May 2007

Music recommendation: 8mm – Songs to Love & Die By

I hate seeing good bands not doing well. I’ve been listening to 8mm for ages now, I recently noticed their album was out so went to search on Kelkoo UK only to find Amazon UK were the only company stocking it in this country. So here’ my little bit to promote 8mm. They are a 3-piece trip-hop band, similar to Lamb, (one of my favourite bands) from the USA. So if that’s to your liking then have a look at their MySpace page here:
http://www.myspace.com/8mm

They also have an official remix page here that has a few remixes of their song, Stunning:
http://www.myspace.com/8mmremixed

They also have a YouTube site at:
http://www.youtube.com/8mmvideos

Check out the video for ‘Stunning’, all recorded on mobile phone. Don’t forget to look at their official band site at:
http://www.8mmaudio.com/

And you must buy their album.

Interesting link: The First Post

I’m starting to really like this site. It’s called The First Post. It’s basically an online news site. Very well written (though the sports articles appear to be from offline papers, well they did on Sunday) and nice big photos (which makes a change to the stupidly small thumbnail size pics you normally get). You can subscribe to several regular e-mail subscriptions and RSS feeds, which seem to come at you at about 9:45AM (in the UK anyway ). I particular like the Arts section and their roundup of all the news for the week that is posted every Sunday.

The main site is:
http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/

There is a news in pictures section here:
http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/index.php?storyID=1513

And a picture of the day section here (with a link to the archives):
http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/index.php?storyID=6934

Music reviews are here:
http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/index.php?menuID=4&subID=1452

Plus a good round-up of the Sunday papers is here, erm, every Sunday :
http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/index.php?menuID=0&subID=7

You can find all these links easily from the main site and there is even a photography page here.

First movie recommendations

As I’m a big movie fan I thought I would add a few posts every so often on my recommended movies to watch. So have a looksee for some of these if you can:

Stay

Ryan Gosling, who’s quickly becoming one of my favourite actors at the moment, stars with Ewan McGregor in this near-death experience film with a twist.

The Departed

 

Yep a big movie and Oscar winning too (which I doubt you’ll see much of on this blog) but it’s great to see it’s actually a great movie! I liked this… a lot. Great story, excellent acting. Has to be seen.

Deja Vu

 

Denzel Washington with Halle Berry look-a-like, Paula Patton, in a kind of sci-fi/find-the-bad-guy movie. Interesting and a little different.

Blood Diamond

 

Something strange is happening, two movies in my list with Leonardo DiCaprio in them? Hmmm. Anyway, really good movie about ‘blood diamonds’ strangely, and the blood that was (is) spilt in Africa for them.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose

 

A little older than the rest but I thought it needed a mention, based on a true story allegedly. Great acting from Jennifer Carpenter as Emily who becomes ‘possessed’.

Crash

 

Another that’s a few years old, but needs recommending here, people need to see this movie! Very thought-provoking with excellent performances al-round.

Music recommendation: Maps – We Can Create

I cannot remember how I found this artist, but I’m really happy I did. Their new album is brilliant and is well worth a listen. They are said to sound like Ulrich Schnauss and Band of Horses and are classed are a indie-electronic band. For a preview of their sound check their MySpace page:
http://www.myspace.com/mapsmusic

AllMusic have this to say about him:

Originally going under the name Short Break Operator, Maps is essentially Northampton U.K. sound sculptor James Chapman, who combines indie electronic with atmospheric, sleepy rock that owes as much to Spiritualized and My Bloody Valentine as it does to Four Tet and Boards of Canada. Chapman has released a few EPs, including Start Something via Last Space Recordings in 2006, and is assisted by a full band when playing live. Released by Mute in mid-2007, Maps’ debut full-length album, We Can Create, was co-produced by Valgeir Sigurosson (Björk) and mixed by Ken Thomas (Sigur Rós). Mute released the album in the U.S. in summer 2007.

If it all sounds good to you, give their album a go:

First music recommendations

Another new category, this blogging is becoming addictive.

