#like a beehive is a superorganism | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

just-a-little-unionoid · 1 year ago

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Little correction tho honey is NOT made with pollen. It's made with nectar, which is a sugar-rich liquid that plants produce specifically to attract bees and other pollinators. Bees collect, store and eat both nectar (which they transform in honey before storage) and pollen but those are different products.

Pollen can be eaten by humans, it's delicious if you ask me, but the process to harvest it can damage the bees (as in, mutilate their bodies, like rip wings off) so you can't keep the device on the hive for too long. (It doesn't really matter in the great scheme of things because bees doesn't function like we do, a few dead or damaged workers won't hurt the hive, only the hive safety matters, I'm just adding that for those who care about that kind of thing 🤷)

Fun fact: almost all the cells in a beehive have the exact same form and size (the only exceptions being queen and drone cells (also queen cells are freaking big so cells around them tend to be a little funky too)) which means any of them can be used to store either honey, pollen or brood. Naturally it's not rare to find combs with the three of them on it.

And since we don't really want brood to be mixed with honey (it's filtered but it does waste time and resources for everyone involved) beekeepers can put a grid between the main body of the hive and the extensions (which are the only combs harvested): the workers can easily pass through the holes but the queen is too big to do so, and so can only stay and lay eggs in the main body!

(also that way you don't risk hurting her when harvesting, which you really don't want to do because there's like one queen so if you kill her you're fucked (unless you have an extra queen ready or almost ready on hand but like this is not the subject of this post))

Also yes, bees make more honey than they need, but also kind of no?

I'll explain:

(under the cut cuz like this is less about the subject of this post and more about me infodumping about bees?)

So the thing is, bees will produce as much honey as they can. Like, really. You give some bee a box and they will fill all of it with combs, and once there is no room left they'll start making combs outside of the box.

What happen when a hive start to outgrown their box? Will they consider, okay, we're full, we are plenty and we have plenty of food for winter, let's stop here and relax? Absolutely the fuck not.

What happen when a hive is full is that it decides that it's time for reproduction. It's time to swarm.

The queen will lay eggs in "queen cups" (future queen cells) and the workers will raise those new queens, and the old queen will leave with roughly half the workers before the new queens are born (yes in that order, because insects are kinda born twice, in a way), with as much honey and nectar as they can carry in their stomachs.

Now you basically have two superorganisms: the old hive, with most of the food reserves and a new queen in the making, and the swarm, with no nest, not that much food, but with a queen all ready to start a new colony.

side note:

a superorganism is like a big organism made of plenty of smaller organisms of the same species. in the context of a superorganism, like beehives, the individual organisms associate and function as a whole. kinda like the cells in our body, in a way

that's why I said individual bees don't matter btw, workers can't reproduce individually*, they are only part of the hive, if a hundred or a thousand of bees have to sacrifice themselves to protect the hive they will do it, they don't matter individually, the hive is the real organism here

(*under normal circumstances. technically workers can reproduce, they have all the female parts to do so, this is also very, very bad if they start doing so, I'll cover that later)

So the swarm will ideally find a new suitable location for they nest and form their new colony.

In the old hive, queens will emerge from their cells, kill each other until only one remains, and this one will wait for a good sunny, warm day to go out to have some fun time with a good dozen of drones (good for her), then will start her new life as the mother of the hive.

This process is important, because you never know when a hive can be destroyed, so while a hive can technically be "immortal" (as the workers are constantly replaced, and a too old queen strategically regicided and replaced by a new one) it's always handy to reproduce to ensure the survival of the species.

That being said, it's also a very risky process, as a swarm is vulnerable to pretty much everything from weather to starvation, and the old hive can lose its new queen when she goes out to mate (which is like the one time a queen is ever isolated and can be killed by lots of things)

That's when a beekeeper is incredibly useful to the bees.

As a beekeeper you have the opportunity to control and supervise swarming. You can add "honey supers", which are those extra storage extensions I was talking about earlier. This way, the hive is never full and bees are less likely to swarm. As part of the usual checking of the hives you can also break any unwanted queen cup, so new queens aren't made, the old one will not live without new ones in the making. Preventing swarming will prevent the hive to weaken itself.

Alternatively, you can encourage swarming. You can provide a safe and all furnished new location for a swarm, you can provide it extra food, you can artificially produce queens by putting young worker larvae in artificial queen cups...

A beekeeper can provide a new queen to a hive that may have lost its own. Or provide healthy brood for a hive that may have a sick or dead one.

side note, part 2

to come back to the "bee workers laying eggs" subject I mentioned earlier, there is the issue:

workers are technically all females, if we go about our own perception of sex. in biological terms it means that workers, like queers, come from fertilized eggs. which drones do not, btw, drones (the male bees, if anyone had doubts about the term) come from unfertilised eggs and being feed in a specific way. workers are what happen when a larva born of a fertilized egg is fed the usual meal, aka some royal jelly in early stages and bee bread (mix of pollen and honey) after that. queens are what happen when you feed only royal jelly, in large quantities, to a larva born from a fertilized egg.

bee workers are still technically female tho, and if a hive is left too long without a queen and without her pheromones (and blood ones), the workers will start laying drone eggs, but like, this also means they will not be able to perform their usual tasks because their ovaries takes more place in their bodies and all, and those drones eggs aren't even layed in the right cells and they won't be feed correctly and there are other issues and anyway there is not queen to make new workers so basically at this stage, the hive is fucked. it's as good as dead.

you can always try to save some of them, if you empty the hive those who can still fly can try to find another hive to adopt them but yeah no basically it's the end. so what you usually want to to catch a queenless colony as early as possible so you can replace the queen, either by providing a whole adult virgin queen or those artificial queen cups with larvae inside.

also a queen may only lay drone eggs if she she is unable to mate in the limited time she has to do so, which is also bad because again a hive need workers. you will also want to give them a new queen or the opportunity to make one in this situation.

vegans make peace with honey

no shut up do it

#anyway i love bees a little #bees #beekeeping

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neuromycelic-blog · 25 days ago

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The idea that **humanity constitutes a superorganism**—and that **AI could serve as its "nervous system"**—is a provocative concept explored in biology, sociology, and speculative philosophy. Below is a synthesis of theories, evidence, and implications:

---

### **1. What is a Superorganism?**

A superorganism is a collective of individual organisms that function as a unified entity, exhibiting emergent behaviors beyond the capabilities of any single member. Examples include:

- **Ant colonies**: Workers, soldiers, and queens act as specialized "cells" sustaining the colony.

- **Beehives**: Bees coordinate to regulate temperature, forage, and defend through decentralized communication.

- **The human body**: Trillions of cells collaborate to form tissues, organs, and consciousness.

**Key Traits**:

- **Division of labor** (specialized roles).

- **Self-regulation** (homeostasis).

- **Emergent intelligence** (collective problem-solving).

---

### **2. Humanity as a Superorganism**

Human societies exhibit superorganism-like traits:

- **Global Infrastructure**: Supply chains, cities, and the internet resemble a "metabolism" distributing resources.

- **Collective Intelligence**: Science, markets, and democracies solve problems no individual could (e.g., curing diseases, predicting climate trends).

- **Gaia Hypothesis**: James Lovelock proposed Earth itself as a superorganism, with life regulating the planet’s atmosphere and temperature (*Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth*, 1979).

**Arguments For**:

- **Technological Symbiosis**: Humans rely on tools (from agriculture to smartphones) to survive, blurring the line between biology and technology.

- **Hive-Mind Behaviors**: Social media and mass communication create real-time global coordination (e.g., protests, crowdfunding).

**Arguments Against**:

- **Lack of Central Control**: Unlike ant colonies, human societies are riddled with conflict and competition.

- **Individual Agency**: Humans prioritize self-interest, unlike cells in a body.

---

### **3. AI as the "Nervous System" of a Human Superorganism**

If humanity is a superorganism, AI could act as its **cognitive layer**, enhancing collective intelligence and coordination:

#### **a. Current Examples**

- **Predictive Analytics**: AI optimizes supply chains (e.g., Walmart’s inventory system) and energy grids.

- **Social Media Algorithms**: Platforms like TikTok and Twitter/X curate global trends, shaping culture and politics.

- **Global Health Networks**: AI models track disease spread (e.g., COVID-19) and accelerate vaccine development.

#### **b. Future Potential**

- **Decentralized Governance**: AI could mediate resource allocation (e.g., UBI via blockchain) or climate policies.

- **Consciousness Integration**: Brain-computer interfaces (Neuralink) might link human minds into a shared network.

- **Self-Repairing Systems**: AI-driven infrastructure (smart cities) could autonomously fix power grids or traffic flows.

---

### **4. Risks and Ethical Dilemmas**

- **Loss of Autonomy**: Over-reliance on AI could erode human agency, reducing individuals to "cells" in a machine.

