Friday, October 27, 2006

Episode 118, Some Assembly Required

Episode 118, Some Assembly Required

01 DJ Faust – “Return Of The DJ”
02 Idiom Creek – “What Is Mind?”
03 DJ Ming – “Madhattan Bound”
04 Mr Dibbs – “Omega Prophecy”
05 David Shea – “Trio For Samplers”
06 Futuro – “She Tracks My Tears”
07 Jason Forrest – “Stepping Off”
08 Sucking Chest Wound – “Satan'n'Hippies'n'Drugs'n'Rock'n'Roll”
09 Osymyso – “Won't Lovers Revolt Now?”
10 Klarc Qent – “Erroneous data (track 14)”
11 Anon – “t-l-c(lunk click)”


Use this address, for your pod software:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/some-assembly-required/JSpD

More information about Some Assembly Required online, at:
www.some-assembly-required.net

October 27 2006: Futuro

October 27 2006: Futuro
Thanks to everyone who came out to see Negativland perform at First Avenue last night! I had a great time and from the sound of things, I'd say the band felt very appreciated. A good time was had by all. This week's featured artist is Futuro - check it out below! Download this week's podcast (episode 118) to hear a mashup by Futuro, along with ten additional sound collages by artists from around the world...

***

Futuro

Futuro is Steve Lima, a producer and musician from London. He released his first dance record in 1990, on the Factory Records label, and has worked with artists such as Christine Collister, The Essence, Espirito, Dana Gillespie, Rolf Harris and Shakatak. He also used to play in a punk band called The Members. He produces mashups, using the project name Futuro, and that's the project we're focusing on here...

Futuro is defined, at his website, as: mashup, a combination of classic cuts, RE-groove-Re-cut-REcyle, good clean fUn...

Without further ado, here's the SAR Q&A with Steve Lima of FUTURO...


*Name: Futuro

*Are there any additional names used to describe this project: erm...mashup?

*Members: Just me and the many fabulous people that I get to remix but sadly will probably never meet.

*Founding Member: Steve Osgood Lima

*Tape manipulations, digital deconstructions or turntable creations: More like Digital re-contstructions I would say.

*Another genre descriptor: Someone once wrote to me describing my non-mashup mixes as refreshes... I rather like that.

*Location: London UK

*What is your creative/artistic background: Always been a musician who then learnt engineering and eventually moved into production.

*History: I have been making bootleg remixes for many years but have never released them until just over a year ago. Having survived a very close brush with Dr.Death I just thought f**k it and started uploading.

*Born: I was born on the terraces at Stamford Bridge in 1905 but getting younger by the day.

*Motivations: I love to make the old new again and to also work with GREAT vocalists who would probably never wander in to my little studio accidentally. I only ever work with sources that I LOVE otherwise I would be spending my time listening, over and over again to voices or tracks that I wouldn't normally do and as it is for free it has to please ME firstly. The fact that so many people like the stuff is a massive bonus and shows that I either have remarkably good taste or I am extremely common. Both of these may be true.

*Philosophy: To to use the same production values that I would on any other commercial release. Keep it simple and don't forget what made the sources hit records in the first place.

*How would you like to be remembered: As somebody who was competent and entertaining.

*Web address: www.stevelima.com/futuro.html

***

Thanks to Futuro for answering our questions this week! Be sure to check out his website - and don't forget to download this week's podcast (episode 118) to hear a good example of a mashup by Futuro - along with ten other sound collage tracks!

Thanks again to everyone who came out to the First Avenue Mainroom last night. Negativland's "It's all in your head FM" was a great live radio show, even if it wasn't being broadcast as it was performed. I did hear rumblings that the show was recorded for future broadcast, though - so of course if I hear more about that, I'll be sure to make a note of it here at the blog. Stay tuned.

Next week's feature, coincidentally: another mashup artist from London - IDC!

