Tuesday, 12 June 2012
HA!
Started reading todays Apple
announcement on my cool state-of-the-art MacBook Pro and finished
reading it on my stupid obsolete MacBook Pro
I Dream of Wires 5: Richard Devine - The Analog Voodoo Effect
Richard Devine is an Atlanta-based electronic musician and sound
designer. He is recognized for producing a layered and heavily processed
sound, combining influences from hip-hop, to old and modern electronic
music. Richard Devine has released records through such esteemed labels
as Schematic and Warp Records, and is the creative force behind his own
sound design company, Devine Sound. Though he has contributed sound
design to a number of hardware and software manufacturers, he recently
released his first official sample library through Sony Creative
Software. Devine has also scored commercials for the likes of Nike and
Touchstone Pictures.
The Sweet Taste Of Defeat
British glam-rock band The Sweet (best known for songs like Block Buster! and The Ballroom Blitz)
seemed pretty damn bitter five years ago when guitarist Andy Scott sued
an Austrian man, Dietmar Huber, for selling a single used CD on eBay at
a price of one euro. At first, he claimed it was a pirated copy and
asked for a €2000 fee, but Huber refused, insisting it was a legally
purchased disc that he had every right to sell. Amazingly, Scott kept
pushing, and went to court asking for €36,000. When Huber proved in
court that it was his CD, Scott still didn't give up! He changed his claim to say he owned a copyright on the name, and all used sales had to be authorized by him.
Huber, as the victim of an utterly ridiculous string of legal attacks, continued to fight back, and now Austria's highest court has confirmed that he did nothing wrong and the band must pay his legal fees to the tune of £50,000.
This isn't really surprising—most jurisdictions recognize that it's always okay to re-sell something you legally purchased. Of course, we do see some companies pushing back against this, most notoriously video game developers. But even they'd (probably) be smarter than to engage in such a Quixotic legal quest. And that's the surprising part here: that the guitarist kicked off this circus and forced it to keep escalating. Used records have been a much-loved part of the music world for decades—did he think he was going to change all that? More importantly, does he think this is going to help him sell more albums? In reality, I'd guess people are going to be a lot more reluctant to buy a Sweet CD in the future, since they know they might get sued if they want to re-sell it later (because, given his dogged pursuit of this dead-end lawsuit, I am not optimistic that Scott has learned his lesson).
Leigh Beadon @'techdirt'
Huber, as the victim of an utterly ridiculous string of legal attacks, continued to fight back, and now Austria's highest court has confirmed that he did nothing wrong and the band must pay his legal fees to the tune of £50,000.
This isn't really surprising—most jurisdictions recognize that it's always okay to re-sell something you legally purchased. Of course, we do see some companies pushing back against this, most notoriously video game developers. But even they'd (probably) be smarter than to engage in such a Quixotic legal quest. And that's the surprising part here: that the guitarist kicked off this circus and forced it to keep escalating. Used records have been a much-loved part of the music world for decades—did he think he was going to change all that? More importantly, does he think this is going to help him sell more albums? In reality, I'd guess people are going to be a lot more reluctant to buy a Sweet CD in the future, since they know they might get sued if they want to re-sell it later (because, given his dogged pursuit of this dead-end lawsuit, I am not optimistic that Scott has learned his lesson).
