Archive
Jeff Hanneman, RIP
There’s not much I can say about Slayer that hasn’t been said already. I’m truly saddened.
Metal Networks: Analysis of Decibel Magazine Top 40 2012
I had some free time today so I decided to apply some network analytic techniques to one of my favorite subjects: metal records.
A couple of weeks ago, I attended a lecture on network analysis where the investigators analyzed popular political books on Amazon.com.
Amazon lists not only information on the book but also the titles, in order of purchasing frequency, of other books that customers may have purchased. The researchers here were able to identify left leaning and right leaning books by examining the purchasing habits of Amazon customers.
Decibel “is America’s only monthly extreme music magazine” and has been in publication since 2004. Every year, they publish the titles of the 40 best metal records of the year, according to their review staff.
Here is 2012′s list:
40 Gojira – L’Enfant Sauvage
39 Meshuggah – Koloss
38 Agalloch – Faustian Echoes EP
37 The Shrine – Primitive Blast
36 Incantation – Vanquish In Vengeance
35 Samothrace – Reverence To Stone
34 Devin Townsend Project – Epicloud
33 Panopticon – Kentucky
32 Saint Vitus – LILLIE: F-65
31 Mutilation Rites – Empyrean
30 Author & Punisher – Urus Americanus
29 A Life Once Lost – Ecstatic Trance
28 Asphyx – Deathhammer
27 Farsot – Insects
26 Gaza – No Absolute For Human Suffering
25 Inverloch – Dark/Subside
24 Swans – The Seer
23 Horrendous – The Chills
22 Killing Joke – MMXII
21 Early Graves – Red Horse
20 Liberteer – Better To Die On Your Feet Than Live On Your Knees
19 High On Fire – De Vermis Mysteriis
18 Napalm Death – Utiltarian
17 Torche – Harmonicraft
16 Grave – Endless Procession Of Souls
15 Satan’s Wrath – Galloping Blasphemy
14 Testament – Dark Roots Of Earth
13 Cattle Decapitation – Monolith Of Inhumanity
12 Blut Aus Nord – 777: Cosmosophy
11 Municipal Waste – The Fatal Feast
10 Pig Destroyer – Book Burner
09 Paradise Lost – Tragic Idol
08 Royal Thunder – CVI
07 Enslaved – Riitiir
06 Neurosis – Honor Found In Decay
05 Pallbearer – Sorrow and Extinction
04 Witchcraft – Legend
03 Evoken – Atra Mors
02 Baroness – Yellow & Green
01 Converge – All We Love We Leave Behind
I looked all of these records on Amazon. For each of them, I noted which of the others were in the first 12 titles that were purchased with it, creating a 40 by 40 adjacency matrix where rows (i) and columns (j) represented records. For each entry, a zero was noted where the customer which purchased the i-th record did not purchase the j-th record, and a one where they did.
I found that many of the records on the list were purchased with one another. The most common record purchased in combination with another on the list was Neurosis‘ “Honor Found in Decay.” Fifteen of the other records on this Top 40 were purchased with “Honor Found in Decay.”
In network terms, the Degree of this record would be 15. Pallbearer’s “Sorrow and Extinction” had a degree of 11, Royal Thunder’s “CVI” and Blut Aus Nord’s “777: Cosmosophy” both had a degree of 9.
The network of Decibel’s Top 40 looks like this:
Network of Amazon Purchases of Decibel Magazine’s Top 40
You can see that some records get purchased with other records more than others. The size of the dots represent the degree of the record.
Now, I did some cluster analysis on the data, looking for related groups of records within the network. Using R, I produced the following dendrogram:
Dendrogram of Decibel’s Top 40
There are two major clusters, each with its own subcluster (dendrograms are hierarchical). One includes Converge, Neurosis, Pallbearer Royal Thunder, Evoken and Inverloch with a subcluster including only the first four. These are all bands that might be expected to be purchased with one another. The other big one includes all the rest. Main clusters are designated by color.
I found one containing the three entries for Baroness, Municipal Waste and Napalm Death, very different bands. I’m truly not sure why those three would be in a cluster together (is the cluster is based on lonliness in the network?).
