Otto Matta

I'd also say he's overrated. Sort of like Posford. It seems every genre has to arbitrarily name a king so that those without ears have something to flock around.

It's actually pretty good, IMO. I don't remember getting any 2012 vibe from it. It's more character-driven.

Stanislaw Lem - Fiasco: The bar to which I currently hold all sci-fi. I can't imagine a more powerful book in the genre. The Cyberiad and His Master's Voice are also top notch. Philip K. Dick - V.A.L.I.S.: Highly psychological, innovative and unique, with a drug-like disorienting effect. Samuel R. Delany - Nova: My first favorite, and I read it again every now and then for the nostalgia. The sensory syrynx instrument the Mouse plays will always stick with me. Delany is a very imaginative writer, and books like Dhalgren and Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand are wonderfully poetic and complex. Frank Herbert - Dune: Great book. Tried to get involved with the follow-ups, but they were annoyingly unnecessary. Orson Scott Card - Ender's Game: Classic. Great story. Need to read it again. Sheri S. Tepper - Grass: Sci-fi with a fantasy bent, unusual and more than a little bit terrifying. Raising the Stones, the follow-up, was similarly interesting.

Probably my all-time favorite movie. Gets to the very core of the human condition, complete with stunning visuals and a wonderfully mysterious sci-fi story.

Saturn Return was awesome. It was like being in a cave underground.

Now that's funny. "I am about to launch my blaster."

There's basically a long making-of extra. That's it. It's pretty good, though.

I don't know, but it's a huge track. Made everyone and their mother want to learn to make that scratching sound.

Ugh, Enjoy the Silence? To me that's late Depeche Mode. I guess I'm old. Okay, how about these? (Avoiding the '70s classics.) Herbie Hancock - Rockit

Cool. Looks like the expense just went down significantly. I might just get a pair of cheaper Mackies or something. I really don't need anything extravagant right now. Thanks for the help.

Thanks. And yeah, I can just route the soundcard to the monitors, right?

Looking for a good entry-level mixer and monitors combo. Simple, solid and inexpensive. Some background: For several years I've been running my soundcard into a higher-end amp/receiver, and from there to high-end monitor headphones mostly, and occasionally home speakers for perspective. My receiver is finally starting to slip, and instead of repairing it, I thought maybe it's time to get a little more serious. But I'm on a budget, and I don't need super-mega-awesome equipment, just some solid entry-level stuff that is fairly accurate and will last some years. And I'm not a gear whore who enjoys features and gimmicks, but prefers quality and efficiency. Also, all my instruments and effects are VSTs, and I plan to record and mix everything through Cubase. I just need a way to get my recorded audio from my computer to my ears as simply and authentically as possible for the best price. My range would be US$500-1000. Opinions? Also maybe a good review site?

An instant favorite for me. I hadn't seen it for a while, so I bought the DVD, which should be arriving soon. Will be great to see it again.

I'd LOVE to have originals of those Woob albums too. And that Darshan album is really something. Good luck!

Ha, me too. Didn't last long. Atom Bomb was fun for a little bit there. I bought Risotto because I was hooked on Warp at the time (late '90s?) and it had similar album art.

One's tools are like one's home. If it's only one room, and one is using one's sink for a bathroom and kitchen, then any worthwhile project is likely to fail. On the opposite side of the spectrum, if one has a mansion full of empty, unused rooms, one will feel the burden of excess in which elaborately furnished rooms go heated yet unused. One needs to find a moderate home according to one's needs in which one's tools match one's capacity to decorate it with warmth and with meaningful things, in which every space serves a utilitarian purpose, thereby achieving a sustainable equilibrium. And there should be space in the yard for expansion when necessary without putting the family dog in the kennel.

Wow, he is indeed alive. Hello from Epic Automata. It has been a long time. Glad to hear you're well.

I liked them early on before I knew much about psytrance. I really enjoyed Macrophage. But then, I don't know, their sound became too bouncy and rubbery, in a cheesy German way.

You might want to take a quick peek at Murcof's side-project Terrestre, as well as the label Static Discos. It's pretty funky stuff.

