Taupe Beats

Just wanted to let everyone know I'm still doing my show. Stopped posting here to avoid gumming up the works. If you're curious, new shows get posted here: As always, thanks for listening!

Watched Jan Troell's "Emigrants" and "The New Land" over the weekend. Impressive scope, great performances all around, and wonderful cinematography. With that, really disliked the music in both films. Liv Ullman is a once-in-a-lifetime talent, but she was still better in Persona than here. Also watched Bergman's "Sawdust and Tinsel". I get why this film is so polarizing. The film has a nasty outlook from start to finish. With that said, it would be a pretty great double-feature with Pabst's "Pandora's Box" (the Pabst film imo is far superior but they're an interesting comparison). edit: The Blomdahl score for Stardust and Tinsel is wonderful. My favorite part of the film.

Watched Bruno Dumont's "Flanders" for the first time last night (currently steaming on The Criterion Channel). Have to say...this one was a miss for me. The main protagonist is a classic "blank slate with a touch of brutality" Dumont archetype and frankly not much else. The best thing I can say for the woman protagonist is...her part is underwritten. The war scenes were undercooked. I definitely think Dumont's intentions was ambiguity but I'd argue this wasn't executed well. It almost feels like Dumont's first foray into self-reference (he has a habit of it). He got better with this over time (see Lil' Quinquin). After that, I needed to see what I'd classify as "good" Dumont, so I re-watched Camille Claudel 1915 (also on The Criterion Channel). What an underappreciated film. I'd argue this movie may be Dumont's masterpiece. Bruno Dumont's first time working with a well-known actor (Juliette Binoche) and she delivers an all-time great performance. Her stop-on-a-dime emotional shifts which feel very real. Dumont's framing is perhaps its most refined here. If you appreciate "chamber" style films/acting, I recommend this highly.

Finally bought the blu-ray of Shoah (only had a torrent before). For those unaware, it's Claude Lanzmann's 9.5 hour documentary on the Holocaust which came out in the mid-80's. No archival footage is used. You are introduced to several "witnesses" (survivors, townspeople near the camps who were alive at the time, some of the Nazi functionaries), who tell their stories. I understand that Lanzmann is polarizing, but I find it inappropriate to watch this work and focus on the director. I *do* understand the criticisms of only translating (for subtitles) the translator for the Polish/Yiddish/Hebrew (Lanzmann didn't need a translator for German and English), but it's a catch-22 because without a translator, there's no way these stories come out the way they do. However, I'm left with the strong feeling that a lot of important nuance is lost w/o your own knowledge of Polish, Yiddish or Hebrew. It would be interesting to see a version w/their words translated directly to subtitle, instead of the translator's. The dualities of the natural beauty (mostly) shown to you vs. the horrors being dictated to you at the same time are very moving. It would be near impossible not to be moved by the stories of the survivors, however the total lack of archival footage, instead choosing to show you these places in near or total stillness. Between that and the running time, Shoah somehow a strange and complete inverse of Night and Fog. I'd say both are vital viewing for study on the Holocaust. I will stop there, but yes, a lot to say about this film. Highly recommended. Here is an amazing read about it's premier in Jerusalem: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/10/the-day-israel-saw-shoah.

This song puts me in a good place

I was previously using Spacecraft for sound design, just try to load stuff in and mess with the parameters until I liked it. I've recently found it's quite a good performative app (tweaking stuff in real time and recording an entire passage rather than just one sound/loop). It was really a brilliant choice to add 2 sound sources to that app.

Nah not just you, although you can change the sensitivity. It only seems to be really rigid in the 4 assignable knobs by the screen. I got used to the rest pretty quick. And the filters are incredible. Some (LP 4-Pole) are aggressive, but its a multi-mode with a lot of options, including several 2-band filters. Pairing with the EQ is great for finding sweet spots.

