& a blog

jeremy malvin aka professor purple made me a wicked birthday mix

so this past week marked my 21st annual completion of orbiting the sun. because the united states federal government believes that this number of orbits holds particular meaning in terms of access to alcoholic beverages, much fun was had.

MUCH. FUN.

one of the great things about turning 21 is the fact that i can now go to bars, go to liquor stores, or order drinks at restaurants. one of the bad things about this is that lack of access was both healthy and inexpensive. in short, i have quickly discovered the alcoholic beverages are not for the frugal although they may be an opiate of the impoverished.

consider the college student (mwah).

i got excellent birthday presents. i got a dvd copy of in bruges, one of the greatest films of 2008, and i believe, one of the most potent examples of dark comedy ever made. my first, and only viewing of this film left me with the conviction that this film had a certain depth, a depth i feel requires amble fathoming. the film is also an early example of the post-postmodern film, which satirizes postmodernity and exists in a certain meta-meta reality, if that makes any sense. it’s like anti-folk music, except that the real counterpart would be anti-anti folk, which could never be a direct return to folk music, because it wouldn’t represent a virginal folk music but a music trying to return to its roots after a digression that it is shaped by.

but anyway i digress.

among the many other excellent presents i received, was one that stood out above the rest: a potent mash-up of all my favorite songs, done by professor purple (aka Jeremy Malvin) at the request of my amazing girlfriend.

this mash-up is without a doubt one of the most wonderful things i have ever had gifted to me. because it feels uniquely mine. because it represents a sort of audio portrait. as a curation, the songs are not so unique as to be enough of a audiotory fingerprint. many of my friends listen to similar music. but the composition of the songs, done wonderfully by jeremy, reveals the thread that binds the music altogether, a beat, a rhythm, a bass reflex, which essentially represents my consciousness at this point in my life.

it reminds me, in many capacities, of a project i once encountered that sampled your itunes library and created a 30 second “audio identity.” (does anyone know what project this is?)

anyway, malvin is a master beat matcher, an art kid from pittsburgh (the land of girl talk, steel, and andy warhol dontchaknow) who i met through his sister hanna, and rowing star here at brown (the girls have won the national championships twice in a row now). jeremy is not even in college, but already he’s got some righteous gigs going on down in pitts. like gigs at the warhol museum with bellydancers.

i am eternally grateful that malvin thought it was worth his time to make me a little mix. his talent is truly endless, particularly as his real calling is as a concert percussionist, and all this electronica is just a side project. when i met jeremy i told him that he should work on remixes because a lot of electronica artists got they’re start doing remixes (see paul oakenfold, deep dish, lcd soundsystem, justice, etc. for details)

if you’re interested in witnessing professor purple’s talent first hand, take a listen to these tracks he compiled for the “mccune birthday fantastic.” each one blends the kindof girltalk mash-up aesthetics with a radical satirical sensibility. what i mean, is that malvin does not privilege anyone track as primary, and compile ontop of it, but rather weaves the threads together into a would-be tapestry of sound.

and it sounds… beautiful.