Catching The Waves

Comfort Blanket

I don't know about you, but the arrival of autumn gives CTW the chance to drink hot chocolate, kick clouds of fiery leaves into the air and don a snug duffel coat made of free ambient-ish electronica.

Hailing from Spokane in Washington state, USA, Joseph Snodgrass, otherwise known (and who can blame him?)* as The Lights Galaxia, is an ambient/electronic musician who has capered onto the CC front lawn with Global, a collection of four tracks that's more comforting than a mug of liquid caramel topped with marshmallows. Carl Sagan's ghost has helped fluff the pillows and smooth out the sounds. No, really.

We begin with Forever Arriving - any jokes about my review schedule will see your Internet Membership revoked - wherein the ambient voices and clattering of everyday life underpin drifting piano and synth chords that refuse to resolve until the final moments. By the end, there's nothing left to listen to but people in the street, time having come to a standstill. You won't be raving/head-banging/having it large/enjoying your banker's bonus to this record.

After that, it's - TA-DAH! - my recommended track, which is an adult lullaby that should appeal to fans of (Danish music astronaut) Trentemøller and (Oxfordshire studio rats) Radiohead. In While She Sleeps (Morning Edit), you'll hear gossamer-thin, intimate synths meld with other fluffy, pulsing synths, the flapping of butterfly wings, and pixies drumming on acorn shells. In other words, it's a very clever collection of layered pads combined with lightly percussive synths and just plain percussion that's panned across the stereo spectrum so as not to clog up the mix. How to describe it further? It's like bunnies kissing.

The Lights Galaxia - While She Sleeps (Morning Edit)

Tokyo Metro takes two full minutes of chewy, crackly, ambient strap-hanging to get underway under the power of a brooding, surprisingly funky bassline and reverberating guitar accompaniment; it ends with an ambient tail that's long enough to return the mood of the track back to the original platform. Good stuff. The soundscape reminds me of DJ Side's low-passed, reverberating Bittersweet Love EP - which is more good stuff.

The final stop on the global tour (Mr S, you can have that dreadful pun free of charge for your promotional T-shirts) is The Last Lights In The City. The central motif is the oh-so-soulful epiano blues/jazz chords that swap so slowly that there's time for separate notes of each chord to pan from one ear to the other and back again. The steady diet is leavened with more Trentemøller-ish synth murmurings. If you're in doubt: it's gorgeous. You'll have to listen to it in the shower because if you hear it whilst having a bath you will undergo a short coma and wake up with your big toe stuck up a tap.

Global is intended to be a preview of a full concept album about the increasing urbanisation of the Earth, The Cities Global, to be released in 2010; I suggest that it wets the whistle most effectively. Please keep an eye out for the album, or at least let Joseph know you enjoyed it.

The Lights Galaxia - Global EP

Luxus-Artica Records International (1st release!)

Hang on. Sit down. I'm not finished. As luck would have it, just as my dinosaur-like cerebral cortex was deciding to write about Global, I discovered that one of my favourite music blogs had already written about it. Hurrah, said I, for I'd been looking for an excuse to mention this music bolthole for ages:

Travis Noble's Hiddenplace Music is a calm, soothing blog that, unlike the mongrel Catching The Waves, specialises in reviewing ambient and downtempo music. Reasons to drop by: interesting, high-quality selections; authoritative, judicious reviews; a "blog news box" that collates CC releases, thus providing the curious visitor with hours of exploratory fun, and a restrained blog design courtesy of Travis's secret identity as a graphic designer. Oh, and there are six mixes of netlabel music to explore. I must mention the excellent Solipsistic Nation podcast that Travis put together in January, highlighting his pick of the best netlabel releases of 2008. I've listened to it quite a few times over the last year; its blend of chat and dreamy ambient music is so beguiling. Yes, 2008. Yes, I am that out of date. You should see my haircut.

Hiddenplace Music (gets a spot in *gasp* CTW's General Netlabel Sites category)

*I'm so naughty. Sorry, Joseph.

