Super Monkey Blog!

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2009-06-26T12:44:00.001-07:00

The below thought was prompted from reading this, literally thought provoking article on the current "third sector" management capitalism that is evolving in Britain and other western economies in the wake of last years financial meltdown. Maybe saying "a key" would have been more appropriate, but it definitely crystallizes in my mind a structural trick that seems to have become quite prevalent in many different places these days. Particularly things like the financial "conduits" and "structured investment vehicles" that banks used as part of their wonderfully sinister-sounding "shadow banking system" in order to off-load the responsibility (and financial accounting) of their riskiest investments. Or the US government using defense contractors (aka mercenaries) to do much of their dirty work in places like Iraq, even when they have a perfectly good, and in fact, cheaper to operate, army all of their own. Extraordinary rendition too, the outsourcing of torture, would be another excellent example. And thus "we don't torture": well strictly speaking true, as long as the "we" doesn't include those we pay to do our unpleasant tasks for us.

I don't want to overstate this case too much, the contrary impulse can also be quite strong: the desire to control and decide. Within my own company I can certainly think of multiple examples of this type of person. But the interesting thing is that these two competing impulses can easily cohabit in a single person. Prime example being George "The Decider" Bush, he of the heartfelt conviction and the disavowed result. Iraq was a good idea that struggled due to "a few bad eggs" who were left outside in the hot sun to go bad by the very people later condemning them.

Either way, I keep wondering how these companies and institutions manage to not only keep functioning but grow in size and power when so many that run them are so manifestly not wizards of management and foresight, but in fact quite normal fallible humans. I've always been struck by how, in all my experiences in both university and work, how rare it has been to run into people in management and administrative positions who on a personal level have the knowledge and foresight that their position would indicate as a necessity. Of course we have just witnessed, with the credit crunch and sub-prime mortgage fiasco, perhaps the greatest failure of management in living memory: the point where it became clear that, indeed, those wielding great power and influence are as clueless as the rest of us when it comes to what it is exactly that we are doing with ourselves here. As we build up an institution larger and larger, it begins to function in ways that are increasingly different from the way humans interact and related on an individual level: that is, the more it becomes inhuman in its behaviour. No one is in charge and no one is responsible.

2009-06-25T17:23:00.001-07:00

The key to the functioning of the modern headless bureaucracy is that the ones making the decisions are not the ones deciding upon them. A disconnect between the the decision and the decision maker: hence the role of the consultant (as well, the expert, the specialized team, outsourcing, diffuse and distant organizational arms). The consultant does not care about the overall end result of his decision, because he will not be there in the organization to witness the result. Furthermore, the manager who contracted the consultant can thus disavow and step away from the decision, stating his own ignorance and citing the superior knowledge of the consultant. In this way the decision can be cast as inevitable and unavoidable; it has to be this way, a higher authority has verified it, how can we, with our meager knowledge, contradict? Even if management knew full well of what the decision was likely to be, and even if *neither* side can truly conceive of what the eventual outcome of such a decision may be, the decision was always already inevitable. Thus do extremely stupid people make extremely stupid decisions and wield great power.

he speaks

2009-05-28T11:48:00.001-07:00

I have, just now, never heard so much sycophantic laughter in my life.

2 2 get

2009-05-05T09:18:00.001-07:00

2x2CD 2 GET:
1. 2CD Jesse Somfay - A Catch in the Voice
2. 2CD DJ Hell - Teufelswerk

2!

Oh my god this looks awesome!!!

2009-04-23T11:55:00.001-07:00

http://www.residentadvisor.net/event-detail.aspx?id=95591

Fucking Juan Maclean AND The Field!! Soooo stoked. Must go, etc etc. Too bad it's on a Tuesday but still I am THERE. Best line-up to appear in vancouver for a while.

Wow

2009-04-22T09:31:00.001-07:00

Are you following all these torture revelations going on in Washington right now? The whole Khalid-Sheikh-Mohammed-waterboarded-183-times-in-a-month-and-then-oh-surprise-he-admitted-to-planning-all-of-911 stuff? Here's another great addition: the torture tactics they approved were taken from a training program to give soldiers a taste of how they could potentially be treated by enemy combatants if they became POWs. The kicker is that, apparently, nobody at the top tried to investigate one step further and ask, well, where did the military get these tactics in the first place? Turns out they were "a sample of the torture methods used by Communists in the Korean War, methods that had wrung false confessions from Americans."

It took about 50 years for America to literally become it's own worst enemy, complete with utter blindness to the results of their own actions. Unbelievable. How the fuck did Bush not get impeached? The man is a war criminal.

Oh ya

2009-04-21T10:13:00.001-07:00

New Lindstromm & Prins Thomas album!!
Also Prins Thomas - Live @ Robert Johnson mix
Meanderthals - Desire Lines <--super balearicish, actually all three of the above should be
A-Trak - Infinity + 1 <--could be good party mix, could be horrible blog-house

I have not bought or downloaded any new music in a least a month! Well except for RA podcasts...that Culoe de Song one was pretty good. But really! Stupid moving has thrown me way off.

Also to check

2009-04-16T10:42:00.001-07:00

Was just listening to this song, that I got from, I believe, the DJHistory forum's "Top 25 Balearic Tunes" list, and I was pretty excited to discover she had an album back in '88, so let's add Mandy Smith - Mandy to the list of albums I should check. But more importantly, have you seen the outfit she's wearing on that record cover?? It's INCREDIBLE! Gigantic tasseled shoulderpads and no pants is totally a boss look.

OH NOES MAN EATING LOBSTERS!!

2009-04-15T15:38:00.001-07:00

Ok let's start this game again: Music to check

Pheonix - Wolfgang Amadeus Pheonix --could be annoying over-compressed indie-electro, could be very enjoyable dancey pop
Juan Maclean - The Future Will Come --it's got Happy House on it, what more is there to say?
Kris Menace-Idiosyncrasies --should be hella dope big room electro-house
Was gonna say the new royksopp but thankfully dan has that now! So there's that issue fixed.

Damn, as always, I could have sworn that there was more but I just can't remember.

+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+

Anyway, posts have been thin on the ground here recently, which I would excuse because I've been doing moving related things, but then I realized that I post most while at work so this story hardly holds now doesn't it? I guess work has been busy too. How lame are those excuses? It is very, very easy to move through time.

(ps. no man eating lobsters were hurt in the writing of this post, except for OH GOD NO IT'S TRYING TO EAT ME DIE DIE DIE YOU SLAVERING CRUSACEOID HORROR!!!)

"Deep into the bowels of house music..."

2009-03-30T11:32:00.001-07:00

I never did a "best of 2008" list, much to my own chagrin, and now I can't really remember what I would have said was my favorite album of year was. But the more I listen to it, the more DJ Sprinkles's Midtown 120 Blues, released late 2008 and not heard by me until 2009, has become quite possibly my favorite album of last year. The most intelligent house album, about house music, i have heard, possibly ever? And beautiful, deep lush piano, warm warm beats, not so much for dancing as for inhabiting a mindset where dancing is assumed to already be happening, and instead you can sit there and think about why people would dance in the first place. But that's not fair either, because this is not a cold, cerebral album, it is warmth and caring, soothing the pains and cares of the world. When you're tired on a Monday morning after moving boxes and furniture all weekend (as I am, as I did), this music is pure balm for the mind and body.

I would go on, but I am tired and my ability to write is negligible right now. But get this album. A beautiful house album made with intelligence and insight.

Informational black holes

2009-03-26T09:22:00.001-07:00

The thing about places like Sudan and Somalia or the North-west regions of Pakistan, is that the US and other nations claim that due to their lawlessness and general lack of outside access, they are perfect breading grounds for terrorism, where the ever elusive forces of the worldwide islamist jihad can gather together in secrecy to plot the western worlds demise. But the thing is, this same lawlessness, same lack of access is also used as cover by western nations to perform acts of aggression that they could never get away with in countries with a more developed infrastructure. Case in point, Israel's bombing of a convoy of trucks in Sudan, or any of the recent US drone attacks in pakistan. The same factors that make it hard for Western nations to know what's going on in these regions makes it hard, well, for Western nations to know what's going on in these regions! The Israeli attack occurred about 2 months ago, and it wasn't until a complaint from the Sudanese minister of highways that news of these information slowly leaked into the western world.

Point being that both sides of these conflicts are knowingly using the informational black hole of these regions to perform some very criminal acts.

Capitalism Today!

2009-03-23T15:17:00.001-07:00

So let's try and parse the latest Obama bailout plan. Bad debts, these bloody mortgage back securities and the like, are auctioned off by this program, whatever the hell its called now. And who knows how it's decided which securities get auctioned off and which don't, let's just assume lot's of political back-room influence peddling and, if we're lucky, some outright bribes. Anyway, so private investors are making the bids at this auction, setting the price of these securities through "the magic of the market" so that they get valued somewhere below their face value but above zero. But here's the thing, though they are setting the price, they are not actually footing all the cash to make the purchase. Oh no not at all. They are, in fact, footing 1/14th of the cash, aka ~7.14%. Where does the rest of the cash come from? Well the US Treasury foots another 14th, part of the leftover cash from TARP. The rest of it is covered by miracle of "leverage," a loan guarantee of the remainder of the amount from the FDIC (so essentially, the Federal Reserve Bank).

Now this all works out okay if the these securities never fall apart and mature at par. In fact everyone makes money that way. Hooray! Of course, the fact that the party setting the price of these securities (through the auction) has so little money at risk will likely drive up the prices to unnatural levels, but that's alright, cuz it just mean the banks will get more money from this, right?

But what happens when it all goes tits-up? Well the private investor loses his/her money first, since apparently this whole thing is structured like a CDO, with different tranches at different risk levels, and the private investor get the riskiest tranche. This is supposedly to ensure that the prices investor pay for the securities aren't inflated because the investors are insulated from all the risk. Which is questionable, because in a way they ARE insulated from all the risk, or at least most of it. The Fed has the lion's share of the risk. And that's how it goes, next the Treasury is hit up for cash, and then the Fed, which is really just another arm of the US Gov't. Which means it all ends up in the taxpayers lap, resulting in higher taxes and/or inflation. Especially since the reason why these mortgage backed securities would have defaulted would be because the economy would have continued to decline == less tax revenue for the gov't == no money for them to pay for any new debt.

Long term then, this plan sinks or swims on whether the assets that are these securities are based upon are actually worth what they say they are, or are, in fact, worth much less. Now recall that not long ago I was writing about how the model the mortgage-backed securities were based on assumed unlimited housing price growth as extrapolated from the last ten years-worth of housing boom, and that the housing prices themselves were inflated due to the fantastically shit-storm-creating feedback loop of the securities themselves. So let's just say that the prices may have been a bit skewed towards the high-end.

In the short term, there is also a good chance of fucked-up-ness. These auction will be interesting to see. Because if the banks sell their 'toxic' assets off for less then they are currently valuing them on their books, then they will have lost significant chunks of cash which they will then need to recoup somehow, either from the still largely frozen credit markets, or more likely from the government again. AIG in particular seems to be essentially insolvent, so even the smallest of losses could set of a serious chain reaction.

Really, just nationalize the fucking banks already.

What a complete and utter asshat

2009-03-09T11:39:00.001-07:00

Just another Bush factoid re: how horrendously evil a president he was (from the NYT):

Mr. Bush frequently used signing statements to declare that provisions in the bills he was signing were unconstitutional constraints on executive power, claiming that the laws did not need to be enforced or obeyed as written. The laws he challenged included a torture ban and requirements that Congress be given detailed reports about how the Justice Department was using the counter-terrorism powers in the USA Patriot Act.

Dating back to the 19th century, presidents have occasionally signed a bill while declaring that one or more provisions were unconstitutional. Presidents began doing so more frequently starting with the Reagan administration.
But Mr. Bush broke all records, using signing statements to challenge about 1,200 bill sections over his eight years in office — about twice the number challenged by all previous presidents combined,[my emphasis] according to data compiled by Christopher Kelley, a political science professor at Miami University in Ohio.
Many of Mr. Bush's challenges were based on an aggressive view of the president's power, as commander-in-chief, to take actions he believed necessary to protect national security regardless of what Congress said in federal statutes.

Asshole.

When good intentions really just ain't enough

2009-03-06T10:24:00.001-08:00

Maybe charging the president of Sudan with war crimes wasn't such a great idea after all (via the always on-point lenin's tomb)

damn

2009-03-05T16:58:00.001-08:00

Slipped up on posting again. It's hard damnit, trying to be witty or intelligent. But that's at least part of the goal, to keep writing, keep the ideas flowing see what pops out.

So I guess...speaking of writing I've been reading David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest which is amazingly well written and impressively agile in its ability to jump between narrative styles, points-of-views, dialects and ideas. Yesterday I read an extended riff on telephones and the way people always doodle and only half-pay attention while talking on the phone yet somehow believe that the person on the opposite end of the line is paying them rapt attention, and the consequences therewith that would occur upon the widespread use of videophones. It was impressively conceived and written. And funny. Did I mention the books quite funny?

But...(there had to be a but) it all gets a bit tedious sometimes, the constant long winding witty monologues from desperate stoners or obsessive tennis players, indepth descriptions of quebec separatist movements or other bizarre fixations. Eventually it all starts to collapse a bit under the sheer monotonous weight of the thing; for realz, the book is hardcover size (though softcover) and over a thousand pages. Mostly this is due, for me at least, to a lack of narrative pull to the novel. Most of the reason for continuing to read on is just to see what other inventive situations Wallace thinks up, but the piecemeal, unconnected pick-n-mix style results in a sense that you could just start reading anywhere and not have too different an expereience. It's just more of the same, though it's a pretty good same. I figure at some point in time some over-arching theme might evolve, or some things will happen in succession that will build causally to something else, but right now I'm not seeing it. And it's taken me maybe 2-3 weeks to get 150 pages in and I don't know whether I'll be able to hang on long enough to see it.

