music - others

guest DJ set list (May 27, 2021) - Soundtracks 2: '60s-'80s

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Thanks to ffog for inviting me to guest-DJ again on his weekly internet radio show, Myocyte.
The mix was "simulcast" on anonradio and tilderadio, and has been archived by anonradio (scroll down to "Ffog - Pleasure & Discomfort Myocyte"). An mp3 version of the mix is here: [1 hr mp3] (The show was broadcast at 1 am on May 28 UTC, which is 8 pm Central, May 27, in the US.)

This was my second soundtracks mix. Part 1 is here. The mix compiles some favorite movie and TV soundtrack excerpts. Most were first heard while watching the film or video and hunted down because they were so ear-grabbing. Some are from soundtrack albums of clips from the films or TV shows.

While the tracks were playing I "announced" via text chat on the #sally and #tilderadio channels on IRC (Internet Relay Chat). Listeners could comment or ask questions. This is an interesting way to DJ, very different from my old FM radio days and a few steps up aesthetically from having everyone's data and souls leeched out on spotify, etc.

Set list and notes for the show:

0:00 Jerry Goldsmith, Where the Bad Guys Are Gals (1967) - In Like Flint

2:38 Vince Guaraldi, You're in Love, Charlie Brown (1968)

5:38 Nelson Riddle, Holy Hole in a Doughnut (1966) - Batman

7:31 Vic Mizzy, Morticia's Theme (1965) - The Addams Family

10:07 Dudley Moore, Bedazzled (1967) - Peter Cook as Satan

12:29 Goblin, The Hunt (1979) - Dawn of the Dead

15:12 Stewart Copeland, West Tulsa Story (1983) - Rumblefish

19:06 Wang Chung, City of the Angels (1985) - To Live and Die in L.A.

24:56 Wendy Carlos, The Light Sailer (1982) - Tron

27:16 Claudio Simonetti, Phemonena, (1985) - Dario Argento film

31:39 Vladimir Cosma, Sentimental Walk (1981) - Diva

35:07 Ryuichi Sakamoto, Father Christmas (1983) - Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence

37:10 Frank Zappa, Lucy's Seduction of a Bored Violinist & Postlude (1971) - 200 Motels

41:06 Massimo Morante, Fabio Pignatelli, Claudio Simonetti, Tenebrae (1982) - main title - Dario Argento film

45:20 Gato Barbieri, Return (La Vuelta) (1972) - Last Tango in Paris

48:02 John Barry, Capsule in Space (1967) - You Only Live Twice

50:30 Ennio Morricone, The Shower (Deep Down 2) (1968) - Danger: Diabolik

51:52 John Barry, Fight at Kobe Dock/Helga (1967) - You Only Live Twice

55:48 John Williams, TV Reveals (1978) - Close Encounters of the Third Kind

57:32 John Williams, Roy and Gillian on the Road (1978) - Close Encounters of the Third Kind

58:38 Keith Emerson, Mark's Discovery (1980) - Inferno - Dario Argento film

guest DJ set list (May 13, 2021) - prog, postpunk, breaks

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Thanks to ffog for inviting me to guest-DJ again on his weekly internet radio show, Myocyte.
The mix was "simulcast" on anonradio and tilderadio, and has been archived by anonradio (scroll down to "Ffog - Pleasure & Discomfort Myocyte"). An mp3 version of the mix is here: [1 hr mp3] (The show was broadcast at 1 am on May 14 UTC, which is May 13 in the US.)

While the tracks were playing I "announced" via text chat on the #sally and #tilderadio channels on IRC (Internet Relay Chat). Listeners could comment or ask questions. This is an interesting way to DJ, very different from my old FM radio days and a few steps up aesthetically from having everyone's data and souls leeched out on spotify, etc.

Set list and notes for the show:

The Castaways - Liar, Liar (1965)

Paul Kalkbrenner - Selber (2001) - from Zeit (CD)

Tone Set - The Devil Makes the Loudest Noise (1982) - from Cal's Ranch (tape)

Adrien75 - Dryads (2004) - from Chickadoo Chronicles (Volume One) CD [YouTube]

Kid E - guest mix from Edge Club radio show, Dallas (excerpt, 1993-ish)

Moondog - Voices of Spring (1971) - from Moondog 2

CiM - Lactate (2000) - from Reference (CD)

Silver Apples - Lovefingers (1968) - first LP

Barry Beats - C is for Charlie ( 2018) - Bandcamp

Happy the Man - I Forgot to Push It (1978) - from Crafty Hands

Skream - Midnight Request Line (2005) - mix from Grimetime radio show 2006

Adrien75 - Wherever Tang Lung (1997-8) from Alphabet City Sessions - Bandcamp - Boss dr-660 drum machine and an Akai S1100 sampler plus Studio Vision software on a (probably) Mac Classic II, according to the artist

Tuxedomoon - Crash (1980) - Ralph Records single B-Side (Michael Belfer on guitar)

