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Feb 082010
 

Pit of Roar, Theatre Intangible Podcast Volume 8, originally broadcast on WRVU December 30th, 2007.

I had imagined more of a bottomless pit that roars but this roaring pit bull will have to suffice.

Cody Bottoms and Melody Holt joined me in-studio for one of my favorite and one of the most unique shows we’ve ever done.   I call this type of show a Scoop & Loop show, a technique all about catching prerecorded moments and evolving them into something else, live and off-the-cuff.

My brother had just let me borrow his two Dennon cd turntables, and I wanted to do a show utilizing them. So I went to my trusty Jen Synth and Casio SK1 and started recording some tracks. But then I kept thinking to myself that it needed some sort of rhythmic talking. What profession has the most rhythmic talking? Auctioneering, of course! Thus began my search for creative commons recordings of auctioneers. And my search landed me on the profile page of Alphahog on the website, FreeSound. Alphahog had recorded several auctioneers — and it was perfect for my show. That search ignited my love of Freesound, and I pulled many other choice field recordings for this episode. Many thanks to the artists who recorded these sounds!

Here is a list of the contributors from Freesound, the web’s premiere creative commons sound effect sharing site:

Auction sounds by Alphahog; church sound by andrew1280; strange bird, gulls and waves by crk365; 3 year old singing, chickens, steps on various surfaces, streets at night, and forest by Erdie; grafton peace padoga by lgarrett; monk sounds by bondegi; church chant by shewbox; storm (him chanting), monks, and mongolian overtone practice by djgriffin; and evil incantation and footsteps in the snow by incarnadine.

Jan 312010
 

Turn the Page featuring Cody Bottoms, Lola Wilson, Gordon Roque, Melody Holt, JJ Jones, Kri, and 24-7.  Originally broadcast on WRVU 01/13/2008.

The idea behind Turn the Page was simple.  Six vocalists were presented with a group of index cards.  Each card had a specific instruction for something to do with their voice.  The card might say, “bark like a dog,” or, “speak German in a sinister voice.”  The card might even say, “Pick up the cd player headphones and hum the melody line you hear.”  (Before the show, I had recorded a few instrumentals using a Casio SK-1 keyboard.)

What results is one of our most entertaining episodes to date and by far the fan favorite.  Turn the Page features the vocal talents of The Human Snowglobe JJ Jones, Lola Wilson and Cody Bottoms from A Parade, Kri, Melody Holt, Gordon Roque, and 24-7 from the Billy Goats for a brief moment at the end.  Right before the show, you’ll hear an unreleased Theatre Intangible promo the band Call It Anything created when they were on the show for an artist showcase.  The background music in the intro is from an episode called Blue Green Black.  We’ll release both in the coming months.

If you like what you hear, please write us a review at iTunes.   Enjoy!

Jan 032010
 

Snails and Whales, premiere episode of WRVU era, starring Cody Bottoms, Tony Youngblood, and Melody Holt.

I’ve been working feverishly on a new episode called The Sound of Teeth recorded a few months ago, but sadly, I wasn’t able to finish it in time for tonight’s podcast release.  Look for it to be episode 4, and prepare for a good one. On the plus side, in its place, you get the very first episode we did at WRVU — Snails and Whales, originally broadcast October 21st, 2007.

Snail Reproductive Ssystem by Johannes Meisenheimer

This episode features Cody Bottoms on Vocal FX Processor, Boss 202 Drum Machine, and Korg synth; and myself on . . . other stuff.  (Cody has a much better memory than I do.)  I think I was using my Kool Keys musical toy, circuit bent and redubbed The Pitch Fucker.  I also had recorded some field recordings of water and running a wet finger down a bathroom mirror.  Melody Holt was present in the studio assisting us.  The show was live-mixed and then later edited by me.  We named the show Snales and Whales because, well, that’s what it sounds like.

Life was rough and tumble back in the early days of ~ORE~ Theatre Intangible.  The first 20 minutes of the episode are lost to legend, because I forgot to hit record on the cd recorder.  We were still figuring out what the new version of ~ORE~ was even going to be.  I knew I wanted to shy away from spoken word records and tv clips that were so prominent in ~ORE~ Prefab Audio Extrapolations and focus instead on soundscapes and texture.  Cody ran the open mic at Café Coco where I used to play and was in an experimental rock band called A Parade.  We shared an interest in making weird noises, so I asked him to be a part of this premiere broadcast.  Cody went on to participate in several other episodes, probably more than any other participant.  You can hear him on the Theatre Intangible podcast episode 1, The Second Annual Halloween Extravaganza.

I don’t know if it was luck or skill, but Snails and Whales set the bar pretty high for future episodes, and helped define the show’s sound and mission.  It’s still one of my favorite episodes.  Enjoy.

Dec 212009
 

“Watch me as I pinch myself being bitten by invisible bugs of eroticism” — Dave Cloud — Get It On With Dave Cloud

Given the recent press we received from Nashville Cream about the show that got us kicked off WRVU — Get It On With Dave Cloud, I thought it timely to release it as a podcast.  You can find out more about the controversy at this previous post.

Featuring a band comprised of some of Nashville’s most talented players, Get It On With Dave Cloud sounds lush and bristles with detail.  Dispensing with our usual arhythmic soup, the idea here was to create jilted lounge music that conversed with Dave’s dialogue.  The band provided that, and in spades.  I only wish we picked a different mic for Dave to speak into.  WRVU Studio Mic 4 has a tendency to distort and Dave Cloud has a tendency to talk loud.  (I warned Jim Hayes about that mic before.  Am I the only dj that notices these kinds of things?)  Still, the slight distortion in Dave’s voice kind of works in a strange way.

For an hour and eight minutes (I just couldn’t whittle it down to one hour), Dave Cloud flirts with callers, reads from dirty magazines, takes long smoke breaks, and espouses his wisdom.  I’m quite proud of this episode, and it makes a fine sendoff to WRVU.  In a weird way, this episode is responsible for this blog and podcast.  If we hadn’t made Get It On, we still might be on WRVU.  If we were still on WRVU, I probably wouldn’t have invested the time in learning how to podcast.

This episode was an absolute blast to create (although lugging Joe Hudson’s Fender Rhodes into the studio was no easy feat!)  Participants include Charlie Rauh on guitar, Craig Schenker on saxophone, Joe Hudson on Fender Rhodes, Robert Carter aka Bobobobobob on analog synthesizer, Randy Hunt on stand-up bass, Melody Holt on various sounds (plus she’s one of the callers), and the legendary Dave Cloud on voice.  I engineered and did the live mixing.  Dave received calls from show regular pimpdaddysupreme and swarms of naked, nubile women.  Enjoy.

Excerpts from Dave Cloud’s bio: “By day a volunteer book reader for the blind, Cloud undergoes a transformation at night, and for over three decades has entertained patrons of local dive bar Springwater, often with his band The Gospel of Power. (Tony’s note: And also his band Cavalcade of Shit, featuring ~Ore~ players Joe Hudson and Charlie Rauh) Cloud’s unpredictable performances can be uproarious, jaw-droppingly bizarre events, delighting some while frightening others. His music—an amalgam of experimental garage rock and lounge crooning—defies easy categorization, but his delivery makes the experience hard to forget.Cloud has appeared in several films, videos, and television programs, including Harmony Korine’s films Gummo and Trash Humpers.”