#the UK promo has really delivered

[ansonmountdaily]

Anson Mount and Rebecca Romijn at Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One UK premiere

While promoting Star Trek: Strange New Worlds in London, Anson and Rebecca went to the Mission Impossible UK premiere at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on June 22 2023.

"Last night I was lucky enough to attend the 'Mission Impossible' premiere in London. I can attest: it is the very definition of 'a nonstop thrill ride'. The Cruise Missile does it again. @MissionFilm" - Anson Mount on Twitter

Source: GettyImages.com

[fruitgummies01]

So I managed to get time tonight to see Jung Kook's 'I Am Still' documentary, and I have many thoughts lol.

Spoiler Free Review

JK is so ridiculously talented. I'm sure it was already obvious. but seeing him in the studio, recording his first album, was amazing. He has such a unique ear for music, and it was impressive to hear him in the studio with his English-speaking producers in the U.S. JK repeatedly talked about how nervous he was whenever he was doing something new, and the astounding thing is you could never tell. His nervousness never showed. He was always delivering at such a high level, that you could never tell in any of his performances. Hearing his luscious vocals and tone in surround sound in a loud theater was worth the price of admission alone.

Spoiler Filled Review Below

There's honestly not too much to spoil. If you watched many of JK's performances during his promo run, you probably have already seen like 80% of the documentary. The TSX performance in Times Square, GMA, Global Citizens Festival, the Golden Live on Stage Showcase, and one of the performances he did in the UK were all highlighted. It's crazy that JK was sick through so much of his promo run. One of the only times he mentioned in the documentary that he was feeling in good condition was for the TSX performance. It was also very obvious how much JK's staff loves him. The fact that they were always taking care of him and asking how he slept, and would cheer if he slept well was sweet.

The behind-the-scenes of Jung Kook recording Standing Next to You, going to the doctor before his GMA performance, and the cutting of his hair all felt like the most significant scenes to me that were actually new. JK recording SNTY really showcased his genius as a musically gifted artist. I mentioned this earlier in my spoiler-free section but JK has a remarkable ear for music, and the fact he could hear a note sung by a producer, immediately knew what they wanted and how to sing it, and deliver it back despite the language barrier was insane. Even though JK was too humble to admit it in the documentary, he 1000% is a musical genius with an innate natural ability that can't be taught.

In terms of appearances by other members, there was not much. While rehearsing Permission to Dance for Global Citizen Festival (I think lol) JK mentioned that Jin and Jimin drive him crazy because of how high their parts are in the song, and that fact he had to sing their parts 😅. He visited Barnes and Noble and saw all the members albums. Tae made a suuuuuper awkward appearance while JK was recording lol. JK's one-arm sideways half hug (with his other hand still in his pocket) made me laugh. Next, Jimin. I have no idea if JK had any input on how the documentary was put together, but Jimin making an appearance at the very end, being one of the last things included, actually felt so meaningful. JK had just buzzed off the rest of his hair, had finished recording Never Let Go, and went to find Jimin. Seeing Jimin's full body reaction to seeing JK's hair for the first time felt equal parts funny and emotional. JK leaned into Jimin as Jimin rubbed his head and then asked him how it looked, like he needed his encouragement at that moment. I thought it was really touching. The scene with Jimin and the scene with his barber/hairstylist who cried after cutting JK's hair felt like two of the most personal scenes in the film that didn't have to do with JK as the artist, but with Jung Kook the person.

This leads me to a few of my issues. While I loved it, I did at times find myself wishing it was a little more personal. A lot of time was spent on interviews with his English-speaking producers who worked on Golden and their thoughts, but thankfully PDogg and Son Sung Deuk were also included to add some much-needed insight into Jung Kook as a person. (I don't want to get flamed for mentioning it, but I really hated seeing Scooter appear, but thankfully he remained in the background during Seven's recording.) The jumping around in time didn't really work for me either, but maybe it's because I was crazy locked in during that time and know the exact order in which his performances happened lol. I also wonder why they didn't include more rehearsal or practice dance footage. They included sooo many full performances from Golden Live on Stage and so much hard work and preparation had to have gone into pulling that off, so it was a little surprising not to see much behind-the-scenes content from it. Or maybe BigHit is saving that footage to use at a later time, which would be very like them lol.

Overall, I would HIGHLY recommend everyone watch 'I Am Still' to see Jung Kook's genius at work on the big screen!!! For a 1 hour and 33 minute documentary , it was time very well spent. Again thank you again to the anon who messaged me asking for my review, this very very long review is really all your fault haha. 😅

[randomvarious]

Today's mix:

99.2 by Timecode / Aquasky 1999 Drum n Bass

Man, I legitimately have no idea why some of these releases from UK dnb juggernaut label Moving Shadow's 'year-decimal' series are rated so poorly on Discogs. Usually when something has an average rating that's below 4 out of 5, it has noticeable flaws, but this sampler mix from MS head honcho Rob Playford—operating here under his DJ-mixing alias of Timecode—is an excellently steady clinic in fun, turn-of-the-millennium dnb bounciness. And the release that preceded this one, 99.1, which also has a sub-4 rating, is one of the greatest dnb mixes that I've ever heard in my life! So, like, what the hell is wrong with you people?!

And you couldn't beat this deal when this thing dropped, either. £1.99 for this disc, a bonus disc with an exclusive 20-plus minute mix of Omni Trio tunes done by the great trio of Aquasky, and CD-ROM freebies that included snippets of Aquasky remixes in WAV format, promotional videos for some Rockstar Games titles, and a playable demo of Grand Theft Auto 2 as well! They were practically giving this shit away for free!

So we've got a full, chugging, 65-minute workout here with a slate of bangers delivered by Moving Shadow's top talents: Dom & Roland, Calyx, E-Z Rollers, TeeBee, Aquasky, Omni Trio, Technical Itch, and more. But nothing here seems to hit as nicely as the moment when Playford transitions between E-Z Rollers' "RS2000" and 60 Minute Man's "Brand Nu Day." "Brand Nu Day" as a standalone track opens up with this terrific sax line, and to then hear it uniquely played alongside the fuzzy bass groove of "RS2000" just really unlocks something special 🥹.

So don't listen to all the haters and overlook this one. If you want a trip back to those lovely y2k days when music CDs also came with bonus CD-ROM content, this promo mix from Moving Shadow boss Rob Playford is terrific. And I dunno how long the GTA2 demo is on here, but I'm willing to bet that if you fired up the bonus CD in your PC, and then put the main one in your stereo, you were probably in for a good time, because the type of drum n bass that's on here really does feel like the perfect, adrenaline-fueled soundtrack for boosting some cars and wreaking havoc 😎.

Listen to CD1 here. Listen to CD2 here.

