Electrofringe is now calling for proposals for the 2009 festival. We are looking for creative expressions from artists, sound artists, performers, media makers, digital filmmakers, researchers, cross-artform practitioners, curators, producers, writers, experimenters, enthusiasts and anyone who doesn’t fit these boxes.

Electrofringe is a five-day festival of electronic arts and culture held from the 1st – [...]]]>

2009 ELECTROFRINGE FESTIVAL – CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Electrofringe is now calling for proposals for the 2009 festival. We
are looking for creative expressions from artists, sound artists,
performers, media makers, digital filmmakers, researchers,
cross-artform practitioners, curators, producers, writers,
experimenters, enthusiasts and anyone who doesn’t fit these boxes.

Electrofringe is a five-day festival of electronic arts and culture
held from the 1st – 5th October 2009 in Newcastle, Australia.
Electrofringe is part of a group of festivals collected together under
the This Is Not Art umbrella. Electrofringe is committed to fostering
creative and innovative use and re-use of technology and electronic
artforms, while focusing on artistic development and skills exchange.

Electrofringe seeks proposals in the following program areas:
Artist and project presentations, workshops and demonstrations,
panels, interventions, live art, performance (Electro-Performance),
residencies (Electro-Residencies), mobile works (Electro-Manoeuvre),
online artworks (Electro-Online) and single-channel video works
(Electro-Projections & Electro-Être) plus special events (something
you want to propose).

All presentations, panels, workshops, demonstrations, panels,
performance, residency, intervention, live and mobile works submission
proposals are due by TUESDAY 31st MARCH 2009.

Only online artworks (Electro-Online) and single-channel video works
(Electro-Projections & Electro-Être) submission proposals are due by
SUNDAY 31st MAY 2009.

See the Electrofringe website for submission details: www.electrofringe.net

We are currently looking for artists (and [...]]]>

Over the last few years Don’t Look Gallery has presented a diverse
array of challenging experimental technology-based art from its
shopfront in the outer-inner-west suburb of Dulwich Hill. Sound,
video, computer art, vintage technologies, installation and conceptual
art describe just some of the forms that have raised eyebrows in this
modestly sized art space.

We are currently looking for artists (and potential artists) who may
want to show at Don’t Look Experimental New Media Gallery in 2009.
Exhibitions run for 10 days (or longer by agreement), the rent is
cheap and we help with publicity, setup and concept (if you wish). If
you are interested in having an exhibition please email a proposal and
CV (no more than two pages in all) to dontlookgallery@gmail.com.

In 2009 we will be also be starting a fortnightly experimental
sound/new media performance night. If you’re a musician and/or artist
and want to try out something new, again please email
dontlookgallery@gmail.com with a short description of the work and a
CV.

We look forward to hearing from all artists who are into making work
that doesn’t fit neatly into a gilded frame, squarely on a wall!

Over the past few years most of my media consumption has switched to downloads, whether netcasts or torrents, accessed via RSS feeds, aggregated using Google Reader. My use of radio and TV is now mainly for news and occasional sports [...]]]> Some friends of mine are getting broadband (at last) and I’ve been asked for netcast recommendations.

Over the past few years most of my media consumption has switched to downloads, whether netcasts or torrents, accessed via RSS feeds, aggregated using Google Reader. My use of radio and TV is now mainly for news and occasional sports broadcasts. This feels like an inevitable technological and cultural shift, so I was surprised when I discovered recently that very few of my students subscribe to any netcasts.

Here are my current subscriptions. As you can see, there are a lot of them! I don’t have time to catch every episode, so pick and choose based on episode descriptions.

UPDATE: This post has been receiving links, so I’ll endeavour to keep it updated. I’ve just added some recent finds, such as Are We Alone?, The Bugle, and Epic Fu, and removed several others that I was no longer downloading.

Audio netcasts:

• Adam and Joe BBC 6 Music

Humour is such a personal thing, but Adam and Joe make me laugh. Frequently. I first got into them via their great XFM podcast.

• All in the Mind

Interesting RN program about psychology, neurology, philosophy of mind, etc.

• anonradio: the next generation

Run by Tom Ellard, this has evolved over the years and is currently mainly providing downloads of John Blades’ 2MBS-FM program ‘Background Noise’.

• Are We Alone?

The SETI Institute’s excellent program about science and skepticism.

• Artworks

A good arts program.

