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Buy the ‘Rap Master Maurice’ telephone rap business: Only one million US dollars
07.01.2016
09:24 am
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Some of us here at Dangerous Minds are big fans of “America’s greatest living art garbage movement” painter, Derek Erdman. In the past we’ve profiled his unique “outsider” paintings, as well as his hilariously bizarre soundboard phone pranks, and his punk dollhouse.

Erdman is a multi-talented individual, and one of his side-gigs that we’ve never discussed much here is his long-running “Rap Master Maurice” character which is the centerpiece of a lucrative “telephone rapping” business. Erdman claims the “Rap Master Maurice” character has earned him an average of $15,000 a year for the past nine years. Clients pay Rap Master Maurice the modest sum of $17 for him to call a target and deliver a rap.

Here we have a typical example of Rap Master Maurice’s lyrical skills:
 

 
According to Erdman:

The concept of the business is simple. The customer comes to you with a reason for a rap, either positive or negative. Address a grievance, wish a happy birthday, celebrate an anniversary; there are so many situations that call for a telephone rap. You then deliver the rap over the phone in the Rap Master Maurice character style, record the rap, and email the recording to the customer… The entire process is very simple from start to finish and never fails to make the customer happy.

It’s a proven money-maker, but Erdman has decided it is time to pass the character and business along—he has recently put the RMM concept up for sale on Ebay for the low, low price of one million US dollars.
 

 
The auction details the transition of ownership to the buyer:

The winner of this auction will take full possession of all intellectual property of the Rap Master Maurice character, thousands of past telephone rap audio recordings, all clothing and related costumes, rapmastermaurice.com + all data & traffic, the original landline telephone, three rhyming dictionaries, and a small handheld digital audio recorder. Also included is a five hour tutorial seminar that includes lunch.

Rap Master Maurice has been featured on ABC’s 20/20, MSNBC, The History Channel, The BBC Radio One, CBS This Morning, MTV2, E!, Fox News, SiriusXM, and more. Print media features have included the New Yorker, the New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, Utne Reader, Aesthetica, Art Monthly, the Atlantic, Beautiful/Decay, Juxtapoz, and many more.

The ownership transition will be as seamless as possible. You’ll be making telephone raps as a full time career in no time.

Anyone outraged over the asking price should be aware that Erdman is planning to donate 10% of the proceeds Amnesty International.

Here’s Rap Master Maurice appearing live on the fabulous Chic-A-Go-Go program delivering a political message about the 2008 election:
 

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Derek Erdman: America’s greatest living ‘Art Garbage Movement’ painter
DEVO meets the Jerky Boys: The prank call robo-porn genius of ‘Kathy McGinty’

Posted by Christopher Bickel
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07.01.2016
09:24 am
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The Holy Grail of electronica: Yello’s Boris Blank selling his original Fairlight sampler
10.22.2013
12:31 pm
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Boris Blank with a Fairlight sampler in the mid-80s
 
Yello are, beyond a shadow of a doubt, one of the most influential acts in the history of electro, techno and electronica. The skillful blend of Deiter Meier’s witty vocals and Boris Blank’s avant garde-but-accessible production chops saw the duo gain critical and commercial success in the early-to-mid 80s, at a time when rock music was still king and electronic dance music was still confined to clubs. 

Well, if you’re an antique gear fetishist with a spare $13K (Aus) then YOU could relive Yello’s glory days, by simply acquiring Boris Blank’s original Fairlight sampler, a fake moustache and an even faker Swiss accent. Yes, Blank is selling his Fairlight CMI III on eBay:

Every Fairlight Computer Musical Instrument has a story behind it. Hugely expensive when new, their unique sounds and legendary user interface were used by music pioneers who changed the sound of music forever.

At a cost around $65,000 in 1985 (which could have bought you a very nice house) the list of Fairlight III owners reads like a who’s who of musical innovation of the time. Peter Gabriel, Tears for Fears, Kate Bush, Thomas Dolby, Hans Zimmer and Pet Shop Boys were owners in the UK, with many studios catering for those who didn’t own one. For a complete list take a look at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairlight_CMI

The particular system being offered here belongs to Boris Blank, the musical part of Swiss band Yello. One could argue that during the 1980’s Yello used the Fairlight more, and more interestingly than virtually anyone else. Every hit single they had (and there were quite a few) used the Fairlight CMI extensively.

So, if you ever lusted after one of these legendary instruments, here’s a chance to acquire one with some serious street cred! 

Yello Fairlight III. Signed front panel. There will be Boris’s sounds included, as well as all the libraries listed below, in 4 x hard drives. Boris is on holiday at the moment, however his assistant has promised some more photos and goodies when he returns!


The actual Boris Blank Fairlight CMI III that is for sale

I hope those “goodies” include a signed pic, Boris. MUCH more info is available on the eBay listing page.

