Thursday 2 June 2011
Simon Reynolds: Total recall - why retromania is all the rage
Has pop finally eaten itself?
There's no single thing that made me suddenly think, Hey, there's a book to be written about pop culture's chronic addiction to its own past. As the last decade unfolded, noughties pop culture became steadily more submerged in retro. Both inside music (reunion tours, revivalism, deluxe reissues, performances of classic albums in their entirety) and outside (the emergence of YouTube as a gigantic collective archive, endless movie remakes, the strange and melancholy world of retro porn), there was mounting evidence to indicate an unhealthy fixation on the bygone.But if I could point to just one release that tipped me over the edge into bemused fascination with retromania, it would be 2006's Love, the Beatles remix project. Executed by George Martin and his son Giles to accompany the Cirque du Soleil spectacular in Las Vegas, the album's 26 songs incorporated elements from 130 individual recordings, both releases and demos, by the Fab Four. Hyped as a radical reworking, Love was way more interesting to think about than to listen to (the album mostly just sounds off, similar to the way restored paintings look too bright and sharp). Love raised all kinds of questions about our compulsion to relive and reconsume pop history, about the ways we use digital technology to rearrange the past and create effects of novelty. And like Scorsese's Dylan documentary No Direction Home, Love was yet more proof of the long shadow cast by the 60s, that decade where everything seemed brand-new and ever-changing. We're unable to escape the era's reproaches (why aren't things moving as fast as they did back then?) even as the music's adventurousness and innocence make it so tempting to revisit and replicate...
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Henry Kissinger agrees to help FIFA
Newly re-elected FIFA President Sepp Blatter is turning to former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to help investigate problems within world soccer's governing body.Blatter says the 88-year-old Kissinger has agreed to be on a "committee of wise persons" to advise FIFA's new corporate governance and compliance body.
Kissinger's spokeswoman, Jessee LaPorin, confirmed that Kissinger agreed to participate. She said Kissinger has not yet received a formal request, but did receive an exploratory letter from Blatter.
Kissinger, who was secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 under presidents Nixon and Ford, is an ardent soccer fan and worked on the failed U.S. bid to host the 2022 World Cup.
Blatter also says Wednesday that he wants to appoint Dutch great Johan Cruyff to the committee, which will have the power to investigate and suggest solutions to problems as FIFA recovers from a bribery scandal.
@'ESPN'
Ungfugnlaublich/Infugncroyable!!!
The secret bombing of the FA HQ starts when?
Kissinger's spokeswoman, Jessee LaPorin, confirmed that Kissinger agreed to participate. She said Kissinger has not yet received a formal request, but did receive an exploratory letter from Blatter.
Kissinger, who was secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 under presidents Nixon and Ford, is an ardent soccer fan and worked on the failed U.S. bid to host the 2022 World Cup.
Blatter also says Wednesday that he wants to appoint Dutch great Johan Cruyff to the committee, which will have the power to investigate and suggest solutions to problems as FIFA recovers from a bribery scandal.
@'ESPN'
Ungfugnlaublich/Infugncroyable!!!
The secret bombing of the FA HQ starts when?
Baillieu finds crime pays
Illustration: John Spooner
Perhaps crime does pay. At least, that's what the Baillieu government seems to think. The Premier's lieutenants might be reluctant to discuss big issues such as infrastructure, public transport and the environment, but ask a minister about crime or anti-social behaviour and they almost jump out of their skin with excitement. So much so that an outsider might be forgiven for thinking Melbourne has been overrun by gangs of louts screaming abuse.Is it just me, or is this law-and-order stuff getting out of hand? Take a decision this week to make permanent laws giving police extraordinary powers to issue $240 on-the-spot fines for swearing and offensive behaviour.
As Attorney-General Robert Clark put it: ''Victorians ought to be able to go out at night, to be able to go out with their families and not be opposed and offended and have their trip made miserable by the obnoxious and offensive behaviour of louts.''
I'm not sure where Clark spends his evenings, but last time I went out I had a very pleasant night. Not a lout in sight. Exactly what constitutes the misery-making behaviour referred to by Clark will be up to the discretion of individual police.
