Michael Buell Jr's Blog
Posted by Michael Buell Jr
Manu Chao, one of the biggest music stars in the world, though far less known in the US, just finished a US tour for his new album, La Radiolina. Pitchfork got a hold of him for an interview where he talks about his tour, his new album, and his view of the world. He also touches on the process of making music, the how and the why of choosing a language for a song. Not always easy for someone who speaks several languages, including English, French, Spanish, Portugese, and Arabic. Fortunately for most readers, the interview is in English.
Manu Chao is one of the most talented and interesting performers anywhere in the world today. He doesn't often make it to the US, so hopefully you got to see him. La Radiolina was released in the spring in Europe to much acclaim. It will be released September 4th in the US. The official Manu Chao website has the latest information somewhere in its bewildering array of languages and colorful design.
Posted by Michael Buell Jr
Following the release of the track Dancing Behind My Eyelids, Múm has created a video for They Made Frogs Smoke 'Til They Exploded, another song on their forthcoming album, Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy. Pitchfork thankfully provides the video and more info on the upcoming album.
The video is hand-drawn and possibly computer animated by Ingibjörg Birgisdóttir, who looks like he also did the album cover artwork. The song itself is reminiscent of a lighter version of songs from the group's first, mostly instrumental album, Yesterday Was Dramatic, Today Is OK. The music is recognizably Múm, but exploring a different, cheerier soundscape. This is also the first album in three years (since 2004's underwhelming Summer Make Good ) as well as the first music since founding member Kristín Anna Valtýsdóttir left the group.
Múm's debut album, Yesterday Was Dramatic... is a personal favorite of mine. The apparent direction of the new album is an interesting take on the group's usual blend of live instruments and synth soundscapes. I look forward to hearing the full album.
Posted by Michael Buell Jr
Pitchfork's Forkcast is offering a new Black Dice track, Kokomo, to stream or download as an mp3. It has nothing to do with the Beach Boys song of the same name, but does offer a throbbing, almost-danceable beat and more sonic experimentation in the signature Black Dice style.
Kokomo is the first we've heard of the new album Load Blown, which will be released in October (10/23/07) on Animal Collective's label Paw Tracks, which also released Black Dice's 10th Anniversary 12", Roll Up.
Posted by Michael Buell Jr
DeVotchKa is a Colorado-based band combining traditional folk influences from South America, Greece, Eastern Europe and most places in between with punk and rock sounds. Traditional instruments such as the bouzouki play alongside a singer who plays electric guitar when he's not waving his hand in the air to manipulate a theremin. The band has received more attention since providing the soundtrack for Little Miss Sunshine last year.
Create Digital Music points to this live video from Spiegeltent in Manhattan two weeks ago. It features an impressive theremin solo from singer/guitarist/trumpeter/etc. Nick Urata. DeVotchKa's website bio says the theremin is homemade, though this may be a different one. CDM's Peter Kirn wryly points to this video as evidence the theremin can be used for something other than the original Star Trek theme. It has apparently gained popularity outside of fans of old sci-fi. The interesting thing is that the combination of traditional and modern sounds works. Not only that, it sounds quite good.
DeVotchKa are currently touring Europe and the UK to promote the European release of their most recent album, the much-praised How it Ends.
Posted by Michael Buell Jr
Japanese avant-noise rockers The Boredoms held their long-heralded event, 77BOADRUM, in New York City's Brooklyn Bridge Park last Saturday, 7/7/07. The event was a 77 member drum circle with Brian Chippendale of Lightning Bolt and Andy McLeod of Modest Mouse and Howling Hex among the many guests. Pitchfork has the full list of drummers, photos, full coverage with more photos and videos from the event.
It's also interesting to note that the event was covered in a New York Times article (free registration required), though it doesn't add much aside from a different perspective. All reports seem to agree that it was certainly an event not to be missed, though no one was exactly clear on what exactly was happening. A DVD of the event is being produced, though there is no release date at the moment.
