Yeah, it's the inner netting...

they invented to line swim trunks. It provides a comforting snugness

I had so many things to write about, but the world just got worse and worse and mostly what I’ve been doing to keep my head above water is work on music, and try and finish my computer science masters without putting a gun in my mouth. But hey, three weeks to go and I’m still here so “go team”.

Business first:

If you missed it I have an EP on Adam X’s Sonic Groove label vinyl/digital. Bloodthirst is a very Giallo Disco type techno track, there’s two slices of acid and some rave roughness that might have fit on Industrial Strength back in the day. I made it because making music is fun and I like doing it and have no intention to stop ever.

I will come back to this later because it is pertinent to the rest of my thoughts.

So, I think a lot of folk my age who have been in this world for a while struggle with their relevance to a scene or movement, and I’d be lying if it didn’t cross my mind once in a while. There are several paths to take, one is to mix it up musically, try and reinvent yourself, explore some other musical identity or ideas (which is what I try and do), the next is to become very political and while I am obviously not apolitical, I personally have trouble reconciling the idea of being anything other than a musician despite being the Duke of Woke-ingham Palace myself, obviously. The last thing you can do is be a complainer…

Please don’t misread this as a complaint about complainers, because it isn’t, it’s just an observation. You do you, baby. But it is also the variation I understand the least. I guess I don’t see the value in ranting about the current state of things, about how instagram has ruined (x) genre or DJ fees being too high or too low. Nor do I understand these rose tinted glasses of it once being great without ever asking yourself if it was, really?

If I try and distill my opinion down it is that: things change, some things are worse, something were worse. I started putting out records in the early 2000s, and even that way of doing things has completely changed. Did you know you used to be able to sell CD singles?!

Geoff Man Power in Newcastle is a good example of someone who put his energy into doing something about the things he found annoying, while using his clout and personality to use instagram’s annoying aspects to rail against it.

So, I don’t know, maybe if you don’t like something, do something about it or wander off? No one is forcing you to be a fucking disk jockey. Anyway this is leading somewhere…

The only thing I do get is the slow realisation that the even playing field the internet offered pansexual alcoholics such as myself has gone and what sealed it was this article about Chaotic Good Projects here.

I thoroughly recommend everybody read this because it is wild. But for the TL;DR crowd it essentially provides context on the company Chaotic Good Projects who are a digital marketing company who has cracked the code for overnight success. Now I notice that they have scrubbed their website a bit since that article went up. But if you wanted to know why all of a sudden everyone was talking about Geese, then this is why.

My cynicism radar went off about Geese because people all of a sudden started talking to me about them, people who know I only tend to like outsider art (I’d rather something be bad and unique than arguably good and derivative, but that’s just me) - but yes, turns out everyone was manipulated in some way without them knowing it. Which is amazing and terrifying. Now, you might like Geese and that’s great, I’m happy for you (I do not but I have my own music to make and don’t have time for a crusade against them) but the entire concept of viral music and this company has ruined me and my brainz.

You’ve probably seen these wild clowns of Canada:

My friend sent me their KEXP set, we laughed about Mr Blobby’s kids having bought a loop pedal and then I switched it off and went about my life.

Most of you didn’t. Since then I have seen Angine de Poitrine at least once a day mentioned somewhere and my cynical brain can’t help but think we are again victim to some deep algorithmic mind warp we are unaware of.

I genuinely hate feeling like this and I don’t know what to do about it other than get off the internet as much as possible.

So if you’re wondering where I’ve been, I’ve basically been trying to replace being on social media (it’s hard!) with watching movies (plug for my Letterboxd account).

It is easy to feel frustrated, when, like myself you only just figured out how to make the tools at your disposal work for you without feeling like a total piece of shit, only to realise that it has changed again. But I’m not going to be starting a podcast anytime soon and neither should you.

I’ve mentioned this to a few people in real life, and essentially, I think most if not all people need to take a look at themselves and work out if they are contributing to or using the culture they are involved with. Maybe that’s controversial to say? I don’t know.

Anyway, Boys Noize has been playing ‘Slig’ out apparently and it made it into some kind of playlist thing, so feel free to start saying now that you knew me before it was cool or whatever.

I guarantee I, nor you, were manipulated into saying or reading any of this.

Ok, see you in six months or something.