one of the best radio shows going around at the moment is trent’s sound and safe, a web-only broadcast going out on new york’s wfmu.

at the moment i’m listening to an mp3 archive of his last three hour show, which he recorded simultaneously with a live dj-set webcast that underworld were doing, fading in and out of their webcast during his show. such a cool concept. think what you will of the last underworld album - or think, like some, that their only great song was “underneath the radar” - but they have some great taste. their taste (shackleton, aphex twin, four tet), combined with the impeccable selections of mr trent (stuff from the new great ghostly swim compilation, plus wax stag, vashti bunyan, pilooski and… jam and spoon), it forms some kind of electronic music taste voltron. listen to it here. playlist is here.

speaking of radio - “ to and fro” the show i do with my friend dave can be heard every week on 3RRR ( stream online, or 102.7 FM in melbourne) tuesday nights from midnight, melbourne time. last week we had bona fide genius qua on the show, read more about it here. i plug therefore i am…

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tristram cary has passed away:

The father of electronic music wore tweed jackets, had a refined English accent and smoked a pipe.

Tristram Cary, who has died in Adelaide, aged 82, came up with the idea of electronic and tape music while a naval radar officer during World War II.

Mr Cary is renowned for composing the theme for the television sci-fi series Dr Who and co-designing a synthesiser used by rock artists including Pink Floyd, The Who and Roxy Music.

the synth in question is the monophonic EMS VCS 3. think “don’t get fooled again” by the who. think alan parsons project.

the EMS, of course, looks something like this:

(via music thing)

i want to make sure that the next faux pas album goes number one so i’ve hired a crack market research firm - they research not just crack markets but also other markets - hahahahaha - to help me get my promotioning strategies right. one of the first things they have done is analyised the web traffic (or, as they call it, the “transiblogitor index”) of this very blog. i just got the first of their detailed reports sent through from head office:

so there is about 2% of you out there that are probably feeling left out recently, so i thought i’d make your dreams come true by dropping on this blog some details of the new faux pas album. because if theres ever something that doesn’t make me want to vomit, its when blogs breathlessly get jacked about upcoming release details. so here it is!

the new album is called “7 wolves 1 shirt” and it is a concept album about my favourite t-shirt. its a story about how if you look at a thing for long enough, a thing can look like seven things. how long? six months. it is also about girls, and about things like death and suicide, and also about serious shit like politics. of course several songs are specifically about how i feel now that the howard government has been ousted, because not only is this a seriously fresh topic to make music about, its also an endlessly fascinating topic to make music about! there is also a track about how i like to go to clubs, and one where i sing “la la la” a lot

guests on the album include eric the badu, rockhoreographer and tom selleck. it goes for 7 minutes and will be released solely on atari cartridge format. i will not be giving away the album for free, or saying you can pay whatever you like, or anything like that - i will be going a step further and will actually be paying every customer 5 dollars to ‘buy’ the album. this is about art not money, and you know, this is the new model and we all need to look to the future. no-one wants to pay for music right now when they can get it for free - i am one of few pioneering artists that understand that in the future, no-one will even want the music unless they are also getting cash as part of the bargain. its about the money and about the hos. it will be a limited edition pressing of 80,000. stocks may not last.

‘7 wolves 1 shirt’ will be released on august 7 - it will be released by EMI but distributed by pigeons. without further ado, here is a sneak preview of the hot artwork put together by melbourne’s own style icon yerock:

and here is the lead single from the album:

MP3: Faux Pas - Robin Uthappa Theme

when i dream of playing in a band, i am often dreaming of playing in bands like these.. and in my dreams i am often playing on letterman, surrounded by synchronised backup singers and/or dudes in hoodies and/or hot english girls called ‘fanta’

in conclusion, robin uthappa, for real its ok, i get the general idea of what you are saying

be afraid, europe, be very afraid…

sorry for the extended blog silence. i get older, the weeks get shorter. time flies. i wish i could say i’ve been busy and productive - truth is most of my time has been spent building my new D&D character. he is a monk/conjurer called theo:

i might upload my character sheet later in the week if you are really lucky.

thanks to the people who have left comments on the blog in the last few weeks, particularly those who went the extra mile with some thoughtful responses to my rant on ‘transparent costs of production’ and free music and whatnot. and here i was thinking that the only people who read this blog were complete imbeciles. some of you have brains in your heads. i’d respond to your comments except that i have spent the last weekend watching the 2020 summit, which resulted in an equivalent effect to me having had a complete brain amputation. nah fo serious, i will try and respond to youse bitches with some thoughtfully rendered articulations and shit.

here are 11 things i’m currently loving:
- wax stag! i’m digging sound and safe on wfmu with trent, here is his show featuring the genius of wax stag
- arp - in light easily my favourite album of the year so far
- four tet - don’t think about it too much just enjoy it
- moonbeam “slow heart” and sascha funke “mango” - ditto
- hot chip - one pure thought (supermayer remix)
- kraftwerk - ralf and florian 1973. this is the first kraftwerk album i’ve heard and actually loved rather than just ‘appreciated’ as all of us electronic types are meant to ‘appreciate’ kraftwerk. i love them but this is the first album i’ve heard of theirs thats hit a nerve with me. i tracked it down after seeing it on a list that arp made for dusted magazine - his other recommendations (jards macale, franco battiato, group inerane) are similarly spot on.
- babatunde olatunji drums of passion 1959. so fresh!
- herbie hancock - sextant 1972. so stale! god herbie was a massive dork
- stevie nicks - edge of seventeen

yeah stevie nicks. i really love that a lot of the 70s and 80s film clips uploaded to youtube come from worn and weary VHS tapes that have seen far better days. the scratches and wobbles make for instant nostalgia for those of us who used to tape video hits onto VHS every weekend:

ahh thats only ten things. number eleven: house of cosbys.
ok. more soon!