WP Audio Gallery Playlist Hack: Block Plugin from automatically inserting XPSF player

The WP Audio Gallery Playlist is pretty nifty, it will automatically generate and link the files needed to generate use the XSPF (read Spiff) player, an open source playlist audio player rendered in flash.

It does exactly what it should, but I was running into a problem, I didn't want the plugin to automatically insert the player if there was audio present, just when I wanted it to. So here is how I did it:

In the wp-audio-gallery-playlist.php file find

if (is_array($lc_matches[0])) //&& !$this->mobile)

and remove everything inside the curly brackets. Problem solved.

it still moves

I picked up this book when I was in New York City, and I started reading it when I'll stand at Matt's house in Brooklyn, and it just happens that the author Amanda Petrusich, starts out the book in Brooklyn which I thought was kind of awesome.

The book is mostly a overview of the different types of American music, and how they came about. It starts out with an explanation of Goodbye Babylon a 4 cd Box set from Dust to Digital, something I have been eying for awhile. Then she jumps in her car and travels the US well parts of it, and finds her self at Elvis' Birtplace, the sun records studio, Nashville, a shack in the Mississippi Delta, the past store of one A.P. Carter, and a bunch of other really cool places like the headquarters for Folkway Records and the Woodie Guthrie Publication building.

Mixed in you get bits of information about all of the music to spring from these and other places. The book is really well written and great fact finding non-fiction. I really enjoyed reading, partly because a lot of the things that she did in the book, that being the road journey through the United States searching out music, and the fact that it's about music that I like helps.

At the end of the book she investigates new weird America, a genre of music that is doing its best to not be a genre that the same time is a genre so speak. Some of the artist's that are involved with this are Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom, CocoRosie as well as others, I am rather familiar with this genre an all though she does an ok job describing it, the cameos I think fall short for example she interview the Fruit Bats which I have never considered a part of this genre is featured while other acts such as the ones mentioned above have none.

All things considered it's worth picking up if you like or think you will like such a thing.

Below I have complied a small compendium of the music that she talks about In chronological order, Not everything is here, that list would be huge but I thought it would be fun to share with you what the book "sounds" like. 73 songs in total!!! (If you sign up with Imeem and click the bottom link you can get access to all of the songs not just the 30 second versions (which kind of sucks but hey it's free right?))

A compendium to It Still Moves By Amanda Petrusich

Good Science books work reading according to some...

gutted from a reddit post

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson.
A Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan
The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins.javascript:void(0)
"The Selfish Gene" by Richard Dawkins
"A Brief History of Time."
"Universe in a Nutshell"
Carl Sagan - Cosmos
The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science - Natalie Angier
The Social History of the Machine Gun
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
Introduction to cybernetics by W. Ross Ashby
Anything by Stephen Jay Gould
"Fabric of the Cosmos" by Brian Greene
"Physics for Future Presidents"
"Guesstimation: Solving the World's Problems on the Back of a Cocktail Napkin" Lawrence Weinstein & John A. Adam
"I am a Strange Loop" or any of Hofstadter's other works
Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to all Creation".
Jim Watson's DNA: The Secret of Life.

To edit your facebook RSS import settings do this:

I just spent about 20 minutes trying to find the way to change what rss feed I am importing in my facebook account and everybody that I found via google gives a click this click that response which is not very helpful if you there is nothing to click that corresponds to what they are saying.

so here is my solution: (copy and past the following)

http://www.facebook.com/notes.php?imported#/editnotes.php?import

That should work.

The Uke

Here is a nice little documentary of the Uke here today, that includes a snippet of a Carter Family song "Keep On the Sunny Side" and another short snippet of Tiny Tim Tiptoeing through the Tulips, which by the way are in full blossom right now in Minnesota.

US Population

A pretty interesting picture of where people live in the usa, there is a distinct line extending from the horn of texas to the North Dakota/Minnesota Border which is pretty odd. Then on the west coast lost of people but in a little amount of space.

