Past Lessons, Future Theories
Thursday, May 31, 2007
I need a mycologist, stat!
These fungi(?) are growing on my neighbour's maple tree on the north shore of Lake Erie. They are enormous, as local fungi go (and shapely too). The lower one is ten inches wide, the upper eight.
I'd love to know what they are. I'm hoping a Circus of the Spineless or Tangled Bank reader can enlighten me. Please leave a note in the comments for everybody to see if you know what it is. ¶ 3:37 PM 1 Comments Links to this post
These fungi(?) are growing on my neighbour's maple tree on the north shore of Lake Erie. They are enormous, as local fungi go (and shapely too). The lower one is ten inches wide, the upper eight.
I'd love to know what they are. I'm hoping a Circus of the Spineless or Tangled Bank reader can enlighten me. Please leave a note in the comments for everybody to see if you know what it is. ¶ 3:37 PM 1 Comments Links to this post
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Swoon 188 - May 28, 2007
LCD Soundsystem - Get Innocuous (Emi)
Stephan Bodzin - Turbine (Herzblut)
Fairmont - Pavilion (Bpitchcontrol)
Green Go - Cash Money Gremlins (Burnt Oak)
Junior Boys - Double Shadow (Kode 9 mix) (Domino)
Two Lone Swordsmen - Spray Can Attack (Rotters Golf Club)
Caribou - Brahminy Kite (Domino)
Minilogue - Seconds (Extrawelt remix) (Traum)
Misstress Barbara - Jamais Moi Sans Toi (Border Community)
Lee Curtiss - 3 Fingers (Dumb Unit)
Junior Boys - Dead Horse (Carl Craig mix) (Domino)
Gui Boratto - Mr. Decay (Robert Babicz mix) (Kompakt)
From Karaoke to Stardom - Nightmare On Bleed Street (Rrygular)
Andrea Doria - YaoO (Minilogue mix) (Great Stuff)
One+One - No Pressure (Renaissance)
Surgeon - Whose Bad Hands Are These? (Autechre remix) (Dynamic Tension)
Quadra - Desperado (Future Black)
NAW - City Saturate Pt III (Noise Factory)
Canonic - In Tape Grass (Homemade Tapes)
Thes One - Pan-Am 1 (Tres)
Ellen Allien and Apparat - Red Planets (Bpitchcontrol)
Stephan Bodzin - Leuchtkraft (Herzblut)
Stephan Bodzin - Turbine (Herzblut)
Fairmont - Pavilion (Bpitchcontrol)
Green Go - Cash Money Gremlins (Burnt Oak)
Junior Boys - Double Shadow (Kode 9 mix) (Domino)
Two Lone Swordsmen - Spray Can Attack (Rotters Golf Club)
Caribou - Brahminy Kite (Domino)
Minilogue - Seconds (Extrawelt remix) (Traum)
Misstress Barbara - Jamais Moi Sans Toi (Border Community)
Lee Curtiss - 3 Fingers (Dumb Unit)
Junior Boys - Dead Horse (Carl Craig mix) (Domino)
Gui Boratto - Mr. Decay (Robert Babicz mix) (Kompakt)
From Karaoke to Stardom - Nightmare On Bleed Street (Rrygular)
Andrea Doria - YaoO (Minilogue mix) (Great Stuff)
One+One - No Pressure (Renaissance)
Surgeon - Whose Bad Hands Are These? (Autechre remix) (Dynamic Tension)
Quadra - Desperado (Future Black)
NAW - City Saturate Pt III (Noise Factory)
Canonic - In Tape Grass (Homemade Tapes)
Thes One - Pan-Am 1 (Tres)
Ellen Allien and Apparat - Red Planets (Bpitchcontrol)
Stephan Bodzin - Leuchtkraft (Herzblut)
Labels: dance, dj, Music, Swoon, Techno, Tracklist
¶ 9:26 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Swoon 187 - May 21, 2007
Dusty Kid – Psika (Boxer)
Sebbo – Chunky Fudge (Ripperton remix)
Booka shade – Darko (Radioslave remix) (Get Physical)
From Karaoke to Stardom – Stompin Nation (Seuil mix) (Rrygular)
Marc Romboy – Sunburst
The Viewers – Blank Images (Mezzo-tinto)
Misstress Barbara –
Luciano – Alternated Tones (Cadenza)
Andrea Doria – YaoO (Minilogue remix)
Solieb – We Are Moving (Maschine)
Daniel Stefanik – the Bells (Anja Schneider mix) (Mobilee)
Cobblestone Jazz – DMT (Wagon Repair)
Gusgus – Moss (Tim Deluxe remix)
Xpress2 – Kill 100 (Radioslave remix) (Skint)
Art of Trance – Dud
Breeder – Twilo Thunder (Rhythm Syndicate)
Circulation – Purple (Circulation)
Circulation – Amber (Circulation)
Frankie Knuckles – You Got The Love (Trax)
Labels: dance, dj, Music, Swoon, Techno, Tracklist, trance
¶ 9:25 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Shut Up and Dance
Five long tracks here, on a compilation that is not designed to be danced to by the average punter, but rather by professional dancers and ballet troupes.
