The MP3s are provided for “auditioning purposes – composer contact information is provided so that you may get in touch with the composer directly to arrange performances of his/her work.”

From The Experimental Music Studio at the University of Illinois, 1958-68, by Emanuele Battisti:

Many of those who experienced the environment of the School of Music at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign [UIUC] during the period between 1946 and 1970, remember it as .an era of grandeur..1 The quality both of the faculty and of the academic programs increased tremendously in those years, and contemporary music played an important role in this phase of growth. In particular, the Festival of Contemporary Arts . whose first edition took place in 1948 . immediately succeeded as an internationally renowned event. Although in 1955 the Festival became biennial, it maintained its prestige all throughout the 1960s, reaching one of its climaxes in 1969, in correspondence with the performance of John Cage.s and Lejaren Hiller.s HPSCHD, a composition for seven harpsichords and fifty-one tapes, enriched by a spectacular scenography.2

Moreover, Cage was having a great influence on the Urbana-Champaign music scene since the early 1950s: in particular, a lecture-concert he gave in 1953 on Music for Magnetic Tape was probably the first experience people of this university had to get acquainted with this new creative field, and supposedly was the occasion that instilled in Hiller the interest for electro-acoustic music. 3

Hiller, just appointed research associate and assistant professor of chemistry,4 began working with the ILLIAC . the first supercomputer built at UIUC . in order to experiment new compositional approaches. The result of this work was the ILLIAC Suite for string quartet, a composition in four movements . or .experiments. . completed in 1957 with the help of Leonard Isaacson.5 The first attempt ever made to write a score by means of a computer, the ILLIAC Suite at first received a warm response, putting Hiller in the spotlight. This sudden success, followed by many negative reviews, convinced Hiller that he needed to become a professional musician in order to be accepted by the academic music environment.6

Hiller represents emblematically the difficult search for a balance between the two fields of science and music, which Western History has often had the tendency to merge one into the other. In this case, the process found a main obstacle in the narrow-mindedness of certain composers, who felt they risked losing their caste privileges in favor of machines. As far as this is concerned, it can be noticed that

«Hiller.s music stands out as particularly characteristic of the University of Illinois. The university.s well known Department of Electrical Engineering, home of two time Nobel Prize winner John Bardeen, the inventor of the transistor, provided national leadership in the development of computer technology. Hiller established a long-term association between the music and engineering departments».7

Moreover, there is a scene in Kubrick.s film 2001: A Space Odissey (1968), in which the computer HAL 9000, progressively deactivated by astronaut Bowman, asserts to have become «operational at the HAL plant in Urbana, Illinois»: 8 a further confirmation of the leading position Urbana-Champaign has been holding in the computer science field since the 1950s. As a consequence, the association between music and computer, in this specific context, was somehow unavoidable. Hiller happened to be the one who actually realized it.

Little Boots caught the synth world’s attention in the last year with her combination of looks, talent and gear. 

Here’s the Baron von Luxxury remix of Little Boot’s Meddle. Get it why you still can!

Image: Guy Martin, via Fader

Description:

Sampladelic experience and ethnic eclectic jazz are the basic lines of Taiga: we can hear a lot of samples from Soviet movie pictures and cassette tapes, mixed with authentic folklore recordings and modern electronics. While mixing, the source dissolves in some kind of deep sound clew, so even musician cannot understand where does it come from… He calls this Hypno.

You can preview Taiga’s Bitter Tragic Joke below.

The major music labels are so concerned about Apple’s dominance in the world of digital music that they are betting their future on Napster.

The major labels have teamed up with Napster to offer what they are calling “the world’s largest and most comprehensive MP3 store.”

Yep – the labels are so intent on breaking Apple’s dominance in the world of digital music that they are giving Napster – the brand that RIAA head Hilary Rosen once called “both morally and legally wrong” – the opportunity to distribute more music as MP3 than Apple.

Per Napster’s announcement:

Napster’s download store is more than 50% larger than any other MP3 store and boasts not only the largest major label MP3 catalog in the industry, but also the largest library of independent music available anywhere. All Napster download sales in the U.S. will now be in the user-friendly, DRM-free MP3 format, which is compatible with virtually any MP3 player or music phone, including the iPod and the iPhone. Napster is the first music subscription service featuring major label content to offer 100% of its catalog in the MP3 format for download sales.