The Big O

2009-02-26T08:17:00.001-08:00

So I've known for a while that my opinion on Obama's policies has a distinct ordering, from best to worst:

1. Domestic Policy
2. Political Policy (aka what to do with the republicans)
3. Financial Policy (aka what to do with the banks)
4. Foreign Policy

Actually 2 & 3 could be swapped, I'm not too sure about those. But 1 & 4 are clear: I'm not at all pleased with the continued drone attacks on Pakistan, the escalation of the war in Afghanistan, or the continued broad support of Israel's occupation of Palestine. But his just announced budget proposal is fantastic. Better healthcare, cuts to the military, increased funds for new energy research (and money to beef up the energy grid, which is a 100% necessary precondition for a lot of new energy types), carbon cap-and-trade initiatives, and increased taxes on the wealthy! I agree with every single one of these things. Of course he could go farther, but even these policies are so far removed from the previous administration's agenda one wonders if it's even the same country we're talking about here. Sometimes I am really happy that man is POTUS.

Also: hi Katy!

Mind = blown

2009-02-24T11:18:00.000-08:00

Crucial article on how the financial collapse occurred. The crux of it being that apparently, the model that they were using to calculate the likelihood of defaults in a given mortgage-backed security really did assume that house prices would only ever keep going up! This is because the historical timescale that they were using to predict the likelihood of default only covered the last ten years, exactly the timespan of the housing boom. In other words the housing boom was used to predict the housing boom! That's incredible. And the fuckers knew this or else willfully ignored the warning signs, because they were making too much money selling mortgage-backed securities not to mention the CDS's that were used to model the fucking things in the first place. As you can tell, I'm kind of astounded by this, both by the stupidity of the whole thing and by the fact that this absurd feedback loop entirely makes sense.

Several parts of this relate back to what I was saying a couple posts ago: the power and danger of abstraction, the difficulty of keeping a complex software system stable. Because in one sense, this whole financial meltdown can be seen as a bug in the complex interconnected software system that is the global financial system. The system became too large to be easily understood as a whole; and then Li's equation entered, was quickly integrated to the point of total pervasiveness, but was subject to insufficiently rigorous testing and analysis. I guess, if there's a moral claim to made about where fault resides in this fiasco, it is there, in the lack of rigor and scrutiny that the interlocking system of mortgage-backed securities and CDS's were given. No one wanted to stop the money that was being made from these things. It's almost capitalism's problem in a nutshell! The bankers, the modellers, the ratings agencies and the government regulators were unwilling to see past the massive profits to the massive pitfalls that lay ahead. Goddamn it was greed.

Fuck those fuckers if I lose my job because they couldn't admit to their own goddamn mistakes.

XXVII

2009-02-20T14:55:00.001-08:00

It's my birthday! (he shouts through a large cardboard tube)

Signs that I'm now "of a certain age":
-My cooworker Chad says to me today, "By the time I was 27, I had a wife and kid!"
-Patrick Batemen, the psycho-killer/wall street big-wig played by Christian Bale in American Psycho is the same age as me
-A week ago my friends and I had an extended conversation about hair-loss.
-I have a real adult job and spend more time then I'd like to admit thinking about buying a condo.

The funny thing is you always end up growing older, so I'm sure in a few years I will look back at my concerns as a 27-year old and laugh at my innocence and envy my youth. C'est la vie. You can't really ever come to terms with aging because it isn't a neutral process that you can try to disengage yourself with. It's almost by definition a negative, subtractive process: one year closer to the grave, one year more of wear and tear on your body. All you have to measure against it is learning & wisdom; thankfully the brain works on a slightly longer timescale then the rest of your body, but even it too will begin to disintegrate eventually. And women have it even worse, let there be no doubt. At least we men can look up to people like george clooney who are allowed to grow old largely naturally and still be praised for his salt-and-pepper good looks. Women are done after about 21, if we're to take the pages of Us magazine seriously (which we all do on some level, much to our own horror).

The best we can do is accept the unacceptable because it's innevitable. We grow old, our bodies break down and we die. Sweet! That sounds awesome! :)

Google mapping

2009-02-12T17:14:00.001-08:00

They should make up a name for obsessively scrolling around through google maps checking out sweet places in the satellite view. Cuz it's a real problem of mine, sometimes. Did you know they have the underwater topography as part of it now? It looks really sweet when you scroll out over the ocean and plus it makes it really easy to find ultra-remote random islands in the middle of the pacific ocean and such. So many candidates for the Lost island! Jeez Widmore, it's not that hard to find the island, just use google maps!

Workin' for the Man

2009-02-11T15:14:00.001-08:00

So I work for a bank, right? I like to say I work for a software company owned by a bank, but since it's a wholly owned subsidiary of said bank then really, who am I kidding? I work for a bank, a big bank. A fuckoff big American bank. The kind of bank that gets called up in front the US Congress to explain just what the fuck they think they're doing with all that goddamn money. I'm not gonna name names just to avoid random bad-luck googling (especially given todays Metro front page story about a bus driver fired for keeping a blog), but if you know me you know the bank, and if you don't know me...wait you don't know me and you're reading my blog? Who the fuck are you?

So yeah, the bank thing. It's weird, reading about your company in the news, following random internet people speculating on your company's outlook on Google finance, or for that matter, watching your company's stock plummet or rise on a daily basis. Weird because it's so amazingly far removed from my day-to-day work life, completely detached from my influence, yet at the same time very real in it's influence. News story about layoffs...yeah seen those before...then the guy down the hall get's layed off. He's got two kids and a wife.

Sometimes I read things and it sounds like we've got our fundamentals a lot stronger then other banks (we, our...simple pronoun's and then all of a sudden you're identifying with an abstract legal entity, a bundle of business interests? No weirder than identifying with a sports team or a country, and hey at least these are my employers. The relations pretty direct really, but nonetheless, so easily is my linguistic allegiance bought.) And then other times I look at this whole mess, I see countries across the world scrambling to plug holes in their sinking economies and no two countries are plugging the same holes the same way and I think "all these economic oracles got us in to this mess in the first place, and they're expected to get us out?" The say 09 will be rough but after that it'll get better but most of them also thought 08 would be great and that didn't really turn out so well.

Just as few really understood the complex, layered securities that started this current crash, I don't think anyone has a true grasp one what our current economy has become. Particularly in the financial sector, abstractions have been based on abstractions, then split apart, wagered upon and insured, and then abstracted again. These are the hallmarks of extreme technologization. The wonder of abstractions is that each layer need only understand the layer below it. The weakness is thus that each layer is completely dependant on the assumptions of the layer below, such that if one fails, they all fail. The financials already have a name for this in their catalogue of risks: Systemic Risk. The inevitble stupidity in the face of unanticipated errors by computerized systems is only exacerbated by the difficulty in anticipating errors as systems become increasinlgy complex and interconnected. Computers are only as smart as the people who design them, and right now our world economy is essential a vast interconnected software system written by the highest bidder to feed the howling maw of unending quarterly growth.

I vacillate between confidence in my banks overall stability and horror at the blind mutant beast that is our economy, thrashing wildly while we prod and plead, suckle and suffer.

Today in music

2009-02-04T17:02:00.001-08:00

This thread is cool, and it led me to this excellent thread: techno history from a germanic/continental european history is not something you get a lot of due to the predominance of american and (especially) british music journalists. All they ever want to talk about is detroit/chicago and the bloody "hardcore continuum." Guess Oliver Lieb is on my list of artists to check out.

Also I'd like to hear this

Also also the Fontan, Frak & D. Lissvik stuff on Information. Studio's West Coast being pretty much my favorite album of the last 2-3 years. Speaking of balaeric stuff, I was listening to the A Mountain of One album this morning and thinking to myself that I really need to listen to it more, especially on hung over weekends. It seem particularly apt for such a state of woozy languor.

And thus ends my day in music. Unless I download some tunes when I get home, which could well happen!

ps. About half an hour ago I forgot what letter came after 'v' in the alphabet. Fuck!

More notes to self

2009-01-29T10:10:00.001-08:00

This thread makes me want to check out SOOO much music.

Also it reminded me, very randomly, about Ware records, and specifically the Markus Guentner and Mathias Schaffhäuser albums on there that from back in the early 00's. I have one or two tracks from them and they're great dubby house music. I didn't even realize Guentner had a second album on there. Crazy. I bet it's ace.

Apparently I've decided to start talking about all the music I want to check out here, rather than the music I have checked out, though (obv) I talk about that too. The list of music I'd like to hear is long and this is a positive state of affairs.

The other funny thing about that thread is that it actually spans more-or-less the time that I've been listening to dance music. I guess I started more around 99-00, but stuff from 98 was definitely still current. It's weird...I have the Dom & Roland album...and Surgeon! I remember downloading tracks from him, though I never quite got any of his albums. And Consumed! Man I remember playing that to my friends when I first got into electronic music and they were absolutely appalled. Still one of my top 5 albums of all time, easily. Apparently I've been a music nerd for a while now.

I would add:
Lawrence - s/t (I've always loved Lawrence, glad he's more high-profile these days)
Herbert - Second Hand Sounds (the second cd with all his housier parts on it has always been my favorite thing by him)
...and I'm sur there are others.
Get to work dave!

"he’d always had a tendency to confuse happiness with coma."

2009-01-28T21:05:00.002-08:00

So I read the book The Elementary Particles by Michel Houellebecq the other day (literally, I read it in a day) and it was fantastic. One of the best books I've read in a quite a while, and really quite affecting. Then I learned that a lot of people really don't like Houellebecq, for instance John Updike (who, completely unrelatedly, just died). They seem to regard him as being particularly misanthropic; but it's funny when I read through that John Updike review the quotes that he pulled out were all great, and I smiled at some of them once again (I've read ...Island too, also good). Perhaps this makes me a misanthrope. In one sense it is a very depressing book. It does not try to hide from the realities of life, that you get old and die without ever really achieving much and barely getting a chance to have any decent human relationships or really have much nice happen to you at all. I suppose this is pretty pessimistic; actually I think he's overstating the case a bit. But it's totally refreshing to have someone make no bones about it, no illusions of some sort of spiritual reward at the end of it all. Several reviews mention a likeness to Camus, which makes sense, and also explains why I like Houellebecq so much--Camus is tops. It's a cleansing book, right. Lay things bare so you can see what's really there, take stock, and start again. Beautiful, beautiful stuff. Everyone should read it.

Note to self

2009-01-28T15:17:00.001-08:00

Must get:
Crydamoure Presents Waves (volume 1)
Super Discount 1 & 2 by Etienne DeCrecy
Motorbass - Pansoul

And generally more 90's and early 00's french house. Post prompted by listening to Crydamoure Presents Waves 2.

Also should check out DJ Sneak, even though he isn't french.

bass

2009-01-23T16:28:00.001-08:00

As phil says this mix is ace. I've not paid much attention to dubstep in while--which this isn't. Things got livelier, better synths, more colour, less rigid structures. This is fun stuff, party stuff, though still heavy pon de bass weight. ace

PS> UNCONTROLLABLE URGE TO RUN AWAY FROM WORK RIGHT THIS INSTANT!
fuck fridays!

READ THE POST BELOW

2009-01-16T14:08:00.001-08:00

And do what I say!!! It seriously is that good.

Sebastien Tellier - Kilometer (Aeroplane 'Italo 84' Remix)

2009-01-16T11:30:00.001-08:00

Search. I mean literally, do a google search and you should easily find it for download. It is brilliant! And I have high standards for Aeroplane: they make fucking stunning dance music, consistently, each and every time.

Gaza

2009-01-16T09:18:00.001-08:00

Statement. Add my name to the bottom of that list.

Just another lie

2009-01-13T10:14:00.001-08:00

Completely unrelated to the current horrors making headlines these days, but this is a good reminder of how willing the US government is to knowingly tolerate the targeting of civilians as long as it aligns with their (often rather questionable to begin with) ideological goals. Government support of death-squads and institutionalized murder of innocents? Don't worry about it! They were probably standing next to drug-traffickers anyway.

Afro House<-->UK Funky

2009-01-09T14:28:00.001-08:00

Just downloaded this mix of african house & uk funky (plus other bits). It's great for several reasons:
1. The music's great
2. It has almost all the good african house tracks I know of, from Dr Duda and Dr M-bee, DJ Cleo, and DJ Mujava (almost all downloaded off some dissensus thread last year, prob the same place this guy got them from).
3. In addition to having some great UK Funky, it also neatly demonstrates why I wasn't quite as blown away as some other observers when Funky started to be really noticed in the last half of 08: funky really ain't that much different from a lot of afro/caribean house sounds. The main difference being that funky is made by black youths from london and is therefore the new IT super important and inovative music (fuck an anglophile!). That said I am liking a good chunk of the funky I'm hearing and could easily see myself falling in love with this stuff over the summer. It is definitley summer-time music!

(Final side note: I like how Funky, like Minimal before it, has dispensed with the noun and just gone with the adjective as genre name. I'm looking forward to Speed, Hard, and Juicy coming up in the future...)

Cancel, Abort, Retry?

2009-01-08T22:10:00.001-08:00

Let's go with retry.