• ASX Investor Update Podcast

Nonsense, but useful if, like me, you’d like to understand the world of finance.

• Background Briefing

RN’s in-depth current affairs program.

• Big Ideas

Mostly public lectures from Australia.

• Blogariddims

Dubstep mixes.

• The Bugle

The Times Online’s satirical podcast, with John Oliver (of The Daily Show) and Andy Zaltzman

• CBC Radio: Quirks & Quarks Segmented Show

An entertaining Canadian science show, split into bite-sized chunks.

• CBC Radio: The Best of Ideas

Mostly public lectures from Canada.

• First Monday Podcast

Monthly academically-inclined podcast about digital culture.

• FLOSS Weekly

Interviews and discussion about the world of open source software. Often quite technical, which I reckon is a good thing.

• Hindsight

RN history program.

• hungbunny

Experimental music.

• In Conversation

RN interview program.

• In Our Time

Essential. A panel of experts discusses a topic from science, history or the arts. Hosted by Melvyn Bragg.

• KCRW’s Le Show

Harry Shearer (Spinal Tap, The Simpsons) has a voice that could make reading the newspaper sound interesting, which is sort of what he does here, along with sketches and songs. One of my favourite shows.

• Late Night Live

Interviews and current affairs presented by Philip Adams.

• Lingua Franca

RN program about language.

• MacBreak Weekly

A favourite, mainly because of the amusing banter between Leo Laporte, Merlin Mann and Andy Ihnatko.

• Movie Time

Movie reviews and interviews, featuring some great collages by Paul Gough (aka Pimmon).

• National Interest

Australian national politics and current affairs.

• net@night

Amber Macarthur and Leo Laporte are the engaging hosts of this net-surfing show.

• Ockham’s Razor

Short talks by various Australian thinkers.

• Over The Edge

Negativland’s legendary live mixing show which has been going for decades.

• Philosopher’s Zone

I love this show. Accessible discussion of philosophical issues.

• Eleven Eleven

Excellent sound art and experimental music podcast by Jen Teo.

• Chasing the Tangent

Sofie Loizou presents lovely, soulful electronica.

• Radio Eye

Radiophonic features from RN.

• Read/WriteTalk

From the excellent blog on Web 2.0 etc., this podcast is good when they’re not recording from a speaker phone.

• SALT – Seminars About Long Term Thinking

Interesting lectures from people such as Brian Eno, Joline Blais & Jon Ippolito.

• Some Assembly Required

A musical fix for the Negativland/John Oswald style cutup scene.

• Stephen Fry’s Podgrams

I wish I could live in Stephen Fry’s world.

• The Book Show

Reviews and interviews.

• The Economist

A recent subscription, I’m still making up my mind about this. Mainly short but serious political commentaries.

• The Media Report

When the topics interest me, this is a great program, with insights into the media industries.

• The Music Show

Andrew Ford is a respected classical composer who is open-minded enough to engage with all sorts of music makers on this program.

• The Night Air

Radio art is increasingly rare on the ABC, but The Night Air maintains the tradition. Its emphasis is on collage and remixing from the ABC’s archives.

• The Science Show

An Australian national treasure, the ABC’s flagship science program.

• The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe

Your escape to reality. The panel of rogues turn debunking feeble-minded superstition into laugh-out-loud fun. Cruel, but fair.

• The Sound of Young America

One of my faves. Entertaining interviews with smart people – mostly writers, comedians and media makers.

• The SubGenius Hour of Slack Podcast

Church of the SubGenius. Nuff said.

• The VFX Show

Mainly concerned with feature film CGI and compositing. One of the hosts is Australian, which is nice.

• this WEEK in TECH

I’m a big fan of Leo Laporte – he’s the consumate, charming tech broadcaster. The panel usually includes John C. Dvorak and others with plenty of personality, chatting about the week’s tech news.

• WFMU’s Codpaste with People Like Us and Ergo Phizmiz

Amusing mixing from two well-known collagists. See also their individual shows below.

• WFMU’s Do or DIY with People Like Us
• WFMU’s Phuj Phactory with Ergo Phizmiz
• WNYC’s Radio Lab

Essential. This is one of the most interesting programs anywhere. Ostensibly a science feature program, the radiophonic production techniques take it into the realm of art.

• You Look Nice Today

Merlin Mann and friends being silly.

Video netcasts:

• Boing Boing TV

Xeni Jardin is a good presenter, and there’s plenty of the weirdness one would expect from Boing Boing, but I want more from this show. Maybe longer, less frequent episodes, rather than the current morsels which leave me remembering the ads more than the content.