Related links:
Posted by Michael Buell Jr
Reed Ghazala, father of modern circuit bending, has created a new instrument called the Fractal Oscillator. It is a modified Yamaha PSS-6, a popular keyboard for circuit bending because of it's low price and simple circuitry. The main modification is a magnetic patch bay mounted on the back of the keyboard. There are no sound samples as of yet, but Ghazala has a Flicker set of the Fractal Oscillator with descriptions. Thanks to Create Digital Music for the original post.
The Fractal Oscillator is the first such instrument to have magnetic patching built in, though Ghazala mentions that he used magnets to hold wires in place as far back as his first instrument, the Odor Box. He also notes an interesting option that magnetic patching opens up: the possibility of routing more than one signal to the same location, something that can't be done with jack connections.
Ghazala is filing a patent for the magnetic patching, but encourages benders to experiment with the technique. He plans to put up sound samples of the new instrument on his website soon.
Other circuit bending links:
Posted by Michael Buell Jr
Thomas Dolby is a pioneering musician and inventor, most famous for his 1982 hit single, "She Blinded Me With Science." An accomplished synth player and programmer, he has worked and played with artists from Def Leppard and Foreigner to David Bowie and Herbie Hancock.
In the first part of the Create Digital Music interview, he discusses his work from the '80s to the present and the future, electronic music and electronics in pop music, and his own musical influences. The second part delves into technical details of his live performance where he plays all parts of songs using a Mac laptop and custom software. He also has a VJ mixing live footage from various cameras, including a head-mounted one, so the audience can watch as he constructs songs.
Dolby maintains his own blog, mostly about his touring and new albums, on his website. His latest EP, "Live at SXSW," comes out next week and is a live set of Dolby and a brass section, the Jazz Mafia horns. His last released work was the DVD, "Live in Chicago," from a performance in May 2006.
Posted by Michael Buell Jr
To promote his upcoming album "Trojan Fader Style" Cylob has whipped up this nifty little web gadget that has streams for all the songs from his new single, "Rock the Trojan Fader," released today, July 9. It is the first release from Cylob Industries, the "digital label dedicated to releasing the electronic music of Cylob."
"Trojan Fader Style" will be released a week from today, on July 16. Information on the Cylob Industries homepage says it is one track that runs 58 minutes and 46 seconds. Interesting. Preview clips are also included below.
Also note that this Flash gadget is part of a promotion. If you post this widget on your blog, up to the new Album's release on July 16, Cylob will email you a free track. More details are on Cylob's blog.
Cylob Industries lists two more albums and a single coming out in the next few months.
For more Cylob info, tour dates, album releases, etc. check his artist homepage or his blog.
Posted by Michael Buell Jr
The doors open at 7:30 tonight for the last night of the Bent Festival, the mega-circuit bending event. This is the final night not only for New York City, but for the nationwide festival. Los Angeles and Minneapolis also held events this year. The concert will be held at:
Eyebeam Atelier 540 W. 21st Street, (between 10th and 11th Avenues), NY, NY
Artist lineup - Saturday April 28
Bent Festival - NYC site
Posted by Michael Buell Jr
Pitchfork is in love with German label Kompakt and seems to be doing everything they can to promote it. But, since most of the music, especially The Field, is actually pretty good, I suppose there's nothing wrong with that.
Currently, they are offering "Silent" for streaming listening pleasure off of The Field's latest album, From Here We Go Sublime. For those not familiar with The Field, Kompakt, or the minimal techno scene, for shame. All of your bearded hipster friends are going to laugh at you. I wrote another post about an interview with The Field over on Pitchfork a few weeks ago, which is a good introduction.
The Field is something like Ricardo Villalobos meets Múm. The beat is usually a endless loop of 4/4 thumping. There are no IDM-style drum acrobatics. But microsamples of instruments and voices create dreamy, borderline-ambient soundscapes.
