Fun!

I found this fellow here: http://seaquence.org/
you create an organic petri dish, with basic parameters such as wave shape and volume.
Its worth a try/ listen.

Daniel Fishkin's Times Square Project

My friend Daniel Fishkin just sent me an email about his most recent project. That's him on the right. A totally mind blowing dude, in all respects.

Video Part Here:

WHAT YOU SEE is WHAT YOU HEAR: Times Square // a sound & light collage in three parts from df on Vimeo.

And the whole project up here:
http://vimeo.com/13617192
(check out the hardware, so awesome)
Daniel's Music:
Dandelion Fiction

Beach Fossils Jams

Big ups to my homeboy Chris Burke, the dude in the Zwan t-shirt. If you didn't know you could wear a Zwan shirt ironically, you clearly have never met Christopher Burke- scholar, marksman, gentleman bad-ass. Check out his myspace: myspace.com/redredromans

Recently

I just got back from Philadelphia where I got snowed in and Josh, Dave, and I made some strange electronic music.
Josh supplied the blanket splatter paint art, he refers to them as his trophies (like the kind you get when you go on safari). Weird dude. Great time.
I plan on posting music as we go through and separate the proverbial wheat from the chaff. Stay tuned. Keep watching the skies...

30th Post: A Special Tribute to the Lite Sounds of the 70's

Well, this is my thirtieth post, and to celebrate I am presenting a series of videos from youtube. It's been quite a while since I have written anything here, so I will take a few moments to explain my love of the smooth, lite sounds of the 70's. Primarily, it reminds me of the summers of my childhood, driving around in my mom's van. Now, I was not born in the 70's. I was a child of the mid and late 80's, but when my mom listened to the radio, she would listen to the soft classic rock station in Jacksonville (Lite 96.1) This is all before I was old enough to really have opinions of music, but I realize now that this music is much more influential on my own personal taste than I would ever like to admit. Say what you will, these are some great songs, and the perfect way to celebrate a summer. Thanks.





Thats right, two Fleetwood Mac videos. That's just how good they are.

Kegs of Acid Tour Documents, Pt. 2

James!
Thanks to Ellen and Richard for taking most of these pictures.

Our 7" Cover for our split with Prince Rama. If you want one, let me know. I'd be stoked to sell you one for cheap.

Canned Heat

I have very ambivalent feelings about hippies, to put it in a nice way. Last night I witnessed some fire dancing here at Penland. If I was to graph out my feelings about hippies; drum circles, hooping, and fire dancing would be on one end. This song and video of Canned Heat- Going Up The Country would be on the other, much more awesome end.

The Clean

"Tally Ho!"

From New Zealand, The Clean embody everything I love about making music. It's lazy, it's off kilter, it's fun (and funny) and it totally rocks. The guitar melodies are idiosyncratic, simple, and distorted as hell. I LOVE THE CLEAN.
"Point That Thing Somewhere Else, Pt.1"

"Point That Thing Somewhere Else, Pt.2"

Interstellar Overdrive

Part 1

Early Pink Floyd is responsible for producing some of the best music of the '60s. Interstellar Overdrive is a song that could continue infinitely and I would not care. This video gives you an impression of what it might have been like to be at a concert during Pink Floyd's creative peak of the mid and late '60s. I don't really know what else to say about it. A totally bad ass song by a totally bad ass band interspersed with pictures of swingers and mods in London in 1966. SERIOUSLY RIGHTEOUS!!!
Part 2

Swell Maps

Sooooo.... I really like music. I want to share some of my favorite bands and their music. Today is the Swell Maps. From the 'pedia:

Consisting of brothers Epic Soundtracks (real name Kevin Godfrey) and Nikki Sudden (real name Nicholas Godfrey) two Solihull based teenagers, plus Richard Earl, David Barrington, John Cockrill and Jowe Head, the band cut the single "Read About Seymour" as their debut in 1977. Epic's drumming mixed with Nikki's unique melodies crafted over the assorted threads cast by the six musicians set the band apart from the others.

One of my favorite songs, "Let's Build A Car":

Harry Partch

Harry Partch is my favorite composer of all time. As summer has finally set in around the mountains, I am inspired by the mass of animal and bug sounds to begin making music again. I don't have very much else to say, except to encourage any and all people with the slightest inclination towards musical interest to check out this site where you can play many of Harry's instruments and read a little bit about his musical theories. Aside from Harry Partch being musically revolutionary, it's sweet as hell to be able to play around on his orchestra (sadly only in a digital sense, though)!!! SO CH-CH-CH-Check it out!!!

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• Play Cloud Chamber Bowls
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• Play Chromelodeon

Projects are Blooming

Last Tuesday, I performed a piece with Kelli Rudick and Wes Stitt. It was a 12 minute improvised set of electronic music guided by a video made by Wes. Here is a clip:

                                                            (Click Here)

Please excuse how douchbaggy I sound when I describe my set up. I had my Ring Modulator, Evolver, a DOD Delay pedal (the world's shittiest digital delay but glorious in it's failures) and two tape players. Most of the tapes I used were synth pieces made on a Serge modular at Bard College or subliminal message tapes. When I start plugging in all those wires it produces a feeling inside similar to the way a turkey dinner makes one feel. Glazed eyes, sweat, heavy breathing.... The performance was succesful, and we are going to ride this wave of communal flouresence to bigger and better things.Check out Shoestring's blog for more updates and videos, as well as JustMakingStuff.  Mark Boyd has become the instigator, agitator and organizer for all this extravagance. So exciting. Next up- playing music and video in this space in Spruce Pine. Apparently it is an old factory. It is getting harder and harder to sleep with all of these ideas tumbling around the ol' brain reverb chamber.

MB has also gotten a hold of a silent generator. It seems that currently, the possibilities are endless. I would love to perform some of my older Hofwyl stuff out on the knoll or in the woods in the dark. A Kegs of Acid show on top of a mountain? Any other ideas? Let me know: wark.marren@gmail.com

Melanie

I woke up this morning with the song, "I've Got a Brand New Pair of Roller Skates (You've Got a Brand New Key)" by Melanie on a loop in my brain. I had to hear it. Is the music we listen to in our heads sung in the voice of the musician or instead our own? Where do we get the information to fill in the gaps of the parts we cannot remember. Is the song in our heads often times better than the original? These are the questions a man faces every day. I know no answer to this question. However, I know that from now on whenever I think of that song, I will be picturing this incredible video.

Musics

Music is a system of organizing sound. I organize sound often. I like it more than organizing art, generally. In May, I am going on tour with the band I started with my friend Chris. We are Kegs of Acid. Tentatively, here is a schedule:

5/8: Asheville

5/9: Richmond

5/10: Baltimore

5/11: Brooklyn

5/12: Philly

5/14: Chapel Hill

5/15: Charleston

5/16: St. Augustine

But what will it sound like? Look at that picture to the right. Now, imagine those creatures playing heavy psychedelic surf rock filtered through a lack of discernible skill, ring modulators, fuzz pedals, delays, and old amps. Suppose that each song is in some way reflective of the philosophy proposed in the greatest movie of all time, Point Break. Now imagine these creatures flying through outer space on skateboards. Now imagine them eating tacos and watching Ninja Turtles III, Turtles in Time. Now imagine them maybe playing a concert for you. Wouldn't that be awesome? So you should come to a show.

RIGHTEOUS!!!