Tangents (ubiquity, hobbits, j-hop)

Quote of the Week: “[T]he easy access to and ubiquity of music is oppressive. It often feels like a passive aggressive assault. I’d pay extra for silence.” That’s David Byrne, replying at length at davidbyrne.com to Alex Ross‘ recent New Yorker essay (“The Record Effect“) on the impact of recording technology on the direction of music. … Quick Links: (1) A roundup on slate.com of new CDs helmed by famed producers (link) notes of Brian Eno‘s Another Day on Earth that “iTunes automatically labels it as ‘New Age.'” … (2) Speaking of Eno, if you’re looking for a Palm OS version of his Oblique Strategies card deck, check out the free program at tribblescape.com/palm.php. (3) A thorough overview of the Strategies at rtqe.net/ObliqueStrategies. … (4) In one among a fleet of stories on Stevie Wonder, in advance of his new A Time to Love album, the Scottish Sunday Herald (link) notes Wonder’s early use of Arp and Moog synthesizers, “making him a pioneer in the field of electronic music.” … (5) Via numerous sites, video of Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson‘s “contraption made of computer-controlled musical instruments” (boingboing.net), “[i]n lieu of coaxing Enya to do permanent in-house entertainment duties” (engadget.com). … New Releases: New album releases this week: (1) Brian Eno‘s Another Day on Earth (Hannibal) and (2) Philip Glass‘ Orion (Orange Mountain). (3) There’s also Lusine‘s four-song Inside/Out 12″ (Ghostly). … More new-release info at brainwashed.com/releases. … Disquiet Heavy Rotation: (1) Monolake‘s Axis Carbon (ml/i), less ambient, more lounge than his recent work. … (2) The CD of View of Rainbow by Turntabrush, abstract hip-hop from Japan (there are apparently three versions, on CD, cassette tape and LP, each different from the others, all released on the Clockwise label; I picked up my copies of the cassette and the CD at Other Music in Manhattan). … (3) Miragliuolo‘s free MP3 download “Skipfunk (Short Version)” (MP3), courtesy of kracfive.com, and the subject of the June 8 Disquiet Downstream (link).