EATING BATTERIES, BEATING EARDRUMS

2012-01-21T22:51:00.001-05:00

any ideas on what to call it?

??? by Tim Kenney

Upcoming shows ...

2011-07-29T12:39:00.003-04:00

I"ll be playing at Lillypad tomorrow night (sat. 7/30) and then at CEMMI on 8/13.

All Aboard the Starship Exodus!

2011-07-11T23:56:00.000-04:00

Doomstep by Tim Kenney

2011-07-11T23:55:00.001-04:00

Weird Ecology 5.31.11

2011-05-11T11:07:00.004-04:00

Me and Spencer will be performing with Eat Cloud, Amobriax, and Coralcola at Wonder Bar in Allston.

INFO --------> donttrustboston.com

Many Recent Blizzards

2011-02-16T18:07:00.003-05:00

Many Recent Blizzards by Tim Kenney
We lost power during the last blizzard so I made this in Ableton on battery power while the analog mothership was grounded.

2010-12-05T13:37:00.002-05:00

I'll be playing a set at PA's Lounge on Tues.12.28. doors at 8pm. $7 cover.

2010-11-02T22:12:00.002-04:00

Neff & Kenney - Arecibo

2010-07-26T22:39:00.003-04:00

WESTERNFRONT07222010

2010-06-23T02:19:00.002-04:00

Tres Fronteras with Leven Smith

2010-05-22T16:17:00.002-04:00

Tres Fronteras by Leviathan Jones

Recently Spencer and I recorded this one night with our friend Lev. The instrumentation (roughly) is me on synths, Spencer on feedback loops, and Lev playing the drums through Ableton. It's too bad he's moving away soon cause I think the collaboration turned out really well.

2010-05-19T22:19:00.000-04:00

Black Lodge by Tim Kenney

2010-05-05T20:18:00.001-04:00

Shadow Copy by Tim Kenney

Boil Water Orders by Tim Kenney

2010-04-21T02:05:00.001-04:00

2010-04-12T19:33:00.002-04:00

Twin Donuts by Tim Kenney

Tomahawk Jam by Tim Kenney

2010-04-06T18:12:00.001-04:00

I"m very excited for this show; the line up is amazing and we'll be powering our electronics with a bike generator for Earth Day!

2010-03-25T10:17:00.000-04:00

2010-03-12T14:16:00.000-05:00

Theworldiswaitingforthesunrise by Tim Kenney

Road to Nowhere

2010-03-04T19:02:00.003-05:00

Road to Nowhere by Tim Kenney

I always loved this Talking Heads song. The vocals are samples from the Heads track and everything else is me playing live.

2010-02-24T22:08:00.000-05:00

Winter Tracks

2010-02-04T21:38:00.006-05:00

After becoming obsolete in the eyes of my streaming software, I've finally replaced it with Soundcloud. Enjoy some new tracks for surviving the winter. As always, these recordings are live improvisations using only hardware.

Submit Together by Tim Kenney

Guarenteed Security Life by Tim Kenney

Midnite Conveinient by Tim Kenney

Con Muchisimo Gusto by Tim Kenney

Market Basket Parking Lot by Tim Kenney

The Audacity of Audacity

2010-01-26T18:35:00.004-05:00

"Record companies - who were only ever banks stupid enough to lend money to musicians - are redundent."
- Bill Brewster, "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life"

Someone declared February "Home Recording Month" and every year the RPM Challenge leads an organized effort to get as many musicians as possible to "record an album in 28 days, just because you can" and share it on their website (rpmchallenge.com).
Last year I signed up but then finished recording the Shop Blindness CD-R in January and didn't do anything the next month. With the Together Festival going on simultaneously this year, it's going to be a crazy February for electronic tuneage.

2010-01-16T18:05:00.009-05:00

"It is almost as if sampling had recreated the gramophone record as a craft instrument, an analogue, expressive voice, made authentic by nostalgia. Obsolescence empowers a new mythology for the old phonograph, completing the circle from passive repeater to creative producer, from dead mechanism to expressive voice, from the death of performance to its guarantee."

- Chris Cutler "Plunderphonia"

This Iron for Hire

2010-01-04T17:09:00.002-05:00

Just putting it out there...

I have significant professional tech experience and I've been having a lot of success with circuit bending lately, so if anyone in the Boston area's looking for help building or modifying their gear, feel free to drop me an email with any ideas.

Autonomous Bassline Generator

2010-01-04T16:19:00.003-05:00

I was waiting to go play at a house party when the mailman delivered a highly anticipated package from Austin; an Autonomous Bassline Generator kit from 4ms. With only an hour to spare, I heated up the soldering iron, put it all together, and used it at the show. I must say I was impressed.

This tiny-mighty is only the size of a pack of cigarettes but it has an analog filter with LDR control, IR sync capability, and a pseudo-random (algorithmic) arpeggiater that makes for really fun improvisational playing. And the waveform/filter combination sounds pretty powerful despite the toy-like appearance.

I can't say enough good things about Eric Archer, the guy who designed it. His site has lots of other great ideas and some kits too (including one for a TR series bass drum circuit clone). His designs make me feel like some of the big manufacturers are asleep at the wheel (or at least out of touch with what the public wants). Why hasn't any of the big names produced anything this affordable, simple, and useful? It shows, I think, a different approach to music making. Even though it's a digital circuit, the ABG captures most of what musicians like about the experience of playing analog equipment.

