WFMU's Beware of the Blog

WFMU Broadcasts Live from Primavera Sound Fest, May 24-25

WFMU returns to Barcelona's amazing Primavera Sound Festival on Friday, May 24 and Saturday, May 25th! This year's broadcasts happen from 3pm to Midnight both days, artist schedule below. Don't miss it!

WFMU Broadcast schedule (ET, acts/times subject to change - updated 5/24)

Friday, May 24
3:00 Hot Snakes
4:00 White Fence
5:00 Woods
6:00 Fuck Buttons
6:45 Merchandise
7:35 Killer Mike
7:55 Kurt Vile and the Violators
8:10 Daniel Johnston
9:00 Om
10:00 Neurosis
11:00 Josef Van Wissem & Jim Jarmusch
11:30 Fourtet

Saturday, May 25
3:00 Swans
4:20 Orchestra Poly Rhythmo de Cotonou
4:50 Guardian Alien
5:30 Goat
6:00 King Tuff
6:20 Mulatu Astatke
6:45 Death Grips
7:10 Thee Oh Sees
7:40 Meat Puppets
8:15 Dan Deacon
9:00 Jesus and Mary Chain
9:30 Dead Can Dance
10:00 Nurse With Wound
11:00 Omar Souleyman
11:30 Wu-Tang Clan

 

As the festival's official USA radio partner, WFMU has been carrying sets live from sunny Spain five years in a row, and artists we've broadcast in the past included Glenn Branca, Grinderman, Sonic Youth, Codeine, The Pop Group, Demdike Stare, The Monochrome Set, Marianne Faithfull, Einsturzende Neubauten, Pavement, Pere Ubu, Wire, and many more, with archives available online and the FMA!

Revitalize Music Contest: Bring the Public Domain into the Future!

Carrier Belleuse Pierre La Maison De Musique (Public Domain)

This April, WFMU and the Free Music Archive are challenging artists everywhere to create new recordings and contemporary arrangements of historic compositions available in the public domain. We’re calling this our Revitalize Music Contest.

Every song (except for perhaps "Happy Birthday") will someday fall out of copyright. Archives such as the IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library, Musopen and the Public Domain Information Project chart the vast and ever-expanding troves of public domain music. Participants in our Revitalize Music Contest will help bring these works to life by creating new recordings, and feeding them back into the public domain.

To inspire entries, we’ve handpicked a selection of out-of-copyright songs with compelling lyrics, beautiful melodies, and unusual stories. Keep in mind that unless materials are listed in our contest repository, the recordings of performances we link to are still within the scope of copyright. After learning about the songs and contest rules here below, you can browse our pool of entries and submit your own here.

God Be With You Until We Meet Again (1880) An old Mormon hymn with a beautiful melody that first came to our attention when Haruomi Hosono (of Yellow Magic Orchestra) recorded a version. You can stream this version for inspiration. It features lyrics by Jeremiah E. Rankin (1828-1904) and music by William G. Tomer (1833-1896). Sheet Music: new pdf, older pdf, hymn wiki, lds version, lilypond Recordings: midi, vocals + music, instrumental,  video, haruomi hosono Lyrics: hymn wiki
Beautiful Dreamer (1862) In addition to showing up constantly on TV, movies, and when you open musical jewelry boxes, this song has been recorded by Bing Crosby, Roy Orbison, and (our personal favorite) Justine and the Victorian Punks. It was originally a parlor song by Stephen Foster (1826–1864) that was published posthumously by Wm. A. Pond & Co. of New York. Sheet Music: IMSLP, older pdf, newer pdf Recordings: Al Jolson, Justine and the Victorian Punks,videos, midi, another midi Lyrics: wikipedia
The Spaniard That Blighted My Life (1911)  A comic song that was performed by Al Jolson in his show The Honeymoon Express. It's also notably been sung by "outsider" musician Tony Mason-Cox, an Australian insurance agent who believed himself to be the reincarnation of a black slave from 19th Century Alabama. It was written by Billy Merson. Sheet Music: older pdf, ole miss library Recordings: Billy Merson, Al Jolson, Tony Mason-Cox Lyrics: ole miss library
Nola (1915) Felix Arndt (1889–1918) wrote this novelty ragtime-style piano roll as an engagement gift to his fiancée (and later wife), Nola Locke. He died just three years after it was published, and lyrics were later added by James F. Burns. Sheet Music: IMSLP, Duke, older pdf Recordings: videos, Harry Perrella & Ray Turner, Xylophone & Vibraphone, midi Lyrics: PD Music

For inspiration, we offer you Noel Bush‘s ASMR-inducing rendition of “Beautiful Dreamer“:

TIMELINE

April 28, 2013: Submissions Deadline at 6:00pm ET
April 30, 2013: We'll be announcing the judge's favorite songs, including our first place winner.

