Main Entry:
terse
Pronunciation:
\ˈtərs\
Function:
adjective
Etymology:
Latin tersus clean, neat, from past participle of tergēre to wipe off
Date:
1601

1: smoothly elegant : polished
2: devoid of superfluity

01: Invisible Conga People - Cable Dazed [Italians Do It Better]
02: Ane Brun - Headphone Silence (Henrik Schwarz Remix) (Dixon Edit) [Objektivity]
03: Thomas Schumacher - Pink Boots [Spiel Zeug Schallplatten]
04: Karma - Kon Tiki [Innervisions]
05: The Mole - As High as the Sky [Wagon Repair]
06: Samamidon - Saro [Bedroom Community]
07: Final Fantasy - He Poos Clouds [Tomlab]
08: Morten Sorenson - Start Something [Tirk]
09: Toby Tobias - The Feeling (I:Cube Mix) [Rekids]
10: Jonny Warham - I Love My Planet [???]
10a: Pillowfight - Broken Promises [4/1 Recordings]

“My only advantage as a reporter is that I am so physically small, so temperamentally unobtrusive, and so neurotically inarticulate that people tend to forget that my presence runs counter to their best interests. And it always does. That is one last thing to remember: writers are always selling somebody out.” — Joan Didion

Todd Sines’ new 12-inch for Morris Audio City Sport is fantastic. However, it would be even MORE fantastic if it didn’t sound like half the track on each side was being smothered by some maniacal fun-hating mastering engineer. After listening to it, I had to e-mail the label head about its sound and he told me that it was, indeed, the way that Sines intended it to be. The question is: why? Either way, worth a listen — especially the A-side — which is a perfect tune for patiently awaiting the arrival of summer.

Been reading a lot about the Olympics lately for an upcoming project and read this tidbit in Five Rings over Korea: The Secret Negotiations Behind the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul: apparently there was strong speculation that Tehran was preparing a bid for the 1984 Olympics.

This piece about the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra playing “State of Siege,” by the composer Dror Feiler, dovetails nicely with some thoughts I’ve been having re: soundsystems in clubs recently.

The piece called for 30 string players and 30 wind and percussion players, all crammed into a too-small pit. When the stage director complained in rehearsals that the music was too loud, the conductor didn’t order the orchestra to play more softly, but instead asked for a cover over the orchestral pit to contain the noise, said Marianne Käch, the orchestra’s executive director.

That meant the noise bounced back at the musicians, bringing the level to 120 decibels in the brass section, similar to the levels in front of a speaker in a rock concert. The musicians complained. The conductor held firm. But when the piece began, “the orchestra decided to play softer anyway in order to protect themselves,” Ms. Käch said.

That made the conductor so angry that he walked off after 10 minutes or so, Ms. Käch said. Told that there had been “musical differences” between the conductor and the orchestra, the perplexed audience had to wait for the two sides to hash it out.

From Wikipedia: “The Friendship Games or Druzhba Games or Druzhba-84 Competition was an international multi-sport event that was held in 1984 in nine different countries under the motto: ‘Sport, Friendship, Peace.’ An alternative to the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, it was organized by the Soviet Union and other Eastern bloc countries (constitutionally socialist states) which had boycotted that event.”

“Mediocrity is dangerous: when it feels itself threatened it becomes ruthless.”

I recently spoke at the EMP Pop Conference 2008 in Seattle. And while this paper was expressly written to be spoken in front of an audience, I think it holds up well enough here. Please note that this paper could be about 5k words longer and, in fact, there is about 5k words strewn about in other word documents, but this is what I presented, so…

If there’s one thing that remains true across all music criticism it’s that everyone seems to hate hippies and ravers. Well, I apologize in advance, because this story includes both of them, at length, trying to work together to fight against the man. Haters take heart, though: as you might imagine, when both of these groups combined—despite some impressive organization and protest actions—they were almost completely ineffective. The political climate, a lack of overall commitment, and consistent intimidation all led to the failure of their cause. But let’s back up for a moment.
(more…)

As anyone who stalks me will readily attest, I’m a huge fan of gypsy music. I’m not sure where it comes from, to be honest. It doesn’t fit into any of the very easy slots that I’ve been able to put the music that I truly love into.

Either way, my go-to series for the Roma for the past two years or so has been Asphalt Tango’s Songs from a Bygone Age. The collection of music that they’ve put out has been varied: Vol. 4 featured Toni Iordache, one of the world’s finest tambal players of his day. The third volume, for me, has been the most interesting, though. Dona Dumitru Siminica looks like a total bruiser, but take a listen to the mp3s on this page and behold his castrati-esque voice.

This month sees a more normal reissue with “the silken Gypsy woman,” Gabi Lunca, getting collected. Her voice is traditionally beautiful, a yearning, plaintive thing that matches well with the oft-melancholy subject matter. Like all of the Bygone Age series, it’s well worth checking out. Lunca sings in Romanian throughout, but it’s hard not to get caught up in the timbre of her voice. In the liner notes, accordion player Victor Gore hits upon what makes her so special, remembering, she “always sang slightly out of time.” It’s a silly thing to applaud, but in the hyper-fast gypsy music world, it’s sometimes wonderful to hear someone step out of the beat. Or, on the slow songs, to take her own path. Once again, I’m charmed.