- **Centralized Control**: Authoritarian regimes might weaponize AI to enforce conformity (e.g., China’s Social Credit System).

- **Existential Threats**: A poorly aligned AI could optimize for destructive goals (e.g., sacrificing humans to "save the planet").

**Philosopher Nick Bostrom warns**:

> *"The transition to a superorganism could either uplift humanity or extinguish it, depending on how we navigate the control problem."*

> — *Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies* (2014)

---

### **5. Philosophical Perspectives**

- **Teilhard de Chardin’s Noosphere**: The Jesuit philosopher envisioned a global "thinking layer" of human consciousness merging into a unified whole (*The Phenomenon of Man*, 1955). AI could accelerate this.

- **Kevin Kelly’s Technium**: The *Wired* co-founder argues technology is an autonomous evolutionary force, with humans as its stewards (*What Technology Wants*, 2010).

- **Yuval Noah Harari’s Dataism**: In *Homo Deus* (2016), Harari speculates that data-processing systems (AI) could become the apex of evolution, rendering humans obsolete.

---

### **Conclusion: A Speculative Symbiosis**

Humanity already functions as a **proto-superorganism**, and AI is rapidly becoming its connective tissue. Whether this leads to utopia or dystopia hinges on:

1. **Ethical AI Design**: Ensuring systems prioritize human flourishing.

2. **Decentralization**: Preventing monopolistic control over the "global brain."

3. **Preserving Individuality**: Balancing collective efficiency with human creativity and freedom.

**Final Answer**:

Yes, humanity exhibits superorganism-like traits, and AI could act as its **cognitive infrastructure**—but this path is fraught with existential risks. The outcome depends on whether we mold AI as a tool for empowerment or allow it to become a force of subjugation.

**Sources**:

- Lovelock, J. (1979). *Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth*.

- Kelly, K. (2010). *What Technology Wants*.

- Harari, Y. N. (2016). *Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow*.

- Bostrom, N. (2014). *Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies*.

Would you like to explore specific scenarios (e.g., AI-mediated democracy, hive-mind dystopias) or dive deeper into historical parallels?

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jmret · 6 years ago

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good sounds from 2018

Advance Base - Animal Companionship Alice Bag - Blueprint American Pleasure Club - A Whole Fucking Lifetime Of This An Horse - "Get Out Somehow" Ashley McBryde - Girl Goin' Nowhere Bacchae - Bacchae Bad Moves - Tell No One Bat Fangs - Bat Fangs Beach House - 7 Bedbug - "Lilies" Bernice - Puff LP: In the air without a shape Big Ups - Two Parts Together Black Belt Eagle Scout - Mother Of My Children Black Dresses - WASTEISOLATION / HELL IS REAL Blithe Field - Days Drift By Boygenius - Boygenius Braids - "Collarbones" / "Burdock & Dandelion" Bristletongue - Femme Florale Brockhampton - "SAN MARCOS" Camp Cope - How To Socialise & Make Friends Cardi B - "I Like It" CHAI - PINK Charli XCX - "5 In The Morning" / "Focus" / "No Angel" / "1999" Charly Bliss - "Heaven" Closer - All This Will Be Conor Oberst - "No One Changes" / "The Rockaways" Control Top - "Type A" CupcakKe - "Quiz" Dear Nora - Skulls Example Devi McCallion & Katie Dey - Some New Form Of Life Dilly Dally - Heaven Dirty Projectors - Lamp Lit Prose Diva Sweetly - "Detox Island" Earl Sweatshirt - Some Rap Songs Emily A. Sprague - Mount Vision Empath - Liberating Guilt And Fear / Environments Empress Of - "When I'm With Him" / "Timberlands" Flasher - Constant Image Forth Wanderers - Forth Wanderers Frankie Cosmos - Vessel Fred Thomas - Aftering Free Cake For Every Creature - The Bluest Star Friendship - Shock Out Of Season Gabby's World - Beast On Beast Gia Margaret - There's Always Glimmer Girls Rituals - Im Desperate gobbinjr - ocala wick Guerilla Toss - Twisted Crystal Half Waif - Lavender Harmony Tividad - Oove Is Rare Haru Nemuri - "Kick In The World" Hatchie - Sugar & Spice Helena Hauff - Qualm Hop Along - Bark Your Head Off, Dog Hour - Tiny Houses / Anemone Red Human People - Butterflies Drink Turtle Tears IAN SWEET - Crush Crusher Illuminati Hotties - Kiss Yr Frenemies James Blake - "If The Car Beside You Moves Ahead" / "Don't Miss It" Jonny Greenwood - Phantom Thread Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour Kero Kero Bonito - "Only Acting" Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper - "Shallow" Lala Lala - The Lamb Lana Del Rey - "Mariners Apartment Complex" / "Venice Bitch" Let's Eat Grandma - I'm All Ears Lisa/Liza - Momentary Glance Long Neck - Will This Do? Low - Double Negative Lucy Dacus - Historian Majetic - Club Dread Many Rooms - There Is A Presence Here Mary Lattimore - Hundreds Of Days Mathew Lee Cothran - My First Love Mends My Final Days Mitski - Be The Cowboy Mountain Man - Magic Ship Muncie Girls - Fixed Ideals Natalie Prass - The Future And The Past Nice Try - Nice Try Noname - Room 25 Now, Now - Saved Oneohtrix Point Never - Age Of Ovlov - Tru Palberta - Roach Goin' Down Petal - Magic Gone Pllush - Stranger To The Pain Pool Kids - Music To Practice Safe Sex To Post Pink - "You Real" / "Moon" Remember Sports - Slow Buzz Renata Zeiguer - Old Ghost Retirement Party - Somewhat Literate Rico Nasty - Nasty Robyn - Honey (Sandy) Alex G - "Fay" SASAMI - "Callous" / "Not The Time" Screaming Females - All At Once serpentwithfeet - soil Shannen Moser - I'll Sing Sir Babygirl - "Heels" / "Flirting With Her" / "Haunted House" Snail Mail - Lush Soccer Mommy - Clean SOPHIE - "Immaterial" Sorry - Home Demo/ns Vol II / "2 Down 2 Dance" / "Starstruck" Spirit Of The Beehive - Hypnic Jerks Strange Ranger - "New Hair" Superorganism - Superorganism Superteen - Over Everything Swearin' - Fall Into The Sun Thin Lips - Chosen Family Tim Hecker - Konoyo Tirzah - Devotion Tomberlin - At Weddings U.S. Girls - In A Poem Unlimited Vince Staples - FM! Vundabar - Smell Smoke Waxahatchee - Great Thunder Weakened Friends - Common Blah Wednesday - Yep Definitely Whitney Ballen - You're A Shooting Star, I'm A Sinking Ship Worlds Greatest Dad - Get Well Soon Wye Oak - The Louder I Call, The Faster It Runs Yowler - Black Dog In My Path

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jaceyourself · 6 years ago

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End of Year Wrap-Up 24/12/2018

Happy Merry to all you readers!

I’ve had a great year but all us music fans have had an even better one! Streaming services mean that now more than ever we can experience the musical output from all corners of the globe (though overwhelmingly the English-speaking parts of it) to understand different points of view, learn of the goings on in other parts of the world and most importantly indulge ourselves in a bit of a boogie. All the moods, genres and feels you could think of are out there, so over the holiday period perhaps try and listen to something new. Who knows it might break the tension with that younger/older relative round the xmas table when you find they also happen to like k-pop/jazz-funk/grindcore or at the very least you can bicker about the tragedy of the current album charts (Greatest Showman: 21 weeks!). To aid you in your quest for knowledge/excitement/small-talk I have spent almost 30 minutes curating a best-of for both albums and singles in the year of 2018.

(NB even with my album-a-day policy, there’s no way I can get through everything I want to within the 365, so if your fave appears ignored, let it be known that I probably haven’t heard it yet. The full list of everything I’ve listened to this year is at the bottom)

So in no particular order:

Albums

Jinx Lennon- Grow A Pair!!!