I thought this would be a really cool interactive map, if you could zoom in and look at things like a google map or similar.

Podcast Worth Listening to:

This American Life:
I really enjoy the perspectives and topics covered here, most times the topics are very simple but through out the show interesting things start to evolve.

Vinyl Cafe:
One of my favorite show's from Canada but with a tendency to also do some live shows in the good old US. This is one of the only live programs that I have seen in person and it was a great time, well worth it if you get the chance.

Over the Edge:
Negativland the band's almost weekly radio show where they plow through loads of material in spectacular fashion. I really enjoy the collage nature of the show and the fact the after the 3 hours there seems to be some order to it all.

MPR: Minnesota Public Radio, I am biased as I have grown up listening to it, and I was lucky enough to get it while I was living in both Fargo, North Dakota, and Forest City, Iowa. MPR has one of the largest audiences of any regional public radio network according to Wikipedia.

The World Cafe: I usually just browse the archives and listen to interviews of artist that I think are interesting, and the World Cafe get's their fair share of interesting artists in.

Prairie Home Companion: A great radio show done in the style of old time radio, each show is done live, well most of them are. The show has a rough theme of living on the edge of the prairie, it is one of the most prized pieces of radio going on in currently in the USA.

Framework A: Field: Field Recording radio, done by some guys in the UK. The show opens up with listeners around the world doing introducitons in different sonic enviroments.

Radio Lab: each hour-long show focuses on a topic of a scientific and philosophical nature, through stories, interviews, and thought experiments.

Other Minds: devoted to presenting, preserving, and helping build a community around a varied, open-ended approach to new music, lots of cool interviews with various luminaries of the music world.

Other things I like to listen to:
Resonance FM Uk Avant Garde Radio Station
Trevor Hirst's radio show
Welcome to Mars: A Terminal Podcast about the USA and interesting wierd stuff that happened around the 1950's, by Ken Hollings

Matt's Syntactic Ambiguity Case #1

"I can't be late for work." As spoken by Matthew Sharpe, is an example of Syntactic ambiguity. In this particular case the ambiguity arises from the sentence being interpreted as either

A. There is no set time for my arrival.
or
B. There will be consequences if I show up late.

For more on Syntactic Ambiguity consult the following Wikipedia article.

Out in that Deep Blue Sea

Here is some video of Greenland I shot today from 37000ft on my way back to New York from Stockholm. It might seem better to imagine you spent 5 days there with me as well, and that we had a great time.

Wristcutters

I just watched WristCutters: A Love Story, it's great and really laugh out loud funny.

From Wikipedia:
After Zia commits suicide by cutting his wrists, he finds himself in an afterlife limbo that is much the same as his former reality, just slightly worse. Here the color is dim, there are no flowers, and no one can smile. This strange realm is populated by people who have committed suicide, such as Eugene , a Russian rocker who lives with his mother, father, and brother (all suicide victims).

Sound grim, but I promise it's funny and worth your time, and Mr. Tom Waits is in there too, which gave me a little to laugh about as well.

Trailer:

Credit Crisis Explinations

This American Life - The Giant Pool of Money or here if you want to download it for free!

This American Life - 365: Another Frightening Show About the Economy

This is awesome

I have been asked by a few people what citizen analog is about, they have been confused thinking that it is primarily a music based blog and that is not the case I think it's rather a "I think this is cool" blog and a lot of the stuff that fit into the cool category for me has to do with audio. Speaking to that point I just found this great text based audio player from HappyWorm.

Now I only need to learn javascript to be able to implement it on my site.

BTW I released an album today Seven Sedimenting Backgrounds on Canada Goose Records, check it out if you have the time.

