[Hiroshi Sato’s music] takes a leap to a place beyond our understanding. It’s a durable piece of art; you get the sense that only future generations will truly understand it. It contains something unresolvable.
Seth Godin on publishers, curation, and algorithms
by M Donaldson // Leave a Comment
Sites that only obey the Long Tail and the primacy of the algorithm have fewer standards. They view curation as a last resort, and if mass is the standard, then mass is all that will be rewarded.
The KLF – The Manual
by M Donaldson // Leave a Comment
The Manual, the KLF’s fabled 1988 book that’s a “step-by-step guide to achieving a No.1 single with no money or musical skills” has been uploaded to Github as a markdown-enriched text file.
SpaceHey is the New MySpace
by M Donaldson // 1 Comment
Myspace isn’t the only 2000s site being resurrected. Geocities already has a spiritual successor in Neocities, and now Bebo (arguably the Blur to Myspace’s Oasis) is also getting a reboot …
I miss my bar
by M Donaldson // Leave a Comment
🔗 → I Miss My Bar
Another excellent site that provides background ambiance for your work-at-home activities. It’s also easy to imagine this is a coffeehouse if that’s more your flavor.
electronic music experimentation in the films of Alfred Hitchcock
by M Donaldson // Leave a Comment
🔗 → Electronic Music Experimentation In The Films Of Alfred Hitchcock
… and here’s some more on the Trautonium, a trippy early electronic instrument used extensively for sound design in The Birds.
what’s all this then?
by M Donaldson // Leave a Comment
What’s all this then? I took a few months off from micro-blogging while I contemplated what I wanted to get out of it — and to develop a better system. As for the first bit, I want a rolling log of what I’m doing and things I find interesting which I can easily search and reference. These micro-posts might become topics that I expand upon in the blog proper and my email newsletter. As for the system, it’s important that this log exists on a platform that’s semi-permanent and that I own. I was in the process of creating a separate WordPress install on the blog’s sub-domain (which would’ve added a layer of resistance to my process) when I discovered this post. Violà! After some simple PHP tweaks, I now have a ‘status’ feed that’s separate from the main blog feed. This status feed auto-magically posts on micro.blog. I set it up yesterday — relatively painless with only a couple of easily squashed bugs — and it seems like it’s working fine. That means I’m back to micro-blogging. I look forward to using this as a tool to capture what’s happening and inspire more long-form blogging action. It’ll also be nice to re-enter the micro-blogging community and contribute to the exchange of ideas.
BTW – these status updates are on a separate RSS feed than the main blog. So, if you want to follow this in your handy RSS reader then you’ll want to follow this feed.
Jon Savage and the music that “cut the knees off punk”
by M Donaldson // Leave a Comment
In this fantastic 2-hour radio show, writer Jon Savage spotlights the influential music that “cut the knees off punk.” Meaning: the synthesizer and electronic music hybrids emerging in 1976, opening the door to the oncoming post-punk explosion. Listen.
an eno valentine
by M Donaldson // Leave a Comment
Remapping Cultural Hauntology: An American Perspective
by M Donaldson // Leave a Comment
… as early as 1970, a native spirit of sonic experimentation in broadcasting, complete with mini-Moog, was flourishing in the US just as it was in Britain, perhaps just a bit further below the mainstream radar.