FAX was started by Peter Kuhlman, in 1992, to sell his music. He had been working in hard trance, but moved quickly into chill-out musics, to include long atmopsheric pieces. The label's full name was FAX +49-69/450464, which was a contact number for Kuhlman and the label. His Silence project recorded with Dr. Atmo in late 1992 gained some popularity, and helped to establish the label.
Kuhlman began to release CDs in earnest circa 1993, in various styles and occasionally defying category. He kept a "Main Label", on which he released his own projects and collaborations using the name "Pete Namlook". Additionally he created a "Sublabel" on which to release projects recorded by others, and a "World Label" where he and collaborators branched outwards. (I don't entirely understand how a release was categorized as either Main or World; it looks as if when his collaborators was other than German, it became "World").
Most of the FAX releases - and there are 200+ of them - were printed in small batches of between 500 to 2000. And mind you, this was before music was sold or copied via mp3 format. A subset were released again on other labels, making them accessible to the general buying public at least in large cities.
At the end of the day Namlook recorded and/or released a huge volume of adventurous music, much of it ambient and some of it "environmental" and most of it "electronic". And much of it rather great. Pete Kuhlman died in his sleep in December of 2012, and the FAX story ends there.
My favorites releases are :
Dreamfish - Namlook and Mixmaster Morris make ambient music that glows and shimmers
Alien Community - sadly no clips are on youtube - Namlook and Jonah Sharp make ambient spacey sounds that mutate into slamming bouncing groove and then back again
Create 2 - Namlook and Charles Uzell-Edwards make environmental music based in part on sounds of San Francisco.
Zenith - Tetsu Inoue and Carlos Vivanco make light etherial pulse music.
Silence 2 - Namlook and Dr. Atmo outdo their debut CD with even more striking ambient music.
Traveling the Silk Route - no youtube clips - Namlook and Move D make atmospheric slow percolating ethnic acid jazz.
Elektronic - again, no youtube clips - Namlook and Material Object getting deeply into a world of processed electronic beats.
The stuff's on iTunes and elsewhere. It's pretty great. There's a good fan page up at 2350.org that covers and catalogues much of the label's history.
Monday, June 9, 2014
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Six Feet Under
For my money, this was the greatest of all television shows. It was driven by characters rather than by extraordinary events, and it followed them around at length in the service of a concept : that people are fluid, and that they adapt to life events and desires. It illustrated that better than any other art that I've ever seen.
Characters included :
Nate, the older brother and would-be hippie who wanted, more than anything, not to turn into his father. Here he is arguing with his girlfriend Brenda, an interesting character in her own right.
David, who went from closeted gay man who someone more comfortable with himself.
Claire, whose struggle for identity is palpable.
And last but not least Ruth, played by Frances Conroy, who might have given the most consistently great performance that an actor ever gave, as a high-strung woman alternately satisfied and unsatisfied with her life choices.
And a variety of great minor characters who came and went. The show entertained me, while providing a complex portrait of life. And it did unexpected things as it went along, and it got better and better. Culminating in a great finale show. It's great art.
Characters included :
Nate, the older brother and would-be hippie who wanted, more than anything, not to turn into his father. Here he is arguing with his girlfriend Brenda, an interesting character in her own right.
Claire, whose struggle for identity is palpable.
And a variety of great minor characters who came and went. The show entertained me, while providing a complex portrait of life. And it did unexpected things as it went along, and it got better and better. Culminating in a great finale show. It's great art.
The Shield
The Shield came onto the air with a bang, a potent mix of violence and machismo and humor. For those who watched it week-by-week through the first season, the way that the show unfolded into higher and higher levels of corruption was staggering.
This show kept going at a manic pace for 6 more seasons. I'm pretty sure that many viewers got fatigue when watching it every week, as I did; it didn't aim to stay in the same place for any length of time. In the end it plays like a massive 50-hour movie or mini-series about police corruption, that never stops moving and never stops kicking ass.
It was a bit on the hyper-real side, always upping the ante on violence and depravity. More like a video game than a realistic depiction of the world. But the characters kept you hooked into it. Including Jay Karnes' remarkable performance as "Dutch". I can't find any good youtube clips of him, much less the infamous "kitten strangling" incident, but i can find a lot of Michael Chiklis' strutting performance as Vic Mackie.
This show established (within the pilot episode) great characters whose opinions and likely courses of action were known to us - like chess pieces on a board. What we didn't know was how the game of life would play out for them. And then it threw them into a wild ride that didn't let up for a long time. For those who like entertainment with a hint of machismo in it, this show can't be beat. The testosterone is leaking out of its pores, week after week.
This show kept going at a manic pace for 6 more seasons. I'm pretty sure that many viewers got fatigue when watching it every week, as I did; it didn't aim to stay in the same place for any length of time. In the end it plays like a massive 50-hour movie or mini-series about police corruption, that never stops moving and never stops kicking ass.
