Crystal Castles
s/t
It’s an Atari game and now it’s also a Toronto two-piece who twist an 8-bit aesthetic into dark, danceable post-rave. Singer Alice Glass contorts over Ethan Kath’s combination of warped Nintendo squeals and heavy synthesizers – the resulting sound isn’t just cold – it’s positively frozen. Crystal Castles sound as though they’re playing frost covered instruments in a meat locker while wearing black hoodies and black sunglasses with the lights off – in other words, it’s menacingly good. Highlights: Untrust Us, Courtship Date, XXZXCUZX ME
Health
DISCO
If there’s one release that could probably do with a drastic remix it’s Health’s underwhelming self-titled release from this year. While their first album did add some interesting thematic elements to the sludge-rock genre (pop, noise and ambience), it felt a little too much like Boris’ Pink redux than an original release from an original band. DISCO re-imagines Health through the lens of some wickedly aggressive electro – it’s an impressive mix of brontosaurus rock with razor sharp synthesizers – and it comes across like a raving LCD Soundsystem hopped-up on angel dust running naked through the streets. Highlights: Lost Time (Picture Plane Remix), Heaven (Narctrax Remix), Zoothorns (Nastique’s Remix)
The Gutter Twins
Saturnalia
Remember when gothic meant something other than wearing dark make-up and scribbling in a skull and cross-bones diary? Me neither, but The Gutter Twins (former Afghan whig Greg Dhulli and former Screaming Trees Mark Lanegan) conjure up a dark and sensuous record that would soundtrack perfectly to Bela Lugosi’s Dracula. Whether its white noise strings, growling stand up bass, rumbling synthesizers, or whispery come-hither lyrics, the whole record effortlessly melds into a smoky vision of wax candles and crushed velvet. Highlights: The Stations, Circle the Fringes, God’s Children
Friday, May 30, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Rye coke
in the bar where i play my air guitar
there’s shards of a disconsolate animal
self stealing hands under blouses
there’s shards of a disconsolate animal
self stealing hands under blouses
Long distance
lapels and crowns scorn your own
disowned brother by the yellow
birch boys wring the tire swing
disowned brother by the yellow
birch boys wring the tire swing
Monday, May 26, 2008
PR: People Don't Care About Your Crappy Website
A dedicated web-writer is not a popular person. Here’s why. You meet your project manager. They proceed to tell you all the things they want on a website/microsite/e-mail/banner. Their strategic plan says the outcome of all this communication is action by the customer. Your response? Nope. Not happening. Nothing doing.
It’s a common argument I have everyday. You can say all the things you want in an online world. Your audience doesn’t care.
Websites are not books, and they don’t just operate differently. People using websites approach them differently. They are not looking to read, they are looking to do.
People are getting more ruthless and selfish when they go online. A recent study by Jakob Nielsen found that people only read about 20 per cent of the words on a page.
Research also shows users are ignoring any attempts to keep people on a page (people will stay on a page for 4.4 seconds per 100 words). People have become better at knowing where to go, and like the TV commercials we skip, people are better at ignoring marketing/pr information that is irrelevant to their task.
The key? People want websites to get to the point. This is especially important when you consider that roughly 75 per cent of people will find your homepage by search engine. The key is to help people do exactly what they want, and make it seamless – from search engine – to your homepage – to their task.
Your website/microsite/email is a tool- no different from a hammer or a measuring tape – if you make it easy and useful, people will keep using it.
It’s a common argument I have everyday. You can say all the things you want in an online world. Your audience doesn’t care.
Websites are not books, and they don’t just operate differently. People using websites approach them differently. They are not looking to read, they are looking to do.
People are getting more ruthless and selfish when they go online. A recent study by Jakob Nielsen found that people only read about 20 per cent of the words on a page.
Research also shows users are ignoring any attempts to keep people on a page (people will stay on a page for 4.4 seconds per 100 words). People have become better at knowing where to go, and like the TV commercials we skip, people are better at ignoring marketing/pr information that is irrelevant to their task.
The key? People want websites to get to the point. This is especially important when you consider that roughly 75 per cent of people will find your homepage by search engine. The key is to help people do exactly what they want, and make it seamless – from search engine – to your homepage – to their task.
Your website/microsite/email is a tool- no different from a hammer or a measuring tape – if you make it easy and useful, people will keep using it.
Update
Update
Sorry for the lapse in posts – I’m in a bit of a transitional period with this site.
With the end of 11th transmission, I’ve been unsure how to use this site for both comic and text posts.
Ultimately, I’ve decided this site will be dedicated to text posts and that a new site will be delivering the much-delayed comics. I’m in the process of building that new site, but in the meantime, I’ll keep updating permanent hiatus with articles.
Sorry for the lapse in posts – I’m in a bit of a transitional period with this site.
With the end of 11th transmission, I’ve been unsure how to use this site for both comic and text posts.
Ultimately, I’ve decided this site will be dedicated to text posts and that a new site will be delivering the much-delayed comics. I’m in the process of building that new site, but in the meantime, I’ll keep updating permanent hiatus with articles.
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