Stilgherrian » Music

Vale Tristram Cary, 1925-2008

Stilgherrian — Mon, 05 May 2008 23:27:44 +0000

The godfather of British electronic music, composer Tristram Ogilvie Cary OAM, died on 24 April 2008. He was aged 82.

Cary’s story is told in his Wikipedia profile and the Times Online obituary. If anyone outside the “serious music” world knows him, it’s usually for writing the soundtracks for early Doctor Who episodes and films (which he hated talking about), or the Hammer Horror movies Quatermass and the Pit (1967) and Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb (1971).

However Cary was also a pioneer of music synthesisers. Trained as a radar technician in WWII, he co-founded Electronic Music Studios (EMS), which created the first portable synthesiser, the VCS 3.

I worked briefly with Cary one summer as a programmer. He was director of the electronic music studio at the Elder Conservatorium of Music in Adelaide. I wrote a digital filter in PL/1 (!) for what I think was the Synclavier synthesiser — though it may have been something else, because as a hardware hacker Cary was well wicked. In his studio, it was difficult to see where one machine ended and the next began, they were so cross-linked.

I remember he was particularly fascinated with the sounds of bells, which then were starting to become achievable through digital synthesis. It was the first time I’ve ever found my applied mathematics knowledge of Fourier Transforms to be even remotely useful.

If you enjoy any kind of electronic music, you should take an hour of your day to learn more about Tristram Cary. He made your world.

[Footnote: I found out about Tristram Cary's death from a most unusual source: the end credits to Shaun Micaleff's program Newstopia. The more I discover about you, Shaun, the more I think my initial assessment of you as an arsehole was a mistake.]

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Music industry internetz FAIL

Stilgherrian — Mon, 05 May 2008 01:57:20 +0000

Ah, the music industry really doesn’t grok teh intenetz. Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI), who coordinated the Australian Music In Tune propaganda flick I mentioned on the weekend, didn’t know their website was offline until phoned them. Meanwhile I’ve written a piece on this for Crikey, to appear a couple hours from now. [Update 1.20pm: It's being held over until tomorrow. Apparently Crikey found something more important than me.]

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Oh you poor, dear record companies…

Stilgherrian — Fri, 02 May 2008 09:32:34 +0000

You’ve got to hand it to “the music industry”. This week they released a propaganda film Australian Music In Tune which asks us to sympathise with musicians because they’re all poor struggling artists. Diddums.

The only reason musicians trying to “make it” are poor is that as soon as they do get that sought-after recording contract they still pay for everything from there on. Before they see a single cent from their music, they have to pay off the studio hire, recording engineer, video director, stylists, set designers, editor and dozens of other parasites — including music company executives with their nice lunches and their BMW leases.

An entire industry — “the music industry” and their retail outlets — sits between the musicians and their audience, sucking out something like 90% of the money in the process.

And they have the gall to rope musicians into their propaganda film under false pretences, telling people like Frenzal Rhomb’s Lindsay McDougall that it was a movie about life as an artist.

He said he was told the 10-minute film, which is being distributed for free to all high schools in Australia, was about trying to survive as an Australian musician and no one mentioned the video would be used as part of an anti-piracy campaign.

OK, so who are the guys in the photo? Jared Madden (left) and Adam Purcell (right) have created tune-out.com in response to the industry crying poor.

They know that thanks to teh intenetz, we can distribute that music from musician to audience for a fraction of a cent. They know that the audience is deciding for themselves what’s hot or not through this social media thing, and that the entire music industry is becoming irrelevant.

You the Music Industry have failed to move with us in our discovery of new and exciting ways to interact, collaborate, and communicate. We have embraced the digital space and the opportunities it affords us, and we have changed because of this. We are developing new forms of entertainment which have transformed the way we interact with each other, with you, and with music. This is an ongoing process, and we are excited about what we will discover tomorrow.

For some reason you assume that we are the same as yesterday, and you are kidding yourself.

You wrongly place the blame of declining CD sales on others. Our source of entertainment has diversified, and we are no longer as interested in the concept of the ‘album’.

There is no digital music battle or piracy war. That is a figment of your imagination, and, every time you preach our digital crimes to us, we ‘tune out’ of your deranged ranting. Your declining profits are the symptom of a business model that is fast becoming irrelevant.

You want us to pay? We want you to pay attention.

Hear hear. I have signed their letter. I look forward to the video they’re producing this weekend.

Meanwhile, read Mark Pesce’s essay, Unevenly Distributed: Production Models for the 21st Century. I’ve linked to it before, but it’s especially apt today. Or read about 1000 True Fans.

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Page 161

Stilgherrian — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 07:15:32 +0000

I noticed this blogging meme over at Quatrefoil’s place and thought I’d give it a try. The results are surprising.

Grab the nearest book.
Open it to page 161.
Find the fifth sentence.
Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
Don’t search around and look for the coolest book you can find. Use what’s actually next to you.

