Two podcasts about sound art

March 20, 2010 8:01 PM

"Starting with the precedents set by Charles Ives and John Cage, VARIATIONS presents the principal milestones of Sampling Music, looking at examples from 20th century composition, popular art and the mass media, and the way all of these currents converge today." Curated by Jon Leidecker, who records and performs as Wobbly. "Poet Kenneth Goldsmith presents selections from UbuWeb, the learned and varietous online repository concerning concrete & sound poetry, experimental film, outsider art and all things avant-garde" in Avant-Garde All the Time. Goldsmith's the founding editor of UbuWeb and sometime DJ on WFMU as Kenny G. (Previously: CodPaste - a 14-part podcast about the history and practice of sound collage and mashups. )
posted by moonmilk (9 comments total)

"He's a 'mixologist,' not a 'bar-tender."
"so?"
"so, he doesn't mix drinks, he curates them..."

anyhow, this is pretty interesting stuff, despite having so many... curators
posted by fuq at 8:48 PM on March 20, 2010

Revolution No. 9 was only interesting because:

- the Beatles did it, and
- they actually put it on a fucking record.

No one else needs to do it.
posted by yhbc at 8:55 PM on March 20, 2010

yhbc: You gotta hear it in mono dude. You're gonna love it.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 9:01 PM on March 20, 2010

"As recording supplanted sheet music in the 20th century, the presence of communal influence became unavoidably obvious once again as composers began to use recordings to make new recordings."

Anyone who doesn't think postmodernism is mind-bendingly awesome is wrong - wrong I say!

great post, moonmilk.
posted by archivist at 11:13 PM on March 20, 2010

Revolution No. 9 was only interesting because:

- the Beatles did it, and
- they actually put it on a fucking record.

No one else needs to do it.

Wrong. Revolution 9 is an exemplary piece of sound collage, music concrete, NOISE (whatever you want to call it). It's artfully conceived, produced and presented and, given the right circumstances, darned good fun. Hearing someone casually dismiss it reminds me of the good ole early days of Beatlemania when a balding, middle-aged comic could always get a cheap laugh by saying something "witty" about their haircuts. Kind of sad in retrospect.

Now if you want to eviscerate the likes of Ob-la-di Ob-la-da, Rocky Raccoon and Martha My Dear (just keeping it to the White Album), man I'll be right there with you, any day, any week, any month, any year.
posted by philip-random at 11:59 PM on March 20, 2010 [3 favorites]

yhbc: "No one else needs to do it."

This is a history, of which revolution number 9 was one moment. If you can't tell the difference between one of Cage's Imaginary Landscape pieces, James Tenney's Blue Suede, and Grandmaster Flash, that's your problem.

I just got done listening to the series straight through, it is really good, having spent a lifetime of interest on this stuff I learned a few things, and was happy to hear the right pieces being played.

I am listening to the Yasunao Tone and Tetsuo Kogawa Lines of Sight episode now, which is blowing my mind.
posted by idiopath at 1:38 AM on March 21, 2010 [1 favorite]

I've been listening to Variations and my only complaint has been the amount of time between episodes. Some really fascinating stuff about not just sampling, but the progress in the tehnology making it possible as well as how the industry and public has reacted to its development.

I only wish I had thought of making an FPP about it - it's absolutely deserving.
posted by John Kenneth Fisher at 5:41 AM on March 21, 2010

Great post, thanks so much. It might also be worth mentioning poet Kenneth Goldsmith's uncreative writing in this context.
posted by treepour at 6:30 AM on March 21, 2010

revolution no. 9 is only the tip of the iceberg, a moment of exploration influenced by people who dedicate their entire lives to producing new sounds
posted by frequently at 9:34 AM on March 23, 2010