Pricing for download sales is 99 cents for single MP3 tracks and $9.95 for most MP3 albums.

DRM-free MP3s are great.

The music industry betting its future on Napster, though? Sorta pathetic.

The download includes

• DRM-free MP3s, encoded with LAME at 320kbps
• A 40-page pdf book about the release
• A digital extras pack with wallpapers, icons, etc

The entire collection can be downloaded for $5, or you can order a $10 2 CD set and other deluxe and limited edition versions.

Here’s what NIN’s Trent Reznor has to say about the release:

This music arrived unexpectedly as the result of an experiment. The rules were as follows: 10 weeks, no clear agenda, no overthinking, everything driven by impulse. Whatever happens during that time gets released as… something.

The team: Atticus Ross, Alan Moulder and myself with some help from Alessandro Cortini, Adrian Belew and Brian Viglione. Rob Sheridan collaborated with Artist in Residence (A+R) to create the accompanying visual and physical aesthetic.

We began improvising and let the music decide the direction. Eyes were closed, hands played instruments and it began. Within a matter of days it became clear we were on to something, and a lot of material began appearing. What we thought could be a five song EP became much more. I invited some friends over to join in and we all enjoyed the process of collaborating on this.

The end result is a wildly varied body of music that we’re able to present to the world in ways the confines of a major record label would never have allowed – from a 100% DRM-free, high-quality download, to the most luxurious physical package we’ve ever created.

More volumes of Ghosts are likely to appear in the future.

- Trent Reznor, March 2, 2008

Reznor previously produced the debut CD by Saul Williams, The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust, which was also made available as a free download.

Microscopics is the label of Mat Jarvis, aka “Gas”, who had a cult electronic music hit with his CD Gas 0095, on the EM:T label.

Here’s info from the label on Gas 0095:

This first release on the new Microscopics label has been painstakingly remastered at 32bit/96khz with a luxurious 32db dynamic range, which in these days of hyper-compressed music is pure oxygen.

The album prompted one reviewer to predict ‘ It will be at the forefront of labels offering slot-in brain cards as accessories to the listening experience’, and another to exclaim ‘…will surely go down in history for being as important as the albums of Eno were in the 70s’.

Gas generates shapeshifting melodic soundtracks suggesting a near future of soft technology and extremes of miniaturisation: an imaginary, detailed world of molecular machines, where cybersurgeons crawl inside arteries to effect repairs. Here the flipside of miniaturization is revealed: technology you inhale, the ultimate interface [and the high of the future?]. Breathe deep.

This fan video gives a taste of what to expect with the music on Gas 0095:

The first single from the album, the 10 minute Gas – Microscopic, is available as a free MP3 (below).

The release is available as an instant download. The “ultra hi-fi” version includes the music and a booklet, plus postcard, bookmark and the ultra rare ‘Time Recording Guide to Particle Physics’.

A Synthtopia reader sent us word about some cool free electronica MP3s.

Mirrorman, the new solo project by Lights of Euphoria frontman J. Machon, has released a free 7-track EP, Follow Your Leader.

“If you’re into bands like Depeche Mode, or musicstyles like FuturePop, EBM, Gothic, Industrial and SynthPop, then you will love this music,” according to Mirrorman.

The download also comes with ringtones and wallpaper.

You can preview the EP below with the track Fetish, and you can download the full EP at the Mirrorman MySpace page.

Amazon’s DRM-free MP3s will let customers play their music on PCs, Macs, iPods, Zunes, Zens and burn songs to CDs for personal use.

“Our MP3-only strategy means all the music that customers buy on Amazon is always DRM-free and plays on any device,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com founder and CEO. “We’re excited to have EMI joining us in this effort and look forward to offering our customers MP3s from amazing artists like Coldplay, Norah Jones and Joss Stone.”

via Podcasting News

It’s the first EMI album to be offered for legal download in mp3 format, free of copy protection.

For the first time, downloads by EMI artists purchased from any online music store will be playable on any digital music player, including iPods, with no technical restrictions on their use.

Green Fields, the latest single, and the full album, priced £7.99, are now available to download direct from the www.thegoodthebadandthequeen.com.

via Guardian Unlimited Business

“Music fans can now round out their music collections by upgrading their singles into complete albums with just one click, and get full credit for those songs they have previously purchased from iTunes,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of iTunes. “Complete My Album is a wonderful new way that iTunes helps customers grow and enjoy their music collections.”