Intelligent Dance Music would be an appropriate acronym if it weren't already appropriated. You can picture people dancing to it. The people you picture may be Scandinavians who need to get out more, but they're dancing nonetheless. But you can also appreciate it as an interesting piece of music to listen to.
Posted by Michael Buell Jr
Another week, another Four Tet song. Having recently released Tongues with Steve Reid and working on the new Fridge album coming out in June hasn't stopped him from doing the occasional remix. This one is for Matthew Dear's new single Deserter from upcoming album Asa Breed, coming out next week. It's a remix of the title track and you can listen to the whole thing streaming on his label Ghostly's page. Pitchfork also throws in their two cents.
Matthew Dear, who also produces music under several aliases such as Audion, False, and Jabberjaw, earned a reputation with his first album, Leave Luck to Heaven. The 2003 album's mix of pop vocals and minimal techno was lauded by many. His simple, but catchy melodies are a good match for Four Tet.
This remix is as close to techno as Four Tet gets, though the bass kick doesn't come in until the end. The beginning is two minutes of scratchy drums and synths, building tension before Matthew Dear's voice comes in. The remix only sounds vaguely like the original, but the vocals seems perfectly suited to the laid-back, almost-dance music.
Links:
Posted by Michael Buell Jr
Who knew that Konono No. 1 had a Myspace page? I suppose we are at the point where everyone who is anyone, even a non-English speaking African band with equipment hand-made from used car parts, is required to be on Myspace.
Konono No. 1 have been busy, collaborating on Björk's new album, Volta, out in May. They contributed backing music to the first single, "Earth Intruders," which also features production/programming from Timbaland.
On April 24th, they set off on a North American tour, where they will also be playing two or three dates (one is still unconfirmed) with Björk in New York City. The dates with Björk are May 2nd at Radio City Music Hall, May 5th at United Palace, and possibly, though as of yet unconfirmed, May 8th at the Apollo Theatre. They are also playing the Coachella festival, which Björk (and every other band you want to see) is playing, but there is no word on if they will perform together.
In support of this tour, last week Konono released a 35 minute, three track EP entitled "Live in Tokyo." The EP, consisting of live performances from Konono's tour of Japan last year, is only available as a digital download from iTunes in Europe and exclusively through eMusic in the US.
Tour Dates:
These are from Crammed Discs' site. Some dates have already changed and others may also.
24/04
USA
CHICAGO, IL
EMPTY BOTTLE
25/04
USA
MINNEAPOLIS, MN
CEDAR CULTURAL CENTER
26/04
USA
PORTLAND, OR
ALADDIN THEATER
27/04
USA
SEATTLE, WA
TRIPLE DOOR
28/04
USA
SAN FRANCISCO, CA
GREAT AMERICAN MUSIC HALL
29/04
USA
INDIO (LOS ANGELES), CA
COACHELLA ARTS AND MUSIC FESTIVAL
01/05
CANADA
TORONTO, ONT
PHOENIX CONCERT THEATRE
02/05
CANADA
MONTREAL
SPECTRUM
03/05
USA
PHILADELPHIA, PA
WORLD CAFÉ LIVE
04/05
USA
WASHINGTON DC
BLACK CAT
05/05
USA
NEW YORK
THE BOWERY BALLROOM
06/05
USA
CAMBRIDGE, MA
THE MIDDLE EAST
11/05
ICELAND
REYKJAVIK
REYKJAVIC ARTS FESTIVAL
10/05
ICELAND
REYKJAVIK
REYKJAVIK ARTS FESTIVAL
11/05
ICELAND
REYKJAVIK
REYKJAVIC ARTS FESTIVAL
13/05
UK
TOUR > 20/05
26/05
DENMARK
COPENHAGUE
GLOBAL COPENHAGUE
01/06
FRANCE
DIJON
TRIBU FESTIVAL
03/06
BELGIUM
BRUXELLES
ESPACE SENGHOR
12/07
FRANCE
ARLES
SUDS A ARLES
14/07
IRELAND
TBA
22/07
BELGIUM
TRENCIN
POHODA FESTIVAL
29/07
BELGIUM
BOECHOUT
SFINKS FESTIVAL
Konono No. 1 on Crammed Recordings
Konono No. 1 on Myspace
Posted by Michael Buell Jr
Lightning Bolt played Austin last night to what appeared to be a large and happy crowd. And Pitchfork has pictures. Pitchfork's comments echo the look of glee on the crowd of hipster faces. Lightning Bolt's official site has their tour dates, which unfortunately seem to end on the 27th of April. No word if more are being added, so see them while you can. They are the best band currently around in... whatever genre of music it is that they play. Their live shows never fail to disappoint.
