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This is an open letter to EC Contact me! I lost all my local friends lately, and i’m just a lonely guy who likes to talk to people once in a while to break up the monotony. Call me and introduce yourselves. Maybe i can interview you? If you have Skype my Skype name is allnameswherealreadytaken (with the typo) if you have whatsapp call me at +4561281589 (international calls are free on whatsapp) And if you use Instagram add forlaget_stilletid and call me through there! I’d love to talk to all of you! If the timezone prohibits me from answering it is only because i’m asleep! 
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 Fyodor has always been an inspiration to me, ever since i started talking to him in the bygone days of Myspace. Here was a guy who could put to music exactly how i felt as a scrawny nerd in rural Denmark. He seemed to celebrate his own nerdyness, but without caricaturing it. It was very real to me. And unheard of untill this point. I often tell people "You heard the Ramones, you heard the Residents and DEVO, now it's time to listen to Fyodor". Honestly he has been as big an influence to me as the aforementioned if not an even greater one. He was a realistic Spazz-rocker- Not a jokey and fake one like Weird Al Yankovic. Yankovic was all fine and dandy, and a beacon of light in my drear existence once in a while, but it couldn't be denied all he did was parody popsongs, that the popular kids liked, but in a tone that was almost making fun of geeks. Compared to Fyodor, Al seems to almost mock those people. Unfortunately a lot of people will say he represents them too, but i disagree. It's in a fake way, like the movie "Revenge of the Nerds". The people in that movie were all just jocks, who had successful parents, who could afford to buy them a computer. Most of us aren't like that though, and have regular humble parents who couldn't just buy us a computer. That is why i wrote this song for Little Fyodor, who put everything i needed to hear into music, and even if it's hard to decipher his lyrics once in a while, with his spazzrock voice and all, you don't really need to. All you need to know is: We're all doomed 
17th of October:
My Aunt Hanna is a fun lady. When I was a child she entertained at my birthday parties. I didn’t need a Ninja Turtle to come. I had an aunt. And she entertained everyone more than any so-called professional could. My Aunt Hanna is FUN. She is retired now, but was a children’s dentist for many years, and those kids looked forward to going to the dentist, because she was there. I introduced her to the likes of Daniel Johnston and Jad Fair before and at least got the response “very nice”. All in all my Aunt Hanna is a lovely gentle person, and accepted right away when I asked for an interview about the EC compilation. As I am writing this I can’t predict what she will say in the actual interview, but I guarantee she wont be mean to anyone. I guess the harshest she will say is “that is not my cup of beer”.
18th of October
I made my way to Aunt Hanna’s house still barely awake from last night’s drunken escapades, but she had the coffee ready. She put the CD on her tiny wall mounted stereo and I told her to say whatever came into her mind during each track. After she had some trouble working her stereo we began.
My Aunt Hanna’s Outside Thoughts
On The EC Compilation 
1. Ditlev Buster — Welcome to the EC compilation
Aunt Hannah:
Who wrote those lyrics? It’s like a country song but weird.
2. Frank — That’s how I would like to be remembered
Aunt Hannah:
It sounds like bubbles. Or like a saw. But I didn’t understand the English. Is he talking about after he dies?
3. {AN} EeL — The Quaker's Staff & The Dutch Oven
Aunt Hannah:
I like this one; it’s like kindergarten kids yelling at each other while imitating Donald Duck. Maybe he has a stomachache.
4. Thomas Park — Rite Cycle
Aunt Hannah:
It’s the old veteran train! The tracks even make noise and it runs on coal.
5. Juan Angel Italiano — Barrio Tassano
Aunt Hannah:
I don’t understand the language, but it could be a sheepherder in Greece. We went there last year. The sheep don’t sound happy.
6. Jack Hz — Don's Refrigerator Makes the Best
Cottage Cheese
Aunt Hannah:
This is Australian truckdriving music to me! Honking at kangaroos!