Until then, thanks for listening,
Jon Nelson

www.some-assembly-required.net

Monday, October 23, 2006

Episode 117, Some Assembly Required

Episode 117, Some Assembly Required
(featuring an interview with DJ Food)

01 DJ Food – “Break”
02 DJ Food – “The Riff”
03 DJ Food – “Cookin'”
04 DJ Food – “The Ageing Young Rebel”
05 DJ Food – “Raiding the 20th Century - Words & Music Expansion (Part 3)”
06 DJ Food – “Raiding the 20th Century - Words & Music Expansion (Part 4)”
07 DJ Food – “Sunvibes”


Use this address, for your pod software:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/some-assembly-required/JSpD

More information about Some Assembly Required online, at:
www.some-assembly-required.net

Sunday, October 22, 2006

October 22, 2006: Raiding the 20th Century

October 22, 2006: Raiding the 20th Century

This week's Blog feature is not on a person, but a project. This week's podcast (episode 117) features a phone interview with Strictly Kev of DJ Food, and since I've already run the SAR Q&A with DJ Food, I had to think creatively about what to feature this week at the blog - and I've decided to do a little bit about his Raiding the 20th Century project.

Maybe I should start with a timeline...
January 18, 2004: Original Raiding the 20th Century released.
January 18, 2005: Release of the updated Raiding the 20th Century (Words and Music Expansion).

Okay, short timeline. I could add the dates when the mix was taken offline, when it was threatened with legal action (more about that later), but I'm not real sure of the exact dates. So, a little bit of background instead...

The original version was released via the world wide web in January of 2004, and was immensely popular as a download, and of course was played on XFM as well. It was Strictly Kev's attempt to document the history of appropriation in music, or "cut-up music." Everything from avant garde collage to bastard pop, basically. I think that goes a long way towards explaining why I'm so taken with it, if you're wondering why I'm so obsessed with this mix. Raiding the 20th Century concerns itself with exactly the same thing, more or less, that my radio show is concerned with. There are now over 150 produced hours of radio which are slowly being uploaded via the Some Assembly Required podcast, and in all of that time, were you to listen to it all, the focus is always the same: creatively recycled music and sound, with occasional interviews with the primary artists behind it all.

The original version of Raiding the 20th Century was about forty minutes, and I first heard it in summer of 2004. As much as I'd like to say that I knew about it from the minute it aired and went online, the fact is I might never have heard about it had Strictly Kev not sent me a copy in the mail. I'm not always as tuned in as I should be, basically. Keep that in mind, if you're ever wondering why I haven't contacted you yet about your latest opus! I think I mentioned in a previous post that the first time I listened to the CD, it was on repeat all afternoon, while I painted a friend's dining room. I was absolutely intent on absorbing every last detail. I suppose it may also have had something to do with all the paint fumes!

I got in touch with Strictly (What's the short hand? Strictly, or Kev?) and arranged to do an interview, and learned that he was planning to do an update. The remix turned out a bit longer, a lot more comprehensive and now also includes recordings he made of a reading by Paul Morley, from his book titled "Words and Music." Artists I've been able to recognize so far include (see the SAR links page for links to all these artist's websites): Negativland, Big City Orchestra, Wayne Butane, Osymyso, The Evolution Control Committee, Wobbly, People Like Us, James Tenney, The Art of Noise, Steinski, Think Tank, Buchanan and Goodman, DJ Shadow, Mr. Dibbs, Cut Chemist, The Invisibl Skratch Piklz, Cassetteboy, John Oswald, Christian Marclay, The Tape-beatles, The KLF and the Emergency Broadcast Network; not to mention all the mashup artists (and even a bit from the Some Assembly Required interview with Steinski, which originally aired in 2001). If you're at all familiar with SAR, then you may recognize that all of those artists get played regularly on the program, and quite a few of them have been interviewed here as part of features on their work as well.

So, it's a bit personal, my attachment to this mix. My big plan with Some Assembly Required, obviously, being to document as much as I can about this little movement - or genre, or whatever you want to call it - of artists who take sampling to its limits. It was very interesting to hear someone else's approach to the same idea! And it didn't take him 150 hours to do it, either... Plus, it really is a great listen.

