Rocknerd

The next frontier in IP parasites: codec royalties on content.

4 November, 20235 November, 2023 Film 0

It is difficult to overstate just how much better everything would be for everyone except the parasites if software patents were abolished.

Bandcamp has been sold to Songtradr. What does this mean for the musicians?

28 September, 202329 September, 2023 Games, Industry 4

At least Songtradr, unlike Epic, is in the same business.

Snake oil never sleeps: MQA bought out by Lenbrook.

20 September, 202321 September, 2023 Audio 2

Lenbrook does have considerable experience straddling the fine line between “very good sound equipment” and “green marker pen on your speaker wires.”

Sigue Sigue Sputnik: Flaunt It. The most mid album of 1986.

14 September, 20235 November, 2023 Pop, Record 0

These were not very bright guys, and things kept failing to get out of hand.

Battlefield Earth (2000). A saga of the year two thousand.

1 September, 20231 September, 2023 Film 1

It was twenty-three years ago, but the pain remains fresh.

Bedless Bones: Sublime Malaise; After Malaise (2019, 2020, 2023).

4 July, 20234 July, 2023 Industrial, Record 0

The vocals waft, but they waft on top of a beat and you can dance to it.

Notes and Reflections: Lana Del Rey

16 May, 202316 May, 2023 Opinion, Pop, Record 0

There were eight whole records to listen to. Eight!

Spray: The Big Idea will rock and change the world. Ricardo Autobahn interviewed.

11 May, 202314 May, 2023 Interview, Pop, Record 0

“If there’s one thing Spray are excellent at, it’s our drum fills. If there’s one thing we should be remembered for, I’d like it to be the drum fills.”

Stu Spasm’s Wikipedia article now has an old photo of him.

24 April, 202329 April, 2023 Film, Indie, Rock 1

Tales from 1986, when I was nineteen and just embarking on making my youth suitably dissolute.

Oh no! Snake oil “hi-res” audio company MQA is going broke.

12 April, 202312 April, 2023 Audio 0

Oh no! Where will I pay well over the odds for a 13-bit FLAC now?

It’s gonna play all the records in the hit parade, and they’re all Morgan Wallen.

18 March, 202317 April, 2023 Country, Opinion, Pop, Record 0

I hadn’t expected listening to the hit parade to feed me an album review.

The complete Fall Peel Sessions playlist.

6 March, 20236 March, 2023 Post-Punk, Record 0

Is it worth your time? Of course it bloody is.

Massenhysterie: Hausfrauengelüste (2019).

5 March, 20235 March, 2023 Industrial, Record 0

More fun than deep, but it’s pretty good and I enjoyed it.

Braddock Station Garrison: American Radio (2019).

4 March, 20234 March, 2023 Pop, Record, Rock 0

It made friends with me within the first three chords of “Blockbuster.”

Schkeuditzer Kreuz: Isolated and Alone (2021).

3 March, 202319 March, 2023 Industrial, Punk, Record 0

Punk rock in early hardcore style through industrial electronics.

Justine Ó Gadhra-Sharp: Sídhe (2022).

2 March, 202319 March, 2023 Goth, Record 0

A nicely varied EP from a veteran of the New Zealand goth scene.

Delerium: Signs (2023).

24 February, 202324 February, 2023 Industrial, Record 0

Signs is an extremely pleasant listen.

Imaad Wasif: So Long Mr. Fear (2022).

17 February, 202317 February, 2023 Indie, Record, Rock 0

Eventually indie folk rockers make it clear which Beatle they modeled their approach on.

FreeDB is gone — but the CD data lives on.

11 February, 2023 Audio 5

Guess it’s been a while since I touched the dusty old boxes of CDs — I only just found out that CD database FreeDB shut down some time in early 2020.

Flower Face: The Shark in Your Water (2022).

10 February, 202323 July, 2023 Indie, Opinion, Record 0

Something to listen to while tending your greenhouse full of carnivorous and/or poisonous plants.

B.E.F.: Music For Stowaways (1981).

7 February, 20237 February, 2023 Pop, Record 0

A fun listen if you know who Marsh and Ware are, and it gives you a good idea of how they were thinking.

Capsule: Metro Pulse (2022).

3 February, 20233 February, 2023 Audio, Dance, Record 1

Yasutaka Nakata‘s much-anticipated synthwave masterpiece.

Farewell: Panic! at the Disco, 2004-2023

27 January, 202323 July, 2023 Opinion, Pop 0

Nineteen years isn’t a bad run, for a baby band that blew up and then fell apart several times along the way.

Sometimes I just want to listen to R.E.M.

25 January, 202323 July, 2023 Opinion, Pop, Rock 0

I like to put an R.E.M. mix on while I’m baking. But only the ones that include Man on the Moon.

Video: Fall Out Boy: Love from the Other Side (2022).

20 January, 202320 January, 2023 Pop, Record 0

Fall Out Boy have once again regenerated. I’m not going to say they’re back, because they didn’t leave.

Missed Connections: Happy Mondays.

18 January, 202323 July, 2023 Dance, Indie, Opinion 0

I had an epic musical missed connection when I confused the Happy Flowers with the Happy Mondays, and didn’t realize what had happened until thirty-odd years later.

Almost nobody cares what’s in the Top 10 any more.

14 January, 202314 January, 2023 Industry, Pop 3

You’ve never heard of current pop stars because they aren’t actually popular in mainstream culture.

Shelf-reading at Bandcamp: Industrial — Leæther Strip, Metal Heart, Master Boot Record, Pertubator (2022, 2023).

13 January, 202323 July, 2023 Dance, Industrial, Opinion, Record 0

Yeeeeeahhhh that’s the 2nd floor of Slimelight GOOD STUFF, y’all.

Collected thoughts: The War on Drugs

11 January, 202323 July, 2023 Opinion, Rock 0

I’m sulky mainly because of the band name, which causes me to think muffled cross thoughts about failed social policy. But the name harmonizes well with the band’s overall vibe, which is “skate park during the golden hour.”

Late Night Listening: Status/Non-Status: Surely Travel (2022).

6 January, 202323 July, 2023 Opinion, Record, Rock 0

The blogging equivalent of sitting in the garage twiddling radio knobs just to see what might be out there.