7. Shaun Robert — Gregorius
Aunt Hannah:
Scary! Fits the month of October. Isn’t it Halloween in October over in America?
8. Don Campau — Too Hot For Hands
Aunt Hannah:
A roaring lion? Already? A bit spooky too.
9. Rafael González — Electronic Cottage Theme
Aunt Hannah:
There’s some native tribe dancing to this somewhere.
10. Walls Of Genius — Escape Of The Madman
Aunt Hannah:
They’re hissing at each other! Like monkeys! Which one of them are fighting a cat?
11. Swami Loopynanda — Twisted In Space
Ditlev: This track I think blew my aunt’s mind a bit, and left her speechless. Until afterwards where she thought of flies that were swatted.
12. John M. Bennett — ILB'AL
Aunt Hannah:
Kloakka snurres? What’s that? Bleeding eyes? Oh dear. I like it though, not something you hear everyday.
13. Ken Montgomery — Kisses
Aunt Hannah:
Makes me think of space shuttles. Or maybe an airplane? There’s somebody talking for sure. Reminds me of listening to Radio Luxembourg in the Late Sixties.
14. Eduardo GOZNE — The Great Flood (Genesis 7.12)
Aunt Hannah:
There’s so many floods these days. I heard the weather is really bad in France too. This sounds like a tsunami, but there’s a helicopter saving everyone too.
15. Lord Litter — Workshop
Aunt Hannah:
What’s a drone? When does it start? What class is he teaching?
16. Phillip Klampe — Merlin’s Gesture
Aunt Hannah:
This sounds like a diver meeting one of them bastard whales. (I have no idea why she thought the whale was a bastard)
17. Dylan Houser - Stop-Motion Zombie Frycooks on the Moon
Aunt Hannah:
More trains! A circus on train tracks! But why are they whistling? We will never know.
18. osvaldo cibils --
soundart28june2018 - the bombilla distortions
Aunt Hannah:
Cat-stomping rock’n’roll!
19. Chris Phinney — Slap Shot
Aunt Hannah:
Someone’s cutting wood but their time is up! And there’s oil drums. I guess the woodcutter got bored with his saw and started practicing drums on oil cans. I don’t blame him, it’s hard to cut firewood. His wife threw something at him. That’s not nice to do.
20. Jim Barker — Pile Driver Folk Dinner
Aunt Hannah:
The kids never arrive on time at the restaurant. The adults are talking and upsetting the table. But they’re laughing, that’s nice.
21. Lumen K — A Shaman Prays For Hal McGee
Aunt Hannah:
There’s a monster in that cave but no ceiling lights. It’s like a cafe for monsters. The waiter is a monster too.
22. Aimee Grace Naworal — Haint Blue
Aunt Hannah:
Sounds like she is playing a wind chime with chopsticks! One of those on our veranda. (She pointed to it outside to make sure I knew.)
23. Adam Naworal — Suomi (for P. Airaksinen)
Aunt Hannah:
It goes faster and faster, what instrument is this? Reminds me of when we were kids and put rubber bands over a box to make a toy guitar.
24. Seiei Jack — The Fake Project
Aunt Hannah:
This is a video game! Remember when cousin Linda asked me to try her Game Boy and I thought she asked me to try her tooth braces (ganebøjle)? There’s a storm too in this, and a tin roof.
25. Jen Sandwich — False Memories
Aunt Hannah:
Sounds like a horse going really fast in the Wild West, to the Batman movie score.
26. Shatter Wax — Electro Acoustic Cottage Visitation
Aunt Hannah:
This is an old house that’s falling apart, and they’re getting water from a well outside. Reminds me of when I saw that big fat toad in Allan’s garden.
27. John Wiggins — JAN Zoom Samples String (2018)
Aunt Hannah:
Sounds like me trying to figure out the CD player! Maybe his printer isn’t working? But it might be his kitchen door creaking too.
28. Dave Fuglewicz — The Near Bygone Days
Aunt Hannah:
This is cars going really fast through Germany. Maybe they’re going to Florence? I’ve been to Italy but it’s been many years. They have lavender fields there.
