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October 27, 2004
Bloomy Update 2: City Sues to Stop Critical Mass
Well, seems like this week has been a real reflection of what I was trying to get at earlier this week, about this administrations stifling presence on this city's life-force. Bloomy and company has filed to stop the monthly critical mass ride, for good. The hearing will be held today:
City's request for an injunction will be held on Wednesday Octoer 27 at 3PM in Judge Pauley's Courtroom, 11D 500 Pearl Street (opposite Foley Square, south of 100 Center St.) The public will not be able to speak but cyclists are urging everyone to pack the courtroom.
Let's not talk about the nearly 400 cities - across the world - who embrace this once monthly Friday ride, or even mention the paltry treatment cyclists in this city get by motorists, police, and pedestrians. The injunction itself tools on the idea that riding more than two abreast is not only a Parade, but one that requires a City Permit, filed and purchased in advance. Permit these Mike! It also argues in good opinion for the confiscation of bicycles for those disobeying such "Permitted Activities", which was the case when police cut locks and lifted bikes from ticketed riders during the Republican Nat'l Convention.
But an even greater weight on this case is the fact that it's Federal, which means we might see similar cities follow suit... Wait, We Will See Other Metro Follow in New York's Delightfully Authoritarian Lead. Thanks Bloomberg, you asshole. We're not blocking traffic, we are traffic!
Time's Up is New York's unofficial Critical Mass site... and the Unofficial link to other cities Mass.
Posted by jmarston at 09:27 AM | Comments (2)
October 26, 2004
Political Post Part Deux
In the spirit of challenging the media lap dogs, that is, in the spirit of Jon Stewarts blow out last week. In tune with One Week till Election, its time for Triumph the Insult Dog's, pooop on post debate Spin Alley. Thanks Joe Gilbert.
Posted by jmarston at 01:08 PM | Comments (4)
John Peel, RIP
The great John Peel, of BBC, is reported to have died on holiday in Peru. His last guest was Robert Smith, how morbid. He had Aphex Twin on 5/12/92, who played:
Lumin F
Blue Calx
Quintute
Aphex 6
T. Q. T.
True visionary, punk, music lover, and all around sound guru. The Pixies - 'Monkey's Gone To Heaven' - (4AD) is on his final playlist. RIP Tastemaster Peel.
Posted by jmarston at 10:12 AM
October 25, 2004
Update: Cops Shutdown Another Dance Space
From ProductshopNYC, comes this missive of another spot shut down by Bloomys fun polica patrol. Find some real crime already.
"Rothko has been shut down! Those who showed up on Friday for The Sons of Sounds or We Are 138 on Saturday found this out the hard way. It seems the popular New York venue broke a few building codes when it illegally built an additional dance area in the basement. The club was supposedly raided and padlocked by New York's Police Deptartment. Will the club get the appropriate permits or is this begining of another Plant-like nightmare? ... Open Rothko! Let the kids dance! Riot! Riot! Riot!"
Posted by jmarston at 04:03 PM
October 22, 2004
The Fledgling Culture of the Night and Thursday Oct. 28
If there is one thing Bloomberg has done to this city that will always send me up, even though I think 311 is f'in great, is that he's moralized (vaporized) the spontaneity, anarchic, freedom loving dementia, America (and I) look to New York City for. Choking the random beauty out of this place in exchange for the Smooth Wheels of Commerce, and suburban charm. Could there be any other time when the Republicans would think it alright to host their convention in a city they despise? Would we think it ok, under any other administration, to close a dance venue because an Exit light was burnt out? Pointed attemepts at reeling in any "unorthodox" venues, parties, or events have choked New York of one of its most vibrant qualities and cultures. Reel 'em in pipes Bloomy, make sure they pay their Licenses and Sting 'em when you find even the most inance code violation. Turning (questionable) quality of life tickets into million dollar revenue streams, pushing us into a Real Cultrual Stasis. Dancing without proper permits? Get a ticket, and you also get the establishments Liquor License called into question.
Would it be ok, at any other time, to say that the APT dancefloor is one of the few great places remaining to shake it? If only because, its not your corporate uber-club playing Sasha's latest trance CD to a floor of drunken frat jocks looking to score?