Leigh Beadon @'techdirt'
Electrical Banana
So wrote Aldous Huxley just before an afternoon mescaline trip, his first, in 1954. The psychedelic sixties would take Huxley’s message to heart, opening new doors of perception while under the influence. But for graphic designer Heinz Edelmann, Huxley’s journalistic exploration was mescaline enough. After reading the British novelist’s account, Edelmann thought, “Well, I don’t need mescaline. I can do that stone cold sober.” If you don’t know who Edelmann is, have a look at Yellow Submarine: he created the look of the film and designed all the characters...I have always been a poor visualizer. Words, even the pregnant words of poets, do not evoke pictures in my mind. No hypnagogic visions greet me on the verge of sleep. When I recall something, the memory does not present itself to me as a vividly seen event or object. By an effort of the will, I can evoke a not very vivid image of what happened yesterday afternoon, of how the Lungarno used to look before the bridges were destroyed, of the Bayswater Road when the only buses were green and tiny and drawn by aged horses at three and a half miles an hour. But such images have little substance and absolutely no autonomous life of their own. They stand to real, perceived objects in the same relation as Homer’s ghosts stood to the men of flesh and blood, who came to visit them in the shades … This was the world—a poor thing but my own—which I expected to see transformed into something completely unlike itself.
MORE
And Here Is My Good Big Centipede
An Unpublished Excerpt from an Interview with William S. BurroughsSunn O))) stage set up
Sunn O)))'s stage set-up for their All Tomorrow's Parties gig tomorrow night. KOKO London shall tremble...
Via
Folk The Banks
Folk the Banks is now available. Pay What You Can Afford for digital album download plus CDs, vinyls, artwork prints and T-shirts! [...] with album artwork by Jamie Reid - famed for the iconic artwork of the Sex Pistols' "God Save the Queen" single
The album features original and exclusive tracks from Ani DiFranco, Billy Bragg, Chris T-T, Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly, Peggy Seeger, Ryan Harvey and Tao Rodriguez-Seeger.
With all profits from the record label donated to the Occupy movement, other artists on the Folk the Banks album include The Nightwatchman: Tom Morello, Martha Wainright, Anais Mitchell, Show of Hands, King Blues, Leon Rosselson, The Young-uns, Oysterband, Chumbawumba, Jim Moray and Eddie Morton.
(Thanx Helen!)
Monday, 11 June 2012
First Listen: Neneh Cherry And The Thing - 'The Cherry Thing'
Subverting the starring role is the singer and rapper Neneh Cherry, whose hors categorie dance-pop ("Buffalo Stance," etc.) earned her 15 minutes of international fame in the late 1980s and '90s. In the time since she released her last solo LP in 1996, three Norwegian and Swedish free-jazz musicians formed a remarkably versatile band. The Thing — with Mats Gustafsson on saxophones, Ingebrigt Haker Flaten on bass, Paal Nilssen-Love on drums — is as happy trading blows with fire-breathing saxophonists as it is rocking out on a PJ Harvey tune or "Louie Louie."
This collaboration dates back only two years, but its ties run deep. Neneh Cherry, whose mother is Swedish, grew up largely in Sweden and the U.S.; The Thing's members are from Scandinavia and have racked up many American collaborators (Flaten currently lives in Austin, Texas). Neneh Cherry's discography lists work with punk rockers, trip-hop pioneers and African pop icons; The Thing is known for its unmediated punk energy and its recordings with The Cato Salsa Experience, a Swedish rock band. Cherry's stepfather is the American improvising cornetist Don Cherry, and she spent much of her childhood touring with him and his fellow jazz legends; The Thing initially met expressly to play Don Cherry compositions, and named itself after one of his songs.
So it makes sense that they cover electronic punk duo Suicide (the beautiful "Dream Baby Dream"), English vocalist and songwriter Martina Topley-Bird (the driving "Too Tough to Die"), hard-rock band The Stooges ("Dirt"), prolix rapper MF Doom (an interpolation of the lyrics of "Accordion"). There are also fetching originals from Cherry and Gustafsson, as well as an inventive reconfiguration of a Don Cherry theme ("Golden Heart"). It's a wild record, in an expect-the-unexpected sort of way; it's also a homemade record, in that its arrangements feel spontaneous and minimally varnished by studio polish. It's a raw record, in the way that a go-anywhere singer encounters an upright bass, a baritone saxophone and an actual drum set.
