State of the FMA

Hi there. Katya here again with some updates about the FMA.

The good news is it seems that the Free Music Archive will continue; however, it seems unlikely that it will continue to operate as a non-profit.

The Free Music Archive has been sold by WFMU to the company KitSplit. The FMA proved to be too expensive for the ever struggling WFMU radio station to continue to operate. I have not seen a statement from WFMU regarding the sale of the FMA.

Rather than let the beloved project built over a decade by the volunteer efforts of 1000s of musicians, curators, radio DJs, and staffers fall into obscurity, a few worked diligently behind the scenes to find a new host.

KitSplit is a commercial entity with a good cause, providing those on small budgets with audio and video equipment rentals at discount rates. KitSplit gives opportunities to those whom might otherwise be kept from creating their work. It looks like the company is especially supportive of groups who are already underrepresented in audio and film.

KitSplit posted their first statement on the FMA this week, a month after the transaction. They report that they have spent that time trying to learn the workings of the system. It is their hope that ad revenue will help to keep the project afloat.

As this is now to be predominantly a resource for filmmakers to find Creative Commons licensed music, it is unclear whether works released with more restrictive licenses (such as the WFMU license and Creative Commons No Derivatives varieties) will be accepted or even retained.

The future of the Free Music Archive is still unclear, but it looks like it may live on thanks to the 11th hour rescue purchase by KitSplit, a company with good intentions.

Lilian Hak, Torchy and Bluesy

Lilian Hak recorded a beautiful session as a stripped down two-piece outfit with loops at WFMU that aired on This Is the Modern World with DJ Trouble. Lilian's music is not easily pegged. Think torchy k.d. lang, classic soul, early blues rock, and vocal jazz. Check her out and fall in love. This session is one of our favorites at the FMA.

Official Website | SoundCloud | YouTube | Facebook | myspace | last.fm | FMA | Store

Music License: Creative Commons BY-NC-ND Image: detail of cover of Old Powder, New Guns album
Artist Location: The Netherlands

FMA Revitalize Music Contest

News from the FMA:

WFMU and the Free Music Archive are challenging artists everywhere to create new recordings and contemporary arrangements of historic compositions available in the public domain. We’re calling this our Revitalize Music Contest (April 12th to 28th).

To inspire entries, we’ve handpicked a selection of out-of-copyright songs with compelling lyrics, beautiful melodies, and unusual stories.

Submit your recording by April 28th. Links to details, prizes, official rules, how-to, and all that good stuff on the official contest page. Best of luck!

This contest is supported in part by an award from the US National Endowment for the Arts.

Years of Cool and Strange

Here's an oldie, but a (so bad it's) goodie. It's a compilation of unusual recordings compiled by two great guys, the founder of and a writer for Cool and Strange Music Magazine (1996-2003).

The magazine's founder, Dana Countryman, is an electronic composer and performer who made a recent splash with his collaboration with early electronica pioneer Jean-Jacques Perrey. Countryman shared an mp3 version of the Cool Cool and Strange Music Magazine CD on the WFMU blog back in 2007 where it still resides. He wrote,

"We concentrated on featuring oddball musicians, from over the past 6 decades. A record label approached me with the idea of compiling a CD compilation that would feature obscure artists, doing mostly original songs that (hopefully) would have never been copyrighted."

These tracks collected by Dana Countryman and Otis Fodder (The Bran Flakes) have since become classics in oddio circles. If this is your first listen, prepare yourself for a crazy ride!

Need more cool and strange? You are in luck! Fodder and more than 200 contributors (including Oddio Overplay!) continued by sharing cool and strange and often obscure audio selections every day the following year in the 365 Days Project, and then repeated the fun again years later with a new batch.

That's two whole years of cool and strange music! Are you up to a challenge like that?!

Kingface Live At The 9:30 Club

In 2005, Kingface gave Mike Lupica permission to share a recording of a show on the WFMU blog. (read the post)

The full performance (in the form of  thirteen MP3s) of Kingface was recorded live off-the-board at Washington DC's original 9:30 Club in 1988.

