Rocknerd

A Good Friday tale of crucifixion and resurrection. Yes, it’s Tupac Shakur.

29 March, 20136 May, 2017 R'n'B 0

Over on the RationalWiki blog, I’ve got a rundown of Tupac Shakur conspiracy theories. Ironic-as-Alanis given that Shakur hated stupid conspiracy bullshit, and thought

Monty explains how digitising signals actually works.

3 March, 201318 December, 2016 Audio 4

As a followup to his detailed explanation of why 24/192 downloads are complete and utter snake oil, Chris “Monty” Montgomery of Xiph.org has produced

Perfect sound forever! Probably.

21 February, 20136 May, 2017 Audio 3

I’m trying to get a skeptical blog going, in the name of RationalWiki. Yesterday and today I have posted rants about audiophiles: part 1

Memetic archaeology and Nickelback.

16 February, 20131 December, 2016 Media 0

Where did hating Nickelback as a meme come from?

Factory Benelux is alive and well.

17 January, 201329 March, 2017 Post-Punk 0

Old post-punks, raise your walkers in the air and cheer! James Nice of LTM has revived the Factory Benelux label for the ongoing LTM

An evil mob princess with really good hair.

14 January, 20136 May, 2017 Pop 0

Meet Gulnara Karimova, daughter of Uzbekistan president Islam Karimov, attempting to make a name for herself as aspiring pop diva Googoosha. Ex-Soviet dictatorships and

A Lord Horror timeline.

3 January, 201331 March, 2017 Esoterica, Post-Punk 0

Well, that was certainly a thing. I was a teenage Joy Division/New Order obsessive, and for many years I’ve found covers of them inherently

Science proves it: rock stardom is bad for your health.

29 December, 20127 May, 2017 Drugs 0

You will in all likelihood die before you get old: researchers at John Moores University, Liverpool, present “Dying to be famous: retrospective cohort study

Record your voice! Amazing novelty!

24 December, 201215 March, 2017 Audio 0

And you thought Peter King’s polycarbonate records were indie. How about 3D-printing an LP as the do-it-yourself trump card? Amanda Ghassaei’s printer does 600dpi,

Party Fears #18¾ and #19 published at last.

20 December, 20127 May, 2017 Rocknerd 0

The text from the unpublished Party Fears #18¾ (late 1993) and #19 (1994) is up and online at last. The world can end now.

Simple Minds, Devo, The Church: Palais, November 30

3 December, 20127 May, 2017 Live 2

Among the aging fans of good eighties music the prospect of The Church, Devo, and Simple Minds all at one show came with some

Party Fears #17 scanned and online.

1 December, 201212 April, 2017 Rocknerd 0

Courtesy Adrian Butcher, we now have all the PF there ever was scanned and online. Interviews: Severed Heads, Scarecrow Tiggy. Live: Hunkpapas, Wash, Yummy

Party Fears #4 and #18 scanned and online.

23 November, 201212 April, 2017 Rocknerd 0

At the usual place. These are the last two I have copies of to hand; if anyone has a copy of #17 to hand

Disco 2000.

15 November, 20127 May, 2017 Dance 1

After the KLF, what can you do with your life but cure cancer?

Party Fears #1, 2 and 3 scanned and online.

15 November, 201212 April, 2017 Rocknerd 2

I figured out the scanner at work, so expect this page to fill out nicely. The early pop-kid days of Party Fears, with the

So what was Maxicut?

31 October, 201218 December, 2016 Audio, Record 0

In case you ever wondered what the EMI “Maxicut” process you saw listed on all those Australian LPs was, learn about the rationale and

Party Fears #6 scanned and online.

25 October, 201212 April, 2017 Rocknerd 0

Description and scans, only twenty-five years after the fact. Psychotic Turnbuckles, David Nichols, Deadly Hume, Die Monster Die, Headonist, Jackals, Kryptonics, And An A,

No, film is not in unique need of blockbusterism.

8 October, 201229 September, 2016 Film 1

Here’s something instructive: YouTube: A Dinosaur Story. That’s a three-hour movie done by two kids in their loungeroom with toy dinosaurs. Ridiculously low production

We must preserve the record industry, for the sake of artists.

26 September, 20127 May, 2017 Industry 0

James Taylor has filed suit against Warner Brothers for unpaid digital royalties. This has dug up a pile of dirt dating back to 1969.

Album cover cliches, 2012.

14 September, 20127 May, 2017 Record 0

Cracked delivers. “The Sign Says ‘Fire Your Graphic Designer’.”

The failed rock star in contemporary fiction.

9 September, 20127 May, 2017 Writing 1

Jay Ruttenberg in the New York Times laments his own career as a rock critic, and discusses current trends in literary depictions of musicians.

The history of prog.

16 August, 201229 March, 2017 Drugs, Prog 0

David Weigel, a political reporter for Slate, is in the midst of a series on the history of prog rock. It’s really quite frightening.

AN END TO THE LOUDNESS WARS.

22 July, 201217 May, 2017 Audio 0

I bet you’ve always wondered what music would sound like if the bottom 8 bits of 16-bit sound were ever used for anything at all.

Hold back the invaders, their infernal machines.

21 July, 20127 May, 2017 Dance, Games 0

This week’s bit of Wikipedia: Space Invaders (Player One song). A disco novelty hit from Russell Brown and Bruce Dunlop, Australian #3 in 1980

The impending death of the album.

9 July, 20123 May, 2017 Industry, Opinion, Pop, Record 2

It’s doomed, along with the CD in general. But then, albums have always sorta sucked.

Before record execs go to bed, they check the closet for Kim Dotcom.

23 June, 20124 April, 2017 mp3 2

The huge FBI raid on massive bootlegging entirely legitimate file upload site MegaUpload in January sure struck a blow for ethics, morality and of

The struggle for existence.

19 June, 20127 May, 2017 Esoterica 2

So much for the argument from design. Computational biologist Bob MacCallum at Imperial College had too much time on his hands was inspired to

The Shit Record Covers group.

17 June, 20127 May, 2017 Record 0

For those of you on Facebook: the Shit Record Covers group, and its hall of fame. NSFW for unstylish seventies breasts. I am particularly

And the man at the back said everyone attack and it turned into a courtroom blitz.

11 June, 20127 May, 2017 Industry 1

Some musicians — I’m sure none of you reading — are observably fucking delusional about business, relationship management, reputation management and what copyright actually

How to make the general public loathe collection agencies.

10 June, 20127 May, 2017 Industry 0

Copyright collection agencies are actually a really good idea for working songwriters. Record companies generally never cough up a royalty cheque ever past the