2009-12-15T18:33:00.004-05:00

2009-09-29T13:46:00.001-04:00

RE:Patches

2009-08-28T19:59:00.003-04:00

Not that I've been diligently blogging anyway but I've been having a problem with the system I use to upload and stream music here. I do have plenty of newer stuff to share, but I need to find a new carrier to store it all. I have been playing mostly though with Spencer and that material is available for free download on Last.FM (in the links to the right->).
As I'm about to once more break down my studio and move across town, it may be a while before things are running smooth again. I see it as an opportunity to improve the set-up and re-patch on a bigger scale.
Meanwhile, Spencer and I just finished recording our second CDR ("Allston Summer Rattland"). I feel some sense of relief and accomplishment but I'm already thinking of the next project. Maybe we should cover all of "Fear of Music".

2009-07-14T12:33:00.001-04:00

Last Minute Summer Shows

2009-07-09T11:05:00.003-04:00

A true marketing genius, I haven't been advertising any of my shows. Most have been thrown together at the last minute though.

There's another TONIGHT at PA's Lounge in Somerville. Spencer and I will be performing "Allston Summer Rattland" at 930pm (I think there's a cover).

Somewhat On Point

2009-04-28T22:21:00.005-04:00

This recording is a duet with Spencer Neff (guitar/pedals). The samples are all of Tom Ashbrook from NPR (best show on radio).

ToMashbrook

The Western Front - 4.23.09

2009-04-16T10:11:00.003-04:00

Kenney vs. Spenny

2009-02-03T23:09:00.007-05:00

I have been playing alot lately with my friend and fellow pedal-obsessed sound chaser, Spencer Neff. Some of what we recorded can be downloaded here.

2009

2009-01-03T01:38:00.004-05:00

Happy New Year! Another successful Twilight Zone marathon/hangover. This episode involves sampler, sleepdrone, theremin, and an effects loop that ends and begins, in the Twilght Zone.

CAMBRIDGE/BOSTON (New England Death Cookies)

Sleepdrone Solo

2008-12-17T21:13:00.003-05:00

This improvisation was done on a 4 oscillator analog synth (the Sleepdrone 5 by King Capitol Punishment) using 3 Behringer pedals.

Questionable Avocado

A Night Aboard the Tres Belles

2008-08-10T22:28:00.007-04:00

Sleeping on a sailboat; the aquavit helps.

AFTER IPSWITCH (PART II)

HAUSMUZIK

2008-07-30T22:26:00.005-04:00

Life is good; the house is purple.

Blimps Over Boston

Selfportrait at 26

Strange Maine 6.19.08

2008-06-04T02:09:00.004-04:00

I will be playing sampler, followed by an Oudist. Not bad for a Monday night in Portland.

More from Amsterdam

2008-04-16T01:20:00.013-04:00

Vernal Onslaught - most days had their stages of rain, wind, and hail; but I'm not here to site see so it's all the more reason to stay in and play sampler.

I "wrote" this one back in New York before I left. Mostly, it's samples of me playing electric violin through a phaser, etc.

Damn Your Niceities!

The Lekker Sounds of Lewis and Salvador

2008-03-09T10:02:00.009-04:00

Grettings from Holland!

Amsterdam is going well.

Although plagued early on by the logistics of European voltage conversion, since we've gotten the set up working, Scott and I have been recording everynight.

UPDATE (4.15.08)- I finally got this one working after having major problems with the files I brought back from Europe. It sounds a little fuzzy but I can't remaster it because the original recording is on Scott's laptop in Amsterdam.

I like it anyway; tentatively titled "The Jonathan Lipnikki Translations" (thanks Macdonald).

2008-01-09T23:49:00.000-05:00

"The pleasure of noise lies in the fact that the obliteration of meaning and identity is ectasy"
- Simon Reynolds

Eastern Drone

2008-01-09T23:31:00.000-05:00

The bul bul turang is an Indian folk instrument, traditionally made using typewriter keys to bar a set of strings on a fret board. Kind of a cross between an autoharp and a harmonium.

Mine is very old and out of tune, but I like the way it sounds with a contact mic and a pedal chain.

Untitled with Bul Bul Turang

Good Glitches

2008-01-09T23:16:00.000-05:00

The synth "solo" in the middle of this piece is played on this WSG which was built by Colin at Narbotic.net.

Good Glitches

Transylvanian

2007-12-16T15:45:00.001-05:00

Reassembled audio from a documentary about modern day Transylvania, using only the SP404.

The screaming sound is pigs being fed and the little melody at the end is being played on a blade of grass.

Radio Shackles

2007-12-14T23:08:00.001-05:00

20 second junk-fi audio looper I built from the schematic on Instructables (highly recommended DIY site). Mine is housed in a Murray's Pomade can (highly recommended hair grease).

2007-11-12T22:50:00.001-05:00

Nicomachean Edits

2007-11-11T17:51:00.000-05:00

"Nicomachean Edits" off the "Graftings" CDR; live improv recording using only the SP404.

2007-11-11T13:28:00.000-05:00