 PRIZE

One winning song from our pool of entries will be given a Rebecca Black "Friday" treatment. We’ll be hiring a music video professional to create an original music video that showcases the winning song and shares it with a wider audience.

JUDGES

Our judges include Edward Guo (Founding Director, IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library), April Ledbetter (Dust-to-Digital Record Company), Laura Cantrell (Singer-Songwriter), Joel Meyer (Executive Producer, WNYC's Soundcheck), Adam Green (Editor, Public Domain Review) and Ken Freedman (Station Manager, WFMU). They'll be evaluating entries based on originality, creativity, artistic merit, adherence to the "Revitalize Music" theme, and general musical appeal. For the songs we’ve chosen above, we welcome exact covers, in-exact covers, repurposed elements, mashups, stems, and everything in-between.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

1. Entries should be comprised of music that you create yourself, material that's in the public domain, or other material that you have express permission to use. Keep in mind that most recordings and performances of these public domain songs are still within the scope of copyright.
2. Entrants must create accounts on the Free Music Archive in order to submit to the contest. This way we have your info. You can sign up here.
3. Entries must be in the form of an audio recording and in MP3 format, stereo bitrate 192kbps or higher (256kbps preferred).
4. Entries must be submitted using our form here. You can submit as many entries as you'd like.

Please see our Official Rules.  

MORE ABOUT THE PUBLIC DOMAIN

Songs enter the public domain when their copyright expires or if the song’s author has forfeited rights and dedicated the song to the greater good. The Public Domain Review explains the public domain eloquently as an "invaluable and indispensable good, which - like our natural environment and our physical heritage - deserves to be explicitly recognized, protected and appreciated."

MORE ABOUT CC0

While most songs enter the public domain because of old age, Creative Commons offers a CC0 Public Domain Declaration that allows artists to dedicate their work to the public domain. It seems fitting that entries to the contest will breathe new life into the Public Domain by returning to whence they came. These new works can then be more easily shared, remixed, and built upon during the contest and after the contest ends. We imagine these entries being used in video projects, coursework, video games, podcasts, and beyond.

Using CC0, you waive all copyrights and related or neighboring rights that you have over your work, such as your moral rights (to the extent waiveable), your publicity or privacy rights, rights you have protecting against unfair competition, database rights, and rights protecting the extraction, dissemination, and reuse of data. More information here.

This contest is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

WFMU Marathon Happenings

 

This is the second and final week of WFMU's fundraising Marathon and we are still less than halfway to our goal, which must be met by Sunday, March 17th! Make a pledge now!

 

Special highlights this week:

TONIGHT - Tuesday, March 12 (9pm-mid)

A.C. Newman and John Hodgman join Tom Scharpling on the Best Show on WFMU for 3 hours of mirth, music, and mayhem! Tune in to win killer prizes, and watch it all go down on our live video feed at wfmu.org. Pledge to the Best Show using this link.

 

 

 

 

Thursday, March 14 (9am-noon)

Yo La Tengo play your cover song requests in exchange for pledges of $100 or more on Hello Children with Faye and co-host Gaylord Fields! Pledge to the Yo La Tengo request-a-thon NOW from this page, or tune in to pledge live.

 

WFMU's 2013 Marathon is coming your way!

WFMU's 2013 Marathon is approaching! Our annual on-air fundraising party hits your ears March 4th - 17th. Make a pledge now!

Check out our new 2013 swag, featuring two new t-shirts ("Alley Cat" design by Gary Panter, and "Radio Zombies" design by Mayuko Fujino), a truckload of new DJ Premiums, and more!

All new and current Swag for Life members are eligible to receive our new messenger bag, and early pledgers get first dibs on adopting a WFMU DJ or fixture!

Yo La Tengo will be playing cover song requests in exchange for pledges on Thursday, March 14th (9am-noon) on Hello Children with Faye and co-host Gaylord Fields, and WFMU's Hoof & Mouth Sinfonia close out the Marathon on Sunday March 17th with drunken live band karaoke.

Don't miss out on our biggest on-air bash of the year!

No More Than a Soaked Plank on Two Cold Oceans; Sun Splitter and Yellow Eyes on My Castle of Quiet

Blissfully unaware of what was to come later in the month, in preparation for WFMU's Web-only, "silent" fundraiser, the plan for My Castle of Quiet was to mount three special programs; The Sonics of Terror, a soundtracks-only special; and two double bills—one improvised / experimental "noise" bill, and one metal bill, the latter showcasing two bands that I'd been "courting" for some months—Chicago's excellent Sun Splitter, passing through on tour, and Brooklyn's relatively unsung black-metal giants, Yellow Eyes. The latter program was to top off a very eventful month on the show, and boy, did it ever.