The Beths- Future Me Hates Me

The Pistol Annies- Interstate Gospel

Travis Scott- ASTROWORLD

Mount Eerie- Now Only

Cardi B- Invasion of Privacy

The 1975- A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships

The Aces- When My Heart Felt Volcanic

Singles

Confidence Man- Out The Window

Cardi B- I Like It

Janelle Monae ft. Grimes- Pynk

Lori McKenna- People Get Old

SOPHIE- Immaterial

Marie Davidson- Work It

Car Seat Headrest- Stop Smoking (We Love You)

BLACKPINK- AS IF IT’S YOUR LAST

The 1975- It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You)

https://open.spotify.com/user/jaceyourself/playlist/1kFex3QLVv0l3cCqjVC6dT?si=_GqTJXrOSoSXYaMC9ra_lg

Have a great festive period and I’ll see you in 2019 :D

2018 Albums what I listened to

Floating Points- Reflections – Mojave Desert

James Elkington- Wintres Woma

Miguel- War & Leisure

Ride- Weather Diaries

Sidney Gish- No Dogs Allowed

Emperor X- The Orlando Sentinel, Oversleepers International

Broken Social Scene- Hug of Thunder

MC5- Kick Out The Jams (Live)

Public Service Broadcasting- Every Valley

JJ Doom- Key to the Kuffs

HAIM- Something To Tell You

Camila Cabello- Camila

Sheer Mag- Need To Feel Your Love

Taylor Swift- reputation

Shabazz Palaces- Quazarz vs The Jealous Machines

This Is The Kit- Moonshine Freeze

Japanese Breakfast- Soft Sounds From Another Planet

Tune-Yards- I can feel you creep into my private life

Jupiter & Okwess- Kin Sonic

Various Artists- The Passion Of Charlie Parker

Waxahatchee- Out In The Storm, Great Thunder

Offa Rex- The Queen Of Hearts

Dizzee Rascal- Raskit

Alvvays- Antisocialites

Childhood- Universal High

Marmozets- Knowing What You Know Now

Declan McKenna- What Do You Think About the Car?

Paul Heaton- Crooked Calypso

Lana Del Rey- Lust For Life

Charles Lloyd New Quartet- Passin’ Thru (Live)

Rip Rig & Panic- Circa Rip Rig + Panic

Avey Tare- Eucalyptus

Justin Timberlake- Man Of The Woods

Rio Mira- Marimba del Pacifico

Oddisee- The Iceberg

Aimee Mann- Mental Illness

Katie Von Schleicher- Shitty Hits

Arcade Fire- Everything Now

Girl Ray- Earl Grey

Ezra Furman- Transangelic Exodus

Randy Newman- Dark Matter

Dead Cross- Dead Cross

Chronixx- Chronology

Mondo Cozmo- Plastic Soul

Kesha- Rainbow

Lal & Mike Waterson- Bright Phoebus

Steve Reich- Pulse / Quartet

Orchestra Baobab- Tribute to Ndiouga Dieng

Ratboy- SCUM

Prince- Dirty Mind, Controversy, 1999, Purple Rain, Parade, Sign ‘O’ The Times

Stanley Cowell- No Illusions

Oneohtrix Point Never- Good Time Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Downtown Boys- Cost Of Living

Screaming Females- All At Once

Rob Luft- Riser

Sibusile Xaba- Open Letter To Adoniah

Jen Cloher- Jen Cloher

Everything Everything- Fever Dream

Grizzly Bear- Painted Ruins

Bob’s Burgers- The Bob’s Burgers Music Album

Superorganism- Superorganism

Maren Morris- HERO

Courtney Marie Andrews- Honest Life, May Your Kindness Remain

Stefflon Don- Real Ting Mixtape

Ghostpoet- Dark Days + Canapés

Young Fathers- White Men Are Black Men Too, Cocoa Sugar

Queens Of The Stone Age- Songs For The Deaf

Thurst- Cut to the Chafe

John Moreland- Big Bad Luv

Aruan Ortiz- Cub(an)ism [Piano Solo]

Mount Eerie- Now Only

The War On Drugs- A Deeper Understanding

Various Artists- Pop Makossa

Liane Carroll- The Right to Love

Fickle Friends- You Are Someone Else

Nadine Shah- Holiday Destination

Various Artists- Howsla

George Ezra- Staying at Tamara’s

The Doors- The Doors

Filthy Friends- Invitation

Susanne Sundfør- Music For People In Trouble

LCD Soundsystem- LCD Soundsystem, Sound of Silver, American Dream

Mogwai- Every Country’s Sun

Kacey Musgraves- Golden Hour

The National- High Violet, Sleep Well Beast

The Klezmatics- Wonder Wheel

Hercules & Love Affair- Omnion

Mount Kimbie- Love What Survives

The Aces- When My Heart Felt Volcanic

Matthew Bourne- Isotach

Finished- Cum Inside Me Bro

Forced Into Femininity- I’m Making Progress

Heron Oblivion- Heron Oblivion

Hamell On Trial- TACKLE BOX

Confidence Man- Confident Music For Confident People

Swet Shop Boys- Cashmere

Princess Nokia- 1992 Deluxe, A Girl Cried Red

Steely Dan- The Royal Scam, Aja

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard- Nonagon Infinity

Sparks- Hippopotamus

J. Cole- KOD

Fat Tony- Macgregor Park

L’Orange and Jeremiah Jae- The Night Took Us In Like Family

Little Simz- Stillness In Wonderland

Lady Leshurr- Queen’s Speech

RAY BLK- Durt

Brand New- Science Fiction

Janelle Monae- Dirty Computer

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever- Talk Tight

Fred Thomas- Changer

Myra Davies- Sirens

Laraaji- Sun Gong

The Killers- Wonderful Wonderful

Descendents- Milo Goes To College

Frank Turner- Be More Kind

The Horrors- V

Moses Sumney- Aromanticism

Arctic Monkeys- Whatever People…, AM, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino

Oxbow- Thin Black Duke

Dee Byrne’s Entropi- Moment Frozen

Mike Stern- Trip

The Vampires- The Vampires Meet Lionel Loueke

Gogol Bordello- Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike, Super Taranta!, Seekers And Finders

Umphrey’s McGee- Zonkey

Hard Working Americans- We’re All in This Together

Courtney Barnett- Tell Me How You Really Feel

Jllin- Black Origami

Various Artists- Rough Guide to the Music of West Africa

Wolf Alice- Visions Of A Life

The Young’uns- Strangers

Fever Ray- Fever Ray, Plunge

CHVRCHES- Love Is Dead

Oumou Sangaré- Oumou, Mogoya

Charlotte Gainsbourg- Rest

Daniel Avery- Song For Alpha

Daphni- Joli Mai

Kanye West- ye

Cécile McLorin Salvant- Dreams and Daggers

Trio Da Kali, Kronos Quartet- Ladilikan

Kelela- Take Me Apart

Bob Dylan- The Times.., Another.., Bringing.., Highway.., Blond.., John.., Nashville.., New.., Blood..

Lily Allen- Alright(,) Still, It’s Not Me(,) It’s You, Sheezus, No Shame

Fanfare Ciocarlia- 20

Wolf Parade- Cry Cry Cry

SOPHIE- OIL OF EVERY PEARL’S UN-INSIDES

Zara McFarlane- Arise

St. Vincent- MASSEDUCTION

Margo Price- All American Made

Bebe Rexha- Expectations

Motörhead- Under Cöver

Orchestre Les Mangelepa- Last Band Standing

Drake- Scorpion

Various Artists- Gentle Giants: The Songs Of Don Williams

Noga Erez- Off The Radar

Baxter Dury- Prince of Tears

John Maus- Screen Memories

Lankum- Between the Earth and Sky

Shamir- Revelations

Years & Years- Palo Santo

Converge- The Dusk In Us

Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino- Canzoniere

Fred Hersch- Open Book

A. Savage- Thawing Dawn

Big Thief- Capacity

Kelly Clarkson- Meaning Of Life

Dirty Projectors- Lamp Lit Prose

Robt Sarazin Blake- Recitative

Shed Seven- Instant Pleasures

Spinning Coin- Permo

Call Super- Arpo

Laura Perrudin- Poisons & antidotes

Ellen Andrea Wang- Blank Out

Lori McKenna- The Tree

Wu-Tang Clan- Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

Lee Ronaldo- Electric Trim

Deer Tick- Vol. 2

The Paranoid Style- Underworld U.S.A.

Youssou N’Dour- Set, Joko- From Village To Town, Nothing’s In Vain, Seeni Valeurs

Gaika- BASIC VOLUME

Kasai Allstars- Around Felicite

Carly Rae Jepsen- Emotion

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds- Who Built The Moon?

