Weekly Music Review #3

Yes. I know. I missed the past week. This should technically be #4, but fuck it. I suppose when I named it ‘weekly’ I meant it to imply ‘intermittent, whenever-i-want-to weekly music review’.

Anyway, I thought of putting up podcasts – if anyone’s interested in the idea let me know. I don’t think I’m going to do it if no one’s interested and all that!

BARONESS – BLUE RECORD

I haven’t really heard either the new Isis (Wavering Radiant) or Mastodon (Crack The Skye) that well, so I’m probably jumping the gun here in saying this is probably going to be my favourite metal album of the year – least of all because of the strong competition Black Math Horsemen threw up. But goddamnit isn’t this album special. In 44 and a half minutes, it runs through a whole gamut of genres; punk, classic rock, prog rock, metal, post rock, acoustic, hardcore and what not. Not one track on the album sounds like it’s filler, it’s all linked and intervowen majestically. The riffs are delicious and delirious, the drums maniacal and magnificent. A proper corker of an album. I won’t say this is metal for adults because that sounds incredibly condescending, but if you aren’t a fan of the genre I would suggest you give this album a try. You don’t need to be a metalhead to enjoy it (god knows I’m not one).

Baroness Myspace

THE TWILIGHT SAD – FORGET THE NIGHT AHEAD

I know for the past two weekly reviews I’ve seemingly trotted out the “must be a competitor for album of the year” cliche a fair few times. I honestly do mean it though, in every single instance. These aren’t albums I’ve just heard once and bought into the hype; these are albums that I’ve listened to continously and whose emotional affects have shown no desire to retreat anytime soon. Forget The Night Ahead was one of my most anticipated albums of the year – more so after the release of ‘To Become A Prostitute’. Imagine the noise and ambient side of Mogwai, and then couple it with cryptic, post-goth lyrical ingenuinity with a lovingly thick scotch accent voicing them and you’ve got yourself The Twilight Sad. I know that description sounds cheesy, if not plain. But this band really, really aren’t. They’re very special and this album should go a long way to cementing their place as one of the best acts on the planet, period.

I Became A Prostitute

Floorboards Under The Bed

THE XX – XX

Really, forget the shoddy album name, pathetic cover art (or lack thereof) and the creatively titled album name. None of that is relevant here. The XX are a very young band from the UK who make very sparse (if not spacey) pop, built around a foundation of electronica and 80s sound. It sounds horrible, but it really isn’t. In fact it’s quite endearing, and frighteningly catchy.

Infinity

Information Is Beautiful

This is a brilliant site:

Information Is Beautiful

Basically it visualizes data in all sorts of interesting and ingenious ways..

oh snap!

First: Sojourner

Second:

Monday, August 24, 2009
This is with reference to Dr A Q Khan’s column “Science of computers — part I” which appeared in your pages on Aug 19.

1. Dr Khan writes: “The computer is an essential part of 21st century life. Computer science is a fast-moving subject that gives rise to a range of interesting and often challenging problems. The implementation of today’s complex computer systems requires the skills of a knowledgeable and versatile computer scientist. Artificial intelligence — the study of intelligent behaviour — is having an increasing reference on computer system design. Distributed systems, networks and the internet are now central to the study of computing, presenting both technical and social challenges.”

Now compare this to the first paragraph of Undergraduate Prospectus 2009, University of Sussex(www.sussex.ac.uk/units/publications/ugrad2009/subjects/computing):

“Computing is an essential part of 21st-century life, and is an exceptionally fast-moving subject that gives rise to a range of interesting and challenging problems. The implementation of today’s complex computing systems, networks and multimedia systems requires the skills of knowledgeable and versatile computer scientists. Computer networks and the internet are now central to the study of computing and information technology, presenting both technical and social challenges. Artificial intelligence (AI) — the study of intelligent behaviour — is having an increasing influence on computer system design.”

2. Dr Khan writes: “How do we understand, reason, plan, cooperate, converse, read and communicate? What are the roles of language and logic? What is the structure of the brain? How does vision work? These are all questions as fundamental as the sub-atomic structure of matter. These are also questions where the science of computing plays an important role in our attempts to provide answers. The computer scientist can expect to come face-to-face with problems of great depth and complexity and, together with scientists, engineers and experts in other fields, may help to solve them. Computing is not just about the big questions; it is also about engineering-making things work. Computing is unique in offering both the challenge of science and the satisfaction of engineering.”