29. Jeff Central — HAL No
Aunt Hannah:
Sounds like street performers! Not the boring pan flute artists, but a different instrument. I think this would attract quite a crowd if it was performed on the street. There is a little girl listening too.
30. Francesco Aprile — Zen poem
Aunt Hannah:
Machine guns! He’s shooting so many machine guns that his voice is shaking.
31. W.A.Davison — Broken Radio Loops
Aunt Hannah:
This is a musical greeting card! The battery is low though, and the radio is broken but is also playing. He can’t find Radio Luxembourg, but it ends with town hall bells.
32. Hal McGee
microcassette assemblage for Electronic Cottage
33. Hal Harmon — Zap...Yer Dead On Arrival
Aunt Hannah:
This is from Star Wars isn’t it? There’s a one-armed bandit too, but it has to be from Star Wars.
34. David Nadeau — Cenestopathical Caroussel
Aunt Hannah:
This is like an old mechanical organ, but set to manual, or something. The organist is practicing one part over and over.
Ditlev Buster:
In the end I was very happy with the interview. My Aunt was very open-minded, and actually visualized a lot of imagery from the tracks. I had feared she would dismiss it as just some sound effects, but she didn’t. I hope her description of your track on the compilation amuses you , even if they’re views from someone completely outside the EC community. Today on Ramblin' on a record we are looking at the punk band Brats who later became Mercyful Fate! As per usual no animals were harmed and none were sacrificed to King Diamond! Shot on hi8 video and not edited beyond the titling! Paul Hüttel & Erik Bæk’s Orkester - Skillingsviser It might not be considered that “Experimental” or “Alternative” but it’s definitely weird and not very mainstream these days, but this time we are looking at an old record with some much older songs on it. Sung by Paul Hüttel who is mostly known as an actor, but was a talented folk singer in his youth. And not an American style folk singer, but I promise I’ll ramble over some Danish American-style 60’s folk singer in the future. As usual nothing is scripted and not edited aside from titling the video, and shot on second hand hi8 videotapes. Trying out something new with a video format. Rambling on the record “Hvem er Don Saund” by Don Saund released on mastermind records.
Hello Good people of the Electronic Cottage! Sorry for the silence on my part, but i’ve been uninspired to write lately, and life got a bit in the way, as it tends to do. I was complaining about this lack of inspiration to my friend Adam Naworal on facebook messenger, and apparently i was’nt alone in this. So We decided to ask each other some interview questions.
Adam Naworal is a great noise-enthusiast ,record/cd/tape collector, anti-musician and artist of Jacksonville, Florida , over in America. His musical endevours include among others Waste of Tape and Tomokie’s Cup aswell as solo experimentations. Armed with strange exotic instruments, drums,synthesizers, And even one of those crazy tiny Ashbory basses, he records whatever he feels like recording. This eclectic instrumentation always ends up adding a flavor to his sound that is’nt quite like anyone else’s. I interviewed him over email lately, because both of us had writers block and decided to fix that by interviewing each other. 
Adam circa 2000 dressed all “Trve” and “Kvlt”
Ditlev: You have collected quite a few instruments over the years. What are some of your favorites to play ?
