Happy New Year from the team. A brief reminder that tonight's endorsed celebration is upstairs at 59 Canal in Chinatown, NYC with DJs Magda, Plexus and Troy Pierce. This is a very small space, so get there early - 11pm at the latest. It's also $20 and there is no guest list whatsoever, but well worth it. As mentioned, this is also my semi-official NY going away party. If bleeps and clicks aren't your thing, or if you have the energy for a second throw down, the only other public party in NY Burnlab fully endorses is the Motherfucker New Years Bash at Downtime. See post from Dec. 21 for details.

For those in Boston on January 2nd, Jared Louche is doing a one man show at Man Ray's at 9pm. The coolest cyberpunk poet you're likely to meet will be "telling some twisted tales from the road, injuring a few songs from 'Covergirl' and h3llb3nt, mumbling some jazz-king riffs, unwinding reflections through the shotglass darkly and generally dropping off-the-hook rants from the rock'n'rollercoaster life."

Tuesday, January 6th is the annual Designer's Night, in tandem with the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Once again hosted by legendary artist and designer (and my former college instructor) Camilo Pardo at the equally legendary Bankle Building on Woodward Ave. Music, booze, design-speak, Detroit style.

Finally, check out the current Computerlove featured artist, Patsch. Stunningly elegant and gritty graphics which defy time.

*for the team: It's never too late to get in your best and worst of 2003 lists. But, the sooner the better!

Burnlab: Now with more tasty chunks of goodness in every bite!(TM)

The awkwardness of the grammar is the beauty of it.

Hey, greeting from Detroit by the way. I highly recommend The Inn On Ferry Street to any wayward travelers looking to stay in one of four beautiful renovated mansions or two carriage houses in theoretical walking distance of almost everything cool to do in Motown... for not a lot of money either.

Maybe its all the proofreading at the new job, but am I the only one driven crazy by the header 'Knowing Stuff Your Friends Don't Makes You Cool'?

Shouldn't it be- 'Knowng About Things That Your Friends Do Not Know About Makes You Cooler Than Your Friends, Are'



Droid Behavior keep techno on the up'and'up in la-la. Last weekend's party was as solid of an underground event as you will find- no small thanks to this guy.

It ain't no Detroitluv or even a Naughtybooth, but Cued-Up maintains So-Cal pretty well, as small as it may be. And I'm quickly learning that all of the local DJs listed here, that you probably haven't heard off, are actually pretty fucking good.

Big Magazine is back online - finally! Looking good.

Reminder to all our editors: please get your 'best of' lists and comments in as soon as you can. People really do pretend to care! The ones I've received so far are really good. No pressure though. :)

Despite the inevitably contrived name and SOM bullying into the process since day one, the design of the Freedom Tower is... well, not that bad. It has some smart elements, but aesthetically leaves me ho-hum. If you haven't yet, check it out for yourself and read what Muschamp has to say.

By the way, tweaking on the site is complete. Welcome to version 4!

I don't believe we haven't linked this here before - do check out our friend Bethany's clothing company Cyberoptix. Cyberhip cyberfetish for cyberpunks.

If the official Burnlab endorsed NYE party with Magda isn't enough for one night, Michael T. and the Motherfucker NYC crew present a late New Year's bash (1:30am-8:00am), featuring the usual suspects playing rock, punk, new wave and disco, and our friend Cowboy Mark spinning electro and industrial in the 'make out room'. Downtime, 251 W. 30th Street. Go to the Mofo site site for more info and reduced admission.

Space 380 is an interesting music promotions firm which helps independent labels and artists gain public and industry awareness, college radio airplay and tour and distribution support.

edit: strike that. I'll be flying to Detroit 12/22-12/30. We'll deal with the DMV later.

I'm sorry, this isn't Live Journal, but I need to vent out loud for a moment. I can't decide which is pissing me off more right now: Geico or the NY DMV. If I'm driving to Michigan without insurance next week, so be it. All I know is New York is doing a pretty darn good job convincing me I made the right decision to move. Must everything be a drawn-out, complex process? I guess it wouldn't be New York otherwise. Hmm... Listening to Skinny Puppy really super-duper loud all afternoon probably isn't helping the situation. Now back to our regularly scheduled program...

I'll be at the Arnold's show late, but for sure, and our good friend and hugely secretly amazing DJ Brian Jackson will be molesting the turntables with an array of music we fully endorse and condone at Subtonic, courtesy of Bunker NYC. You should come out and shake it to the likes of Coil, Swayzak, and whatever tricks B has up his sleeves.

Burnlab: Assimilate.(TM)

This is apparently not new news, but I just heard about it: Otto Von Schirach of Schematic Records is currently considered a primary member of the Skinny Puppy crew and has been working on new material along with cEvin Key, Omar Torres, Nivek Ogre, Mark Walk and others. The first new Puppy track since 1996's The Process LP is included on the soundtrack for the film Underworld, which you can listen to here - also featuring The Icarus Line, David Bowie and others. Can we say "Not quite The Crow?" I'm really loving this track, but ugh... looks like a terrible movie. An all new SP album is scheduled for an April 2004 release. (If you don't like the annoying Flash soundtrack site, there's a short high quality sound clip here.)

Speaking of Puppy, there is a good interview with designer Steven R. Gilmore from XLR8R transcribed here.



And speaking of Schematic, Arnold Steiner's exhibit, ROM opens tonight in Williamsburg. (See Monday's post for details.)

bleep bleep bleep

Photos and streaming live set from the Kooky Scientist and more info on Magda's New Years Eve party form Penetrate.

Just in: Troy Pierce and Heartthrob live blips in Baltimore on 12/13. Download it here.


Burnlab: You heard it here first... unless you're cooler than us, in which case you either need to be worshipped or killed. We'll get back to you on that.(TM)

One for the folio.



This is not what the upcoming Solvent LP will look like. Back to the drawing board, but I'm pretty proud of this draft and wanted to share it. Make sure to get out and buy the brilliant Radio Ga Ga twin 12"s next month.

All Music Guide blocked Blogger.com on their in-office network. How messed up is that? Anyway, I'm posting on Rob Theakston's behalf while he finds a way around it. Here's Rob:

Hi there.

After much prodding and pressing from various folk, I have begun work on the follow up to my last mix CD of two years ago.

I am offering this up to Friendsters and Burnlabbers only, as I will only be duplicating the exact number requested and will not be for sale. These will be professionally duplicated (read: not a cd_r) with nice, minimal packaging.

Artists include Round Five (Rhythm and Sound), Jan Jelinek, Stephan Matheiu, Twine, Kevin Shields, Mark LaLiberte, Taylor Deupree, AGF, Telefon Tel Aviv, a track from yours truly (which will be limited only to this disc) and a few others...

Please email me (busymofo@yahoo.com) should this be of interest you.
Thanks.

Drama, drama.

Burnlab: Better than a punch in the eye... or seven.(TM)

Kind of an in-progress launch (a lot of links to sort out, and the splash page will probably change a few more times), but here it is - Burnlab version 4: better organized, new look, new flavor, new aroma. The result of months of noodling and fussing.

I know the links in the new Friends+Family section aren't working yet, but give it a look and remind me if I overlooked anyone who's actually a friend of Burnlab.

enjoy

BLV4.0 coding and testing, testing and coding continues. Trying to get it on line for the lunch rush.
Stay tuned.

Burnlab: Nice pants.�

ROM: A Digital Art Exhibition by Arnold Steiner
opening reception Friday, Dec. 19th @ REPLICATE
242 Wythe Ave., #2 (actually on N. 3rd between Wythe and Kent) / Williamsburg Brooklyn / 718.218.7688 / 7pm-9pm / complimentary drinks

Arnold will be showing large format prints on vinyl featuring work from Schematic and Counter Flow. If you can't make it out Friday, the show will be up through January 30th. Definitely check this out.

INFINITRANSFORMATION.COM / REPLICATE.INFO

The fine folks from Adbusters present Black Spot Sneaker.