I can see the argument for MP3s. It really has been a great success, and the majority of people really don't seem to care about the difference. The stick probably really isn't the answer, although you have to admit it has been one of the more interesting contenders recently. I like the idea of it, but it seems, after all, that there's going to need to be a much bigger technological revolution to replace what we have now. Maybe we just have to wait a little while until we get through this trough of compressed formats to a time not too long from now when memory will be such that we don't have to compress everything anymore, in a way that is personal, like music had always been until MP3. Maybe at that point people will be willing to pay more for the increased value - like they did with CDs after tapes - and help the music industry regain some equilibrium. What's the next MTV going to be? That should be fun.

I like the idea. I'm with Depthz in that I want to keep some material aspect of the experience of listening to music, and not just some gimmicky whore iPod. While I see CDs going away, I am not, and have never been comfortable with MP3s or downloaded music. It's impersonal and overly-technical, for robot music eaters. I loved vinyl and then gave up on vinyl for cassettes, then hit the ground running with CDs, but MP3s have made me slow my music consumption, probably because I won't be a pirate, because I've spent my whole life listening to music in high quality, and I'm too old, without enough patience to fuck around on my computer so I can hear the frakkin' music, when it was so much easier to throw a CD in a player and roll full blast, and have artwork and lyrics and stories to look at, during the time it takes to meddle with whatever cold ripping program and format and specifications and metadata, and on and on, that has taken over my machine(s). Give me something I can plug and play quickly, and make it a special object worth the effort it took to create the goddamn thing, and therefore worth listening to, not just data to be played via any number of unbelievably trendy gadgets that I won't buy out of principle. And if it has different formats with extras, then that's something I can get excited about. It seemed for a little while there that DVD might be the new CD. This is even better. Music has always taken on some physical form, and iPods are not a solution in themselves. Listening to music on an iPod is like DJing from a hard drive. It lacks physical proximity to the music itself, insults it even, because music is a personal invitation by artists to their listeners to take a journey to a spiritual place, usually for a fee. But unless I really, really love the creator(s), I won't spend more for a stick than for a CD. But that doesn't seem to be much of an obstacle. MP3s should be for testing purposes only, and if you desperately have to listen to something on a tiny machine in your pocket until you can get home, or to the club or to whatever venue for the real thing.

Wow, that's really flattering, GGT. What a nice feeling. Well, yeah, this album has been delayed and delayed; it's so easy for life to get in the way, as well as psychology. I spent several months in the autumn going back and editing/updating the tracks (have you heard those? you might like Rainbow China more now - I do, anyway, and I think it will open the album), and then got all caught up in buying my little home and other things. My equipment is all pulled apart and in boxes still. I want to go over everything one last time, because I'm a perfectionist bastard who still doesn't quite know what he's doing yet, and some things need serious work. And I've realized that taking my time with it and letting it be what it wants to be is better than rushing it - you only get to make the first one once. At the moment I think it's possible to have this thing in some studio or other for mastering by February, after which I'd like to see if a little label somewhere would like to take it on. I have the feeling that if I had to promote it myself it would die, and I don't want that to happen. Anyway, it's REALLY helpful to hear encouraging remarks like yours. So thank you. I'll PM you regarding earlier tracks. And thanks, Xpandoz.

I had some scrap velvet fabric lying around from a painting I did some years ago and thought my head would appreciate its texture. I cut out a piece approximately the width of the headband (a little longer because of the curve), and long enough so I could fold it several times to get it nice and padded. I folded it to the approximate shape of the headband, then held it in place while I wrapped sewing string around both the headband and fabric enough times (a lot!) that I knew the velvet wouldn't slip, then tied it off with a good knot. It's been VERY nice compared to those hard ribs diggin' in me cranium.

Those dark blue ones are sweeeeeet, Mal. The detachable cable is a great addition. So do you get that rippled alien head I was talking about? I eventually fixed mine with some velvet and string. I'm really impressed with how durable they are. I've overloaded them so many times now (*BLRRBT!*) and they still sound perfect.