Marc Weidenbaum's Blog, page 465

Brooklyn Beats (MP3)

To say that “Corduroy,” by the Brooklyn-based musician Matte Wood, goes unexpected places would be an understatement. How exactly it moves from its opening to close is worth paying attention to, because those two points are so distinct from each other. The end is a vibrant, post-rock excursion into whirligig flourishes atop a nifty chiptune rhythm; it manages, much to its credit, to be both downtempo and upbeat. The opening, by contrast, is modulated pitches of what appear to be string samples, echoed into the middle distance yet retaining their catgut texture. This goes on for nearly a minute before the track gets underway. The second time around, and henceforth, it pays to pay attention to the transition.

In the brief accompanying note, Wood refers to the track as follows: “Another really old tune that I’ve been sitting on for a while.” Here’s to hoping for more from the archives soon.

Track originally posted at soundcloud.com/matte-wood. More from Wood, aka James Jano, at twitter.com/Matte_Wood.

Another Pure Data Patch from Caracas

Following the post here last week about the first three in Joaquín Mendoza Sebastián’s ongoing series of etudes for Pure Data, the graphic language/interface, he posted a fourth. And, again, he provided not only the resulting audio of the experiment, but the underlying code, a screen shot of which appears above. The work is a mix of slowly proceeding tones, as if committed on a water-logged yet still functional synthesizer, each seemingly triggering additional echoes, some brief, others lingering.

Sebastián also mentions, in the post, that he’ll soon have a series of videos online that describe the process of his patch development. Track originally posted for free download at soundcloud.com/joaquin-mendoza. More from Sebastián at joaquinmendoza.net. More on Pure Data, aka Pd, at puredata.info.

Balm, or Balmy (MP3)

Allan Brugg, aka Average Alien, has uploaded a track that is both peaceful and active, its ambient foundation providing cover for a rapidly burbling brook. It’s said that such water sounds are among the most pleasant to the human ear, but here in Brugg’s “Balm” the sounds — and they may in fact be artificial in origin, but the effect is like that of a thin stream in rapid motion over a rough bottom — have an unmistakeable urgency. It’s worth recalling that while the word “balm” refers to a calming agent, something that gives solace, the term “balmy” can be used to connote eccentricity, even madness.

Track originally posted for free download at soundcloud.com/average-alien. More from Brugg, who’s based in Britain, at twitter.com/alien_artifex and average-alien.bandcamp.com.

A Sequence of Interest (MP3)

The latest from the excellent Chicago broadcast/podcast Radius is a cascade of short-burst found recordings, like several dials of several radios turned at once. The work of Hugo Paquete, they’re not in search of something of interest to listen to, as is the case for an automobile’s driver and sole occupant late at night on a freeway a long way from the vehicle’s destination, so much as they’re in search of a sequence of interest: parallels, coincidences, confluences, correlations, patterns.

More on the project at theradius.us/episode35. More about Hugo Paquete, who describes himself as an “intermedia and sound artist,” at about.me/hugo.paquete and crcan.blogspot.com.

Past Week at Twitter.com/Disquiet

If you've got a Bandcamp "fan" (perhaps an unfortunate term) page, lemme know. I'm at /disquiet. Thanks. ->



This week @djunto is composing musical scores for news articles. The first is for a @newscientist piece on earthworms: https://t.co/z8dc8vGz ->



Uncomfortably fixated on the idea that Agent Coulson becomes Deathlok. ->



It's pretty nifty that iDisplay works over USB. Now, can someone make them a less silly icon? Thanks. ->



An hour-plus later realizes that he had "Ventolin (Salbutamol Mix)" on repeat. ->



Found out about Aaron Swartz's suicide via RSS. Sadly fitting, fittingly sad. ->



A score for @lessig's obituary for @aaronsw. Text here: http://t.co/TirNSM2l. Music here: https://t.co/8S35dnxg. Part of the 54th @djunto. ->



At end of this long post is list of key apps I use on my Android phone, mostly widgets. If you have faves lemme know: http://t.co/XGyNTB1i ->



Late evening sounds: two laptop keyboard being typed on intermittently, low level electric hum, occasional passing bus. ->



RIP, Claude-Anne Lopez (b. 1920), unintentional Benjamin Franklin scholar: http://t.co/Skfg3BVQ. Cc @djunto ->



"The article uses close to 700 words to say very little. How would I make a soundtrack?" Writing a score for the news: https://t.co/iQLaa69l ->



