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The Mire

Mad, stupid, fresh

If you're in NYC today, this talk/discussion/crate-digging session featuring Dave Tompkins (plus old hiphop sparing partner Hua Hsu), celebrating the launch of Dave's book How To Wreck A Nice Beach: The Vocoder From World War II To Hip Hop – The Machine Speaks . looks fantastic. A real one-off for sure... here's what Dave says: I'll be doing a vocoder book reading TODAY, 7 p.m., at McNally Jackson on 52 Prince Street in Soho, near Lafayette. Expect missiles, Muppets, asthma attacks, and vanishing staircases. It will be hosted by New York Times critic Jon Caramanica and Hua Hsu. Jon is a big fan of "Nasty Rock," the only vocoder hit out of Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina. Hua Hsu writes for the Atlantic Monthly and has been subjected to just about every freaking hare-brained scheme that went into this thing. The legendary EMS-3000 Vocoder will also be in the house, still coherent after running around with the Cylons,...

The Mire

The Wire Salon, Sonic Warfare: 
The Politics Of Frequency

The Wire ’s monthly series of salon-type evenings continues with author and The Wire contributor Ken Hollings (author of Welcome To Mars and Destroy All Monsters and presenter of the Hollingsville series on Resonance FM ) and Steve Goodman ( Kode9 , author of Sonic Warfare ), discussing the uses and abuses of sound and noise from sonic bombs to soundclashes. Below is a short online reading and listening list in anticipation of the event (mostly via Ken Hollings ) •Stream Hollings's Radio 3 programme From Gameboy to Armageddon on the Military Entertainment Complex •Hollings's Radio 3 programme, All Your Tomorrows Today on the RAND Corporation . •PDF download of Theatres Of War: The Military-Entertainment Complex ...

The Mire

Flying Lotus 4/20 Broadcast

Flying Lotus will be DJing an internet broadcast to mark " 4/20 ", an annual celebration of the Cannabis plant taking place today (20 April). Lotus will be joined by members of his Brainfeeder crew, including The Gaslamp Killer, Ras G, Daedelus, Teebs, Matthewdavid, Dr. Strangeloop and more. Tune in to the session at flying-lotus.com/radio , 20 April, 12pm in Los Angeles, 3pm in New York, 8pm in the UK and 4am in Japan. The set is also in anticipation of Flying Lotus's forthcoming album, Cosmogramma , out 4 May on Warp Records . Cosmogramma is on pre-sale for 24 hours from the time of the broadcast. Buyers of the album also get a free art print by Flying Lotus along with the chance to win the original.

The Mire

Extended Sun Ra Arkestra Residency @ Cafe Oto

As reported here last week, the Sun Ra Arkestra were grounded by the clouds of volcanic dust still looming over Europe. As a result of ongoing flight cancellations, the Arkestra have added yet another date to their popular residency at London's Cafe Oto in order to pay for their hotel costs. Tickets for the performance tonight (19 May) are available now for £10, but be quick as the last night sold out in two hours! Now sold out!

The Mire

Extra Sun Ra Arkestra performance @ Cafe Oto

Due to a large cloud of volcanic ash, the Sun Ra Arkestra have been grounded in London. As a result they've decided to add an extra night of their residency at Cafe Oto, tix are £10, but get them asap as the previous 3 nights sold out fast. Doors at 8pm Update: Advance tickets are now sold out, but there will be some available on the door tonight.

The Mire

Parallel Lives: Maja Ratkje & Kathy Hinde

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=10539469&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=0&show_portrait=1&color=ffffff&fullscreen=1 Exclusive footage of Maja Ratkje and Kathy Hinde's collaborative work, Birds And Traces . The composition was created during a week long residency at Aldeburgh Music as part of Faster Than Sound , a series of residencies set up to promote crossover between classical composers and artists working with electronic media. Inspired by the themes of bird migration, the season of Spring and climate change, Birds And Traces involved school children local to the Snape area reinterpreting Norwegian songs about birds and Spring along with making origami birds and mapping out migration routes. Alongside the resulting composition, the artists created two installations which included research materials produced during their residency and a multimedia film sculpture. The performance featured Norwegian accordionist Frode Haltli. Parallel Voices was curated by The Wire . Also performing at Parallel Lives was Marina Rosenfeld, watch exclusive footage of her installation and performance here. ...