The government this week also announced plans for an online survey to measure public opinion about appropriate sentences for criminals. According to Clark, the survey - which is apparently being conducted in tandem with the Herald Sun - will underpin a tough new sentencing regime for criminals to ''meet community expectations''.
This sort of nonsense may represent clever politics, but it's a shocking way to conduct public policy. You can almost guarantee the results will not accurately reflect public opinion because of the survey's ''self-selecting'' approach. Anyone who feels strongly enough is invited to go online and offer their opinions, rather than relying on a random selection. Ask any pollster, and they'll tell you the results are very likely to be heavily skewed towards the extreme.
Another interpretation, of course, is this is nothing more than a cynical political exercise. If that is the case, the results will either be ignored (as they were with a similar exercise conducted by the Kennett government), or they will be used to justify the government's tougher sentencing agenda.
The government also confirmed plans to impose mandatory minimum two-year jail sentences on 16 and 17-year-olds who commit acts of gross violence. Such a move, according to legal experts, is likely to breach the United Nations declaration on the rights of the child, while doing little to rehabilitate young offenders.
It seems Premier Ted Baillieu has put a large number of eggs in the law-and-order basket. There may be a genuine problem with violence and anti-social behaviour in Melbourne's CBD late at night. This could relate to a range of factors, including a binge drinking culture that has been allowed to fester, boredom, and perhaps bad parenting.
But the government's main motivation seems to be that many law-and-order policies are relatively cheap, but produce big results politically. Although boosting police numbers and installing protective services officers at every train station are costly, running a survey with the local tabloid on sentencing, or beefing up laws to tackle swearing, or locking up 16 and 17-year-olds, cost very little. Yet such policies can produce big political gains, particularly if elements of the media are complicit.
Such policies are all the more attractive in an age when the media continues to make loud demands for regular big-ticket announcements from our politicians, who have very little money left for new spending.
There are consequences. First, Victoria is fast trundling down the ''nanny state'' path, with a rising tide of rules and regulations inundating daily life, including permission to swear in public.
Such thinking is known as ''nudge theory''. The idea espoused by nudge theorists, led by US President Barack Obama's regulatory commission head Cass Sunstein, is that people need to be ''nudged'' into making the right decision because of a herd-like tendency to copy others' decisions. There may be some truth to this, but surely the justification needs to be weighed against costs. In this case, the costs include an increasing infringement of individual liberty.
Second, there is a danger that the government's law-and-order obsession comes to represent a cheap substitute for genuine action to tackle problems facing Victoria, including improving public transport, health and education, and tackling booming population growth.
Third, the Baillieu government's law-and-order agenda is itself in danger of spiralling out of control as it struggles to manage public expectations. Plans are now under way for a radical shake-up of the Office of Public Prosecutions, in addition to a review of the police force command structure. It has a massive task on its hands in recruiting thousands of additional police and protective services officers, not to mention the additional guards it will need to keep an eye on all those extra prisoners set to flood Victoria's jails.
This is not to say law-and-order is unimportant, or that there aren't problems with violence and anti-social behaviour that need to be addressed, or that the government didn't map out its law-and-order agenda during last year's election campaign.
But the cash-strapped Baillieu government has now gone too far, and it's time for a reality check. When Liberal Party founder Robert Menzies said, ''We took the name 'Liberal' because we were determined to be a progressive party, willing to make experiments, in no sense reactionary, but believing in the individual, his rights and his enterprise,'' surely he had something different from this in mind.
♪♫ Dry & Heavy w/ Deeder Zaman - New Way, New Life
BONUS:
Original Asian Dub Foundation version after the jump
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo 2011 Official Trailer 1
♪♫ Trent Reznor and Karen O - Immigrant Song
America's Creeping Police State
The late Chalmers Johnson often reminded us that “A nation can be one or the other, a democracy or an imperialist, but it can’t be both. If it sticks to imperialism, it will, like the old Roman Republic, on which so much of our system was modeled, lose its democracy to a domestic dictatorship.” His warning rings more true by the day, as Americans watch the erosion of their civil liberties accelerate in conjunction with the expansion of the US Empire.
