A few years ago I mentioned Holly+, a tool that allows anyone to make music with the voice of artist Holly Herndon. In 2021, voice emulation of this level was incredibly cutting edge but here in 2024, it's becoming part of a common toolkit where emulating yourself or others is not outlandish. They're even making laws about it because it's going to be a mess!

Herndon has been participating in many envelope pushing AI projects. It even landed her a New Yorker profile and a slot in the Time Top AI 100. In other words, a thinker and participant on the topic that is worthwhile. She also tends to collaborate a great deal with Mat Dryhurst, an advocate for the open internet and emerging technologies. Together, they create great things.

Back in May of 2022 they published Infinite Images and the latent camera, a blog post about their thoughts using DALL-E 1 and how DALL-E 2 features might push boundaries even further. Once again, an article from just two years ago feels outdated from this perspective - as inpainting and infinite zooms and CLIP are all becoming quite common.

However, the piece isn't so much about specific technology as it is about thinking about AI, what the tools may impact and how one might think of them historically. I particularly enjoyed the comparison to people scoffing at cameras as a means of making art; in a world of painters, film emulsion must have felt like a complete cheat. This quote stood out to me:

The same debates will rage about whether or not prompt based AI imagery can be considered Art, and will just as inevitably be relegated to history once everyone makes use of these tools to better share what is on their mind.

I hope that's true, tho I think all the hand-wringing over it is necessary to ensure we put bumpers in place where we need bumpers.

There are lots of great quips and observations throughout. I suggest you read it all; even if it feels a little dense at times. There's lots of positivity and optimism in there, including:

Once the friction to share what is on your mind has been eliminated, the ability to co-create social narrative art experiences at the dinner table or the theatre seems conceivable and exciting!

What a pleasant way to think about all these new tools; a dinner table experience!

The first time I spent a significant period of time in NYC, iPhones already existed. However, they didn't have much functionality to speak of. No app store, no map and no Internet underground anyway so it didn't matter. Friends told me to download a PDF in order to navigate the system. I made it through but it was daunting at times to say the least.

Because of that experience, I find this O'Reilly post from 2010 discussing an NYC Subway Map redesign very fascinating! Designer Eddie Jabbour goes into great detail about his history with subway maps, his approach to redesigning a complex system like the NYC rails and how the final Kickmap app version came to be.

I suggest you refer to the archive.org version for reading because all of the images are missing from the original post.

My lovely wife was showed me this delightful TikTok from animator Bug Grotto set to a cute little song by Welles. The name rung a bell - I recalled an artist of the same name but with a different style (plugged in guitars, psychedelic and big production). Turns out, it's the same artist and Jesse Welles is known to be a bit of a chameleon - performing under variations of his own name, as Jeh Sea Wells and in the bands Dead Indian and Cosmic-American.

Taking a bit of a deeper dive into the @hellswells Youtube channel, we find a different looking Welles and much more stripped down performances. I'm particularly keen on "The Poor" - drenched in sarcasm and satire, delivered in a minimal folk diddy.

His newly discovered popularity doing stripped down folk songs like "Bugs" is surprising but not unearned; he's clearly a prolific songwriter. I'll keep an ear out for whatever future version of Welles emerges; they all seem intriguing.

It's safe to say that the mid-90s were an interesting time at the intersection of computers, internet, art and commerce. Personal computers were near ubiquitous but there was still a large amount of room for creativity when it came to promotional endeavors. Simply put, folks were allowed to try things out and see what sticks!

Hollywood Online created a great deal of "Interactive Press Kits" to promote a wide variety of film titles. A huge chunk of them are available in the Internet archive. I spent just a few minutes with the Mallrats Interactive Kit and was immediately taken back to my days of Flash development and animation. It's all point and click adventure style with a little rudimentary animation and very limited color palettes. I look forward to exploring the kids for The Net, Strange Days, Little Women and, of course, Hackers* to name a few.

