The Rough Windows Radio Hour: Winter Chill

Our week of daily music videos has ended. But if you're looking for more music, the Rough Windows Radio Hour, Program 5: Winter Chill might be just the thing. You can listen at Radio Free Flagstaff. It's a selection of music to chill out with as the temperatures drop outside, featuring Bjork, Proem, Millimetrik, and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir.

Xenis Emputae Travelling Band - Thalia

Mister Rogers Remixed - 'Garden of your Mind'

Proem - When Frailty Fails

Continuing our week of daily music videos ...

Cocteau Twins & Harold Budd - "The Ghost Has No Home"

Plinth - from "Music for Smalls Lighthouse"

Vashti Bunyan - Just Another Diamond Day

Fields of Ohio - Trembling Under a Pluto Station

I'll be posting a video per day for the next week to make up for the infrequency of posts these last few months. Hope you enjoy them!

iGod - Wendy Carlos and the Kubrick Rubric

Viola Organista - A Musical Instrument designed by Leonardo da Vinci

Find out more about it here.

'Magic Lake' - Margo Kolar

After Monday's Heinavanker performance, I started looking for other types of work by composer Margo Kolar. Here's a sample of what I found. More here.

Heinavanker Vocal Ensemble

We had the pleasure of seeing the Estonian vocal ensemble Heinavanker perform here in Flagstaff on Monday. Lovely music that delves into early Estonian sacred music and folkloric song. I was intrigued to discover that several of their pieces included overtone singing (often called throat singing). I was also interested to learn that Heinavanker's composer and artistic director, Margo Kolar, is the head of the Electronic Music Studio at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre.

Japanese 'Fahrenheit 451' Poster

Regular visitors to this site will be aware of my fondness for 'Fahrenheit 451.' I came across this striking Japanese poster for the film this morning. You can see more Japanese posters from the 'Swinging Sixties' here.

Sapphire

A quick marker sketch of Joanna Lumley as Sapphire in the 1979 British television series "Sapphire and Steel." I wouldn't be surprised if it's followed by a half-portrait of her partner sometime soon, as portrayed by David McCallum.

The Simonsound Transit Authority

Pye Corner Audio's Head Technician Speaks ...

... but still retains his appealing air of mystery. Click here for the interview.

Orionid Meteor Shower Soiree & Art Bazaar

Help keep nonprofit community media alive and FREE! Click here to learn more.

Prints from Tugboat Printshop

I like the intricate, psychedelic flair of these prints from Tugboat Printshop. See a whole gallery of them here.

'Hunting A Schizophrenic Wolf' by The Fucked Up Beat: CD Available Now!

A few months back, I had the pleasure of listening to 'Hunting A Schizophrenic Wolf' by The Fucked Up Beat (Eddie Palmer and Brett Zehner).

Here's what I wrote to them, more or less, after I had listened to it a few times:

"Hi Eddie,

Congratulations to you and Brett on producing a truly fine album. I listened to it several times today. I love it.

If I were in a writerly mood, I’d write something like “an entrancing, beautifully-shuffled sonic deck of beats, samples and shifting moods.” Which it is. But I’m feeling more casual, so I’ll just say I dug every minute of it.

The music on Roswell Radio Cult conveyed the era of 50’s sci-fi movies very effectively. The feel of HASW seems less identifiable to one specific time/place. This gives it a feel that is unsettling (in a good way) and very expansive. It seems to take place in a larger psychic territory. It propels a long strange trip to places that seem familiar, but on closer inspection, seem quite alien.

I like music pulled together from unconnected sources. HASW has a unity and smoothness and elegance that only the best of this type of music attains. It holds that high level of accomplishment throughout.

To be more specific though: Track 1 pulled me in right away. Track 2 deepened the mood. The sound heard at the beginning and end of track 3 I found very affecting. At the beginning of the track, it sounded like maybe a machine in a factory. But when it reappeared at the end of the track, there had been a really lovely shift of mood, and it made me think of a ghost turnstile, slowly spinning away in an unused train station (oh, maybe I am in a writerly mood).

I love how these slower, more poetic moments morph so easily into really incredible grooves, like the ones in tracks 7 and 9.

Track 6 was lovely and touching. I can listen to sounds like that all day. The last track is memorable, too. It began as sort of a perfect steel-drum (?) cool-down. But then it veered away into much stranger territory. A very good turn of events. Musically, I like a trip to leave me wandering in a weird desert rather than leave me tucked cozily back in my bed.

Great work!

Jim"

The CD is available now at Daddy Tank Records.

AKB48 -- The Exuberance of Japanese Pop Culture

I'm new to the music of AKB48. But this video is a perfect distillation of the endearing, energetic goofiness of Japanese pop culture and the super-stylized imagery of anime. Part of my attraction to anime is the way 'reality' is not allowed to anchor works of the imagination to the ground by way of ill-advised attempts to be 'gritty' or 'realistic.' This music video combines miniskirted super-cops, giant monsters, biker girls, 'Ringu' styled ghost girls, and a ton of other anime staples in six souped-up minutes of off-the-rails fun. Watch it here.

New RW Radio Hour on Radio Free Flagstaff

The third 'Rough Windows Radio Hour' is now on Radio Free Flagstaff. 'Program 3: Driving Beats' features music by The Flaming Lips, Eno & Byrne, 808 State, Boards of Canada, Amon Tobin and Proem. Click here to listen.