Highlights:

CD1:

Renegade - "Terrorist (Dom & Roland Remix)" Calyx - "Diablo" nCode - "Spasm" Kudos - "Boiling Point" E-Z Rollers - "Cops Don't Like Us" Tekniq - "Shark Food" Kudos - "In the Dark" E-Z Rollers - "RS 2000" 60 Minute Man - "Brand Nu Day" Calyx - "Fortune Cookie" Decoder & Substance - "Heat" TB & K - "Arctix" Aquasky - "Bodyshock (Aquasky Remix)" Omni Trio - "Byte Size Life (Shimon Remix)" Calyx - "Code Red" Dom & Roland - "Can't Punish Me" Technical Itch - "Generation" AK1200 & Danny Breaks - "Deep Porn (VIP Mix)"

CD2:

Aquasky - 25 Minute Exclusive Mix of Omni Trio Tracks

[1ddiscourseoftheday]

🐠Fri 27 Nov ‘20👚

Louis dropped a longer (but still very brief) Live in London promo vid and Parkinson UK's Festive Night In will feature a (probably equally short) video appearance from Harry Dec 10, and today is Black Friday which means everyone wants to sell us stuff! Louis dropped even more new merch (pink jumper!), then helped us out with styling advice, while Harry's store rereleased a large selection of 'classic' merch (also a pink jumper!), almost all of which very quickly sold out, though the option to support Choose Love and have the store make an additional donation on your behalf may still be possible to access. Louis' new limited merch is still available though, including the, yes, bucket hat! Man when Louis says he's gonna deliver for us he does NOT mess around huh?? Louis liked a tweet about the merch (“at this point I'm scared to buy anything from Louis' store that he'll drop something else and I'll be broke by the end of the week” umm Louis you aren't trying to tell us there's MORE coming this week surely?) then went to check out her page, unliked that one and liked her pinned tweet which was a piano cover of Fearless. Nice! And he offered us all some fashion advice: responding to a complaint about the black joggers having white strings he said “White socks white trainers. Problem solved.” LT™ white socks are available now at the official merch store for all your louie fashion needs! And speaking of iconic looks, we got a very special unseen of Harry today; it's from 2013 and he's at a literal 1D merch factory on an 'I heart 1D' bicycle, in a tiny 1D shirt, gaudy purple print bottoms, and a backwards pink hat I have suspicions may be 1D branded, holding a 1D perfume, with a word bubble coming out of his mouth saying I'm proud of my pop past and I love my band 5ever... oh wait no that part is just subtext! My bad. There was also an unseen of him at the pub by his house posing with Liam Gallagher from last year when we knew they were there together, and in up to date Harry pics, a few from the set of Don't Worry Darling came out yesterday showing Harry in disheveled evening wear (and a mask.)

Niall, Harry, and Louis all appear in the top 50 twitter users (by follower count) list; Niall is in the highest spot of the three! Liam is 51st, SO CLOSE, and 1D and Zayn are close behind. They all came in above such worthy contenders as the Pope, president elect Biden, google, and Reuters-- priorities! Sad news today too however as we bid farewell to a peculiar companion: VisitEroda.com has been suspended. Is she really gone for good though? Harry's whole ass merch store was down just the other day, may VisitEroda also rise from the ashes like a pheonix with exciting new content! I for one hope so though I know some would be happy to see it sink beneath the waves forever. The Eroda social accounts remain active.

[travllingbunny]

Tribes of Europa, season 1 - thoughts

I finished season 1 of German post-apocalyptic Netflix drama Tribes of Europa a couple of days ago, and I have... lots of thoughts and mixed feelings.

It's a standard post-apocalyptic show with all the usual tropes, but mostly well done, and has potential. I ended up liking it better than I expected, mostly because one of the storylines (Kiano’s) turned out to be pretty good/interesting.

The main problem of the show is that most characters, so far, don't have a lot of depth. An exception is a female villain who has proven to be quite complex and interesting. On the other hand, while  I loved seeing Oliver Masucci, in a role completely different from Ulrich Nielsen, and he's great and charismatic, I feel like I've seen the exact same lovable rogue-turned-mentor character a dozen times in various shows and movies. The main trio of young protagonists have the potential for interesting character development, but it remains to be seen what saason 2 does with it.

At least there's one thing that makes the show different than most post-apocalyptic shows I'm aware of - I can't think of any others that take place on the European continent? Usually it's North America, Australia, or UK. So, that's interesting... But then, after I finished it, I started thinking a bit more about some of the elements of the worldbuilding, which are a bit... questionable? I'm reserving judgment till these things are explained.

Spoilers under the cut.

In the first episode, the show did the GoT thing of introducing us to a likable family and then having siblings separated by fate and trying to get back together, while having different storylines. But they should've spent a bit more time with them together and explaining their history.

The show also does that thing where the siblings look nothing like each other and are played by actors of different ethnic origins, so I was waiting to hear they were half-siblings or some other explanation, but there was none. Well, OK then.

One thing I wasn't crazy about is that Kiano had a girlfriend we saw for about 20 seconds and then she apparently got killed for no particular reason. I can't say it's even fridging, since he never even mentions her afterwards and he has a lot of other reasons to hate the Crows.

But Kiano's storyline turned out to be the most interesting , and most disturbing, the kind that can make or break the show, depending on how it deals with issues like slavery, rape, trauma. So far, the show has dealt with it well, which made me like the show more than I thought. (It definitely beats The 100 - a show it was the 100 in the Netflix promo campaign - in that respect. I was already scared it would do something similar to The 100, which really dropped the ball when it touched on such issues in a really clumsy way in season 3.)

Lord Varvara has turned out to be the most interesting and compelling character, and excellently played by Melika Foroutan. (I wish I could say the same about the Crows’ big boss, Yvar - but whether it is mostly due to the OTT costume and makeup or the similarly OTT acting, I had a hard time taking this guy seriously.) She is not exactly morally grey - she is definitely a villain, slaver rapist and murderer, but her role as a former slave - a victim of abuse turned abuser, and someone who upholds the ideas of Social Darwinism - makes her role very interesting and ambiguous. I think that (especially based on some hints) that she used to be a sex slave, too, and if she was also made to be a Crow by her former slave master, that would probably mean Yvar used to be her master. That could lead to some interesting tension and conflicts, as she probably hates this guy deep inside, but still has to vie for his approval, even now that she has “made it”.  And she sees to see something in Kiano that makes her think they are similar, that he is 'strong' like she thinks she is (on the other hand, she despised her other slave who had a huge Stockholm Syndrome for her).

I'm curious how they deal with Kiano's character development next season, and how far into moral greyness or darkness it will be willing to go with him. Varvara is a blueprint of what he could become.  He didn't exactly show much concern for the lives of other slaves, except his father.  

Liv's storyline was also pretty interesting. with her navigating the political issues of the Crimsons. I liked that the Crimsons as a whole turned out to be more morally grey than I initially expected - with their strict military discipline to the point of authorianism and lack of tolerance for dissent. 

I don't know if the show expected me to side with the general (aka "Father") or think his views were right, as Liv did? I did not.. "Let's make peace and unity with slavers"? No, dude. But I’ll go with the idea that we are not necessarily supposed to side with him rather than David just because Liv did; or that a third option may be found (such as causing a rebellion among the Crows themselves, which would be my preferred direction of that storyline). 

(I also rolled my eyes whenever he started going on about "old European dream" or whatever he called it. No, my dude, you need to brush up on your history. Your plan is nothing like the EU, unless your plan is to go and deliver a bunch of demands to the Crows:  "Unless you guys: abolish slavery; ensure human rights for everyone; install a viable non-slavery based economy etc.. - we're not letting you into our new unified Europe!" He also may needed to be reminded EU was formed after Axis powers were defeated.)