Time Off For Good Behaviour

Some CTW readers might have been frustrated recently by reading my reviews of the fabulous Professor Kliq here and here only to find that they can't listen to the praiseworthy music. To cut a long story short, Patrick Haour, the very nice if tremendously hirsute Head of Music at Jamendo, suggested to the Prof that it might be a good idea to withdraw his albums because they contained a few samples taken from commercial works and therefore contravened the original artists' copyright agreements. The Prof duly complied, and hence I had to leave notes on the relevant reviews apologising for the absence of top-notch funky, ambientish Big Beat.

However, the recidivist has returned and is ready to pay his debt to society. The Prof has reworked some of the tracks from his albums and compiled them into a completely fluffy, legal and non-litigious collection of tracks entitled Community Service 2005-2009. As a certain shame-faced muso admits at the end of Apt 808, the first track on the album: "I, er, got an email from Patrick and, er, [nervous chuckle] yeah, looks like we got some cleaning up to do." Cue the sound of a vacuum cleaner. Heh.

A minor quibble: the album's mastering level seems a little high compared with Le Kliq's previous records, and occasionally there is a preponderance of high frequencies that are a tad harsh on my battered ears. This might be a consequence of the tracks' remodelling or, more likely, my impending decrepitude but worry not; overall, they're still a pleasure for the eardrums.

Having spent no little time on reviewing his previous criminal records - look, there's no way I was going to resist that pun, so deal with it - I'm not going to bore you further with my opinion of the Prof's retooling of old works. All I will say, apart from the fact that Der Kliqster must be the love-child of James Brown and FatBoy Slim, is that you should kliq (Ach, CTW, you kill me viz dis ting you call “hughmer”) the list in the Jamendo player and play Bust This, Bust That and The Most Beautiful Day. (RSS subscribers, you'll just have to don rubber gloves and strip-search Catching The Waves if you want to hear the music.) After that, thank the heavens for the wonderful world of Creative Commons, download Community Service (2005-2009), and share it with your friends, families and parole officers. You might also consider leaving a small donation at Professor Kliq's Jamendo page to help him with his rehabilitation into society.

Remember, play these tracks first (click on the album's title and you'll get a pop-up list): Bust This, Bust That = big beat/electronica nirvana, and The Most Beautiful Day = big beat/superb downtempo funk/nutty voiceover. If you don't play them before the other tracks - well, I know a guy called Otis who's feeling a little lonely now the Prof is free to walk the streets.

Professor Kliq - Community Service 2005-2009

Professor Kliq website

Jamendo

Enjoy It While It Lasts

You'll see from the title of his quirky album that QuarterBIT, a talented cove from sultry Barcelona, has loosed his floe of ambient on the icy waters of the internet without so much as a glance at his spell-checker. Ah me. You should know by now that free music can't afford sub-editors. Besides, this is the internet; anyone can make a tipo typo.

There's not much point in listening to this on your daily commute unless you have high-quality noise-cancelling headphones. The Antartica Files is a pure ambient album, by which I mean that it's all field recordings, so it'll get bullied by extraneous real-life ambient sounds like planes, trains and automobiles. And other John Hughes films.

Hey, where do you think you're going? Come back here, buster. Listen up. I know it's ambient. I know it won't make your rump do the rumba. Nevertheless, if you're feeling a bit jaded about music or you love sounds for their own sake, try one track - then I'll let you go. As you'll hear, there are few more beautiful sounds in this world than church bells, especially the deep, round, full chimes that appear towards the end of Church. Lovely.

QuarterBIT - Church

Just about the only track here that sounds overtly manipulated is Harbor Harmonic, where seagulls compete to see whose mournful screams sound most like a mellow Eddie Van Halen. It's either a marvellous layering of different recordings, some tasteful pitch automation, or Hitchcock was right and the birds are up to something.

QuarterBIT - Harbor Harmonic

This being ambient, there's an obligatory inclusion of crashing waves. Most ambient beach recordings tend to concentrate on the higher frequencies; not so in Antarctica Surf (correct spelling!), where you'll feel the weight of hundreds of tons of ice-cold water pound a pebbly shore.

Parade features some jolly car horns and a trad jazz band that will go in your right ear and out your left like a hot knife through ICan'tBelieveMyGreyMatterIsSoPliable Butter.