“iTunes continues to revolutionize the digital music industry by offering music fans innovative ways to explore and enjoy new music,” said Thomas Hesse, president, Global Digital Business and US Sales, Sony BMG Music Entertainment. “With Complete My Album, iTunes is giving music fans the best of both worlds—the ability to discover great new music by buying just the single and a credit toward the purchase of the complete album.”

Complete My Album offers customers up to 180 days after first purchasing individual songs from any qualifying album to purchase the rest of that album at a reduced price. When users buy any song on iTunes the corresponding album will immediately appear on their personalized Complete My Album page with the reduced price listed. For example, a user who’s already purchased three 99 cent singles and decides to buy the corresponding $9.99 album would be able to download the remaining songs to complete the album for just $7.02, without having to buy the singles again.

March 17

If you haven’t discovered it yet, check out DJ Steveboy’s Podrunner podcast.

DJ Steveboy is an LA DJ that creates two podcasts, Podrunner, which features pounding non-stop electronica mixes designed to get you exercising, and Groovelectric, which features dance music mixes.

You can find out more about DJ Steveboy at his site, where he has info on his latest mixes. And you can preview Podrunner with his recent Groundpounder mix, below, which has two hours of driving 180 BPM tunes.

You can also subscribe to his podcast by adding this URL to iTunes or other podcast software:
http://www.djsteveboy.com/audio/podrunner.xml

In advance of releasing his Luz Interpretations album on January 23rd, 2007, Luz Mob is making available two digital singles to download here for free.

The Selecter is an up-tempo ska boiler covering a rare single from the English ska revival band of the same name, while stretching out in another direction, Ella Se Fue is Luz’s creative reimagining of a classic Dominican love ballad, featuring mournful muted trumpet work from Kevin Louis. Download them here.

Luz Interpretations is due out on Crystal Top Music January 23rd, 2007.

MP3tunes

All music sold at MP3tunes will work on any computer and with any portable player including popular models like the Apple iPod, Dell DJ and Creative Nomad. At www.mp3tunes.com, consumers never run the risk of losing their music – songs that have been purchased are permanently stored in a “music locker” and accessible from any Web browser. Even if a computer crashes or a user switches machines, the music is saved and can be accessed without repurchasing.

“Digital music sales make up less than two percent of the total music business because many consumers know they aren’t really buying the music – they’re renting it from a big corporation that controls what software, computer and portable devices they can use,” Robertson said. “A consumer-friendly digital music store that provides true music ownership to paying customers can triple the digital music business almost overnight. MP3tunes gives the consumers more value because they can use the music on all their computers and MP3 players – whatever brand they may have. And it’s permanently stored in their music locker, so they never lose the music they paid for.”

MP3tunes only offers songs for purchase and download that are legally licensed for distribution from the copyright holders. More than 22,000 artists are participating in the launch of MP3tunes, and 300,000 songs representing nearly 30,000 complete CDs are now available for immediate purchase in high-quality 192k MP3 format at www.mp3tunes.com. No special software is required to sample the music and make purchases and virtually any Web browser will work.

MP3tunes differs from other online music services such as Apple’s iTunes and Microsoft’s MSN Music Store because it does not use digital restrictions management (DRM) technology, which restricts how a buyer can use the music. DRM restrictions limit what software or computer can be used to listen to the music and also limit what types of portable players will work. Songs in the open MP3 format, like those found at www.mp3tunes.com, are the most flexible for consumers because the songs work with a wide array of software players such as iTunes and Windows Media Player and are also compatible with virtually all digital players or computers, including the iPod series.

Features:

• 88¢ per song and $8.88 per CD
• Free Music Locker with permanent storage for all purchased songs
• Songs will play on all portable MP3 players
• Songs will play from any computer (Mac, Windows, Linux)
• Unlimited CD burning and downloads for personal use
• High-quality sound – 192k MP3s (most sites offer 128 KB)
• Chart-driven Web site
• You own the music

“All new trends in music start with emerging artists and progressive-thinking labels who are most willing to try new approaches, which is where MP3tunes is focusing initially,” Robertson said. “MP3.com started with complete songs in MP3 format from promising young artists like Linkin Park and Maroon 5. Then it expanded to include new artists from major labels, and eventually it grew to be a key promotional vehicle for all the major record labels. I’m confident MP3tunes will follow the same path – if music buyers come to MP3tunes, then ultimately forward-thinking labels will too.”

