New Mexicoe on the Free Music Archive

Just a quick note to say that you can download the audio from New Mexicoe's "Flood Music" tape (which there were ten copies of) on WFMU's Free Music Archive.


Thanks to everyone who came out on Saturday and thanks to Uninhabitable Mansions for asking us to play with them! They'll be at Cake Shop on February 11th, opening for Savoir Adore. New Mexicoe will be there a few days later (the 17th), opening for The New Colossus.

(Special note for TD: that's "Style Wars" in the background)

"Downtown New York"

I saw "After Hours" for the first time last night and, noticing that Rockets Redglare was in it, I started snooping around the internet for stories surrounding his involvement.

What I found instead was this link to clips from "Downtown New York," a then-contemporary public access show with which I was otherwise unfamiliar.

Watching clips of Soho from the latter half of the 80s reminded me of this Glenn O'Brien article (to keep the NY public access theme going), about his realization that the neighborhood had become "too hot" for his handling. The gallery scenes from "Style Wars" come to mind as well (fast forward to 2:53).

Things change, I'm not saying anything new, but it's been on my mind recently and is one of those facts that manages to surprise me whenever I'm reminded of it.

$750 fuzzbox clone

This is a Univox Super-Fuzz clone that Big City Music is selling. For $750.


To a certain extent, I can understand the gear sluttery that leads to spending $750 on a fuzzbox: you're not buying a sound at that point-- you're getting the prestige that comes from owning a rare thing. And if you don't want it build one yourself, if you don't want to source the parts, etc., paying a bit of a premium for one can make sense. But for a clone-- say, buying a Beano instead of an actual Rangemaster-- it seems excessive to me.

What are the outer reaches of what you'd spend on a piece of gear that you want but probably won't be able to find? Would you be willing to spend pretty much the same amount on a more readily-available clone? Also, does having a Mudhoney EP named after that thing raise or lower its value to you?

Kip verification

I was leaving a comment on a Matrixsynth post and had to type the following before I could submit it:


I know I'm not exactly breaking ground by saying this, but Winger was the worst!



They were the first band about which I can remember thinking, "I really don't like what they're doing."

Open thread: what then-contemporary group(s) did you not like when you were growing up?

What does your personalized eBay say about you?

I just checked eBay for the first time in, um, days, and lo and behold, there were some "great finds" waiting for me:


Shure SM7s and busts of Alfred E. Newman. Thanks eBay.

What sort of things is the site picking out for you?

New compressors for the new year

There's a new FMR compressor? Yes. Yes there is:


Completely under the radar, FMR Audio-- whose RNC has been one of the better pro-sumer deals going so far this millennium-- are releasing their "no holds barred" PBC-6A mono compressor "soon." In standard FMR fashion, it's an ugly 1/3 rack-space hunk of plastic selling for much less than it should and sounding far better than it has to (I'm basing that last bit on the samples Mercenary Audio has up). Also in FMR fashion, while we're at it, their website hasn't been updated in years. What's the story?

Equally of note, Chameleon Labs' stereo/dual mono opto compressor, the Model 7802, should be out early next year:


Chameleon's product line is littered with bang-for-the-buck options of Neve and SSL clones, all of which get regular thumbs up marks on the boards. I've wanted a good optical compressor for about as long as I haven't been able to afford one and have been keeping watch for an in-depth 7802 review since the unit was announced last year-- I'll be sure to post the first one I find.

Speaking of compressors that can be set to DESTROY, I've had my eye on Standard Audio's version of the Shure Level Loc, the "Level-Or," for a few months now:


As far as 500-series modules go, it's cheap ($485!) and the no-fuss, no-metering operation screams "abuse me." Just turn everything up until it sounds like the channel is on fire and then add a little reverb. Viola!

And while we're talking about inexpensive tortured drum sounds, it turns out the old Yamaha SPX900--a reverb box you can get on eBay for a couple hundred bucks-- has been in the Flaming Lips arsenal for a while. Who knew! Check this out (thanks Tape Op forum!).

What gear do you all have your eyes on for the coming year? A pair of MX-5050s, perhaps?

M. Thomas Eisenstadt

Sorry about the recent lack of posts. We're still coming down from our Nov. 1st blow-out at Union Hall with The Tender & Vulnerable and Thee Iran-Contras. It was one for the ages and we'll be posting photos, videos and more soon. (Also, if you were there and took pictures, please get in touch!)

In the meantime, I just read that someone named Michael Thomas Eisenstadt came forward and claimed to be the source of the "Sarah Palin does not know anything" rumors, even though there's some speculation as to whether or not he exists off the page. His name sure looks like a Scrabble creation, so in a "Sneakers" move, I thought it would be fun to rearrange it and see what I could find...

