Sat, 20 January 2007
Listen Ability Rating: Given the approach many of these musicians and artists take, we might say: the instrument as body, the body as instrument.
For this sequence of sounds we ventured into the limitless universe that is ubuweb and found a recent "audio response" to an art exhibit at the ICA in Boston. This compilation is called Music Overheard and was edited by Damon Krukowski. "Rather than look to the latest computer-based electronica-the futuristic sounds of tomorrow-I wanted to gather work made by traditional means, which would not have been possible outside today's digital audio environment." - Damon Krukowski Our set focuses on the body as instrument and starts with a piece by Matmos titled "Memnto Mori" which is composed entirely from samples of human skull, goat spine and connective tissue, and artificial teeth. The second piece is "Ritual with Giant Hissing Madagascar Cockroaches" and was performed by Miya Masaoka with thirteen Madagascar Cockroaches. She triggered the insects' amplified hissing noises while they were crawling over her body. The last selection was "The Body is a Sound Factory" by Henri Chopin. He is one of the pioneers of sound poetry, both with his own works and with his work as a publisher. Since the 1950s, Chopin has explored the amplification of the voice and the body, the vibrations of the larynx, the labial snaps and the hiss of bodily systems. |
Thu, 11 January 2007
Listen Ability Rating: Odd droning sounds overlayed with tasty bits of sampled bytes. Have a listen.
On this episode we start off with the sounds of "New York, New York" played by a chorus of car horns. Hear it and hum along. But the show really begins with the sounds of Ubique and their sound sculpture titled "neglect of those In between." Ubique, the Latin word for "everywhere" is the motto of the British Royal Artillery. Bardo Pond offers our next sonic flavor in the form of "Moonshine" off of Ticket Crystals. I've listened to this CD only as background sounds while reading Charles burns graphic novel "Black Hole" the merging of the two mediums was perfection and highly reccommended. Follow the link above to a lengthy and scholarly review of the novel. The final spice added to our sonic palette was courtesy of Telectu and their piece "Kraula Alviazul II". I found this on a Cd of Exploratory music from Portugul. Mixed in with the sounds of Telectu was William S Burroughs and Malcom X. Enjoy! |