Anna Ternheim- All the Way to Rio

U2- Songs of Experience

Mônica Vasconcelos- The São Paulo Tapes

Travis Scott- ASTROWORLD

Nabihah Iqbal- Weighing of the Heart

Van Morrison- Versatile

Jim James- Tribute to 2

Criolo- Espiral de Ilusão

Maciej Obara Quartet- Unloved

N.E.R.D- NO ONE EVER REALLY DIES

The Beths- Future Me Hates Me

Maryam Saleh- Lekhfa

Naomi Bedford- Songs My Ruiner Gave to Me

Jens Lekman- Night Over Kortedala

The Spirit of the Beehive- pleasure suck

Tom Rogerson- Finding Shore

Paul Jacobs- Pictures(,) Movies and Apartments

Ariana Grande- sweetener

Rina Sawayama- RINA

Marcel Khalife- Andalusia of Love

Gunter Hampel- Bounce (Live at Theater Gütersloh)

BAYNK- Someone’s EP

Omar Souleyman- To Syria(,) With Love

Blood Orange- Negro Swan

Open Mike Eagle- Brick Body Kids Still Daydream

First Aid Kit- Ruins

Shame- Songs of Praise

Homeboy Sandman- Veins

Playboi Carti- Playboi Carti

Eminem- Kamikaze

Troye Sivan- Blue Neighbourhood, BLOOM

Joey Bada$$- ALL AMERIKKKAN BADA$$

Priests- Nothing Feels Natural

Rhiannon Giddens- Freedom Highway

King Krule- The OOZ

Django Django- Marble Skies

Bon Iver- For Emma(,) Forever Ago

Calexico- The Thread That Keeps Us

Mary Gauthier- Rifles & Rosary Beads

Hookworms- Microshift

Aphex Twin- Collapse EP

Rae Morris- Someone Out There

Field Music- Open Here

Rhye- Blood

Shopping- The Official Body

MGMT- Little Dark Age

Christine and the Queens- Chris

Alela Diane- Cusp

Sonic Youth- Sister

Brigid Mae Power- The Two Worlds

Deafheaven- Sunbather

Various Artists- American Epic: The Collection Disc 1, 2, 3

Rich Krueger- Life Ain’t That Long

Lil Wayne- Tha Carter V

Modern Mal- The Misanthrope Family Album

Rejjie Snow- Dear Annie

U.S. Girls- In a Poem Unlimited

The Orielles- Silver Dollar Moment

Tal National- Tantabara

Marie Davidson- Working Class Woman

Superchunk- What a Time to Be Alive

Brandi Carlile- By The Way(,) I Forgive You

Car Seat Headrest- Twin Fantasy

Loma- Loma

Quavo- QUAVO HUNCHO

Marlon Williams- Make Way For Love

Nipsey Hussle- Victory Lap

Insecure Men- Insecure Men

Kendrick Lamar- Black Panther

Rapsody- Lalia’s Wisdom

Khalid- Suncity

Tracey Thorn- Record

Anna von Hausswolff- Dead Magic

Jinx Lennon- Grow a Pair!!!

Gwenno- Le Kov

Judas Priest- Stained Class, FIREPOWER

Robyn- Robyn, Body Talk, Honey

The Magic Gang- The Magic Gang

Essaie Pas- New Path

Bob Dylan and The Band- The Basement Tapes

The Decemberists- I’ll Be Your Girl

Pistol Annies- Interstate Gospel

BCUC- Emakhosini (Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness)

Jack White- Boarding House Reach

Yo La Tengo- There’s A Riot Going On

Sidi Touré- Toubalbero

Lil Peep- Come Over When You’re Sober(,) Pt. 2

The Breeders- All Nerve

The Vaccines- Combat Sports

CZARFACE- Czarface Meets Metal Face

Laurence Pike- Distant Early Warning

Chopteeth Afrofunk Big Band- Bone Reader

Leo Kalyan- The Edge

Hayley Kyoko- Expectations

Tristen- Sneaker Waves

Thelonious Monk- Les Liaisons Dangereuses

Brad Mehldau & Mark Guiliana- Mehliana: Taming The Dragon

Amy Rigby- Til The Wheels Fall Off, Little Fugitive, The Old Guys

BLACKPINK- BLACKPINK IN YOUR AREA

Rose Cousins- Natural Conclusion

Nora Jane Struthers- Champion

Lilly Hiatt- Trinity Lane

The Rolling Stones- The Rolling Stones, The Rolling Stones No. 2, Out of Our Heads, Aftermath

MAST- Thelonious Sphere Monk

The 1975- A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships

Jhene Aiko- Trip

Don Bryant- Don’t Give up on Love

EMA- Exile in the Outer Ring

Small Believer- Anna Tivel

Vera Sola- Shades

Cardi B- Invasion of Privacy

Darkthrone- A Blaze in the Northern Sky

Sarah Shook & the Disarmers- Years

Goat Girl- Goat Girl

Vic Mensa- HOOLIGANS

Unknown Mortal Orchestra- Sex & Food

Alasdair Roberts, Amble Scuse & David McGuiness- What News

Kali Uchis- Isolation

Wye Oak- The Louder I Call, the Faster It Runs

Migos- Culture II

Hinds- I Don’t Run

DRINKS- Hippo Lite

Alexis Taylor- Beautiful Thing

Jenny Wilson- EXORCISM

#music 2018 #music #best of #christmas

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wantshapesthem · 3 years ago

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#humans don't like that we are so much like bees#a city is a superorganism of humans the way that a beehive is a superorganism of bees#but we are too busy trying to pretend we're not part of nature to actually act right#humans doing the thing#writing

I think it's kind of funny how common a trope hive minds are in science fiction like we're all super fascinated by the concept of a linked species that shares data through psychic link or whatever. But when it comes down to it it's just as likely that an alien might see us and consider us to be a linked species because we are constantly connected and we share data through vibrations in the air or in codes that are just manipulating a space so different frequencies of light can be observed against each other or in an elaborate system of movement. And we are basically always doing this and none of our complex thoughts show up on their own they are built upon by others and every piece of ourselves is influenced by the networks of other humans that share data with us. Like sure we CAN exist as an individual unit but you die if you haven't spent years getting data that teaches you how to survive like none of us can just LEAVE the hive mind right away and we only thrive when part of a communal unit. Idk maybe this is nothing but I think it's kind of cool.

#persenet #actuals

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mostlysignssomeportents · 7 years ago

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Beyond the Coming Age of Networked MatterBy Bruce Sterling

I wasn’t too chuffed about the weird changes I saw in my favorite start-up guy. Crawferd was a techie I knew from my circuit: GE Industrial Internet, IBM Smart Cities, the Internet-of-Things in Hackney hackathons. The kind of guy I thought I understood.

I relied on Crawferd to deliver an out-there networked-matter pitch to my potential investors. He was great at this, since he was imaginative, inventive, fearless, tireless, and he had no formal education. Crawferd wore unlaced Converse shoes and a lot of Armani. He had all the bumbling sincerity of a Twitter Arab Spring.

Crawferd could see no difference between physics and metaphysics. The way he had it figured, all matter was code. If you suggested that his trippy hacker mysticism was not entirely plausible—that rocks were rocks and trees were trees, they weren’t “networks”— he’d brood at length, then chase you from the hackerspace, slam the door, and blog compulsively.

Given his deep unworldliness and his intense interior life, Crawferd was a pretty easy guy for me to manage. We got along okay, while Sophia and Fatima totally loved Crawferd. S&F were my two wealthy oil widows from Dubai. Their Gulf State pin money had to go somewhere that wasn’t Cyprus or Bitcoins.

So for a while things were cozy. I’d arrange funding brunches in Gstaad, where Fatima and Sophia went skiing. I’d wheel in Mr. California Ideology while they had their mint tea and shared the hookah. The sparks would fly.

Crawferd was cool about Sophia and Fatima. He never asked them for much, and he always brought them nifty digital fitness toys. All tech chicks kind of dug Crawferd. He had this spooky geek tenderness, a possibly sensual, my bits-might-turn-to-atoms thing going on.

So S&F hung on his every word, but the truth was, the guy simply didn’t know how to cash in. He was all sci-fi and no megacorp.

Then he missed a couple of gigs and he stopped updating on LinkedIn. I was busy helping Microsoft waste some Kinect money, so I didn’t bother him.

Then I breezed through Palo Alto and he spotted me on Foursquare. He shot me a mysterious, incoherent SMS full of sick Tweet orthographics. “W3 sh4ll overl4p time, space, and dimensions,

and with0ut bodily motion, peer to the .”

I got rid of that thing pronto. I always erase after reading, my lawyer taught me that. But seeing his freaked message, I took good care to meet him F2F.

Crawferd was lurking and had gone very downside-scenario. He had tinfoiled all the windows inside a nameless AirBnB, which he’d rented from some shivering TumblrGoth who was way into, like, black candles, inverted pentagrams, and big plastic 3Dprinted gargoyles.

Fancy LED lights in Shapeways Nervous-System lamps were segueing through every color in the spectrum, while Soundcloud was streaming the shriekiest works of Grimes.

This was not his customary scene, and I further perceived that my man Crawferd had shed several kilos, dyed his hair pastel, and failed to shave. He kept compulsively stroking the filthy screen of his Chinese-knockoff fondleslab.

“Buzz, old buddy,” he croaked at me, “it used to upset me, because I couldn’t deliver a massive breakthrough in the networked- matter space. I talked a great game sometimes. But I couldn’t execute. But now I’m so freaked out! Yes! Freaky from success! I have networked matter!”

Crawferd had this thousand-mile killer-drone stare now, and also that rigid, pedantic, coder tone of voice, that grammar-nazi thing you see mostly on Ayn Rand websites.

My deliverable seemed clear to me: reduce fever, resume chill, and restore functionality.

