Gaia

I'm a little bit in love with this newly announced synth from Roland:

The Gaia SH-01 is a small but fun-packed little synth keyboard. It has an infinitely 'tweakable' front panel, with all the synth parameters set out as faders and knobs.  From left to right, you control modulation, oscillators, and amplitude envelope. It also features a pitch/mod paddle, arpeggiator and phrase recorder, and adds newer features like easy preset access, D-Beam, and an effects section.

Ever since I became interested in synthesisers in my early teens, I've wanted to own one of Roland's famed SH series keyboards.  One of my musical idols, Edgar Winter, played  the series' first iteration, the SH-1000 in the 70s.



As if you need another reason, just pause reading this for 9 minutes and watch him rock that thing on the Old Grey Whistle Test:

Then in the 80s, it was all about the SH-101.  Its straightforward systematic interface allowed the creation of fat monophonic basslines and squealing lead riffs, all instantly editable via the no-nonsense knob and fader interface.  I actually knew someone who owned one, but gave it away.  Fool.

And then the series continued with the SH-201.  Adding new Roland features for the 21st century, this was the next logical progression in the SH series.  I came upon one during a visit to Techniquest; suffice to say I didn't learn much about pulleys or refraction or the solar system on that trip....





Something about these synths has always sat well with me.  I was turned on to synths at a time when most keyboards had you delving through menus and squinting desperately trying to work out what letter was was trying to be produced by the 7-piece LED display.  These ones seemed so simple in comparison; a logical progression of 'first I do this, then I do this, then I do this to get the sound I want'.  I always wanted to own one of these, so that I could get really 'hands-on' with my noisemaking.  Unfortunately they were either extremely rare, out of production, or too rich for my blood.  Well, this new model has me thinking maybe I should start saving....anyone wanna buy a MicroKorg??

You can read a short preview/watch some promotional videos of its capabilities here.

A picture-based joke regarding synthesisers.

Scott Pilgrim is a Teaser

Great teaser poster for the movie of the only comic book series I've ever really read:

Quite excited for this now.....


P

Conchords

Just wanted to mention that in June I will be seeing ‘Flight of the Conchords’ in Manchester. And this photo of them playing in Vancouver gets me WELL excited:

OK Go....

When OK Go stop making videos, I will stop watching them agog:



This is the second video for their latest single, 'This Too Shall Pass'.  The first was equally impressive and featured a marching band, but their record label wouldn't allow users to embed the video to their own sites, a move which effectively killed its chances of becoming as viral as their previous and well-publicised/parodied efforts.

Sometimes..........I worry about the majors...

Chatroulette: Redux.

An interesting video from one of the Neistat Brothers which briefly documents the aforementioned Chatroulette and proves some of the theories I held about this fascinating website:


chat roulette from Casey Neistat on Vimeo.


Also, Chatroulette Missed Connections, a site helping re-unite disconnected chatters has inevitably been set up to give true love a second chance.

Best Rube Goldberg EVAR.

THIS is what you can achieve with a degree in engineering......

Chatroulette

Chatroulette.  Is there any simpler premise for guaranteed fun?

In my day, when all this were fields, we'd hang out or sleep over at a mate's house and insult random peons from other countries via IRC.  But this is 2010, and we live in the broadband generation, where images of your naked genitals can be instantly beamed around the world into the eyes (and unfortunately memories) of innocent chatters!

Chatroulette - for the uninformed - is a site which simply connects you (your webcam/microphone/computer) to somebody else (and their webcam/microphone/computer) from anywhere in the world at random. Once connected, you can talk, wave, type, discuss life and so on. It seems like a great idea in principle. Alas, it seems the only spanner in the works are us - human beings. The exact same people that used to insult randoms on IRC chatrooms are grown up and still insulting people via videochat, only now they've got their wangs out. You're able to withhold video/audio data if you should so choose, but most allow full coverage, which means that a quick skip through the lines of people eager to chat reads like a game of 'Duck, Duck, Goose'. Except, instead of a duck, it's a man's penis.  And instead of a duck, it's a man's penis.  And instead of a goose, it's a pedophile.  I should say now - this site is definitely not for the faint of heart.  Society as a whole can be a pretty freaky-ass place, but I like to think the breakdown of the site is quite similar to a pool of humanity in the 'real world' - 20% weirdos, 75% people making fun of the weirdos, 4% nice human beings and 1% beautiful women.  I was lucky enough to chat to one of the 1% tonight, but more on that later....

The site seems fairly unpoliced; you don't have to register; you don't need to provide any details.  There's no sign in, no logging of your personal data of any kind, so it seems.  I'm not one to quash freedom of speech, especially not on the internet, but to have such weird and offensive content accessible in the same place as innocent wholesome content is a veritable legal landmine.  Suffice it to say, I wouldn't let my kids go near the site - if I had any - until I had at least had a chance to talk to them - and I have NO idea how that conversation would go.....

"Billy....now you're gonna see some things.....terrible things......but if you're really brave and reeeeaaally lucky, you might just make a friend!"

It's really not worth the risk.

There are, however, a few good souls online.  I was one, and she - let's call her 'Sonic Youth Fan' - was another.  She was from New York, so naturally I struck up a conversation about my love of all things American.  Read the full, uncensored, unedited conversation after the jump.....

Previously...

Lost, the show that launched a thousand questions, is finally back on air for its final season. And I'm loving every minute of it.

I just wanted to take a moment - I couldn't not, really - to share these amazing Lost illustrations created by someone called Grickle:

Only In Gateshead...

I'm so proud to hail from Gateshead.


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