One of the (very many) reasons I love Couch by CouchWest is it brings all sorts of awesome new-to-me bands my way, such as Ned Van Go, of Nashville. Here they are with Mountaintop Removal, proving it is totally possible to tear it up while also chilling on a couch, or keg, or speaker, as the case may be.
Love Kin by Guantanamo Baywatch is a great surfy rockabilly tune, and one half of a double-A single release; the other side is Mama by Shannon and the Clams.
You can follow GB’s shenanigans on Facebook, but be warned, that page is not safe for work or persons with delicate sensibilities.
While we’re on the subject of notable covers, here are The Tonk Honkys of Los Angeles, CA, at CXCW, performing a version of Nine Inch Nails’ Closer that made me seal-clap with glee the first time I heard it.
I am, for the record, a long-time Nine Inch Nails fan, with a lot of feelings about that song. And this cover grows more glorious every time I listen to it.
http://youtu.be/ScO1W3Kb5m4
After that I of course had to know what they sound like when left to their own devices, so here they are with Nada Care:
http://youtu.be/1sb6sOlJC2s
I’m filing this post under “gadgetry” because producer Michael Forrest has created something that fuses music and technology: an album that is also an app. Currently available for iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches, it is a collection of 1000 loops of electronic textures designed to run, as it says on the tin, infinitely and with endless recombinations of sounds.
How It Works:
I tested it on my iPhone. The interface is mercifully simple, clean and reasonably intuitive. The first time you use it you will need to let all the loops download, but that only takes a few minutes, and doesn’t impede play. To get started all you have to do is press the “play” button. You can then leave it to its own devices for as long as you like – if it gets stuck in a set of loops you don’t care for, give it a shake and it moves on – or you can press the stack of bars that will lead you to a more complex menu.
The more complex menu is designed with six buttons, three across the top and three across the bottom, with eight slowly rotating discs between them. There are pop-up text boxes that explain the various functions, which I turned off almost immediately as they cluttered the screen and were somewhat repetitive. (Also they seemed to get crankier as I poked and prodded. No need to fiddle! one informed me, which is about when I turned it off.)
The buttons, top to bottom, left to right:
Playing/Pause: Tells you if the Infinite Music Machine is on or off. You can also turn it on and off from the lock screen.
Movement: Increases and decreases the tempo
Change: Changes the textures that are playing; you can do the same thing by shaking the phone or tapping one of the rotating discs between the buttons.
Save/share: You can tap in the upper right to save; titles are prefilled, and tend to be things like “Tickle Drum Roll A”, but you can change it. Or you can share the loops via Twitter or Facebook.
About: Pulled up a tiny blockheaded dancing Michael Forrest avatar that made me want to personalize it, because really, tiny block-headed dancing avatars for everyone!! Also there are basic instructions and a link to Forrest’s Facebook page.
Sets: A list of your saved sets.
Other notes:
As mentioned above, the eight discs in the middle are visual representations of the number of textures in play. There are usually between three and five discs rotating, though I did get all eight going at once for a couple of seconds.
Quibbles:
Desire for my own dancing avatar aside, I have very few complaints, the main one being when the phone is locked, you can see which discs are moving but cannot turn them on and off without opening the app.
Verdict:
I let it run for about an hour and a half, largely unmolested – I think I shook it twice – and overall it was quite pleasant. Well worth your $1.99.
Here is a fixed sample of the kind of music the app can produce:
And naturally after all of that I had some questions for Mr. Forrest.
If people were using this app to make music, specifically to make beats, would they treat the result like a sample? And if so who would they credit, you or the app? Or both?  Or would it be none of the above, i.e. it would be theirs, since they were creating the beat with available sounds, and the database of noises would end  up being a kind of library of sound.


The app is not supposed to be treated as a ‘sound library’ per se – these aren’t royalty free samples like you’d get if you bought a sound library. The Infinite Music Machine is a piece of music.