As great as they are different, Sun Splitter and Yellow Eyes are both exemplary and plainly evident of how wildly varied what falls under the banner of "underground metal" can be; Splitter draw on "rock," with a thick and good-smellin' Sharpie, culling from Big Black, Led Zeppelin and all points between, with a pure, dense psychedelia permeating their unique compositions, while Yellow Eyes are one of Brooklyn's best-kept black-metal secrets, true to the parent genre, while unquestionably having their own sound, wickedly sea-ferring accomplished players, great songwriters with a murky sound and an attitude to match, seeking neither fame nor widespread success; thus far, YE have released their mini-masterpieces only on cassette, though two full-length vinyl releases threaten to drop within the coming year.

Intrepid WFMU sound engineer Juan Aboites helmed both sessions, bringing to both projects the cohesion that their complex deliveries demand, and though Sun Splitter were pre-recorded on 10.24, the night before the broadcast, had I not been admitting of this fact, the listeners would never have known, the band's pulsating energy and sheer volume rattling the walls at 43 Monty; heavy, hypnotic Gibson riffs broken asunder by the psychedelic cage-rattling of men captured in H.H. Holmes' damned filthy Chicagoan underbelly.

Sun Splitter - Eye of Jupiter-The Anthropocene-Starlit Mire/Time Cathedral
Sun Splitter - Two Cold Oceans

Yellow Eyes blistered through four of their finest songs, acute treble and assaultive blast beats casting their vivid mental picture of a band of ghost sailors, maddened by syphilis and too many hours alone at sea, listening to the persistent slap of the waves against the hull.

Yellow Eyes - Rotted Wheat-No More Than A Soaked Plank-Unlit Kingdom-My Candle Is Gone But I Do Not Move

Keep your eyes and ears on both of these bands, to build continually impressive live performances and discographies, and I cannot recommend highly enough the two full-lengths, Sun Splitter III (Bloodlust!) and Silence Threads The Evening's Cloth (Sol y Nieve.) Huge thanks to Juan and the bands for a night to remember. Both sets are presented as relative continuums, with Sun Splitter's final chunk broken off on its impressive own, and YE's set laid out as one continuous mp3.

WFMU in the Moroccan Desert: Alchemy At Zahar Festival in April 18-21

In a never-ending quest to dig out the subterranean sounds from all corners of the earth, WFMU has hooked in with the first-ever Alchemy At Zahar festival for what's sure to be a most amazing event in the Moroccan desert province of Zagora on April 18-21st. The event, which is being put together as a philanthropic, government-sponsored endeavor to help create forward motion in a wells project in order to bring a dwindling population back into the province, will have support from the Alchemy Association, the Association of Development for People with Specific Needs (ADPSN) of Tagounite and the Association for Alphabetization of Tagounite. WFMU and our fellow freeform broadcast pals at KFJC in the Bay Area of California will conduct a joint broadcast (and hopeful video simulcast) from quite a bit of this event, which will feature an amazing cross-section of Western and African adventurous sounds:

Ahwach N Tferkine (traditional group from the Souss-Massa Drâa Region, featuring a choir of twelve female singers and four male percussionists), Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble (experimental/film noir European combo), Lee Ranaldo (w/Leah Singer, and his band), Pelican (post-rock Chicago metal ensemble), Brothers Unconnected (Alan and Rick Bishop of Sun City Girls, also performing solo sets), Master Musicians of Bukkake (playing the Totem Trilogy), AND the legendary Master Musicians of Jajouka, ethno-prog West Coast stalwarts Secret Chiefs 3, Portuguese psych band Black Bombino, Tinariwin d'Mhamid (young Tinariwen covers band!), Abraxas, and more (full lineup/updates here). A dream lineup for both stations.

The idea of riding six and a half hours from Marrakech to the desert town of M'hamid Al Ghislane, then taking 4x4s on sand tracks an hour away to a tent/stage setup almost at the Algerian border (the Screaming Dune of Zahar) isn't your usual WFMU remote, but with the support of the Festival to bring us out, we're up for the challenge! If all goes well we will be documenting the beautiful sights and sounds along the way, hopeful camel excursions to the well sites to boot. We're extremely excited to work with organizer Basile and Alchemy, and our friends from KFJC at this event. More info to follow, and please keep an eye on Alchemy's site and Facebook. Tickets and packages for the (intrepid) public and concertgoers is also on the site. Should be amazing!

 

WFMU Benefit Concert + Mini-Record Fair Sunday, January 13th

Mark your calendars for Sunday, January 13th! WFMU is hosting a Mini-Record Fair and blowout benefit show at The Bell House in Brooklyn! The fair happens 11-5pm (no admission after 3pm due to space constraints), and at 7:30 we'll be kicking off a night of music mayhem with Arrington Di Dionyso of Old Time Relijun, followed by the Dot Wiggin Band (of the Shaggs!), the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and Texas psych/gospel dynamos The Relatives!Jonathan Toubin spins! Tickets for the Music Benefit at this link here, and more info below.

