TheFrozenFoodSection http://www.thefrozenfoodsection.com Official RSS Feed for the Frozen Food Section Thu, 8 May 2008 15:37:38 EST en-us DIY microfiche to MIDI converter makes music out of light values - by rob getzschman Some respectable geeks in a band called Microfiche took the time to justify their name by hacking together a machine that makes music out of actual microfiche rolls. The machine takes light values, converts them to MIDI and plays them on an attached keyboard. If this is what news sounds like on a keyboard, I'd love to see what "Stairway To Heaven" looks like in microfiche. Or a piano scroll of the Maple Leaf Rag. Or "Tucker Booth 4 President."
Via BoingBoing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DfaxxYSjwY

posted in: tech, music, art]]> Thu, 8 May 2008 15:37:38 EST Steinbeck explains rap in "East of Eden" - by rob getzschman John Steinbeck, East of Eden, 1952:

You can boast about anything if it's all you have.
Maybe the less you have, the more you are required to boast.

http://www.thefrozenfoodsection.com

posted in: steinbeck, hip-hop]]> Sat, 26 Apr 2008 17:52:52 EST Polyg-trance remix: "It's Not A Compound" - by rob getzschman This is some freakout conceptual video news remix action. Timely, timeless! Because of the thing in Texas. Who wants to lay some vocals over this? I'm thinking Doctor Octagon. Turn my headphones up!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tICf7MaXyKs

posted in: polygamist, remix, compound]]> Fri, 25 Apr 2008 02:09:37 EST Next-level Predator fan rap - by rob getzschman YouTube fan videos can range from cute to unwatchable, but here's a creation that spawns a whole new medium: interactive narrative fan rap. Brits extolling the plot and action of Schwarzenegger in "Predator". Most amazing is how the original film audio matches the cadence and rhyme scheme. Six and a half minutes of sci-fi nerdcore. The clincher: "The explosion is enormous with a massive blast wave / he dives behind a log and is miraculously unscathed." Cheers to The Anomalies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovi-djkUgd0

posted in: hip-hop, film, Internet]]> Wed, 2 Apr 2008 18:42:46 EST www.EngLebuRt.net is finally here!!! - by EngLebuRt

I have a redonkulous amount of music available for your aural perusal. 6 EngLebuRt Instrument Albums, 3 EPs (including Before I Used Acid), a Beastie Boys Remix album, and 3 Mix cds. Come get your geek on! EngLebuRt

http://www.engleburt.net

posted in: hip-hop, go white boy go, music, internet]]> Sun, 30 Mar 2008 22:29:06 EST Stuff White People Like speaks truth on hip-hop - by rob getzschman via pack Those cunning sociologists over at Stuff White People Like nailed down the regional rap allegiance thing quite nicely yesterday in their post on San Francisco:

Much in the way that white people in Brooklyn feel a strong and unfounded connection with The Notorious BIG, white people in San Francisco feel the need to identify with rappers from the East Bay. Interestingly enough, the further they venture from San Francisco, the stronger their need to represent their region. "Oh man, I went to the Too Short show last night. So hyphy man, so hyphy. You should come by some time and we'll ghost ride the Prius." When you are presented with statements like this, the best response is to say "Berkeley is close to Oakland," and the white person will likely nod and throw up some sort of west side hand sign.
Clearly it's getting hot in hrrr for all those slanging country grammar at the West County mall. Manchester and 270, whut?? Represent!!

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/03/23/91-san-francisco/

posted in: hip-hop, white people, st. louis]]> Mon, 24 Mar 2008 13:35:38 EST Sequencing tracks with only Microsoft system sounds - by rob getzschman

Here's a guy producing tracks using only Microsoft Windows system sounds. These tracks are hot. Sounds like something EngLebuRt would produce. If only Windows had an 808...

(via Geekologie)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsU3B0W3TMs

posted in: music, sequencing, tech, cool]]> Fri, 7 Mar 2008 15:18:30 EST Find just 1000 true fans to make a living as an artist - by rob getzschman

Kevin Kelly offers a formula for making a sustainable living as a solo artist: find 1000 true fans.

(via BoingBoing)

http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2008/03/1000_true_fans.php

posted in: music business]]> Wed, 5 Mar 2008 16:09:17 EST Florida rapper urges olfactory genital screening - by rob getzschman

Via Jezebel we hear this timely PSA from Florida rapper Riskay, whose top-played MySpace track, "Smell Yo Dick", has caught the scent of some viral attention. Why? The track espouses a smell-test of her man's genitals to validate his fidelity. Could this be the smell of success of Riskay? Only time and lots of 'Net hype will tell.

http://www.myspace.com/riskaydramaqueen

posted in: florida, hip-hop, rap, wack]]> Wed, 5 Mar 2008 15:49:24 EST Tucker Booth and Rob Getzschman encore in Hermosa!! - by rob getzschman Come down the PCH to Pier Avenue in Hermosa Beach Saturday night and find Tucker Booth and Rob Getzschman regaling the locals with gentle balladry over acoustic accompaniment. Have a Coke and get your freak on.

