Sunday, June 28, 2009

The Reborn Identity

The Reborn Identity

The Reborn Identity is the UK's Gavin Burrell. The Bastard Pop artist is also the Producer/Director of a Mashup concept album we've been playing a bit of lately, called Mashed In Plastic. The online collection is inspired by the film and television work of Director David Lynch, and features work by artists such as Colatron, G3RSt, Neiltomo, The Reborn Identity, Phil RetroSpector, RIAA, ToTom, Voicedude, Wax Audio and The Who Boys.

The Reborn Identity has dozens of Mashups available to download at his website, along with remixes and video work. The Mashed in Plastic website has videos for many of its Mashups as well. Check it out HERE.

Without further ado, here's the SAR Q&A with The Reborn Identity...


*Name: The Reborn Identity

*Are there any additional names used to describe this project: Not by me. I’m sure some of the artists I’ve sampled would have some other less than complimentary names they could offer.

*Do you use a pseudonym? Yes – my name’s not very rock and roll.

*Members: Gavin Burrell. It’s just me, though I collaborated with others in producing the Mashed in Plastic album.

*Founding Members: That would be me.

*Tape manipulations, digital deconstructions or turntable creations: Definitely “digital deconstructions”. All the magic takes place on my PC.

*Another genre descriptor:
I think of the music I produce as Mashups. I’ve always preferred this to the term “bootlegs”, which conjures up images of speakeasies and gangsters with tommy guns.

*Location: Manchester in the UK.

*Original Location: Originally from Glasgow in Scotland, but I’ve been down in Manchester for well over 20 years now.

*What is your creative/artistic background: I’m a total geek, to tell the truth, and spend a huge amount of my time tinkering around with software of one sort or another. A creative spirit, an interest in mashups and an aptitude for software came together almost by accident when I was fortunate enough to see The Eclectic Method in action. Those guys make audio and video mashups look damned easy, so when I got my hands on the right software I thought I’d give it a go. From that tentative start it’s turned into an obsession that laps up pretty much all my spare time. There’s rarely a time when I don’t have at least a couple of audio and video projects on the go.

*History: The Reborn Identity was launched in 2007, not long after I started putting together mashups, and I’ve been putting out tracks pretty regularly since then. Late on in 2008 I also became part of 1086 Productions – a collaboration between Wax Audio, Colatron, Alan Black and I – to produce the David Lynch mashup album, Mashed in Plastic. That was a fantastic experience, and the response we’ve had since that was launched last November (2008) has been way beyond anything we could have hoped for. I’m still working on a few videos for that project, and there will hopefully be another 1086 Productions album in the not-too-distant future.

*Born: Near Edinburgh in 1977.

*Motivations: Like most people producing their own tracks, I’ve got a real passion for music and couldn’t go more than a day without listening to something or other. Producing mashups gives me the chance to wallow in that passion, and share some of the music that I love with others, in a hopefully new and unusual way.

*Philosophy: For me, it’s all about creating music that I like to listen to – if other people enjoy what I’m doing too then that’s a bonus. I’m always trying to push my horizons too, trying out new techniques and styles, so it always stays fresh.

*How would you like to be remembered: If I can introduce some listeners to new artists they then go on to love, then that’s all I could hope for. At the moment I seem to be known best as one of the Mashed in Plastic guys, and I’m more than happy to be remembered for that.

*Web address:
www.rebornidentity.com
www.mashedinplastic.co.uk



www.some-assembly-required.net

Episode 234, Some Assembly Required

Episode 234, Some Assembly Required

01 Poj Masta – “Rap Attack”
02 Ellipse Elkshow – “Medication (Drugs.1)”
03 Fortyone – “Note From Bruce”
04 DJ Haste – “Styles To Kiss”
05 Negativland – “Dear Mary”
06 Plus-Tech Squeeze Box – “Dough-Nuts Town's Map”
07 Plus-Tech Squeeze Box – “CM#&'($_?>!”
08 RIAA – “Let Them Eat Cheeseburgers”
09 Ruckus Roboticus – “Here We Go”
10 Dunproofin' – “Folk Prayer”
11 Alyce Santoro & Julian Mock – “Rainboversomewhere (Somewhere Sutra)”
12 The Bran Flakes – “What It's All About”
14 John Cage – “Rozart Mix”
13 The Bran Flakes – “The Girl That I Used To Be”
15 Fortyone – “I Am Not What I Am”
16 Mediageek – “Fake Items Related to Politics”
17 The Reborn Identity – “Lauren's Opus”