For those unfamiliar with the group, check out their site and the free mp3s and videos. Make sure that you are prepared for sonic destruction. Lightning Bolt is Brian Chippendale on drums and "vocals" and Brian Gibson on bass guitar. They use these seemingly innocent instruments to create an incredible wall of sound the likes of which you may never again witness in your life. Both are former Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) students and both are active artists in other mediums. Their influences include heavy metal, Sun Ra, Harry Pussy, and many others. Their albums, including side projects, are usually published on Load records.
Their Myspace page describes them as a "two piece drum and bass outfit that is louder than many NASCAR events." Did I mention they're loud? The two Brians are creating some of the most interesting music currently out there. You are doing yourself a disservice if you don't give them a listen.
Posted by Michael Buell Jr
Yesterday, Pitchfork posted an interview with Axel Willner, sole member of The Field. In the interview, he talks about his debut album, From Here We Go Sublime, released last month on the German label Kompakt. If you've heard other Kompakt releases, The Field's music fits with the other experimental, stripped-down, 4/4, beat-heavy music. What separates Willner's music is his technique of sampling sections of songs so minute that they are unrecognizable and using them as the main hook of his songs over simple yet strong dance beats. Not that dancing is the first thing you think of when you listen to this music. All the individual elements are simple, but the result is a complex, vibrant atmosphere with a surprising range of emotion from song to song.
In the interview, Willner talks about his technique, his influences, and his day job as state liquor salesman in Sweden. He comes off as intelligent, friendly, and interesting. He's a rising star in a rising field of music, so check it out.
Posted by Michael Buell Jr
Until the new single (ignoring the digital-only single), Breathe, was released last week, The Cinematic Orchestra had not released new music since 2004's Man With a Movie Camera. The three track single features the triumphant return of Fontella Bass, last heard on The Cinematic Orchestra's 2003 album, Every Day. It also includes a shortened version of To Build a Home, the opening track of their upcoming album, Ma Fleur. It features Patrick Watson's unearthly vocals backed by strings and Jon Brion-esque piano. Sandwiched between these vocal masterpieces is the instrumental track, Colors, with mournful saxophones and clean acoustic guitar riffing on the same moods as the other songs.
If you want more information, read my Breathe album review. You can also listen to free streaming mp3s of each of the songs on The Cinematic Orchestra's Myspace page. Questions? Comments? Discussions. Don't be afraid to ask.
Links:
Posted by Michael Buell Jr
The Bent Festival is an annual celebration of circuit bending now in it's fourth consecutive year. This time, the festival has expanded to three different locations: New York, Minneapolis, and Los Angeles. The Los Angeles event wraps up tonight with lots of live music. Minneapolis is next week from the 19th to the 21st, and New York is at the end of the month, from the 26th to the 28th. All three events feature a free "Intro to Circuit Bending Workshop" as well as other workshops, lectures, and live music every night.
Look here for more coverage of the Bent Festival as it happens. If you want to know what circuit bending is, check out the article, Introduction to Circuit Bending. If you have any Bent Festival news, videos, audio, etc. please post in the discussions.