A female relative of mine (who has dropped a couple of ankle-biters) says this type of album is good for someone who is with child. Perhaps she's right. Mind you, I think she was listening to something a bit more vigorous a few months earlier.

There are so many details here that will tickle the tired ear: a motorboat that sounds like a wallowing warthog; a droning fly; snatches of conversation; footfalls; querulous sheep, a clanking gate (a nice way to end the track Sheep); and water, water, everywhere, be it running water (At The Glacier), lapping waves & bubbling streams (The Ice Island) or churning, frothy pools (The Waterfall).

I hope the above verbiage gives you an idea of what to expect. I suggest you find a quiet corner, press “play” and let the magic of audio transport you to everyday but wondrous places around the world. If you need more of the same, stick your head out of a window and listen anew.

There will be some strange people out there who insist that music should include esoteric things like instruments, notes, melodies and rhythms. Yeah, I know; weird. Still, CTW is a fat broad church so I've done something startling and included a second album for your delectation.

This classy compilation of burgeoning ambient artists is the most recent product from the same label, PublicSpaces Lab, that released The Antartica Files. As this is not a proper album review, it's fitting that the album is named Ceci n'est pas une pipe. The sound quality is excellent throughout, there are some winning tracks lodged between the plethora of ambient sounds and drones, and four dimensions (time & space) and the truth (laziness) are forcing me to cut this review far too short.

Somio has pulled a flanker with San Feliz, a track inspired by numerous sojourns to northern Spain. It's far too upbeat, cheery and hip to be described as ambient. But we won't complain, will we?

Somio - San Feliz

And despite lettering that's driving my Anglo-Saxon keyboard round the bend, Løser's Núr is definitely worth a listen. The unimportant stuff: drones, trip-hop, ethereal vocals, camera noises. The important stuff: it's good. If you like ambient-ish downtempo grooves with a dash of electronica, this'll be your pint of porter.

Løser - Núr

Not bad, hmm? Ceci N'est Pas Une Pipe also comes with an excellent booklet that gives lots of information about the contributing artists, including one QuarterBIT. And that's it. C'est tout. Run along, gang. You might get some music next time.

QuarterBIT – The Antartica Files (link to zipped album)

QuarterBIT on MySpace

Various Artists – Ceci N'est Pas Une Pipe (link to zipped album)

PublicSpaces Lab netlabel

Trail Mix

Raised in Bogotá, Colombia and of Japanese descent, Nobara Hayakawa is trained in jazz singing, holds degrees in Graphic Design and Fine Arts from Universidad Nacional de Columbia and Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, and is currently a lecturer at two Colombian universities. But I won't hold that against her; CTW accepts anyone, no matter how clever.

In the first track out of six, Trail, Ms Hayakawa sings in Japanese and wordless vocals; the latter are used for most of the album (with a splash of English), so all you monoglots out there can relax. It's about "the love/hate pendular movements that one experiences under the effects of a caprice” and there is indeed a little tension in the stunning wash of vocal harmonies that dominate this song. The luxuriant vocals are panned either side of the insistent, tinny percussion that nags away as though someone was tapping on the computer screen to get your attention.

Nobara Hayakawa - Trail

Now you know that Ms Hayakawa can hold a note or three, you might expect some decent singing in the next track. Clever you; you're right on the nose. In fact, there are some lovely swooping vocal phrases that are strongly reminiscent of Kate Bush. What you might not expect is a hoover, even though the track is named Hoover Love. Take your mind out of the gutter. It's surreal to listen to this charming song's tick-tock percussion and piano and then hear a vacuum cleaner start up in the background, begin to roar like a jet engine and then, for a few enchanting seconds, match the song's pitch before slowly fading away. If nothing else, it'll change your opinion of carpets.

Alas is a gentle vocal workout with a soothing piano accompaniment and synth embellishments. Towards the end of the track, a bass pad underlines the wistful atmosphere. Nobara responds by exploring her lower vocal register.

To Desalejar, where the listener will enjoy some crusty distorted vocals, a memorable synth melody and another lovely bed of vocals. Again, her swooping lines, overt emotionalism and willingness to incorporate unusual ambient sounds into her songs lead me to think that Ms Hayakawa is a Kate Bush fan – and that's before I mention the steam whistle coda. Of course, I might be wrong. We all know that I'm an idiot.