That said, I want to encourage capturing and remixing, so all the audio has a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. This means that people can record and remix but should credit me when sharing the results. Obviously if somebody wants to distort the sounds beyond recognition then nobody will ever know, but I’d like to hear those sorts of remixes more than anything else! Â


Is there a way to look at the list of individual sounds and compile a track in a deliberate way, rather than by random shake?
Nah, that’s not really in the spirit of the app. If you’re interested in remixing, think of it as a kind of ‘mischievous, opinionated, slightly awkward and ephemeral sample library’ – it deliberately doesn’t let you have too much control – you have to catch the moment or it’s gone.
Can people add their own sounds to what is already there?
Not just now. Its use as a DJ tool or whatever is very much secondary to its ‘album’ nature. It’s for listening, it’s not really supposed to be a music performance app.
However, I may end up needing to make some modifications for my own use if I decide I want to make it the core of my own live performance set up. In that case, I’d consider enabling advanced functionality like this as an in-app purchase. But I probably won’t because if I did, the next thing I knew I’d have everybody asking me for MIDI control and effects and all sorts which would shift the focus too far away from the real point of the app as a piece of music.
Does the app get “trained” as one uses it, i.e. does it reduce the frequency/drop sounds often skipped and repeat sounds often saved?
Interesting idea. I’d prefer to think of it as the app training the listener – perhaps a sound that you found alien the first time you heard it might become more familiar over time, and you’d be less inclined to skip it next time :)
If you save a sound and share it, does the person clicking on it have to have the app to listen to the “song”? or does it export as an mp3?
The person clicking the link needs the app to hear the song. I’m happy for people to figure out recording to mp3 themselves, of course (hence Audiobus support) but I haven’t built this into the app itself.
Did you record all of the sounds in the app yourself? What kinds of noises are in there?
Yes, I recorded all the sounds myself. There are about 1000 different loops including live drums, drum machine beats, various virtual, real vintage and home made synths, many strange little sound-making toys, effected silly noises, a harmonium, pianos and a kazoo. Check out the video to see me in the studio recording some of the sounds.
http://youtu.be/UXbOKDSl3l4
Ukiah Drag have taken Poison Ivy, originally by The Coasters, and given it their own doomy, grimy finish:
To hear what they sound like left to their own devices, check out their Soundcloud page.
Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go as sung by the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. Still one of my favorite songs of all time.
I cannot think of a better way to observe St. Patrick’s Day then cutting myself a slice of soda bread, making a large cup of tea, putting my feet up, and settling in with the CXCW’s second annual Irish Showcase.
You can find the whole thing here; below are a few videos to give you a taste of the excellence to be had:
First, the incomparable Tony Fitz, producer and front of house manager for Homebeat, who organized the first seven videos in the showcase, with The Murder, the first track from his upcoming record. Joining him are Gráinne Hunt and members of Red Sail.
I don’t know if there’s a CXCW record for “Most Dogs Per Video” but if not, Carriages may have set one, with four, count them, FOUR happily wagging tails in this video for Pale Face which they wrote special for CXCW:
Rónán Ó Snodaigh of KÃla and Kristina Aspeqvist, director of the Stockholm Vodou Orchestra met ten minutes before this video was recorded. The song is called Cara Liom:
Sleep Thieves, of Dublin, met on Twitter and bonded over synths and movie soundtracks. Here they are with French Kiss from their upcoming album You Want The Night, coming soon from Minty Fresh Records:
These next two videos are not Tony Fitz productions, but they are still great stuff.
Representing the West: Willow Sea (Will O’Connor), from Galway, with instrumental-in-progress Dying Starts:
And finally, last but never least, CXCW’s first participant from Northern Ireland, songwriter Rowena Cairns with You Could Break My Heart
http://youtu.be/DnRbDnqhFV4
i once took a train ride across Texas, which, as Texas is very large, took a very long time. I spent that ride with Infinite Jest in my lap and small group of ladies at my back. The book was a re-read, and still managed to teach me things about myself that I had not previously known; the ladies complained about how they couldn’t smoke on the train for several hundred miles. By the end I wasn’t sure if I wanted to thrown them out the window or join them for a smoke break. I was definitely more conscious of my own bad habits.