I was invited to participate in @SoundCloud Heroes. As part of it, here's audio of me yapping about what I'm up to: https://t.co/mqGSlFAX ->



Tuesday noon siren just as I was about to hit play on a BBC recording of a John Zorn concert. ->



PS: Here's that BBC recording of the Zorn-at-60 concert: http://t.co/81gWDENS. ->



Favorite thing about @piesaac's art-gallery text adventure is additional ".z" tacked onto the URL every time I "wait": https://t.co/NrPb518x ->



RIP, Japanese filmmaker Nagisa Oshima (b. 1932) . MT @yukiyamasaki: Listening to Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence ( http://t.co/2md8msCW ) ->



Print mag's out now, so here's a re-link to an article I wrote for my alumni mag about book about Cohen's "Hallelujah": http://t.co/bqT7hnC8 ->



Major helicopter action in the Richmond District. ->



The more paperless my office gets, the more screenerfull it gets. ->



Morning video: live concert in Italy of John Cage's Variations VI, with birdsong, Cage's voice, and a colorful modular: http://t.co/fVbjHksN ->



A Kickstarter for bicycle horn/light with extra attention to sound (an "undiscovered country," per the designer): http://t.co/Wfmab60A ->



Tomorrow's @djunto project has gone to the translators. It's a manufactured piano duet. ->



Who song in trailer for espionage show The Americans. This + CSI shows + recent Person of Interest: the Who = sonic TV shorthand for mystery ->



Kode9, dishwashers, Shanghai: yapping it up in comments under the autobiographical recording I posted yesterday: https://t.co/mqGSlFAX ->



This signage makes me feel like 20th Century Boys is happening in my neighborhood: http://t.co/PfFYK5Sw ->



More shortly, but some initial notes on something the @djunto will be assisting @bldgblog on: http://t.co/0SWiy2yq. Sonifying liquefaction. ->



Disappointed that Alphas hasn't been renewed by Syfy. Enjoyed interviewing the show runner for Nature last year. ->



I'd love to see the demographic breakdown of who purchases Lode Runner during the next 24 hours: http://t.co/1iENOywD ->



Yo, OS X pros: Any way to use a key command to click/trigger an item in the menu bar? ->



Yo, @io9: Poet @christianbok made a micro-organism write poetry: http://t.co/wIA6Dm0u (Earlier created languages for Earth: Final Conflict.) ->



Paraphrasing Woody Allen in Stardust Memories I check out new Timbaland/Pharrell productions hoping for hint of their earlier, funkier work. ->



More details from @SoundCloud on that Heroes program I was invited to participate in: http://t.co/O1N94u94 ->



"an orchestra being held hostage in an underground bunker with thinning oxygen"? Sign me up: http://t.co/cSfPD2hY #asaprocky #clamscasino ->



The 55th weekly Disquiet Junto project goes live shortly. We'll be reworking @nilsfrahm, with specific restraints. ->



AirDisplay for 2nd screen is nifty but iDisplay's ability to use USB (Android only) is super-nifty, especially when using public network. ->



For the 55th @djunto project, we're reworking piano tracks by @nilsfrahm. Details at https://t.co/5ji3COis + http://t.co/3CD48YxE ->



The 55th @djunto is available English as well as Afrikaans, Croatian, German, and Turkish, with probably one more language to be added. ->



"Signal." Detail of manhole cover. The fallen leaves must be the "noise." http://t.co/fhv49Gy1 ->



Syfy : science fiction :: MTV : music ->



RIP, Nic Potter (b. 1951), bassist of Van der Graaf Generator. ->



Can Raspberry Pi + external CD = quiet, compact media-ripping station? Can it do so with relative ease? ->



Yo, @djunto folks, @otolythe over at @hilobrow did up the year-end audio journals: http://t.co/lxPzNqhL. ->



Already 6 reworkings of solo piano by @nilsfrahm combing 2 tracks into 1: https://t.co/hrpu0A1s. Set includes source audio. ->



Japanese translation of instructions has been added to this week's @djunto project: http://t.co/3CD48YxE ->



That isn't the cafe's subwoofer. That's a little kid pounding a heel against the bench every time the bass note kicks in. ->



Dead MacBook Power Adapter Society ->



In one day: phone loses data connection repeatedly, laptop cord dies, home wifi goes out for hours. Oh, and dead bulb in desk lamp. #oy ->

Disquiet Junto Project 0055: Two Screws

Each Thursday at the Disquiet Junto group on Soundcloud.com a new compositional challenge is set before the group’s members, who then have just over four days to upload a track in response to the assignment. Membership in the Junto is open: just join and participate.

