One Plus One Equals Three

Machines Give Me Some Freedom, Synthesizers Give Me Some Wings

Ok – a bit of unabashed fandom: last week's concert by Air at the Palais was the very best concert I have seen in years. Air's three minute electronica grooves are at once wonderful pieces of music in their own right and meditations on the 'classic' pop song, sensuality (it helps when you're French) and 'Moogness'. The show featured some damn masterful playing too. An hour and a half of great, knowing tongue-in-cheekness (Kraftwerk being past masters of that for me too).

Very clever, very tight and they knew it. Sublime. Brilliant. Made my month year.

Stirring Spaghetti

Sergio Leone's Spaghetti Westerns (and his astounding 'Once Upon a Time in America') sit at the top of the heap of cinema for me – complete in their unique 'Spaghetti-style' synthesis of cinematography, sound, music and narrative. I'm a huge fan. These films are quite experimental, utterly compelling, emotionally affecting (and humourous to boot). They also feature soundtracks by the legendary composer Ennio Morricone – serious works of sound art in their own right. If you are a Leone/Morricone fan, there is a performance running in Melbourne for the next week that you should definitely not miss. (In fact I'm off to see it again).

The Spaghetti Western Orchestra lovingly (and surreally) recreate – and improvise around – Morricone's Spaghetti Western soundtracks using both traditional and homemade instruments (including a theremin) and passages of Foley sound-effect construction. Delightful, funny, reverential and constructed via some seriously masterful musicianship – this is one to catch.

There's also a 'Bob Robertson' joke that runs throughout. If you're into Spaghetti Westerns, you'll get that wry reference immediately.* Simply wonderful.

Here's a clip on YouTube. Tickets at Ticketmaster. Ai-ya-ya... wah wah wah...  

Radiohead In Rainbows: A Big Slap to the Music Industry

Brit 'supergroup' Radiohead are about to release their new album entitled In Rainbows. There's a boxed edition that costs $AU92 that contains an enhanced CD and a vinyl 12-inch disc. Then there's the downloadable album where you decide what you want to pay. More at Boing Boing (quote below from there):

"This is big news. This says the major labels are fucked. Untrustworthy with a worthless business model. Radiohead doesn't seem to care if the music is free. Not that they believe it will be. Because believers will give you ALL THEIR MONEY!

This is the industry's worst nightmare. Superstar band, THE superstar band, forging ahead by its own wits. Proving that others can too. And they will."

In Rainbows can be downloaded from 10 October (hope their server can handle lots of hits). The boxed edition ships 3 December.

Le Tour et Kraftwerk

"It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle." Ernest Hemingway.

What is arguably the 'most beautiful sporting event in the world' starts on Saturday. My life will revolve around gear ratios, size and incline of mountains and cycling team tactics for the next three weeks. Bliss.

Which may be likewise for Kraftwerk. ‘The Beach Boys from Düsseldorf’ were obsessed by this three week feat of speed, endurance and stamina. See their original 'Tour de France' track and the more recent remix. Sublime music for a sublime event.

Read about their love of 'le Tour' at the very chic (for a cycling magazine) Rouleur magazine.

Punked (and I'm 14 again)

(I'm) Stranded by The Saints. An Australian classic. From the site: "with the release of their first single '(I'm) Stranded' in late 1976, they beat on to vinyl a host of more widely-known punk acts like the Sex Pistols, the Buzzcocks, and The Clash. Bob Geldof has been quoted as saying, "Rock music in the Seventies was changed by three bands - the Sex Pistols, the Ramones and The Saints". You bet. Awesome. Set playback volume to 'eleven'. Via BoingBoing.

'(I'm) Stranded' has recently been classified as a 'national gem' by the crazy, wild-eyed punks of the National Film and Sound Archive.

+ The 12" cover art of Grace Jones from the late 70's onwards. Grace is this blog's favourite taller-than-average, reggae-influenced, female piano accordian player.

+ Back then, all the above was likely to be copied to some of these. Thanks David Thompson.

