Voting has begun for South by Southwest 2011. I have proposed two talks and one panel. I am hereby requesting your support. Click on the links below and vote for these ones:
INTERACTIVE: Disconnecting the Dots: How Our Devices are Divisive:
We drive cars to the gym to run miles on a treadmill. Inclement weather notwithstanding, why don’t we just run down the street? The activities are disconnected. We sit in close physical proximity with each other and text others far away. The activities are disconnected. Technological mediation …

In his book Speaking into the Air (University of Chicago Press, 1999), John Durham Peters points out that if telepathy — presumably the only communication context more immediate than face-to-face interaction — were to occur, how would one know who sent the message? How would one authenticate or clarify the source? Planting an idea undetected into another’s mind, subconsciously in this case, is the central concept of Christopher Nolan’s Inception. [Warning: I will do my best to spoil it below.]

Looking down on empty streets, all she can see
Are the dreams …

“Survivalism isn’t about staying alive. It’s about choosing how you die,” writes Neil Strauss in Emergency (It Books, 2009). Strauss, who’s formerly written books with rock stars, porn stars, and pick-up artists, stepped up his game with this one. In the wake of 9/11 and hurricane Katrina, Strauss had a bit of an epiphany. Acknowledging that if he was involved in a major catastrophe, he wouldn’t be much help — unless helping involved a working knowledge of rock and roll and its many trappings — Strauss set out to get …

Described as “the most widely demonized and vilified music scene in rock history,” (O’Hehir, 2009), the Norwegian black metal scene of the late 80s and early 90s took Black Metal to new extremes. The bands and fans all wore head-to-toe black leather, wrist- and arm-bands and boots with spikes or nails, and black and white “corpse paint.” Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell’s Until the Light Takes Us (2009) tells the story of the scene in stark tones and up-close interviews.
Members of the bands Mayhem, Burzum, Immortal, and Emperor provide more …

From Kembrew McLeod:
Word up! I want to introduce my alter ego, RoboProfessor, who just finished a dance music video about digital sampling and copyright law, with an interactive component. Here’s the website: http://www.robotainment.net/musicvideo
Also, below is all the info you need about next week’s launch of Copyright Criminals. Please forward this to any interested parties, and feel free to post anywhere!
Best,
-KM
Can you own a sound?
Copyright Criminals, a documentary produced by Benjamin Franzen and Kembrew McLeod, examines the commercial and creative value of musical sampling, including the ongoing debates about artistic expression, copyright …

Steve Aylett sent over this teaser trailer of the forthcoming documentary regarding the life and work of largely forgotten science fiction author Jeff Lint. Up until now, Aylett has been Lint’s only champion, but this clip shows Alan Moore and several others coming to his aid. Check it out [runtime: 2:23]:

So, I was watching the Kevin Spacey movie Shrink (2009) yesterday, and I couldn’t help but notice that the score sounded very similar to the one for Friday Night Lights (2004) that Explosions in the Sky did. I opened up my laptop and found out that the movie Shrink was scored by Brian Reitzell… type, type, type… enhance… type, type, type… who produced the Friday Night Lights soundtrack… and used to play drums for Redd Kross. He is also credited with coaxing Kevin Shields out of hiding to do work …

Here is some stuff I’m digging for the week of September 26th, 2009:
1. Porcupine Tree The Incident
2. Southern Lord records (more specifically, Sunn O))), Boris [with Merzbow], Oren Ambarchi, Pelican, etc.)
3. This package:

4. A big pile of Daniel Menche CDs from Soleilmoon
5. UT library
6. Rediscovering Sub Rosa’s Subsonic series, including CDs by duos like Justin K. Broadrick and Andy Hawkins, Caspar Brotzmann and Page Hamilton, Bill Laswell and Nick Bullen, Lou Barlow and Rudi Trouve, et al.
7. My thrift-store copy of Dune (the very picture of “classic”):

8. Naked Raygun What …

Shane Acker’s computer-animated feature 9 (2009) stitches several well-worn themes into a unique commentary on agency and afterlife.

9 is set in a post-apocalyptic dystopia where a world war between humans and machines has left the earth decimated and dreary. The “stitchpunks” (1 through 9) and “The Beast” (a dog-like machine-thing) are the only signs of life, until 9 inadvertently awakens a maniacal mechanical monster. Each of the numbers seem to have his or her own way to deal with the dangers of the world they find themselves in, but cooperation …

Forty years, almost to the day, after Apollo 11 landed on the moon, Duncan Jones’ directorial debut Moon (2009) was released. It is no secret that I am a big fan of both the moon and Sam Rockwell, so I went to see this (twice) as soon as I had the chance. There are probably spoilers in what follows, so read on with that in mind.
Ever since re-watching Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002) recently, I’ve been wondering why Sam Rockwell isn’t way more famous. Maybe Moon will fix that. …