djcev.com

Posting early so I can sleep (zZzZzZz).

MTT 274 / In Sight https://djcev.com/2022/05/mtt-274-in-sight/

Downtempo, IDM, and a bit of drum & bass this week. Slow (and then fast). This #djmix features music by Breaka, Chris Randall, Fanu, Paul Blackford, XY0815, and more.

Spent yesterday playing with the CSS for my website, updating its look a little bit. I find design stuff fun when there's existing content ("content") to work with. The site is still readable in links & lynx too, which makes me happy.

CW: Horror Movie Talk, Spoilers, "The Perilous Internet Ring"

"The Perilous Internet Ring", 2020, a Chinese horror film directed by Japanese horror director Norio Tsuruta. Fanmade subs for it appeared on reddit recently, so I watched the movie today and got something I didn't expect.

From afar the movie looks like a ghost story in the style of say "The Ring", and for the first 20 minutes it plays out that way. Swap the student film on VHS for a "web novel" and you get the idea.

What I didn't know is that the movie is a kind of message film or social problem film about, as it says at the end, the dangers of "net addiction". The movie also references the "Blue Whale Challenge" (which I had to look up): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Whale_Challenge

There's a mystery / investigation plot that unfortunately falls apart (in a convoluted and kind of funny way) in order to reach the internet-is-dangerous conclusion.

There were some nice spooky ghosts though which I always like. But I definitely had more fun thinking about this movie than I did watching it.

The new XY0815 seems really good. Some nice BoC-esque pieces on it. (Also a surprising sample that seems to make a political statement, though without more context I'm not sure what it's saying).

Not new exactly, but newly available digitally.

MTT 273 / Keep Close https://djcev.com/2022/05/mtt-273-keep-close

A few different sounds this week, from #electro to IDM/electronica stuff to a couple synthwave-y tunes to some more restrained, quieter synth-y material. 120 BPM, no rush. This #djmix features tracks by Ben Businovski, Clatterbox, Galaxy Toobin', John Selway, Mikron, and more.

CW: Horror movie talk, Reincarnation (2005)

The movie Takashi Shimizu made between the US versions of "The Grudge" and "The Grudge 2". Watched it tonight (found a copy on archive.org).

Felt to me like a fine ghost story that mixes up a bunch of pretty standard elements (a creepy doll, a hotel, past lives, spooky kids). It's a bit meta - it's about actors in a horror film - but doesn't pursue that angle very far. Very well executed (aside from some dated looking CG). I liked how eerie and reality-bending it was. Kenji Kawai's soundtrack is good. Will have to watch it again & think on it some more.

CW: quake 3 defrag, first-person gameplay, youtube link

Oh shoot there's a new hangtime map for #quake3 defrag ( #q3df ), came out a few weeks ago... and aNnh already has a flawless run of it.... and power_of_heavy_metal made a video of the run!

Fair warning, the hangtime maps can be particularly disorienting, viewer discretion advised

hangtime3-df[mdf.cpm]

: "Six stages of craziness" 08.18.296aNnh...More DeFrag: https://www.twitch.tv/defraglive - 24/7 defrag spectating bot https://www.twitch.tv/defraglegends ...

YouTube

Wrote the notes for this one a little faster than I'd like; might take a second look at it tomorrow. Also some of the mix is a tad busier than I prefer & a little inelegant. I suppose that's OK, prefect is the enemy of good, etc. etc. .

MTT 272 / Right Behind https://djcev.com/2022/05/mtt-272-right-behind/

More #electro and a little #techno today. High 120s. This #djmix features tracks by Aural Float, Carl Finlow, Cybotron, Ikonika, MetaComplex, Pathic, Umwelt, and more.

Leaning on some tracks I really like for this hour, some old favorites.

Practicing tonight, most of the mixes & transitions I'm trying aren't working, bleh.

Practice practice practice.

Digging through the old Tokyo Dawn tracker netlabel catalog today. (The 1997-2000 releases, tokyo-01.zip thru tokyo180.zip).

Preliminary unzipping & renaming work is done, next step is to render the tracks I want then encode then tag.

Woke up to dozens of new release & new message emails from Bandcamp, it must be the first Friday.

This seems wildly good:

Tired. Wiped out. Today's mix was much more difficult to execute than I expected. First 40 minutes are good, a little uneven, last 20 minutes I'm very happy with.

I really want a cup of tea even though it's 11 PM, even though I know it'll shift my sleep schedule forward.

MTT 271 / On Bright Wings https://djcev.com/2022/05/mtt-271-on-bright-wings/

#electro and a little bit of old British IDM (or Electronic Listening Music) this week. Tempo in the mid 130s.

This #djmix features new music by Alva Recek, Shawescape Renegade, and Versalife, plus some older tunes by Autechre, Dagobert, Insektoid, Koova, and more.

An excellent, thorough, and ultimately sad article about the prolific British DJ, composer, and producer Beaumont Hannant:

CW: USPOL, SCOTUS, podcast link

and now the 5-4 Podcast have their episode up on Dobbs v. Jackson and the leaked decision:

5-4 - Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health: The End of Roe on Stitcher

In this emergency episode, the hosts are talking about what happens now that a draft of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision has been leaked.

There's an appropriate amount of swearing in the discussion.

I generally trust the hosts of 5-4 and so I've been waiting to hear their comments on this matter.

CW: USPOL, SCOTUS, podcast link

the Opening Arguments podcast put out an episode today discussing the contents of the draft opinion that leaked last night:

Emergency Episode – Roe to be Overturned

Just stunning. Despite OA warning you about this for years, it still is, and should be, utterly shocking to see in print. Andrew has somehow already read the opinion and has a preliminary breakdown…

Opening Arguments

I found it (the podcast) educational and alarming.

In case you want to hear a (justifiably) upset lawyer go over the document itself.

oh dang there's a new Shawescape Renegade release. Love J Shaw's work, proper Detroit #electro . Wicked K1 remix too.

CW: MH-, Anxiety, Covid

I saw a lot of people on my trip into the city that Friday. I'd guess somewhere between 10 and 20 percent were wearing masks.

I hung around in the shops until the anxiety of being around that many people got to me. I spent a long time working towards being less anxious around people, with a lot of success. The last few years have been a big setback.

I took a trip into Portland on Friday (4/22), spent some time in Everyday Music and Powells Books, both on west burnside. Picked up a clean hardcover copy of Rum Punch by Elmore Leonard. Was a nice way to spend an afternoon.