Now compare this to the first paragraph of Imperial College London website (www3.imperial.ac.uk/engineering/teaching/exploringengineering/computing): “How do we understand, reason, plan, cooperate, converse, read and communicate? What are the roles of language and logic? What is the structure of the brain? How does vision work? These are questions as fundamental, in their own way, as questions about the sub-atomic structure of matter. They are also questions where the science of computing plays an important role in our attempts to provide answers. The computer scientist can expect to come face-to-face with problems of great depth and complexity and, together with scientists, engineers and experts in other fields, may help to disentangle them. But computing is not just about the big questions it is also about engineering-making things work. Computing is unique in offering both the challenge of a science and the satisfaction of engineering.”

3. Furthermore, Dr Khan writes: “Computer science is an inter-disciplinary subject. It is firmly rooted in engineering and mathematics, with links to linguistics, psychology and other fields. Computer science is concerned with constructing hardware and software systems, digital electronics, compiler design, programming languages, operation systems, networks and graphics. Theoretical computer science addresses fundamental issues: the motion of computable function, proving the correctness of hardware and software and the theory of communicating system.

Again the University of Cambridge website (www.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses/compsci) contains the following text: (First paragraph) “Computer science is interdisciplinary. It is firmly rooted in engineering and mathematics, with links to linguistics, psychology and other fields. [...] (Second paragraph) Practical computer science is concerned with constructing hardware and software systems: digital electronics, compiler design, programming languages, operating systems, networks and graphics. Theoretical computer science addresses fundamental issues: the notion of computable function, proving the correctness of hardware and software, the theory of communicating systems.”

4. The second half of Dr Khan’s article (paragraph 7 onwards) can be found in ACM’s Computing Curricula 2009. Although he credits ACM but doesn’t clarify that he is directly copying sentences from a document. Also, in the beginning of his piece he does acknowledge one of his former colleagues, an Engineer Nasim Khan, for input for the article — however, it is not clear whether this input is the reason for the apparent plagiarism.

Fahad Rafique Dogar

PhD student, Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA, US

Here

I believe the correct terminology to be applied here is “LOL!”‘ followed by, “you got served, biatch!”

Also, who plagiarizes brochures? :S

Weekly Music Review #2 + rant

I fucking hate Snow Patrol. Amongst all the talent that Scotland is now churning out, we get these pieces of tawdry, mopey, quasi-depressed emo tenth-grader’s dream. By and large, despite having ‘Chasing Cars’ thrust in my ears every now and then, my hatred of them remained ‘normal’ – if hatred can ever be that. But now, after hearing them butcher Low’s ‘Just Like Christmas’, I want to torture them. I want to slowly rip their limbs apart so that they are never able to touch any instrument ever again. I want to rip their eyes and tongues out so that they can’t even notate music and annoy me by getting someone else to play it. After that maybe I’d play some early Darkthrone/Venom records for them so that the production on those albums (or lack thereof) makes them want to take their lives.

Anyway, here we go:

BLACK MATH HORSEMEN – WYLLT

Mix Isis, Neurosis, Kyuss and what do you get? Black Math Horsemen, a female fronted psych-rock/metal/stoner foursome. I rarely get excited by acts labelled metal these days, but this band is something else. They’re brilliant atmospheric without overdoing it – without sounding schticky and there’s enough space around to keep that element of their music intact throughout the album. It’s as inviting as it is unsettling, as brilliant as it is restrained, as loud as it is quiet. They’ve come pretty much out of nowhere but there’s not a minute on Wyllt that can be faulted.

Tyrant

Deerslayer

SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE – LUMINOUS NIGHT

Ah. Freak-folk. That crappily named and alluded to genre. Ben Chasny under the moniker of Six Organs of Admittance is probably one of the greater names within the movement (also: New Weird America – wtf?). There’s more electric guitar in this album – and at times it doesn’t actually sound off-kilter a la Devendra Banhart, but sounds oddly comforting. Anesthesia reads like a simple folk-song with an experimental touch vis-a-vis a reverb drenced droning electric guitar line. It’s a tough gig trying to balance modern instruments with an acoustic heavy approach, but Chasny’s playing is, as always, superb and even though at times the album sounds overwhelming sonically, aesthetically Chasny’s still in the centre, his fingers quietly plucking away at the guitar, his voice sombre.