Anyway, I’m done, but glad I got any results at all. I’ll let readers (especially metal fans!) interpret the results.
The Science of Metal
Mosh Pit Simulator
I was watching the mosh pit and thinking about two things. First, that mosh pits act like particle interactions. Bodies bounce off one another, and occasionally off innocent bystanders. Second, that pits tend to tire out as the night moves on, and fade out as more as the music gets more interesting.
To my surprise, a group at Cornell already ran with the first idea (why am I always late to the game?). They took an agent based approach, and modelled the mosh pit as particles that move and bounce off one another and are constrained by non-moshers around them. They even went to the trouble of creating a simulator!
Of course, I find out now that the national news even featured their work (so I admit, my observation may have been influenced by an article I don’t consciously remember reading in the past few weeks).
I like their model and it may have agreed well with mosh pits in reality, but it fails when crowds are small. Moshers in the simulator are allowed to leave the boundaries of the floor, where in reality they are constrained to the space they occupy. The model here assumes that there are sufficient non-moshers to constrain the mosher movements. Often, this is not true. Importantly, it appears to model the particles as having random movement (though there is a limited “flock” feature), when mosh pits are anything but random. Moshers tend to be attracted to other moshers.
As for the second, point, that moshers tend to run out of steam early and take frequent breaks, I’ll leave that to debate. I would like to consider how musical complexity and “interestingness” influence mosh pits. Moshers tend to care little for whatever they mosh to (could be Justing Bieber in the end), though better music might command more attention.
For the record, I’m too old to mosh.
Monday Night Jams: Police Version
I’m eating my dinner and checking out some dinner time tunes and this came up. I had forgotten what a jam this song was. The Police were like Venom. Both were from Britain, both had three people, both had singing bass players, and both had drummers that looked like they just walked in from the track meet.
Unfortunately, the Police didn’t have any “bulldozer bass” and probably wouldn’t have felt comfortable singing “Welcome to Hell” or “Red Light Fever” but damn, they could play.
This clip contains the footage that was shown in Urgh: A Music War, but preserves the raw mix of the show.
Amazing.
I included a clip from Venom for comparison. You can see clearly that they are almost the same band.
Andrew WK: How He Almost Became the US Cultural Ambassador to the Middle East
Andrew WK is a rock star, composer, motivational speaker, Taco Bell enthusiast, television host, inventor and (very) part-time painter based in NYC.
Andrew was a student of mine (I gave him an A- and got him grounded) when I was doing a volunteer teaching gig at Community High School in Ann Arbor, MI in 1994. We became acquainted, played in a couple of bands together, and later I put out a couple of his records on my BULB record label. Most important to me, however, is that he’s a good friend.
A couple of weeks ago, it was suddenly announced that Andrew would be serving as a “United States’ Cultural Ambassador to the Middle East.” Andrew would be travelling to the Kingdom of Bahrain on behalf of the US State Department, where he would be spreading his positive “Party” philosophy (the freak out, good time sort, not the divisive Democratic/Republican kind). Not more than 24 hours after I heard the announcement, however, news appeared stating that the entire trip had been cancelled. Many of us were scratching our heads, wondering if the entire thing was a stunt. Fans of AWK have been known to start and passionately spread odd rumors in the past.
However, several media outlets ran articles that included a transcript where a representative of State mentioned the trip and its subsequent cancellation. The State rep was quoted as saying “There may have been some preliminary conversations with him, but he will not be going to Bahrain on the U.S. government’s dime.” Andrew’s scheduled trip to represent the US was very real.
Bahrain is a particularly troubled place right now. Protests have rocked the tiny, oil-rich nation but the heavy handed monarchy has managed to brutally stifle much of it. Bahrain’s human rights record has been described as “dismal” by Human Rights Watch. Sending someone like Andrew, whose positive, self made image very much represents the ideals of liberal, free market democracy would actually be a perfect choice to represent the US in this difficult time.
Perplexed the whole thing, I decided to reach out to Andrew and get the full story. Andrew was kindly able to take some time out to answer some questions about the incident. First, I would like to thank Andrew. Here’s the interview:
FB: Tell us about how this whole thing came to be. Were you cold called by State? Or did you actively seek out an opportunity to work with them?
