1/29/03 3:22 AM
Since when did New Balance sneakers become cool to wear????
 

1/23/03 7:00 PM
I like to read the dead prez message board sometimes. This is a very interesting (part of a) message someone with the alias RaceTraitor posted.
 

And here's a great article fromt he always insightful Indymedia.
 

1/21/03 9:23 PM
Quote of the day:

1/18/03 2:15 PM
Bjork's posts @ bjork.com 2 days ago, regarding "Gollum's Song" at the end of LOTR: The Two Towers:

i was asked to write the song a month before thew birth of my daughter , when i turned it down because i was too pregnant they said fair enough and got another writer then approached me again said they had a song and lyric in my style , they understood i didn´t have time to write it but if i could sing it , i thought it was a little noughty but asked them to send me the notes and the lyrics since i was curious what is "my style" then had to tell them it was 3 days until my baby was due and i couldn´t focus on anything else they then said they were going to ask "björk-kinda singers" and told me they got 3 singers , they didn´t tell me the names but say A,B and C .then after the birth they said they weren´t happy with the results and asked me please if i could save them , they could put the deadline back to october 30th ( my baby was born on the 3rd ) i told them my baby was priority and i was told they went back and chose one of the A or B or C . i then later found out it was emiliana .  björk. ----- to which someone replied (her reply is after the quote from someone else): » Man!!! That's excruciating to know that it could have been you! I hope that the opportunity arises for the final installment. Best to you!  »  »  i was curious what angle you guys would take on that story . that´s excactly not the point . i am not pissed off because i didn´t get to sing the song . since "play dead" i decided to never do just one song so i have always passed offers like that on . film music today is too much of a megamix , i think it is better if the same person does a whole film and gives all of her/him to it . but anyway : the point of the story above is that lord of the rings people find it nothing wrong of copying people . i have last few years been approached by a lot of film people and people making commercials , also a lot of my friends , for example the video directors , we get asked for our "flavour" and if we say no they just go around and artificially create our "style" with some calculated moves . i think it is really criminal , maybe this lord of the rings incident is not the best example , but my "style" or my voice is my life´s work , people going on the net and nicking my songs off it bothers me but not really , at least it is my work , unchanged and people know that it is me . but what really really hurts and i know i am speaking for a lot of people here , video directors , musicians , photographers and so on , is when a lifetime of work get´s copied in 5 minutes with absolutely no guilt . that expression : imitation is the sincerest form of flattery , it might be true but it is the kind of flattery that robs you . i spoke quite a lot about this with thom from the radiohead couple of years ago when every other singer on the radio was trying to be him and he said it really confused him , after hearing all that , next time he stood by the mike he didn´t know anymore what was him and what was all those copycats . it is one of the reasons kid a was so hard to make . what´s your opininon on this ?  ----- someone else's reply to this first, then her: » I guess what i'm about to write may sound a bit rude but it's not my intention at all, i would just like to get some answers to clarify some thoughts i have, and some discussions i've been having with some friends.  »  » I know the way you(Björk) have been working in the past has included many collaborations... Opiate, Mark Bell, Matmos,Graham Massey.... and some of their style has remained clear on your work, for example the beat from Cocoon sounds very similar to Opiate's remix of a song by Tied and Tickled Trio, "t&tt meets opiate downtown ,remix by Opiate", with this i'm pointing out that Opiate can't help being Tomas no matter who he works with.  » There are a lot of direct influeces on your work, a lot of songs sound very "Matmosy", or very "808-esque" etc...  » So how do you rate that in a Copying scale?.  »  » I take it more as a collaboration "you the collaborator and we'll see what comes out" , but some friends of mine whom i've been discussing this topic thouroughly think you are directly ripping off some other artists style to sound more "unique" and "breakthrough" so it seems that what you are complaining about, is someone elses complain about your music...  » I find this very funny :), sometimes it seems that being breakthrough and pretty much unknown is the only way to be respected by certain groups who consider them as "elite" in good music, once you get involved with someone more "known by the public" you are no longer valid as an artist.... nonsense.  »  » Take care  »  » 3six  »  » Ps: again this is not dissing or being rude at all.  »  i have thought a lot about the fine line between the two in the past and i want to be respectful . i have 3 options as a "solo artist" .  1 : play everything myself . which happens a lot anyway , because i write most off my stuff on my own , especially the melodies and the lyrics . so i have many months of working like that . but then i always arrive to a point where it seems too indulgent and lonely and the heart of music is about communicating anyway and i get overexcited about someone i find brilliant and i want to write with her/him .  which brings us to  2 : if i like something to get a techincian to copy it and put it in my song which i have NEVER DONE and felt was totally IMMORAL . like for example when i fell for thomas knak , the idea of his music is incredibly distinctive of him and so so so him but it is actually quite easy to make ( which is kinda the genious of it ) and i could have so easily just copied it but never never never . i contacted him and asked him to be him and it says on the cd thomas knak so his work has his signature .  3 : do what i do . write on my own my stuff and if i want to work with someone ask them and if they don´t want to they can say no . but most of the time it is done with mutual respect and a lot of enthusiasm and we meet like equals , the unfortunate thing is that because i am quite well known people don´t see it as that ...  believe me , i don´t ask those people because i want a "breakthrough" , i know what you mean though , i don´t mean to ridicule you but if i worked that calculated i would be doing things differently . i ask them simply because i get very easily over excited about music and i want to play !!  ------ » just curious to know what you think ~~~  »  » how does it strike you then when people use your music in a film when the song wasn't written specially for the film?  »  » like army of me in tank girl, amphibian in being john malkovich, and venus as a boy in the professional.....  »  » is it taken as a compliment?  »  » and, are you personally approached by the film makers for permission? i would be curious to know what you would respond with when asked if your music can be used in films.  »  » thank you~teresa      i was a little ignorant with the tank girl incident and after that promised to not do that again . i just feel the bond between the music and the film has to be really deep and real , so often it is just a surfacy artificial thing , the film might be ok and the music ok but they are strangers to eachother !!! amphibian i was very proud to be asked , spike a friend i had sort of watched him through the corner of my eye make his first film and i knew the connection was genuine , and i personally feel that that song and the piece where it got put match each other very well !!! i met the guy who made the professional , we had a mutual friend and i promised him a new song .i then noughtily moved on to another project ( post ) and couldn´t get it together to connect so i offered him to choose an old song instead as he had been editing with that piece of music anyway . so : proud of the amphibian thing but the other too where educating experiences that influenced strongly that i have since said no to almost every single soundtrack request i have been asked about . and then put everything aside and with all of me did dancer in the dark . i guess i am a all or nothing kinda person ...

 
 

Bonus graphic because I forgot I already made one (it didn't turn out that great though)

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