Out June 19, The Cherry Thing winds down with "What Reason," a remarkably appropriate choice for the strengths and pre-history of this band. It's an aching, sawing melody; it was also one of the few vocal features penned by free-jazz trailblazer Ornette Coleman, a close associate of Don Cherry. It closes here on a peaceful a cappella strain: "Only when I'm without you," Neneh Cherry sings. Then, a most present silence.
Patrick Jarenwattananon @'npr'
Hear 'The Cherry Thing' In Its Entirety
The Black Spades
The notorious Black Spades was once the largest and most feared gang in New York City. Hailing from the Bronx, the Spades had as their warlord, Hip Hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa. They were the precursors to Hip Hop.. We caught up with many of the members including original leader Bam Bam who gave Bambaataa his name. We spoke with Hip Hop legend Popmaster Fabel who is finishing up a documentary on early gang culture called 'The Apache line'.
We also hear from Karate Charlie who was the President of the Ghetto Brothers which was another large Street Orginazation highlighted in Jeff Chang's book 'Can't Stop Won't Stop'.
The Black Spades
"...The best solution, in my opinion, is to regulate it. Then you can
control it. The only ID a dealer needs to see now is a £20 note. If you
had to go to a shop [to buy it], you would no doubt need to prove how
old you were. If you had difficulties, you could get advice about it.
Prohibition is not control at all. It's just shoving it under the carpet
and trying to ignore it; a foolhardy idea."
The Julian Assange Show: Cypherpunks
Cyber threats, hacker attacks and laws officially aiming to tackle internet piracy, but in fact infringing people's rights to online privacy. It's an increasingly topical subject - and the world's most famous whistleblower is aiming to get to the heart of it. In the latest edition of his interview program here on RT, Julian Assange gets together with activists from the Cypherpunk movement - Andy Müller-Maguhn, Jeremie Zimmermann, and Jacob Appelbaum.
Now you know it anyway (Nu ken je het toch al)
At a sunny flea market, Robin tries to sell her own
made-up stories. As she tells one of her stories with increasing
confidence to a potential customer, all the main characters come alive
and anxiously listen in.
This short children's animation has lead in the movie 'The Smurfs' in
all Pathe Cinemas in the Netherlands as part of the Ultrakort 2
initiative by The Netherlands Film Fund and Pathe.Visit us at polderanimation.com or follow us on facebook.com/polderanimation
Via
Sunday, 10 June 2012
Black Cab. Tonight. Smith Street. Melbourne
Doors: 9PM
Black Cab:11:30 - 12:30
Punk Britannia: Part 2 - Punk 1976-78
Three-part series about the history of punk. Daydreaming England was about to be rudely awakened as punk emerged from the London underground scene and a nation dropped its dinner in its lap when the Sex Pistols swore on primetime television. Punk had finally found its enemy - the establishment. It began to extend its three-chord vocabulary through an alliance with reggae, captured by the Clash on White Man in Hammersmith Palais. A disastrous PR stunt by the Pistols on a Thames barge marked a turning point - the darker underbelly of the summer of '77 saw race riots in Lewisham, the backdrop for a rawer, working class sound. By '78 punk was becoming a costume - the pop orthodoxy it had originally sought to destroy. For many punk ended when the Pistols split, beset by internal problems, following an abortive US tour in January '78. Those practitioners who would go on to enjoy sustained success sought to modify their sound to survive, such as Siouxsie Sioux, leading to the post-punk era
Saturday, 9 June 2012
UN Observers enter Mazraat al-Qubeir
UN observers today entered the village of Mazraat al-Qubeir to verify
reports of mass killings in the village. After hours of coordination
with local authorities and communities in the area, the observers were
able to access the village at 3:30 local time.
Mazraat al-Qubier was empty of its own residents and thus the observers were not able to talk to anyone who witnessed Wednesday's horrific tragedy.
Upon the arrival of UN observers villagers from a neighbouring town came and spoke of what they heard and the relatives they lost.
Bmp tracks were visible in the vicinity. Some homes were damaged by rockets from bmps, grenades and a range of caliber weapons.
