Electronica Ground Zero

In a couple of very interesting video pieces, L.A. artist Nate Harrison chronicles the origins of the electro aesthetic. In this first piece, Harrison looks at the so-called "Amen breakbeat" and how it has entered the "collective audio unconscious" of the culture. He also investigates this 6 second sample of audio as it traverses through the sticky world of intellectual property law.

The second piece looks at how the original bass synth, the Roland TB-303, was transformed from a bass guitar substitute to the generator of the "acid house" sound we recognize today.

Addendum:
"Wargasm," originally published in Frieze, a British art journal. Music critic Simon Reynolds discusses the militarization of electronica in the 1980s and 90s - mostly in terms of the "jungle" genre, which relies almost exclusively on the Amen breakbeat. The overt themes (lyrics, song names), the apocalyptic cityscapes, the sirens and minor tensions that never resolve, the discourse of 'Nam, the amphetamines and methamphetamines... It's a beautifully written article.

From the Circulation Desk

This is perhaps the best blonde joke I have ever heard: the uber-metaphor for the next thousand years.

Innocence

I saw the wonderful Miranda July film last night, You and Everyone We Know. If you see only one film this year... A really heartfelt piece about our sense of connection in these (dis)connected times. I would comment further, but the film's structure is so delicate and complex, that I feel that I would throw it off balance somehow by writing about it. I would suggest you watch it side-by-side with Palindromes (by Todd Solendz of Welcome to the Dollhouse).

The Horror

I clipped this from the YahooNews site. Let's all take a second to think back on our memories of 2005:

AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!