Ʌ L T Ʌ I R

~Blog

A blog... 'cause why not ??

THE LIST OF BLOG POSTS

[13/08/21] Why I started this site

[28/12/21] A Quick Update

[14/03/22] The IDM Naming Conundrum

[15/04/22] Opening Tracks

[14/04/22] Cyberpunk- fiction or real ??

[29/08/22] Embracing The Glitch

Embracing The Glitch

[29/08/22]

A glitch is a fault caused in electronic devices that prevents them from performing adequately in their respective functions. These are considered flaws. Errors. Imperfections that must be dealt with immediately.

In one of my previous posts, I touch upon Glitch music- a genre created using circuit bending and incorporating other faults like analog distortion, hardware noise, and electric hum. Four Tet and Autechre are some of my favorite musicians in this space.

Glitch art is a form of digital artwork wherein digital images are deliberately corrupted or "glitched" via methods like compression, datamoshing, databending, and of course our favorite- circuit bending. This subreddit shows many beautiful examples and this tutorial gives a basic idea of how to data bend. I have been working on a few pieces of glitch art and I hope to include them on the site in the near future. Originally this post was solely gonna focus on my love for glitch art but it evolved to include my love for all glitched things in general.

I feel there is beauty in imperfection and there is no such thing as "perfection". The only thing perfect in this world is the amount of imperfection in it- there are imperfections in all of us, maybe we ourselves are glitches in this world. Artists and musicians have turned these glitches or so-called imperfections into beautiful works of art and maybe like them, we too should stop trying to attain perfection and just... embrace the glitch.

Cyberpunk- fiction or real ??

[14/06/22]

The cyberpunk genre frequently depicts elements such as a dystopian world, technological advancement, and the dynamic between man and machine. Works such as Psycho-pass and Person of Interest depict a constantly monitored world. Although the former two are just works of fiction, the lines between the world depicted and reality are getting blurred by the minute.

We face threats from big tech companies whose services we use or the very government that claims to "protect" us. Companies part of the big five [Meta; Google; Amazon; Microsoft, and Apple] don't care about us, they care about our data. That's all we are to them. Data. Zeroes and Ones. They care about exploiting us in any way they can, be it for ads or other forms of surveillance capitalism. Smaller companies like Discord and the like are no better.

Excluding the government or the megacorps, the greatest threat to society is itself. I've never thought of phones as a proper replacement for a computer, admittedly they are convenient to use. Phones are the perfect tool for one to lose their privacy, a clever system designed to keep us and lock us in the palms of megacorps. Society's tilt towards phones and social media just baffles me- are they totally oblivious to all that is going on in the apps they use or is it that they just don't care ??

There's no place online where one is truly safe from watchful eyes- be it the government or the megacorps... People welcome their fate with open arms- content with living in this dystopian world that was once fictional.

Opening Tracks

[15/04/21]

I feel the importance of opening tracks is often overlooked by people but in fact, they can prove to be most important in setting up the tone, introducing the production, vocals, or lyrics. In my reviews [especially in the one released today] I spend some time talking about opening tracks as I feel they can make a difference to the listener's experience by exciting them or making them look forward to subsequent tracks. I didn't bother much about it at first, but after listening to albums like Blackstar, Yeezus and Astroworld have proved this to me.

The IDM Naming Conundrum

[14/03/22]

IDM- Intelligent Dance Music is an electronic genre combining glitch, hip-hop, and forms of techno. The genre was first associated with the artists signed to Warp Records at that time such as Aphex Twin, Autechre, and Boards of Canada. Modern examples of artists in this genre include Four Tet and Flying Lotus.

The aforementioned artists are some of my all-time favorites, so what is the problem ?? The name given to this genre is purely nonsensical. This type of music isn't meant for dancing and the 'intelligent' part of the name is just a catch-all marketing term.

There is also debate whether 'IDM' as such can be considered a genre in its own right, I feel that is debatable. As for the name- I stopped using the term and I just simply refer to it as 'glitch' and I hope the name is soon abolished...

A Quick Update

[28/12/21]

Since it's almost the end of the year I thought I would post an update on the state of this sit e [things are not looking good]. So it's been a while since I last posted here, my last blog post was on the 13th of August and the last review was on 20th October. I promised a minimum of 2 posts/reviews per month... I wish I could give a better reason but it's just less commitment on my part. Truth be told: I don't really know why I started a blog 'cause I don't really have strong opinions and secondly, I stupidly thought reviewing my favorite stuff would be a lot easier [turns out I just suck at writing]. I have thought about these things for some time and have some plans.

I don't know if I can follow the monthly schedule I previously set, but I can try and post more often. I have a huge list of reviews I wanna do, I also have some opinions which I thought I'll put in the blog. I have one review that's already ready to go, but I have delayed it for next month for reasons, and I started working on another one as well. Basically, I have a plan of stuff I wanna review and blog about. Along with some reviews and posts, I also have a plan to change some stuff in this site.

As I mentioned below, my HTML isn't that great at all, but I am quite happy with the design of the site (excluding some tiny flaws). The original plan was to have one page for blog posts and reviews, but I realized it'd be messy, I am looking at a way I can achieve that easily. I've been looking at various static site generators and other methods to help me out. Apart from that, I plan on fixing some flaws here and there. And lastly, I have various ideas to expand this site, make it more than a blog/review site, which I will share at a later date [hopefully].

Why I started this site

[13/08/21]

To answer the above question: "well why not ??" is what I thought to myself before I started this site. I consider myself to be a pretty jobless dude with a lot of free time in hand so why not try something new and learn something as well.

But what would my website contain ?? I figured I could share some of my opinions here, so the website acts like a sort of extension to my thoughts. I also watch and listen to a lot of movies and music, so I could also share my opinion on those as well. Bingo! So now I have an idea, how do I execute it ??

Originally I didn't think I was capable of doing a feat quite like this, at the time my HTML skills were down to zero [not much has changed tbh]. But once I started work, I managed to learn various things here and there. I had started work in April of this year but unfortunately, my computer decided to break- effectively erasing my work [clumsy with backups] and putting me back in square 1. Also I had to conveniently go on vacation which caused a delay in starting work on this site.

Fast-forward to the last week of July, I started work again and finally finished. In fact, the site was supposed to go online last week, but then I thought how often does one have the opportunity to have their site online on Friday the 13th lmao. So here we are now and I couldn't be happier, I hope to include 2-3 posts/reviews a month [never been one for promises lol].