After feeling that women were somewhat underrepresented in my music collection, my mistress Fate, in her wisdom, has placed a veritable bevy of lady-singers into my paint-stained hands! Aside from Beth Gibbons on Portishead's newest, I've been introduced to Ruth Skipper and Hannah Miller, also monikiered as "Chesty LaRue" and "Cruella de Mill".
Both of these ladies take up vox in two separate bands, Modernaire and The Moulettes. While both very good, both bands run the same vein through two different genres of music; Moderanire are the rather arty electro outfit (along with a chap named "Oscar Wildestyle"), and The Moulettes are all fiddles and oboes, and are leaning towards more traditional folk music.
Moulettes and Modernaire both are very Gothic, in the old English sense of the word. Charlotte Bronte, but with a more viciously playful side, and a not-so-subtle suggestion of murderous intent. "Bloodshed in the Woodshed" for Modernaire lists a number of gruesome ways to get dead in zombie-chant, and the chorus is delivered with yearning laced with scorn. Hell hath no fury, and all that. Other tracks showcase the duo's dueling harmonies, my favorite being the aggressively affectionate "Distraction".
The Moulettes have many of these themes, but they're tamed or sedated entirely in lieu of more subtle tales of depravity, the the oft-scorned ladies label themselves. "Cannibal Song" flourishes with snatches of violins and oboes, and with lyrical content of jealously and castration, this depravity takes on a Penny-Dreadful aspect of vicissitude.
Devil of Mine, however, is quite simply the best song I have had the pleasure of hearing in a good long time. It is one of those songs that conjures all manner of images, of candlelit stonework and dirty ballgowns. The two girl's vocal ability has an awful lot to account for, but this song really cements the violin as the Devil's instrument in my ears. Fucking wonderful, it is.
Modernaire - Myspace, album available for a fiver
The Moulettes - Myspace page, if someone can enlighten me as to where to get their music, I would be very grateful indeed.
S/Cooke
Thursday 14 August 2008
Thursday 31 July 2008
Rainy-Day Games
The Internet is a fickle mistress, and I imagine anyone who is looking to make money on this series of tubes will have no doubt realised this, and the record and film industries know this far too well. This is because the ones who traditionally make money from their forms of entertainment are the distributors, and the Internet undermines them quite fantastically. The Internet is an indie paradise because it makes it easy and cheap for both parties to send and receive their media, without the need for any third party.
The above has been well-documented, and is no revelation. But while music and film have had their indie success-stories sung on and off the Internet, indie games have not had the same amount of attention, and rightly so: there are very few indie games worthy of this praise. Over the last few years, low budget hits such as Introversion's back catalogue (Uplink, Darwinia, DEFCON) have all been for sale, and therefore void their validity as an indie game, and the browser-games, as championed by Orsinal and their peers, but these are variations on a theme, and a theme that originated decades ago.
Introversion call themselves the "Last of the Bedroom Programmers". They may well be, with the videogame industry being at it's technological high-water mark at the moment, and the amount of man-power to produce something akin to the thousand-strong GTA4 team is unmatchable by the lonesome amateur programmer.
There have been success stories, of course, such as Counter-Strike, quickly snapped up by Valve, as was the (once free to play) Garry's Mod, and hundreds of others buried in the obscurity of riding on the back of commercial releases, but as far as I can tell, there has been only one game worthy of mention that was created from the ground-up, and it is called Dwarf Fortress, by Toady One of Bay 12 games.
The title will be an immediate turn-off. "Dwarf Fortress" sounds like fantasy wank, and it very much is fantasy wank. It is also ASCII-text generated, which is going to be another turn-off. It looks, at it's very finest, like this:
But Dwarf Fortress is the future of videogaming. It is a leap that will fundamentally change the way videogames are made, or, it should be. It is the first gun, crudely made from a section of pipe and gunpowder, when everyone else is using bows. While the subject matter may be fantasy wank, the promise and potential lie within the way it makes the subject matter. Dwarf Fortress generates a world unique to the player (complete with geology, erosion, and climate), with two thousand years of events and history, and this is before you start messing with the generation controls. The end result is drama. Unscripted, and unwritten, but instead generated.
Dwarf Fortress really requires you to be a like a child with an empty box. To use your imagination to fill in the blanks, and to piece together what happens between the entries in the "Legends" screen. Toady One, the sole developer, does such while experimenting with world generation with baby-snatching enabled, and comes up with the following little tale.
