In July 2000 I stumbled into a dingy little USENET group alt.cyberpunk.chatsubo. I could tell it was my kind of place-- the plastic paint was peeling from the walls. Within a short time I was ensconced in my own corner of that polyhedral cathedral of cyberpunk bars in the fading corner of the early Internet era -- USENET.
I met an interesting crowd of folks... most of whom were at least half my age... but the conversations, stories shared and shared stories worked to jump start my faltering creative motor. Between July of 2000 and July of 2002 I composed / remixed about three and a half albums of music plus numerous "Poems for Voice Synthesizer". I published the three albums on MP3.com before they famously sold all of us out
During my stay in the chatsubo [a name which comes from Gibson's Neuromancer by way of the Japanesse word for tea bowl] I even somehow "de-famed" a famous USENET flame giant... or at least that is what he claimed. At the time I was unaware that fame could be an appendage nor was I aware that it could be surgically removed by a USENET post. But it is true that from the way he howled I guess I must have de-famed him-- not that his fame was strongly attached. But I digress...
So here in this blog I will post now and then one of the old tracks or maybe some unreleased tracks. Please note that these tracks are not for commercial broadcast nor for resale. They are intended for personal listening pleasure only. Void where borked. Do not try this at home. Do not fold, spindle or mutilate. Remix only with permission. Use only as directed. Not all music has the same value. Information wants to be free but all bills must be paid first.
Some of the tracks were better than others yet all of them "stretched" the limits of my creative horizons. Some of my friends from those days are still around... and I hope they enjoy the memories.
Today's track is Numbers Radio.
Since the beginning of the Cold war there have been mysterious radio stations acroos the short and medium wave bands which transmit nothing but spoken or voice synthesized recitation of number patterns, Various spy agencies have been implicated but none has ever acknowledged or admitted responsibility fo any of the trans missions..
As I grew up I had a love of "short wave" and had upon occasion heard the live broadcasts. As I was working up material for Sferic Conditioning [the second of the three electronic music albums] I fell into creating a track which musically expressed
Numbers Radio is a techno-electronic mix of audio samples. synths, synth samples and three voice synths, Head banging music for thinking. The track consists of audio samples of actual electronic transmissions warped and mashed into musicality. Over this were laid three female voice synths speaking the words. I then added a "morse code" Easter egg for those so inclined to look for secret messages.
I love this track for its quirky spikes and squeeks-- perfect music for thinking geeks... but I don't expect everyone to like it.
Take a listen HERE and tell me what you think.
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