Ping pong. Ping pong? It’s more exciting then I imagined. Check this out.

Of course there is no way in hell I could ever afford one, but the Roland MV-800 looks very nice indeed.

Folks have gone on about the Akai MPC for ages. A staple in Hip Hop production &c. Seems Roland want to have a go at making a box that does the same. I’m wondering what the price will be when it comes out. Probably enough to make my eyes pop.

Previously described as a hardcore leftie China Miéville has compiled a Science Fiction reading list for socialists.

Now, I’m a huge fan of China Miéville since reading Perdito Street Station, so being able to discover the books that he has found influential or important is interesting.

The list includes Wicked by Gregory Maguire, which I have just recently finished reading. It re-imagines The Wicked Witch of the West (from The Wizard of Oz) as a freedom fighter, and poses questions on the nature of evil. I found it particularly good because I've lately been ruminating over ideas of evil. Subjective versus objective evil.

Seems every second review I read about an electronic release, mentions the supposedly sterile and rigid nature of so-called IDM (intelligent dance music; stupid name). What fucking shit.

For all the fragmenting genres and sub-genres found in electronic music, there is the music that fills the gaps. The ill-defined and strange. The cross-genre and experimental. Alot of this is labeled IDM, for no other reason than people like to name and categorise things. Nothing wrong with this. If it makes talking about music easier, then it’s a good thing.

But I think it’s a bit of a stretch to describe IDM as sterile or rigid, since no-one can tell me what it is anyhow! It’s bullshit. There is loads of inventive and crazy music out there. The idea that IDM is something to be railed against is ridiculous.

It’s ill-defined. It’s just a loose term used to describe all sorts of music. It isn’t the status-quo. So *yawn* dear reviewers, perhaps we can stick to talking about the music, rather than setting up and knocking down straw men?