6 posts from January 2009

It's quite a difficult task to choose a track from one of my favourite artists, Zentriert Ins Antlitz, to share with you within the confines of a Monday Music post.  Okay, so it's not quite as difficult as single-handedly compiling an illustrated compendium of the world's many million insect species or painting a mural on the Great Wall of China using only a toothbrush and a standard household ladder, so I must use the phrase "difficult task" advisedly and without too much hyperbole.  But, anyway, they have released some great tracks so it's a "difficult task" to choose one to share.

That said, here's the thumping final track - "Reprise" - from Zentriert Ins Antlitz's "Diametral" album, released in 2007:

http://www.jamendo.com/en/?m=player&url=album%2F6961%2F11

The track should play automatically. If not, go to http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/6961, click the "play" button next to the "Reprise" track.  In either case, sit back, turn up the volume, and open your ears to the fullest extent possible in order to achieve maximum enjoyment... and wait about nine and a half minutes before proceeding with the rest of your life.

You can download the entire album from Jamendo for free using the second of those links.

I would heartily recommend that you check out their other tracks if you in the least bit like this track.  It's all free (aside from their current album), and is available in a multitude of formats to suit all tastes, and did I mention that it's free?

Their site:  http://www.zentriertinsantlitz.de

Enjoy! :)

From a forum I sometimes frequent...

Some background:  original poster (OP) has a problem with her printer not printing correctly:

OP:  I have to get some photo's printed for the morning - done two ok but then it froze for a bit and now it prints out half normal but the other half kind of...........red/pink.
Anybody know y is? and what I can do??

[so far so good...seems a fairly reasonable request for assistance]

"Helpful" Respondent:  re align printer

[Oh. Okay.  Re align printer.  Sorry, what was that again?  Re align printer?]

OP:  Thanks, em.....how I do that?

[Okay, I'm glad it wasn't just me who was confused at this point.  And we were doing so well, to boot!   Here I'm imagining that the OP is thinking about how to rearrange their workspace so that the sides of the printer are in parallel with the edges of the desk.  But the "em..." perhaps indicates a certain amount of skepticism on the part of the OP that a) the response was meaningful, b) that it was accurate and c) that she really should have said "Thanks" at all.  And to be honest, part of me is also wondering if I missed a "Feng Shui For Printers" book at some point.]

"Helpful" Respondent:  printer configuration

[Yes!  A specific, valuable and useful pointer there... phew!  But, hang on a paper-jamming moment, what on earth does that mean - printer configuration? - and do I need to put all the stuff back on the desk that I moved in order to re-align my printer?  Or has moving the printer on the desk "configured" it?]

OP:  Sorry, where do I go for that hun?

[Don't be sorry.  Really.  There's no need, at all.  Where indeed...!?]

Isn't the internet grand?
 
A place where an anonymous soul can reach out their hand and touch the life of another with a few keyboard taps and mouse clicks. 
Where someone can offer their generous help and assistance in as few words and syllables as possible.
Where that someone can walk away proud of the fact they they were able to really, really help someone in their time of need. 
Where another person is left scratching their head and wondering if they could colour in the rest of the photos using some of their children's felt tip pens.

Today is a special day.  It's not only Martin Luther King Day in the United States and it's the eve of the day of the inauguration of their next president, but it is also, according to researchers here in the UK, the most depressing day of the year.  I suppose it's around now that the buzz of Christmas and New Year has worn off, work commitments are brought home and the postman brings the next round of bills.  I bet the weather is involved somewhere along the line too.  So, it's not meant to be the greatest of days, but let's not succumb to it.  Gird up your loins.  Stiffen that upper lip.  Pull up your socks.  Brace yourself.  Grasp the nettle with both hands.  And if you're still able to do so, get your head down and your nose to the grindstone.  We'll get through it.  Or, we won't. 

Either way, here's a wonderful track which isn't at all depressing, but has an interesting title. 
This should send us on our way either to oblivion or to an altogether more desirable destination in good stead and with fine music in our ears.

The track is from perhaps Switzerland's finest export, Stendeck, although Toblerone might come a close second.  I've featured Stendeck previously on Monday Music so, as you might gather, I'm a bit of a fan... I've not featured Toblerone in any previous Monday Music posts.  But I don't rule it out.

The Woman Who Burnt On Her Bed

Lincoln Cathedral

It's not easy taking photos when a biting wind is making your extremities burn with coldness and causing you to shiver and shake uncontrollably.  Sub-zero temperatures, grey skies and a wind so sharp it takes your breath away are not ideal conditions for getting a good shot.  The cold at Lincoln Cathedral last weekend was more like taking a shot than getting one.  But, get some shots I did.  Incidentally, the obscuring of the cathedral by the lamp on the corner was deliberate... not some photographc aberration! ;)

There's something awesome (in the proper sense of the word) about cathedrals.  It's partly their size, of course, and the devotion both religious and constructional that they signify, naturally.  But, above and beyond that they have a certain atmosphere and feel that other large buildings simply don't have.  It doesn't seem to matter what denomination the cathedral represents.  What city it is located in.  Or even when it was built.  There's just something about a cathedral that inspires awe and makes them a fascinating place.

Lincoln Cathedral

Anyway, a small sample of the photos that I took.  They are admittedly of variable quality... I'm still having a hard time with the Panasonic FZ8 and low-light / indoor situations... as well as the cold-temperature situations mentioned!

Almost perfectly positioned on a Monday and rather aptly featuring the subject of music, I bring you another Monday Music post.

This week's track is from Subheim. The rather enigmatically-titled "Ybe 76" from their 2008 album "Approach".

http://www.last.fm/music/Subheim/_/Ybe+76?autostart

You can't fault a track that starts off with a delicate piano line and swirling reverberated noise and then develops into a moody, glitchy, enveloping and atmospheric, yet disarmingly simple, piece like this.  Perfect for a cold and grey Monday here in the UK.

Have a good week!

A post which is a little in advance, since no doubt tomorrow will be rather hectic. It's my first day back at work after the festive break, so I'm expecting quite a busy schedule.  I'm not ready for it, I admit it.  It hasn't helped that I was "out of action" for over a week with a virus generously given to me by my family.  They've all had it - a nasty combination of sinus, chest, coughing and headache symptoms - and so it was entirely predictable that I would get it too.  I think l've actually dealt with it reasonably well, considering.  A combination diet of paracetamols and ibuprofen seemed to do the trick.  But, it did put a big dent in my plans for having both a productive and relaxing break.  However, the first day back at work will come and I'll be ready for it.  Whether I like it or not.  And whether or not I like it is, of course, a moot point anyway.

And so, the first Monday Music of 2009.

Geomatic's "Beyond The Beginning" from their album "Blue Beam" - it opens up with a slightly mysterious air, and then embracing nice string arrangments and strange reverberated vocoded parts.  And whilst the song doesn't develop into anything per se, the journey to nowhere is enjoyable all the same.

http://www.last.fm/music/Geomatic/_/Beyond+The+Beginning?autostart

I hope 2009 brings you everything that you wish for... and a little bit more. And if you are returning to work today, I hope you acclimatise successfully and make it through that first difficult week in one piece.