by Miné Salkin | Oct 6, 2011 | interviews, live action, news, song of the day, technology, television, Uncategorized
FOR SEVEN STREETS MAGAZINE
Rhodes is a musical talent you may not have heard of until recently. The five-piece indie rock outfit played a stellar set at Mello Mello on Friday 30th September to finish off a week-long national tour, with ear-ringingly impressive results. They just released an EP with Liverpool’s original E.D.i.L.S. Records alongside the talents of Moonlit Sailor and Elk, and are now heading back into the shadows of songwriting.
Built on lifelong friendships, the group’s synergy onstage truly brings this sentiment alive. Newly reunited with their singer, Alan Croft, who spent the past year on the West Coast of British Columbia, the group rocked out together and delivered one of the most blisteringly loud gigs I’ve experienced. In fact, two days later, the ears are still ringing.
Drummer Michael Davies, despite his off-stage reserve, lets loose on his kit and brings to mind the mathematical side of his craft, with technical beats and jams. Bassist Jon Papavasiliou performs fluidly and dynamically on his chosen weapon, and with the half Greek connotation it’s hard to put Poseidon out of your mind when you’re watching him perform. Guitarists Aaron Noroozi and Michael Connor might have a bit of rivalry going on, staunchly placed on opposite sides of the stage, but the melding of their distorted, melodic sounds is an act of love.
Rhodes is a band that, despite their complex rhythms and math-rock tendencies, they manage to offset the brainy aspects of music writing by fleshing out natural sounds and rich harmonies. Caught somewhere between the brainy tendencies of Foals, and the catchiness of Two Door Cinema Club, their polished sound is bound to take these boys far.
by Miné Salkin | Sep 22, 2011 | interviews, live action, news, song of the day, technology, television, Uncategorized
FOR SEVEN STREETS
It’s unarguable that Liverpool is a stunning creative playground. Backed by a rich history of rebellion and revolution, it’s a hub of music and culture that continues to influence and inspire. Dismembered Empire, an insurrectionary multimedia cabaret, pushes this sentiment to the extremes of the steampunk style— by putting forth the tantilising question—what if Liverpool was the centre for world trade and economic power in the modern age?
The interactive mixed arts and technology project will take place in the mystifying locale of the Williamson Tunnels October 7-8th. Descending into the labyrinth of the tunnels, the audience will be immersed into an alternate version of Liverpool, inhabited by sinister scientists, revolution, bizarro machines and strange music.
Using the steampunk style, a super playful and expressive aesthetic, DE blurs the line bewteen reality and imagination, the nefarious and the benign. Using elements of both real and imagined history, the performance plays out as the ripping apart of two parallel worlds, driven by tensions between industrial mavericks Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla during the Industrial Era.
It’s the brainchild of Jennifer Catterall, an evolutionary biologist with a penchant for theatre and music composition. “DE is all about re-imagining ourselves and thinking, how could we have done something different with our science and technology. It’s all about seeing things from a different point of view.”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyzrT24nIrI&feature=related]
Dismembered Empire
7th – 8th of October, 7pm at the Williamson Tunnels
For more information, visit http://dismemberedempire.org.uk/
by Miné Salkin | Nov 16, 2010 | news, technology
A tale of woe and betrayal.
It was the middle of September, and I was preparing to move to the United Kingdom. Everything had been taken care of. I was finishing up my contract at the Beaty Museum, packing up to move my stuff into storage, terminating utilities and mentally preparing myself for the big move.
At the same time, it had long been my plan to get a new camera. Not just any camera, but a Canon 550D, also known as the Rebel T2i. Sure, I already had a really nice camera, one that I had carried to all my newspaper internships, my concert photography gigs and also my personal life events. It was time to move on though; I needed/ wanted something that could also film. IN HD.
After doing a few weeks of research online and in local photography stores in the Vancouver area, I managed to find the camera I wanted at a sweet, sweet deal. It was too sweet to be true. Too saccharine and ambrosial to be reality, and I certainly paid for that purchase of virginal innocence. (By saccharine I mean $200 less than any other retailer was offering).
I did it. On September 15, 2010, I bought the camera from Daily Deal Digital, the worst online retailer known to the history of civilization.
Six days later, when I hadn’t received my camera, nor a tracking number for the shipment, I called the head office in Boca Raton, Florida. After being put on hold and listening to the most irritating classical muzak for several moments, I was directed to someone who sounded like they were taking my call in a bar. It was noisy, and I strained my ears to understand as the guy explained that they RAN OUT OF THE product I had ordered but were giving me the next package deal at a $300 discount.
Suffice it to say, that was my mistake numero deux. Why did I agree to that? Again, it was the temptation of such a sweet camera, with a 50 mm light-sensitive lens, tripod and carry bag for a ridiculously good deal. It was too good to believe. DDD also offered to pay for the expedited shipping costs, as I explained to them that I would be leaving the country in less than 10 days.
(more…)
by Miné Salkin | Jul 19, 2010 | news, technology, television
An equally concerned member of the Ninja Video community alerted and directed me to a new streaming site that offers full television shows and films in high quality.
It’s called Rea1ease, and its interface is very similar to the original Ninja Video, but doesn’t require the beta applet. I was unable to recognize any of the administrators but it’s conceivable by the design, interface and aesthetic that some of the old team is working on this.
Sure to cover any legal implications in the wake of Obama’s recent crackdown on online piracy, the disclaimer reads:
Re1ease.net only provides links to other sites on the Internet (DivX host sites, Zshare, megavideo.com, veoh.com and others.) We do not host or upload any video, films, or media files.
Therefore, re1ease.net is not responsible for the accuracy, compliance, copyright, legality, decency, or any other aspect of the content of other linked sites.
If you have any legal issues please contact the appropriate media file owners / host sites as we are unable to forward messages on your behalf.
That sounds good to me, and by writing about this and putting a link to the site exempts me in the same spirit. Happy streaming everybody!
by Miné Salkin | Jun 29, 2010 | news, technology
YouTube has developed and released a new video editor that allows users to easily cut and remix their videos in an easier, more steamlined way.
While it’s no Final Cut Pro, or even iMovie for that matter, the free video program is pretty sweet. You know that face that people give after their tutorial, when they’re turning their webcam off? That’s easily croppable with the scissor tool when a video clip is on the timeline. Not only that, but it offers up thousands of songs and audio from their AudioSwap library.
In my first short documentary, Remixing Culture, I took a quick look at the YouTube Mashup Helper that was developed in 2007. YouTube’s newest offering is way better. You can even make a mashup of all your previous videos as they show up under your files tab on the left screen.
Try it yourself! Be warned though: it’s very addictive.