Tricia Romano, at the Village Voice, has been doing a fine job at chronicling the slow demise of New York nighttime culture, watching us, New F'in York, hemorrhage artists to Berlin, close techno venues, and ticket Djs for the offense like "Operation of Sound Reproductive Device Without a Permit." A short video was done for Thirteen's New York Voicesabout the issue... And a LES nonprofit, Legalize Dancing NYC also educates folks on the incursion on our Civil Liberties. We won't even hazard a discussion of the Reducing Americans' Vulnerability to Ecstasy (RAVE) Act of 2002 ($250,000 fine w/ clubs shut down, if they're found guilty of keeping "drug-involved premises", whatever the hell that means).
Reminds me of that Autechre record Anti EP, which battled the UK's Criminal Justice Bill of 1994 (Sections 63-67), calling for police intervention at any gathering where it was even suspected that "repetitive beats" might be played. Bloomberg, take note... Autechre wrote this on the cover of the EP:
Warning: Lost and Djarum contain repetitive beats. We advise you not to play these tracks if the Criminal Justice Bill becomes law. Flutter has been programmed in such a way that no bars contain identical beats and can therefore be played under the proposed new law. However, we advise DJs to have a lawyer and a musicologist present at all times to confirm the non-repetitive nature of the music in the event of police harrassment.
So it was on this note that I realized next Thursday was going to be a rollicking good time, at one of two places... Which is the shame, one of the two places, will get the Heads who would normally show force at the other. Not to mention, is it any wonder there are no venues, when Michael Mayer is playing a Rock venue like the Bowery? I love Bowery, but Heh? And Really, is it that hard not to book two of the finest DJs around on the Same Figgin' Night? There is barley a trickle of hops these days and now I gotta choose between Theo Parrish and Michael Mayer??? Both of them played the Best Sets I've seen in 2004. Mayer's performance at Volume earlier this year was, shall we say, jaw dropping... And Theo's recent set was, shall we say, eargasmic? Adult Rave! Well, here are the listings...
Kompakt Party
Live: Reinhard Voigt
DJ: Michael Mayer
Bowery Ballroom 10p
6 Delancey Street
$14
Theo Parrish
APT 10p
419 West 13th Street
$8
Posted by jmarston at 11:58 AM
October 20, 2004
Workspace Projects
Harvestworks, in conjunction with Chelsea Art Museum project room, presents Workspace Projects. It all starts Oct 23rd (til. Nov 6), with performances running on Saturdays, and audio installations in the gallery - open Tuesdays thru Fridays. Installs include Marina Rosenfeld, Stephen Vitiello, Dafna Naphtali, Matthew Ostrowski and many others... Jeff Carey will perform on Oct 30, "Jeff Carey will perform with 'Vector' a 5.1 spatialized environment using FFT Analysis of field recordings made in the natural and urban environments in Singapore and Malaysia." Hot!
Posted by jmarston at 02:00 PM
Fennesz US Tour
Yes, Fennesz plans on making some Stateside appearences this December. Laptop Eggnog! Keeping you posted...
U.S.A Tour
from December 1 to December 7
Posted by jmarston at 11:15 AM
Pulling the Dick Out
Not one to post political stuff on here, but seeing as we're fast approaching Indecision 2004, I think it necessary to break rank for three reasons.
A. Jon Stewart rocks, it you haven't watched it yet, do so now. The clip of him on Crossfire is available on Ifilm
B. How did Bush do in the first debate? Well, this 5 minute clip, in chronological order, gives a telling picture, of the - shall we say, "highlights".
C. Will someone please tell Cheney to pull the Dick out, and get a grip. Check out his latest stump speech, this has got to be the best Final Hour quote from the Dick/Bush/Colon camp. From the Myway site... Go ahead Dick, speak, "Vice President Dick Cheney on Tuesday raised the possibility of terrorists bombing U.S. cities with nuclear weapons and questioned whether Sen. John Kerry could combat such an "ultimate threat ... you've got to get your mind around."
Posted by jmarston at 10:34 AM | Comments (2)
Minneapolis 06/25/94
Thanks to Sean Siegler for this fine scan of the Bonkers flyer, continuing the 10 year Rave Reunion. Shouts to the Cyber X Gang. Oh so many more to come, Stay Tuned. Click to Enlarge.
