Talks

On Rand’s Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology (1967) and “The Objectivist Ethics” (1961).  

First Rand grounds everyday human knowledge, largely by dismissing the concerns of other philosophers (even those whom she unknowingly parrots) as absurd. Then she uses this certainty to argue for her semi-Nietzschean vision of Great Men who master their emotions and rely only on themselves. Mark, Wes, Dylan, and Seth are satisfied with neither effort.

Warning: This attempt to make sense of Rand’s texts will likely offend any Randians out there, and our reading numerous passages from her alleged “texts” may offend the rest of you. When in doubt, curl up in the fetal position and moan “A=A!” over and over again until the bad sounds stop.

Go to blog

Ayn Rand on Living Rationally - Partially Examined Life

If you were a movie star in the market for a mansion in 1930s Los Angeles, there was a good chance you might call on Wallace Neff.

Neff wasn't just an architect--he was a starchitect. One of his most famous projects was the renovation of  Pickfair, the estate owned by the iconic silent film actress Mary Pickford, and her husband Douglas Fairbanks. When the couple moved into Pickfar, the house sat on a nameless street in an empty neighborhood called Beverly Hills. If you were lucky enough to be invited to dinner at Pickfair you might find yourself seated next to Babe Ruth, the King of Spain or Albert Einstein. Life magazine called Pickfair “only slightly less important than the white house, and much more fun.” Neff designed estates for Charlie Chaplin, Judy Garland and Groucho Marx. His Libby Ranch is now owned by Reese Witherspoon.

But at the end of his life, Wallace Neff lived in a 1,000 square foot concrete bubble. And Neff believed that this simple dome was his greatest architectural achievements.

Los Angeles-based reporter David Weinberg spoke with historian Jeffrey Head, author of No Nails, No Lumber: The Bubble Houses of Wallace Neff.  David also spoke with Kathy Miles, who grew up in Igloo Village; Steve Roden, an artist and current resident of the last remaining bubble house in the US; and architect Stefanos Polyzoides, who has his practice in a classic Spanish/Mediterranean-style Wallace Neff building.

We also hear from Dakar-based producer Juliana Friend, who was nice enough to go check on the bubbles over there.

A different version of this story originally aired on KCRW as part of their Independent Producer Project.

David Weinberg is also the brains behind Random Tape, an audio experiment in, well, random tape.

99% Invisible-89- Bubble Houses

An introduction to and summary of Frithjof Bergmann’sNew Work, New Culture, read by Mark Linsenmayer. The full episode on this topic will be posted in a few weeks.

Precognition of Episode 83: Fritjhov Bergmann's New Work, New Culture - Partially Examined Life

About a year ago I travelled across America for the BBC. I visited Airports, Amusement parks, Highways and Community Colleges in order to understand how the priority queue is changing the American experience of waiting in line. ***A version of this piece aired on the BBC World Service, part of their “Real America” series.  <a href="https://www.scrollkit.com/s/aUGM5mO" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Click for more info</a> or VISIT toe.prx.org

Waiting In Line

NASA's Voyager spacecraft has landed: meet the aliens who found it. Performed by Chet Siegel and Peter McNerney. Produced by Jonathan Mitchell.

Voyager Found

Our series concludes with an attempt to examine the suburbanized commodified inner cityscape of New York. Author and activist Sarah Schulman tells us about the Gentrified Mind, plus we hear from one of the first Airbnbers of New York. PLUS  a sneak preview of a new rock musical everyone will soon be talking about.

New York After Rent (part 3 of 3)

From the album Invite the Light | Sept 4, 2015 | Free with album pre-order on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/invite-the-light/id986623530


On Vinyl

Dam-Funk - We Continue

I presented two sets at the Shubbak Festival in London, this is the first of the two.

This set consists of original material for computer and oud, some never recorded or performed before, all 'performed' live. This recording is about 75% of the set – the first 10-15 minutes did not record unfortunately. The unrecorded segment consisted of a partially improvised sound piece "Sleep Commute/ The Long Journey Home of Ibn Battuta".

The tracklisting is as follows:
00:00 - Airflow/ Sketch for a Film
02:48 - Untitled (for Oud and Computer)
10:46 - Sprawl
20:03 - Untitled (Choubi)
27:40 - Circle in Maqam Rast
33:33 - Finally Awake

The set was accompanied by a video piece, "in transit selection 001_dubai/abu dhabi (for london)"
https://youtu.be/MMLVzMihs7g

Karim Sultan - Live At Shubbak Festival, London UK (25 July 2015)

@Boyanmusicofficial

Free DL: http://get.tndn.io/l/8wkJxp-ARu

Meet Boyan, a 23-year-old producer from Sofia, who's been making quite some noise lately. The Bulgarian beatmaker grew up playing the piano and singing in a choir. In 2009 he went on to obtain a degree in sound engineering and composing music.

The idea for the track "Monday Morning" came up on a sunny Monday morning, so it seems fitting to release it on (you guessed it) a Monday Morning.
FYI this one is a follow up to Boyan's previously released "Sunday Evening", which was presented to you by our friends over at @Infinitblog. Don't hesitate to click the 'Buy' button and snatch up a free download!

If you enjoy the music, please be so kind to hit the REPOST button or leave a nice comment.

Read more here: http://www.moovmnt.com/2015/11/23/boyan-monday-morning

LOVE // REPOST // COMMENT // SHARE // MUSIC

Boyan - Monday Morning

As a young woman in the 60s, Andy Austin talked her way into a job as a courtroom sketch artist in Chicago. She spent 43 years sketching everyone from disgraced governors to John Wayne Gacy, and says she only made someone look bad on purpose once.

