Anger, Revolution And Classical Sound

I’ve already mentioned about the sounds used to stop riots and the music played at riots but what about the music that starts riots?

Stumbled upon this great list on Wikipedia:

Classical Music Riot

A classical music riot is violent, disorderly behavior that occurs upon (usually) the premiere of a controversial piece of classical music.

Examples include:

• 1830 - Daniel Auber - La Muette de Portici (opera — sparked the Belgian Revolution)^[1]
• 1838 - Hector Berlioz - Benvenuto Cellini^[2]
• 1905 - Richard Strauss - Salomé (particularly the Met production in New York)^{[citation needed]}
• 1913 - Igor Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring (ballet)^[3][4]
• 1914 - Luigi Russolo - The Art of Noises^[5]
• 1917 - Erik Satie - Parade^[6]
• 1923 - Erwin Schulhoff - Ogelala^{[citation needed]}
• 1923 - Edgar Varèse - Hyperprism^[7]
• 1926 - George Antheil - Ballet Mécanique
• 1926 - Béla Bartók - The Miraculous Mandarin (ballet)^[8]
• 1926 - Maurice Ravel - Chansons madécasses^{[citation needed]}
• 1968 - Hans Werner Henze - Das Floß der Medusa^[9]
• 1973 - Steve Reich - Four Organs^[10]

A long list of bangers, but here is a bit more about a couple of my favorites.

Four Organs
A big tune and certainly something to get you feeling all riled and agro.
Durr dur durrrrrrr.
Apparently:
‘A 1973 performance of Four Organs at Carnegie Hall in New York City nearly caused a riot, with “yells for the music to stop, mixed with applause to hasten the end of the piece.”^[5] One of the performers, Michael Tilson Thomas, recalls: “One woman walked down the aisle and repeatedly banged her head on the front of the stage, wailing ‘Stop, stop, I confess.’”^[6][7]‘

Hungry for more? Here is some further radio listening.

Ballet Mechanique
Robot music original.

Hyperprism
“The present day composers refuse to die.” - International Composers’ Guild Manifesto
Varese is another super cool originator.
Especially interesting I reckon is Verese’s preoccupation with space (and architecture) and sound. I’ve mentioned his collaboration with Le Corbusier before. But architecture was also important in Verese’s early work . He wrote Rhapsodie Romane as a student around 1905 and that was response to the architecture of the Cathederal St. Philibert in Tournus.
Frank Zappa’s mother allowed him to call Varese as his 15th birthday present (but he wasn’t in).

Sowing Machine Sounds

A choir of Singers:

This man is called Martin Messier and his orchestra is made up of 1940s sowing machines.

Here’s what he says about it:

‘SEWING MACHINE ORCHESTRA IS ENTIRELY ORCHESTRATED WITH THE ACOUSTIC NOISES PRODUCED BY 1940′S SEWING MACHINES AMPLIFIED BY MEANS OF MICROCONTACTS AND PROCESS BY COMPUTER’

Very nice. Here he is playing live at Sonar. Sounds proper hectic. Shame no one is dancing.

BD594: Undisputed King Of The Robotic Bands

James Cochrane, AKA BD594, is the Dr Moreau of 8-bit music.

Check it out:

Pension Plans & Barrow Jams

Was out and about for the cuts March last week. Mobile sound systems and angry samba bands were out in force.

The Occupy LSX Samba Band even led the assault on Xstrata HQ.

Of course London isn’t the only site of protest which has seen protest noise and sound system innovation.

During the protests in Tahrir Square Egyptians rigged up sound systems powered by lamp-posts so they could stay up to date with what was going on:

‘In Tahrir Square, expectations were high. Many had come to take part in revelry, but Mr Mubarak’s speech continued to be postponed. Jokes began to circulate about why he was so late, with the consensus being that he was, after all, an Egyptian, a people not known for their punctuality. Amidst the drumbeats and jovial chants, time passed.

And then the bubble burst. In Tahrir Square, the crowds huddled around speakers powered from lamp-posts or made phone calls to relatives who held their handsets close to televisions. A rare silence fell over central Cairo.’

The One Pig Everyone Has Been Waiting For Arrives

And is going to be in Cafe Otto on the 15th of December.

‘Accidental Records will present a unique evening of music, underground pop-up dining, art and discussions on 15th December at London’s Cafe Oto. Brave souls will be invited to taste a pig from the farm Herbert used, while hearing its life reconstructed: consuming the record on many levels at once.’

Watch out for the Sty Harp player (It’s my ex-flatmate’s sister’s boyfriend!)

You can listen to the album here.

Speaker Design And A Chicago Garden Party

There are plenty of people obsessed by speaker design.

Squatter types and the heads that know trade speaker plans here:

http://speakerplans.com/

So that is the plan. But what is the outcome?

But not everyone is out to punish internal organs with seismic bass rays.

Some sound system builders would prefer to make ‘a “forest” of plant-shaped audio horn speakers powered by custom-made tube amplifiers’.

Instrument inventor Ian Schneller says his horn speakers excel at amplifying instruments that don’t usually come across well using a standard system, like harmonicas, banjos and violins.

Listen:

Shout Out To the Mental Lentil

Rollo Jackson’s Tape Crackers is a great London music documentary no doubt. Just stumbled onto this intro to the film by Jeremy Gilbert from when it screened at the ICA. And it’s definitely worth a listen.