The first two tracks in this set are of the source audio:

This assignment was made in the early afternoon, California time, on Thursday, January 17, 2013, with 11:59pm on the following Monday, January 21, as the deadline. Below are translations into four languages in addition to English: Afrikaans, Croatian, German, and Turkish, courtesy respectively of Kurt Human, Darko Macan, Tobias Reber, and M. Emre Meydan.

These are the instructions that went out to the group’s email list (at tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto).

�Disquiet Junto Project 0055: Two Screws

This week’s project involves a shared set of source material. The source audio is the free solo piano album ‘Screws’ by Nils Frahm.

Frahm, who’s based in Germany, posted the nine-track album of short solo works for free download while he was recuperating from busting one of his thumbs. He subsequently created a site to house all the remixed/reworked versions that admirers sent to him, as well as the videos and other responses that he received.

For this project you will take two of the source tracks ���— “Do” and “Re” — and create a new track from them, in the process creating a work for two pianos.

Source Audio: You can download the files as sets of MP3 or AIF audio:

http://public.erasedtapes.com/screws/...NilsFrahmScrewsmp3.zip

http://public.erasedtapes.com/screws/...NilsFrahmScrewsaif.zip

Or download the individual file directly from their links here:

https://soundcloud.com/erasedtapes/se...

You can only use those two Frahm tracks as audio source material for your track, and you cannot add anything other sounds, but you can transform the two Frahm tracks as you please. In the end, though, the sound of a piano should be evident.

Deadline: Monday, January 21, 2013, at 11:59pm wherever you are.

Length: Your finished work should be between 2 and 5 minutes long.

Information: Please when posting your track on SoundCloud, include a description of your process in planning, composing, and recording it. This description is an essential element of the communicative process inherent in the Disquiet Junto.

Title/Tag: When adding your track to the Disquiet Junto group on Soundcloud.com, please include the term “disquiet0055-twoscrews” in the title of your track, and as a tag for your track.

Download: It is preferable that your track is set as downloadable, and that it allows for attributed remixing (i.e., a Creative Commons license permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution).

Also: Be sure to share the track to the Reworked site, here:

http://reworked.nilsfrahm.com/submit/

Linking: When posting the track, be sure to include this information:

More on this 55th Disquiet Junto project at:

http://disquiet.com/2013/01/17/disqui...

More details on the Disquiet Junto at:

http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet...

More on the Frahm project at:

http://reworked.nilsfrahm.com/

. . .

Project in Afrikaans:

Disquiet Junto Projek 0055: Twee Skroewe (Two Screws)

Hierdie week se projek . Die klankbron is die gratis klavier-album ‘Screws’ deur Nils Frahm.

Frahm, wie in Duitsland woon, het hierdie album van korte klavier musiekstukke geplaas terwyl hy van ‘n gebreekte duim herstel het. Daarna het hy ‘n webwerf geskep om al die remixes/herinterpreteerte weergawes van sy musiek, alsook al die videos en kommentare dat sy bewonderaars hom gestuur het, ten toon te stel.

Vir hierdie projek sal jy twee van die bron musiekstukke “Do” en “Re” , ‘n nuwe stuk daaruit skep en so te sê ‘n stuk vir twee klaviere skep.

Bron-Audio: Jy kan die files as MP3 of AIF hier aflaai:

http://public.erasedtapes.com/screws/...NilsFrahmScrewsmp3.zip

http://public.erasedtapes.com/screws/...NilsFrahmScrewsaif.zip

Or download the individual file directly from their links here:

https://soundcloud.com/erasedtapes/se...

Jy kan net hierde twee Frahm stukke gebruik, en niks anders. Jy kan ook nie andere klanke byvoeg nie, maar jy durf die twee stukke so veel wie jy wil transformeer. Dit moet natuurlik klaar wees dat dit die klank van ‘n klavier is.

Sperdatum: Maandag, Janurie 21, 2013, waarokal jy is.

Lengte: Jou komposisie moet tussen 2 en 5 minute lank wees

Inligting: Wanneer jy jou track op SoundCloud plaas, sluit ook asb. in ‘n beskrywing van jou proses van beplanning, samestelling en opname van jou stuk. Hierdie beskrywing is ‘n belangrike deel van die inherente kommunikatiewe proses wat by Disquiet Junto plaasvind.