Those recordings have been added to the Free Music Archive. Enjoy this slice of Washington, DC music history.

Cheers to all who made the '80s DC music scene the productive, exciting scene it was. The stuff of legends.

New Birthday Song Contest

illustration by Greg Harrison

News from the Free Music Archive:

WFMU and the Free Music Archive are challenging songwriters everywhere to unseat “Happy Birthday to You” from it’s cultural throne by composing possible replacements. The Birthday Song Contest seeks a few new Happy Birthday songs that are simple and catchy, with great earworm potential that can be sung in restaurants, bowling alleys, and even in TV shows and movies – free of charge.

The song "Happy Birthday To You" is the most recognizable song in the English language, but it can cost independent filmmakers an estimated $10,000 to clear the song for their films, and it will remain under copyright protection in the United States until 2030. This is a major stumbling block hindering the creation of new works of art. It's time to shake (or at least unsettle) “Happy Birthday” from it’s fortified cultural throne, and replace it with a melody that the children can sing without fear of being served.



MORE INFO
Intro by Ken Freedman | About | Judges | Official Rules | Prize Submit Your Song | Video: Birthday Song Alternatives 

PRESS

Can We Replace the “Happy Birthday” Song? (Slate)
The Quest for a Copyright-Free Happy Birthday (Laughing Squid)
Write the Next ‘Happy Birthday!’ WFMU’s Free Music Archive’s Challenge to Songwriters (Sonic Scoop)
It's Time For A New, Copyright-Free Happy Birthday Song, So Help Write One (TechDirt)
Happy Birthday Alternatives in Film & Television (World's Best Ever)

TIMELINE

Jan 13: Submissions Deadline at 11:59pm ET
Jan 29: The judge's will announce their first, second and third prize winners.

WFMU After the Storm

Frankenstorm knocked out both WFMU transmitters. The station is streaming online again, but there is studio damage. The storm also knocked a strong source of revenue for the station off the calendar, The WFMU Record Fair*. The station stands to lose a huge amount of money that it has already invested in and would have earned through the fair. These and additional damages will hurt the world's greatest freeform radio station. Please help.

Latest news as of this post:

"WFMU is streaming online from our damaged studios in Jersey City! Both our transmitters are still of the air, but our streams, our website, archives and silent fundraiser are all up and working double. The Storm took out power at our studios and BOTH our 91.1 and 90.1 FM transmitters, and thankfully electricity was recently restored to our Jersey City studio, where large amounts of electrical damage took place. As soon as power is restored and damage can be ascertained at 91.1 & 90.1 FM we will be back on the air as well. We are trying to locate all of our staff members, some of whom suffered substantial damage and dislocation but all of whom are safe."

The autumn fundraiser fell short this year, too, so please protect this important leader in independent, freeform radio. Thank you.



* The WFMU Record Fair is cancelled, because the Metropolitan Pavilion has no power and does not expect any until Saturday at best. The trans-Hudson PATH will be closed, and MTA and the Holland Tunnel are also not expected to be fully operational this weekend.

Remix The Public Domain

The Past Re-Imagined as the Future: 
Video Remix Contest

What's the potential of open digital libraries? Artists everywhere are invited to mix video from the incredible Prelinger Archives with audio from the Free Music Archive to create new masterpieces for the commons.

More info here!


The Past Re-Imagined as the Future: Video Remix Contest with Prelinger Archives from Free Music Archive on Vimeo.

Vibrating Electrons

Teleharmonium, developed by Thaddeus Cahill in 1897

This post is inspired by WFMU (world's best radio station) radio show BUSY DOING NOTHING hosted by Charlie Lewis on the GIVE THE DRUMMER RADIO (stream).

Today's episode "Electronic Pioneers et Cetera" was a real beauty, and it featured or called to mind several free albums and compilations of bleeps and bloops that may bring you pleasure.

Launch the pop-up player with the full playlist or click this player to stream. Click here to download the mp3 of the show.

 

Now on to the relevant free albums and free labels providing even more free releases for you to enjoy! Please support the living artists you enjoy, so that they may continue to provide free music.