When viewed through the lens of Johnson’s profound insights, the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Kentucky v. King makes perfect sense. On May 13, in a lopsided 8-1 ruling, the Court upheld the warrantless search of a Kentucky man’s apartment after police smelled marijuana and feared those inside were destroying evidence, essentially granting police officers increased power to enter the homes of citizens without a warrant.
Under the Fourth Amendment, police are barred from entering a home without first obtaining a warrant, which can only be issued by a judge upon probable cause. The only exception is when the circumstances qualify as “exigent,” meaning there is imminent risk of death or serious injury, danger that evidence will be immediately destroyed, or that a suspect will escape. However, exigent circumstances cannot be created by the police.
In this case, the police followed a suspected drug dealer into an apartment complex and after losing track of him, smelled marijuana coming from one of the apartments. After banging on the door and announcing themselves, the police heard noises that they interpreted as the destruction of evidence. Rather than first obtaining a warrant, they kicked down the door and arrested the man inside, who was caught flushing marijuana down the toilet.
The Kentucky Supreme Court had overturned the man’s conviction and ruled that exigent circumstances did not apply because the behavior of the police is what prompted the destruction of evidence. Tragically, an overwhelming majority of the Supreme Court upheld the Conviction. Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that citizens are not required to grant police officers permission to enter their homes after hearing a knock, but if there is no response and the officers hear noise that suggests evidence is being destroyed, they are justified in breaking in.
In her lone and scathing dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg agreed with the Kentucky Supreme Court, arguing that the Supreme Court’s ruling “arms the police with a way routinely to dishonor the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement in drug cases. In lieu of presenting their evidence to a neutral magistrate, police officers may now knock, listen, then break the door down, nevermind that they had ample time to obtain a warrant.” She went on to stress that “there was little risk that drug-related evidence would have been destroyed had the police delayed the search pending a magistrate’s authorization...”
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Rania Khalek @'AlterNet'
(Thanx Linda!)
Kreng - Grimoire
(Available on CD + LTD numbered, silver on black, silkscreened LP w/download code)
The less we know about Belgian sound alchemist Pepijn Caudron (aka Kreng), the better. We know his debut release ‘L’Autopsie Phenomenale De Dieu’ appeared seemingly out of nowhere on the Miasmah label in 2009, but other than that very little tangible information has surfaced. This sequel, the blackly monikered ‘Grimoire’ simply re-enforces Caudron’s shadowy legacy with a similarly dank concoction of cracked strings, creaking percussion and half-heard dialogue. Thankfully however Caudron has refined his craft in every way, from the artfully restrained layering of samples to the deliriously magickal atmosphere he manages to conjure up. There is the sense even from the first few seconds of the record that you are transported out of time and reality, and as hoarse, alien breaths croak over oily bass drones the poignant spoken words ‘You don’t belong here’ become an apt anchor for the entire album.
It seems almost too easy to compare ‘Grimoire’ to a film soundtrack at this point; sure Caudron has listened to his fair share of chilling scores but ‘Grimoire’ is more than simply homage, and maybe the clue is in the title itself. Grimoires are books of magic, the most important of which had a stranglehold on cultures both ancient and more recently than most people probably care to realize. These books have slipped into folklore and legend, and like those faded pages of incantations there is something deeply mystical and indescribable about Kreng’s music. Caudron’s background in theatre no doubt forms a strong foundation for his compositions, but there is so much about his work that only creeps into the light after countless hours of study. These songs are best suited to moonlight, strong spice-laced liquors and the dark recesses of our painfully dull existence. Pepijn Caudron has formed a grimy, surreal ode to not only the past, but also what the future might hold, and from the sounds of it we’re not getting off lightly. But then we’re all so tired of pretty, aren’t we?
The less we know about Belgian sound alchemist Pepijn Caudron (aka Kreng), the better. We know his debut release ‘L’Autopsie Phenomenale De Dieu’ appeared seemingly out of nowhere on the Miasmah label in 2009, but other than that very little tangible information has surfaced. This sequel, the blackly monikered ‘Grimoire’ simply re-enforces Caudron’s shadowy legacy with a similarly dank concoction of cracked strings, creaking percussion and half-heard dialogue. Thankfully however Caudron has refined his craft in every way, from the artfully restrained layering of samples to the deliriously magickal atmosphere he manages to conjure up. There is the sense even from the first few seconds of the record that you are transported out of time and reality, and as hoarse, alien breaths croak over oily bass drones the poignant spoken words ‘You don’t belong here’ become an apt anchor for the entire album.