A: We were cold called, but there had been some murmuring about me traveling abroad in some capacity for a few years. We first officially heard from the State Dept. on September 13th, 2011. That was when they wrote to us with an official invitation reading, “Department of State sponsored trip to Bahrain for motivational speech”.
FB: I’ve read that someone from Bahrain specifically made a request to the Embassy there.
A: We had never heard anything about the trip being requested by a citizen of Bahrain, but I had heard rumors from my managers that they were approached about an entertainment project with the U.S. government. We didn’t know what it was exactly until we got the official invitation. It was always presented as a government sponsored event to spread good will and cultural exchange between the U.S. and the middle east. The people who I work with and who help plan my career have always worked on ways to help further the cause of uniting different cultures and promoting the coming together of the human race. I’ve followed and embraced that spirit for a long time and definitely want to do right by them. This was a natural step in that larger effort. Western culture is very powerful.
FB: How far along was the planning?
A: The planning was a long process that went on for about 14 months. There were many levels of approval and clearance we had to go through on both the U.S. and Bahrainian sides. We just did what we were asked to do and completed all they requested with respect and cooperation. There were some background checks, but it seemed the State Dept. had already done a huge amount of research on me before hand. Most of the details were planned with my handlers and managers without my direct involvement. The plane tickets were booked for our trip to officially begin on December 1st, 2012. We coordinated the flights and travel details with the U.S. Embassy in Bahrain and left them completely in charge of all the on-location details.
FB: Was there ever any discussion of how to announce the event State-side?
A: We had our last planning phone call on Wednesday, November 21st, 2012. That’s when our State Dept. contact went over the final schedule and explained that I should officially announce the trip to the public. He explained what language to use and the overall tone of the trip and the ideals we would be promoting. I never actually met anyone in person from the State Dept. Everything was done either on the telephone or the computer. In 2003, I had been given a private tour of the White House by an ex-Secret Service official who was very passionate about my work and music. It’s possible that he was the one of the folks that first helped introduce the State Dept. to my work as a motivational speaker. Otherwise, I don’t know how they picked me specifically. That’s been really perplexing, but I didn’t think about it too much at first. I was just so excited to be asked. But once they canceled everything, I obviously have been trying to figure out what this whole thing is really about.
FB: Did State set up an itinerary?
A: Yes. We were sent the official itinerary by the State Dept. at approximately 6am on Monday, November 26th, 2012. The plans for the trip had always been based around lectures and motivational speeches at local schools. There was never a public concert planned, although we had plans to “jam” with some of the local musicians in Bahrain at a rehearsal space and music store. The main bulk of the trip was to be spent focused on positive interactions with the young people of Manama, the capital city. I planned on talking about positive thinking, making the most of one’s life, embracing freedom, and using partying to help forget your troubles. The State Department gave me overall guidelines, but were also very open to allowing me creative control when it came to how I would present our ideals and how I would present myself. They were always very familiar with what I do – that’s why they came to us in the first place – and they were certainly made even more familiar with me during the lengthy year-plus process of planning and clearance.
At about 11am on the same day we were sent the official itinerary, our State Department contact called us in a panic with the news that his “higher ups” canceled the entire trip for unknown reasons. Apparently it went far up the chain and a lot of people were getting in trouble, even to the point of being fired over this project.
FB: That’s terrible! Do you have any idea who the “local musicians” were that you were going to play with? What were you going to do exactly?
A: It was explained to me that there was a passionate rock and metal scene in Bahrain. I had heard similar reports from others about there being lots of loud music fans in the more liberal parts of the Middle East. I was planning on playing some drums and keyboard and just making up songs or playing songs that we all could learn together. It was all very open to spontaneity. However, the State Dept. also made it very clear that the musical parts of the trip were secondary to the speaking engagements. It was always explained to me that the main goal was for me to help foster a positive impression of the U.S. in the minds of students and the people of Bahrain at large.
FB: How did it all start to fall apart? What happened?