http://www.thefrozenfoodsection.com

posted in: live music, hermosa beach, tucker booth, rob getzschman]]> Tue, 4 Mar 2008 16:38:49 EST Lefsetz attributes decline in racism to MTV, hip-hop - by rob getzschman Says Bob Lefsetz:

In case you haven't noticed, Barack Obama is an African-American, he's BLACK! Only thirty five years ago, this was a punch line in "Blazing Saddles". We lived in a country ripe with racism. How could our population's views change so much? MTV. ...And hip-hop, that derided art form, supposedly responsible for rape and even murder, also contributed to the erasure of racism in America. Eminem made a big point of lauding and hanging with his black brethren. On paper someone from a low income, underprivileged background was supposed to hate African-Americans, but Eminem wanted in.
There's certainly truth in his observations. If only people had television back when Woody Guthrie was cold chillin' with Leadbelly, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee, playing American folk music with black folk musicians. They were on the radio, but who knew they were black? Woody played black blues, just like Elvis played black rock and roll, and the Beastie Boys played black hip-hop. So Eminem didn't necessarily blaze the trail, but television and cable made the tradition visible to even the farthest-reaching corners of the nation. And that made tolerance acceptable everywhere.

http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2008/02/22/mtv-3/

posted in: bob lefsetz, barack obama, mtv, woody guthrie, elvis, eminem]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:19:58 EST Space and J-Toth featured in the St. Louis American - by rob getzschman

Jonathan Toth from Hoth's forthcoming project with Committee emcee Space has garnered a pre-press review in the St. Louis American newspaper, in which Space calls J-Toth his own John Stockton:

Both [Space and J-Toth] come into the group with their own reputations. Space is a proud member of the Committee and Toth has been working in the industry as a producer and rapper since the 90's with his own label called the Frozen Food Section... "I don't tell people that my counterpart is a white dude, I just kinda let them find out," said Space. "It's kind of like when John Stockton stepped on the basketball court. He is a great assist man and he made me a better assist man."

Of course, everybody knows Stockton was one of the dirtiest players in the NBA, so that suits J-Toth just fine.

http://www.stlamerican.com/articles/2008/02/22/entertainment/living_it/livingit04.txt

posted in: writing, press, Jonathan Toth from Hoth, Space]]> Fri, 22 Feb 2008 13:53:19 EST Baltimore cop harasses teenage skateboarder - by rob getzschman Here's a gem of aimless police authoritizing. The clincher is the last thing the cop says: "You got that camera on? If I find myself on..." ...um, what, YouTube? No sir, officer!

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/02/13/cop-roughs-up-teenag.html

posted in: police, harassment, skateboarding is not a crime]]> Fri, 15 Feb 2008 13:42:57 EST Mailbag to Bob Lefsetz concerning Grammy Night and... - by Boris the Emcee Plenty of interesting responses to Bob Lefsetz's Grammy thoughts:

What I am struck by is the amazing lack of vision in our business compared with this year's Oscars. Even if you don't care for the work, you have to applaud the command and ambition in both No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood just to pick two, and I am incredibly sad that there is absolutely nothing within the solar system of the Grammy nominees in any of the main categories that corresponds. And does anyone think that a young Miles Davis or John Coltrane or John Lennon would have won any of these inane 'Grammy Moment' competitions that NARAS seems to love so much? Just like American Idol, the premium seems to be on noisemaking, rather than taste and economy...

http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2008/02/14/mailbag-5/

posted in: Music News, Kanye West, No Country For Old Men, Grammy, NARAS, Adam Sandler, Doug Morris, Amy Winehouse, Herbie Hancock, Jay Z]]> Fri, 15 Feb 2008 01:44:31 EST Rob Getzschman's "For Mature Audiences Only" release! - by rob getzschman Okay team, for awhile I've been dropping hints about a new concept album coming up, and the proud day has arrived when I can offer you: an album for and about senior citizens.

I know what you're thinking, "But how can I get a copy of this if I'm not a senior citizen?" Fear not, we aren't discriminating against who can buy the album, nor against who can enjoy the album. But it was commissioned by a senior citizen, Executive Producer Judith McKelvey, and her intent was to make some quality tunes for the baby boom. (Aside from Beyonce.)

My new album, "For Mature Audiences Only" is released February 12. It was recorded by Emmy-winner Jerome Maffeo in Baltimore, mixed by Grammy-winner Dan Gellert in LA and mastered by J-Toth at the Cooler in St. Lou. It features my friends Janessa Gans on violin and vocals, Suzanne Waters on vocals, Miles Decastro on sax, Christian Valiente on bass, and Jerome Maffeo on drums. I play a few instruments, including banjo and kazoo. The hardcopy booklet insert also features 12 pages of lyrics in fashionable period graphic design.

