20071214

Audio Objekt on CD



It's here - the CD debut from Sweden's own Kraftwerk cover band/renewal crew/thematic update organisation. They are YouTube celebrities and they are Kraftwerk mailing list email bashing victims. They are Audio Objekt. Their debut cd is entitled "Vår Nya Värld", after their translation of "Computer World". And I think I like it.

It has been revealed before who the two "objekts" (or members) of Audio Objekt are. And at least one of them, objekt Håkan Lidbo, has a specific, trademark sound that can be heard clearly in these songs.

The cd features 6 tracks, where two are Audio Object's renditions of "Computer World" (Vår Nya Värld) and "The Model" (Modellen). Another track is "Artificial Personality", a song that is a few years old already, that features some samples from a Ralf Hütter interview that the second object, Patrik Persson, did a few years ago.

Apart from this, what makes the cd interesting is the remixes. They are all very well crafted, sort of underground-dance-music type remixes, that are credited to Jeff Bennett and complete unknowns Meldodix and Leuka Kestääpesiä. My take on this is that Håkan Lidbo himself, and maybe also Andreas Tilliander (who has mastered the cd) has been involved here. But who knows? Maybe Leuka Kestääpesiä is a rising star on the finnish tech-house scene, just waiting to be discovered.

I'm not sure, but this cd might be hard to get in the near future. There was an article on the subject yesterday in Swedish daily Metro, where it was stated that publisher Sony/ATV has stopped Audio Objekt from selling the CD, at least until the new, Swedish lyrics has been reviewed by the original writers. And we all know who they are.

20071211

Kraftwerk + Atom (and some audio science)

While going through my emails this morning, these two stood out. Even though the first one is most likely complete bullshit.

One.



There is a rumour abroad that Uwe Schmidt (aka Lassigue Bendthaus, Señor Coconut, etc.) has asked Kraftwerk to remix the forthcoming Atom Heart album.

Two.



Hear Voices? It May Be an Ad

New Yorker Alison Wilson was walking down Prince Street in SoHo last week when she heard a woman's voice right in her ear asking, "Who's there? Who's there?" She looked around to find no one in her immediate surroundings. Then the voice said, "It's not your imagination."

Indeed it isn't. It's an ad for "Paranormal State," a ghost-themed series premiering on A&E this week. The billboard uses technology manufactured by Holosonic that transmits an "audio spotlight" from a rooftop speaker so that the sound is contained within your cranium. The technology, ideal for museums and libraries or environments that require a quiet atmosphere for isolated audio slideshows, has rarely been used on such a scale before.

For random passersby and residents who have to walk unwittingly through the area where the voice will penetrate their inner peace, it's another story.


The article.
Holosonic

20071207

Stockhausen RIP



Karlheinz Stockhausen has passed away, at the tender age of 79. Read more here.