These artifacts are nearly 30 years old. It's easy to chalk this up to a walk down memory lane but I honestly think this was a real golden era of computing. Yes these are pieces of a marketing campaign but they are incredibly creative and immersive experiences (for the time). I'm not going to go as far as to say those were better times because I think there is still a great deal of amazing stuff being made today but this is an undeniably excellent time capsule.

HT Abandonware.
* Couldn't resist making this gif.

The folks at NoClip Docs make a great deal of interesting feature films. They're 100% crowdfunded and quite niche - in a good way!

The above film - The History of Grand Theft Auto, Lemmings & DMA Design - actually came out 2 years ago but I think it's likely timeless content. I had no idea that the studio that made Grand Theft Auto also made Lemmings. I have not consumed the entire 72 minute film but I'm looking forward to it.

My lovely wife clued me in to the work of Devin Lunsford (official site here), an Alabama based photographer capturing beautiful moments of overgrowth and The South. Growing up in Tennessee I would see a lot scenes very similar to this but they are incredibly difficult to capture. Lunsford does a wonderful job immersing you in these quiet places. It's impossible to pick a favorite. In fact, it feels absurd to only share 2 images here on this post as there are, no joke, hundreds of fantastic images to pore over.

I find myself regularly revisiting this Cory Doctorow piece; Neither the devil you know nor the devil you don't. In it, Doctorow discusses how streaming service providers (Spotify, Apple, etc) are designed to be anti-artist because they are in bed with the copyright holders of a good majority of the music. It's not net new information but it is put forth in such a way that it's worth reading and re-reading. This really summarizes it well for me:

When you understand the business mechanics of Spotify, all the contradictions resolve themselves. It is simultaneously true that Spotify pays a very low per-stream rate, that it pays the Big Three labels gigantic sums every month, and that artists are grotesquely underpaid by this system.

There are many lessons to take from this little scam, but for me, the top takeaway here is that artists are the class enemies of both Big Tech and Big Content. The Napster Wars demanded that artists ally themselves with either the tech sector or the entertainment center, nominating one or the other to be their champion.

But for a creative worker, it doesn't matter who makes a meal out of you, tech or content – all that matters is that you're being devoured.

The piece is not entirely focused on streaming media; that's just the jumping off point. He goes on to discuss AI training, copyrights and how creative workers should be banding together to prevent exploitation. I'd file this one under essential reading.

I accidentally took a break posting episodes of We Own This Town: Music from Oct 2023 to Jan 2024. Somehow, just two months away from publishing the show on a regular cadence has created a backlog of new music that I have yet to catch up on. For the past nine months I've been trying to overcome feeling "behind" on the show but still haven't crested that hill. I have hours of music queued up, just not enough time to record, edit and release it all. Slow and steady, as they say. As the 400th episode looms on the horizon, I feel I must try a bit harder. So, with Episode 390, I'm unleashing a double episode! Twenty-seven tracks of local Nashville music and almost a two hour runtime. I even put an intermission in there.. for fun!

The funny part about my backlog anxiety is that literally no one cares about it as much as I do. For the audience that is tuned in, they're happy to hear whatever is on the show - it's all new to them. For me, I want to help artists spread the word about their releases but feel I am failing at it! Let's hope this "desperate" measure helps boost me where I want to be.

Was recently reminded of the The Supervoid Choral Ensemble EP and realized I'd never posted about it here. If you're a fan of space rock, big riffs and immersive soundscapes - give it a whirl or three.

Unexpectedly found myself scrounging around looking up information about American Sign Language Name Signs. Simply put, it's "a unique identifier that reflects how deaf people perceive you." There's a very important distinction in there. It's not your name, it's how you are perceived - possibly your personality or role or some physical characteristic. It is not just your legal name.

This explanatory video from Deaf Services Unlimited founder Diana Kautzky shows some great examples and some of the rules behind them. About midway through, she says "There's a strong cultural traditional and history in the giving of name signs." Again, this is fascinating as it a name for you that is kind of earned or assigned. I find this to be a wonderful practice.