• Cranky Geeks

John C. Dvorak is indeed a very cranky geek, which makes this otherwise typical discussion of tech news entertaining. Some of the guests are interesting, too.

• Diggnation

I watch this so that I don’t have to read Digg.com. Like many Revision3 shows, it can be painfully frat-boy, but Alex Albrecht & Kevin Rose have enough charisma to carry it off.

• Epic Fu

At last, a Revision 3 show that has a clue about art and music. This is quickly becoming a favourite.

• iFanboy

I don’t have time to read comics these days, so I watch this instead.

• Lynchland: The Liam Lynch Podcast

The guy who sang ‘The United States of Whatever’ and directed ‘Jesus is Magic’ makes this amazing-looking show full of music and humour.

• Rocketboom

I love this show. One never knows whether to expect serious news or something completely whimsical. Often it’s somewhere in-between.

• Tekzilla

Hosted by Patrick Norton, this Revision3 show isn’t sure what it is yet, but I think it’s intended to become a relatively mainstream, viewer-friendly tech show. UPDATE: The wonderful Veronica Belmont, whose talents had been wasted at Mahalo Daily, is now co-host of Tekzilla. Roger Chang is getting more screen time too. This bodes well.

• The Digg Reel

A compilation of popular videos from around the net. It’s funny downloading a huge HD file to watch lo-res YouTube videos.

• The Totally Rad Show

Reviews of TV, films, comics, etc. by ‘three rad dudes’. Good production values.

• Tiki Bar TV

A very silly show featuring Dr Tiki, Johnny Johnny and Lala.

• UChannel Video Podcast

Video recordings of lectures. Sometimes fascinating, sometimes dull.

• Wallstrip

A humorous show about the stock market? It shouldn’t work, but it kinda does, mainly cos it keeps things short and punchy, with each episode focusing on a single stock.

• Web Drifter

Martin Sargent meeting Internet weirdos again, this time on their turf.

• XLR8R TV

Whether it’s checking out Matmos’ record collection, or getting Ableton Live tips from Christopher Willits, this is a cool show for music geeks.

• Yacht Rock

A brilliant, melodramatic piss-take of the world of 70s smooth rock.

Any others you’d recommend?

Marcus Westbury October 18, 2007

In the music scene there has always been a pretty strong division between those who play original music and those who are derisively, and sometimes unfairly, dismissed as covers bands. What’s the point of being in a band if you’re not playing your own songs? When was the last time that duo [...]]]> http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/10/17/1192300857463.html

Marcus Westbury
October 18, 2007

In the music scene there has always been a pretty strong division between those who play original music and those who are derisively, and sometimes unfairly, dismissed as covers bands. What’s the point of being in a band if you’re not playing your own songs? When was the last time that duo with a keyboard and a drum machine from your local RSL club had a breakthrough hit?

It’s not that covers bands aren’t talented, don’t make good music, don’t entertain or even have a good time. Hell, put enough drinks in me and I’ll hit the dance floor to an ’80s pop classic or wave a lighter with half a tear in my eye to, say, Flame Trees.

But no one seriously goes out of their way to suggest that covers bands are the most vital or important part of the music scene. Why then are covers bands – of the high-culture variety – receiving the bulk of arts funding?

An overwhelming amount of arts funding in Australia goes to organisations that either exclusively or primarily play covers. Think symphony orchestras, opera companies and state theatre companies that produce comparatively little in the way of original, innovative or even Australian work. Like classic hits radio, they are busting out the chart-toppers of the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.

Confused? If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, grab yourself a copy of the Australia Council’s annual report. The nation’s cover bands, mostly the state-based symphony orchestras, collectively receive just under $50 million each year from the council.

Whether that figure seems average or outrageous would depend on the context that you choose to put it in. The context that I put it in is the $4.8 million pool that every single musician in Australia who isn’t in a symphony orchestra competes for every year. That’s more than a 10-fold disparity between the orchestras and everyone else combined.

The Sydney Symphony receives nearly $9 million each year. That is more funding than goes to all of Australia’s visual artists, or all of the nation’s writers and publishers, or all the dancers, or all the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, or all the community art practitioners.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m no heathen or unreconstructed postmodernist. Okay, I’m a bit of a heathen but I’ve never entirely got the postmodern thing. My problem is not that we still fund classical European culture, it’s just that we fund so bloody much of it and so very little of everything else.