The hums and ambient noises at the start of Fuzzy Lady are interrupted by an amplified, reverberating slow drag down a guitar string - it's the nastiest sound you'll have heard since your least favourite teacher last scraped chalk down a blackboard. It's followed by a piano, the obligatory enchanting vocals and - to continue the earlier household cleaning theme - a washing machine. There's also a voiceover from an ancient detergent advert, jazzy piano chords, cooing vocals, sleepy guitars and a drum machine that sneakily ups and drops the tempo as the mood takes it. Would you expect anything less? I didn't like Fuzzy Lady at first, but subsequent listens have revealed it to be a beautiful piece of ambient-ish, atmospheric electronica.

Finally, the first minute of Homelessness, consisting as it does of lacklustre synths and distorted rumbling, is rather disappointing, but its second is fortunately hijacked by a very low-fi drum beat and an ear-meltingly gorgeous melody – sung in English, no less. It was written "after reading too much Paul Auster and crying too much for the same ghost". Artistic hangovers are evidently more spiritual and productive than my cheap and nasty alcoholic ones.

There's no Donate button on the album's release page at Intervall-audio, but the netlabel does have a shop dedicated to German & Japanese electronica, mainly from Düsseldorf & Tokyo, so feel free to let your wallet run amok. Nobara Hayakawa's website is similarly absent of shiny money buttons, but I'm sure she'd be delighted to receive a few emails saying how her album has made the world a better place. She's also on the lookout for musical collaborations, so don't be shy.

My thanks to Phlow, Free Albums Galore and everyone else who has already commented on Trail. I have never claimed to be original - just handsome.

Nobara Hayakawa - Trail EP (zipped album and preview mp3s on netlabel release page)

Nobara Hayakawa - Trail EP (zipped album and full individual mp3s, baby, at archive.org)

Nobara Hayakawa home page

Intervall-audio netlabel

Never Mind The Width; Feel The Quality

The astute blurb on the release page at IDMf netlabel for Halogen - Length and Brecht (Remixed) compares it to a classical composition. Uncannily, the EP, consisting as it is does of one track by Halogen, a Brighton-based artist, and three remixes by other musos, feels as though it's the work of one person bent on producing a four-movement composition; there isn't the usual jarring, though often enjoyable, scramble of disparate sounds one associates with remixes essayed by musicians eager to parade their own production's fireworks.

Halogen's original track features a langorous descending piano motif in an abyssal acoustic that is so big it allows for the hammering of the top notes, whose fortississimo is made bearable by the cushioning reverb. A ghostly female vocal joins in and wraps your ears in swaddling clothes while a cello adds to the warmth. Remove 60 seconds from the five-minute running time and you have a contender for the chill-out track of the year. The combination of a cavernous reverb and a leisurely theme reminds me, scandalously you might think, of Vaughan Williams's Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, composed specifically to take advantage of Gloucester Cathedral's superb acoustics. It's a wafer-thin connection, to be sure, but the ethos - if not the execution - is similar.

Strangely enough, the third track, the Field Rotation remix, is a gnat's todger longer than Halogen's original, but feels shorter even though the pace is funereal. A feather-light percussive rhythm, bass booms and swirling vocals blend into the mix to make something that should not be listened to while operating heavy machinery. Play it on a good stereo and alert the coast guard for beached whales. /badtaste

The tempo ups with the appearance of the Woodnote remix, whose synths and crunchy, granular goodness are the fibre in Halogen's musical muesli. It forms an impressive ending to "/Remixed/" as we must call it.

Today's recommended track, Synaecide's remix, (track two) could be described as the allegro of the four movements. Its snippets of the album's overriding piano motif and heart-stoppingly beautiful grainy vocals will give listeners a taste of what to expect elsewhere in the EP. However, Synaecide has also pressed the big red button marked (wears nose-peg in distaste) “IDM” and given us a whirlwind of glitches and clicks that provide an outlet for the suppressed emotion in the other three tracks. It becomes an electro romp with a gnarly bass line punctuated by a brief mid-riff "skip" in tempo; a compositional flourish that I'm sure RWV would have enjoyed. If Woodnote adds fibre, this adds roughage. Halogen - Length and Brecht (Synaecide Remix) is track two in the Soundcloud player below, which has barged its way in like an orange sore thumb because IDMf doesn't supply an open mp3 link for CTW's Yahoo media player, which is now feeling increasingly sorry for itself. (Feed readers click here to listen.)

