Modcast #72: Toro y Moi

This week's Modcast comes from Toro y Moi. It's a whimsical, reflective, sometimes a bit sassy, sometimes a bit sad, dreamy ride.
Apparently he made this in bed, just for you. Dude is smooth.

Hailing from South Carolina, Chazwick Bundick as he's known to his family, is a multi-instrumentalist and quite prolific musician. He's released a stack of EPs and two full-length albums. His debut long player, Causers of This came out early last year and he followed that up with the fantastic Underneath the Pine earlier this year.
We've been listening to his records on repeat and we're thrilled he's taken put together the Modcast this week. It's a mellow ride but one worth getting on.
He's about to head across Europe for a bunch of shows in May, all the details are over here.
Track-list:
A First Class Dub - King Tubby
Come Live With Me - Dorothy Ashby
Part Version 8 - Piero Piccioni
Pealed Tomato - Chorafas
It's Choade My Dear - Connan Mockasin
Mariangela e la Seduzione - Ennio Morricone
Show Me To The Window- Robert Lester Folsom
Chi Mi Cerchera - Enrico Simonetti with Goblin
Was It All In Vain - Bixio Frizzi Tempura
Rainbow Ride - Kathy McCord
O Sabia - Les Wanted
Clay Horses - Julian Lynch

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The Social Media Buzz Behind the Royal Wedding

Handwriting Is a 21st-Century Skill

Is preserving and reviving cursive handwriting retro sentimentality or neo-Luddism? No, it's good teaching and good neuroscience. (I see this as one whose own notes would be the ultimate test of character recognition software.) The New York Times doesn't go far enough on this. The close connections between hand and brain, whether in music or in writing, have strong support in research, as summarized here:

Neurologist Frank Wilson, author of The Hand: How its Use Shapes the Brain, Language and Human Culture, says, "Although the repetitive drills that accompany handwwriting lessons seem outdated, such physical instruction will help students to succeed.  He says these activities stimulate brain activity, lead to increased language fluency, and aid in the development of important knowledge."  He describes in detail the pivotal role of hand movements, in particular  the development of thinking and language capacities, and in "developing deep feelings of confidence and interest in the world-all-together, the essential prerequistes for the emergence of the capable and caring individual."

Handwriting has also been surprisingly relevant technologically. What has Steve Jobs always cited as a formative experience? A course in calligraphy at Reed College. Many of the most popular fonts for Mac and PC alike were created by designers with calligraphic training. Many people hate the soft keyboards of many smartphones and all tablets; using a stylus quickly and legibly can be the best alternative, especially when voice recording isn't possible.
The real challenge is developing 21st-century teaching methods for cursive. In her excellent Handwriting in America, Tamara Thornton showed how regimented 19th-century instruction could be. It could literally be a pain in the neck. Yet the growing paperwork empire desperately needed commonly recognizable documents. When I wrote the chapter on typewriter and computer keyboards in Our Own Devices, I found evidence that the real attraction of the earliest typewriters was not so much speed as uniformity in large organizations. Magazines, with dozens or hundreds of contributors, started to insist on typewritten copy by the 1890s to speed composition. That's why for decades there were so few typewriter fonts.
In the 19th century, handwriting was a fetish, excessively drilled in the schools. Now it's equally dismissed. We are truly "Immoderation Nation." Instead of dismissing cursive reflexively, administrators should take advantage of many innovative cursive programs (like this) that can bring the benefits of this skill to new (and older) generations.
Edward Tenner @'the Atlantic'

Who's still being held at Guantanamo?

New FBI Documents Provide Details on Government’s Surveillance Spyware

Uncooperative approaches

HA! President Obama at the 2011 White House Correspondents' Dinner

HA!

Scanner - Les Fenêtres

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Download mp3 5.21 MB

Commissioned installation work for the launch of the Chambre Sonore at La Gaîté Lyrique, Paris, France, March 2011. Based upon writings by the poet Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867), Les Fenêtres uses readings of the text sliced and choreographed into a spiraling pattern of words, breathes and the spaces in between words. A generative light system created by United Visual Artists (UVA) responds in real time to the sound, building to a synesthetic peak.
Originally a 10 speaker immersive installation this is a special stereo mix. Listen on good speakers to enjoy the full bass experience.
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Anonymous/Iran/Remix

diasporg David Morley

No Invite needed to join Diaspora* https://diasp.org or http://podupti.me - Social Network with Privacy!

Diaspora: An Antidote For Your Facebook Privacy Problems

G'night

The cats nestle close to their kittens now.
The lambs have laid down with the sheep.
You're cozy and warm in your bed, my dear
Please go the fuck to sleep.

Complete IRC chat of PlayStation Network hacker

37 versions of The Internationale (for May Day!)

The Internationale [variant words in square brackets]
Arise ye workers [starvelings] from your slumbers
Arise ye prisoners of want
For reason in revolt now thunders
And at last ends the age of cant.
Away with all your superstitions
Servile masses arise, arise
We'll change henceforth [forthwith] the old tradition [conditions]
And spurn the dust to win the prize.

So comrades, come rally
And the last fight let us face
The Internationale unites the human race.
So comrades, come rally
And the last fight let us face
The Internationale unites the human race.

No more deluded by reaction
On tyrants only we'll make war
The soldiers too will take strike action
They'll break ranks and fight no more
And if those cannibals keep trying
To sacrifice us to their pride
They soon shall hear the bullets flying
We'll shoot the generals on our own side.

No saviour from on high delivers
No faith have we in prince or peer
Our own right hand the chains must shiver
Chains of hatred, greed and fear
E'er the thieves will out with their booty [give up their booty]
And give to all a happier lot.
Each [those] at the forge must do their duty
And we'll strike while the iron is hot.

Includes versions by:

Alistair Hulett
Ani DiFranco & Utah Phillips
Black
Frank Rennicke
Hanns Eisler
Pete Seeger
Robert Wyatt
Russian Red Army Choir
The New Singers
Tuli Kupferberg...
 BillyBragg:


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(BIG thanx HerrB!) 

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UPDATE: Even more versions to download
HERE