archives

[ April 28, 2006 / bookmark ]

downstream / Sound-Diary MP3s

There’s a blog by musician Justin Hardison at thelandof.org, which on the face of it is ordinary enough. Lots of musicians augment their individual websites with online diary entries, including the semi-regular postings of Radiohead (radiohead.com/deadairspace) and David …

[ April 27, 2006 / bookmark ]

downstream / Maker Faire Instrument Panel MP3

This is a first. I’ve been doing the almost-daily Disquiet.com Downstream entries since October 14, 2003, and today is the first time I’ve linked to something I did myself. This past Sunday I moderated a panel discussion at the inaugural …

[ April 26, 2006 / bookmark ]

downstream / Electroplankton MP3

Among the keywords in the audio catalog at the Internet Archive, aka archive.org, is the name of a recent video game created for the Nintendo DS handheld: Electroplankton. As many have noted, the game is less a game than …

[ April 25, 2006 / bookmark ]

downstream / Noise Art MP3s

At home amid the ruptures of constantly shifting sonic data, Stephane Leonard has produced a three-track set for the Luv Sound netlabel (luvsound.org), titled tri, that is far more listenable than it should be. One track (”Trails 2,” …

[ April 24, 2006 / bookmark ]

downstream / Frippertronic Soundscape MP3

Robert Fripp has been steadily releasing Internet-only commercial sets, sometimes sweetening the pot with a free download. The most recent, a solo soundscape titled “Coda at the End of Time” (MP3) recorded this past February live at the Variety …

[ April 19, 2006 / bookmark ]

downstream / NYC Dub MP3

It’s apparently New York week in the Disquiet Downsteam. Monday was Raz Mesinai’s computer-enabled chamber music (link), for which he draws upon some of downtown Manhattan’s most accomplished talent, including violinist Mark Feldman, guitarist Marc Ribot and cellist Jane Scarpantoni. …

[ April 18, 2006 / bookmark ]

downstream / Live Jazz Conduction MP3

Composer and cornet player Lawrence Douglas “Butch” Morris has what is essentially a fifth name as well, a jazz neologism with which he is synonymous: “conduction.” That’s his word for the subtle art of using hand gestures to weave a …

[ April 17, 2006 / bookmark ]

downstream / Digital Chamber MP3

Raz Mesinai is a maestro of Middle Eastern-edged ersatz chamber music. On his new Asphodel Records album, Safe, he piles samples of composed and improvised cues by the likes of guitarist Marc Ribot, violinist Mark Feldman and cellist Jane Scarpantoni …

[ April 17, 2006 / bookmark ]

field notes / Disquiet @ Maker Faire, April 23

What does it take to invent your own instrument? How has pervasive computing technology altered the way musicians compose? When you design your own instrument, does that change how you write music?

These are just some of the questions we’ll be …

[ April 12, 2006 / bookmark ]

downstream / Philosophical Matmos MP3

Pre-release promotional CDs of the duo Matmos’ upcoming album, The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast, arrived with a handwritten note by one of the members, M.C. Schmidt, imploring recipients not to upload the disc’s contents to …