Posted by jmarston at 09:43 AM | Comments (1)
October 19, 2004
Minneapolis - 1994 Club Nights
Posted by jmarston at 02:19 PM
October 18, 2004
Oakenfold, Hahaha
CNN gives "superstar" & "visionary" Dj Paul Oakenfold some room to pen an editorial on, well, a broad range of matters related to the Dj. Funny, I have about zero respect for this fellow, but he does brush up with some opinions I hold about CD mixing, laptop Djing (?), and well... I'm really not sure. His writing is all over the place. Funny. He says: "The people I admire -- Liam Howlett of Prodigy, the Chemical Brothers and Orbital -- they are all artists primarily. The technology is secondary." Orbital, yes. Umm, Liam?
He goes on to say: "The record for me that brings it all together is "Papua New Guinea" by Future Sound of London. It's got a great sample, it's got the electronic bass and it's a huge club record. Those are the three elements." Ahhh, is "a huge club record" an element of a - huge club record? Paul, you're so confusing. I guess thats the Visionary in you. But I gotta say, FSOL rocks (I'm cueing Lifeforms soon) - in that Ambient room vibe, early 90's Orb - Mix Master Morris stylee'. But I get his drift, however drafty it is.
Posted by jmarston at 11:46 AM | Comments (2)
Minneapolis 03/05/94
Joy. One of the best flyers ever.
Posted by jmarston at 09:49 AM
October 15, 2004
Tonight
Ghostly International CMJ Showcase
Live: Solvent, Mobius Band, Lusine, Skeletons,
Outputmessage
Tonic 9p-2a
107 Norfolk Street
(212)358-7501
www.ghostly.com
www.tonicnyc.com
21+, free
Posted by jmarston at 11:44 AM
Minneapolis 05/21/94
Flower Power!
Posted by jmarston at 10:53 AM | Comments (3)
Grime Scene Part Deux
Head over to Gutterbreakz for Part Deux of the Grime Scene investigation.
Posted by jmarston at 10:48 AM
October 14, 2004
Open House: View from Grand Army Plaza - Brooklyn
I live right up the block from this baby, and after missing it last year, I was excited to see my environs from this vantage. This Arch, three blocks, & down about 15 feet from where I live, is situated near the second highest point in Brooklyn (after Battle Hill in Greenwood Cemetary, which is 220ft above sea level). Good reason why my neighborhood is called Prospect Heights, adjacent to Crown Heights (originally Crow Hill), and reason enough to pluck the Brooklyn Museum down there. So the topography adds quite a bit to this vista, and brings the breezes of the ocean into my airshaft studio apartment. Click to Enlarge.
Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch (1892)
Downtown Brooklyn over Downtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan
Brooklyn Library
Posted by jmarston at 04:35 PM
Minneapolis 06/25/94
Bonkers! One the best, most intense, parties from the Summer of 1994. Fine pre-flyer as well. Just the pre-flyer... Click to Enlarge.
Posted by jmarston at 02:46 PM
Minneapolis 03/05/94
Its been 10 years since the hallucinogenic peaks of the US rave scene, and by that I mean, Midwest Represent!! Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago, Detroit. M.O.R.E, Drop Bass, Ripe, Vibe.
In honor of these consciousness-expanding days, I'll first be posting preflyers along with map point directions (jog it), after which I'll be posting flyers for all the most vivid events of those, mmmmm, those halcyon days.. Bonkers!
First in our Rave Pre-Flyer Extravaganza, Minneapolis, REP!
M.O.R.E Productions presents Joy. My favorite pre-flyer. (The main flyer is also one of my favorites, forthcoming.) Hawtin. Nuff' Said. Click to Enlarge.
Posted by jmarston at 10:38 AM | Comments (1)
October 12, 2004
Grime, Gleam, and EskiBeat
Great piece on the it sound currently taking flight, well, has been at a cruising altitude for sometime. Have to say, although I loved the sound, I couldn't understand a word Dizzee Rascal said during his performance at Volume last fall. Good Stuff. Mp3's included... Grime Scene Report at Gutterbreakz Uk.
Also, along these lines, a nod to the great master who gives flight to me body with his cranium crushing bass lines. A master of the stacks who gives you audio mainlines that make you shiver with ecstatic horror. Kevin Martin, is, The Bug - Pressure.