Some Assembly Required had the World Radio Premier of "Raiding the 20th Century - Words & Music Expansion" on February 5th, 2005. We only feature bits of the final mix in this week's podcast (episode 117) however. There obviously wasn't enough time to play the whole thing, as we spent a lot of time talking about the project, and featuring some other tracks by DJ Food as well.

Unfortunately, the final mix had to eventually be taken offline. It turns out someone got territorial about some of the hundreds (if not thousands) of samples in the mix, and since it had been up on the web for nearly a year (and Kev figured it had been downloaded by everyone who wanted to hear it by now anyway), he chose not to fight about it. Can't say I really blame him, although this is another example of a work of audio art which could easily by argued for with the Fair Use claim. In addition to being an entertaining and enlightening mix of sounds, it's also an educational piece, which is one of the more obvious reasons why Fair Use was introduced as an aspect of copyright law. I'm still no expert, but of course there is a comment section here at the blog, so feel free to comment, if you are!

Here's what Strictly Kev had to say about the mix being pulled from the web: "Basically EMI contacted Ninja Tune and issued a cease and desist order on the mix that claimed that it infringed multiple artist copyrights, so I had to pull it." The blog at his Myspace page went on to say, "Fair enough, it did, what can I say? It did it with style though and enough people have heard it, blogged it and passed it around for it to have done it's job. Wherever I travel I get people telling me they've heard it, they can't always remember the title but the fact that they remember it at all is enough. The letter was pretty hardcore and they followed it up 3 days later stating they would take action if I didn't comply... The Ninja legal department were pretty worried as they have to deal with EMI on a regular basis for licensing and sample clearance and I didn't want them to get stick for it. Ultimately the mix was free so no one was making money out of it and thank god for the web as a distribution network, not nearly as many people would have heard it a decade ago."

I also learned that the October/November issue of Wax Poetics Magazine (Issue 19) includes a three-page feature on Strictly Kev's favorite "cut-and-paste platters." So, be on the lookout for that as well.

Click HERE to read my previous post about Strictly Kev and DJ Food. It was posted to coincide with the podcast featuring his original mix, this past summer (July 16, 2006), and goes into a bit more detail about the history of the DJ Food project. Of course, you could just download this week's podcast (episode 117) and hear it straight from the horse's mouth as well. In fact, I recommend you do that - of course!

And with that, I guess I'll wrap up this, my first proper blog-post in months. Proper, in the sense that it wasn't all streamlined and formatted, etc. Just me writing about something I'm interested in, somewhat casually. I have to say, it was fun. I should do this more often!

Stay tuned for episode 117, ready to download in just a few. The podcast is available, as you probably know, from the front page of the Some Assembly Required website, this blog, the SAR Myspace page AND from mnartists.org, where it's shared from their front page, starting every Monday afternoon. So, go find it somewhere and check it out. Drop me a line if you feel like saying hello.

Don't forget - I almost forgot to mention! - the big Negativland show is this Thursday, here in Minneapolis. Check out their website for more info on other dates/venues on this leg of the tour. But for now, for those of you within driving distance, the show to be aware of is this Thursday in Minneapolis, at The First Avenue Mainroom. Doors are at 7PM. Some Assembly Required is sponsoring the event, and I hope to see every single one of you down at the club this Thursday! Check out First Avenue's website, for up to date info. See you there!