I also really like the audio playing on it, which is Miaow - The Seperation

Thanks Youtube, I needed that

The World’s Most Dangerous Polka Band

The World’s Most Dangerous Polka Band might be called that due to its most ancient member — Al Ophus, aka “the drummer man.” At 88 years old, Al climbs up on stage with band members Joe Hayden (trumpet) and Ruth Adams (accordion) at one of the most popular lounge and supper clubs in the heart of Minneapolis — Nye’s Polonaise. Though he misses the beat frequently and often times changes song mid-tune, he gets away with it by the sheer fact that he’s there! Like most guys in bands, he loves the ladies and claims he kisses fifteen girls a night. Guys love him because it gives them hope for their own future! For job security, Al assumes the role of stocking the bar’s six bathrooms with rolls of toilet paper — his “job in the cans.” Rounding out the trio are Joe, a middle aged computer programmer who pursued playing trumpet in his 50s, despite being told he was too old and his lips were too big, and Ruth — the boss of the band because she’s been on the stage the longest (30 years... as long as Aerosmith). These fearless musicians and human beings take risks most people never have the balls to live out at any age. Ancient Al even tries to bribe his Film Director to a date and marriage. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry. You may even re-ignite your own dreams. Act your age? Never!

Omar Souleyman

will be still singing

Mat: yeah i guess
i heard you were saying i was a really great friend and whatnot

me: wtf man.... I would never say any thing like that, why who would have told you such a thing, I ought to ring their neck and kick their dog, I can't believe it, boy what's wrong with people, I suppose it's not enough overall's or maybe it's like when you don't get to eat you oatmeal for breakfast and you just think about it all day long and think that it's going to be great tomorrow, but when you eat it, it's like you had never skipped a day in the first place, you know because you eat breakfast in the morning and all.

Mat: that there was a handful, it was a bit like a mcgriddle from McDonalds, three days worth of calories in ten bites! talk about a heart attack waiting to happen, but hey you don't live forever right. but at least they will be still singing your songs while you're six feet under. am i right, or what.

me: yea, I think you might be right but that reminds me have you ever seen an English man went up a hill and down a mountain, that was a good film, I am talking about make your skillet dry from licking good, I am talking better than Ezra good, I am talk when the east meet the west good, wait that cant happen,aaaaah well what was I talking about oh yea skillets!

Mat: ...great flick. it's all about subcultures that this guy gets tangled up in and hes looking for this girl that he met at the beginning. great flick. good social commentary. its kinda like a mcgriddle breakfast sandwich from McDonald's: everything delicious mashed into a bite size meal that will give you a heart attack 7 minutes after you eat it, but your going to eat it anyways because its exactly what you want.

Beautiful/Strange Music Project

Follow this link...to FUN!

This one is for you Josh

For anybody who knows him, this fits his character better than the featured actor, Josh I think it's time for a career change.



Mat just mentioned this also bears a resemblance to Josh's character:









And below the man in the flesh circa 2006



Bit En Bit

Kim Chi

Ahh, Kim Chi!! I was first introduced to this wonderful Korean dish in High School, and I have remained a fan ever since, here is a collection of other people who also have an affinity towards the rotten cabbage.

To explain Kim Chi is :

Kimchi is traditionally made by bundling the components (heads of cabbage, other vegetables and chili powder) in a jar and burying it in the ground to keep a steady temperature for fermentation. In a traditional village you can see hay structures made to keep the ground dry.

The chili powder that is so prevalent in kimchi (and shows up in many more Korean dishes) was actually introduced to Korean culture after the time of Columbus. Traders first brought chili peppers over from Mexico

Kimchi contains vitamin A and C, and minerals calcium, phosphorus and iron. Kimchi has very few calories and lots of dietary fibers, making it good for diets while facilitating metabolism. Kimchi has abundant antioxidants, anti-carcinogens and is very good for your body. Particularly your digestive system. I thought that eating so much spicy Korean food would have a disastrous effect on flatulence. Quite the opposite.

Kimchi has a very strong smell. Many officetels, (including our first one) come equipped with a kimchi refrigerator so that the rest of your food does not smell like kimchi.

When taking photographs, South Koreans often use the word "kimchi" the same way English speakers would say the word "cheese".

