Zaireeka

Here's a music recommendation for the furm. Seems like some of y'all have all the gear necessary to listen to this 'piece of music', and if you enjoy the band, The Flaming Lips, you might enjoy this one by them.

Its complicated in that its a 4-CD set which requires 4 separate stereos systems to play ... as all 4 discs have to play simultaneously - (so thats 4 cd players, hooked to 4 receivers, hooked to 8 speakers). You have to press "play" on all four simultaneously - which can be really tricky. The cover inset asserts that no 2 cd players play at the same speed (which was prob true at some time) I had 2 cd players keep up and 2 fall behind by about 1 second per song - so I had to pause and replay at the end of every song.

I also had some "technical difficulties" with some equipment during playback, but at times found that what I thought was noise or feedback in my system was actually recorded onto the tracks. If my memory serves correctly, at times ;-) there was one track on one cd that had a 20 hz signal and a 20khz signal... I felt like one of those japanese kids adversely affected by the cartoon rolling around on the floor uncontrollably:barf: . (may have just been par for my course tho...)

I'm not an audio reviewer, (so i'll put amazon's blip below):
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When a band is already one of the most unique, and among the most innovative in the music biz, what can they do to get even more innovative? The Flaming Lips answer that question in a unique and surreal way in "Zaireeka," which may be the most unique album ever recorded. Whether it's genius depends on how you view music.

It's hard to tell how clear the sound is because of its intensity; it sounds like there are dozens of melodies being played together at times. A mere disc couldn't hold this much sound. Dogs barking, surreal guitars, gothic organs and pounding drums are much louder here than anywhere else.

If you're in the mood for 4-D surreal soundscapes, then this is your thing. A marvelous album.
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I listened to it twice, second time was a conjunction of 'boomboxes' and other stereo speakers and it was hugely lacking in imaging, depth, quality, etc. etc.

It did sound awesome using the speaker arrangement shown below:

1L 2L 3L 4L - - - - 4R 3R 2R 1R

listener

brings to mind a john cage thing i saw where 30 or so people with different radios tuned to different stations aplied volume on cue .interesting idea but as a music event ......nah

well it's definitely more musical than experimental. if you consider the Flaming Lips musical i guess....

my prob with is was 'when am i gonna have four full systems in order to get my moneys worth' ? but if the $'s no biggie and you have the equipment... a 4-D soundfield (whatever that is) is worth a listen...

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Originally Posted by DanMan

well it's definitely more musical than experimental. if you consider the Flaming Lips musical i guess....

my prob with is was 'when am i gonna have four full systems in order to get my moneys worth' ? but if the $'s no biggie and you have the equipment... a 4-D soundfield (whatever that is) is worth a listen...

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one of the most important things a musician can possess is a sense of timing.just ask the bass players out there.the out of sync thing would be a problem for me unless all four systems were coordinated perfectly

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jim campbell

the out of sync thing would be a problem for me unless all four systems were coordinated perfectly

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i thought so too. i was rather surprised (again) to find that all cd players are not created equally when it comes to timing. but at least 1/2 of my 4 were in synch with each other. modern technology i tell ya...

however, according to the band, starting them at slightly different times each time can result in a unique experience for each listening. i envisioned this would be like having late reflections hit first and/or vice-versa, such that at times you'd hear a sound and then its echo, other times you'd hear the echo and then its sound; like you're playing it backwards while still going forwards.... grandious visions of early psychedelic beatles tunes with pitch/yaw controls for the backwards/echo-y parts <?>.

i never got into it that far though.... day job still holding me down.

did you manage to get to any of the sxsw.ive been trying to get down there for that for years.......but you know............work.........d'oh

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Originally Posted by jim campbell

did you manage to get to any of the sxsw.ive been trying to get down there for that for years.......but you know............work.........d'oh

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oh, those were the days :)

hit the sxsw 10 yrs in a row from 1992-2002. seems ive been out of town on that weekend ever since.

march is a good time to be out of austin (allergies/pollen)... yesssir bossman, i called in sick due to bad allergies, nothing to do with 1000 bands in town, pure coincidence ;)

you were supposed to say that it sux and is not worth the trip...stay up there and freeze,etc.http://www.audioheritage.org/vbullet...ons/icon10.gif..........sigh,maybe next year.actually some of our local bands appeared there but with a thousand bands on the go who knows if anyone heard them

oh yeah, i heard them, but with 1000 bands, well thats why my memory is so bad, yeah thats it :D

get your tix and hotel early > 7000 out-of-towners this year...

or bring me some JBL speakers and I can hook you up :applaud:

thats the tough part.....we never know when the next gig is