"Kivish Soarcrafted the dwarf was abducted at age 3 and moved to the Cruel Tower in Felldweller. He became a farmer and married Olin Roofchanced, another abductee, and eventually joined the guard. The humans and goblins were fighting a lot at this time, and the demon and many goblins were slain in the wars, as well as Kivish's wife. Kivish then personally led four defenses against the human onslaughts on the dark tower, and by the year 33 there were only 11 defenders left. In the year 34, only 4 defenders remained, and Kivish became the leader of the goblin civilization, such as it was. More attacks followed, and in the year 35, Kivish stood alone against twenty four human attackers, defending Felldweller and a goblin baby that had been born in 33, the only other resident. Kivish was victorious, but the dwarves then launched an assault on Felldweller, and Kivish faced 22 dwarves in the Forest of Dashing outside Felldweller, killing 4 of his own kind before being fatally shot by a crossbow bolt. Although the dwarves were victorious on the field, the humans slipped in and installed a new leader in Felldweller, who lived alone with the goblin child, Amxu Blottedvile, for a year before more humans decided to move in, establishing a temple to Odel the goddess of truth called the Truthful Temple in 37 and a mead hall called the Muscular Voice in 54. The original human city declared war on the dwarves after this and was eventually conquered, and the humans there died out over fifty years, with dwarven populations established in two mountain fortresses and the formerly human town. Felldweller, now a human-populated dark tower, never went to war again, but without support from the original human city, the humans left there eventually died out. I'll have to check out exactly what happened there."
S/Cooke
Dwarf Fortress is still in production, and can be downloaded for free from Bay 12 games. Also, google "Boatmurdered" for an in-depth exploration of an average game of DF.
The above has been well-documented, and is no revelation. But while music and film have had their indie success-stories sung on and off the Internet, indie games have not had the same amount of attention, and rightly so: there are very few indie games worthy of this praise. Over the last few years, low budget hits such as Introversion's back catalogue (Uplink, Darwinia, DEFCON) have all been for sale, and therefore void their validity as an indie game, and the browser-games, as championed by Orsinal and their peers, but these are variations on a theme, and a theme that originated decades ago.
Introversion call themselves the "Last of the Bedroom Programmers". They may well be, with the videogame industry being at it's technological high-water mark at the moment, and the amount of man-power to produce something akin to the thousand-strong GTA4 team is unmatchable by the lonesome amateur programmer.
There have been success stories, of course, such as Counter-Strike, quickly snapped up by Valve, as was the (once free to play) Garry's Mod, and hundreds of others buried in the obscurity of riding on the back of commercial releases, but as far as I can tell, there has been only one game worthy of mention that was created from the ground-up, and it is called Dwarf Fortress, by Toady One of Bay 12 games.
The title will be an immediate turn-off. "Dwarf Fortress" sounds like fantasy wank, and it very much is fantasy wank. It is also ASCII-text generated, which is going to be another turn-off. It looks, at it's very finest, like this:
But Dwarf Fortress is the future of videogaming. It is a leap that will fundamentally change the way videogames are made, or, it should be. It is the first gun, crudely made from a section of pipe and gunpowder, when everyone else is using bows. While the subject matter may be fantasy wank, the promise and potential lie within the way it makes the subject matter. Dwarf Fortress generates a world unique to the player (complete with geology, erosion, and climate), with two thousand years of events and history, and this is before you start messing with the generation controls. The end result is drama. Unscripted, and unwritten, but instead generated.
Dwarf Fortress really requires you to be a like a child with an empty box. To use your imagination to fill in the blanks, and to piece together what happens between the entries in the "Legends" screen. Toady One, the sole developer, does such while experimenting with world generation with baby-snatching enabled, and comes up with the following little tale.
"Kivish Soarcrafted the dwarf was abducted at age 3 and moved to the Cruel Tower in Felldweller. He became a farmer and married Olin Roofchanced, another abductee, and eventually joined the guard. The humans and goblins were fighting a lot at this time, and the demon and many goblins were slain in the wars, as well as Kivish's wife. Kivish then personally led four defenses against the human onslaughts on the dark tower, and by the year 33 there were only 11 defenders left. In the year 34, only 4 defenders remained, and Kivish became the leader of the goblin civilization, such as it was. More attacks followed, and in the year 35, Kivish stood alone against twenty four human attackers, defending Felldweller and a goblin baby that had been born in 33, the only other resident. Kivish was victorious, but the dwarves then launched an assault on Felldweller, and Kivish faced 22 dwarves in the Forest of Dashing outside Felldweller, killing 4 of his own kind before being fatally shot by a crossbow bolt. Although the dwarves were victorious on the field, the humans slipped in and installed a new leader in Felldweller, who lived alone with the goblin child, Amxu Blottedvile, for a year before more humans decided to move in, establishing a temple to Odel the goddess of truth called the Truthful Temple in 37 and a mead hall called the Muscular Voice in 54. The original human city declared war on the dwarves after this and was eventually conquered, and the humans there died out over fifty years, with dwarven populations established in two mountain fortresses and the formerly human town. Felldweller, now a human-populated dark tower, never went to war again, but without support from the original human city, the humans left there eventually died out. I'll have to check out exactly what happened there."