[Thanks Nix for the link.]

don't know how many of you know this already, but Swedish Covenant provide excellent hi-energy futurepop, with plenty of beats and a cold Scandinavian inflection (oh, and pretentious weirdo lyrics..) See this video for evidence.

this week's scoop:

So as rumor has it, I'm moving to Detroit as early as January 4th. The paperwork won't be finalized until x-mas week, but I wanted to get the info out now as Magda's NYE party at 59 Canal will double as my NYC going away party. We'd love to see everyone there. Great music, great people and plenty of bad behavior. I'll be back east at least once a month. Given my usual travel schedule, few should notice the difference. ;)

Saturday evening was a superb NYC/Detroit experience. Starting with the best ADULT. performance I've seen yet. Every day that passes Adam and Nicola seem to get darker and weeeeeiiiiirder... and better. The new songs are killing me. This was followed with fellow Motown ex-pat Jon Santos (tha Killah from Manilla) facing off in an impromptu freestyle rap battle in a stairwell at Tonic. Hard to really explain, but quite awesome. Santos rules.

Ah... NYC would not be what it is without the influence of Detroiters, yet Detroit is certainly not NYC. Wish me luck (please.) Lots of new projects and adventures are in the works, including Les Infants Terribles - tentative name for Burnlab's monthly postpunk/industrial/electro night in D-town, in association with Blackbx and R. Theakston Heavy Industries. Venue TBD, but impact is eminent January 2004.
All for now.


Burnlab: You are repressed, but you're remarkably dressed.�

If it's on the internet, it must be true.

RYT Hospital is the leader in advanced medical technologies... or its a very elaborate and well done piece of web art by Virgil Wong.

Word has it that the new Nine Inch Nails album, Bleedthrough is finished and slated for release in early 2004. (Yeah, right after the Tapeworm LP comes out.) Trent Reznor recently told Alternative Press that the new album "explores loss and possible discovery of self, along with alternate layers of reality and perception set inside a nightmare you can't seem to wake up from... with lots of feedback." He went on to say, "Computers, among other things, are ruining music these days. I hate the Pro Tooled sound of perfection and everything being fixed. This record is most definitely un-fixed."

The last statement immediately brought to mind the live, single take video for March of the Pigs, directed by Peter Christopherson, a.k.a. Sleazy. (Quite possibly the best music video of all time.) Now all we need is a cramped little club tour and its 1990 all over. Break out the cloves and lace up the Docs, baby.

Burnlab: Doesn't it make you feel better?�

sound extraction x and dj driver will treat us to a live and improv electronic instrument jam session this saturday (for free) upstairs at the berkely front.

Burnlab: happiness is a warm laptop.�

these are a few of my favorite things.

these are not.

Burnlab: decking your halls.�

When I Sold My Soul to the Machine is a documentary about the electronical music culture in The Hague, the Netherlands. From the early nineties on this culture has emerged. This film will travel back and forth in time, alongside the artists and styles while connecting characteristics and peculiarities of electro into a whole.

Not out until May '04- but there's a priceless clip of Ferrence on the mic.


Burnlab: Dancing in wooden shoes.�

We're dangerously close to finishing some long overdue site updates. Until then you have to view this full screen blog mess. You'll be okay.

Burnlab: Have some soup.�

You're a Post-Punk. You know 70s punk was cool, but it was mostly just a stepping stone for the greater intellectualism of what would come after. The 80s were amazing. You quite possibly have huge hair, and may wear lots of black. Snare drums need reverb. Lots and lots of reverb.

Big freakin' surprise there. (This took eight questions?) Here's a bonus one: The Birthday Party is the only band listed under music on your Friendster profile, true or false?

Burnlab: Hands up! Who wants to die?�

Re. previous post:
As they drove away [from the courthouse], the song "You Make Me Feel (Like a Natural Woman)" blared on the stereo as Houston sang along and Brown kissed her bruised cheek.
-CNN

That is seriously fucked up.

Burnlab: Pardon our French.�

allen, just wondering....is crack actually cool in circles where you are? i was suprised to find out that young/fucked-up/well-to-do kids from london find crack cool...amazing what a desire for the newest thing fosters

Rob Theakston won't be the only Michigander gracing NYC with his presence this weekend. Burnlab favorites (and fellow art school freaks) Adult. and Ian MacKaye's favorite band Tamion 12 Inch will be performing with French "elektro prankster" Electronicat at The Knitting Factory Saturday, 12/13.
10pm, $15, buying advance tickets is a really good idea.

November marked the release of The Mitgang Audio's debut LP The View From Your New Home on Ersatz conspirators Suction Records. Listen to samples of this seriously top shelf synth-pop at the Suction website.

Contemporary master of electronic body music Terence Fixmer just released the first single from his recent collaborations with Nitzer Ebb vocalist Douglas McCarthy. Look for a full length album in early 2004, and for the pair to tour together, starting in Barcelona on January 23rd. No US dates yet, unfortunately.




If you missed The Kooky Scientist's live set in New York on Saturday (about a half dozen people immediately come to mind - you know who you are), you can listen to his recent Detroit performance here [RealPlayer required], courtesy of our friends at Paxahau. The Scientist's laptop and array of custom little black boxes move the sound from ambient, to tribal, to blippy minimal, to crushing 4/4 EBM, to pattern arrangements you've just never heard before... often colliding all at once with amazing clarity, like a fine synthetic torte. Not the same as being there, but definitely worth a good listen. Big thanks to Fred himself for the photo above.

Getting nostalgic, I've pulled up my copy of Mindblower for the next installment of Dorkwave. Seriously.


Burnlab: Rivers of blood, years of darkness.�

a bit of a late report , i know, but madga´s opening set for richie last thursday in barcelona was inspired, despite the normal spanish problem of people normally showing up after midnight (magda started at 10). i unfortunately had a 7:40 flight to london the next day and made it to the airport completely hammered. while in london i also picked up a fondness for queen rivalists the darkness and picked up excellent cds by the streets vs. basement jaxx, also known as audio bullys and the balls-out drum´n bass/jungle compilation by adam f and dj fresh breakbeat kaos, a must if you´re feeling cool but a bit agro...

1. I'm in New York this weekend. You will party with me. And then I will be back NYE for more.
2. As a lifelong rabid democrat, whomever gets the nomination between Dean or Clark..well, I wouldn't be surprised if the other person became their running mate.
3. New Darkness christmas single rocks.

Burnlab: Where activity partners and those just here to help collide.�

Gore endorses Dean. Liberman and Gephart receive sharp stick in eye.

Seriously, time to pack it up anyway fellas. Let's trim it down to the doctor and the general right now. Everyone else is so boring! Well, Al Sharpton is anything but boring, but come on...

In other political news, what has John Tenney been up to? Check out Activate Royal Oak, John's local political action and information site. Also see The Royal Oak Experiment (which is like a local version of The Onion.) Now that's the awesome I'm looking for. So good.


Burnlab: Tastes like chicken.�

Oh, another thing I'm trying out here is signing every post with a new slogan. We'll see how quick that gets old.

Burnlab: You could get it removed, but you will die.�

You know how much we love to give you [the loyal Burnlab reader] scoops, so we're going to try to provide at least one juicy one a week.

Those looking for the perfect New Year's Eve party in New York need look no further than our favorite little night spot 59 Canal, where Magda will grace us with her charm, antics, and especially brilliant record collection and DJ skills. A few out of town guests are already making plans to be there, including this guy.
Rockin'.

Alright, you may have already known that, but probably because I told you in person.

If you haven't seen Magda's new web site yet, do check it out. Also see the really nice work of designer Francisco Lopez who made it all happen.

There's one more biggie, but we'll hold off until the paperwork is done. Let's just say that the Lab may have new yet familiar digs sooner than later.

Burnlab: Feels good inside your head.�

Just launched! Bush in 30 Seconds, a political TV ad contest to help find the most creative, clear and memorable ideas for ads that tell the truth about George Bush's policies. You don't have to be trained in the art of filmaking to participate, you just need to be ready, willing, and able to turn your clever ideas into a real 30 second ad.

Music video jukebox from Submarine Channel. There's a Spike Jonze section and a French New Wave section. Very nice!

