URBANA, Ohio (AP) -- A defendant had a hard time facing the music.
Ludwig van Beethoven's music fails to appeal to a man fined for playing rap music too loudly in his car.

Andrew Vactor was facing a $150 fine for playing rap music too loudly on his car stereo in July. But a judge offered to reduce that to $35 if Vactor spent 20 hours listening to classical music by the likes of Bach, Beethoven and Chopin.

Vactor, 24, lasted only about 15 minutes, a probation officer said.

It wasn't the music, Vactor said, he just needed to be at practice with the rest of the Urbana University basketball team.

"I didn't have the time to deal with that," he said. "I just decided to pay the fine."

Champaign County Municipal Court Judge Susan Fornof-Lippencott says the idea was to force Vactor to listen to something he might not prefer, just as other people had no choice but to listen to his loud rap music.

"I think a lot of people don't like to be forced to listen to music," she said.

All the judge had to do was first let the brother listen to Xzibit "Paparazzi":

And then Gabriel Faure's Pavane, Op. 50:

After that, a bit of Beethoven or Bach would've got the brother thinking "extra large."

I know I’ve been jocking the hell out of DJ Struggle on Line Out, but dude deserves it for the killer sets he lays down during the Deep Wednesdays weekly at Vito’s (Madison & 9th) and those he uploads to the internets like a philanthropist of rhythm. Struggle joins forces with fellow Seattle underground-dance obsessive D’jeronimo (Jeremy Grant) to form Made Like a Tree. Their latest mix submerges techno and house in a crepuscular aura, at once burrowing and spacious. These moody, midtempo cuts radiate a subliminal, cerebral sexiness for the post-rave set. The section from Moodymann to Vakula is especially butter. These guys know how to build momentum gradually and their mixing is supremely tight.

The track list for Struggle in Progress (2)
-------------------------------------------------------------
1. Omar S - Tecky Alexander [FXHE]
2. Patrice Scott - Motions [Sistrum]
3. Luke Hess - There Is Hope [FXHE]
4. Morphosis - Baal [Morphine]
5. Patrice Scott - Azteck [Yore]
6. Cassy - Poem [Uzuri]
7. Moodymann - Dem Young Sconies [Planet E]
8. Recloose - Walk Through Turquoise [Rush Hour]
9. MD/LOW - MD [Out To Lunch]
10. Vakula - Loop For My Friends [Uzuri]
11. KSoul & Ra.H - Turning Point [Sistrum]
12. Korsakow - Make U Crazy [United States of Mars]
13. Omar S - Psychotic Photosynthesis [FXHE]
14. Ra.H - Fall of Justice [Morphine]

Some clever human dubs A-Ha's '80s video classic with new, literal narration, and makes me spew tea from my nose.

Thank you, clever human, and thanks for the heads up, MetaFilter.

In our (literally and figuratively) toxic zeitgeist, we need this band like never before. Take refuge, while you can.

Brightblack Morning Light play with Avocet at Tractor Tavern Thursday Oct. 2. See next week’s Stranger for further Brightblack amplification.

In the meantime, some of my own highlights:

Dirty Dancing Showcase - Friday, 9/26 @ Neumos
Segal's not so into Deadmau5, but he's Beatport's most downloaded artist, and on multiple occasions I've found myself asking a DJ what's playing to be greeted with one or another Deadmau5 track. His stuff undoubtedly sounds better in the club than on Segal's or my own home stereo systems.

The Trinity - Friday, 9/26 @ Sole Repair
Jeff Samuel, Derek Plaslaiko, and Jerry Abstract = the truth.

DB in the Park - Saturday, 9/27, 1pm @ Volunteer Park
Techno pranksters Jacob London and Truckasauras blasting their ample beats mid-afternoon on the Volunteer Park lawn. Genius (and all-ages).

Detroit Techno: Past, Present, & Future - Saturday, 9/27 @ Neumos
Carl Craig is a legend, yes, but Audion is hard (or lately more minimal) techno fire. Put your hands up.

2008 Decibel Finale - Sunday, 9/28 @ Neumos
This may be the most eclectic all-star blowout Decibel has ever had, with Kompakt kings Supermayer providing minimal house and tongue-in-cheek disco satisfaction, the Bug trashing dancehall, dub, grime, etc, etc with help from MC Warrior Queen, and Flying Lotus providing his much buzzed-about sun-stoned LA hip hop inflected instrumentals.

And these shows are only the tip of the proverbial ice burg—there's also Dixon, LA Riots, Eluvium, Caro, the Sight Below, Barbara Morgenstern, and countless others. Do yourself a favor and go check out the full schedule and roster of performers over at http://www.dbfestival.com/.

“Silencio” appears on Juju & Jordash’s Major Mishap album (Ropeadope).

Juju & Jordash - Silencio

Person 1) Does this band suck?
Person 2) You mean the band that’s playing right now?

1) Yeah.
2) Why are you asking me? They’re right there, playing.

1) It’s too loud. I can’t hear the singer. I’ve had three Beam and Cokes. And beer.
2) You suck if you can’t come up with your own opinion.

1) I heard they’re supposed to be good. All these people said they’re great.
2) So what do you think?

1) They don’t sound like Radiohead or Blondie at all.
2) Blondie?

1) Someone told me they sound like Radiohead and Blondie. I think they sound terrible. I paid for these tickets and they sound terrible. But maybe it’s just the sound system, or they’re having an off night.
2) I don’t think they sound good either. I saw them the last time they played here, and they were terrible then too.