My goal this time round is to keep it short, simple and frequent. Not too heavy on the images or the downloads, maybe a link here and there but not much more. The idea being to jot down what's on my mind quickly and move on. (Isn't this what twitter's for? I don't really understand twitter)

Since I'm sure I've lost what minimal audience I had originally this is going to be real shouting into the void-like. But if you shout long enough into the void, the void shouts back right? Right???

A good reason to buy the physical album

2008-01-22T23:13:00.001-08:00

Holy shit I could not believe the price of these Gas cds. I have all these albums!! This is the first time I've ever noticed any of the cds/records I own appreciate in value, especially like this! I feel like a real record collector nerd now :D

Gas - Gas $49.00, £48.90
Gas - Zauberberg £35.00, $99.98, $272.98!!!
Gas - Konigsforst €55.00
Gas - Pop €65.00, $79.97, $125.00

They're are great by the way. Here's one for you:

Gas - Konigsforst 05

Not really returning

2008-01-22T22:08:00.000-08:00

Blog heartbeat rather faint right now...

But nevertheless, I note this, which is some next level shit.

We Shall Return

2008-01-04T16:59:00.001-08:00

I would play all this songs on a field full of alpacas

2007-12-13T11:58:00.000-08:00

Photo from here

Suddenly very relevant song for my life (also catchy as hell) (also, watch out for the scary bit!):

John Maus - Too Much Money

Also, 20JazzFunkGreats has been REALLY good recently, most especially the two tracks in this post and the Aeroplane remix of Coyote in this post. GET EM.

Ewan Pearson This Friday Dec 7 @ Celebrities

2007-12-04T14:27:00.000-08:00

Party alert! Ewan Pearson is DJ'ing this Friday at Celebreties. We should go ya? Not the least because I has a new job, and thus need some celebrating.

Ewan's broadly electro-house, though his sets seem fairly eclectic, with a wide range of house, techno and more pop-ish tunes. He probably won't be head-bashing commercial electro-house nor wimpy plink-plonk minimal--I'm expecting something in between there, though I'm not sure what exactly. I have his Sci.Fi.Hi.Fi. _01 mix from two years back, and it's fairly straight ahead (though excellent) electro-infused tech-house, while his recently released Fabric 35 mix, which I haven't heard, seems to have a much more varied tracklist (it even has some old post-punk on there). Whatever the fuck this all means, by all accounts he's great dj and knows how to rock the party and is not afraid to venture into more vocal poppy territory and mix things up. Hopefully the system at celebreties is up for it (I thought it was kinda flat for mathew jonson, or at least the parts I was sober enough to remember...), but I'm sure it'll be great regardless.

Alright come party! Go here for tickets, youtube clips, bio. (btw, is it wrong that i would actually go to the next THREE friday nights a celebrities? Tiefschwarz, Sharam, MSTRKRFT would all also be dope, though Pearson's definitely my pick of the litter).

Here are two pearson remixes (both from this comp), one loud and upfront, the other more moody:

Freeform Five - Perspex Sex (Ewan Pearson's Hi-NRG Mix)

Ladytron - Evil (Ewan Pearson Radio Edit)

Completely unrelated bonus for those who scrolled down! Rihanna - Don't Stop the Music (The Wideboys Radio Edit)

Other fronts in the war of terror

2007-11-20T10:37:00.000-08:00

(img by Barnaby Furnas)

Time to take advantage of my privileged position as armchair critic to be smug and self-congratulatory in pointing out that I basically called this back in January, but now even the Times agrees with me: Somalia's in real-bad shape, thanks in good part to the invasion of the largely foreign sponsored (mainly US and Ethopia) "transitional government".

United Nations officials now concede that the country was in better shape during the brief reign of Somalia’s Islamist movement last year. “It was more peaceful, and much easier for us to work,” Mr. Laroche said. “The Islamists didn’t cause us any problems.”

Mr. Ould-Abdallah called those six months, which were essentially the only epoch of peace most Somalis have tasted for years, Somalia’s “golden era.”

Yay, the Whitehouse's blatant Islamophobia and singleminded desire to force their needs and fears onto other countries has fucked over yet another poor, desperate nation filled with easily forgettable others! Hooray for democracy and freedom!

Better and better...

2007-11-02T10:40:00.000-07:00

Well I've gotten myself on a bit of kick on various traditional musics from some different places. After last weeks Gamelan discovery, I've been feeling strongly the desire for some different rhythms, a desire which has been temporarily sated by some great traditional music from Madagascar. Here's a couple:

v/a (Madagascar, Pays Antandroy, Cote Sud-Ouest) - Gorodo

Antsan - Jejo Lava, Chant Pour L'arc Musical

These two both come from discs of the French Ocora label (hence the titles), which seems like a real goldmine in terms of interesting different sounds from accross the globe. The first track is just a blindin, sunny-as-hell piece, paced by a quick percusive rhythm, lively guitar (or something similar), and absolutely joyous singing and yelping. Just happy, beautiful music. The second track is apparently just a man playing a single string tied to a stick and singing along. Ha ha you say, but wait untill you hear it. Simple, repetitive and--hauntingly beautiful. The man 's voice is a thing to behold, and he creates a surprisingly engaging and haunting melody with such a simple instrument. The thing that's getting me with this (and thanks to zhao from here for banging on about this, and for the tunes!) is how sonically advanced so much of this sounds (same for the Gamelan). For "traditional" music, its actually much more sonically adventurous and interesting than the vast majority of western music these days, even the more "indie" stuff that's supposed to be pushing the boundaries. Makes ya think....

Okay, and because I'm still listening to house/techno too, here's a pair that have caught my ear this week. The first is by the revived ex-Chain Reaction duo of Substance and Vainqueur, laying down some deep thundering dub techno. The second is some lovely upbeat minimal house featuring everyones favorite sound. warped house piano! Enjoy! :D

Substance & Vainqueur - Libration

Rejected - Let's Go Juno

I did not know it would be this good

2007-10-22T12:03:00.000-07:00

Music For the Gods - The Fahnestock South Sea Expedition Indonesia

Mesmerizing, beautiful stuff. Indonesian Gamelan, which is something I've heard mentioned before but never had a chance to look into--turns out this was a fairly major mistake! This disc is a collection of recordings made by a pair of American brothers lugging recording equipment around Indonesia circia 1940, and apparently stands as one of the best documents of gamelan music as performed by the original masters. Gamelan was "forgotten" for a while before being rescued by various musical ensembles and cultural institutes. Whatever the backstory though, this is some seriously ethereal, stunning music. I've been listening to this a lot since I got it. Very peaceful trance-inducing music. I HIGHLY recommend a download (it's okay to like "world music" people, as terrible as that term is).

A Third Thrilling Thumper

2007-10-17T10:51:00.000-07:00

I noticed my grammar kinda went south in that last post, comma splices ahoy! But these things can't be helped sometimes. Ninjas be all up in my language steez. Nevertheless, here we have Track of the Week, Part The Third:

Aeroplane - Caramellas

Fantastic piano! Swoonsome buildup around the third minute completes disco wundertrack euphoria! OH EMM GEE!! Love it, you check Aeroplane myspace and listen to other lovely tracks, k? Mulchy! Soon come Beardo Mix The Part The Two, me thinks...

A Brace of Balaeric Beauties

2007-10-15T11:17:00.000-07:00

A Mountain Of One - Brown Piano (Remake by Studio)

Peter Visti - Dolly

Start the week off with some slow-grooving beauties. First off Studio's remake of AMO1's newest single is everything you could hope it would be, massive slow-kick bassline and shimmering neo-western guitars unfold over an epic 10-minute span of ghostly disco. Peter Vistsi gives us a re-edit of Dolly Parton's "Jolene" which mostly just steals a guitar lick and the the eponymous chorus re-sung by male vocalist, adds haunted synths, drum kick and handclaps, repeats into krautrock oblivion. Just put these two songs on repeat and drift away...

Turkey Shells Northern Iraq

2007-10-10T10:52:00.000-07:00

Can you imagine the absolute shit storm that would happen if this was Iran shelling Iraq?? Oh double standards. But the Americans have long ignored (condoned?) the Turks campaign against the Kurdish people anyway...

This Week in Imperialism

2007-09-27T10:51:00.000-07:00

This.

I've seen several comments about this "non-binding" US Senate resolution to partition Iraq into semi-autonomous regions based on sectarian lines (Sunni, Shiite, Kurd), and the thing that keeps getting me is, where are the Iraqis? As far as I can tell, it seems like this plan was drawn up entirely in washington, without any consultation with the people that it would actually effect. Historically, this makes perfect sense. The current borders of Iraq were drawn up by the British back when they were running things in the early 20th C. And given the US's current imperial agenda in the middle east, it's really about time they started drawing new lines on the map. But how is there no comment on this at all? Once again, a foreign, Western nation has decided that it is its burden--no, responsibility--to tell a poor, third-world nation how its government should be run and how the country should be structured, without even consulting them. Especially the sectioning along cultural lines, it seems based on such a mean-spirited assumption about the Iraqi people, that they're simply incapable of overcoming cultural differences, and must be kept fenced off from each each other likes dogs. The assumption that the "oriental" is fundamentally irrational and unchangeable, and that we, the enlightened people of the West, in fact understand their culture better than they do, is like prime rule number one of Orientalism. I wonder if the people writing this resolution have ever even heard of the concept, let alone read the book.

(But but, you say, there's a reference to some sort of partitioning in the Iraqi constitution! And the Iraqi constitution is a clear and unambiguous statement of the will of the Iraqi people, created without any outside influence whatsoever! Really! The American's were also totally surprised to find out Iraq had oil after they attacked! They were so surprised!)

Even the phrasing of that article, all the quotes from the various politicians, are all in reference to how this well help the US. So the message is, "Here, run your country like this, because it will make our (already quite easy) life here in America that much easier." And we are surprised that so many in the third world consider the US to be arrogant and hubristic?

Doesn't this blow anyone else's mind???

2007-09-23T12:31:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I have conversations with people who actually think that cops are okay, that they aren't pricks by necessity of their job, that they don't serve as a tool for government intimidation and oppression. for any of you still out there, watch this video of some poor college kid getting tasered for asking john kerry a tough question. yup, those cops sure are playing a vital role in society...

Jesse Rose, Sat Sept 15 @ Lotus Sound Lounge

2007-09-07T11:47:00.000-07:00

Anyone down for this? Should be good ole dance tymes!

Jesse Rose @ Dirtybird WMC 2007

He does a more ruff-n-tuff house sound than a lot of the minimal I post round here. Much more a a UK/US house style compared to the sleeker continental german stuff. Which means MAD DOPE BASSLINES. Mind you he did do one of the recent Body Language mixes for Get Physical, home of Booka Shade, M.A.N.D.Y., etc., so there's certainly a lot of crossover with that scene as well. Anyway, this should be good times. Tix $15. And it's on a Saturday!

Here's a remix of his I just randomly downloaded, which sounds pretty good to me:
Armand Van Helden - Playmate (Jesse Rose Remix)

So yummy! So yummy!

2007-09-04T11:20:00.000-07:00

thanks to woebot for the tip. Though ostensibly a children's program, I think there's a good chance this show was specifically designed for me. How awesome is that song??? I wish all tv was like this (well, this and nature shows).

"Carrots want to go to the party in my tummy??"

Just for the record, I'm going to be singing this song as I eat from here on in: There's a party in my tummy! So yummy! So yummy!

2007-08-22T16:19:00.000-07:00

For whatever reason I was thinking about this snippet of conversation I overheard on wreck beach the other day:

"I was just having this same conversation last weekend when we were camping: never forget your pineapple!"

***

As an addendum to my last post, go here and download Todd Terje's re-edit of Paul Simon's "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" (scroll down to the very bottom). Talk about reclaiming resolutely middle-brow dad-rock!

tempo change

2007-08-21T17:23:00.000-07:00

Okay it's official: Studio's new album West Coast is my favorite album of the year. It brings together a whole slew things I've been digging recently: the slow-mo disco, the balearic rivival dance-rock, the groove-locked krautrock, the dubbed-out post-punk, the long-form dance mystery. This is it. I've been listening to it several times a day since I downloaded it on saturday. If I post it here, will you promise to buy it? At least if you really like it, as much as I do? Cuz there's no way these guys are making a living off of this record, the previous 12"s were in runs of 500, you can bet your ass they have a day job to pay their bills. and yet THIS IS AWESOME. It deserves all our support. I'm ordering it, you bet I am! That's why I'm putting it up on yousendit only for a week, so it's not just a giveaway to random googlers months from now.

studio - west coast (pt 1)
studio - west coast (pt 2)

K, so a couple weeks ago I made a mix of stuff sort of along these lines, balearic dance-rock slow mo disco italo krautrock goodness (balearic is the new buzzword, watch for it--it's a reference to 80's era ibiza, where a much more eclectic dance culture ruled, kinda). I really really like this mix actually, i think its one of the best ones i've made in a while. You might be able to tell this sound has definitely got its grips on the old brain-muscle. It's enticingly free-form too, you can throw in influences from almost wherever you like; just keep the rhythm going, keep the vibe fresh and the rest will follow. Thus I present the second treat of today.

das turtles - the beard mix

01 - Findlay Brown - Losing The Will To Survive (Beyond the Wizards Sleeve Reanimation)
02 - A Mountain Of One - Innocent Line
03 - Quiet Village Project - Can't Be Beat
04 - Rune Lindbaek - Afrika
05 - Harmonia - Notre Dame
06 - A Mountain Of One - Warping of the Clock
07 - Quiet Village Project - Too High To Move
08 - B-Movie - Nowhere Girl (12-inch version)
09 - Yellow Magic Orchestra - Behind the Mask
10 - Talking Drums - Courage
11 - A Mountain Of One - Our Eyes

A couple of comments: before I heard studio, a mountain of one would have been my top nu-balearic group, and I'm still really looking forward to their forthcoming compilation of tunes. The two groups are definitely on the same page though, apparently studio will be remixing AMO1's next single, which I'm pretty hyped for. Anyway, I'm quite excited by these couple of bands (I would also throw Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve in there). I mean they're technicially indie rock (cuz they play something rock-derived and they make independant music) but somehow manages to avoid the absolutely dead sound of the currently omnipresent complacent indie rock milieu. Two points save them, I think: the focus on staying (roughly) within a "dance" sound, and their co-opting of a resolutely uncool populist, "dad rock" sound to make actually quite innovative and interesting music. It creates a very strange tension between its seeming familiarity and unplaceable new-ness. Both Studio and AMO1 invoke some forgotten rock radio classic while never being actually mistakable AS such a thing. They've packed a few too many disparate influence into their sound to fit into any one place perfectly, yet recall many simultaneously. Sure this is problematic, indie has been accused quite justifiably of regressive retro-ism and ironic pastiche, substituting quotation of once great music for creation of their own. Certainly this balearic rivival thing could easily turn in such a direction, but this music seems to be quite without irony; it appears to be a genuine appreciation of a more populist, popist sound. To me, there is genuine mystery and intrigue here, something that doesn't quite fit in my head, tickling a spot that I can't quite reach. And I want more.

