Well we know where we’re goin’
but we don’t know where we’ve been.
And we know what we’re knowing’
but we can’t say what we’ve seen.
And we’re not little children
and we know what we want.
And the future is certain
give us time to work it out.

And yes, it’s a different world. Not my usual one, as you would expect, but again, surprisingly easy to slide into, especially with such a fine program of panels, workshops and discussions, and more interesting breakfast and lunch discussions than you can shake a 4GB memory stick at.

The vibe is positively relaxed during the first morning, with many attendees catching up on aquaintances, sipping coffee and surreptuously checking out other people’s nametags, giving me a chance to check out a great panel on the Future (i.e post-YouTube) Of Video. Nice to see that the assembled bods attacked the copyright issue first-off, but the mentality still seems to follow the “if it’s successful, we’re sure something will be sorted out” line. Not sure where this leaves the 14-year-old with the copyright infringing animation soundtrack though.

The online video zone seems to be right on the edge of a turf-war, as competing teams start battling for good niches following the GooTube announcement. For me, naturally, JumpCut has the edge on the first batch, but there seems to be a fair amount of quality round two brainwaves that should ensure this will be the most innovative area of online media for a good while to come.

This slice of brainfood is immediately followed by the very charming Don Tapscott’s workshop on “The Net Generation”, which does a fine job of summarizing and enlarging on the coming generations (Tapscott’s def is roughly 14-29, the “Net Generation”) attitude towards the net. For me, this generation gap is neatly defined by the pro / anti MySpace line. So many first-gen webheads don’t get, or just plain don’t like MySpace, for whatever reasons - clunky back-end, geek snobbery etc… whereas many kids use it for almost exactly the same reasons. It wasn’t designed specifically for geeks or snobs, although it’s wonderful to see so many kids getting their first taste of hacking and coding through customising their pages. Whodathought?

This last point is something that is brought home in Tapscott’s research (slides here - definitely worth a look), in which he finds that 52% of N-Geners polled say they want to be able to customise the products that they consume and want to be able to develop relationships with suppliers in the same manner. Some large corps are already taking advantage of this more marketable side of remix culture, but it’s reassuring to see that the peeps polled clearly state that this freedom of choice is one of the most influencial factors on many of their online decisions, purchasing and otherwise. The remix ethos is now not only a buzz factor, it’s actually become ingrained in the decision-making process. “Does it come in Red?” has now been replaced with “How can I personalise it?”, “What are my options?”- In effect, “How can I remix it?”

Also great to hear Tapscott briefly echo one of my own thoughts about music disctribution during the Q & A. I always thought (with the benefit of just a little hindsight, natch) that it was a great shame that the connection speeds available during the time of the Napster Wars didn’t allow for easier direct streaming of good quality media (for a small subscription) - for me this would have been the smartest major-label response to their peer-to-peer problems at the time. All content, always available, all the time. Incorporate intelligent playlisting, a last.fm style community base and a Pandora-style recommendation system and no-one would ever need to illigally download the same content! (unless, ahem, say, they wanted to remix it?, ahem. But more on that one later…)

Okay, so you’d still want to get it to play on your iPod, or in your car, but once the shackles come off mobile devices (and they *will*, very soon), you’ll be able to stream content to any decent device. So why bother with owning the actual file?

As David Bowie quipped in 2002, “music will soon become like running water”. Turn the tap on. Have a drink. Have another one. No need to keep big buckets of the stuff around, just pay your water charges.

Okay, sure this doesn’t cover *all* the content (speaking as someone who only went on Napster in the first place to find the Beach Boys “Smile” sessions) but it’s a large chunk of it, and, lets face it, as time goes on, more and more music is being made available to stream for free from artists sites anyway (particularly savvy indie ones), so why use it just as an incentive to purchase DRM-ed downloads? Arse about face or what?

Unfortunately, now that most developed nations have deleveloped decent high-speed networks, the labels have already insisted on, invested in and converted to an online shop system, which is far easier for them to adapt to, as it mirrors the standard “record shop”. However, more and more industry people keep calling for the subscription model to be adopted as time goes on, so there’s some hope. Just please don’t call it a levy. Or a “Music Tax”.

(Jetlag interruption… fingers slipping off keys, although that might be the duty-free… ”EK in the USA” continues right after this…. zzz)

Would you like to come along, you can help me sing this song
and it’s all right, baby, it’s all right.
They can tell you what to do, but they’ll make a fool of you…

Everything is very quiet, Everyone has gone to sleep.

I’m wide awake on memories, These memories can’t wait.

Yup. Jetlag. Wide awake, drinking duty free bourbon… and it’s morning. Serious attempts to sleep (”Take the blue pill”) sadly failed on the flight back, so a pile of in-flight movies numbed my floating brain instead. Despite that, had a lovely chat with my seat neighbor, the American soprano, Marnie Breckenridge, who was on her way out to perform Leonard Bernstein’s “Candide” in Prague. It’s always fascinating discussing what we do with performers and musicians from different genres - hope you liked the CDs, Marnie!

