That’s Kool Herc up there, one of the pioneers of hip-hop DJing. I was looking at some wanky academic papers with titles like “Beatboxing As Information Recall” and stuff like that, and I was suddenly struck very, very hard by the fact that vinyl is a non-linear medium.
I mean, it’s an obvious thing, but also a really subtle thing. The next step from that is to realize that house music is linear music, whereas hip-hop is not. As a case in point, ‘way back in the day, house and disco tunes were sometimes play on reel to reel tape players, about the most linear medium every created by man. Hip-hop DJing, on the other hand, doesn’t exist, can’t exist without the ability to do “live re-editing, live re-mixing, and mash-ups!”, to paraphrase a promotional campaign for a certain DJ that we all know and love:
So which is better? The mix or the cut? I’m pretty sure the answer is “both.” I was raised on John Digweed though, so you can guess which way I tend to jump. That said, I should try jumping the other way soon.
If you’ve ever had sex, you should watch SHORTBUS. It is by degrees touching, hysterical, hopeful, depressing, fantastic, real, mind-bogglingly explicit, and deliciously subtle. It also includes some timeless lines like: “Justin, someone just came on your cat”, “She’s got a cunt like a wizard’s sleeve” and the single most amazing rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner you’ll ever hear.
So unless I miss-read the emails, the Tide Pool show on Proton Radio will be airing live and direct on the free stream tomorrow (Friday, March 16th) at 0300 hours EST. I assume that means Midnight on Thursday for us westerners. We shall see, however.
The inaugural game of spring soccer is today! You should totally come.
Frog Hunt, to quote from the designers, “Might just be the worst game ever made.” If nothing else, it’s interesting for 15 minutes or so. Catch those frogs!
BallDroppings, on the other hand, is a masterfully subtle and suspiciously deep granular sampler masquerading as a game. I can’t really recommend it to normal people, but audio geeks will have a *blast* with it.
I will be playing on Thursday, March 22nd, at Hush Nightclub, for Motion. I have *no* idea what I’ll be playing, but I promise it will be delightful in all ways.
Tunes just burnt:
Kieran & D’Void – White Light [Soma]
Chymera – Midnight At The Aquarium [Mezzotinto.]
Fabrice Lig – Fast Walk On Broadway [Playhouse]
Native & Silver – The Dome (FCD Code Remix) [Swordtail]
Mangan & Bonnici – Periwethel [EQ Grey]
C79 – Dope Ride (Formulate Remix) [Pacific Front]
Ripperton – Farra [Connaisseur]
Armand Van Helden – Witch Doktor (The Possessed Mix) [Strictly Ryhthm]
Tomer Valve – Rats [Precinct]
Eelke & Nick – Gamma Fix (Tim & Vasilos Mox) [Spinifex]
Guy J – Ear Canal (Technonono Edit) [Proton]
Guy J – Self Love [Primal]
Parks & Wilson – The Dragon (World Music Intro Mix) [Primal]
Shiloh – Cafe Del Mariachi (Nick Warren Remix) [Hope]
Dustin H – Recieve The Light [Pacific Front]
Toblo is the bastard love-child of Quake I CTF, the National Film Board Of Canada’s classic BLOCK CITY, and the music of the Postal Service. Hott.
You’re trying to capture all 3 of the bad guy’s flags – and all your have for weapons are the blocks that make up the game world, which is run with loving precision by a home-brew physics engine. By the end of a game, the bases are rubble, the towers have collapsed, and it’s all down to who can throw blocks better, run faster, and double-jump higher.
The presentation is light, fluffy, and twee – you’ll almost certainly get sick of the voice shouting “Toblo!” at bootup, but the art is perfect for the game – it’s easy to tell when things will fall down, and it’s easy to see what block your character is going to pick up. And the gameplay itself is exceptional. Now I just need to convince people to play it with me…
I accidentally went to the Times-Colonist Book Sale yesterday, and, uhhh, bought some books. Can’t beat $1 paperbacks.
- The Golden Apple Of The Sun, by Ray Bradbury
- The Machineries Of Joy, by Ray Bradbury
- Venus Plus X, by Theodore Sturgeon
- The Science Fiction Hall Of Fame Volume 1, edited by Robert Silverberg
- The Science Fiction Hall Of Fame Volume 2, edited by Ben Bova
- The New Hugo Winners Volume 2, presented (whatever that means) by Isaac Asimov
- Childhood’s End, by Arthur C. Clarke
- Rendevous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke
- The Mote In God’s Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
- Helliconia Summer, by Brian Aldiss
- Gateway, by Frederik Pohl
- The Miocene Arrow, by Sean McMullen
- Around The World In 80 Days, by Jules Verne
- 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, By Jules Verne
- Shadowrun, 2nd Edition, by FASA
- A Brief History Of Time, by Stephen Hawking
- Our Universe, by Roy Gallant
So if you need me…I’ll be reading.
Live Laptop Fishing: a stupendous mix of original music care of Nottingham’s finest, the Russian Linesman. Download here, because I made the picture too big to fit in this blog.
