After a bit of trouble getting the releases on archive.org's system.... finally... here you go. We usually do one release a month, but this time I present to you three brand-spanking new netBloc collections. May I introduce you to netBloc Vols 11-13. Since there's only room for one release in the left, you'll only see volume 12, but if you go to our releases page, you'll find all three releases available. Let me tell you a little about each in turn.
First up there's the proper December 2007 release... a bit late — netBloc Vol. 11: The Raw and the Cooked. This is a terrific collection of 10 net audio gems that explores the acoustic side of sound in varying degrees. Some tracks are purely acoustic, while others merge the digital with the acoustic.
Next we have a very special release — netBloc Vol. 12: Anaxagoras. This was a release that I hoped to have ready in time for the holidays and was to be a holiday gift. Things didn't fall into place as quickly as I had originally hoped, so here you have it now, a couple months late. What you'll find with this one is a “concept" album. At least a concept in as much as a compilation can be a concept. There's an overlying theme... that of the Moon. There's a loosely tied narrative that is held together through the use of public domain texts, video and Creative Commons licensed music. There's also a purpose... to explore the need for a Public Domain and the importance of Creative Commons licensing. We also have a guest artist providing the terrific illustrations for this release. My good friend Rob Pitt (twenty3x.com), who I attended Maine College of Art with, has been gracious enough to donate his time and talent. He provided some wonderful illustrations that captured exactly what I was trying to achieve visually with the release. He also agreed to license his illustrations under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share alike license which allows for derivative works. You'll find these source illustrations in a separate zip file on the release page. Be sure to read the included text file specific license information. Also check the first blocSonic netBloc video for Fortyone's They're on the Moon Right Now. You'll find a copy of the video in iPod format among each audio format zip archives.
Check out Fortyone's video for "They're on the Moon Right Now" (Edited by me, Michael Gregoire):
Finally... last but not least, we have — netBloc Vol. 13: color in a world of monochrome. This is a back to basics release that presents all 10 tracks in the regular netBloc format. However, this release also features publicly available photography from the Library of Congress' extensive catalog. Not in the public domain, but available for non-commercial use is the ground-breaking photography of Sergei Prokudin-Gorskii. In 1905 he was the first person to develop a way to take color photos. He used a rapid succession of three monochromatic photos, each through a different color filter — red, green and blue — to achieve his goal. In the PDF I link to a great wikipedia article about him and his technique. You'll also find a link to the Library of Congress' Prokudin-Gorskii gallery. That is definitely worth a look.
So there you have it, 3 releases in one day. Enjoy them. I hope that the wait was worth it. Be sure to check out each release's extensive PDF booklet — especially the whopping 79 page booklet for netBloc Vol. 12.
Until next month, keep checking for news and site updates as I'll be resuming the normal schedule for both the net audio news and new releases announcements.
Peace
mGee