PERFECT LIVES
November 11, 2009 2:55 AM Subscribe
Just as a side note, based on my interest in Robert Ashley here, YouTube recommends a couple videos by or about Ashley Roberts. Ah, artificial intelligence...
posted by el_lupino at 6:07 AM on November 11, 2009
posted by el_lupino at 6:07 AM on November 11, 2009
Greenaway's Four Composers series continued:
Philip Glass 1 2 3 4 5 6
Meredith Monk 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
John Cage 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
posted by Grangousier at 6:14 AM on November 11, 2009 [1 favorite]
Philip Glass 1 2 3 4 5 6
Meredith Monk 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
John Cage 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
posted by Grangousier at 6:14 AM on November 11, 2009 [1 favorite]
Not to be confused with Robert Ashley, of A Life Well Wasted.
posted by gc at 6:38 AM on November 11, 2009
posted by gc at 6:38 AM on November 11, 2009
Not to be confused with Robert Ashley [1] [2].
posted by GameDesignerBen at 6:47 AM on November 11, 2009
posted by GameDesignerBen at 6:47 AM on November 11, 2009
Ooooh nifty. I have a love-hate relationship with much of his work, but am totally intruiged by what some of his stuff provokes in me.
posted by Theta States at 6:48 AM on November 11, 2009
posted by Theta States at 6:48 AM on November 11, 2009
Apparently I owe gc a Coke.
posted by GameDesignerBen at 6:48 AM on November 11, 2009
posted by GameDesignerBen at 6:48 AM on November 11, 2009
Oh, and [2] was supposed to go here. I'm going to go drink some coffee now.
posted by GameDesignerBen at 6:50 AM on November 11, 2009
posted by GameDesignerBen at 6:50 AM on November 11, 2009
I used to work at dBm Pro Audio in NYC, where we fixed a plethora of audio equipment. While typing up an invoice for a Korg keyboard, I noticed the name "Robert Ashley." When the guy came to pick it up, I helped him take the keyboard down to the street level. He was cordial and serious, until I asked "Are you Robert Ashley as in the Sonic Arts Union?" He belted out this insane laugh and punched me straight in the bicep.
Spent the time waiting for the cab talking about automatic writing and hybrids of aleatoric composition.
posted by gcbv at 6:59 AM on November 11, 2009
Spent the time waiting for the cab talking about automatic writing and hybrids of aleatoric composition.
posted by gcbv at 6:59 AM on November 11, 2009
You can watch and download these here without the Youtube breaks. Along similar lines, there's also Ashley's Music with Roots in the Aether, about which I did a Metafilter post awhile ago.
posted by roll truck roll at 7:28 AM on November 11, 2009
posted by roll truck roll at 7:28 AM on November 11, 2009
Thanks for the Ubu links, roll truck roll. If you want direct downloads of FLV here they are: John Cage, Philip Glass, Meredith Monk, Robert Ashley. Although at 60 megabytes / hour the quality is brutal; is there really no NTSC DVD?
Speaking of Peter Greenaway, does anyone else think it's funny that FlashForward is basically a mystery TV treatment of The Falls? As I've gotten older I've lost patience with arty movies, even Greenaway's early stuff. But The Falls has stuck with me, it's such a humble film. It's strange to see it reprocessed into American TV.
posted by Nelson at 7:42 AM on November 11, 2009
Speaking of Peter Greenaway, does anyone else think it's funny that FlashForward is basically a mystery TV treatment of The Falls? As I've gotten older I've lost patience with arty movies, even Greenaway's early stuff. But The Falls has stuck with me, it's such a humble film. It's strange to see it reprocessed into American TV.
posted by Nelson at 7:42 AM on November 11, 2009
There are also AVI downloads right below the video players. I'm kind of clueless about FLV.
posted by roll truck roll at 7:52 AM on November 11, 2009
posted by roll truck roll at 7:52 AM on November 11, 2009
Not to be confused with Robert Ashley, of A Life Well Wasted.
Not to be confused with Robert Ashley [1] [2].
Not to be confused with Richard Paul Astley.
(I'm so sorry.)
posted by kmz at 8:03 AM on November 11, 2009
Not to be confused with Robert Ashley [1] [2].
Not to be confused with Richard Paul Astley.
(I'm so sorry.)
posted by kmz at 8:03 AM on November 11, 2009
I'm blind, thanks for pointing out the AVI links. They're about 700 megabytes / hour, which is overkill. Video quality is pretty good for a videotape transfer, unfortunately the audio is only 128kbps MP3. Still, sure beats ordering a used VHS tape off Amazon.
posted by Nelson at 8:29 AM on November 11, 2009
posted by Nelson at 8:29 AM on November 11, 2009
But anyway, back to the point of the post: this documentary is pretty cool. I'd really like to see the TV version of Perfect Lives in full; I've been tempted by the DVD, but haven't saved up the money yet.
I'm at work now, so I can't remember the name of the TV director they interview, but I really appreciated the things he had to say. I love the part where he talks about the shapes he uses in each movement, and how they correspond to the music and lyrics. It's wonderfully thought-out stuff, compared to so much weird-for-the-purpose-of-being-weird theatre I see.
posted by roll truck roll at 12:43 PM on November 11, 2009
I'm at work now, so I can't remember the name of the TV director they interview, but I really appreciated the things he had to say. I love the part where he talks about the shapes he uses in each movement, and how they correspond to the music and lyrics. It's wonderfully thought-out stuff, compared to so much weird-for-the-purpose-of-being-weird theatre I see.
posted by roll truck roll at 12:43 PM on November 11, 2009
There's an interesting (if now a little out-of-date) chapter on Ashley in John Rockwell's All American Music: Composition in the Late Twentieth Century.
posted by mediareport at 3:13 PM on November 11, 2009
posted by mediareport at 3:13 PM on November 11, 2009
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posted by WPW at 4:17 AM on November 11, 2009