new traditionalists

Pitchfork & indie music

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:46:12 +1100

Richard Beck, writing for n+1 mag, starts writing what is ostensibly a history of Pitchfork, before coming to a surprisingly vicious conclusion:

A Pitchfork review may ignore history, aesthetics, or the basic technical aspects of tonal music, but it will almost never fail to include a detailed taxonomy of the current hype cycle and media environment. This is a small, petty way of thinking about a large art, and as indie bands have both absorbed and refined the culture’s obsession with who is over- and underhyped, their musical ambitions have been winnowed down to almost nothing at all.

Not sure if I totally agree, but I see his point. In a footnote (of course), he uses Vampire Weekend as a critique of M.I.A., which is entertaining in itself as surely VW are a perfect example of the ultimate self-knowing Pitchfork hero band.

Pop will eat itself, indeed.

(via longform.org)

Avengers as Capital-A Art → The only pity is no Lichtenstein. Oh, and the fact these are all...

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:37:31 +1100

Avengers as Capital-A Art →

The only pity is no Lichtenstein. Oh, and the fact these are all variant covers so no way to actually buy them without forking out the big bucks.

19 alternate Die Hard posters → Speaking of Die Hard. (Olly Moss)

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 12:42:04 +1100

19 alternate Die Hard posters →

Speaking of Die Hard.

(Olly Moss)

Bourne vs Bond

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 16:34:53 +1100

Bourne vs Bond:

The Die Hard essay links to an interesting short comparison of Bond and Bourne, which suggests Bourne’s innate navigation of city space is what gives him the edge, as opposed to Bond’s reliance on gadgetry and overwhelming force:

Rather than Bond’s private infrastructure [of] expensive cars and toys, Bourne uses public infrastructure as a superpower. A battered watch and an accurate U-Bahn time-table are all he needs for a perfectly-timed, death-defying evasion of the authorities.

Bourne wraps cities, autobahns, ferries and train terminuses around him as the ultimate body-armor.

I love this. It unravels what I find appealing about the Bourne films. The Waterloo train station scene from The Bourne Ultimatum is a perfect example, and a scene that has long stuck in my mind due to Bourne’s superb spatial awareness and use of that space.

(Amazingly the scene wasn’t shot in a closed station - those aren’t extras wandering around).

(via BLDGBLOG)

Architectural Die Hard

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 16:24:12 +1100

Architectural Die Hard:

Terrific BLDGBLOG essay by Geoff Manaugh on the unorthodox navigation of Nakatomi Plaza in Die Hard:

The majority of that film’s interest, I’d suggest, comes precisely through its depiction of architectural space: John McClane, a New York cop on his Christmas vacation, moves through a Los Angeles high-rise in basically every conceivable way but passing through its doors and hallways.

Over the course of the film, McClane blows up whole sections of the building; he stops elevators between floors; and he otherwise explores the internal spaces of Nakatomi Plaza in acts of virtuoso navigation that were neither imagined nor physically planned for by the architects.

Includes some scary stuff about the Israeli Defense Forces using the same techniques IRL.

(via @tcarmody)

iTunes Match Australia

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 13:25:57 +1100

iTunes Match Australia:

In other music news, iTunes Match is now available in Australia too for a $40 annual fee.

JB-HiFi Now (aka Spotify Aus)

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 10:20:33 +1100

JB-HiFi Now (aka Spotify Aus):

From waaay out of left field, JB-HiFi launch an Australian Spotify.

Seems to have a hefty catalogue - Devo are fully represented, and the related bands are pretty accurate (B-52’s, Pere Ubu, XTC, TMBG, Talking Heads). Then again the related bands for the album Oh No! It’s Devo include Coldplay, Muse, Goyte, Linkin Park and Regina Spektor. Uh, ok.

(via @fergle)

The anti-free-software movement

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 12:22:16 +1100

The anti-free-software movement:

Nice argument from the Pinboard crew for paying for web services you like: if you don’t, someone will buy them or they’ll go out of business. Includes a handy chart.

Only companies the size of Google & Apple are immune to this, and the obvious trade-off is you’re at their mercy.

Related: Shifty Jelly, developers of the excellent Pocket Weather AU, on the joy and horror of independent app development. Having read the Pinboard piece, why not go buy a copy (for iOS & Android).

(via Marco.org)

Green Bay about to celebrate a last ditch field goal win over...

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 21:24:51 +1100

Green Bay about to celebrate a last ditch field goal win over the NY Giants, and a rabid helmetless Jared Allen pursuing the ubiquitous Tim Tebow.

Two great shots showcasing the passion even regular season games generate. Green Bay are undefeated and you can see how much it means for them to maintain that lofty perch. Meanwhile Allen is playing for the 2-10 Vikings, but clearly doesn’t give a damn about their lowly status.