Interesting viewing weekend. Went to the theater and saw the new 4k restoration of Nina Menkes's "Queen of Diamonds". Some of the best sound design I've ever heard in a film. Reminded me quite a bit of Eraserhead where there were constant drones (things like Air Conditioners, engines, wind, etc.) that would add a palpable feeling of claustrophobia. Along with that, the imagery was striking and set in long takes. If you let yourself immerse in what you were seeing, it became quite hypnotic. Highly recommend this film for the more adventurous. Sunday night, against my own sanity, I decided to put my soul to the test and rewatch "4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days". Spoiler alert for those who have only seen it once, it doesn't get any easier. Mungiu films are wonderful for how they play against a viewers sympathies/logic, by suppressing the environment that you're witnessing, but then suddenly pulling the perspective out wider and you realize that there's not as much subjectivity in judging the actions of the characters as you may want. His film "Beyond the Hills" is esp. brilliant for this.

Will check this out. Thanks! I've been reading a book of Robert Bresson interviews. Anything Bresson-related is worth a read, imo. Also highly recommend "Neither God Nor Master" by Brian Price. Argues Bresson's ouvre is based in "Radical politics", rather than religion.

Finished this last Thursday. Holy shit! Even though it was originally intended as a single-viewing experience, somehow the 3rd part really stood out. Between the interview with the Cadre (there is a scene from Shoah that begs a very long, detailed compare-and-contrast), the escapee, and the revisits to those still alive (most interviews were shot in 2005-2006), absolutely devastating. Very thankful I got to see this. Turns out it's also on youtube. Very highly recommended.

? Melville has a ton of films, and frankly I have at least 3 that I'd rank higher than those 2 (Le Silence du la Mer, Les Enfants Terribles, and Le Samourai, in no particular order). Real tempted to add Leon Morin, Priest to that list, too. With that said, yeah Army of Shadows and Le Cercle Rouge are both great. I think the latter's far better than the former. Something about Army of Shadows feels a bit too showy and theatrical (exactly Melville's forte) for the subject matter. Lino Ventura is all-time great though.

yeah Patch Base is great and the developer is a very nice person! Have used that editor a bit but not enough (yet), been using the editor for the DX200 a lot lately

Agreed. The "wine dregs" festival is a real thing and a lot of that scene wasn't acting. Supposedly Sandrine Bonnaire was terrified. I always liked the structure of the film, with the tracking shots as a narrative framing device. Varda always had a knack for creative and interesting framing devices (time markers in Cleo from 5 to 7, color markers in La Bonheur, etc.).

I own one. It's one of the all-time great ROMPLER's for synth tones. Monster patch design capabilities. If you have the patience to work with it, you can get some ridiculously cool stuff. Effects are unfortunately a bit light (no COSM weirdness, just standard Roland Chorus/Phaser, Reverb/Delays of the era), and the drums are hilariously bad. It sounds like someone sampled the exact same sound and layered it about 6 times over and not doing anything about the aliasing. So yeah, for what you want, it will more than fill that role. Just avoid the drums ? edit: And long shot but I'll ask 'cause I'm curious. Has anyone here used both an XV-5080 and an Integra-7 and have any comparisons?

I got lucky that Austin's showing this. Saw the first portion of Wang Bing's "Dead Souls" last week, catching the rest in weekly installments. So far, it's a masterpiece (I doubt the rest will change that status), and a necessary document about a piece of history woefully unknown. Not an easy watch by any means, but certainly a rewarding one. Specifically, this film deals with the internment of "rightists" at the Jiabiangou and Mingshui labor camps in Northwestern China in the late 50's. Comparable to Lanzmann's "Shoah", or books such as Solzhenitsyn's "The Gulag Archipelago" series or Dostoevsky's "The House of the Dead".

RIP Bibi

No More Dreams 03 is one of my favorite records from last year. No nonsense really good hard techno.

Just picked up a Korg ER-1, had a question. Are there default transient clicks triggered on at least the first synth sound, that can't be removed? I've noticed that no matter what I do with the Mods, etc., that click is still front and center. Manual mentions nothing about this.

