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3 hours ago
Tuesday, 14 December 2010
Monday, 13 December 2010
Families encouraged by ‘open’ disclosure in hidden Hillsborough files project
The hidden Hillsborough disaster files are likely to be released as one all-encompassing dossier.
A panel of experts are currently wading through thousands of previously-unseen documents on the 1989 tragedy.
No timescale has been confirmed for the process although it is thought the committee are working towards a release date in 2012.
So far the families of the 96 Reds fans killed on the Leppings Lane terrace have been encouraged by updates from the panel, headed by the Bishop of Liverpool.
This week they were assured the committee are yet to encounter any confidential papers or be barred any access to particular information.
There are some fears among relatives, who have fought a 21 year campaign for justice, that the two year project could leave them disappointed with suggestions the Government could mark some files as completely restricted.
Just the peasants!!!
NewsHour More than 1,958 people on the Gawker list used the word "password" as their password. http://ow.ly/3o3Xs
FACT mix 210: Bjørn Torske
Keen readers will remember the Norwegian producer’s wonderful 2007 album Feil Knapp featuring in our 100 Best Albums of the 2000s, but he was a cult hero in the house scene of his native Norway and among the disco cognoscenti of the wider world long before that album’s release.
Torske hails from Tromsø,which is just north of the arctic circle and widely regarded as Norway’s capital of electronic music, having given us the likes of Biosphere, Royksopp and Mental Overdrive in recent years. His first techno-oriented productions in the early 1990s were picked up for release by Crammed Discs in Belgium and Holland’s legendary Djax-Up-Beats, and later by Reinforced, the London imprint run by 4Hero’s Marc and Dego.
After a stint touring as live synth player for Biosphere, and the release of an album on Djax, Torske took a break from production. Sporadic single releases found their way out into the world, but it wasn’t until 1999 that Torske returned in earnest. He began releasing 12″s through SVEK and Tellé Records, the latter also putting out his Trøbbel LP. Around this time Torske and his partner in crime, the late Erot, fashioned their own distinctive micro-genre, “skrangle-house” (literal translation: rattle house), essentially just a freeform, disco and dub-inflected but resoundingly dancefloor-friendly approach to house inspired by the UK’s Idjut Boys. Erot and Bjørn’s track ‘Søppelmann’ became the signature skrangle-house tune, and helped inspire a whole new generation of Norwegian producers, including Todd Terje, Prins Thomas and Lindstrøm.
Nonetheless, Torske remained an elusive character. When FACT interviewed Prins Thomas in 2007, we asked him who he’d most like to sign if money grew on trees. He replied: “If I could lure him our of his cave for a second, I wouldn’t mind getting some new stuff from Bjorn Torske.” Soon after, Smalltown Supersound unleashed Feil Knapp, easily the most kaleidoscopic and accomplished Torske LP to date. Rooted in disco-tinged house and techno, but with shades of dub, broken beat, Balearica, jazz, avant-electronics, krautrock and ambient, it’s just an impeccably composed and produced work, complex musical ideas conveyed with an easy-going charm.
Torske has just released his fourth album, Kokning. Its title refers to a kind of meal preparation peculiar to Norway: that of putting potatoes on to boil, going out to sea to catch a fish and then returning home to finish cooking. Not sure how that relates to the music, but we like it…Kokning is more rooted in acoustic sound than the heavily programmed Feil Knapp; even its crunchy rhythm tracks are derived from Torske’s experiments recording different sounds, instruments and textured objects in rooms of varying size and acoustics.
We’re absolutely delighted to have this legendary producer helming a FACT mix. His selection is diverse and discerning as you’d expect, with a clear emphasis on genuine musicality. The mix is anchored in classic On-U-Sound, with tracks from African Head Charge, Paul Haig, Creation Rebel and New Age Steppers figuring prominently alongside more frigid post-punk classics from Section 25 and The Durutti Column. There’s room too for the entrancing krautrock spiritualism of Popol Vuh, the expansive live techno of the Moritz Von Oswald Trio and a number of curios as new to us as they doubtless are to many of you. With the nights getting longer and the days getting colder, we strongly suggest you put some potatoes on to boil and give it a whirl.
Direct download: FACT mix 210 – Bjorn Torske
(Available for three weeks)
Tracklist:
Popol Vuh – Aguirre (Ohr/Soul Jazz)
KLF – Dream time in Lake Jackson (KLF Communications)
Yello – Homer hossa (Vertigo)
Creation Rebel & New age steppers – Last sane dream (Cherry Red/ON-U Sound)
Paul Haig – Mad horses (Disques Crepuscule)
Moritz von Oswald trio – Vertical ascent 1 (Honest Jons)
Section 25 – Looking from a hilltop (Eskimo)
Crimea X – Varvara (Hell Yeah!)
