUAL PEOPLE & THINGAMAJIGS FESTIVAL

Special Guests:
Eric Glick Rieman &
Krystyna Bobrowski

Eric Glick Rieman will be performing solo on prepared and extended Rhodes electric piano.

Krystyna Bobrowski will be performing with her Gliss-Glass in the KPFA live studios.

hosted by dAS (co-host Ninah Pixie)

FOR MORE INFO ABOUT THE THINGAMAJIGS FESTIVAL visit: http://www.thingamajigs.org/about.html

Since 1981, KPFA's NO OTHER RADIO NETWORK has pioneered and provided a forum for underground, noise, electronic, industrial, psycho acoustic and many other genres of music, in addition to featuring live interviews and performance over the airwaves.

We welcome artists to send us their works.

Archived playlists from all UBUIBI-hosted N.O.R.N. shows are available at the No Other Radio Network blog

MP3 Archives NOW AVAILABLE (in case you can't listen live)

Station call line: (510) 848-4425

TWO NEW BCO Releases!


PROBE
This is our second release (CDR) from Slovak label Black Orchid Productions, specializing in dark-ambient, electronic genres.


BCO-CTEPHIN SPLIT
Our recent split with ctephin from Roil Noise. Here's a snip from a review by Aural Pressure:

The Roil Noise record label never fails to surprise. On the one hand they put out releases that are all out electronic aural assaults appealing to a minority of fans (see Torturing Nurse as an example [read review here]). Yet on the other they release totally captivating music as this split release by Big City Orchestra / Ctephin proves. It’s got the stage where every release submitted by the label for review is met with feelings of trepidation and elation. To their credit you could never accuse the label of playing safe. Let’s hope they never do.

Read full review here

Fissile fantasies

The nuclear industry has always had something of the absurd about it. Efforts to recover its lost glory by painting itself green is just the latest example of this.



via monochrom

 June 19, 2006

Blind Spot (radio art)



Nice selection of archived weird art & music podcasts...

 June 17, 2006

So, Bin Laden... (DAEVID ALLEN)

Mr. Pothead Pixie himself, teapot a-twirlin' (wearing some totally rad-looking glasses), knocks us out again with another spoken-word poem, filmed by Stefanie Petrik.

WATCH VIDEO (Quicktime format)

Other formats available from the Daevid Allen Performance Site

Samara Lubelski



Visit her website to listen to her music. Also, the track I found out about her with, The Fleeting Skies, can be heard via The Social Registry

She's really great.

Rubyfruit Radio

Where the girls rock....

Rubyfruit Radio is all about playing the best in podsafe female indie artists. I believe that most music on corporate radio sucks and there are a lot of artists out in the world who are not getting the recognition they deserve. Please support these artists by buying their CDs, going to their shows and spreading the word about artists you like.

 June 16, 2006

LPD 25th Anniversary Tour (video!)



Man, I cannot believe how quickly video surfaces online these days. It's great to watch it, even though I'll see them play live here in SF in less than a month (woo!) 25 years this band has been jamming, and they've just gotten better and better. In my humble but most honest opinion, they are THE greatest touring band alive on this planet. If you live in a city that they'll be playing or even live close enough to drive an hour or two if they're not- you really ought to check them out if you have never seen them play live. Here's the tour schedule from their website.

 June 15, 2006

Jesus Loves Porn Stars

XXXCHURCH.COM

snippet from website:
I guess deep down inside all we want is to know that everything is going to be all right. We ask ourselves the question... is there something wrong with me because I am struggling with pornography? With this issue comes a lot of shame and guilt. It's a dirty little secret that you can't let out and in the mean time you feel like pond scum.

At XXXchurch we want to let you know that you are loved by God and by the people involved in this ministry. You are not alone. You do not have to carry this burden any longer. The entire reason for having this website is to give people hope and to let them know that there is help.

Right now it comes down to a conscious decision to do something about it. We know it's easy to simply click away and view porn sites. It's free... it's accessible... and everybody is doing it!! You can decide today to get honest about your life and where all this is heading. Do it today!

 June 14, 2006

I'm a Pod Person now...

My bank sent me a note the other day telling me that I had a certain number of award points for spending so much on my charge card (mostly for the WTBTN project). They also strongly urged me to "cash in" a bunch of these points before they "expired" and claim my free gift (one of twenty or so that I qualified for). It was a pretty tough choice between a weekend getaway/spa package, a cast iron fireplace accessory set, or an iPod Shuffle. We all know what I ended up with.

Yeeeha everyone, I'm now a Pod Person. I have a little tiny white plastic thing I can wear around my neck. I'm so hip it hurts. Can't you hear the chanting? We accept her--one of us--gooble, gobble--we accept her--one of us--gooble, gobble...

I'm now getting used to the idea, however, the little earbud thingies are useless. They don't fit in my ears at all, they just fall right out unless I'm lying down and keep my head perfectly still. They sound like crap compared to my cushy-padded Sony headphones, even though the cord is a mile long because they're for studio use, but what the hell, at least I don't have that lameass white cord hanging from my ears down around my neck all the time. I don't really plan on using the Shuffle while I'm jogging or doing anything more strenuous than walking and sitting so to me, sound quality wins over looking like everyone else who has these things.

But enough complaining. I'm searching around for podcasts to stockpile. Many of us by now already know that there are bazillions of podcasts floating around these days, but oh what to choose. What kind of mood am I going to be in tomorrow? Choices, choices...

Currently, I am looking through this page and finding a few nice mixes in there.

Suggestions from y'all are welcome anytime. Comment-me.

 June 12, 2006

Legendary Pink Dots New Album

Your Children Placate You From Premature Graves

This is an album about mortality & immortality, about time ticking away mercilessly, about seizing the moment and damning the consequences. Your victims are lining up on both sides of the corridor, unborn yet forgiving. We are all pitifully human and we all want to take everything with us at the end, but there is no end...just a darkening endless horizon... –Edward Ka-Spel

SOUNDCLIPS (mp3):
Count on Me
No Matter What You Do
Stigmata Part 4
Feathers at Dawn
Please Don't Get Me Wrong
Peace of Mind
The Island of Our Dreams
Bad Hair
The Made Man's Manifesto
A Silver Thread
Your Number is Up

ALSO: BIG CITY ORCHESTRA will be opening for the Dots again this year here in San Francisco at Slim's - July 8th (Details)

 June 08, 2006

US Military Officer says NO to War

This was the best news I've heard all week-- first, this morning listening to KPFA radio's broadcast of Democracy Now! and then a few hours later reading at Easy Bake Coven--had to take at least a couple minutes to post it here. More posts soon, stay tuned...

Thank you Lt. Ehren Watada

Yesterday, Wednesday, June 7th U.S. Army First Lieutenant Ehren Watada become the first commissioned officer to refuse deployment to the unlawful Iraq war and occupation. He announced his duty to disobey the illegal order to deploy to Iraq in coordinated press conferences in Tacoma, Washington and Honolulu, Hawaii. Although he was restricted from attending the noon event in Tacoma as planned, a video statement was shown. Later that evening, Lt. Watada appeared before the press in Tacoma to answer questions directly.

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