Free music is rather scrumptious, isn't it?

I'm now going to undermine completely my pretentious burblings about over-arching compositional structures, etc., by advising listeners to rearrange the tracks' order so that Halogen's effort is followed by Woodnote's and then Synaecide's. That way, your ears build towards a climax (I apologise for that mental image) and then get a rubdown from Field Rotation's chill-out track: when the piano motif resurfaces, it feels like an old friend has returned. I've listened to /Remixed/ a lot and the track order is the only minor quibble I have, even though I've wibbled on about the importance of structural unity. Me = idiot. The album is a treat however you want to listen to it.

I dust memove by - sorry, I must remove my nose-peg to admit that I have nothing against IDM per se apart from the term itself, which I think is nonsensical and divisive. I especially have nothing against IDMf netlabel, which should be proud of itself for releasing such marvellous collections, and the IDM Forum, which should be proud of itself for keeping its shy and retiring members safe and secure in their little padded cells. Please keep the wardens on their toes by sending the netlabel lots of congratulatory emails and a promise of a gold watch - if a Paypal icon ever appears on their site. ;)

Halogen - Length and Brecht (Remixed) (link to zipped album & individual files)

Halogen's blog and MySpace

IDMf netlabel

Motor Skills

Professor Kliq - Trip Home from Harald Walker on Vimeo.

The video is closed because the Prof is sorting out some minor copyright problems. *wags finger* Naughty boy. Never fear, he's going to republish his music in the near future - and this time it'll be pure Kliq. I'll let him explain.

Harald Walker (of the very accomplished Sonic Walker, source of countless fine netlabel mixes and a much nicer blog than mine, damn him) has made an excellent video for Trip Home, Professor Kliq's ambient-ish triphop ode to the surreal experience of getting back to the family home/wigwam/igloo. There are lots of nice touches, such as the blurred scenery that accompanies the introduction of ice-cool flanging drums, which show that Harald really knows how to track the mood and tempo of a song. The flashes of humour, like the bicyclist riding while holding an umbrella (who does that?), and a couple's snatched kiss, balance the trippy effect that comes from a sideways look at life flashing by.

EDIT: The comedy cycling routine is apparently quite common in Holland. Spot the odd one out: Rembrandt, Cruyff, a tolerant society, great beer, a cricket team capable of beating England, unicycle with red nose and huge feet. You see now the error of your ways. Stop it and get wet like everyone else.

Trip Home is a track from Professor Kliq's most recent album, The Scientific Method, Volume II, (available from Rec72 netlabel & Jamendo) and displays his recent penchant for splicing ambient sounds amongst his rock-solid rhythms and melodic wanderings. CTW has already reviewed the Prof's wondrous penultimate platter, Guns Blazin' and once again recommends readers to give it and The Sci-Meth 2 disc a try. If you like Fatboy Slim, big beat, funk, and hip trip-hop, you really should investigate him and brighten your weekend.

The Prof is a little under the weather at the mo, so let's hope he enjoys this, the first video ever to grace the hallowed halls of CTW Towers. My sincere thanks to Harald for his exceptional patience in advising me how to use my motor skills and opposable thumbs. You could also brighten Harald's weekend by visiting his website to see how a real Creative Commons music blog should be done. Git. Nice work, H.

Professor Kliq (link to review of Guns Blazin' and other info re. the Prof)

Sonic Walker (as professional as CTW is amateurish - so it's very professional)

The gamut of emotions from Q to Z

The 5th Qwartz Electronic Music Awards ceremony was held in Paris on 3rd April. It was quite a gathering, full of electronica bigwigs. Unfortunately, I couldn't honour my gilt-edged invitation and attend the glittering ceremony in the Cirque d'Hiver because my Learjet was grounded in the Caymans, awaiting a new crunk juice cup. But it wasn't all bad news. Professor Lawrence Lessig, creator of the Creative Commons licence concept, received a well-deserved Qwartz d'Honneur pour l'Innovation for enabling artists to take part in a global sharing culture and know-nothing music blogs to sully it.

