quick update

i'm good... but cold, broke and BUSY, BUSY.
i'm doing a an awesome global beats party on saturday.
i'm holding some meetings for a new party series at the ice house.
i'm doing a lot of web work for my photographer pal ryan sigesmund.
i'm gonna probably blog less than i want to for a bit...
i got an article on palestine, great dancing videos,
several awesome hip hop and dubstep tunes,
and a digest post on the way!

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yesterday, today and tommorow...

so yesterday was martin luther king day... i highly recommend listening to the (hour long) program of martin luther king speeches here. the two speeches are from a year and a day before his assassination.

it's good to remember that he wasn't just a civil rights leader, but a political savant, labor organizer, anti-war activist and mystic. that's my favorite photo of him, shaking his malcom x's hand, despite their many differences.


today was the last day of george w bush's presidency. the end of several errors. you can throw out all those keychains counting down to his last day now...

today was also the first day of barrack hussein obama's presidency. i don't know if he's all that, but i still got chills reading his inagural address. something's happening here...

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sound karma dot com?

"more than 10 million of the 13 million music tracks
available on the internet failed to find a single buyer last year.
(On the other hand, for every paid for song there where 20 pirated.)"

via (update: also, is this wrong?)

image: christian marclay

there is a really good idea at the bottom of this post, but first, some backstory:

i pay for music very infrequently... in the last two years, the music i bought we're some records in berlin, some thrift store 45s, some yard sale 45s, l.v. & dandelion's "cctv/dream cargo" & dj ruptures "uproot" mix... that's it. i've been broke, cheap, and flooded by the ocean of sounds.

i steal/i'm given/whatever on average 8 albums a day... easily. the other day i downloaded over 100 archives marked [dbstp] off emule... it's truly post scarcity. i toss most of it, but keep the singles i like and occaisonally the whole release. on the one hand it's great. i love the try-before-you buy possibility, but on the other hand, who ends up buying even when they like it?

that being said, i had a lovely experience recently where i contacted barry lynn (boxcutter) on his myspace page, told him i really loved his music, but had stolen it and wanted to give him some money. he complained that his labels barely pay him (except for planet µ), and happily gave me his paypal account and i sent him $30... which is way more than he would have gotten had i spent that $30 at a record shop, or even at an mp3 site...

*really good idea*

"sound karma dot com"

decentralized patronage in action. make a website that is simply a vehicle to pay artists (and labels) whatever you want. you could give $20 to benga, $1 to lil wayne, $5 to the heirs of miles davis and $6 to dutty artz... etc... no product sold, no frills, just a way to give back to the artists... so now, the challenges...

1. verifying the artist's identity could be tough. someone could pose as richard d. james to snag the money sent by fans of richard d. james... my solution to this is to have it built on artist referalls. i have boxcutter's paypal, he could verify label-mates' paypal, etc...

2. severs/bandwidth cost money. you could take a small cut or sell some ad space so this isn't a big problem, but commercialization could taint the spirit of this endeavor. you could also sell mp3s, etc, but that could invite more problems than it solves....

3. labels might be pissed. i appreciate the role of (especially small) labels as taste arbiters and talent scouts, but even if we don't act to appease the labels, we wouldn't be selling any of their product, just giving venture capital to their employees...

4. legal issues might arise. i'm not that concerned with this because i feel like if it's done in a spirit of service to the musicians no one will really be able to complain, it's not against the law to give people money, and it may just help a lot...

i have people who can build this, and i may, but i invite your wise criticism and input first.

thoughts?

also, any repping/spreading of this idea would be greatly appreciated. i think that the sooner something like this is implemented the better. i guess i'd like credit, but i'd rather have "a centralized site where users can reward their favorite musicians."