Tix are $10 for the fair (tickets at the door only) and $20 for the concert, with advance tickets for sale here!! All proceeds benefit WFMU in its post-Hurricane Sandy Recovery.

The fair and concert are both separate events, and the inner hall will be cleared out at 5pm to reopen for the show at 7:30. Set times:

7:30 Arrington Di Dionyso
8:10 Dot Wiggin Band
9:00 Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
10:00 The Relatives

WFMU Staff 2012 Year End Lists

A smattering of our sound slab selections for the slid-away '12:

 

SCOTT McDOWELL (The Long Rally, Fridays 9-Noon)
C S Yeh - Transitions (De Stijl)

Muscles of Joy - Muscles of Joy (Watts of Goodwill)

Vanessa Rossetto - Exotic Exit (Kye)

The Trypes - Music for Neighbors (Acute)

Agali Ag Amoumine - Takamba (Sahel Sounds)

Mark Fell - Periodic Orbits of a Dynamic System Related to a Knot (Editions Mego)

Jason Lescalleet - Songs About Nothing (Erstwhile)

Various - Time To Go - The Southern Psychedelic Moment: 1981-86 (Flying Nun)

Rev. Charlie Jackson - Lord You’re So Good (50 Miles of Elbow Room)

Helm - Impossible Symmetry (Pan)

Morton Feldman - Crippled Symmetry (Frozen Reeds)

Eric Lanham - The Sincere Interruption (Spectrum Spools)

Sean McCann & Matthew Sullivan - Jackpot (Ekhein)

Andy Stott - Luxury Problems (Modern Love)

Mary Halvorson Quintet - Bending Bridges (Firehouse 12)

Lewlewal De Podor - Yiilo Jaam (Sahel Sounds)

Various - Fanafody: A Collection of Recordings and Photography from Madagasikara Volume II (Mississippi/Cultural Knot)

David Kilgour - Here Come the Cars (De Stijl)

Various - Laila Je T'aime (Sahel Sounds)

Eli Keszler - Cold Pin (Pan)

TROUBLE (This Is the Modern World, Tuesdays 9-Noon)
Peaking Lights  - Lucifer
Pure Bathing Culture  - s/t
Allah-las  - s/t
Tia Blake and her folk group  - Folksongs and Ballads
Angel Olsen - Halfway Home
Melody's Echo Chamber  - s/t
Personal Space: Electronic Soul 74-84 - v/a
Just Tell Me What You Want -  v/a tribute to Fleetwood Mac
Josephine Foster  - Blood rushing
Brenda Ray - D'Ya hear me: Naffi years 1979-83
Julia Holter - Extasis

FAYE (Hello Children, Thursdays 9-Noon)
Maxine Funke- Felt LP
Pheromoans- Does This Guy Stack Up? LP
Boomgates- Double Natural LP
Swearin'- Swearin' LP
Thee Ahs - Thee AHs AHttack! 7"
V/A - Songs On Conceptual Art Compilation LP
Scott & Charlene's Wedding- Para Vista Social Club LP
Evening Meetings- Evening Meetings LP
Tennis- Young & Old LP
Novella- Novella EP

BRIAN TURNER (WFMU Music Director, Tuesdays 3-6pm)
Divorce s/t (Night School)
Lee Ranaldo - Between the Times and the Tides (Matador)
Tropa Macaca - Ectoplasma (Software)
Solid Attitude - BB Gun Picnic (Rotted Tooth)
Maxine Funke - Felt (Epic Sweep)
Peter Hammill - Consequences (Fie)
Blues Control - Valley Tangents (Drag City)
Frank Rosaly - Centering and Displacement (Utech)
Joshua Abrams - Represencing (Eremite)
Letha Rodman Melchior/Tretetam - Moon Mountain (Robert & Leopold)
BB Jr - How To Fuck All Your Coworkers in One Sitting (Captcha)
Mohel - The Second Temple (Verdura)
Arnaldo Antunes / Edgard Scandurra / Toumani Diabate  - A Curva Da Cintura  (Mais Um Discos)
Crazy Spirit - s/t (Toxic State)
Thomas Koner - Novaya Zemlya (Touch)
Spectre Folk - Ancient Storm (Vampire Blues)
FNU Ronnies - Saddle Up (Load)
Willie Lane - Guitar Army of One (Cord-Art)
Ali Ag Amoumine - Takamba (Mississippi)
Seven That Spells - The Death and Resurrection of Krautrock (Beta-Lactam Ring)

