From the ARChive’s “Animals In Pants” section: I am one of those people who is endlessly amused by the Stuff On My Cat / Stuff On My Mutt / I Can Has Cheezburger / I Has A Hot Dog / etc sites. … read more >>
author archive
Songs About Obama
So, ’bout a month and a half ago someone points me to the Svarten blog, a site run from Uppsala, Sweden, that in one post provides what they describe as “the most comprehensive playlist on the internet with songs for Barack Obama.”… read more >>
Happy 105th Birthday “Whistling Girl”
Today, the stars aligned while I was alphabetizing the “J” section of the ARChive’s collection of 78 rpm records – a small collection here of about 8,000. Tucked in between the Harry James and the James Johnson was a runty nine-inch record… read more >>
The NY Black Sabbath Covers Project
One day as I was developing the New York Music Index and Archive (the project I mentioned in last week’s “Metallica” post where we’re cataloging and making freely available information about all aspects of the music industry in New York State), I… read more >>
The New Metallica
So, it’s almost here. Death Magnetic. The new Metallica record. And part of it’s been leaked onto YouTube. I don’t know about you, but I’m LOVING most of what I heard–it’s like the Metallica of old in a lot of ways. (Thanks… read more >>
Tha Syncopaytah!
On Monday I went to see Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks play the finest in early jazz, and as I was describing it to Jon yesterday I was reminded that one day, while working on this crazy little thing we like to… read more >>
Paddy Canny
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBONRwNY77c] Paddy Canny 1919-2008 Because his playing was so identified with the “east Clare” style, Canny’s passing is an important moment in Irish traditional music. He was born in 1919 into a musical family (his father was a fiddle player) and had… read more >>
Summer Sale Update!
Great party last night! ARC members were out in force to take advantage of our food, drink and low, low prices! It was an enjoyable night indeed and a great kickoff to our big annual Summer Sale (details about which can be… read more >>
Summer Sale!
the ARChive of Contemporary Music FRIENDLY SUMMER record + cd sale 2008 WHY? To help support the ARChive, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit music library with over 2 million sound recordings – America’s largest and BEST popular music collection. WHERE Our ground floor office… read more >>
Tuesday Wrap-Up
1. Dear Wes Anderson, Why haven’t you hired the McMahon family to score one of your films? Behold Michael McMahon’s Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co’s MySpace, where you can listen to their humorous little ditty “I Hate You.” (Michael is pictured… read more >>
The Oldest Playable Phonautogram. Ever.
The New York Times has a new article about the newly recovered, mid-nineteenth century recordings of Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville, a Parisian “tinkerer” who invented a recording device called the Phonautogram YEARS before Edison (that bad bastard) ever even thought about… read more >>
45 adaptors
Few inventions are as useful or as elegantly simple as the “centering device for phonographic records” or put more plainly, the 45 adaptor. We have upwards of 200,000 45s here at the ARChive, and since people often just left them in their… read more >>
The 45 Adaptor
Few inventions are as useful or as elegantly simple as the “centering device for phonographic records” or put more plainly, the 45 adaptor. We have upwards of 200,000 45s here at the ARChive, and since people often just left them in their… read more >>
Reason 5446 Why I Love Jamaica
Calling All Vipers? Yeah…for a “listening party.” The “records” (*wink* *wink*)just arrived. [youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=PLXMkdAXDZw] So maybe it’s not the best Jamaican smuggling scheme I’ve ever heard (my favorite involved a calypso band and a banjo), but its a damn good one. And it… read more >>
Back From The Dungeon
The reason I have not blogged more often is that I have been down in the cellar—known here at the ARChive as The Dungeon—sorting through some of the old seven-inch 45 RPM records (from here on just called 45s). The ARC is… read more >>
Bell Biv DeVoe
While riding the 7 train into work today, I found a pair of business cards wedged into the plastic liner above the doors. You know the spot – it’s where you’d usually see fliers telling you either how to lose/gain 30 lbs… read more >>
Global Reggae
Got back yesterday from spending a week in Kingston, Jamaica at the aptly named “Global Reggae Conference” held at the University of the West Indies, Mona. There, I presented a paper about mento music’s role in the 1968 Festival Song Competition on… read more >>
Are They So Very Different Today?
Hipsters, I mean. No, Columbia wasn’t the hippest label in the 1950s, but the cover of their Columbia House Party LP did nothing to hurt them. Covered with hipsters hanging around with portable pets, drinking martinis, smoking who knows what and carrying… read more >>
Big Thanks To Everyone!
I am proud to announce that from beginning to end, our Sneaky Santa Holiday sale was a raging success. It started with the smooth ballads, boogie and blues stylings of Susquehanna Industrial Tool and Die Co. (Homepage, Myspace) at the Members party:… read more >>
Sneaky Santa Holiday Sale!
Do you like music? How about the holidays? If you answered “yes” to both, then you’re in luck! It time again for the ARChive of Contemporary Music’s big Holiday Record & CD sale! It all gets going on Saturday, December 8th and… read more >>
Cuba Music Week is ARC's focused look at the music and culture of Cuba. This very long live and on-line week will present concert, lectures, databases, discographies - anything and everything pertaining to Cuban music from sources around the world.
Go here to see ways that you can contribute!
In the past we have looked at the greater Muslim world, Brazil and India. We’re pretty proud of the websites created, among the largest and most complete online pages of information and metadata on the music available.
We will be co-ordinating this project to correspond with Cubadiscos, the annual music meeting and performance showcase in Havana every spring. So stay tuned as this page will offer blogposts and info on Cuba Music Week prior to the posting of the primary website in May, 2016.