Best of the Basement Rug 2008 – Volume 3

Have you ever had a day when you were fairly certain you were losing your mind? I thought I had nearly lost mine while compiling Volume 3 of the “Best of 2008″.

I was trying to locate my Béla Bartók files for “Hungarian Folk Songs” when I discovered (after a lengthy mental anguish) that I had somehow mis-labelled an mp3 file, and that my “Hungarian Folk Songs” file was actually “Sonata for Violin and Piano No.1″. I am no classical connoisseur, but even I knew something was up.

So I decided to include Sonata No.1 in the compilation instead, but when I ripped the mp3 from my source file something went wrong – it sounded much slower. I pulled out the LP (luckily, I keep this one relatively handy) and queued it up. Same problem. So I hit the 45-rpm button on my turntable and things began making sense. It seemed that I had somehow recorded the original file at the wrong speed.

I went back to the embedded player on the original post and listened again. It was even faster than 45-rpm. Now my wig was really twisted, so I downloaded the mp3 file and played it. Guess what? It was the same speed as my source file and the original LP. There was nothing wrong with my ears and brain, it was the damn embedded player that was speeding up the file. If you think that’s funny, you should listen to this Frank Garlock lecture.

Just to give this story a bit of context, I should let you know that I had just been reading that hallucinations are one of the possible side-effects of the Norfloxacin drug that I am currently taking. The drug works by disrupting the bacterial enzymes involved in their DNA replication. Wow! Heavy stuff. I am not sure why it would have a neurological effect avec moi, but it appears that I am actually still sane. Oh well, there are other ways to un-zip one’s wig, dig? The Hungarian Cimbalom that Dick Marta plays on track 9 is a good place to start. I will leave the chemical aids up to your discretion. Enjoy!

Have a listen to the wig-loosening culprit here:

Track Listing:

1) Pandit Kamalesh Maitra – Raag Deen Todi – 9:23
2) Sirocco – Fakarouni – 3:00
3) Rabih Abou-Khalil – Arabian Waltz – 4:58
4) Santo & Johnny – Istanbul – 2:26
5) Teruhisa Fukuda – Kumoi-Jishi – 6:27
6) Zumi-Kai – Rokudan – 7:16
7) Gamelan Music from Bali – Topeng Tua – 5:06
8) Eldon Rathburn – City Faces (remix) – 2:11
9) Dick Marta – Roumanian Rhapsody – 4:24
10) Béla Bartók – Sonata No.1 for Violin and Piano – 12:45
11) Philip Glass / Kronos Quartet – The End Of Dracula – 3:58
12) Kazumi Watanabe – Haru No Tsurara – 3:41