Bubbles v2.0-proto3

defaults write org.x.X11_launcher app_to_run /bin/true

Version 2.0-proto2 is now up, and commenting is implemented.

Well, here's the prototype version of Bubbles 2.0. Right now, the only changes are the updated layout and the pagination. Coming soon are comments, an RSS feed and a couple of posts that somebody might actually find useful.

Ultimae is fantastic. New albums by Solar Fields and H.U.V.A. Network coming up. And looks like I'm going to have to check out Mirror's Edge as well - the latest Ultimae newsletter tells me Magnus composed the interactive score for the game, and it looks pretty interesting gameplay- and storywise too.

Aleph Zero is also fantastic. I recently received my copies of Hibernation - Some Things Never Change as well as the classic Shulman - In Search of a Meaningful Moment and have been enjoying them a lot. And apparently they're going to release Bluetech's third album soon!

Another Twisted release (Hallucinogen in Dub Live at Brixton) gets delayed. But it's always been worth the wait and I'm sure this will be no exception. I'm also stoked for Shpongle 4! Simon provided some insight into the current state of the album on the forums. Sounds promising. I also like the word he used to describe the style of Nothing Lasts... But Nothing Is Lost - "pyrotechnics"! It makes a lot of sense when you think about it.

And while I'm on the topic of Posford, he's going to play a Shpongle + Hallucinogen gig here in Helsinki on December 6th. I'm sitting here with my ticket and counting days!

Oh, and apparently a third Younger Brother album is in the pipeline! I really like where they took the project with Last Days of Gravity, and I'm very excited to see how their sound evolves on the third album.

And now for some personal stuff. I now have behind me my first period of computer science studies. Pretty easy stuff so far, if occasionally a tad tedious. I've actually found the math courses the most stimulating.

But I feel like I don't have as much time to work on my music as I'd like to. While Shuriken is on a hiatus, I have a lot of nice Foldplop tracks going on, but I can't find the time to finish them. And now I'm planning to start working on a new ambient-ish project under a yet undecided name. And I'd like to bring the Soundspire Compilation back to life. And then there's Soundspire itself... But that has a fairly low priority at the moment.

I don't know if anyone actually reads this silly quasi-blog, but if you do, and have some interest in making (or just listening to) electronic music and discussing it, then feel free to drop by our IRC channel #soundspire on irc.quakenet.org.

[edit] I just realized Bubbles could use a few improvements. I'll look into adding an RSS feed at some point. And allowing comments might be fun too.

I officially declare today the most awesome day of 2008.

H.U.V.A. Network - Distances is being reprinted.

I've never been able to find accurate and complete lyrics for the storytelling on Aes Dana's Memory Shell album on the internet, and when my copy of the CD arrived in the mail today, I was pleased to find out that the lyrics are incorporated in the included 16-page booklet (which is beautiful, by the way, but that shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone familiar with Ultimae Records). So I decided to post the lyrics here for anyone who doesn't have access to the booklet. The Chernozem lyrics in the booklet have slight errors, so I've included a fixed version as well.

The errors are on lines 1 and 4. Interestingly, "grasses" on the fifth line is pronounced more like "graces", but I'm assuming that "grasses" is intended.

And finally, some of the lyrics from Chernozem are repeated on the last track, Chernozem (closing).

Lyrics aside, this 2004 album is one of the most beautiful and inspiring pieces in my collection. If you are interested in psychedelic ambient/downtempo music and haven't checked this out already, I urge you to do so!

Oh, looks like this one turned out to contain Life² as well.

FREEDOM!

Don't dry your keyboard with a hairdryer after cleaning it.