jmoiron.net

I don't even understand why it's notable anymore that something tragic is or isn't announced on the internet. Isn't it past time now that everyone owns up to the fact that the majority of communication for this generation and at least the next few future ones will happen over the internet?

It seems pretty obvious to me that things like facebook, twitter, MySpace and YouTube occupy large real world social and cultural spaces. As evidence for this, things are happening today with music that would have sounded like science fiction 20 years ago.

If you want to see what bands are going to be playing in town, you can check a website for that. Go to any venues site and they feature a calendar with band links, most of which go to MySpace pages where you can sample some of the artists work. If you hear something you like, you can go check the artist out at the show. Sometimes, you can get a significant piece of their work for free off their site or off of ITMS or Amazon's Music Store.

And that's all old news. The interesting stuff (that's also been happening for upwards of 10 years now!) is that technology has changed the way people are making music (and in general audio/visual arts). Ok Go gained most of their fame from their treadmill youtube video that's been viewed almost 45 million times, and older stuff like Danger Mouse's grey album.

A new site called ThruYOU by Israeli DJ Kutiman has made him an overnight internet sensation, and for good reason. He creates some pretty exceptional tracks here (spanning genres) made entirely of samples from "Here's me and my Instrument" youtube videos. The visual and audio experience is pretty spectacular across the board, although the real standout track is "I'm New", which itself serves as a microcosm for the collection.

Kutiman's afrobeat background comes out here, but there are almost too many influence contributions to count. Particularly notable on this track is Kutiman's own voice and his affection for his video subjects. He cuts and re-assembles samples to make beats and melodies his own, and the melange of various amateur recording setups give the music a distinct lo-fi aesthetic.

Another artist who is simply amazing but comes from a completely different background is OMODAKA who gained some notoriety in blip circles with this superb re-imagining of the classic japanese folk song Kokiriko Bushi. Although the music more than stands up on it's own, there's almost no separating it artistically from the video which defies an explanation that does not include "acid trip".