Sunday, June 18, 2006

June 18, 2006: Idiom Creak

June 18, 2006: Idiom Creak

The featured artist this week is Idiom Creak! Stay tuned for episode 84 of Some Assembly Required (for those of you new to this - we're working our way backward through the second year of syndicated episodes of the show, as we archive the program via our podcast). Episode 84 features 14 sound collages, of which one is by Idiom Creak...

A little research turns up the fact that Idiom Creak is Michael Rosen, a one-time economics major at University of California (Davis). He started out actually cutting tape, working very experimentally, and his sound has grown from there. Working with Damian Cohn, as Scatter Shot Theory, Rosen also bears the distinction of having entered and won a Beck remix contest (working with a track off of 1999's Midnight Vultures). First prize, no less. I've always wondered about these contests. Who enters them? Who wins? Well... Idiom Creak, apparently! So, from experimental tape splicer to award winning remix artist - Idiom Creak would seem to fit right in here on Some Assembly Required.

The project currently has two official releases... "Room from another music," put out by Samplistic in 2004, and "Jet powered, monkey navigated," out in 2000, also on Samplistic. One of my favorite tracks by Idiom Creak though, is off of an album they curated, called "The after dinner collection," on which all the artists featured are sampling from the same film: 1981's My Dinner With Andre (with Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory - directed by Louis Malle). I've yet to make it all the way through the film which inspired the album (hey, the last time I tried I was in junior high. I'm sure its worth another try) - but I've enjoyed this release, and both Idiom Creak releases through and through...

Without further ado, here's the SAR Q&A with Idiom Creak...

***

*Name: Idiom Creak

*Are there any additional names used to describe this project: No

*Do you use a pseudonym? Idiom Creak, Idiom Freak, Freak, Ehmie [M.I.], Michael Rosen
*Members: Michael Stephen Rosen

*Founding Member: Michael Stephen Rosen

*Tape manipulations, digital deconstructions or turntable creations: Digital deconstructions

*Another genre descriptor: I don’t like to use descriptors but I have to so I try to use whatever’s fun.

*Why you use this descriptor: I use just about any name; and I probably came up with it in another dream world full of totally different things.

*Location: Californial areolas

*Original Location: Penngrove, Ca.

*What is your creative/artistic background: Everything I could get my hands on. Paint, sound, video, pencils, pens, some very annoyed military recruiters.

*History: Idiom Creak was invented in my trailer around 1997, by me: Idiom Creak. But, work had been going strong for many years before that.

*Born: I was born in San Francisco on March 29, 1977.

*Motivations: Is There Anything Else?

*Philosophy: Yes.

*How would you like to be remembered: Maybe.

*Web address: http://www.samplistic.com/idiom

***

Thanks to Michael Rosen of Idiom Creak, for being such a good sport. Be sure to check out the Idiom Creak website, and stay tuned for episode 84 of Some Assembly Required, featuring a track by Idiom Creak and 13 other sound collage artists. Up in just a few.

Thanks to those of you who braved some of the worst weather I've seen in a long time around here, and joined us at the first installment of Relay at Rosalux this past Friday. Kevin Beacham, Norton Fortune, Paul Harding and I had a great time "passing the baton." If I haven't made it clear, one of the reasons we're calling it RELAY, is that the DJ sets are deliberately short - We each get on and play as many tracks as we can in about 20-25 minutes and then pass it off to another DJ. We each got two or three turns to spin that night and enjoyed it immensely. Be sure to join us again in July (and August) as the Rosalux Summer Music Series continues, on the third friday of each month, all summer.

In the meantime - Some Assembly Required is a proud sponsor of The END TIMES FESTIVAL, June 23rd - June 25th, at The TURF CLUB, in St. Paul, Minnesota. The End Times Festival is an International Underground Music Festival focused on a variety of experimental, unconventional, intelligent and entertaining music... For a full list of performers and additional information, visit their website, at: www.freedom-from.com/endtimes

We'll see you there! In the meantime, check out episode 84 and have a good week...
Thanks for listening,
Jon Nelson

www.some-assembly-required.net

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