I finally picked up the Haiti 2010 benefit compilation, linked here:

Some awesome tunes made with my favorite controller, compiled to benefit those in need.

From the monome compilation press release:

[via Create Digital Music]

Finding slaterspeed's photostream on flickr is a distant second to the finds he unearths and photographs for us.  Yet it's a thrill nonetheless. Just ask Simon K, who had this testimonial to add to his profile: "Quite frankly, I am in awe of slaterspeed. This photostream is an extraordinary archive of the world we left behind, a narrative of the us that has almost ceased to exist. The shabby, derelict places that slaterspeed unearths were once the world we lived in, and what a remarkable archive this will be for generations to come. But even more than that, the quality of the photography and the thrill of the glimpses you give us makes a look-in here always a must. Don't stop."

I couldn't have said it better.  Be sure to check out his epicness, underground, and up high collections.  

[via ektopia]

Recently I've been listening to this mixtape from the turn of the millennium by DJ Werd called "The End of Western Civilization...and Return to Mother Earth". Yes, this was an actual mixtape on cassette circa 1999. It features a number of underground MCs with vocals spit over hip hop and trip hop instrumentals (DJ Krush, The Herbaliser, Thievery Corporation...) as well as quality beats and now classic hip hop vocals (Atmosphere, Outkast, Kool Keith). The track choices are awesome and well-blended, but I especially love the verses from the unknowns about, what else, the end of western civilization and return to mother earth. There's some real poetry in there.  

I recently converted the tape to an mp3 so I could listen to it along with the rest of my digital music collection. I remember listening to this in high school (I bought the tape at Amoeba Records in Berkeley) on the bus on the way to Lake Tahoe to go snowboarding and lovin' it.

DJ Werd was kind enough to allow me to share the mix as an mp3. Bear in mind this is a recording of a tape cassette...I've done my best to preserve the original sound and enhance the quality of the original recording.

The original album featured the Salvador Dali painting titled "Geopoliticus Child Watching the Birth of the New Man" (1943), pictured here.  Thanks to the National Gallery of Canada for providing the image.

DOWNLOAD "The End of Western Civilization..." Mix by DJ Werd HERE

Tracklist [MCs in brackets]:

Side A - The End of Western Civilization...

Teao - R.E.B.Earth

P.E.A.C.E., Mikah Nine - Brainwash

DJ Krush - On the Dub-ble [Epic Paradox (Definitive Juice, Kefing), Eldon, Dime]

Purple Penguin - Return

The Herbaliser - Moon Sequence [Parillax (Pasha, Shamako), Ultraman, Persia]

Automator w/ Kool Keith - A Better Tomorrow Z-Trip Final Mix 1

Slide Five - KC Doppler [Sapient, Jager, Intellect]* *(Nomadic Mind Travellers)

Atmosphere - The Outernet

Side B - ...And Return to Mother Earth

The Herbaliser - ft. What What - Let It Go

Hive - Moves Within Time [Dave Dub]

Thievery Corporation - DC3000 [Sundiata (the Anti-Werd)]

Definitive Juice - Beauty & the Bitch

Molasses - Meditation [Sundiata]

Rabb Chillin' - Under the Sun, Under the Sun

Visionaries - Revision

Da Damn PhreakNoisePhunk - Dazzafact

Kruder & Dorfmeister - Deep Shit Pt. 1 & Pt. 2 [Kaotic Souls (Soil, Quasar, Dempswa)]

Outkast - Da Art of Storytellin' Pt. 2

Teao ft. Dren & Bioplanet - Organic Hybrid

Enjoy (and let DJ Werd know how much you like it).

Peace.

The Parrot AR.Drone is being billed as the “First iPhone-Controlled Quadricopter Drone”.  Basically a Wi-Fi controlled helicopter with two cameras, gyroscope, and a "heads-up" style iPhone interface, the AR.Drone also includes "augmented-reality" games and a protective hull for inside flying.  It almost makes me want to get an iPhone, though the 15 minute battery life and probable hefty price tag makes it less appealing. More at parrot.com

[via iso50]

David McCandless over at InformationIsBeautiful.net has posted a wonderful infographic exploring the myths around 2012, Mayan Prophecy, geomagnetic reversal, The Long Count, consciousness shifts, Hunab Ku, galactica alignment, the Precession Of The Equinoxes, rogue planet Nibiru, solar storms, pole shifts, timewave zero, the return of Quetzalcoatl and THE END OF THE WORLD December 21st 2012. I'm lovin' the bonus google document citing his sources.

Though I'm of the school that we don't know what will happen 'til we get there, the graphics on this visualization are gorgeous.  Full graphic after the jump.

"The movie titled 'Known Universe' takes viewers from the Himalayas through our atmosphere and the inky black of space to the afterglow of the Big Bang. Every star, planet, and quasar seen in the film is possible because of the world's most complete four-dimensional map of the universe, the Digital Universe Atlas that is maintained and updated by astrophysicists at the American Museum of Natural History.

Every satellite, moon, planet, star and galaxy is represented to scale and its correct, measured location according to the best scientific research to-date."

[via information aesthetics]

The Ghostvillage Project from Agents Of Change on Vimeo.

"The Ghostvillage Project was created over 3 days on the west coast of Scotland. 6 artists - Timid, Remi/Rough, System, Stormie Mills, Juice 126, Derm - were given free reign to paint in an abandoned 1970s village. Working together on huge collaborative walls and individually in hidden nooks and crannies all over the site the artists realised long held dreams and were inspired by the bleakness and remoteness of the site. Drawing on the history of the village the artists' stated intent on completion of the project was to populate the Ghostvillage with the art and characters that it deserved."

More at Agents of Change

[via Known Gallery]

I've compiled a collection of my 31 favorite photographs taken on my camera this year [I know a few of these are yours Nikki :-)].  I've named the photo gallery "Permanent Vacation", as these photos are visual representations of my philosophy of life lived as permanent vacation.  It's also a nod to a collection of photos from my old site by the same name.

 versions ENGLISH / ESPAÑOL / FRANÇAIS / BAHASA (please forward, blog, & post)

 2Tall, Kper, and DJ Clockwork have created an amazingly intricate 82 minute mix called A Boom Bap Continuum, highlighting the ever changing world of hip hop beat production since the turn of the millennium.  A few of the most appealing features of the mix release to me are the attention to detail, down to the hand lettered cassette tape case tracklists, the inclusion of quotes and spoken samples culled from video interviews, and of course the prominent Creative Commons licensing.  Go check out the mix and the rest of their work over at aboombapcontinuum.com.  Highly recommended.

[via iso50]

[Edit]  Check the vocal sample at the end about usage of the word "beats" and "beatmaking" to describe electronic music production...its less about the genre of electronic music the beat belongs to, and more about the love of the beat itself.