Internet Privacy... Or Lack Of

Funny, just as i was feeling like i wanted to talk about this subject i couldn't help but notice MySpace's disclaimer here:

Warning - Please be aware that MySpace is accessed by thousands of users every day; since you do not know every user on the MySpace site, excercise caution when posting personally identifiable information.

In light of recent events this warning could not be more important. I'm talking about the recent court ruling in favour of the TV corporation Viacom having access to all of YouTube's information regarding what EVERY user has viewed, and their IP addresses.

So basically if you have used YouTube to watch an illegally uploaded recording of a TV show or movie then they will know about it. Whether you will be prosecuted is highly unlikely (unless you were the one who uploaded it in the first place), but you may well find yourself, or your computer at least, on some sort of database of unlawful viewers.

The reality, as far as i can see, is that in this one case alone we dont have any real worry about anything on an individual level. What is of serious concern is the blatant abuse of our rights that is the result of this ruling. This is surely the first stage in what could well become a Big Brother situation whereby we have no privacy online. If our every virtual movement is logged and can be seen by anyone with the appropriate power (governments, corporations etc) then can we ever be truly free online?

I dread to think how many different databases have my details, think about forums, shops, mailing lists, even MySpace itself. So many organisations know my name, address, date of birth, answers to secret questions etc. The whole world potentially can find out my opinions on stuff just by reading these blogs or other forum posts. I've always been careful not to incriminate myself because every word i type into these sites could well form a permanent record of my life.

There are a lot of people oblivious to this though, social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook are used as a means for people to record their life for anyone to see. We are told that we should be careful, after all there are all manner of undesirables online that prey on potential victims through sites like this. What we are not told is that these undesirables could very well include governments and corporations.

If this latest ruling is anything to go by, we could find that in the future our privacy online will become practically non-existent.

On a similar note there are more and more people being prosecuted or at the very least receiving warnings for filesharing. Without wanting to get into a discussion about the morality of filesharing, again i can only see that there is a point when the privacy of the individual becomes compromised, and for many it already has.

So what can we do? I'm sure, if there isn't already, there will be a number of online petitions against this ruling however "signing" one of these is just another case of putting yourself on a database. Lets not forget how anti-terrorism laws are being created all the time solely to deny the people the right to protest. By no means am i suggesting we should passively sit here in silence, i would encourage anyone who has a view on this subject to make it known. If there are petitions, make sure you know fully what you are signing.

Search Google for more information, after all this stems from a lawsuit AGAINST Google. Most importantly think before you type, especially on here and Facebook. There are a lot of good, honest people whose lives are not entirely legit, there are a great number of laws that are unfair and do not serve the public. The internet is built upon free speech, by no means should we let this ruling become a form of censorship, but we do need to be smart. Big business has become threatened by the shift in balance the internet has given the people. Money is all-powerful, but the world is changing, the music and film industries are changing. The outcome of these changes is, as yet, unknown but the corporations won't go down without a fight.

Maybe i have just incriminated myself with this blog, but i refuse to sit here in silence, i can however choose which words i use.

Good Old Days of Underdog

Over the last week or so i have seen some old friends, more than just friends, some of the old Underdog Kru. Its been so long since we were out with the rig, a part of me really misses that. I know we all have to move on but those were some great times, and they were some great friends. Seeing how everyone has grown since then makes me feel warm to know that some of that spirit is still alive in all of us.

I can't party like i used to anymore, i cant afford to and i'm not sure my body could take it anyway. It was good while it lasted though. Sometimes i wonder whether i could ever reunite Underdog, though without a rig it wouldn't be the same and it wouldnt be right without all the kru. I guess things have changed too much since then.

Still, i've got my memories (what i can remember of them!) and its always good to see everyone doing well. Maybe one day....

Peace n love to the Underdog Kru:
Kelly, Marc, Sheepy, Si & Static (and everyone else who helped).

Pissed off about playin a shit set last night

I dont really DJ much these days. I pretty much gave it up almost 4 years ago. But i got a set at Outbreak @ Timbuk2 in Bristol last month and it was good. Everyone was into it, i played loads of old classics (DnB), and i was enjoying hearing those tunes again as much as everyone else.

