K.M.Krebs \ 833-45 http://833-45.net electronic, ambient & electro-acoustic music. Mon, 15 Feb 2010 23:06:10 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Links for Feb 15, 2010 http://833-45.net/2010/02/15/links-for-feb-15-2010/ http://833-45.net/2010/02/15/links-for-feb-15-2010/#comments Mon, 15 Feb 2010 23:05:52 +0000 K.M.Krebs http://833-45.net/?p=308 Steam Rotary
Creative Commons License photo credit: lucias_clay

A selection of recent links:

Library of Congress: Music and the Brain: a podcast series exploring “the explosion of new research at the intersection of cognitive neuroscience and music.” (via Metafilter)

BBC Essential Mixes: Every BBC Essential Mix from 1993 on for your streaming or downloading pleasure. (via @8tracks)

Turn Google into your Personal Napster with a Bookmarklet: Google + Mediafire.

Snow-ploughing with trains: Metafilter post with images & video of train snowploughs and snowblowers.

Follow me on Twitter if you can’t endure the lengthy delays I take between blog updates.

]]> http://833-45.net/2010/02/15/links-for-feb-15-2010/feed/ 0 Live at the BLIM — Jan 15th, 2010 http://833-45.net/2010/01/29/live-at-the-blim-jan-15th-2010/ http://833-45.net/2010/01/29/live-at-the-blim-jan-15th-2010/#comments Sat, 30 Jan 2010 05:04:44 +0000 K.M.Krebs http://833-45.net/?p=300 A recording of my live set from January 15th, 2010 at the BLIM is now online at Soundcloud.  Listen below…

..or go straight to the page at Soundcloud.

]]> http://833-45.net/2010/01/29/live-at-the-blim-jan-15th-2010/feed/ 0 Tunguska re-released http://833-45.net/2009/06/17/tunguska-re-released/ http://833-45.net/2009/06/17/tunguska-re-released/#comments Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:16:23 +0000 K.M.Krebs http://833-45.net/?p=273 833-45 - TunguskaAfter too long than I care to contemplate, I’ve finally re-released my Tunguska album.  Originally released on the Russian netlabel Musica Excentrica which vanished a few months back, only to go through a few permutations since.

If you want to read more about the album, I refer you to the original blog entry I wrote when it was first released.

Listen and/or download for free:

833–45 — Tunguska

Read a review of Tunguska by Jeremy Keens from his music blog Ampersand Etcetera.

Also, I’ve just discovered that clicking on tags in the tag cloud doesn’t seem to be working at all.  I’ll investigage that as soon as I can.

]]> http://833-45.net/2009/06/17/tunguska-re-released/feed/ 0 Pogo — Alice http://833-45.net/2009/06/02/pogo-alice/ http://833-45.net/2009/06/02/pogo-alice/#comments Wed, 03 Jun 2009 05:45:55 +0000 K.M.Krebs http://833-45.net/?p=264 This video was embedded using the YouTuber plugin by Roy Tanck. Adobe Flash Player is required to view the video.

Here’s a charming & playful composition I discovered via one of Deputydog’s 8track mixes that’s created mostly with samples from Alice in Wonderland.  I’ve been spending more and more time on 8tracks and anyone who likes discovering new music deserves to give it a go. I’ve got a few mixes I put together there a while back that you can get your feet wet with.

]]> http://833-45.net/2009/06/02/pogo-alice/feed/ 0 EarsOpen: Hjálmar — Icelandic Reggae http://833-45.net/2009/05/15/earsopen-hjalmar-icelandic-reggae/ http://833-45.net/2009/05/15/earsopen-hjalmar-icelandic-reggae/#comments Fri, 15 May 2009 19:35:42 +0000 K.M.Krebs http://833-45.net/?p=233 This is the first entry in what will be a recurring blog series titled ‘EarsOpen’ which gives me a platform to share some music that has caught my musical imagination. Let’s begin!