Don't feel bad Mike. Sheer laziness kept me from Mutek- no weather nessesary. Did attend Create:Fixate, which was a lot closer to home. Wasn't blown away by the art, although there were some original prints from my new favorite book. Excellent music- techy, IDM, breaks and such. Unfortunately, I don't know who was rocking what.

And speaking of mediocre art with great music...

Alan Oldham's, new website has some fun old Fast Foward radio programs for download. Skip the comic book stuff and go right for the early 90's beats.

New York has made me a big weather puss. Instead of going out in the snow to see PTV3 I spent the evening loading up my hard drive and credit card at the endlessly addictive iTunes store with essentials I'm kind of embarassed for not already owning - such as The Fall's Rough Trade Anthology. Anyway, I believe a night of Dorkwave is in order over the Christmas holiday. Anyone with a bar and a good sound system in Detroit want to hook that up? Like Friday the 26th? Seriously.

Mr. Picassohead. Enough said.

R.I.P. Micromini. Long live Micromini.

D[e]K[ay]NY

Hey, fksche.
'sup?

I know everyone in New York reading this is probably on the list for Micromini tonight, but it would be really cool if we all paid the paltry seven bucks so Kevin can go to Germany without a bunch of debt collectors in dark sunglasses on his tail. Just a thought.

In other NYC happenings this weekend, Psychic TV will perform here for the first time in 15 years this Friday at the Coral Room. Doors at 9pm, show at 11, $15, no list, 512 W. 29th.

Former Psychic TV member Fred Giannelli, a.k.a. The Kooky Scientist will be performing Saturday night at our favorite little Chinatown afterhours joint, 59 Canal with our good, good friends Plexus and Troy Pierce. 11pm, $10, the address is... well, 59 Canal Street. This show has the hottest flyer I've seen in ages. Check out the Flash version here. The timing is a bit weird, but I'm not betting that Fred and Genesis are going to be sharing the stage at any point this weekend. You never know though.

December edition of the Daniel Miller Happy Hour went up today. I wait for this every single month like watching water boil. Agh... the playlist isn't posted yet!! It's the "best of 2003" show, so you ought to know it all anyway.

Back in Black.

You know how sometimes you come across great music in like four or five different genres and it turns out there's one guy behind it? No? And the same guy who's work you're really digging calls you out of the blue to direct a music video a couple years ago, but it didn't happen because the label didn't have any money, and who were you kidding because all you have is a little DV camera and a lot of ideas, but damn, how cool was that? No? You know how sometimes the output is so good you write a blog post about it, and then like three months later write about it again just to remind people? Yeah.

Bryan Black, former programmer for Prince and cofounder of innovative machine rock group H3LLB3NT is busy busy, which is good for us robot muisc consumers. Motor, his gnarzigkeitesque project with Olivier Grasset a.k.a. Oli Shaddow, released a brilliant EP this summer on NovaMute, and is set to put out a new remix of the Throbbing Grislte classic Persuasion. A full length album is also in the works. Black's electropunk outfit xLover have just about finished an LP tentatively titled Deep Kink to follow their Trash Me single (also featuring a sexed-up cover his former boss' Controversy.) Label and exact release date not yet confirmed, but expect it sometime around February or March. One date that is confirmed, February 16th will see the release of Throb, the long awaited new Haloblack album. I haven't had a chance to hear it yet, but Jared Louche says, "It�s brutally fractured and static-driven. His best record yet." Jared is one blue haired cyberpunk poet to trust.

Oh, and totally unrelated, I'm working on a little piece about the search for Donald Trump's abstruse hair Tuesday night which will be published on Rob's Blog. Hold tight.

London's burning down down down down down down down
New York's burning down down down down down down down!

4/4 industrial according to Tiga. Out now on Turbo.
(Thanks Gibby!)


FYI, the DSL at the Lab has been out all day and I just figured out how to "borrow" wireless broadband from a neighbor. If I'm slow with emails and posts, that's the excuse.

Did everyone read Kevin's little announcement today? Two strikes against New York, and two more reasons to go to MicroMini Thursday night.

Remember: When you read Burnlab you know stuff your friends don't... which makes you cool.

tomorrow (thursday) i will have the great pleasure of seeing magda open for richie hawtin in my very own town of barcelona while in the company of barcelona�s newest yank resident geoff white and the amazingly unjustly under-known simon ashton, mastermind of downtempo wizards big bossa (check out his music from his release "badalona". it ranks among the best of current downtempo but sadly its distributor went under. he�s currently working with steven halliday from agent sumo on a new more electro/experimental release featuring ayesha, the singer from my band, misnoma)...sometimes the world being so small has it�s benefits

Everyone go do THIS. NOW. It's too easy and important not to. Thank you.

It's Tuesday, which means Gibby Miller and friends are doing DAMAGED at the Leopard Lounge: 5th Street and 2nd Ave., above Sin Sin in NYC. Punk, post-punk, electro, nuwave, nowave, dorkwave. Cheap drinks. Dancing. Bad behavior on a weeknight. See you there.

Prior to Damaged, Pinter, Herrera and I are going on a little paparazzi adventure into uncharted territories of society absurdity. More on that tomorrow.

Please welcome our two newest conspirators to the editorial staff:

Lynnel Herrera is a New York scene barometer, professional tastemaker, contributor to Flavorpill and works at Karim Rashid Design.

Derek Plaslaiko is one of the very best DJs in Detroit (if not the world), formerly Rich's tech bitch, an Untitled resident and a genuine stand up gentleman if ever you met one.

I started to write an article about the WTC memorial finalists, but Maureen Dowd of the New York Times summed it up more articulately Sunday in her editorial Unbearable Lightness of Memory.

The eight designs for a memorial at ground zero, gleaming with hanging candles and translucent tubes and reflecting pools and the smiling faces of those killed on 9/11, aim to transcend. And they succeed. They transcend terror. They have the banality of no evil. They represent the triumph of atmosphere over atrocity, mood over meaning. The designs are more concerned with the play of light on water than the play of darkness on life.

Listen to samples from the two new Solvent EPs, designed by your's truly and art directed by SV4, with a nod to maestro Saville. (Plus a behind the scenes look at the design process, courtesy of Will.)

Matt Dear's Leave Luck to Heaven receives four stars from Rolling Stone. Sometimes the mainstream media knows what they're talking about. There's even a very nice comment about the artwork from a reader. Woohoo! Truly one of the very best releases of the year in any genre, watch for it in finer record stores on Tuesday.

Miltos Manetas was an artist with a big mouth, a brassy pair, and ambition any true New York artist has to admire. Is he really dead? Not likely, but write him a poem anyway.

Let Jared Klett's wit be a lesson to us all: Geek (dash) Boy dot com

Best fan site ever: Fuck you Casey Spooner dot com

Quick note to our editors - so that posts open in a new window instead of the Lab Report frame, please include this bit of code in your HTML tag: target="_blank" You can go back into "Manage Posts" and correct this. Please do actually.

Looking forward to seeing the entire NYC team at the Kompakt show at APT tonight. (No mesh shirts, please.)

And, BitBoy - sorry I missed your 8-bit Schmode post earlier. I should have assumed! Seriously, someone should book The Fitness out here or in Detroit. I'd love to see them live!

Not only have I heard the aforementioned 8-bit Depeche Mode Megamix (scroll down at iRobotnik), but it inspired me to seek out some 8-bit sounds of my own, I found Midi for the Masses packed with DM midi files which have somehow managed to load themselves my Sony T616 mobile. I suppose I get some sense of twisted satisfaction from the strange looks I get when answering the phone to the haunting polyphonic sounds of Pimpf or Shake the Disease. And speaking of The Fitness, they�re currently trying to bring their own catchy electropunk sounds to the masses. If you�ve got a venue, and you�re interested in booking them to play, drop me an e-mail � I�ll put you in touch with their people.

this thursday i�ll be accompanying friend/designer/artist markus haub in a night of music vs art...markus taking on the art side with more of his mixed media work (photoshopped images printed then manually manipulated) while i�ll be handling the music side with a ableton live set of my own new material...apologize to keep posting things happening in barcelona but hopefully there are a few of you out there (somewhere!) that can make it.