(via Yahoo and SI respectively)

Tolkien's legacy

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 21:52:37 +1100

Tolkien's legacy:

Adam Gopnik on high fantasy in The New Yorker:

It is still one of the finest jests of the modern muses that this fogged-in English don was going home nights to work on perhaps the most popular adventure story ever written, thereby inventing one of the most successful commercial formulas that publishing possesses, and establishing the foundation of the modern fantasy industry.

Lists of Note

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:14:21 +1100

Lists of Note:

New site from Letters of Note creator Shaun Usher. Already a must read, with gems like Johnny Cash’s to-do list, and Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather casting thoughts.

Rules for sites

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 17:12:39 +1100

Rules for sites:

Brent Simmons on a roll:

“When has a publication gone underlooked and then was saved by great SEO? Never. Just forget it — it’s beneath you.”

Pummeled by web pages Brent Simmons: I made the mistake of going to a website today. It’s...

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 17:03:26 +1100

Pummeled by web pages

Brent Simmons:

I made the mistake of going to a website today. It’s understandable, of course — everybody does it, from time to time — and I’m sure I’ll forgive myself, eventually.

They’re filled with ads and social-media sharing buttons — and more ads. And Google plus-onesies and Facebook likeys. And also more ads. Plus tweet-this-es. Plus ads. (And, under-the-hood, a whole cruise-ship-full of analytics.)

His points are the main reason I also love Instapaper, Google Reader, and the tiny Reader icon in iOS Safari.

$5 chess game, best-of-three, Zuccotti Park David Hill for McSweeney’s: Zugzwang is a...

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 09:35:20 +1100

$5 chess game, best-of-three, Zuccotti Park

David Hill for McSweeney’s:

Zugzwang is a term used in chess to refer to a position where every move you have is a bad one. Once you’re in zugzwang, things like having more pieces than your opponent doesn’t matter anymore. If you can’t use them to attack you may as well not have them at all. Often players who find themselves in zugzwang simply resign.

A growing number of people in America know what it feels like to be in zugzwang. For some of them their whole life has been one long zugzwang, they can’t remember ever having any good options.

(via longform.org)

Comment-ocalypse

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:40:00 +1100

A friend commented on the Google Music post below, only he commented over at Google +. Then someone replied to his comment, also on G+.

I can’t see that he commented. And I can’t respond to his comment on G+ because I’m not a member. He can’t comment here because he’s not a tumblr-er.

Dud.

In any case, the comment on the comment was:

Don’t look at Google - look at the dinosaur music companies who set down the policies on where their music may be purchased and played.

My comment on the comment made on his comment: I do look at Google here. To make it work, you just have to fork out enough dosh. Apple have done it¹. Google can too.

Amazon are also guilty here - one of the strengths of their (otherwise apparently pretty average) Fire is apparently video playback. Full video functionality comes with being a member of Amazon Prime². And Amazon Prime is, you guessed it: US only.

Mind you their iTunes Match service is US only for now too. But the store is global. ↩
Which sounds suspiciously like joining the Borg collective. ↩

Readability-ised short links. Nice idea, linking to a de-guffed version of an article. Still...

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 11:32:04 +1100

Readability-ised short links. Nice idea, linking to a de-guffed version of an article. Still don’t like shorteners, but this at least offers some benefit beyond being, you know, short.

Google Music: American Pie

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 10:58:07 +1100

Google Music launched this morning to much fanfare and kerfluffle. Top!

But:

Even if you hate Apple, you have to give them points for making their content deals globally.

Delightful design from the Sainsbury inhouse team in the 1960’s: More at FormFiftyFive

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 10:53:24 +1100

Delightful design from the Sainsbury inhouse team in the 1960’s:

More at FormFiftyFive

ABC interactive census

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 15:40:14 +1000

ABC interactive census:

Nice work from the ABC crew. Amazing to see the impact of the “no fault divorce” law. And sad to see female wages relative to male haven’t changed since 1975.

Good ole boys

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 12:55:12 +1000

Actual not-made-up lyrics from the #1 US Country album:

Well every time I turn around,
I see some dude dressed like a clown,
Baggy pants and a cap on sideways,
They don’t say ma’am or sir no more,
They won’t even hold a door for a woman,
Well it’s a cryin’ shame.

All together now:

Tell me where did all the good ole boys go,
Must be working on a farm,
Or out there chasin’ rainbows,
Are they back in Oklahoma,
Or at a Texas rodeo,
Tell me where did all the good ole boys go.

Ok, so far so good. But then:

Are they drivin’ cattle and ridin’ high,
Livin’ life the cowboy way,
Or down there on the front line,
Fightin’ off the bad guys,
Givin’ ‘em hell for the good ole USA.

Uh, what? WHAT? It would be funny if it wasn’t real.