The Blog
14 Jan 2013 A lost decade hidden in plain sight?
http://boingboing.net/2013/01/13/19a0s-collection-on-pinterest.html Oh, my! This is rich in post-punk, retromania, hauntology, New Aesthetic. Simon Reynolds and James Bridle should be all over this. I'm not sure we give enough credit to the particular 5 years of change between 1978 and 1983. ISTM they were at least as significant as 1965- 1969. And like that period in the late 60s there was enough happening to fill 15 normal years. I can't help thinking though that this is the thinking of a person of a certain age, born approximately 1955-58. 1978-1983 would have been when they were waking up and consuming large quantities of memetic artifacts before settling down into being a more responsible member of society. Ignore my first para, it just feels like that was a significant period because it was personally significant to people who were in their early 20s att that time. "The propagation of historical information through memetic artifacts", indeed! "The propagation of historical information through memetic artifacts", indeed! Is this "A New Retro" or an Alternate "Retro-futurism"? Whatever it is, bring it back. http://pinterest.com/kurtwurk/19a0-s/ http://boingboing.net/2011/10/11/mixtape-of-the-lost-decade.html Can we say the same about 2008->2013? ps. talking about myself again, innit.   19A0s collection on Pinterest »Kurt Wurk has collected a number of images from the lost decade. [Pinterest] [from: Google+ Posts] [ 14-Jan-13 8:31am ] 13 Jan 2013 Ok. The article's good, and it's a good argument for automating and mechanising every aspect of the production of quality goods in order to remove the possibility of error. But, first,
We are not simply hedonic machines who thrive if supplied with things that tick certain boxes for sensory pleasure, aesthetic merit, and so on. and second, look at every object in the header graphic. Every last one is perfect and a perfect example of Northern Italian style. Can we reduce all those to it's perfect expression via a similar level of podule automation? http://www.aeonmagazine.com/being-human/julian-baggini-coffee-artisans/ via http://new-aesthetic.tumblr.com/ where apparently Nespresso is another example of "The New Aesthetic". Little known fact from the article. Heston Blumenthal's The Fat Duck restaurant serves Nespresso coffee after the meal. Really? Hasn't Heston worked out how to deconstruct and then recreate the perfect coffee experience?   Julian Baggini - The art of coffee »Even the finest restaurants are serving coffee made with capsules. Have we completely lost faith in the human touch? [from: Google+ Posts] [ 13-Jan-13 4:31pm ] The Metamodernist Manifesto
"We recognise oscillation to be the natural order of the world." Jokez! That should be "Metamodernista", surely? http://www.metamodernism.org/ via http://www.scoop.it/t/hauntology   Metamodernist // Manifesto »We propose a pragmatic romanticism unhindered by ideological anchorage. Thus, metamodernism shall be defined as the mercurial condition that lies between, beyond and in pursuit of a plurality of dispa... [from: Google+ Posts] [ 13-Jan-13 4:19pm ] #8BitLane
Marketing meets New Aesthetic meets Retromania. If it included the ghosts from PacMan would that make it hauntological as well? http://www.computerarts.co.uk/blog/8-bit-lane-street-transformed-arcade-game-133578 https://www.google.com/search?q=%238BitLane http://new-aesthetic.tumblr.com http://retromaniabysimonreynolds.blogspot.co.uk http://scoop.it/t/hauntology   8 Bit Lane: street transformed into arcade game | Blog | Computer Arts magazine »To celebrate the release of new movie Wreck-It Ralph, Disney have transformed an east London street into an old school computer game [from: Google+ Posts] 12 Jan 2013 I saw a photo of the Kate Windsor (Middleton) portrait and immediately thought of the cover of the Swans album "The Seer" which made a lot of people's best of 2012 lists.