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four songs bliss wonder

(mp3) animal collective - "for my girls"
(mp3) nero - "night thunder"
(mp3) pinch - "chamber dub"
(mp3) joose keskitalo - "minä ja kapteeni"

the songs in this pack all have a certain dreaminess and wonder to them. two "up", two "down".

the first song is off the new animal collective album. i've actually tried not to bother with the animal collective (pictured), despite liking some of the songs on an early album, "sung tongs". frankly, a lot of my apprehension comes from the sheer amounts of time it takes to specialize as i do in international, electronic and experimental music and not wanting to wade into the sea of vague rock and dance pop that makes up most of the (other) hipster oeuvre. however, i dig this new album... they sound like the beach boys at a rave. from the lyrics of "for my girls":

"There isn't much that I feel I need
A solid soul and the blood I bleed
With a little girl, and by my spouse
I only want a proper house"

the next two songs are just dubstep, by certain measures. i find the nero track excitingly pretty and yet grimey, and the pinch track is just another peculiar and cavernous affair from this under-appreciated producer. "underwater dancehall" remains a very adventurous and deep album to me (despite not really feeling like playing it often... odd...) both of these tracks would be fire with a vocal... most dubstep would be improved with vocals (and less movie samples...)

for the last song, i heard it on dj/rupture's great wfmu show, and admittedly i felt a bit challenged by his assertion that we wouldn't hear this tune anywhere. anyway, i'm thankful i heard it on rupture's show (particularly the second non-vocal half he played) of this beautiful soundscape and i hope it's heard many more places... by putting this finnish wikipedia site for into this translator i got some funny facts about joose, such as that he "is idiosyncratic lavakarisma, shapeless, indeed inhorealistiset sanoitukset"

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brian's contribution

reminds me of a list mark dixon had once.  it was like sleep for 8 hours, work for 10 hours, drink for four hours and beat the hell out of those who got it comin' to em for 2 hours.  if i find the original (i got a note of it somewere... including our version with more sex in it...) i'll post it.

anyway, this image came from the blog of the translator/mystic brian browne walker.  great site.  at times erotic, at times violent, always thoughtful, loving and honest.  and his translations are the shit.  his version of the tao te ching is the best of the four or so i've read...

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elitism

"the only true aristocracy is that of consciousness."
- d.h. lawrence as quoted by brian browne walker in his translation of the i-ching

i had a lovely conversation with a poet acquaintance of mine in which i remembered an aspect of sufism that makes me feel strange. there is this myth in sufism of the hidden masters, the super-elites, the inner circle who using their substantial psychic powers battle the "evil" mages of the world and ultimately keep their awareness on many things and shape the world.

on the one hand i am quite aware of the superior powers that can be wielded with higher states of consciousness. on the other hand though, i am supremely skeptical of the possibility of higher powers existing uncorrupted, existing in a non-deluded state. i'm not saying that good is only done by the weak, just that the strong sometimes sit around kissing their biceps.

"more harm is done by fools through foolishness than is done by evildoers through wickedness"
- the prophet as quoted here

part of this discomfort of mine surely stems from my anarchism... elites by their very existence toss anarchism's white whale of non-hierarchy out the window... no government is needed to deny folks autonomy when people by their own skill and wisdom control the world by sheer superiority. it is a prison, whether from the "evil" mage or the hidden sufi lover.

on the one hand are these qualms, this nausea i feel whenever i notice that people can be (and sometimes want to be) pawns. i play a good chess game, but in real life, people die, and i don't want to be king. on the other hand, much of the justice in the world has come from people who earned their wings proudly; powerlessness/nonintervention can be a copout.

