Facebook is great. I love it. A handful of holdouts notwithstanding, nearly everyone I care to communicate with is on Facebook. My family is there, but it’s my friends from the music network I communicate with through social media. Five minutes before I started writing this article I saw a post by a band I’ve followed for years with a link to order their new album and I was off to the races. In that regard it is quick, reliable, and efficient.
Facebook is great for news and keeping tabs on what people are up to. And it’s something of a necessary evil in that I HAVE to be on Facebook because far too many of my friends from the network will only communicate through the social media platform. They will not check their email, they will not announce new releases via email distro lists, and even if they still have web sites they will post immediately to Facebook but they won’t update their web site. Facebook does not facilitate and can in no way be relied on for detailed topic specific discussion and exchange of ideas. Sure, there are newsgroups, like the ‘1980s-1990s Cassette Culture Archives’ group. But they consist of miscellaneous postings and discussion is limited to ‘Comments’, resulting in an ongoing stream of posts that aren’t organized in any helpful way. So how, in the Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, name-yer-poison social media era, can meaningful online community be created among those with shared interests? Hal McGee is hell bent on doing so with the online reboot of his Electronic Cottage magazine that published six issues in the 1990s. And he’s got a head start with the 42 (currently counted ‘Personal Pages’) participants who are hometaper networking veterans. Participants are encouraged to write articles and share information through the EC web site. But Hal is also engaging the community with projects like the new Electronic Cottage Compilation 004. Hal stated his intent for the compilation in his call for contributions: — To create a stronger connection among EC community members! — And to promote Electronic Cottage to the outside world! As Hal said in the compilation announcement: “I think that this is a perfect way for all of us here at EC to get to know each other better and to make new connections with our friends here!” Hal elaborated on this to me in a personal communication: “Another purpose of the compilation is to stimulate more community projects. So far most people are still reporting and commenting and writing about their interests and projects outside the site. In the future I’d like to see that change.” Electronic Cottage Compilation 004 notably emphasizes the collective effort by crediting the set to the ‘Electronic Cottage Community’ rather than the usual ‘Various Artists’. 34 EC contributors sent in recordings of 2 minutes or less, making for a cracking set of experimental audio fun. It’s a hotbed of creativity and an excellent introduction to the EC world for both the contributors and the uninitiated. So join me as I take a tour this collective effort…
Ditlev Buster’s singer-songwriter styled guitar and space-synth is a welcoming opener. I love the lyrics: “Welcome to the Electronic Cottage compilation. It’s a great great CD. We also have a web site. You can go online to see. But don’t sit at your computer for too long. Or you’ll go blind.”
Frank lays down a cool, quirkily jazzy groove as he attempts to, but doesn’t quite specify, how he would like to be remembered. {AN} EeL has an awesome title with “The Quaker’s Staff & The Dutch Oven”, alternately babbling baby talk and scat/opera singing amidst a combination of light piano recital, telephones ringing in harmony, and electronic atmospherics. Thomas Park cranks out a noisy yet flowing soundscape tour. Juan Angel Italiano’s contribution features spoken word (Spanish) and various howling and chanting recorded voices along with ambience and lightly tribal free-improv. Another fun track title is Jack Hz’s “Don’s Refrigerator Makes The Best Cottage Cheese”, which is a somber soundtrack with retro-futuro space electronics. Shaun Robert creates hauntingly mesmerizing space-ambience and cosmic sound exploration. Don Campau follows with an equally awesome bit of mind-bending and acid laced space excursion. I love Rafael González’s choppy clang-clang robot grooves and static drenched blasts. Walls Of Genius lay down a steady guitar, bass and bells/percussion groove that sets the stage for zany vocalizations as only the WOG morons can produce. Swami Loopynanda (aka Charles Rice Goff III) rocks out with Frippery snake guitar, ploddy guitar plucking, light ambience, and vocals that remind me of a Cream song! [Editor’s Note: I am glad to know that I am not the only person who thinks it is reminiscent of Cream! How about “I Feel Free”?] John M. Bennett voices a nifty Dadaist spoken word piece. Ken Montgomery treats us to scratching strings and an interesting collage of recorded voices that builds in atmospheric intensity. Eduardo GOZNE creates a very cool space and drone ambient piece. Lord Litter takes the piss out of instructional recordings with