Friday's show, first part is around the 130 range, 2nd part is 140 range. A lot of "playing the hits", enjoy! Part 1 stream: http://www.mixcloud.com/SubFM/taupe-beats-part-1-29-mar-2019/ download: https://archive.sub.fm/taupe-beats-part-1-29-mar-2019/ DMX Krew “Shell Game”, Glad to be Sad album, Hypercolour, 2019 Nick Araguay “Shawty”, Keep Dreamin’ tha Same Dream EP, Shall Not Fade, 2017 GoldFFinch “Feather”, Black Pyramid EP, Food Music, 2014 Locked Groove “Firefall”, Heritage EP, Hotflush, 2013 Ross from Friends “Golf School”, Alex Brown EP, Breaker Breaker, 2015 Youandewan “Tino”, Youandewan EP, Aus Music, 2014 DJ Windows XP “Disco Dreaming”, Disco Dreaming EP, Live Ones, 2018 SCNTST “Let U Go”, Premelodic Structures EP, Boysnoize Records, 2012 1991 “91”, No More Dreams 03 EP, No More Dreams, 2018 Tom Demac “Sink or Swim”, Sink or Swim single, Hypercolour, 2017 Randomer “Woodwork”, Concierge single, Clone Basement Series, 2016 Batu “Marius”, Marius EP, Hessle Audio, 2017 Basic Rhythm “Can’t You See?”, Dough Boy/Can’t You See? single, Arcola, 2018 Claro Intelecto “Chadderton”, Chadderton EP, Modern Love, 2009 Versalife “Sirius”, Soul of the Automaton album, Transcendent, 2018 Grant “Shifting Views”, Cranks album, Mörk, 2016 Bioroot “LGAN”, Drift EP, Enclave Records, 2017 DJ Seinfeld “Time Spent Away From U”, Time Spent Away From U album, Lobster Fury, 2017 Roska “480 BC”, Tectonic Plates Vol 3 compilation, Tectonic, 2012 Marquis Hawkes “High Altitude Sunrise”, Light of My Life EP, Unknown to the Unknown, 2019 A Made Up Sound “Bygones”, Bygones/Peace Offering single, self-released, 2016 The Loose Control Band “I Don’t Understand (Ryan James Ford ‘Hope’ Remix)”, I Don’t Understand single, REKIDS, 2018 Jamie George “Take Me There”, Take Me There EP, Rinse, 2013 Mosca “Bax”, Done Me Wrong/Bax single, Numbers., 2011 New York Transit Authority “95”, Swarm/95 single, Lobster Boy, 2013 Redlight “Equinox”, Gamma Ray EP, Unknown to the Unknown, 2018 Mor Elian “Sparkle Tube”, Cymatic Ring EP, Fever AM, 2017 Andy Stott “Faith in Strangers”, Faith in Strangers EP, Modern Love, 2014 Aphex Twin “Analogue Bubblebath”, Analogue Bubblebath EP, Mighty Force, 1991 Baltra “Fuck All Y’all Haters”, No Regrets EP, Of Paradise, 2017 Scottonio “Into the Night”, unreleased, 2018 Randomer “Get Yourself Together”, Scruff Box/Get Yourself Together single, Hemlock, 2012 Demuja “Getting Dark”, Rush EP, House Puff, 2017 Hawerchuk “Four Messangers”, Four Messangers single, Planet-µ, 2006 DMX Krew “Sound of the Street (Dub Mix)”, Sound of the Street album (reissue), Breakin’ Records, 2011 Lando “Show Me Tricks”, Stunts EP, Ultramajic, 2015 Zenker Brothers “Davin”, Lion in Mars EP, Tresor, 2013 Otik “Deep Red (Erosion Flow Remix)”, Deep Red single, Dext Recordings, 2017 Premature Wig “Cotonia”, Place Detection single, Force Tracks, 2006 TSVI “Kick & Hat”, Simple, Straight, Raw single, Enklav., 2016 Nathan Fake feat. Prurient “DEGREELESSNESS (Huerco S. Backyard Interpretation)”, Providence Reworks Pt. 1 EP, Ninja Tune, 2017 Part 2 stream: http://www.mixcloud.com/SubFM/taupe-beats-part-2-29-mar-2019/ download: https://archive.sub.fm/taupe-beats-part-2-29-mar-2019/ Nathan Fake feat. Prurient “DEGREELESSNESS (Huerco