7"
Hot Lunch, Satanic Rockers, Circle X, Secret Museum of Kind Men, IV Eyes/Schiller Killer split, Manateees, Orgone Toilet label stuff

Old But New:
Sedition Ensemble - Regeneration Report (S-S)
Wicked Lady - The Axeman Cometh (Guersen)
Noh Mercy - Noh Mercy (Superior Viaduct)
Null and Void - Possibilities (Bunker Pop)
Coven - Worship New Gods (Shadow Kingdom)
Francis Bebey - African Electronic Music (Born Bad)
Metz - Metz (Ossining)
Rev. Charlie Jackson - Lord You're So Good: Live Recordings Vol. 2 (50 Miles of Elbow Room)
The Max Block - Air Ache In the Belly of the Leech (Siltbreeze)
Northern Haze - Sinnaktuq (Supreme Echo)
Sonic Youth - Smart Bar Chicago 1985 (Goofin)
Can - The Lost Tapes (Mute/Spoon)
Jim Shaw &  Mike Kelley - Duets 1975-76 (Compound Annex)
Various - Time To Go: The Southern Psychedelic Movement 1981-86 (Flying Nun)

Live:
Pussy Galore, Maxwells, Hoboken
Van Halen, Cafe Wha? (David Lee Roth's uncle's place!) NYC
ZZ Top - Beacon Theater, NYC
Watery Love, Cake Shop NYC
Bone Awl - St Vitus, Brooklyn
Leonard Cohen, Barclays, Brooklyn
The Pop Group - Primavera, Barcelona
Les Morts Vont Bien - La Cantine de Belleville, Paris
Michael Chapman - The Captain's, Glasgow
Sightings/Gnaw - Littlefield, Brooklyn
Supreme Dicks - Beerland, Austin
Gay Witch Abortion/Hammerhead/Melvins/Seawhore - Lit Lounge NYC
Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Barclays, Brooklyn
Alvarius B - Union Pool, Brooklyn
Peter Brotzmann/Jason Adasiewicz & Joshua Abrams - Le Poisson Rouge

Live radio sessions on the show w/feedtime, Lee Ranaldo Band, Suzuki Junzo, Blues Control, Black Dice, Michael Chapman, +DOG+, Jandek, Twerps, Gay Witch Abortion.

DAN BODAH (Airborne Event, Mondays 9PM-Midnight)
Swans -- The Seer (Young God)
Colin L. Orchestra -- Col (Northern-Spy)
Lonnie Holley -- Just Before Music (Dust-to-Digital)
Om -- Advaitic Songs (Drag City)
Pauline Oliveros -- Reverberations: Tape & Electronic Music 1961-1970 12xCD (Important)
Jim Coleman -- Trees (Wax & Wane)
Blues Control -- Valley Tangents (Drag City)
Sabbath Assembly -- Ye Are Gods (Ajna Offensive)
Date Palms / Expo 70 / Pulse Emitter / Faceplant -- untitled split 2xLP (Immune)
Hildur Guðnadóttir -- Leyfdu Ljosinu (Touch)
William Basinski -- The Disintegration Loops 9xLP + 5xCD + DVD + book (Temporary Residence Ltd.)
Samara Lubelski -- Wavelength (De Stijl)

BILLY JAM (Put the Needle on the Record, Fridays 7-8pm)
1) El-P "Cancer 4 Cure" (Fat Possum)
2) Kid Koala "12 Bit Blues" (Ninja Tune)
3) Aesop Rock "Skelethon" (Rhymesayers Ent)
4) Homeboy Sandman "First of A Living Breed" (Stones Throw)
5) JJ Doom "Key To The Kuffs" (Lex Records)
6) Casual & J-Rawls "Respect Game Or Expect Flames" (Nature Sounds)
7) Lushlife "Plateau Vision" (Western Vinyl)
8) Killer Mike "R.A.P. Music" (Williams Street)
9) Serengeti "C.A.R." (Anticon)
10) E-40 & Too $hort "History: Mob Music" (Heavy On the Grind)

(more lists after the jump)

 

The Evil Eye, Swarming over 101112; Lea Bertucci and K-Salvatore on My Castle of Quiet, 10.12.2012

It was a night of true magic, back in early October, when some of Brooklyn's finest improvisers gathered at WFMU / My Castle of Quiet, to offer unique, exclusive performances, on a double-bill to support the station's pre-Hurricane-Sandy, Web-only fundraiser for that month.

First, Lea Bertucci, a master of spacious atmospheres, and gloomy, contemplative soundscapes, on her trademark combine of physical, open-reel tape and electroacoustic bass clarinet. Lea's two sets from this night evoke The Grand Canyon, and Utah's wide-open spaces, where she'd spent several months earlier in the year on artist's retreat. Lea has been performing solo for many years (see her bio, at Broken Diorama, linked above), as well as in the hometown-favorite duo of Twistycat.