My argument isn’t about form and it isn’t an extreme one. It’s about scale, equity and magnitude. I do think it would be a loss if Australians were to lose all connection with our vast and glorious European cultural heritage.

But Opera Australia receives more than $10 million a year from the Australia Council. Sure, opera is lavish, expensive and glorious but I simply cannot think of a single sensible, logical or sane reason why one opera company is valued roughly on par with more than 400 separate organisations supported by the music, dance, literature and inter-arts boards of the same organisation.

Great art to me creates a resonance and opens up possibilities; it isn’t the echoes of the past. It’s not something you reproduce proficiently. Art is made out of anger or curiosity or awe or beauty or because you’re in love or want someone to fall in love with you.

Artists don’t just preserve the past. They make new things from the sum total of human experience. They tell new stories and find new ways of telling stories from the tools and influences that they have around them.

Culture isn’t something that happened in Europe centuries ago that needs preservation. It’s actually all that messy, beautiful, inspiring and wonderful stuff that is happening around us right now. Arts funding should reward innovation not preservation and vibrancy over bureaucracy.

Most importantly, no one art form or institution – however regarded – should have its funding quarantined and its position privileged so that it is never tested against all the other possibilities to which its resources may better be put.

Marcus Westbury is the writer and presenter of Not Quite Art on Tuesday nights on ABC TV. marcus.westbury@gmail.com

The full program for Electrofringe is now online. This year sees an unprecedented diversity in the Electrofringe program, as well as a stock of brilliant and stimulating events of the calibre you’ve come to expect from the October long weekend in Newcastle. Themes include accessibility and collaboration in electronic arts, wearable art, [...]]]>

Electrofringe 2007 Program Online!

The full program for Electrofringe is now online. This year sees an unprecedented diversity in the Electrofringe program, as well as a stock of brilliant and stimulating events of the calibre you’ve come to expect from the October long weekend in Newcastle. Themes include accessibility and collaboration in electronic arts, wearable art, rethought radio and new approaches to electronic music. Screen works, contemporary dance, immersive and site specific works are nestled alongside dynamic panel discussions, workshops and gigs.

International guests include Tim Hecker (Canada), Leafcutter John (UK), Sebastien Roux (France), Jason Kahn (USA) and Ralph Steinbruchel (CH) alongside local artists including Robin Fox, Machina Aux Rock, Darrin Verhagen, SpatnLoogie, Sanso-Xtro, Pimmon, Shannon O’Neill and Gail Priest, plus may more.

Head to the Electrofringe website, www.electrofringe.net to check out the program and stay tuned for further updates.

BBC reports:

Music site Last.fm bought by CBS

Social music site Last.fm has been bought by US media giant CBS Corporation for $280m (£140m), the largest-ever UK Web 2.0 acquisition.

The online network was founded in the UK five years ago and it now has more than [...]]]> One of the better Web2.0 sites is now pwned by the RIAA.

BBC reports:

Music site Last.fm bought by CBS

Social music site Last.fm has been bought by US media giant CBS Corporation for $280m (£140m), the largest-ever UK Web 2.0 acquisition.

The online network was founded in the UK five years ago and it now has more than 15 million active users.

It allows users to connect with other listeners with similar music tastes, to custom-build their own radio stations and to watch music video-clips.

Last.fm founding member Martin Stiksel said it was an “exciting opportunity”.

As part of the deal, Last.fm’s managing team will remain in place and the site will maintain its own separate identity.

Mr Stiksel said: “This move will really support us to get every track ever recorded and every music video ever made onto Last.fm.

“With a strong partner like CBS, this is now within our reach.”

Dot.com boom

CBS Corporation has business interests in TV, web and radio.

CBS radio is the largest radio group in the United States, with 179 stations in the top 50 markets covering news, rock, country and urban music.

The firm’s president and CEO Leslie Moonves said: “Last.fm is one of the fastest growing online communities out there.”

He said Last.fm’s strength in building communities around music and syndicating content was “central to CBS”.

He added: “Their demographics also play perfectly to CBS’s goal to attract younger viewers and listeners across our businesses.”

Hmmm.

CBS is not the first major player to purchase up-and-coming websites for millions or even billions of dollars, prompting what some have called the second dot.com boom.

In 2005 Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp snapped up social networking site MySpace for $580m (£290m). And last year, search engine Google paid $1.65bn (£883m) for video site YouTube.