I thought I’d post some CDs I’ve bought recently. I just love music and in the last year or two I’ve started digging a bit further to unearth some lesser-known artists and bands (which you usual find are better than the drivel that you head in the charts), so you may or may not have heard of these. I rarely buy an album as most are just pants, when I buy a CD it’s becuase I love 90% or more of the tracks on it, liking 6 out of 10 just isn’t enough for me. So recent purchases are (in no particular order): -

Reindeer Section – Son of Evil Reindeer

 

This is what Snow Patrol’s lead singer did before, a little softer/slower

Freelance Hellraiser – Waiting For Clearance

 

This is fantastic, Gary Lightbody from Snow Patrol supplies vocals for a few songs (he gets about, doesn’t he). “We Don’t Belong” is currently out on single. It’s a sort of dance number. This was in my CD player for a very, very long time, it’s place was taken by an equally brilliant (if not better) album…

Union of Knives – Violence & Birdsongs

 

Alternative dancey record? “Operated on” and “I Decline” were singles last year and “Evil Has Never” is their latest.

Bat for Lashes – Fur and Gold

 

I heard one of her songs on the radio, I couldn’t find anything else about her music, so thought the one song (”Bat’s Mouth”), was so good I bought the album and luckily the album turned out to be great!

Mint Royale – See You in the Morning

 

A couple of years old now but is really good, sort of dancey; big-beat/electronica album.

Hybrid – I Choose Noise

Hybrid are perhaps the best known out of this bunch, they are one of my favourite bands, I heard this album and wasn’t too impressed (compared to their previous records) but it has grown on me a lot.

Also, I bought this album a week or so go: -

Feist – The Reminder

 

Canadian born singer-songwriter (whatever that means), I’d recommend at least a listen to this record. No, she’s not another Alanis Morissette and her full name is Leslie Feist.

Fun link: Viral Video Chart

When you work in a desk job like me you appreciate some funny clips to keep you going during the day, have a look at this chart (mainly YouTube videos):

http://www.viralvideochart.com/

Interesting link: Unusual articles on Wikipedia

Short and sweet this one. One of my favourite sites on the web is Wikipedia – this its perhaps a little inaccurate here and there but it’s still simply the best encyclopedia you can find on the Internet. One interesting page is this page of unusual articles:

“This page is for Wikipedians to list articles that seem a bit unusual. These articles are valuable contributions to the encyclopedia, but are a bit odd, whimsical, or something you wouldn’t expect to find in Encyclopædia Britannica.”

And here’s the link to the articles themselves:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unusual_articles

Useful link: MySupermarket

In the first (of many I would say) of my quick useful links articles, comes MySupermarket:

http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/

It’s basically a price comparison site for supermarket stores in the UK. All the main guys are there (Tesco, ASDA, Ocado and Sainsburys). You start by picking one supermarket, e..g Tesco, and it then gives you the option to import your favourites (if you already use online shopping with them). From here you can either add items from your favourites list or search and add things for yourself. While you’re picking what you want MySupermarket gives you an overall comparison of price from the other 3 supermarkets and you can see if you could get the same basket full of groceries for cheaper from someone else. When you’re done and go view your basket it then gives you cheaper as well as ‘healthy’ alternatives. Swapping is dead simple then you just select to transfer your shopping basket to your supermarket’s web site, login with them and carry on as normal until you’ve made your purchase. It couldn’t be easier unless it picked the items for you.

I’ve ditched using Tesco and now order via MySupermarket, it’s just so handy. OK, other supermarkets (well ASDA) are going to be cheaper but what I like the most is the alternatives you are given. You don’t get that from the Tesco web site.

Mind-altering media

Another good article from New Scientist was ‘Mind-altering media’.  This is something that touches me personally as I’ve worked in the computer games industry. Myself, I find it very hard to believe that players and viewers of violent videogames and movies make for violent people. I think if you’re violent it will come up regardless of experiencing modern media. What I don’t like to see is violent games sold to underage children, someone somewhere needs to take responsibility for misselling these games. You can’t let a 12 year old play an 18 certificate game! A child will imitate, far more than an adult, what they experience, if they interact with a violent game then they are more likely to copycat the experience in real-life.

The article is mainly inconclusive, the one thing it seems to conclude is the more exposure to modern media the greater the change in our minds, especially at a younger age. It makes us smarter and better at some tasks, for example, more complex pre-planning and problem solving is required with the increasing complexity of media presentations and games and their multiple plots and sophisticated layers, but makes us dumber and worse at others. It also says that we can’t get away from the fact that on screen violence fosters off-screen violence. One media it doesn’t mention is music. Music has been said to alter our minds too (for good and for bad) but this, as well as art, are not within this article, shame:

Games:

Regular computer gamers have improved visual attention and can take in more information. They are better able to pay attention to things further apart or rapidly changing and can switch attention more quickly. They have a reduced brain response to, suggesting people begin to see such imagery as more normal. And young people are more emotional aroused when playing violent videogames (though it doesn’t say what emotion, good or bad). Children learn best by demonstration and then imitation, with rewards for getting things right. By way of interaction this is exactly what video games do.

