I found an old note to myself to look up the album Electricity from Tobias. It's an excellent blend of bedroom production, shoegaze-y guitars, noise and pop sensibilities. It's right up my alley.
As luck would have it, the first search result pointed me towards Catalog - a platform for selling your music directly to your fans. It's a cousin to Bandcamp, Ampwall, Nina, Artcore, Mirlo, et al. Curiously, it seems that they relaunched themselves as recently as Oct 2024. As far as I can tell, they may have started off as an NFT type site and now they're angling for a wider marketplace. Regardless of the history, I'll be keeping an eye on where it goes.
HarmonyCloak is a concept for combating generative AI music.
"At its core, HarmonyCloak functions by introducing imperceptible, error-minimizing noise into musical compositions. While the music sounds exactly the same to human listeners, the embedded noise confounds AI models, making the music unlearnable and thus protecting it from being replicated or mimicked. "
It's kind of a poison pill for AI Music. The examples on the page are pretty convincing to the idea - you, a human being, do not notice anything in the "Cloaked Music" snippets but an AI trained on it produces less than acceptable results. It's a fun idea to think on and fascinating samples to listen to.
There have been other projects tackling similar problems with similar tactics. You may recall Nightshade was meant to introduce imperceptible noise to images that would make it impossible for an AI to train on the data and give good results. Again, fascinating to read about but I'm unclear on the adoption rates.
The core issue at play here is copyrighted material being used to train models with zero compensation to the original creators. Wanting to combat that from the inside is a sensible path to explore.
Thirty-four minutes of The Commercials of David Lynch ranging from a Calvin Klein series, Georgia Coffee (a Twin Peaks classic), Michael Jackson Dangerous intros, Alka Seltzer Plus, Barilla Pasta, Parisienne cigarettes and so much more. I don't think it's surprising that a director that worked for nearly fifty years has such a diverse body of work but I do find it surprising how many Lynch tropes appear in these; music, actors, shot compositions, etc.
It may seem odd to share an eleven year old interview with someone but it struck me as one of the more honest and comfortable interviews I've seen with Richard Ayoade. Generally, I catch him causing madness on a chat show
or deadpan hosting his own show or even humbly lamenting a BAFTA, he's quite deadpan and guarded. Here he has a bit of that but less performative. It's pleasant to see.
Charlie Brooker has had a hand in creating some of my favorite series - Black Mirror and Nathan Barley specifically. This gaming memories video seems like an odd topic to discuss with him but he's, obviously, quite the gamer. For someone that understands technology as well as he does, I can't say I'm surprised.
Plenty of hard news out there, let's have a little respite with some Friday videos. That's the belated David Lynch as Jack Dall above - a helluva fine performance. If you haven't watched these Lynch acting clips, do that next.
For now, let's enjoy some more distractions:
Gordon Keith interviews Zach Galifianakis - maybe I've seen these before but enough Internet Time has passed that I've forgotten. Keith is a masterful deadpan absurdist - a perfect match for Galifianakis. There's plenty moreofthese if you wanna dive further.
The 5000 Fingers Of Dr. T - a 1953 film written by Dr Seuss (story, screenplay, and lyrics). I'd never heard of it but it looks perfectly bonkers.
Halcali - Baby Blue - I mentioned the work of Nagi Noda the other day.. here's a music video from them featuring a lot of Pandas with some surprising turns.
Nintendo Power Raw Footage - you may have seen the clips of this previously but a solid 19 minutes of people talking on the phone from the late 80's is an excellent salve for whatever ails you.
UFO Exclusive (1978) - do I expect you to watch a nearly 2 hour documentary from the late 70's about UFO's? No. Do I hope that you'll jump ahead to the 5:26 minute mark and watch the psychedelic intro that unfolds? Yes, yes I do.
The announcement of David Lynch passing was not surprising but certainly a bummer. As a director, writer, painter, artist and all around personality - I have severe fondness for him. I am sure there will be countless, eloquent, eulogies in his honor. I look forward to them.
I'd like to take a moment to appreciate the man's acting. He didn't do a ton of it but when he did, it was always a treat. Here are a few moments I love.
Sammy Meets John Ford - having Lynch in a Spielberg movie was likely on noone's bingo card but his tiny cameo here is unforgettable. I could watch this on repeat. Of course, there's a story behind it (Cheetos are involved).
Jack Dall, not that kind of funny - Obviously Louis CK was involved in some truly grotesque and unforgivable behavior but casting Lynch to berate him was not one of them. "Be funny"
In the wake of Bandcamp's sale to Epic and subsequent acquisition by Songtradr, a number of alternatives have sprung up. I've talked about Nina and AmpWall specifically but there are many more!
One that came across my radar recently is Subvert - a "Collectively Owned Music Marketplace." At this time (Jan 2024), there's not much to speak of in terms of tangible tools or marketplace but there are a litany of good ideas. You gotta start somewhere!
Specifically, they have a lofty Roadmap that forecasts a collectively owned legal entity that could expand well beyond a digital marketplace. There's lengthy documentation about their governance, polices and ownership plans. There's a forum with some interesting conversations happening around all of the above.
