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Introduction: |
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Tired of paying for music, but scared the R.I.A.A. will sue
you into debtor's prison? Well, EvilSponge has the hookup for
you. There are plenty of free "releases" on the web, if you
know how to look.
One series that i have enjoyed is NoType's
Sine
Fiction series. This is a collection of avante electronica
interpretations of science fiction novels. A wacky idea, but
you get some great music out of it.
I have reviewed 4 separate Sine Fiction downloads. Check the
"Related Links" section after the review for more of them.
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Review: |
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What are the Nine Billion Names of God? Is this
an oblique reference to the kabballistic theory that every word
in the (original, Hebrew) Old Testament can be rearanged to
form a name of God, and time will end when the True Name of
God is reformed from the letters scattered about that sacred
text? Does this mean that Arthur C. Clarke is a Hasidic Jew?
I thought he lived in Sri Lanka. Maybe he just watched the movie
Pi too many times....
Anyway, i really have no idea what this story is about. I'm
actually not much of a Clarke fan, although i base that on a
reading of Rendezvous With Rama when i was much
younger. (I really didn't care for that novel.) However, this
name sounded interesting, and, well, it's a free download, so
i thought i'd give it a try.
Actually, the music is pretty good. There is just one 7 minute
tune in this Sine
Fiction release. It is a ponderous pseudo-classical number,
and i am not even 100% sure that it is an electronic piece.
It seems to be built out of a mounrful tuba, that grows and
swells and is joined by a chorus of other horns. For all i know
Oeuf Korreckt is a brass band in central Germany...
I have an interested experiment i want somebody to try, and
then report back to me how it works. I suspect that if this
piece were slipped into the afternoon rotation of any NPR station
in the US, no one would really notice. So -- any NPR DJs out
there? See if you can download this and play it on air, and
then let me know
if anyone comments on it. I bet that most listeners won't bat
an eyelid, which will just serve to reinforce my theory that,
if properly done, contemporary electronica can be indistinguishable
from any other form of music is chooses to emulate. (This all
assumes that Oeuf Korreckt is actually an electronic act, like
everyone else on the NoType label....)
At any rate, this is a pretty cool piece. It reminds me a lot
of the recent horn-heavy work of Godspeed
You Black Emporer. It builds very slowly, and while never
building to a GYBE frenzy,
it does evolve naturally into a sort of catharsis. And the stately
horn sounds fit with the almost relgious nature of the story
implied by the title. Now, i have no idea how well this music
goes with the story, but if the story is anything like this
music i bet it is rather worthwhile. |
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