By: Tony Price
An assemblage of miscellaneous links to articles, essays, videos, playlists, records and more.
Land Of The Rising Sound: A Roland Retrospective
This 72 minute documentary by YouTube music historian Alex Ball dives deep into the Roland Corporation, covering the history of their output, inventions and innovations from the birth of the company fifty years ago up to the present day. Founded in Osaka, Japan by Ikutaro Kakehashi in 1972, Roland has arguably been responsible for shaping the sound of modern music more than any other entity. Between their innovations in synthesis, MIDI technology and audio effects, the degree to which they have influenced, or even created the sound of modern music is absolutely astounding.
Is New York City’s Best Sound System In A Bumper Car Arena?
Yes, it is. Installed in the early 1980’s at the direction of owner and audiophile, Scott Fitlin, the sound system installed in the Eldorado Auto Skooter bumper car arena in Coney Island was the work of famed sound system designer Richard Long, known famously for his systems at Paradise Garage and Studio 54. As this Red Bull article explains, Nicky Siano and Larry Levan would ride around, smashing into each other while listening to “Love Is The Message”. I went to Coney Island recently and took several rides at Eldorado. They were playing “Bodak Yellow” through the system, and the sound was absolutely INSANE. The bass was holographic, 3D. It was the most physical sound system I have ever interacted with. Only in New York does this type of shit happen.
150 Session - A Few Chapters From The Mental Machine
This 1 hour special on NTS Radio by DJ “ML” combines excerpts from the legendary Electrifying Mojo’s audiobook “The Mental Machine” with an assortment of Motor City machine funk classics from the likes fo Omar S., Jeff Mills, Derrick May and co. Mojo’s flanger-laden vocals spitting metallic truths over drum machine calisthenics and midnight synth-scapes…it doesn’t get any realer.
Someone has finally compiled and uploaded an archive of full length recordings from Art Bell’s infamous Coast To Coast AM radio show. If you are unfamiliar with the show, read up on it and listen to some of these recordings late at night while driving or sitting in a dark room. Before the recent mainstreaming/weaponization of the “conspiracy theory”, Art Bell’s late night radio show was the place to plug into for all things weird and paranormal. This is a vast reservoir of snapshots from the dark, fractured interiors of the postwar American psyche. There is a lot in here: shows from the day after Windows 95 was released, interviews with scientists who purport to have worked at Area 51, recordings from the days following 9/11 and armchair Y2K theorists making their predictions on the eve of the new century.