S/Cooke
Dwarf Fortress is still in production, and can be downloaded for free from Bay 12 games. Also, google "Boatmurdered" for an in-depth exploration of an average game of DF.
Sunday 15 June 2008
Money To Burn
There's something very enjoyable about buying CDs. All these downloads and ripped music removes some of the glamour associated with the format: the new, unscratched case, the artwork, the little book inside the cover. You don't get these with a download. I imagine the transition from Vinyl to CDs sparked much of the same feeling in those accustomed to it, the physical grooves in the LP allow you to see your music.
One of these CDs was The National's Boxer
My New Favorite Band, The National are really nothing special. Meaning, I can't pick out anything unique or exciting about them. But, they endear themselves to me greatly. Casual lethargy, objectivity from someone suffering from nothing more than American east coast angst. Berninger barely sings, the music is inoffensive and complementary, the lyrics subtle and often mundane. And I like them, very much.
The other was †, from Justice. While D.A.N.C.E got far too much airplay, and you should be sick to death of it, the rest of the album is of a special kind of quality: the first track Genesis, aside from continuing to lay in Christian tones in the Crucifix-moniker'd debut, starts pace which continues between the tracks. The tracks themselves are like a series of odd, but congruent visitors; The Phantom duo is a lithe boxer, with fast needle jabs of modulated underground-robot-dance-choirs, followed by the tectonic bass-punches of Pt. II, while Stress accosts, and then clubs you with a baton, stealing the television on the way out. They never outstay their welcome, either, which is unusual for what should come under "dance" music.
While (the) other French Electro-House Music does the opposite, staying simple, † manages to come across as the hyperactive youngster, an interesting deformity from inbreeding, but still very much part of the family. On an unrelated note, the album would be far smoother without D.A.N.C.E and The Party, which clog the tubes, so to speak.
The Video to Stress is actually very good also:
S/Cooke
One of these CDs was The National's Boxer
My New Favorite Band, The National are really nothing special. Meaning, I can't pick out anything unique or exciting about them. But, they endear themselves to me greatly. Casual lethargy, objectivity from someone suffering from nothing more than American east coast angst. Berninger barely sings, the music is inoffensive and complementary, the lyrics subtle and often mundane. And I like them, very much.
The other was †, from Justice. While D.A.N.C.E got far too much airplay, and you should be sick to death of it, the rest of the album is of a special kind of quality: the first track Genesis, aside from continuing to lay in Christian tones in the Crucifix-moniker'd debut, starts pace which continues between the tracks. The tracks themselves are like a series of odd, but congruent visitors; The Phantom duo is a lithe boxer, with fast needle jabs of modulated underground-robot-dance-choirs, followed by the tectonic bass-punches of Pt. II, while Stress accosts, and then clubs you with a baton, stealing the television on the way out. They never outstay their welcome, either, which is unusual for what should come under "dance" music.
While (the) other French Electro-House Music does the opposite, staying simple, † manages to come across as the hyperactive youngster, an interesting deformity from inbreeding, but still very much part of the family. On an unrelated note, the album would be far smoother without D.A.N.C.E and The Party, which clog the tubes, so to speak.
The Video to Stress is actually very good also:
S/Cooke
Thursday 10 April 2008
Take-Away
Not having a computer for this term of university is wonderful. I'd advise trying it sometime. However, if you do, find yourself
La Blogotheque
Especially Les Concerts a Emporter (the Take-Away shows). The National cutting down their sound to two guitars, vox and a table, The Guillemots in an alley in Paris, Grizzly Bear a cappella The Knife through the streets. Very enjoyable, very enjoyable indeed.
S/Cooke
La Blogotheque
Especially Les Concerts a Emporter (the Take-Away shows). The National cutting down their sound to two guitars, vox and a table, The Guillemots in an alley in Paris, Grizzly Bear a cappella The Knife through the streets. Very enjoyable, very enjoyable indeed.
S/Cooke
Sunday 16 March 2008
Zeig! Heil!
This post is about the demonised Hitler and his Nazi party.
I will not dispute that Hitler was a bad man. He was an awful artist, a racist, and a nationalist. But, because he is dead, and because he was the (often uninvolved) figurehead of the Nazi party, he is methodically demonised. This is extended to the Nazi party, too, and no one puts up any defence, and even happily swallows such inaccuracies.
Any written word on the subject of the Second World War will no be saturated with words with institutionally altered meanings. "Fascism", even as an ideology, has been perpetually altered by the European governments of the first half of the 20th century; you would be surprised how many people agree with authoritarian, socio-collectivistic policy until the word "Fascism" is mentioned. "National-Socialism" also holds these pejorative connotations, when the 25-Point Agenda tipped the balance heavily onto Nationalism, and in which Drexler was not in power of his created Nazi party.