8pm til? at LIVING, c/ capellans, 9, bcn

Global Feast: Detroit: Thanksgiving Eve @ tangent gallery. Kevin Saunderson, Carl Craig, David Alvarado, DJ Nova, more. Not to be missed.

Just when I was ready to give up on this filthy- festering-firey hell-hole that is So-Cal, two words made me feel a lot better...

Mutek Tijuana

Chad, you in?


Also- what's this I hear about Bloomberg wanting to make NYC a 2am bar town? If that happens, then where will us west coast fools go for the occasional all-night shennanigans- Detroit?


Musicwise, much love right now for...

Dani Siciliano (this is the single, but the whole album drops in Jan)
Michael Mayer- Fabric 13 (better than the last mix, still not sure if its better than Immer)
VA- Gigolo 7 (Yeah- I was almost sick of them too. But listen to the Terranova freakout. Gaaaahd!!!!)

RADIO.BURNLAB has been updated with a handful of new links. We are proud to be the exclusive online source for Ryan Elliot's new mix Us and Them. In limited CDR circulation until now, this has been called the "definitive minimal techno mix of the year" by people who's opinions make a difference. Check it out. (Unless you're a nitwit from Wesleyan University - see posts below.)

"Now you're playing with power."

8-bit maestro Bitshifter will be playing all the gameboys his thumbs can master at The Psychasthenia Society @ Galapagos Art Space in Williamsburg tonight. $5 / doors at 7:30pm

Transmode Virus is kicking my ass right now.

Speaking of 8-bit music, check out the amazing Depeche Mode Megamix (BitBoy - this is for you!) from Nullsleep.

Big thanks to Lynnel Herrera

I thought Seattle's The Fitness were a bit 'rough around the edges' when BitBoy dropped them on me a few weeks back, but it turns out I can't get their hooky, unapologetic and unquestionably fun electropop out of my head. Check out some of the sweet morsels at their home page. Chauffeur is straigh-up irony-laden electroclash (and absolutely infectious,) while Phone Sex is as fresh and punky and you'll find anywhere... reminds me of the Dead Milkmen and the Cure's Boys Don't Cry LP for some reason...

I wish there were a better term for "shout out"... maybe a simple "hi" will do.

Say hi to our busy friend F.J. Desanto, who Brian and I ran into briefly at the Telefon Tel Aviv show last week. FJ is frontman for the industrial band The Aggression, dark synthpop project Hypefactor, programmer/cowriter of the new Chemlab LP, and an administrator at the Hydrogen Bar.

Virginia Tech's X Cluster went operational recently, becoming the third ranking supercomputer in the world. Built from 1100 dual 2Ghz 64-bit Apple G5 workstations, the VT cluster is measured at 10.28 trillion calculations per second - which, in lay terms, is pretty darn fast. Here are two photos of the project team ordering the G5s. So, do you just log on to the Apple Store with your American Express card and type 1100 in the qty. box?

inventor of a programming langauge or serial killer?

excellent flyer mike...after spending the last six summers on topless beaches in spain the idea of not sweating the beauty of the human form seems something more people should come to grips with

Next weekend is the Untitled Thanksgiving Spectacular, with resident brilliance from Tadd, Derek, Servito and very special guest Scott Sterling... and perhaps the most controversial flyer since Sarah Klever's Paris Hilton is Burning design.

Look good.
Taste good.
It's good to be Untitled.

hitech lowtech clock....if you have some time check out the page i found it on- yugop....looking around more i found the remedi project, more interactive animations (go to zach lieberman�s gesture machines series...simple but very cool)

State of the nation, courtesy of Warp.

computational design and new media from Daniel Shiffman

WTC memorial design finalists announced.

last year at this time i was embarassed to recommend coldplay�s latest as my preferred fall/nostalgia album (in accordance with those who spent many an adolescent hour weeping over unrequited love with the smiths). this year i am a bit less embarassed to to recommend elbow�s "cast of thousands" as my choice for accompaniment while walking evening wintery streets weeping love lost...

Our friends are all busy busy this week. Jimmy Edgar updates his site with thirtytwo secrets. ooh.

Oh, and the Telefon Tel Aviv show tonight Rob mentioned starts at 9pm. See ya there.

All those living in NYC would be well served to get themselves to this show tonight.


TELEFON TEL AVIV -- Live
@ The Coral Room.
512 West 29th Street

Free Show! Open Bar!

OPEN BAR. And one of the finest live sets of the year. You can't lose.

one of the most intriguing offerings i�ve received recently: the "la monga" party, where "in a reverse of darwinian theory" a woman will be converted into an ape...hmmmm. (sorry it�s all in spanish, but i think you get the idea)

what brand are you

Magda has a new web site. Check it out. Finally we can keep track of all her antics around Europe, in lovely 8 pt. bitmap type.

I recently designed a desktop for the soon to launch official Chemlab site Hydrogen Bar dot com. You can download it right here, in three different screen sizes. It's sort of a remix of the original artwork for Oxidizer. While the Hydrogen Bar staff gets all the pieces in order, enjoy the discussion lounge and short clips from the upcoming LP.



Rockstar for a day: Monday night was the much ballyhooed NYC stop on the United Tour, headlined by Pigface. After I was dragged on stage to share the microphone with Jared Louche on the Reznor penned anthem Suck (seriously!), three busloads of punks ended up at New York's most dungeon-like bar, Lit. Martin Atkins and Curse Mackey DJ-ed upstairs, while Carlos from Interpol spun classic Lit postpunk in the basement. Nice. Here are a few pics.

Opening Dec. 11: D Troit, the inaugural show at Gigantic ArtSpace, 59 Franklin St., New York, NY. "D Troit examines the city of Detroit and its specific socio-political conditions that have given rise to new forms of cultural and artistic production. ... This exhibition is not a comprehensive show representing the city of Detroit, but a sampling of the diverse body of visual culture and music in the city." For more details, read the full press release.

The NYC contingent will have to share their thoughts for those who can't make the trip.

[Regarding the previous post] Damn, Kevin - that's scary!
Better than horoscopes for sure. Hilarious.

You are The Faith! You are so underrated it's sad. You are shy but hold a lot of anger and power inside of you. You may seem kind of snotty but it's mainly misunderstanding. Also you are highly self-involved in the projects you undertake, you are a go-to person. Don't worry, everyone will come to their senses and start paying attention to your awesome talent in no time.

...change one answer about clothing (couldn't decide between all black all the time or button up shirt - because both are true), and...

You are Minor Threat! You are intelligent, energitic and DIY embodied. You don't take any crap from anybody, but are willing to accept anyone in the underground. You love to exchange new ideas and are well respected in the scene. People like you because you started it all, you are passionate and you are great at what you do.

Just the right pick-me-up after spending SEVEN hours in Detroit Metro Airport today... er, I mean "The Edward H. McNamara Northwest International Gateway". Whatever. I love that there are a dozen newsstands in the terminal. I hate that the edgiest design magazine to be found is Metropolitan Home. Seriously!

Karl and Marius return to Lab Report active duty on the same day? Yay!

For those tracking my location with push-pins on one of those big wall size world maps, I'll be back in New York City on Friday... maybe even for a whole week! The extra-extra-extended stay in Detroit has been a blast for sure, but I do admit I cried myself to sleep last night for missing the Raumschmiere/Ellen Allien show back east. Before this starts to read like a personal blog, on with the news:

Textfield Magazine #2 now on select newsstands.
The Galactica November issue online.
Nice work and sweet little site from intoto.
Maharam textiles: great stuff. Be sure to view Hella Jongerius' Repeat family under 'featured textiles'.

Just launched a new site - check out Unlekker.net. The name "Unlekker" is a play on the word "lekker" from German and Scandinavian languages, meaning lovely or fabulous. Unlekker is, well, not.

Detroiter Todd Osborn takes on The Bug in a good old fashioned ragga soundclash for a Peel Session. Under the alias Soundmurderer, Osborn has recorded several 12's for his own Rewind-Records imprint and also records for Spectral/Ghostly under his own name. Unquestionably, Osborn wins this battle hands down.

just got this sent from the sonar mailing list. cool to have detroit on my doorstep for once

Kevin's post led me to check up on Legodeath, now the more generic Blockdeath to avoid overzealous lawyers, which led me to WeAreRobots, which led me to select 'Robokopf' from the lineup, which led to much snickering.