1) I’m still not sure.
2) Were your Beam and Cokes good?

1) Yeah.
2) So you can formulate an opinion.

1) Yeah but that’s a drink.
2) But it shows you have the power to formulate an opinion.

1) No, it shows I have the power to get intoxicated.
2) Well you’re the one who dragged me to this show. And it sucks.

1) I can formulate an opinion. Jack Johnson sucks.
2) You’re right. What does that have to do with this show?

1) Nothing. But I know sucky music.
2) Then you should know this music sucks.

Mauricio Kagel was a trickster, inventor, and filmmaker always attuned to the theatrical elements of music making. He not only understood that all performance is theater, but in his films and scores Kagel magnified tiny, interstitial musical elements into grand gestures (e.g., the madhouse cackling in the Improvisation ajoutée for organist and two assistants).

Unlike Kagel's better-known peers and colleagues including Pierre Boulez-who back in 1954 told him to ditch Buenos Aires and come to Europe-Kagel remains comparatively unknown in the U.S. Many of his works require custom-made instruments or unusual (and thus in America impractical) configurations. The duo Zwei Akte calls for a harpist and reed virtuoso equipped with sopranino (not soprano), alto, and baritone saxophones.

Kagel helped pioneer electronic music; by having performers record custom-made tapes to perform Transición II (1958-59), he helped establish the tape recorder as a musical instrument and legitimate component of chamber music. Kagel also fashioned outsize and at times prankish musical schemes. His hefty Exotica for "extra-European instruments" remains gorgeously difficult listening while Tactil deploys long throbbing tines and louche guitar strums in a sideways homage to Jobim & company.

By the late 1970s, Kagel had consolidated his avant garde tactics with more traditional techniques, and masterfully so; in the sheaf of pieces from 1981's Sankt-Bach Passion to Auftakte, sechshändig of 1996 and after, Kagel commingles the new and the old seamlessly.

To listen, UbuWeb is an excellent place to start and check The Avant Garde Project too.

Tonight on Flotation Device, I'll air Transición II and several other works in tribute to Kagel along with Annea Lockwood's World Rhythms, perhaps the first piece to layer unprocessed field recordings live.

Catch the on-line stream or tune in to KBCS 91.3 FM from 10 pm to midnight.

I was mildly hung over from the Stranger’s Genius Award party Saturday night, but this low-key, high-friction funk nugget efficiently brushed away the brain cobwebs and alleviated the pain. Mr. Horn, I want to thank you fa lettin me be mice elf agin.

I first experienced the truth of the subject line thanks to the Futureheads, whose "Hounds of Love" is one of the best covers I've ever heard. (Though nothing will ever top this. No, not even this.)

I re-experienced the truth of the subject line this morning, thanks to Ra Ra Riot's The Rhumb Line, which features a lovely take on Crazy Queen Kate's "Suspended in Gaffa."

Dear indie-rock world: More Kate Bush covers, please.

(Speaking of surprisingly good covers, I recently gave a listen to Morrissey's Live at Earls Court, which kicks Rank's ass and features a great cover of Patti Smith's "Redondo Beach," which made me appreciate the song in a way Horses never did. Weird, but hurrah.)

Hot Water Music are playing as part of the MFNW in Portland. While I'm there, I will also probably eat a Voodoo Donut.

One track in particular riveted me: Juju & Jordash’s “Blue Plates” on London’s Real Soon Records (you can hear it on the label's MySpace). The cut exists at the hazy but fascinating nexus where cosmic disco, house, and dubstep (rarely) converge. “Blue Plates” is methodical yet sexy, meticulously detailed yet pregnant with the pleasure principle, weirdly off-kilter yet danceable. I haven’t heard much like it lately, and I’m grateful to Struggle for turning me on to Juju & Jordash and Real Soon.

Here's a vid of J&J's "Time Slip," their only representation on YouTube.

In a weird way, I'm kind of Sam Mickens' boss. (In another way, as a freelancer, he is a lone wolf, a loose canon, a vigilante, and I'm merely Commissioner Gordon to his Batman.) In any case, he had little choice but to consent for an interview for this week's music feature about the Dead Science's forthcoming album Villainaire, which is being celebrated with a "Week of Culture" starting on Monday and culminating with an album release show at Neumo's on Sunday September 7th.

As I make plain in the piece, Villainaire marks the first time the Dead Science has caught my ear more than merely in passing. It's lyrically dense (in the good way), musically deft, and conceptually ambitious—one of the most interesting albums to bubble up out of Seattle this year. I think a lot of people are going to hate it. There's a lot going on—you should just read the whole article—but here are a few highlights:

"I think a lot of my points of reference as a kid are kind of the same as [Wu-Tang Clan's]."

"I am sort of a classist dude. That's the one prejudice or unhealthy hatred that I've held throughout my life—I have real reflexive problems sometimes with rich people, and in some ways I think that's good. Those ideas are somewhat present on the record. But there's not a lot of content that's like, 'Being rich is evil,' even though I feel like that often may be the case."

"There are a million metaphorical things you can drape on [black and white] beyond good and evil, black and white in the Star Wars sense. There's the tension between ecstatic abandon—nightlife, being real fucking drunk and dancing at the party—and its aftermath. That's just real basic soul music stuff. Saturday night versus Sunday morning."

Pitchfork on Truckasauras' Tea Parties, Guns and Valor: 8.2 [Recommended].