Titel/Tag: Wanneer jy jou track by die Disquiet Junto groep byvoeg op SoundCloud, sluit asb. die begrip ‘disquiet0055-twoscrews’ in die titel in, en ook as ‘n tag

Download:
Dit is verkieslik dat jou jy stuk as ‘downloadable’ gestel is en dat jy die moonltikheid biet vir ‘n toegeskryfde remix (bv. ‘n Creative Commons lisensie dat nie-kommersiële deel met toeskrywing toelaat).

Maak ook sekser dat jy jou track ook hier plaas: http://reworked.nilsfrahm.com/submit/

Skakeling:
Wanneer jy jou track plaas, maak seker dat jy die volgende inligting ook insluit:

More on this 55th Disquiet Junto project at:

http://disquiet.com/2013/01/17/disqui...

More details on the Disquiet Junto at:

http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet...

More on the Frahm project at:

http://reworked.nilsfrahm.com/

. . .

Project in Croatian:

Disquiet Junto Projekt 0055: Dva zavrtnja

U ovotjednom projektu radit ćete sa zajedničkim polazištem. Polazišni audio je besplatni solo pijanistički album “Screws” (“Zavrtnji”) Nilsa Frahma.

Frahm, koji živi u Njemačkoj, postavio je album sastavljen od devet kratkih solo kompozicija na besplatno skidanje dok se oporavljao od ozljede palca. Poslije je načinio i website kako bi imao gdje smjestiti remiksane/prerađene verzije koje su mu obožavatelji stali slati, kao i videje te svaku drugu vrst odgovora.

Za ovaj projekt će vam trebati dvije polazišne snimke — “Do” i “Re” — od kojih ćete stvoriti novu kompoziciju, djelo za dva glasovira.

Polazišni audio: fileove možete skinuti u vidu skupnih MP3 ili AIF audio zapisa:

http://public.erasedtapes.com/screws/...NilsFrahmScrewsmp3.zip

http://public.erasedtapes.com/screws/...NilsFrahmScrewsaif.zip

Ili skinuti pojedinačne zapise direktno s linkova ovdje dostupnih:

https://soundcloud.com/erasedtapes/se...

Kao polazišni audio materijal smijete upotrijebiti samo te dvije Frahmove kompozicije i ne smijete im dodavati bilo kakav drugi zvuk, ali obje Frahmove kompozicije smijete preoblikovati po želji. Na kraju, doduše, zvuk klavira mora biti prepoznatljiv.

Rok: Ponedjeljak, 21. siječnja, minutu do ponoći po lokalnom vremenu.

Trajanje: Neka vam snimci traju između 2 i 5 minute.

Informacije: Kad stavljate svoj snimak na SoundCloud, molim vas dodajte i opis procesa planiranja, komponiranja i snimanja. Taj opis je ključan element komunikacijskog procesa koji je u srži Disquiet Junta.

Naslov/Tag: Kad stavljate svoj snimak na Disquiet Junto grupu na Soundcloud.com, molim vas da uključite “disquiet0055-twoscrews” u naslov snimka te u njegov tag.

Downloadiranje: Draže mi je ako omogućite download svoga snimka te ako je omogućen remiks uz citiranje izvornika (n.pr. licenca Creative Commonsa koja dopušta nekomercijalno dijeljenje uz navođenje izvornika).

Također: svakako podijelite snimak i na Reworked websiteu:

http://reworked.nilsfrahm.com/submit/

Linkanje: Kad stavljate snimak, molim vas da dodate sljedeću obavijest:
Više o 55. Disquiet Junto projektu na:

http://disquiet.com/2013/01/17/disqui...

More details on the Disquiet Junto at/Više o Disquiet Juntu na:

http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet...

More on the Frahm project at/Više o Frahmovu projektu na:

http://reworked.nilsfrahm.com/

. . .

Project in German:

�Disquiet Junto Projekt 0055: Two Screws – Zwei Schrauben

Diese Woche geht es um ein Projekt, in dem wir mit einem gemeinsamen Ausgangsmaterial arbeiten. Die Audiodateien, deren wir uns dafür bedienen, sind frei verfügbar: es ist das Solo-Album “Screws” von Nils Frahm.

Der deutsche Pianist Frahm hat das aus neun kurzen Solostücken bestehende Album gratis veröffentlicht, während er sich von einer Daumenverletzung erholt hat. Anschliessend erstellte er eine Website für die vielen Remixes, Neubearbeitungen, Musikvideos und andere Antworten die ihm Fans geschickt hatten.