A: It all happened very fast. Everything was good to go up until that Monday morning, after we received the itinerary. In that window of time between 6am and 12 noon, something happened and it has still yet to be explained what exactly it was, beyond that “higher up” State Dept. officials had changed their mind and now decided I was not an appropriate person to represent the U.S. as a Cultural Ambassador. It’s still not clear why they had this change of heart at the last second after they had invited me and spent a year carefully planning my trip. We had flights booked and the trip was less than a week away.
Some have said it was canceled because we announced the trip to the public, but I was encouraged to announce the trip by the State Dept. directly. The whole idea of my Cultural Ambassadorship was to generate public interest and excitement about the meeting of our two cultures. It was never meant to be a secret event – that would have defeated the entire point.
In the days since the cancellation, I’ve received inside tips that there was a passionate debate in the State Dept. about my going at the last second. It’s possible that someone outside of the State Dept. who wasn’t aware of the trip initially became incensed that they weren’t informed before. Apparently some of these unknown higher-up officials were on my side and others were deeply offended by the idea of me going. It would still be nice to learn exactly what happened and who specifically pulled the plug. I’m not taking it personally. For all I know, they could be protecting my own safety. Maybe there were threats, related or unrelated to the trip. It’s definitely confusing and kind of feels like a dream – like there was some other aspects to this project that maybe we didn’t understand or weren’t told about. I’m still as much in the dark as anyone.
FB: Bahrain is a pretty troubled place right now. I’m surprised that State was willing to send anyone over there. Did you have any reservations about going? We know from your live shows that you aren’t concerned about personal safety, of course. It could be suggested that the US would be supporting a repressive state, which some people might have trouble with. Was this ever in the conversation?
A: In the months leading up to the trip, I’ve learned a lot more about the complicated situation in Bahrain. I was definitely looking forward to getting an in-person view of what’s been going on and get a clearer impression of their land and their issues. Since I was going there to spread positivity on behalf of the U.S., it’s definitely been interesting and also concerning that I may have been used as some sort of pawn in a larger game to distract from the potentially bad situations. My handlers insisted that I would be safe and that the U.S. and Bahrain had a good relationship. I was going in the name of supporting that relationship and was expected to support a positive view of both countries.
Some of what’s been most confusing about this is wondering how it’s connected to earlier projects we’ve been a part of, and if I was chosen for reasons that aren’t as obvious, or weren’t openly explained to me. Kim Kardashian had been scheduled to visit Bahrain the same weekend we were there. She wasn’t formally sent by the U.S., but she was there to promote an American milkshake company. Apparently there were protests to her visit and some controversy in advance to her arrival. Some have speculated that maybe the State Dept. canceled my official Ambassador trip because it coincided with her unofficial visit. Of course, she has every right to visit with or without government sponsorship on our side, but it would be unusual to think of the State Dept. not wanting me to be there at the same time as her.
FB: Are there any plans to go anyway?
A: In the past week, we’ve received an incredible outpouring of support, especially from folks in Bahrain and the Middle East that had been looking forward to this trip. It’s been really moving and has definitely motivated us to find a way to go there with or without the support of my own country. We’re working on it. I’ve never been to the Middle East and really want to go.
FB: I could only find information on one other Cultural Ambassador, and that was Kareem Abdul Jabbar. How does it feel to almost have been in a club with the famous star of the seminal cinematic work, “Airplane“?
A: Kareem Abdul Jabbar is amazing and I’ve always loved him – his basketball legacy, and his work as an entertainer are awesome examples of America at its best. It’s been a real privilege to even imagine sharing some sort of place with him and other ambassadors in the history of U.S. culture. It seems like these are opportunities for us to show the world what this country can offer and to help unite more people together in the spirit of freedom and a shared global purpose.
FB: It’s great to have talked to you again after so many years. Were you OK after Hurricane Sandy? Did you eat any sand?
A: It’s wonderful to talk with you too, Pete! We were OK during Sandy, thank you. I always eat a bit of sand every few days, just for the earthy taste and texture. I’ve loved dirt eating since I was about 6 years old. I strongly recommend people try it at least once in their life. Party Hard Forever and stay strong!
PARTY HARD FOREVER
Make a Song for Taj: A Challenge
Syed Taj, a physician who formerly served on the Canton, MI city council, is running for Congress in Michigan’s 11th District. We made a song for Taj. Now we want YOU to make a song for Syed Taj.