The Ballad of Charley Harper

MOUNT EERIE – WIND’S POEM

Simply put, Phil Elvrum is one of my all-time favourite musicians/songwriters. He’s quite simply a genius. There’s often an argument regarding what sort of music is ‘better’; music that hits you in the face first time, or music that requires repeated listens to ‘get’ and ‘enjoy’, but which upon those and even further listens unravels itself to reveal more beauty. Elvrum’s music is rarely ever the former, whether it be his earlier The Microphones stuff or whether it’s Mount Eerie. His brand of lo-fi, noise folk has always seemed to grow as well, despite the superficially imposed limitations his ’sound’ might seem to possess. Now, going into this album, Elvrum mentioned a growing fondness for black metal. To an extent, you can hear that on the album – especially on the opening track as Elvrum treats us to a couple of lovely sonic blasts. But it doesn’t last – and a lot of them album does sound like earlier Mount Eerie stuff with the natural growth. When I first heard this album I wasn’t too interested, but a couple of listens later I fell in love with it, and I’m still finding newer intricacies and inflexions as I listen. It’s a runner for one of the albums of the year already.

Stone’s Ode

Summons

Between Two Mysteries

Lost Wisdom Pt. 2

Uncomfortable Plot Summaries

This is brilliant! As the post title says, it consists of summaries of films; though with a ‘twist’.

Some of my favourites:

V FOR VENDETTA: Dystopian government overthrown by faceless conformity.

TWILIGHT: Girl gives up college for stalker.

TOP GUN: Pilot routinely endangers Air Traffic Controllers.

THE GOLDEN COMPASS: Critique of Catholicism upstaged by polar bear fight.

THE EXORCIST: Jesus trumps science.

TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: Tourists have difficulty with regional cuisine.

SPIDER-MAN: Nerd gets bitten by spider, complains about how this ruins his life for years to come.

SE7EN: Homicide detectives unable to prevent even a single murder by admitted serial killer, killer gives cop head.

MILK: Uppity queer dies.

LORD OF THE RINGS: Midget destroys stolen property.

GROUNDHOG DAY: Misanthropic creep exploits space/time anomaly to stalk coworker.

GLADIATOR: Convict murders head of state.

ALIENS: An unplanned pregnancy leads to complications.

Sorry, what?

I’ve just woken up, and thanks to a RSS reader widget on my desktop, I came across this little piece of astonishment:

Breathtaking Bolt smashes 100m world record in Berlin

Yep. He’s done it. Again. But that’s not really stunning seeing as how he jogged across the finish line in Beijing. The stunning part is that he beat his record of 9.69 by .11 seconds. 9.58 is the new benchmark. And no sprinter on this planet can even DREAM of reaching that number.

Hyperbole in sports is unfortunately too prevalent, and it renders not-so-exciting the moments when it would be most relevant. Right now, we’re watching one of the greatest athletes EVER. The mid 9s were never supposed to be achievable, yet this guy can go FASTER. Even in this race, in teh last 30m he didn’t seem to be completely pushing himself. He’s 22 right now, and sprinters are supposed to be at their peak around 26-27. THAT, is just frightening. Oh, and he’s the greatest sprinter in the world while being 6′5. Yep. His height will always prevent him from getting a blistering start – but who the fuck needs that when you can pretty much destroy everyone in 75 yards or so?

Usain Bolt is a freak. He’s a freak because he’s so physically superior to us mere mortals that it’s not remotely funny. The man is an absolute beast. And long may his ridiculous record breaking streak continue.

fun fact: he almost grew up to be a cricketer. his favourite bowler? Not Walsh or Ambrose – Waqar Younis.

Weekly Music Review #1

Okay, so I’m starting this new weekly blog post called ‘Weekly Music Review’.  Essentially, I’ll be putting up music I’ve been listening to for the past week. I’ll try and include a track from the album, but if someone wants the whole album, they can just mail me (at the address set up in my “About” page).

FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE – LUNGS

Another UK songwriter, somewhat in the mould of Bat For Lashes, but far more ostentatious. She’s a phenomenal vocalist, but at times her album does suffer from overproduction. That’s understandable though, since it’s full of dulcimers, theremins, harps, violas and so on; the proverbial kitchen sink really. When things do come together though, on Rabbit Heart, Cosmic Love and Binding, for example, it’s truly remarkable.

Florence And The Machine – Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)

THE ANTLERS – HOSPICE

Shoegaze meets Ambient meets folk – think Slowdive + Tim Hecker + Justin Vernon. A concept album by large, about the passing away of a cancer-ridden love/friend, Hospice seems built for unnecessary, over the top mush. But it really, really, isn’t. It’s as heart-wrenching as it is honest, helped remarkably by Peter Silberman’s delivery (by way of a falsetto).

The Antlers – Kettering

The Antlers – Two

MAGNOLIA ELECTRIC CO. – JOSEPHINE

Another record that deals, in a way, with death. Magnolia Electric Co is predominantly the workhorse of Jason Molina, a ridiculously talented singer-songwriter who probably has one of the most emotive voices I’ve ever heard. While Josephine was in a creative womb, Molina’s friend and co-songwriter Evan Farrell passed away. Josephine is the tribute, though with two sides. The first side of the album is more uptempo and hopeful – focused on a lingering happiness. The second half is more melancholy, more sombre, and this is where for me Molina just seems to shine. Josephine is really an astonishing album, and probably his best Magnolia Electric Co work. If you like his voice, and the latter part of Josephine, be sure to check out his earlier project, Songs: Ohia – it’s one of my favourite acts ever.

Magnolia Electric Co. – Heartbreak At Ten Paces

Anyway, that’s it for this week. If you like any of the albums, hit me up at refnulfATgmailDOTcom, and I’ll try and see what I can do for you.

fillum

This is one of the funniest movies I’ve seen in a while. It’s satire, but it isn’t pretentious (oh look at me I’m an intellectual) satire. In short, if you like your mixture of foul-mouthed scots coupled with random bits of craziness, this is the film for you. I’m trying not to be stereotypical, but the humour is very british – lots of dry wit and smartness without a hammer constantly beating on you telling to “THIS IS FUNNY! LAUGH!”

Baitullah Mehsud, Drones and Sovereignty

So, Baitullah Mehsud is apparently dead. BBC/Guardian/NYT/Dawn/GEO, pretty much everyone’s reporting it. First it was his wife, but now apparently Mehsud too might’ve perished in the same strike.

So, after quite a while, a drone strike seems to have struck at a worthwhile arm of the taliban, as opposed to replaceable foot soldiers. I’m not naive enough to believe that Pakistanis are all of a sudden going to find themselves in favour of these strikes, but at the very least I suppose we’ll see a bit of a hiatus in people claiming they’re worthless etc etc.

Which brings me to my failure at understanding why exactly we oppose them in the first place. See, for me, these drones are able to reach places the Pakistan army is incapable of reaching. They’re unmanned, which makes it safer to collect intelligence and guide missiles to a location where a Cobra gunship would be at risk (RPGs). Furthermore, whatever they gain, whether offered to us or not, is only in our ultimate advantage. The US surely doesn’t want to kill Pakistanis for fun – any strike is invariably aimed at someone considered important enough.

Politically, I suppose it helps Zardari too. He can avoid a substantial amount of bad press when a drone strike goes awry, because even though the government may tacitly support it, it’s not a Pakistani warhead that kills any innocent civilians.

As for issues of sovereignty, I fail to understand why they constantly arise. The taliban have violated our sovereignty, and unlike the US, their violations aren’t sovereign. Their violations are to an extent permanent, in so far as the fact that they’ve set up camps and the like. They aren’t sending a drone over for a couple of hours. Furthermore, any issues/damages caused by US drones are far, far lesser than what the Taliban are responsible for. However, we might have tacitly approved US intervention, and even if we didn’t, the US is still an ally. Say what you will, but their drones aren’t hovering over Lahore waiting to strike Alhamra. They aren’t hovering over Islamabad, waiting to strike the Marriott.

So, considering how we were incapable of taking the taliban to task (and still find a lot of sympathizers for their cause amongst our populace), why should we have a go at the US for simply taking care of our shit while we basically jack ourselves off in the corner?

Sovereignty schmovereignty.

Sir Bobby Robson

RIP.