You can read up on the different types of names and how they are assigned, the origins of Name Signs or just look at some examples.

You've undoubtedly seen the bumper stickers that say Keep Honkin' I'm Listening To [Insert Hyperspecific Reference Here for Maximum Laughs]. Well, Guy Dupont loved it so much he made a real electronic bumper sticker that shows what he's actually listening to at any given time. It's actually just a screen, so it can also display anything else - like the DVD logo bouncing around.

Before you start in on how distracting this could be on the road, let's not yuck these yums. It's a super fun project and I love the results. There's a much shorter version on X if you do not want to watch the whole video.

I'm sharing this before I've even had a full listen through but regardless of my thoughts after listening, my intrigue levels before listening are high! Whisper States is the new project from Chad Molter - best known for his work in Faraquet and Medications but also very noteworthy for his involvement in Mary Timony's bands Ex Hex & Helium. Oh, and Beauty Pill and, frankly, many more. Without even having finished the record, it's clearly a more subdued affair than many of the prior acts but that's not a strike against it. From my cursory reading, it was mixed by Tortoise's John McEntire, so I think that probably gives a good framework for listening.

Enjoy! I think I will as well.

There was a time when I would post Friday Videos with great regularity. A little dose of random, distracting, Internet to end your week. Over the years, distractions became incredibly easy to come by on the Internet - TikTok is a wealth of it if we're being honest. Friend of the blog Luke Kaluzny reminded me of the enjoyment that can come from this so lets do it! What's wrong with a little throwback now and again? Here's an assortment of videos to end your week.

• Interview with Dying Company's Product Manager - I don't want to say that this is accurate at a larger company but it's entirely possible that this is accurate for a larger company. Not my experience but I can see it.
• Predator in Beverly Hills - its stupid but it's fun. I'm sure I saw this 7 years ago but it still hits right.
• Max Max Muppets - some well executed AI video. Truthfully, this goes on at least 3x too long. Watch it for 20seconds max. Somewhat related, here's two Sith lords having a tantrum, its not on Youtube and I despise X but it's undeniably funny.
• Edwin McCain is having a blast - remember that Edwin McCain song I'll Be? Well, that guy has a daughter now that is in high school with a teacher old enough to also remember it... which makes for an entertaining chuckle of a situation.
• Radio - a short film by Joe Bennett (of Scavengers Reign) and Conner O'Malley featuring an outlandish radio DJ. Truth be told, I've been binging hard on some Conner O'Malley lately; especially this How to Make It In USA series with Joe Pera (tho O'Malley is especially unhinged there).
• Edgar Wright reads Shaun of the Dead Reviews - Wright is always delightful and he provides some fun insights about the movie throughout here. 10 minutes is a long one for a Friday Video but worth it.
• Liam Gallagher vs Cute Kids - insane that Liam Gallagher turned out to be the better of the two Oasis brothers but I stand by it! He's still obnoxious here but it's also kinda fun.
• A Defendant Stupidly Interrupting His Lawyer's Closing Remarks - I've been watching a lot of Game Changer recently. All of it, in fact. This clip is perfect. Subtle. But perfect.

There's also this Venture Bros cast compilation of character voices but 30 minutes is unacceptable for a Friday video.

I'm a fan of the works of Dan Burns and Jeremi Clive - names you may not know but should spend some time looking into. Together, they've created a project called The Brain - an ambient album that, personally, I don't think really nestles into the background enough to qualify as purely ambient! The title track is an absolute banger worthy of heavy rotation and the rest of the record often has an ominous tone to it.

Lots of vintage synth sounds and effects throughout - all of which is very much up my alley. I believe it may be up your alley as well.

I recently made the switch from Pinboard to Raindrop for my bookmark manager. Apparently the Pinboard founder has been slipping towards fascism and I just couldn't spend my dollars on the service anymore.