Monroeville Music Center - Generic Product,
Monroeville Music Center: les défauts de fabrication, and more
inspired by early electronic, easy listening, musique concrète masters

sample mp3s:

 

Godblesscomputers - Swanism
new release on the Fresh YO! label founded by Digi G’Alessio
sample mp3: Godblesscomputers - Natürlich

Various Artists - Cyclic Bits: The Raymond Scott Variations
remixes of works by the electronic music pioneer Raymond Scott, popularized by his songs used in Bugs Bunny cartoons
sample mp3:

People Like Us: Reworking Daphne Oram
works of the electronic music pioneer Daphne Oram remixed by the gifted mixmaster and leader of plunderphonics, People Like Us
sample mp3: 

Quintette 7 Plays the Music of Raymond Scott
handful of tracks available from this tribute performance of Raymond Scott works
sample mp3: Raymond Scott - Manhattan Minuet

Various Artists - People Doing Strange Things with Electricity Too
experimenting with electronics inspired by the exhibition People Doing Strange Things With Electricity held at Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle
sample mp3: The Apartment - Electromusetic Sound

Various Artists - Visitations: A Musical Tribute to Doctor Who
the infamous Dr. Who theme was developed by electronic pioneer Delia Derbyshire and the incidental music matched it; here a new generation pays tribute
sample mp3:  Videogame Orchestra - Doctor Who Theme

Miii - Rabbitbass EP
brand new release of dancey, glitchy, instrumentals; starts with dubstep, and by track three, you are loving some pop sweetness
sample mp3: Miii - Are Your Feelings Good?

Various Artists -  Toyland
a compilation of marvelously silly toy sounds I put together for you
sample mp3:

Katapulto - Bodyhammer
one of the fun free records available from Proot Records

sample mp3:

Big City Orchestra - Things Fall Down
"interesting collage of various electronic patterns and other samples, and a general avant electronic atmosphere"
 sample mp3: Big City Orchestra - Bug Bug Bu

Big City Orchestra - Boom Crash Crash
all-stars of experimentation on this release include: ninah pixie, das, rob wortman, otis fodder (The Bran Flakes), matt woolery, melissa margolis, werner slack, cheryl e leonard, cait mcwhirr, russ kent, trademark (Evolution Control Committee), daevid allen, ava mendoza, jesse burson
sample mp3: Big City Orchestra - Chimestar

The Listing Attic - mp3s
instrumental studio pieces by Andy Charneco with occasional guests
sample mp3: The Listing Attic - World's Fair 2001 (R. Stevie Moore cover)

minusbaby - Monkey Patch
chiptune album "dedicated to all things apish and monkeyed"
sample mp3: minusbaby - Eating Needles

Salakapakka Sound System - La Musique Concrète part 2 (part 1)
musique concrète using only pre-existing sounds
sample mp3:



Many more free electronic albums from these labels:

+ 8 Bit Peoples
+ R-Bot Records
+ Maltine Records
+ Fresh Yo Label
+ Proot Records
+ the motherlode: Category: Electronic in the Netlabel Catalogue

William Blake Goes Indonesian

Just in case you have forgotten your history lessions, William Blake (1757 – 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Blake is considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age. He was a real revolutionary who lived in the time of the American and French revolutions.

Arrington de Dionyso has translated selections from Blake into Indonesian and incorporated them into his group's songs. Where else would you expect find William Blake in Indonesian but at WFMU's Free Music Archive? Enjoy!

License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License

Charlie Lewis Returns Today Only

Katya here with some fun news! Charlie Lewis, one of my all-time favorite WFMU DJs, returns to WFMU for one show this morning. He is filling in for Ken from 9 AM to noon (EST). This is Charlie's first time back on the air at WFMU since leaving the NYC metro area over two and a half years ago.

You can listen live through WFMU. The show will also be archived in both Charlie's WFMU show archives and in his Being Slowly Nowhere archives. [You can bet that I'll be there chatting, so please do say hello!]

There will be no "Busy Doing Nothing" show this Thursday on his current station WVEW.