+ A clip from Control. The film on Ian Curtis and Joy Division by Anton Corbijn. Here's an interview with Corbijn at Cannes. There's also the limited edition trainer created to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of Factory Record's Manchester nightclub The Haçienda.

Sound Ideas

+ Sound mirrors
+ Kenotaphion is a collection of Armistice Day silences. Via Things magazine.
+ Whale song looks like this. Via Information Aesthetics.
+ The Sounds of Spacetime
+ The Earth Instrument and Fault Whispers
+ Hey Auckland – what's that humming sound?
+ Freesound – a free archive of sound clips

The Finest Interpretations of Classical Music Goes Wacko

Deutsche Grammophon is one of the most well-known homes of 'serious', classical music. Emile Berliner, the founder of the company, established the first record-producing factory in the world in 1898 and "scoured the world's great concert halls and opera houses, signing up stars such as Enrico Caruso, Feodor Chaliapin and the leading operatic soprano, Dame Nellie Melba" to record for his burgeoning label. Now the label is home to the Berlin Philharmonic, Venice Baroque Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez, Vladimir Horowitz, Herbert von Karajan and similar artists.

People familiar with the record label will know that the music generally sounds just like how their branding (above) and packaging looks: namely, to use those descriptors again, 'serious and classical'.

So it's quite unexpected (or is it?) to see the respected stalwarts of 'respectable' music develop a line of CD packaging that uses the work of comic book artists. Classical Bytes is pitched as "your first byte of classical music". For me another 'youthful' visual language could have been better employed to denote 'unstuffyness' to a younger audience. It seems quite odd to have a Peter Bagge comic cover related to the work of Johann Sebastian Bach, but maybe that's just me. Apocalypse Nerd, Hate and the Brandenburg Concertos?

Sixteen Beats to the Power of Ten

A truly fascinating (Quicktime) document and investigation/meditation by Nate Harrison on:
– the 'Amen break', a great drumbreak by The Winstons (all 16 beats of it)
– other great drumbreaks made via appropriating and sampling the original great drumbreak
– sampling culture and ownership
– sound design
– technology as a democratizing agent
– copyright

All the ensuing, new music discussed by Harrison is derived and based upon the famed 16 beat drum solo from the B-side of a 1969 7 inch vinyl single by the funk/soul outfit The Winstons.

Read more at Wikipedia on the Amen break. Via Boing Boing.

34.4MB QuickTime movie file: 17:46 minutes

Accadacca on Swanston

The first Australian promo music video (I believe) was shot 30 years ago today. (It was a hot day then too). Paul Drane, a director from Countdown put the great AC/DC on a flatbed truck and filmed the band playing "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock'n Roll)" whilst the truck ambled down Swanston Street, Melbourne. No post-production special effects, no  gimmicks, no animation, no budget! Actually the clip did cost a couple of hunded dollars or so. But the clip did feature that riff and that bagpipe solo (!). The staff of 1+1=3 are currently playing air guitar in celebration. You could even try air bagpipe if so inclined.

The culture of music clips today is permeated with ubiquitous 'post'-work, dance routines and well, 'fluff'. Not that that's 'bad', some of it's great – but it's refreshing to see a truly great song and video that uses nothing except... a truck. A raw, rough and ready Australian rock classic. Awesome.

In 2002, Q magazine put AC/DC at the very top of their "50 Bands To See Before You Die" list.

See a silent snippet here. Click 'Promo Clips'.

A Most Idiosyncratic Inspiration

Whilst assessing student video projects last semester, I kept coming across Boards of Canada listed in the credit sequences and was beguiled by the scratchy, non-digital sounding, almost acoustic, yet (ironic) electronic sound they had. Being a fan of electronic music I happily dug deeper to find out more.

Boards of Canada are an electronic music duo from Scotland. And they claim a major inspiration for their music and album art is (wait for it): the documentary films made by the National Film Board of Canada (probably circa 1960/70s).