S. Backyard Interpretation)” (continued), Providence Reworks Pt. 1 EP, Ninja Tune, 2017 Peverelist “Roll with the Punches”, Roll with the Punches/Die Brücke single, Punch Drunk, 2007 Asusu “Small Hours”, Small Hours/Taurean single, Project Squared, 2009 EOD “Edward”, Named album, bbbbbb, 2018 Squarepusher “Snake Pass”, Selection Sixteen album, Warp, 1999 Loefah “Disko Rekah”, Disko Rekah/All of a Sudden split single, Deep Medi, 2007 Rian Treanor “Contra_A2”, Contraposition EP, Arcola, 2018 Soukah “Windowlicka”, Windowlicka EP, Rarefied, 2018 Benga & Coki “Night”, Night EP, Tempa, 2007 Starkey “Spacewalk”, Ephemeral Exhibits album, Planet-µ, 2008 Mala “Calle F”, Mala in Cuba album, Brownswood Recordings, 2012 Skream “Chest Boxing”, Skreamizm 3 EP, Tempa, 2007 Ramadanman “Glut”, Glut/Tempest single, Hemlock, 2010 Benga “Comb 60’s”, Comb 60’s single, Planet-µ, 2006 Distal “Boss of the South”, Boss of the South single, Grizzly, 2011 Forest Drive West “Cannibal”, Apparitions EP, Livity Sound, 2018 Digital Mystikz “Thief in da Night”, Box of Dub 2 compilation, Soul Jazz, 2007 RSD “Good Energy”, Good Energy single, Punch Drunk, 2009 Pinch “Dr. Carlson”, Dr. Carlson/136 Trek single, Punch Drunk, 2008 AFX “.942937”, Analogue Bubblebath 3 album, Rephlex, 1993 Autechre “Second Bad Vilbel”, Anvil Vapre EP, Warp, 1995 Boards of Canada “1969”, Geogaddi album, Warp, 2002 Distance “Cyclops”, My Demons album, Planet-µ, 2007 Vex’d “Killing Floor”, Bombardment of Saturn single, Planet-µ, 2006 Zygos “Forward”, SFG EP, Rarefied, 2018 DJ Marfox “2685-2686”, Chapa Quente EP, Príncipe, 2016 Coki “Shattered”, Tortured/Shattered single, Tempa, 2006 Pangaea “Router”, You & I/Router single, Hessle Audio, 2008 Ishan Sound & Muttley “Still Smoking”, C5/Still Smoking single, Tectonic, 2018 V.I.V.E.K “The Big Bang”, Eyes Down EP, Deep Medi, 2011 Nkisi “G.E.O.”, The Dark Orchestra EP, Arcola, 2018 Lorenzo Senni “XAllegroX (DJ Stingray’s Molto Allegro Mix)”, XAllegroX/The Shape of RemixXxes to Come single, Warp, 2018 Project Bassline “The Twelfth Step (Melé Remix)”, The Twelfth Step EP, Cheap Thrills Records, 2010 VVV “Project Z”, The Projects EP, Fortified Audio, 2010 Burial “Broken Home”, South London Boroughs EP, Hyperdub, 2005 Lil Boosie feat. Webbie “Betrayed”, Incarcerated album, Trill Entertainment/Asylum/Warner, 2010 Skream “Memories of 3rd Base”, Burning Up single, Digital Soundboy, 2009 SCNTST “Kristall Edition (Fusion Mix)”, Puffer album, Boysnoize Records, 2015 DJ Shark “Cat Ears”, I Don’t Dance/Cat Ears split single, Unknown to the Unknown, 2016 Squarepusher “My Red Hot Car”, Go Plastic album, Warp, 2001 Mala “Changes”, Changes/Forgive single, Deep Medi, 2007 Ramadanman “Don’t Change for Me”, Ramadanman EP, Hessle Audio, 2010 2562 “Techno Dread”, Techno Dread/Enforcers single, Tectonic, 2008 Martyn “Vancouver”, Natural Selection/Vancouver single, 3024, 2008 Harold Budd & Brian Eno “First Light”, Ambient 2 (The Plateaux of Mirror) album, Editions EG, 1980 Rafael Anton Irisarri “The Clock”, Midnight Colours EP, Geographic North, 2018 Huerco S. “Hear Me Out”, For Those of You Who Have Never (and Also Those Who Have) album, Proibito, 2016 Grouper “Little Gray Cat”, Inca Ore/Grouper split album, self-released, 2007

