Friday, December 3, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
Latin Meets Rock n' Roll
happening this Tuesday at the Midway cafe in Jamaica Plain. It's the Boston release party for the Barbes records compilation "The Roots of Chicha volume 2" and I'll be playing a bunch of chicha singles.
Monday, October 25, 2010
The Intercontinental featured in the College Music Journal
the Intercontinental was featured in the September issue of the College Music Journal. A small feature was published in the print journal in an article by Marisa Aveling called "Five Special Specilay Shows" [pdf] and a longer feature appeared online at cmj.com. Here is the basic text from the online version:
Specialty Show Profile: The Intercontinental, WMBR
Jesse Kaminsky, host of The Intercontinental – WMBR’s ‘international’ specialty show
Give us a brief rundown on the history of the show. I started the Intercontinental in 2006 as a way to explore some of the more obscure sounds from around the world. I felt like the ‘world village’ idea of a global culture was the dominant model for foreign music on the radio, and that really left me cold. That mentality seems to be based on the idea of the west as cultural compass and bankroll and felt a lot like the mondo type exhibition without context. I was really interested in tapping into the type of cultural movements that have been happening for centuries independently of the US. The Yugoslavian fascination with mariachi music or Japanese-Cuban music, for instance, produced some really fascinating records, made only for the domestic markets in those countries.
How did you get interested in ‘international’ music in the first place? Growing up in Arkansas before the internet was a really off the ground, it was difficult to find anything other than local bands and the current top 40. I was really hungry for something else, though, so I just tried to use every resource to cast a wide net and listened to anything that might possibly be interesting. I would ask every foreign exchange student what they were listening to. I had a lot of weird tape dubs of Yugoslavian ska punk bands in high school. I went to local punk shows in high school but was also trying to find where to order Conlon Nancorrow CDs or whatever music was the farthest from what I already knew, it was all in pretty much the same category for me. I didn’t really focus exclusively on international music until the idea for the show came along, it’s really taken over my life since then.
The music you play comes from almost every country imaginable. How do you source it all? It can be really difficult to crack into a stream of culture that wasn’t meant for you, especially if it doesn’t exist anymore or is all in a script that I can’t read. The internet is great, though, and I’ve found that people can be very helpful with information if they can see that you’re serious about it. I can’t read Farsi so I scanned all my Iranian singles and put them on my website and suddenly people are emailing me from all over the world with translations and history, they’re amazed that someone like me has interest in pre-revolutionary Iranian pop music. There are dealers for anything, though. I do a lot of trial and error purchasing, buying things based on the picture or something. If you buy enough Turkish disco singles you eventually start to figure out what’s good or what to avoid. Once you have a handle on part of it you can do associative things like: if Yugoslavia had such a great newwave/synthpop thing in the 80’s then what about Hungary, or Poland. If you look it up, it’s there!
What’s the weirdest piece of music you’ve ever found and played on your show? There is some music from the Dagestan region of Russia that’s really singular. It’s a kind of techno with traditional rhythms and melodies. Drum machines and accordions with reverbed out mcs, totally unlike anything I’ve heard anywhere else. There’s also a really strange Dagestani version of Jimmy Ajaa (the Bappi Lahiri Hindi disco song that MIA covered) that was reworked to be a praise song for Allah that’s a strong contender for weirdest song.
www.jessekaminsky.com/intercontinental
This entry was posted on Monday, October 18th, 2010 at 2:17 pm and is filed under Industry Profiles, Interviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Specialty Show Profile: The Intercontinental, WMBR
Jesse Kaminsky, host of The Intercontinental – WMBR’s ‘international’ specialty show
Give us a brief rundown on the history of the show. I started the Intercontinental in 2006 as a way to explore some of the more obscure sounds from around the world. I felt like the ‘world village’ idea of a global culture was the dominant model for foreign music on the radio, and that really left me cold. That mentality seems to be based on the idea of the west as cultural compass and bankroll and felt a lot like the mondo type exhibition without context. I was really interested in tapping into the type of cultural movements that have been happening for centuries independently of the US. The Yugoslavian fascination with mariachi music or Japanese-Cuban music, for instance, produced some really fascinating records, made only for the domestic markets in those countries.
How did you get interested in ‘international’ music in the first place? Growing up in Arkansas before the internet was a really off the ground, it was difficult to find anything other than local bands and the current top 40. I was really hungry for something else, though, so I just tried to use every resource to cast a wide net and listened to anything that might possibly be interesting. I would ask every foreign exchange student what they were listening to. I had a lot of weird tape dubs of Yugoslavian ska punk bands in high school. I went to local punk shows in high school but was also trying to find where to order Conlon Nancorrow CDs or whatever music was the farthest from what I already knew, it was all in pretty much the same category for me. I didn’t really focus exclusively on international music until the idea for the show came along, it’s really taken over my life since then.
The music you play comes from almost every country imaginable. How do you source it all? It can be really difficult to crack into a stream of culture that wasn’t meant for you, especially if it doesn’t exist anymore or is all in a script that I can’t read. The internet is great, though, and I’ve found that people can be very helpful with information if they can see that you’re serious about it. I can’t read Farsi so I scanned all my Iranian singles and put them on my website and suddenly people are emailing me from all over the world with translations and history, they’re amazed that someone like me has interest in pre-revolutionary Iranian pop music. There are dealers for anything, though. I do a lot of trial and error purchasing, buying things based on the picture or something. If you buy enough Turkish disco singles you eventually start to figure out what’s good or what to avoid. Once you have a handle on part of it you can do associative things like: if Yugoslavia had such a great newwave/synthpop thing in the 80’s then what about Hungary, or Poland. If you look it up, it’s there!