I've heard that a lot of people didn't like Elja's storyline because they found it the least interesting, and sure, it wasn't very emotional and didn't have much character development, but I'm very curious about the mystery of the Black December, the Atlantians etc. so I liked it.  And I liked the fact that Elja wasn't a naive kid and could deceive people and keep secrets when he needed to.

But there are certain problems I have with the show’s world-building... which, at its worse, may end up being just as problematic as The 100′s was.

While I like the idea of a post-apocalyptic show set in continental Europe, and with languages other than English - almost all of the characters are only speaking German or English (the latter, I guess, for the same reason it's widespread today - people speak it as a second language and use it to communicate). We should really see more people who speak other languages. So far, that’s only happened sporadically - but my problem is more with the fact that the most villainous tribe, Crows (murderous, slave-owning Eurotrash-like villains with very Social Darwinist views) -  even though they speak German or English 99% of the time - very notably use certain words from Slavic languages - and only for specific terms like "lubovnik" ('lover' - actually sex slave), "boi" (fight/battle), "svobodnik" (free man?). These were very recognizable. I have no idea what "Bozie" means, but I read somewhere it comes from Russian. What's supposed to be the backtory behind that? Sure, I am for more language diversity, but did a German show have to give the kind of barbaric-version-of-fascist villains these questionable Slavic references?  That would be uncomfortable in so many ways.... It's not just Slavs, because another notable Crow character, Grieta at some point used Romanian (and the actress is Romanian), but I hope they're not going with the Evil Barbaric Eastern Europeans here. To be fair, many Crows were clearly slaves at the beginning, which complicates things... but Varvara says her real name - slave name - was Sophia, which could be anything - while her Crow names is Varvara - which definitely sounds Russian or Bulgarian (or, I guess, it could be Greek).

On the other side, opposed to the Crows, we have the more “civilized” tribe/army of former Eurocorps, whose members have so far only been heard speaking English, German and, at one point, Dutch - curiously called Red Crimson Army (!), I have so many questions...

Another questionable thing, pointed by the host of the Culture Cave YouTube podcast, who did an overall favorable review of the show, howeverpointed out that the Crows - the villains - are the only ones who don't conform to gender roles? And the males who are the most 'effeminate' looking are baddies. I didn’t even think of that initially, but thinking about it... yes, it has been like that so far, hasn’t it?

I’m reserving judgment till next season, but I only used to give The 100 the benefit of doubt with its questionable world-building, and we know how that turned out.

[landlordrecords]

Bassline (& 2020 in general): Re-e-wind

 What a strange year, as everyone, everywhere has said a million times… Writing-wise, I’d been doing Record Collector magazine since 2014, and uDiscover (the Universal Records online mag) for not much less, & that all just seemed to (understandably) stop dead with the onset of the pandemic. Since then, I’ve polished off my chapter on the work of Simon Morris and the Ceramic Hobs for Palgrave, & that’s about it, so you’re more likely to find me over on Twitter at Sniffy (@philblackpool) / Twitter these days, blurting out the odd sentence. I hence thought it might be time to revisit a very old piece…

Like many, I’ve been working from home for much of the year, and although I’ve occasionally wanted to pull out my own eyeballs, it has generally been very pleasant for a voracious music-lover. I started by catching up on the vast majority of my insane, years-deep second-hand vinyl buy piles, and then chomped through a load of ‘long listen’ stuff I’d had on the backburner forever (including, astonishingly, eventually getting through something like 40 hours of Pan Sonic live sets someone had dumped online). I graded hundreds of releases for sale on Discogs, and revisited umpteen musical thangs extensively, including 90s gabba, Sun Ra, music hall, Schoenberg, dancehall reggae, the acknowledged worst albums ever, happy hardcore, Italian house, bounce and makina (I’ve lost track of how much time I’ve spent checking out youtubes to try to identify a couple of most-wanted bounce and makina tunes), Britpop (!), cosmic disco, and Belgian popcorn. It’s been an extraordinary year, packed with cultural discovery and rediscovery. In amongst this, in no way ashamed of my abject love of Discogs, and already having used and edited it for many years, I read the entire guidelines and decided to go hard on sorting out stuff I care about on there. Seeing they’d finally added various more recent ‘styles’, I’ve spent the last month and a half doing a ridiculous amount of edits on a dozen or so niche genres of importance in recent times (footwork, Jersey Club, yadda yadda). My tweakings around Bassline and UK Funky eventually drew me to the attention of UK Garage legend Karl ‘Tuff Enuff’ Brown, a fellow Discogs obsessive not so keen on the editing side of the site, who wondered if I might give him a hand sorting out the mess of his own and his label’s (2Tuf 4U) discographies. His entertaining phonecalls were enough to convince me.

I dug out all my stuff related to Karl’s label to listen to along the way, and found myself noticing how much UKG has been back in the spotlight of late (key, and brilliant, article here: RA: Like A Battle: The Push For UK Garage's Future (residentadvisor.net) ). While by no means unaware of this (I’ve had some lovely promos from Kiwi and the like of late, plus some moodier bits from various El-B worshippers), my status as a confirmed middle-aged semi-retired raver had hidden much of this from me. This leads me onto one of my big philosophical points of recent years: I listened to dance music avidly before I ever went out dancing, and listen to it now in lockdown, and in semi-retirement. There is far too much an emphasis among ever-rejuvenating dance music correspondents on ‘the club’ as the only way to enjoy dance music, but we know that OG disco fans are 60+ and unlikely to be out every weekend these days – is their experience now worthless? Online fans talk up their love of dance music for exercise soundtracks, bedtime calming soundtracks, etc: this is reality. Dance music is as valid to all these people as rock is to people who haven’t been to a gig in 40 years.

The style I felt myself most drawn back to was bassline (largely via Karl’s low-key issue of some DJ Q material). My love of UK Garage and all its offshoots largely stems from how physically removed I have been from it from virtually its entire history. Only my 2000-03 stint in Essex perfectly matched the garage waveform, and that was the 2-step era, quite the opposite of bassline. Despite being largely a northern phenomenon, Blackpool is largely untouched by bassline, being all about punk and bounce to my mind. An instant love for me circa 2007, bassline feels like one of those genres with unfinished business, but remains one I’ve rarely danced to. Cut off in its prime, it is now back, enormously popular, and rightly so, but, due to the vagaries of the digital music world, some of its key material remains tough to access in any decent form.

I originally wrote the piece I have butchered for this one in March 2008, on Myspace (remember that), in reaction to the exciting waves of bassline and UK funky then reinvigorating the world of UKG. It looks a bit embarrassing now, with more writing experience, although I continue to applaud my own willingness to be open about my innocent appreciation of things I love but am not truly part of.

 The most notable misstep in my original piece was the presumption that bassline would become the latest enormous chart sensation. Like happy hardcore before it, the ball was, in reality, fumbled. Instead of hoped-for freaky innovation, the producers also opted, as many in years gone by, for smoothed-out commerciality (in unholy alliance with low-grade grime crossovers), although the main adversarial issues seem to have been police crackdowns and the London-centric ‘cool police’. Although I was long aware of such problems with Niche in Sheffield (the genre’s spiritual home), it appears that the police interference had a devastating effect across the board ( Banned From Sheffield: How Jamie Duggan fought for bassline… And won (ukf.com) ). This largely explains why many of the bassline producers gravitated towards the largely wack bass house/house & bass style so beloved of teenyboppers in recent years. Thank heavens that era is now largely over.