 

Second, K-Salvatore, the duo of Jason Meagher and Pat Murano, coming off the high of their landmark LP, Tsar Ova Elk, a veritable shoe-in for the My Castle of Quiet end-of-year music list (like I said, glaring omissions; this one very worthy of inclusion and just slipped off my mental radar at the time the list was being compiled.) Pat has appeared twice before on the show, both solo as Decimus, and in 2010 with Malkuth; both Jason and Pat are founding members of the No-Neck Blues Band. Their set hummed and shook our building; as "top shelf" as anything from the aforementioned newest LP. 

Huge thanks to Ernie Indradat, for engineering two live artists in one night, with his usual cool head and cosmic sensitivity. Thanks again to Lea, Pat and Jason, for their ample talents.

WFMU Benefit in New Orleans tonight!

Calling all WFMU fans in the Crescent City and environs! WFMU pals Euclid Records, WWOZ, WTUL, and a bunch of fabulous bands are hosting a benefit event on our behalf at Siberia (2227 Claude St, New Orleans) TONIGHT!

Quintron & Miss Pussycat
Die Rotzz
Guitar Lightnin' Lee
and more!

Hurricane Sandy caused tons of electrical damage to our equipment, and proceeds from this show will fund WFMU's efforts to prevent future electrical problems. We hope to purchase generators, power conditioners, etc.

Huge thanks to our supportive friends in New Orleans!

 

Check out this video of Quintron and Miss Pussycat to get pumped:

 

Survey Says...

WFMU is plotting out the next move in our quest for total online domination, and we need to know about YOUR needs.

Help us out by completing this online survey about how you use online music services.

Thanks!

Record Fair Cancelled, WFMU Battered But Not Beaten

It feels like we are livin' a dream. Unfortunately, it's not a very good one here in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Our thoughts go out to everyone who was affected by the disaster, and we are seeking your input as we compile a list of ways to help (map for NYC | Nonsense List Resources | OccupySandy).

The super storm hit WFMU at full force, knocking out both of our transmitters (91.1 is still down), taking out our phones lines and kocking out electricity at our studios, including our live stream.

The water levels and lack of public transportation made it impossible to get to WFMU's blacked-out building for much of the week. Even with the stream down and Clay Pigeon & Therese trapped stranded at the station, WFMU's commenters continued to chat on our playlist. By mid-day Tuesday, a network of DJs revived our live stream from undisclosed locations like Doug Schulkind's Studio P, Dan Bodah's living room and Irwin's bunker (pictured L with Station Manager Ken, photo by John Dalton).

Fortunately, everybody from the WFMU staff is safe, and miraculously WFMU's basement did not flood, despite the Hudson River coming within 50 feet of our front door. But we are just beginning to unravel significant water & electrical damage to our facilities and equipment, forcing us into Disaster Marathon Mode.

Meanwhile, you may have seen what happened at the ConEd plant that powers lower Manhattan...

Record Fair is Cancelled and it's All Sandy's Fault

Due to the havoc, chaos, lack of electricity in NYC and general sludge based misery (who knew there was so much sludge in the world?) following Hurricane Sandy, we've had no choice but to call off the Record Fair. We're very sorry about this, but the Metropolitan Pavilion has no power, mass transit in NYC is still not working and there are no estimates as to when electric or transit will return to normal and we don't want a whole Mad Max thing on our hands. All dealers will be refunded their payments, and the Fair will return in the Fall of 2013. And this new 'Future Fair' will be even better, with flowing white robes, a teleportation booth and floating symetrical rings adorning everything. And a bonus performance from the recently cloned John Denver! All kidding aside, the cancellation of the record fair is a financial disaster for us: it turns an event that would've raised $70,000 into an event that loses almost that much.

Silent Fundraiser Extended

Thank you to everyone who has already given to our silent fundraiser which comes up during this time of year that our coffers run low. It is your support that helps us overcome ridiculous obstacles like the ones we are now facing.

Unfortunately, with all the damaged gear we're now discovering, and with the cancellation of the Record Fair, WFMU needs your support now more than ever to keep us afloat. Our silent fundraiser will be extended a few extra weeks, giving us more time to raise the funds we need to get through the next few months and to hopefully make up for lost income due to the Record Fair going kaput. Pledge now and please help spread the word because we need your help to get through this very difficult time. Money can't buy you love, but it can buy transmitter codecs, computer servers, and all the other stuff a radio station needs to regain (ab)normalcy.

WFMU's 31 Days of October is getting scary!

October is getting really scary for us here at WFMU... The month is nearly over and we have yet to hit the 50% mark for our silent fundraising goal! Help save the station from insolvency with your pledge.

Snag our new turntable t-shirt (designed by Nick Dewar) for a pledge of $50 or more.