The rest of the mix fits more along the beardo-disco axis, which is certainly a related field (prins thomas and todd terje both remixed studio's "life's a beach" and they're pretty much the poster boys, along with lindstromm, for beardo/neo-cosmic disco). I've extolled my love of quiet village project before, and I could have put even more of their tracks on here, but I restrained myself. But the mix has nice slow-tempo feel, moving across what are ostensibly a lot of different genres, yet maintaining an overall cohesiveness. And that Harmonia track comes in like the voice of Zeus or something, I'm really proud of that one. Also, spot the Toto re-edit!

N E WAY, i hope you like it. I do.

Post-83 Guitars!

2007-08-18T17:02:00.000-07:00

Because I enjoy making ridiculous sweeping generalizations, I made a claim a couple weeks ago while out drinking with folks that there hasen't been any good guitar-based music since '83, except in isolated pockets. Well here is an example of some post-'83 guitar-based music that I like; in fact, I'm currently totally obsessed with this track.

Studio - West Side

It's modern, hip guitar-y music, but it isn't crappy indie-rock nor is it even crappier fifth-generation grunge retreads, mall-punk emo or (worst of all) jack johnson. No, it's a couple of swedes making music that sounds like it should have been an extended album track on some stoned 70's prog rock band. I love it. I've made a mix with some more tunes like this on it that i'll probably post soon, but this track is even better. maybe.

Get out, stupid!

2007-07-23T11:34:00.000-07:00

Lenin on the latest numbers from Iraq:

The monthly figures for June showed the highest daily number of attacks on US troops for four years, confirming an upward trend that has been happening for the last four years. The figures also confirm an encouraging downward trend in attacks on civilians which, at any rate, still constitute a minority of such attacks: roughly 70% of attacks are directed at coalition forces, 16% at the Iraqi security forces, and 14% on civilians.

I've said this before, and I'll say it again: the number one problem in Iraq is the presence of American troops. In fact I totally called this way back in January. The most embarrassing thing for Bush and Co. is that when they finally pull out (they will won't they? am I allowed to hope that it might actually occur, that the horror in Iraq might actually end one day?), there won't be chaos and civil war, but a bunch of parties who are sick and tired of dying, and want to live peaceful lives. I'm not saying that'll it'll be heaven on earth or anything, but I'd give good odds on an America-less Iraq being far more peaceful than Iraq in its current state. Dreams of a better future...

Highly Caffeinated Post

2007-07-04T12:43:00.000-07:00

Go to this page, and CURSE EVERYONE OF THESE WRITERS except (surprisingly enough) the two from Q and the NME. Why? Because these IDIOTS have made me sleep on Daft Punk's Discovery for over SIX GODDAMN YEARS. What was I thinking? The comment section gets it's completely right, so bloody underrated, so wonderful! Just joyful dance music. And perfect for summer! Couldn't be happier listening to this right now.

Actually I've heard several critics who I highly respect describe Discovery as Daft Punk's "masterpiece" but it was just one of those albums I never got around to checking out, and I know at the time it was put out I definitely was swayed by the largely negative press it got. Actually, it's a bit odd, but it seems like some serious revisionism is going on here. Look at the pitchfork piece (written by no less a hack than pitchfork head Ryan Schrieber--someone should throw this terrible, rockist review into his smug indie-loving face). But anyway, if you look near the bottom of the page there's a link to their review of Daft Punk's last album, Human After All, which refers to the "exquisite, joyous Discovery." Kinda funny eh? But I mean, even the Onion got it wrong, and they're usually half-decent. It's interesting how group-think can affect critics sometimes, and then affect them in reverse again.

So yeah, I downloaded this last night (along with a bunch of Aaliyah and En Vogue...ummm a slightly odd stage in my musical tastes yes, but good fun nonetheless. I absolutely love Aaliyah. If this goes on much longer I'm going to have to post about her too), and I'll post the whole thing here, cuz what the hell why not. But yeah, what got me back on the daft punk front was actually this youtube clip of some girl dancing her ass off to "harder, better, faster, stronger" which made me realize how great that song was. That's another thing that I've been doing a lot of recently, oddly enough, is checking out various youtube clips of different sweet dances. There's tons of ones of kids dancing to baltimore club or detroit ghettotech, and the comments sections are filled with heated battles about d-town vs b'more and who has the dopest moves. Ah internet, you keep things fresh.

Daft Punk - Discovery

Fuck I was totally starting to do work this morning and then got sidetracked writing about daft punk! blast! Thesis oh so close to done. Mind clearly deteriorating into strange state of constant flux.

Beware The Bobcat!

2007-06-24T18:44:00.000-07:00

A while back the bobcat asked me to make him some techno mixes, so I burned him a couple of random dj mixes I had plus I made him a compilation of random tracks I thought he might like. I think it turned out really well, it's all very upbeat stuff, some a bit older, some brand new, all from within the last decade. It's actually a pretty good cross section of 4/4 dance-music stuff I've been into over the last few years, with the criteria of being listenable whilst driving, since that's where the bobcat is oft to be found.

But would you believe Bobcat found this mix "a bit weird"?? Pshaw! The man doesn't know what he's missing out on. I've laid mad music-hipster cred on this mix! Of course Bobby also really likes the new album by the rapper from Linkin Park, so there you go. Just ain't no accounting for the tastes of the wild bobcat.

Download The Bobcat Mix

Tracklisting:
1. Gregor Tresher - Neon
2. I-F - Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass
3. The Knife - Like A Pen (Stephan Bodzin Mix)
4. Octave One - Blackwater (Full Strings Instrumental Mix)
5. Tracy Thorn - It's All True (Martin Buttrich Remix)
6. Kaito - Awakenings
7. Texas - What About Us (Jacques Lu Cont Main Mix)
8. Talking Drums - Courage
9. Quiet Village Project - Can't Be Beat

Commentary:

1. Gregor Tresher - Neon Some balls-out, hard hitting electro-house to get the bobcat's attention, right from the get go.

2. I-F - Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass One of the greatest electro tunes to come out this decade. Simultaneously evil and hilarious and catchy as hell. What else would space invaders be doing?? (aside from invading)

3. The Knife - Like A Pen (Stephan Bodzin Mix) I'm getting a bit confused by this now, as there's a Thomas Schumacher dub of this track listed on Discogs with additional production from Stephan Bodzin, but it's about 2 minutes shorter than this track. But I haven't heard that version yet. So I'm not really sure what this track is, but I do know I like it, as I've said before elsewheres.

4. Octave One - Blackwater (Full Strings Instrumental Mix) Some classic, string-led, Detroit bizzness. The vocal mix of this is dire, though.

5. Tracy Thorn - It's All True (Martin Buttrich Remix) Found from that Dixon podcast I posted a while back. So deep. Real shivers-up-the spine stuff. (Also, hohohoh, buttrich).

6. Kaito - Awakenings One of my all time fave Kaito tracks, from way back in '02. The bassline on this track is just huge, and coupled with those synth arpeggios, it's just bloody cloud trance heaven.

7. Texas - What About Us (Jacques Lu Cont Main Mix) Continuing on the trancey vein, this is possible the tranciest Lu Cont mix I've yet heard, which really is saying something.

8. Talking Drums - Courage Then I tagged on some stuff from the beardo/cosmic disco front, cuz I've been digging that too. This is some early 80's disco/new-wave gem: plenty of synthesizers plus lyrics encouraging you to fight the revolution? I'm there! I think I should make this my theme song.

9. Quiet Village Project - Can't Be Beat And a slow closer. I love love love Quiet Village Project, I think they're doing something really interesting with this whole slowed-down, stoner disco thing. A very trippy, head nodding track (cuz we all know the bobcat loves the catnip). I was really suprised to find out Matt Edwards, who also records as Radio Slave, is half of QVP. That guy is on fire on a whole bunch of different fronts.

So the mix goes from electro-house to minimal to detroit to neo deep house to neo trance to space disco. Quite the journey! Hope you like it.

"Because flesh is weak, the forms break down, and cannot last forever"

2007-06-12T20:00:00.000-07:00

Because I love you all, here are two amazing tracks. Shackleton's "Blood On My Hands," pretty much the most gut-wrenchingly mournful dubstep track ever made. And Ricardo Villalobos' epic 18 minute remix, stretching it out into a near infinite plateau of whispering echoes and haunted warmth. And for once the lyrics in a dubstep/techno/whatever song don't disappoint. For god's sake it's actually about 9/11 (at least, one would think) and approaches it with more sophistication and subtlety than the vast majority of facile media commentary that we are supposed to interpret as "compassionate"...

Shackleton - Blood On My Hands

Shackleton - Blood On My Hands (Ricardo Villalobos' Apocalypso Now Mix)

2007-06-05T19:56:00.001-07:00

I was upping this carl craig remix for dano, and then I started upping a couple other tracks just for fun, and then I decided I might as well post 'em here. So:

Theo Parish - Falling Up (Carl Craig remix)

Pom Pom - Pom Pom 29 A

Misstress Barbara - Barcelona (Original Mix)

Pantha Du Prince - Florac

That CC remix is a total anthem, definitely his biggest remix from last year. The other tunes all generally fall under the "minimal" tag, though they all actually tend towards a bit more upbeat, light and melodic sound. I actually really like them all. Download!

Music lovers friday

2007-06-01T11:42:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I posted a bunch of tunes. So here what I've been feeling for a minute:

Krautrock!!!

Massive influx of krautrock: here's a couple gems

Faust - It's A Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl [bluesy piano and drum lock-groove + plus interlacing guitars, organs, vocals = genius!]

Harmonia - Notre Dame [the opening minute and of this is just jaw-dropping]

Favorite tune off the new Avril Lavigne. Starts a bit generic pop-punk, but man, that is a high-powered chorus!

Avril Lavigne - Runaway

"Bombastic" electro tune ripped from last years CBS (Cybernetic Broadcasting System, natch) top 100

Fockewulf 190 - Gitano

Go here and download Gregor Tresher - A Thousand Nights for some serious slow-build euphoric techno.

Go here and download the Sebo K resident advisor podcast for what one commentator described as "pretty much the bible for neo deep house/minimal"

Oh ya! And what's turning out to be my favorite album of '07 so far, Stars Of The Lid and their refinement of the decline, just a stunningly beautiful album, so warm and enveloping. The sound of warm slow summer evenings, still and peaceful (or at least, that's when I've been listening to it). This has been my "recharge" music for the last couple of weeks, when things were getting just a bit too crazy and stressful. I could pick almost any tune from it, but I'll choose this one:

Stars Of The Lid - A Meaningful Moment Through A Meaning(less) Process

It's summer, it's warm, and June 2007 is looking like a motherfucking COLOSUSS. I wish you all the best.

2007-05-25T13:25:00.000-07:00

yeah that's right you heard me

Short first impressions...

2007-05-22T16:33:00.000-07:00

...on 3 recently downloaded (and only partially listened to) albums:

Battles - Mirrored: Finally some indie-ish rock I might like! Sigh...too complex rhythmically to be hypnotic, not riff-y enough to be catchy. I support it in theory though.

Hilary Duff - Dignity: Terrible title, disapointing production. A couple good'uns though.

Avril Lavigne - The Best Damn Thing: Well named! Summertime joy :)

Avril wins hands down.

MUST GO.

2007-05-17T11:01:00.000-07:00

Why the hell didn't I see this before??? Booka Shade are maybe top 3 on my all-time list of people I want to see in concert but haven't. Here's a link to their essential mix from last year, the first hour of which is them playing live. Also, here's a mashup of "mandarine girl" with a brandy's "what about us" that's pretty much one of the greatest pieces of music ever. I AM SO FUCKING HYPED FOR THIS.

2007-05-14T15:55:00.000-07:00

This song is also making me very happy right now. Might I make a request? Do you know anything about funk, soul and/or r&b? Particularly stuff from the 60's & 70's. If you do, please recommend me some, I want to listen to way more of this stuff. I've seriously listened to this song 5 times in a row now. I got it off some random collection of chicago soul. WANT MORE!

peace.

(ps. boo data analysis. yay internet!)

2007-05-14T13:16:00.000-07:00

I am happy because the preliminary data analysis from my experiment last week looks like it's going to be significant. Yippee!