Links:
Bent Festival - LA, NY, MN
Posted by Michael Buell Jr
Wendy Carlos, in addition to creating the scores for classic films like A Clockwork Orange and Tron, created the first platinum selling classical record, Switched-on Bach, which also happened to introduce the synthesizer to a national audience. Matrixsynth points to an interview with the synth pioneer on NewMusicBox where she speaks on many subjects including advances in synthesizer technology, music composition, reaction to her work, and more. The interviewer describes Carlos as "completely down to earth" and I can't think of a more appropriate description. I didn't notice it at first, but the interview transcript goes on for several pages, far longer than the clips in the video at the top of the page. The same topics (and more) are covered in depth.
And in case that isn't enough information, you can check out The Official Wendy Carlos Website which has a compilation of interviews, a FAQ page, and a letters page where she answers visitor's questions. She also has resources for musicians, including MIDI files of some of her performances for study or arrangement. And in case she wasn't amazing enough, her page talks about her interests in map-making and studying eclipses.
Posted by Michael Buell Jr
Kieran Hebden (a.k.a. Four Tet) just doesn't stop making music, it seems. He and his bandmates from Fridge have revealed the release date of their long-anticipated new album, The Sun. It will be in stores in June 19, 2007 with ten tracks at around 52 minutes. Pitchfork provides the details and a downloadable track.
That track, "Eyelids," sounds very different than earlier released tracks. "Eyelids," except for a bit of synths at the beginning, stays away from electronic sounds. Guitars and drums create a more traditional post-rock sound. "Cutup Piano and Xylophones," a sample track offered in a Pitchfork interview in August, sounds more like Four Tet-style sample-based dreamy melodies. It may still be on the album, but under a different name.
The Pitchfork post also provides initial details on another Hebden side project, Fire Escape, a collaboration with avant-noisemakers Sunburned Hand of the Man, The album was recorded in a relatively short session in The Exchange studio in London and is heavily focused on improvisation. It will be released in August on Norwegian label Smalltown Supersound.
More news as it comes.
Related articles:
Album Review - Tongues: Review of Kieran Hebden and jazz drummer Steve Reid's latest collaboration.
Posted by Michael Buell Jr
Another CDM find, Wiel's Time Capsule (in an Electric Storm) is a Dutch blog (in English) offering streams and mp3 downloads of rare and out of print records from all over the world. Posts are sorted by country and labeled by genre. There is usually the option to stream songs or download full albums. The focus is on electronic, new wave, and anything with vintage synthesizers like Moog, ARP, or the EMS Synthi.
Some of the more random finds include a cover of Louie, Louie by a band no one seems to have ever heard of and a Mad Magazine multisided record from 1980. There's a lot of interesting stuff. And who can resist listening to an album called "Electronic Music to Blow Your Mind By!!!" by The Love Machine.
Posted by Michael Buell Jr
Yes, you read that right. Drums. Made of shoes.
Thanks to Create Digital Music for pointing out a video of Eric Singer, an electronic/experimental artist playing some sort of contraption that processes live radio signals. There is some looping and editing, but it's all done on the fly, in the middle of the performance. Even if you find that ho-hum, his drum kit is made from shoes. When have you ever seen that before? See it now before all of the hip Williamsburg bands catch onto the new "shoe" sound. I predict it will grow faster than that sample of a wildcat growl.
There's not a lot of information available about Eric Singer, not to be confused with Eric Singer, the KISS and Alice Cooper drummer. The Eric Singer from the video has a website, www.ericsinger.com, where he has other videos, songs and explanations of this and other of his sonic experiments. If you're looking for other drumming mixed with sonic experimentaton, look at the review of Tongues, Kieran Hebden and famed jazz drummer Steve Reid's latest effort.
Related links:
Posted by Michael Buell Jr
When you think of Edgar Winter, if you think of Edgar Winter, you probably think late '70s guitar rock. He does play guitar, but this Youtube video has him jamming on saxophone, drums, and an amazing synthesizer solo. The song is Frankenstein. The synthesizer is the legendary ARP 2600. The sound is pure rock. This is probably Winter's most famous song, though the song is often recognized more than he is. It was also one of the first instrumental rock songs to feature a synthesizer.