First up is NSI, with "Bridge and Tunnel People". It's a 14-minute ambient piece, with no beats until three minutes in. At the point the beats kick and pop with irregular beats, and stabby, chopped melodies. It's very bass heavy. In the middle it breaks up into random, abstract sounds before returning to a jazz-influenced section, with plenty of work on the ride cymbal and cowbell. It's pretty intense.
Next is Sleeparchive, with a buzzy, slower minimal techno track. There's a lot of acidic noises. Not bad if you like that style.
Ame centres the compilation with "Fiori", which has been creating a huge buzz. The 17-minute track begins with a long, beatless opening, before the beats kick in around 8 minutes. From there, it's a long, epic progressive house track. Is it like Rej, which destroyed dancefloors everywhere last year? Yes, it's big and it's quality, but it's not quite as catchy.
Luciano follows Ame with the most club-friendly track, the techno "Drunken Ballet". It's fairly straightforward, and not as complex as some of his recent productions and collaborations. But the vocal and melody samples are chopped up in an interesting, cute way that will bring a smile to your face.
Luke Slater, working under his The 7th Plain pseudonym, ends the album with a long ambient piece, "Symphony for the Surrealists". It's pretty much a symphony, with different movements. At the beginning, the strings are quite lush, and are underpinned by breathy choir sounds and gentle synths. Then it breaks up and goes a little crazy, with bleeps, reversed blips, clicks and other sounds. Then comes a piano interlude, before it goes into icy ambience, and finishes with some experimental beats. It's a very good piece.
Overall, it's great a selection of modern dance music. I like it a lot and think the best tracks are from Ame, NSI and Luke Slater.
The plan is for the Staatsballet Berlin to perform live to these tracks on June 29, in Berlin at th Berghain club. Sounds like a very interesting show.
It will be out as an album on May 29, 2007, on the Ostgut record label.
Five long tracks here, on a compilation that is not designed to be danced to by the average punter, but rather by professional dancers and ballet troupes.
First up is NSI, with "Bridge and Tunnel People". It's a 14-minute ambient piece, with no beats until three minutes in. At the point the beats kick and pop with irregular beats, and stabby, chopped melodies. It's very bass heavy. In the middle it breaks up into random, abstract sounds before returning to a jazz-influenced section, with plenty of work on the ride cymbal and cowbell. It's pretty intense.
Next is Sleeparchive, with a buzzy, slower minimal techno track. There's a lot of acidic noises. Not bad if you like that style.
Ame centres the compilation with "Fiori", which has been creating a huge buzz. The 17-minute track begins with a long, beatless opening, before the beats kick in around 8 minutes. From there, it's a long, epic progressive house track. Is it like Rej, which destroyed dancefloors everywhere last year? Yes, it's big and it's quality, but it's not quite as catchy.
Luciano follows Ame with the most club-friendly track, the techno "Drunken Ballet". It's fairly straightforward, and not as complex as some of his recent productions and collaborations. But the vocal and melody samples are chopped up in an interesting, cute way that will bring a smile to your face.
Luke Slater, working under his The 7th Plain pseudonym, ends the album with a long ambient piece, "Symphony for the Surrealists". It's pretty much a symphony, with different movements. At the beginning, the strings are quite lush, and are underpinned by breathy choir sounds and gentle synths. Then it breaks up and goes a little crazy, with bleeps, reversed blips, clicks and other sounds. Then comes a piano interlude, before it goes into icy ambience, and finishes with some experimental beats. It's a very good piece.
Overall, it's great a selection of modern dance music. I like it a lot and think the best tracks are from Ame, NSI and Luke Slater.
