Let’s say you want to throw on a record and kick back. What do you do? Pop a CD into your stereo? Plug in the iPod? Simple enough. Now, let’s try something more interesting. It’ll require friends, coordination and multiple music-playing devices. Still with me? Good. Here are three sound experiments that force us to take a more active role in our listening. Pass the Dark Side of the Rainbow, please.
No doubt the trippiest album of the last 15 years, the Flaming Lips’ Zaireeka comes packaged with a big fat warning label on the cover: “Recording … on rare occasion has caused the listener to become disoriented.” Each of the four discs included with the album contains different elements (i.e., drums and bass) of each of the album’s eight tracks; each are meant to be played simultaneously on four different CD players. Zaireeka is a condensed version of lead singer Wayne Coyne’s “parking lot experiments,” which involved playing upwards of 23 tapes simultaneously in 23 car stereos. Spaceship organs rise into the night sky, Wayne’s voice is outpaced by its own reverb, vegetables march to the beat of drums, babies are born, worlds destroyed. Before embarking on this quest, make sure you have three quick-fingered friends and a pet-free pad. Difficulty: 5/5; Trip Factor: 5/5; Price: 2/5.
Looking for something a little less saccharine than Mr. Coyne’s aching falsetto? Try chomping on the doom-metal slabs of Boris’ Dronevil. The Japanese guitar gods have constructed a sour counterpoint to the Lip’s Zaireeka with this pair of vinyl records—“Disc Drone” and “Disc Evil”—designed to play simultaneously. “Disc Drone” lays down the gloomy ambience while “Disc Evil” pummels the listener with heavy rock. The turntable-impaired may listen to each record on its own, though maximum carnage is only guaranteed for those who allow the “drone” and the “evil” to merge. Difficulty: 4/5; Trip Factor: 3/5; Price: 3/5.
‘Tis the season of Radiohead, and if you can pull yourself away from In Rainbows for, say, 50 minutes, try hangin’ with Kid 17. First, dig up your old copy of Kid A. Then, dig up your roommate’s copy of Kid A. Next, “borrow” your roomie’s CD player and set it next to your own. Start playing one copy of the album. When it hits the 17-second mark, start the second disc. If done correctly, the songs will synch up surprisingly well. The experiment renders the whirlpool breakdown of “Morning Bell” queasy to the extreme, and the double-time percussive attack of “Idioteque” will knock your fillings out. Difficulty: 3/5; Trip Factor: 4/5; Price: 4/5.
Despite what the RIAA claims, music is a commodity to be shared. Dim the lights, burn some incense and show your friends music’s communal potential.