"to the sinful and vicious, i may appear to be evil. but to the good - beneficent am i."
- mirza khan, ansari as quoted by idries shah in the sufis

a big difficulty in determining the effects of power is embodied in this quote. i have my criticisms of barrack obama, for example, but my position to judge his choices isn't his. his short-sightedness to me may be great vision to him and vice versa. it is said that a sufi signed the death warrant of hallaj... fulfilling the needs of each to teach their lesson...

i am both worthy and unworthy of power, i both wield it and it wields me... knowing these paradoxes, i try to accept it when i'm called upon to be powerful, and cede it when i'm called upon to be a pawn. like pistons in an engine of agency, the universe allows for tyrants and rebellions... power creates ugliness no more than powerlessness creates beauty.

after thoughts:

"power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. great men are often bad men."
- lord acton as quoted here

"i wonder at a lover who in conceit of his merits walks proudly among the flowers of the garden"
- ibn al-arabi, the interpreter of desires, as quoted by peter lamborn wilson in scandal - essays in islamic heresy

in defense of the sufis, the deification of individual power enshrined in thelema, laveyan satanism, monopolist capitalism and certain forms of individualist anarchism isn't to be found in sufism. laura put it very simply: where as the listed ideologies are like, "power... let's get some!", sufism is more like "power... since we keep finding some, let's use it wisely."

i mentioned above that powerlessness and nonintervention can be a real copout. naturally i don't believe that everyone who is powerless is so by choice, or even that all of those who eschew power for a monastic lifestyle are cowards or worse... i just think that sometimes the willful pursuit of power can be a loving act, a necessary act even, despite my fears of it.

but note: one of the best acts that can be committed by the powerful is to share that power with those who don't have it. education, charity, and healing are all children of that impulse. at other times, the best act that can be committed by the powerful is to annihilate the power itself. finally, i believe love is knowing when to walk these lines and when to cross them.

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another awesome pittsburgher...

we just had dinner with the wonderful richard woodbury pell (and his talented partner melissa st. pierre. an album of hers is here on boomkat. i don't know her as well so this post will be about rich's work...)


rich is a founding member of the institute for applied autonomy and the creator of some of my favorite artworks, like the graffiti robot(pictured above) and isee. they are purveyors of "contestational robotics" and "electronic civil disobedience". charming folks, overall. rich also plays a mean bowed guitar and runs a small record label (link pending).

the history as far as i am aware is that these folks were working shitty jobs for various DARPA funded projects at CMU and decided they could use their badass technological skills to pull off way better shit. that might be a myth, but it's the origin story i know.


the graffiti writer is amazing. it writes dot-matrix graffiti on the ground (click for large size above) at 15 miles per hour. they once wrote "voting is futile" across the u.s. senate steps and even though the police noticed them, they got away with it, because they assumed that because they had a robot, they had permission (!) video of the little guy in action is here in this short video (.mov 28mb)

rich also made a moving video about a crazy (?) guy in pittsburgh called "don't call me crazy on the 4th of july". it's about mind control, true history, crazy people and real whistle-blowers... watch it (a gripping ~30 min.)...



also, DO NOT MISS the video they made "little brother get's busted". it played in the netherlands at a show we did together in 2001 in between sets of bizarre feedback music my pal jim and i made (wayback machine, thank you!).

no, seriously... don't miss little brother gets busted...it's an "educational film" made for the dutch tourist to america and is HILARIOUS:

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the eagle and the condor

"Runners from the Northern and Southern routes of the Peace and Dignity Journey, a sacred journey starting in Tierra del Fuego and Alaska and traveling on foot thousands of kilometers through hundreds of indigenous communities, met Friday on a bridge crossing the Panama Canal in the Kuna Nation.

The goals of the journey, which has taken place every four years (starting in 1992), include strengthening and sharing indigenous culture, bringing peace to all Nations, and uniting indigenous peoples -- thereby fulfilling the Prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor. This year's run honored indigenous Sacred Sites, many of which are threatened by resource extraction or development."

via

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that veiled gazelle digest issue #306

well, despite the atrocity in gaza (and the ufo-believer's sex orgy being canceled!) 2008 ended up pretty well, all things considered. the greek riots gave hope to anarchists everywhere (and made me obsessed with no-go laws...) 2009 looks to be quit exciting. it's the international year of astronomy, for instance, and international year of natural fibres... most importantly though, it's the year of conflict resolution... i hope your year is filled with beauty (and underwater bliss-scapes!)