Some of you in the know will remember Charlie and pal Todd's childhood antics with a tape recorder on Comfort Stand Recordings. If you haven't heard those gems, give yourself a treat and a giggle by streaming or downloading Party Fun With Recorders. (more from Charlie at Comfort Stand)

UPDATE: THAT WAS A FUN SHOW!! Enjoy it again here:
http://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/36106

An Afternoon of Blossom

Spent a lovely afternoon listing to Blossom Dearie. Here is Monica's tribute show to Blossom.

FMA Year One

Congrats to the WFMU Free Music Archive on wrapping up Year One! It's been a great year for listeners. Here is the tiniest little fraction of artists I have come to love this year thanks to the Free Music Archive. Thank you to all who have participated. If you aren't there yet, get on over to the FMA! You can download a gajillion free songs and albums, make and share playlists like Webjay, write reviews, interact with artists and fellow members. It is just all kinds of fun! Look me up when you visit! January 6-7, 2010 update: Hey! This mix was the featured mix at the WFMU Free Music Archive!

Radio News

Busy Doing Nothing radio program has a new timeslot, and here are two more shows you won't want to miss!





Busy Doing Nothing
Host: Charlie Lewis, WFMU veteran DJ
Genre: freeform
Time: Thursdays 6-8PM EST (3-5PM PST)
Station: WVEW-LP 107.7 FM, Brattleboro, Vermont
Listen Live - Playlists and Download Archives

The Sugar Shack
Host: the stylin' DJ Jimmy Bee
Genre: classic soul
Time: Sundays 10AM-Noon EST (7-9AM PST)
Station: Vibe 105.3 FM, Boston, Mass.
Listen Live - MySpace

Surface Noise
Host: the glamourous DJ Lounge Laura
Genre: 1980s punk and new wave classics
Time: Wednesdays 11PM-1AM EST (8-10PM PST)
Station: WMNF 88.5 FM, Florida
Listen Live - Playlists and Archives - MySpace




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Charie Returns, Busy Doing Nothing

UPDATE: New day and time for show:

Busy Doing Nothing
Host: Charlie Lewis, WFMU veteran DJ
Genre: freeform ecstasy
Time: Thursdays 6-8PM EST (3-5PM PST)
Station: WVEW-LP 107.7 FM, Brattleboro, Vermont
Listen Live - Playlists and Download Archives

As of April 2008, freeform DJ Charlie (veteran WFMU DJ, member of Chuck and Danny, Comfortstand contributor and so on) is hosting a weekly radio show, entitled Busy Doing Nothing, Fridays from 2 to 4 pm (Eastern Time) on WVEW-LP, Brattleboro, Vermont -- 107.7 on the FM radio dial, and streaming online (link is good for Winamp and iTunes). He writes:

"If you were familiar with my radio show on WFMU, you can expect more of the same: a freeform conglomeration of sounds, songs, and digressions.... The title of the program comes from a song by the Beach Boys (really just Brian Wilson) called 'Busy Doin' Nothin'.'"

Free Music Archive from WFMU

Oddio Overplay was one of the very first back in the '90s, and we still somehow seem to be doing very well in popularity ratings. We are, however, humbled in these days where most artists are sharing online. Even WFMU is preparing a version of Oddio Overplay. Several DJs sent word of this project last year to Katya, but she is on the other side of the continent now. Is this an ideal job for Katya Oddio or what? Good luck to all who apply.

Coming soon: an online digital library of music that will allow music fans, webcasters and podcasters to listen, download, and stream for free, with no restrictions, registration or fees. And most amazing of all, it will all be legal.

The Free Music Archive is being directed by WFMU, the most renowned freeform radio station in America, and is funded by a grant from the New York State Music Fund.

We take inspiration for the Free Music Archive from Creative Commons and the open source software movement. Both are based on the idea that there is merit in waiving certain rights to intellectual property. Radio has always offered the public free access to new music. The Free Music Archive is a continuation of that purpose, designed for the age of the internet.