This is Drown With the Monster, by White Lung, because sometimes you have to look your vices in the eye before you drop them down a well attached to a heavy weight.
It’s a simple yet sublime pleasure, and just thinking about it can make you feel a little calmer, a little more content. Imagine: You bring out one of the good rocks glasses (or your favorite mug or a special occasion tea cup) and pour a couple fingers of amber liquid (or something dark and strong or just some whole milk). You drop the needle on the jazz platter (or pull up a blues album on your mp3 player or dig out that mixtape from college). Ensconcing yourself in the coziest seat in the house, you crack the spine on a classic (or find your place in that sci-fi paperback or pull up a biography on your e-book reader). And then, you go away for a while. Ah, bliss.
In this series, some of NTSIB’s friends share beloved albums, books and drinks to recommend or inspire.
Justin Courtney Pierre is a man of many bands, though perhaps best known as the front man for Motion City Soundtrack. This is Inside Out, their most recent single:
http://youtu.be/gxBx98S7-oU
And this is This Is For Real from Even If It Kills Me the song (and album) I listened somewhat obsessively back in 2008, after I burned my life down and then didn’t quite know what to do afterwards:
Ok that’s kind of not true. I knew what I wanted to do afterwards, which was sulk in basements listening to My Chemical Romance at high volume. Apparently I needed Gerard Way howling about being not okay in my ear in order to admit to myself that I was also not okay.
But I also knew I couldn’t sulk in basements forever. It Had To Be You, also from Even If It Kills Me, was the flip side to the misery, my reminder that I had done the right thing, burning my life down, and my glimmer of hope that I might someday want to invite someone to get wrecked on pop-tarts and sex and see the Taj Mahal:
Pierre’s other band is The Farewell Continental Group of North America, and when not rocking out, one of his many other projects is being co-host of a podcast called Book Narcs. It is with great pleasure that I turn the floor over to him to tell us about one of his favorite books, records, and drinks:
A Good Read
One of my favorite books of all time is Jerry Stahl’s Permanent Midnight. It is an unapologetic look at the drug fueled life of a broken man, the author, as he spirals toward extinction while trying to hang on to various television writing gigs, a wife, a kid, and what little sanity he has left. It is fucking beautiful. It is the only drug book I’ve ever read that doesn’t glorify the act of using. It is all open sores, teeming with things that squirm, and late night heart attack panic frenzies – but funny. Real funny, you know, if it’s not all happening to you. Somehow he makes you laugh and want to throw up at the same time. It’s one slow plunge of brutal truth after another.
I originally discovered this book after seeing the movie based on it starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson. I thought, “that was fun, I should read the book.†But the book was WAY darker, and sadly, far more relatable than the film. True, I never stuffed black tar heroin up my ass while standing on my head to help facilitate the ingestion process, but I did spend a large part of my life nearly dying in an effort to chase the high and quiet my mind.
At the time I read this book I was drinking heavily, with amphetamine filled evenings peppered throughout the work week, which may account for the beer stains, the stab wounds, and a good deal of dried blood on the last 5 pages. There is redemption, however, for the author of the book, and I suppose even a little for me. He survived to tell his tale after literally washing off his own vomit and feces with somebody’s garden hose during the LA Riots of ’92, kicking the habit alone in a shed for several days – reborn with purpose. I found this book at the right time and it spoke to me. It said, “You do not wish to end up here. You will not fare as well as this.†It took me a few more years, but somehow I made it out of my own dark and endless nightmare. Thanks, Jerry.
