Month: January 2012

MUSIC KRITICISM

You’ve got three days left to support the BEST MUSIC WRITING book series as it makes the leap into independent publishing – via a smart Kickstarter project. As much as I love tweeting and torrenting and blogs and “post-scarcity” blahblah and the tumblr-sprawl, I also really love seeing readers and writers and music lovers come together to build something substantial, which is what series editor Daphne Carr has done time & time again with BMW.

For me, one of the real pleasures of BMW lies in experiencing the sheer variety of people’s takes on music contained in each one; reading BMW always expands the way I think about musical worlds and reacting to them with language. (Full disclosure, I’ve been included twice – EVEN MORE REASON TO GIVE THESE FINE PEOPLE MONEY). So. Let’s keep those books burning!

LOCAL FORM WHATSOEVER

Last night’s radio show provided a particularly serpentine path through the fields of decentertainment, although sometimes things feel stranger than they actually are. Maybe always. End of show went elegy for Greek director Theo Angeloupolos, airing several selections from his long-time collaborator, Eleni Karaindrou. Streaming now:


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Brian DeGraw generously took the time to listen back and reconstruct his set list from the January 18th show. GGD’s BGD was really working with the mixer and FX (I brought my Pioneer DJM-800 for the occasion); here are the raw ingredients:

the KLF- Dream Time in Lake Jackson
Luciano- Los Ninos de Fuera
Lift Boys- Anarchy Village
Ku-Bo- Dingo Riddim
Joker- U Been Beta(demo version)
D Double E- Streetfighter Riddim
Javier Estrada- Crazy Indian
Nyamwezi (tribe)- Manyanga 2
Sonny Sharrock- Black Woman
Drumline Soundtrack
Paper Route Gangstaz- Woodgrain
Zomby- Digital Fauna
Debruit- Nigeria What?
Onipa Nua- I Feel Alright
Eski Instrumental
the KLF- Dream Time in Lake Jackson

BRIAN DEGRAW – DJ SET ON MUDD UP

This Wednesday, Gang Gang Dance’s Brian DeGraw stopped by my WFMU show to drop a deep hourlong DJ set. Brian does electronics in GGD and is deadly on the decks, too. Open ears will be rewarded. Now only that, but during the interview we learn that lately Brian has been feeling the tribal guarachero from Mexico! The radio show is now streaming:

Be sure to check out Brian’s visual art as well; he thinks across stylistic & formal boundaries, with consistently fresh results.

Day at the Office from Brian DeGraw.

MUDD UP BOOK CLUBB: KINDLE SCREENSAVERS

chip

I started the Mudd Up Book Clubb as a celebration of books, readers, libraries, IRL meetups, and all the hot people who love slow media. But the biggest thanks of all goes to the writers themselves. Keep us burning! We see you and salute your work. Furthering that end, here is a gift straight from my muddy heart –

Hand-drawn portraits of all the authors we’ve read so far by artist Rocio Rodriguez Salceda, fitted into digitals for maximum spreadability. Each drawing measures 600 x 800 pixels — formatted for Kindle screensavers, but they work well in many situations: say, an iPhone background, or a razor & octopus ink tattoo.


nalo screen

Click on each author’s name for the individual JPG, or grab this ZIP file (2 MB) containing all 8 images. (Here’s a detailed guide on how to jailbreak a Kindle).

MUDD UP BOOK CLUBB KINDLE SCREENSAVERS:

Cesar Aira

Lauren Beukes

Samuel R. Delany

Juan Goytisolo

Nalo Hopkinson

Maureen F. McHugh

Vladimir Sorokin

Mudd Up Book Clubb

goytisolo

beukes

maureen

sorokin

aira

nalo

NO VOICE BUT THE BODIES ARE ALL HERE

vegas

I’m orbiting in a space station above Las Vegas right now, so I was unable to get on the mic during yesterday’s radio show. But fire is fire. And no voice means more music, which speaks for itself. You can stream it here. Highlights include an exclusive debut of the new Los Rakas single, ‘Pimpin Smokin Dro featuring E-40’. Cue airhorn:

& for next week’s show, January 18th 8-9pm, I’ll have Brian DeGraw from Gang Gang Dance on-air! We’ve successfully rescheduled and got him all the gear needed to do a DJ set live in-studio. Muddy gifts never stop.

MUDDY FOOTWORK FROM CHICAGO

A trio of visionary DJ/producers from Chicago graced Mudd Up radio on WFMU last night: we had DJ Rashad, DJ Manny, and OG Traxman. They did back-to-back mixing, everyone playing unreleased original productions — a true glimpse of what’s to come!

Footwork spread in 2011, speeding up and weirding out dancefloors in NYC and beyond, so it was a real treat to have these guys come through to share the new.

STREAMING NOW: DJ Rupture’s Mudd Up January 4th show feat. DJ Rashad, Traxman, DJ Manny.