In Texas and New York, Grossman said, Discovery Zone is trying a day care concept called Fun Centers. "Have you ever been in a Discovery Zone Monday through Friday? The problem with the concept is, how do you create traffic Monday through Friday?"Ĭhrista Grossman, a spokeswoman for Discovery Zone in New York, said the company has begun to experiment with new ways to increase weekday traffic. "Basically they only did business two days out of seven," Bibb said. Therein lies the problem, according to Craig Bibb, an analyst at Paine Webber in New York. We didn't go there on the weekend because it was too crowded." "The only time we went to the Discovery Zone was on the weekdays. We used to go to Kids Fun more often than Discovery Zone. Erskine said, "especially with summer coming up. Last week, they found a similar sign at Discovery Zone. Mary Beth Erskine and her two preschool sons, who frequently visited Kids Fun, were surprised recently when they visited the store and found a closed sign on the front door. With Kids Fun and Discovery Zone closed, the only indoor children's play center left in the Carrollwood area is Chuck E. The owners could not be reached for comment.įor many families, such indoor centers are ideal places for children to play and hold parties, especially during rainy weather or the hot summer. Weihl is also a founding member of experimental pop band Fenster.Kids Fun, an independently owned play center in the Northdale Court shopping center, went out of business about two months ago. Influences and inspiration include Art of Noise, Laurie Anderson, Kraftwerk, Arthur Russsel, Mamman Sanni and Alice Coltraine. A mere surface containing the space it represents, at once illusion and real reproduction. A holograph is both less and more than it seems. A fitting image for an album that plays with the idea and definition of what it is to be real. The cover of Remote Control is adorned with a holographic key. Like Sophia, we are confronted with the question of whether our mediated encounters with the world leave us the same as we were before, remake us, or leave us somewhere in between – still ‘Sophia’, yet “Sophia Again.” Do our expressions of wonder truly emerge from us, or are they programmed responses? We share with Sophia a certain existential uncertainty as we move through time. ![]() On Remote Control, Weihl lovingly reshapes these humble sonic elements with the assistance of producer ET and Fenster bandmate Lucas Ufo, a/k/a WORLD BRAIN.Īt the midpoint of Remote Control, Weihl provides an instrumental backing to a dialogue between a siri-like robot named Sophia and one of her creators. Ubiquitous copies define our world as much as marvels of innovation do the keyboard preset and drum machine default have just as much claim to being the sound of cybernetic pop as the algorithmic virtual instrument and the AI song writing tool. But the future into which we have arrived is built of mass-produced sensors and microprocessors, the endlessly proliferating plastics that link us together in a superhuman web of communication and surveillance. When music attempts to evoke the cutting edge, it tends to reach for newly synthesized tones, impossibly glossy, surreal, alien. Utilizing sci-fi and lo-fi aesthetics in the deep web, the sonic and lyrical themes of nostalgia, paradox, love, physics and philosophy are further explored and enhanced by visual journeys through second life and the fun house mirror of the internet. ![]() ![]() Presenting a wild curation of green screen, found footage, and original material, the visual palette is one of digital bricolage – weaving narratives out of youtube videos, personal beach vacation footage, television commercials, early computer animations, and 3d renderings. Live visuals and music videos are a big part of Discovery Zone. Nostalgia is mixed into more synthetic sound worlds, each song dipping into past and future sonic landscapes. The experimental aspects of Weihl’s music are reflected in the spectrum of playful aesthetics, maintaining a strong focus on emotional and accessible pop melodies. Weihl implements drum machines, vocoder, sound collage, theremin and electric guitar, creating a small laboratory both in the studio and on stage. There are bits of sound collage and a lot of operatic robot choirs woven through tight emotional electronic pop. In her hands, the limitations of the default setting form a territory of unbounded experimentation, from the system-notification synth funk of “Dance II” to the trance incantations of “Blissful Morning Dream Interpretation Melody.” Her album Remote Control, with its palette of chimes, chirps and shimmers, is a glowing meditation on our contradictory moment in history. New York born, Berlin based musician and film maker JJ Weihl is set to release her debut solo record as Discovery Zone on June 5th via cult Berlin label Mansions and Millions.
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