moon traveller herald

He came out of the Los Angeles desert like a Merc chopped and grueled on airplane fuel. Like Big Daddy Roth in a refrigerator graveyard. Put an apple on the head of an insect lawn trophy. Wore and intricate Troutmask replica, and blowed the tropical hotdog night blues til dawn. Heard the news this afternoon that Don Van Vliet was dead. Where do we find words for Capt. Beefheart's passing? I don't know more than to say what a great surrealist brilliant and unique! Saw him at Town Hall in N.Y . in early 1970s. I cannot think of a greater concert of rock music I ever saw. At that point it was rock for Beefheart - but counterpuntal and baroque unlike any other, at least up to that point. How big was he then? Well, Bob Seeger opened. Because of schoolmate Harry Duncan got to meet him - that was in the 70s. Very much an artist, constantly creating. Worrisome though too because he was always jumping around. Talking til dawn. Putting you on. Through Harry in a way the D...

At Moogfest, a North Carolina musical event honoring the work of analog electronic musical instrument pioneer Robert "Bob" Moog, there were many Korgs, Yamahas, and laptops loaded with Moog samples, writes able NY Times' critic Jon Pareles. One purpose of the event is to raise money for a Moogseum archiving the work of Moog, who died a few years ago. Neon Indian, Omar Souleyman, Van Dyke Parks and Devo were on hand. Pareles sets the scene. It is a glance at the reign of the once and future King d' Synthesizer Analogue: From their sometimes-unstable oscillators, filters and amplifiers, Moogs and other analog synthesizers produced sounds that more reliable digital synthesizers would not: buzzes, swoops, whooshes, scrapes, gurgles, screeches, burps, crackles and countless other onomatopoeia-worthy noises … Analog sounds are a funky corrective to sterile digital tones; colliding waveforms make a beautiful noise. New York born electrical engineer and physics PHd Bob Moog...