Niche reputedly specialised in an arguably unholy mixture of dated late 90s speed garage and ‘bassline house’ (think ‘Let Me Show You’ by Camisra, and MK’s ‘organ house’), way past their sell-by date (I still only really like a handful of Shaun Banger Scott bits in this style, one single 2009 Brummie CD EP, and one Virgo remix). Ultimately, though, this experiment unexpectedly created something magical. The crucial element here is the 4/4 beat. While undoubtedly skippy, the vast majority of the material favoured had a firm 4/4 beat, always favoured across all key scenes in the north of England from northern soul onwards. When they ran out of tunes to rinse, in time-honoured fashion, they made their own. Long, rumbling walls of bass, organs, and hoppy-skippy beats, with raggafied samples and gunshots over the top. Popular in Birmingham as well (pretty much the centre of a vinyl glut at the time, and now notable in the popularity of DJs such as Chris Lorenzo and Hannah Wants), B-side titles hinted of coke overload. Disenfranchised by London’s movement away from the holy 4/4 (despite a slight revival in the early noughties), and via messenger services and the like, northern producers began to exchange a new hybrid in the mid-00s which took these speed garage and bassline house influences and updated them with current R’n’B bootlegs, with influences from grime (regional grime producers were key here) and, most notably, with rococo basslines. Its most obvious comparison point was Sticky’s garage productions, concurrent with the early grime era. Southern producers such as Agent X, Delinquent (who featured Gemma Fox on their magical 2006 ‘Boxers’), and Dexplicit (Fox again, 2005’s ‘Might Be’) ran with that, and the north lapped it up. Key early pointers also included DJ Narrows’ superb 2001 4/4 tune ‘Saved Soul’, and early 00s DND work (Artwork, later part of dubstep supergroup Magnetic Man). A notable increase in output came in 2006, and 2007-9 were the genre’s original glory years. And the bulk of producers and up-&-comings delivering serious anthems to the scene came not from London and the south-east, but from Leeds (T2, Wittyboy, Nastee Boi), Bradford (TS7), Manchester (Murkz, Burgaboy, Subzero), Nottingham (Virgo, IllMana), Leicester (JTJ, H20, FB & Zibba), and Wolverhampton (EJ, TRC, Brett Maverick). EJ’s Ejucation mix series (all up on Soundcloud) is a good place to start, beginning as the bassline house began to be overtaken by the pure bassline numbers.

Distribution for serious UK garage music has often been woeful, with only high street compilations & the chart singles (‘Heartbroken’ by T2, ‘What’s It Gonna Be’ by H20, etc) making it all over the country, and this helped stymie the true development of bassline, although vinyl prices, dreadful video promos, and the leap to digital in some ways didn’t help. Years on, as an incorrigible vinyl fanatic, I still only have handful of bassline 12”s. Yes, you can now access this stuff the world over via Youtube etc, but decent, high-quality copies of full-length tunes (they are often hacked about to great effect, but in a way which obscures the original intentions, in the mix) are not always the easiest to come by, although the classic producers are increasingly putting out digital compilations of their original work. Material that would, for previous genres, be fiended after, is lost to being just more online links. At the time, I looked high and low for 12”s, succeeding only rarely, largely on the flip of UK Funky releases. The (mixtape) audience, going by comments online, were often extremely young, are probably now still only in their mid-twenties, and are seemingly happy enough with this chaotic model. Bassline originally, as all rave genres, largely ran off mixtape boxsets, and a 2007 ‘Pure Bass – Fantasy’ box from Stoke remains my key document of that era: seven bassline CDs, with many tracks repeated, but packed to the gills, with most tracks only lasting a minute or two in the mix. As with all rave mixes, it has taken me years to suss the majority of the track IDs. In the Resident Advisor piece linked above, DJ Q (from Huddersfield) talks about thousands of lost bassline tunes, the bad side of the digital revolution. My recent Discogs ferreting suggests more bassline tunes than one might imagine did make some sort of decent release, but too many only made white labels, promo CDs for commercial releases (before being snipped from the main release), mix CDRs, or Youtube’s grainy depths. Classics such as TS7 featuring Bianca’s ‘Seems Like’ appear to never have had any decent release whatsoever, despite TS7 going on to be a big name in bass-oriented house, and Bianca Gerald having kept at the vocal turns ever since.

T2 hit biggest, with ‘Heartbroken’, a gorgeous, smashed-vocal garage dub so popular that it even inspired a Jersey Club refix. His catalogue was immediately deep, although I get the impression he has stopped adding to it. One complaint about bassline, including some of the T2 work, regards the untutored vocals, which can sometimes be rather flat, and certainly lacking in dynamics compared to the dazzling US vocalists featured on some earlier UK garage pieces (I refer here, as always, to TJ Cases’ remarkable ‘Do It Again’). I kinda like that - it shows amateur enthusiasm not far removed from punk, and most obviously links to lover’s rock, as does the production at times: it gives a feeling of melancholy entirely suited to the vocals. Other bassline heroes include TS7, who briefly brought to the fore sassy female garage MC T Dot. His productions also include ‘Smile’, one of my very favourite bassline tracks, full of that Simon Reynolds-quoted 'weird energy’ possessed by DJ Hype & co in the early nineties. Male bassline vocalists such as Ideal also remain unfairly forgotten, although some of the female vocalists have gone on to work in related genres since bassline’s peak.

Paleface, an ex-member of London garage rap crew Stonecold GX, runs Northern Line Records (FB, TRC, Wittyboy, Nastee Boi), something of a quality mark for bassline productions, while also making highly successful UK Funky tunes as part of Crazy Cousinz, and later progressing into commercial house territory. He chronicled much of bassline’s high-water mark (including being married to Kyla, since sampled by Drake). Wolverhampton-based Northern Line signing TRC proved particularly adaptable, spewing out a legion of original tunes and remixes before retreating for a while to grime. Leeds’ Nastee Boi was a favourite of mine at the time, with his pitch-black gangsta bassline tunes, but pushed on towards a mixture of underwhelming R’n’B vocal cuts and nursery grime toons. Wittyboy started similarly punishingly but also went smoother, unbalancing the classic bassline rough and smooth combination.

Now that the dubiously poisonous rep of Niche has been dispatched, the key bassline acts have returned to their key battleground, and the genre seems in full throttle again. Much of the new material seems a little one-dimensional to me: producers invariably big up Bristol’s My Nu Leng as, I suppose, a bridge from bro-step to 4/4. Everything, as acknowledged by the DJs, is huge drops and nothing much else. It still sounds pretty hot though – not the updated lover’s rock of a decade ago, but worth supporting. Bassline is NOT finished!

[anxiety-trademark]

The week in review:

Raw 11/09 NXT 11/11 NXT UK 11/12 Smackdown 11/13

Raw:

Shayna vs Lana?? God poor Lana. Preemptive “rip”

Lmfao Lana is so damn extra.

Okay but WHY is Asuka facing Nia later? And where has Asuka even been the past few weeks?

