Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Sunday Operetta to Marx

Greetings readers of Thee Uncondemning Monk,

Many new things are happening, but today we would like to talk a little about our latest release, Sunday Operetta to Marx: Zen Vampire University. But before getting into the new release we would like to reiterate what our project is, in part, about. First, Thee UM and music, what is the relationship?

As you may have already read, we are not actually what one would call a musician. But that is not right, Thee UM members are musicians, that much we are sure of, but more honestly, they are not concerned with "making music" as much as exploring sound. We see ourselves as sound-painters, or sound-sculptors.

Sunday Operetta to Marx: Zen Vampire University was created by listening to a university lecture on Marx. The lecture was given on 11 Nov, 2011. In particular that lecture was on Part V of Das Capital, Volume I, by Karl Marx. While we listened to the lecture, we decide that we would make some music for the lecture, to make it a bit more interesting for others. But, but the sound quality of the lecture was so atrocious that we "had" to removed it from the music. This cut-out is what would become the Operetta. So we cut-out the lecture and left the music. The way it was divided simply is where we naturally stopped while paying to the lecture. These pauses where the perfect place to divide up the work. As such, the album is an ambient piece that goes well with all audio where their is only speaking (but no music accompanied it). For instance, try listening to the album while watching a live stream of Occupy Wall Street, and you will understand what I mean. The music is meant to be played in the background, while reading, you guessed it, Marx. That was our  intention with this piece.

*donations = survival (move to the bioexchange)

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Contact Compilation 4 (2011): We are of


Its a hot little project, and as such the songs are flying onto the list, such that right on the heals of Contact Compilation 3 (2011), we have Contact Compilation 4 (2011). The next Contact Compilation, which is going to be number 5, is scheduled for at least a month away. The idea behind number 5 (2011) is that artist will be randomly paired and will have to produce music as such in these randomly assigned pairings. Could be something good, could be something bad... as the saying goes... but we are willing to take a shot at this happy little accident, our invitation to Contact Compilation. We are honored to be apart of what may prove to be a historical moment in music, and sound creation/manipulation... as such, we are learning that others have views of their work as we do, that it is not necessarily about writing songs, as such, its about working with sound, and on occasion this becomes what people normally refer to as music and a song... but they are all songs, these sound works. On Contact Compilation 4 our song too a different approach. Only getting a single minute, we decided to write a little conceptual piece on the phrase "we are of". Please come and check out what we have come up with... each step is an improvement going in every-direction (EZ23), this is not about progress towards perfection, as much as it about working to explore what we can do with what we have to work from, as the world is given, we... in the middle and from whence we travel, from whence we start... and that tree, that one over there, its is weeping, can you hear it? and the other, the other is so much more...  a face, a hand, sweet on the brow, and ax sharp from the grinding... silly lover light us don't leave us now, but leave us, not to far away nor in those oceans, far off past the milky-way... ;)



AND REMEMBER; Contact Compilation 4 (2011) is a Free Download!
and see our track information: Thee Uncondemning Monk, "We Are Of" (Nov11)

*donations = survival (move to the bioexchange)