I'm also happy because this Lindstrom & Prins Thomas essential mix is pretty damn great so far. S P A C E D I S C O .

(check out the rest of that site too: essential mix goldmine!)

3 Things

2007-05-09T11:12:00.000-07:00

I went to Berlin and didn't go to Berghain/Panoramabar and I've been kicking myself for it ever since

This really makes me want to watch Half Nelson again, because it was a pretty good movie the first time around.

I don't know if this really is going to be an anthem, but it's excellent anyway and you should download it.

Having just moved, and now shifting into heavy get-the-mutherfucking-thesis-done mode I may not be posting too much 'round here for the next couple of months. but i'll be alive somewhere, doing something.

On Virginia Tech...

2007-04-17T10:59:00.000-07:00

read this; a very insightful take on the motivation behind such murders. I think this question (posed to the author that is being interviewed) really hits it:

You demonstrate that there is absolutely zero accuracy in the psychological profiles that "experts" have assembled to predict what kind of young student might start another Columbine, and you instead advocate profiling schools that could prompt a deadly massacre.

Maybe I'll expand on some things I've been thinking about this later, but I want to get some stuff down quickly while that article still has me fired up.

Tess, my roommate, said yesterday "I don't understand how anyone could do that." But I disagree, we all can understand far too easily, I think that's what makes these events so horrifying. As the author says in the above article, in a lot of ways it's all too easy to understand and sympathize; you just pick up the gun and shoot. We've seen it a million times on tv and in movies, done it hundred times from video games to water guns...hell, shooting people is fun! The only thing is the switch, what makes them decide to do it. To loose connection to the reality that these are people, who have clearly not done enough to you to deserve such cruelty.

Again, as the article discusses, who does these things? White people, middle class people, males, "normal" people, who "rationally" set about murdering as many people as possible (edit: well yeah the Virginia Tech shooter was of Korean descent, but the rest still applies). I think it's a) the disconnect from reality that comes from living a sheltered life where the only danger you ever see in life is simulated on some screen and b) the helplessness and powerlessness often felt by people in such a situation, the feeling that nothing you can do (not voting, not protesting, nothing) can really make a difference on all the wrongs we see in the world.

Lastly, I think if you read this article by Jean Baudrillard who discusses the motivations behind terrorism as the response of people who have been given so much, but are unable to give anything in return (not, as we tend to think, the response of a people who have had everything taken from them), I think you can draw a clear parallel to the possible motivations behind such attacks the as Virginia Tech shootings. The actions of a person humiliated by all that is given to him, unable to respond to an impersonal system, they make a category mistake and decide that is the people themselves that are the enemy, rather than the system in which they exist.

****

Hmm, all this could be probably be taken a whole bunch of ways that I don't intend, and much of it is still only half thought out...hope no one takes offence...just trying to say something a little more subtle than "guns are bad"

Oh house music

2007-04-10T13:43:00.000-07:00

Stunning, soulful house mix here from Dixon. So lush and warm. Lovit.

Tracklist:
01. Amp Fiddler - Faith (Jazzanova Remix)
02. Alice Smith - Love Endeavor (Maurice Fulton Remix)
03. Kelis - 80s Joint
04. Owusu & Hannibal - Lonnies Secret
05. Kathy Diamond - Album Track 13
06. Paul Randolph - Believer (Jazzanova Remix)
07. Demba - Louder (Henrik Schwarz Main Mix)
08. Martin Landsky - Let Me Dance (Sebo K Remix)
09. Telepopmusic - Love Can Damage Your Health (Ferrer Remix)
10. Tracey Horn - It's All True (Martin Butrich Remix)
11. Mattew Herbert - Moving Like A Train (Smith n Hack Remix)

[I think I need to do more short posts, otherwise I'll never update this damn thing. So here it goes.]

Ultimate procrastination

2007-03-28T13:51:00.000-07:00

This site is the single greatest collection of stupid photos of cats ever. I have wasted SO MUCH TIME looking at them. Why are picutres of cats with poorly-spelt caps-locked captions so damn hilarious? You tell me, internet, you tell me.

Anyway, here are some of my faves, just from this latest round of browsing through them (I've been meaning to post this site for a while). Please feel free to waste a good portion of your life looking through them all. LOLZ

"laser hotness"

2007-03-27T10:05:00.000-07:00

So I have criminally been missing out on 20 Jazz Funk Greats an excellent mp3 blog that I had seen mentioned in a few places but had never checked out because of the alignment of venus in the fourth quadrant or something. Their focus seems to be more on the beardo-disco (aka the kosmiche/space/italo/kraut/prog/disco/edits scene) which, despite me giving it a rather ridiculous name right there, I don't know a heck of a lot about, except that involves finding lots of old, pseudo-disco tracks and playing it alongside some new-school shit like quiet village project or prins thomas remixes. Y'know!

Okay, so ignore that crazy talk: download this. The mix at the bottom of the post is mostly italodisco and I've pumping it the last few days because it is catchyX1000+8!! Italodisco is just more euro and a bit odder (cuz of them italians) version of disco, with some of the best use of synthesizers ever (aka, the above mentioned "laser hotness"). Do you dislike laser hotness? What are you, some inert lump of ore deposits that needs LASERING?!!?!?

Tearjerker techno is not an oxymoron!!

2007-03-17T14:28:00.000-07:00

Firstly let me say I'm thrilled janssen has decided to come out of the woodworks and pick a few fights in the comment sections. As you may or may not have figured out, I'm desperate for some intelligent conversation 'round here! Debate me! Or do you all just think I'm totally right about everything?

Second: nicole yesterday told me that the phrase "tearjerker techno" is an oxymoron, to which I point to this thread and even more importantly to this song, which I see has already been added to the list on above thread:

pantha du prince - saturn strobe

absolutely heartrending. I don't know why I still have to try and convince people that techno can be warm or emotional, but if this doesn't convince you, than I question whether you actually have any emotions at all, and aren't some sort of heartless robot killing machine sent here from the future to destroy the human race. No destroying the human race! Anyway, this track is just stunning. I'm absolutely obsessed with it right now.

Lastly: here's a reason why the "whishlist" feature on soulseek is excellent. In my first real post on this blog, way back in july of last year, i posted a youtube video of this weirdo italopop video from the late 70s, which I thought was damn catchy. Anyway, I entered the track into my wishlist on soulseek and promptly forgot about that for a good long while. But then the other day as I was downloading some tunes, the wishlist thing pops up with a returned search result for this very song, and I, not really even remembering what the hell it was, but trusting the judgement of my past self, downloaded it, and lo and behold, it is indeed a great track. So here it is for all y'alls enjoyment:

franco battiato - l'era del cinghiale bianco

68%

2007-03-15T10:56:00.000-07:00

(click for full view)

I really should be working right now, but I just want to point this out real quick before I forget.

68%. That's the percentage of the total attacks in Iraq directed against coalition forces, according to the latest US Gov't report on Iraq, covering the last quarter of 2006 (see also lenin's commentary). Just remember that number the next time you hear about civil war in Iraq, and how they need MORE troops, else Iraq descend into chaos.

You remove the troops, you remove 68% of the attacks. Simple as that. The US occupying force is still, by far, the most damaging problem in Iraq right now. Plain and simple.

Post of Questionable Legality

2007-03-11T16:12:00.000-07:00

...but undoubtable awesomeness.

I like to listen to music in my spare time. Here are some things I love

This post has the following sections, visit those you please:

great techno (yousendit only! get it while it's HOT)
albums (electronic version)
albums (folk rock version)
albums (krautrock version)

great techno

First off, we've got both sides of a release from what is apparently the new "it" label, Liebe Detail. Sherburne's been bigging it up in his techno column for pitchfork, and it's getting name dropped all over the place, and what do ya know? Turns out it kicks ass! The matthias meyer track is absolute gigantic techno monster, the ndru track slinky schaffel mood music. Keep tabs on this
matthias meyer - reichenbach
ndru - a pony named clipklop

Best track from that gustavo lamas 12" i blogged about below. Absolutely blissful techno, teeming with warmth. perfect first-thing-in the morning track
gustavo lamas - jovenes

I went on a bit of a binge downloading all sorts of remixes from Hot Chip's last album. Here are a few of my favorites.
hot chip - (just like we) breakdown (booka shade vocal mix)
hot chip - colours (jeff samuel rmx) [love the descending bassline on this one!]
hot chip - boy from school (cosmic sandwich remix) [deep. house.]

Lovely new one on Kompakt--pretty damn big-room and trancey, which is, what? TEH GREBT
Aril Brikha - Winter

This one's kinda old, but i realized i never posted it, and i LOVE it. Absolutely evil. Released on Richie Hawtin's M_nus imprint, and is very reminiscent of plastikman at his best.
heartthrob - baby kate

the following two from the excellent blog House is a Feeling
Faze Action - In the trees (carl craig mix)
H.O.S.H - suestoff

albums (electronic version)

Well, Sherburne listed this as his favorite album of '06, so I had to check it out. Turns out it's one of those back-and-forth, record then remix then record some more deals, going back and forth between burnt friedman and a jazz group called flanger. A nice change of pace for me this one, pretty mellow, but with a good beat to it--not crappy easy-listening jazz but nice jazz (me once again wishing I new more about jazz). I think it gets stronger as the album progresses. Moody, organic...but then you notice, wtf, every track is exactly 5:00 long??? Awesome
root 70 - heaps dub

Before Hot Chip's breakout '06 release, there was the '04 first album. A little more lo-fi, a bit more low-key, and a lot weirder lyrically (those "fey white-boy copping hardcore hip-hop lingo" lyrics are far more in effect), it's still just as charming and fun to listen to. I've decided I really rate Hot Chip highly right now, I think they're one of the best things going these days. (plus i threw in one bonus track, "ABC," that was on the US release, das is also gute)
hot chip - coming on strong

albums (folk rock version)

If you liked that track "Tam Lin" I posted a while back, you'll like this. 1969 combination of psychedelic rock, english folk and american blues produces solid, catchy, epic, beautiful LP. And Sandy Denny! Apparently Denny left fairport convention not too long after this album, and I don't seem myself investigating that period of the band any time soon. Sandy Denny is the bees knees.
fairport convention - unhalfbricking

albums (krautrock version)

I really like both Tago Mago and Ege Bayami, so I don't know what took me so long to get to Future Days, but it turns out I like it too. Mark me down as predictable I guess. Though I don't think it hits the highlights of say "Paperhouse" (which i just posted below), it may actually be the most consistently enjoyable Can album. Sometimes all the weirdo-acid-freakout stuff can get a bit tiring, and thankfully they seem to keep it on a tighter leash for this album, concentrating more on the groove. the groove!
can - future days

I like kraftwerk, but was curiously always a bit underwhelmed by them, considering all the praise heaped on them as "the godfathers of techno" and all that. Wasn't really all that caught up by their live double-cd they put out a while back, even though everyone else seem to love it. But this! This i like a whole lot. Lock in the motorik beat, cold teutonic vocals, occasional synthesized string, and I'm in! Connection to krautrock a lot clearer too, I would say. Seems the old Kraftwerk is where it's at, both of these albums are just great. [NOTE: my roommates (well, matt and russ) just told me to shut my door cuz they couldn't handle the kraftwerk I was pumping. philistines! go listen to some 10th generation watered-down mall-punk]
kraftwerk - trans europe express
kraftwerk - autobahn (yousendit link only!)

I actually downloaded this album by accident when i was trying to get the soundtrack to Aguirre, but it turned out to be a great find. I was kind of right anyway, given that half the album is comprised of tracks from the Aguirre soundtrack, but the other half has two other long moody tracks on it from somewhere else in the popol vuh back catalogue. Basically just 3 long (~20min) tracks plus the title track from Aguirre (only six minutes, psssh!), I think this is, again, the most consistently enjoyable Vuh album I've heard (lots of "consitently enjoyable" albums these days it seems. hence the full-album posting). The other track from the Aguirre soundtrack is a long, quiet piano piece, really quite beautiful, while the other two tracks are a bit more freeform, otherworldly ambience, but done with enough awareness of melody and rhythm to really create engrossing and hypnotic atmospheres. Quite varied, and highly enjoyable, this one.
popol vuh - gardens of the pharao / aguirre

Well, after a little poking around, looks like really, it's a combined release of these two albums (great covers!)

Lastly! Have you people heard avril lavigne's new single, "Girlfriend"? She's gone all girly dance-rock! Outstanding! Check it out, she's even doing choreographed dance moves...the video's kinda mean though isn't it? Oh well...

Paperhouse? Oh yeah!

2007-03-06T16:02:00.001-08:00

Feeling the urge to post a whole bunch of music...i've been all over the place recently, lot's of good things. But for now here is the question: "paperhouse" or "oh yeah"? 1st and 3rd track's off of Can's classic Tago Mago. Similar length, somewhat similar structure, alternating between more melodic periods and more up-beat sections driven by that drum beat (oh god I love the drumming in Can. It is all about the drumming in Can. Same with Neu! actually, i really need to post tracks by them too, they're awesome), and all with damo suzuki madly singing god-knows-what over top.

So which is the winner? I think paperhouse is a little more melodic, oh yeah a bit more drum-driven. But I can't decide, they are both awesome. Really feeling the krautrock these days. Why is all the music I listen to so german?? (don't answer that)

Can - Paperhouse

Can - Oh Yeah

(ps. sorry the tracks are .ogg files, i just ripped them to my hardrive here at school and linux does that by defualt (stupid, worthless linux!), but winamp has no prob playing them. don't know about itunes/ipod though).