Bearing the inevitable connotations in mind: Hitler is a symbol of all evil in the west. The Pink Swastika is a criticism of Nazism by calling Hitler and his cabinet gay, and investigating a link between Islam and the Nazis (then blaming homosexuality for all evil in the world). Evidently, they don't seem to see the irony. Most of the accusations of Hitler's sexual deviancy are based on biased evidence: That Hitler was a Urophile comes from Otto Strasser, a political opponent of Hitler; that Hitler was gay is taken from a convicted fraudster.
On the Subject, the Annotated Pink Swastika (http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Barracks/8706/) is a fantastic read if you'd like a laugh.
Take A.J.P. Taylor's Origins of the Second World War. While Hitler is not unaccountable for the war to the extent proposed, the lack of previous research (and the outcry following the book) shows how society can have a near-unanimous opinion on something they perceive as true, which is in fact either inaccurate or false.
The reason is the basis of the argument of "Reductio ad Hitlerum", or Godwin's law. You can't use analogy to the Nazis to "win", because it doesn't work like that. Think about what you know, and try to avoid sacrificing reason to the changeling of "public opinion", because it does not imply validity.
S/Cooke
I will not dispute that Hitler was a bad man. He was an awful artist, a racist, and a nationalist. But, because he is dead, and because he was the (often uninvolved) figurehead of the Nazi party, he is methodically demonised. This is extended to the Nazi party, too, and no one puts up any defence, and even happily swallows such inaccuracies.
Any written word on the subject of the Second World War will no be saturated with words with institutionally altered meanings. "Fascism", even as an ideology, has been perpetually altered by the European governments of the first half of the 20th century; you would be surprised how many people agree with authoritarian, socio-collectivistic policy until the word "Fascism" is mentioned. "National-Socialism" also holds these pejorative connotations, when the 25-Point Agenda tipped the balance heavily onto Nationalism, and in which Drexler was not in power of his created Nazi party.
Bearing the inevitable connotations in mind: Hitler is a symbol of all evil in the west. The Pink Swastika is a criticism of Nazism by calling Hitler and his cabinet gay, and investigating a link between Islam and the Nazis (then blaming homosexuality for all evil in the world). Evidently, they don't seem to see the irony. Most of the accusations of Hitler's sexual deviancy are based on biased evidence: That Hitler was a Urophile comes from Otto Strasser, a political opponent of Hitler; that Hitler was gay is taken from a convicted fraudster.
On the Subject, the Annotated Pink Swastika (http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Barracks/8706/) is a fantastic read if you'd like a laugh.
Take A.J.P. Taylor's Origins of the Second World War. While Hitler is not unaccountable for the war to the extent proposed, the lack of previous research (and the outcry following the book) shows how society can have a near-unanimous opinion on something they perceive as true, which is in fact either inaccurate or false.
The reason is the basis of the argument of "Reductio ad Hitlerum", or Godwin's law. You can't use analogy to the Nazis to "win", because it doesn't work like that. Think about what you know, and try to avoid sacrificing reason to the changeling of "public opinion", because it does not imply validity.
S/Cooke
Saturday 8 March 2008
I was supposed to be getting an early night tonight.
It is now 3am, and I have stayed up reading Oliver Sacks' "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat", and I literally forgot about the passage of time. It has been a long time since a book has done this to me, and the first time a work of non-fiction has.
The book consists of short case studies, each focusing on a patient and their illness; the Korsakoff's-inflicted Mariner, the disembodied woman who lost the feeling of her body, and the eponymous man who "forgot" how to recognise faces. It tries to pave a path towards the secrets of the human brain, but the roads are not connected to each other, or anything else. It has left me wanting to know.
But, the book is a fantastic read. Sacks can write very well indeed, and can evocate the cases of his patients with a kind empathy. I'm reading it for the Philosophy, however, and it's full of that, too.
I'll get back to musing on the subject of identity, then...
It is now 3am, and I have stayed up reading Oliver Sacks' "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat", and I literally forgot about the passage of time. It has been a long time since a book has done this to me, and the first time a work of non-fiction has.
The book consists of short case studies, each focusing on a patient and their illness; the Korsakoff's-inflicted Mariner, the disembodied woman who lost the feeling of her body, and the eponymous man who "forgot" how to recognise faces. It tries to pave a path towards the secrets of the human brain, but the roads are not connected to each other, or anything else. It has left me wanting to know.
But, the book is a fantastic read. Sacks can write very well indeed, and can evocate the cases of his patients with a kind empathy. I'm reading it for the Philosophy, however, and it's full of that, too.
I'll get back to musing on the subject of identity, then...
Friday 7 March 2008
"Immanuel Kant issues the Prolegomena to any Future Metaphysics with a statement that outlines Metaphysics with a degree of poetic accuracy: “For the discovery of a science itself”. What follows is Kant’s attempt to qualify this statement with the establishment of his own theory, which garners threads from the philosophical schools of rationalism and empiricism, towards the tapestry that finishes as his Prolegomena."
I quite like Kant, and the above is very true.
S/Cooke
Thursday 6 March 2008
Misc.
"Baby Shoes. For Sale. Never Worn"
Six words that are so saturated with dark interpretation they're dripping.
Six words that are so saturated with dark interpretation they're dripping.
Friday 29 February 2008
Death's Halls
If anyone ever considers themselves an authority on videogames, they will have had to have played Planescape: Torment.
Most modern RPGs are similar to Oblivion, because Oblivion sold masses. Torment didn't, but it is in every way a better game. While Oblivion was shallow and generic, Torment is a sprawling warren of clever writing and fantastic storytelling. It was the polar opposite to Dungeons & Dragons, and all fantasy in general, which released it from the genre's clichés and inevitable outcome. It was new, and clever.
Planescape is as much a response to other games as it is something entirley original; the aim of the game is to die, as you play an immortal, which in itself is an interesting game mechanic, and promotes a intelligence-based approach instead of a violent one. The game is so devoid of things that characterise fantasy games: no knights, no dragons, no swords, no armor, no castles. In Oblivion the easiest enemy is a rat, whereas in Torment there is a super-colony of hive-mind rats who are impossible to kill. You can expect nothing and everything from this game.
And the "serious" parts of it as well: the nameless protagonist changes, but there is one thing which stays the same, and this is the Philosophical question at the heart of Torment: What is power What is Existence without death? What constitutes the self, and identity? What is the nature of power? And the central question: What is, and what changes, the nature of a man?
Torment is the most memorable game I have ever played. The game is designed to draw you deep into it, and rewards you more the further down you get. There is a brothel designed to cater for every intellectual sense; whores for arguments, for storytelling, for listening. There is a city which is alive to the extent it is "pregnant" and gives birth to an alleyway. The citizens speak in a medievil English dialect, all of these things add to the feel of the game, and there are many, many more things stitched up within the wonderful tapestry that is Torment.
It is everything a narrative should be, and it is probably the last great RPG ever
Edit: I've just realised my copy has doubled in value. £34 of Amazon, blimey!
Most modern RPGs are similar to Oblivion, because Oblivion sold masses. Torment didn't, but it is in every way a better game. While Oblivion was shallow and generic, Torment is a sprawling warren of clever writing and fantastic storytelling. It was the polar opposite to Dungeons & Dragons, and all fantasy in general, which released it from the genre's clichés and inevitable outcome. It was new, and clever.
Planescape is as much a response to other games as it is something entirley original; the aim of the game is to die, as you play an immortal, which in itself is an interesting game mechanic, and promotes a intelligence-based approach instead of a violent one. The game is so devoid of things that characterise fantasy games: no knights, no dragons, no swords, no armor, no castles. In Oblivion the easiest enemy is a rat, whereas in Torment there is a super-colony of hive-mind rats who are impossible to kill. You can expect nothing and everything from this game.
And the "serious" parts of it as well: the nameless protagonist changes, but there is one thing which stays the same, and this is the Philosophical question at the heart of Torment: What is power What is Existence without death? What constitutes the self, and identity? What is the nature of power? And the central question: What is, and what changes, the nature of a man?
Torment is the most memorable game I have ever played. The game is designed to draw you deep into it, and rewards you more the further down you get. There is a brothel designed to cater for every intellectual sense; whores for arguments, for storytelling, for listening. There is a city which is alive to the extent it is "pregnant" and gives birth to an alleyway. The citizens speak in a medievil English dialect, all of these things add to the feel of the game, and there are many, many more things stitched up within the wonderful tapestry that is Torment.
It is everything a narrative should be, and it is probably the last great RPG ever
Edit: I've just realised my copy has doubled in value. £34 of Amazon, blimey!
Thursday 28 February 2008
The Video-Gaming Rut
For someone who loves games so much, I don't think I've been up to speed with them recently. Firstly, there's been a bit of a stagnation of Videogames for a while now, as they are becoming more and more mainstream and have collected into specific "genres"
For example, you have the shooter, with the gun, the health/ammo/ability-bars, and the enemies in front of you. It's been that way since Doom. There's not much you can do with gameplay apart from bolt extra gimmicks on, or streamline it for a purpose. Bullet time, for an example of a gimmick, is becoming more and more prevelant within the FPS release, while Halo started the trend of reductionism (or streamlining) to focus the player on the combat (the Recharging Shield instead of traditional health-pack foraging, only two weapons availble at a time). Despite these alterations, there is only so much you can do with the medium before you're remaking the same game over and over.
Every genre of game will inevitably imitate it's peers, and it won't be long before we see "Portal" clones popping up, I'd imagine. Apart from gimmicks, the only thing new about these kinds of games is plot.