Adam: The Ashbory bass is my current favorite, due to its versatility and uniqueness. It's somewhat hard to pick favorites, though, since the different instruments we have each have their own charms, strengths, and weaknesses. It also really depends on my mood and my ideas as to what I choose to play at any given time. I will say I prefer strings, electronics, and keys, but I've been known to dabble with drums and other percussion as well. Ditlev: What are some of the artists that you grew up listening to? Even artists You dont like but that your parents played all the time counts. Sometimes reacting to music,that You dont like can inspire too. Adam: My folks listened to a weird mix of poppy stuff (Neil Young, Kenny Loggins, Sade, etc.) and Tangerine Dream, oddly enough. I went through a lot of discovery with music over the years. The first band I got really into was the Beatles. Circa high school I discovered extreme metal, industrial, goth rock, and noise rock. Around my late teens/early twenties I started getting into free improvisation and free jazz, which I saw as similar to early industrial music. Exploring the Nurse With Wound list was officially when I decided that I too could make experimental music and find an audience Ditlev: Yor’re originally from Maryland, but came to Florida. What attracted you to FL? I always wanted to go there because of the art and noise community Adam: Well, my life was literally falling apart at the seams. My relationships were getting complicated, people let me down, I had issues with drug abuse and mental instability. I needed to get out of there if I was going to live. My folks had recently moved to Florida and offered to let me stay with them while I figured things out. They had a condo in Jacksonville for rent and we decided that was the best option. Being here literally saved my life and improved my outlook. The art and music communities are just a welcome bonus! Ditlev: I recently started viewing nature as art more, its just a matter of seeing it. The symmetry of a snowflake and the structure of a leaf, for example. You and your wife Aimee go hiking alot, i’ve been told. What are some of your favorite places to go for inspiration? Adam: I agree with that! Nature is its own special form of artwork. Our top three parks in FL are Washington Oaks State Gardens, Tomoka State Park, and Ravine Gardens State Park. All are endlessly inspirational and there's always a good chance you can walk for hours and never run into anyone else. It's truly liberating when you live in a big city like we do. Ditlev: You and I both have a fascination with Japan and it’s culture. You with your manga and me with my importing of nintendo famicom games. Does japanese culture influence your art in any way? I have’nt seen you with a shamisen yet, so maybe not, but you never know. Have you travelled there before? Adam: I'm not as into manga and anime these days, but for a long while both were fascinations of mine. I tend to be inspired by Japanese music, movies, and horror fiction these days. There's a very unique approach to horror in Japan which you just don't find anywhere else. We don't have a shamisen, but we do have a taishogoto! In a lot of ways things OTHER than music inspire what I do, though naturally there's exceptions to that. Ditlev: And last but not least do you have any hyperlinks you want to share, relating to your art? Adam: For a look inside my musical and cinematic mindset, visit my RateYourMusic page. Thanks so much for the interview, Ditlev! It was fun!
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And If you want to explore the strange rythms in Adam’s head further i recommend this video from Hal McGee’s Apartment Music 29 starring Adam and his significant other (Aimee) performing as Tomokie’s Cup
Aswell as his track on the new EC compilation wich can be heard or downloaded on bandcamp:
And keep an eye on Adam’s Electronic Cottage page, where he will be interviewing me one of these days!
Adam and his best friend Scott, taken in MD in April '18
I was asked by a peer lately “Do you think rock music will ever be as great as it was in the sixties and seventies again?”. Unfortunately I had to tell him no. Because I don’t. In fact it’s amazing to me that it was ever that good once. I think most Rock bands at this point in time are imitators of what once was. And people who look to the future instead are few and far between. There is a ton of “Stoner” groups out there, making the art of ripping off Black Sabbath their entire style. At the end of the day, these bands are all as underwhelming to me as the 60’s cover bands playing at singles-parties at the taverns about town. They write their own songs, but they might as well play covers. And whenever I talk to these people they tell me “There is no such thing as originality anymore”. My response is always “Says who?”