All right, sez you, scratching your string vest while pausing momentarily in your search for hamster porn, what's that got to do with the price of fish?

I'll tell you, scruffsters: in October 2007, this greasy corner of the net reviewed and recommended an utterly superb album, Urlaub auf Balkonien by Krill.minima. Lo and behold, after sifting through 430 albums (I know the feeling) the Qwartz jury, with the aid of the public's votes, gave the "Best Album" Qwartz to the very same. Congratulations to both Krill.minima and Thinner netlabel. Other nominees included Autechre (yes, that Autechre), so both artist and label should be very proud of themselves and have an extra slice of cake with their tea.

Over 3 million people have visited the Qwartz website over the last five years - it's exciting to think that many thousands of people have heard/watched the nominees in the various categories and taken the trouble to vote. Roll on the 6th awards!

Such great news deserves another attempt by me to try and get the album cover to appear without mucking up its dimensions/pixel quality:

         

Sigh. So much for opposable thumbs. To make up for my technological shortcomings, here's the opening track. It will have you running baths and lighting candles in no time:

Krill.minima - Somerdellen

Ah, that's better.

I can tell you're itching (literally) to get back to your search for dirty movies involving small fluffy things, so I'll bring this to an end. Find mp3/album links to this superb slice of ambient electronica in my original review, deep in the sepulchral bowels of Catching The Waves. Remember to wash your hands when leaving.

This album has been rated IDM and is suitable for all IQs over 18

(I.D.M., the tag used on this album's mp3s, stands for "Intelligent Dance Music". It's a loathsome, divisive moniker so please understand that I've used it in this review's title because I'm highly proficient at weak humour.)

Listening to this three-track EP by Detroit resident Richard Sudney, released under his artistic pseudonym of Monopole, is akin to taking your seat in a darkened cinema and hearing the swish of parting curtains; suddenly, you're not in Kansas anymore. Monopole is a fan of Big Band music and jazz and, strangely enough, this shows: despite Silent Movie Surround Sound being a very modern essay in electronica, all three tracks use a clickety-clack rhythm that is a distant cousin to the purring movie projectors of those madcap years between the world wars.

Today's recommended track is, in my oh-so-swaggering opinion, an absolute stunner. Stereo-vision Radio makes epic use of hypnotic chimes, flanging white-noise, rattling percussion, dusty crackles and field recordings to steal a few minutes from your life and point you down a yellow brick road. Listen to this without interruption and you might experience one of those "I am the centre of global cool" moments that sometimes occur when trawling through the wonderful world of Creative Commons music:

Monopole - Stereo-vision Radio

It's quite a stew, isn't it? Real headphones territory. It's surprisingly fast-paced for a track that contains so much ambient noise. I especially like the compositional line that takes the listener on a David Lynch-esque journey, including a spooky bridging section that slows everything to a standstill before slurring back up to full speed. There are snatches of barely audible field recordings buried in the mix that ensure the listener is drawn deep into the track. When Monopole slams a door at the song's end and complains, "Ah, this won't work!", be sure to send him an email and assure him that it does, in fact, work rather well.

The title track, Silent Movie Surround Sound, is ostensibly about the upfront percussive glitches, but they're just the bones; the meat comes from the breathy white noise and the synths swelling slowly in the background. Again, chimes add a contemplative air to proceedings. The latter part of SMSS probably employs, like the rest of the album, manipulated field recordings from the abandoned factories and warehouses of once-busy Detroit and/or samples from the analogue electronics and outdated valve-driven communications equipment that Monopole has stashed in his basement recording studio/Dr Evil lair. 