There’s a party in my mind…And I hope it never stops

There’s a party up there all the time…They’re gonna party till they drop

Bootie LA was a dynamite experience - there was definitely a little apprehension in the air at first, as although Adrian, Deirdre and Paul V are into what we do, they had yet to hear the proof of the DJ pudding. Suffice to say I was a little nervous for likewise reasons, but a swift blast of a couple of new tunes during the soundcheck put all minds at rest. Feeling a little more confident, I chilled in the outside zone of the club (what is that called anyway, a smoking patio?), chatting to a few fine people, including Buck from The Mutaytor, who, once we’ve got the requisite Ableton chat out of the way, regales me with tales of jamming with Mickey Hart and Baaba Maal. I’d advise you to check their site, especially if you’re not from the US, as you won’t have seen nada like this before - and admittedly neither as yet have I, as we were both sadly playing on the same night in SF! Next time, next time… And muchos good luck with getting the ‘taytors over to Europe soon, Buck…

Still, time flies, and it’s soon time to cross all extremities and patch in. It’s a little freaky at first, but the crowd are grinning and shimmying, and soon the couple of aces up my sleeve actually *feel* like aces. The set zooms by, highlighted by one wonderful moment when I could see several people right in front of me almost doubled-up laughing their asses off yet dancing madly at the same time (anyone at the shows can hazard a fairly accurate guess to which tune *that* was), and then suddenly I’m back in the fresh air breathing releif and nicotine as the hosts wrap the night up. A few after-beer beers and then I’m a straight to bed good boy for the flight to SF the next day.

Take a walk through the land of shadows, Take a walk through the peaceful meadows

Try not to look so disappointed, It isn’t what you hoped for, is it?

Los Angeles, I have to say, I found very, very disorientating, as I hinted before. To the small-land mentality of an Englishman, LA just does not compute. The sprawl suggests that it must be tough for peeps to keep new community culture locked in place amongst it all, and it’s mighty tough to get a quick reading through the streetlife, as everyone is in a damn car most of the time! But I was reassured by many folks that it’s worthwhile, so looking forward to going back and digging a little deeper, for sure.

San Francisco, on the other hand, has much that immediately resonates with the English (and more to the point, Brighton-toned) psyche. The Speakers Corner meets Leicester Square chaos that lives at the base of Powell Street felt rather reassuring, as I lugged my case past the militant vegetarians, street performers, panhandlers and god-botherers towards The Palace Hotel for the Web 2.0 conference.

I’m stuck here in this seat… I might not stand up…

And you may find yourself, living in a shotgun shack…

Well I don’t know if I could really call the Comfort Inn on West Sunset a shotgun shack. Wouldn’t really be fair, although a little bit of me wishes it was, so I could take one of them there shotguns and force someone to fix their poorly internet connection NOW so I can find out where the hell I am…

And you may find yourself, in another part of the world…

Yup. LA. Looks like two totally different places, depending on whether you’re looking from the air, or the carpark of the aforementioned Comfort Inn. I know which one I prefer.

Even in the outskirts, there are concerns here that have signs that are larger than their actual premises. And they rotate. I figure one day everyone is going to wake up here to find they’ve been completely hemmed in by advertising overnight, and can no longer get out of their houses. But there will be no fighting back, merely acceptance of another occupational hazard of LA life.

And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile…

Ah. No. LA without internet is not easy. LA without a car, a map, or internet is just one more thing to shock and amaze natives and fellow travellers. It’s a lot of fun, kinda like pinball, but with pit stops. It’s a good test of faith too. Travel long enough on a bus, anywhere, and you will eventually go past a Virgin record store, a cafe with internet access, or even the Remix Hotel LA. You just have to be patient. And listen carefully to the announcements.

And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife…

Hmm. There are some beautiful houses here. And some beautiful wives. But I sadly don’t have time to find myself within them.

And you may ask yourself, well, how did I get here?

Only if I was on a philiosophical tip following a fair dose of quality malt. I’m more interested in why I’m here, which is to DJ at Bootie LA. And have a damn fine time doing it, playing some crazy new tracks, getting people to dance and smile and hopefully making the acquaintance of some good people along the way.

Actually, maybe this has already happened.

Maybe then I’ll get to travel up to San Francisco, attend the Web 2.0 Conference, have a public discussion with the Chairman of EMI and then play a couple more shows, maybe one for the CC folks, and another Bootie?

Maybe this is yet to come. The sun is coming up.

Same as it ever was, same as it ever was…

Rumours abound that we will be playing a DJ set within Second Life as part of the launch party for Wired magazine’s new SL office this coming Saturday (4-7pm PST)…

Are the rumours true? Well, you’ll just have to teleport in and find out!

Yes, that’s right - a new look for the blog, and a new name! May “Pot Kettle Black” rest in peace, as we accelerate into the “Hectic City”.

(OK Well maybe it’s not such a new look, but the red is different! And it’s Word Press!)

Couple of quick new bits and pieces to pass on to you - first off happy to announced that our Eric’s been invited to speak at the O’Reilly Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco! More news on this one as we get it…

Second up, we’ve put together an exclusive extended version of the 24 Hours track “Careless Or Dead” (yes, that one…) for the lovely Adrian & The Mysterious D to play out for the smoochers at the wonderful Bootie SF. They seem pretty pleased with it and have stuck it in their Top 10 for the month - if you want to hear it you can find the download link half way down their frontpage.