The ARP 2600 is pretty famous itself. It was a semi-modular synthesizer, meaning that it gave many of the abilities of a modular synthesizer in a convenient, portable package. The signal could be routed with cords like a modular synthesizer, but no new modules could be added. It proved immensely popular and has been used by many other musicians, from Herbie Hancock to Aphex Twin. The model in this video looks like one of the original "Blue Marvins/Meanies," which were made in extremely limited quantities. Most were given to musicians by the creator for free publicity.
I ran across the video on a seemingly unrelated blog, Stoic Monkey. I haven't seen it linked to from other synth/instrumental/electronic blogs, so I thought I'd post it here. If anyone wants to chat about synths, post something in the discussions.
Posted by Michael Buell Jr
Thanks to Create Digital Music for pointing out this Game Boy sound comparison from Herbert Weixelbaum. It's a detailed comparison with pictures of sound output from almost all Game Boy models, from the original "Classic" to the Nintendo DS. This is a follow-up to his old comparison. LSDJ was used to create the music. There is an mp3 of the music for each model and a discussion of the benefits and disadvantages.
Originally a guitarist in Axulyth, Herbert Weixelbaum is a multi-talented musician that works with chip music and bent instruments. His solo work appears on the 8bitpeoples compilation 8BP050 and the 8-Bit Operators Kraftwerk tribute album. He performs with B. Fleischmann as the electronic/circuit-bending duo505. His collaborative chiptunes project, dot.matrix, features Game Boy, Atari, and other vintage console sounds. You can find a lot of music to download on his site, as well as links to other projects and information.
Related information:
Posted by Michael Buell Jr
He's a prolific one, that Clint Mansell. As soon as I added that blog entry about his new label, Vive La Revolucion, he has added more tracks to listen to on the label's Myspace page and also points to the short film In the Wall, for which he composed the score.
The two new tracks are from the short film, In the Wall. Both are short and sound like other pieces of Mansell's film work. "Main Theme Clint's Mix" sounds like... music from Clint Mansell that you would hear over some film's credits. Interesting, but nothing new. "Tick Tock" is suspenseful and probably serves its purpose in the film, but is a bit too ambient for general listening. The tracks are more of a teaser for the film than the soundtrack, but both are unmistakably Clint. You can see the trailer for In the Wall and find out more information at the In the Wall Myspace page.
In a Suicide Girls interview (adult link, you have been warned) Mansell told the story of how he became involved with the film project. Apparently, the film-makers contacted him on Myspace and kept bugging him until he agreed. So if your idol has a Myspace page, this is proof that relentless, obsessive emailing does work.
Posted by Michael Buell Jr
8-Bit Operators: The Music of Kraftwerk is a compilation of Kraftwerk covers by various chiptune artists released on the Astralwerks label. Astralwerks is the home of Kraftwerk, as well as other major artists such as Air, Hot Chip, Fatboy Slim. The original idea for the album came from Jeremy Kolosine (a.k.a. Receptors), who also organized the album. It is available now from Amazon and iTunes.
If you have any interest in chiptunes, this should get your attention. Almost every major chip music artist from around the world is featured here. 8bitpeoples' Nullsleep and Bit Shifter both have tracks. Role Model and Oliver Wittchow, creators of the incredibly influential Game Boy music programs LSDJ and Nanoloop, respectively, also have tracks. Love of Kraftwerk will get people to do a lot of things.
