My interview on WUWM 89.7 FM Milwaukee Public Radio's Lake Effect airs today at 3PM! But you don't have to wait 'cause you can give it a listen now.
Huge thanks go out to the extraordinaire Stephanie Lecci for her expert interviewing skills!
After you've heard the interview, click on over to the Artifacts website.
The very fine and upstanding folks at WMSE 91.7 FM here in Milwaukee will be airing a LIVE interview with yours truly on Monday, October 17, at 5PM CT (6PM ET / 3PM PT). The Topic: Artifacts. Hooray!
If you live in the Miltown area, tune your old-fashioned radios to 91.7 FM at the designated time.
In addition, those living throughout the land--and indeed the world--may tune in for the live stream at their website. They also keep a fancy archive at the same site for those of you unable to tune in at the exact moment of liveness.
If you haven't yet bought your copy of Artifacts, go to artifactsnovel.com right now. For those a little tight in the wallet these days, feel free to download the free PDF, available for a limited a time.
Thanks to all for your support!
Here's a little scenario I've no doubt you've suffered through before: You're standing in a gallery space, completely immersed in an awesome exhibit of finely crafted comix--only losers spell it the old-fashioned way and you, my friend, are no loser--when it suddenly dawns on you that the only way this stupendous experience could possibly be even more noodle-exploding is if there was live music. You look around, listen hard and hear only the largely non-musical jabberings of other human beings. We've all been there, people, and it hurts--it hurts bad.
Well, good news, kids! Woodland Pattern Book Center will save us from such pain and agony this weekend with two exciting events happening simultaneously: Hal Rammel's Comix & Cartoons and the 3rd Annual Music Marathon & Benefit for Alternating Currents Live--Whoot and Hooray!
First up is Mr. Rammel's exhibit Comix & Cartoons in the Woodland Pattern Gallery. "What?!" I hear you cry. "Hal Rammel draws comix and cartoons? But isn't it enough that he's the experimental music guru of all of Miltown and points beyond, creating his own compositions and sharing those of others on his Alternating Currents show that airs on WMSE 91.7 FM every Sunday from 6-9PM?" The answer to that fair if overly wordy question is "Yes, he does and, no, it is not enough." Ya see, when you've got a fantastically active brain like Hal's, you've always got to keep it moving or else. Don't know what the "or else" might be, but let's not dwell on that, 'kay? 'Kay.
While it may be news to some, Hal's been puttin' ink to paper for a mighty long time, and this exhibit will display 30 years of his work, including new drawings and cartoons. There's an artist's reception on Thursday--the night that the cool kids know actually starts the weekend--August 18, beginning at 6PM, with live music--you heard me--supplied by guitarist Chris Rosenau at 7PM. The exhibit runs to September 25, 2011.
Okay, so in that same gallery space on Saturday, August 20, the 3rd Annual Music Marathon & Benefit for Alternating Currents Live will kickoff at 1PM and continue on until you keel over in utter amazement at all the talent harbored in our fair city or 9PM, whichever comes first. So far, the line-up's looking pretty sweet, with a few of our local favs, like Steve Nelson-Raney in the 3PM slot, John Muther at 4PM and our bud Dan Schierl--a.k.a. Dan of Earth--in the 8PM hour.
There's room for more musicians, folks, so if you'd like to strut/strum/blow/pluck/tap/bang your stuff in front of a live audience--let's keep it clean, people--and help raise funds for the outstanding Alternating Currents Live series hosted by Woodland Pattern, call 414-263-5001 to sign up! Artists get 10 minutes to perform, and 5 minutes for set-up. Also, ya gotta raise at least $25.00 in pledges, but you can do that in your sleep.
Phew! It's hard to believe that these two wondrous events will be happening in the exact same place in one weekend, isn't it? And yet it is true. Should you doubt my word, I can only advise that you find out for yourself by going to 720 East Locust Street for both and, in the process, renew your faith in a weekend well spent.
(Thanks Hal!)
WUWM Milwaukee Public Radio is currently engaged in a supremely subtle fundraising effort in the hopes that you--yes, you!--will show just how much you appreciate not hearing them shamelessly beg, plead and cajole hour after painful hour.