The Free Music Archive will also be a platform for collaboration between established curators of music, including other non-commercial radio stations and music venues. Partners will participate in collective licensing for the archive, and will be given control of web portals that will help them build communities around the music they choose to share. The site will combine the curatorial approach that stations like WFMU have played for the last few decades, and the community generated approach of many current online music sites.

If you would like to participate in this licensing collective and curatorial community, please drop us a note.

We'll be launching the archive in 2008, but will begin posting sample music and pages and sharing thoughts about music and the industry very soon. Stay tuned.

Regards,
WFMU

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Intern at WFMU's Free Music Archive! WFMU seeks volunteer summer help soliciting music, preparing audio, and cataloguing data as we gear up to launch our Free Music Archive website. Qualified candidates will be well organized and web/computer savvy with some audio editing skills and related experience. Please send a resume and cover letter to "fma [@] wfmu [dot] org"


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Happy 50th Birthday, WFMU!

"Hands down, WFMU is the greatest radio station on the planet."
--Jim Jarmusch, American filmmaker

listen now!

from the station manager...

WFMU a remarkable, unique institution that reminds people why they loved radio in the first place. As we approach the 50th anniversary of our first broadcast (April 24, 1958), we're most excited about the next fifty years, and especially about the next five.

That's why I'm writing to ask you to support WFMU's 50th Anniversary Fundraising Marathon with a tax deductible contribution. A lot hangs in the balance for us this year, including two incredible opportunities which I hope you'll help us fulfill.
First, the FCC, in its divine wisdom has granted WFMU permission to build a booster FM antenna in Manhattan. This could finally give WFMU the coverage that our broadcast license has long promised but which local geography and buildings have always denied us. The booster antenna could greatly improve FM reception in all of New York City, as well as Hudson County. But the booster will cost us over $100,000, and this tantalizing possibility comes at a time when our finances are falling short of covering our present operations.
Our second project for 2008 concerns the growing problem of exorbitant music industry royalties for playing music on the web. To address this issue, we're spending more time getting permission from independent artists and labels for the right to broadcast their material without risking bankruptcy. Later this year, WFMU will launch a new website called the Free Music Archive which will act as an unrestricted online goldmine of music, and also as a licensing collective to combat recent efforts by the record industry to tax webcasters (and eventually broadcasters) dry.
These are both ambitious ideas, but they're also essential to WFMU's long term health. Whether we can carry them out is up to you, and will be decided by the outcome of our 2008 Marathon, our annual fundraising festival that will not only help us realize these opportunities, but also fund the station for another year.
That's why we have a lofty goal for our Golden Anniversary Marathon--raising One Million Dollars (as measured in Australian Dollars, or Aussies).
If you're new to our unique brand of fundraising, these pages lays it all out, where you'll find info on this year's swag, our 2008 DJ tag-teams, and the return of the WFMU Marathon Map! You'll also find the various ways to pledge, special appeals to our most dedicated listeners, and this year's line of handcrafted DJ premiums.
... Check out the available items and fixtures awaiting your generous attention at wfmu.org/adopt. Early pledges really help, especially now when our financial engine is running on fumes.
So please join us from from February 25th to March 9th, either by making a donation online, or by giving us a call during the Marathon at 800-989-9368.
Don't forget--donations made to WFMU are not only tax deductible (in the U.S.), but any time spent listening to WFMU is redeemable at the end of your life, and that's an offer that's good worldwide.
Hope we'll hear from you during our 50th Anniversary Marathon!

-- Ken Freedman
(Send e-mail)

Charlie's Last Show [for now]

Charlie Lewis, 11-year veteran WFMU DJ, is wrapping up his WFMU career today. Unless he decides to work a phone-in or prerecorded program into future schedules, Charlie's last WFMU show is from 9-12 this morning.

If you miss it, this show and his others will be available in the WFMU archives in mp3 and RealAudio formats.

see earlier post for more info

--------------------------------

UPDATE: As of April 2008, Charlie is hosting a weekly radio show, entitled Busy Doing Nothing, from 2 to 4 pm (Eastern Time) on WVEW-LP, Brattleboro, Vermont -- 107.7 on the FM radio dial, and streaming online (link is good for Winamp and iTunes). He writes:

"If you were familiar with my radio show on WFMU, you can expect more of the same: a freeform conglomeration of sounds, songs, and digressions.... The title of the program comes from a song by the Beach Boys (really just Brian Wilson) called 'Busy Doin' Nothin'.'"

