Month: August 2009

Opening theme: Art Ensemble of the Chicago: Nice Guys [title tune] (ECM)

1.    Lord Buckley: The Nazz; So You Thought Hip Was New/Feb 12th 1959 The Ivar Concert (Bgmrecordings/CD Baby)
2.    Philly Joe Jones: Blues for Dracula [title tune] (RiversideFantasy)
3.    Lenny Bruce: The Palladium; The Lenny Bruce Originals Vol. 2 (Fantasy}
4.    Lord Buckley: God’s Own Drunk; So You Thought Hip Was New/Feb 12th 1959 The Ivar Concert (Bgmrecordings/CD Baby)
5.    Morton Feldman/Samuel Beckett/Ensemble Recherche: Words and Music; Morton Feldman 2 (Disques Montaigne)
6.    Lenny Bruce: Father Flotski’s Triumph; The Lenny Bruce Originals Vol. 1 (Fantasy}
7.    Allen Ginsberg/The Gluons: Birdbrain; Sue Your Parents/Birdbrain (Alekos)
8.    Antony and the Johnsons: Another World; The Crying Light (Secretly Canadian)

Out theme: Art Ensemble of Chicago: Strawberry Mango; Coming Home Jamaica (WEA/Atlantic)

Updoc 55: The Almost Birthday Show: 8/21/09

Opening theme: Art Ensemble of the Chicago: Nice Guys [title tune] (ECM)

1.    Claude Debussy/Lucerne Festival Orchestra/Claudio Abaddo: La Mer; Mahler Debussy Abaddo Lucerne 2002 (DGG)
2-3. Count Basie: Every Tub; Oh! Lady Be Good; America’s #1 Band (Columbia/Legacy)
4.    Art Ensemble of Chicago: People in Sorrow [title tune] (Nessa)
5.    Debussy/Maurice Gendron: Cello Sonata; Debussy Sonatas (Philips)
6.    John Lee Hooker: Black Snake; The Country Blues (Prestige)
7.    Vernon Reid: The National Anthem; Other True Self (Favored Nations)
8.    Tori Amos: 1000 Oceans; To Venus and Back (Atlantic/WEA)
9-10.    Count Basie/Lester Young: Lester Leaps In; Taxi War Dance; America’s #1 Band (Columbia/Legacy)

Out theme: Art Ensemble of Chicago: Strawberry Mango; Coming Home Jamaica (WEA/Atlantic)

Cartographer Andy Woodruff recently posted a neat little musical Flash toy at his site, Ohio is a piano, that takes advantage of the match between Ohio’s 88 counties and the 88 keys on a piano. From his explanation:

How the keys are mapped to the counties depends on a specified data attribute: the notes and counties are ordered by that attribute and then linked to one another. For example, if the chosen attribute is population, the county with the lowest population is assigned the lowest-frequency piano key, the county with the highest population is assigned the highest-frequency piano key, and so on…In my experience, most of it sounds like crap, apart from the provided simplified bits of actual songs of course. But I would be very interested to hear if anyone discovers any patterns that sound decent.

I think he’s being modest with that last part. It’s a simple concept, sure, but he turned into a fun little toy, and the execution opens up interesting possibilities. Among other things, each multi-county metro area becomes a different chord, and he lets you play with the data in different ways – e.g., hearing a route between different cities. I like using the mouseover option at the top and then creating spare strings of notes, with the occasional Toledo or Dayton-Springfield chord thrown in for flavor. [via Metafilter]