zyzzy78

Recontextualizing one’s recorded past.

[zyzzy78]

Visit Original Link

In late March 2014, I began scanning the FM band with my personal media player and inadvertently came across a frequency where I could listen to three stations simultaneously. What I found odd is that the frequency (98.1 MHz) didn’t match those of the two stations I could identify: Pop Crush 105.7 and Hot 99.1. However, I just learned that Hot 99.1 (W256BU, Albany) is an HD2 subchannel of Pop Crush 105.7 (WQSH, Malta), so perhaps that’s a partial explanation for the odd reception. (Any clues from those knowledgeable in radio technology are welcome.)

I spent several hours catching up on Top 40 pop, hip-hop, and R&B in triplicate, and eventually recorded a few excerpts of this Ivesian broadcast. The most striking example is the minute-long one posted here, in which two out of the three streams are the same song, playing in a sort of canon with each other. I have made no changes to the original broadcast recording—this is straight from the airwaves. I hope you enjoy this auditory oddity!

(Yes, it’s been a long time since I last posted. I admit that I’ve done very little for the zyzzy78 Project. Rest assured that as I finish new pieces, they’ll go here.)

[zyzzy78]

The thrilling Season 2 cliffhanger you won’t want to miss. (Listener Discretion Advised: Contains the one network-permitted F-word for the season.)

Source chronology: circa September 1998; circa October 1998; May 1999; January 1, 2000; circa February 2000; December 31, 2000

[zyzzy78]

29 to 9/29

On today, my 29th birthday, I am casting my eyes forward to next Monday’s zyzzy78! post. September 29, 2013 marked the end of Breaking Bad, an episode that garnered an audience of more than 10 million in the United States. September 29, 2014 brings forth the Series 2 finale of the zyzzy78! project, which might not quite make that.

With 52 one-minute pieces released by the end of Series 2, I will have posted a year’s worth of weekly dispatches from the imaginary worlds built from my collection of personal tape recordings. (You can listen to the entire collection at the project’s SoundCloud playlist page.) This leaves 26 more to complete the planned group of 78.

When I began the project in Fall 2009, I was unemployed, not yet a graduate student, and afforded enough free time to digitize and remix these cassettes. Five years later, I have enough responsibilities to make the project less feasible—and enough resources to make leisure activities outside the home more frequent, which also cuts down on time spent hunched over a laptop dragging wave blocks around.

Despite my current limitations, I plan to continue assembling more pieces as circumstances allow, and when the next batch of 13 is ready, I’ll pick back up with Series 3. I hope you’ll keep an ear out and join me for those new old sounds. In the meantime, I may pipe up here with occasional sonic tidbits. ▶

[zyzzy78]

And don’t come back.

Source chronology: circa Fall 1996; circa March 1997; circa September 1998; November 13, 2000; Fall 2002; June 2003

[zyzzy78]

This is the time I’m doing this voice.

Source chronology: January 17, 1993; November 26, 1998; circa May 1999

[zyzzy78]

The Eructation of Mt. St. Bertha.

Source chronology: January 17, 1993; circa Summer 1998; September 25, 1998; circa October 1998; Winter 1999; June 18, 1999; January 1, 2000; May 21, 2003; June 2003

[zyzzy78]

x = (6 strings) / (1 ChapStick)

Source chronology: circa August 1998; May 29, 1999; December 31, 2000

[zyzzy78]

You squeeze ’em, and you put ’em in your ear. Here, I’ll show ya.

Source chronology: circa November 1998; June 17, 1999; circa December 2001

[zyzzy78]

Yeah, baby—Sausage Eating Robots, baby, rah-hah-ahhhhck.

Source chronology: November 26, 1998; December 3 & 6, 1998; June 28, 1999; October 21, 1999

[zyzzy78]

“The first, uh, thing we’re going to do to test the stereo sound is—I’m going to…play this:”

Source chronology: circa Summer 1998; circa December 1998; February 1999; July 28, 2003

[zyzzy78]

This is a test of the Uncivil Offense Network.

Source chronology: circa December 1998; November 13, 2000; December 26, 2001; May 21, 2003; June 14, 2003

[zyzzy78]

“What are we playing?” “Cadence.”

Source chronology: June 6, 2003; July 21 & 22, 2003

[zyzzy78]

Whoo whoo whoo; bam, bam.

Source chronology: September 25, 1993; circa Fall 1996; Summer 1998; August 1998; September 1998; June 22, 1999; circa Fall 1999; July 21, 2003

[zyzzy78]

An important announcement.

Source chronology: circa Summer 1998; May 30, 1999; May 5, 2001

[zyzzy78]

Some tailored shilling from our sponsor, Stilex: The Cleaner of the Present.™

Source chronology: circa June 1998; circa August 1998

[zyzzy78]

“What is this? Is this not America? This is not China! This is not Russia! This is not the place where they brought down the wall! This is America. We have the right to say what we wanna say, we have the right to do what we wanna do, and what I do in my house you might not do in your house, so what I do in my house is my business.

“And the simple fact of it all is that we are bonded by the First Amendment. We have the freedom of expression, we have the freedom of choice, and you—Chinese, Black, green, purple, Jew—you have the right to listen to whoever you want to, and even the 2 Live Crew.

“So all you right-wingers, left-wingers, bigots, Communists—there is a place for you in this world, because this is the land of the free—the home of the brave—and 2 Live is what we are.”

—2 Live Crew, “Banned in the U.S.A.” (1990)

An unusually safe(r)-for-work video from 2 Live Crew’s follow-up to As Nasty as They Wanna Be.

Happy Independence Day, all you right-wingers, left-wingers, bigots, and Communists! And the rest of you lot, too. See you on the eighth.

[zyzzy78]

Canadian bedroom musician/artist Tonetta asked: “Hey, does anybody know I’m here?” I won’t take the morose mood of that tune—though I recommend listening to it!—but after a couple months mostly off Tumblr to catch up on my professional life, I’m happy to say that the second series of zyzzy78! pieces is on schedule to begin July 8, 2014. I’ve got two months of weekly audio posts on the books already, and I’m hoping to augment that collection soon. (About 20 pieces aren’t complete enough to publish yet.)

I won’t be posting long essays like the Fake Band Fridays in the near future, though I do have more of those stories to tell. I may post occasional short takes on other musicians (such as the aforementioned balladeer) and sound phenomena. In the meantime, I invite you to listen in once a week starting July 8! ▶