Twittering Machines

Give-aways. Click on the image to hear ‘em. The MickeyDee’s rocks and includes a truly un-inspired message from the very cartoon-sounding McDonald’s Chairman Ray Kroc. Courtesy of the very cool WFMU.

Sometimes it is the little things. Aircraft aluminum 45 adapter from Nagaoka. $9.95 on eBay. Perfect for the Big Box O Blues.

Luigi Russolo was a Futurist painter and the author of L’Arte dei rumori (The Art of Noises) first published in 1913. In brief Russolo put forth the very Futurist proposition that machines had introduced noise into our world “…nature is normally silent…”. Further, music would have to incorporate this new noise vocabulary to keep modern man’s interest.

“We will have fun imagining our orchestra of department store’s sliding doors, the hubbub of the crowds, the different roars of railroad stations, iron foundries, textile mills, printing houses, power plants and subways. And we must not forget the very new noises of Modern Warfare.”

Armed with this belief, Russolo went about building new instruments – Intonarumori, noise-machines.

Luigi Russolo with his mechanical orchestra

You can hear some of these instruments on the very wonderful UbuWeb site. Check out some of the other amazing recordings while you’re there like James Joyce reading Anna Livia Plurabelle. You can also download the complete The Art of Noise in PDF.

Russolo’s graphic notation for the Intonarumori

Russolo’s influence directly touched many of the ‘modern’ composers of the day including Stravinsky, Ravel and Varese. I can’t imagine John Cage without him. Oh yea, and not to mention The Art of Noise.

“To be saved is to fall into the ludicrous and satanic flippancy of false piety, kitsch.”

– Trappist monk Thomas Merton

Sandy Bull
Fantasias for Guitar and Banjo

1963 “interculturation” according to Nat Hentoff’s liner notes. World Music today. Sandy Bull plays banjo, acoustic and electric guitar un-and-accompanied by Billy Higgins on drums. Eastern tinged American folk bluegrass jazz gospel raga blues jambalaya.

Side 1 is 1 track – “Blend” with Higgins following Bull bending in and out of cultural influence. Side 2 is only Bull and contains a version of William Byrd’s “Non Nobis Domine” for banjo and guitars (Bull was an early and unabashed over-dubber), a mean Carmina Burana Fantasy on unaccompanied banjo based on Orf and a tremelo’ed electrified Fender version of “Gospel Tune” popularized by Ray Charles as “I Got a Woman”.

Alphaville (1965) is one of my favorite movies. Tarzan vs IBM was the original working title. I’m reading Murakami’s new novel After Dark and I came across these lines last night:

….

“Alphaville is the title of one of my favorite movies. Jean-Luc Godard.”

….

Mari asks the bartender, “Don’t you ever play anything but LPs?”

“I don’t like CDs,” he replies.

“Why not?”

“They’re too shiny.”

….

“My uncle used to have lots of LPs,” Mari says. “Mostly jazz records. He used to play his stuff for me when I went over there. I was too young to understand the music, but I always liked the smell of old record jackets and the sound of the needle in the grooves.”

The bartender nods without speaking.

“I learned about Jean-Luc Godard’s movies from that same uncle too,” Mari says to Kaoru.

Yeah, I’m a geek. An audio dweeb. Fine.

But in my defense I present this:

My favorite Miles Davis album, from the first moment I heard it, is In A Silent Way. The first copy of this record I had was one of the horrendous CBS Jazz Masterpieces reissue LPs, ” Digitally Remastered From The Original Analog Tapes.”.

Gee thanks. Certainly among the worst-sounding reissue series’ ever. Perhaps this proves I’m not a hopeless audiophile, that I do indeed listen to the music on the disk rather than the sound. That said, here’s how the various versions I’ve owned stack up, starting with the horrible, glassy and opaque ” Masterpieces” pressing.

A Spanish pressing of De Manera Silenciosa. In estereo(!):

Meaty, a bit filthy in the grooves, but highly communicative. First time I played it I remember having to close my eyes almost immediately. The space around the musicians is thick and filled with something pungent, soulful. And very warped.

Mosaic, The Complete In A Silent Way Sessions:

Nice, new audiophile vinyl silence, separates out the tape noise from the other noises. Air, texture, not quite the tone of the estereo version, but very easy to follow the lines and keep the feel. You hear those guys in the room, shifting and breathing. You can actually pick out the tape splices deep in that glorious analog hiss.

Two-eye Columbia Stereo:

Infinity is in the silence between everything else. Right away I’m in the room again with these guys. Just sitting on a folding chair against the wall, staying out of the way. The silent way. Air not as thick as in the estereo, but still filled. With their breath, their closed-eyes and intensity. The moments as they happen. John McLaughlin gently tossing back and forth with Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea as In A Silent Way begins side two before Wayne Shorter eases in. Wayne was there with me, listening, before he put his mouth to the reed.

Best album ever.

Sam Rivers
Streams

Live recording from July 6, 1973 at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Two sides of continuous (fade out at the end of side 1 and back in on side 2) beautiful and powerful improvised playing with Sam Rivers on tenor sax then flute then piano then alto sax joined by bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Norman Connors. The energy is super-high and Rivers shouts and chants while changing instruments seemingly unable to contain his flow. Free jazz with a big capital F.

A video of a french guy who builds his own tube amps from scratch. Including the tubes. Really.

One aspect of every holiday celebration has become copious amounts of beer & wine. Today a trip to the Long Valley Brew Pub (one of those is yours John) scored a lovely palette of freshly brewed brew. Drink while fresh.

is out now!

Left (from top): Braun LE1 (1960), Braun T3 Taschenradio (1958) , Braun ET44 calculator (1977)

I’d imagine Dieter Rams is sincerely flattered by Jonathan Ive’s designs for Apple. This has been working its way around for a while but I figured it was as good an excuse as any to show a pic of the beautiful Dieter Ram’s designed Braun LE1.

I just couldn’t help it it.

Michael liked this record so much he let down his guard. See what happens?