A Good Listen
One of my favorite albums of all time is The Flaming Lips‘ Clouds Taste Metallic. In the fall of ’95 I moved into a cold sub-level apartment near Dinkytown in Minneapolis after a failed college attempt. Simultaneously, I inherited an old record player from my uncle and a set of ancient speakers, but no stereo to marry the two and provide sound. I also owned a VCR but had no television. I would pass the time listening to movies on my headphones (this is how I discovered the same sound was used for both the roller-coasters in True Romance and the fighter jets in Top Gun). I also listened to records this way, sitting cross-legged on the frozen tile floor, consuming copious amounts of Mountain Dew and ephedrine for days at a time.
I had liked The Flaming Lips ever since my friend Nick brought them to my attention in high school when Hit To Death In The Future Head came out. I also quite enjoyed Transmissions From The Satellite Heart when that came out, and working backwards got into In A Priest Driven Ambulance as well. But it was Clouds Taste Metallic that splattered my brains all over the wall (well, that and the ephedrine).
This album is like Japan. To me Japan is this insane mixture of past and future; incredible history and tradition mixed together with Minority Report type technology. Every intersection in Tokyo is like that movie Alex watches in A Clockwork Orange – total mind fuck. Clouds Taste Metallic is like that. More to the point… There is an excellent array of ear piercing and off putting sounds interwoven through the magic that are these incredible pop songs. This is a great sounding record, but it hurts a little to listen to – you have to work for it, but it’s worth it. Wayne Coyne is not the greatest singer, but his word choices are nearly always brilliant.
I used When You Smile in my wedding because it is the most beautiful love song I have ever heard. EXAMPLE: “When you smile… all of the subatomic pieces come together and unfold themselves in a second.†Does that not so perfectly describe what it is to be in love? Or take Christmas At The Zoo, a song about a guy who tries to free the animals at the zoo on Christmas, but they tell him to beat it because it doesn’t mean anything unless they can free themselves. How do you come up with an idea like that? My 3rd favorite track on the record has to be Evil Will Prevail, a seemingly happy sounding song with soul-crushing lyrics, the chorus of which goes, “with loving hands knowing evil will prevail.†It ends on the saddest of whimpers.
I have no idea if I am selling you on this record or deterring you from ever listening to it. It stands the test of time for me and will always remain the high water mark to which all other albums are compared. I dare you to give it a listen and hear for yourself.
![The Flaming Lips - When You Smile [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/CZoOCcG0I3k/0.jpg)
A Good Drink
Being a sober guy, my favorite drinks tend to be either water or coffee, the latter of which being the last drug, and I am holding on to it with all I have got. But I will throw into the mix my go-to drink for social gatherings or a simple and refreshing treat: Club Soda and Lime.
If you are a sober cat who misses that feeling of a drink in your hand, this works pretty well. It feels like a drink but isn’t one. If you are a sober cat who is easily triggered by sense memory, I’d stick to 1:00 a.m. ice cream binges and 12 packets of sugar in your morning coffee.
I can’t stand bars for several reasons, but if ever I find myself in one I get a Club Soda and Lime and nurse it for hours. Usually you can get them for free if you tell the bartender you are the sober cat. Additionally, for anyone addicted to soft drinks and trying to get off that, this is a pretty good substitute. But you may want to up the ratio of limes to liquid for the first few weeks, until you get the hang of it.
Joy’s first dispatch from Austin is about having fun without spending all of your money.
You have probably just read the title of this piece and laughed out loud. You’re right: there are many ways to empty your checking account at South By Southwest. But with a little creativity, the experience doesn’t have to end with tears and debt. Here is my list of tips on how to attend this festival as inexpensively as possible.
1. Book in advance.
Don’t be that person who gets stuck sleeping on someone’s floor for $50 a night while cursing those who booked better accommodations ahead. Be the person who gets cursed at. One can find really reasonable prices on decent places to stay through AirBnB — I saw a renovated Airstream in a good location, basically a hotel room, offered for $35 a night. But you must do your searching and make your arrangements at least a month in advance, if not in January. Otherwise you will be S.O.L.