As this is my first project composed and produced on someone else's dime, I'd love it if you picked up a copy! It's a pure concept album, and you can listen to the whole album at Virb or Last.fm, CD Baby, read lyrics and linear notes at The Frozen Food Section, or buy a hardcopy from our purchase page!

http://www.thefrozenfoodsection.com/album.asp?id=37

posted in: album, release, cd, mp3, download, rob getzschman, jerome maffeo, dan gellert]]> Mon, 11 Feb 2008 03:01:44 EST Frozen Foods in the Boston Phoenix - by rob getzschman Ben Westhoff did a summary of some old and new Frozen Food projects for Boston's local weekly, The Phoenix. Thanks to Benny Sheps for the photo, which they didn't seem to credit.

http://thephoenix.com/article_ektid55748.aspx

posted in: writing, press, Jonathan Toth from Hoth, Rob Getzschman, Tucker Booth]]> Wed, 6 Feb 2008 15:21:45 EST Author Kyle Beachy reads tonight in Chicago - by rob getzschman Frozen friend and author Kyle Beachy is reading tonight in Chicago for "Reconstruction Room: For Whom" at the Black Rock Bar. Click on the link for details. Kyle's put together a block of Chi-town authors which includes Serengeti and many others:

[Many of the readers] seem to be affiliated with SAIC and have been featured in Chicago Antisocial. I was especially thrilled to learn that Janie Porche, a member of Chicago band the Bound Stems, is something of an Internet celebrity because of her work in the 2002 Apple Switch ad campaign. Viva glamor!
Now if only Ellen Feiss would be there...

http://www.literago.org/calendar/2008/02/reconstruction_room_for_whom.php

posted in: culture, writing, events, Chicago]]> Wed, 6 Feb 2008 14:34:42 EST Four scenarios enabling Barack Obama to become President of the United States. - by Jonathan Toth from Hoth 1. The Jesse Ventura Effect: When Jesse "The Body" Ventura, former pro wrestler, was voted Governor of Minnesota, America witnessed the phenomenon of what happens when pop culture capital turns into political culture capital, due to the (primarily) white men who voted him in. When white men see something cool, they pay attention, and there's a lot of them out there. 2. White America's Love of Black Music: Since the birth of American music, black men have found the ways to make it look, sound and feel the coolest. If 80% of rap is bought by white people and 80% of them are white men, there is an amazing power to be had in being that black man who was cool enough to be voted in as the first Black President. Read more at J-Toth's MySpace blog...

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=14844828&blogID=354152169

posted in: Barack Obama, Tucker Booth, H.I.D.T.A., Hip Hop Police, JFK, FFS]]> Sat, 2 Feb 2008 19:51:44 EST Pitchfork coverge of Odelay reissue - by rob getzschman Over at Pitchfork, Ryan Dombal wrote up an interesting meditation on the staying power of Beck's Odelay, exploring Spin's assertion that Beck is "a generation's consolation prize after the death of Kurt Cobain."

For all of their differences, both Kurt Cobain and Beck had overarching obsessions with death and decay. Kurt took his preoccupation with the ultimate end to its ultimate end, but Beck chose to gussy it up on Odelay, going on cryptically about Gods and devils while hip-hop-tinged party music juxtaposed the existential angst...
At twelve years out, Odelay is young for canonization with a deluxe edition re-release, but seriously, nobody doubts the record's place. Even if Mutations is his masterpiece.

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/48297-odelay-deluxe-edition

posted in: beck, odelay, folk-rap]]> Sat, 2 Feb 2008 16:38:23 EST The Westhoff roundup - by rob getzschman Our fave local weekly writer Ben Westhoff has a roundup of all his latest spots over at his blog, The Healthiest Man In Park Slope:

If you like snarky essays about popular music, hold onto your tape decks! Here, or rather in a link posted to the last word in this sentence, I skewer rappers who claim to be billionaires. And here, I make fun of myself for Avril Lavigne-inspired erections. (I think my response to the commenter at the bottom was inspired.)

Also, I interviewed Lenny Kravitz about who he's supporting for president, and wrote reviews of female artists Kate Nash and Mary J. Blige. I believe these reviews are as entertaining as they are factual, if not more so.

Writing this, on St. Louis boxer Devon Alexander and his trainer Kevin Cunningham, made me miss St. Louis. That's the first time that has ever happened!

http://healthiestmaninparkslope.blogspot.com/2008/01/no-one-could-ever-love-me-like-you-do.html

posted in: press, writing, ben westhoff]]> Fri, 1 Feb 2008 06:13:37 EST The Frozen Feed Section is live!! - by rob getzschman Attention Frozen fans, the homepage has been updated to reflect these expanding times. Items of relevant interest will now populate the homepage, the archives, and a corresponding RSS feed. Stay tuned to updates from many members of the Frozen Food Section as we plug into the digital stream and keep you abreast of the Internets and all relevant to indie music, local hip-hop and the Struggle.

http://www.thefrozenfoodsection.com/rss/rss.asp

posted in: RSS, frozen food, technology]]> Thu, 31 Jan 2008 19:35:44 EST