You've always wanted to...

That settles it then. In addition to being the international newswire for freaks, unwitting hipsters and metrosexuals, Burnlab is now the unofficial Ellen Allien fan club. Someone has to do it.

Speaking of Ms. Allien, Bitboy has photos from last Friday's show in SF with Rich.

...And speaking of photos, I've been terribly delinquent in uploading evidence from the past few weeks. I hope to remedy this soon.

Daniel Miller Happy Hour on Radio Eins: November edition.

Bendywood.

Tell it to the hand.

Yes, you are surrounded by idiots.

Pigface hit the road today. A few dates our readers may want to know: the industrial supergroup (that has outlived most regular groups) rolls into Detroit's St. Andrew's Hall next Tuesday 11/11, New York City 11/17, Hollywood 12/03, San Fran 12/06, and homecoming at The Metro in Chicago on Saturday 12/13. In typical fashion, there will be as many as 14 artists from different bands involved at any given point along the tour. Holding down the key positions will be Martin Atkins (PiL, Killing Joke, Ministry, etc., etc.), En Esch (KMFDM), Charles Levi (My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult) and our good friend Jared Louche (Chemlab, H3LLB3NT). Jared will be hocking super-limited-edition Chemlab EPs and reissues of the the legendary "Fuck Art, Let's Kill" t-shirts.

After getting good and bruised at the Pigface show in Detroit next Tuesday, slide into some Germanic minimalist funk down the street for part four(??) of Magdapalooza. Paxahau welcomes Magda back again - this time its a FREE show at swankyish nightclub Panacea.

"If Magda were a drug, I'd take her every day."
- Matthew Dear, 2003

Amen.
Consider Wednesday ruined.

This Saturday is the opening reception for the Actual Size Biennial at the Detroit Contemporary.

The Actual Size Biennial, in its fourth run, returns to its original size from the fall of 1999 when detroit contemporary hosted 4.25" by 5.5" Actual Size. Again, each participating artist was individually invited to create one work for this exhibition in any medium; any approach, maintaining the size restriction of 4.25" x 5.5". A personalized note mailed from a distant land filled with brief allusions to adventures and new experiences? Perhaps, but these are stories exclusively to and from Detroit. detroit contemporary's largest exhibit to date, with nearly 250 intimate works, small enough to fit in your back pocket, this exhibition once again demands recognition of the diversity and wealth of creative talent in our urban community. All works will be exhibited within the walls of detroit contemporary.

This six-week art exhibition runs from Saturday, November 8th through Sunday, December 21, 2003 with an opening reception to meet the artists on Saturday, November 8th, from 6pm to 10pm. detroit contemporary's galleries are open Thursday through Saturday 12pm-6pm and Sundays 12pm-5pm. Please take note of this change in hours. detroit contemporary is located in the Woodbridge Historic District at 5141 Rosa Parks Blvd. This is two blocks north of Warren Avenue, two blocks south of the I94 expressway, and three blocks west of Trumbull. You may contact detroit contemporary by phone at 313.898.4ART or via electronic mail at info@detroitcontemporary.com. detroit contemporary's web site is www.detroitcontemporary.com. This event is free and open to the public. Free on the street parking available.

I just found out thirty minutes ago that I'm on the roster of participating artists (due to some drunken promise/proposal made many months ago, I guess). Never fear, the gears are spinning. Also showing work are Burnlabers Andy Malone, Jaron Rothkop and Sherry Gaines, and Detroit area artists from all walks and disciplines, such as Maxwell Davis, Ron Zakrin, Kate Silvio, Mark Arminski and Herb Babcock.

Winther's Wonderworld

Stick some Tom on your chest.

another example of how weirdly small the world is: i was leaving the stage following a gig last night in a dive bar in barcelona when a guy stopped me to say he liked the music. we went on chatting a bit. turned out he was a musician. i dubiously went on with the conversation...what kind of music? electronic, cool...what, you�ve released some records? cool...on force, inc???

sure enough just checked the archives, oct 1, featuring a post by me about my band, followed by a post about geoff white, the guy i met last night (cue twilight zone theme)

Machines Never Die: exhibit opening Nov. 7th at TIA Gallery, Brooklyn NY - featuring the work of Arnold Steiner, the man behind Schematic Records' brilliantly disturbed design and illustration, and live video by Phoenix Perry.

COMPUTERLOVE/OFFLINE EXHIBITION

When: 15 - 27 November 2003
Where: Brussels, Belgium

Concerned to keep a sensual relation to the graphic object and to locally promote the contemporary graphic design, Computerlove exhibits [a selection of the best work seen online] offline for the very first time.

This exhibit shows, in five different spaces, works from about 30 artists through a selection of more than 50 objects, 25 motion design creations, Michael C. Place/Build unique installation around the streets of downtown Brussels and in the gallery space. Plus other projects including DFF, Threadless, Pinpops and the Flink Paper.

The opening night will take place on Friday November 14th 2003 from 18h30 to 23h. Large screen projection and presence of Computerlove team + Michael C. Place + DJ Nurse + Beers + You!?!

For our friends on the west coast who missed part one of Magdapalooza and might still be at work (or our friends back east sitting at home), tune in to Paxahau.com tonight between 8 and 10pm e.s.t. She'll be broadcasting live from the subterranean Paxa-Q. (That's in like five minutes here.)

Tonight is the final installment of Weekly Agenda at Panacea in Detroit. Jimmy's too busy being a rock star and stuff to keep the night going. However, Tuesdays will go out with a big noisy bang, featuring Schematic artists Phoenecia, Otto Von Schirach, Richard Devine and more. Co-sponsored by Ghostly International. More info here.

For your listening pleasure, DJ Hell's Tokyo set (Real Audio required).

Beautiful... disturbing... DO NOT miss sculptor Rona Pondick's exhibit at Cranbrook, including her recent visions of genetic mutations in stainless steel. The show closes November 30th.

Quick notice: Derek Plaslaiko is out of town this weekend, so our very own Allen Goodman will be taking his place in the back room of Untitled tonight. Allen promises some twisted IDM, including his own FKSCHE recordings.

And big thanks to Legowelt and Orgue Electronique for sticking around and playing records after their live show for the die hards at Detroit Art Space last night.

It seems like Detroit is pulling out all the stops to keep me from going home to Brooklyn next week. This weekend Motown boasts an incredible selection of strange and beautiful thing to see, do and hear.

Tonight at the Cranbrook Academy of Art enjoy DJ Andre Roystein in the galleries beginning at 6PM, and at 7PM preview a screening of short videos organized by [Flak]Detroit, "a cultural forum of creative people." While you're there, be sure to check out the current exhibition by architecture department chair Peter Lynch.

Also tonight, The Gotan Project at the Majestic Theater, and Liz Copeland and Clark Warner present Stylus at Buddha Lounge [8 Mile and Lahser Rd.] Stylus will be a bit late, as Liz is also DJ'ing at the aforementioned Gotan show.

To add to the rather unusual long list of excellent choices Friday night, master of robots and synthesizers Legowelt heads up the Bunker Team at Detroit Art Space. 9pm-3am, info here.

Saturday evening, enter Theatre Bizarre: performance art, live bands, and all kind of hedonism at this annual freak show/haunted house/mega-halloween party. As Jaron says, "It's the only haunted house that will actually make you question whether you'll get out alive." (And that's just the sketchy neighborhood.) More info here.

Also Saturday (of course) Detroit welcomes home its favorite vodka drinking Polack and international superstar DJ, the unstopable Magda, as well as multifaceted musical genius Tadd Mullinix (aka Dabrye) to Untitled. No costumes or schticks this week - just great music and great people. Okay, okay, it is a homecoming theme party. Tuxes and elbow gloves optional.

On the art tip, check out Japanese popster Yumiko Kayukawa at CPop before the show closes Oct. 28th.