What’s the weirdest piece of music you’ve ever found and played on your show? There is some music from the Dagestan region of Russia that’s really singular. It’s a kind of techno with traditional rhythms and melodies. Drum machines and accordions with reverbed out mcs, totally unlike anything I’ve heard anywhere else. There’s also a really strange Dagestani version of Jimmy Ajaa (the Bappi Lahiri Hindi disco song that MIA covered) that was reworked to be a praise song for Allah that’s a strong contender for weirdest song.
www.jessekaminsky.com/intercontinental
This entry was posted on Monday, October 18th, 2010 at 2:17 pm and is filed under Industry Profiles, Interviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Failure gifs
While I'm finishing up soundtracks to the two photocopy-based animations that premiered at Backyard Bandwith last Saturday, here are some animated gifs from some of the nice parts.
Failure of a system is based on the idea that more can be understood about a situation that has failed than succeeded. Stress tests are based on this idea, that limits can be understood when failure occurs. Understanding a thing's failure can give a better understanding of its physical makeup, its tendencies and its restrictions. The failure of a photocopy machine means that it has not done its job of replication well. The tool is turned on itself and the essential material qualities emerge.
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Failure of a system is based on the idea that more can be understood about a situation that has failed than succeeded. Stress tests are based on this idea, that limits can be understood when failure occurs. Understanding a thing's failure can give a better understanding of its physical makeup, its tendencies and its restrictions. The failure of a photocopy machine means that it has not done its job of replication well. The tool is turned on itself and the essential material qualities emerge.
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Saturday, August 14, 2010
solos and duos
Last week I played a short solo saxophone set and some duos with Josh Jefferson at PA's lounge. Thanks to everyone who came, if you weren't there you can hear it here: mp3
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
failure of a system
How many blogs have you seen that look like this:
7 or 8 posts in a brief period of time, very excited about the idea of having a blog, sharing with the world, big plans.
1 post 4 months later, discussing the time off, busy lifestyle and pledging renewed commitment to the online adventures.
consider this to be one of those.
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I'm working to finish a new photocopy-based animation for the next backyardbandwith
If you don't know bybw, it's an outdoor film event that takes place in Jamaica Plain several times a summer. Usually silent films and live music and home made pies! It's well worth a visit. 21 Brookside Avenue in jp.
I'm reworking some of the earlier animations that I've posted here before, but this time it's in color. stills below:
7 or 8 posts in a brief period of time, very excited about the idea of having a blog, sharing with the world, big plans.
1 post 4 months later, discussing the time off, busy lifestyle and pledging renewed commitment to the online adventures.
consider this to be one of those.
--------
I'm working to finish a new photocopy-based animation for the next backyardbandwith
If you don't know bybw, it's an outdoor film event that takes place in Jamaica Plain several times a summer. Usually silent films and live music and home made pies! It's well worth a visit. 21 Brookside Avenue in jp.
I'm reworking some of the earlier animations that I've posted here before, but this time it's in color. stills below:
Friday, July 30, 2010
at home map making
Second phase of the Personal Form of the City, how to continue a project without institutional support.
I'm looking for people willing to take part in some map-making experiments. It can be fun and can be easy, here are the instructions:
map 1
draw a map of a neighborhood that you have lived in for a significant amount of time (usually your current one).
think about the paths you travel through the neighborhood and why you use those routes.
think about how you leave and enter the neighborhood and what makes the perimeter.
imagine all the interior spaces that you've been in in this neighborhood and other buildings that you've wondered about.
think about destinations, places you've spent the most time and why you spent that time (waiting for a bus, at a park, shopping, etc.)
feel free to add information if it's important.
map 2
Think of it like a map of your linear path through space, but drawn according to a time-based scale
One useful idea for doing it might be like this:
1. mark the beginning and end of your commute
2. think about how long it takes to get there and find the half-way point.
3. fill in the details. Include everything that you find significant/use to navigate or time yourself along the way and all time markers that occur to you (when you know you're almost there or running late or areas that are always slow or fast to move through or whatever.
email me for details on how to send it to me, you can either mail it (best way) or email it (no problem).
I'm looking for people willing to take part in some map-making experiments. It can be fun and can be easy, here are the instructions:
map 1
draw a map of a neighborhood that you have lived in for a significant amount of time (usually your current one).
think about the paths you travel through the neighborhood and why you use those routes.
think about how you leave and enter the neighborhood and what makes the perimeter.
imagine all the interior spaces that you've been in in this neighborhood and other buildings that you've wondered about.
think about destinations, places you've spent the most time and why you spent that time (waiting for a bus, at a park, shopping, etc.)
feel free to add information if it's important.
map 2
Think of it like a map of your linear path through space, but drawn according to a time-based scale
One useful idea for doing it might be like this:
1. mark the beginning and end of your commute
2. think about how long it takes to get there and find the half-way point.
3. fill in the details. Include everything that you find significant/use to navigate or time yourself along the way and all time markers that occur to you (when you know you're almost there or running late or areas that are always slow or fast to move through or whatever.
email me for details on how to send it to me, you can either mail it (best way) or email it (no problem).
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