his good fun recording techniques. Phillip Klampe travels the cosmos with a clever bit of percolating space-ambience and experimental sound manipulation. Yet another fun title comes from Dylan Houser with his “Stop-Motion Zombie Frycooks On The Moon”, which consists of an interesting conglomeration of experimental sounds. Ditto for osvaldo cibils, who morphs and mixes electronic bubbles, phases, scratches, whirs and blasts. I like Chris Phinney’s percussion that has a Sun Ra Nubians Of Plutonia cosmic tribal feel. Jim Barker creates a cool collage work with voices, instruments and field recordings. Lumen K goes awesomely spaced out freeeeeky with his “A Shaman Prays For Hal McGee”. I love the combination of alien electronics, voice samples and droning chant. Aimee Grace Naworal contributes a lovely, dissonantly melodic stringed ditty. Adam Naworal rocks out with a slab of freeform bashing bass jamming (I think it’s bass?) and oscillating effects. Seiei Jack offers a frenetic crowd sample and alien effects collage. I enjoyed the combination of steady palpitation and cosmic drift on Jen Sandwich’s melodic, floating space excursion. The “Electro Acoustic Cottage Visitation” title nails Shatter Wax’s contribution, with wildly bubbling and whizzing electronics, strumming guitar, radio effects and more. John Wiggins’ piece is a quietly subtle, experimental sound and object/instrument manipulation. Dave Fuglewicz specializes in space exploration and treats us to a micro tour of darkly symphonic majesty. Jeff Central’s contribution brings to mind a stripped down Kraftwerk tune with voice and effects collage layered over the top. Francesco Aprile surprised me with what sounds like a 1960s fun-with-tape experimental psychedelic radiophonic freakout. W.A. Davison assaulted me with his start/stop sound sample collage fun, with bashing noise blasts and a brain paralyzing drone pulse. Hal McGee creates his trademark experimental collage with day-in-the-life-of-Hal narrative. Hal Harmon is pure punishment with his sonic assault space-industrial blast. David Nadeau closes the set with a fun bit of carnivalesque whimsy. In an email exchange Hal McGee told me: “To me the most important thing about the hometaper scene is the people, not the things, not the music art objects they produce.” I responded that for me it’s about the people AND what they produce. But then I went on to describe the projects I’ve worked on with him, and how nearly all the new music I keep up with anymore is by artists I’ve communicated with for many years and… I realized we were probably saying the same thing. I’ve gotten to the point where I’m in a groove checking the EC web site at least every couple days looking to see what’s new. I will watch its progress with anticipation, and be mindful of participation…
38 Comments
7/26/2018 11:36:51
Thanks for this, Jerry! It's important to not just make art but to also talk about it. I feel like the work isn't really complete until there is discussion, commentary, and critique from the community (although, that can be argued - much like the old "if a tree falls in the woods..." debate). Thanks for taking the time to do this...and thanks to Hal for providing a space for it! Often times on Farcebook, I feel like I'm just part of a vast sea of people announcing their latest creative projects to each other with no one actually caring enough to absorb the work itself , think about it, discuss it, etc. I feel like that can actually happen here at EC.
Reply
Neal D Retke
7/26/2018 18:09:57
Totally agree about the discussion aspect. I've switched to more actively exploring outlets other than FB ( I can't handle the negativity / corporate mindset there much longer ) and am very pleased that EC seems to be good place for cross fertilization. Enjoying my time here & pleased to see that new members are regularly signing on
Reply
Jerry Kranitz
7/27/2018 03:13:47
Agreed! And for me it's rewarding and fun and to discuss art in the audio/music realm through my experiential/commentary reviews. And it's great to have this forum of fellow travelers.
Reply
Adam J Naworal
7/26/2018 16:02:51
You are correct re: my track! Ashbory bass to be precise; Aimee's piece was performed on 11-string kantele. Excellent write-up/review!
Reply
Jerry Kranitz
7/27/2018 03:15:28
Nice! I had to Google kantele. A zither-ish type instrument. Never hard of it before. It sounds great on Aimee's track.
Reply
Adam J Naworal
8/2/2018 16:08:04
I'm part Finnish Sami, so naturally we had to have at least two Finnish instruments ;) The other one is a jouhikko, which is a bowed lyre similar to the Welsh crwth and the Shetland gue.
Jeff Central
7/26/2018 16:16:05
Love the nice short reviews of each 2 minute piece!! Good job Jerry!!
Reply
Aimee G Naworal
7/26/2018 17:23:11
These are great descriptions of the pieces and I agree so many people have become so accustomed to using facebook and I do miss the days of reading articles and commenting as well as the days of message boards. So I just have to get into the swing of writing more than a few comment-like sentences and add to this great site!