It was a bit on the hyper-real side, always upping the ante on violence and depravity. More like a video game than a realistic depiction of the world. But the characters kept you hooked into it. Including Jay Karnes' remarkable performance as "Dutch". I can't find any good youtube clips of him, much less the infamous "kitten strangling" incident, but i can find a lot of Michael Chiklis' strutting performance as Vic Mackie.
This show established (within the pilot episode) great characters whose opinions and likely courses of action were known to us - like chess pieces on a board. What we didn't know was how the game of life would play out for them. And then it threw them into a wild ride that didn't let up for a long time. For those who like entertainment with a hint of machismo in it, this show can't be beat. The testosterone is leaking out of its pores, week after week.
The Sopranos
Television took a quantum leap forward after this show gained its following, and made money for HBO. By all accounts The Sopranos would never have worked had traditional Hollywood notions of casting or scriptwriting been imposed on it. Suddenly the ideal for a cable network show became not to work at 26 episodes per year of a show, but to do 13 or so. And to let some show creator run things entirely, and to make their show as individualistic as they wanted to. And to aim to be as perfect as this. Or as funny as this.
Again and again this show was self-destructive behavior, played for laughs. (Inspired in part, according to the show's creator, by the great and underappreciated movie Trees Lounge). We watch people hurt themselves, in cyclical patterns, for reasons that they either don't understand or don't want to face.
It turns out that this approach to entertainment can be wildly successful, if you can invent colorful enough characters. "The Sopranos" blazed a lot of paths, not least for psychological depth and bleakness possible in popular entertainment, and inspired a wave of television that left past high points in the dust. And in its own dark way it was as funny as anything that you'll ever see, if you're in the mood for it.
Again and again this show was self-destructive behavior, played for laughs. (Inspired in part, according to the show's creator, by the great and underappreciated movie Trees Lounge). We watch people hurt themselves, in cyclical patterns, for reasons that they either don't understand or don't want to face.
Podcasts
As a relatively old man, I'm continually struck by how many things in the world are better now (for all concerned) than they were during my formative years. You mean that anyone can put together and distribute the equivalent of a radio show, that anyone else can access and then listen to while driving or walking? There's no need for corporate sponsorship or for some powers-that-be to consent to the show's content or format?
And there's a whole world's worth of free content waiting to be grabbed? I don't have to pay anyone for it? Brave new world.
I've got about 20 podcasts in my gpodder feed. These are the ones that I like best, and heartily recommend :
WTF - Marc Maron is a literate and sensitive human being, if an egocentric one. His show reminds me of what Howard Stern's could be if Howard were a bit more gentle and open-minded; like Stern, Maron has a gift for making his own life and inner demons into interesting entertainment (and a compulsion to do so). He tends to interview comedians, though he's opened the show out into a number of other directions as well through the years. The interviews are casual, funny, very open, and pretty much the best in the world. (Kind of like Stern's if you could remove the salaciousness). This guy found his niche and is pumping out 3 hours of interesting material every week.
Star Talk Radio - Neil deGrasse Tyson, aka the guy who hosts "Cosmos", has been putting this podcast out for a few years, with alternating co-hosts. It's science talk with a sense of humor and with the occasional celebrity interview. Totally works for me.
The Bugle - Andy Zaltzman and Jon Oliver started putting this podcast out in 2007 as a means to keep working together, after Oliver moved to New York to work on "The Daily Show". Oliver is at his best here in condensed form working with a partner - direct and funny. Zaltzman is a master of long-form absurdism, really a funny guy and a pleasure to listen to. They discuss world politics in a manner that is smart and funny and uncompromising.
And there's a whole world's worth of free content waiting to be grabbed? I don't have to pay anyone for it? Brave new world.
I've got about 20 podcasts in my gpodder feed. These are the ones that I like best, and heartily recommend :
WTF - Marc Maron is a literate and sensitive human being, if an egocentric one. His show reminds me of what Howard Stern's could be if Howard were a bit more gentle and open-minded; like Stern, Maron has a gift for making his own life and inner demons into interesting entertainment (and a compulsion to do so). He tends to interview comedians, though he's opened the show out into a number of other directions as well through the years. The interviews are casual, funny, very open, and pretty much the best in the world. (Kind of like Stern's if you could remove the salaciousness). This guy found his niche and is pumping out 3 hours of interesting material every week.
Star Talk Radio - Neil deGrasse Tyson, aka the guy who hosts "Cosmos", has been putting this podcast out for a few years, with alternating co-hosts. It's science talk with a sense of humor and with the occasional celebrity interview. Totally works for me.
The Bugle - Andy Zaltzman and Jon Oliver started putting this podcast out in 2007 as a means to keep working together, after Oliver moved to New York to work on "The Daily Show". Oliver is at his best here in condensed form working with a partner - direct and funny. Zaltzman is a master of long-form absurdism, really a funny guy and a pleasure to listen to. They discuss world politics in a manner that is smart and funny and uncompromising.
Can
Can were a German "rock" band, originally active from 1968-1978. It's a simplification to call them rock. Or German - their two singers, who each influenced their music significantly, were American and Japanese. But enough about what they weren't - here's what they WERE.
