Christoph Cox.1 MARZ, WIR WIR Wilhelm Imaging Research, Inc. WIR When It's Ready (Borland) WIR Walk in Robe (real estate ads, Australia) WIR World In Review (news magazine) WIR Weekly Intelligence Review SIND Sind (sĭnd), province (1998 pop. 29,991,161), c.50,000 sq mi (129,500 sq km), SE Pakistan, roughly coextensive with the lower Indus River valley and bounded by India on the east and south and by the Arabian Sea on the southwest. HIER HIER Harvard Institute of Economic Research (KARAOKE KALK) Berliners Ekkehard Ehlers and Albrecht Kunze produce a record of lush pop informed by their roots in electronic minimalism revealing, along the way, the link between lap steels and laptops. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 2 SUSAN HOWE & DAVID GRUBBS, THIEFTH (BLUE CHOPSTICKS) A lovely collaboration between sonic experimentalist David Grubbs and poet Susan Howe. Howe's paratactic par·a·tax·is n. The juxtaposition of clauses or phrases without the use of coordinating or subordinating conjunctions, as It was cold; the snows came. evocations of Henry David David, in the Bible David, d. c.970 B.C., king of ancient Israel (c.1010–970 B.C.), successor of Saul. The Book of First Samuel introduces him as the youngest of eight sons who is anointed king by Samuel to replace Saul, who had been deemed a failure. Thoreau's and Herman Melville's New England are enveloped, sliced, and stuttered by Grubbs's acoustic and electronic composition. 3 CHRISTOF MIGONE, CHRISTOF MIGONE--SOUND VOICE PERFORM (ERRANT BODIES PRESS WITH GROUND FAULT RECORDINGS) A splendid survey of audio work by this Canadian artist. In the spirit of Antonin Artaud, Dada, Fluxus, and sound poetry, Migone playfully and insightfully explores the sonics of bodily orifices and surfaces. 4 THE RELAY PROJECT (WWW WWW or W3: see World Wide Web. (World Wide Web) The common host name for a Web server. The "www-dot" prefix on Web addresses is widely used to provide a recognizable way of identifying a Web site. .THERELAYPROJECT.COM) The first issue of this marvelous new semiannual Brooklyn-based audio magazine, edited by Rebecca Gates and Lucy Raven, features a chat with retired sideshow performers, a pathetic found love letter, goofy improvised poems, and interviews with Alvin Lucier and Merce Cunningham. 5 MIMEO, LIFTING CONCRETE LIGHTLY (SERPENTINE GALLERY) The best release yet by this supergroup of electronic improvisers, this three-CD set documents a thoroughly engaging 2003 performance at London's Serpentine Gallery. Using all manner of equipment, MIMEO (Music in Movement Electronic Orchestra) weave a dense tapestry of digital noise, analog sweeps, stray melodies, vocal chatter, and radio static. 6 DJ ATARI, REASONER PODCAST 2: REASONABLE BAILE FUNK (HTTP HTTP in full HyperText Transfer Protocol Standard application-level protocol used for exchanging files on the World Wide Web. HTTP runs on top of the TCP/IP protocol. ://REASONER.EXPERIENCETHIS.ORG/ARCHIVES/309) Born in the shantytowns of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, city, Brazil Rio de Janeiro (rē`ō də zhänā`rō, Port. rē`  thĭ zhənĕē`r , Baile funk revives the joyfully combative spirit of early hip-hop. This wicked collection richly showcases its samba-soaked beats, rudimentary samples of '80s pop, and lyrics that square the rounded contours of Brazilian Portuguese. 7 THE LAPPETITES, BEFORE THE LIBRETTO (QUECK-SILBER) A stunning debut by this international, cross-generational quartet of female laptoppers, led by Kaffe Matthews. By turns ferociously noisy and superbly delicate. 8 KONONO NO. 1, CONGOTRONICS (CRAMMED) Congolese trance music sung through megaphones and played with scrap percussion and thumb pianos amplified by salvaged auto parts. Astonishing a·ston·ish tr.v. as·ton·ished, as·ton·ish·ing, as·ton·ish·es To fill with sudden wonder or amazement. See Synonyms at surprise. . 9 LIGHTNING BOLT, HYPERMAGIC MOUNTAIN (LOAD RECORDS) With the barest of means, this bass-and-drums duo from Providence spills forth everything anyone ever wanted from punk rock and heavy metal: speed, power, manic energy, and bliss. 10 VLADISLAV DELAY, THE FOUR QUARTERS (HUUME) Electronica is a wasteland these days, but on this disc, Finnish producer Vladislav Delay wanders through the wreckage building lovely assemblages with shards of rumbling bass, stretches of mangled beats, and snippets of tattered melody. CHRISTOPH COX IS PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY AT HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE AND COEDITOR OF AUDIO CULTURE: READINGS IN MODERN MUSIC (CONTINUUM, 2004). |
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