TV:

People are more educated from watching TV programmes, yes even soap operas teach us things (!). A large study confirms previous small studies that high levels of TV viewing when young may contribute to elevated levels of verbal and physical aggression, difficulties with sleep, obesity and long-term risk for obesity-related health problems from a lack of physical exercise and attention and learning difficulties. Basically the more TV watched as a child the more aggressive acts committed as an adult.

Internet:

The Internet amplifies are natural personality traits. The extroverts get even more social and introverts more isolated but it is hard to assess the effect of the Internet on us as it is so varied. We might become more isolated socially but then become more open within online forums.

You are who you are largely because of the way the brain cells wire up in response to the environment and the things you do. If you change the wiring you will change how we think. Young, developing brains are affected the most. But there is no real way to prove anything. The ideal experiment would be to divide a large number of children into groups, expose the different groups to different types or varying amounts of TV or computer games for several years while keeping all other experiences identical, and then follow their progress in life. This will never be possible or, more importantly, ethical.

The article can be found here, again subscribers can view the whole article.

How to make better decisions

Another interesting article from New Scientist, ‘How to make better decisions’. It’s a top ten list and I’ve written some highlights from article below:

1. Don’t fear the consequences

Almost every decision we make entails predicting the future, we tend to overestimate the impact of decision outcomes when in fact decisions are less intense and briefer than most people imagine. People think a loss will hurt more than a corresponding gain but this is not always true. Try to find someone who has made the same decision or choice and see how they felt. Don’t always play it safe, the worst might not happen – and if it does you have the psychological resilience to cope.

2. Go with your gut instincts

It stands to reason that the extra information can help you make well-informed decisions, at the same time information overload can be a problem. If the choice you face is highly emotive, your instincts may not serve you well. Basically I think its saying here that too much information, too many choices and too much emotion will cloud your judgement so go with your gut instincts in such situations.

3. Consider your emotions

Our brains store emotional memories of past choices, which we use to inform present decisions but trying to make decisions under the influence of an emotion can seriously affect the outcome, e.g. don’t make a decision when angry. Anger can make us impetuous, selfish and risk-prone. One emotion that seems to help, though, is sadness, you tend to take the time to consider the various alternatives on offer, and end up making the best choices. In relation, many studies show that depressed people have the most realistic take on the world. So it’s not all good being happy.

4. Play the devil’s advocate

It is wrong to already have a favoured option that we want to justify instead or making a decision by rationally weighing up the alternatives. Make a good decision, don’t latch on to facts and figures that support the option your already suspect is the best, actively search for evidence that could prove you wrong, however painful that may be.

5. Keep your eye on the ball

With little to go on, we seem more prone to latch onto irrelevancies and let them sway our judgement, e.g. just because an item in a shop says reduced doesn’t mean to say it’s a good deal.

6. Don’t cry over spilt milk

The more we invest in something the more commitment we feel towards it. Always remind yourself the past is the past and what’s spent is spent, stop throwing good money after bad.

7. Look at it another way

I like this one. The choices we make are irrationally coloured by the way the alternatives are presented. There is a stronger bias towards options that involve gains and vice versa. Again this is down to emotion affecting your decision. Look at your options from more than one angle.

8. Beware social pressure

Never assume the group know best. If you find everyone agreeing, play the contrarian. Beware of situations in which you feel little individual responsibility – that is when you are most likely to make irresponsible choices.

9. Limit your options

Touched on above. Too many options can mean making the wrong decision or even doing nothing al all. More choice makes greater demands on your information-processing skills. You are more likely to make a mistake from a greater range of choice. If you’re out to just find ‘good enough’, a lot of the pressure is off and the task of choosing something in the sea of limitless choice becomes manageable. Again ask someone who’s made the same choice and see how they felt.

10. Have someone else choose

Sometimes relinquishing control of decision making can be more satisfying than making the decision yourself.

The article can be found here. To read the full article you need to be a subscriber.