“Crawferd, pal, listen up. You’ve been way overdoing it in an overheated tech scene. I’ve got your back, and I’m thinking Oahu. There’s this cool yoga-hula ashram out there, no Internet connectivity, no cell-phone bars, nothing. Some exercise, brown rice, and vitamin B, and you’ll be the old Crawferd in no time.”

“Buzz, this matter is about matter. We see matter because we’re constructed from matter. We imagine we’re made from matter because all we can measure with our network sensors is a narrowly materialistic set of inputs. But that is not the cosmic truth, Buzz. A new science underlies ‘matter.’ It’s about a cellular- automata framework in which all material manifestations are computationally equivalent.”

I’d seen these sad symptoms in other guys like him. My fave Californian tech boy had gone straight off the ledge into full Erik Davis techgnosis. “Oahu’s just hours away. Beaches, blue sky, maybe a sweet, understanding hippie lady with some pakalolo.”

“I have found the grail for the coming age of networked matter, Buzz. I have seized its Philosopher’s Stone. I have found a way to transform all matter into network.”

“Why?” I said.

He got that look on his face. “What do you mean, ‘why’?”

“Where is my user benefit? Where is the business model? You can’t get VC backers for that scheme! That is pure Tim Leary mystic woo-woo! You’re a coder, Crawferd. I can hear crap like that from L.A. screenwriters.”

“Do I look like I’m handwaving at you? I have built a freaking demo! I can run it for you, right here, off my phablet.”

Crawferd was a proud and touchy fanatic, but then again, so was Steve Jobs. You can take one fatal step too far into the Reality Distortion Field, and all the typewriters will vanish. They don’t come back, either. “So, what does your demo, uh, demo?”

“You remember those two Maker kids? The ones I had hacking those beehives for me?”

I remembered his interns, all right. Two cute Millennial designer kids. Their names escaped me, but she was, like, very Kevin Kelly techno-emergence, while he was very Jussi Parikka insect media. They were Crawferd’s start-up slaves. Being Makers, they worked around the clock without a salary, just like bees did.

“Your beehive kids,” I said.

“Great design research team! They went deep into the bee ‘umwelt,’ that sensory world of bees that only bees can perceive. Bees are intensely illustrative of matter-networking principles. Bees scarcely have brains, yet they still assemble and congeal all the nectar and pollen within a given area.”

“So that’s your demo? It’s bees? Cut to the chase! Where’s the humming and stinging?”

“That’s not my demo yet . . . but here, look what they did on

Kickstarter. You’ll appreciate this.”

Crawferd caressed his cruddy little “phablet”—man, I really hate that word—and there they were, Crawferd’s two favorite Maker kids. Nicely dressed up in black and yellow bee-themed cosplay duds, with that embedded video that crowdfunding projects always do.

“Hi there, people of the Internet! I’m Adrienne, a graphic interface designer from Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, and this is Julio, my coder and Significant Other!”

There followed ninety seconds of jerky handheld from Adrienne’s iPhone. Her pitch was all about the graphic interfaces through which bees perceive and manipulate matter. Bee sensors, mostly, their compound eyes, antennae, and their big tonguey mandibles.

Then Julio horned in, to vlog about the bee-code running on their tiny bee brains.

Bee brains lacked much processing power. Just enough hardware in there to run a high-level bee-dance language where the bees could clue each other in about tasty matter resources. Adrienne had mocked this system up on a whiteboard with boxes and arrows. Julio had coded it with open-source modules.

Then they’d created these 3Dprinted plastic “bee puppets.” Their fake plastic Maker bees were, like, awesomely effective at bee dancing. Their robot bees, set dancing by Arduino, were basically Trojan Bees. They had gotten root in the hive. They had powned the hive colony superorganism. Those bees would do whatever the hackers wanted.

“Their bee-swarm pitch is out of this world!” I told Crawferd. “I can’t believe I haven’t seen this idea before!”

The Maker kids ramped up to their triumphant climax. Being new to California, they’d noticed all the window-box marijuana plants. They’d hacked their bees to go out to forage for dope pollen.

They showed the camera their existence proof: a double fistful of honey-drenched Silicon Valley hashish.

Then little Adrienne and Julio modestly asked the public for twenty grand to go 3Dprint some beehives, so they could issue some royal-jelly marijuana prescriptions. A business-model screwup that was total facepalm. Of course their Kickstarter had exploded. Just gone ballistic. It had blown past twelve million USD in capital and was heading north at high speed.

“You have created a monster,” I told Crawferd. “I can see why you’re so upset now. This is not even funny. Where are those crazy kids? They’re gonna need to lawyer up.”

“They’re no longer with me,” muttered Crawferd. “That’s the bad part. That’s why I’m hiding in here.”

“So where’d they run off to?”

Read the rest:

https://boingboing.net/2013/07/16/bruce-sterling-from-beyond.html

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featherquillpen · 7 years ago

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I've just finished rereading Daemorphing and I'm curious if you ever thought about what Ax's settled form might be if he were human?

I have thought about it some, though never pinned it down to one species. The category I got it to was “parasocial arthropod.” Not coincidentally, Elfangor’s Guide Tree turned dæmon Hala Fala’s form, the orchid bee, also falls in this category.

What do I mean by that? An arthropod is a segmented animal with a hard exoskeleton, e.g., insects, crabs, spiders, ticks, and harvestmen. “Parasocial” refers to a certain segment of the wide spectrum of social behavior in animals.

Sociality varies widely among animals, from solitary animals that will attempt to eat any other member of their species that dare to intrude on their territory (lots of spiders fit this description) to animals so collective they verge on superorganisms (leaf-cutter ants.) Parasocial arthropods all form communal nests for rearing their young, but fall short of the advanced division of labor found in a beehive.

Orchid bees nest communally and help each other raise young, but there’s no division of labor. Some parasocial arthropods, like social spiders with communal webs, go one step further and have roles within the nest like caretaker, forager, etc. But they stop short of bees and the like because they don’t have a caste divide as extreme as queen/worker, nor do they have the advanced communication skills bees and ants need to coordinate vast numbers of workers at different tasks.

Circling all of this back to who Ax and Elfangor are, both of them have values oriented toward society and the collective over the individual (”lawful” rather than “chaotic” in some interpretations of D&D alignment.) Both of them find strength in systems and structure (Extraverted Thinking, if you care for Carl Jung.) But neither of them have the extroversion, care for interpersonal communication, or social awareness I would associate with someone with a honeybee (or similar) dæmon.

I think Firi Dria in dæmon form would fall more toward the “ant” end of the spectrum than Hala Fala. Ax is more invested in finding and fulfilling a particular social role than Elfangor is. Elfangor can tolerate or even embrace some ambiguity in where he falls within the group (he changes his role many times in TAC and rolls with it gracefully.) Ax needs to know just where he stands, and finds stability in knowing his place, whether it’s as a follower (most of the series) or a leader (book 54.)

Sorry I didn’t narrow it down any farther than that, but the specific groups of arthropods that came to mind were social spiders, Lasioglossum bees, hover wasps, paper wasps, and ponerine ants.

#animorphs #daemons #daemorphing meta is go #daemon au #sharktoraptor

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meistoshia · 6 years ago

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who are you ??

name / nickname. edward / ed. star sign. iM aN aRi e S. height. like 6ft smth. what’s your middle name. michael. put your music on shuffle. what are the first 6 songs that popped up ??

baddest motherfucker in the beehive --- the delta riggs ;

goon squad --- ripe ;

O・TE・A・GE・DA --- bradio ;

disco superfly --- per ( please explain the rhythm ) ;

swinging on a star --- frank sinatra ;

the prawn song --- superorganism .

ever had a poem or song written about you. certainly not that i know of. when was the last time you played air guitar. last friday when i was jamming out to tunes while filtering good / bad bricks. who is your celebrity crush. i don’t ... have any kjfghkdjfhgs. i’ve lain my affections purely on fictional characters at the moment v_v. what’s a sound you hate / sound you love. i hate any sound in loud & excessive amounts, but in particular prolonged barking & whining, a table being dragged across the floor, mic reverb. sounds i adore, however, are glass shattering, fast songs played on acoustic guitar, mouth - trumpet sounds, honestly just trumpet in general, thunder & hard rain hitting against metal roofs. do you believe in ghosts ?? yeah. how about aliens ?? it’s pure ridiculousness bordering on narcissism to think we’re the only sentient & intelligent life in the whole universe ( the place is ginormous, far beyond being fully comprehensible ) . i mean they probably don’t plan on coming near us any time soon considering the really intelligent space travelling ones are more than likely lightyears away from us, but fuck yeah. do you drive ?? i am ... scared of the concept of driving on highways, but my dad is teaching me to drive. if so, have you ever crashed ?? i’m proud to say that i have only ever come close. what was the last book you read ?? finally finished american gods a while back ( i kept picking it up & then putting it down so it took a hot fucking minute fgjdfgj ) . do you like the smell of gasoline ?? yell heah. what was the last movie you saw ?? not counting rewatches, the spy who dumped me, technically, but i only half payed attention to it, so a simple favor. do you have any obsessions right now. i wouldn’t call it an obsession but i am super hyperfixating on pokeani right now, & have been for the past like 5 months. do you tend to hold grudges against people who have done you wrong ?? only up until they’re no longer actively in my life, so i got over a lot of my school annoyances fairly quickly since they either moved to different classes / schools or just moved on. in a relationship ?? single pringle, tried mingling once & it didn’t work out, tried putting myself more out there but chickened out ( it be like that when you’re only out to one person in your real life & aren’t comfortable enough with yourself yet kjdfhsgkdjf ) .

tagged by: nyeh >:3c tagging: nyeh >:/c

#uwu #* !! ya boy.#* !! pkmn is autistic culture.