Blaine L. Reininger - Birthday Song (1984) - from Night Air

Sandii - Sakura (Cherry Blossoms) (1990) from Mercy CD

Theorem - Graviti (1996) excerpt - from Nano CD

guest DJ set list (April 1, 2021) - prog, jazz, postpunk & detroit techno

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Thanks to ffog for inviting me to guest-DJ again on his weekly internet radio show, Myocyte.
The mix was "simulcast" on anonradio and tilderadio, and has been archived by anonradio (scroll down to "Ffog - Pleasure & Discomfort Myocyte"). An mp3 version of the mix is here: [1 hr mp3]

While the tracks were playing I "announced" via text chat on the #sally and #tilderadio channels on IRC (Internet Relay Chat). Listeners could comment or ask questions. This is an interesting way to DJ, very different from my old FM radio days and a few steps up aesthetically from having everyone's data and souls leeched out on spotify, etc.

Set list and notes for the show:

If - Shadows and Echoes (1970)

The Residents - Smack Your Lips (Clap Your Teeth) (1982) - some vintage Emulator here

X-eleven - Burn It Up (1990) - Dallas techno

Dan Curtin - Luminous Seed Domain (2000)

Weather Report - The Juggler (1977)

Todd Rundgren - Maybe I Could Change the World - live performance, mid '80s

The French Are From Hell - Better Off Dead (cassette 1980) - Washington DC band [YouTube]

Chrome - Eyes in the Center -- from Red Exposure, 1980

Whiteman - Congratulations (1988) - Dallas band feat. Mark Griffin on guitar, pre-MC 900 Ft Jesus [YouTube]

Ensemble Ambrosius, performing Frank Zappa's Uncle Meat on medieval instruments (2000)

Sole Tech, Sole Waves, remixer unknown, Detrechno label (1994)

Saib, Tropics, from Sailing (Bandcamp 2018)

Made by Robot, The Worst Journey in the World - Monome Community - HAITI 2010 (Bandcamp compilation)

Lortica - Trou De Trou , from Mialle Tapes - (Bandcamp 2014)

St Celfer's Step.4D™ instrument

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In our recent mutual interview St Celfer (John Parker) explained a new performance instrument he was working on:

...I’m making music in real time (as opposed to tracking and then arranging) by using an instrument, homemade, or more accurately, “gambiarra,” in Brasilian Portuguese, to be played and heard live. I want to transition from an in-studio process to a live and improvised situation. I will be performing or, in other words, responding, in the moment to the actions I am making, rather than looking backwards and taking the best from pre-recorded material and re-composing it. In the 2004 interview I aspired to make new sounds or music, etc. Now I would substitute “explore” for “make.” Trying for “the new” is understood but “how” is more important.

The instrument’s creation is, itself, an exploration. I can never quite wrap my head around it. I am enjoying being lost. I travel step by step, try a decision, usually walk back, then forward again, on each sound generating component. My energies have gone into the creation of the interface between man and machine. It's a monster getting larger by eating itself.

For instance, there are midi converters, which only understand perfectly tuned chromatic input. There is a theremin component, which can be tuned to doric instead of chromatic scale for some added drama. Meanwhile two CD turntables that I scratch are manually wired into the same midi note converters. Cramming two input devices together makes more output unpredictability, with overloaded notes dropped.

The "gambiarra," now called Step.4D™, has reached a stage of completion where Parker could begin performing on it. Recordings (and some additional explanation) can be found on his website. He has been too prolific for me to keep up with all the recorded performances but I made some notes on a single piece, "STC.lives.solo12.2.9.21" [Soundcloud link] to try to convey the flavor:

A lazy description might be dark ambient or punk ambient but I think of ambient as minimal work ("a tint" to use Eno's phrase) and St Celfer's is more substantial.
"STC.lives.solo12.2.9.21" is atmospheric but has structure. There are two distinct movements. The first half could be a loose jazz ensemble (Parker's work has been compared to Bitches Brew-era Miles) riffing on simple notes with digital, time-stretching fillips and enhancements; the second half is more drone-y and builds to a dense, chord-like timbre.
It must be emphasized that this isn't a band and there is no post-production reassembly: it's one person playing a multi-faceted, self-feedbacking instrument, and it's all done with a single pass. Yet it sounds like group activity.

If I had to venture an electronic music precedent I might say Tod Dockstader. The official Kenneth Goldsmith/Ubuweb narrative about Dockstader is that he was music production guy who taught himself tape music in the early 1960s and "was denied access to the major electronic music centres because of his lack of academic credentials." Dockstader self-released his own music and eventually acquired a rep and entered the canon. Dockstader used the term "organized sound" and that's what St Celfer's "STC.lives.solo12.2.9.21" reminds me of. There are similarities in timbres and moods. But whereas Dockstader was all about slow, painstaking studio assembly of multitracked sounds in a continuous-sounding flow, St Celfer makes the work in a single take. The "assembly" is making an instrument that creates its own variables and accidents and conveys an impression of dense multitracking.