David Gerard

Reviews: Carrousel, Neuroticfish, Epileptics (2016, 2017).

14 January, 2017 Industrial, Pop, Record 0

There’s electronics and there’s electronics. Sonic landscape pop, EBM and glitchy electropunk.

Links: Slowdive return, GRIDI, Tetris on a Launchpad, BitTorrent Inc.

13 January, 201713 January, 2017 Indie, Links, mp3, Musician 0

But Lauren won’t budge; she likes what she likes, and Spotify understands that.

Synthpop: Black Nail Cabaret, LisaWars, Lux for the Monsters (2016).

12 January, 201712 January, 2017 Pop, Post-Punk, Record 0

A dash of precision decadence in these dark times.

Links: Selling yourself as a streaming artist, vacuum tubes, indie conspiracy theories.

11 January, 201711 January, 2017 Indie, Industry, Live, Musician 0

BOTTOM VIEW: Basing diagram, JEDEC 9A.

Links: Ticketmaster, digital property, not liking music, the biggest UK debut album of 2016.

10 January, 201710 January, 2017 Audio, Industry, Links, Pop, Your rights 0

Every nun needs a Synthi.

Links: AdNauseam blocked, Facebook video takedowns, hi-res Tidal, a wrist vibrator subwoofer.

9 January, 201710 January, 2017 Audio, Links, mp3, Your rights 0

Seriously, $199 for a vibrator for your wrist.

Reviews: The Pineapple Thief, Trance To The Sun, Scandinavia (2016).

8 January, 201729 March, 2017 Goth, Indie, Pop, Prog, Punk, Record 0

Let’s get the guitars out again.

Streaming links: Google and SoundCloud, hi-res audio, codec snobbery.

7 January, 2017 Audio, Industry, Links, mp3 0

From the world of your music on other people’s computers.

The Voices: Oneiric Anthem (2016).

6 January, 201729 March, 2017 Esoterica, Metal, Prog, Record 1

Today’s “what the hell even is that”: a capella experimental prog.

High seas: ISP warnings don’t work, Facebook content ID, more suits against copyright trolls.

5 January, 20176 January, 2017 Links, mp3, Your rights 0

News for freelance consumers of the preservation of culture.

I urge you to back “Monkee Music”, 2nd Edition, by Andrew Hickey. Hurry, hurry!

4 January, 20176 January, 2017 Pop, Writing 0

You should definitely put some money into this Kickstarter.

Industrial reviews: Purple Fog Side, Mari Kattman, Amorphous (2016, 2017).

3 January, 201729 March, 2017 Industrial, Prog, Record 0

Recent releases from the bleep side and the noise side.

Rocknerd v1 recoveries.

2 January, 2017 Rocknerd 0

Nearing the bottom of the barrel with the Rocknerd v1 recoveries. Look through the list and let me know any favourites you think particularly warrant retrieval.

Links: Smart TVs, mining the Internet Archive, new Popcorn Time.

1 January, 2017 Links, mp3, Television 0

Why Smart TVs are as terrible an idea as they sound, automatic categorisation of the Internet Archive and a new version of Popcorn Time.

Musician links, George Michael on Joy Division.

30 December, 20161 January, 2017 Links, Musician, Post-Punk, Television 0

How to read sheet music, a chord progression arpeggiator and George Michael versus Morrissey and Tony Blackburn.

Digital distribution: Streaming takes over, Apple goes label, go to your listeners, Bandcamp 2016.

29 December, 201629 December, 2016 Industry, Links, mp3 0

The fine art of getting your music to paying listeners as of late 2016.

Reviews: Rose and the Diamond Hand, Venus Hum, Hand In Waves (2016).

28 December, 201628 December, 2016 Goth, Pop, Record 0

Goth rock, electronic pop and witch house.

From the high seas: Pirate Bay in Australia, DDOS attacks, Kickass Torrents revived, monetising piracy.

27 December, 201627 December, 2016 Industry, mp3, Your rights 0

Yo ho ho and three megabytes of hot RAM.

Links: Side-Line goes full Nazi, CDDB bought by Nielsen, 23 random Naked Lunch quotes.

26 December, 201626 December, 2016 Industrial, Industry, Links, Writing 0

Side-Line indulges a straight-up Nazi, Nielsen buys Gracenote metadata, random Burroughs readings from The Naked Lunch.

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas. How to hip-sing!

25 December, 2016 Indie 0

“Yup, all $9.24 from monetization is going towards the wedding. There will be ice sculptures.”

The Celibate Rifles: Merry Xmas Blues (1983).

24 December, 201625 December, 2016 Indie, Record, Rock 0

Then give ’em all the turkey and tell ’em to get stuffed.

Video game music Christmas, by Seth Everman.

23 December, 201623 December, 2016 Games 0

WATER LEVEL (that everyone hates)

Niland’s music classifier and similarity searcher, and a demo you can play with.

22 December, 201622 December, 2016 Audio, Industry, Musician 0

Niland are an “AI startup” who sell a search and recommendation engine for music companies. They have a demo for you to play with: paste in a track from SoundCloud and see what it makes of it.

Links: Stoner metal, Stevie Wonder, Bill Drummond on punk.

21 December, 2016 Links, Punk, R'n'B, Rock, Writing 0

Essays on aesthetics.

Links: Prenda Law copyright scam too far, Internet advertising is trash, SoundButt.

20 December, 201620 December, 2016 Links, Your rights 0

Prenda Law are finally arrested, Internet advertising is a scam at all levels (and you can help!) and careful when posting.

New instruments: The Mitt, PushPull and a 3D-printed wind instrument designer.

19 December, 201619 December, 2016 Musician 1

A new controller, a new squeezebox and something to design a wind instrument in any shape you can think of.

Songs for “oh God can I hit Amazon in time” week.

18 December, 201618 December, 2016 Post-Punk, Punk 0

BY THE CORROSIVE SPERM OF BAAL I SHALL RIP THY INTESTINES BODILY FROM THY CORPULENT BOURGEOISIE ABDOMEN WITH MY OWN CLAWS AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT.

Electronic reviews: Epileptics, VvvV, Shiny Darkness (2016).

16 December, 201629 March, 2017 Industrial, Pop, Prog, Record 0

Electroclash witch house, electric prog and industrial synthpop.

Links: Bandcamp for New Zealand charts, EFF versus the music industry, the productivity of silence.

15 December, 201616 December, 2016 Industry, Links, Writing, Your rights 0

The important thing is to wear a fetching Skullcandy hat like the one up there.

Virtual Reality: it’s the new 3D! Expensive, consumers don’t want it and it makes you throw up.

14 December, 201628 August, 2017 Film, Games, Opinion 5

3D technology has been the next big thing for only the last sixty years. It offers amazing improvements over ordinary moving images: darkness, muddier colours, blurriness, headaches from watching for more than twenty minutes and slower action sequences so the viewer doesn’t bring up their last meal.