Read:My:Back

Announcing the Read:My:Back Mixtape!

The term "podcast" has seen some rough road over the last decade. I'm no tech-head, and the amateurish design stylings of this blog certainly don't give me any license to kvetch, but a proper podcast implies automatic delivery at regularly scheduled intervals. Sort of like a magazine subscription, in that you sign up for it, and get a new issue at around the same time every week or month. As such, MP3 blogs that haphazardly post 40MB Audacity mixdowns and call them 'podcasts' might be exposing people to a lot of interesting sounds, but they are doing so while severely agitating the RSS nerds in their collective midst.

While I appreciate the plight of said nerds, I don't actually know very much about syndicating content or RSS feeds myself. So in a feeble effort to distance myself from this conundrum of syntax, I'd now like to announce the Read:My:Back... Mixtape!

Same concept, slightly different method: The R:M:B Mixtape will occur on no set schedule and will hop genres with reckless abandon—pretty much like the last three years of my terrestrial radio shows on WFMU, but minus the James Gang deepcuts and rambling mic breaks. (Though I am considering rectifying that last detail... Can anyone recommend a reasonably-priced condenser mic to me?) Furthermore, downloading the entire show is more than likely to just scatter the songs into your iTunes library according to whichever filing protocols get you hot and bothered. So much for my meticulous and thoughtful segues, eh? But never mind about that -- As always, it's the music that matters.

The source material for this project is WFMU's Free Music Archive. With more than 30,000 free and legal MP3s now residing in their stable, the FMA has been my first and best connection to new sounds as my life transitioned from that of weekly radio host on WFMU (with regular access to the station's fabled new bin) to stay-at-home dad, where daily engagement with the art that I love is now limited to around 45 minutes during naptime. Not to say that the 180 degree lifestyle changeup hasn't delivered amazing rewards.... I just didn't come here to tell you about them.

So for whatever it's worth, here's the first of what will hopefully be many editions of these musical diversions. Observing the metamorphosis of my music sharing habits across the years from obsessive mixtape-maker to radio show host to harried blogger fills me with a kind of weird anxiety -- where or what will the next leap forward will be?

Read:My:Back now has a Facebook page

Want to see carefully selected r:m:b content in your Facebook newsfeed? Head over to our newly-hatched FB page and click the "like" button. I haven't yet decided if I'll be posting a weekly digest of content there, or perhaps just text and media-heavy posts as they hit the site. But either way, I do solemnly pledge NOT to clutter up your feed with excessive amounts of meaningless blather. The Facebook page is here.

R:M:B Wordcloud

I'm not a huge fan of cloud blogging, but the groovy results of running this page through Wordle's cloud generator are a cool distraction. Unfortunately, it only seems to analyze whatever's on the front page right now, as opposed to pulling data from all of the r:m:b archives. No matter—it's fun to check out anyway. Via Blue Jersey.

More Soundcloud Goodies

Digidub (Linton Kwesi Johnson mix) by Automaton UK. Something about LKJ's staccato wordplay just really lends itself to this kind of glitchy electronics.

Skulls (Misfits cover) by Jesslageson. My favorite Misfits song, rendered acoustically.

Ari Up - Me done (Selecta Tobago 2008 Rmx) by Selecta Tobago. A cool remix of a track from Ari Up's awesome Dread More dan Dead EP.

Benga & Coki - Night uploaded by Croakcroakribbit. Captain Push Bin cites this as the ultimate dubstep track, and I'm thinking he just might be onto something with that statement.

Chris Joss - You've Been Spiked uploaded by Léocadia Zépam. A Bollywood-tinged groove from a few years back re-appears just in time for the glorious Springtime weather.

Excellent Short on London Pirate Radio

Via Sound and Safe.

Logorama

Since almost everyone I know A) doesn't care about the Oscars, and B) already reads Dangerous Minds, it's probably silly for me to bother posting this here. But I'm happy to make exceptions for awe-inspiring works of genius like François Alaux, Hervé de Crécy, and Ludovic Houplain's astounding short film, Logorama.

