rhetoric, writing, and technology

Avant Fairfax

So after hearing about this show I thought I'd go check it out to see what kind of local scene is going on. It turned out to be interesting, but overall it didn't satisfy my interests. I liked the fact that there was a wide range in both genre and generation on display. There really needs to be more of both of those. The music, whether post-punk or throwback 70s space rock, rested mostly on a DIY ethic that I love but that left me wanting more. Here's a rundown of the performers:

We missed some of the earlier acts, but got there about mid-second "set" right before Outpost from NYC came on. They were a 70s throwback band on the space rock side of things. A three piece with a bass player, keyboard player and guitarist (who also worked with some sounds). While I liked them well enough, the guitarist should pull back on the scales/solos entirely and I think they should ditch even the minimal amount of vocals they had. Go all the way with the more ambient stuff and update with some more digital elements. I liked it most when they found some grooves (in ample supply from the bass player and the occasional drum loop).

Anduin, from Richmond, was next up. I think out of all of the performers this was the one I might want to see again. A single guy with a computer, he does dark ambient stuff. The mood seemed same-ish across all of his songs but he does it well and the set was short enough that it didn't go stale. Maybe some more elements like the one song with a harmonica accompaniment could add some more layers of interest over a longer set.

Bolmongani was next. Hailing from NC, he was the post-punk flavor of the day. He'd play a bass riff and loop it; then play a guitar riff and loop it over the bass; and then start in on the drums, making the drum the lead instrument playing on top of the looped guitar tracks. I really liked the concept and to some extent the aesthetic, but something about the guitar sound didn't do it for me (yes I'm a guitarist by trade so I'm more picky here). With a more refined sound and a little better riff writing, this could be cool.

Mike Tamburo came on and more or less stole the show. Playing a solo set on the hammered dulcimer, he proved to be the best musician of the night. Weaving in and out of musical and/or percussive movements, he had the crowd pretty much captivated. And got a standing O for his efforts.

The show was running over time, but I wanted to stay for the last two acts, unfortunately. Kohoutek was a throwback 70s jazz-rock fusion band. All improv. The danger of such a project is that when improv goes bad, it goes bad. The first half of the set the drummer basically solo-ed into a cacophony of noise. Maybe that's what they were going for, but it didn't work for me. When the drums finally settled down into some grooves things started to gel, but again the guitarist needs to drop the scaled solos. Go more for the ambient/inventive sounds. This would help get them out of 70s throwback status and into something fresher.

Cheer-Accident from Chi-town was the final act. I've been a little captivated by "The head works as an inhibitor" song/video, so I was interested in seeing what their full set would be. While on the one hand they were the act that seemed to be more of an organized band, on the other they came across as disorganized and sloppy. Disappointing. I like the fact that they really stretch the notion of genre from song to song, but when they launched into their heavier, choppy rock stuff the guitar sound was bad and their timings got way off. Again, stick to the more abstract stuff, more sounds, more horns and keys. Give up on the 70s throwback stuff.

On a more positive note, I picked up a flier for the DC Listening Lounge, which is having a show on May 8. Planning to check that out. Off to KSE tonight. Maybe I'll report tomorrow.

Posted by: bhawk at 15:21 | link | comments (3)
music, reviews

Posthuman Rhetorics

Someone on the media ecology list posted this and I have to admit loving this kind of stuff. Reminds me of the Humanities conference in NC. It has real implications for complex vitalism, posthumanism, rhetorical ecology, and material rhetorics: Bonnie Bassler: Discovering bacteria's amazing communication system

Bassler studies the ways bacteria communicate collectively, not as individuals. Similar to an ant colony, they release hormones/molecules that other bacteria sense/recognize. She calls it “talking with chemical words.” The releasing and reception of these molecules she calls “quorum sensing” because the groups of bacteria collectively “vote” with the chemicals and once they reach a certain tipping point in terms of numbers the collective group acts in particular ways. This functions both as intra and inter species communication. Some molecules are only recognized by the same species of bacteria, some are recognized across species. Bacteria don’t live only in groups of their own species so they have to have ways to negotiate these ecologies. Bassler’s team is hoping that this new information about the ways bacteria communicate will lead to new forms of antibiotics. Rather than killing the bacteria, they hope to disrupt their communication and stop groups of bacteria from becoming virulent. Plus you have to love the fact that humans are 10% human and 90% bacteria.

Just as an aside, I also like Bassler’s homepage. All of her articles are linked to a database of abstracts. I’m kind of surprised it isn’t full text. When are we in the humanities going to move toward these kinds of models?