For a small and sparsely populated country, Iceland seems to have an abnormally large number of musicians. Undoubtedly, the astounding natural beauty and the rich cultural history play a significant role.

While a few Icelandic artists such as Björk and Sigur Rós have achieved fame outside the island nation, a majority of Icelandic music remains mostly unheard by foreign ears.

This video was embedded using the YouTuber plugin by Roy Tanck. Adobe Flash Player is required to view the video.

Hjálmar (myspace, youtube, last.fm) are an Icelandic reggae band who attained considerable fame in Iceland and beyond, with their debut album winning several awards. They’re a curious admixture of medieval Icelandic sagas and Jamaica’s music gift of reggae.

Those of you on twitter can follow them at @hjalmarband.

Recommended listening:
Múm
Amiina
Emilíana Torrini
Jóhann Jóhannsson
Ólafur Arnalds

More reading:
The 100 Best Icelandic Pop and Rock Albums at MeFi
Wikipedia’s entry on the Music of Iceland

]]> http://833-45.net/2009/05/15/earsopen-hjalmar-icelandic-reggae/feed/ 0 Autoplate Netlabel bids goodbye http://833-45.net/2009/04/23/autoplate-netlabel-bids-goodbye/ http://833-45.net/2009/04/23/autoplate-netlabel-bids-goodbye/#comments Fri, 24 Apr 2009 00:11:47 +0000 K.M.Krebs http://833-45.net/?p=226 Phlow Magazine just published an article interviewing Sebastian Redenz discussing the closing of the venerable net label Autoplate.  I’m flattered & humbled to see my name listed among the other talented contributers to the label.  I’m proud to have been involved with Autoplate and I invite you to download my album ‘Solar Cycle 23′ for free from their archives.  Be sure to explore the other albums as well.

I have yet to arrange a re-release the follow-up album ‘Tunguska’ which disappeared when the Russian netlabel Musica Excentrica went offline quite some time ago.  Be assured that it is one of my priorities, and I will post an entry as soon as it is back online & available.

If you are looking for another net label in the same spirit as Autoplate, I recommened the Berlin-based Resting Bell, where you can find another album I composed entitled ‘Symmetries’.

]]> http://833-45.net/2009/04/23/autoplate-netlabel-bids-goodbye/feed/ 0 Neanderthals and the digital deluge http://833-45.net/2008/12/10/neanderthals-and-the-digital-deluge/ http://833-45.net/2008/12/10/neanderthals-and-the-digital-deluge/#comments Wed, 10 Dec 2008 18:47:47 +0000 K.M.Krebs http://833-45.net/?p=209 neanderthal skulls
Creative Commons License photo credit: leted

The CBC Ideas Podcast (RSS Feed) is one of the most engaging podcasts I subscribe to. The latest episodes explore another type of (now extinct) human: Neanderthals.   It’s a surprisingly complex and compelling story, with far more controversy and mystery than I expected.  Voices from a number of thinkers and researchers covering anthropology, biology, creation myths and the Neanderthal in contemporary culture evoke the spectre of our ancient cousins.

Direct mp3 links: Homo (Sapiens) Neanderthalensis — Part 1, Part 2

Also, A friend shared this article on Google Reader recently that I empathized witha lot: Warning: The Internet Is Almost Full.  It is slightly reassuring to know I’m not the only one who feels caught in a digital deluge!

]]> http://833-45.net/2008/12/10/neanderthals-and-the-digital-deluge/feed/ 0 Good Copy, Bad Copy and Sport Stacking http://833-45.net/2008/11/14/good-copy-bad-copy-and-sport-stacking/ http://833-45.net/2008/11/14/good-copy-bad-copy-and-sport-stacking/#comments Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:49:16 +0000 K.M.Krebs http://833-45.net/?p=194 I finally took the time out to watch Good Copy Bad Copy, a recent documentary exploring the contemporary clash of copyright and culture and possibilities for the future. In keeping with the theme, you can watch or download it for free via their website.
An unofficial trailer…
This video was embedded using the YouTuber plugin by Roy Tanck. Adobe Flash Player is required to view the video.

And on a completely unrelated topic, I happened upon a strange thing called sport stacking (aka cup stacking or speed stacking). It is exactly what it sounds like, and although I was tempted to dismiss it as ridiculous, I am astonished by the dexterity and speed required to compete. It doesn’t hurt that it is also entirely mesmerizing to watch. Somebody needs to make a behind-the-scenes documentary about this!

This video was embedded using the YouTuber plugin by Roy Tanck. Adobe Flash Player is required to view the video.

]]> http://833-45.net/2008/11/14/good-copy-bad-copy-and-sport-stacking/feed/ 0 Excentrica.org vanishes http://833-45.net/2008/10/30/excentricaorg-vanishes/ http://833-45.net/2008/10/30/excentricaorg-vanishes/#comments Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:15:49 +0000 K.M.Krebs http://833-45.net/?p=181 By chance I discovered that my latest online album Tunguska seems to have vanished.  Not only that, but the Russian-based netlabel Musica Excentrica and a handful of other related sites all re-direct to the homepage of a Russian musician named Александра Розенбаума.  He must have some popularity judging by his Youtube presence.  I’ve been contacting the individuals who I previously communicated with at the netlabel, but haven’t gotten an answer yet as to what is going on.  Is it a simple mix-up or a take-over?  I’ll post more information as it arrives…

]]> http://833-45.net/2008/10/30/excentricaorg-vanishes/feed/ 0 Richard Dawkins must be pulling our legs. http://833-45.net/2008/10/29/richard-dawkins-must-be-pulling-our-legs/ http://833-45.net/2008/10/29/richard-dawkins-must-be-pulling-our-legs/#comments Thu, 30 Oct 2008 03:51:02 +0000 K.M.Krebs http://833-45.net/?p=174 In a Telegraph article I read (via Arts & Letters Daily), Richard Dawkins has made the hoax-like move of announcing his plans to step down from his teaching position and write a book “aimed at youngsters in which he will warn them against believing in ‘anti-scientific’  fairytales.” Although he admits he hasn’t read ‘Harry Potter’ he is greatly concerned that books about spells and wizards can somehow corrupt the development of a child’s rationality.  This behaviour seem almost parallel to the moral panic many fundamentalists had about Harry Potter and makes me wonder if he’s noticing he has more in common with his alleged enemies than he originally thought!

Now, I can understand the point of his earlier works showing the impossibly accurate and logical implications of his interpretation of Darwinian theory against what some consider a bloodless and overly-simplified theology (and more here, here and here).  I consider him a necessary cultural counter-weight to the ever increasing levels of fundamentalism at home and throughout the world.  But this announcement, which still seems too ridiculous to be real, reveals that Mr. Dawkins is so caught up in his zeal for scientism that he has deified rationalism as the only true way and cut off the subjective and imaginal world that is the substance of our life.  An essential part of being human is telling stories about the world and ourselves and our dreams — and why should that be limited to what we currently consider rational?

Mr. Dawkins’ irrational fear and seeming need to control what children read strikes me as bewilderingly intolerant and desolate.  I’m willing to bet just about every child in every culture grew up reading or hearing  fairy tales and myths, including most of the greatest scientists. Does he dream of a sterilized childhood where kids only read books that are rational and scientifically accurate? (and probably have no good pictures in them, either!)  Ultimately, I don’t see the need to set rationality and imagination against one another with such hyperbole.  Perhaps he’s just discovered that writing a controversial book make him more money than what he’s getting at Oxford?  I can sympathize far more the guy if it is simple human greed rather than a real conviction that he must warn children and their parents about the dangers of fiction!

…and I’ve just discovered a very recent article by Libby Purves taking him to task on his perceived threat of fairy tales.

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