Reply
Jerry Kranitz
7/27/2018 03:17:22
I'm with you on the message boards Aimee. My earlier internet discussion experience was discovering Usenet newsgroups and 'Listserv' in the early 90s. That was my introduction to networking with the world and it changed my LIFE.
Reply
Jerry Kranitz
7/27/2018 03:19:19
I completely understand Unkie Rugs. For me, Facebook has been a necessity. i.e., a choice I've made for staying informed about what's happening the space/psych/electronic/experimental realms.
Reply
Rafael González
7/26/2018 19:05:59
Thanks Jerry, a wonderful article. I have really enjoyed reading and knowing your thoughts (and Hal's thoughts too). Hal works very hard to create community, he has always done it that way. It's one of the things I admire most about him. He is a true agitator and very generous. I lately did not participate much in my personal page because I was doing the same as on Facebook ... posting photos of the Mail Art that I receive, especially. At the moment I am not very clear about what I am going to develop in EC. Something different I have to do ... I do not know yet ... what I do know is that I really enjoy reading all the articles, interviews and reports that you all do in this fantastic place!
Reply
Jerry Kranitz
7/27/2018 03:24:58
I appreciate the "reading and knowing your thoughts" comment Rafael. I love writing these articles and had a blast writing the essays for HalZine. And I think Hal (and everyone) will appreciate your candor about wondering what you might do at EC. For example, with the previous reviews I submitted, Hal provided feedback about how to make them more interactive. Hal did a great job of beefing them up. Really provided me food for thought. So I'm still figuring this out too.
Reply
Rafael González
7/27/2018 05:08:35
I have enjoyed your writings at HalZine. A lot! I have many ideas ... let's see if I can develop them. My visual mind does not facilitate this, believe me, but I know I will get something. I have never been a good writer, that's why I enjoy reading what you do and I get great pleasure and a lot of information
Frank
7/26/2018 20:21:25
Nice to read how someone else feels about these songs and a lot of work giving 30+ reviews. Thank you
Reply
Chris Phinney
7/26/2018 22:08:21
This is a great review of the entire awesome album, I am amazed that you picked up on the Sun Ra percussion. As that was a idea I had without the horns keys etc.I listened & still do thanks to Doug to muchos of Sun Ra & his Akestra!
Reply
Jerry Kranitz
7/27/2018 03:26:31
Yeah Chris!! That Ra vibe came to mind immediately!
Reply
Chris Phinney
7/26/2018 23:27:14
On facebook or other social media, I don't partake, but lets not forget influnces who layed down Sun Ra, Louis Boone, Reginald Taylor, Carl Howard, Mike Jackson & the jazz band Gyzzmystixx that Doug conducted & we played the same songs milions of ti!mes nor Barney Jones from Mars Every Where or L.G. Mair.
Reply
7/27/2018 09:45:52
I wish there was another platform on the internet to *just post news*. Probably in Europe we (at least I) have to see this very different - Facebook brought racism and fascism back in our (Germany) parliament (finally we have a new fascist party in Germany's parliament all happened with the help of *social media*) and I can't support that by clicking Zuckerberg's money machine (thus thanking him that he brought fascists back in our parliament). I think I said enough about my disgust concerning Facebook here on these pages in general.
Reply
Hal McGee
7/27/2018 10:51:37
This is certainly food for thought! Our continued use of FB allows fascists to promote their causes. The same platform that we use to post cute memes, cat pics, and silly videos/GIFs is being used by Nazis and extreme violent groups of all kinds to promote HATE.
Reply
7/27/2018 11:30:13
Europe is right now drowning in mutilations from racists and fascists - the whole political landscape changed with the help of *social media*. The basic idea of *social media* is sure not to be rejected - a worldwide level of communication is always welcome - but - Zuckerberg and other owners of *social media* just set up one rule: *my profit first*. No moral, no other rule that once defined a *human* democracy is basis of this *social media*.
Jerry Kranitz
7/27/2018 12:17:11
Greetings Your Lordship! THANKS for the kind words! And YES, you are pointing out an unfortunate, highly disturbing, and very true aspect of Facebook and "general" social media. That's why we need targeted community forums like EC!