yeah thanks for the suggestion but i'm not much of a reader, maybe if you point me into some specific direction... unfortunately i'm not intellectually smort enough to take enjoyment from movies based on its metaphors and stuff like that, that's probably why i lean more towards empathy/emotion and cinematography... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ It's all tied together though. To go back to the Salo example. Pasolini intentionally used only middle and long shots, no close-ups. This was done to intentionally place the viewer in the position of a voyeur, rather than implying participation (which close-ups generally do). You are watching the actions unfold from a distance, w/o intervening. That was a metaphor/indictment on the millions who watched WWII in Italy w/o intervening. Per-the emotional/empathy response in a film, that's typically the machinations/manipulations of the filmmakers. I personally find interest in the director's motivations. If for anything, it's a way for me to find values in films I dislike. YMMV on how much interest you have in the intentions/machinations of the filmmakers/writers/whatever. If you're enjoyment of films is more visceral, more power to you!

Not only is it stupid, it's insulting to those who participated. If an actor consents to portraying being raped on screen, that should be recognized. And if they *didn't* consent to any sexual activity on screen ("simulated" or otherwise), then that's an assault that needs to be investigated. I get that the former occurred instead of the latter, but the term "unsimulated rape scene" implies the latter. And as far as being numb to stimulus in film: I'd suggest maybe reading into psychological studies on that very phenomena. It could help put things in perspective. IMO, it's not healthy or worthwhile to try to measure films solely by the amount of empathy or emotion it can evoke from you. Pasolini's "Salo" is perpetuallly misread because people only want to think about the shock-factor, then unwisely compare the extremities to other films.

Yeah as a self-contained unit, it's one of the cooler pieces I've ever used. In the rest of my rig it's also nice but gets ignored more than it should. I am a DIN-MIDI devotee so I run the OP-1 into a hub, which goes into an iPad running MIDIflow to get it to talk to everything else. To open up potential further discussion on the OP-1, what do people think of the drum synth? Personally, I think it may be the weakest part of the device (other than the noisy USB crap). I just cannot click with it period. On the other hand, *love* the Phase Distortion synth. And obviously the FM radio implementation :D

Yeah it's MIDI is rather limited. Single, same channel input/output, only over USB. There are several arpeggiators, one of which is a step-sequencer so it's technically possible to sequence either internal or external synths. But again, just one track if you're trying to send out MIDI. You could feasibly record 4-tracks of sequenced or arpeggiated audio into its recorder, but that's just audio. No way to record MIDI data produced from or sent in. As far as CC's go, this gets even worse...you have several "LFO's", but can only use 1 per-track. One of those "LFO's" is being able to control 4 parameters via-CC's 1-4. Can't change the CC #'s (so yep, default Mod Wheel is one of the CC's you're forced into). And if I remember right (been a while since I used this particular feature), the CC's are forced into either controlling the synth on the track, or the effects. You can't mix and match. The OP-1 *is* a cool device, but not because of its MIDI...

Yes, I'm aware of that, my original post mentions the OT and OP-1 as possible sequencer replacements (if the OP-1 can even sequence externally?) if the MnM is toast. In general, I've felt drum/perc design to be lacking in my setup and I'd like to someday have the RYTM as an addition to the MnM and to possibly replace my TR8. Unless I use the TR8 as a controller for the RYTM since I love playing with the faders and knobs live. OP-1 can only do single-track MIDI sequencing. Very much not designed for that purpose.

Yeah the Stretch and Bobbito shows are seminal. Probably the best radio freestyles ever from Biggie, Big Pun and Jay-Z all came from their show. Pretty interesting documentary on them and their show on Netflix. (edit: Not Stretch & Bobbito-related) Sorry if I posted this already, but Pap's freestyle on this is pure greatness: