The Null Device
2004/11/17
Band discovery of the day: Remington Super 60. They're a Norwegian electronic/indiepop outfit, and sound somewhere between Spearmint, the Beach Boys and Lacto-Ovo, with perhaps a bit of Röyksopp in the mix somewhere. Lots of nice 7th chords, warbly synths, vocal harmonies and the occasional 1980s-video-game bleeps. They also have an album out as Nice System, and a remix EP with some unusual remixers (gothtekkno heavy-hitters Apoptygma Berzerk are one, and Solex is another).
Remember those ceramic geese seen on walls in middle-class living rooms in old British sitcoms and Aardman animations? Well, the fashionable, up-to-the-minute new equivalent of those is the bottom halves of ducks, cast in epoxy and stuck to the ceiling. Apparently they're popular in dentists' offices, for some reason. (also via bOING bOING)
The latest Orwellian threat to democratic discourse is verbless language, à la Teflon Tony Blair:
Humphrys notes Blair's apparent fear of verbs and mocks his speeches, which are peppered with verbless phrases like "new challenges, new ideas," or "for our young people, a brighter future" and "the age of achievement, at home and abroad".
By using this technique, Humphrys says, Blair is simply evading responsibility.
"The point about verbs is that they commit the speaker," he writes. "Verbs cement sentences to their meaning so it's not surprising that politicians tend to mistrust them."
(via bOING bOING)
From Japan, the latest technological solutions to the problem of endemic loneliness and alienation: the Boyfriend's Arm Pillow, designed to give Japan's Bridget Joneses some "manly comfort" while they sleep. And for the otaku-boys, there's the Girlfriend's Lap Pillow, complete with tight red miniskirt, which would not look out of place in the Korova Milk Bar. (via bOING bOING)