A little background: The Republican incumbent was caught (either knowingly or not) forging signatures to get on the primary allowing Kerry Bentivolio to enter the race. Bentivolio is a disgraced for high school teacher from Fowlerville, MI who was repeatedly reprimanded for screaming at and threatening his students, among other things which I won’t mention here. If he wins, Bentivolio, a self interested and unemployable loser in all other respects, will walk into a cushy $174,000 a year job with health benefits for the rest of his life, all at our expense.
His other challenger is Daniel Johnson, a white supremacist known for gallavanting around the country, jumping onto local elections. Johnson proposes a Constitutional amendment to deport all non-white residents of the United States. Where they will all go, is a mystery, of course. It’s worth noting that Johnson is famous for fundraising for and having the support of Ron Paul at one point. Paul, no stranger to providing aid and comfort to bigots, later withdrew support, presumably because the political costs of supporting Johnson outweighed the potential benefits.
The Democratic candidate is a soft spoken Indian-born medical doctor. Taj is, for all practical purposes, a total long shot. If elected, he will only be the third Muslim to serve in the Congress. he will have been elected as a naturalized citizen in a predominately conservative district. He’s not a powerful public speaker but he listens well and cares deeply about the ideas of people in his community. Taj’s platform is fairly boilerplate Democratic. He supports the solid separation of church and state, supports expanded access to quality health care for all, supports public education, and supports the right of women to determine what happens to their bodies. Taj is a great candidate and would be a great alternative to the toxic set of representatives we currently have. Taj offers real solutions and thoughtfully addresses real issues.
My friend Mark first introduced me to this particular race, which is turning into one of the most interesting so far.
To help Taj, Mark and I decided to write a campaign song to entice voters to choose him in the general election. Originally, we had asked our friend Andy to come on board. He couldn’t do it so we brought our friend Dave Sharp on at the last minute. Below is the fruit of our 10 minute labor.
People have called the song “nice” (presumably so as to not hurt our feelings) and “terrible” (obviously indifferent to the fragile egos of old men). As reception has been mixed, I issue a challenge:
WRITE YOUR OWN SONG FOR TAJ. WE NEED TO GET TAJ ELECTED TO AS CONGRESSMAN FOR THE 11TH IN MICHIGAN.
That’s it. Write your own song for Taj, record it, and post it here. If you think our song blows, we want to see you do better. Because you can.
What Would the World Be Like if D. Boon Hadn’t Died?
D. complete with Schoolkids Records T-shirt (Ann Arbor history!)
So.. I usually listen to some tunes on the way home from school. Recently, it’s nothing but Goatwhore and Carcass, but today I set my mp3 player on shuffle and on comes a tune from the classic “Double Nickels on the Dime” by San Pedro’s the Minutemen. For those too young to know, the guitarist, D. Boon, died tragically in a senseless car accident at the age of 27.
I can’t think of a bad Minutemen record, and I have them all. I was a die hard punk fan in high school. The Minutemen were certainly in that scene, but defied every punk standard out there. When it was considered almost a capital offense to be into classic rock, the Minutemen were covering Blue Oyster Cult, paying homage to Steely Dan and producing fantastic renditions of CCR tunes without a hint of irony.
The Minutemen were the true adults in the room in the punk rock scene. Their playing was absolutely top notch and they stuck to a hard and spartan working class work ethic that put quality over everything else. D. Boon’s lyrics possessed a political depth that was rarity in the often sophomoric rantings so ubiquitous in early 80′s hardcore. When Jello was screaming Saturday morning cartoon politics, Boon was championing poverty along the Mexican border and calling for the US to dis-involve in Central American conflicts. It’s very unfortunate that I never got to see them.
Though they did soften at the end, they got nothing but better with age. I often think about what they might have accomplished had D. Boon been wearing a seatbelt that day. D. Boon was one of the greatest guitar players who ever lived (and amazingly light footed given his size). Certainly, D. Boon’s accomplishments by age 54 would have been formidable.