Better yet, grab the shirt AND our incredible holiday music compilation, "WFMU's War on Christmas" for a pledge of $100. The holiday comp has an exclusive, unreleased version of "Jesus Christ" by Big Star, plus tracks by James Pants, Klaus Nomi, the Reigning Sound, and more!

 

 

WFMU's 31 Days of October Going Strong

This week, WFMU launched into silent fundraiser mode with our 31 Days of October campaign, and it is going strong! In an effort to pay our bills without resorting to a second pledge drive, we decided it was better to come up with a month of incredible on-air specials, listener meet-ups, and events (while taking pledges online and through the mail).

Pledge right here!

This fall, we are offering some great new swag: our Turntable T-shirt designed by Nick Dewar, and a compilation of holiday music called "WFMU's War on Christmas" (CD + MP3 disc) with cover artwork by Mayuko Fujino.

Do not miss out on the holiday compilation, it contains an exclusive unreleased mix of "Jesus Christ" by Big Star, plus tracks by James Pants, Klaus Nomi, the Reigning Sound, and more!

The Past Re-Imagined as the Future: Remix Contest with Prelinger Archives

Showcase the creative possibilities of open digital archives!

WFMU and the Free Music Archive proudly introduces a video remix contest called "Sound for the Moving Image: The Past Re-imagined As The Future." The contest invites artists everywhere to mix video from the incredible Prelinger Archives Collection with audio from the Free Music Archive to create new masterpieces for the commons. The point of this contest is to showcase the creative possibilities of open digital archives like these.

VIDEO: HOW TO GET INVOLVED

BASIC GUIDELINES

1. At least 50% of video and audio materials in your entry must come from the Prelinger Archives and the Free Music Archive.
2. Use at least one video from the Prelinger Archives, and at least one track from the portion of Free Music Archive's library that can be used in videos (more info).
3. Time limit: 15 minutes max.
4. Upload to your hosting service of choice (i.e. Vimeo, Internet Archive) and then submit your video entry via the competition website form (here).
5. Proper Creative Commons licensing is required. Attribute yourself by name and indicate which Creative Commons license you have selected for your video. Your submission must also include licensing and attribution (with hyperlinks) for the material you have remixed. You should do this in the video description field at the site where your video is hosted. You can also do this within the credits of the video itself.
6. All material from outside the FMA / Prelinger must either be original, or used under a CC license, or used with signed permission

Please see our the Official Rules. And check out our FAQ.

TIMELINE

Sept 28: Contest Launch! Entries are now accepted here.
Nov 4: Submissions Deadline
Nov 5: Judging and Public Voting Begins
Nov 18: End of the Public Voting
Nov 29: Winners Announced online and in a public screening at NYC's Anthology Film Archives

PRIZES

The two winners will each be awarded an iPad (3rd Generation with Wi-Fi, 16GB), engraved with the contest name as a trophy, in recognition of their innovative remix. One winner will be selected by the judges'. And the other winner will be determined by public-vote. If the winner is the same for both categories, the runner up in the judge's vote will be given the prize for that category.

JUDGES

We have hand picked an incredible panel of judges including Vicki Bennett (Musician and Filmmaker, People Like Us), Kirby Ferguson (Everything is a Remix), Ken Freedman (WFMU Station Manager, Free Music Archive founder), Mark Hosler (Artist, Negativland), Paul D. Miller (Musician and Filmmaker, aka DJ Spooky), Nina Paley (Filmmaker, Sita Sings the Blues) and Rick Prelinger (Founder, Prelinger Archives).

WINNERS SCREENING AT THE ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVES

This presentation will explore centuries of culture to demonstrate how remixing -- creating music from samples of existing music -- is a good metaphor for all varieties of creativity. Ferguson will discuss some of the myths of creativity, present several popular examples of remix-like technique, and show how creativity -- like remixing -- is the result of three basic techniques: copying, transforming and combining.

This will be at the Anthology Film Archives (32 2nd Ave, New York, NY) on November 29th 8-10pm. You can reserve your free ticket here.

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This contest is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

An Exorcism—Good Spirits, Begone!; Shaved Women on My Castle of Quiet

Punk / hardcore, much like its absentee father rock, will never die, and goes on, as new generations of bands are formed and blossom. Particularly since the mid-2000s, there are some excellent, exciting new bands emerging, and Shaved Women are high on the list of artists not only keeping the genre alive, but also re-shaping and redefining it for our times. 

In Shaved Women's songs, I hear great bands of yore, like The Fiendz, The Freeze, early Circle Jerks and Black Flag. Real punks are brutally sincere and earnest in their work—no poseurs allowed, and these are some of the most talented -and downright amicable- dudes you will meet playing HxCx today.