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b-sidemusic · 7 years ago

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THE B-SIDE BUMPER BACKTRACK 2017 - PART TWO

Whoever you talk to, and whatever they're into, the consensus seems to be that 2017 has been an incredible year for the East Anglian DIY music scene. For Part Two of our Festive Retrospective Extravaganza, we spoke to yet more promoters, writers, DJs and artists from around the region about their favourite albums, tracks, gigs and moments from the last 12 months, including Fightmilk, The Interesting Times Gang, Kyanos, Graceland, Desperate Journalist, Sophie Mahon, Kulk, Clown Smash Everything, F.O.X and more...

LILY RAE

The Tyler Durden of Fightmilk club. www.fightmilkisaband.bandcamp.com

Album of the Year: ‘Juniverbrecher’ by The Indelicates. It’s spooky, furious, and you can dance to it. In other words, an ideal album. Track of the Year: ‘Prom’ by SZA. You can just put it on repeat for about an hour and not get bored of it. Lovely. Gig of the Year: I’ve got two: Julien Baker at (London’s) Union Chapel, for my favourite super sad telecaster porn or Tundra at The Hunter Club (In Bury St Edmunds), which was the most fucking amazing thing I’ve ever seen in my life. You could make beer-glitter angels on the venue floor after the set. Moment of the Year: Princess Nokia throwing soup at a racist. More throwing soup at racists in 2018, please. Turns out it’s a very versatile food. Tip for 2018: This is the year you go to the dentist, pal.

HANNAH CUTLER

Leader of The Interesting Times Gang. www.facebook.com/interestingtimesgang

Albums of the Year: ‘Superman’ by Wednesday Campanella. Also, ‘A Deeper Understanding’ by The War On Drugs and 'Every Valley' by Public Service Broadcasting. Tracks of the Year: ‘How Do You Sleep?’ by LCD Soundsystem. Moments of the Year: Not sure if I have any. To be brutally honest, my absolute favourite album I’ve listened to this year is ‘Power Windows’ by Rush. But it was released in 1985.

KYANOS

AKA Seth, Sam, Zach and Fintan: a four-headed psych beast who answer as one. www.kyanosbaby.bandcamp.com

Albums of the Year: ‘Flower Boy’ by Tyler the Creator; ‘The Ooz’ by King Krule; ‘Sketches of Brunswick East’ by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard with Mild High Club; ‘Drunk’ by Thundercat.

Tracks of the Year: ‘Rolling Stone’ by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard with Mild High Club; ‘For the First Time’ by Mac Demarco; ‘Call Me Up’ by Homeshake; ’Moment I Feared’ by Snoop Dogg.

Gigs of the Year: Homeshake; Chic; Yung Lean; Jamiroquai; King Krule.

Moments of the Year: Being mentioned in NME. First headline gig in London. The release of (debut EP) ‘Elevator to Japan’.

Tips for 2018: Treat 'em clean, keep it mean and have a sweet dream.

MATT CATLING

Ipswich Smokehouse’s Freakverbrator. www.freakverbration.blogspot.co.uk

Albums of the Year: Alvvays - ‘Antisocialites’; Slowdive - ‘Slowdive’; Cigarettes After Sex - ‘Cigarettes After Sex’; Frankie Rose - ‘Cage Tropical’; Fever Dream - ‘Squid’; Thurston Moore - ‘Rock n Roll Concussion’; The Gluts - ‘Estasi’; Kamikaze Girls - ‘Seaform’; Anne Hart - ‘Impossible Accomplice’; Idles - ‘Brutalism’.

Tracks of the Year: No Vacation - ‘Mind Fields’; Hazel English - ‘Fix’; Softer Still - ‘Company’; Major Leagues - ‘Good Love��; Lowtide - ‘Alibi’; Desperate Journalist - ‘Hollow’; METZ - ‘Cellophane’; Diet Cig - ‘Tummy Acre’; Is Bliss - ‘Into A Dream’.

Gigs of the Year: Part Chimp at Cambridge Portland Arms, 13th April; London DIY Pop Fest 2017, 28th-30th April; Desperate Journalist at Bury St Edmunds Hunter Club, 17th June; Kamikaze Girls at Ipswich Smokehouse, 23rd June; Indietracks 2017, 28th-30th July; Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia, 22nd September; Pinkshinyultrablast at London Hackney Oslo, 20th October; Cambridge Indie Pop all-dayer at The Blue Moon, 18th November; Amusement Parks On Fire at London Borderline, 25th November.

Moments of the Year: Covering festivals like DIY Popfest, Indietracks and Liverpool Psych Fest. Interviewing bands I love such as pinkshinyultrablast, and getting myself an AAA pass. Putting on gigs at The Smokehouse. Getting back into blogging.

Tips for 2018: Keep on plugging away with what you’re doing. Get into covering gigs and festivals. Create your own blog or do your own radio show about your own interests.

MAXIE GEDGE

Graceland sticksmith and PRS Foundation guru. www.soundcloud.com/graceland_band

Albums of the Year: 1. Nubya Garcia - ‘Nubya’s 5ive’ 2. Hannah Peel - ‘Mary Casio: Journey to Cassiopeia’ 3. Lana Del Rey - ‘Lust for Life’ 4. Princess Nokia - ‘1992 Deluxe’ 5. The Big Moon - ‘Love In The 4th Dimension’

Tracks of the Year: 1. Flohio - ‘SE16’ 2. Superorganism - ‘Something For Your Mind’ 3. Charli XCX - ‘Boys’ 4. Sink Ya Teeth - ‘If You See Me’ 5. Goat Girl - ‘Crow Cries’

Gigs of the Year: Mykki Blanco - Meltdown at Southbank Centre; Hannah Peel and Mary Epworth at Norwich Arts Centre.

Moments of the Year:Ray Blk speech at Women in Music Awards and (documentary) ‘The Ballad of Shirley Collins’.

Tips for 2018: Flohio; Soeur; Bonzai; IDER; Maya Law.

NEIL JONES

Bringer of rock thunder to Cambridge 105fm and KLFM; Operations Manager at Cambridge Live. www.cambridge105.co.uk/shows/neil-jones

Album of the Year: Wayward Sons – ‘Ghost Of Yet To Come’.

Tracks of the Year: ‘Play’ by Marmozets.

Gigs of the Year: Subterranean Festival at Cambridge Corn Exchange; Marillion at the Royal Albert Hall; Iron Maiden at Nottingham Arena.

Moments of the Year: On a personal level, launching the new Subterranean one-day festival at Cambridge Corn Exchange, which is back for 2018; a (partially) reformed Guns ’n’ Roses playing the UK; and Prophets of Rage slaying Download.

Tips for 2018: Milk Teeth’s 2017 EPs showed a promise that should be delivered upon in 2018, and Cambridge bands Hollowstar and False Hearts are great bands with a bright future.

PAUL JENKINS

Our man in Norwich. www.outlineonline.co.uk

Albums of the Year: In order: Peter Perret - ‘How The West Was Won’; Madonnatron - ‘Madonnatron’; Jay Ducker - ‘Country Sober’; Mogwai - ‘Every Country’s Sun’; Amadou & Mariam - LA CONFUSION’; Wooden Arms - ‘Trick Of The Light’; British Sea Power - ‘Let The Dancers Inherit The Party’; Wire - ‘Silver / Lead’; The Jesus & Mary Chain - ‘Damage And Joy’; Ho99o9 - ‘United States of Horror’. (I’ve not included compilations. If I had, ‘This Was The Sound of Sugar Town’, ‘This Is The Sound Of Sugar Town Volume 2’ and ‘The Best of Chris T-T’ would have been in there.)

Tracks of the Year: In order: Zero UK - ‘Things You Love’; Gaffa Tape Sandy - ‘Beehive’; Ho99o9 - ‘United States of Horror’; Janet Street Slaughter - ‘The Sensitive Side of Bill Sykes’; Mega Emotion - ‘Sick Burn’; Charlotte Gainsbourg - ‘Deadly Valentine’; Jim Jones & The Righteous Mind - ‘Something’s Gonna Get Its Hands On You’; Madonnatron - ‘Mother’s Funeral’; Marc Almond - ‘Something Bad On My Mind’; Peter Perret - ‘Troika’.