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

Saturday, June 20, 2009

June 20, 2009

June 20, 2009

I tried, but was unable to find a new Q&A for this week, so I'll
just point you to these recent Q&A's with sound collage artists:

Laso Halo
Cagey House
Ellipse Elkshow
Speaker Freaker

Next week: The SAR Q&A with The Reborn Identity!

Thanks for listening,
Jon Nelson


www.some-assembly-required.net

Episode 145, Some Assembly Required

Episode 145, Some Assembly Required

01 The Bran Flakes – “Friendly Persuasion”
02 Jim Allenspach – “Friends”
03 Stunt Rock – “To clarify, the only thing I gained from this relationship was 15 lbs.”
04 Girl Talk – “Friends 4 Ever”
05 The Freelance Hellraiser – “We Don't Give A Damn About Our Friends”
06 Deejay JC – “Friends don't let friends watch friends (foxy version)”
07 Fortyone - “Love Everyone”
08 Wobbly – “What Relationship”
09 DJ John – “Friends”
10 Jim Allenspach – “I Feel Good (I Got You)”
11 Kid Koala – “Elevator Hopper”
12 The Bran Flakes – “I Don't Have A Friend”
13 DJ Pantshead – “Perfect relationships”
14 Aggro1 – “Johnny Cash Hurt vs. Ashanti R”
15 Mr. Dibbs - “The Drum Buddy Routine”
16 The Bran Flakes – “I'm So Very Glad That You Are My Friend”


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

Saturday, June 13, 2009

June 13, 2009

June 13, 2009

No new Q&A this week, but I feel obligated to say hello anyway... Really though, the only thing I can think to mention is the fact that Jon Leidecker just announced Episode Two of his new Variations documentary. Check it out HERE.

I so enjoyed the first installment, I've actually been digging into a more recent pile of articles and essays amassed on the subject of sound collage. I have a tendency to collect these things and then sit on them, having done more than my fair share of reading on the subject, over the past several years.

The more scholarly aspects of this world were not what initially attracted me to it, but from time to time I rediscover the desire to learn more about the theory, and especially the history of the world of sound collage, and so I've learned to put things aside for when those times come. Leidecker's documentary on sound collage goes in depth, while remaining both thoughtful and entertaining. It has at least temporarily reawakened my curiosity (there's always more to discover), and I'm finding myself hitting the books!

Here's a portion of what The Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona's website says about Variations, Part 2...

If music hesitated to follow the lead of the visual arts in the field of collage, it made up for lost time in the 1960's. Breakthroughs in high fidelity sound, an influx of consumer level tape recorders, and the continued influence of television building the notion of the Global Village were among the factors that led to an explosion in collage based composition...

...Now go and give it a listen.

Oh, and you should download this week's episode (233) of Some Assembly Required as well, of course. It features new and old mashups, new and old cut-ups, a short theme of collages incorporating sounds found in video games, some glitch pop, some hip hop... Frankly, if you've read this far, I probably don't really need to sell you on it, do I? Check it out HERE...

Thanks for listening!
Jon


www.some-assembly-required.net

Episode 233, Some Assembly Required

Episode 233, Some Assembly Required

01 team9 – “Killer Mirror”
02 The Beige Channel – “The Man”
03 Girl Talk – “Play Your Part (Pt. 1)”
04 Girl Talk – “Play Your Part (Pt. 2)”
05 Madlib – “Indian Deli”
06 Poj Masta – “Play My Game”
07 Idiom Creak – “Video Games”
08 Bob Ostertag – “w00t (segment)”
09 DJ 8-Ball – “The Poetry Of War Of The Flies”
10 Escape Mechanism – “Oh Well”
11 Steve Fisk – “Taxman”
12 Go Home Productions – “Kowalski Breaks (bootleg mix)”
13 B'O'K – “Working Class Rhapsody”
14 I Cut People – “Dead Jellyfish Storage”
15 John Oswald – “Mother”
16 McSleazy – “Electric Velvet”