Until then, thanks for listening,
Jon Nelson

www.some-assembly-required.net

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Episode 116, Some Assembly Required

Episode 116, Some Assembly Required

01 The Avalanches – “Frontier Psychiatrist”
02 John Oswald – “Way”
03 Invisible Scratch Pickles – “Invasion of the Octopus People”
04 DJ Tripp – “She wants animals”
05 Steinski and Mass Media – “Xen to one ratio”
06 Antediluvian Rocking Horse – “Leunig”
07 Lecture on Nothing – “Opinions”
08 Silica Gel – “Beauty Bugaboo”
09 Public Works - “Noise”
10 Realistic – “Looking for a handout”
11 Steve Fisk – “Kennedy Saga (Chapter VII)”
12 RIAA – “The Joy of Noise”
13 IDC – “Frankiesays”


Use this address, for your pod software:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/some-assembly-required/JSpD

More information about Some Assembly Required online, at:
www.some-assembly-required.net

October 15, RIAA

October 15, RIAA

This week's feature is on a mashup outfit by the name of RIAA. Even more tongue in cheek than Big City Orchestra, this group wins the prize for being the first to respond as Beavis and Butt-head... Stay tuned for episode 116, featuring a track by RIAA and a dozen other sound collage artists!

***

RIAA

As their website says, RIAA raids "the sonic junkyards of the world to create highly danceable collages." This is a solo project pertaining to not only mashups, but also some straight-up sound collage and even another project in the same vein as a band called Culturcide, who were the first project I was aware of anyway, to accompany recordings... and for all I know RIAA did it first - it's not really my area of expertise. Not always a good idea to compare artists anyway...

To clarify what I mean by "accompany recordings:" What I remember of Culturcide is that they would sing new lyrics to popular songs, over effected recordings of those songs. So they weren't mashups, nor were they really parodies, as the lyrics were often more political than send-ups of the original songs. RIAA refers to this manifestation of their project as "grafitti music," as they are "spraying" their own output over the top of previously recorded work - and this is different from the more "pure" sound collage which gets played around here, in that their output in this case is more "traditional" music (in some sense, anyway), which they are recording themselves and then layering over the existing recordings.

Does any of this make sense? The track we play by RIAA in this week's podcast is not an example of this anyway; It's a mashup - quite a good one, in fact, titled The Joy of Noise, recorded in 2004. It mashes up Public Enemy's Bring The Noise with an instrumental track by Apollo 100 called Joy. (Personally, I'd have titled it Bring the Joy, but that's just me). Anyway, without further ado, here's the SAR Q&A with RIAA...


*Name: RIAA

*Are there any additional names used to describe this project: (Recording Industries Are Archaic, Really Interesting Audio Adventures, Rendevous Internationale Action Album, Rockin' Internet Art Alternatives, probably more...) Mr Fab, Mr Fab & his Bag of Heads, Mr Fab & His Bargain Slacks

*Do you use a pseudonym? No

*Members: Huh huh, you said "member."

*Founding Member: Heh heh! Yeah! He said "member!" My death-metal band Mandatory Bowel Evacuation broke up, and some of us became a noise band called Projectile Diarrhea, named after our favorite tropical disease symptom. I got thrown out because I refused to play banjo, and went solo.

*Tape manipulations, digital deconstructions or turntable creations: digital de/constructions

*Another genre descriptor: Some of my stuff is "graffiti" music - like a graffiti artist spray-paints his own art over someone else's property, I play original music over instrumental mixes, karaoke tapes, etc.

*Location: North Hollywood, CA

*Original Location: My mommy's tummy.

*What is your creative/artistic background: Er...I don't think I have one...just been making music at home for my own amusement since - oh, I see that's the next question.

*History: Right, as I was saying, been making music at home since, well, since I was a kid - still have a tape from the '80s I made placing an acapella version of Nico singing "All Tomorrow's Parties" over an instrumental passage from one of my little brothers' Iron Maiden records. No, I won't post it. But I do have a track on my website called "Everybody Breakdance With Me!!" that I recorded around '92.

*Born: Hollywood! Or, should I say H!O!L!L!Y!W!O!O!D!

*Motivations: Someone told me this would be a good way to meet Pam Dawber.

*Philosophy: Gee, I dunno...I do it 'cause I enjoy it...it's kinda like asking me what's the philosophy behind my masturbating.