Here is a complete track listing:
01. Bacalao - The Robots (Die Roboter) - Switzerland
02. Glomag - Pocket Calculator - USA
03. Covox - Computer Love - Sweden
04. Role Model - Showroom Dummies - Sweden
05. Nullsleep - The Model - USA
06. David E. Sugar – Radioactivity - UK
07. Oliver Wittchow – Kristallo - Germany
08. 8-Bit Weapon – Spacelab - USA
09. firestARTer - Computer World (Computerwelt) - Germany
10. Neotericz - Electric Café - Argentina
11. Receptors - Trans Europe Express - USA
12. Herbert Weixelbaum – Tanzmusik - Austria
13. Bubblyfish - It's More Fun To Compute - USA
14. Bit Shifter – Antenna - USA
15. gwEm and Counter Reset - The Man-Machine (Die Mensch-Maschine) - UK
What does it sound like? Like Kraftwerk on a Nintendo, basically. The covers often sound a lot more pop-ish than the originals, but they are ultra-catchy. Bit Shifter's cover of Antenna has been playing on repeat... in my mind. Seriously, I can't make it stop.
Previews of each track are available on the album's website and there are full tracks available to stream on the 8-Bit Operators Myspace page.
Related articles:
Posted by Michael Buell Jr
Clint Mansell has released tracks from his new record label, Vive La Revolucion on the label's Myspace page. Information on the new label is scarce, but he stated in a Suicide Girls interview (warning, adult site), that he plans on only releasing music that he wants to record. On vinyl. In limited quantities. So, PWEI fans, this may be your only chance to hear it.
The first track, "Pour L'amour de La ...," is much in the style of his soundtrack for The Fountain, ambient and ethereal. It uses a lot of soft synthesizer sounds, and sounds like something by Vangelis during their Blade Runner period. The second track, "I Can Feel You Slip..." builds up music around a lo-fi guitar riff and has a similarly dreamy quality to it. Definitely influenced by post-rock guitar bands such as Tortoise, Mogwai, et al., but more happy. It sounds like it should be on the Lost in Translation soundtrack with The Jesus and Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine. I found it quite catchy. He admits to being influenced by Godspeed You Black Emperor and Mogwai and it shows on both tracks. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Clint Mansell is a multiple award-winning composer and former member of seminal post-rock/punk group Pop Will Eat Itself. He is best known for his work with Darren Aronofsky on his films Pi, Requiem for a Dream, and The Fountain. His Myspace page has info about current music and film projects, a blog and other songs to listen to.
Posted by Michael Buell Jr
Kristian Vester is a Danish musician that goes by the name Goodiepal and sometimes Mainpal Inv. You might not have heard his name, but you have heard his music. He has created music for advertising for the movie The Matrix, Nokia, Lego, and Chupa Chups. Outside of advertising, he got his start with chiptunes and is renowned for his eccentric live performances and sonic experimentation in electronic music. He also teaches music theory and has lectured at Princeton and other ivy league universities. He also creates musical objects such as a clockwork birds that whistle and musical games involving models of the solar system, both of which he demonstrates in this video, found via Music Thing.
Note that the video is in Danish. Music Thing provides a transcript. You have to select the video from March 5, 2007 (in European format, DDMMYYYY). It also says "Goodiepal" in the descriptive text. He starts making music about 20 minutes in. I know it seems like a lot of work, but it is guaranteed to be unlike anything you have seen before.
Like many Scandinavian artists, Goodiepal got his start creating electronic music with chip music, programming the SID chip of the Commodore 64. There is an article about chiptunes up if you'd like to know more. Look for more info about our pal Goodiepal soon.
Posted by Michael Buell Jr
I'm Michael Buell Jr and I'm a music geek living in Madrid, Spain. I'm going to cover a very wide range of music in this section of the site. Everything from chiptunes and video game music to soundtracks, scores, and modern composers. This blog will have links to and discussion of news, tour dates, and other information.
To start things off, we have two appropriately diverse articles up. The first is my article about the hang drum and contributing writer Karen Secord on Will Ackerman's latest performance.
If you have questions, use the contact link in my profile and if you have comments, feel free to start a discussion. I will actively monitor and participate in the discussions. Don't be shy, I look forward to hearing from you.