Yolanda – Afro rat (Sex Tags Amfibia)
Hank Crawford – Sugar free (Strut)
Don Ray – My desire (Polydor)
Don Ellis – Devil made me write this piece (MPS/BASF)
Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’77 – Promise of a fisherman (A&M)
Gucci sound system – Acarpenter (joakim remix) (DFA)
A. Paul – tribute (Genesis)
Renegade Soundwave – Space gladiator dub (Mute)
Ajello – Android street (Ajello do the job)
Rune Lindbæk pres. Kanakas – Crosby (Luna Flicks)
Durutti Column – requiem for a father (Factory)
Chants et percussions des Maldives – Baburu Lava (Ocora/Radio France)
African head charge – Hole in the roof (On-U Sound)
Dinosaur L – Go bang (Walter Gibbons mix) (Sleeping Bag/Traffic)
Bjørn Torske – Høst (DJ Sotofett Støydubb) (Unreleased)
WikiLeaks cables: MI5 offered files on Finucane killing to inquiry
The offer in the case of the Pat Finucane, the well-known civil rights and defence lawyer murdered in front of his wife and three young children in 1989, is contained in confidential US embassy cables passed to WikiLeaks.
Supporters of Finucane welcomed the revelation of the offer last night as "highly significant" and believe it could pave the way for a fresh inquiry into the killing that would be acceptable to the family.
Owen Paterson, the Northern Ireland secretary, has told Finucane's widow that he will decide early next year whether to hold a hearing that could shine a new light on collusion between gunmen from the Ulster Freedom Fighters and members of the security forces. A refusal to hold such a hearing, which Paterson has questioned in the past, would prevent an examination of the MI5 files.
Finucane's supporters spoke out last night after leaked US embassy cables, published by WikiLeaks, showed that: • Bertie Ahern, the Irish prime minister between 1997 and 2008, told US diplomats that "everyone knows the UK was involved" in the murder.
• US diplomats feared that "elements of the security-legal establishments" in Britain beyond MI5 were fighting hard to resist an inquiry.
• Brian Cowen, the current Irish prime minister, warned that a failure to hold an inquiry could be a "deal breaker"...
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What Do We Learn about Julian Assange From His Alleged OKCupid Profile?
The folks at Reddit have uncovered what appears to be WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's OKCupid dating profile. The uber-private Assange would never be an online dater, you say! But, the last time this user accessed the profile was way back in 2006, when Julian Assange wasn't the cable-dumping anti-hero he is today. Back then, he was just a danger-loving lonely boy. So, if this profile is The Real Him - and the pictures of him and the fake name "HarryHarrison" seem to suggest that it is - then what do we learn about the enigma of Julian Assange by examining the face he wanted to show the world? Or, at least, the face he showed the world he hoped to sleep with?
He is straight. Well, we could have guessed this much, already.
He is 87% slutty. Okay, we could have guessed that too. People never change. Anyway, he confirms it in his "self-summary:" "Want a regular, down to earth guy? Keep moving. I am not the droid you're looking for. Passionate and often pig headed activist intellectual seeks siren for love affair." And in the "Test" section, he came back "87% dominating, 87% slut." But also "Strong Democrat." On the "I'm Really Good At" section, he wrote "A gentleman never tells." So he's also kind of cheesy and gross.
He likes tough, dangerous girls. "I like women from countries that have sustained political turmoil," he wrote. "Western culture seems to forge women that are valueless and inane. OK. Not only women!"
Despite the fangirls, he gets lonely: "Although I am pretty intellectually and physically pugnacious I am very protective of women and children," he wrote. And while he said, "I have asian teengirl stalkers," he ceded: "I could adapt to anything except the loss of female company and carbon." (And carbon. Ha.)
But, mostly, the Julian Assange on OkCupid seems like any pretentious outcast looking for love on the Internet, if more arrogant and vaguely misogynist. It's clear, however, that even back in '06, he was pretty sure that he was heading toward serious international intrigue, as he was also seeking a siren for "occasional international conspiracy." How did he spend his time? "Changing the world through passion, inspiration and trickery," and "directing a consuming, dangerous human rights project which is, as you might expect, male dominated." As for the user name: "Harry Harrison is a scifi writer that was popular in the '70s and '80s for his Stainless Steel Rat character," reports a commenter at Reddit. "The SSR was an intergalactic criminal mastermind with a conscious who was too smart to get caught." So, Julian Assange: Still not really that much like us.
Mike Vilensky @'NY Mag'
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