I LOVE Yello, to me they rate up there with Giorgio Moroder in the development and history of electronic dance music, and I’m pretty sure some of our readers feel the same. Not only were Yello fresh and unique, they had a brilliant, intelligent sense of humor that put them at odds with nearly everything else happening in music at that time.

This Fairlight really is a hugely important part of dance music’s history: some of the noises that Blank managed to squeeze out of this machine were awe inspiring, and become signature Yello (and by extension, 80s dance) sounds. Having said that, I’m sure we’re all familiar with “The Race” and “Oh Yeah,” so instead of one of those classics, here’s a bit of mind-warping Yello electronica from 1981:

Yello “The Evening’s Young”
 

Posted by Niall O'Conghaile
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10.22.2013
12:31 pm
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Hear the new Boards Of Canada record - yours for just $4600
05.01.2013
07:35 am
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BOC fan art by Fel1x

Daft Punk aren’t the only stars of 90s electronica making a comeback this year. As you may have heard, Boards of Canada are set to return after an 8 year hiatus, with new album Tomorrow’s Harvest due to drop next month.

Billboard reports:

The influential electronic duo, comprising Scottish sibling producers Michael Sandison and Marcus Eoin, announced their Warp Records effort will land this June—their first full length album since 2005’s critically-acclaimed Campfire Headphase and their first set of new works since 2006’s Trans Canada Highway EP.

Tomorrow’s Harvest will arrive June 7 in Australia (through Inertia), June 10 in the U.K. and Europe, and June 11 in North America.

Boards of Canada are the most enigmatic of acts. They’ve never dominated any charts—of their three previous studio albums, their sophomore set Geogaddi has the highest U.K. chart peak at No. 21. And they’re not road-hogs. In fact, they’ve only played publicly on a handful of occasions, and never in the past 10 years.

But their recordings-to-date have set the tone for low-key electronic music. Their return to the music world will be rejoiced by a global cult of followers.

Anticipation is very high indeed.

So high, in fact, that some enterprising tyke is currently selling a BOC promotional 12” on Ebay for a staggering four and a half grand (down from five grand yesterday).

When I found this record I was anticipating some sort of unreleased track, which excited me in an almost frightening way (its just music.. right?). So when I first played the record, needless to say, I was mystified, and in some ways disappointed, but that disappointment would soon disappear. What I got instead, the experience of calling out to the web and watching the internet and its many niche-communities rally to pick apart this puzzle, was something I still haven’t fully wrapped my head around, but I am at any rate incredibly thankful to have been a part of this ...thing. Now, as much as this record means to me, I’m just a college kid getting ready to graduate and move abroad and am in serious need of money, thus, as hard as it is to let this record go nothing will erase the experience of pursuing the answer this record made me ask, and moreover the satisfaction of having that question answered by the hard work of my fellow nerds (new album, yay!). My thanks to the highest bidder for helping me start out on my own, and to the web community at large for making these last two weeks so incredibly memorable. new album June 10!!! hurray!

If you have the dosh, you can be the talk of all your EDM friends.

EDIT: As it turns out, this record isn’t even the new album, it contains less than a minute’s worth of music and a string of numbers. Even better! Apparently there have only been two copies of this record pressed up, hence the high price (though I am suspicious of that claim, unless the record is actually an acetate?)

Of course, this may all be part of the current viral “mystery” marketing campaign for Tomorrow’s Harvest‘s upcoming release (edit: looks like it is) which has seen cryptic clues being left all over the web for fans to decipher and follow. I prefer to think of it as more proof the the Illuminati run music, but if you’re in a Scooby Doo-mood for solving mysteries with a groovy soundtrack, then hop on over to the Cosecha Transmisiones website and get stuck in.

In the meantime, here’s a teaser video for the upcoming album, somewhat reminiscent of Prince Of Darkness on very heavy downers:
 

 

Posted by Niall O'Conghaile
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05.01.2013
07:35 am
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Mummified vampire heart for sale on Ebay
12.15.2010
08:27 pm
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image
 
The sellers description of this lovely collectible:

We bring you the mummified heart of the vampire Auguste Delagrange. Before his destruction in 1912 Delagrange was responsible for the deaths of over forty people during one of the worst outbreaks of vampirism in the United States. He was eventually identified and hunted down by a Roman Catholic priest and a Voodoo Hougan. The pair began systematically destroying nests and minions, forcing Delagrange to take refuge in an abandoned farmhouse on the outskirts of a small town in Louisiana. It was there that a stake was driven through his heart and his body destroyed, consigning his soul to it’s inevitable end. All that remains is the heart you see before you. The vampire’s dessicated heart and the stake that destroyed him are stored in a box of finger jointed oak that measures approximately 5” high, 8” wide, and 11” long. The plaque on top of the box notes the day Delagrange was destroyed and appears to be hand lettered, consistent with the time period.”

 
image
 
The auction has ended. See what it sold for here.
 
More vampire heart after the jump…

READ ON
Posted by Marc Campbell
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12.15.2010
08:27 pm
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