Time for class

2007-02-24T16:59:00.000-08:00

Okay, after all this blog silliness, we'll get to the serious post for the day. And before you ask, yes I have too much time on my hands, and am a massive nerd. I'm surprised you had to ask, really.

Alright this story starts with this article, entitled "Army of Altruists" by David Graeber, originally published in Harper's, though thankfully some kind blogger has decided to transcribe the thing for us lazy Interneteers. The first half of the article is kinda crap, as the author attempts quite unconvincingly to argue that altruism only appears as a flip side to egoism, and both of these only as a consequent of "the market." I'm not going to bother critiquing it, cuz it's pretty self-evidently crap, and it's not really what I want to talk about.

The interesting part of this article comes towards the end, where he begins to discuss the options available to people in the US if they feel the need to selflessly expend their efforts on altruistic causes. The crux of Graeber's argument is that more and more, volunteering is an exclusively middle-class activity, and that for the poorer working-class their options are restricted to either joining a church, or joining the military. He argues that this is, in part, an explanation for the Republican's strength in the working class, and how a party that represents, in truth, the richest of the rich, can have such a strong appeal amongst those most strongly affected by the inequities of wealth the Republican's are working so hard to extend. So:

Why do working-class Bush voters tend to resent intellectuals more than they do the rich? It seems to me that the answer is simple. They can imagine a scenario in which they might become rich but cannot possibly imagine one in which they, or any of their children, would become members of the intelligentsia. If you think about it, this is not an unreasonable assessment. A mechanic from Nebraska knows it is highly unlikely that his son or daughter will ever become an Enron executive. But it is possible. There is virtually no chance, however, that his child, no matter how talented, will ever become an international human-rights lawyer or a drama critic for the New York Times. Here we need to remember not just the changes in higher education but also the role of unpaid, or effectively unpaid, internships. It has become a fact of life in the United States that if one chooses a career for any reason other than the salary, for the first year or two one will not be paid. This is certainly true if one wishes to be involved in altruistic pursuits: say, to join the world of charities, or NGOs, or to become a political activist. But it is equally true if one wants to pursue values like Beauty or Truth: to become part of the world of books, or the art world, or an investigative reporter. The custom effectively seals off such a career for any poor student who actually does attain a liberal arts education. Such structures of exclusion had always existed, of course, especially at the top, but in recent decades fences have become fortresses.

If that mechanic’s daughter wishes to pursue something higher, more noble, for a career, what options does she really have? Likely just two: She can seek employment at her local church, which is hard to get. Or she can join the army.

So essentially the Republicans represent the few remaining avenues for altruism in the working-class: the church, the military, and capitalist success. Whereas the Democrats, with a university system saturated with their own scions, proffer their virtue as the proper aim of any truly beneficent citizen while ignoring the unbalanced conditions that make their altruism possible.

There are flaws in this argument. For one, universities are filled with many Republicans, conservatives, and avowed capitalists. Second, it seemingly ignores the rich history of working-class based social movements that succeeded quite well without a large university involvement (for example, much of the black civil-rights movement, though there was a strong church involvement).

But what I do like about this argument is that it does make a claim for all of us having the urge to do good with our lives, to attain purpose and meaning through devotion to a cause we feel is bigger than ourselves. It is only the opportunities open to us that cause differences in our behaviour, and it is the failure to recognize this that has led to the left's alienation of the working-class, making us appear sanctimonious, rather than compassionate.

On the other hand, isn't this the same as the Republican/Capitalist assertion that the reason the poor/blacks/mexicans/etc aren't making more money and moving up the social ladder is because they simply aren't working hard enough? This claims misses the same structural forces that mean that just "working hard" will never be enough: the institutional racism & sexism, the lack of access to education, the continued entrenchment of the laws and values that made the rich rich in the first place. Why exactly is it that the working-class can still imagine miraculously getting rich, and not moving into the middle-class intelligentsia? Is this just the continued power of the "American Dream?" Or are we just putting words in to the working-classes mouth again, patronizing as always. In fact, dealing with "the working-class" like they were one monolithic entity is pretty damn bullshit and patronizing in the first place. But hell, I've been doing that for the middle-class as well, and sometimes it just useful/interesting/fun to make broad generalizations, isn't it? :)

Alright, well I've swung back and forth on this enough times, and have successfully blown a whole afternoon writing bullshit for the old blog, so I'd better quit before I go nuts.

Thus ends our saturday afternoon blogstravaganza! Hope y'all enjoyed it. Oh yeah, and would it kill you people to post a commment every now and then??? (dano excepted, of course...)

OMG trip down memory lane like a motherfucker!!!

2007-02-24T15:45:00.000-08:00

DuckTales

The motherfucking Gummi Bears!!!

TaleSpin

Darkwing Duck

Chip 'n' Dale Rescue Rangers

HAHAHAHA oh man seriously you guys, you have to listen to all of these, because they are awesome, and I know you watched all these shows as a kid. Now the burning question is, who had the best opening theme? I'm finding myself quite partial to the Darkwing duck theme, though that was really when my interest in these disney cartoons started to wane. Also special mention goes to the gummi bears because i fucking loved that show, and "ch-ch-chip and dale, rescue rangers!" cuz i totally have that stuck in my head now.

Please respond with your votes!!

junior boys - in the morning + goddard??

2007-02-24T15:29:00.000-08:00

Okay, I really love this. Who wants to learn this dance with me? (thanks to IT for the link)

(ps. i think that girl's look is HOT. actually everyone in that film is very well dressed ;) more please! )

Rainy Saturday afternoon Blogstravaganza!

2007-02-24T15:18:00.000-08:00

I just bought this record for 5 bucks and it is 100% awesome. Retro Kompakt excellence. I will try to search out the mp3s for it, or you could always just buy them from here. Yay record shopping!

I also bought this, which I was surprised I had heard nothing about, given it's two artists, and the quality of both sides.

Lastly, I picked up, for the hell of it, a deluxe, 180 gram vinyl edition of this

which is good, but not quite as good (in terms of early Tangerine Dream-ness) as this

which i picked up a while ago

RRRRRRRRALF!!!

2007-02-20T13:31:00.000-08:00

Omylord! Our old pal Ralf from the Long Beach Surf Shop has a blog! That is just great.

Big up all the Tofino surfing crew.

DRUNK POST

2007-02-18T01:49:00.000-08:00

R U DOUBLE DOUBLE F
AIN'T NO OTHER CREW THAT CAN TEST
S Q W A D
RUFF SQWAD, RAPID WE'RE SO AGGY

this is why god made music. fuck i love ruff sqwad.

ruff sqwad - r u double f

The Wrath of the Jungle

2007-02-12T21:29:00.000-08:00

Popol Vuh - Aguirre I

Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (The Wrath of God), took a couple viewings before its quality truly became clear. It's director, Werner Herzog, comes from a different type of film making, with a different set of priorities and values. I don't really know enough about cinema to say that it is a particularly avant-garde piece of film, but I think it's safe to say that it definitely more of an "art house" movie. This is not to say that it's just a bunch of actors sitting around drinking coffee and discussing their love lives, or whatever stereotype of an art house film you happen to have in your heads. No, when watching these actors careening down some river in the middle of the Amazon rain forest on crudely built raft of logs, what you actually get is a sense of physical location and danger of place like no other movie I have seen. Perhaps it has something to do with knowing the back story, knowing the movie was filmed with a core crew of only eight, plus actors, in 1971, in the Peruvian jungle, but the palpable sense of isolation is pervasive throughout the film. Purporting to tell the tale of band of Spanish explorers in the 1500s searching for the mythical golden city of El Dorado, Aguirre creates the feeling of being far, far away from civilization, surrounded by an immense and impenetrable jungle--a feeling one imagines actual Spanish explorers must have felt quite strongly during their own adventures.

Interestingly, I just caught part of Apocalypse Now on TV and was struck by how much less present the jungle felt in that movie, even though both films were shot on location, in Peru and the Philippines respectively, and both films deal with similar themes of the descent of humanity as it's faced with nature's implacable disregard. Somehow, in Aguirre, the jungle is just there as a force, throughout the film, making Klaus Kinski's deterioration in to madness as the titular Don Lope de Aguirre seem both appropriate and terrifying.

But why did this movie not sit well with me right away? Well as I said, this is not a Hollywood movie, it's techniques and goals are distinctly different, and even though I could see these things clearly, I think it took me a while to settle in to them and feel comfortable. A convenient analogy is with the soundtrack itself, by Popol Vuh, a much respected Krautrock band from the time, sitting somewhere between Tangerine Dream, Can, and Ash Ra Temple (see above track for an example). It's really interesting to me that a guy like Herzog would find himself associated with the krautrock scene (apparently he actually played soccer with Vuh's Florian Fricke!), as both seem to be working within a strange seam in between pop and the avant-garde. Krautrock takes some of the melodic flourishes of pop music, specifically the North American and British rock of the 60's that preceded it, but adds in to them a willingness to experiment, to deal with expanded palates of sound. Herzog similarly expands upon traditional narative techniques, spending long periods studying the jungle and the river with his camera, adding depth and atmospher to the work, while at the same time requiring a slightly different way of watching a movie, as compared to a more standard hollywood production.

Compared to my taste in music, my taste in movies is quite catholic, though I've been trying to work against this recently. For as much as the Beatles and Francis Ford Coppola are responsible for great works of art, it seems the margins are often the most fruitful sources of interesting works. So my hopes are that my slow appreciation of Aguirre is just the beginning of my expansion beyond "pop" film. Because hey, I don't already spend enough time on weird obscure music...

Also, last reason to love Aguirre: monkeys!

“We love to torture terrorists—it’s good for you!”

2007-02-12T16:29:00.000-08:00

The above quote is from Joel Surnow, co-creator and executive produce of 24. Read this article in the New Yorker about 24 and the politics behind it and then never watch the show ever, ever again.

The End of Beaches

2007-01-29T22:11:00.000-08:00

(Click on pic for full-sized image)

I've been trying to write a post about An Inconvenient Truth, which I saw a couple of weeks ago, ever since I saw the damn thing, but it keeps veering off into a whole bunch of other issues like our ability to act and create change and the whole thing turns into some big long ranting mess. But I was reading this article about global warming in the New York Times today, and this one statement caught me, regarding "the basic finding that a warming world will be one in which shrinking coastlines are the new normal for centuries to come." That's when it came home to me, even though I had kind of already realized it, that the first things to go if the ocean levels start to rise will be the beaches. And I thought of the beaches along the west coast of the Olympic Peninsula, a place I've been going to since a small child, possibly one of the most beautiful places in the world, if you ask me, and I swear I actually started to tear up thinking about those beaches disappearing forever. I'm a fucking mess, apparently. But the thought of no Wreck Beach, no Spanish Banks, Jericho, Kits, English Bay, no Tofino, no Olympic Coast... I don't want to live in a world with no beaches.

So to let all your horror scenarios play out in full, check out this hack on google maps that allows you to see what the projected rising water levels would do the coastlines around the world.

BTW, the pic above is from my bro, who took it at 2nd beach near LaPush, on the Olympic Peninsula, and that's me and the fam in the far corner, with the beach all to ourselves in all its glory. One of the many reasons I love the place.

[ALRIGHT, DEPRESSING STUFF DONE...for now]

Track of the day

2007-01-25T10:44:00.000-08:00

Go here and download the ripperton remix of bjork's "pagan poetry". Really nice, low-key and moody electro take on things. And of course feel free to download anything else you want from ohmygosh, the man's got excellent taste in techno.

My blog seems to be returning a bit to what I had originally envisioned for it, which is just a place for me to point out the tracks i've been really feeling recently. which is fine by me!

ALL RATS SHALL DIE

2007-01-18T21:05:00.000-08:00

Hearyee hearyee! Let it be known that today I clubbed a rat to death with a 2x4. I AM THE RAT KILLER. I AM RATSBANE, BRINGER OF DEATH TO ALL RODENTS. ALL RATS SHALL TREMBLE TO HEAR MY FOOTSTEPS, FOR THEY SHALL KNOW THIER DOOM IS UPON THEM!!!!!

String tied to a finger is useless.

2007-01-15T18:42:00.000-08:00

This is to remind me to post a couple of mixes i've made recently: a folk-rock mix i did for my moms (like i said i would!); a party-ready mix of electro-house & electro-pop; and a mix of my fave '07 pop tunes. And i still need to make a bunch of minimal mixes...

Anyway, this is from Fairport Convention's '69 LP Liege & Lief. Epic, psyched-out british folk rock of the finest order. You really can't beat Sandy Denny's voice. It's not on my mix cuz i tried to keep all the tracks pretty short, but right now it's one of those songs I keep coming back to and playing at least once a day, so I though I should post it.

Fairport Convention - Tam Lin

Act now!

2007-01-12T10:19:00.000-08:00

Woebot.tv!

He's made the step from the written word to the video-word, and it's pretty damn entertaining. He's currently got an episode up for his end of year list, complete with dancing. But you gotta watch it now, as apparently he's only going to be putting one up at a time, so once it's gone, it's gone. Woebot step's up the blogging game once more. If only muchmusic played shows like this...

1. Cut a hole in a box

2007-01-08T13:59:00.000-08:00

Also, if you haven't seen this yet, you will, cuz it's hilarious and making the internet rounds real quick-like right now. I keep singing it to myself, which could be trouble if I'm ever overheard...still, it's a great present idea.

Ah, higher education...