So, where are all the new ideas? Why can't we have games where you play bats and navigate by sound, or construct viruses and guide them through bodies! There are hundreds of ideas that haven't been plumbed yet, such as strategy games involving Glaciers as they cut through mountains!
S/Cooke
For example, you have the shooter, with the gun, the health/ammo/ability-bars, and the enemies in front of you. It's been that way since Doom. There's not much you can do with gameplay apart from bolt extra gimmicks on, or streamline it for a purpose. Bullet time, for an example of a gimmick, is becoming more and more prevelant within the FPS release, while Halo started the trend of reductionism (or streamlining) to focus the player on the combat (the Recharging Shield instead of traditional health-pack foraging, only two weapons availble at a time). Despite these alterations, there is only so much you can do with the medium before you're remaking the same game over and over.
Every genre of game will inevitably imitate it's peers, and it won't be long before we see "Portal" clones popping up, I'd imagine. Apart from gimmicks, the only thing new about these kinds of games is plot.
So, where are all the new ideas? Why can't we have games where you play bats and navigate by sound, or construct viruses and guide them through bodies! There are hundreds of ideas that haven't been plumbed yet, such as strategy games involving Glaciers as they cut through mountains!
S/Cooke
Monday 25 February 2008
Loom-Smashing for the 21st Century
Sometimes I wonder if the world is a good place because of technology, or in spite of it. The further we get to making ourselves lazier, the more we have to think about. The more thinking we do, the more we will tend towards changing things, creating things to perpetuate our laziness, or to change our lives "for the better" and removing the workload to machines, and electricity.
Want is the centre of the spiral, I'd imagine. Everything comes from wanting something, or from never being content with what you have. Is happiness, therefore, the carrot on the stick, to be offered, but never reached?
I think there should be some neo-luddism resurgence. The world outside of the televison and computer screens needs to be re-discovered, outside of speakers and books. If people are still bored when surrounded by all this, why do they need it?
S/Cooke
Want is the centre of the spiral, I'd imagine. Everything comes from wanting something, or from never being content with what you have. Is happiness, therefore, the carrot on the stick, to be offered, but never reached?
I think there should be some neo-luddism resurgence. The world outside of the televison and computer screens needs to be re-discovered, outside of speakers and books. If people are still bored when surrounded by all this, why do they need it?
S/Cooke
Saturday 16 February 2008
The Music Blog
I've gotten into a bad habit of staying up far too late reading music blogs, and for the most part they're all very similar. I think Hype-Machine has pumped the popularity of the music blog up very high, but not in the best way. I search for a band, I have a look at the blog, download the song, and close the window. Most aren't really worth reading, but their popularity is based on the music they exhibit instead of their ability to write.
However, one in particular, Song, by Toad, is well worth a read. The eponymous Toad is a misanthrope with a penechant for Gin, which endears him to me immediatley, and his podcasts are punctuated with wonderful narration on his part. It's not that he's a good writer, but for (what I assume is) a reptilian pseudonym for a fantastic character which is what makes it so enjoyable.
The Podcasts come highly reccomended, now that I've got my head around all this futuristic technology.
S/Cooke
However, one in particular, Song, by Toad, is well worth a read. The eponymous Toad is a misanthrope with a penechant for Gin, which endears him to me immediatley, and his podcasts are punctuated with wonderful narration on his part. It's not that he's a good writer, but for (what I assume is) a reptilian pseudonym for a fantastic character which is what makes it so enjoyable.
The Podcasts come highly reccomended, now that I've got my head around all this futuristic technology.
S/Cooke
Thursday 7 February 2008
Slavery
Yesterday, I advocated slavery. Today, I despise freedom.
Aristotle writes of "Natural Slavery". Nature intends some to be slaves, to be incapable of ruling themselves, and I am inclined to agree. This is abhorrent to many, the thought that others are to be owned by someone, the images conjoured by that word are going to be distasteful and angry, of dark bowels of ships in the Atlantic, and plantations, and crimes against humanity.
But you are not free. You are chained by money, by the government, by your conscience. Everyone wants to own you, as you can help them gain money, or power, or security, and they all want you. Aristotle says that nature intends some to be slaves, but he never says what proportion is intended.
Do those people exist, who can waiver their freedom for slavery, to work for someone else, and in turn be provided for with sustainance, shelter, entertainment and security? Are we not anything but animals in a flock? Then, why do we refuse the shepard who acts in our best interests, for our Eudaimonia?
Why do we seek freedom when what we want is equality?
Aristotle writes of "Natural Slavery". Nature intends some to be slaves, to be incapable of ruling themselves, and I am inclined to agree. This is abhorrent to many, the thought that others are to be owned by someone, the images conjoured by that word are going to be distasteful and angry, of dark bowels of ships in the Atlantic, and plantations, and crimes against humanity.
But you are not free. You are chained by money, by the government, by your conscience. Everyone wants to own you, as you can help them gain money, or power, or security, and they all want you. Aristotle says that nature intends some to be slaves, but he never says what proportion is intended.
Do those people exist, who can waiver their freedom for slavery, to work for someone else, and in turn be provided for with sustainance, shelter, entertainment and security? Are we not anything but animals in a flock? Then, why do we refuse the shepard who acts in our best interests, for our Eudaimonia?
Why do we seek freedom when what we want is equality?
Thursday 31 January 2008
The Lo-Fi
As soon as I get a house next year, I'm going to arrange a non-electricity party. It's basicly a party, but with no electricity, which means no lights, no music, no televison and no videogames. I imagine the reader scoffs at the very idea! However, there is a purity in not having any distractions, just enjoying the company of others into the wee hours, by candlelight.
So, no electricity, so what? It wouldn't be one of those rowdy, intoxicated parties, but instead a more laid-back, easy affair, like a gathering. With no electrics, it takes the body down to a simpler level, with candles for light, and fires to cook with, and simple instruments for entertainment.
It might be good, or it might be a waste of time. But, something new, eh?
So, no electricity, so what? It wouldn't be one of those rowdy, intoxicated parties, but instead a more laid-back, easy affair, like a gathering. With no electrics, it takes the body down to a simpler level, with candles for light, and fires to cook with, and simple instruments for entertainment.
It might be good, or it might be a waste of time. But, something new, eh?
You Know Nothing
I will be chasing my metaphorical rabbit for as long as I exist, and I will never catch it.
S/Cooke
Wednesday 16 January 2008
In Rainbows
I bought the latest Radiohead album the previous week. Oh, the reviews which no doubt you've read by now will all tell you it is good. I'll take that opinion as granted.
In Rainbows is OK Computer, but matured. It is an album that is confident, is comfortable. It sounds like Radiohead, but not any other Radiohead. OK was young, ambitious, and brimming with that genius which make it so memorable, while Rainbows is the product of everything since then: the electric veins of Kid A, the skeleton-melodies and ambience of Amnesiac, and the reluctant return to the mainstream that Hail to the Thief was.
The more I listen to Rainbows, the more I think it is the only proper album since OK Computer. It is complete, and the tracks all share a warmth without sounding like clones of each other. Like OK, there are the instantly appealing tracks (Reckoner, Nude, Jigsaw Falling Into Place), and the ones which grow slowly in your opinion. Kid A never had this completeness, neither did Amnesiac or Hail to the Thief. True to the artwork, there is something in utero about this progression, a kind of reverse-birth.
There are fantastic tracks in themselves, regardless of the context. Reckoner and Nude are beautiful songs, 15 Step is the grandson of Kid A, House of Cards brings some touching emotional articulation to Radiohead, and then it ends with Videotape bringing a slow, modulating, creeping end.
There is no explicit experimentation on In Rainbows, but there doesn't need to be. There are none of the unexpected electronic assaults or the staccato melodies of previous Radiohead efforts, In Rainbows doesn't need these things to be as good as it is.
S/Cooke
In Rainbows is OK Computer, but matured. It is an album that is confident, is comfortable. It sounds like Radiohead, but not any other Radiohead. OK was young, ambitious, and brimming with that genius which make it so memorable, while Rainbows is the product of everything since then: the electric veins of Kid A, the skeleton-melodies and ambience of Amnesiac, and the reluctant return to the mainstream that Hail to the Thief was.
The more I listen to Rainbows, the more I think it is the only proper album since OK Computer. It is complete, and the tracks all share a warmth without sounding like clones of each other. Like OK, there are the instantly appealing tracks (Reckoner, Nude, Jigsaw Falling Into Place), and the ones which grow slowly in your opinion. Kid A never had this completeness, neither did Amnesiac or Hail to the Thief. True to the artwork, there is something in utero about this progression, a kind of reverse-birth.
There are fantastic tracks in themselves, regardless of the context. Reckoner and Nude are beautiful songs, 15 Step is the grandson of Kid A, House of Cards brings some touching emotional articulation to Radiohead, and then it ends with Videotape bringing a slow, modulating, creeping end.
There is no explicit experimentation on In Rainbows, but there doesn't need to be. There are none of the unexpected electronic assaults or the staccato melodies of previous Radiohead efforts, In Rainbows doesn't need these things to be as good as it is.
S/Cooke
Monday 14 January 2008
Bored?
If you're reading this, I can think of three things more fun to be doing:
Firstly, Sprout. Non-standard gameplay is always fun, and this is a pretty, quaint game with a fairly original concept, and is a well-done "logic" game. As logical as playing a soy bean can be.
Second is "Gravity Pods". Infuriating, but great fun. Plus, you can make pretty patterns with the trails.
Third isn't a game as such. More of a sandbox, heh. It just eats time. Those seconds fall away in wonderfully apt way, don't you think?
S/Cooke
Firstly, Sprout. Non-standard gameplay is always fun, and this is a pretty, quaint game with a fairly original concept, and is a well-done "logic" game. As logical as playing a soy bean can be.
Second is "Gravity Pods". Infuriating, but great fun. Plus, you can make pretty patterns with the trails.
Third isn't a game as such. More of a sandbox, heh. It just eats time. Those seconds fall away in wonderfully apt way, don't you think?
S/Cooke
Zeitgiest
For a long time, I've wanted to be part of something new. I've wanted to sit on the edge of originality and stare out at the jagged, toothed sea of criticism without any kind of perversion or contamination from anything which has come before. I realise that by just wanting to be part of this, you're defeating yourself, so I give up this quest and hunt for something personal.
Of course, even if I WAS part of it, I wouldn't know until it was over. So, I wondered where the next big thing was, pre-empt it and hi-jack it for my own ends.
This blog is a pixel in the digital Zeitgiest. There are a thousand blogs like mine, each with some readership, unimportant on their own, but they are the picture of the internet's denizens, and the troughs for their (usually sparse) readership.
This internet should be something to be enjoyed! There is a thousand different websites out there with intelligent, funny, moving things to show you! As a medium, it is new, it is ephemeral, and it is free. There are no censors, and there is no money involved to sully things.
But, can it last? Can Hype Machine still distribute free music, and can the many blogs it searches stay on the edge of this provision for unknown tastes? I'd like to think this is the future of music journalism, or journalism itself: done out of enjoyment, without asking for money in return.
This freedom won't last forever. Those fantastic American record companies (land of freedom, eh?) have attacked the p2p market, and they can't stop there. The internet will not always be like this, it is inclined to change. Personally, I hope it changes for the better, but better judgement tells me it'll change for the worst.
S/Cooke
Of course, even if I WAS part of it, I wouldn't know until it was over. So, I wondered where the next big thing was, pre-empt it and hi-jack it for my own ends.
This blog is a pixel in the digital Zeitgiest. There are a thousand blogs like mine, each with some readership, unimportant on their own, but they are the picture of the internet's denizens, and the troughs for their (usually sparse) readership.
This internet should be something to be enjoyed! There is a thousand different websites out there with intelligent, funny, moving things to show you! As a medium, it is new, it is ephemeral, and it is free. There are no censors, and there is no money involved to sully things.
But, can it last? Can Hype Machine still distribute free music, and can the many blogs it searches stay on the edge of this provision for unknown tastes? I'd like to think this is the future of music journalism, or journalism itself: done out of enjoyment, without asking for money in return.
This freedom won't last forever. Those fantastic American record companies (land of freedom, eh?) have attacked the p2p market, and they can't stop there. The internet will not always be like this, it is inclined to change. Personally, I hope it changes for the better, but better judgement tells me it'll change for the worst.
S/Cooke
Saturday 5 January 2008
Why I'm Not Reading English Literature
To study English Literature is to be affront to it. More and more, I despise it, ever since those fateful days I closed that exam booklet having written for three hours.
Such a bold statement, so why do I say it? Well, studying something produced for art docks it of the entertainment, of the pleasure. Study is not the appreciation of something; I can appreciate a mars bar without having to analyse the production methods and ingredients.
Do books get better the second time you read them? You might assume that because of the sheer complexity of Othello, it warrants picking apart the speeches and poetry, but this furthers a myth that the deeper something is, the better.
What about immediate inclination? Read Vonnegut, he is easy. He is not hard to understand, but hard to stomach. He breaks every rule for writing fiction there is, and he tells you he does. There is immediate gratification by reading a book like Slaughterhouse Five. And there is very little hidden within that book, but it's still one of the most enjoyable books you can read, while still dealing with serious and profound concepts.
So, why must it be studied? Surley, by analysing it, you are breaking a sacrement between the author, the book and yourself. Don't turn something enjoyable and personal into something to be contaminated by others.
But if you must study art, so it goes.
S/Cooke
Such a bold statement, so why do I say it? Well, studying something produced for art docks it of the entertainment, of the pleasure. Study is not the appreciation of something; I can appreciate a mars bar without having to analyse the production methods and ingredients.
Do books get better the second time you read them? You might assume that because of the sheer complexity of Othello, it warrants picking apart the speeches and poetry, but this furthers a myth that the deeper something is, the better.
What about immediate inclination? Read Vonnegut, he is easy. He is not hard to understand, but hard to stomach. He breaks every rule for writing fiction there is, and he tells you he does. There is immediate gratification by reading a book like Slaughterhouse Five. And there is very little hidden within that book, but it's still one of the most enjoyable books you can read, while still dealing with serious and profound concepts.
So, why must it be studied? Surley, by analysing it, you are breaking a sacrement between the author, the book and yourself. Don't turn something enjoyable and personal into something to be contaminated by others.
But if you must study art, so it goes.
S/Cooke
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