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

Sunday, June 07, 2009

Laso Halo

Laso Halo

Laso Halo is/was North Carolina's Ted Singdahlsen and Mark Robinson. The duo continue to work as Lemmons the Shiny Clown. Check out Laso Halo's 1994 performance of "Lemmons the Shiny Clown" at The Brewery, in Raleigh, North Carolina HERE.

A self titled vinyl LP was released in 1992, and there were a few tracks included on Wifflefist's "Scattered and Smothered" CD, in 1995, as well. Wifflefist was a North Carolina artists collective which counted Laso Halo among its members, along with Glockenspiel and Silica Gel (to name but a few).

Singdahlsen has done everything from web design and 3D animation, to working with video, computer games and robots. Robinson's been similarly busy, teaching, lecturing and working in a variety of media. Check out their project, Lemmons the Shiny Clown, HERE.

Without further ado, here's the SAR Q&A with Laso Halo's Mark D. Robinson...


*Name: Laso Halo

*Are there any additional names used to describe this project: No

*Do you use a pseudonym?
A project birthed from Laso Halo directly is the Lemmons the Shiny Clown project. He is as we are as one.

*Members: Ted E. Singdahlsen and Mark D. Robinson

*Founding Members: The same - Mark and Ted

*Tape manipulations, digital deconstructions or turntable creations:
Yes

*Another genre descriptor:
*Is there a story behind your name? We like word games. Lasso Halo was a phrase Ted ran past me one day and I thought - "Bing!" Then we went to make a demo record and our cover art had some girls on the front all holding hands. Problem was there were only 4 girls and we wanted a letter per sock...thus, we lost a "s." A letter seemed a reasonable sacrifice.

*Location: Durham, NC

*What is your creative/artistic background: We have degrees in music, visual arts,and cultural theory. Ted has been able to create and draw since I can remember - since childhood. He has always impressed me on almost every level. He taught me that it was OK - good to create things. I came from a science family but have worked in audio since I was 5 or so. I made tape loops and spun records, I am not certain I was creating much but I had a great time. We tried numerous bands, played live a good bit, but realized that we were the most comfortable working as just the two of us spinning records, creating tape loops, using samplers etc. We also play instruments which is fun but more zen than the sampling. The university degrees in all that "fancy" sh** came later... we were trying to improve our chances in the job market - plus the fun audio stuff was always a bit expensive and we like toys. Wifflefist came as an extremely pleasant fortune - people of like minds working to similar ends. They sponsored a live show and LASO HALO was on the bill. We played an unreleased album from reel-to-reel and unfolded the beginnings of the Lemmons the Shiny Clown project... After the release of the Wifflefist "Scattered Smothered and covered" compilation CD they disbanded. Laso Halo went back to the studio but we did not release anything publicly.

*History: 20+ years

*Born: 1965 Penn. and NC

*Motivations: Audio is our means of communicating that which we cannot convey in any other format.

*Philosophy:
It seems to be in ever-evolution.

*How would you like to be remembered: Contributing to the electromagnetic debris that sings throughout the universe.

*Web address:
mrobin.com
tedsing.com


www.some-assembly-required.net

Episode 144, Some Assembly Required

Episode 144, Some Assembly Required

01 Rob Swift – “Rob Get's Busy”
02 Girl Talk – “What If...”
03 DJ Food – “Juice”
04 Aggro1 – “Luxurious Casbah”
05 Steev Hise - “Stuck Together, Falling Apart”
06 Cassetteboy – “Bring back cloaks”
07 DJ Shadow – “Blood on the Motorway”
08 The Tape-beatles – “Byways of ghostland”
09 Big City Orchestra – “Bulldog”
10 RX Music – “Birthday (partypartymix)”
11 Laso Halo – “I'll Fight Max”
12 Negativland – “God Bull”
13 DJ John – “Victim of Da Funk”


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