These guys made music that, like Miles Davis' best 1970's work, understood and if you had a truly slamming or grooving rhythm going on, you could pile waves of dissonance or random sound on top and it would only enhance the effect. They had a virtuosic drummer who was predisposed to minimalism, James Brown style, and they followed him and stacked rhythm on top of him. Circa 1968, with original singer Malcolm Mooney, it sounded as if James Brown and Jimi Hendrix had put together the best band you would ever hear. With an occasional Velvet Underground influence.
And it started to become more distinctive as the guitarist and keyboardist became more prone to playing waves of sound rather than traditional note patterns.
But they were not without delicacy, as can be seen in this 1971 video clip.
By 1973 the band were without a singer and the 4 instrumentalists kept making music together for a few years before tethering out. Those years produced music of abstract pleasures, for better or worse; they were increasingly keyboard-oriented and less rock-like. But capable of great transcendence.
Can was well-known in the U.K., where their records were easily available. They influenced a host of prog-rock and post-punk/new wave bands in the 70's and 80's. In the U.S. they've never become well-known, but appreciated second-hand through bands like Sonic Youth, Talking Heads, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Public Image Ltd., and about 1000 other acts. Their music seemed ahead of its time during the 80's, where it was a precedent for sampling, and even moreso in the decades since, where it anticipates the mood and style of modern ambient, environmental, and chill-out musics. Great band, great music.
Recommended CDs :
Monster Movie (1969)
Tago Mago (1971)
Ege Bamysai (1972)
Recommended tracks - The 34 Great recordings of Can
These guys made music that, like Miles Davis' best 1970's work, understood and if you had a truly slamming or grooving rhythm going on, you could pile waves of dissonance or random sound on top and it would only enhance the effect. They had a virtuosic drummer who was predisposed to minimalism, James Brown style, and they followed him and stacked rhythm on top of him. Circa 1968, with original singer Malcolm Mooney, it sounded as if James Brown and Jimi Hendrix had put together the best band you would ever hear. With an occasional Velvet Underground influence.
And it started to become more distinctive as the guitarist and keyboardist became more prone to playing waves of sound rather than traditional note patterns.
By 1973 the band were without a singer and the 4 instrumentalists kept making music together for a few years before tethering out. Those years produced music of abstract pleasures, for better or worse; they were increasingly keyboard-oriented and less rock-like. But capable of great transcendence.
Can was well-known in the U.K., where their records were easily available. They influenced a host of prog-rock and post-punk/new wave bands in the 70's and 80's. In the U.S. they've never become well-known, but appreciated second-hand through bands like Sonic Youth, Talking Heads, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Public Image Ltd., and about 1000 other acts. Their music seemed ahead of its time during the 80's, where it was a precedent for sampling, and even moreso in the decades since, where it anticipates the mood and style of modern ambient, environmental, and chill-out musics. Great band, great music.
Recommended CDs :
Monster Movie (1969)
Tago Mago (1971)
Ege Bamysai (1972)
Recommended tracks - The 34 Great recordings of Can
Monday, June 2, 2014
Eric the Midget
Eric Lynch, aka Eric the Midget, aka Eric the Actor, has been a caller to the Howard Stern Show on-and-off since 2002. He has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, is 3 feet tall (85 pounds), and is confined to a wheelchair. He partakes in a symbiotic relationship with Stern and his radio partners, where they tease him, and he in turn gets to unload rage on them and to act like a little tyrant.
I like Eric. And at the same time, I find it easy to laugh as he demonstrates anger, vindictiveness, lust towards women, wild romantic crushes on a series of women who sang on "American Idol", ingratitude at anyone who wanders into his orbit, an inability to differentiate leg-pulling from something that is possibly real, and above all an argumentive spirit and temper.
I've been listening to Eric's calls for a long time now. This is not a passing fad. It is perhaps not obvious to some casual listeners that this relationship is moderately healthy, or that the calls are inherently funny. But I submit to you that Eric does reflect nearly every trait of inflexible behavior that can make for great humor, that Stern has handled him in a way that benefits both parties, and that these calls qualify as fascinating and funny.
Compilation - Midget Rage 1
Midget Rage 2
Eric's First Visit to the Stern Show
I like Eric. And at the same time, I find it easy to laugh as he demonstrates anger, vindictiveness, lust towards women, wild romantic crushes on a series of women who sang on "American Idol", ingratitude at anyone who wanders into his orbit, an inability to differentiate leg-pulling from something that is possibly real, and above all an argumentive spirit and temper.
I've been listening to Eric's calls for a long time now. This is not a passing fad. It is perhaps not obvious to some casual listeners that this relationship is moderately healthy, or that the calls are inherently funny. But I submit to you that Eric does reflect nearly every trait of inflexible behavior that can make for great humor, that Stern has handled him in a way that benefits both parties, and that these calls qualify as fascinating and funny.
Compilation - Midget Rage 1
Midget Rage 2
Eric's First Visit to the Stern Show
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