Better still, know someone who knows someone in town who will put you up for free. If you don’t know anyone in Austin, go there some time that is not SXSW and start making friends.
2. Make every meal a picnic.
As a general rule, grocery stores are always less expensive than restaurants. Basically every restaurant and food truck in Austin is awesome, but so are the grocery stores. Grab some low-priced gourmet baked goods, a hunk of cheese, and even a bottle of inexpensive wine; believe it or not, the original Whole Foods store on N. Lamar is a great place to get all three for under $20 (less than that if you’re thrifty and/or don’t mind $6 wine). Supplement with items of produce, et voila: a picnic meal that, depending on the number of people you’re feeding, may last all day. Just don’t try to take any liquids into a venue: I lost a can of V8 that way yesterday.
3. Public transportation is your friend.
Some dude's camelbak just squirted water on me on the bus & I initially thought I was being urinated/vomited upon. #sxsw
— paleotrees (@paleotrees) March 13, 2014
My next thought was coffee/beer/vodka shower. More pleasant than body fluids, but still not pleasant.
— paleotrees (@paleotrees) March 13, 2014
Yes, shit does get real on the bus. Especially late at night, and often early in the afternoon if people were laid out cold from the late night before. However, a day pass is only $2, and you can’t beat that anywhere. Parking will cost you much more, and fuck taking a taxi: the streets will be closed where you want to go anyway. Pedi-cab if you must (support local bicyclists), but the best way to get around town is by waiting for a tolerably crowded bus and hoofing it the rest of the distance.
Make sure to remember your sunscreen and drink plenty of the free water offered at most venues.
4. Many shows are free.
If you’re in town to see smaller bands and don’t have a badge, you’re in luck: entry to most showcases will cost you nothing, especially during the day. While you may still end up waiting in line with people you can barely tolerate, the fortunate showgoer won’t even have to cut through that bullshit — time your entrance just right and you’ll simply show your ID, chat with the doorpeople, and get a fashionable hand stamp.
You’re in! Until you’re out. Venues generally have flexible reentry policies, but it’s a smart plan to check and be safe.
5. Fortune favors the bold.
At SXSW, the rules of social conduct are generally loosened and all kinds of behavior is tolerated. I will never recommend going the total-asshole, burned-bridges route, for reasons of basic human decency, but I am saying — don’t be shy about getting your free swag. All around SXSW, promotion companies give away stuff to those who ask. Drink coozies, t-shirts, tote bags, ear plugs, if you need it somewhere will have it.
For the more wily among us, a whole other garden of delights will open up. Gig posters abound and will be put back up if you take one down. Don’t want to pay $6 for a tiny little drink? Keep your eyes open: someone may have left a perfectly good one just sitting around.
Hey! Free drink!
[ed note: And free lord-knows-what-else, too! Stick to the free water!]
Exercise caution, of course, but these are only some examples. Go wild, be free, my friends, and have a safely thrifty SXSW.
ADDENDUM:
6. Loyalty programs = Free stuff.
We’re all chasing that paper, and local businesses are no exception. As such, many locations in Austin show their appreciation for repeat business by hooking their customers up. If you don’t want to carry a hundred punch-cards, the Belly app keeps track of your visits electronically and allows you to redeem rewards after certain point tallies.
My personal favorite friendly R&R location, Halcyon Bar & Cafe at 4th and Lavaca, offers increasingly worthwhile free refreshments for their ascending loyalty tiers. If you stop in for your daily break every afternoon, you’ll have at least a free coffee to your name by the end of the week.
Neither Belly nor Halcyon has paid Paleotrees nor NTSIB for this endorsement. Joy just wants to bring business to a good location, and for people to get their money’s worth out of SXSW at the same time.
On a related note, just stay away from the vintage stores and vendor stalls unless you do have a budget cushion. Those places are great for people-watching, but put out all their best stuff this time of year.
-Joy/@paleotrees