Bittorrent is a P2P application designed to solve the problem of distributing large files over limited bandwidth. It communicates with other Bittorrent clients and works with them to allow you to download large files, even if the network is unreliable.

The application was developed by Bram Cohen, who calls himself a “Practitioner of evolutionary design”. He’s developed the BitTorrent application, a free program that runs on OS X, Windows, and Linux/Unix.

Downloading and Installing Bittorrent

The application can be downloaded from his site.

1. Save the installer to your disk, when prompted. Open the installer, and it automatically run itself. You’ll know it done when you get an alert that says “BitTorrent has been successfully installed!”.
2. Once you’ve got it loaded, just go to a site that has a torrent link and click it. This will open a save dialog box:

   

3. Click OK, and save the file:

   

4. Once you save the file, Bittorrent will open and connect to peers in order to download the file.

   

5. Once your download is complete, you may need to uncompress the file prior to using it.

If you have problems working with BitTorrent, a detailed FAQ is maintained by MXDomain.

Weed Media Activator is a free Windows application that lets you download and listen to music, and even get paid. The software lets you use “Weed” files on your computer. The files can be played three times for free, so you can decide if you like them. After that, you have the option to pay to unlock the song. Once unlocked, the song can be burned to CD or transferred to a portable music device.

Weed is a product of Shared Media Licensing, Inc. (SML). What’s wild about SML’s approach is that if you buy a song, you can share the file with anybody you like. If they like the file and buy it, you get a cut. And if the person who gets the song off of you sells it, you get a cut of that, too. Instead of treating file sharers like crooks, SML is treating them like multi-level marketers.

It makes sense, in a way. Active file sharers are footing the bill for distributing music. This approach certainly costs less than it would for SML to get massive internet bandwidth, and it should scale better, too.

Sign up and you get a free $5.00 credit. This lets you try out as many songs as you like, and then open some up without it costing you anything.

If you end up sharing songs, you’ll get a cut anytime somebody buys one. 20% of the sale gets credited to you. The original artist always gets half of the sale.

Because file sharers get a cut when somebody buys a song, users are discouraged from ripping the files into alternative formats. Share the file in Weed format, and you get a cut each time it sells. Rip to MP3 and distribute it, and you get nothing.

SML President John Beezer says that “Weed puts more control in the hands of artists and fans. If you discover a band you’re passionate about, you can buy their songs and send them to your friends. The artist gets paid, you get paid, and the people who got the music to you get paid. Everyone’s happy.”

Prices for songs are set by individual artists, but are comparable to other offerings. Weed files, though, can be downloaded and previewed in their entirety, at full file sizes, before you pay a cent.

To try out Weed files, you need to use the Weed Media Activator. This is available at the Weedshare site, and at the sites of companies using the Weed system. Unfortunately, the software is built around Windows Media Format and is currently only available for PC’s.

Weedshare provides a guide to sites providing files in the Weed format. If you want to distribute music using Weed, check out the instructions on how to “weedify” a file.

Besonic currently has about 80,000 songs, which is a fraction of what MP3.com had. Nevertheless, it is currently one of the best of the free music download sites. It has music categorized by genre, so you can listen to a radio station of new music in a given genre. When you listen to the songs, you can give them the thumbs up, rate them neutral, or give them the thumbs down. The ratings let you browse the music by popularity, which makes it easier to find good new music.

When you browse to artists, you have the option to stream the song at high or low bit rates, or to download the song.

For musicians, Besonic has a lot to offer. You can upload your songs so that they can be streamed or downloaded, and create a mini web site. They encourage you to use their premium service, which allows you to host as many songs as you like, the ability to customize your homepage, and to stream at high bit rates.

The site currently is adding more than 40,000 songs each month, and over 5,000 bands. For music fans, the biggest draw is probably the tons of free mp3 downloads.

The site has streaming radio stations for many electronic music categories, but doesn’t let you make your own station. Also, it doesn’t currently have a collaborative feedback system, unlike Launch.

For musicians, Soundclick offers a free artist page, a gig calendar, and most importantly, unlimited song uploads. This is one of the best free sites for independent musicians to promote themselves. You get message boards, mailing lists, lyric pages, individual song pages, and you can sell your CDs through them.