Vague Terrain

[photo: Yohei Yamashita]

Gristleism is the latest title in the series of FM3 releases on the “Buddha Machine” platform, and a co-venture of FM3 and Throbbing Gristle. Gristleism is a music box Designed by Throbbing Gristle, Christiaan Virant, and Zhang Jian (FM3).

When the band FM3 released the first of its “Buddha Machines” , some critics quickly grow bored by the interactive music box players that come bundled with tape loops, often after just a few minutes of playing the loops. However, fans who admire the FM3 boxes find more to appreciate than just the novelty of an interactive, mobile music format with the aura and status of an art object. So it’s gratifying to find a co-production with Throbbing Gristle, the band that is at or near the 1970s origins of industrial tape loop music.

Gristleism is an automatic drone. The 13 tracks contained in the Gristleism machine are TG samples that are entirely self-contained in each colored plastic box. The box has a track selector switch, a rolling volume control, and a speaker, and requires two AA batteries. Its look and feel has a distinctly 1970’s “made in Taiwan” look and feel, like the first generation transistor-radio you may still keep today. The design of the packaging, especially in its “limited edition” release, anticipates criticism of its being cheap construction, and creates an allure for handling and playing with the box.

The Gristleism tracks are meant to be non-reproducible, unless the fan is handy with a microphone or soldering gun. Nonetheless, the Buddha sites themselves encourage chip-bending and hacking the devices, offering special instructions for making modifications to the units.

The digital music box phenomenon has gone virtual online. The ZenDesk is inspired by the Buddha Machine, and features interactive samples created by Virant and Jian. There is also a Buddha app for iPhones.

The Buddha box is an answer to record collectors who are looking for opportunities to collect music once again, in new formats, in an age that promotes the dematerialization of music. The Gristleism release on Forced Exposure presents this opportunity ironically to collectors, by releasing music snippets tape loops, inside a funky musical trip-toy.