And the sentence is:

“Sensitive site exploitation will continue.”

That sentence doesn’t make a lot of sense by itself, but the next one adds all the context you need:

So far there had been no WMD stockpiles found.

The book is State of Denial: Bush At War, Part III by investigative journalist Bob Woodward. It’s been months since I read it but for some reason it’s still on my desk.

This afternoon the BBC reports that unnamed “US officials” have evidence that North Korea was helping Syria build a nuclear reactor. Here we go again. I think I might listen to some classic Detroit techno instead.

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Apple becomes biggest music retailer in US

Stilgherrian — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 20:05:54 +0000

Apple is now the number one music retailer in the US, surpassing Wal-Mart in January 2008. Apple now sells 19% of all recorded music in the US, Wal-Mart 15%, Best Buy 13% and Amazon 6%. Hat-tip to Daring Fireball.

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The Real Brendan Nelson

Stilgherrian — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 21:00:10 +0000

Will the real Brendan Nelson please stand up? Is it the man Annabel Crabb saw on Tuesday, the mild-mannered doctor with “substantial empathy for those suffering from misfortune” whose “attention is drawn disproportionately to the Gothic end of the human suffering spectrum”? Or is the rabid Bon Jovi fan?

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Quotes of the Day, 11 March 2008

Stilgherrian — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 00:53:56 +0000

Eavesdropping highlights from the last 24 hours:

“Somehow I suspect book lovers feel the same way about Harry Potter as music lovers feel about Jeff Buckley.” (Alastair Rankine)
Overheard while walking past a house where young boys were playing noisily: “I’m the birthday boy so I have to be team leader.”
“Someone in my office just said ‘cyberspace’. I hope I’m not paying them.” (abacab)
In response to my comment, “Stilgherrian is thinking about things that geeks think about”, someone who should probably remain nameless said: “Most geeks I know think about banging Natalie Portman in a blow-up-pool filled with custard…”
“Stilgherrian, one day in the future, your life will confuse historians.” (Nick Hodge)

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Smoke on the Yangtze

Stilgherrian — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 08:30:25 +0000

Thank you, Richard, for showing me the oddest Deep Purple rendition I’ve ever seen.

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Film Review: “Joy Division”

Stilgherrian — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 00:02:14 +0000

Back when Triple J’s Hottest 100 voters could choose the best music of all time, not just the current year’s releases, Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart won top spot for the first two years, 1989 and 1990. Certain floppy-haired boys played me this melancholy pop song endlessly late at night. It was good, sure, but that significant? Having seen Director Grant Gee’s new documentary Joy Division, I now know why. I really know.

This. Is. A. Magnificent. Film.

Just watch the trailer to get a taste.

Why?

Director Grant Gee reckons the story of Joy Division is the story of Manchester. The city invented the industrial revolution, but by the 1970s it had become a bleak concrete modernist blockhouse. As one band member says, “I was 9 years old before I saw a tree.” Thatcher loomed. Joy Division’s melancholic sound channelled the very essence of the city.
The selection and editing of archival footage is brilliant, starting with Joy Division’s truly dreadful Sex Pistols-inspired punk origins and their rise through Manchester’s underground music scene. He visits the locations of long-gone nightclubs and captions the shot of the current building “Things which aren’t there.”
We hear from virtually everyone: all the surviving band members, who you’d know as New Order; producers, designers, promoters and lead singer Ian Curtis’ Dutch journalist girlfriend — though not his widow, who appears only through her writings.

“Widow”?

Yes. If you don’t already know, you’ll discover that Joy Division’s story is also the tale of Ian Curtis’ self-destruction.

Most people assumed Curtis was off his face during his erratic, mesmerising performances, but no! He was literally in a trance, which as the pressure of stardom climbed eventually became full grand mal epilepsy. Blaming himself for holding back the band’s meteoric rise, he killed himself in May 1980.

Joy Division is a powerful story. Yes, I shed a tear at one point. But it’s also a masterpiece, preserving a vital slice of musical history.

Joy Division opens today at the Chauvel Cinema in Sydney, Cinema Nova in Melbourne and the Luna Leederville in Perth.

[Photo: Joy Division photographed in Hulme, Manchester, 6 January 1979 by Kevin Cummins. Cummins appears in the film Joy Division and talks about the photo shoot when this was taken.]

[Update 11am: You can also read ’Pong's review, if you like.]

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Weekly Poll: Who’s the ultimate pop princess?

Stilgherrian — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 06:50:16 +0000

Ask and it shall be done! Who is the ultimate pop princess?

In alphabetical order of first name, we have 9 nominees. As usual, if you disagree with the shortlist you can take it up in the comments.