Judge for yourself:- http://www.voidstar.com/images/kate_seer_2.jpg  [from: Google+ Posts] [ 12-Jan-13 8:17pm ] 10 Jan 2013 Ah, yes, I remember it well.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QPrNK-qlGzI/UMZCOu1KzqI/AAAAAAAAEV4/CR6XtiSMkzc/s1600/rememberthe00s.jpg From here. http://retromaniafootnotes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/800x600-normal-0-false-false-false-en_743.html Running out of past? Or has retro now caught up with the present and is about to overtake it?  [from: Google+ Posts] [ 10-Jan-13 7:24pm ] Really, mankind, if you had to have an Existential Crisis, you should have done it before the industrial revolution. We can't stop now we're on the highway (to hell). http://cser.org/index.html [1]
And btw, please fund our research centre before the end of the anthropocene. Our university only has 200 years to go before it's millenium and we'd like the institution to still be around to see out it's first 1000 years. [1] Centre for the Study of Existential Risk: "Bertrand Russell Professor of Philosophy, Cambridge", "Emeritus Professor of Cosmology & Astrophysics, Cambridge", and "Co-founder of Skype" TOGETHER AT LAST!  Centre for the Study of Existential Risk »University of Cambridge. RESOURCES · MEDIA COVERAGE · NEWS & CONTACT. The Cambridge Project for Existential Risk. Many scientists are concerned that developments in human technology may soon pose ... [from: Google+ Posts] [ 10-Jan-13 7:54am ] 09 Jan 2013 Nice, "Keep Cal ..."
http://brucesterling.tumblr.com/post/40094968289/keep-cal#notes  [from: Google+ Posts] [ 09-Jan-13 8:56pm ] 04 Jan 2013 Vocaloids Attack!
Just come across an awesome new thing. Vocaloid is a computer tech developed by Yamaha to take lyrics and melody and output a synthesised vocal line. It's disturbingly almost realistic lying right in the middle of "Uncanny Valley". This first clip is a beautiful use of it to provide a soundtrack to some Anime. Tower of Sunz (English Sub) via http://kitschstortion.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/tower-of-sunz.html Clearly the next thing to do is to add it to a virtual dance partner. http://gharrhome.wordpress.com/2011/11/28/making-your-own-3d-dancing-vocaloid/ Vocaloid Honey And there's an obvious crossover with AKB48's newest member Eguchi Aimi who is an Idoru; a computer generated composite of some of the other members. Hre's a short vid explanation AKB48 ????? Making of Eguchi Aimi ?????CM???????? At the moment she (it?) has an overdubbed human voice but how long can that last? I expect to read soon that legions of soushoku danshi[1] (literally translated, "grass-eating boys." or herbivores that have turned their back on competitive society) have fallen in love with her and are wasteing away in their bedsits. Vocaloid-Animated version of an AKB48 hit. Vocaloid Academy~RIVER And there's plenty more where that came from! http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=akb48+vocaloid This was all prompted by http://kitschstortion.blogspot.co.uk/ Which seems to be a most excellent blog. [1]http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2009/06/the_herbivores_dilemma.html [from: Google+ Posts] [ 04-Jan-13 8:39am ] 02 Jan 2013 And that was the moment I was waiting for, when Bruce hits his full flow as he talks about "robots" taking "jobs".
http://www.well.com/conf/inkwell.vue/topics/459/State-of-the-World-2013-Bruce-St-page05.html#post104 "whatever happens to musicians will eventually happen to everybody."  The WELL: State of the World 2013: Bruce Sterling and Jon Lebkowsky »The WELL: State of the World 2013: Bruce Sterling and Jon Lebkowsky [from: Google+ Posts] [ 02-Jan-13 7:40pm ] 01 Jan 2013 My favourite carbon atoms have travelled through time and space for 5 billion years to bring you this message.