While the station has no direct connection with Jon Stewart's call to "Take it down a notch for America" and join his Rally To Restore Sanity in DC on October 30, 2010, their mission is essentially the same: To provide and encourage reasoned, in-depth discussion in our indoor voices on the issues--including artsy ones--that effect all our lives, thereby ensuring we don't jump the fence into Nutjobland.
WUWM needs to meet a $62,000 goal by September 27, so donate now! Your brain and the brains of your fellow Americans will thank you.
Related:
As regular digesters of this here blog know, Cricky's awful found of pulling words and phrases out from the dank linguistic cellar and giving 'em a good airing out 'cause, just like anything organic, language can and does get moldy and musty if ya don't. Also, folks tend to forget that the snappy vernacular of our parents, grandparents, etc. is tons o' fun!
In perfect alignment with that sentiment, Wisconsin Hybrid Theater--a.k.a. Radio WHT--and WMSE 91.7 FM are as tickled as giggly school girls to announce a brand new series called Frontier Radio Theater. And to that we say, "Whoozzah!"
Beginning this Sunday morning and continuing on the first Sunday of every month, WMSE Radio and online listeners will have the supreme joy of experiencing radio dramedy like it hasn't been aired in decades--at least not since the majority of y'all poked your tiny, adorable heads into the world.
First up is Sherlock Holmes’ Adventure at Stonor Manor, a re-imagined piece based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Adventure of the Speckled Band, deftly penned by Radio WHT's own Charles Sommers.
Now, I've been guilty of taking titles a tad too literally in the past--usually for the sake of hoots--but I get the distinct impression that old-timey won't be the only type of speech highlighted in this story. In my fragile mind it goes something like this:
"Listen, you no-goodnik, we'll fit ya for a pair of concrete galoshes and toss ya in the drink if ya don't come clean."
"Whoa, man. You need to mellow out, ya know, just loosen up. Like, uh, here, try this."
Eh? Eh? Could happen. I'm not sayin' it will, but it could happen.
I guess we'll all just have to tune in this Sunday at 9AM to find out for sure, right? Indeed.
Link (Thanks, Charles!)
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WMSE 91.7's four-day, citywide Radio Summer Camp kicked off yesterday to the riotous hoots and hollers of tune makers and fans all over Miltown. While we've no doubt that every musician/band/troupe/ensemble scheduled to play will be bringin' their best to each stage, we're gonna zero in on two artists, Hal Rammel and Jon Mueller, both of whom stretch the boundaries of what we humans call "music" and other vertebrates call "that stuff that jiggles our innards and makes us feel funny."
Those who follow experimental music 'round these parts know that Hal Rammel is our learned yet humble guide to all things aurally challenging as host of the radio show Alternating Currents every Sunday evening. He is also known the world over--no kidding, he really is!--for his own adventures in sound and tune-noodling, which he shares with the masses via recordings and live performances.
A completely self-taught musician and instrument inventor, Rammel is fearless in his approach to and production of sound, combining improvisation with intellect, instinct with reason. Lest you find that last sentence too pretentious, may I add that time spent listening to his work may not only make you smarter but may also make you feel surprising new things, and you love surprises, don't ya? Course ya do.
As is his prerogative, Rammel will be performing in quartet with Steve Nelson-Raney, Josh Lesniak and Jon McCoy at Sugar Maple, 441 E. Lincoln Avenue, tonight. Also booked are Prestige Atlantic Impulse--Violent Femmes drummer Victor DeLorenzo's project that bills itself as "Trance/Other/Soul" on MySpace, but I think free jazz is better descriptor--and, in an odd twist, prog rock kids The Danglers.
Our second pick, drummer and percussionist Jon Mueller, brings a tad more musicality to the experimental genre than Rammel but with no less thought involved. Rhythmic and atmospheric, his work speaks of process and method, creating a sound that is both emotional and cerebral.
Mueller's personal and professional focus on the listening experience as a springboard to communication and collaboration translates directly into his compositions, recordings and performances, so any occasion to witness him play live is an opportunity that should not be missed.
For Radio Summer Camp, Mueller is the headliner at the Sugar Maple show tomorrow night, July 17, with R. Keenan Lawler and Spires That In The Sunset Rise settin' the mood.
