BB Submitterator’s Speedo writes: “Audio sonification of the incredible seismic activity off the coast of Honshu, Japan - Friday March 11th. Tectonic is a realtime seismic analysis and sound synthesis system. Sound is created in realtime by earthquakes as they occur across the globe. A tightly integrated system between Max/MSP, Google Earth and Symbolic Sound’s Kyma processes earthquake data that is translated into sound synthesis parameters.”
Over 20 different NYC female keyboardists playing Tubular Bells (natch) on vintage (and new) keyboards at Joe McGinty’s Carousel Studio in Brooklyn, NY. What’s not to love about this?
Filmed and Directed by Amy Hobby. Edited by Tony Zajkowski.
Featuring:
Kaia Wong (Mixel Pixel)
Kelly Rae Kerwin (Private Income)
Natasha Bartolf
Joanna Choy (Spray Paint Star)
Amy Merril (Mia Riddle)
Greta Gertler (The Universal Thump)
Supercute!
Anna Copa Cabanna
Rolyn Hu (True Primes)
Sondra Sun-Odeon (Silver Summit)
Michi Turner (Crash Diet Crew)
Katia Floreska (The Tall Pines)
Natalie Weiss (Unicornicopia, Camp Wanatachi)
Wendy Ip
Alice Cohen
Yvette Perez
Kelly Vaughn-Kauffman (Winstron Troy)
Yvette Perez (H*E*R)
Hula Hoop Harlot Melissa-Anne
Alix Brown (Golden Triangle)
Leah Cary (Girl Crisis)
Caitlin Jemison (Queen Of Sibyls)
Instruments featured:
Hammond M3 Organ
Fender Rhodes
Oberheim Xpander
Dave Smith Instruments Poly Evolver Keyboard
Steinway Upright Grand Piano
RMI Keyboard Computer
Jenco Celeste
Baldwin Electric Harpsichord
Bebot
Magical Musical Thing
Thingamagoop
Hohner Clavinet D6
Casio CZ-101
Wurlitzer Electric Piano
Conn Electric Band
ARP 2600
ARP Omni
Suzuki Omnichord
Yamaha CS-01
Yamaha TX802
Vox Continental
Fender Starmaster
Farfisa Combo Compact
Buzzing Bee
Optigan
Stylophone
Toy Piano
360 Systems Digital Keyboard
Hammond Synthesizer
Gibson Clavioline
Moog Little Phatty
MiniMoog
Mellotron
Mass-Rowe Vibrachime
Raw, chaotic footage of the earthquake in Japan, shot in Tokyo where things weren’t nearly as heavy. Really sums up what it’s like to be in an earthquake.
I’ve been in several, including one in Japan when I was on the 17th floor of a building that shook like the hand of God had THUMPED it, but I’ve never experienced anything like this.
British Sea Power have been plying their trade on the UK alt-rock scene for nigh on a decade now, building a solid fan base and proving impervious to trends in fashion, press hype, and, unfortunately, mainstream success. Maybe they’re just too genuinely odd to enter the popular consciousness, or perhaps their not willing to play certain corporate games, but either way they don’t seem to care much and continue to plow their own eccentric furrow.
This Spring the band embark on their first tour of America in 3 years, in support of their new album Valhalla Dancehall, and if you can catch one of their shows I’d recommend it. I first saw them eight years ago when they decked the tiny stage with stuffed animals, bits of plants and trees, and had a look somewhere between an army of bird watchers and a deranged scout troupe. It was a great show. Times have changed (the animals and plants have gone, replaced with a kind of bizarre wrestling chic) but the music remains as rousing as ever, especially in a live setting. Arcade Fire have copped a lot from this band.
In support of the tour BSP have made a video for the Valhalla Dancehall track “Who’s In Control?”, and in keeping with the anti-authoritarian theme of the song, the video features young people fighting, demonstrating, partying, and getting naked. It’s actually better than that sounds, it’s a great video, but it’s not safe for work:
British Sea Power - “Who’s In Control?” (NSFW)
Valhalla Dancehall is available to buy here.
After the jump, British Sea Power’s North American tour schedule for March/April…
Photo: Rachel Avery, George Wendt, center, Jesse Merlin. Credit: Thomas Hargis.
Even considering the vast number of the films-turned-Broadway-musicals that have been produced in recent years, few would have imagined Stuart Gordon’s bloody 1985 cult classic, Re-Animator, would be a likely candidate to join their ranks. But if you think about it, Re-Animator’s camp-gore trappings make it a natural for the musical treatment. Gordon and his collaborators went back to the laboratory, grafted a bit of Gilbert & Sullivan and a bit of Bernard Herrmann into the proceedings and et voila, Re-Animator is born again as an all-singing, all-dancing Grand Guignol.
Re-Animator: The Musical closely follows the plotline of Gordon’s film (based on the HP Lovecraft short story “Herbert West-Reanimator,” itself a parody of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein). The writing is witty, as sharp as a knife. The cast are wonderfully deadpan (the way camp should be played, of course) and the striking musical score can best be described (and this is a good thing) putrescent Sondheim. Couplets like “His psychosis gives me chills/He cannot love, he only kills!” cannot help but to inject life anew into Gordon’s 25-year-old grindhouse favorite.
If you recall Re-Animator the film, there was quite a lot of blood in it. The musical has even more. According to Variety, the gore effects were created by the same crew who worked on the 1985 film. I believe it. Patrons seated in the front three rows were given trashbag-like ponchos to protect their clothes, but on the night we saw the show, the first ten rows probably should have worn raincoats. And hats. And been issued umbrellas! (For the record, I sat in the middle and remained dry. Just don’t wear any couture and you’ll be fine.)
Jesse Merlin, as the villain of the piece, Dr. Carl Hill, plays the role for everything it’s worth, producing edgy comedy with a well-placed leering sideways glance or dismissive aristocratic grumble. For most of the second act Merlin’s character is in fact, headless, but it hardly seems to affect his operatic bass baritone vocals. Truly the guy is the Paul Lynde of his generation, but with a preposterously good singing voice. Who would forget this fellow with the mellow bellow having seen him perform only once (and headless)? Cheers’ George Wendt, too, gets huge laughs as the college dean who is zombie-fied when his dead body is only brought partially back to life by the reagent and Herbert West is played by Graham Skipper—who is excellent—with a touch of Rainn Wilson and Anthony Perkins thrown in to nice effect. The cast is rounded out by pretty Rachel Avery as Megan the chirpy sweet heroine and her earnest love interest (and West’s roommate) Dan Cain is played by Chris L. McKenna.
Re-Animator: The Musical is unique and terrific fun, the only thing I can think to compare it to is Little Shop of Horrors and if there is any justice in the universe, Re-Animator should enjoy a similar success. It’s not at all difficult to imagine a bigger budget production of this show pleasing audiences on Broadway for years. Re-Animator the Musical just opened last weekend at The Steve Allen Theater in Hollywood, but demand for tickets—a bargain at $25—has been so strong that the run has already been extended. Get tickets here.
Re-Animator, the Musical, Steve Allen Theater, 4773 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. 8 p.m. Fridays through Sundays. $25. (800) 595-4849
Below, the trailer from the original 1985 movie. Yes, this is now a musical play!
Calling all disco fans! Are you partial to a bit of Patrick Cowley? Like the synthetic soundscapes of Claudio Simonetti? Been digging those clips I posted of Rockets? Then Den Haan are the band for YOU.
Sharing the twin obsessions of space/sci-fi and vintage synths, Den Haan produce some of the best electronic-disco-pop around at the moment. After a string of successful releases on cult European labels like Dissident, Optimo Music and Supersoul, today sees the of release their debut long player Gods From Outer Space on their own Courier Of Death label. The duo are quickly gaining a reputation as a hot live act, and some of their music has even been featured in Desperate Housewives, bizarrely enough.
Synths explode like lazer blasts from a space cannon, rolling toms and sleazy vocals bring the drama while arpeggios build to warp speed, sending the listener zooming into the outer reaches of the stratosphere. OK, so they may not doing anything particularly new, but boy do they do it well. This really does sound like vintage-era Cowley (think the Megatron Man album) with the riffs and hooks to match, and unlike the vast majority of their contemporaries on the electro/techno scenes, Den Haan aren’t afraid to have a bit of fun. For proof they have put together this campy trailer for their album:
Den Haan’s Gods From Outer Space Theatrical Trailer:
Den Haan’s Gods From Outer Space is available to buy on vinyl and download now from Boomkat. Here’s some more of what’s on offer:
Den Haan - “Release The Beast”
Den Haan - “Night Shift”
Den Haan - “Russian Boat Commander”
Den Haan are also offering the up track “Universal Energy” as a free download - you can get it here.
Finally! This audio sketch originally appeared as a hidden bonus on the DVD release of The Day Today in 2004, and I have been waiting ever since for someone to upload it to the internet. Now you can hear two titans of British comedy riffing on conspiracy theories, assassinations, Russian spies and trade unions in their own particular love/hate (mostly hate) style. This sounds totally unscripted, which makes it even better. And this Partridge guy really knows his stuff, Alex Jones should get him on as a guest.
Chris Morris & Alan Partridge talk conspiracies:
Bonus!
This is the other Easter egg from The Day Today DVD - Chris Morris speaking to Peter O’Hanrahanrahan live from the World Trade Center on September 11th 2001.
The Day Today - 9/11
You can buy the complete The Day Today on DVD here.
Robert Downey Sr.‘s stoned apocalypse Two Tons of Turquoise to Taos Tonight got its start in 1975 and then wandered all over the physical and psychic landscape tripping on counterculture mindgames, jazzbo attitudes and post hippie hipsterisms. This is Dada, surrealism and soap opera all mixed up in the salad bowl of your your brain.
The key to digging Downey is to understand that he was fucking with filmgoers expectations. People went to the movies to relax and enjoy the myths that solidified their world views, Downey’s movies are like explosions in some kind of postmodern nickelodeon, disrupting the linear flow at 24 fps. Approaching his films and expecting some soothing reality that reflects the real world is an exercise in frustration and possible nervous breakdown. What Jackson Pollack had done with painting, allowing the paint to paint itself, is what Downey does with film and narrative…he gives it the space to find itself. The result can be a series of happy accidents, genius or the ridiculous.
Behind it all, the music of David Sanborn, Jack Nitzche, and someone credited as Arica.
New York-based Israeli photographer Noam Galai’s 2006 shots of himself screaming have become unexpectedly widespread emblems of angst and rage that could possibly reach the ubiquity in radical politics of Alberto Korda’s Guerrillero Heroico photo of Che Guevara.
Pro photography blog FStoppers got the exclusive on the fascinating story of Galai’s whim-turned-digital-phenomenon, which spans from his studio to about 40 countries and counting.
After much exploitation of his holler, Galai’s seen fit to cash in himself, which makes sense.