*Web address: www.m-1.us

***

Thanks to RIAA for being the focus of this week's Q&A! Be sure to visit their website to learn even more about the project. Stay tuned for this week's podcast (episode 116) to hear 13 sound collages, including a mashup by RIAA.

Stay tuned, because in just about ten days, here in Minneapolis, we'll be welcoming Negativland back to town. The last time I saw them perform was in 2000, at The First Avenue Mainroom. Minneapolis was one of their stops on the True False tour, which was excellent of course. This time out, they're doing a live performance variation on their weekly radio program, Over The Edge. I've been listening to the CD of the material they've been performing, and I have to say I'm really looking forward to seeing them perform "It's All In Your Head" at First Avenue, again in the mainroom, on Thursday, October 26 (7PM). Some Assembly Required is a proud sponsor, and if you're anywhere near the Twin Cities, I hope you'll make it out to see this show!

Tune in next week for our update on DJ Food's Raiding the 2oth Century. We'll be podcasting the episode featuring our phone interview with Strictly Kev, and since we've already run the SAR Q&A with him, I'll have to do an update on his project instead of another Q&A. Stay tuned!

Until next week - thanks for listening,
Jon Nelson

www.some-assembly-required.net

Sunday, October 08, 2006

Episode 115, Some Assembly Required

Episode 115, Some Assembly Required

01 Girls on Top – “I wanna dance with numbers”
02 Evolution Control Committee – “I Want A Cookie”
03 V/VM – “You Want Some More?”
04 Otis Fodder – “Gay bar (re:mix) (with R. Stevie Moore)”
05 DJ BC – “Whatcha Want, Lady?”
06 Pimpdaddysupreme – “I Wanna Be Sedated”
07 The Kleptones - “Play”
08 V/Vm – “Do You Want To Know A Sick-Rat?”
09 Dsico - “I want boys”
10 The Tape-beatles – “Desire”
11 Phil n' Dog – “Gay muppet bar”
12 Big City Orchestra – “Do What I Want”
13 DJ Frenchbloke – “You want me bad”
14 Wobbly – “I Want Your Back”
15 Girl Talk – “I Want You Back”
16 Go Home Productions – “I wanna dance with some Bono”


Use this address, for your pod software:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/some-assembly-required/JSpD

More information about Some Assembly Required online, at:
www.some-assembly-required.net

Saturday, October 07, 2006

October 6, 2006: Big City Orchestra

October 6, 2006: Big City Orchestra

This week's feature is on Big City Orchestra - stay tuned for this week's podcast (episode 115), featuring a track by BCO and 15 other sound collages by artists from around the world...

***

Big City Orchestra

My first Big City Orchestra record was probably the rather violently titled CD, The Beatlerape (the name simply refers to the fact that the record samples and extensively rearranges songs by The Beatles). Since then I've played quite a few of their countless records, most notably their CD Chimpy, which approaches George W. Bush with the same kind of respect they had theretofore reserved for The Beatles...

Big City Orchestra
is one of those bands that has a million albums and twice as many members, over the course of an ever expanding number of years. They are the standard bearers of noncomformity in that they often refuse to promote their albums, title their tracks or (god forbid) take themselves too seriously. Thank god for Big City Orchestra. If they aren't already a pseudo-religious order of some kind, just give them some time!

Reading over their response to the SAR Q&A, I feel compelled to inject a bit more information into this week's intro...

An online search reveals the following information about Big City Orchestra: They're quite often referred to as anti-art and avant garde. Although I believe they're currently assembled in San Francisco, they would appear to have their origins in Los Angeles, California - in the South Bay area. The Wikipedia entry for Big City Orchestra currently says that the group formed in 1979 as a house band for a network of artist residences. I'm not exactly sure what that means, but I'm assuming they drew from these various residences for their membership. This might explain the project's longevity and long list of past and present participants.

