A Moment Of Noise

Momofuku Ando, the inventor of instant ramen, died of heart failure Friday evening at the age of 96. Reports The Japan Times:

Ando was inspired to develop the instant noodle after coming upon a long line of people on a cold night shortly after World War II. They were waiting to buy freshly made ramen at a black market food stall. The experience convinced him that “peace will come to the world when the people have enough to eat.”

[ via SlashDot ]

January 24th thru 28th, New York City will reverberate with the sounds of epic minimalism, as the always-interesting Table of the Elements label presents five nights of music as part of a larger month-long music festival called The Independents. Here’s the line-up:

Wednesday, January 24
Leif Inge “9 Beet Stretch”
(24-hour performance)

Thursday, January 25
Zeena Parkins
Tony Conrad
David Daniell

Friday, January 26
Jonathan Kane’s February
Badgerlore
Ateleia

Saturday, January 27
Rhys Chatham “Guitar Trio All-Stars”
Lichens/Licht
Neptune

Sunday, January 28
Poetry Reading by Ira Cohen and films:
The Invasion of Thunderbolt Pagoda + Brain Damage
Live scores by Sunburned Hand Of The Man + Mahasiddhi
followed by Hubcap City
Festival close

Visit Front Porch Productions for more info.

John Nova Lomax has written a long and interesting feature about the decline of CD sales and the general devaluation of music for The Houston Press. In it, he muses about the role that blogs play these days in hyping/deflating bands at record pace:

Some blogger with some juice among the others of his ilk is having a great day — his rattletrap vintage Volvo passed inspection, and that foxy barista he’s been chatting up at Starbucks every morning for three months has finally cracked and surrendered her digits. So the blogger drifts home in a pink cloud of joy and writes up a glowing review of the first slightly-better-than-competent Williamsburg hipster clone band CD in the stack of 15 on his desk. Some guy at Pitchfork reads it and wants to stay cutting edge, so he piles on, awarding the CD something above an 8.0 on their ten-point scale. And it’s Katy-bar-the-door after that; dozens of bloggers will sing hosannahs about this unoriginal hipster band’s unlimited potential and reinvention of rock and roll for the new millennium, all before any of these commentators have seen them live or even have listened to their record more than three times. The band will announce a spate of gigs opening for The Hold Steady, but already a hater parade backlash will have set in, one that is no more informed than the initial wave of hype. And then the band hits the road, where they are exposed for what they really are — a competent indie rock band, no better or worse than the five or ten bands like that in every major American city. That’s when the gust from the haters reaches hurricane force, and the band is never heard from again.

[ via Obscure Store ]

Always a favorite around the Rockhead compound, Kristin Hersh has a new solo disc coming out this month on Yep Roc Records — her first for the North Carolina label. Learn To Sing Like A Star is a fully realized, electric and eclectic indie rock symphony, and to these ears, it is the best, most cohesive album she’s made a quite awhile. January 23rd is the release date — mark it on your calendar!

Jonathan Cohen reports for Billboard:

Rumors are swirling that the Police will reunite for 2007 dates in England and the United States, which would be the legendary trio’s first since disbanding in 1986. Sources tell Billboard.com the reports are legitimate but would not publicly comment until final details are nearer to completion.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the release of “Roxanne,” the single that broke the Police in the United States. In a statement issued last month, A&M Records said, “It is our intention to mark the anniversary by doing something special with the band’s catalogue of songs. Needless to say, everyone is hopeful the band will support our plans and while early discussions have taken place, nothing has been decided.”

Sources say in addition to DVD releases, A&M is planning another multi-disc collection in the vein of 1993’s “Message in a Box,” which featured the band’s complete studio recordings and a handful of rarities.

A Police reunion has been the concert industry’s dream for two decades, as it is believed the band could play stadiums internationally should it choose to reunite. But besides an impromptu set at Sting’s 1992 wedding to Trudie Styler, the Police’s only other post-breakup performance was in celebration of its 2003 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

And while Sting has repeatedly expressed reluctance at reuniting, drummer Stewart Copeland and guitarist Andy Summers have kept the flame alive. This summer, Summers told Billboard he was certain the group could have continued on past its 1983 commercial peak with “Synchronicity.”

Click here for more.

[ Thanks Chandler! ]

Hooray! Pete Townshend is giving the keynote address at this year’s SXSW. I’ve been to SXSW too many times to count, and have never once bothered to drag my ass out of bed to hear the keynote. I guess this is where that starts!