Beastie Boys Remixes

April 17th, 2006

Quarterbar (“i make beats and am a member of meanest man contest”) remixed 4 Beastie Boy classic tracks from Paul’s Boutique – thought they were worth a listen, providing all of us at GravityLab Studio a welcome interlude to our humming Monday.

“stop that train” (mp3)
“shake your rump” (mp3)

“looking down the barrel of a gun” (mp3)
“car thief” (mp3)

Prison Escapee socially engineers his escape.

April 13th, 2006

Smooth-talking escapee evades police

Woe is Carl Bordelon, a police officer for the town of Ball, La. His dashboard camera captured (below) his questioning of Richard Lee McNair, 47, on Wednesday. Earlier that same day, McNair had escaped from a federal penitentiary at nearby Pollock, La., reportedly hiding in a prison warehouse and sneaking out in a mail van. Bordelon, on the lookout, stopped McNair when he saw him running along some railroad tracks. What follows is a chillingly fascinating performance from McNair, who manages to remain fairly smooth and matter-of-fact while tripping up Bordelon. The officer notices that the guy matches the description of McNair — who was serving a life sentence for killing a trucker at a grain elevator in Minot, N.D., in 1987 — observes that he looked like he’d “been through a briar patch” and had to wonder why he would choose appalling heat (at least according to that temperature gauge in the police car) to go running, without any identification, on a dubious 12-mile run. But he doesn’t notice when McNair changes his story — he gives two different names (listen for it) — and eventually, Bordelon bids him farewell, saying: “Be careful, buddy.” McNair remains on the loose. (Note: Video is more than eight minutes long but worth it.)

Watch the video (Quicktime Required)

Video clip via Salon ‘Video Dog’

DJ Spooky video interview – Exploring a Media Ecology

April 4th, 2006

WGBH asked filmmakers, journalists, industry observers, and scholars to talk about the pressing trends in broadcast media and the future of television. Paul D. Miller a.k.a. DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid, Independent artist, writer, producer, and musician discusses “Exploring a Media Ecology”.

Watch the video (Quicktime Required)

Live Ben Harper performance

April 2nd, 2006

Ben Harper and his band perform an uplifting set of great music on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic:

Click here to watch the video recording (Real Player Required)
Click here to listen (Windows Media)
Click here to listen (Quicktime)
Click here to listen (Real Player)

The “Classical” Frank Zappa

April 2nd, 2006

Frank Zappa came to music by Edgar Varèse in his teens and was, according to Pierre Boulez, “hypnotized by [music of] Edgar Varèse.” The influence of this music was not so much that Zappa became a follower of Varèse, but that it stimulated his ambitions to become a composer. On this episode of New Sounds, hear music composed by the late guitarist and innovator, Frank Zappa. Listen to some of his dense and demanding work written for the Ensemble Intercontemporain (and commissioned by Boulez.) Hear The Ensemble Modern, Zappa’s “last band,” from their recent CD of Zappa’s works, along with brass arrangements of Zappa tunes by the Meridian Arts Ensemble. Plus, Frank Zappa spins Baroque composer Francesco Zappa’s classical pieces on his Synclavier and the Finnish Ensemble Ambrosius plays Zappa’s music on Baroque instruments.

Listen to the whole show (Real Player Required)