ALEXANDRIA IS OPEN, GREATSITE, MUSIC: there have been a couple of HUGE music archives found recently... pretty much all the trojan reggae box sets are available on this site. props to rupture for locating that. the boxes are great, especially if you need help learning about the various forms of reggae. a ton of (pre-2008) grime hip hop albums can be found here. in thanks for uploading a request of mine on extra music new, i uploaded the entire ernst catalog here. they are some of the first records i bought (1999!) and i love them. a deep minimal tech/house series by thomas brinkmann. you can really hear the evolution of his sound. fun stuff. a couple other music blogs i've been digging recently are disturbed beats, which is full of fidget house and bassy dance stuff (thanks conway!), blog to the old school, which is a spectacular service that uploads vinyl rips of old jungle and hardcore records (run by devnull!) and the elephant's child is loaded with videos of mostly modern african & middle eastern music. in the too much music category... i plan on posting my 7 reggae mixes from 2001 soon... i gave them to my local pizza shop and they bump 'em all day some times.

MOVER, MUSIC: 2008 saw the passing of odetta... brief eulogy and 1963 folk songs album here. also, miriam makeba passed away... brief eulogy and her debut album is here. others (like teo macero) passed, but those two i had just learned about...

MUSIC, MP3: alright, here's some track i've been diggin on. some really different stuff here, this time. some chunky, faltering house, an old illbient track, 1 serious epic pounding dustep tune, more, all .zipped up on mediafire again.

(mp3)passion pit - sleepyhead (streetlab mix)
(mp3)mokobé feat. mohammed lamine & mory kante - africa tonik
(mp3)babylon system & noah d - examination of time (VIP mix)
(mp3)qaballah steppers - the conqueror and the mute sea
(mp3)mwamway & radioclit feat m.i.a. - rain dance
(mp3)a made up sound - sunday

ART: if you are unfamiliar with swoon, (and even if you are) you might want to check out these videos of her work... sort of like a paper-cut-out banksy with a lot less myopic view... these snow sculptures (sort of bas reliefs, really are amazing. i found the image on this guys front page cool, but the rest is fairly boring (and very NSFW). yulia brodskaya's paper work is unique. i like the text ones mostly. demakersvan made an awesome lace fence. make your own fractalized photos with this plugin (windows only, :( ) also, i never saw this olympic water cube... gorgeous (as was the opening ceremony, which i finally saw)...

BABYLON, POLITICS, SCANDAL : even if you escape to a beautiful monastery, world politics will surely find you. it's hard to be surprised any more by popular newscasters slinging bullshit, government contractors exposing military people to toxins, or google unnecessarily disrupting music bloggers (ripley covered this too). but what about people with intimate knowledge of rove, bush & cheney dying mysteriously? also, on a brighter note, this is an idea whose time should come.

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, WEIRD: clump together rat's neurons and they can learn to fly an airplane. seriously. cool, but i'm much more impressed by scientists making matter out of pure light. or if they pull off MAKING a fucking STAR.

NATURE: the world's oldest cat, mischief, the world's weirdest animal, adorable miniature creatures, natural aphrodisiacs and potential ARMAGGEDEON (probably not?).

ECO: only thing that crossed my radar was an improvement in passive;y heated homes that allows the heat to be captured during ventilation so that you can be warm and breathe at the same time (with super low fuel costs). article.

LEFTOVERS: top five visualisation methods of 2008. top ten astronomy photos of 2008. how to travel the world for free (basic, but good stuff if you don't know it already...) woddy harrelson and co blog. poem/video thing from said blog (it's good!). oh, HUGE machines.

VIDEO: dj fly dmc winner 2008 (anyone see any dubstep at the dmc? seems like jungle took over after craze... anyway, he's fly!

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happy new year!

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fuck war

above: wounded palestinian girl taken to hospital in gaza.

below: palestinian children hide from israeli airstrikes

photos via.

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