Mr Stiksel said Last.fm would retain an independent identity.

He said CBS was buying “great technology and a very vibrant, active community”.

“They want to move from a content company to an audience company giving the audiences control and learning from this and that’s why Last.fm was their choice,” he added.

Mr Stiksel said he did not think that users would feel disappointed that a mainstream media firm had bought the site.

Cognitive dissonance?

“When we said revolution we mean that – we put the users in charge. CBS gets this.

“They understand that consuming media is changing, the patterns are changing.”

Online network

As part of the acquisition, the Last.fm management team, including founders Felix Miller, Martin Stiksel and Richard Jones, will continue to independently run the online network

Mr Stiksel said the deal proved that Web 2.0 companies did not have to be in the United States to succeed.

“Being in London has helped us; it’s the best place to do things with music full stop. It’s the place that leads the world.”

London is not the centre of the universe.

The three founders will now be among the most successful – and potentially wealthy – Web 2.0 pioneers in the world.

Getting rich from the volunteer labour of users: that’s Web2.0.

Mr Stiksel said: “The success of the site is the most important thing. With a strong partner we can add the features we always dreamed about.”
Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/technology/6701863.stm

Published: 2007/05/30 10:55:20 GMT

© BBC MMVII

Very tempted to pull all of my stuff from Last.fm and close my account. I’ll be keeping a close eye on how this ‘partnership’ develops.

This Is Not Art is on in Newcastle this weekend. It’s my favourite Australian festival – if you’ve never been, you should check it out. I’ll be doing a couple of talks and a couple of performances.

This week will be packed with performances, talks and workshops from local and international artists. Liquid Architecture is an essential event for anyone interested in contemporary sound and music. Check out [...]]]> The Sydney leg of the annual Liquid Architecture festival of sound arts
starts tonight at the Performance Space. The Sydney Morning Herald has a preview: http://tinyurl.com/gqkoj

This week will be packed with performances, talks and workshops from local and international artists. Liquid Architecture is an essential event for anyone interested in contemporary sound and music. Check out the lineup:

Wednesday July 5, 8pm – Opening Night
($15/$10)

The Loop Orchestra
Clayton Thomas & Jim Denley
Amanda Stewart

Thursday July 6, 8pm – Concert 1
($20/$15/$12)

Pimmon
Dean Roberts (NZ)
Greg Davis & Jeph Jerman (USA)
Donna Hewitt & Julian Knowles
Gail Priest

+ Artist Talks 6-7pm (Free)

Friday July 7, 8pm – Concert 2
($20/$15/$12)

The Swiss Australian Collectibles (Switzerland & Melbourne)
[featuring Speak Percussion, Duo B&B and Martin Baumgartner]
Martin Baumgartner (Switzerland)
Ros Bandt (Melbourne)
Garth Paine & Michael Atherton
Peter Blamey

+ Artist Talks 6-7pm (Free)

Saturday July 8 – Panel + Workshop

12-2pm – Instrument Building Workshop (Free)
with Ross Bencina/Donna Hewitt/Ros Bandt

3-5pm – Panel/Forum – ‘Interrogating The Instrument’ (Free)
with Ian Andrews/Julian Knowles/Peter Blamey/Garth Paine

Saturday July 8, 8pm – Concert 3
($20/$15/$12)

eRikm (France)
EPA [Darrin Verhagen](Melbourne)
Ross Bencina (Melbourne)
Duo B&B (Switzerland)
Ivar Lehtsalu

+ Artist Talks 6-7pm (Free)

Sunday July 9, 10.30am-1.30pm – AudioMulch Masterclass
($20/$10)

With Audiomulch creator Ross Bencina.

Sunday July 9, 2pm – Audiovisual Performance
($15/$10)

Klipp AV (UK/Sweden)
Ian Andrews
Kazumichi Grime
Dave Noyze

A season pass is available for just $60/$40 which will get you entry to
all performances. http://performancespace.com.au/bookings.html

Liquid Architecture
http://liquidarchitecture.org.au

Presented in Sydney by

Alias Frequencies
http://aliasfrequencies.org

The Performance Space
http://performancespace.com.au

and 2SER
http://2ser.com

With support from The Australia Council for the Arts, NSW Ministry for
the Arts, The University of Technology, Sydney, Alliance Française,
Association Française d’Action Artistique, French Embassy, CAOS.