Hmm. Bootie in San Francisco… Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco… Are you thinking what we’re thinking?

We’re delighted to announce that we’ve been asked to participate in the amazing, Creative-Commons licenced movie project A Swarm Of Angels as Soundtrack Producers.

ASOA’s own site sums it up best:

“A Swarm of Angels reinvents the Hollywood model of filmmaking to create cult cinema for the Internet era. It’s all about making an artistic statement, making something you haven’t seen before.Why are we doing this? Because we are tired of films that are made simply to please film executives, sell popcorn, or tie-in with fastfood licensing deals.

To do it we need your help.”

And need your help they (and indeed, we), do. As summarised by advisor Cory Doctorow on Boing Boing:

“The Swarm of Angels project will produce a £1,000,000 picture funded by 50,000 “angels” who each donate £25 and participate in script-doctoring, pre- and post-production, and promotion for the film. The Angels are being invited in batches — first 100, now 1,000, next 5,000, 25,000 and 50,000. The 1,000 Swarm is still open, but filling up fast…”

We think this is an amazing idea and an incredible opportunity, to put it mildly.

The project is being masterminded by Matt Hanson, founder of One Dot Zero, filmmaker and author. Already on board is Grant Gee (director of the Radiohead documentary “Meeting People Is Easy”, all-round music video genius and most recently Director Of Photography on the soon-come documentary about Scott Walker “30 Century Man”), and alongside Cory Doctorow as advisors are Tommy Pallotta (Producer of “Waking Life” and the much anticipated “A Scanner Darkly” ) and Warren Ellis (comic writer, graphic artist and creator of “Transmetropolitan” and “Global Frequency”). More team members will be announced as the project develops.

We think A Swarm Of Angels is a giant step towards a forward-thinking alternative system of movie production, and a mighty opportunity to show the combinable, combustible power of remix culture. And you can quote us on that.

If this is something that tickles your synapses, come along for the ride, it’s going to be a good one :)

We’ll see you there.

While doing a little digging around the K-referencing sections of the web, I found a couple of sweet things worth mentioning.

First off is this simple but very effective video combining one of the tracks from “Yoshimi Battles The Hip-Hop Robots” with some bizarre old newsreel footage from the Internet Archive. The end result had me chucking into my coffee this morning. Nice one, Shpilkis.

Second off was spotting that we’d been noted on Wiley Wiggins’ blog “News Of The Dead”. Wiley’s voice pops up in a few places on “24 Hours”, so we’re chuffed as punch to see the mention. Hope you like what we’ve done to you, WW :)

Finally we have to extend thanks to our Wikipedia-writing fans, who have extended our entry to incorporate info about “24 Hours” - If anyone feels like adding to the list, go for it - it’s always great to find out what we’ve been up to…

Yup, home again. Head in pieces, but body mostly intact. (hehe…)

Must first extend large warm-hearted thanks to The Birthday Party and On The Piste for working their asses off for the amazing week of frolics that was Trans Alpine XS.

A blur of snow and insanity from the get go, everyone involved rocked hard from start to finish, allowing us to play some great sets (including one, claimed by Jim All Time Top 100 to be our best ever, although you’ve probably sobered up and changed your mind now, Jim ;), along the way making some excellent friends. Thanks and greetings to the Tramp! boys, the It’s Bigger Than boys, the inspirational JD Twitch, The very wonderful Howard Marks (room-mate and a half for most of the week), the equally wonderful Clint Boon (and better half, hi Charlie!, room-mates for the last day), Martin Brew, Rob Bright, Laurie Laptop, Sean Smith… sure there’s more, but our brains are on a go-slow as the bodies digest the full English breakfast that is the traditional return-home meal for most Brits abroad.

So, back to reality with a bump to find that we’re out of bandwidth again, but there are new, working and better than ever torrents up, which should please most of you. The rest should look to your peers, and your peer-to-peers, or check the comments in the previous posts.

Also while we were away, found out about a couple of veeeeery interesting things, first the new DJ Shadow single, which will certainly raise some eyebrows, but jaws remain on the floor at the news that the multitrack parts for two of the tracks from David Byrne & Brian Eno’s seminal (i.e. as essential to your life as semen) album “My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts” are to be made available for free under a CC licence. Gentlemen, my hat, and other easily-removable pieces of clothing, come off to you! I’ll save the rest for when you make the full album available (hinty fucking hint). The future lies this way, folks - record companies looking for back catalogue interest please take note.

Quick thank you for all the feedback and kind words for “24H” - we’re mightly chuffed!!!

However, all this attention, and the lack of a kicking torrent tracker have weighed heavy on the site bandwidth, so things may be stop and start over the next couple of days. If so, we apologise.

If anyone can offer a mirror to the album tracks, as always, we’d be eternally grateful. If you can, please post a link in the comments of this post.

Zips, torrents, ID3 tags and a cherry on the top will all arrive at the weekend. You can wait a few days, can’t you???

;-)