Für dieses Junto-Projekt wirst du zwei der Kompositionen verwenden – “Do” und “Re” – und daraus eine neues Stück gestalten – also ein Werk für zwei Pianos.

Klangquellen: Du kannst das komplette “Screws”-Album als MP3 oder AIF an folgender Stelle herunterladen:

http://public.erasedtapes.com/screws/...NilsFrahmScrewsmp3.zip

http://public.erasedtapes.com/screws/...NilsFrahmScrewsaif.zip

Oder aber du lädst die einzelnen Dateien unter diesem Link herunter:

https://soundcloud.com/erasedtapes/se...

Wie oben erwähnt sollst du nur die Stücke “Do” und “Re” als Ausgangsmaterial verwenden und keine anderen Klänge hinzufügen. Du kannst die Aufnahmen aber bearbeiten wie du willst, solange der Klavierklang am Ende immer noch deutlich hörbar ist.

Deadline: Montag, der 21. Januar 2013, um 23.59 deiner Zeit.

Dauer: Dein Stück sollte zwischen 2 und 5 Minuten lang sein.

Information: Bitte Beschreibe deinen Arbeitsprozess wenn du dein Stück auf SoundCloud postest. Diese Beschreibung ist ein integraler Bestandteil des kommunikativen Prozesses in der Disquiet Junto.

Titel/Tags: Bitte füge deinem Stück-Titel auf SoundCloud die Beschreibung “disquiet0055-twoscrews” bei und verwende diese Information auch als Tag für dein Stück.

Download: Es würde bevorzugt dass du deinen Track downloadbar machst und ihn für attribuiertes Remixing frei gibst (z.B. unter einer Creative Commons-Lizenz, die nichtkommerzielle Verwendung mit Attribution erlaubt).

Übrigens: Teile deinen Track unbedingt auch auf Nils’ Frahms “Reworked”-Seite:

http://reworked.nilsfrahm.com/submit/

Links: Füge deiner Track-Beschreibung bitte auch die folgende Information bei:

Weitere Informationen über dieses 55. Disquiet Junto-Projekt (auf Englisch):

http://disquiet.com/2013/01/17/disqui...

Weitere Informationen über die Disquiet Junto (auf Englisch):

http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet...

Mehr über Nils Frahm’s “Screws reworked”-Projekt unter:

http://reworked.nilsfrahm.com/

…

Project in Turkish:

Disquiet Junto Projesi 0055: Two Screws (İki Vida)

Bu haftanın projesi ortak bir kaynak ses üzerine kurulu. Bu kaynak ses, Nils Frahm’ın “Screws” isimli ücretsiz solo piyano albümünden.

Almanya’da yaşayan Frahm, kırılan başparmağının iyileşmesi sürecinde 9 kısa şarkıdan oluşan bir albüm hazırlayıp, bunu ücretsiz olarak indirilebilecek şekilde sundu. Ardından ise bu şarkıların başkaları tarafından tekrar düzenlenmiş versiyonlarının yanı sıra gönderilen video ve diğer tepkilere de yer verdiği bir site hazırladı.

Bu proje için iki kaynak parçayı –”Do” ve “Re”– alıp bunlardan yeni bir parça yaratacaksınız, yapmış olduğunuz parça iki piyanoluk bir çalışma gibi olacak.

Kaynak sesler: Dosyaları MP3 veya AIF dosyası olarak set halinde indirebilirsiniz:

http://public.erasedtapes.com/screws/...NilsFrahmScrewsmp3.zip

http://public.erasedtapes.com/screws/...NilsFrahmScrewsaif.zip

Veya buradaki linkler vasıtasıyla doğrudan istediğiniz şarkıları da indirebilirsiniz:

https://soundcloud.com/erasedtapes/se...

Kendi parçanızı hazırlarken sadece bu iki Frahm parçasından faydalanabilirsiniz, başka sesler ekleyemezsiniz, ama iki kaynak sesi istediğiniz şekilde dönüştürebilirsiniz. Ama bitmiş çalışmanızda piyano sesi belirgin olmalı.

Son Teslim Tarihi: 21 Ocak 2013 Pazartesi, 23:59 (yerel saatinize göre)

Uzunluk: Çalışmanızın uzunluğu yaklaşık 2 ila 5 dakika arasında olmalı.

Bilgi: Yaptığınız parçayı paylaşırken, lütfen bu parçanın planlama, besteleme ve kayıt süreciyle ilgili bilgi de verin. Bu açıklama, Disquiet Junto’ya içkin iletişim sürecinin önemli bir parçasıdır.