Finally, Detroit is among several cities way off the usual tourist maps profiled in "Party People", from the New York Post. Untitled gets a favorable mention as the place to hear "the new sounds of Detroit techno", but this quote is just too good: "Thursdays, drive to Ann Arbor to hit Necto�s �Lust� party on two dance floors, hosted by Jon Ozias, the KINGPIN of the Motor City�s underground techno scene."
Nice.

Read Regular, a typeface that helps with visual dyslexia by differentiating reversable characters. In a hundred words or less, present an arguement against the global mandated use of a specific typeface...

All new site for Siouxsie and Budgie by Kleber, + the new Creatures LP Hai! was released yesterday. Sexy, sexy.

From Protein OS: Kung Fu Robots and marketing strategies for Generation Z.

Back to basics. The Untitled Homecoming is this Saturday. Magda makes her first Detroit appearance since moving to Berlin earlier this year, Tadd Mullinix returns home from his world tour, and (for those who care) the first flyer designed by me since spring. "It's good to be Untitled."

Today Apple released iTunes for Windows XP and 2000. I don't know what will make Microsoft more crazy: that millions of PC users will [many for the first time ever] experience a user interface that makes sense, or that Apple is giving it away for free.

Our friend and Red Antenna cofounder Candy Chang is set to release a new 12" entitled Typography next week. Further proof that design and synthesizers are a tasty combination.

"Firecely polished electro with rocked-out soul. Thick driving percussion, lowriding vintage bass for boomin' systems, and sparkling analogue keyboard lines conjure sharp modernist grids, colorful scenes from tomorrow's discotheques, robots with dirty minds, and half-forgotten night-drives through Babylon. Candy Chang is remarkably able to glance back at Prince and Cybotron, while keeping her designer's eye fixed on a new style and sound all her own."

Enjoy the photography of Lucas Zarebinski.

Extraordinary built works form Atlanta based Mark Scogian Merrill Elam Architects. This is where my buddy Helen works. You may have seen their brilliant little Mountain Tree House in the April issue of Arch. Record.

UNTITLED remains on a roll of recklessness and high quality shenanigans. This Saturday features Derek Plaslaiko and Mike Servito in the main room, two of Detroit's best and most underrated DJs, plus total chaos in the back room with Dorkwave vs. Sasspunk: myself, Rob Theakston, Allen Goodman, Robert Gorell and Sam Valenti IV battle Jon O and Mistress Delia with an always unpredictable selection of music that would get us called "freaks", "fags" or "squids" in the days of youth. This Saturday's dress code/fetish is uniforms. Take that any way you like, but management would like to emphasize the word "kinky". As always, Untitled Saturdays at The Shelter, 431 E. Congress, Detroit. "It's good to be Untitled."

I'm drunk. On the bar in front of me is a wet napkin, a line drawing scrawled into it of a strange mechanized sink basin, a spring-loaded arm extending from its side, driven by a series of pistons, pumps and a chain-driven gear assembly. It looks like a machine meant only to scratch itself. underneath it are written the words, "your brain is a motor."

Welcome to the world of The Combustive Motor Corporation. The Brooklyn-based collective/art space finally has a web site, and its worth the wait.

Busted yet another personal cherry last night by playing my first set on the radio. The lovely Kate Simko invited me to her weekly program on Chicago's great bastion of underground techno broadcasting, WNUR. The station also features weekly shows by Dr. Dave Siska, Ph.D., and 313 mainstay Matt McQueen. Definately a stream worth checking.

Currently assembling the ultimate roadtrip albums for my upcoming cross country trek to Los Angeles. I had every intention of waiting until Utah- but I had to listen to Depeche Mode's cover of "Route 66".

Now I'm enjoying the new Chicken Lips DJ-Kicks CD- although the annoying anti-priracy protection meant actually digging out an old CD player and connecting it to the stereo. But its worth it as the "disco dub" is perfect listening material while reading issue 2 of America's new greatest experimental music rag- e|i. Again, the wicked Red Antenna made this the best lookin' publication around, and I got to really stretch out the old reviewer's muscle by writing up two of this year's best albums- Ellen Allien- Berlinette and Dinky- Black Caberet. If you don't have both of these albums on multiple formats, you a seriously f**king up.

It's cold and rainy here in Detroit (yes, I was in New York yesterday, and LA two days before that. That's what I do. No more questions.) ...but East Village Radio is keeping us warm and doing an awkward little power stance robot twitch, kind of like the bass player from Interpol in that video. It's Tuesday, which means our man Gibby is playing cool records and talking about cool records and playing some more cool records from 4 to 6pm (e.s.t.) Also, a very special guest appearance on EVR by Dan Selzer from midnight on. Dan writes such great messages, heres' the whole dang thing:

I am going to be on radio for the first time since 1997 tuesday night at midnight. I am filling in for someone on East Village Radio, NYC's latest micro-broadcasting phenomenon. It can be heard at 88.1 fm if you're standing within 10 feet of the station, or go to www.eastvillageradio.com and you can hear a live stream. I am following up 2 guys who play "punk and/or hardcore." I am going to play the best music you've ever heard. Rumor has it that all bars in the lower east side have fired all their DJ's and sold all their jukeboxes and all they plan on doing is tuning into my radio show tuesday night at midnight and broadcasting it. Likewise, all people driving cars will be tuning in, as well as joggers with those goofy antenna radio headbands. This way the entire city will hear me DJ new wave house, post-punk funk, electro-funk breaker jams and other sounds that move both the feet and heart. The entire population of lower manhattan then can seamlessly move from bar to bar, from apt to apt, from car to curb and never miss a beat, and thoroughly synchronize their life, and love to the beat of the show. And we can dance. And if, due to cabaret laws, you can't dance in the bars, you may as well stay home, tune in online or on your fm dial, and dance the night away. Actually, maybe I won't play dance music. Tune and and see. Hear. Feel. DANCE DANCE DANCE DANCE DANCE TO THE RADIO

Hardware goes soft with Ipod controls sewn into Burton's snowboard jacket. Unlike the roll-up textile keyboards, this stuff is machine-washable.

One more post from me today, then back to work. I mean it.

Our good friend Will Calcutt has updated Hardac.com with some excellent photos from carnage night and the Mr. Untitled contest at our favorite and most off the hook weekly anywhere.

Okay, NikeGround is indeed an elaborate (very elaborate) hoax pulled off by media performance group 0100101110101101.ORG .

Bravo, boys and girls. Bravo!

I'm still not buying their sneakers... and not just because I don't wear sneakers. I wouldn't buy Nike combat boots either. ;) Could you imagine?

[Thanks to Amanda Womack for the heads-up.]

Remember MotorMouth Magazine? They're back in a big way, with a new print mag, website and coffeehouse - just in time, as Detroit has finally found the momentum to go after the title of 'coolest city in the country'. We told you! - though who would've thought it would actually happen? Here's some proof:



The new Matthew Dear LP is scheduled for a mid-November release on Spectral Sound. Leave Luck to Heaven's articulate fusion microhouse and electrofunk answers the looming question, "what is next for electronic dance music?" Take a peek at the upcoming ad in URB Magazine here.

Back in NYC: Speedy J at Tronic Treatment tonight. See you there, punks.

NikeGround.com: if this is not an elaborate joke, I'm off this dirtball of a planet. I think I now hate Nike as much as Microsoft and Matchbox 20... and that's a whole lot.

JimmyEdgar.com: redesign - with photos, sound clips and everything you want to know about Mr. Edgar. Almost.



Chemlab update: The new LP, Oxidizer is now scheduled to be in stores the first week of January. Catch Jared providing vocals and mayhem for Pigface on tour in November. Pigface (as you probably know) boasts the most impressive cast of characters in underground music. Over the past twelve years the roster has included Invisible Records founder, PiL, Ministry and Killing Joke drummer Martin Atkins, Big Black founder and producer extraordinare Steve Albini, Trent Reznor, Frank Black, Ogre, Genesis P-Orridge, Einst�rzende Neubauten's F M Einheit, and about 100 other leaders of subversion. This fall's lineup looks to be a most impressive one. Dates and info here.

Solid smoke

[Thanks to Susan Surface for the link.]

