[ Hypnos Forum ]

This may be everyone's cup of tea, but I'm very amped about the latest revival of Philip Glass/Robert Wilson's Einstein On The Beach, which was last performed about 20 years ago.  They will be coming to Berkeley towards the end of this month. Here is a link to an informal performance of several numbers from the production by Glass' ensemble (the 3rd piece at the around the 30 minutes mark is pretty amazing):

http://www.wqxr.org/#!/articles/q2-live-concerts/2012/aug/21/watch-philip-glass-hour-einstein/

Forrest

It being Robert Moog's birthday today, Google has a cool virtual Moog doodle up there, though I can't say I was able to do much with it.  When it comes to playing keys with a mouse, I'm all thumbs.

One other thing is that it only seems to work under the Chrome browser.

Forrest 

Just thought I'd provide a brief update on my recent activities and releases.  I've just finished recording and mixing a new CD called "Animism."  It is sort of a hybrid of my more structured "Folklore" CD and the atmospheric layering in "Gongland," but with a prominence given to textures.  It may be out by June or July 2012, most likely on Projekt, but I'll update when I know more.

I also contributed a piece to Black Tape For A Blue Girl's 2nd CD for "The Rope 25" Projekt release--a cover version of "Hide In Yourself" featuring a bit of gamelan and palm harp.  Other ambient artists on the comp are Dirk Serries (Vidna Obmana, Fear Fall Burning) and Erik Wollo.  Here is a link to that release (which came out this month):  http://projekt.com/projekt/product.asp?sku=PRO00020

A demix/deconstruction I did for Barry Cleveland's King Crimsonesque "Hologamatron" album in 2010 is up at Bandcamp.  I think it can be streamed from there, for those who are curious.  I used mostly acoustic elements from different tracks in the piece, "Abandoned Mines," and mangled and stretched them a bit.  The really ominous sound you hear in that piece was originally a Michael Manring bassline.  The link to that piece is here:  http://barrycleveland.bandcamp.com/track/abandoned-mines-forrest-fang-remix

My last release, my second Sans Serif CD, "Unbound" has been out since this summer and is available from iTunes and from the Hypnos store.

Thanks for the continuing support and feedback,
Forrest

Interesting viewpoint on a new six-hour song by the Flaming Lips.  Though the author of the article mentions Andy Warhol's long films, he doesn't mention Robert's Rich Somnium, LaMonte Young's "Well-Tuned PIano," or even Philip Glass' "Music In Twelve Parts":

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/10/what-is-the-point-of-a-six-hour-song/246666/?google_editors_picks=true

I think I'd rather have six-hours of ambience than of experimental skronk.

Forrest

I'm generally not a big fan of legalese, but this dramatic rendition by Richard Dreyfus of certain key parts the iTunes End User License Agreement is pretty unique (and very funny):

http://www.cnet.com/8301-30976_1-20068778-10348864.html

Forrest

Riffing off our rexent iPad discussion, I thought this Paul Theroux piece about fiction and e-Books was an interesting take on electronic media replacing physical media:

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/08/fiction-in-the-age-of-ebooks/8041

His description about living with a book as a physical object and talisman is similar to way I feel about physical media for music.

Forrest

Just though I let everyone know that I had a serious health-related scare this week, though I'm home now recovering and am gradually improving.  After experiencing some unfamiliar chest pain over the past week, I got a surprising result from my stress test Tuesday and was admitted to Alta Bates Hospital that same day.  Had a cath procedure done on a vessel to my heart the next day to remove plaque that very likely would have killed me if not treated.  After spending a day in ICU I am back at home, a little bruised from a fall I had a few hours before the operation, but am now feeling better and simply happy to be alive.

The timing of my hospitalization was really lousy (two weeks into a new job), but my new employer is very supportive and am grateful for that.

Forrest

Thought was this kind of an interesting article on the "deluxe version" phenomenon, which seems to work best for bands with a large and rabid fan base:

http://www.portfolio.com/business-news/reuters/2009/03/27/devoted-music-fans-pay-top-dollar-for-deluxe-sets

Forrest

Some of you may remember that I had problems several months ago in getting a CD I had ordered on eBay from Small Voices.  The CD finally arrived 2 months after I ordered it, but only after I filed a dispute with PayPal.

Unfortunately, it appears that history has repeated itself.  This time I ordered an extremely limited Fabio Orsi CD from an Italian seller on eBay who only identified itself/himself as "vuoi_la_musica_la_musica_ti_daremo!"  Only after I purchased the CD was the seller identified as being from A Silent Place.  Almost two months have passed and, once again, I have forced to file another dispute with PayPal.  Here is a link to this seller eBay feedback:

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=vuoi_la_musica_la_musica_ti_daremo!&&ftab=FeedbackAsSeller&sspagename=VIP:feedback:2:us&iid=290243179992

It appears that most if not all of the negative comments came in the past month, and, not coincidentally, the seller's eBay store appears to have closed up shop.  I suspect that this seller has reopened another eBay store under a different name, so beware if you are purchasing ambient CDs from an unknown Italian seller.  This a unique form of fraud I have never seen before.

Forrest

In the spirit of jkn's recent goodies, I've added two new mp3s to my audio page.  One piece is an experimental remix I did in October for Barry Cleveland.  The other is an improv I did on Christmas day with the Wavestation I just acquired from Loren.  Great machine!

The audio page is here:

http://users.value.net/ffcal/FFANG5.HTM

Forrest

forrestfang.com