The Null Device
2001/10/9
An interesting interview with gurning nutter Richard James, a.k.a. Aphex Twin.
Not surprisingly, considering its challenging, provocative style, Aphex Twin's music gets used a lot on TV whenever the subject is confrontational or disturbing. "It's always on programmes about surgery, or rapists, or paedophilia, or murder, or war," he says. "It's like, 'I'm glad that's how you see me!' But that's better than it being used on some cooking or DIY programme."
Btw, it now appears that "Drukqs", the name of Aphex Twin's new album, is not, as Steve Wide claimed, the Welsh word for "drugs". No idea whether the rest of it is a pisstake on the all-Welsh-language album concept. (via Graham)
Scratch an atheist and you'll find a Communist: Not surprisingly, the Taleban's Judaeo-Christian kindred spirits are having a field day in the wake of the WTC attacks, with American secularists shamed into silence, as not to appear unpatriotic, and the theocrats making the most of the new mood to push everything from prayer in schools to posting the Ten Commandments in public buildings.
Bad things afoot: The RIAA has convened a secret meeting to plan out draconian new technical and legal restrictions on what you and I can do with music, in order to secure their own profits. Present was a rogues' gallery of hardliners, including Hilary Rosen, Jack Valenti, Sony's Steve "we will block Napster on your computer and at your ISP" Heckler, Universal's Edgar "anonymity must be abolished" Bronfman, and Senator Fritz Hollings, sponsor of the SSSCA. And what treats have they in store for us? Copy-prevention mechanisms in all hard disks and sound cards, copy-restricted audio CDs (AOL Time Warner is following Universal's lead on this; looks like I won't be getting the next New Order album in that case), all backed up with ever-more draconian laws.
We'll leave the last, chilling word to Sony Music Entertainment's Steve Heckler: "Once consumers can no longer get free music, they will have to buy the music in the formats we choose to put out."