Episode 35: Pen & Paper

SeeSaw (Club Version)

Jamie xx + Four Tet + Romy - Seesaw (club version)

Mix of Italian ambient/minimalist/avant-garde music, mostly emanating from institutions supporting the visual arts in cities like Milan and Rome: theatre production soundtracks, video installations and architectural studies. Ethnographic plunderphonics, post-Battiato spiritual minimalism and hypnotic FM patterns, flowing with Mediterranean fourth world currents throughout.

tracklist:
Daniel Bacalov ‎– “Africa L’Animali” Il Ladro Di Anime
O.A.S.I. ‎– “Il Gioco Dei Sogni” Il Cavaliere Azzurro
Roberto Musci / Giovanni Venosta – “Nexus On The Beach” Water Messages On Desert Sand
Piero Milesi / Daniel Bacalov ‎– “Camera 2° Parte” La Camera Astratta
Riccardo Sinigaglia ‎– “Attraverso (excerpt)” Riflessi
Elicoide – “Mitochondria (excerpt)” Elicoide
The Doubling Riders ‎– “Chinese Comedy” Doublings & Silences Vol. II
Roberto Laneri ‎– “Animalia” from Anadyomene
Goffredo Haus ‎– “Cielo” Musiche Per Poche Parti
Francesco Messina ‎– “Comunicazioni Interne” Medio Occidente
Roberto Donnini ‎– “T 2 A (excerpt)” Tunedless
Mario Piacentini / Roberto Bonati / Anthony Moreno – “Sealed in a Transparent Cube” Frozen Pool
Magazzini Criminali / Jon Hassell – “Camminavo Nella Sera Piena Di Lilla” Sulla Strada
Vincenzo Zitello “Arilels” Et Vice-Versa
Roberto Mazza “Stanze Parallele” Scoprire Le Orme
Raffaele Serra – “Maldoror Theme” Kodak Ghost Poems
Giovanni Venosta ‎– “Woman In Late” Olympic Signals
Andreolina ‎– “Music In A Small Room” An Island In The Moon
Piero Milesi (w/Riccardo Sinigaglia) ‎– “The Presence Of The City” The Nuclear Observatory Of Mr. Nanof

Cover image: Munari Apartment Venice, Sottsass/Cibic.

more info here: http://rootstrata.com/rootblog/?p=8801

Music Interiors Vol. 2: Interni Italiani

Nicole Pasulka on SHROOMS

'Destroyer' is taken from The Green Child's self-titled debut album out January 12th through Upset The Rhythm.

Available to pre-order here now:
http://upsettherhythm.bigcartel.com/

Artist:  The Green Child
Title: The Green Child

Label: Upset The Rhythm
Catalogue Number:  UTR102
Release Date:  Friday 12 January

Track listing:
01. Traveler
02. Her Majesty II
03. Bertha
04. New Years Eve
05. 46 Timelines
06. Walking Distance
07. Marie Elene
08. Destroyer

The Green Child is the long distance musical collaboration of Mikey Young and Raven Mahon, who met in 2013 when their bands, Total Control and Grass Widow played a show in Oakland, California. They started writing songs together in Australia in 2014 and the project has been on a slow burn since. Their self-titled debut album is the culmination of few years of putting ideas together internationally and periodically recording in Mikey's home studio. Some of the lyrical content and the band's name was inspired by Herbert Read's 1935 utopian, communist, sci-fi novel called The Green Child. 

With such a choice name, it’s no surprise that The Green Child draw their sound from an illusory past as much as they stalk into pastures new. Broadly retro-futuristic in scope, verdant acres of lushly evocative synthesizers and blippy drum machines underpin most of their upbeat yet decidedly uncanny songs. Raven’s calmly scenic and measured vocal flits like a will-o’-the-wisp throughout the tracks, proffering a guiding hand as she walks us through the often eerie, electronic concoctions. 

‘Traveler’ opens the album all redolent, beat-minded and labyrinthine. Twisting melody lines swirl and envelop like a sandstorm, whilst Raven coolly projects on a “solitary man” lost to “green oblivion”. Similarly, ‘Her Majesty II’ glistens with its playful yet plaintive vocal and iridescent arpeggios, whilst ‘Bertha’ slows things down with tumbling chimes and stately use of space.

The Green Child are adept at atmosphere, their songs are refined from gently unfolding ideas that never fail to realise and build to their potential. Tracks like ‘Walking Distance’ (featuring Al Montfort on saxophone) and ‘New Years Eve’ are exercises in evolved composition with ideas budding off and blossoming into truly resonant dimensions. The band’s cover of ‘Marie Elene’ (by Keith Pearson) and closing track ‘Destroyer’ are further crowning achievements, both pieces subtly handled with poise and ample melancholic grandeur. The Green Child fix their sights on the heights they want to reach within their songs and much like the project itself don’t want to rush to the finish line. When it becomes more about the unfurling journey, why not take the time to enjoy the trip and burn slower?

‘The Green Child’ is due for release on January 12th through Upset The Rhythm on 180g black vinyl, accompanied by some spirited sleeve design by James Vinciguerra.

The Green Child

The Green Child - Destroyer

Radio/Podcast host:
"Benjamen Walker's Theory of Everything" a proud member of PRX's Radiotopia collective. http://radiotopia.fm 
"Too Much Information" WFMU (2009 - 2013)
"The Big Ideas Podcast" The Guardian UK (2011 - 2012) 

Waiting In Line

Benjamen Walker

Related tracks