Their 12" vinyl, originally issued by the excellent Rotted Tooth Recordings label, caught the attention of Jussi at Ektro, and is now available on CD, thanks to the hyper-eclectic Finnish label.

Shaved Women came up from St. Louis while on tour, and pounded out a fierce, tight, and meta-accomplished set for WFMU / My Castle of Quiet, and here it is, on mp3 for your downloading and listening pleasure.

Huge thanks are due to Diane Kamikaze, whose highly evolved engineering & mixing skills always make Castle sessions into something more than they would have been without her expertise and accommodation.

Thanks also to Tracy of Brutal Knitting, who continues to craft my dubious band captures into works of art. (Apologies to SW drummer Tom, who's not visible in this shot; it was the best picture I took by far, so it's what we had to work with; you are nonetheless one of the most fluid and skilled drummers to ever grace Castle airwaves with your talent!)

Big thanks to Ben, John, Tom and Chris!

Jayne and Jackie!

I had the pleasure of speaking with Jayne County on my program on Thursday; she hit the stage at Bowery Electric on Thursday for the Max's Kansas City Alumni Reunion shows (which goes on through Sunday). Check the archive for the interview. I heard that Jayne might be at La Mama before her much anticipated Max's reunion performance, so it was off to the Ellen Stewart Theatre first! The La Mama show was- Jukebox Jackie: Snatches of Jackie Curtis -an exhilarating collage performance containing elements of the Warhol star's life; poetry, film snippets, songs and great vignettes. The final performance is on June 10th. With a killer cast: Justin Vivian Bond, Bridget Everett, Cole Escola and Steel Burkhardt, the production was a huge pleasure to take in. Jayne County did indeed grace the theatre-goers with her rendition of Max's Kansas City, as seen here as an encore to the show. She was gone in the blink of an eye (aye aye!) as soon as the show was done, and was soon to get onstage with her alma mater, so to speak, the Max's Kansas City Alumni Reunion show. The shows run all weekend at Bowery Electric, check their site for scheduled shows!

 

 

An Ancient Love Affair (with hulking synths); The Spiritual Switchboard LIVE on My Castle of Quiet, WFMU 5.11.2012

Positive feedback continues to filter in for this live set, presented on the air a few weeks ago. The Spiritual Switchboard, a collaboration between two of Brooklyn's synth heavyweights, is without question a summit to be reckoned with. Jesse DeRosa (of Baked Tapes, Grasshopper, The Hex Breaker Quintet / Quartet, Shingles, etc.) and Joshua Slusher (OPPONENTS, Creeplings, The Grand Selector, et al.) are busy young men, overflowing with talent and a vibrant urgency to express themselves, and put it all out there, as much and as often as possible. Perhaps surprisingly for that M.O., their works are of the highest quality.

It's no secret that I admire them both professionally and personally, so I was only too pleased to provide the My Castle of Quiet program as a forum for them, a vehicle, with which to continue sharing their prowess, on a journey that began for me personally, back when Grasshopper were the second live band ever to be presented on the program, in August of 2009. The Spiritual Switchboard were joined for this absolutely live session by Joshua Greco (also of OPPONENTS), another super-nice guy with a big talent for swinging it analog.

A Living Portrait, from the graveyard to your door; Occultation LIVE on My Castle of Quiet

What is metal, or rock for that matter? While others scramble for last-minute sub-subgenrefication, I am happy just to watch those umbrellas widen, and the envelope swell and burst. Occultation are such a band, one that tastefully mines not-immediately-recognizable influences, and much like that pre-job interview adage, "just be themselves, they'll be fine." Fine they did do, having grown leaps and bounds since the impressive Somber Dawn demo, to a sound that defines itself throughout their debut full-length, Three and Seven, on Profound Lore.

That first demo, and an early, related live video clip, led to their My Castle of Quiet invitation, and it was an easy call for yours truly that the band was indeed a perfect fit to the horror-gloom purveyed weekly on the radio program. These complex, richly haunting songs marry almost to an absurd ideal with the essence of MCoQ, such that it was an easy decision to host a live performance, positioned to promote their groundbreaking first release.

Here's their set, short, sweet and brimming with power >

WFMU auctions off original Max Tundra album art and more!

Thanks to a generous donation from glitch-pop superstar Max Tundra, WFMU has the original album artwork for his fantastic 2002 release "Mastered by Guy at the Exchange"... and we're auctioning it off on eBay!

The painting is by Dando Moore, and measures a little bit larger than 12" square.

We're also selling off a few rare records:

The Wozard of Iz LP- 1968 hippie parody of the Wizard of Oz, by Mort Garson & Jacques Wilson.

Arto / Neto "Pini, Pini" 12" single - no wave from Arto Lindsay and Seth Tillet, released on Ze Records in 1978.

Get on over to WFMU's eBay page and start bidding!