Posted by jmarston at 02:55 PM
The Airport
"What was once the starting point for journeys that promised romance, excitement and the unknown is now, as Alastair Gordon aptly describes it, a place of "jaded realism, apathy, and paranoia." Paris tells the tale. The Le Bourget, where Charles Lindbergh ended his epic flight in 1927 -- "The grounds were neatly landscaped, with gravel walkways and lines of pollarded trees; it all looked more like a corner of the Tuilleries Gardens than an airport" -- has given way to Charles de Gaulle, a chilly, chaotic, almost unimaginably hideous mausoleum that a friend of mine calls, perhaps flatteringly, a "Third World airport."
As Gordon says: "The airport is at once a place, a system, a cultural artifact that brings us face-to-face with the advantages as well as the frustrations of modernity. The sprawling, hybrid nature of the subject challenges easy assumptions. Its history has been a recurrent cycle of anticipation and disappointment, success and failure, innovation and obsolescence."
From a review of Naked Airport, in the Washington Post.
I really couldn't agree more. The arrival and departure portions of travel, nowadays, are a skittish, onerous, and anxious experience for most people. Especially since airline hijackings have become the de-facto image of terror.
Yet arrival and departure should be a monumental experience, filled with noble grandiosity. Airports, in someways, should be more like the great train stations of the eastern seaboard. New York City's Grand Central Terminal , Washinton DC's Union Station, and Philadelphia's 30th St. Station. Not to mention the tragically abandoned, Buffalo Central Terminal.
On a not-so-recent trip to DC, I stepped off Amtrak's wonderfully first-class ("hi-speed") Acela train, into the dignified Union Station. It offered a grand, rejuvenative, and chimerical welcome. Moving out the heavy doors into a direct view of the Capitol, I hopped in a cab, and found myself in haughty style amongst the building of downtown DC. It was the welcome I had desired, and needed, a first impression that correctly reflected the place I had arrived in. Surely, being a resident of New York, I had alot less positive to say about my point of departure, Penn Station - which is stuffed underneath the uninspired slab we call Madison Square Garden, like an after thought. Although I am excited to note that the USPS recently gave up its 24 hour neo-classical Post Office (designed by McKim, Mead and White) on 8th Ave, in order to once again give eminence to arrival in Manhattan by rail. It will be named Moynihan Station. Yes, is it any wonder the Landmark Preservation Act started as a result of the destruction of the original Penn Station? Thank you Jane Jacobs.
Somehow we know that our Arrival and Departure points should be lofty, romantic, mystifying, and at least, somehow representative of the place we are coming into. They should be as amazing as the act of travel is, and can be. Yet nowadays we come into our cities and towns byway of sprawl, and suburban/exurban airports. We arrive in a no-nothing landscape, where inspiration and reflection give way to scrabbled efficiency and banality. A feeling of Because We Have To. A simple exchange of services. These structures don't speak to the art of arriving, to the art of departing. To the needs of the traveler.
It was sad to see the recent art show at the old TWA terminal, Terminal 5, at JFK was closed do to some coked-out hipsters. It surely would have continued to open the discourse on these ideas.
Santiago Calatrava has made his name by designing structures of connection & reception. His beautiful Lyon Airport Station, for one. 
Surely his bridges and train stations have shown his intelligence in recognizing these great qualities in the art of travel. So it was great to see him assigned to design the rail terminal at the WTC site. Hopefully David Childs & Larry Silverstein won't be able to insert their sickness into this one. But more importantly I hope we can continue to see investment in creating great spaces of arrival and departure, whether for rail, air, or car.
Posted by jmarston at 11:31 AM | Comments (1)
In Cologne: Kompakt 100 Festival
i slowly wiped the drool from my chin. in fact, i still am...
The Original Soundtrack in Cologne Germany.
Posted by jmarston at 10:58 AM
October 08, 2004
Friday Mp3
Reaching out into the Mp3 blogsphere, for your Friday drive time.
From West Africa Benn loxo du taccu comes a beautiful, & unaccompanied, piece by the great kora player, Toumani Diabaté. Son of West Africa's greatest Kora player, Sidiki Diabaté. I first heard Diabaté on New Ancient Strings (Hannibal Records), a strictly kora album that he did with Ballaké Sissoko in '99.