Last night tho was a different story, nobody gave a shit. The room i played in was dead all night and the vibe in the club weren't to good either. Basically i couldnt be arsed to play anyway and i couldnt wait to get off the decks and out of the club.

Just makes me think that DJing an old Blackout set now n again can be fun but i really dont wanna make a habit of it. I aint bought any tunes for years and i aint really bothered whether i play out or not. So i dont think i'll be in any hurry to DJ there again. Once was enough for me, maybe i'll av a go again next year or something but thats it for now.

Moving on from Drum n Bass

Not that long ago i used to love drum n bass, i practically lived for it. Anyone that remembers Underdog will know how passionate i was about the music then. I suppose a lot of shit went on at the time that made me want to step away from that scene. It doesn't help that now as i get older i see more and more youngsters at DnB nights and increasingly less of my older friends.

I'm sure the kids that are into it now really enjoy it and i don't wanna sound like some old fart when i say "Its not as good as it used to be" but it really aint. Like all genres there are high points and low points. When i was doing Underdog from around 99-04 DnB went through quite a change. Tech-step started to get more inventive and interesting, producers started mixing their influences into the tunes and there was a lot of real creativity, the whole genre became varied and interesting.

Right now, all i hear in DnB is the same shit as the next tune. Its all so formulaic, same beats, same basslines, same sounds. Theres hardly any real innovation in DnB right now and that bores me. My tastes have always been varied, i grew up on heavy metal and i think theres so much scope within electronic music to really push back boundaries. Problem is these boundaries are so fixed in place thats its really quite hard to break em. Every genre has its own tempo and its own definitive formula for what works. DnB isn't alone here.

So where does that leave those artists that want to make something original? How can anyone really try to be different when each every scene encourages the artists to be the same? Its that which perpetuates the steady fall in quality that has become so evident within DnB. Where a few years ago, producers tried something different in their music, those ideas have become the standard and now its all the same again.

Pendulum are trying something different now, like em or hate em you have to give credit for that, but it seems like they've been cast out of the DnB scene. No surprise when you consider that the biggest names in DnB are the same DJs who were around 10-15 years ago, hardly cutting edge.

Infact, i think thats where a lot of the problem lies. The scene has been manufactured in such a way that the select few who were there at the beginning are the ones that are at the top now. Still the big names on a flyer, these are the ones getting the respect for playing tunes made by the lesser-known producers. The old boys are the ones charging top-dollar to do something anyone with a pair of decks can do (often better). The whole dubplate culture perpetuates this heirarchy even more.

No wonder then that a lot of people are moving towards dubstep now, buts thats just another genre with own set of developing rules, dubstep will have its time, there will be a commercial point and everyone will hate it and probably go back to DnB, and so the cycle continues.

The point i'm getting at is that drum n bass, like any genre is ultimately going to be restrictive. A killer tune has to fit within a given set of rules in order to work. The tempo has to be the same in order to mix it with any other DnB tune. All that really matters is the drop anyway, the rest of the tune is just filler.

All of this is why i feel so disillusioned with drum n bass right now. I still enjoy the tunes i used to love, the classics. But right now i'm far more excited by the vast wealth of good music that exists outside of that scene. In this day and age of the internet theres no need for something as closed as the DnB scene to dictate to me, you or anyone whats good and whats not.

electronic artists that just use loops.

I posted this in a forum discussion about whether people that just used loops can be called musicians, i try to avoid using them myself but a lot of artists use them extensively:

Theres a number of so-called "producers" that make tunes using predominantly loops, samples and downloaded midi data, often their tunes ultimately sound unfinished. Its clear to me why that is, those electronic musicians that put more into their compositions also put more into their production. Sculpting a tune from start to finish is not a simple task so cutting corners at any point will effect the quality of the end product.

That said tho, sampled beats are still commonplace and anyone who uses an amen break does so because they want that sound. On top of that a lot can be achieved by chopping beats up, mangling and generally fucking around with em to the point where they barely resemble the original recording. Also many genres of dance music are defined by their beat, anyone wanting to make tunes that fit that style might aswell just use a loop. Personally, i get great satisfaction out of creating my own beats but i often like to layer up some drumloops behind it. but then i dont like to make tunes to fit a genre.