Regardless, I've really been enjoying Raindrop as an alternative. It does everything I needed from Pinboard and plenty more.. and it actually looks nice while it does it!

The one caveat to that statement is that Pinboard would create an RSS feed of public pins where Raindrop treats everything as private. I prefer the private treatment but does complicate some of my very specific blogging workflows (i.e. Raindrop → Pipedream → Yewknee). But that's my problem, not Raindrop's! Definitely recommend.

Recently I stumbled across Naked Record Club, a vinyl subscription service that presses exclusive releases for its members. It's not unlike Vinyl Me, Please, Vinyl Moon, etc. but their twist on the offering is that they are highly eco-conscious about the records they create. Unsurprisingly, the vinyl manufacturing process is a bit outdated in that regard. This announcement video from one of the founders of NAKED Record Club covers a lot of the details of why vinyl is such a rough manufacturing process - namely the materials and the steam-powered process to flatten said materials. They are making the shift to injection molded records, which should be a huge improvement in regards to the environmental concerns.

I've been following this technology for awhile but it seems to be increasing in popularity now. Not only is NAKED Record Club embracing it but the latest Shellac record is also pressed in the same way. As I understand it, Green Vinyl Records in the Netherlands is leading the charge with this new process and Good Neighbor Music is the company actually booking the jobs to use said tech.

It's worth noting that injection molding for records has actually been around since the 1950s but this modern twist is using Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), the same plastic used in recyclable water bottles. I'm not going to claim for one second that I know anything about the substance or how it is leveraged in the manufacturing process of records. It's even possible that the usage of the material is a lateral move from the current Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) material.

There's more reading and learning to be done but it's an advancement that I'm excited to see continue to get attention. Vinyl manufacturing is expensive, takes forever and is bad for the planet. I am optimistic they can actually solve all three.

All the accolades in the world to Helena Zhang for making this beautiful monospaced pixel font Depature Mono. It really is incredibly well thought out, nice to look at and incredibly useful.

All those same accolades to Tobias Fried for building out the promo website for the typeface. No font promo site needs to go hard but this site goes well beyond expectations. Love it.

These two make lots of great things - make sure you take the deep dive after nabbing that typeface.

I'm not a Keyboard Guy but even I can admit that this is a nice looking keyboard! Insanely, comes with a VHX key.

On the second friday of every August, in South Queensferry Scotland, The Burryman emerges from the Staghead Hotel and proceeds to walk a seven to ten mile route around the area; stopping for photos and plenty of whiskey drinks. The tradition supposedly goes back more than 300 years and is intended to rid the town of bad luck. Many propose that if the Burryman were to cease, bad luck would come to the town.

The Burryman's outfit is comprised of actual burrs stuck to a protective layer of clothing .The man inside (and his family) collect the burrs throughout the year, dry them out and stick them on for the procession. Two helpers flank the Burryman and a town crier announces his presence.

I recommend you watch this short doc from 2016 about the tradition and then review the light Wikipedia. It's a really fascinating tradition, somewhat because the purpose of it has been lost to time. It's also a wild looking outfit that looks great in a photo.

So much more to read up on here and a much more in-depth documentary about a variety of traditions here (that probably deserves its own post).

At the 2024 Defy Film Festival I had the pleasure of seeing a ridiculous short film called Butt Crew. It's an 8-minute tale from an anonymous narrator about a crew of friends that would meet in a drainage pipe behind Home Depot to talk about butts. If that sounds absurd, you're right. It's also completely hilarious and riveting from start to finish. It just premiered online and I really think you should watch it at your earliest convenience.

The director, Josh Whiteman, has also directed a bunch of music videos here in Nashville, as well as a few additional short films like Ignoramus and Horny Kid, the latter of which I think is Oscar worthy. Seriously.

Go watch Butt Crew, leave it a like over on Letterboxd and make sure to follow Josh.