Out of the frying brain and into the firesign Rapid Composers' Consortium Submissions Abuse of compression algorithms and important people's time by Cub Lea Last updated 11/04

The RCC Story | RCC #4 | RCC #6 | RCC #13 | RCC #14 | RCC March 2009 | RCC May 2009

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The following excerpts are provided in 32kbps/22kHz mp3 format only. High-quality mp3 versions of the complete tracks are available only as "premium content". Excerpts consist of approximately 1/3 of the full track, and are relatively complete (and fully listenable) on their own. Use "The CD" links at the top of most pages on this site to learn more about how to obtain the full tracks. Text transcripts are provided complete, just to give you a clear picture of what you're missing by being so goddamned cheap and depriving me of the riches and recognition you know I so richly deserve.

• RCC #4 (September, 2004): Dr. Heat's Relationship Dynamite: A howlingly-funny parody of the relationship self-help kits being flogged at the time...some truly inspired insanity, especially considering it went from concept to finished product in about eight hours. A live performance of this piece in 2009 got the biggest single response I ever received for an original setpiece; I could barely contain my own laughter when I was performing it.
  850kb mp3 excerpt 3:00 32kbps mono 850kb mps
  Complete 12-minute track 48kbps mono 4.2MB file; very smooth audio for such a compact file
  complete text transcript
  BONUS: 505kb mp3 Early version of the "Enema Brothers" commercial; 2:06 (no transcript available)
• RCC #6 (November, 2004): EMWZ Radio Midiwarez Air Check: Send-up of "underground radio" deejmanship; lots of "inside" humor intended primarily for the chatroom regulars, but some very funny "outside" stuff here as well.
  628kb mp3 excerpt "Enema Brothers' Pizza" commercial; 2:37
  Complete aircheck track 6-minute 64kbps mono mp3; utterly hilarious
  complete text transcript
  BONUS: 505kb mp3 Early version of the "Enema Brothers" commercial; 2:06 (no transcript available)
• RCC #14 (July, 2005): Abdab Fetches the Rarg: Just plain weird...a parody of a Library of Congress field recording of a local folktale that began as something very different. This will probably be a waste of time unless you read the web page for this mp3 first.
  Full-length 1MB mp3 The complete "recitation" of "Abdab Fetches the Rarg"; 2:10
  field recording notes and track description
• RCC March, 2009: I Got Nothing to Say That You Wanna Hear: Six minutes of ass-kick homemade rock a la Jim Carroll (Remember Jim Carroll? No? Don't ask me...that's what Google is for.) done for two reasons: first, to prove to myself that I can still write rock songs (I can), and second, that I might not be too old after all to be thinking of a career in music. (Oh well...one out of two ain't...well, it ain't zero.) Let's just say that for a musician, this is pretty mediocre stuff, but for a stand-up comic, this is fuckin' sweet.
  Full-length VBR124kbps mp3 The complete track as submitted, 5.5mb six-minute mp3 file
  Complete text transcript and track description
• RCC May 2009: What Is This?: A free-form pseudo-rant a la Rush Limbaugh but with a bit more of a brain-damaged Canadian flavor. Just a spur-of-the-moment thing...almost improvised, actually...but not too bad for a couple hours' work. Very funny in spots, and the most-downloaded/most-broadcast piece in this collection...tragically....
  Full-length VBR78kbps mono mp3 The complete track as submitted, six-minute spoken-word mp3 audio track.
  Complete text transcript and track description

Rapid Composers' Consortium is a unique recreational outlet developed by an old, crusted friend in Adelaide, Australia. We both hang out regularly in a truly remarkable Internet chatroom where perhaps half of the regulars are bona fide geniuses waiting for their moments in the spotlight. I kid you not...the regular users of this chatroom, which is oriented primarily toward electronic music-making, comprise one of the most brilliant and creative groups of individuals this size that you'll find outside of a think tank or symposium.

The idea behind RCC is that one Saturday each month, we have from midnight EST/EDT Friday to midnight Saturday to produce a track of audio material - music, sound sculpture, song, spoken-word, you name it - from idea to finished product, and we upload it to a shared directory where we can hear what each other has done. The quality of this material, given the time constraints involved, is nothing short of remarkable, which is why I linked the root page above so you can access more than just my tracks.

I haven't been up to producing "real music" for years now. But at the encouragement of several regular contributors to the monthly RCC compilations, I decided in September of 2004 to try my hand at a spoken-word piece, produced with nothing more than a $5 computer microphone and a WAV editor. The finished product was remarkably good, and the response was more than I could have hoped for. My simple spoken-word pieces were so well-received by this highly-critical crew that I now involve myself every chance I get, if for no other reason than to have my ego stroked.

These are mp3 audio files, and not exactly small, but I think you'll find the download-wait well worth it. As I keep saying to the regulars, I really ought to be getting paid for this.