Instagon in San Francisco Feb. 26

I've got one more work shift tonight, and then I can get back to doing important things, like blogging. (Hyuk.)

In the meantime, here is something that all of you in the San Francisco Bay area might want to know about. Our good friend Lob will be whupping up the old time Instagon jams this Wed. night in California's second-best city. And wouldn't it be fantastic if someone sent me some photos or mp3s or something to post up here at the Hollow Tree Experimental Music Report?

from email:

--

first time back in the bay area in over a year..

Instagon #437

will happen this wednesday night, Feb. 28th at 10pm at the G3 LOUNGE at 3910 geary blvd. san francisco ca 94118.

this will be a GARAGE JAZZ set.

LOB/bass, Dr.Oblivious/syths, Rent Romus/horn, Phillip Everet/skins

also playing will be:

theory garden - avant-classical ensamble

soundtrack for a dream about nothing - harsh

noise/ambient

redglaer(la) - ambient/sound installation/electronics

INSTAGON plays FIRST at 10pm

this is a 21+ show

and it is FREE.

come out and support Instagon..

anyone that is perhaps interested in performing WITH Instagon at this show should not hesitate to contact LOB... it could happen!

--

Experimental Music Report for Feb. 2007

Seven weeks since the last post? Oh, no!

It's been cold here, and my laziness is at a lifetime high. But with all of you nice people on my side, I'm sure I can overcome my lizardliness and deliver useful information for the great diaspora of weird music fans that inhabit this remote planet.

Play your RSS feeds
I'm a geek for RSS ("Rich Site Summary" or "Really Simple Syndication," your choice.). I think it's the information format that will soon make the internet an invisible part of our every moment. Last year at this time, RSS was more exciting in its potential than in its application. Now, the format is making its way into the mainstream, and actually being applied in all sorts of interesting ways. Yahoo! mail incorporates RSS feeds very easily now. And the Microsoft Vista operating system includes design features that make use of the feed format. RSS can also feed your iPod, your Google homepage and your Blogspot page.

At this rate, it will be not too long before anyone who uses a consumer electronic device will benefit from RSS every day, even if they have no idea what it is.

In the right hand column of this page you'll see a list of mp3s that are delivered from del.icio.us by way of RSS. I was curious if there was an easy way to somehow drop the address of that feed into an mp3 player and have it instantly play. I've looked for such a thing before and not found anything satisfactory. But, today, a quick search revealed Streampad.

It's not exactly what I was looking for--I was hoping to find a way to convert an RSS feed into an m3u--but it's close enough that I thought I'd share it with you all.

Try it right now, just follow these steps:

1. Open the Streampad page and click on the word "Web" in the left-hand column.

2. Right click on this link and select "Copy link location."

3. Paste the link into the "Play a web page, podcast or mp3 file" field on the Streampad page.

4. Press the button marked "Play".

St. Murphy lurks at the elbow of every computer user, but if luck is with you, you should hear some soothing noise just the very second you hit that play button.

I'm sure I've only scratched the surface of Streampad, too. Now that my specific need has been met, I'm curious to see what other features this free web service has. Stay tuned.

Where is Cryosleep?
Cryosleep, one of three streaming music stations under the Blue Mars brand, is a reliable source of gentle ambience with "Zero Beat Guaranteed." It's soft, soothing and entirely perfect for drowning out whatever untoward noises might jolt you from your slumbers. The name indicates the perfection of site administrator Lone's vision, as does the site description: "Most people who underwent cryosleep have reported that the mind seems to naturally retreat into a place of infinite tranquility..."

Unfortunately, something seems to have happened to not just the Cryosleep stream, but the entire Blue Mars site. We at Hollow Tree Studios have to rely on more beat-oriented music streams to numb our nods. The quality of our dreams has suffered for it.

If anyone knows what's become of these beloved lullabies, please email.


Netlabel news
Smell the Stench an internet and mailorder label run by Leigh Stench and Todd Novosad has been redesigned and updated and it sure does look good. Except they're still using that awful picture of that nasty looking toilet. The picture's smaller now, though, and you can almost cover it through your thumb while you browse through their 66 (and counting) free internet releases.

Montreal netlabel Panosporia doesn't seem to have put anything new up at their website lately, but that's probably because they've been busy with the numerous live shows that have been announced through the Panospria Google group. If you live in Montreal or are headed that way, take a look at the Google group and see what interesting performances might be happening this weekend. If you're not going to be in Montreal anytime soon, the Panospria group is a good place to find links to strange music on the internet.


More news?
We're always looking for more things to write about here at the Hollow Tree Experimental Music Report. If you have a release, event or some kind of tip send it to hollowtreesubmit@gmail.com. We also accept physical mail at Hollow Tree/ PO Box 161/ Asheville, NC/ 28801/ USA.

-z