. Every bird sings uniquely through their specific beak. And in 2018 I think it is important to appreciate your influences, but not be your influences. The way I found my sound was that I became completely acoustically based. That way I could reach the skeleton of the music, and build upon it later. But that clearly isn’t the solution for everyone. Music is way behind other art forms these days. Writers rarely think about imitating other writers for an example. Originality is real. Musicians are just stuck in a rut of what came before them, more often than not. Which is why I tend not to care for most new music, excluding anti-music and experimental audio art. Basically if you start a rock band. Don’t just figure out a style and dismiss new compositions as “not our style”. Do all of it! Make it your style! Ween is the perfect example.   Roger Ebert hating a movie I have decided, ever since I was invited on board Electronic Cottage, to never write negative reviews. What on Earth is the point of a bad review? Is it EVER enlightening to read “here is a good piece of art you never heard of, and it SUCKS!”. Even a good review serves no real purpose. I had bad as well as good reviews of my Stilletid releases, and in the beginning I read them, but soon discovered a review is just a review. Nothing more, and nothing less. The opinion of some useless journalist. But a bad review serves no purpose whatsoever. The whole mentality that the reviewer’s opinion matters needs to die. It is literally one person’s opinion. People like Roger Ebert, the famous movie reviewer, for example. Even he, a distinguished journalist, shouldn’t ever be able to tell you what you think. That is why I refuse to do bad reviews on EC and would sooner not write anything. If I ever write on here “this thing was not really my thing” I strongly recommend looking at it anyway! When reviewers die and get asked by St. Peter “what did you do with your life” and have to reply “I pointed out what was shit about other people’s work”, I don’t think they’ll definitely be sent to hell, but I don’t doubt they will severely underwhelm our maker. SO! If you have dreams of writing, I don’t think you should write reviews. Write poetry. Write stories. Write a diary. But don’t write reviews Ever since I can remember, I have been fascinated by people who do it their own way. In Denmark theres a sort of pop music called Dansktop, which got really bad in the 80’s. In the 60’s and 70’s Dansktop consisted mostly of translated pop, jazz and country songs from overseas.  Teddy Edelmann’s translation of Ricky Nelsons “Garden Party” Four Jacks’ translated version of the Everly Brothers’ “Wake Up Little Susie” But in the 80’s most of the artists began writing their own songs, with extremely cheesy lyrics, similar to the German Schlager music. And with extremely ugly keyboard sounds and simple drums, Dansktop became disgusting to members of the music elite. That’s the Dansktop I got to know first. Kitschy people like Richard Ragnvald, Jodle Birge and Bjørn & Okay. Jodle Birge Richard Ragnvald Bjørn & Okay That, of all things was what got me interested in stuff, which was heard less than most other music. Later I discovered the true outsiders like Little Fyodor, Jad Fair, Wild Man Fischer and Daniel Johnston, but what makes Jodle Birge just as special to me, is that he does it in spite of criticism. Basically I discovered that, no matter how poppy the music is, it is always in spite of someone. Someone told all of us “You can’t do that”. Which is the most inspiring feeling I think. The feeling of “I’ll show them”. I think experimental artists share this with more people than we will ever know! Even in the so-called mainstream! I’ll leave you with this translated version of “Mamas don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys”, by the truck driver turned singer, Mr. President, because being a Danish cowboy, he had plenty of criticism, but kept on keeping on! |
Ditlev BusterButter Cookies Archives
November 2018
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ELECTRONIC COTTAGE is an international community where independent artists, musicians, writers and freethinkers can meet and share ideas, sounds, visual art, photos, zines, videos, reviews, news and info, opinions, tech and gear articles, and much more, all in the spirit of two-way communication.
EC draws inspiration from the Cassette Culture Revolution of the 1980s, 90s and beyond; Mail Art, Small Press and Zines, Dada, Fluxus, Punk Rock, Hacking, Circuit Bending, Anarchy, and Noise.
EC values inclusion, democracy, experimentation, independence and freedom of thought and expression, open-minded exchange, and Community.
ELECTRONIC COTTAGE is an international community where independent artists, musicians, writers and freethinkers can meet and share ideas, sounds, visual art, photos, zines, videos, reviews, news and info, opinions, tech and gear articles, and much more, all in the spirit of two-way communication.
EC draws inspiration from the Cassette Culture Revolution of the 1980s, 90s and beyond; Mail Art, Small Press and Zines, Dada, Fluxus, Punk Rock, Hacking, Circuit Bending, Anarchy, and Noise.
EC values inclusion, democracy, experimentation, independence and freedom of thought and expression, open-minded exchange, and Community.