Inside some of the houses, the walls and floors were splatted with blood. Fire was still burning
outside houses and there was a strong stench of burnt flesh in the air.
The circumstances surrounding this crime are still unclear. The number and names of those killed are still not confirmed. The observers are still working to ascertain the facts.
The observers were not able to enter Mazraat al-Qubeir yesterday despite multiple attempts throughout the whole day. Their mission was obstructed by three factors:
• They are being stopped at Syrian Army checkpoints and in some cases turned back.
• Some of our patrols are being stopped by civilians in the area.
• We are receiving information from residents of the area that the safety of our observers is at risk if we enter village of Mazraat al-Qubeir.
SHOTLIST:
1. Various shots, UNSMIS military observers approaching Syria Al-Kubeir village
2. Close up of UNISMIS observer driving next to a shelled house
3. Close up walls of shelled house with holes and bullets marks
4. Wide, burning smoke outside house
5. Wide, wide hole from shelled house with UNSMIS military observers
on the background
6. Wide , various UNSMIS military observers walking inside Al-Kubeir village
7. Med, Inside house , unidentified men showing mattress spattered
with blood and bullet holes next on the walls
8. Close up of blood stained mattress
9. Med, Unidentified man holding sheet with some human flesh remains
10. Med, Blood stained floor
11. Close up pool of blood
13. Med, Unidentified man pointing at picture frame of man inside
house , then breaks down crying.
14. Wide, shelled house
15. Med, UNSMIS civilian staff going through rubble
16. (Soundbite )(Arabic) Man:
"Young children, infants, my brother,his wife and seven children, the eldest only in 6th grade all dead. I will show you the blood. They burnt his house."
17. Wide, of shelled village
18. Med, close up UN personnel gathering evidence on the ground
Mazraat al-Qubier was empty of its own residents and thus the observers were not able to talk to anyone who witnessed Wednesday's horrific tragedy.
Upon the arrival of UN observers villagers from a neighbouring town came and spoke of what they heard and the relatives they lost.
Bmp tracks were visible in the vicinity. Some homes were damaged by rockets from bmps, grenades and a range of caliber weapons.
Inside some of the houses, the walls and floors were splatted with blood. Fire was still burning
outside houses and there was a strong stench of burnt flesh in the air.
The circumstances surrounding this crime are still unclear. The number and names of those killed are still not confirmed. The observers are still working to ascertain the facts.
The observers were not able to enter Mazraat al-Qubeir yesterday despite multiple attempts throughout the whole day. Their mission was obstructed by three factors:
• They are being stopped at Syrian Army checkpoints and in some cases turned back.
• Some of our patrols are being stopped by civilians in the area.
• We are receiving information from residents of the area that the safety of our observers is at risk if we enter village of Mazraat al-Qubeir.
SHOTLIST:
1. Various shots, UNSMIS military observers approaching Syria Al-Kubeir village
2. Close up of UNISMIS observer driving next to a shelled house
3. Close up walls of shelled house with holes and bullets marks
4. Wide, burning smoke outside house
5. Wide, wide hole from shelled house with UNSMIS military observers
on the background
6. Wide , various UNSMIS military observers walking inside Al-Kubeir village
7. Med, Inside house , unidentified men showing mattress spattered
with blood and bullet holes next on the walls
8. Close up of blood stained mattress
9. Med, Unidentified man holding sheet with some human flesh remains
10. Med, Blood stained floor
11. Close up pool of blood
13. Med, Unidentified man pointing at picture frame of man inside
house , then breaks down crying.
14. Wide, shelled house
15. Med, UNSMIS civilian staff going through rubble
16. (Soundbite )(Arabic) Man:
"Young children, infants, my brother,his wife and seven children, the eldest only in 6th grade all dead. I will show you the blood. They burnt his house."
17. Wide, of shelled village
18. Med, close up UN personnel gathering evidence on the ground
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