1) Key Concepts lecture series at Sydney Uni. A follow-up to last year’s Key Thinkers series which I couldn’t make due to work commitments. I’m looking forward to attending some of these.

Wednesday 3 May ‘Terra Nullius’ Andrew Fitzmaurice Wednesday 10 May ‘Nationalism’ Glenda Sluga Wednesday 17 May ‘Freedom’ Duncan Ivison Wednesday [...]]]> Some interesting free talks coming up in Sydney:

1) Key Concepts lecture series at Sydney Uni. A follow-up to last year’s Key Thinkers series which I couldn’t make due to work commitments. I’m looking forward to attending some of these.

Wednesday 3 May ‘Terra Nullius’ Andrew Fitzmaurice
Wednesday 10 May ‘Nationalism’ Glenda Sluga
Wednesday 17 May ‘Freedom’ Duncan Ivison
Wednesday 24 May ‘Truth’ Huw Price
Wednesday 31 May ‘Racism’ Ghassan Hage
Wednesday 7 June ‘Death’ Jennann Ismael
Wednesday 14 June ‘Globalisation’ Raewyn Connell

Venue: NEW VENUE FOR 2006 Footbridge Theatre The University of Sydney

Outspoken novelist, commentator and new-tech guru CORY DOCTOROW debates the future for filmmakers and media artists in this special event presented by Popcorn Taxi and the Australian Film Commission. Doctorow asks where does Hollywood get off, “with its antiquated business model, in treating the media user as a criminal with their draconian copyright laws?…Such laws limit the creative possibilities for artists and users.”An innovativeand brilliant thinker Doctorow proposes a revolutionary new model for media artists that defies the Digital Rights Management: “Technologies that seek to restrict the copying and use of digital works are wrong and wrong-headed”, Cory says. “Wrong because they don’t work, because they suppress creativity, and because they treat honest users like crooks. Wrong-headed because they seek to make digital works act as much as possibly like analog works. No DVD owner wants a way to do less with her movies, and companies that try to sell her technologies to do this deserve to go broke.”This debate is essential for any filmmaker and media artist who wants to give serious consideration to the future of their Work. The evening will include an interview and audience Q&A conducted by MARCUS GILLEZEAU, filmmaker (Firelight) and a specialist in digital production technologies.

popcorn taxi
Rated: R18+ EXEMPT from CLASSIFICATION
Time: 7.00pmDate: Wednesday, April, 19th, 2006
Where: Greater Union Bondi Junction
Address: Level 6, 500 Oxford Street, Westfield Bondi Junction Entry: Free

Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project

Famous Cannabis Users

Google Idol

THE MARRIAGE OF CADMUS AND HARMONY FOR CHILDS

The Mercury Theatre on the Air

Nyet

sCrAmBlEd?HaCkZ! (awesome software!)

SONY admits that CD/44.1PCM is inferior

Stagg Chili Recipes

Video Downloader

xTal – free mp3 DJ VSTi plugin

Zaatar Mix

Click on this image to read the story of an amazing life:

First story about violence at Bondi saw NSW Opposition (Liberal) Leader Peter Debnam complaining yet again about “Middle Eastern thugs”, clearly and cynically inciting racial hatred.

Next story was Donald Rumsfeld boasting of the success of American psyops [...]]]> Just woke up, made a cup of tea and switched on the tv news, as is my morning routine.

First story about violence at Bondi saw NSW Opposition (Liberal) Leader Peter Debnam complaining yet again about “Middle Eastern thugs”, clearly and cynically inciting racial hatred.

Next story was Donald Rumsfeld boasting of the success of American psyops in Iraq ie the deliberate corruption of the Iraqi media to serve US propaganda.

Now, I don’t identify as left wing (although on the political compass, I’m supposedly an extreme left-libertarian) but I sure as hell will never sympathise with the right while these disgusting people are its representatives.

AudioMulch 1.0rc1

Behringer B-Control Presets & Templates

Dungeons & Dragons

Increasingly Clear

Stuckism

Traveller (role-playing game)

The University and the Undercommons

X-Men

Favourites of 2005

I’ve restricted this to things that were published/screened or events that happened in 2005.

Albums

50 Foot Wave – Golden Ocean Broken [...]]]> s0metim3s has given us her favourites of 2005. I wasn’t going to do this, but since I’m waiting for South Africa to be bowled out before I head out for the rest of the day…

Favourites of 2005

I’ve restricted this to things that were published/screened or events that happened in 2005.