So here are the Minutemen covering Van Halen’s classic “Ain’t Talkin Bout Love” and a trailer from a documentary on the band, “We Jam Econo.” Enjoy
Thursday Night Jams: Temple of Bon Hopkins “Oh.. hi”
This gem fortunately hadn’t succumbed to CDR rot quite yet. It’s me and Ed Wilcox of Temple of Bon Matin jamming out at the BULB Clubhouse in Providence, RI somewhere around the year 2000. Ed would drive up from Philly to play poorly attended shows and we loved having him.
Ed’s one of the greatest and most unknown of all psych drummers and an all around great guy.
One time he brought Mikey Wild up, and I think we took a few minutes out and laid this one down.
Peter S. Larson – guitar
Ed Wilcox – Drums/Percussion/Contact Mike/Vocals
Temple of Bon Hopkins “Oh.. hi” ZIP File
Temple of Bon Hopkins “Ein Tod”
Temple of Bon Hopkins “Papa Hamlet”
Temple of Bon Hopkins “Wander Krebs”
Temple of Bon Hopkins “Intinerant Raccoon”
Tuesday Night Jams: A.P.E.S. (Adam Autrey,Pete Larson, Erik Talley, Scott Nydegger)
I was making dinner tonight and put my MP3 player on random. On comes a tune, and I’m thinking to myself, “Wow, this guitar player sounds great!” 10 minutes later, I realize that the person playing guitar is myself.
Erik Talley is a violinist and luthier from North Carolina. If you listen to the tunes, you will hear how good he is.
Adam Autry is one of the craziest drummers alive and used to play in the legendary Olneyville Sound System. Both Adam and Erik live in Providence, RI. Both are far better musicians than me.
Rounding out the group was Scot Nydegger of Sikhara/Radon Records fame. For some odd reason, we had him playing bass (he normally plays percussion).
We recorded this in either late 1999 or early 2000 at my warehouse space in Providence, “the Bulb Clubhouse” where we used to host live bands and spontaneous recording session. I probably hadn’t listened to this since the day we recorded it, but it still sounds great. The guitar player is less impressive to me, after realizing that he’s me, but it still makes some great cooking music. Enjoy.
You can download it here:
Single zip file of all mp3s and artwork
or just listen to it here:
Candles
Rats
Late Night Break In
Stolen Window
Nigerian Church
A Jeweler’s Nightmare
Old People Test Physical Limits by Rocking Again on September 8th at Woodruff’s in Ypsilanti, MI
Did we have songs? I don’t remember anything about songs….
Music has taken me to 48 of the 50 states and multiple trips around the country, through Canada, Europe and from end to end of Japan. Music has taken me to just about every ghetto in the United States, into nearly every small music venue and numerous camping areas west of the Mississippi. Very unfortunately, being in a band doesn’t afford one the time to actually see these places, but I can say that I’ve been there.
A touring band’s life is this:
1) Wake up
2) Drive 8+ hours
3) Arrive to venue at 6
4) Unload 1000 pounds of black boxes
5) Wait 7 hours until showtime (while praying that the venue has free food)
6) Play show
7) Rush off the stage to sell things
8) Fight with venue for payment
9) Pack 1000 pounds of black boxes
10) Sleep somewhere
Repeat daily.
Being in a band was the hardest job I ever had in every respect. It was physically, mentally and spiritually taxing. Imagine have to be a truck driver all day, every day, be an Olympic runner at night, and a commissioned salesman 24 hours a day. This between breaks of moving lots of heavy stuff, trying not to fuck your songs up, and getting paid less than minimum wage for everything. Despite all that, I loved being in a band and very often miss it.
We have not played a show since 2006. In fact, neither of us have played at ALL since 2006. My fingers still hurt. However, as a favor to our friend Mark Maynard, who very sincerely asked us to, we are helping to celebrate the markmaynard.com 10 year anniversary at Woodruff’s in Ypsilanti on Saturday, September 8th.
Please come and see us if you can. We’re very excited to have the opportunity to play again. As there probably won’t be a second time (until Mark’s 20 year anniversary), this is your only chance. We sound better than ever.
(I’m not sure that I’ll have Mark play at the Freewheel Burning 10 year anniversary party, but I’m considering it. Perhaps we’ll ask him to do a Ski Troop Attack reunion.)
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- Did we have songs? I don’t remember anything about songs….