I was ab·so·lute·ly mesmerized, totally enraptured by this polyrhythmic string instrument. The influences and intersections with electronic music are too numerous to recount. Toumani Diabaté has two previous albums available on Hannibal, Kaira and Djelika. Both are highly reccommended. In 2001 Ballaké Sissoko released, Deli, a solo album on Label-Bleu. I find it a little too distracted by its Afro-Pop elements. Give me just the kora, plain and simple. Finely represented with this mp3 below.
Click here to listen: Toumani Diabaté - Jarabi
Posted by jmarston at 12:01 PM
Bush - Lennon - Reed - Mash Up
Shouts to MemeFirst for the link. Listen here. Great Stuff.
Posted by jmarston at 11:38 AM
Detroit's Fall Wave
Last month the ever amazing Theo Parrish played an absolutely brilliant set at APT, and boy were we able to move our bodies. Despite all the Miami Beach type douche bags that now stuff themselves into the Meat Packing District. RIP Filter 14.
Next Monday, we're delighted to see, Carl Craig! Leave it up to Francois K's Monday weekly, Deep Space, to bring some real heads out to another Meat Packing spot, Cielo. Is there hope for New York's nearly comatose dancehead nightlife? Adult Rave.
Few have brought such sublime diversity to the American sound as Detroit legend Carl Craig. A maven, maestro, and master of the soulfully slugging beat, Craig released his first track in 1989, and its been a ride ever since. Few will question the sheer weight of his Paperclip People project, Innerzone Orchestra, but More Songs About Food and Revolutionary Art is a listening album that overwhelms with richness. Carl Craig also heads Planet-E Records.
Posted by jmarston at 10:12 AM
October 07, 2004
CMJ in NYC
CMJ Music Marathon is a cicle jerk of sorts. A Big Three Days for the hardcore indie rocker. This bowl isn't tapped, and is planning on rocking with you folks for a couple of these great shows... Never enough electronic acts, but, Here are the Picks!
Wednesday October 13
Slum Village SOB's 10.00pm
Gang Gang Dance Irving Plaza 10.30pm
The Hold Steady Delancy 12.00am
Arcade Fire Mercury Lounge 01.00am
Thursday October 14
Morningwood SouthPaw 09.00pm
Friday October 15
Dillinger Four BB Kings 08.10pm
Solvent Tonic 09.00pm
Dj Olive SubTonic 12.00pm
Saturday October 16
Z-Trip Bowery Ballr. 11.00pm
Low Mercury Lounge 01.00am
Posted by jmarston at 04:02 PM
Update - Aphex Twin's Analord
Since his release from Warp, rumors are flying. What seems sure thus far. Analord, ten 12" 180gm records, with a single piece of music on each side, center label art, and slick binder for your collection. Anal-ogue? Doubtful. Here are some top secret .jpgs from the first 'Analord Infoburst'. Developing. Interesting history of Rephlex is available here.
Posted by jmarston at 03:36 PM | Comments (3)
October 06, 2004
Elektronische Musik Interkontinental
I conducted and wrote this interview back in March of 2003. Nobody would pick it up (probably cause the tone I used is so stodgy), so its been languishing in my /docs since. But I thought it still relevant...
______________________________________________________________________
Interview w/ Riley Reinhold – Proprietor of Traum Schallplatten, Köln Germany.
It’s no disclosure that Riley has been, and still is, a central figure of the exceptionally prolific techno scene of Köln since the late 1980’s, functioning as DJ, journalist, and label curator. So in celebration of Traum’s second compilation and 5th year of operation – through the obstruction of language and with the ease of email, I spoke with Riley about music, his story, and the city of Köln.
David Marston: I’d like to first do the biographical and historical basics. The obvious: how did you and Jacqueline approach this project together and what was the inspiration to start Traum? In addition, what was the motivation behind starting the more DJ-friendly imprint, Trapez?
Riley Reinhold: Hi, we run the label together. The city of Buenos Aires inspired us. A spiritual experience that confronted us with new and of course old ideas, music that we knew about from the 80ies, fused with the beginning of the 90ies. The seemingly context free environment -non domestic- allowed us to experience music rather than anything else. We were overwhelmed by the richness and textures of that composed electronic and pop music from a part of the world we knew nothing about. We had enough energy to start a label after DJing for more than 10 years. For me the label Traum is very personal. We were lucky things happened as we started. Philippe Cam, Waki, Dinky, Process.... Trapez stands for clublife, sweet, beats. Less personal, more historical for me. On the contrary, a way of doing and seeing and liking. Jacqueline runs both label, Traum and Trapez. She does all graphics for CDs and LPs and 12”, all the cover art. I only do the scouting of the artistes, the communication with the artist!