It seems almost too easy to compare ‘Grimoire’ to a film soundtrack at this point; sure Caudron has listened to his fair share of chilling scores but ‘Grimoire’ is more than simply homage, and maybe the clue is in the title itself. Grimoires are books of magic, the most important of which had a stranglehold on cultures both ancient and more recently than most people probably care to realize. These books have slipped into folklore and legend, and like those faded pages of incantations there is something deeply mystical and indescribable about Kreng’s music. Caudron’s background in theatre no doubt forms a strong foundation for his compositions, but there is so much about his work that only creeps into the light after countless hours of study. These songs are best suited to moonlight, strong spice-laced liquors and the dark recesses of our painfully dull existence. Pepijn Caudron has formed a grimy, surreal ode to not only the past, but also what the future might hold, and from the sounds of it we’re not getting off lightly. But then we’re all so tired of pretty, aren’t we?
Release/catalogue number: MIACD016
Release date: Jun 3, 2011
Anti-Piracy Groups Send 3.6 Million File-Sharing Cash Demands
As the United States recoils in horror at the rapid acceleration of so-called ‘speculative invoicing’ schemes designed to force cash from alleged file-sharers, over in Europe the Germans are showing how it’s really done. According to information published by Germany’s Internet industry association, rightsholders there are targeting 300,000 alleged file-sharers every month – a staggering 3.6 million a year.
In February 2011, the US Copyright Group filed a new mass lawsuit on behalf of Nu Image, the studio behind action movie The Expendables. Initially this case included 6,500 John Doe defendants, but eventually swelled to a massive 23,322 sharers.
Then last month, with the ooos and aaahs barely silenced, along came another beefed-up lawsuit, this time on behalf of Voltage Pictures, the studio behind The Hurt Locker. A record-breaking amount of people are set to be targeted as a result of this single action, an incredible 24,583 in total.
But while these US lawsuits generate huge amounts of anger among opponents, and perversely impress with their sheer scale, over in Europe they’re really showing how it’s done. Germany is the birth place of these pay-up-or-else schemes and with their huge experience they’re making the United States look like rank amateurs.
According to mind-boggling new data released by Internet industry association ECO and linked by Janko Roettgers, German ISPs are handing over the personal details of their subscribers to rightsholders at the frightening rate of 300,000 every month. That’s more than the United States has managed in total – ever.
ECO says that the letters, which demand anything up to $1700 to make legal action go away, coupled with rising availability of legal content, have caused a drop in unlawful file-sharing of some 20% since 2008.
These figures, ECO say, make the case for not adopting measures to force ISPs to block file-sharing sites, measures which they say require “deep intervention” into the basic rights of the population.
“Blocking methods, such as those planned and advertised by the European Commission last week at the e> G8 Forum in Paris are unnecessary,” ECO said in a statement.
“First, there are many more legal and user-friendly products available now than several years ago. On the other hand, this shows a consistent approach on illegal downloads without resorting to blocking,” they continue.
However, ECO’s Oliver Süme notes that the cash demands levied by rightsholders are sometimes excessive, and a simple telling-off could achieve a useful effect.
“In most cases, a warning letter would be enough,” said Süme. “It does not always have to be a demand for several hundred euros.”
While rightsholders are making huge amounts from these settlement schemes from increasing numbers of threatening letters sent, and organizations like ECO are reporting drops in illicit sharing as a result, that’s not necessarily the full picture.
The letters are only sent out to Internet subscribers using P2P services to obtain unauthorized content, and it is unclear how many users have switched to untraceable services, such as cyberlockers, or are now taking measures to conceal their identities.
What is clear though is that if site blocking measures are introduced, file-sharing volumes will be hit, at least in the short-term. The effect of that is that fewer people will sitting ducks for these settlement letters, which have become a useful source of revenue for rightsholders. For some, reduced piracy could mean reduced revenue.
enigmax @'TorrentFreak'
In February 2011, the US Copyright Group filed a new mass lawsuit on behalf of Nu Image, the studio behind action movie The Expendables. Initially this case included 6,500 John Doe defendants, but eventually swelled to a massive 23,322 sharers.Then last month, with the ooos and aaahs barely silenced, along came another beefed-up lawsuit, this time on behalf of Voltage Pictures, the studio behind The Hurt Locker. A record-breaking amount of people are set to be targeted as a result of this single action, an incredible 24,583 in total.
