Gil Scott-Heron, musician and poet, has released his first LP in 14 years today on XL records. After releasing two seminal LPs in the 70s, he spent a long time in obscurity (and prison). Scott-Heron influenced a generation of hip-hop artists thorough his music, his proto-rap style poetry and his political and civil rights activism, with songs like “The Revolution will not be Televised”, “The Bottle”, “Home Is Where The Hatred Is” and “Johannesberg”.

Here is a statement from the man himself about his new LP:

There is a proper procedure for taking advantage of any investment.

Music, for example. Buying a CD is an investment.
To get the maximum you must:

LISTEN TO IT FOR THE FIRST TIME UNDER OPTIMUM CONDITIONS.

Not in your car or on a portable player through a headset.
Take it home.
Get rid of all distractions, (even him or her).
Turn off your cell phone.
Turn off everything that rings or beeps or rattles or whistles.
Make yourself comfortable.
Play your CD.
LISTEN all the way through.
Think about what you got.
Think about who would appreciate this investment.
Decide if there is someone to share this with.
Turn it on again.
Enjoy Yourself.

Gil Scott-Heron

Thursday evening saw the German premiere of POWEr by the Canadian duo Artificiel. The performance was held at KHW in cooperation with CTM.10. The audio-visual life show has been developed on commission for the 10^th anniversary of Mutek festival in 2009. Assistance for users of pacemakers or people with epileptic tendencies is not suitable.

In the middle of the stage a black framed, rectangular on end screen, on its right a machine with metallic plate, completely on the right hand, almost on the edge of view, the artists and before that a seated audience.
The machine is an audio-modulated Tesla coil used as an instrument. Electrical arcs are life generated by the executing artists and displayed (as deflexions) in image and sound.

The fine (noise) storytelling extended from the most organic, energizing beats with nature like drawings until the limit of the bearable, flustering fusillades of bangs and clicks. Dramaturgy was grippingly close to perfect and therewith impressive.

Sculptures and installations by Swedish artist Michael Johansson.

After Similarity is not Recommendation we headed to Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), a.k.a. the pregnant oyster, for the opening reception of transmediale.10.

We first checked the installation in the main hall, looking like a space ship and made of the doors of an old bulding crafted during German Socialism in the city of Halle. Historic items find use to build a futuristic symbol (ok maybe i m a bit behind with receiving a space ship as futuristic in these days) during the limited present of the festival.

In the Auditorium we were welcomed with thoughts and words of Dr. Bernd Scherer (intendant HKW) Hortensia Völckers (artistic direction governmental culture foundation) Stephen Kovats, artistic director transmediale and Prof. Dr. Herbert W. Franke (artist & author, cofounder of ARS Electronica) regards the festivals topic FUTURITY NOW. From the increasing demand of Utopia during transitional times, over the necessity of acting after perception (rewrite past future codes and win participants) until objectivity (the possibility of configuration of future) meant as an invitation to assist the planned discussions around the theme until the next days.
Afterwards we were invited outside, into the snowstorm, which was painting the city white and quiet since the early afternoon, to enjoy the concert of Charlemagne Palestine, together with the Global Rainbow Installation ”Switch On” by Yvette Mattern. The bell tower concert and the rainbow lacers drown straight horizontal into the night (from HKW to Alexander Platz) in combination with the snow made the experience especially gentle beside unique.

Later on the Exhibition Future Obscura inaugurated.  The works of various artists “explore the complex condition of futurity through the lens of image-making.”  Affectingly the piece Data.Tron of Ryoji Ikeda. A huge projection of computer data, between fainting and (as Alberto said) and wanting to jump into it to become parts as a number.
We still did not had the chance to enter into the Optofonica Capsule that promises to create an encounter wit future via moving image and sound. We surely will do during the next days, exhibition is still open until 7.2.

On Tuesday February 2nd we attended the ¨Music Similarity is not Music Recommendation¨  at the .HBC by Spanish computer scientist and engineer Pedro Cano, who gave us an overview on the newest research and technologies in the field of music recommendation.  Interesting statistics based on a number of new online music services and social interaction are the basis of his system analisis which are all destined to have a great impact in the near future on the reception and distribution of music.  A new way of reflecting the true variety and diversity of the music market introducing upcoming and even unsigned artists in the commercial markets.  The question is, will consumers take the time to investigate new fields that are not commercialized by the larger networks.

words: Alberto Barello

Luckily we arrived to the last bit of the Open Broadcast lecture in the frame of Club Transmediale at .HBC. The presentation of the Swiss software with the aim to create user generated music programs, with a background of culture and science. Invited members share their music archives (songs/records and additional information).  A conventional radio editor needs about 3,5 years to set up a music archive of 50.000 songs, with Open Broadcast an editor could do an archive of 7.000 songs in 7 hours.

The members adopt roles (depending on their knowledge and experience) such as editor, music archive, etc. and work under a schedule. To create 1 year of Open Broadcast 24/7 approximated 5.000 members have to work once per month each.

The difference to similar software is the editing part, the creation of dramaturgy, that requests a creative process, by users. As one of the fathers of the project said: “if a song is poem, a play-list is a short story.”

Radiohead – Reckoner (Jonny Miller Remix)

This is a wonderfully different take on the Radiohead track ‘Reckoner’ – Jonny Miller somehow turns it into a slow wintery disco burner (and as an added bonus the limited edition vinyl comes with a great screen-printed cover).

This years LCF MA show had an interesting mix of flamboyant, bright collections and exquisitely structured tailoring, with a generous amount of roadkill and fur thrown in. The widely varying design styles made for a very interesting MA show and showcased an exciting array of mens and womenswear designers to keep your eye out for in the future.

The Collection of the Year Award, presented by the Chairman of the British Fashion Council, Harold Tillman, went to Sven Hoppe, whose futuristic take on classic tailoring made for a memorable eye-catching menswear collection.

Here is a selection of the MA designers, first up is the wonderfully named Merve Tuna, who gets the prize for most controversial collection, as she sent models adorned in what can only be described as roadkill down the runway:

Sophie Condie also referenced the animal kingdom with feathers and bone inspired head pieces:

So Ra Kim seemingly set her collection in disco 3000 as peaches, blues and silvers combined to create this otherwordly collection, which was perfectly complimented by Vivienne Westwood for Melissa plastic shoes:

Soo Youn Seo treated us to the most extreme form of colour blocking, but when you only have a few minutes to impress a room of fashion journalists, impact is best:

A live version of Madonna’s ‘Like a Virgin’ set the tone for Hasan Hajezi’s pop-tacular collection that wouldn’t look out of place on Lady Gaga:

The metallic palette of Jin Joo Ma’s designs mixed 1940’s-esque tailoring with generous amounts of glitter to create an old meets new clash, cumulating in a sophisticated and striking collection:

Pictures by Tilly Pearman.

Club Transmediale, Festival for Adventurous Music and related Visual Arts in Berlin opens its doors tonight at HAU The festivals 11th issue has the title OVERLAP – Sound & Other Media.
Tomorrow night will see the Grand Opening Night on the new locations around Alexander Platz. Check program after the jump.

Transmediale,  festival of art and digital culture, starts on February 2nd under the topic FUTURITY NOW!
Both finish on February, 7th.
FSM will be reporting.

With the release of Apple’s iPad yesterday, there is alot of talk about the future of magazines and how we consume them.

Mag+, is a concept video on the future of digital magazines from BergLondon & Bonnier R&D.

But don’t worry…until they make a computer that you can throw and catch between your legs, we’re still going to use paper and plastic!