DM: What is your musical background, or more appropriately, how did you become involved with dance and ambient music? Tell us some about your work with Kompakt, DeBUG, and your duties as DJ RRR. Finally, are there any music projects you’ve composed floating around out there?
RR: We do not think in terms of ambient music, rather music with soul. Things that move us now. Some info about me. Started DJing in 1984. Founded my own sound-system together with my friend Sascha Kösch (later chief editor of DeBUG) in 1989. Was recognized by the likes of Mike Ink and friends as one of the few DJs that supported their music at an early stage. A friendship evolved. Between 1989 and 1994 organized and took part at groundbreaking events, introducing new electronic music in new environments in Köln. From 1991 and 1993 belonged to the early Force Inc, together with Ian Pooley, Tonka, T.P. Heckmann (Live), Alec Empire. At the same time began writing in for the most popular indie magazine in Germany, SPEX, with a monthly page called Techno Control. Numerous interviews with people that were not know at that time: like Dave Clarke, Luke Slater, Dave Angel, UR, Cheap Records, and Herbert. Was sent to London in 1994 to meet the Aphex Twin and to write an article about the vast emerging Break Beat scene together with Sascha Kösch. I toured with Exit 100, Alec Empire, TNI (Pooley and Tonky) to cities within and outside Germany. Also played with the Finnish group Pan Sonic on different occasions in Köln and Berlin and DJed on Raster/Noton nights with Carsten Nikolai in Berlin and other cities, was a resident at the legendary ELEKTRO club in Berlin 1993. Held lectures about electronic music from Köln and Djed clubs all over the world, in addition to engagements with the Goethe Institute of Buenos Aires, Grupo Montevideo of Santiago Chile. Also performed at the Sonar in Spain, Popkom in Germany, and Mutek in Canada.
Released records: Triple R & Walker – "Aufräumen EP" (XXC), Triple R – “Red Flame EP” (Disko B), Triple R – “Rendezvous” (EMD), Kompakt Köln Compilation (Kompakt CD 1), Bored Beyond Belief Compilation. In November of 2002, I released an official Kompakt Mix CD called FRIENDS.
DM: Traum has a very obvious international presence in the artists it chooses to release. Tell us more about your ideas on why you see that as an important curatorial direction.
RR: It is good to involve strangers, not always to work with the known, professional producers. Also youth is important for us, the energy it is creating the speed it achieves.
DM: Köln has an amazing amount of labels and artists – in addition to spaces and events – producing a large and hugely important body of contemporary electronic music. Perhaps you could also share your perceptions of Koln’s role & influence on the international milieu of electronic music.
RR: Köln is a small town, with little spaces to loose yourself; people create their own space in music, freedom. We have a unique fusion of artistic people doing techno for more than 10 years, not necessarily electronics, but techno. We have about 20 techno labels I know of which I like, another 10 electronic/noise ones, several drum and bass and house producers. We all know is other some master for other, Kompakt has the biggest record shop, people come there, and we meet in clubs. We appreciate the work of each other. If you check my mix CD on Kompakt, you see some labels I like. The CD is a bit of a thank you to the small labels and their super music I appreciate very much.
DM: Tell us about Philippe Cam’s work, as you’ve done 5 remarkable releases of his to date. In relation, tell us about the ‘Psychometry’ triptych on Trapez by Akufen.
RR: He [Cam] came, we spoke, he sits, he eats oysters, one every day, he likes Burroughs, he could be a friend of him, he makes film music, he is very French, he drives an old car. New music will come from him, totally new. Marc [Akufen] is also French-Canadian, supports the French culture. We are waiting for his new Psychometry 12 on Trapez!
DM: Some releases – I’m thinking of Waki, Cam, Vaisanen – pay close attention to music’s avant-garde lineages, but in a brilliantly contemporary reformulation of these forebears. Other artists map newer genres with a deftness and clarity, tracing more recent genealogies of Detroit techno, electronic pop, and German minimalism, all the while creating new and singular works of splendor. Yet all of these releases, regardless of their referential qualities, appease to the atmospheric and melodious inclinations of an idealists ear. They aren’t weighted down by theory or cynicism, and they trade in both emotion and reason. Tell us more about your take on these issues.