Those of you who'd like to enjoy a stimulating Q&A with Hal Rammel and Jon Mueller--they interviewed each other!--should click on over to rhythmplex.com to view a recently posted collection of videos offering just that. Gotta tell ya, I said "Right on!" a whole lotta times to nobody while watching these artists explain their respective zigzaggy routes to the present, proving that the path of life is not straight and woe unto to those who try to make it so for they shall deprive themselves of the true meaning of existence. To be less highfalutin about it, let's all take some chances, people! Let's walk that winding road or someday we'll screen the film of our lives and the reviews will be a sad one-word statement: Meh. And no way, no how are we gonna stand for that.
Be at Sugar Maple tonight and tomorrow night at 8PM on the dot to ensure yourself at least one dose of the fascinating and amazing!
Related:
The eclectic musical tastes 'round the Cricky household run the gamut from epic experimental compositions--see Music for 18 Musicians by Steve Reich--to quality, yes quality pop that simply cannot be ignored--see Kate Miller-Heidke's Politics In Space. Sandwiched between those extremes lay a myriad of genres, including old-timey string and jug-band music of the South that ya just can't help but tap your toes to--I dare you to resist.
A long ignored form of this jaunty style is the black string-band tradition--a musical injustice that the oh-so talented African American musicians of the Carolina Chocolate Drops are workin' hard to correct through their stellar recordings and amazing live shows.
As luck and tour schedules would have it, the Drops will be performing during WMSE 91.7's Radio Summer Camp Backyard BBQ on Sunday, July 18. Best of all for everybody, their 4PM performance is absotootly, posilootly free!
NPR's Fresh Air rebroadcast an awesome interview with the band today and we encourage all you tune lovin' peeps to give it a listen. Then head on over to Cathedral Square Park in Milwaukee on July 18 to get yourselves some historic, head bobbin' musical edumacation!
Related:
Robin Hilton at NPR Music's All Songs Considered posted a pop quiz on Wednesday designed to test your Rock And/Or Roll drum fill knowledge, sending pro and amateur air drum enthusiasts--yes, there is such a thing as a pro musical mimic--into frantic conniptions, complete with girlish shrills of "OMG! This is sooooooo much fun!"
Currently there are 173 comments to the post, containing not only answers to the quiz but the usual nitpicky, killjoy remarks found in each and every discussion about music that drives most sensible folks to either run for the hills or order another stiff drink to dull the nagging sound of pointless absurdity. Now doesn't that sound like a hoot? You bet!
There are ten audio clips listed from well known tunes--two of which are a mere and measly one second--so you can prove your outstanding drum geekery once and for all. Though musical scholars have no definitive proof, the best advice for getting a high score has been tentatively attributed to AC/DC's legendary stick jockey Phil Rudd: Don't think, man, just feel.
Related:In the Cricky household the radio dial travels up and down pretty much solely on the left side of the FM broadcast range 'cause anything over 100 interferes with our synapses, making us feel dumber than a bag o' hammers. Also, we've heard enough of the entire Oldies Rock catalog, punctuated by screaming commercial shills, to last us more than a few lifetimes.
Over the past couple of weeks, three of Miltown's community supported stations have been rippin' our hearts out on an hourly basis with soulful entreaties to send 'em dough so they can keep us all in the übersmart, cool kid gang: 88.9 WYMS Radio Milwaukee, 89.7 WUWM Milwaukee Public Radio and 91.7 WMSE Frontier Radio.
Now we know that most of y'all are also die-hard fans of these broadcasters. How do we know that? Because only the most intelligent users of The Internets™ read this bloggity blog and you're here doin' just that, which means you're one of those brainy types, too.
So, since you clearly love the programming these stations offer and you'd be the saddest peep on the planet if any one of them wasn't around to provide you with the auditory awesomeness they send out over the air and online waves everyday, why not show your devotion by pledging some cash right now? It doesn't have to be a lot--unless, of course, you're a millionaire philanthropist who's been lookin' for the perfect way to spread the giving joy--and you'll get back a ton of radio goodness in return.
Go to 88.9 WYMS Radio Milwaukee, 89.7 WUWM Milwaukee Public Radio and 91.7 WMSE Frontier Radio and pledge away!
