The Source Family was a radical, utopian social experiment that emerged from the Los Angeles freak scene in the 1970s. Operating out of a hip health food restaurant owned by judo master/bank robber/accused murderer Jim Baker, aka Father Yod, The Source Family was everything you could want in a post-hippie, West Coast outsider spiritual trip. And they had a rock band too! Thanks to our pal Jodi Wille and Maria Demopoulos's absolutely fantastic new documentary now in theaters about Father Yod and his "children," interest in The Source Family and their band, Ya Ho Wa 13, has never been greater. The film, titled The Source Family: A Documentary, was inspired by The Source: The Story of Father Yod, Ya Ho Wa 13 and the Source Family, written by family members Isis Aquarian and Electricity Aquarian, edited by Jodi, and published by our pals Process Media. To complete the full transmedia Source Family experience, Drag City is releasing The Source Family soundtrack, a collection of choice tunes from the nine albums that The Source Family recorded between 1973 and 1974. Boing Boing is pleased to premier this free stream of the entire album, The Source Family soundtrack, available next week on CD and, of course, vinyl. Far fucking out.
BB pals Death Cab For Cutie are celebrating the tenth anniversary of their stunning fourth studio album, Transatlanticism, by performing it live in its entirety at the Bumbershoot music and arts festival in Seattle, September 1. Above is a live version of the title track which has become the quintessential closer at DCfC live shows.
If you're still thinking about Daft Punk after yesterday's excitement around Random Access Memories, you might appreciate this masterful New Orleans brass band cover EP of a few of their classics. Their Kickstarter to cover Get Lucky is also fully funded with four hours left!
From the February 22, 1975 episode of Soul Train, the marvelous jam "Summer Madness" by Kool & The Gang, whose slick suits beat robot helmets any year.
The Wire posted a small photo gallery of electronic and avant-garde musicians and their studios, including Atom, Pierre Henry, and Terry Riley. Above, JG "Foetus" Thirlwell's Brooklyn studio photographed by Daniëlle van Ark. At right, Madlib at home in Los Angeles, shot byJeremy & Claire Weiss. "Studio Envy"
MC Frontalot sez, "At long last, here's the third of three videos from my album Solved that were funded by fans via Kickstarter. It was directed by Carly Monardo and features my nerdcore rap compatriots ZeaLouS1 and Dr. Awkward.
Lyrics and credits are on the youtube page. The single is out today, too, and it's free at frontalot.com.
Bright-colored robotic space rhinoceri
that we pilot — why? 'Cause they're in supply.
Plus, we heed the cry of our planet's population
to defend them. We report to battle stations!
Split screen — ready! — and our rhinos are rocket ships
with fully articulated tusk, jaws, and hips.
They come equipped with individual special attacks,
none with a lack (but a couple a little bit slack).
I'm not naming any pilot specifically,
but we're all color coded so you notice that typically
I (in the gold) lead the charge, do the most damage
to whatever very giant space invader managed
to threaten the globe in yet another of our episodes.
This week? Malevolent galactic nematode!
Already beat up the squad when we faced him.
I'm calling it: let's form a giant robot and waste him.
Astronaut Chris Hadfield -- the tweeting, tumbling Canadian astronaut who's a one-dude astro-ambassador from the space programme to the Internet -- has produced and released a video of his own performance of David Bowie's "Space Oddity" (AKA the "Major Tom song") on the ISS. He adapts the lyrics a bit to his own situation -- and changes out the whole dying-in-space chorous -- but is otherwise pretty faithful. From the credits, it appears that David Bowie gave permission for this, though that's not entirely clear. I would think that not even a major record label would be hamfisted and cack-handed enough to send a takedown notice over this one (it's been suggested for Boing Boing more than any other link in my memory), but I'm prepared to be surprised.
Alex sez, "Algoraves are parties where people come together to dance to algorithms. It generally involves some live coding but any producers making music "wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive conditionals' are welcome. Generally some aspect of the algorithmic processes are visible, but the focus is actually on the audience, and having serious fun.
We've had a few parties across the UK and Germany, and are spreading further afield in Mexico and Australia. The concept is still developing though, and is being defined by whoever turns up."
James sez, "The boys of Viva La Dirt League (a New Zealand boy-band parody group specialising in songs about Starcraft!) have just released this funny, awesome, video about the pleasures of buying indie games. I think their work deserves your viewing!"
I concur. This is what boy bands should all be about: cussing, indie game references, and fursuits.
It could just be cultural connections that make us identify one song as happy and another as sad. But, explains Joe Hanson, there's evidence that our emotional connections to music are more universal than that.
In this video about evolution, music, and smooshy feelings, Hanson describes a study that asked participants to create short lines of music that matched specific emotions. The results were surprisingly similar, whether the participants were Americans, or people from an isolated village in Cambodia.
Amanda Ghassaei used a laser cutter to engrave audio into wood, acrylic, and paper discs. Sure, the sound quality is, er, terrible, but… art! Previously, Ghassei 3D printed records from MP3 files. She's posted HOWTOs for both on Instructables! Laser Cut Record and 3D Printed Record
BB pal Scott Matthews points us to Jack Conte's "Pedals," a terrific celebration of music gear (and robots). The lyrics:
Hog Pog Vox Wah Ocatave Multiplexer
Big Muff Memory Man Boss Chromatic Tuner
Polyphase MicroSynth Frequency Analyzer
Voice Box Electric Mistress Freeze Tube Zipper
Jim Guthrie, the composer of Sword & Sworcery's soundtrack, has released Takes Time, his first solo album in a decade. Andrew Webster interviewed him for The Verge: "Sword & Sworcery taught me something about myself. I learned a lot about music and what I'm capable of." Embedded above is his latest song, Bring on The Night.
Rick sez, "Hannah Peel found an old musical box in her grandmother's trunk, and rebuilt it, sampled it, looped it and created this lovely cover version of the OMD song Electricity. The very inexpensive EP includes similar versions of Blue Monday and Tainted Love. Exquisite!"
The Source Family was a radical, utopian social experiment that emerged from the Los Angeles freak scene in the 1970s. Operating out of a hip health food restaurant owned by judo master/bank robber/accused murderer Jim Baker, aka Father Yod, The Source Family was everything you could want in a post-hippie, West Coast outsider spiritual trip. And they had a rock band too! Thanks to our pal Jodi Wille and Maria Demopoulos's absolutely fantastic new documentary now in theaters about Father Yod and his "children," interest in The Source Family and their band, Ya Ho Wa 13, has never been greater. The film, titled The Source Family: A Documentary, was inspired by The Source: The Story of Father Yod, Ya Ho Wa 13 and the Source Family, written by family members Isis Aquarian and Electricity Aquarian, edited by Jodi, and published by our pals Process Media. To complete the full transmedia Source Family experience, Drag City is releasing The Source Family soundtrack, a collection of choice tunes from the nine albums that The Source Family recorded between 1973 and 1974. Boing Boing is pleased to premier this free stream of the entire album, The Source Family soundtrack, available next week on CD and, of course, vinyl. Far fucking out.
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