[from: Google+ Posts] Another reason to visit Trinity Buoy Wharf where the River Lea meets the Thames in East London. There's a listening post there in the top of the lighthouse to this. http://longplayer.org/what/overview.php
  Longplayer - An Overview »What is Longplayer? Longplayer is a one thousand year long musical composition. It began playing at midnight on the 31st of December 1999, and will continue to play without repetition until the last m... [from: Google+ Posts] State of the world 2013
http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2012/12/what-are-the-big-issues-of-201.html vs http://www.well.com/conf/inkwell.vue/topics/459/State-of-the-World-2013-Bruce-St-page01.html As usual the comment stream on the Charlie Stross blog is much, much richer than that on The Well around Sterling/Lebkowsky. I'm not sure what that says about the crowd involved as it's probably more to do with the medium of expression. Bruce Sterling has interesting stuff to say as always, at least as interesting as Charlie Stross. It's more the quality of the discussion I'm interested in here.   What are the big issues of 2013 going to be? - Charlie's Diary »Over on The WELL, John Lebkowski and Bruce Sterling are doing their usual open-ended review of the state of the world in 2013; it's a fascinating read, as always (they do this every year), but I can't... [from: Google+ Posts] [ 01-Jan-13 9:11am ] 30 Dec 2012 Best of 2012 Music
They're not all in yet, but here's a placeholder of best of 2012 music (mostly dance/electronic) lists from people and sources that deserve a little respect (IMHO). Resident Advisor http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature.aspx?1700 http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature.aspx?1701 http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature.aspx?1702 http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature.aspx?1703 http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature.aspx?1704 http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature.aspx?1705 Xlr8r http://www.xlr8r.com/news/2012/12/see-you-2013-check-out-our-best- White Noise http://whitenoisereview.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/20-best-eps-of-2012.html The Quietus http://thequietus.com/articles/10924-the-quietus-albums-of-the-year-2012 http://thequietus.com/articles/11013-hyperspecific-19-tracks-of-2012-list-mix Simon Reynolds 12 for 12 http://blissout.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/12-for-12-normal-0-false-false-false-en.html Drowned in Sound http://drownedinsound.com/lists/the-best-of-dis-2012 DFRNT Sitting Ovation http://sittingovation.com/articles/dfrnts-favourite-albums-of-2012/ Fact Magazine http://www.factmag.com/category/endofyear/ http://www.factmag.com/2012/12/26/artists-best-of-2012-10-lee-gamble-patten-ital-mishka/ http://www.factmag.com/2012/12/25/artists-best-of-2012-9-blackdown-king-britt-dj-q-hoya-hoya/ http://www.factmag.com/2012/12/24/artists-best-of-2012-8-slugabed-hodge-christian-martin-deviation/ http://www.factmag.com/2012/12/23/artists-best-of-2012-7-wolfgang-voigt-lil-jabba-dusky/ http://www.factmag.com/2012/12/22/artists-best-of-2012-6-scratcha-dva-hyetal-soul-clap-tvo/ http://www.factmag.com/2012/12/21/artists-best-of-2012-5-dominick-fernow-peverelist-regis-andy-votel-raime/ http://www.factmag.com/2012/12/20/artists-best-of-2012-4-silent-servant-pan-holly-herndon-old-apparatus-pete-swanson/ http://www.factmag.com/2012/12/19/artists-best-of-2012-3-the-bug-jackmaster-logos-mista-men-type/ http://www.factmag.com/2012/12/18/artists-best-of-2012-2-starkey-faltydl-supreme-cuts-bok-bok-tri-angle/ http://www.factmag.com/2012/12/17/artists-best-of-2012-1-daedelus-ryan-hemsworth-trouble-bass-semtek-bloom/ MthrFnkr http://mthrfnkr.com/post/36057609845/young-blood-sound-of-2013 http://mthrfnkr.com/post/37240184931/following-up-our-first-introduction-to-what-the The Wire (in print or subscription) http://www.thewire.co.uk/news/21457/rewind-2012-issue-out-now 20 Jazz Funk Greats http://www.20jazzfunkgreats.co.uk/wordpress/cats/best-of-2012/ Pitchfork http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/9017-the-top-50-albums-of-2012/  [from: Google+ Posts] 27 Dec 2012 It's that time of year again. Bruce Sterling's State of the World discussion with Jon Lebowsky on The Well. So that's an enthusiastic, Italo-phile, Texan, Sci-fi author currently absorbing Belgrade's doom and gloom; An Internet evangelist, gonzo futurist, Texan, prognosticator; and a supporting cast of mostly Californian techno-shaman.
http://www.well.com/conf/inkwell.vue/topics/459/State-of-the-World-2013-Bruce-St-page01.html Pretty much equal parts of amazing factoid, critical analysis and infuriating points of view then. And being on The Well, it's fairly hard to join in with any meaningful discussion. Oh well, I expect to be both stimulated and annoyed! That's what usually seems to happen to me. ;) The WELL: State of the World 2013: Bruce Sterling and Jon Lebkowsky »The WELL: State of the World 2013: Bruce Sterling and Jon Lebkowsky [from: Google+ Posts] 19 Dec 2012 Last.fm streaming going subscription only or shutting
So farewell then, Last.fm radio. From Tuesday 15 January 2013, most of the world loses access completely, United States, United Kingdom, and Germany retain ad-supported free access on the website but subscription only in the desktop and iPhone clients. Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Brazil is subscription only. A while ago, I did some work on a python proxy that uses the API to stream last.fm radio to things like Winamp. I imagine that will go subscription only as well. Oh well. Streaming is apparently how we will all listen to music via Spotify, Pandora, Grooveshark, Google Play, etc. But it seems CBS (who own last.fm) can't work out how to make it pay or deal with the licensing issues outside a few countries. All a bit sad when last.fm was one of the first. Announcement: http://www.last.fm/announcements/radio2013 Discussion: http://www.last.fm/forum/21717/_/2197072 Proxy http://www.last.fm/group/LastFMProxy   Radio changes to Last.fm from Tuesday 15 January 2013 - Last.fm »The world's largest online music catalogue, powered by your scrobbles. Free internet radio, videos, photos, stats, charts, biographies and concerts. [from: Google+ Posts] J-Pop, K-Pop. So where's C-Pop?