Amy Winehouse: “For the kids who don’t like ‘mainstream’ pop,” says the Snarky Platypus. “Never mind the fact Amy is probably more mainstream than Dannii Minogue.” I trust his judgement in these things.
Anthony Callea: OK, OK, he’s fading fast. But it gives me a chance to make a pathetically gratuitous gay reference and waste 15 minutes looking at his photos. It was either him or Elton John, and there’s only so much my stomach can take.
Björk: Yes, her music’s bizarre, but she knows how to deal with intrusive journalists.
Britney Spears: Where to begin? She’s got it all! And it’d be polite to say something nice about her at the moment, she’s had a rough week.
Dannii Minogue (not pictured): Since she did so well in our poll for Governor-General, she must be included. I didn’t bother with her photo, though. Just look at Kylie, squint and grimace.
Kylie Minogue: Neighbours and Stock Aitken Waterman to… superstardom. Not even cancer can stop her! She even inspired our new national anthem.
Madonna: I suppose there’s some life still left in the old hag.
Melissa Tkautz: ~~“She is kinda obscure to non-Australians / trash pop culture junkies / E-Street watchers,” warns the Snarky Platypus.~~ “She’s kinda obscure to non-Australians,” warns the Snarky Platypus. “Actually, obscure to most people, except for trash pop culture junkies & E-Street watchers” However this gives us a chance to introduce Melissa to a wider audience. Read my lips! [Beware, there is rap. Sort of.]
Olivia Newton-John: Another oldie, but she’s the closing act for Mardi Gras this year so presumably someone thinks she’s worth it.
Someone else? Discuss!

As usual, go to the website to vote — scroll down to find the poll on the left-hand side.

Previous results: Most people reckon Australian of the Year is worth keeping, but only if they choose more relevant people. We shall return to this subject in December…

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

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Pabla Casals plays Bach!

Stilgherrian — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 08:26:16 +0000

Pablo Casals’ 1950s performances of Johann Sebastian Bach are heaven on a stick. Someone has found archival 35mm footage of the Suite No. 1 for Cello, Part 1 and Part 2. I am a puddle. Hat-tip to 3 quarks daily.

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Olivia Newton-John Down Under

Stilgherrian — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 12:59:31 +0000

And as one final Australia Day tribute before the clock strikes midnight (if I type fast enough), here’s Olivia Newton-John’s Tutta La Vita, the feel-good opening number to her musical tour of Australia called Olivia Newton-John Down Under. Enjoy! The Royal Australian Navy will never be the same.

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New national anthem: “I am So an Aussie”

Stilgherrian — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 07:45:35 +0000

Today cartoonist Michael Leunig challenged us to write a new national anthem. His 54-word limit is a bit too limiting. So the Snarky Platypus and I have penned (well, typed) a new National Anthem for Australia.

Won’t you now sing with us? We know you all know the tune…

“I am So an Aussie”
to the tune of Kylie Minogue’s I Should Be So Lucky

[1a:]
In our Big Aussie Nation
There is no complication;
We watch cricket on Australia Day.
In back yards, a celebration
While coal mines of the nation
Are emptied as we play.

[1b:]
In our Big Aussie Nation:
No Re-con-cilition;
We just steal all the Abos’ land.
They’re Dreaming!
They hope we’ll give it back,
But Howard’s health attack
Will soon put stop to you.
She’s right, mate. It’s True Blue

[CHORUS:]
I am so an Aussie,
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!
I am so an Aussie, maaaaate!
I am so an Aussie,
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!
I am so an Aussie, maaaaate!

[2a:]
It’s a crazy kind of nation:
We face quite bad inflation,
Yet all our ports and roads are crap.
We’re still buying great big plasmas,
Ignoring credit dramas.
The fantasy will soon cave in.

[2b:]
In our Big Aussie Nation
There’s no discrimination;
We walk together hand in hand –
C’ept Muslims!
They fill us all with fear
‘Cos none of them drink beer,
And praying’s all they do.
She’s right, mate. It’s True Blue

[CHORUS:]

[BRIDGE:]
I am so an Aussie (an Aussie, an Aussie).
I am so an Aussie.
I, I, (I, I)
I am so an Aussie (an Aussie, an Aussie).
I am so an Aussie,
I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I

[1b:]
[CHORUS:]
[repeat & fade]

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Country music fans have highest suicide rate

Stilgherrian — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 09:17:12 +0000

US research shows that country music fans have the highest suicide rate. “The results of a multiple regression analysis of 49 metropolitan areas show that the greater the airtime devoted to country music, the greater the white suicide rate. The effect is independent of divorce, southernness, poverty, and gun availability.” Hat tip to The Road to Surfdom.

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Fiddlers at Kelly’s

Stilgherrian — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 08:27:59 +0000

’Pong and I are having dinner at Kelly’s on King, and voilá, there are musicians at our table. It almost makes up for the free Wi-Fi running out at 7pm and having to roll our our Internet connectivity via my phone (which also took the picture).