The band was a major part of the "cassette culture movement" of the 1980's and 1990's, with well over a hundred hour-long releases on as many labels. In addition to these cassette releases, there are more than 300 compilation appearances, five 7" singles, one 8" single and four video collections. There are also about 10 CD and close to fifty CD-R releases to look for. And you thought you and your band were prolific...

Big City Orchestra currently holds the record for most creative response to the SAR Q&A. If you didn't know this was a contest; now you do. I've had responses which could fit on the back of a quarter, and those which threatened to exceed the limits of this blog, but the BCO sent their responses in on audio CD, as a performance piece featuring any number of their many rotating members. Their answers are vague and absurd, but you have to give them credit for creativity!

Below is the transcription of Big City Orchestra's response to the SAR Q&A. Their recording consists of several disembodied voices answering the various questions all at the same time. I've simply typed them all out, in the best order I could approximate. Keep in mind that these answers are from several different people, often speaking all at the same time... If it seems confusing, that's only because you are confused. Without further ado...


*Name: Big City Orchestra. Big City Orchestra. Big City Orchestra. Big City Orchestra. Big City… Somethin’ or Other. Big City Orchestra. It could be also, Pig Kitty Porkestra.

*Do you use a pseudonym? Several. All at the same time. Univac. Yes, but it is top-secret. I don’t think so. Yes: Mr. Hate. I am known as Nina Pixie. Professor Warner V. Slack.

*Members: To date, I think there’s about 4oo. I’m not even joking. Most of ‘em - most of ‘em are in it. Most of the members are in the band. Well, at some point, there might be as many as 40 members - It depends on how far back you want to go. I would say over the span of around 20 maybe more years, there are probably at least 200 by now. That’s my guess. 18,000 last I counted. I have no idea. Something more than like 10. Counting fingers and toes, perhaps you’re also a member. The number is infinite and ever-changing.

*What are the full names of each member? Come on, man. There’s too many to list. There’s mom, nina, Alyssa, dad, Jessie, Cheryl, Ann, Mr. Hate, Otis, Nina and a band of miscreants, Josh, carrie, nina, cliff, Jessie, dave, Cheryl, anne, fausto, that one guy who sleeps a lot, some other people, phil, Edward…

*Founding Member: Oh, there’s only one. He’s incredulous, huge, and I don’t know his name. Spiteful, but he always pinches. Mr. Ube Ibi, Das, Mike, Julie, Worm, Mark, Relentless, Hyperbole, and another who sleeps a lot, and a series of mysterious underwater elves.

*Tape manipulations, digital deconstructions or turntable creations: All of the above. I’m not a number. And then some. I’m a free man. Occasional digital deconstructions of sorts, but primarily none of the above. All three. Plus combinations of the three. All of the above, plus other.

*Another genre descriptor: Folk collage art, acoustical experimentations. Weak. Big City Orchestra is beyond classification and always changing and, its just instrumentation, direction – all these things are basically scattered to the wind at the end of each project. Superfluous. And, uh – I couldn’t begin to describe exactly what it is that is going on here. Interesting.

*Is there a story behind your name? I was born with a couple of them. In a dream. The other ones were accidents. My story’s far too complicated. Big City Orchestra, is what we’re talking about here. That’s the name that we’re talking about. Big City Orchestra. That name. It has so much depth, so much meaning, that I can’t put it into words. Where did it come from? Well, there was this house… Well, that was simply a nick-name given to me by an ex-girlfriend many years ago, basically because of my scathing sarcastic nature. Sometimes. A bunch of trash cans. Set that oil on fire. And they called it big city. My name is Nina. That’s where it came from. I’m very short. I’ve always been told I look somewhat like a Pixie. The name just fit – Nina Pixie. Well, there was an ocean and a small boat that had lost its sail and then there was a tidal wave and an entire island was submerged and then it started hailing and dead whales floated to the surface of the ocean and we saw a giant squid, alive, which noone’s ever seen except us. And then, I think that’s when he came to me.