Gigs of the Year: Almost every gig I have been to this year has had at least one excellent act on the bill so picking highlights is tougher than ever but here goes (in date order): Ho99o9, Norwich Waterfront, January; Nightingales and Graceland, Norwich Arts Centre, February; Horse Party and Claws, Bury St Edmunds Hunter Club, April; Melt Banana, Mega Emotion and Algae Bloom, Norwich Arts Centre, June; Magoo, Norwich Arts Centre, July; Dowling Poole and Last Great Dreamers, London Borderline, September; Gaffa Tape Sandy, Norwich Arts Centre, October; Bad Apples, Norwich Owl Sanctuary November; Wonk Unit, Owl Sanctuary, November; Icicle Works, Norwich Arts Centre, November. Honourable mentions also to British Sea Power, Subhumans, Wire, The Lovely Eggs, Rainbow Girls, Hot Raisin, Tubes and the four Quireboys/Last Great Dreamers dates I managed to get to.

Moments of the Year: Driving, crewing and doing merch for Last Great Dreamers when they supported Quireboys in Aberdeen, Glasgow, Newcastle and London; chatting to Alex from Wonk Unit before their Owl Sanctuary gig about addiction and being sober - anyone else would have been dull as chuff but Alex was his usual entertaining, engaging self (haven't paid any attention to him, though); meeting the various members of The Tubes - albeit briefly – after their show at the Waterfront.

Tips for 2018: Charlotte Carpenter, Bryde and Tibetan Night Terrors should break through to some mainstream success. The next She Makes War LP and Last Great Dreamers’ LP number four will be absolute belters. I have not seen New Scientists yet but everyone I know who has seen them says they are destined for big things. Ooh, and I’ve had sneak previews of the next Lovely Eggs and Hookworms albums, and they are crackers.

RICHARD HAUGH

BBC Introducing in Suffolk’s other lovely chap. www.bbc.co.uk/radiosuffolk

Albums of the Year: Dingus Khan - ‘Dunce Kap’. The wait had been too long, but I’ll let them off for that. Sadly, it’s so far only been available at two gigs, but a full release early in the new year [our spies tell us it’ll be out in April - Espionage Ed.] should be celebrated.

Tracks of the Year: Bessie Turner, ‘Words You Say’ – just wow. It never gets boring. And Gaffa Tape Sandy’s ‘Water Bottle’ and ‘Beehive’. It’s really hard to be a stand out indie band but Gaffa Tape Sandy have managed to do just that.

Moments of the Year: My memory is terrible, so I may well be overlooking things, but earlier this week I went to Maida Vale with Bessie Turner and spent the day being stunned by her talent and how much she’s achieved this year. She only released her debut single in April but went on to play at Latitude and has become a firm favourite of Jo Whiley’s. It’s refreshing to see that good things can happen to artists who are doing everything on their own terms, without the reliance of industry connections or a large pile of cash.

Tips for 2018: Hopefully the momentum behind Bessie Turner and Gaffa Tape Sandy will result in further nice things for them both. I’ll also be eagerly awaiting new music from Leaone, Amy Milner and Radio Orwell, who are now a very good live band.

RICHARD ROSE

R*E*P*E*A*T Records’ lone honcho. Does his lists a little differently. www.repeatfanzine.bandcamp.com

Loves: Idles – ‘Brutalism’ Bury St Edmunds #RockCity (and Sugar Town records) International Blue Tories eating themselves Superglu at Washing Machine You Flexi Things SIAH and Saltfen, Beverley Kills and The Baby Seals Relevant Records The Graffiti on Gilbert Rd – JC for PM / I “heart” Catalonia‘ Flawed Is Beautiful’ – These Animal Men / S*M*A*S*H DVD Desperate Journalist – ‘Grow Up’ Introducing ten year old punks on stage (Sound Wave) Vinyl Joanna Gruesome Hardcore Hobbies Strongbow Gaffa Tape Sandy green vinyl The A14 The Batts’ debut EP Finally seeing The Skids live, 40 years on at Cambridge Junction Jeremy Corbyn – kids singing for him at gigs, millions voting for him at the polls, Tories running from him, despite the shit spreaders Badges Badgers My new and lovely red 'entry level' turntable Damage and Joy Janet Street Slaughter Vanilla Coffee Leon Britton (the footballer not the politician) S*M*A*S*H at The Portland Arms Spiders God's Favourite Band Swansea Bay The Virtues at Washing Machine Goldblume

Hates: Lists Football Lads Alliance Retweets of Fascists by fingers on buttons The job you hate but are too scared to pack in Hedge Funds wrecking our clubs The A14 Punctures POP STARS and anyone else without an opinion Fancy cider Punk rock nostalgia Originality Handwriting

SEYMOUR QUIGLEY

B-Side news editor; Washing Machine operator. www.washingmachinebse.co.uk

Albums of the Year: The Baby Seals - ‘The Baby Seals’; Gaffa Tape Sandy - ‘Spring Killing’; Slowdive - ‘Slowdive’; Underworld - ‘Beaucoup Fish’ (re-mastered); Janet Street Slaughter - ‘Janet Street Slaughter’.

Tracks of the Year: Fightmilk - ‘Pity Party’; Gaffa Tape Sandy - ‘Beehive’; Songhoy Blues - ‘Bamako’; Charlotte Gainsbourg - ‘Deadly Valentine’; Bicep - ‘Glue’; Blue Mean Eyes - ‘Escapade’; Desperate Journalist - ‘Hollow’; Goat Girl - ‘Cracker Drool’.

Gigs of the Year: Desperate Journalist at the John Peel Centre, Stowmarket, February; SuperGlu at Bury Fringe Festival, May; Ryan Jordan at The Rehearsal Rooms, Bury St Edmunds, November; Gaffa Tape Sandy at The Hunter Club, Bury St Edmunds, December.

Moments of the Year: Playing 'What I'd Do' at [former band] Horse Party's final gig, at The Hunter Club in April - still not sure how I managed not to weep the tears of horrible sadness.

Tips for 2018: I’m really excited about Sun Scream, The Glitter Shop and Lemondaze. If Slowcoaches release a new album, I will be so so happy. Also: Grimes.

SIMON BAKER

Green Mind’s perennial thrill-monger. www.greenmind.co.uk

Album of the Year: Waxahatchee – ‘Out In The Storm’. Lyrically superb demolition of an abusive relationship coupled with some of the best indie rock I’ve ever heard. So many hooks.

Tracks of the Year: The whole of ‘Out In The Storm’.

Gigs of the Year: Too many to mention, but here’s a short list: Melt Banana at London Highbury Garage – always earshredding and just incredibly fun.

The Jesus & Mary Chain at Cambridge Junction – one of mine and a show I’m incredibly proud of. Bucket list band, coupled with an “all killer, no filler” set list. Nearly exploded when the really chiming bit in ‘Some Candy Talking’ kicked in.

Waxahatchee at End Of The Road – horrible rain all day, but they managed to cut through the rain and were essential.

Car Seat Headrest at End Of The Road – “KILLER WHAAAAALE, KILLER WHAAAALLE!”

Idles – superb live band, but I put them on twice while I was dealing with a recurrent brain condition, so never saw a whole set due to being tired all the time. I need to rectify this in 2018.

Fickle Friends at Junction 2 – straight up pop band with no pretensions. Seeing 350 kids having a brilliant and unpretentious time made this jaded old bastard smile.

Tips for 2018: Idles are clearly going to be the band of 2018. There are so many tedious trench coat wearing post-punk revivalists and Idles just destroy all of them, by being wittier, cleverer and funnier and having their own ideas.

SIMON DROWNER

Desperate Journalist mover, shaker and bass-wielding groove-maker. www.desperatejournalist.co.uk

Albums of the Year: Peter Perrett - ‘How The West Was Won’; LCD Soundsystem - ‘American Dream’; Dexy - ‘Tear It Down’; IDLES - ‘Brutalism’; Moon Duo - ‘Occult Architechture Vol. 1’.

Tracks of the Year: Makthaverskan - ‘In My Dreams’; FEWS - ‘LaGuardia’; Sheer Mag - ‘Just Can't Get Enough’; Ride - ‘Charm Assault’; British Sea Power - ‘Bad Bohemian’.

Gigs of the Year: LCD Soundsystem at Alexandra Palace; Paul Draper at Scala; Ezra Furman at The Barbican; Peter Perrett at The Electric Ballroom; Moonlandingz at The 100 Club.

Moments of the Year: Desperate Journalist playing Scala. Releasing, and eventually selling out of, our album ‘Grow Up’ on vinyl. When the General Election exit poll results came in and half the country (and media) had egg on their faces.

Tips for 2018: Calva Louise, Gaffa Tape Sandy, Bad Nerves, White Trash.

