The free downloads at Robert Fripp’s website don’t stay free or downloadable for all that long. The section of rotating MP3s is called “Hot Tickles,” as it’s intended to tickle one’s fancy to purchase full-length archival recordings. Case in point, the recent 1.5-minute soundcheck from King Crimson dating from October 25, 1994. Some of these [...]
From the preface to Kyle Gann’s new book, No Such Thing as Silence: John Cage’s 4′33″ (Yale University Press), which I’m reading right now:
“I had to consciously remember that not every music lover out there has 4′33″, as I do, in his blood.”
What’s striking about the book is that it is, indeed, written by a [...]
Michael Bullock does terrible, wonderful things with his contrabass. He rattles its thick, braid-like strings until they come to resemble a cyclone fence doing battle with a ferocious wind. He bows it with a quiet intensity that brings out every fiber of its physical being. He attacks it with alternative materials, leaving the bow aside [...]
Japan isn’t just the home to some of the world’s best turntables. It is also, by no small coincidence, home to some of the best turntablists. The great website turntableradio.com has been celebrating this natural national direct-drive resource with a series of live performances, most recently a massive jam session featuring a who’s who of [...]
The color of your Gristleism box has about as much to do with the way it sounds as the color of your copy of Douglas Coupland’s Generation X had to do with the way the story played out. In the end, both objects, regardless of their edition, produce the same chunk of culture, regardless of [...]
Last September, ambient artist Geir Jennsen holed up in a small church in Den Haag, Netherlands, for a solo show. Better known as Biosphere, the name under which he has recorded and performed since the early 1990s, Jennsen filled the church with thick, slow-moving layers of synthesized moans. And given the context of the church, [...]
Been awhile since the most recent Disquiet.com overview of notable stories elsewhere on the web. He’s a quick rundown, to bridge the gap from 2009 to 2010:
● Why Brian Eno’s score to Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones is reportedly not eligible for an Oscar (thewrap.com, via moviescoremagazine.com).
● Thanks to Google Translate, an interview with composer [...]