Yikes. Lana is so friggin useless in kf.

Rofl Nia mocking Dana’s voice, I cannot with her.

Did Dana and Mandy actually save Lana from #8?? They got half a point. I get why they’re reluctant to help Lana, but they’re nearly coming off as the mean, popular girls, and I know that’s not their personas. I get she fucked them over, but it was inadvertent. Buy some goodwill guys.

Are they the Gucci girls now? Honestly flashforward to current times, Charlotte fits right in with them. If you were gonna have Charlotte head a stable, Dana and Mandy are the perfect people to put with her.

“We totally saved your butts... Lana.” :/ Dana. Dana plz. With all the work you put into your craft, HOW are you still the weakest promo in the division?

“Okay listen, thank you, you’re welcome,” just let Mandy and Dana practice wrestling cuz their promos are fucking painful.

Lana No-Friends.

Why is Alexa happily destroying flowers??

Lol has no memory of seeing Nikki the week prior. Yikes. Are we still sure it’s not drugs???

“Lexi I’m not playing.” “That’s too bad, Nikki.” What she means, Nikki, is there are 2 options: play or pain. You should just play. Actually side note; wasn’t that Nikki’s whole damn character when she debuted? ‘Nikki wants to play’? ‘Play with Nikki’??

Omfg Alexa is god damn stellar. Nikki tells her to choose either Fiend/Bray or [Nikki]. Alexa thinks about it for a moment, “okay. I choose... *blows the flower petals in Nikki’s face* him!” Then fucking claps, giggles and walks away. Imagine if you had a whole damn roster that could be this entertaining.

Also Nikki is really talented in her own right. Working with Alexa did wonders as far as promos and acting go.

Survivor Series team is supposedly at ringside because Asuka is about to go one on one with Nia. I’m not seeing the correlation.

Shayna officially playing the role of henchman now, I see. That’s interesting.

Asuka does a lot of things worth praising. Her Octopus is not one of them.

It’s always nice seeing Nia bump like she does for Asuka.

Oh that kickout into an armbar by Asuka was BEAUTIFUL.

Asuka said “fuck all y’all we’re busy rn”

I hate Shayna’s hammerfists SO much.

This Survivor Series team is a fucking disaster in kf.

aaaaand there’s number 8. Jeeeeze. “You don’t belong here, you’re gonna drag us down. Just quit.” This is a bullying story done right tbh. No personal petty bs insults, no body shaming. Just straight up physically assaulting the weakest link that has zero friends. It’s a good story. I feel sympathy for sure.

Highlight: Alexa & Nikki backstage segment

---

NXT:

See I don’t mind Shotzi’s backstage promos at all. She exudes passion. I can feel her emotions. But 9 times out of 10 she ends it in a howl and I want to scream.

Weak final thought though. There was really nothing better you could end it on? Okay.

So Xia calls out Raquel and then doesn’t show. Not sure if it’s for kf or meta reasons.

I like Raquel speaking Spanish while brawling. She should incorporate that more, especially with Zelina gone. We need more Latina talent (no disrespect to Bayley or Sasha, if they wanna start speaking Spanish then good on them)

“Everybody better take their-- my name out of their mouth.” SIGH can I get a non-awkward speaker that isn’t Nia? Anyone? Anywhere? Hello??

What the hell does any of this Xia stuff mean? Fine I’ll be patient.

So is Toni a face? I thought she was a heel. Did I misinterpret the heel turn pre-covid era? That’s even worse, she’s even more the same now.

Ugh rough day when I’m here cheering for Toni. God I hate Candice.

Do you really have the right to call anyone a ‘punk rock poser’ Candice? I mean... REALLY?

It’s not that I hate Toni’s headbutt, I just hate it when people take themselves out delivering a headbutt.

Anticlimactic sequence. Toni says fuck your second rope neckbreaker to Candice, then Candice says fuck your second rope leg drop to Toni, just to follow up with a mere kick to the jaw and a pinfall attempt. Missed opportunity to really get something going.

Sad attempt at putting her feet on the ropes by Candice.

Good let Toni be a “sore loser” fuck Candice.

So the masked figure is Indi, right? Why are they keeping her masked? What’s the purpose? Yeahhh that’s really not a surprise. Anyway.

It’s a damn shame what happened in 2020, the whole world has felt it. And it’s a damn shame that you didn’t get to show out in front of 80k people. I truly feel for you. Your loss, however? In kf I can’t feel bad because you sought HER out on HER show. In a meta sense? She did you a favor taking that title. You were 5 seconds from being called Charlotte 2.0, and you deserve better. You deserve the opportunity to grow and make a name for yourself without being handed everything before the age of 25, and you’re SO much better off for it.

The downfall of “nxt’s hottest new act” was a great story. It sucks to be her, but it was a great story. Rhea’s gonna be a fucking STAR on the main roster. She will thrive. She will exceed expectations. She will make a name for herself. She had to eat that humble pie first, though. Obviously I know how this match ends already, and rightfully so. 

Highlight: I guess the Io/Rhea Prime Target

---

NXT UK:

Kind of a bummer that there’s only ever one women’s match/segment every week on UK. I want to ponder whether it’d be different sans a pandemic, but I’m not certain it would be.

Xia Brookside is too animated in her moves, and her moves are always too slow for it to mesh well.

They compliment Xia’s “technical work” but she just comes off as someone who has learned the absolute basics and has no idea how to utilize them in a match.

Interesting to note that they seem to be building up 2 heels in Nina and Jinny, yet the champ herself is a heel. Not quite making me believe either of them have a chance at defeating her in the future.

Nice I always love a good codebreaker. Points to Xia.

That was a nice cartwheel off the turnbuckle using the ropes. One would assume the tweak to the knee was a farce.

Stupid small package. Stupid result. At least Nina got some heat back, but she should’ve won, lesbireal.

Side note: I see UK does in fact have a pc. No excuse for these women to get gassed so quickly then, get it together.

Highlight: The network exclusive video package for KLR vs Piper

---

Smackdown:

What a racy outfit. I don’t hate it, Sasha wears it well.

There’s like a million things you can do with Sasha that doesn’t involve a live promo in the middle of the ring. Explore them plz.

Carmella’s not a technical master by any means, but having her superkick and then finish with a facebuster is super weak.

What’s also weak: where the fuck did Bayley go?

What’s even weaker than that: Carmella had like the best theme music and now it’s gone. Tragic.

Lol why is Nattie stomping her feet like she’s throwing a tantrum? She’s hilarious tbh.

“If team Smackdown is going to win,” lmao let me cut you off right there. Imagine the SD women actually winning at SvS. Good joke.

Omg Chelsea is alive? We gave her a tag match in nxt with the women’s champion Charlotte Flair... Charlotte fucking Flair... and then kept her off tv for like 6 months for this? Is this her grand debut?? Is she even ready for the main roster???

Wait hold on. Back up. So Chelsea touched Adam’s shoulder and had some off camera conversation to make her way into this triple threat match? *sigh* okay.

I don’t quite remember who this team consisted of, but if I had to guess, I’d assume Liv wins this match since Ruby is already on the team.

Love Chelsea’s theme music, love that a giant picture of herself is no longer her titantron... HATE the flowy wedding dress veil that she wears on the bottom half of her outfit.