Albums

50 Foot Wave – Golden Ocean
Broken Social Scene – Broken Social Scene
Kate Bush – Aerial
Coil – The Ape of Naples
Dressy Bessy – Electrified
Luke Haines – Luke Haines is Dead
Jackson & His Computer Band – Smash
Lady Sovereign – Vertically Challenged
Konono No. 1 – Congotronics
Metric – Live It Out
M.I.A. – Arular
The New Pornographers – Twin Cinema
Puzahki – Daddy’s Little Skint
Rhythm & Sound – See Mi Ya
Sleater Kinney – The Woods
Smog – A River Ain’t Too Much to Love
Venetian Snares – Rossz Csillag Alatt Született

It was mainly pop/rock for me this year – I even bought a guitar (which I still can’t play)! The sort of experimental music that I’d usually obsess over, this year I’d generally listen to once or twice before moving on. See Utility Fog for all the postfolkrocktronica that I should’ve been listening to.

Blogs

Too many – see the blog roll. It has been a privilege to have participated in the blog phenomenon and to have met so many amazing people. Extra love to those who have commented at, or linked to this humble blog.

Films

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Howl’s Moving Castle
Me and You and Everyone We Know
The Proposition
Wolf Creek

I didn’t go to the cinema nearly enough this year.

Games

Dragonshard
X-Men Legends 2

Live Music

Ben Byrne & Clayton Thomas @ Disorientation
Dereb Desalegn @ What Is Music, Sydney
DJ Olive @ Liquid Architecture 6, Melbourne
DJ Z-Trip @ The Metro
Lieutenant Colonel Spastic Howitzer @ Electrofringe
Machina Aux Rock @ Liquid Architecture 6, Sydney
Peter Newman @ Electrofringe
The Residents @ The Metro
Smog @ The Metro
Social Interiors @ Liquid Architecture 6, Sydney
Thembi Soddell @ Liquid Architecture 6, Sydney
Wet Gate @ Liquid Architecture 6, Melbourne

I also played live more often this year than any other. Highlights included a solo performance at the National Gallery of Australia for Liquid Architecture 6, Canberra; a technically disastrous but well-received set with WUAL for Liquid Architecture 6, Melbourne; better WUAL performances at Disorientation and Electrofringe; duo performances with Rik Rue (at if you like improvised music…), John Jacobs (at e)scapes) and Ben Byrne (twice, at the NOW now, and a VJ performance at Science Fiction); a solo performance at The Night Air Audiotheque; a solo performance and a Time Being DJ performance at Disorientation; performances with the Splinter Orchestra at Liquid Architecture 6, Sydney and Science Fiction.

TV

Arrested Development
Dateline London
Deadwood
Green Wing
Late Night with Conan O’Brien
Lateline (ABC)
Nathan Barley
Nighty Night
Peep Show
Rome
Something in the Air
The Thick of It
Trailer Park Boys
We Can Be Heroes

Thank goodness for broadband.

What’s In / What’s Out

What’s out:

CDs
Censorship
Copyright
Free to air commercial TV
Newspapers (in print form)

What’s in:

TEH INTERNETS!

GamEnd and MamEnd

High-Definition Multimedia Interface

Humility and the Guest: Tarkovsky’s Critique of the Subject

Living Dangerously: Kierkegaardian Faith and Deleuzean Becoming

Oh Good

Overview of all HTML elements

Project Pterosaur

Reggaeton Flows Through Musical Genres

Zipf’s Law

YaCy

Can someone please explain to me the point of this?

Without context, such as comparisons with other time periods, analysis of conditions, circumstances, etc. it is basically meaningless. A bizarre, ghoulish competition. Road deaths aren’t treated this way at other times of the year.

It also appears to be a peculiarly Australian phenomenon (Googling ‘holiday road toll‘ [...]]]>

Can someone please explain to me the point of this?

Without context, such as comparisons with other time periods, analysis of conditions, circumstances, etc. it is basically meaningless. A bizarre, ghoulish competition. Road deaths aren’t treated this way at other times of the year.

It also appears to be a peculiarly Australian phenomenon (Googling ‘holiday road toll‘ returns mainly Australian media web sites). I’ve grown up with this and have always wondered wtf it’s all about.

Happy holidays. Look out!