It's a work in progress but the primary focus at the moment seems to be that they are raising funds with Vouchers - an alternative and transparent approach to gathering finances outside of the Venture Capitalist system. The Voucher options are fairly straightforward - donate early and get additional "credits" once the service launches. Those credits would be used in place of paying fees to Subvert (their example: a platform fee is waived b/c it's already been prepaid).
All and all, it sounds interesting. Their graphic design is on point and they are working in the open; two things that are hard to say about Bandcamp. But it's still way too early to know what will come of this lofty thought exercise! In the meantime, I'll continue to keep an eye on it, be supportive and see what manifests!
A smattering of various music I've encountered lately that may be appealing to you. I'm betting on it.
Froghat - Wave Files! A free surfy mix tape from Froghat!
This five song release is less of a formal offering and more of a sampler to introduce you to the freewheeling, good time, vibes of Froghat. The project is the pseudonym of Nicholas Clark, aka Minnowland, a musician, animator and all around enjoyably creative guy living in Chicago. The man has multiple monikers! And the surf music is a delight. Straight into regular rotation for me.
Power Pants - PP7
Truth be told, I know very little about this Winchester, Virginia band but three things caught me immediately. First, they self-identify as Egg Punk - which we have previously established I'm a fan of. Second, they have priced this release so that the cassette is $9 and the digital is $100 - giving a healthy nudge towards buying that tape. Respect. Lastly, and most importantly, the record is a high energy blast of memorably lo-fi song bursts. The longest song is 2 minutes flat and each one is enjoyable start to finish.
Crave On - Fantasy Hall
There's something about Crave On that calls to me in a deep seated way. It is difficult to articulate but Patrick Orr's languid vocals combined with the surprising arrangements of each song feel like they've emerged from another time and place - possibly a more Metropolitan past. Like I said, articulation on the appeal eludes me but I'm transfixed by it.
They're a Nashville band and fall into the category that so many artists in Nashville do - they deserve a wider audience. I'm sure that's true of any city with a talent pool but I can easily hear Crave On opening for Wilco or playing to a transfixed audience at the Newport Folk Festival. I hope that happens for them but, in the meantime, I'll just do my best to spread the gospel.
Recently, I've been enjoying the transmissions of This Newsletter Cannot Save You - an every-other-week newsletter of music videos, short films and experimental art. Their end of 2024 edition contained a number of immersive works and also this 2024 Music Video Favorites playlist. I haven't been through them all yet but I'm excited to dive in.
If you haven't read this 404 Media piece covering Suno AI CEO Mikey Shulman's dumb remarks about music creation, I suggest you get your eyeballs on it! Here's the meaty bit:
“We didn’t just want to build a company that makes the current crop of creators 10 percent faster or makes it 10 percent easier to make music. If you want to impact the way a billion people experience music you have to build something for a billion people,” Shulman said on the 20VC podcast. “And so that is first and foremost giving everybody the joys of creating music and this is a huge departure from how it is now. It’s not really enjoyable to make music now […] It takes a lot of time, it takes a lot of practice, you need to get really good at an instrument or really good at a piece of production software. I think the majority of people don’t enjoy the majority of the time they spend making music.”
Look, I am not quick to criticize AI technology - I'm often an advocate for it and rally behind how it can make many insurmountable goals achievable for many folks. For instance, making music! I'm not a musician and don't have a lifetime of training and experience to help me do so. Tools like Suno and its ilk make that possible. I've used Google Labs to create music beds for my own podcast. I get the utility. All that said, I think this guys remarks are tone deaf and he clearly drank the VC investment Kool-Aid. Suno couldn't even exist without all of the musicians that came before it - a truth for all training data.
The larger point that's interesting to ponder here is the idea that technology should remove all friction. That certainly seems to be the position Shulman is making. Find audio editing laborious? Use AI instead. But the difficultly of learning an instrument is exactly why it's rewarding. Drawing is hard but you get better over time. This is true for all creative endeavors, even for those that have preternatural talent. Lowering the barrier for entry can be a good thing but as I get older, I find the argument towards removing all friction to be rather childish.
Thanks to the snow last weekend I finally gave myself time to fully comb through the yk Records Discogs listing and make sure every official release had a home there. Broadly speaking, it's all there!
Truth be told, I find Discogs terribly difficult to navigate and I find the community over there to be aggravatingly pedantic. But there's no denying that their annoying level of detail results in properly cited data and, more often than not, a well-vetted tome of information. I'm happy to have YKR be a part of that!
I imagine this may be taken down by the time you see it but it's worth sharing regardless. Back in 2007, Jack White and artist/director Nagi Noda released this Coca-Cola commercial. Apparently it aired once, was previously on Vimeo but is largely unfindable now. It's 90 seconds and feels very reminiscent of the White Stripes / Michel Gondry videos - featuring a large cast of extras holding very still (with some CG augmentation I'm sure). The Gondry comparison isn't a complaint btw, it's a huge compliment.
If the video has been removed by the time you get there; just appreciate that there are some things that are lost online. Not many but some.
