The Null Device
2002/4/12
I wandered down to Synæsthesia this afternoon, and picked up Can't Stop It!, the compilation of Australian post-punk from between 1978 and 1982. Some of the tracks on this CD are surprisingly recent sounding; Essendon Airport's How Low Can You Go sounds like something off a recent Sadness Is In The Sky compilation, Ash Wednesday's Love By Numbers, with its sequencer riffs, sounds like it could have been put together a few years ago (though this may be because of the 80s retro thing), and the track by Equal Local (who featured TB-303 circuitbender and marital sadomasochism advocate Robyn "Devilfish" Whittle among their lineup) sounds almost like one of those contemporary free-jazz/laptop-glitch act. Though the CD also does have its moments of sloppy, inchoate punk-rawk noise (The Slugfuckers' contribution comes to mind).
I also picked up the new album by Letraset, the more experimental side project of Minimum Chips. On first listen, it has some very nice ambient moments, including a track a little reminiscent of Radiohead's Treefingers. Though I haven't had a proper listen to it yet.
Eclectic local (Melbourne) band Dandelion Wine are looking for a bass player. ("Must be committed to recording and touring; no hobbyists or stoners. Must be interested in touring overseas.") If you fit the description, let them know.
Separated at birth? Does anybody else think that the Chemical Brothers' "The Test" sounds like Boom Crash Opera's 1989 release "Get Out Of The House"?
3RRR just played the new New Order single, Here To Stay; it's quite good. It has captured that classic cold feeling of New Order circa Power, Corruption and Lies, and (at first listen) the lyrics aren't annoying. Apparently it's on the 24 Hour Party People soundtrack.
Only in New York would you expect something like this to arise: A dating service run by therapists, matching up people with compatible issues and neuroses. But the question is, is it any more crazy than the conventional dating system? (via Plastic)
New research shows why people look chunkier on TV. The 2D image apparently emphasises waist-to-hip ratios and neck thickness, which makes women look fat; TV, however, is more flattering to men, who come out looking more rugged (which is why male TV stars often look relatively puny in real life).