2007-01-08T13:56:00.000-08:00

Political things I've been following recently:

Ethiopia invades Somalia with implicit US backing, easily conquers Islamists who are of course supporters of terrorism by definition (it's right in their name!) but also are the first people to bring peace and order to Mogadishu and surrounding area in a decade, US backed "transitional" government, who until now only governed a very small portion of Somalia which didn't even include the capital, is now failing to keep peace and order in Mogadishu as old clan rivalries, which the Islamists had largely dealt with, are resurgent and Ethiopian forces want out because the poor country does not have enough money to support a continued occupation which is deeply unpopular with the Somali's who have a history of conflict with Ethiopia. A.K.A. MORE BAD NEWS. I've been trying to pay attention to Somalia ever since I saw a map of the world with all the countries colour-coded to show what type of government they had, and Somalia was the only one labelled "Anarchy".

A nice and actually somewhat encouraging article from Chomsky about the movement of leftist governments in South America to cooperate in coordinating their economic and political goals as an organized block.

Bush's big "solution" for Iraq, and the first real test for the newly-powerful Democrats: the proposed troop "surge" in Iraq of at least 20,000 new troops plus a billion dollars worth of aid to create new jobs for Iraqis. While the second part of the plan seems fairly reasonable, the troop surge seems to be a downright terrible idea, given that US troops are still the number one target of attacks in Iraq. More troop == more attacks. The American occupation of Iraq is hugely unpopular with Iraqis and, at least given the distribution of where attacks are being aimed, causes far higher passions amongst Iraqi's then any of the perceived sectarian conflicts. But, y'know, we can't let these poor Arabs try to govern themselves, we have teach them what freedom and democracy is first, otherwise they'll never figure it out on their own. Odds of Dem's more-or-less rolling over on their backs and giving this one to Bush (they'll tout their "modifications" to the proposal, but whatevs), I'd say about 3 in 4.

PS. Actually, it seems like prime blogging-time is when I'm at school and have things I should do but aren't really super urgent. A little bit of school work apparently INCREASES blogging. I might have to redraw my graph :)

Virtual? Hmm....

2007-01-03T17:11:00.000-08:00

Have I not yet posted this track? I keep meaning too, and maybe I have, but I can't find it, so here goes.

It's sort of an odd track, because for about 4 out of its 5 minutes it's a pretty standard, if enjoyable, early British techno piece from The Black Dog circa '92. But for one minute, from about 2:20 to 3:20, the heavens open up and it bursts into this sublime moment of joyful, life-affirming techno genius. Okay, so it's a bunch of bleeps and a beat, but it makes me so happy I'm pretty sure I could jump through a brick wall Kool-Aid guy style, yelling "OH YEAH!" I have definitely played that one part 4-5 times in a row, on multiple occaisons.

DIG IT!

The Black Dog - Virtual Hmmm...

Happy New Years!

2006-12-31T13:51:00.000-08:00

Politics recap, via Tom Tomorrow

My politics year in summation: Saddamn Hussein hanged, Augusto Pinochet dies of old age at 92, Henry "Anything that flies on anything that moves" Kissinger gets to make jokes on the Colbert Report. Having the incorrect ideology is the only political crime ever punished; mass murder is just a convenient excuse to be used or discarded at will. Fuck you, world. Fuck you.

Let's go

2006-12-18T10:58:00.000-08:00

As you might have noticed, school work has decreased, so my amount of posting is now increasing. I should bring back that graph I did a while ago...

Some pointers to other year end roundups:

Stylus just finished their top 50 tracks of the year, and are starting out on their top 50 albums

Pitchfork just posted their top 100 singles (have to one-up younger brother Stylus...) and apparently will be posting their album list tomorrow.

As usual with these things, take out all the indie rock and both singles lists have a quite a lot of overlap with mine. Nice to see Hot Chip and The Knife doing well, and of course everybody loves JT and Nelly Furtado. The pitchfork lists kinda nice too, since they even have handy mp3s to download for many of the tracks...

I might, if I feel up to it, post some year end musings about politix and other things that i post about round here, but don't hold your breath.

YEAR IN REVUE?

2006-12-15T13:54:00.000-08:00

Inevitable end of year round up. 2006 did not go by quickly, it was stuffed plain full of shit: some of it the good shit, some of it the bad. Thinking back about the things that went on at the beginning of the year, and all that has occurred since, seems like it was ages ago. It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times, y'know how we roll.

MUSIC: the turtles year end mix

Amongst the music nerd circles which I rotate around in internet world, much dissatisfaction was expressed with the state of music world, by which they meant music made in North American and European places. Me, I thought there was precisely 12 fuckloads of great music put out this year, and let me assure you 12 fuckloads is a lot. And that's not even to get into all the excellent music not put out this year, of which there are too many fuckloads to count.

Particularly a good year for albums I thought, a solid helping of very strong artist albums from the techno/house lot, something they generally fail at miserably. In fact, a solid year on the house/techno front in general. Electronic music with a four/four beat continues to be my number one love and passion when it comes to music, and damn if there weren't just a constant stream of shit hot house put out this year. If you (my few, few readers) have been following along, you know what's good.

K, that's house, let's do this rundown genre-dimensional:

Pop: Timbaland's year, hands down. Produced Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake albums? Oh my. Well done Tim, well done. Dance pop and R&B sounding lovely. Distinct lack of Kelly Clarkson-rock tho :( And Paris's album is still dope!

Hip-hop: T.I. & Clipse, Gnarls Barkley sounds like trip-hop, mid 90's gangsta rap is excellent, erik b & rakim surprisingly underwhelming. I think I might like the new K-OS tho I really want to punch him in the face whenever I seem him. Dilemma!

Grime: totally fell off the radar, unfortunately. Grime-sessions at Shine shut down. I barely listened to Wiley's new album, nor any of the various mixtapes floating about. I haven't even got a hold of Ruff Sqwad's new mixtape yet, and I think Ruff Sqwad are better than the Rolling Stones, Nirvana and God all rolled into one. Kinda mystified as to why I lost touch with this stuff...

Krautrock: continues to be a gold mine of gold. Really loving all the Tangerine Dream-ish synthy stuff, but also the drummadness of Can and Neu! and holee shit is Manuel Gottsching's E2-E4 amazing.

Folk rock: big big dive into this stuff this year, capped off by the stunning Joanna Newsom album. Not sure why, guess I need some moping guitar music, but just couldn't hack the current tousled-hair-cut indie. Dylan, Joni Mitchell, The Byrds, Woodie Guthrie, Gene Clark, Sandy Denny. I'm seriously thinking about making my mom a mix of this stuff, which is quite the commentary.

Dubstep: distinct increase in dubstep love over grime love. A couple of my favourite records of the year were dubstep. Shackleton's "blood on my hands," kode9's "9 samurais," dmz's "anti-war dub," plus some heavyweights (bass-literaly) from last year: loefah's "horror show" (got my bro his first noise complaint!) and skream's anthemic "midnight request line." Yet actually not that much time spent listening to dubstep overall.

Garage: I totally balled up on ever finishing my post about UK Garage 'n' all that, but still loving all the garage variants out there. Garage house to UK Garage to current nu-skool 4x4 stuff, just gotta dance.

Regae & Dancehall: not so much dancehall, but the occasional dips into reggae. The congo's fisherman style compilation was just lovely.

Jazz: despite reading up, not much movement here. Still stuck on Sun Ra, but damnit space IS the place!

Disco: slowly gaining ground here. Italo disco is awesome, as is that Tom Moulton mix, and an old Larry Levan mix I downloaded

'Ardcore Rave: I downloaded "the greatest single thing I have ever downloaded from the internet" (quoting myself there), aka 4.6 GB of someone's old 'ardcore rave record collection, all ripped to 320 kbps mp3s. I'm still trying to get all the way through it, but MAN ALIVE there are some great tracks in there. Also finally downloaded DB's History of Our World Part 1 mix, and it is, indeed, a testament to the brilliance of early rave culture.

Hmmm, that about covers the majority of my music listening over this past year I guess, but you do realize that this was just the overview. What comes next is the lists! yipee! And yes, lovingly, I've zipped up 12 of my favorite tracks of the year (tracklist is at the bottom of this post) in case you feel like listening to them is what you should be doing, which is at least something i'd suggest. It fits nicely on a cd too, for those so inclined.

Anyway, ordering of the below is somewhat haphazard, except for between tiers.

ALBUMS:

TOP TIER:

Joanna Newsom - Ys: Just keeps getting better and better. Super strong from start to finish. Lovely

Hot Chip - The Warning: Dancy, up beat, a bit strange, a bit heartfelt--very poppy. I don't know anyone who's really disliked hot chip yet...

The Knife - Silent Shout: Both Hot Chip and The Knife add vocals and something of a pop sensibility to otherwise obtuse electronic music and end up with two very different, though no less interesting albums. I wish albums like these were the norm rather than rock music.

SECOND TIER:

Tim Hecker - Harmony in Ultraviolet: Didn't expect too much out of this, but i'm just loving it. Warm, enveloping, with an undercurrent of menace. A good combination emotions :)

Burial - Burial: Heavy and dusted with the detritus of late night city streets. love it.

LCD Soundsystem - 45:33: I've snuck this into the multi-cd changer at our house in my quest to slowly inflict more and more of my music upon my poor roommates. I think they actually like it! Goddamn brilliant, in my book.

THIRD TIER:

Ricardo Villalobos - Achso
The Congo's - Fisherman Style
V/A - Big Apple Rapping
Gregor Treshor - Neon: Works in the Mix: okay, so i just downloaded this on Sunday, and my love may fade somewhat, but what the hell these lists are stupid bishy-bashy business in the first place anyway

V/A - Total 7: I think this is the prettiest variation of the coloured dots theme yet, wouldn't you say so?
Junior Boys - So This is Goodbye
Keith Fullerton Whitman - Lisbon
Justin Timberlake - FuterSex/LoveSounds
Nelly Furtado - Loose
Ali Farka Toure - Savane

Luciano - Sci.Fi.Hi.Fi Vol 2.
Tom Moulton - A Tom Moulton Mix

MPFREE mixes:
booka shade essential mix
sven vath - sexy techno at cocoon
dj peepin tom - nu skool sessions vol 1
ricardo villalobos - live at fabric birthday party 10-21-06 (esp part 2! swoon)
soundslike - How do you say 1981 in german?
woebot - kosmische show

TRACKS:

TOP TIER:

rice twins - for penny and alexis: Probably my most listened-to track of the year. Just so unbelievably fluffy and bright and uplifting.

isolee - cite grande terre (luciano's luck of lucien edit): Peaceful, zen-techno. Held in stasis in moonlit garden, or something like that...

shackleton - blood on my hands: Mournful dubstep crypto-eulegy for 9/11. The bass is pure bottomless depth, especially when cranked to max on my speakers at home. Unfortunately don't have a proper mp3 rip of this, just the actual vinyl. Shit is hard to find on zee internetz, yo.

SECOND TIER:

robag wruhme ft. a whole bunch of funny germans - katze geil
alex smoke - never want to see you again (ada mix)
tim hecker - chimeras
gui boratto - like you (supermayer mix)
gregor tresher - on
mask - hottie
the knife - like a pen (stephan bodzin mix)
the knife - we share our mothers health (radioslave mix)
pan pot - black window
justin timberlake ft. ti - my love
hot chip - boy from school
booka shade v brandy - branderine girl
Joanna Newsom - Sawdust and Diamonds
kode9 - 9 samuris
dmz - anti-war dub
Rhythm & Sound w Paul St. Hilaire - Free For All (Soundstream Remix)
the knife - silent shout
agoria - les violon ivres

THIRD TIER:

cassie - me & u
rihanna - sos
t.i. - what u know
oxia - domino
jojo - too little to late
kissogram - my friend is a seahorse (radioslave mix)
booka shade - in white rooms
Joanna Newsom - Emily
the knife - neverland
the knife - like a pen
ricardo villalobos - ichso
ricardo villalobos - siezo
ricardo villalobos - zieheuer fizheuer
justin timberlake ft. timbaland & 3-6 mafia - chop me up
justin timberlake - what goes around.../...comes around interlude
nelly furtado - promiscious
nelly furtado - maneater
nelly furtado - wait for you
d1 - give it back
gregor tresher - full range madness
cassius - toop toop (oliver koletski mix)
nathan fake - grandfathered
answering service - call me mr. telephone (lindstrom & prins thomas remix)
paris hilton - jealousy
pussy cat dolls - i don't need a man
heartthrob - baby kate
keshia chante - 2U
clipse - mr. me too

best music message board thread:
"German DJs and their living rooms" pictures of these peoples' living rooms are strangely informative about their music. Also the video of DJ Koze dancing around in his living room linked to at the bottom of the thread is just good old fashioned fun.

DJ TURTLES IN DA MIX '06
Well, okay, the tracks aren't actually mixed, but they are uh, compiled, i guess. The following are many of my favourite tracks from this passed year, zipped up all nice for your hearing pleasure. Hopefully will give peeps an overview of where my head was at, musically, this year, though it's by no means exhaustive. No dubstep, for instance, cuz the uppity bastards don't like making mp3's available because it messes with their "pure" bass tones. But the rest is pure gold! Enjoy.