Should stick Chelsea with Nattie tbh.

What the hell was that by Liv? A fake out standing crucifix turned into a ddt? Fucking beautiful.

Nattie and Liv work together nicely ngl. Liv really does have a lot of potential, but she’s god awful on the mic. Tag team wrestling is best for her for the foreseeable future.

“This is a fatal 4way,” Cole reminds us, because Chelsea and Tamina have seemingly died.

Should’ve just made this a singles match between Liv and Nattie, jesus.

Lmfao Liv pinned Tamina. What took Chelsea out? A dropkick off the apron. A dropkick off the apron took Chelsea out for 3 minutes, and she got maybe 3 moves of offense. Yikes, what a debut.

So when does Bayley get added as captain?

Highlight: The match that totally wasn’t a singles match between Liv & Nattie

---

*Bad week in wrestling, but yet again, Raw shines the brightest because as small as their roster may be, they’re being utilized decently well.

[coryradar74]

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[captainninej]

RANT TIME: LOVER ERA

okay. so recently i’ve seen a heck of a lot of swifties shitting on the lover era. and that’s okay! we’re all entitled to our own opinions.

HOWEVER i will accept NO critiques on the fact that the lover era has given us SO MUCH AND MORE THAN POSSIBLY ANY OTHER ERA. has the promo been a bit all over the place? yes. is it strikingly different from rep? yes. have the singles been getting less chart success than other eras? yes.

BUT. taylor is SEVEN ALBUMS INTO HER CAREER. S E V E N. to even have this level of astronomical success into your SEVENTH album is mind-blowing in of itself. to still be able to capture the imagination and interest of the public SEVEN WHOLE ASS ALBUMS LATER. a lot of artists struggle to even keep that momentum going from their second to third albums. and our girl is on seven. also, taylor’s life and priorities are different now. she’s at the top of her game. she doesn’t really have to keep ascending from a logistics point of view. she’s made history so many times - i think her happiness and wellbeing is more important than constantly outdoing other artists! she’s also older, and has been here for a long time, which is INCREDIBLE to have that sort of longevity in your career. but naturally, other new artists are going to start to take up more public consciousness because that’s just how it works. taylor will always be around, but other artists are going to step in to be more present in the public eye and i think the lover era has started to show that a bit, and many swifties have taken that to be a sign of the era’s faults, but it’s kinda just how time works. society moves on. one person can’t be expected to hold public interest forever and ever - that’s a lot of pressure to put on a person. taylor’s a millionaire who’s made such an incredible legacy for herself - i think she’s allowed to relax a little at this point!!

on that note, the lover era has been SO LOVINGLY (excuse the pun) CRAFTED AND TAILORED (omg aNOTHER PUN i swear this was unintentional) for us, the fans. secret sessions. easter eggs EVERYWHERE so we can do what we do best - clowning over every little detail and coming up with crackhead theories. livestreams. the lover lounge. the FOUR DELUXE EDITIONS. taylor coming out politically and DEMANDING change - which means SO SO SO FUCKING MUCH to fans like me who are minorities. she’s returned to interviews. we’ve had like 17 magazine covers. incredible performances and collabs. taylor has worked her ASS OFF to make this era EVERYTHING AND MORE FOR US. so i will NOT ACCEPT ANY CRITIQUE OR WHINING THAT THIS ERA IS A ‘FLOP.’

to further prove my point, here are a list of only SOME of the things we’ve been blessed with this era (bc i have a shit memory and can’t remember everything):

- THE BUTTERFLY MURAL!!!!!!!!!!

- the incredible aesthetic switch up

- the instagram posts. five holes in the fence. y’all know what’s up

- ME! with Brendon Emo Powerhouse Icon Urie and an INSANE music video and loads of awesome performances (BBMAS was ICONIC)

- taylor talking about game of thrones??? life complete

- TIME 100 Gala 

- Elle (US and UK), Vogue, People, and a shit ton of other magazine covers and interviews and letters

- taylor publicly calling out politicians and fighting for change on a level she’s never done before

- YNTCD which was so positive and uplifting as well as promoting LGBTQ+ solidarity and basically drawing a line in the sand telling homophobes to fuck off, as well as an INCREDIBLE music video with queer icons that mean so much to people of the community, showing the world where she stands

- the Amazon Prime concert (LIARS and DIRTY DIRTY CHEATS OF THE WORLD)

- taylor publicly coming out and calling BS on scooby and scott and standing up for her legacy and her art that she should most definitely own, as well as raising awareness for artists around the world who have been similarly screwed over by their record labels who basically see them as cash cows, as well as calling out sexism and bullying in the industry

- the!! archer!! which she specifically released because we love track 5!! enough said

- LOVER. THE MUSIC VIDEO. THE AESTHETIC. 

- drunk taylor lol

- teen choice awards icon award!!! 

- the VMAs and her iconic performance and historic wins and CALLING OUT THE WHITE HOUSE ON LIVE TV I STILL HAVEN’T RECOVERED

- the album release! lover lounge! the lyrics everywhere!!

- the stella mccartney line!!

- loads of interviews and candids and performances!!

- AMAs ARTIST OF THE DECADE. THE CALLING OUT OF SCOOBY AND SCOTT. THE SOLIDARITY FROM OTHER FEMALE ARTISTS (still salty about the *crickets* from every man in music ever but ok) THE P E R F O R M A N C E.  CELEBRATING HER LEGACY. SWEEPING EVERY AWARD SHE WAS NOMINATED FOR AND BECOMING THE MOST LAUDED ARTIST IN AMA HISTORY, BEATING MICHAEL FUCKING JACKSON. 

- how her outfits this era match the aesthetic of lover!! the pastel colours!! the softness!! 

- cats (ok the movie was a mess but i will fite and say taylor’s song is the best bit and the only bit i was invested in) and her beautiful premiere dress! her friendship with the cast and andrew lloyd webber!! the promo!! BEAUTIFUL GHOSTS SHE DID NOT HAVE TO POP OFF LIKE THAT BUT SHE DID

- MISS. AMERICANA. GUYS. she gave us a WHOLE DOCUMENTARY about her life, her insecurities, her struggles, her battles, her music, and gave us all hope and light that we can be strong like she was during her darkest times. do y’all realise how BRAVE someone has to be to put themselves out there like that?? did 1989 (not shitting on it but just bc some swifties think 1989 is the elite era and i kinda disagree bc of how it affected taylor’s physical and mental health) give us a documentary?? no

- THE MAN. ok on this one i kinda understand the gripes about the promo and the delay with the music video, the single release, etc. but she DELIVERED. it’s her first self-directed music video and CALLS OUT TOXIC MASCULINITY SO WELL. ICONIC.