The plan is for the Staatsballet Berlin to perform live to these tracks on June 29, in Berlin at th Berghain club. Sounds like a very interesting show.
It will be out as an album on May 29, 2007, on the Ostgut record label.
Labels: ambient, dance, minimal, Music, Tech-house, Techno
¶ 1:52 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Swoon 186 - May 14, 2007
Ame - Fiori (Ostgut)
Plastikman - Passage In (M-nus)
Sideshow - Music For You (Aus)
Thomas Fehlmann - Strahlensatz (Kompakt)
U2 - Night and Day (Twilight mix)
Eggfooyoung - Gloves (Touchinbass)
Surgeon - Whose Bad Hands Are These? (Dynamic Tension)
[a]pendics.shuffle and Mikael Stavostrand - Small Boxes (Adjunct)
Tomas Jirku - Footloose (So Called)
Touane - Potato Nose (Lan)
Midnight Operator - Midnight Operator (Wagon Repair)
Mike Shannon - Ghost Writer Blues (Cynosure)
Stephand Bodzin - Liebe Est
Troy Pierce, Heartthrob - Horse Nation Amended (M-nus)
Inkfish - Prescreen (Nick Muir mix)
Silicone Soul - 3 a.m. (Soma)
Artificial Latvamaki - It Is Not Now Either (Mezzotinto)
Minilogue, KAB - That's A Nice Way To Give Me Feedback (Great Stuff)
Depeche Mode - Treaure, Little Pleasure (Mute)
Booka Shade - In White Rooms (Get Physical)
NAW - Sunstained Viaduct Passages (Noise Factory)
Quadra - Grey Something (Quadra)
D-pulse - Jane Air (Pro-tez)
download
Plastikman - Passage In (M-nus)
Sideshow - Music For You (Aus)
Thomas Fehlmann - Strahlensatz (Kompakt)
U2 - Night and Day (Twilight mix)
Eggfooyoung - Gloves (Touchinbass)
Surgeon - Whose Bad Hands Are These? (Dynamic Tension)
[a]pendics.shuffle and Mikael Stavostrand - Small Boxes (Adjunct)
Tomas Jirku - Footloose (So Called)
Touane - Potato Nose (Lan)
Midnight Operator - Midnight Operator (Wagon Repair)
Mike Shannon - Ghost Writer Blues (Cynosure)
Stephand Bodzin - Liebe Est
Troy Pierce, Heartthrob - Horse Nation Amended (M-nus)
Inkfish - Prescreen (Nick Muir mix)
Silicone Soul - 3 a.m. (Soma)
Artificial Latvamaki - It Is Not Now Either (Mezzotinto)
Minilogue, KAB - That's A Nice Way To Give Me Feedback (Great Stuff)
Depeche Mode - Treaure, Little Pleasure (Mute)
Booka Shade - In White Rooms (Get Physical)
NAW - Sunstained Viaduct Passages (Noise Factory)
Quadra - Grey Something (Quadra)
D-pulse - Jane Air (Pro-tez)
download
Labels: dance, dj, Music, Swoon, Techno, Tracklist
¶ 10:34 AM 1 Comments Links to this post
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Popnoname - White Album
Popnoname's debut album, White Album, is fun progressive house and techno. The album starts with "No Doubt", a wonderful vocal track. It has a long intro which really builds up until the beats kick in fully at three minutes. It's followed by "Tremolo", a techno piece with piercing synth sounds. "Still" is another vocal track, which manages to bring together many sounds and styles in 5 minutes.
"Light" is not exactly what its title indicates, with a big kick drum, a brisk melody and vocals about longing. It almost has an electrohouse feel to it. "Ferry Sponge" is deep and moody, with haunting melodies. It's in danger of being overlooked, because it does nothing big and obvious, but is a quality track all the same. It's followed by "Human One", which has deep house beats and melancholy vocals. It's one of the weaker tracks on the album.
"Kapital" is probably the biggest tracks on the album. It's very melodic, with strong synths, jangly reverbed guitars and throbbing bass. It should destroy any progressive house or even trance dancefloors. Along with "No Doubt", it's the best track on the album.
"Jasminstrauch" slows things down with some moody electronica. It's well done. "Mother Earth" is even slower and nearly beatless, with a sweet vocal. Finally, "Taken" ends it all with a brief, three-minute ambient piece. It's a good ending to a solid album. It will be released on Italic in June.
Popnoname's debut album, White Album, is fun progressive house and techno. The album starts with "No Doubt", a wonderful vocal track. It has a long intro which really builds up until the beats kick in fully at three minutes. It's followed by "Tremolo", a techno piece with piercing synth sounds. "Still" is another vocal track, which manages to bring together many sounds and styles in 5 minutes.
"Light" is not exactly what its title indicates, with a big kick drum, a brisk melody and vocals about longing. It almost has an electrohouse feel to it. "Ferry Sponge" is deep and moody, with haunting melodies. It's in danger of being overlooked, because it does nothing big and obvious, but is a quality track all the same. It's followed by "Human One", which has deep house beats and melancholy vocals. It's one of the weaker tracks on the album.
"Kapital" is probably the biggest tracks on the album. It's very melodic, with strong synths, jangly reverbed guitars and throbbing bass. It should destroy any progressive house or even trance dancefloors. Along with "No Doubt", it's the best track on the album.
"Jasminstrauch" slows things down with some moody electronica. It's well done. "Mother Earth" is even slower and nearly beatless, with a sweet vocal. Finally, "Taken" ends it all with a brief, three-minute ambient piece. It's a good ending to a solid album. It will be released on Italic in June.
Labels: dance, dj, Music, Techno
¶ 9:19 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Friday, May 04, 2007
Recent solar activity
This is a picture I took of the sun yesterday. There are two large prominences, at 1 and 9 o'clock. On the disc there is one sunspot and some small filaments. No retouching to the picture.
Labels: astronomy, photography, science
¶ 3:37 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Swoon 185 - April 30, 2007
Bomb the Bass/Lali Puna - Recut (Morr)
Thes One - GBX Malt Liquor (Tres)
Neon Tetra - On The Way There (Noise Factory)
Gemma - National Gallery (Acidsoxx)
Pudding Attack - Kinky Kat (Acidsoxx)
Shinjuku Zulu - Shanghai Masai (Neuphoria)
Crash Test Taurus - Stratvoltas (Acidsoxx)
Maybe Smith - Bloody Nose (Sir, Handsome)
D-pulse - Euphoria (Pro-tez)
- 011RNS (Lo-fi stereo)
Efdemin - Le Ratafia (Dial)
Mikael Stavostrand and [a]pendics.shuffle - Take Me Higher (John Tejada mix) (Adjunct)
Metope - 2.3 (Areal)
Silicone Soul - Bad Machines (Soma)
Skwerl - All Woman (Defected)
Midnight Operator - Midnight Operator (Wagon Repair)
Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip - Thou Shalt Always Kill (Lex)
Popnoname - Kapital (Italic)
Margot - Torch (Extrawelt remix) (Great Stuff)
Mark Henning - Ring of Fire (Trapez)
Alex Smoke - Prima Materia (Abort mix) (Soma)
Mikael Stavostrand and [a]pendics.shuffle - Stanislav (Adjunct)
Studio Pressure - Relics (Plaid mix) (Peacefrog)
Thes One - GBX Malt Liquor (Tres)
Neon Tetra - On The Way There (Noise Factory)
Gemma - National Gallery (Acidsoxx)
Pudding Attack - Kinky Kat (Acidsoxx)
Shinjuku Zulu - Shanghai Masai (Neuphoria)
Crash Test Taurus - Stratvoltas (Acidsoxx)
Maybe Smith - Bloody Nose (Sir, Handsome)
D-pulse - Euphoria (Pro-tez)
- 011RNS (Lo-fi stereo)
Efdemin - Le Ratafia (Dial)
Mikael Stavostrand and [a]pendics.shuffle - Take Me Higher (John Tejada mix) (Adjunct)
Metope - 2.3 (Areal)
Silicone Soul - Bad Machines (Soma)
Skwerl - All Woman (Defected)
Midnight Operator - Midnight Operator (Wagon Repair)
Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip - Thou Shalt Always Kill (Lex)
Popnoname - Kapital (Italic)
Margot - Torch (Extrawelt remix) (Great Stuff)
Mark Henning - Ring of Fire (Trapez)
Alex Smoke - Prima Materia (Abort mix) (Soma)
Mikael Stavostrand and [a]pendics.shuffle - Stanislav (Adjunct)
Studio Pressure - Relics (Plaid mix) (Peacefrog)
Labels: dance, dj, House, Swoon, Techno, Tracklist
¶ 9:28 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