As for collage artists then yes, you should give credit to their work, but a great deal of their talents come from finding the most obscure sounds/beats rather than picking up the latest time+space cd and creating a generic house/dnb/dubstep/whatever tune.

What about presets? I'm not gonna deny i've used a few of them with very little tweaking, however layering some preset pads from an obscure freeware vst or using an already perfect string sound in your sampler is different to building a tune in reason using only the factory soundbank.

Most rock/pop music tends to use the same 1-4-5 chord progressions, is that really that far different from using loops? Most dance music sounds similar to everything else within its own genre whether based on loops or not. A large number of respected musicians owe much of their sound to their (largely uncredited and therefore unrecognised) engineer, while many others simply rehash the same formula over and over and call it a new tune each time.

No disrespect to those that can make good music based around loops, personally i feel more original when i know i've made it all myself.

Mixing opinions with music...

How many great artists have avoided politics within their music, instead focusing on the fun side of life? Quite a lot. Sure theres been a fair few great political bands, but theres a lack of it within the electronic world. Dance music is ultimately disposable, its great while you are on the dancefloor, a good tune should lift your mood for five minutes or until the DJ gets bored and brings in the next tune.

At the moment the few tunes i have are still in an instrumental form, but these are really just demos, as such unfinished. Ultimately i hope to actually say something with my music. These random blog posts are really a different way of expressing what i want to say.

Problem is in saying things that might be controversial. Sure, i've got a bit of a problem with religion, but then i've also got a problem with anything that encourages prejudice and hatred and the way i see it the major religions all do that in some way. That doesn't mean i hate religious people, i take everyone on their own merits. If someone has a spiritual belief i disagree with that doesn't make them any less of a person in my book, like i said i dont like prejudice and hatred.

We all need to be prepared to have our ideas about the world challenged if our society is going to "evolve". I might not agree with you on everything, but i can respect that you have your own opinion provided it is just that, your own. Not just an idea you have been told and believe unquestioningly.

I don't really feel like typing any more today. I just hope that people aren't put off my music by the things i post here, infact i hope that when its all finally put together it will all make sense.

Shitty Internet Explorer

So, i've bin somewhat neglecting my myspace for a while now. Probably got something to do with the time i had the misfortune to be using internet explorer for some web boredom. what the fuck is wrong with my page on it? All the colours are the wrong way round, black n white negatives and shit!!!! The transparency is all wrong too.

Internet explorer is shit! I dont wanna get all techy geeky about this but its true, the fact that the vast majority of people suffer this browser on a day to day basis is a real shame. I dare say that a number of people are unaware of the alternatives (i wont bother mentioning Safari beyond this point cos Macs are a completely different subject that i may well complain about another day).

At the risk of sounding like i'm after some kind of sponsorship deal i have to emphasise how great a program firefox is. Fully customaizable, and 10 times more secure. But thats enough blatant plugging.

I cant help but feel the problem is to do with the shitty commercial capitalist nature of society. By some degree of laziness and ignorance the really good quality programs get ignored in favour of the "industry standard" corporate crap fed to us by the likes of Microsoft and a load of equally bad companies. Firefox is a perfect example of a FREE program that is ignored by the masses happy to have there day-to-day choices decided for them by the establishment. How many of you lot have got Norton on your PC? Another piece of shit commercial application, that not only drains a big chunk of your CPU but can replaced by better quality FREE alternatives.

Theres another attitude that exists aswell, if its free it must be crap! Like the quality of something directly relates to its price. Or worse still, if you aint heard of it it must be crap, like the advertisers never lie!! Lurking behind all the corporate bullshit that dominates the www, there is a massive community of people that make programs and share programs freely, simply because they want to. I'm not talking about cracked copies of overpriced software on piratebay. Im talking about genuine free stuff, made by people who do it for the love. Heres another good site for free bits of techiness: snapfiles

Enough of this advertising on my part, not that i get anything out of this except the pleasure of possibly making someones internet experience better. My point being that we shouldnt just settle for the crap thats fed to us by the corporate industry, the internet offers a place for everyone to be free of that shit, and its not hard to find. Free software is only a small part of this, look at all the good music people are sharing happily online without the all the bullshit of the music biz.

This aint a "Fuck the Establishment" rant, just a little encouragement for people to delve a little deeper online and see whats going on behind the scenes, cos thats where the best stuff is.