Category: Music

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R.I.V. (Rest in vinyl)

And VinylyRather than having your ashes hidden away in a jar in the cupboard, why not have them pressed into the grooves of a vinyl LP? That’s precisely what UK company And Vinyly is offering. Who wouldn’t want a custom vinyl recording of their own voice, their favorite tunes or their last will and testament? I can’t think of anyone. Perhaps my wife wouldn’t.

The company was founded by techno musician Jason Leach, influenced by two events. After his mother was hired by a funeral parlor in England, he viewed an American tv program where someone launched fireworks filled with their beloved’s ashes.

But how to get the ashes in the record? The process involves sprinkling ashes onto the raw piece of vinyl (known as a “biscuit”) before it is pressed by metal plates. The basic package costs £2,000 (today about US $3,100) and includes standard artwork—a black sleeve with the legend, “Rest In Vinyl,” with the deceased’s name and birth-death dates, as in the image above—and up to 30 ash-flecked discs with whatever sounds you choose, lasting a maximum of 24 minutes. Leach’s company offers premium services such as custom sleeve artwork, a portrait painted by UK National Portrait Gallery artist James Hague, using your ashes mixed into the paint, and custom songwriting by Leach himself (called “Bespook Music”).

The hardest part is choosing the audio for your LP. Leach says: “It’s difficult to think of what to put on your record because you want it to be the best album you can imagine.”

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A look back at the UPS whiteboard

UPS whiteboard guyNearly three years ago, shipping giant UPS launched its “whiteboard guy” campaign. The guy—with distractingly long hair—demonstrates various features of UPS’s services by drawing on a board with a brown marker. (Perhaps creative inspiration came from FOX television’s hit hospital series, House M.D., whose main character played by actor Hugh Laurie uses a whiteboard to great effect.)

The “guy” is no actor but Andy Azula, the creative director at the Martin Agency in Richmond, Virginia. According to Azula, he pitched the idea to the client with himself at the whiteboard. “[UPS] liked the idea and went to work to try to find someone to talk and draw like I did in the demo.” When UPS left the decision to consumers in a focus group, they picked Azula.

UPS announced that New York’s Ogilvy & Mather has since taken over the account, not due to lack of success, however. According to spokesman Norman Black, UPS wants an agency with global offices, and the Martin Agency only maintains U.S. operations. Martin has handled the UPS account since 2001 and is responsible for its “What Can Brown Do For You” tagline. (This bizarre tagline could be fodder for a blog post of its own.) The whiteboard tv spots were widely spoofed on YouTube, and, as the sincerest form of flattery, on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.”

This story has an ironic musical footnote. The soundtrack for the tv campaign is the instrumental intro of the song, “Such Great Heights,” recorded by electronic indie pop band The Postal Service. The group is so named because its two members—Jimmy Tamborello and Ben Gibbard—produced much of its songs by collaborating remotely via the United States Postal Service. (Not by UPS, apparently).

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50 years of Doc Martens

Dr. MartensDr. Martens—the English makers of boots and shoes—turns 50 this year. DMs, Docs, Doctor Martens… however one calls them, the familiar “Bouncing Soles” tag at the back and distinctive yellow stitching serve as a social signifier; for many it goes hand-in-hand with rebellion. And music. Doc’s first boots became a working-class essential to a counter-culture back in the 1960s. (Fact: The first eight-eye boot was issued the 1st of April, 1960, hence the style number 1460.)

The list of D.M. devotees covers a broad spectrum of musical and fashion trends, says Martin Roach, D.M.’s de facto historian: “mods, glams, punks, ska, psycho-hillbillies, Goths, nu-metal, hardcore, straight-edge, grunge, Britpop, and on and on.” So to celebrate its 50th anniversary, Dr. Martens asked 10 artists to record their version of a classic track from acts such as the Human League, Buzzcocks, and the Pogues, that represents the spirit of the people who’ve worn DMs; directors produced accompanying videos to boot (click here to view them).

Since the late-’80s, I’ve owned several pair, from boots to loafers, even D.M. sandals. They always feel good and last a long time. Happy Birthday, Dr. Martens! My feet love ya…

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Historic Harvard organ moves to Austin

Harvard pipe organOn May 3, staff from the C.B. Fisk Company—the famed mechanical action pipe organ manufacturer of Gloucester, Massachusetts—dismantled the pipe organ at Harvard University’s Appleton Chapel. A delegation from Redeemer Presbyterian church in Austin traveled to Massachusetts for the instrument’s farewell recital, which has served Harvard since 1967 and will begin service in Redeemer’s new sanctuary.

In 1965, when plans for the organ began, Harvard entrusted the design, construction, and voicing of the organ to one of its own, Charles Brenton Fisk (’45). His study of early American and European instruments helped him and his company to set a new course for American organbuilding.

No official date has been set for the organ’s première at its new Austin homesite… so pipe organ fanatics will have to stay tuned!

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Past Perfect vintage music

Past Perfect vintage musicIt may seem odd to write about music in these pages but I just received a distressing e-mail newsletter from a British record label called Past Perfect that specializes in restoring 20th-century (primarily jazz) recordings, whose very fine engineers utilize the latest audio restoration technology. In a word, the sound is incredible, considering the sources are from the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s.

The distressing part is that Past Perfect’s chairman has had an unhappy birthday due to the recent lack of orders! To help keep them going, I urge you to browse their site and sample some of the many riches found there, from Fred Astaire, Benny Goodman, and Noel Coward, to flappers, World War II, and film music. Each holiday season my family and I enjoy their Christmas songs CD. While a great starting place for the uninitiated is the Past Perfect music sampler, they’ll gladly ship a pre-loaded “Vintage Collection” iPod (starting at roughly $419.00). And most of its catalogue is available for download from either Past Perfect or from the popular eMusic site.

I’ve bunged in my support by ordering some CDs and downloading several eMusic tracks. Don your spats and topper, tuck in with a P.G. Wodehouse novel, and pop Past Perfect’s music on the Victrola. Now where did I set down my g & t?

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Mahler’s “Resurrection” at ASO

Gustav MahlerThe Austin Symphony’s 2008–2009 season closes with Gustav Mahler’s massive Symphony No. 2, scored for mixed choir, two vocal soloists, organ, and an offstage ensemble of brass and percussion. In roughly 80 minutes of blood-and-guts, the symphony expresses universal longings and signals the bitter end (Judgment Day itself) and beyond (the afterlife), etched out in brazen fanfares.

If you haven’t yet attended a performance of the ASO, I urge you to get thee hence to buy tickets. Support local arts before they vanish!

  • What: Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony
  • When: May 15-16, 2009 8:00 PM
  • Where: Michael & Susan Dell Hall directions
  • Conductor: Peter Bay
  • Featuring: Linda Mabbs, soprano • Susan Platts, mezzo-soprano • Conspirare Symphonic Choir