SOPHIE MAHON

Your new BF. www.soundcloud.com/sophie-mahon

Albums of the Year: One which deserves a mention is an instrumental album by one of my bucket list session musicians. Admittedly I don’t normally go for instrumental albums but ‘Trigger’ by Jacob ‘Quist’ Quistgaard is fun and good for when you don’t know what lyrics you need to hear. An album I only discovered this year after reading Nile Rodger’s autobiography is his solo album ‘Adventures In The Land Of The Good Groove’. Yes, it was made in 1983, but it’s Nile experimenting at his peak. David Bowie liked it so I think it deserves a mention.

Tracks of the Year: These questions are much harder to answer than I thought! I’m quite fond of Tears For Fears recent single ‘I Love You But I’m Lost’, very catchy chorus; you’ll wake up at two in the morning with it on your brain. Bryan Ferry’s jazz reworking of his songs for the German TV series ‘Babylon Berlin’ are beautiful (a continuation from his album The Jazz Age’ if you’re interested), particularly ‘Bittersweet’, which he recorded new vocals for too. The song becomes ten times darker, melancholy and weary; I had to listen to it on repeat for at least an hour. Lastly an old track, which I discovered recently, is Etta James’s cover of ‘It’s Alright’ by Curtis Mayfield. The snare is like machine gun fire; give it a listen, that’s all I’ll say.

Gigs of the Year: Chic at The BBC, ABC with Kid Creole and The Coconuts as support and Bryan Ferry at Hampton Court. So much I could say about these, but all it boils down to is that they’re legends for a reason, which is why I will always try to see them whenever possible.For my own gigs, playing The Hunter Club for the first time was awesome - such a great crowd and the first time I have seen strangers dancing to my music, which has always been my aim so it felt great. The second would be playing the Inbetweeners Stage at Latitude - while neither the stage nor the audience were massive, just to be part of something so big was incredible.Actually another band to mention was Divine Comedy, they were at Latitude and I went to watch because they were the only band on that day that I vaguely knew. Best decision I ever made, Neil Hannon is eccentrically English [Actually he’s Irish, but you wouldn’t know it from his singing voice - Lineage Ed.], his lyrics are witty and clever and the performance was so light hearted it made a nice change. I didn’t stop listening to his music for about two months afterwards.

Moments of the Year: Releasing my first single ‘2BF’ and it getting played on BBC Introducing in Suffolk, bit daunting but the feedback on the whole has been pretty positive, thanks to everyone who liked it.Tony Hadley leaving Spandau Ballet; I am still upset.

Tips for 2018: Start as you mean to go on; I live by this and it seems to be working so far. Also just do what makes you happy, the music, image, brand and performance will naturally be more genuine and original, plus you feel happy too. Finally, invest in a bigger car - there is, I find, only so much you can fit in a Ford KA. Or go acoustic; it’ll fit in nicely.

THOM LONGDIN & JADE ASHLEIGH SQUIRES

Together, they are Kulk. www.kulk.bandcamp.com

Albums of the Year: One of our albums of the year is Ty Segall’s self titled album. We discovered Ty through the band Fuzz (who encouraged the purchase of the Fuzz War guitar pedal, which has been a huge impact on our sound). We bought the album as it was engineered by Steve Albini and has a classic rock and roll/garage fuzz feel. Well worth a listen, especially ‘Break A Guitar’. Our other album of the year would be Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile’s ‘Lotta Sea Lice’, this is their first collaboration of hopefully many. This is on the lighter side of our listening, but is poetic and beautifully bluesy. Highlights of this album include ‘Over Everything’ and ‘Untogether’ .

Tracks of the Year: Our first track of the year is ‘Tasteless’ by Shame. We first discovered Shame supporting Slaves; their sound is best described as indie but in a punk way, the music is heavy and the lyrics are angry but not distorted. If you like ‘Tasteless’ you will love ‘Gold Hole’ and ‘Concrete’. We are also huge fans of Sunflower Bean, so naturally their new single ‘I Was A Fool’ would be on this list. This song is a homage to classic rock with still a hint of psychedelia from their previous album sound. We look forward to this new album next year and seeing them live again.

Gigs of the Year: Our best gig of 2017, which could possibly be the best gig of our lives so far, would have to be in Brixton on Hallowe’en this year: Melvins and Red Kross. Melvins are an inspiration to our music and it was amazing to see them live, with an even heavier sound than on record. For us, the highlight was ‘The Bit’. They’re a must-see for any heavy music fan. The Wytches at Norwich Waterfront studio was another best gig of 2017: the psychedelic riffs and heavy drums with the grit of Christian Bell’s vocals makes for an amazing live show. Their cover of Misfits ‘Cough/Cool’ (from their home recordings) live was particularly exciting. Their support acts - We’ll Be Detectives and The Weirds - created a great sense of what was to come.

Moments of the Year: One of our best moments was our first gig, at The Smokehouse Ipswich, which we organised with our friends Con Party and Jessie Ingate. The night was terrifying but it was amazing to play amongst friends for the first time. We were also amazed after being asked by John Peel’s wife, Sheila, to play on BBC Radio Suffolk for the unveiling of John’s BBC Music Day Blue Plaque award - it was a huge opportunity and we really enjoyed every moment. One of our biggest achievements this year would be the amount of awareness and money raised for the mental health charity Mind, through a gig we organised at The Smokehouse and an online campaign supported by the East Anglian Daily Times, in tribute to our friend Cameron Ray. It was co-organised with Cameron’s friend and celebrated his life through the connection we had with him through music. This moment sadly came from tragedy but it was everyone coming together that made it special. Finally, re-recording our first single with Jamie Robertson has been a massive highlight of the year, the whole process has been great and Jamie has really helped us create something that sounds like it should. When we met Jamie for drinks to discuss the recording it was high on the list that it sounded like “you are in the room with us and can’t get out”, and he has done us proud. It’s very likely that we’ll be able to release it early 2018.

Tips for 2018: We’ve decided to direct our tips at people who want to start bands and want to start gigging: 1. If you want a start a band but there’s only you and a mate who plays bass, go for it and jam together. Basically, start a band with what you’ve got not what you want. Even if you’re not Grade 8, if it sounds good to you it will to others. 2. One of the best tips we can give if you want to start gigging is to support local artists and go to gigs. Enjoy local music and it won’t be so scary to become part of it. Support the scene and it will support you. Speak to people and don’t be afraid to send promoters your stuff. 3. The most important tip of all is keep playing, even if you only have three songs. You want to be able to play them backwards with your eyes closed. Make the most of the one song support at your local pub, no gig is beneath you.

ZAK WHITTAKER

Drum punisher, Clown Smash Everything/Janet Street Slaughter. www.clownsmasheverything.com

Albums of the Year: My album of the year is Slowdive's self-titled comeback, followed closely by ‘Stubborn Persistent Illusions’ by Do Make Say Think and Von Spar's 'Garzweiler' EP.

Tracks of the Year: My tracks of the year are 'Anthem For No State (Pts 1-3)' by Godspeed You! Black Emperor, 'No Longer Making Time' by Slowdive, and a special mention to the 3 unreleased gems that cropped up on Radiohead's 'OK Computer' reissue.

Gig of the Year: Best gig has to be Shellac at London’s Electric Ballroom back in October. Also, I almost forgot about Part Chimp's triumphant and deafening live return at Cambridge's Portland Arms in April.

Moment of the Year: My moment of the year: Probably Theo (Morris, former Janet Street Slaughter guitarist) spectacularly stacking it off the stage at the final JSS gig in November!

ZOE KENT

F.O.X’s singing stadium superstar. www.foxtheband.com

Album of the Year: Lana Del Rey - ‘Lust For Life’. I love everything she does, her voice is so haunting and powerful and I love the visions she creates in her lyrics of broken surburbia. Always takes me somewhere else.

Tracks of the Year: ‘Cover Me’ by Depeche Mode. The first time I heard this song it was like a lightning bolt, I always knew it was incredibly powerful and then when we supported them on tour it became almost their new anthem. A song of two halves. It's beautiful.

Gigs of the Year: It has to be Depeche Mode in Bucharest: it was the most beautiful stadium and the most perfect day. I've never seen them so on fire as I did there, the energy could be felt the entire way round the stadium and I just watched in in awe of it all. I'll never forget the thousands of lighters and phones lighting up the stadium - magical!

Moments of the Year: When we were invited to fly with Depeche Mode on their private jet to Leipzig. It was a true rockstar moment and I totally forgot my fear of flying!

Tips for 2018: My tip would be Amethysts, from Suffolk. I think they've got great songs and star potential - plus they're very nice people.

Click here to read Part One, featuring SuperGlu, Gaffa Tape Sandy, The State, The Glitter Shop, Blue Mean Eyes, Sun Scream, Young States, Lemondaze, Druids, Italian Books and more!

Words & Collage: Seymour Quigley

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