Originally commissioned by the Freedom From label, Other Criteria was completed in May of 2000 and thereafter shelved. It seemed at the time to be too incendiary a rebuke, too zealously destructive an assemblage. To be sure, Other Criteria slouched along a particularly fetid lacuna, but its creators, Tom Smith and Elyse Perez, howled with laughter amid the carnage.
The pair spent the better part of a day marveling at a website that launched a midi file of the "Pink Panther" theme whenever it was opened or refreshed. Connectivity was still in its infancy, and the music coughed and stuttered. Two hours of recordings were made; Smith later added electronic layers that mimicked and amplified the effect.
This was music for no one. Perfect, but perhaps a bit too perfect...
Other Criteria was restored from the original cassette masters at 96000Hz / 32-bit and remastered by Tom Smith at KSV, Hannover, on May 7, 2015.
credits
released May 30, 2000
TLASILA:
Tom Smith - mouse, edit, electronics
Elyse Perez - mouse, squealing
Rat Bastard - annoyance (he was attempting to sleep during the recording of the album)
Recorded by Elyse Perez and Tom Smith in May 2000 at the Laundryroom, Miami Beach. Post-production by TS, May 2000.
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