From NoPeanutbutter.com

But it is much more too, including the wonderful song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLbQDWqJdf8

No Embedding, this is the first I have seen of that with respect to a youtube video. Anyways it's awesome.

This band also tips their hat at the dish

http://www.kimchirocks.com/listen.html

Stepping further in to the world of Kimchi you can find wonderfully tasty recipies of Kimchi and Spam. One of the many things I learned while at the Spam museum in Austin, MN was that both Hawaiians and Koreans love spam, so here is one of my Kimchi/spam recipies:
http://lunchinabox.net/2006/07/13/kimchi-spam-fried-rice/

And Government officials seek a scientific scale to rate the spiciness of the national fermented pickle. Or is it a salad?

and finally this guy:

Jeffrey Lewis on Punk Music

I have always enjoyed Jeffrey Lewis' music, and this is no exception. Enjoy.

Going Open Back

I learned that I could turn my closed back banjo into an open back banjo, and I did. This is something I had wanted, and so far I like the sound of the open back better. When I unscrewed resonator I was happy to find not one but two little mysteries.

Lou Elliott was here.

A Christmas set list:
Joy to The World
Deck the Halls
Adeste Fideles
Oh Little Town of Beht[lehem]
The First Nowell [Noel]
God Rest Ye Merry, Gentleman
Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Silent Night

So it looks like I have my first Christmas concert setlist already figured out, anybody have any idea who Lou Elliott is?

Lännen-Jukka

Lännen-Jukka a Finnish folk music band, and they are one of those bands that I hear every 6 months or so an go "Oh yea! this is good". It's all a part of the perpetual search for great music. Turns out Lannen-Jukka has been to Minnesota and well they were not met with open arms, back in 2007

From the Twin Cities Daily Planet:

Perhaps the most damning comment on the incident was delivered by [J. Karjalainen] who was strip-searched. On a couple of occasions prior to 1991, he was detained by the KGB and interrogated. Compared to the ICE agents here in the Twin Cities, the KGB operatives, he says, "at least acted like human beings. Not a bunch of animals."

"It was almost three hours of screaming, door-slamming and accusations, according to the report I received," said Marianne Wargelin, honorary Finnish consul for the Dakotas and most of Minnesota, which has the second largest Finnish-American population in the nation.

Erkki Maattanen, a filmmaker for Finnish Public Television who accompanied the musicians on the September trip, said his questioners seemed to think the entourage was smuggling drugs or intending to work without a permit. "I kept trying to tell them why we were here, but they'd just yell, 'Shut up!"' he said.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials at the airport declined to comment, referring questions to regional press officer Brett Sturgeon.

Sturgeon said such behavior, if it occurred, would run contrary to the agency's policy that travelers must be treated in a professional manner. The complaint has not yet arrived at the Chicago regional office, but when it does, it will be fully investigated, he said.

Looks like they were headed to either Minneapolis for the Nordic Roots Festival put on by the curator of the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis, who by the way own's North Side records as well as a minneapolis specific record label called East Side) or they could have been headed to Duluth for the Finnish music festival, don't know much about that but it seems cool. I guess they could also be just visiting...

I particularly like the following track:

Lannen-Jukka - Nancy ja Sally

More of their music here and perhaps below if that works.

Wikipedia Roundabout

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumulus_cloud
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey_tower
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capping_inversion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convective_instability
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convective_available_potential_energy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skew-T_log-P_diagram
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_sounding
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_climate_sounder
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasadena,_California
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minneapolis-Saint_Paul
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandinavia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialect_continuum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Ojibwa_language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontario
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolinian_forest
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_North_America
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_(since_1988)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_United_States_continental_expansion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Purchase
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa

Boston Terror sound version

Couldn't help it, sorry, but it does sound neat. Tone Matrix

From the author:

I visited the Frankfurter Musikmesse 2 weeks ago and played with the Yamaha TENORI-ON. I thought, it would be much nicer when the triggered notes would force a wavemap to oscillate. It took me just a few hours to implement. The sound generation is basically a polyphone synthesizer with a simple delay with a variing read-offset to make the tones vibrating in the end. I am already addicted for myself to the cute sequences it always generates.

