WinningStyle

Where do i start!  Is ‘love’ too much of a strong word? maybe! - Okay, i ‘love’ the music of Brian Transeau. There, i said it. In all seriousness BT rocks. I remember rinsing out his first album Ima. It sounded so futuristic at the time.. I’ll never forget that one track stretching over 40 mins!!

Then came ESCM, and it just seemed to push the envelope. BT’s choons seem layered.. When they cresendo there is usually a lot going on, with all sorts of stutters, pullbacks, swirls, squeeks, and naturally wibble-wobbles.

Now heres something. After checking when ECSM came out i was shocked to find that it is a decade old!!!! 10 years old man, and i can remember as clear as day when i brought it.

So anyway, today i thought i would go to the fountain of all knowledge (no, not google! Wikipedia) to find out what BT has been upto lately. - Imagine my shock to find that BT has released two more albums with "Emotional Technology" and just last year "This Binary Universe".. How could i have not known!  Out of the two Binary Universe sounds enticing.

The reviews from the wikipedia article for "Binary Universe" sounds very BT’esque.

"But this is something else entirely. Labels such as “ambient” or “modern classical” fit for a few seconds, then the next passage in the song blows away the last, taking any attempt to classify along with it." - Stephen Fortner in Keyboard Magazine

This other review is a little longer but sounds.. well, just read…
   
"This Binary Universe taps into BT’s classical side, with expansive arrangements and intricate, albeit minimalist, thematic development. From the opening of "All That Makes Us Human Continues," BT reveals himself as a master of Eno-esque melancholy, as simple melodies evolve through an
electro-orchestral instrumental palette. Lounge jazz with solos in the key of abstract, plaintive arpeggiated guitars, electro marches, minimalist hymns, and pastoral dreamscapes drive an album that seeks out joy and redemption, but not without traveling through the dark. The last track, "Good Morning Kaia," is a paean to his newborn daughter, and the most purely anthemic track on the disc.

BT creates an immersive space that’s less sonic pinball and more audio sculpture, often revealing different aspects of his music than in the stereo mix.   
Each song on the DVD has a unique video that includes antique robots, surreal landscape drawings, live action fantasies, and abstract designs."
- John Diliberto in Amazon.com

Okay, not to harp on but what also sounds cool is that the Binary Universe album also comes on DVD with full on 5.1 DTS sound.  This in its own right  sounds the bomb!! I mean, we are all used to setting up our five living room speakers for movies, etc but you never hear the concept of using that surrond sound for a music album. Music albums are still just stery-ery-oo. The DVD reminds me of the most excellent Daft Punk DVD "Interstella 5555" which incidently ive actually been listening too recently.. Ive taken to working on my laptop at home with Interstella rocking those cool disco beats of the Daft boyz. Anyway i digress…

After some more prodding around the net i have found some cool links for you guys to check out.. Firstly here is the trailer for BT’s Binary Universe. It is also up on YouTube too.. Then there is also an hour long interview with Mr Transeau here to watch also. 

Anyway, to finish up, i guess this post has an empty message really.. I mean i havent said if the albums are good or not.. Thats cause i havent got them and so cant tell you if they are must-listen-to buys or if you should dodge them like the plague. Im sure they will great though and when i do get hold of them i will follow up in the comments with my verdict..

http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2000/06/14/love/print.html

This is a fantastic (Albeit old) article written by everyones favourite fuck-up, Courtney Love, outlining the ins and outs of Record Label profits, artist cuts, copyrights et al.

"When you look at the legal line on a CD, it says copyright 1976 Atlantic Records or copyright 1996 RCA Records. When you look at a book, though, it’ll say something like copyright 1999 Susan Faludi, or David Foster Wallace. Authors own their books and license them to publishers. When the contract runs out, writers gets their books back. But record companies own our copyrights forever.

The system’s set up so almost nobody gets paid."

and heres a picture of her, just to lower the tone.

A while ago Waxie stuck a post up on the old WinningStyle with a write-up of the GP2X.  This is, basically, an open source hand held which comes pre-loaded with Linux.  Since this original post about 12 months ago, the machine has been released and is currently in its 3rd reincarnation (after various small mods). I’ve been following the progress of this device off and on ever since reading that first post, and am now seriously considering parting with my hard earned cash.

Well, not exactly– I aquired an iPaq a while ago, which I have summised is a load of shit (after spending about 60 quid on memory cards, replacement batteries and sticks and things).  So I’m gonna flog that on eBay, and with the money I get for that, I’m hopefully going to be able to get a new GP2X.

So, why get a GP2X when I could get a PSP?

Because I’m not particularly interested in a PSP, I want something I can pimp.  I want something I can stick Mario on, and all the Amiga games I loved as a kid.

I want a fully integrated handheld media player that doesn’t need endless firmware hacks and patching every time I want to do something new.  or do something I used to be able to do until a recent mod means that I have to unmod it again to get it to work.

I actually thought that if I used my iPaq and modded it, it would offer a lot of this functionality, but alas it doesn’t.  its a complete pain in the arse to do anything with at all.  it takes a month to copy a single episode of Eastenders across (it has to reformat it to fit it on the screen.  the GP2X has a custom scaling chip).

This leads me to storage…  it would cost me an absolute fortune to buy additional memory cards for an iPaq (or a PSP, which used Sonys Pro Duo format cards).  The GP2X acccepts standard SDRam cards, but, and this is the fact that clinched it for me-  you can also purchase a £15 mod which allows it to accept USB Sticks.  or any other USB device you wish to plug into it.  a keyboard, a harddisk, a coffee warmer…

I want something that doesn’t demand I fork out £50 a time if I want a new game (not that I would).  the GP2X has a very active developer scene, and hundreds of free downloads available right now. They don’t cost a penny.  Thats cheaper than your average ringtone.

and finally,  I want something that I’m going to stick on my shelf, never use, and put on ebay in 12 months time for a loss.

Heres some reviews

http://www.maxconsole.net/?mode=news&newsid=7486

http://craig.gp2x.de/review/GP2XReview.html

I’ve just been reading an interesting article that was linked from the BBC News Website.  In a nutshell,  Microsoft have cut a deal with Universal Music promising them 1$ for every Zune player they sell.  Failure to do so would result in failure for Universal to license their music for use by Microsoft, ensuring they were unable to get the necessary foothold they need in the already booming Digital Music industry.

In other words:  "Pay up, or else".

"If Apple had to pay at least $1 per device for every iPod sold over past two fiscal years, its cost would be $62 million at minimum: or about one more song per device. If music industry cannot sell one additional song to consumers (and has to blackmail for more money) then, you as a business, have lost grip over your core competency."

Read the full article here