Music

21 Posts

Hearing Things

Hearing Things is a new worker-owned music site with a roster of founders that have worked at Pitchfork, The Fader, Vibe, Spin, Gawker, and Jezebel.

I stopped reading music journalism altogether in 2003 when Pitchfork gave my favorite album that year, Bobby Birdman's Born Free Forever, a terrible review. Obviously I know "different strokes for different folks," but I still remember the eye-roll I did while reading it and it was sorta just the final straw for me on seeking the opinions of "experts". However, I know a lot of people do like reading music sites, and I've been happy with some of the other sites that are the creations of "supergroups" of ex-employees of other sites, most notably 404 Media, which hits it out of the park daily.

I wish Hearing Things luck! And here's that Bobby Birdman album:


Nowhere Town

100 45s for your enjoyment.

The collection is comprised of country and rock 'n' roll 45s from the '50s and '60s, along with a set of guitar-driven instrumentals from the same period. 

Check 'em out.


Demon Box — Instrument of Electromagnetic Fields

For the next week or so you can back the Demon Box on Kickstarter.

Step into a new dimension of music with the Demon Box from Eternal Research, your gateway to the unseen and unheard frequencies that surround us. By harnessing electromagnetic fields (EMF), this revolutionary analog instrument unlocks the existing music hidden in everyday things and experiences – turning anything from a hairdryer to a cell phone into music.

Wim Mertens — A Man of No Fortune, And With A Name to Come

Some of you may know that I sell vinyl records for a living. Today, a copy of Wim Mertens' A Man of No Fortune, And With A Name to Come walked in the door along with some Philip Glass and Steve Reich. I first heard this record in 1993, when I was running Art & Trash, the best arthouse video store Toronto's ever seen. Though not expensive, today's copy is only the third I've seen in 30+ years.

In North America, the Belgian composer is probably best known — if he's known at all — as the composer of the score for Peter Greenaway's film The Belly of an Architect, which contains Mertens' most famous piece, Struggle for Pleasure:

My personal favorite Mertens piece is probably Often a Bird:

Here's A Man of No Fortune..., which is just Mertens' piano and countertenor voice:

As I listened to it today for the first time in many years, I recalled that I'd sometimes put the CD on repeat, played very softly, to calm my dog, Fletcher, who suffered from separation anxiety — he once almost ate his way through my wooden front door. The music worked quite well.

If it agrees with you, you may like Hania Raini's output.


Memberships

Become a member!

Sign Up Today.
Memberships

Great! You’ve successfully signed up.

Welcome back! You've successfully signed in.

You've successfully subscribed to A Tiny Bell.

Success! Check your email for magic link to sign-in.

Success! Your billing info has been updated.

Your billing was not updated.