note to self: take time to read this - interesting stuff

I'm sure you've seen the Game Boy Camera, a 1998 accessory with a 128x128 pixel sensor and a 4-color palette. It's about as lo-fi as it gets but there's something charming about it as well. This 2 Bit Toy is an evolved version of the original that uses the original printed circuit board and sensor but now allows for filters and lenses. The available resolution and color palette are the same but it does improve the incoming data. The new results are still charming low resolution but there's a tiny bit of extra fidelity there that is fun to experiment with.

The Mountain came out in 2018 but only came on to my radar a day ago. Director Rick Alverson is familiar to me through their 2012 film, The Comedy and 2015 film Entertainment but in name only, I've not seen any of them. That's neither really here nor there but just to say, I'm intrigued. The Mountain trailer looks gorgeous and has some echoes of The Master in terms of the plot being hinted at.

Certainly adding this one to the queue.

I really enjoyed The Three-Body Problem novel (and the whole "Remembrance of Earth's Past" trilogy). I also enjoyed the Netflix series - tho it is certainly incomplete, they did a good job tackling a very difficult and dense topic. This explainer vid does a good job of breaking down that dense and difficult topic. Neil deGrasse Tyson can be bit grating sometimes but there's no arguing that he's enthusiastic, whip smart and passionate about breaking down big problems into consumable ones.

Stumbled across these embroidered jackets by Japanese designer Masafusa Shibuya, from the early 90s. They're made of satin, organdy and silk thread.

There's a surprisingly lack of information about the designer out there. So much so that part of me wonders if this is real at all. Fortunately, blog posts dating back several years ago sing its praises and there are early 90s Japanese discogs releases that cite them as the artist. If there's one thing you can rely on for factual credibility, it's discogs.

new EP of old b-sides. Also the band is playing a show for the first time in a decade. Good news top to bottom.

like many AI papers, this looks to be equally scary and impressive

I've been listening to Rich Ruth's ambient composition's for a number of years now and they continue to expand and explore new territory. This video for "No Muscle, No Memory" is the first single from his upcoming June 2024 release Water Still Flows. Generally, "ambient composition" would summon very gentle, possibly lulling background music but that is not the case with Rich Ruth. These instrumental tracks are "ambient" in that they create an ambiance - a vibe - but that vibe isn't the equivalent of a relaxing sauna, often it is something writhing and chaotic. I've not heard the entire album yet but given the evolution that has been occurring over the last few years, I have no doubt this will be one to sneak into your regular rotation as soon as it drops.

To be honest, I don't know of anything about the game POOLS nor do I have a way to play Steam games. However, the liminal space / backrooms aesthetic and gameplay that seems to be "look around" is very appealing. It's somehow both hyperrealistic and uncanny valley fake. I hope very long gameplay footage hits YouTube once it is released.

Production designer on Scavengers Reign; incredible art here

Do not let anyone tell you the Internet has no fun anymore

fantastic story about a teenage sci-fi fan that convinced a respected author to contribute a legitimately influential piece about race and science fiction to his single issue zine. He even had the audacity to give her notes.

This is about as confusing as a pre-taped call-in show but stick with me. I've been releasing episodes of my podcast We Own This Town: Music for many years - some years more prolific than others. Today is the release of the 379th episode, which is actually the 365th compiled by me! There were fourteen episodes put together by other folks - excellent episodes but not my episodes. Follow that? That means, if you so desired, you could listen to one episode of WOTT Music every day for an entire year and get a fresh dose of local music compiled by myself. Gotta say, I'm proud of that!

The episode itself is also a great example of the kind of diversity I love to showcase - some dance music, some indie rock, some hip-hop, some R&B and all points in between. And if that weren't enough, I managed to get Mac Burrus to edit it - the first time I've had an outside editor put together the show.

People say Music Discovery is hard but I disagree - just listen to this show and you'll be all set.

Another scathing review. This one is based on actual usage and seem like more than fair complaints. Even if this device is not The One, I am hopeful this is the start of a new era of devices.

GQ has been doing a similar series to this where actors break down their most iconic roles but I don't recall ever seeing one where a musician breaks down their iconic tracks. Any excuse I can get to listen to Reznor and Ross talk about their process and stories about how things came to be is great by me.

there are plenty of options for generating audio with AI but this is the first time I have seen the option for 3-minute compositions. Results were not bad tbh.

like Wordle but instead of telling you how many letters you got right, it gives you a vague riddle describing the answer

YouTube decided I needed to see this Magical Cat Compilation from Threadwood Studios and they were right, I did need to see it! It's five minutes and you should put down everything and just watch it with your full attention. The shoe bit is my favorite but I loved the whole thing.

One thing you should probably know about me is that I buy a lot of music on Bandcamp. I'm not saying I've got anywhere close to the largest collection on the service but with 2,707 purchases, I imagine I'm above the average. This is almost entirely because I buy music for my local Nashville music podcast We Own This Town rather than stealing it.* Here's a few recent releases you may want to consider for yourself.

Celltower - Pegasus 93
There's a healthy collective of musicians in Nashville that cross pollinate and make a lot of "shoegaze inspired" music. It's never following the genre tropes like a recipe but you can't hear the lo-fi vocals and giant guitars without thinking "shoegaze" in some respect. This latest release from Celltower is such a great example of taking that comfortably familiar sound but owning it as their own. Nothing derivative here, just a fantastic wash of sounds best enjoyed loud.

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Thomas Luminoso - "Speed Bug" / "Sugar Pill"
Interestingly enough, Thomas Luminoso is part of the same collective of musicians as Celltower. Similarly, you can hear the underpinnings of "shoegaze" in the deepest DNA of the work but Luminoso is steering it in a much different direction. This is the most confident work I've heard from him yet and I can't say enough great things about the vocal layering, the synth and the pitter patter drums on "Speed Bug." The b-side is wonderfully dark.

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Sundaes "Anyway"
This is the first single from a larger release by Sundaes and I'm quite impressed. Going back into the deep discography of Sundaes, the sounds and techniques they were using back in 2017 were much different. That's the way it should be! It's been really rewarding to hear how this project has blossomed over the years. I love the guitars on this and the instrumental bridge could easily be expanded into 10 hours and I'd listen the entire time.

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* I do play these songs on a podcast without permission, so I'm certainly not throwing shade at anyone that does steal music.

It's possible this is a post likely best suited for the YK Records blog but Matt Glassmeyer (aka Meadownoise) has been playing a number of shows that lean into the improvisational and collaborative. It's certainly based in jazz and other live improv traditions but his instrumentation and style certainly makes it unique. This video is his band playing "Cliff House Kids" - a track from his 2020 album Threeve - tho this live version is quite different! Even if you do not know Meadownoise, this song or anything about any of the text in this post - I still suggest you hit play and see what ya think.