...I recommend you do the same. Go to Anagram Genius and type in either "M. Thomas Eisenstadt," "Michael Eisenstadt" and/or "Michael Thomas Eisenstadt." They're all weirdly appropriate.

Actual news, as reported in an actual newspaper

From yesterday's Daily News:


What are the chances that one of these guys is the son of an editor?

Nodal

A few minutes after downloading Nodal last night, I realized that the only thing I'd be doing for the next week or so was connecting dots on a grid and clicking "play" to see what the drawing sounds like.

I haven't spent enough time with it to offer any tips, tricks or what have you, but as a general blanket recommendation, head over to their site and download the program (it's free). Be sure to grab their PDF tutorial, too-- you'll be up and running in a flash!

That said, Nodal is old news to some people. Has anyone reading this gotten comfortable with the software? Anything the rest of us should try that isn't covered in the manual? Please leave reviews/hints of any length in the comments. Thanks!

Game for the day

The company that owns (essentialy...) CBS, Viacom, Paramount Pictures, Dreamworks and Midway Games-- with everything owning those companies entails (this helps put it in perspective)-- has a website that looks like it was made in 1996.

Here's the game: as the National Amusements website is clearly template-based, find other sites that look just like it and leave their URLs in the comments.

1984

Me back in 1984 with my Commodore Vic 20
Originally uploaded by Extra Ketchup

I highly recommend searching for a random, bygone year in flickr sometime. You invariably find some real gems. For example. J-e-l-l-o!

If you like that, you'll also love this one. Oh, short shorts! And for more old computers, look over here! The last one isn't culturally nostalgic, at least not in the US. And finally.

"Crisis Core" on YouTube

I started playing the new Final Fantasy game "Crisis Core" last week, and as Jess can tell you, it's pretty much all I'm doing at this point. But I'm not screen-capping my progress and posting the entire game onto YouTube, because that would just be insane.

Luckily, if lunacy and questionable uses of free time are things you look for on the internet, be sure to check out this guy, who not only beat the game on "Hard" mode, but shared his experience with the rest of us. Enjoy:

De/Evolution

For a bigger, better version, head over to[ Yonkis.com ]

Barney Bubbles

Barney Bubbles not only made amazing psychedelic covers, he was also in The Imperial Pompadours (see below).

Kitty on Knitty

The pattern for the hand puppet in this totally unbelievable shot is available in the Winter issue of Knitty. I'm not sure where you get wood paneling like that, but I'm on the hunt.

Someone said I wasn't posting enough

This is an awesome project, which I love: A diary of carved blocks, complete with its own coded language. After the year was over, the artist housed the entire thing, including all the shavings from the carved blocks in a huge, specially built case and arranged the blocks not chronologically, but alphabetically by type of wood used. Next time we're in South Africa, you can bet I'll be giving this guy a call. I hope you're happy, Kellie Porter. I'm supposed to be writing a paper right now.

Barton Lee and Me

Nancy Sinatra posted this really lovely collection of photos of her and the late great Lee Hazlewood. Someday, after decades of work together, I hope The Shamblers will take a grizzly old photo like this one here.

I also love this one. "Of course now we would add the songs from Nancy and Lee 3 plus 'Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off.'" Yes!

Another great acting job on Craig's List

"Does your clairvoyant child want to be the star of a documentary?"

Does your child have an interesting story to tell?

Is your child spiritually perceptive or psychically gifted?

Do you want to have a short film to launch your story out into the world?

I'm thinking about auditioning for this one and just hamming it up "Clifford" style.

Speaking of which, can we all pause for a moment and reflect on how great that movie really is? If you've never seen it, or even if you haven't seen it recently, do yourself the favor and rent it tonight.

Criminal Minded

Jess found this on Craig's List:

"Real life criminal needed"

"You need to look and act like the real thing" is one of the job's qualifications, and it somehow cues a stronger laugh track for me than the ridiculous posting's title. You don't have to search very hard to find examples of non-criminals looking and acting like "the real thing," or of real criminals neither looking nor acting like "the real thing."

And, obviously, there are always the thugs of the upper crust--cut from an entirely different cloth and equally deplorable--to consider, though something tells me white collar thieves aren't exactly the type that's being cast here.

In any case, I'm thinking about applying for the part. I need a good backstory, though-- what should my imaginary rap sheet have on it?

Opening act: The Dils!

I can only imagine the "long hair contest" was Fear's idea. It seems like something they would do.

Anyway, these and others found here. Not the best looking site in the world, but worth checking out-- they've got some great fliers behind the links.