“New York” (Used 8 times)

As a large percentage of you probably know, Ari Up (Slits, True Warriors, and a/k/a Medussa) passed away this past October, but not without leaving this planet with an abundance of music, memories and occasions to remind us of her soul. Ari struck me as someone who couldn't be "turned off"; sadly with her passing, we know that is not true, and it still seems unreal, in reflecting on the vibrancy she had. Those of us who witnessed her perform, witnessed her living life - exclamation after exclamation, present to every second she had. She would have turned 49 on Monday, and at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on Sunday 1/16, will be the "Ari Up Punky Reggae Birthday Party", featuring members of the Slits original and current; the True Warriors, a later group that Ari fronted, and many many more guests.

The show at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Sunday is a benefit and proceeds will go to The St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Tickets are available here. Leading up to that, there were 2 special programs aired on WFMU this week;

On Miniature Minotaurs with Kurt this past Wednesday, we heard a set from the Ari Up & the True Warriors' performance from Santo's Party House from October 2008, courtesy of Punkcast.com- the playlist from that program here. 

On the Fun Machine on Tuesday of this week, I aired a True Warrior's set that I had the pleasure of engineering when they played on Pat Duncan's program May 8, 2003.

Go figure: people who love free digital music also love buying records. Vinyl, CDs, cassettes... there is an aura to these sound-carrying that doesn't always get across in a .ZIP.

WFMU is coming out as a bunch of vinyl-fetishists this week. We're in the midst of "Singles Going Steady," where DJs celebrate those 'lil records w/ the big holes by spinning 7-inches for the entire week. And it's all leading up to the WFMU Record Fair this weekend (October 22nd - 24th) at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Manhattan.

There'll also be sweet audio-visuals in the A / V Lounge:
:: Teen A Go Go  ::  Bedazzled.tv's Medley Mania  ::  The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia  ::  The Weird World of Blowfly, plus Q&A with the director  ::  Hausu (House)

Between your 2002, when you reemerged with a live performance on Scott Williams' show on WFMU, and now, your career seems to have gone through some tremendous changes. Do you view this as a rebirth of what you were doing in the late 70s or a new era of Gary Wilson? 

I would say a continuation of what I was doing in the 60s and 70s. One is always "growing" and adapting to the dynamics of life. We all go through it. This will reflect in your art. I do a lot of self editing. If a song of mine does not reflect the Gary Wilson personality, or what I think Gary Wilson represents, then it is tossed out. It has always been that way (since I was 12 years old). I try to stay true to what I think Gary Wilson should sound like. What is important to me is for a listener to put my music on and know that what they hear is Gary Wilson. Since 2002 a lot of different things have happened to me. Good things.  Life can be interesting sometimes.

What inspired you to incorporate tape, mannequins, wigs, flour and trashbags into your live performances?

NYC's Workbench Recordings offer a steady stream of high-quality Creative Commons tracks on a monthly basis, each accompanied by unique text and visuals. Workbench specializes in "unusual and experimental music," which ranges from cinematic soundscapes and fingerstyle guitar, to abstract pop and psychedelic folk. There is an organic element that defines what I might call "the Workbench sound," favoring acoustic guitars and sparse airy percussion. The consistency of that sound is further enhanced by the label's relationship with a worldclass mastering facility (Masterdisk), which is a rarity in the netaudio world.

>> FMA portal
>> workbenchrecordings.com

These Workbench Recordings are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 license

The 11th annual Latin Alternative Music Conference is underway now through Saturday June 10th. The event includes artist showcases, concerts, art exhibits, and a series of panels.

I'll be representing the Free Music Archive at a panel discussion titled The Future of Digital Music; Sobre las nubes: Cloud Streaming and Other New Technologies, alongside folks from IODA, Sound Exchange, Thumbplay, Premium Latin Music, Nortec Collective, The LimeWire Store, and Music Ally. The panel takes place Thursday July 8th from 11:30am-1pm at the Roosevelt Hotel, where I'm also hoping to catch panels featuring Todd P, Wired's Eliot Van Buskirk, and Adam Shore from The Daily Swarm. If you'd like to attend, you can register for LAMC on-site starting tomorrow afternoon (details here).

LAMC is also curating three free outdoor concerts while in town:

Wednesday July 7th 6:00p-10:00p @ Central Park Summer Stage
Tijuana’s electronica stars Nortec Collective Presents: Bostich+Fussible, Barcelona experimentalist El Guincho and Chilean hip hop reina Ana Tijoux.

Friday July 9th 7:30p-11:00p @ Prospect Park Bandshell (Celebrate Brooklyn)
Los Angeles’ culture mashers Ozomatli, Argentine reggae icon Fidel Nadal and Monterrey’s extraordinaire DJ/producer Toy Selectah. Here's a live track from Ozomatli's recent KEXP session

Saturday July 10th 3:00p –7:00p @ Central Park Summerstage
Barcelona’s electronic indie pop sensations The Pinker Tones, Mexican rock pioneers Maldita Vecindad and Austin’s psychedelic groovesters Ocote Soul Sounds

You can also tune in to LAMC via WFMU this Saturday, when Transpacific Sound Paradise hosts a live session from Sol Okarina. The Venezuela-born, Bogota-based singer brings a mix of cumbia, indie rock, Carribean and South American sounds. The show also features a non-LAMC-related spotlight on "Legends of Benin" the Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou, who make their long overdue NYC debut (they've recorded 500+ songs since the 60s!) this Sunday at Lincoln Center.

Here's a track from Friday's LAMC/Celebrate Brooklyn headliners Ozomatli, recorded live at KEXP's SxSW showcase on March 19th 2010