01 Gregor Treshor - On: unfortunatly taken from out of a mix, but man! what energy and life in this thing.
02 Gui Boratto - Like You (Supermayer Mix): wonderfully produced, big fun minimal/house. I love the bell-percusion breakdown in the middle, and the rising bassline throughout.
03 Justin Timberlake ft. T.I. - My Love: best pop track of the year? hard battle between this and "me & u" but I think Timberlake & Timbaland get the call in the end, cuz there's more synthesizers :)
04 The Rice Twins - For Penny and Alexis: i think i've said i love this track a few too many times already
05 Mask - Hottie: blast i just relised this is actually '05, but fuckit. This is uk garage at it's upbeat, danceable finest.
06 Agoria - Les Violons Ivres: more classically constructed that most current minimal techno, two things make this track: the bleepy arpeggio, and OH! the strings. Classic, classic techno.
07 Hot Chip - Boy From School Jacking house beat with fey, heartfelt vocals briliantly put together into one.
08 Rhythm & Sound w/ Paul St. Hilaire - Free For All (Soundstream Remix): Soundstream takes R&S's dubbed out bliss and turns it into deep house bliss. Thank you jesus!
09 Cassie - Me & U: it's been commented upon before, but what's so remarkable about this track is the SPACE. Every element of this song sounds so far away from every other element, there just so litte there. But that's what makes it so good.
10 The Knife - Like A Pen (Stephan Bodzin Mix): big giant evil minimal track of the year. though it was a tough battle between this and radio slave's remix of "we share our mother's health," bodzin won out cuz his synths are just that much bigger and cacophonous.
11 Tim Hecker - Chimeras: standout track from his new album. i listened to this on headphones late at night in the cold as the snow was falling on the street. that's what it sounds like.
12 Isolee - Cite Grande Terre (Luciono's Luck of Lucien Edit): as discussed above, awesome!

OKAY THAT'S ALL FOR NOW FOLKS PEACE OUT

Metorites, Meteors, & Meteroids

2006-11-22T15:53:00.000-08:00

Joanna Newsom, St. Andrew-Wesley Church, Tuesday, December 5th. Any takers? This is, in fact, the day before my project report is due, making me rather hesitant to sign on for it myself, but I thought I'd ask anyway. This also gives me a chance to point out that Ys is currently sitting as the no. 3 highest rated album of the year on metacrtic, has gotten the "Best New Music" seal-of-approval/kiss-of-death from pitchfork (oh noes, cheesy indie fux will be all over it now!), who also have a nice indepth interview with her as well.

Basically she's become the toast of the critical world, with all that entails. I have mixed feelings about this, in that it pains me that Ys will be grouped alongside much middling indie pablum, while I'm excited to see so many people recognize this album for the work of wonder that it is. My only hope is that it will have a positive affect of pushing indie tastes into more expansive and interesting areas, rather than becoming a stand-in for musical adventurism in a genre otherwise bereft of interesting ideas...

Mnml

2006-11-10T16:07:00.000-08:00

Not enough good things can be said about ohmygosh.se. And really, not enough good things can be said about minimal right now, as I am currently running an INSATIABLE appetite for new minimal tracks. Names that even three or fourth months ago meant nothing to me all of a sudden have become bright stars in my personal music constellation: radio slave, stephan bodzin, pan pot, mark houle, loco dice, gui boratto, ...along with old(er) faves like booka shade, dominik eulberg, luciano, villalobos, mathew jonson, trentemoller, mathew dear/audion, sleeparchive, the Kompakt krew (Total 7 is an excellent example of this), even carl craig...aarrrrrggg! Fantastic.

It's strange because at the beginning of the year I was a bit cool on the whole "minimal explosion" thing, it struck me as often being quite dry and boring, but now the plip-plop dry stuff has somehow turned into insectile mind-invaders (see: pan pot, villalobos, sleeparchive), while erstwhile electro-house has decayed from enriched uranium rods of hook-filled death to depleted uranium shells of trace-elements rave-hooks (see radio slave, stephan bodzin, booka shade). And even though "explosion" is a very relative term here, they played a mostly minimal set in between acts at the Ladytron concert I went to a few weeks ago (good call Kirkham!), and this club night looks to be pretty much right down this alley (anybody wanna go?). K, so, some samples:

The Knife - Like A Pen (Stephan Bodzin Mix) ****this was the track that inspired this whole damn post, download it!!****

Kissogram - My Friend is a Seahorse (Radio Slave Remix)
Pan Pot - Back Window
Audion - Mouth to Mouth

[you may need to login to yousendit to download some of these...it's fairly painless, i've done it already...can i help it that none of these tracks are less than 9:30 minutes??? That's another great thing about minimal: super long songs, yesss!!!!]

Please remind me to make a mix of this stuff! I was going to make a mix closer to the beginning of the year, and by now I could probably make about three pretty good ones. I always hate I never get around to making a mix and then later on when I look back at something I was pretty into I can't remember what all the good tracks were (this totally happened with grime, i had 2-3 solid mix cds worth to put together and never did, and now that i don't really listen to grime that much any more i'm already starting to forget what the good stuff was...).

But really (and going back to the first sentence of this post, that I kinda forgot about) just go to ohmygosh and download the stuff he says is good, cuz it is. That site has played a large, large role in my getting into minimal over the last few months...

Success!

2006-11-05T20:01:00.000-08:00

Well, that was considerably harder than I had expected...still would like to make the template a little better, but that was a big enough pain in the ass already.

Anyway, above pic is from Philip Sherburne's latest "This Month in Techno" piece at pitchfork. No one writes about techno (minimal) with more passion or style than Sherburne does. I would definitely recommend checking out the back issues of that column; Sherburne's been on point for a good long while now. How techno is that picture?

"We should have no illusions: liberal communists are the enemy of every true progressive struggle today"

2006-11-02T10:28:00.000-08:00

I've made this argument before: why people like bill gates, bono, oprah, no matter how much money they give to charity, always cause more suffering getting to the top then they will make up for with their philanthropy. No matter how much they give, they are only attacking the symptoms of the cause which made them rich in the first place. Thankfully, Zizek says it much better than me. Required reading.

(can you tell I really like Zizek?)
(and yes Dan, this one IS political...)

20% - Presentation to class

2006-11-01T10:37:00.000-08:00

A slide supposedly shown at a top secret military meeting, according to the New York Times. Now let's leave aside the rather uninteresting point that the US military thinks Iraq is moving away from peace and towards chaos (I mean, no shit), and talk about the real important issue here: how terrible is this slide design??? I mean waaaay too much text, hardly any whitespace, the chart is pushed over into a tiny awkward space on the side and is red-green coded so any colour-blind members of this meeting (which is likely all male, so has a pretty good chance of getting one of the 1/10 men who are colour blind) won't be able to read the chart properly . Oh god and the text is so thick and heavy and black against the white background you get all sorts of vibrations and other weird optical effects when you stair at it for any amount of time--which is not helped by the underlining of titles, which just makes the whole thing even noisier, without making the titles stand out any more...and they're using red-green for their little classification icons with no indication of whether they are supposed to coincide with the colour codings on the chart (does "routine" unorganized spontaneous mass civil conflict represent a step towards peace?? If not, why the fuck is it green?). That slide is just ug-ly.

Really, with idiots like whoever designed this slide in charge of the US operation in Iraq, is it any suprise they're screwing up so bad over there?

[/design pedant] ;)

ps. i gotta figure out how to change my blog template so I can post bigger pictures without running into my links bar...

Brown paper packages tied up with string...

2006-10-27T11:21:00.000-07:00

Okay, just to reiterate: I srsly can't get enough of that LCD Soundsystem track I posted below. It's, like, a near-perfect piece of music man! It's all I want to listen to right now.

Prior to this, the last piece of music that I couldn't get enough of was Joanna Newsom's Ys, and since it still doesn't come out for another 3 weeks or so, I've upped the whole damn thing for all you lovely people. Now this one actually I could imagine many people disliking...but oh well. Sounds kinda like a medieval Bjork. Will maybe write more about it, but I think my main point is that while this is coming from a very similar place as most indie rock, I think it manages to completely rise above most of the dreck that gets put out. I think it's really pushing things forward in an interesting direction, while still being quite accesible and tuneful. Anyway, make up your own mind:

Joanna Newsom - Ys

The Knife - Like a Pen

2006-10-24T20:10:00.000-07:00

?

Srsly, how great is this video? More creativity in three frames than the entire thursday night primetime television schedule. But what does it all mean? For one thing, that is clearly a pencil.

What to the running

2006-10-23T20:50:00.000-07:00

LCD Soundsystem - 45:33: Nike+ Original Run

So many reasons why this is good.

1. It's a solid 45+ min track of space disco gold, shifting through numerous stages of wonderful kick-assitude.
2. It was commissioned by Nike specifically for the purpose of being a soundtrack to jogging, and is available only as a DRM-protected mp3 on iTunes. This song couldn't be more sold-out. (For those who are confused, selling-out is the opposite of all that rock, and especially indie rock, stands for in this day and age, and is therefore good).
3. I actually really want to try jogging to this. This music is so wonderfully calculated in its pure functionality: it's made for dancing and/or jogging, none of this being artistic crap.
4. Despite/because of all this it's actually alternatively beautiful, hypnotic, funky and calming.
*edit* 6. I forgot: it's also loosely inspired by Manuel Göttsching's E2-E4, whichi is, like, the greatest peice of post-krautrock, pre-techno dance music ever!

Love it.

(yes posting's have been a bit slack round here, i'm still on the downward slope of that graph posted below. Hopefully I'll have a good post up soon about the use of liberal critiques of Muslim and Arab society as a tool for racist oppression...fun!)

This one should be a hit: Planet of the Arabs!

2006-10-10T12:05:00.000-07:00

Via brownfemipower via lenin's tomb via some other websites. Ah internet memes. Still, a pretty disturbing viewing.

Bonanza!

2006-10-03T10:45:00.000-07:00

Negative correlation between start of class and amount of blog posting, p < .05.

In apologia, here's a brief summary of what i've been into recently, because I've been balls deep in good music this last little while. also, please download the robag wruhme track, it will bring joy to your life, honest!

Recent Purchases:

burial - s/t [finally got my hands on a copy of this]
ali farka toure - savane [somewhat embarrassingly only heard about him when he died, but checking out his stuff, i really liked it. 'african blues' they call it, which sorta describes it, but not really]
fuckpony - s/t [a bit undistinguished, but with some nice highlights]
rhythm & sound - see mi yah remixes [a couple of duds, but mostly gold]
keith fullerton whitman - lisbon [update of one of my all-time favs Playthroughs. not quite as good (unsurprisingly), but very interesting nonetheless]

Other Albums I've been feeling:

gene clark - white light [tip off from Woebot's excellent rundown of 60's and 70's folk/rock from LA]
the knife - silent shout [should have cottoned on to this when it came out in january, but man! super dark and mean sounding, yet still quite pop and catchy. Very interesting sound, here's a taster: the title track]
junior boys - so this is goodbye [I think I like this better than their first one, not quite as r&b influenced, more of a house/disco vibe too it. Still very polished and melodic though]
hot chip - coming on strong [still enjoying this, still haven't bothered to write anything about it, may never get around to it, oh well]

joanna newsom - ys [this is the one, something else entirely. not out until november, but it will be huge. so lovely. i may have completely underestimated freak-folk as a movement].

Trax I've been feeling:

robag wruhme feat helge schneider, rocko schamoni, lenja fina and dorle - katze geil [was expecting more minimal from wruhme, but instead he turns in something reminiscent of St. Germain at his best (think "So Flute" and "Rose Rouge") except touched with an oddball minimal aesthetic. Sorry, I didn't make it clear: IF YOU DON'T LIKE THIS SONG YOU DON'T LIKE FUN! Really, this should be very appealing to normal techno-phobes, the beat is super happy-catchy. Sounds like it should be soundtracking George Clooney committing a sophisticated diamond robbery while a bunch of germans party it up in the room next door. really, DONWLOAD THIS TRACK. your head will bob]

renegade legion - torsion [pure darkness. good for clearing out the webs if you've been listening to too much sad-sack music]
dillard & clark - the radio song [favorite song off the dillard & clark collab mention in the Woebot piece. Much of the rest of the album gets a little too country for me, but this is pure folk beauty].
justin timberlake ft t.i. - my love [already posted it, but still, sooooo good]
jojo - too little too late [classic r&b ballad--what a chorus! also, i totally love saying her name. JoJo...JoJo]
cassie - me & u [kick ass r&b minimalism]
azzido da bass feat. johnny blake - lonely by your side (booka shade deep mix) [grabbed from ohmygosh -- oh my gosh do i love booka shade]
fred falke - omega man [another forgotten gem on my harddrive unearthed by random play. classic big french house, reminds me how good that alan braxe album was from last year]
audion - mouth to mouth [aka "the swarm of bees track" large, large tune]
agoria - les violons ivres [classic strings plus bleepy chuggy beat == heaven!]
the knife - we share our mothers health (radio slave's secret base rmx) [now THIS is minimal. dark epic and grooving. kicks a whole lot of ass]

booka shade - essential mix 07/02/06 [the first half of this is a live set that completely makes up for their rather disappointing album. absolutely awesome. if you ask nice i'm might up this]

oof. this post went epic.

Why all politcal debate is essentially null

2006-09-29T10:46:00.000-07:00

Oh man, this is so depressing. Really, the title says it all: in the end everyone's bought into the ideology, despite any surface differences. :(

Jumpstyle!

2006-09-27T22:11:00.002-07:00

Oh man this is so cool. Totally restores my faith in techno to keep pumping out wack shit well into the future. There's a whole bunch of videos of very euro kids doing this dance to crazy hardcore gabber on youtube, all under the tag "jumpstyle" which is apparently what the dance is called.

This one in particular is really neat, just the setting alone, in some random school yard/town square in either belgium or holland somewhere with a crowd of people around is kinda interesting. I also like how they're all just standing there calmly, with their hands in their pockets, and then all of a sudden the beat drops and they go MOTHERFUCKING KICK DANCE! and just fucking bust out the dancing like nothing else.

The music is great too, btw. But you knew I'd say that.