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Charlie Lewis

Charlie Lewis, 11-year veteran WFMU DJ, is wrapping up his WFMU career. Unless he decides to work a phone-in or prerecorded program into future schedules, Charlie's last WFMU show will be Monday, October 1, 2007 (next Monday).

For many of those 11 years, Charlie started the week with his Monday morning program. This lighthearted DJ made the coming workweek seem like cake, and to him I ever grateful. I remember finally being able to stream Charlie on the computer at work in 2002. It was a weird little player, remember? In years prior, I'd fumbled with knobs and antennae to try to tune into WFMU in steel and concrete corporate buildings.

("But, but, I don't want the corner office with a window. Thanks a bunch, maam and sirs, but I can only get WFMU in the cubicle by the elevators!")

Monday mornings will not be the same without Charlie's dry wit, casual style, tweaked out voice, spinning records backwords or at the wrong speed, droning over songs, flipping on the echo and all the other silliness that charmed listeners for all these years. He is a champ at blending old and new, mainstream and obscure. We are going to miss him, and hope that he keeps an active long-distance WFMU relationship.

All the best to Charlie and family in this exciting new chapter of their life!

:: Enjoy His Most Recent Shows:
(Archives are in RealAudio format unless otherwise indicated. MP3s expire a week after broadcast date.)

24 September 2007 | Penultimate
See the playlist | Hear the show (RealAudio) |
Hear the show (MP3 - 128K) | Pop‑up player!

17 September 2007 | The beat goes _______
See the playlist | Hear the show

10 September 2007 | End left lane prohibition!
See the playlist | Hear the show (RealAudio) |
Hear the show (MP3 - 128K) | Pop‑up player!

03 September 2007 | Rushing in gradually
See the playlist | Hear the show

:: Artists Charlie Has Played

:: Enjoy Some of His Recordings

Charlie at Comfort Stand

Charlie and Todd, age 12 (mp3)
(This makes my day every time it plays!)

Charlie Lewis - 4 Songs (also age 12)

Charlie Lewis with the Hoof & Mouth Sinfonia
(Do I dare tell you about his performace of a Leo Sayer tune for a fund drive?)

--------------------------------

UPDATE: As of April 2008, Charlie is hosting a weekly radio show, entitled Busy Doing Nothing, from 2 to 4 pm (Eastern Time) on WVEW-LP, Brattleboro, Vermont -- 107.7 on the FM radio dial, and streaming online (link is good for Winamp and iTunes). He writes:

"If you were familiar with my radio show on WFMU, you can expect more of the same: a freeform conglomeration of sounds, songs, and digressions.... The title of the program comes from a song by the Beach Boys (really just Brian Wilson) called 'Busy Doin' Nothin'.'"
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Misty Roses on the Radio

Misty Roses is Jonny Perl and Robert Conroy. They are on tour in the US in March 2007.

Their new mini-LP, Monster Zero, was released in February 2007 on Frog Man Jake records. More info is available here. Misty Roses' debut album, Komodo Dragons, was released in 2004 and is available now from Frog Man Jake, and in shops around the US, Europe and the Internet.

Tune into the New Afternoon Show on WNYU today from 4-7 PM to win a pair of tickets to Saturday's show in NYC.

Then tune into WFMU this Sunday, April 1st to hear Misty Roses in session on Gaylord Fields' show. The show is on from 5pm - 7pm EST on WFMU 91.1 fm, 90.1 fm and online.

Jonny composed and performed a theme for the Oddio Overplay launch. [mp3 Both gentlemen are also Comfort Stand artists, contributing to the Two Zombies Later compilation. Additionally, Jonny is the founder and host of MusicalTaste.com, a site where enthusiasts recommend their favorite songs.

website: http://www.mistyroses.com
mySpace: http://www.myspace.com/mistyroses