Main Feature Intermission, with it's low-key snap, crackle and pop percussion, is the final and most straightforward of the three tracks - until drones and background noises join the party, when it claims its rightful place as the third part of Monopole's introspective trio. Like the rest of the album, there's a still, meditative quality to the composition even though every last second is crammed with notes, sounds, clicks and burrs. (If Silent Movie Surround Sound were vinyl, it'd need a duster.) Phasing synths, airport announcements, gruff percussion and echoing footfalls bring proceedings to a transcendental close. Don't they always?

Monopole is one of those musicians who makes me realise that there's still a lot of music yet to be composed. He has yoked his talent and imagination to music technology and produced some enthralling results. I hope his efforts bring him the recognition he deserves.

It's a pleasure finally to snuggle up to Test Tube netlabel, known for its exemplary presentation of experimental electronica (and alliteration). I couldn't quite click with some of their releases but now I'm happy to give them the glad eye and pat the empty seat next to me in the back row of the cinema.

Monopole - Silent Movie Surround Sound (link to individual mp3s and zipped album)

Monopole on MySpace (where you'll find other treats)

Test Tube netlabel

Yes, I'm Buff

Photo: Lewis Hine (1920) 

Just a quick note to say that Choc, the talented but naughty French electronica artist, made some extensive changes to the two of his albums reviewed here at CTW, which resulted in my links going haywire and other assorted nastiness. You'll be glad to hear that I fearlessly donned my dungarees and tinkered about; all has now been resolved. My apologies for any inconvenience and confusion. Fortunately, the backstage swearing and screaming repairs have presented an opportunity to remind CTW's readers that Choc has made some beautiful electronica. Have a look for yourself:

Choc - Sound Object Deconditioning

Choc - Urban Solstice

To answer your questions:

1. Yes, I am that toned. Especially my beer belly.

2. Another review is *gasp* imminent. Well, I say imminent. What I really mean is: it might crawl on to the net tomorrow if I can be bothered to twiddle my forefinger and depress the return key in an Oliver Hardy styleee.

This Just In: Free Music kicks Credit Crunch in face

The title of one of CTW's first posts, "Free Music is Rubbish, isn't it?" summarised the general public's position regarding music that is given away free of charge. If the music is given away for nothing, ipso facto it must be worthless and therefore not worth downloading. Why else would millions of people prefer to copy and transfer thousands of pirated commercial mp3s on bit-torrents? Even though the music they receive illegally is now free, it was once worth something - so it must still be worth listening to, even though it is now, erm, free. We have arrived at a situation where all songs are free but some songs are more free than others.

*CTW explodes in a mish-mash of pretentious paraphrasing and poor grammar*

Similarly, how are musicians expected to earn a living if these amateurish Creative Commons bozoes are going to barge in with their free albums and entice tone-deaf customers away from them? Isn't free music going to destroy the music industry?

Well, no, not if you're talented, famous and slap a Creative Commons licence on your album.

According to Creative Commons.org, the top-selling album at Amazon's mp3 store in 2008 was Ghosts I-IV by Nine Inch Nails. Ghosts I (nine high-fidelity and DRM-free tracks plus a PDF full of gorgeous photos) is available completely free of charge from NIN's website, but millions of people chose to pay for it and II-IV, either as a show of solidarity, as a gesture of gratitude or simply because Amazon made it convenient for fans to splash the cash. Should those lovely, generous people care to investigate further, they'll find that the entire opus, Ghosts I-IV, is also available from the capacious archive.org for precisely no money whatsoever.

Here's a taster: 1 Ghosts I, which is not a speaker-busting avalanche of outrageously heavy rock music, and 8 Ghosts I, which is not a somnolent piano piece with added ambient flavour. Piquant, non?

I'm not denying that Trent Reznor's fame gives him a huge advantage over the common-or-garden CC artist. But kudos to NIN for releasing the album in such a fashion and delivering a roundhouse kick to the smug features of the ghoulish credit crunch. If only they could do the same to the greedy and idiotic bankers and politicians responsible for the mess.

If you'd like to pick up another free album that reminds you of Nine Inch Nails, you could always try the completely free, new, and CC-licensed album The Slip, from the world's most accurate tribute band, Nine Inch Nails. Yes, they're at it again.

Goths, grungies and emos: ho!

One last thought: what would you rather have "CC" stand for?

Nine Inch Nails

Creative Commons

Archive.org