But while these US lawsuits generate huge amounts of anger among opponents, and perversely impress with their sheer scale, over in Europe they’re really showing how it’s done. Germany is the birth place of these pay-up-or-else schemes and with their huge experience they’re making the United States look like rank amateurs.
According to mind-boggling new data released by Internet industry association ECO and linked by Janko Roettgers, German ISPs are handing over the personal details of their subscribers to rightsholders at the frightening rate of 300,000 every month. That’s more than the United States has managed in total – ever.
ECO says that the letters, which demand anything up to $1700 to make legal action go away, coupled with rising availability of legal content, have caused a drop in unlawful file-sharing of some 20% since 2008.
These figures, ECO say, make the case for not adopting measures to force ISPs to block file-sharing sites, measures which they say require “deep intervention” into the basic rights of the population.
“Blocking methods, such as those planned and advertised by the European Commission last week at the e> G8 Forum in Paris are unnecessary,” ECO said in a statement.
“First, there are many more legal and user-friendly products available now than several years ago. On the other hand, this shows a consistent approach on illegal downloads without resorting to blocking,” they continue.
However, ECO’s Oliver Süme notes that the cash demands levied by rightsholders are sometimes excessive, and a simple telling-off could achieve a useful effect.
“In most cases, a warning letter would be enough,” said Süme. “It does not always have to be a demand for several hundred euros.”
While rightsholders are making huge amounts from these settlement schemes from increasing numbers of threatening letters sent, and organizations like ECO are reporting drops in illicit sharing as a result, that’s not necessarily the full picture.
The letters are only sent out to Internet subscribers using P2P services to obtain unauthorized content, and it is unclear how many users have switched to untraceable services, such as cyberlockers, or are now taking measures to conceal their identities.
What is clear though is that if site blocking measures are introduced, file-sharing volumes will be hit, at least in the short-term. The effect of that is that fewer people will sitting ducks for these settlement letters, which have become a useful source of revenue for rightsholders. For some, reduced piracy could mean reduced revenue.
enigmax @'TorrentFreak'
Wednesday 1 June 2011
Kitty, Daisy and Lewis - BBC3 Documentary Excerpt
Three siblings from North London, Kitty, Daisy & Lewis have set the British roots rock scene on its ear with their infectious energy and authentic approach to rockabilly, vintage country, and first-generation rhythm & blues -- not to mention the fact that the youngest member of the trio hadn't yet reached her teens when they released their first single in 2005. Kitty Durham, Lewis Durham, and Daisy Durham were born into a musical family -- their father, Graeme Durham, is a guitarist who is also a top engineer at one of London's leading record mastering facilities, the Exchange, while their mother, Ingrid Weiss, played drums with the pioneering post-punk band the Raincoats. In 2002, while attending an afternoon rockabilly gig hosted by Big Steve and the Arlenes with their parents, Lewis was invited to sit in with the band on banjo, while Kitty hopped behind the drum kit and kept time. The next time Big Steve played at the Durhams' local pub, Lewis and Kitty were once again brought up to the stage, while Daisy joined in on accordion, and the kids decided it was time to form a band of their own.
