¶ EVRP (Electronic Voice Recognition Phenomenon): The novelist Richard Kadrey made the following post on Facebook earlier this week. It’s reprinted by permission:
It’s a fascinating — especially because it’s unintentional — spin on Alvin Lucier’s classic “I Am Sitting in a Room.” The incident is particularly tasty if you’re familiar with Kadrey’s novels. His now four-volume Sandman Slim series, which deals with a hell-weary anti-hero, is rich with pop-song (and motion-picture) references to devilish activity. It seems all too perfect that his software would come to recognize a sentient presence in his absence. The EVP, or Electronic Voice Phenomenon, movement seeks to locate the semblance of speech in the noise of static. Kadrey experienced a step further into the metaphysical void: the less perceptible noise of a more generic sort, the everyday room tone. (I’ve known Kadrey for two decades now. He wrote a long profile of Ministry for me when I was an editor at Pulse! magazine and participated in a 2005 discussion here about Brian Eno’s album Thursday Afternoon.)
¶ Composition(al) Rules: Video below of the latest iOS app, Scape, from Brian Eno and Peter Chilvers:
The generativemusic.com website says of the app: “Can machines create original music? Scape is our answer to that question: it employs some of the sounds, processes and compositional rules that we have been using for many years and applies them in fresh combinations, to create new music.” The approach and timing are intriguing since Eno referenced cellular automata in regard to the art installation that led to his forthcoming Lux album on Warp Records. The app and album should be considered in tandem.
¶ Sound Art.sy: The art.sy website has just two artists associated with the “gene” (or genre, or category) for “sound art” (Zimoun and Tom Marioni). It does, however, have a “tag” for “tape” that includes Christian Marclay, Michael Craig-Martin, and a handful of others. The site is still in beta. I have a heap of invites. If you’re interested, shoot me an email to request one.
¶ Far Afield Recordings: The “remix â†â†’ culture” project on Kickstarter has an interesting take on not only financial models but cross-cultural collaboration as well. The proposed iPad app makes source recordings (initially from Morocco) available for remixing, and channels funds back to the original musicians.
More on the project, led by Hatim Belyamani, at remix-culture.com.
¶ Love the Player (Piano): Also on kickstarter.com, Other Minds is looking to fund “the largest festival in North America dedicated to the life and music of the genius composer Conlon Nancarrow,” Maverick of the player piano Nancarrow would have turned 100 this year, in the shadow of John Cage’s centenary — not to mention Alan Turing’s and, for good measure, Chuck Jones’. For $25, the second lowest level of participation, you’ll get audio downloads of the three-day festival, and a copy of the catalog.
¶ New Meaning to “Co-Op Mode”: There’s a remix contest sponsored by Halo 4 to rework music from the latest iteration of the game. The source material is by Halo 4 composer Neil Davidge, who’s worked extensively with Massive Attack: halo4remix.com.
¶ Glass(re)works: The NPR website is streaming remixes both by Beck and by Tyondai Braxton of the music of Philip Glass. More on the forthcoming Philip Glass – Reworked album at thekorarecords.com. Also contributing are Amon Tobin, Cornelius, Dan Deacon, Johann Johannsson, Nosaj Thing, Memory Tapes, Silver Alert, Pantha du Prince, My Great Ghost, and Peter Broderick.
The piano, albeit at high speed, is more recognizable in 