Reply
Rafael González
7/27/2018 14:38:09
It is true much of what you all say. But that happens with the internet in general, if it's not Facebook it's Google, Twiter, Whatsapp, Telegram and a long etcetera. It's like society ... bad people are there. Facebook allows me to connect with my friends and contacts from Japan, USA, China, Iran, Italy, Chile, Uruguay, India, Greece, Taiwan, Morocco, UK, Germany, Argentina, Turkey, Holland, Australia, France, Mexico, Canada, Ireland, Tunisia, Brazil, Indonesia, Denmark, Belgium, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Israel ... in a fast way. I have also discovered wonderful things using Facebook.
Rafael González
7/27/2018 14:46:11
EC is wonderful and great because it is created by us and everything that is published here is of our interest, our world. A beautiful place, as we have said many times. But social networks have their use, for good things or bad things. This is my point of view, of course. 7/28/2018 07:22:42
First this and it's very important: I don't blame anyone of *us* who uses Facebook - but I will never stop to speak out. AND - we need to debate on a civilized level - something *social media* slowly eliminated from this planet .. a civilized level.
Chris Phinney
7/28/2018 16:07:53
I can't stand the like button, its bullshit, let me know what you like lol, I understand why some use Facebook,Twitter,Instagram etc, but they are all just data mining to me, never used any of em but Twitter a very little bit, then they cancelled my account,lol good riddance,it seems they didn't like the gun control comments between Jessie Hughes (Eagles of Death Metal) & I oh well
Reply
Rafael González
7/28/2018 16:28:54
I know you're right in all those things. I completely agree. The misuse and even excessive use of Facebook, for example, creates addition, makes us sick. It is well known that ISIS used Twiter, which used this social network to spread all its atrocities and "ideas", and Twiter has done nothing to prevent it. I can not object to that. What I can say is that if these social networks do not exist, the internet itself facilitates those nefarious organizations: emails, forums, web pages, mobile phone ... not to mention the dark network. Who was going to say that a simple truck or a car was going to be used to commit terrorist acts? Super villains use whatever they can to kill and will use whatever they can to organize and communicate. Hal is an artist and a beautiful person and launched Electronic Cottage, but if he were a villain he could have created Electronic Catastrophe, and here we would all be together, speaking in code and publishing encrypted articles, preparing perverse actions.
Reply
7/29/2018 06:28:30
"Electronic Catastrophe" hahahahhah .. I REALLY love this! ..
Rafael González
7/29/2018 18:16:01
We are really living dark times. We have more technology and information at our disposal and nevertheless we are surrounded by darkness. I agree with you, we can not lower our heads.
Chris Phinney
7/28/2018 18:47:55
Rafael, yes I agree about Hal & EC
Reply
Rafael González
7/28/2018 19:16:32
I can not press I LIKE on your comment !!!! Dammit!!!!
Reply
Chris Phinney
7/28/2018 21:53:46
Rafael, I agree on EC & Hal we have been good friends from way back when.
Reply
Rafael González
7/29/2018 05:33:16
Chris, I know. I made a Facebook joke in my previous comment. I know what you wanted to say and I completely agree.
Reply
7/29/2018 02:56:53
Just a couple of observations... anytime the subject of Facebook comes up in an EC post, it seems to stir up quite a bit of fiery chit chat. And no one has mentioned here that Captain Zucker's gravy boat lost about 20 percent of its value last week (that's a whole lotta money) -- seems like some profit-hungry people have noticed that there's a leak in the Facebook yacht and are putting on their life jackets. At the same time, the EC community seems to be getting bigger and more connected -- no controversial discourse on that subject so far. Hmmm...
Reply
Rafael González
7/29/2018 06:03:32
Good obsessions! I have tried to do a bit of devil's advocacy. I agree with all of you and I understand your ideas 100%. But I could not resist trying to expose, from my point of view and experience, the positive aspects.
Reply
Rafael González
7/29/2018 06:06:56
Let's focus on art! It is the best thing that can be done in this world.
Chris Phinney
7/29/2018 06:47:52
Rafael yes I know it was a joke lol I didn't see my first comment so submitted again as I forgot to refresh the page. Some life things were getting in the way.
Reply
Rafael González
7/29/2018 18:11:07
No problem, Chris! I understand you. In response to Charles's comment I wanted to write "observations" and wrote "obsessions" by mistake
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Jerry KranitzJerry Kranitz published Aural Innovations: The Global Source For Space Rock Exploration from 1998-2016. AI started as a printed zine (nine issues from 1998-2000) and then went online for the duration. The web site also included regularly broadcast editions of Aural Innovations Space Rock Radio. Archives
January 2021
|