One of those must-read articles if you're trying to make sense of 2012 world culture. http://thequietus.com/articles/11001-psy-gangnam-style-k-pop I remember the future-rush. It's different from the thrill of encountering a true original. The sensation is electric but impersonal; It's about new forms not new faces; It's a much purer, harder hit. It's the same scary-euphoric rush that the best science fiction gives: the vertigo of limitlessness. I still believe the future is out there. (c Simon Reynolds) It's all kicking off again. (c Paul Mason)   The Quietus | Opinion | Wreath Lectures | Gangnam Style & How The World Woke Up To The Genius Of K-Pop »Robert Barry takes a deeper look at the k-pop phenomenon and Western responses to it, and argues that this natural extension of South Korea's high-tech culture is this some of the most innovative musi... [from: Google+ Posts] [ 19-Dec-12 8:57am ] 17 Dec 2012 Music I've failed to find in 2012
Toffler013 - DFRNT - Rising Tide / Sunflower / Triple Threat EP [Toffler] OTE016 - DFRNT - The Big Freeze / Monday Morning EP [On The Edge] DECA024 - Orphan101 - Patcher EP [Deca Rhythms] Plan004 - Recondite - Plangent #004 [Plangent Records] MAD016 - Some Truths - Midnight mornings drenched in dayglo [MAGIC + DREAMS] Wigflex007 - Hizatron & Bashley - Discharge [Wigflex] ABTV001 - Moodymanc - Tuck [Abstract Theory] BW06 - Aidan Baker With Richard Baker - Smudging [Backwards] MMAKEU01 U - Eah / Evil Spirits / Haunted / Heaven [Man Make Music] Nocow - Yule [styrax] FRJ014 - Geiom - Glesprin EP [Frijsfo Beats] KING015 - A Thousand Years – Farmers in Fields of Stars [King Deluxe] Syron - Waterproof I suppose I could try and buy some of them. But then they may not be worth listening to or they may drop into my lap some time in the new year. [from: Google+ Posts] Will Self on Radio4 - A Point of View. Nostalgia Ain't What It Used To Be!
Saw/heard this and thought of Retromania[1] and Hauntology[2]. A 10 minute essay on how nostalgia is an affectation of the young because they have so little of it. Touching on familiar territory about the digital availability of all of history and the ever-accelerating tempo of the news cycle. words: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20726824# audio: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01p7hf3 Source blog: http://will-self.com/2012/12/14/a-point-of-view-digital- past/ [1] http://retromaniabysimonreynolds.blogspot.co.uk/ [2] http://www.scoop.it/t/hauntology   Nostalgia - it's not like it used to be »The ease with which we can document our lives and times means younger people are too nostalgic about loves, losses and travels, says Will Self. [from: Google+ Posts] [ 17-Dec-12 8:13am ] 14 Dec 2012 I'm seeing more and more of these around London and the SE of the UK. Bins made of clear plastic bin liner so you can see what's in the rubbish. I have this horrible feeling that this is an anti-terrorist, anti-riot thing allied to public safety announcements about reporting unattended baggage. It makes me want to fantasise about dropping a smoke grenade into them, except that of course the heat would mean it would just burn straight through the bin liner.
There's a delightfully "New Aesthetic" comment at the bottom of the tumblr post with reference to "the bin icon doesn't resemble the actual bin" "Failed skeuomorphism. We need... [a,sic] catchy word for that."   Twitter / Kisa:"This bin has a bin icon on it to... »Twitter / Kisa:"This bin has a bin icon on it to let you know it's a bin. Yet the bin icon doesn't resemble the actual bin." [from: Google+ Posts] [ 14-Dec-12 5:13pm ] 
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