RR: Non-dogmatic and certainly I know a bit alongside these people that wrote music some time ago, that I like.
DM: Being journalist/critic, collector/DJ, and of course curator, gives you a special position to comment on the relationships of all of these actors, and the multiple ways in which they connect with each other. Would you comment?
RR: We are proud to say Traum acts start to communicate and set up their own events- invite themselves, building their own system/logistic. Well, as I can emphasize, Traum and Trapez is not music for the sake of music, but also stay in a close relationship, of how music develops. It reacts to the context. Maybe a German context I agree. The German scene is the biggest in the world I guess. It is still after all these years a very lively scene (not like England’s techno scene). It is based very much on idealism, small clubs, and nice people. Our music is devotes to this culture. And as the years go by it changes. You will hear the changes. You might not like all of them, but we feel we can be freer in a lot of decisions and this makes us happy. We like a lot of music, and I like music that generates maybe not a new feeling but creates something modern in itself. Maybe only the work on the sound technically changes for example.
DM: What is the future of Traum?
RR: The future is not to rest, but to follow the tracks of youth culture and pop culture with a techno soul. New CD on TRAUM coming soon from Kate Simko and Andres Bucci, another CD from South America, Chile, and a new MIA on Traum and on Trapez. We are proud to release! Different music, to the maximum.
Posted by jmarston at 02:40 PM | Comments (7)
Alan`s Psychedielic Breakfast
Pink Floyd is many things, to many people, but audibly they must be one of the most important rock-pop outfits of the 20th century. Of course PF churned up some of the finest prog-rock and psychedelia, with Syd twiddled harmony, and arena rock chutzpah. PF also incorporated keyboards and tone generators early on and was able to give many a pop music consumers a taste for sound - for its own inherint qualities. Yet most importantly, they made sweet and delicate songs of an unconventional nature.
In 1970 PF released Atom Heart Mother, and on this album comes the 13 minute piece, Alan`s Psychedielic Breakfast. Mixing breakfast 'field recordings' with beautifully written guitar passages into a triptych of hushed and exquisite harmony. Impacting.
Posted by jmarston at 12:59 PM
October 05, 2004
From Milwaukee, With Love
thanks Matthew Loos...
Posted by jmarston at 05:12 PM
All Your Bass
Posted by jmarston at 09:37 AM
October 04, 2004
Stacks & Speaker Love
I don't get to see enough stacks in New York, not like back in the glory days of the Midwest circa '94-'96. This comes from Wayne Marshall's blog, taken at the Cambridge Carnival. Wipe the drool.
Posted by jmarston at 04:38 PM | Comments (2)
Second Annual Open House New York
What a fantastic idea, this Open House New York is. Letting us masses into some of New York's great buildings & landmarks. Some sites from last year, and new appearences as well. One could only wish it was longer than just one weekend, with just how many are participating across the 5 boros.
Now if they could only get the old RCA building observation deck open.
Looking South from the RCA
RCA Observation Deck Gardens
-Or- the penthouse suite in 845 United Nations Plaza.
Last year I was able to see the Grand Lodge of the Manhattan Masons, and then blithley ask the tour guide why a black man was giving the tour, considering. What great PR those Shriner/Mason/Illuminati have. And altars as well. We then sped downtown, past the Jefferson Market Library (i'll be cueing early for that view this year) and onward to One Liberty Plaza, for some serious Olympic propaganda. Unable to convince the PR Flacks and Lackey interns of just how stupid putting a stadium in Manhattan is, further to that, how stupid it would be to build it with TIF monies, I spilt some shit bodega coffee on NYC2012's modernist furniture while gazing on out onto the harbor. How satisfying, upward to Brooklyn! Bite me Doctoroff & Company.
Posted by jmarston at 03:05 PM
A-rtist Names
Expect a glut of band names and artist monkiers starting with either a number, or the letter A. You can thank the I-Pod. 50-Cent, I renamed Fifty-Cent, just to keep him off the top of the my artist list. Perhaps the next gen will convert numbers into language, and alphabetize accordingly. I doubt it. Already, the I-Pod smartly disregards 'The' (Notorious Big, who I would proudly keep on top) and places the artist by the second words' first letter. Lucky for me, otherwise I'd have a highly populated T. It not wise to play with your First Name/Last Name tagging. I haven't put anyone with an X or Z at the beginning of their name. Wait, where is my Xenakis release? I hate ZZ Top anyways.
