-
Search Flickr by color values
October 2008
Monthly Archive
links for 2008-10-28
ExDetectives at The Derby Oct. 29
We’re playing at The Derby on Wednesday October 29. Come celebrate Halloween a couple days early. And yes, as far as I know the 8-9pm open bar is legitimate.
In other news, exdetectives.com is open and live right now. Pretty much bare bones at the moment, but we’re constanting adding to it. There’s also a RSS feed.
links for 2008-10-22
-
The audio engineering behind the recent My Bloody Valentine tour.
A Bite of Stars, A Slug of Time, and Thou
Freaky Trigger is podcasting ResonanceFM’s A Bite of Stars, A Slug of Time, and Thou, an astoundingly great show on pulp and avant-garde science fiction short stories from 1935 to 1975. Recommended for anyone who’s annoyed at how SF is equated these days with only television and movies.
The second season is already in progress and ends in November, but the entire run of shows is available and worth grabbing.
If you need one show to sample, start with episode #10 on J. G. Ballard’s “Track 12.” An early 1958 short story of his from New Worlds that’s one part Poe and one part sonic weaponry. The followup discussion touches on electroacoustic music, Iannis Xenakis, microsonics, and Ballard of course.
ResonanceFM desperately needs to archive/podcast more of its shows.
Brain Surgery Banjo
Bluegrass musician Eddie Adcock has been afflicted with tremors that affect his banjo playing. Brain surgery is the logical treatment, but you want to be able to check to see if you’re working in the areas causing the tremors without causing other damage that could affect banjo playing. Solution: have him play the banjo while operating to “optimize the system” so to speak.
I’m usually icked out by surgery videos but this is utterly absorbing. On occasion it actually does feel like The Future around here.
links for 2008-10-14
-
Some good environmental news for once. The Devil's Hole pupfish in Death Valley is slowly coming back (bet you didn't know Death Valley had a native fish)
Some economic advice that’s actually helpful
[via The Big Picture]
links for 2008-10-09
-
SwedeSpeed on the full details on Paul Newman and David Letterman's Volvo 960 supercharged Q-ships.
links for 2008-10-05
-
How to get the Vangelis Blade Runner synth sound on a Yamaha CS70
Separated At Birth, Part VIII
Audience at last night’s My Bloody Valentine show.
UFO watchers from Close Encounters Of The Third Kind
(MBV photo via Ned)
In his blog Ned alludes to how this show (especially the combo of Spectrum & My Bloody Valentine together) is a resetting of the clock - both groups effectively being the Year Zero for so many bands that followed in their wake.
However, I can’t help but notice just how many bands who list MBV and Spacemen 3 in their MySpace profiles completely miss the point - as if all you need for shoegaze glory is 250kg of off-the-rack effects pedals, some designer amps, and enough time for a smoke break while everything feedsback. Sure, Kevin Shields has the most complex rig I’ve ever seen on stage anywhere, but there’s a purpose to it and coupled with a good sound system that otherwise non-stop autistic tweaking of sound pays off.
I’ve seen an Apollo Saturn V launch. I’ve seen the Swans. I’ve seen Survival Research Lab performances. I once got to see a SR-71 flyby on full afterburner and that gets pretty close to the total frequency response generated on stage. It’s a structured event with ebbs and flows, an endless acceleration of Shepard Tones, and enough VLF to affect every whale and nuclear submarine on the planet. It’s entirely possible that this was all auditory illusions going on in my head.
Attention any other bands who are contemplating reunions: The bar has been set pretty high here. I can’t think of any other band who’s taken sixteen years off and have come back sounding as vital as the day they left. Maybe they’ll even get around to that third album.