İsim/Etiket: Parçanızı Soundcloud.com’daki Disquiet Junto grubuna eklerken, lütfen “disquiet0055-twoscrews” kelimesini hem parçanın isminde, hem de etiket (tag) olarak kullanın.

Download: Parçanızın indirilebilir olması ve “atfedilmiş (attributed) remix”e izin vermesi tercih edilir (orijinal sahibine atıf yapılarak ticari olmayan şekilde paylaşmaya izin veren bir Creative Commons lisansı gibi).

Ayrıca: Parçanızı mutlaka Reworked sitesinde de paylaşın:

http://reworked.nilsfrahm.com/submit/

Linkler: Yaptığınız parçayı paylaşırken, şu satırları eklemeyi unutmayın:

55 Disquiet Junto projesi hakkında daha fazlası için:

http://disquiet.com/2013/01/17/disqui...

Disquiet Junto hakkında daha fazla bilgi için:

http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet...

Frahm projesi hakkında daha fazlası için:

http://reworked.nilsfrahm.com/

Under the Hood in Caracas

Some musicians make public the scores for their work, while others share the source audio for their mixes. And some post the code from which their music springs. Count among this last group Joaquin Mendoza of Caracas, Venezuela. His four etudes for the software program Pure Data — a graphical environment for sound, among other things — are elegant explorations of ever-warping tones. In addition to posting the tracks for download (“PD Etude 01,” “PD Etude 02 a,” “PD Etude 02 b,” and “PD Etude 03″), he has made available the Pure Data “object” that allows those warpings to take place. For illustration purposes, up above is a screenshot of the first of these.

Here are links to Zip files containing the three Pure Data objects in which these etudes were performed and recorded: 01, 02, 03.

Tracks originally posted for free download at soundcloud.com/joaquin-mendoza. More on Mendoza at joaquinmendoza.net. More on Pure Data, aka Pd, at puredata.info.

What I’m Up To

I was invited to participate in the SoundCloud Heroes project, which SoundCloud has described as a collection of individuals “who bring people together around sound by cultivating and engaging unique communities.” It’s an honor to be included.

I’ve created this little introduction at the request of the folks in the SoundCloud Community department. The audio provides a bit of autobiography — who I am, where I am, what I’m up to — and I’ve embedded related links:

Full disclosure: for participating in the SoundCloud Heroes program, I’ve been gifted the top-level account, Pro Plus, which among other things allows for unlimited storage of sounds and unlimited downloads. This capacity has excited me about a variety of projects I’ve been thinking of exploring, including a podcast, as well as more commissioned compilations like Instagr/am/bient and LX(RMX). I trust it will also gain addition attention to, and participants in, the Disquiet Junto group, which from the beginning has been housed on SoundCloud.

I recorded this audio on Sunday, January 13, 2013, and it went live on January 15.

Live from Auckland (MP3)

In the middle of last year, Richard Francis, Rosy Parlane, and Rachel Shearer performed at the Audio Foundation in Auckland, New Zealand, in support of the publication of the book Erewhon Calling: Experimental Sound in New Zealand. Their concert has now surfaced as an extended, static-laden MP3 on the great touchradio.org.uk site (MP3). It plays like the signal of some errant radio broadcast heard several continents away from its point of origin, having skipped around the globe by chance geothermal conditions. The core white noise occasionally is interrupted by modulations, brief asides, jagged sounds, and additional layers of hum and drone.

Download audio file (Radio89.mp3)

Track originally posted for free download at touchradio.org.uk, where the above picture (by Zoe Drayton) appeared. More on the Audio Foundation at audiofoundation.org.nz.

The Dark Lull

Mark Ward does his best to underplay his track, but it’s a wonderfully glitchy bit of atmospheric play, and shouldn’t be missed. In his post, he mentions trimming it down (but it’s still over five minutes long), and he limits his description to the following: “Electronic babble, guitar drones and stretched voices.” That doesn’t get to the way the pitter patter, pixel-thin, razor-sharp beats prick at the light, ethereal drone of haze that he’s created. Nor does it begin to touch on the track’s structure, the way a deep lull intrudes midway through, tricking the listener into a dark space by suggesting the newfound quiet initially as a luxurious pause, when in fact it’s a tonal shift that flirts with willful, if artful, discomfort.

Track originally posted for free download at soundcloud.com/mark-ward. More from Ward at mark-ward.org.