Posted by jmarston at 12:30 PM | Comments (1)
Two Takes on Critics
Boston Globe editorial:
It's part of America's glory that one nation can produce so much blessedly forgettable entertainment. But what happens when you're not allowed to forget it? When Mitch Albom's "Tuesdays With Morrie" invites post-reading exegesis? ("Who do you think got more out of their Tuesday meetings, Mitch or Morrie?" asks a reading guide.) When even "Agent Cody Banks: Destination London" is not safe from a "Visual Cast Commentary?" ("One of the greatest things about making a movie is how they edit it," notes star Frankie Muniz.)
The strangest entry in the pop-crit field must be VH1's "True Spin." Like the revenge of every loser who spent high school poring over the lyrics to "Dark Side of the Moon," the show teases out the true import of pop music -- even songs (Berlin's "Take My Breath Away," 2 Live Crew's "Me So Horny") whose meanings would appear to be so crystalline you could cut yourself on the first listen. The show offers a contest element, in which you guess at various possible interpretations. Which raises the question: Is there anybody out there who didn't get the meaning of NWA's "Fuck the Police" the first time around?
Undoubtedly, this sort of critical machinery deepens the cultural experience. But it threatens something precious: disposability, and the confidence that most cultural offerings are things you don't need to think about. I'm pretty sure America could survive the end of NEA-sponsored Shakespeare festivals. But the end of trash culture would really be a loss worth mourning.
LA Times editorial on Arts Coverage, the decline thereof in major circ. newspapers, recently published by the authors study in conjuntion with Columbia University's National Arts Journalism Program.
Our findings reveal an alarming trend: During the last five years, none of the papers we looked at increased the amount of their arts criticism and reporting. Editors at many dailies are filling smaller news holes with more and therefore shorter stories.
...
As space declines, so does criticism. Local papers were once civic stewards. Informing their readers about newsworthy artistic productions was a responsibility that their owners, often residents in the community for several generations, took seriously.
Now many art sections have become viewer guides, devoting the bulk of their efforts to calendars, the daily TV grid and tiny thumbnail reviews. At some dailies, criticism is vanishing. The Shreveport Times in Louisiana is one example. The paper briefly eliminated all criticism in the belief that by doing so, it was helping arts coverage.
To be fair, the arts aren't being singled out for cutbacks in newspapers; many other sections are shrinking just as rapidly. But the implications for the arts, its creators and its audiences, are troubling.
Posted by jmarston at 12:13 PM
October 01, 2004
Fall in New York City
NYC weather is either rotting hot heat waves or wet cold cutting winds, except for a beautiful, but small window called Fall. Today is one of those sparkling Fall days.
Posted by jmarston at 02:04 PM
The Dream House
The Dream House is open for its twelfth season! At 275 Church Street (btwn Franklin and White), in downtown Manhattan, sits one of the great sound pieces of the 20th century, by one of the most fascinating & enigmatic minimalist composers of the 20th century. A fantastically beautiful meditation on time, perception, movement, and space.
The Dream House, a collaborative effort between sound artist La Monte Young and (his wife) light artist Marian Zazeela, open Thursdays and Saturdays from 2 p.m. to midnight - for a $4 contribution.
"This is my newest and most radical work; the Rayna synthesizer has made it possible to realize intervals which are derived from such high primes that, not only is it unlikely that anyone has ever worked with these intervals before, it is also highly unlikely that anyone has ever heard them or perhaps even imagined the feelings they create."
From a recent interview with Young, “each frequency has its own points of resonance and non-resonance in the room (points of loudness and softness). The lowest frequencies have long wavelengths and you need to take a walk to experience the differences in the loudness of that frequency. The highest frequencies have such short wavelengths that simply by moving the head a ‘millinothing,’ the difference in loudness can be observed.”
"A longer stay in the Dream House is necessary to experience the full effect. The mind is calmed by the environment in a meditative way, and subtle sound and light effects that are veiled at first sight then come to the fore."
Posted by jmarston at 12:10 PM