grady wrote:
> 
> If we didn't all know about Polycarp I'd say that their CD is one of the
> best come-from-nowhere records I've heard in years, period, local or
> not. But they didn't come from nowhere. I wonder how it has struck those
> folks who *didn't* know they existed before?

I'd guess they wouldn't know what to make of it at all; it's kind of a 
schizophrenic record (yes, that's a compliment). Loungey noise? Avant pop 
electronics? How would you describe it, Ross? I agree, though, that it's  
one of my fave records of the year, and not just because I'm wearing the 
guitarist's old pants right now.
 
> Or has it struck them at all?

Good question. Have the Wiffleguys sent it out to college radio? Has it hit 
the CMJ 200? It really deserves to be heard by anyone who likes unusual 
stuff.

> I would also like to submit the following URL for discussion:
> 
> http://www.unc.edu:80/~toybox/review4.html
> 
> Does this, in fact, represent yr common Archers fan? If so, what does it
> mean? Anything?

What a great review! Who wrote it? I don't think that's "yr common Archers 
fan" now, but it sure is the kind of fan that filled their shows early on.

> also: remind me of your favorite a.m.c-h posts of all time. Please.

Nate's underwear thing. Or was that Charlie?

> and: instead of sending me one-line suggestions of local things to
> web-ify, you might consider posting your comments. That's how I want it
> to work==webpage as distillation of multi-tongued dialog already posted
> to group. This means you Todd Morman: the Will Connor things at Lump are
> at the end of January. Don't put it off till then.

Ok, ok, here it is. But first, a show review for background: a coupla 
Wednesdays ago, NC State's design school had its December graduation party. 
Two of my co-workers, Will and Steve, provided the live music (Semi-colon, I 
think, were supposed to play, too, but couldn't, for some reason. Has anyone 
seen them? I talked to the cello player, and he told me they're doing 
acoustic covers of Kraftwerk tunes now, and had done some odd experimental 
stuff (typewriters, etc.) in the past. Sounded neat; I'll put them on my 
list).

Anyway, Will is a drummer; he used to drum for the now-defunct 134, whose 
posthumous cd should be in local stores as you read. His taste in music is 
incredibly diverse; his knowledge of experimental jazz is amazing. For the 
show, he built himself a new drumkit out of scrap metal he scrounged from a 
local junkyard. The sounds he was getting were industrial as hell.

Steve is a bassist, but recently bought himself a sampler and has been 
making trip-hop in the office after work. It's really dense and pretty 
stuff; he likes ethnic music samples a lot, as do I. He pre-recorded some 
amazing beats for the show, set them in motion, and then played clarinet and 
other instruments over it, while Will clattered out some incredibly funky 
rhythms on his drums.

The first song got folks up and looking. It was interesting, you could see 
that in their faces. The crowd was an odd mix of artsy design schoolers and 
their normal-looking parents, some cool folks from the Raleigh rave scene, 
the Wiffle/Alien Skin people and other like-minded geeks, and the staff of 
Gilley's, along with a couple of regulars from the surrounding, mostly black 
neighborhood.

By the second song people were dancing. Not just me, I mean. The third song, 
if I recall correctly, had a jungle beat. Will was going *nuts* on his 
drums, his green hair flying, keeping up with the insane stuff Steve had 
recorded. *Live* *jungle*, people. You just don't see *that* very often, you 
know? The local ravers were all smiling now, and a guy behind me turned to 
his pal and said "Damn!" I just looked back, smiled and nodded.

They did about 6 or 7 songs, all of them interesting, dancey, funky, 
trip-hoppy little excursions. It was experimental, but friendly. By the time 
they were done, the crowd had really loosened up, and when the dj started 
spinning techno, all *sorts* of folks started dancing, including what looked 
like some graduatee's little grandma.

Now, to the Best Bet thing: Will is doing a series of four duets on four 
successive evenings at the Lump gallery in downtown Raleigh on January 
23-26. It's called "Four Duets: A Blatant Musical Attack on the Foundations 
of Reality", and after hearing Will describe it (he just walked into the 
office after a practice), I can tell you I'm going to be there every night.

See, Will's kind of crazy, in the best possible way. He's created a bizarre 
"cryptonumeromythocracy" involving this being called The Babbler, and each 
night's performance is a musical version of a particular Babbler myth, with 
a different compositional method for each night. Night #1 is drums with sax, 
euphonium and bass trumpet; some of the compositions are being written by 
taking jazz standards, chopping them up into measures, and then pulling the 
pieces out of a bag and taping them on a lampshade which will then rotate 
while Amedeo reads and plays the music over Will's drums. It represents The 
Babbler in Limbo, after being banished in a desperate struggle.

Uh-huh. You get the picture, hopefully.

Night #2 is Will with Jennifer on oboe and marimba.

Night #3 is Steve and the trip-hop thing again, with live mixing of samples 
and some new beats.

Night #4 is with Scott on bass, and represents the fight between The Babbler 
and two of her foes, Tippy the Rabid and Skima. If I understood Will 
correctly, Tippy the Rabid is on *our* side.

How's that for a Best Bet? The shows all start at 7:30 at Lump from the 23rd 
to the 26th; for more info, call 821-9999. And, like Ross said, don't forget 
the opening of the "Furniture as Functional Art" show this Friday at Lump 
from 6-midnight, I think. Anyone up for a gallery hop night?

todd the foundations of reality could use more musical attacks morman