Like many of you, the Smiths played a pivotal role in my music listening from ages fourteen to present day. I love listening to them whatever mood I may be suffering through. So imagine my sheer joy when I discoverd this site. Nothing but MIDI files of Smiths tunes. The amount of amusement this site has brought into my life while enduring this bout of sleep deprivation is immeasurable. The version of Oscillate Wildly comes highly recommended.

California, here comes your new governor.

What the hell is wrong with Apple that they still give a damn about design and packaging and "feel"?

...This is the point. Detail and nuance and texture and a sense of how users actually feel, what makes them smile, what makes the experience worthy and positive and sensual instead of necessary and drab and evil.

These are the things that are nearly dead in our mass-consumer culture, things normally reserved for elitist niche markets and swanky boutiques and upscale yuppie Euro spas and maybe cool insider mags like I-D and Metropolis and dwell. They are most definitely not to be expected of mass-market gadget makers. This is why it matters. This is why it's important.

Oh sure, Apple's elitist. This is the common line. Sure they're slightly more expensive and cater to artists and designers and creative types and people who actually care about such pointless stuff as fit and finish and "feel."

And they command only a sliver of the PC market overall and despite how their designs and innovations resonate across the entire industry and in fact affect industrial design across all consumer culture, true PC/Windows geeks just scoff and snort and go back to trying to patch the latest of 13,876 "severe" or "drastic" security flaws in the nonintuitive bug-ridden hell that is Windows...
-SF Gate

A slice of New York to brighten my California afternoon: East Village Radio. Untitled flyer model, Make Out Club founder and big time heartbreaker Gibby Miller is DJ'ing live right now (until 6pm e.s.t.) Tune in and create a path of destruction.

Just call Tuesdays Gibby Day in New York. In addition to his weekly slot on EVR, make your way down to DAMAGED at the Leopard Lounge (2nd Ave. and 5th St.) every Tuesday night where Gibson and friends spin a fine selection of industrial, new wave and Brit-pop... a little something we lovingly call 'Dorkwave' in Detroit.

Speaking of the east coast of the midwest, Tuesdays are owned by Jimmy Edgar's Weekly Agenda at Panacea. Tonight the Warp wunderkid shares the turntables with Todd Osborn, Traktion and our very own Rob Theakston and Mike Servito. "Tuesdays is fun."

I'll be making bubble diagrams, managing disgruntled designers and writing some marketing babble here in LA, so you all can go out and have fun.

Just some easy Sunday afternoon reading about the new music concert hall opening in Detroit next week. Follow the magic link

Well, the latest plan to renovate the old Michigan Central Depot seems to be moving forward. After solidifying plans to renovate the Book-Cadillac Hotel earlier this year, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick said that finding a way to renovate the depot was the major redevelopment project he would most like to see next. Imagine any police museum at the site, mentioned as a possibility in the latest article, won't highlight the depot's status as a favorite of ruin spelunkers, graffiti artists and others who haunted its halls over the past 15 years.

Post flurry today apparently, and I'm only on my 11th cup of coffee...

Paper Jam 2: Gangbang, an online experiemental art zine. I'm really digging St�phane Poirier's pastel skulls, M�lanie Baillairg�'s bloodbath orgy shoot, and the 'Unleaded' pics by Chantale Grenon and David Leclerc. Goth meets high fashion, as only the French can do. Hot.

If you're passing through Vienna, check out the Abstraction Now exhibition.

[Thanks to Fred at Computerlove for the above.]

Ellen Allien US tour dates here. Not one to miss, but for addend incentive note the fine print: performing with Richie and/or T. Raumschmiere in most cities. This is shaping up to be a very good autumn for live electronics.

[Thanks to Nix for the tip.]

Speedy J tour dates from Mute. Yes, North American tour dates! (That's very rare indeed.) Jochem will be bringing his big mechanical monster of sound to the cozy Sullivan Room in NYC Monday, Oct. 13th. Not on the official schedule is a to-be-confirmed show at an intimate Detroit venue on the 11th. Thank our good friends Paxahau.

From the memepool, a graphic design portfolio for these with short attention spans

The Evil Pupil album comes out Oct. 31st. Every ambient DJ in the world should want this in their bag. the CD also includes the complete Evil Pupil visual archive.

Monster Basement is a new art and culture directory. Check it out. They gave us a 9 out of 10 rating. :)

A new book on parasitic architecture.

[Thanks to Paul for the link and the PBR.]

Tons of great new work up at our partner site Computerlove:

Design and illustration by Les Freds
The coolest wedding invitation I've ever seen by Luis Gomes
Two triptychs by Patsh Emmanuel

All my fellow New Yorkers ought to be at the 2nd edition of Micromini tonight. No excuses. As brilliant as it promises to be, word is November and December are going to collapse the Detroit/Berlin/New York connection even further... I can't say any more, other than take the first Friday of the month off for a good long time, because Kevin owns your Thursday nights.

Look at all the ravers, er I mean Burnlabers. The Paxahau 5 Year Anniversary/Kompakt party has been called the best event in Detroit in years. If you're like me and was somewhere else (such as a seasonless strip-mall of 9.7 million) last Saturday, photos here. Audio archive to come.

mention of barcelona in the last post made me realize my slack-ness in burnlab-ing...my group misnoma is playing every thursday in october in the barrio gotic-classic london bar- my contribution being a continuing effort to merge ableton LIVE beats with funk/lounge/pop-y-ness...

The October edition of the Daniel Miller Happy Hour now on Radio Eins.
(Once a month is not enough.)

edit: Spoke too soon apparently. Check back in a few hours.

New Thinkbox release starring my damn self and partner in crime Donn Stroud. It's a thorough study on sleep deprivation and guitars. It's mp3 only right now, but we're putting together a CD filled with remixes, videos and other assorted goodies. This has been another self-promotion. Thank you for listening.

Chad, I find that site so annoying I almost deleted your post... but the writing is, like, totally deck - no matter how misinformed Ms. Plumley may be.

You've seen DJ I Robot from the bowels of the MIT Media Lab. Please meet Scratch Robot, a machine which converts e-mail messages to sound by mechanically scratching on a turntable. Scratch Robot was created by Stijin Slabbinck of Belgian firm Spess, who is also responsible for a variety of interesting robots, including the mechanisms in Green Velvet's La La Land video.

[Thanks to Lynnel Herrera from Karim Rashid Design for the link]

The all new Plastikman dot com went live today.

If you're reading this site, you already have a ticket to hell. Find out where you fall. (Ring six: City of Dis for me!)

While we're at it, this one is getting long in the tooth, but I'm still scoring around 80%. Damn.

Oh, and I read that 100,000 people showed up to a Dave Matthews concert in Central Park last week. Who the hell is this Dave Matthews? New York loses 100,000 cool points.

An apt tribute to the late Robert Palmer, check out the new 'Keep on Waiting' video from DJ Hell's upcoming album 'NY Muscle' (Real Video required). This link is to the original German page, and this link is to the google translated English version.

A government recognized authority or not, Liz Copeland just won Burnlab an extra 50 cool points for referencing Spoonie Gee.

Freak, freak, y'all.

From the Cool Cities Initiative link below: Granholm asked 30 of the mayors to name one person from their local group to sit on a statewide "Cool City" advisory panel.

So, Liz, this makes you the foremost authority on cool in Detroit, right? I'll bring my wardrobe and record collection over for a critique next time I'm in town.
;)

One of the greatest men of our time, George Plimpton, passed away today at the youthful age of 76. It's a devistating, unexpected loss to the literary and journalism worlds. Quite simply, they just don't make people like him anymore.

If the Lincoln Navigator isn't tawdry enough, Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs has worked with Ford Motor Company to developed a new bling package for the garish SUV. "We saw there was a void in the marketplace for a high-end luxury, custom-edition vehicle that reflected style, class and luxury." Right... Read about it at Protein OS.

Our very own robot boy is back in SF after a summer of galavanting around the globe. Check out all the photographic evidence at iRobotnik.

Oh, and people have been flooding me with suggestions for good robot music in LA since my post this morning. Thank you much. This Sunday should be a proper LA freak-show gas, with an all theremin night featuring Project: Pimento, Seksu Roba and Charlie Lester.