Posted by: bhawk at 13:04 | link | comments (4)
video, rhetoric, vitalism, posthuman

Another Side Band

I always thought the White Stripes were OK. I appreciate what they are after but never blown away. Ractonteurs? A couple of songs are OK but I followed them less than even the WS. Now it looks like Jack White is in another side band: The Dead Weather. This is a nice live review from the NYT: Jack White on the Drums? Don’t Worry, He Still Sings. I have to admit to liking their first single, "Hang You From the Heavens," which loads immediately from their homepage. This one is all about the guitar sound for me, courtesy of Dean Fertita, Queens of the Stone Age. Almost reminds me of a cleaned up version of the Melvins. We'll have to see what the rest of the album is like.

Posted by: bhawk at 11:23 | link | comments
music, reviews

Big Tex

My last Melvins post had me thinking about other great bands we've seen via academic conferences. One year at Western States in Tempe we opened the local paper and decided Big Tex and the Blazin Pintos with Crack Sabbath opening was it. CS played 80s covers in the style of Black Sabbath. Not the best musicians I've ever seen, but great concept and pretty funny. Along the same lines, Big Tex was pretty funny and good. They play original material in a range of genres and are a party band in the style of Retarded Elf from Austin (early 90s "funk"). Apparently Big Tex is still pretty big in the Southwest. I can see why.

Posted by: bhawk at 11:22 | link | comments (3)
music, video

Melvins - Hooch

Back when CCCC was in Minneapolis, we were standing around the hotel trying to decide what we should do. Stepped out of the hotel, looked to our right, and there is was: a big sign that said Melvins one block over. Couldn't believe it. The Melvins were playing at the club where Prince filmed _Purple Rain_. Had to go. Great show. Ever since then we try to track down live music at every conference we go to.

Melvins - Hooch

Posted by: bhawk at 10:07 | link | comments (2)
music, whatever, video

Mopho

Thanks to JB over at Blogora for this one: Mobile Music: Band Geeks Play iPhones, Not Instruments. We're probably only going to continue to see this kind of stuff.

Posted by: bhawk at 17:00 | link | comments (1)
music, video, new media

Flute Beatbox

A friend passed these on to me. Pretty cool. Took me a minute to figure out that the flute was doin' the boxin'.

Posted by: bhawk at 15:43 | link | comments (1)
music, video

Trent Reznor Interview

A recent interview with Trent via Digg.com. The first 10 minutes or so is about the coming digital (gift) economy and music. Talked a bit about this in my music class and my web class. The interview is 40 minutes long and might be slow to load. Worth the time though.

Posted by: bhawk at 12:54 | link | comments
music, interview

Experimental Sound Art

I went to a Music Over Mind performance yesterday on campus. Pretty cool. Ambient trip-hip (to use a phrase they didn't use to describe what they do). Similar to DJ Spooky but with fewer extended beats or riffs and more of an emphasis on creating sounds. MoM has three performers: a DJ with two turntables and a mixer; a keyboard player (if you will) with one keyboard and an effects board; and another keyboard player with one keyboard, a drum machine, and a computer. It was all improv using sound in a call and response manner to play off of each other. They were playing in front of an abstract video that mixed fractal-like passages with shots of everyday objects through various "filters." At times it seemed like they were responding to the video in addition to each other. The video had extedned segments that worked off of a steady pulse that the music could weave in and out of.

In the Q&A that followed the group was asked about the fact that their approach moved away from typical extended or repeated musical structures. Thomas Stanley, a GMU prof in AVT who is in the group, responded that one of their grounding principles is change. As soon as a beat or motif goes on for more than a minute or so they begin to drift away from it to find the next sound or movement. Stanley also said he finds it strange that the music of today's youth sounds so much like that of his (my) youth. Whether it is hip-hop, rock, punk, or metal, it all sounds derivative of the late 70s early 80s. Music then was vastly different than our parent's music and the feeling of the time was that we were creating something new and something that was ours. The creative/inventive spirit seems to be lost today, which is part of what promts the guys in MoM to work with experimental sound art (more their term for what they do).

So, following some prompts from the group I did a little searching online to find some info on the local sound art scene:

• Avant Fairfax - a fesitval in FF on Sat April 25 at the Old Town Hall. I might try to check this out.
• DC Sonic Circuits - local scene site for sound art, they put on a festival in the fall.
• District of Noise - clearinghouse site that archives live audio and has links to artists and labels.
• Zero Moon - indie label that puts out a local comp CD _District of Noise_.
• Cheer Accident - a band from Chicago linked from the AF page. A lot of their stuff is more song oriented, but I think this video/song is pretty cool.

"The head works as an inhibitor," Cheer Accident

Posted by: bhawk at 18:46 | link | comments
music, video

So What

I'm not a huge jazz fan at this point. I went through my jazz phase in the 80s but moved away from it because I found the jazz crowd incredibly closed-minded when it came to music in general. But this is a nice bit Jim posted over on Blogora. Sometimes certain kinds of jazz just make my ears happy.

Miles Davis and John Coltrane, So What.

Posted by: bhawk at 15:44 | link | comments (1)
music, video