Looking at the official trailer for Oto's Planet, it appears to be a uniquely stylized and pleasant-enough animated short film about a guy living on a floating rock and dealing with an astronaut that crashes on said rock. But the film is actually an interactive AR experience for both Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest. Literally none of the official marketing makes it obvious that the film is projected into your 3D space and you can interact with it. This Phil Trautreview and Cosmo Scharf walkthrough do a 1000% better job of showing off how interactive and immersive it is.
It's not redefining cinema but it does seem to be striking a wonderful balance between passive storytelling and active choices. This is literally the first time I've ever had the slightest inkling to use an Apple Vision Pro; just to try this out.
I will be perfectly honest, I do not understand how Ghostty will fit into my life. It's a cross platform terminal emulator that is "fast" and "feature rich." That's great but my experience using the command line isn't exactly a problem that needs fixing. That said, it looks great immediately upon installing and it seems incredibly easy to extend, should that be something you want to do! Mostly it's got a fantastic mascot and I'm largely sharing for that homepage animation - stellar.
I'm as surprised as anyone to find out that Newgrounds still exists but DOOM: The Gallery Experience was posted there on December 17, 2024 and it's worth cruising through. It's also available here and here if you have an aversion to NG (understandably!).
DOOM: The Gallery Experience was created as an art piece designed to parody the wonderfully pretentious world of gallery openings.
In this experience, you will be able to walk around and appreciate some fine art while sipping some wine and enjoying the complimentary hors d’oeuvres in the beautifully renovated and re-imagined E1M1 of id Software's DOOM (1993).
The Mecha Comet is "a handheld Linux computer that brings extensibility in hardware and software adapting to your needs." But let's call a spade a spade, that's a Tricorder! Obviously not exactly the functionality of the famed Star Trek device but certainly on the same path.
I have no personal use for a Mecha in my life but I do love that it exists. It's extensible, it runs on open source software and it's promoting an ecosystem of development and creativity. Win Win Win.
It's also not real! The Kickstarter campaign launches soon but everything we're seeing are mockups and prototypes. As we've all learned in one way or another, manufacturing often changes things. I am optimistic for these folks and will continue to keep an eye on it - just for pure curiosity!
Liz Pelly has written a book called Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist, that serves as a documentation on her deep dive investigation on how Spotify is replacing musicians with stock music. This Harper's Magazine excerpt - The Ghosts in the Machine - is a phenomenal overview of the subject. The TLDR is: Spotify created a program called "Perfect Fit Content" in which they partner with production companies to create sound-alike / stock music that gets placed on playlists and receives millions of plays. Because of this, they pay out less to real artists. The TLDR on the TLDR is: Spotify is in a race to the bottom.
Pelly's reporting is fascinating but she also admits it is not entirely new. This Vulture piece from 2017 talks about it and this Music Business Worldwide report from 2016 does as well. It's not that the tactic is being unearthed for the first time, it's that they've built a full-on system for it now.
How did all this happen? Well, this particular bit gives a great overview:
"In reality, Spotify was subject to the outsized influence of the major-label oligopoly of Sony, Universal, and Warner, which together owned a 17 percent stake in the company when it launched. The companies, which controlled roughly 70 percent of the market for recorded music, held considerable negotiating power from the start. For these major labels, the rise of Spotify would soon pay off. By the mid-2010s, streaming had cemented itself as the most important source of revenue for the majors, which were raking in cash from Spotify’s millions of paying subscribers after more than a decade of declining revenue. But while Ek’s company was paying labels and publishers a lot of money—some 70 percent of its revenue—it had yet to turn a profit itself, something shareholders would soon demand. In theory, Spotify had any number of options: raising subscription rates, cutting costs by downsizing operations, or finding ways to attract new subscribers."
Cutting costs to increase efficiencies and attempt a return-on-investment for venture capitalists should sound like well trodden territory at this point. Again, it's not new it's just gotten exhaustively better at being bad.
There's lots more to say on this topic but, for now, read the Pelly excerpt, consider ordering the book and give some thought to cancelling your Spotify subscription. I certainly am. *
* and before you think that X streaming service is better and would not participate in such a thing.. go read the article. Spotify is egregious but not alone.
I'm a sucker for strings + synthesizer. Add in a flair for the dramatic and I'm ready to double down. That said, encountering Rondò Veneziano - the Italian chamber orchestra that sometimes dressed like Daft Punk and played lavish renditions of classical music with some modern instrumentation... well, I'm in! Here's a few gems I enjoyed:
Sinfonia Per Un Addio- performing on Miss Fortuna Nadia Cassini in full Daft Punk gear. Of course this is 1983, so maybe Daft Punk was in full Rondo gear? The corresponding album has phenomenal art.
La Serenissima- apparently iTV used to show this animated bumper between shows from the same era of the band. Once again, I think we see Daft Punk's playbook.
Rondo' Veneziano- an earlier "non" costumed appearance where the entire orchestra is still in full-on baroque apparel.
I'm sure the Daft Punk comparisons have been made elsewhere but it's all surprising and new to me. I'll continue my journey.