Just touched down in LA, which has a good indie rock scene, but aside from The Echo, I find to be pretty dismal for electronic music (unless you like epic trance, 'progressive house' or whatever the hell they call it - insert choking sounds here.) XLR8R magazine saves the day with their LA issue, just in time. For a bit of the hardcore, I may have to check out my Friendsters the Mash Up crew this weekend.

Speaking of hard beats, I failed to mention that I caught a brilliant live show by Detroit's best and longest standing industrial/experimental duo DeLien last week - featuring our old Inter Animi conspirator Pete Greko. DeLien owns.

Detroit artist Tyree Guyton is at it again. Not with polka dots, but this time with pennies . Also in the news (although a bit older), Michigan's governor makes a complete jackass of herself high fiving Detroit mayor Tupac Kilpatrick and doing a press conference trying to "hip up michigan" while wearing shades. I'm sending resumes to several NYC employers as of press time.

Photo strips from the past two weekends at Untitled now online:

9|20: Carnage is the New Black

9|13: Rise of the Drunken Robots

Untitled will be closed this Saturday so everyone in Detroit can go to the Paxahau 5 year anniversary/Kompakt party.

Burnlab says Jimmy Edgar is the coolest. Look for his Warp debut EP Access Rhythm and LP Bounce, Make, Model, "as soon as TDR finishes [the] artwork." Also watch for fellow Detroit heartbreaker/knob tweaker Matthew Dear's brilliant new LP Leave Luck to Heaven as soon as I finish the artwork. We can't wait for both these guys to visit New York soon.

Speaking of Warp, check out the brand new LFO site and twisted video for the crunch-o-tabulous single Freak.

Fun new broadcast promos for VH1 by Mike and Mike with audio by Mike.

Burnlab's number one sponsored weekly night of mayhem has been named Best Club Night in the Metro Times' annual Best of Detroit poll. We could have told you that, but its nice to get some affirmation. ;)

"Less than a year into bringing frothy sleaze back to the dance floor, the Saturday club dubbed Untitled has already been responsible for public spankings, vodka squirt-gun fights, a Miss Untitled pageant, three wonderfully unnecessary subgenres (sasspunk, jungleclash and dorkwave), flash-mob-style after-parties (BYO at the drive-in until 4 a.m., Jell-O wrestling, etc.) and plenty of assorted monkeyshines. Oh, and the music�s great too. Consider your liver pickled, Jack."
-Metro Times

[Pictured above, left to right: Myself performing a dorkwave trainwreck on the mixer, Untitled mastermind and Burnlab charter conspirator Jon O, Mistress Delia, Burnlab conspirators/dorkwave minions Allen Goodman and Mike Servito spreading the love at the 'Rise of the Drunken Robots' event last weekend.]

Remember, Kill Memory Crash live at Untitled tonight.
Carnage is the new black.

Yet another article extoling Apple's in-house product designer, Jonathan Ive and his role in resurrecting Apple from its ashes in 1997.

By the good graces of my current employer, my Detroit detail has been extended into next week. This means another Saturday of robo-debauchery at UNTITLED. Very special guests Kill Memory Crash perform live this time around, bringing Chicago Industrial into the 21st century for all the freaks, geeks and fashion victims. Also, this from Jon O:

in keeping with the theme and aesthetics of kill memory crash, it has been decided (by those who decide such things) that this week's new chic will be inspired by car wrecks.
makeup based on bruises.
scents of gasoline and burnt hair.
torns clothes and stains of blood.
deconstructivism becomes destructivism.
carnage is the new black.

Performing in addition to KMC this Saturday are Derek Plaslaiko, Mike Servito, Ryan Elliot and Terry Dwyer. Immediately following will be UNTITLED's 2nd outlaw afterparty at the Ford-Wyoming drive-in. BYOL.

For those back in New York this Saturday, don't miss the 2nd installment of CONDITION, featuring Brian Jackson, Bad Bunny, and Dirty, plus live video by our good friends Phoenix and C-TRL. CONDITION takes place every month at Boogaloo - the most dangerous lounge in Williamsburg, 168 Marcy Ave.

Arrrrr! September 19th is Talk Like a Pirate Day.

Huge thank you to everyone who came down to UNTITLED this Saturday and making it yet another legendary night in Detroit. It's so good to have a home base in the D. Tadd Mullinix and Matt Dear were more brilliant than ever (if that's even possible), and the ever expanding Dorkwave crew had the kids snaking, pogoing, spreading butter and falling over speakers all night. Extra special thanks to Sarah for making the super-limited edition Dorkwave t-shirts! If you're curious what was played, or wondering what Dorkwave is all about, here's my set list from Saturday:

Ellen Allien: Trash Scapes
Cabaret Voltaire: I Want You
The Normal: Warm Leatherette
Tuxedomoon: No Tears
Tones On Tail: Go!
Swayzak: I Dance Alone
T. Raumschmiere: The Game is Not Over
Charles Manier: At the Bottle
Book of Love: Pretty Boys and Pretty Girls
Blur: Girls and Boys
Pulp: Disco 2000
The Cars: Just What I Needed
Revolting Cocks: Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?

The Galactica, September issue on line.

Johnny Cash: 1932-2003
Take a moment and watch the video for Hurt.

just back from the first day of the fashion show series i wrote about (CIRCUIT). as one would expect there were very attractive girls aplenty, all of whom seemed to be all over the very much less attractive fey designer types (as one would also expect)...on the upside the burnlab.net press pass did get me into the shows in front of hundreds of people so there is some justice in the world...photos to come

Baths return to Bath, as a lovely and reserved 21st century spa designed by UK high-tech icon Nicholas Grimshaw.

While not exactly the most uplifting thing in the world, my good friends over at Blank00 have compiled a small list of records that were released on that infamous day two years ago today.

I happy to announce that I've been hired as the new Associate Editor for Urb Magazine. I'll be moving to Los Angeles at the end of October.

I've never been to La and only know about 3 people there- so anyone with friends, associates, whatever should let me know about them. My main priority is finding a place to live, so again- anyone with any suggestions please hit me up.

ok listen up...i left detroit after spending the first 22 years of my life there with the idea of never going back, so you guys seriously have to stop making it sound so cool or you�ll force me to reassess all that i�ve thought to be true for the last 6 years...well, but...wait, if it has to be that way, i guess i could get used to it, maybe...i guess i could even like it...damn

New Plastikman vid.
We should all enjoy it while
it's still up online.

UNTITLED presents: Rise of the Drunken Robots
Saturday, Sept. 13

How often do you get to dance to Adam Ant, Ellen Allien and the Revolting Cocks in Detroit? Come get your robot on this Saturday at the night which doesn't know the meaning of "too far."

the front room:
Tadd Mullinix
Matthew Dear
Only top shelf quality from the dynamic duo.

the back room:
Mike Servito
Robert Chavez Gorell
Allen Goodman
Michael Doyle (12:30-2am)
Dorkwave returneth for an electrostatic glamdustrial
postpunk rock and roll extravaganza.

Made by freaks, for freaks.

UNTITLED
Be legendary.�
This and every Saturday at The Shelter
231 E. Congress, Detroit
Brought to you by Blackbx and Ghostly International
(with some murky associations to Burnlab, Klever, Paxahau and Vice.)

Greetings form Detroit. My posts will be sporadic at best over the next ten days or so, but you're in good hands. For those on the east coast of the midwest, Matt Dear is performing along with Carlos Souffront and Keith Kemp at Jimmy Edgar's new night: "Weekly Agenda" at Panacea tonight. I love Detroit so much.

The Wave administers the Voight-Kampff test to San Francisco's mayoral candidates

Speaking of second issues, don't miss out on This is a Magazine's Compendium #2, Fashion=Fiction. 192 pages of amazing artwork and more. You can order yours online here.

i didn�t manage any for SONAR, but lo and behold, my functions as a BURNLAB editor have helped me receive accreditation for CIRCUIT 8, the current addition of a semi-annual series of catwalks that happen in and around barcelona the coming 11-13 september...this started several years ago as an almost student level answer to the bigger catwalks that happen the same weekend but has quickly built itself up to be a close second, all the more fashionable for the underdog status.