音乐, you say?

Dropped my first CD today! all the songs on the mix are covers of songs that take the song in a new direction from the original. It’s behind a book at the front desk/gift shop of the China Institute on 65th and Park in Manhattan. I was there on a field trip today, so I dropped it off.

Coincidentally, it’s a pretty cool place, and I recommend you check it out. And if you found our CD there and found your way here, welcome!

(PS: The Chinese in the post title is “yīn yuè,” which means “music.”)

[better than the original]

1. Crazy Little Thing Called Love- Michael Bublé
2. Toxic- Mark Ronson
3. Take On Me (with a Martini)- Minimatic
4. I Still haven’t Found What I’m Looking For- Buena Vista Social Club
5. Satellite (A Cappella- ??? (artist unknown)
6. Live and Let Die- Guns ‘n’ Roses
7. Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)- Marilyn Manson
8. Spiderman Theme- Moxy Früvous
9. Turn the Page- Metallica
10. Top of the World- Pippin O’Leary
11. Welcome to the Jungle- Richard Cheese & Lounge Against the Machine
12. Clocks (Instrumental)- Twelve Girls Band
13. Come On Eileen- Save Ferris

Download Here

D-PAN: music without limits.

We here at [hm] have a more liberal interpretation of music than your average joe or jane. The whole reason we started our little group here is because we believe that music is more than a collection of notes, something bigger than a chorus and a bridge. To nab a line from Robin Williams in the apparent letdown August Rush, it’s “the harmonic connection between all living beings.” And if we’re going with such a cosmic definition,  it shouldn’t matter whether you can hear conventional music or not.

The Deaf Performing Artists Network, or D-PAN, is one of the more impressive organizations we’ve come across. To quote their own site:

“D-PAN exists to bridge the existing gaps between the deaf/hard of hearing community, the entertainment industry, and the public at large. We create the content, support infrastructure, communications media and distribution channels necessary to effectively cross these barriers.

“D-PAN is an emergent community in its own right – a network of deaf and hard of hearing, performers and professionals; their families and friends; media industry leaders concerned with reaching all possible market sectors; and concerned citizens interested in creating cultural equality. We will produce media content designed specifically to serve deaf audiences. Deaf actors, writers, performing artists, directors, and producers will be afforded the opportunity to showcase their skills. The entertainment industry will gain the opportunity to reach a new, untapped marketplace. And audiences worldwide will reap the benefit of experiencing music and entertainment content which speaks directly to them.”

Impressive, no? They’ve also got some sign-language versions of popular songs accompanied by the music. This one’s that Fort Minor song from a little while ago.

We’re glad we came across D-PAN, and we’re particularly fond of their tagline:

It’s Everybody’s Music.

Video Spotlight: “Animals” by Minilogue

This is definitely worth mentioning: the music video for the song “Animals” by Minilogue is an incredibly artistic and innovative work. It utilizes the tiny 2D creatures performing seemingly-random actions in time with certain aspects of the music, while living in grass, bushes, and other macro-3D environments. While the song may not be so interesting on its own, the video is most certainly worth a look. (click picture for link)

Minilogue is well-known for their innovation in music videos, and often are more artistic than the average music vid.

More videos by Minilogue can be viewed here.

Dropped by a Friend

We’ve had our first drop by a non-staff member! Forum member Sophos dropped this mix in a coffee shop in Fairfield, CT.

“This is a table in coffee shop Las Vetas, which is in downtown Fairfield, CT. (downtown = Post Road) On it is the first mix I’ve left in this endeavor, politely labeled “Take Me” so that people don’t feel guilty bringing it home with them. (Otherwise, they might be turned off by the fact that it’s unlabeled, they might think it was something someone forgot.) The mix is titled “Better Make a Better Mark”, and its theme is the relationship between the individual and the world.”

Here’s a pic of his drop:

[better make a better mark]

1. Float On- Modest Mouse
2. Live Your Dream- Reel Big Fish
3. Suture Up Your Future- Queens of the Stone Age
4. Waiting on the World to Change- John Mayer
5. Why Do I Keep Counting?- The Killers
6. Who Cares?- The Alternate Routes
7. Somewhere in the Between- Streetlight Manifesto
8. Steady as She Goes- The Racuonteurs
9. Time and Time Again- Chronic Future
10. You Only Live Once- The Strokes
11. Never Miss a Beat- Kaiser Chiefs

Download Here

Download Mixes!

We’ve finally got a download database for all of our mixes! If you ever want to check out the mixes we drop, you can download them here, as well as at the bottom of each drop announcement. The link is on the right. –>

If you want your mix shown on here, package up the mix, a track listing (with name and artist), and a mix title, and send it to our email at spreadingthemusic@gmail.com. We’d love to have it.

If you enjoy us…

Then you might enjoy this as well.

It’s an artistic point-and-click flash game with wonderful music and an ideology very much akin to ours.

http://www.questfortherest.com/

A CD in a house of leaves

I, too, have just made my first drop. It’s inside a copy of House Of Leaves by Mark Danielewski in the Chappaqua Library in Westchester, NY.

And, if you’re the one who found it and followed the link, then hello, and welcome.

[elvis never could carry a tune]

1. Her Morning Elegance- Oren Lavie
2. The Hat- Ingrid Michaelson
3. Steer- Missy Higgins
4. Lullaby- Priscilla Ahn
5. On and On and On- Wilco
6. Braille- Regina Spektor
7. Soil, Soil- Tegan & Sara
8. Red Right Ankle- The Decemberists
9. Everything’ll Be Alright (Will’s Lament)- Joshua Radin

Download Here

First drop!

Today I dropped my first mix. It’s on the Amtrak that I was on from New London, CT to Stamford, CT. I put it under the seat I was sitting in. So, if you got on an Amtrak today in Stamford, heading towards Penn Station at 4:57 PM and sat in my seat and looked at the floor, you probably found it. It’s a good one. Enjoy.

[cheap sex and sad films]

1. Track 1- Sigur Rós
2. Abraham- Sufjan Stevens
3. Cocaine Skin- Broken Social Scene
4. Neon Bible- The Arcade Fire
5. Caresses- M83
6. Stability- Death Cab for Cutie
7. Modern Romance- TV On The Radio
8. motion picture soundtrack- Radiohead

Download Here

Expanding the Network

So, if we’re going to be a collection of people, there’s got to be a way for people to talk about stuff, right? So, as of today, [harmonic motion] is on Facebook and has our own forum, both of which we highly encourage you to sign up for!

Branching Out

Wow… This is pretty cool. We haven’t even posted one log of a Random Act of Music (RAM), and already we’ve got requests to start up branches in cities outside the NYC area.

Anyone who wants to send out music, and widen the connection, is absolutely welcome. Here’s how we’ve conceptualized running things at this point in time:

1. Make a mix of 10-15 songs. Songs that have a theme strung throughout, or a similar genre, or just a collection of songs that you think are interesting, and you think will give others the opportunity to branch out their tastes, and join you together in that connection.
2. For cover art, either black writing on a blank white page (the title of the mix) or a black-and-white photo you think is interesting or connects with the mix. On the inside front cover, write the tracklist of the mix, and, most importantly, include the URL to this site (http://harmonicmotion.wordpress.com)!
3. Leave it in a public place: on the seat on a train, in a book in a library, on a table in a restaurant, etc.
4. E-mail us the tracklist and the location (including city and state) at spreadingthemusic@gmail.com. If you can, document where you left the CD with a picture and email it to us with the tracklist so we can post it up here!

The hope is that they then join us, and are willing to do the same! I’m really glad to see such enthusiasm for so young a project. Spreading the music has never seemed so easy.