- redirecting the reveal that she was telling the truth the WHOLE TIME IN 2016 and that kanye west has always been and will always be a piece of shit (like we knew all along) to help with the pandemic and being the bigger person while kim kinda humiliated herself with a dumbass rant on twitter but kardashians are a whole different breed of stupid so what can ya do

- voicing so much!! for the pandemic!! donating to fans personally, telling people to get the fuck inside and social distance properly, cancelling lover fest which we were ALL looking forward to but she was looking forward to more than ANY OF US, constantly donating and telling us to donate to charities, being a part of the global citizen thing and performing SYGB live when she said she’d never sing it because it was too hard for her, but she did it for the world and for our situation...guys

- also, reminder, WE’RE IN A FUCKING PANDEMIC. has taylor’s promo gone down? yes. did the man get the run it deserved? no. is cruel summer likely to come out soon as a single? probably not. BECAUSE AGAIN WE’RE IN A FUCKING PANDEMIC. PEOPLE ARE DYING AND THE GREAT DEPRESSION IS ABOUT TO LOOK LIKE A PIECE OF CAKE COMPARED TO WHAT’S COMING. TAYLOR KNOWS SHE ISN’T THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE WORLD RIGHT NOW AND THE LOVER ERA CAN BE ON PAUSE UNTIL THIS UNPRECEDENTED GLOBAL CATASTROPHE HAS PASSED. AND Y’ALL SHOULD TOO.

in conclusion, the lover era was EVERYTHING AND BY FAR THE MOST GIVING AND FAN-BASED ERA WE’VE GOTTEN YET. TAYLOR WORKED SO HARD AND IS CLEARLY SO PROUD OF THIS ERA AND HER GROWTH AND I WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY BITCHING OR MOANING THAT IT WASN’T ENOUGH. Y’ALL DO THIS EVERY ERA AND THEN ONCE THE NEXT ONE COMES ALONG YOU DO A WHOLE 180 AND WHINE ABOUT HOW THE LAST ERA WAS GOLDEN AND AWESOME AND HOW THE CURRENT ONE SUCKS. Y’ALL SUCK. TAYLOR GIVES US SO MUCH MORE THAN ANY OTHER ARTIST GIVES THEIR FANS AND ITS ABOUT DAMN TIME Y’ALL REMEMBER THAT.

ok thanks for coming to my ted talk i’ve got three assignments due tomorrow lol gtg

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Pluralistic: 07 Mar 2020 (audio from Canada Reads Kelowna, gig economy spreads Covid-19, Intel's security chip is insecure, Barnes and Noble gets a savior)

Today's links

Audio from last night's Canada Reads event in Kelowna: Thanks to Sarah Penton for being such a great interviewer!

Gig economy drivers won't get sick-pay if they have covid-19 symptoms: Your Instacart driver is being incentivized to handle your food through his fever-sweats.

Compromise threatens Intel's chip-within-a-chip: A bug in the Management Engine threatens five years' worth of Intel systems.

The savior of Waterstones will turn every B&N into an indie: James Daunt has opened 60 profitable stores in his career.

This day in history: 2015, 2019

Colophon: Recent publications, current writing projects, upcoming appearances, current reading

Audio from last night's Canada Reads event in Kelowna (permalink)

Last night I sat down for an interview and lively Q&A at the Kelowna Public Library with the CBC's Sarah Penton as part of the Canada Reads national book prize, for which my book Radicalized is a finalist. Courtney Dickson was kind enough to send me raw audio from the board and to give me permission to post it. It was a genuinely wonderful night, with great and thoughtful questions, and I'm really glad that I get to share it with you!

https://archive.org/download/canadareadskelownadoctorowpenton/Canada_Reads_Kelowna_Doctorow_Penton.mp3

Gig economy drivers won't get sick-pay if they have covid-19 symptoms (permalink)

The gig economy workers who deliver your @amazon packages are not entitled to sick pay if they think they have covid-19 and want to stay home, rather than delivering contaminated boxes to you.

https://onezero.medium.com/keep-your-car-clean-gig-companies-offer-little-support-during-coronavirus-outbreak-cf6c55cca8a8

It's not just Amazon Flex drivers who are being tacitly incentivized by rapacious, giant corporations to show up for work sick. Your Lyft and Instacart drivers are all being given a stark choice: work sick or go broke.

As Sarah Emerson speculates in her One Zero piece, this depraved indifference is likely an epiphenomenon of gig economy companies' urge to preserve the fiction that their workers are contractors, not employees. Contractors don't get sick leave, after all.

"[Amazon is ] basically threatening that I'll be out of work if I have any symptoms of being sick, coronavirus or not, but no protections and no offers for help in the event it happens" – Jeff Perry, Amazon Flex/Uber driver, Sacramento

Lyft's advice to drivers: "disinfect your car" and avoid passengers who appear sick.

As outrage over this policy went viral, Uber reversed its earlier stance and announced that it would offer up to 14 days of "compensation" for some drivers.

https://twitter.com/MikeIsaac/status/1236126626028507136

Compromise threatens Intel's chip-within-a-chip (permalink)

A new showstopper Intel bug compromises the Converged Security and Management Engine, the computer-within-a-computer that Intel uses for a variety of purposes, some beneficial (detecting malware), some terrible (shutting out free software).

https://blog.ptsecurity.com/2020/03/intelx86-root-of-trust-loss-of-trust.html

The Management Engine has long been controversial. It's designed to reach into your RAM and tinker with it in a way that, by design, the CPU can't detect or prevent. This is deliberate: it lets the management engine monitor and disrupt malware.

https://boingboing.net/2016/06/15/intel-x86-processors-ship-with.html

But of course, if your Management Engine itself is compromised, then – by design – the part of the computer that you control can neither monitor it, nor prevent it from doing malicious work. In 2017, a ghastly ME bug showed how risky this was.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/05/intels-management-engine-security-hazard-and-users-need-way-disable-it

It's especially bad because ME security is, in part, security through obscurity: Intel barely documents ME function and doesn't permit outside auditing. To make everything worse, there's no way to fully disable it. So ME bugs keep on surfacing, each worse than the last. Here's 2018's:

https://press.f-secure.com/2018/01/12/intel-amt-security-issue-lets-attackers-bypass-login-credentials-in-corporate-laptops/

Which brings me to the new vuln: PT Security shows an early stage attack on the boot ROM, that allows for recovery of a master key that is used to generate all the other keys in the system. It's a deep bug that could potentially compromise all the downstream operations. It's only a partial attack (so far). The key needs to be decrypted to be usable, but the researchers say it's only a matter of time – and they point out that the key is shared across years' worth of Intel processors.

This compromise (when it comes) has profound implications for DRM, which is intrinsically brittle in that it's "break once, break everywhere." Once content is extracted from a DRM wrapper on a compromised system, it can be shared and played back on intact ones. DRM system designers try to address this with tactics like "renewability" and "selectable output control" that allows DRM systems to detect which systems they're running on and refuse to operate if they believe they might be compromised.

This is a thermonuclear option that could make DRM unviable forever. It means that if you had the misfortune to buy an Intel system during the five years that they were manufactured with this defect, you could lose the ability to play content you've already paid for.

Not because you hacked your system, but because you could. DRM is and always has been a timebomb, ticking down to the moment that execs in a distant boardroom decide to nerf or brick your property. The temptation to downgrade your customers' property to up your profits is irresistible.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/09/what-hp-must-do-make-amends-its-self-destructing-printers

But customers don't like getting punished for "doing the right thing." If media companies cancel playback for purchased content on affected Intel systems, they won't be targeting pirates (who get their media DRM-free), but people who deliberately chose to pay.

