Author: Marc Weidenbaum

Zen Metal

'Hex' turns 20

/ By Marc Weidenbaum

This is the band Earth performing at the Chapel in San Francisco on the evening of April 15, 2025, on a tour that marks the 20th anniversary of the album Hex: Or Printing in the Infernal Method. They were pretty darn good in this expanded, quartet formation, with Steve Moore (aka Stebmo) on trombone and keyboards, and Bill Herzog on bass. Adrienne Davies was, as always, transfixing, as she played at what for most drummers would be a quarter of regular speed. Dylan Carlson, Earth’s founder, has said he aimed for “ambient metal” with the band, and this evening was like “zen metal,” just grounded, singular riffs played on repeat with a compelling attention to tone and pace. The light show — note: all those splendid, gooey images moved — was by Mad Alchemy.

Frame by Frame Coverage

From Robin Sloan and ioflow

/ By Marc Weidenbaum

Two wonderful mentions of the Frame by Frame comics that Hannes Pasqualini and I have been up to:

1. It was rewarding to see, quite unexpected, this shout-out from novelist Robin Sloan (Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, Moonbound) in the latest issue (April 2025) of his main newsletter. Our mention was slotted in between recommendations by Sloan of a book on typography in film and an essay on synthesizer presets — in other words, fine company.

2. The wavelight blog of ioflow, a talented musician whom I know through the world of Monome instruments and the llllllll.co BBS, includes a detailed close read of many of the Frame by Frame comics to date. Here is one section of his essay, in which he lists some connections he identified between our installments:

“Avril 14th” 2025

Much more interesting than Record Store Day

/ By Marc Weidenbaum

There are many great electronic holidays, like those associated with various Roland instruments: 808 Day (for the TR-808 Rhythm Composer, August 8), 404 Day (for the SP-404, April 4), 303 Day (for the TB-303, March 3). My favorite is April 14, for Aphex Twin’s “Avril 14th,” off the 2001 album Drukqs. Many cover versions appear each year, and I’ll share some of my new favorites as the today proceeds. There were, a usual, tons, and I just posted the ones that really struck me. (This entry was last updated the morning of April 15, 2025.)

▰ Here’s flute (Serena Huang) and violin (Michael Shingo‬) version:

▰ Here’s a harp (Sáoirse Éirinn) and pedal steel (Joel Harkin) duet take:

▰ And it wouldn’t be Avril 14th without a Moog cover, this from a musician who goes by Sequence Mode:

▰ Shane Parish on acoustic guitar, plus birdsong:

▰ An upbeat rendition, entirely on the Elektron Analog Rytm, from my friend RPLKTR (aka Łukasz Langa)

▰ And from БРЎТАЌ on the Sunvox software synth:

▰ And over at Music and Math and Feelings, the Substack of Chris Thompson (percussionist in Alarm Will Sound), there’s a gorgeous exploration of just intonation and oscilloscope visualization: chrispthompson.substack.com (not embeddable).

Celebrating Herbie’s 85th

At Mr. Tipple's

/ By Marc Weidenbaum

How did I not know there is a small jazz club in San Francisco, just off Market Street, with a menu consisting of dim sum and a cocktail called the Oxford Comma?

It’s called Mr. Tipple’s. I caught a set there Saturday evening: bassist Kevin Goldberg’s quintet doing the music of Herbie Hancock on the great one’s 85th birthday, closing with a fantastic “Watermelon Man,” off Hancock’s 1962 album Takin’ Off, his solo debut. Goldberg’s band included Will Comer, piano; Ashley Jemison, alto saxophone; Mario Silva, trumpet; and Miles Turk, drums.