SUSMU YOKOTA “GEKKOH” FROM SAKURA (LEAF) 2000

I’m interested in your reaction to this. [Immediately] Well, I know that. [Percussion comes in] Whoops, I don’t know that after all. Uh-oh, time to call the lawyers! [Laughs]. Gosh, I thought I was aware of all the various samplings but this is [...]]]> From ‘Invisible Jukebox’, The Wire #261, November 2005, pp. 21-22

SUSMU YOKOTA
“GEKKOH”
FROM SAKURA (LEAF) 2000

I’m interested in your reaction to this.
[Immediately] Well, I know that. [Percussion comes in] Whoops, I don’t know that after all. Uh-oh, time to call the lawyers! [Laughs]. Gosh, I thought I was aware of all the various samplings but this is a new one. OK, folks, it’s the beginning of Music for 18 Musicians, “Pulse”, pretty much staying on the one chord and added percussion, and let’s see what happens. Is this recent?
Yes, 2000. It’s by Japanese musician and DJ Susumu Yokota.
[Reads press quotes on sleeve] ‘Electronica album of the year.’ Hey, I want a piece of the action. And you said it – The Wire. Hey, guilty as charged, man. Get two lawyers! Ah, he’s reharmonising my harmony, different bass. It’s nice. I like his choice of reharmonisation. Well, you know, this is pretty. As a track it’s nicely done and I guess my attitude to all this stuff in general is that I write a piece of music and if people listen to it and love it, I feel good, right? Now, if other musicians hear it – aside from all the legal issues – and they get something out of it, that’s even more so. In and of itself, they say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.
But wouldn’t you make the distinction between imitation and someone actually helping themselves to a piece of your music?
I think here he’s obviously taken off in his own direction. He liked the idea of a pulse and chose one of the chords, and from there went on his own way. Even when I heard “Little Fluffy Clouds” by The Orb [which samples Reich's Electric Counterpoint], we never sued them. Years passed and then there was the Reich Remixed album. And all these people volunteered the rights to me. Basically, it wasn’t my music, it was their music, but I was the beneficiary of it, so it all works itself out in the end. I wouldn’t get all hot and bothered about this in a negative way at all. In fact, I get a kick out of it, and I enjoyed the track. You picked a provocative one that was a very good choice. I hadn’t heard it. I’m glad I have heard it.
Your own use of sampling is different in that you only use sounds that you’ve recorded yourself.
I’m not interested in sampling music. I’m interested in sampling things that are non-musical and bringing them into the music, so I never have that problem. I’m interested in bringing in the world, as in City Life and as in The Cave, into the concert hall and the opera house. My attitude to sampling? I see it as sort of folk music of our time. So this Japanese DJ is sampling music around him and then arranging it. People were taking other people’s music and rearranging it in the Middle Ages. “L’Homme Armé” was an enormously popular folk tune and composers from Dufay all the way up to Palestrina – that’s 200 years – all wrote masses for the church, hidden away inside of was “L’Homme Armé”. [Reich sings the melody] A really good solid tune. As a matter of fact, in You Are (Variations), squirreled away inside of the third variation is “L’Homme Armé”. Yeah, I put it in the programme notes: mea culpa. If that guy still had a copyright man, he’d be making as much money as James Brown [laughs]. Anyway, Susumu Yokota, I enjoyed your music.

I watched all six 30-minute eps of this show the other day. It’s a brilliant dissection of contemporary British politics’ obsession with spin (one of the main characters is clearly based on Alistair Campbell).

It’s basically Yes Minister meets The Office, and was devised and directed by Armando Iannucci, the comedy genius who was Chris Morris’ [...]]]>

I watched all six 30-minute eps of this show the other day. It’s a brilliant dissection of contemporary British politics’ obsession with spin (one of the main characters is clearly based on Alistair Campbell).

It’s basically Yes Minister meets The Office, and was devised and directed by Armando Iannucci, the comedy genius who was Chris Morris’ main collaborator in the early ’90s.

Chris Langham is perfect as the hapless Minister for Home Affairs. Langham is perhaps best known for playing (the voice of) Roy Mallard in the classic mockumentary series People Like Us. Apparently he also used to be a writer on The Muppet Show!

And now I discover that Langham has recently been arrested over child porn. Oh dear… What is it with the prurience of British celebrity culture?

Anyway – check out The Thick of It if you can – you’ll probably have to download it as it’s not on DVD yet, and like most good recent British TV comedy we’ll be lucky if it screens on Australian TV any time soon.