Wanting to fill out their sound, Graeme was drafted as a rhythm guitarist and Ingrid took up upright bass to join the family combo. As the youngsters began displaying a greater range of talent -- Lewis plays guitar, lap steel, and piano along with the banjo, while Kitty handles percussion, harmonica, ukulele, and guitar and Daisy sings and plays piano as well as drums -- they became an act to watch on the U.K. Americana circuit, and began recording their own material. Lewis put together a makeshift studio in their home using vintage analog recording gear, and in 2005 the kids released their first single, "Honolulu Rock," with Kitty 12 years of age, Lewis 14, and Daisy the oldest at 16. A second single, "Mean Son of a Gun," hit shops a year later; it was released as a 7" 45 and in a limited-edition 10" 78-rpm pressing. In 2008 Kitty, Daisy & Lewis released their eponymous full-length debut album, featuring the single "Going Up the Country." The trio's sophomore effort, Smoking in Heaven (preceded by the single "I'm So Sorry"/"I'm Going Back"), was slated for release in May of 2011
(Marc Deming - allmusic)
via
Bonus:
Kitty Daisy & Lewis - Going Up The Country (Morning Becomes Eclectic 07/06/09)
Indoncensorship Index on Censorship
The dark side of Syria's internet, @jilliancyork on why surveillance and spambots prove @evgenymorozov right http://goo.gl/2R1Gh
Mideast Uses Western Tools to Battle the Skype Rebellion
Peter Saville on his Joy Division/New Order album cover artwork
Next month sees the release of Total, the first compilation to combine the back catalogues of Joy Division and New Order – who shared band members, a record label and a sleeve designer. Peter Saville was a co-founder of Factory Records and credits the label's unique culture for providing him with a creative freedom on a par with its bands. "I had the opportunity to make the kind of objects I wanted to see in my life," says Saville, who went on to design the England football strip, art direct adverts for Dior and was creative director of the city of Manchester. Here, he talks us through his favourite designs for Joy Division and New Order sleeves
Unknown Pleasures Joy Division (Factory, 1979)
This was the first and only time that the band gave me something that they’d like for a cover. I went to see Rob Gretton, who managed them, and he gave me a folder of material, which contained the wave image from the Cambridge Encyclopedia of Astronomy. They gave me the title too but I didn’t hear the album. The wave pattern was so appropriate. It was from CP 1919, the first pulsar, so it’s likely that the graph emanated from Jodrell Bank, which is local to Manchester and Joy Division. And it’s both technical and sensual. It’s tight, like Stephen Morris’ drumming, but it’s also fluid: lots of people think it’s a heart beat. Having the title on the front just didn’t seem necessary. I asked Rob about it and, between us, we felt it wasn’t a cool thing to do. It was the post-punk moment and we were against overblown stardom. The band didn’t want to be pop stars ...
Unknown Pleasures Joy Division (Factory, 1979)
This was the first and only time that the band gave me something that they’d like for a cover. I went to see Rob Gretton, who managed them, and he gave me a folder of material, which contained the wave image from the Cambridge Encyclopedia of Astronomy. They gave me the title too but I didn’t hear the album. The wave pattern was so appropriate. It was from CP 1919, the first pulsar, so it’s likely that the graph emanated from Jodrell Bank, which is local to Manchester and Joy Division. And it’s both technical and sensual. It’s tight, like Stephen Morris’ drumming, but it’s also fluid: lots of people think it’s a heart beat. Having the title on the front just didn’t seem necessary. I asked Rob about it and, between us, we felt it wasn’t a cool thing to do. It was the post-punk moment and we were against overblown stardom. The band didn’t want to be pop stars ...
I Think I'm Noam Chomsky
He will deliver the City of Sydney Peace Prize Lecture at Sydney Town Hall 2 November.
Melbourne International Jazz Festival Opening Celebration Concert feat Sun Ra Arkestra
Sun Ra Arkestra (USA), Chiri featuring Bae Il Dong (KOR/AUS) and the Cairo Club Orchestra (AUS)
The Melbourne International Jazz Festival and The Light in Winter invite you to an unmissable celebration of jazz that will have you dancing into the twilight! Rain, hail or shine, the 2011 Festival officially kicks off with a free open-air concert at Federation Square.Be sure to bring your dancing shoes as Melbourne's own sultans of debonair, the Cairo Club Orchestra, serenade in the evening's spectacular lineup of headline artists, including the awe-inspiring Chiri featuring internationally renowned Korean pansori singer Bae Il Dong performing with Australian improvising treasures drummer Simon Barker and trumpeter Scott Tinkler, followed by a special sneak peak performance by the legendary, the notorious, the groundbreaking 'tone scientists', the Sun Ra Arkestra, making their Australian premiere performance on the eve of their sold-out Festival shows.
Federation Square - Main Stage
Sat 4 June, 3–5pm
Spaceboy and I will have our dancing shoes on down the front!
Spaceboy and I will have our dancing shoes on down the front!
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