Aquarius Records

established 1970!
San Francisco, California
the store that's old enough to know better

All though I have never been to Aquarius Records I can say that I have been to their website and I must say that they employ some of the most prolific reviewers ever. Each week Aquarius outputs a new set of "new releases" and each one comes with a paragraph or two about the release, this in my opinion is one of the most impressive things about them, I have done reviews and I know that it's hard work, lots of hard work, but they seem to be up for it and I think it's commendable.
From this weeks releases:

WOODEN SHJIPS Dos (Holy Mountain) lp
FINALLY AVAILABLE ON VINYL!!!
Wooden Shjips are the kind of band that inspire rabid devotion, and not without good reason. They are, in their own distinct way, a perfect band, stripping psychedelia of all its unnecessary flourishes and focusing, REALLY focusing on the fundamental elements that make your favorite songs your favorite songs. No verses, no choruses, no frills, and no bullshit. Just an endless, hypnotic groove that allows the listener to tune out everything else and let the music take them where they need to be. This simplicity is also the band's greatest source of power. While other groups will work desperately to cultivate an image as a "psychedelic" band, Wooden Shjips bypass all that and instead let their music speak for itself. The results are always mesmerizing, not to mention somewhat strange and mysterious, the only logical outcome from four guys who must know exactly what they are doing and understand the importance of working together as a unit instead of showing off their individual musical chops, save the abundance of perfectly timed, ripping fuzz guitar solos. The songs on the band's self-titled debut and their collection of early singles are at once classic and modern, seeming as if they had existed forever and simply needed to be unlocked and revealed by the right musicians. In that respect, we should consider ourselves very lucky that Wooden Shjips exist NOW.
When news of a new Shjips record hit the streets, we aQuarians were foaming at the mouth wondering what might lie ahead. Then one day, without warning, Dos was here, the four disembodied heads on the cover staring forward like totem poles floating in silver space. While the first album featured a hazy image of the band sitting on a stairwell, their faces are the focal point here, almost as if Wooden Shjips are gradually revealing more to the mystery that is their existence. But what does it sound like? Well, hopefully our review can convince you of this album's absolute majesty... but since words could never properly explain how much this has struck some of us, you should probably check out the sound samples, and above all, trust us.
The album opens perfectly with "Motorbike", possibly the most joyous Wooden Shjips song to date. Swirling guitar chords and oscillating swooshes give one the feeling of traveling at high speeds through some glorious psychedelic vortex, throttling you about in the best way imaginable. It's the sort of song that makes you feel great to be alive, with catchy keyboard melodies recalling a more frantic version of the Modern Lovers' "Roadrunner" as the UNSTOPPABLE rhythm section lays down a steady rhythmic framework that doesn't let up for the next 38 minutes. Next up is "For So Long", maybe our favorite song on the record. Driven by a bass line that is both spooky and relentlessly catchy, sparse, percussive guitar and organ creep about, as singer Ripley's deep croon wavers in the atmosphere. The somewhat ambivalent vibe of this song makes it the ideal soundtrack to pretty much any moment in your day, whether strolling down the street without a care in the world OR walking home late at night in some paranoid daze. "Down By The Sea" utilizes an appropriate underwater effect on the organ as the bass and drums give you the impression of, well, walking down by the sea. About three minutes in, a classic Wooden Shjips guitar solo enters and eventually morphs into squalls of heavenly white noise. This wonderful psych excursion is followed by the more down tempo "Aquarian Time", featuring a cool tremeloed organ (or maybe it's a piano?) and a devastating fuzz guitar groove that locks in with the bass before another rad guitar solo takes you way up into the clouds. The closing number, "Fallin'", kicks off with a simple two note groove, accented by a reedy organ accompanying the bass and a glistening, cleanly strummed guitar while a simple snare hit keeps the percussive flow going, the work of a man who must surely be in a trance - seriously, how the hell does this guy play so steady for so long?!?! It puts you deep under the band's spell, and then, at the 4 minute mark, you are introduced to the CATCHIEST BASS LINE OF THE YEAR!!! It will stick in your head for ages. After 11 minutes, the song ends with an organ chord and amp hum, reminding you that, yes, Wooden Shjips are human beings and not just a psychedelic rock machine. It's like the band is stopping to breathe for a moment before the next adventure, which hopefully will come very soon. You are left wondering what just happened, and if you're like us, you'll immediately put Dos on for another spin (or, if you're like a certain AQ staffer, 9 or 10 more spins!).
The overall sound on Dos is more upfront and less murky than on past releases. This slightly higher fidelity suits Wooden Shjips splendidly, as these five songs are generally tighter and more snappingly rhythmic than anything they have produced before. Each instrument is represented perfectly in the mix, with nothing taking precedence. The nonstop propulsion of this group is undoubtedly the result of four people operating on another level of psychedelic comprehension, a level many other bands simply don't understand. At the same time, their music is highly enjoyable and not difficult to "get". We certainly get it...
To call Dos "essential" wouldn't be enough. We can tell you that this album exceeded any expectations we may have had. We can tell you how if anyone interrupts you while listening to this, you will be pretty pissed and will most likely ignore them and crank up the volume even more. We can tell you that it will remain one of our favorite records for 2009. But you probably just need to close your eyes and experience it for yourself.

