[ Hypnos Forum ]

In case anyone else is reading, I'm currently listening to the stream here at http://somafm.com/dronezone/ The album sounds really great and I'm glad I ordered it. Some nice, weightless, drifty stuff.

Not sure how I got on this kick, but I've been on a Bryan Ferry/Roxy Music bender the whole week.

At the risk of really dating myself, I've been a Roxy Music fan since "Virginia Plain" and Bryan Ferry's solo career is still going strong(the man is 69 and just played 2 nights at Coachella!). In fact, while I was strolling down Memory Lane, I discovered an album I was unaware of, The Jazz Age, a collection of Roxy and Ferry tunes arranged as jazz standards.

Here's "Love Is The Drug."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2LhVazAFGY

It's been a Fax week.

Pete Namlook - The Air Collection MP3 Disc
Pete Namlook & Tetsu Inoue - The 2350 Broadway Collection MP3 Disc
Tetsu Inoue - Inland
Pete Namlook & Tetsu Inoue - Shades of Orion 2
Tetsu Inoue - Organic Cloud

For variety, I threw in Cocteau Twins - Blue Bell Knoll

I'm also working through the Namlook Tribute project Die Welt Ist Klang on Bandcamp. It's pretty amazing.

I thought this was important enough to post here since I hadn’t heard much new information since Pete passed away.

Today, I finally received  a copy of Electro-Harmonix by Tetsu Inoue and Jonah Sharp. It’s always been one of my favorite Fax releases and since it was limited to 500 in its initial release in 1994(!), I was fortunate to find a copy of the Ambient World sublabel reissue from a German retailer.

Included in the package with the disc was a note from Pete’s daughter, Fabia:

As it is not easy, in times of pain, to find the right words, it took me a while to be in the right place to write this, so I thank you for your patience.

Peter Kuhlmann aka Pete Namlook (25.11.1960 - 08.11.2012) died within seconds of a heart attack but will live on in our hearts forever. His fast and unexpected death left us with his soul, living on in his music. His vision gave everyone around him strength and he was not only a composer, he was an Idealist counsellor for his friends as well.

Fax Records was founded by Pete Namlook in 1992 and after 20 years of existence, there will be a change. As I was neither in the financial or musical position to pursue his heritage, things still have to be figured out. To buy music now, you can contact Michael Zosel: zosel@t-online.de

I want to thank everyone for making the pain easier by sharing their grief. It feels good to know that he won’t be forgotten by so many people from different cultures and origins.

I thank everyone who wrote moving words to lighten the pain as I could not respond to everyone of you individually.

To the heart of our nearest star,
Fabia Kuhlmann

This was the first follow-up news I’d heard about his family and the possible future of Fax since Pete’s passing and I thought this might be some help to others who were fans.

The main Fax website is still up and running, although I don’t think any purchases can be made through it, but the Fax catalog is still available on emusic.com and on iTunes. In addition, Dave at Ear Rational’s Carpe Sonum label offers a Pete Namlook tribute album through Bandcamp here: http://namlooktribute.bandcamp.com/album/die-welt-ist-klang-a-tribute-to-pete-namlook

Two older releases I've recently rediscovered are:

Electro Harmonix (love the combination of Tetsu Inoue and Jonah Sharp)
The Pool - Quiet Stories (a very obscure cassette from the mid-80s in an ambient vein).

I would love to get my hands on Electro Harmonix. Another limited pressing from Fax that's impossible to find.

I have an odd one: Jon Hassel - The Surgeon Of The Nightsky Restores Dead Things By The Power Of Sound. I first bought it back in '87 when it came out, and it didn't grab me. A few years went by and I was in a record store and heard this amazing sound. I was stunned that it was the same album I'd dismissed years before. Went home and re-discovered it. One of his best.

I think I need to randomly pick something out of my library. I also have a lot of Steve Roach I haven't listened to in years.

I use Audacity for FLAC files. Most of my Bandcamp purchases go through Audacity on their way to iTunes.

Back on topic: Are there any other media players people can recommend based on experience?

iTunes, Winamp, Foobar, Windows Media Player, is what I've heard so far.

What this points out is that, regardless of the platform, there don't seem to be that many good choices out there.

Lustmord - The Place Where The Black Stars Hang

 Because, apparently, this is how I celebrate the holidays....

My humble advice re: the new Mac Pro....wait. The machine isn't even out yet. It's too soon to jump to conclusions. Let the early adopters road test it and shake the bugs out. Let them figure out how to integrate their workflow back into a new system.

As a video editor, who has gone through Avid Media Composer, the old (very glitchy)Adobe Premiere, the first versions of Final Cut Pro, and all their attendant hardware and software needs and/or limitations, if there is one thing I have learned over the years, it is that we figure out how to adapt and overcome. Then we learn how to improve on what Apple has done.

Apple hasn't spent all this time and money on an exotic design and brought the manufacture of a desktop Mac back to the US just to have it fail. They will be watching to see how it is received and how professionals bring it into their pipeline. My guess is that it will take some time, since Thunderbolt breakout boxes will be expensive and people will probably jury-rig some of their existing gear to make it work with the new hardware. But they will make it work. And the new peripherals will make their way into the wild, as well. We will mourn the passing of yet more hardware standards that Apple pioneered(farewell, Firewire) and adopt new ones.

Hardware and software are restless animals that have to evolve. And evolution is never without conflict and short-term chaos. Relax and watch the show. You'll know sooner or later, whether you can find a use for this new generation of Macs.

As an OS X fan, I like the upgrade. There are some very nice new features.

However as with any major OS upgrade, and as a video editor who has had this issue before, I would say do not upgrade during a project. You may find applications behaving strangely or projects losing assets. If you have active projects, finish them first.

As you said, Mavericks is free. It will be there when you're ready. Just make sure your work is safe and backed up before you upgrade.