March 14, 2006

O Sirhan, O Sirhan, issue 1 (2006). 70 pages + CD. $8.

Another excellent zine enters the fray. Editor Che Chen culled together some really good, diverse material for O Sirhan, O Sirhan's inaugural issue. There's the lead off article by musicologist Benjamin Piekut about musician/philosopher Henry Flynt. Poetry by Melissa Weinstein. An interview with 7 Year Rabbit Cycle and a photo essay of Deerhoof. The interview with artist David Waldorf is a good introduction to his thoughts and process. But what stands out most in this issue is the longish interview with composer/noise musician Jorge Boehringer (a.k.a. Core of the Coal Man), his score for the piece "T Zero" (visually interesting to look at and more fun to decipher) and the accompanying CD of seven representative Boehringer tracks.

From the Boehringer interview:

OSOS: So why did you come out with two versions of this piece, 't zero'?

JB: The reason I did the California and New York versions of that piece is just that I can't stop recycling material. I tend to use the same material for a lot of different things until I'm done with it because I don't like to make choices as to one possibility being the best or ultimate way, or even saying, "this is where this note belongs." I think they belong a lot of places and I'm often happiest when something surprises me so I tend to keep using ideas that I like until I forget about them (5).

O Sirhan, O Sirhan
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