AMNESIA : no fun fest 2009

My brother discovered my unused ticket to NO FUN FEST 2009. Unused because I found myself deathly ill on that particular sunday, a rarity for me, but my fever did not allow me to leave my bed that day! My brother ventured to Williamsburg alone with hopes of being immersed in noisicians' heaven. He did get to speak to Giffoni and Rehberg (of Mego fame), but the late Conrad Schnitzler was not to be seen or heard (Keith Fullerton Whitman stood in for him). Skullflower was much less than the hype would imply, as was Kevin Drumm. The Emeralds doodled around until something sort of jelled according to my brother and Merzbow cancelled!

That particular sunday night, as remembered by my brother, promised much, but delivered much less. Still, I would have loved to been at the seemingly last NO FUN FEST to grace Brooklyn.

ether^ra PUPPETS for QUAYS

After much hair-pulling and a few bouts of depression this is the result of my first ZOe patch. In tandem with the 266e, 261e, 291e and the 250, the ZOe is producing a little FM noise and some twisted pulse waves. I could have listened for hours!

Comp 92 / PUPPETS for QUAYS (w/ZOe) by ether^ra

ether^ra STOLEN FROM THIEVES vol. 2

From the soon to be available cd-r ether^ra STOLEN FROM THIEVES VOL. 2, "Erase" combines Buchla 200e/Serge sounds and found voice samples. Enjoy. Comp 91 / ERASE by ether^ra

CYNDUSTRIES ZOe

Finally got my hands on a lightly used ZOe...Let the exploration begin! Note the profound difference in module depth between the ZOe and a Buchla 259e. With this, the ZOe fits only on the far right of the middle boat of an 18-module cabinet. An incredible circuit-board sandwich produces insane sonic mayhem, clanging and liquid. Thanks to D.T. of the Synth and I blog.

MORTON SUBOTNICK

The Master supplies great Buchla 200e sounds and a glimpse into his current gear. Enjoy!

Cabaret Voltaire

A short taste of electronic greats Cabaret Voltaire, an austere vision that they embraced as a trio for which not enough credit has been given them. Great dystopian sonic smears of sound with Stephen Mallinder's grey monotonal vocals reflect their oppressively colorless Sheffield roots...a healthy dose of the Industrial Revolution...in black and white!

SERGE/BUCHLA SOUNDS

Comp 84 / DAWN CHORUS by ether^ra

SAMPLE & HOLD : planet-y / space station

Charles Cohen is criminally under-represented on cd. Mr. Cohen, master of the Buchla Music Easel, easily summons sounds on the Buchla Music Easel others just dream of, coaxing tactile restless insectoid wiggles and smatterings of sonic detrius that delight the ears of electronic music afficionados...and miraculously, he does this live!

On his Planet-Y / Space Station cd, performed live with Yanni Papadopoulos on guitar synth and Casio DG-20, Mr. Cohen delves deep into the Buchla, producing a single 28 minute exploration that points to black holes, cosmic radiation and spacey gamelan rhythms. Mr. Papadopoulos' guitar is mostly not guitar-like in any traditional sense, but more a vehicle for quasar-like noise. I was reminded of Pink Floyd's Ummagumma at times. Certainly Planet-Y sets the controls for the heart of the sun and takes us there, happily.