Logorama from Marc Altshuler - Human Music on Vimeo.

Correction of the Year

 

 Via Josh Goldfein.

Do or DIY! The Battlecry of People Like Us

My only business at this year's WFMU Record Fair was to catch up with Vicki Bennett, whom radio listeners and patrons of avant media know as the supremely talented People Like Us. In the midst of all the vinyl which the Fair aggregates on an annual basis, Vicki and her pal Irene Moon helmed a stall festooned with trinkets, baubles, plastic grapes, and the pair's many independent and self-released audio/video projects.

Vicki's immense catalog of work includes the Story Without End DVD, which is a wonderful collection of her inventive and forward thinking media manipulations. Using found footage, impossibly obscure audio, and relics of both mediums that have fallen into the public domain, Vicki weaves disparate themes into an all new narrative which is light years away from anything the original creators could have imagined. A recurring theme in her work is a breathless anticipation for an orderly, technologically advanced near-future that would improve our lives while simultaneously bringing us closer to one another. But with those eagerly foretold years now behind us and their promises unfulfilled, there is a poignant subtext which stands in stark contrast to the bright eyed characters who populate her universe.

"Resemblage", which is included on the DVD and which was created with materials from the Lux collection of moving images has an unusually sinister tone to it, but it is one that works to brilliant effect. Beginning with some undeniably Gilliam-esque paper collage, the film quickly moves into foreboding territory through the colliding images of burning landscapes, failing powergrids, and digital static. Although it clocks in at only slightly north of four minutes, I've found it to be among her most compelling works to date.

The true magic of People Like Us is Vicki's unique model of promotion and distribution. By operating so far outside of the mainstream, she has freed herself of the baggage that customarily inhibits artistic growth, and her lengthy career and incredible prolificity bear testament to that truth. In the past, she has said:

"I believe that through the internet, people can experiment and distribute their work for free, or very cheap, and become famous through their idea, rather than through having financial backing. I see the value of working below the radar because I believe all things float to the surface eventually. And so I reinterpret the media through my work."

Here's a recent interview with Vicki in which she further expounds upon these themes, her source material, the Story Without End DVD, and other aspects of her very inspiring career.

Finally, here's one of my favorite People Like Us MP3s, originally from the All Together Now CD. (Download the whole album, and lots more great PLU sounds in WFMU's Free Music Archive).

People Like Us - Green, Green Grass [MP3]

Related links:

PLU Homepage | Do or DIY on WFMU | Buy PLU Music and DVD

The Phanton Phone Hacker

I'd forgotten all about this, but just came across the MP3 buried in the depths of WFMU's website. I should never have lost track of it, especially since I'm the one who put it there in 2004.

From my original WFMU post:

Throughout the mid and late 80s, the APRC (Alternative Press & Radio Council) ran a 24 hour concert info hotline (212-OPEC-SID) that would give bridge and tunnelers without easy access to resources like The Village Voice a pre-recorded rundown of all the punky rock shows going on for the week. Someone who is remembered only as "The Phantom Phone Hacker" would sometimes dial into the system (really just a primitive cassette-based answering machine) and change the outgoing message to feature some pretty unlikely lineups...

[Download MP3]

These recordings were originally gathered on one of the old Jersey Beat cassette comps, but this MP3 was spliced together and edited for radio airplay. Yes, it's stupid, but it's also a funny relic from an era of primitive technology.

[Photo by Flickr user C@rljones. Licensed for re-use via Creative Commons]

College and Community Radio Jukebox

Via MTS and the HerJazz Media Empire comes word of this basic but very cool college and community radio jukebox. Aside from the retro-clickable interface that allows you to dial up a boatload of non-commercial media providers, there's also a map that allows you to sort stations with filters like "college", "pirate", "internet", and "NPR-ish". Rounding out the excellence is a user-maintained database with basic information on each station. The general vibe is vastly more personable than iTunes radio, and is highly recommended for fans of independent and alternative media.

Check it out here.