Offmessage

Replace “Ubisoft” with “any traditional media that has, thus far, failed to ‘get it’” and one animated gif pretty much sums up the current state of play:

Not content with the damage his Mom has already done…

The amazing folding plug (video below if you’ve not seen it already) wins the Brit Insurance Design of the Year 2010.

What I want to know is when can I get one? My lovely Waterfield bag is hideously disfigured by the plug that gets forced into it every day.

A while ago I tweeted about being in a musical rut, and asked for help.  I thought it was worth reporting back the ones that really did it for me:

• @greatbiglizard recommended the most excellent Mungolian Jet Set “We Gave It All Away, Now We Are Taking It Back”; weird twisted psychedelic balearic disco funk – really rather fantastic
• Nik recommended The Juan Maclean “The Future Will Come”; DFA does Human League. That description is accurate, but doesn’t do it justice
• @dpotta (also well worth checking out on SoundCloud) recommended T.p. Orchestre Poly-rhythmo “The King Of Benin Urban Groove 1972 – 80″; I’m not sure Dave knew how much I love Afro Funk (check out Voodoo Funk for some amazing mixes, by the way), but this was a sure fire winner – and nice to be recommended Afro Funk that’s neither Fela nor a compilation

My word.  The KLF are featured in this month’s issue of Re<ords, one of many iPhone music mags. I’m new to publications on the iPhone, so far games (Plants vs Zombies at the moment, thank you for asking) have taken up most of my time.  The idea of monthly content suddenly seems really obvious, just amazed I hadn’t realised it was out there.

I done gone made a thing – portify converts audio files from any format to one more suitable for your portable player.  For me, sadly, that means converting everything to mp3.

Testers are welcome, particularly on non-Linux platforms, but please be gentle

I don’t really want to get all banker bashing, but these 3 stories really sum up my utter confusion about the end result of the “financial crisis”.  I’m an intelligent enough chap. I ought to get it, oughtn’t I?

• RBS paid £1.3bn bonuses on profit of just £1bn
• Threat to ‘25,000 council jobs’
• Gordon Brown tells police to keep officers on the beat

I seem to have this awful Emperor’s new clothes kind of feeling that just won’t go away.

Has the BBC signalled the death of DAB? Today’s announcements detail the closure of the only two BBC stations that both broadcast original content and are only available on DAB. Now all original BBC radio content, barring the very few 5Live Sports Extra events that aren’t also on LW and the little CBeebies/CBBC stuff on Radio 7, is again available on a traditional FM/AM/LW radio.

While we get up in arms about the loss of the stations, perhaps we should be getting up in arms about the failure of DAB, and start asking ourselves what that means for the wider picture of the “Digital Switchover”.

Having spent most of the Nineties in a darkened room listening to music that went “bang, bang, bang, bang” at somewhere around 140bpm I felt pretty musically adrift when, sometime around 2001, I started sleeping at the weekends again and techno stopped meaning quite what it had.

To find myself some new musical roots I started reading about all sorts of music, going right back to the Fifties. My theory was that I should start at the beginning and see where I ended up.

Along the way I’ve read some fantastic books*, recommended by some very knowledgeable people. I’m amazed to only just discover the existence of the Continuum 33⅓ series. Nigh on 100 titles, each book the missing sleevenotes of some of the greatest albums recorded. What an amazing list; from the cult, like Zaireeka, Maggot Brain, Radio City, Unknown Pleasures through the classics like Forever Changes and on to pop like Abba Gold and Sign O’ The Times. If anyone’s wondering what to buy me for a gift just start at the beginning of the list – I’ll have one of each, ta

* My favourite music book, by the way, is Fierce Dancing by C J Stone which documents, among other things, the transition from the free festivals of the Eighties to the open air raves of the Nineties. Is there a music book I should have read?

This led me to this.  Which in turn led me to this, which led me to this, which ultimately led me to buy this, which is this week’s favourite album.

Like yer man Boon says, touches of Arcade Fire and Phillip Glass.  I’d add some Flaming Lips and even some Erlend  Øye. Lovely.