*Location: I’m basically from the Army. I was born here. Yep – born there. I was born in San Mateo, California. I could show you on a map. Followed my dad around until he died. Some twenty minutes south of San Francisco. The left side of over there. Some Army guy. Followed them around until I got out of school. The north pole. Got arrested and joined the army. They gave me a choice. I could join the army. Its all I’ve ever known. I’m still searching for that answer. About three quarters of the way through the western spiral, of the milky way galaxy. Originally from Chicago. Barn raised, transplanted to Arizona and migrated to California. Space dust.

*What is your creative/artistic background: It all started with a hand held tape recorder as a child, when I was supposed to be playing outdoors. Then I got into the fingerpaints and made quite a mess. Interrupted dad’s closet were his clothes. The next thing I knew, I was making noise. Getting up their in your brain, circulating around in your capillaries, back down through the venal system. Crayons. In the good out with the bad. That’s where the art is – it's in your blood. When I was little, I liked to bang on the piano and write my own songs instead of playing new ones that were put in front of me. Mostly trees and ripped paper, but there’s a painted wall that’s a little bit textured. That’s all behind me. My artistic background lies chiefly in music, performing, writing, recording and I’ve been involved with radio.

*History: This project, anyway, has been going on since the early 1980’s. Probably late ‘70’s, before I got on. For some twenty-three, no twenty-five years. Oh. Hey, I pay my taxes. I was a baby. I don’t remember. Since the work created me. Depends on what day you ask that question. Could be either two hours or more than a quarter of a century.

*Motivations: Because otherwise I would be dead. That’s easy man, what else is there to do? Why? Why do they do what they do? Why indeed? How can I but not do what I do? Because noone else is doing it.

*Philosophy: I need to get my inner stuff out. I breathe because I must. I create because I yearn. There’s some stuff, and then there’s some other stuff and it gets mutated by some other things and then we stick it in a computer sometimes or we play it in front of an audience and things happen. I live because… I’m still getting to that. Philosophy usually doesn’t my creative outbursts. For camaraderie, communication, creativity, what you hear. Its more simply that release of inner ideas and energy in an external fashion. Euclidian.

*How would you like to be remembered: In pieces. By who? And louder than usual. Upside down and full of colors. Yeah, just listen. The sounds that you’re hearing – they came from me - that’s what I want to be remembered for. I would like to be remembered as an able collaborator. Who I am, what my person is, all that human drama bulls*** – that’s just a means to an end. The sounds themselves ought to speak for me. Mostly for the melodious, tonal qualities, of my sound footprints on recordings. As a Viking.

*Web address: Ubu www UBU Ibi dot org www dot org www UBU, IBI, dot org www dot ubu ibi dot org UBU ubu IBI www dot org www dot ubu www dot org… Can I get a cup of coffee here? A guys been asking me questions all night and uh I could really use a cup of coffee… all these questions, kinda making me a little, just making me want a cup of coffee or something. Could you do that for me?

***

Thanks again to the many and mysterious members of Big City Orchestra, for all frantically waving their hands in the air, in response to every question asked, and then all speaking up at once, in one mad informational burst. I can't imagine a more suitable response. Be sure to check out the Big City Orchestra website, once you've downloaded this week's episode...

Thanks again for tuning in! If you're in the Twin Cities' area, be sure to save October 26th on your calendar this month, and plan on meeting me at First Avenue to see Negativland, as they come through town on tour. Some Assembly Required is proud to sponsor the event in the Main Room that night. More details forthcoming. In the meantime, visit First Avenue's website for more information.

