In the photo-negative world of indie rock morality, Christmas might be the most obscene concept possible, combining as it does the taboos of family, Christianity, commerce, and happiness. Sufjan Stevens, then, is something like the bizarro G.G. Allin, unabashedly reveling in the glory of Christmas with such warmth it pretty much obliterates the word "irony" from the English language. And now, the boxset Songs for Christmas, collecting five EPs of seasonal music recorded over the last five years, represents the songwriter's ultimate obscenity to date, even down to titling each disc with scenester swears: Noel, Hark!, Ding! Dong!, Joy, and Peace.
Pitchfork, Nov. 21, 2006
Las instrucciones son:Obeeixo, però com m'enganxa a la feina, el que tinc a mà no és cap novela. Començo per una obra mestra del kitsch informàtic:
1. Coge el libro más cercano.
2. Ábrelo en la página 123.
3. Encuentra la quinta frase.
4. Escribe la oración junto con estas instrucciones.
5. No busques el libro más guay que puedas encontrar. Hazlo con el que esté a tu lado.
'Lenguaje Fortran IV', Dr. Rodolfo Luthe García, Ed. Limusa, México DF 1976És un llibre encantador, amb portada 'op art', que parla de 'arreglos' y 'proposiciones'. El tinc com a record, és el primer llibre de programació que em vaig comprar, ja fa (censored) anys. Quina ilu! Desgraciadament, nomès te 42 pàgines...
'Peopleware' Tom DeMarco/Tim Lister, Ed. Dorset House, NY 1987, 1999Que recomano a tota persona relacionada amb el bonic món del software. Aquest té més pàgines, i hi posa, al lloc convingut
What is missing is a phenomenon we call jell.Que curiosament, és el què del llibre...
The story of Iceland´s first computer and its music and how it reflected the emotional attachment of the engineers and programmers to this computer was tremendously interesting to me. The IBM computer was humanized by giving it a very human quality, the ability to "sing". The anthropomorphism was complete when the machine reached obsolescence. Instead of simply discarding it, the engineers gave it a funeral of sorts. They held a ceremony to commemorate its "life", work and songs. Burying the dead is one of the things that distinguish humans from animals. Funeral rites are only granted to something which was once alive. I got a strong impression that the engineers came to regard this computer as a living being (if only unconsciously) because they gave it certain very human qualities. [...]
[...]Hammond B3 organ, piano, celeste and bells were played by Jóhann Jóhannsson. Voices were provided by Erna Ómarsdóttir, Jóhann Jóhannsson, and an unknown instructor from an IBM 1401 Data Processing System maintenance instruction tape found in my father´s attic.
All electronic sounds were derived from the IBM 1401 Data Processing System and the Hammond B3 organ with Ring Modulator, Distortion and Filter pedals. The music and sounds of the IBM 1401 Data Processing System were recorded by Jóhann Gunnarsson, Örn Kaldalóns and Elías Davíðsson in Reykjavik in 1971. The musical fragment played by the computer is from the hymn “Ísland Ögrum Skorið” by Sigvaldi Kaldalóns, used by kind permission. The text in 5 is from a poem by Dorothy Parker.
All musicians in the past, starting with the middle ages were interested in popular music. (...) Béla Bartók's music is made entirely of sources from Hungarian folk music. And Igor Stravinsky, although he lied about it, used all kinds of Russian sources for his early ballets. Kurt Weill's great masterpiece Dreigroschenoper is using the cabaret-style of the Weimar Republic and that's why it is such a masterpiece. Arnold Schoenberg and his followers (...) create(d) an artificial wall, which never existed before him. In my generation we tore the wall down and now we are back to the normal situation, for example if Brian Eno or David Bowie come to me, and if popular musicians remix my music like The Orb or DJ Spooky it is a good thing. This is a natural normal regular historical way.
From an Interview with Jakob Buhre