TinCanForest Prints

Lovely prints of a lyrical, folkloric nature now available from TinCanForest. See more here.

'Animals Big and Little' - 1940

I like the soft, dreamy quality of these illustrations by Billie Waters. From 'Animals Big and Little' by Ray Edwin, 1940, Grosset & Dunlap.

Vintage Textbook Illustration #3

'Life Through The Ages' published by Harper & Row,1963. Front and back cover art by Harold Price.

Julian House Interview at The Quietus

A fascinating talk with artist, musician, and Ghost Box co-founder Julian House at The Quietus.

'The Fireman' -- An Audio Project inspired by the film 'Fahrenheit 451'

'THE FIREMAN' is an audio project I've been working on for some time now. It's a suite of musical settings inspired by the 1969 film 'Fahrenheit 451', directed by Francois Truffaut from the novel by Ray Bradbury. 'The Fireman' is a musical-mini-meta-headphone-movie -- an alternative universe version of the film. (It is more directly inspired by the film than Bradbury's novel.) It's a 29-minute audio daydream of a movie that's now almost fifty years old. You can hear it by clicking here. (Note: no dialog, music or sound effects are sampled from the film,)

Empty Avenues - John Foxx and The Belbury Circle

Fahrenheit 451 - Oskar Werner as Montag

A sketch I did while watching the Truffaut film for about the millionth time. I absolutely love Oskar Werner's portrayal of Montag.

Sir Donald Tovey - 'The Mainstream of Music & Other Essays'

A while back, I posted the cover of the book on the left, which I liked for its elegant cover. I found another book by Tovey last week, and was equally impressed by the cover of this one. It was published by Meridian Books in 1959.

'Arrythmia' by The Fucked Up Beat

Aldous Huxley - 'The Crows of Pearblossom'

Taking a break from knocking down the doors of perception, Aldous Huxley wrote this children's story. From the local library's used book sale.

Treasures IV - American Avant Garde Film 1947-1986

A good friend sent me this splendid collection of avant garde films a couple of weeks ago. Brakhage, Mekas, O'Neill -- and a couple of great surprises, like Lawrence Jordan's 'Hamfat Asar' and Shirley Clarke's 'Bridges-Go-Round' (with music by Louis and Bebe Barron). Find out more here.

'The Forms of Music' by Sir Donald Tovey

Very nice jacket design on this 1959 paperback from Meridian Books.

Peter Serafinowicz's 'Solid Steel Radio Show'

In case you missed this last week, here's Peter Serafinowicz's terrific Boards of Canada-flavored mix from his 'Solid Steel Radio Show.' Peter is one of the two brilliant creators of the BBC's 'Look Around You' series.

'The Family Handyman DO IT YOURSELF Encyclopedia,' 1970

IPEM - 50 Years of Electronic Music at Ghent University

Just received my copy of this beautifully designed book and the two CDs that accompany it. Not being familiar at all with Belgian electronic music, I'm anxious to dig in. The opening of the book is promising: it reprints a complaint left on the Institute's door by a neighbor. "Gentlemen of IPEM: When you think you have to make ridiculous sounds;then be informed that your neighbors can hear them. So, please close the windows. If not, we will take action. Thank you, and keep this in mind!!"

Two Collages

Two collages from a while back, 'Vision' and 'Pilgrim.'

Ultraman Adversaries

Dolmen

A dark, brooding, ten-minute drone, in case you need a break from all this beautiful summer sunshine.

'Shapwick' by Jon Brooks - Available Again!

Clay Pipe Music has announced a new pressing of Jon Brook's 'Shapwick' LP, available now for pre-order. 380 hand-numbered copies are scheduled for release on June 24, 2013, complete with a new owl for the back cover. If you want one, don't wait too long to pre-order -- this is a Jon Brooks record, after all.

The Elephant's Child

More exotic images sprung from a combination of masks, face-paint and music. These photos were taken at a production of Kipling's 'The Elephant Child,' performed here in Flagstaff last Friday night by the talented students of the Pine Forest School's third grade class.

Yaqui Easter Ceremony 1977

Beautiful photos by Tom Ives from a 1977 issue of 'Arizona Highways' magazine. The photos were taken during a Yaqui Easter ceremony. I couldn't help but think of Charles Freger's 'Wilder Mann' book when I saw these.

Listening Center with Pye Corner Audio

Ghost Box announces another installment in the Study Series. I enjoyed Listening Center's 'Example One' very much, so I'm anxious to hear this.

The Rough Windows Radio Hour, Program Two

Program 2 of "The Rough Windows Radio Hour: Tubes Wires, Circuits and Reels" features Delia Derbyshire, John Cage, Daria Semegen and Roger Limb, among others. Click here to listen! You can listen to the first RW program on Radio Free Flagstaff. I created the photo-collage seen above for a flier I've been putting up around town, in hopes of bringing more Flagstaff residents to this blog.

'Reach for the Dead' from 'Tomorrow's Harvest' - Boards of Canada

RW Radio Hour Art, Programs 2 and 4

Here are my title cards for 'Rough Windows Radio Hour,' programs 2 and 4.

You can hear 'Program 1: Getting Acquainted' on Radio Free Flagstaff, and also on Mixcloud.