Until next week - Thanks for listening!
Jon Nelson

www.some-assembly-required.net

Sunday, October 01, 2006

Episode 114, Some Assembly Required

Episode 114, Some Assembly Required

01 Braces Tower – “Special child”
02 Myeck Waters – “Sleeping cinder”
03 DJ Abilities – “Well Being”
04 The Bran Flakes – “Wowee”
05 David Shea – “Track 07 (Let's Entertain, Disc 4)”
06 Negativland – “Play it again”
07 Osymyso – “Think And Sing”
08 OBE – “Recycled Flashback”
09 Steve Dirkx – “Our life”
10 Escape Mechanism – “Why Does The Light Fall?”
11 Steve Fisk – “Taxman”
12 Realistic – “Larry love said”
13 Lecture on Nothing – “Flies”
14 Negativland – “What's Music?”
15 Ruth Anderson – “SUM (State of the union message)”
16 Freelance Hellraiser – “Musical know how”


Use this address, for your pod software:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/some-assembly-required/JSpD

More information about Some Assembly Required online, at:
www.some-assembly-required.net

October 1, 2006: Steve Dirkx

October 1, 2006: Steve Dirkx

This week's feature is on Steve Dirkx -- Stay tuned for episode 114, featuring 16 sound collages, including a track off of Steve Dirkx' CD, The Butcher's Covers...

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Steve Dirkx

I first heard about Steve Dirkx from someone on Rumori, I think. I mentioned the Snuggles list last week; another listserv I joined, hoping to discover more about the world of sound collage, was set up by Steev Hise, from his website: Detritus.net. I was planning a Beatles themed episode of the program and had asked for input. I can't remember for sure who sent me The Butcher's Covers on CD. It might have been Steev Hise or Wobbly, or it might have been Jim Allenspach, who has provided lots of great stuff over the years, or I might have gotten it from The Bran Flakes' Otis Fodder, who used to run a tape trading service called the MOFO Outreach Ministry. There have been a number of great friends to the show over the years and unfortunately I haven't kept the greatest notes about who sent what...

(the photo is of one of Dirkx other projects, The Telefones)

The Butchers Covers is a record of sound collages by Steve Dirkx, using The Beatles as source material, almost entirely. The original liner notes were photocopied and sent with the copy I received, and here's some of the text found below the tracklisting: I, Steven M. Dirkx, do affirm that I did willfully and with no malice aforethought, unlawfully tamper with the Sacred Recordings of the Cherished Tunesmiths, during the month of August, 1998... The title (by the way, a reference to a Beatles album cover which was apparently banned) was originally the much more descriptive, Beatles In A Blender.

What else can I tell you... What else do I know? Steve Dirkx is obviously a huge fan of The Beatles, and he played bass for a band called The Telefones, with his brother's Jerry and Chris (See image above). For more information, do your own google search! Here's a good intro though, via the SAR Q&A with Steve Dirkx...


*Name: Steve Dirkx, or The Butchers Covers

*Are there any additional names used to describe this project: My current CD-R is called "That's CRAZY Music" (June, 2005).

*Do you use a pseudonym? Occasionally - L.S.D. (Little Stevie Dirkx)

*Another genre descriptor: Re-Creationist

*Why you use this descriptor: I just now made it up, because you asked for one. I don't really call myself anything in particular.

*Location: Dallas, TX

*Original Location: Moved around a lot (Army Brat).

*What is your creative/artistic background: Been writing songs, playing instruments, since approx. 1969. My first rock concert was Jimi Hendrix (Kansas City) after that I started wanting to MAKE music, not just listen to it. Also have been photographing since about 1966, did a lot of 'video' in the 80's and 90's. Currently do a lot of silly photoshopping. (I use 'Picture It' not photoshop, which I dislike).

*Born: Born in Hawaii (Army Base) 1954

*Motivations: Just have the urge. Ya hear something IN your head, and want to hear it OUTSIDE your head.

*Philosophy: No particular 'philosophy,’ that's pretentious. Although I prefer humor to seriousness.

*How would you like to be remembered: As someone who made interesting, off the beaten track stuff. Funny, but thoughtful.

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Thanks to Steve Dirkx for being our featured artist this week at the blog! Check out episode 114 to hear a track off of his album, The Butcher's Covers, along with fifteen other tracks by sound collage artists from around the world.

Tune in next week for our feature on Big City Orchestra! Until then, thanks for listening -
Jon Nelson

www.some-assembly-required.net