Sunday, November 05, 2006

Must-have objects for a survival kit #4

Buddha Machine (by FM3)


"The Buddha Machine is a small musical loop player created by the Chinese ambient duo FM3 (Christiaan Virant and Zhang Jian). It continuously plays one of 9 ambient sound loops that range in length from 5 to 40 seconds. It is often described as a small piece of installation art. Resembling a small transistor radio, the Buddha Machine has a volume control that doubles as an on/off switch; a headphone jack; a 4.5V AC adapter jack; and a switch that, when moved, selects the next of 9 ambient loops. (...)"
(in Wikipedia)

It's curious to see that in this mp3/ipod era, the physical music format with the biggest sales increase is...the good old vinyl. Maybe this happens as a reaction to the multitude of digital choices available everywhere on the internet, making physical supports seen less as consumables and more as collectibles. With this in mind, it's no surprise that the cult object of the year is something that looks like an old transistor radio and, more than a mere music archive, it's actually like a toy, or a gadget, which you can discover, explore and, ultimately, play with. Buy a lot of them in many colors and don't miss out the fun of playing them all together and making a small intimate concert at your place. Official site here.

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