NO NECK BLUES BAND At 6am We Become The Police (Locust) lp
Vinyl only soundtrack to the forthcoming No Neck Blues Band dvd, featuring we can only guess judging from the album cover, naked dudes and weird bits of machinery. But really, nothing about these guys should surprise us anymore. They've been following their own idiosyncratic trajectory from day one, and unlike most bands, they seem to grow further and further out with every new record. At 6am is another gloriously clattery, abstract rhythmic workout, tribal, primitive, feral, but spiritual and otherworldly. It's of course all about the drums, percussion, thumps,and pounds, and rattles and crunch, and clang and bang, but woven into long dark undulating dreamscapes, ominous and haunting and mysterious, lots of dark magic going on, creaking moaning guitars, bits of squeak and creak, streaks of feedback, disembodied voices. In fact, on listening to this, were more inclined to think the picture on the sleeve isn't from the movie, but is just a regular old No Neck performance. That's exactly how this sounds, like naked writhing bodies lit by flickering firelight, masked drummers, a strange symphony of shadow and light.
Elsewhere, long form low drones are introduces, fragmented chords, muted muffled voices, all smoothed out and blurred into stretches of dark ambient free folk shimmer, but always with a distinctly dangerous vibe, heavier on the shadow than the light, squalls of free jazz like percussive clatter lead into moaning choruses, Henry Flynt like fiddle freakouts. One of the tracks begins like a No Neck / Avarus forest drum jam, but slowly evolves into something almost space rocky, lots of effects, warbly guitar melodies, delay, drifting bits of tinkle and chime, fragments of African drumming that drift in and then fade out again, and then finally, the last track is a strangely lo-fi soundscape of brittle tones and abstract percussion, long shimmery high end drones, and muted old timey sounding ambience, until the band lock into a gorgeous outro, that sounds a bit like a gamelan, but all distorted and jazzy and atonal. Awesome as always! Definitely harkening back to the NNCK sound of old, in fact this stuff IS old, from the archives, ferinstance two of these tracks were recorded (but not used) for the soundtrack to 1997's Gummo, and Lord knows they would have been perfect, dark and creepy and abstract and twisted and gorgeous.

oh... and I'm not suppose to re-print them but I think they will give me the benefit here because I am directly linking them, so yea check out Aquarius Records they are cool.