For my current work, I’m sorting through a pile of papers from the Syntonic Research, Inc. record label most famous for their Environments series of the 1970s. These albums are notable as the first publicly available noise masking recordings; they would go on to inspire plenty of copy cats, and helped fuel the nascent New Age […]
Monthly Archives: August 2014
Hawai’i, 2014 If you read this blog with any regularity–hi Mom–you might notice the recent flurry of quotes. I’m a hoarder of pithy sayings and I needed a place to share them and justify my collecting. Most relate to sound or, to me, reveal some subtle epiphany. You might start with these: Aldo Leopold on the little […]
The radio was no good tonight–somebody sang popular songs that all ended in the same way. It was like she was empty… One program came on after another, and all of them were punk. She didn’t especially care. She smoked and picked a little bunch of grass blades. After a while a new announcer started […]
Great music offers a glimpse at the pinnacle of human potential. Other music, ephemeral and utilitarian, never makes it out of base camp–or perhaps the gutter. Adult film music likely fits this second description but its reputation may be on the rise. I saw this article on “how sex got its soundtrack” from Salon and couldn’t help […]