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, we don't get fooled again." -GWB

Punishing legit customers to get at pirates is a surefire way to make more pirates.

"Might as well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb."

The savior of Waterstones will turn every B&N into an indie (permalink)

A great hero of British bookselling is James Daunt, the founder of Daunt Books, whose flagship store is literally the most beautiful bookstore I've ever been to.

https://dauntbooks.co.uk/shops/marylebone/

Daunt took over Waterstones in 2011 and rescued it. The chain now runs as a string of indies, with no co-op promotion – instead, the booksellers in each shop choose which books they promote based on local taste. Corporate HQ chooses a book of the month and a book every year for chainwide promotion, but they do so on the basis of their enjoyment of the book – not because a publisher pays them for promo.

The new Waterstones stores are spectacular. There were always some great ones (the Waterstones in Bradford rivals the main Daunt books for beauty), but the vibe and experience of shopping at a post-Daunt Waterstones is a million times better than before. And new shops like the one in Tottenham Court Road really embody what a bookstore can be. The event I did there in 2017 with Laurie Penny was one of the best I've ever done in the UK.

https://www.waterstones.com/events/cory-doctorow-in-conversation-with-laurie-penny/london-tottenham-court-road

The good news is that Daunt is now running Barnes & Noble, which has been struggling and worse – pulling desperate moves like laying off all their most experienced booksellers to lower payroll costs, which is obviously a catastrophic mistake. And Daunt's public plan for BN – America's last major chain bookstore – is to replicate what he did with Waterstones. Let the stores run like indies, with local control by experienced booksellers who know and care about their customers' tastes.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-03-04/barnes-noble-wants-to-be-more-like-an-indie-bookseller

He's ending co-op promotion, featuring books that the booksellers choose, not books that publishers pay to promote. He's reversing the focus on non-bookstore SKUs (sunglasses, puzzles and scented candles) in favor of, you know…books. They're shrinking CDs and DVDs and expanding kids' books, laying the ground for a new generation of readers, and they're cleaning up, repainting, and generally repairing years of neglect that have given some of the stores the vibe of an abandoned K-Mart.

They're also opening new stores, targeting places that don't have any bookstores (as opposed to places where indie stores have kept the faith and continued to serve their communities). He's shooting for 1,500 stores nationwide. It's superb news for a nation where bookselling has been imperilled for decades. On every tour stop, I always insist that my media escort take me to every B&N in town to sign stock and meet the booksellers. As a recovering bookseller myself, it's one of the great pleasures of the tours. Bookstores are community hubs, and were key to my own literary upbringing. This is just delightful news.

(Image: RachelH_, CC BY-NC)

This day in history (permalink)

#5yrsago Improving the estimate of US police killings https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/a-new-estimate-of-killings-by-police-is-way-higher-and-still-too-low/

#1yrago Ajit Pai has been touting new broadband investment after he murdered Net Neutrality, but he's been relying on impossible data from a company called Barrierfree https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/03/ajit-pais-rosy-broadband-deployment-claim-may-be-based-on-gigantic-error/

#1yrago The EU hired a company that had been lobbying for the Copyright Directive to make a (completely batshit) video to sell the Copyright Directive https://twitter.com/Senficon/status/1103582295523553280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

#1yrago The "Tragedy of the Commons" was invented by a white supremacist based on a false history, and it's toxic bullshit https://twitter.com/mmildenberger/status/1102604887223750657

#1yrago It's on: House Democrats introduce their promised Net Neutrality legislation https://www.cnet.com/news/democrats-introduce-save-the-internet-act-to-restore-net-neutrality/

Colophon (permalink)

Today's top sources: The Verge (https://www.theverge.com), Wired (https://wired.com), Slashdot (https://slashdot.org).

Hugo nominators! My story "Unauthorized Bread" is eligible in the Novella category and you can read it free on Ars Technica: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/01/unauthorized-bread-a-near-future-tale-of-refugees-and-sinister-iot-appliances/

Upcoming appearances:

Museums and the Web: March 31-April 4 2020, Los Angeles. https://mw20.museweb.net/

LA Times Festival of Books: 18 April 2020, Los Angeles. https://events.latimes.com/festivalofbooks/

Currently writing: I'm rewriting a short story, "The Canadian Miracle," for MIT Tech Review. It's a story set in the world of my next novel, "The Lost Cause," a post-GND novel about truth and reconciliation. I'm also working on "Baby Twitter," a piece of design fiction also set in The Lost Cause's prehistory, for a British think-tank. I'm getting geared up to start work on the novel afterwards.

Currently reading: Just started Lauren Beukes's forthcoming Afterland: it's Y the Last Man plus plus, and two chapters in, it's amazeballs. Last month, I finished Andrea Bernstein's "American Oligarchs"; it's a magnificent history of the Kushner and Trump families, showing how they cheated, stole and lied their way into power. I'm getting really into Anna Weiner's memoir about tech, "Uncanny Valley." I just loaded Matt Stoller's "Goliath" onto my underwater MP3 player and I'm listening to it as I swim laps.

Latest podcast: Disasters Don't Have to End in Dystopias: https://craphound.com/podcast/2020/03/01/disasters-dont-have-to-end-in-dystopias/

Upcoming books: "Poesy the Monster Slayer" (Jul 2020), a picture book about monsters, bedtime, gender, and kicking ass. Pre-order here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781626723627?utm_source=socialmedia&utm_medium=socialpost&utm_term=na-poesycorypreorder&utm_content=na-preorder-buynow&utm_campaign=9781626723627

(we're having a launch for it in Burbank on July 11 at Dark Delicacies and you can get me AND Poesy to sign it and Dark Del will ship it to the monster kids in your life in time for the release date).

"Attack Surface": The third Little Brother book, Oct 20, 2020.

"Little Brother/Homeland": A reissue omnibus edition with a very special, s00per s33kr1t intro.

[doomedandstoned]

The End Is Nigh: A Conversation With OFFICIUM TRISTE Frontman Pim Blankenstein

~By Shawn Gibson~

I was first introduced to OFFICIUM TRISTE when Mors Viri came out in 2013 and I have been a fan ever since! At the time, I had a radio show and got an email from HammerHeart Records with promo and played some songs off of that album.

The Dutch band's music has also pushed me through tough times, mentally and emotionally. There is sadness in their songs, as there is great beauty. Each song has its own dynamic sound with piano, organs, violins, cellos, etc. Officium Triste's albums are heavy as mountains, but have parts within that soar like eagles!

Recently, I had the privilege of longtime singer Pim Blankenstein, who has been with the band since 1994.

Mors Viri by Officium Triste

Officium Triste has been making music since 1994! How does that feel to be with this band now and the current state of affairs?

It feels as exciting as it was when we started out. Of course, a lot has changed in 25 years, but for us as a band our values are still the same. We love slow, heavy and melodic music and we still write this kind of music. Over the years we of course have grown as a band and you keep learning. After the last couple of line-up changes I totally feel this is the best line-up we've had. We're all on the same page and actually things couldn't be better.

What does the name Officium Triste mean?

If you put it in Google translate, it says it means the baleful. Back when we started out our then guitarist Johan Kwakernaak came up with the name, which he got from a Latin dictionary. The combination of words means something like a "sad gathering," such as a funeral.

You are from the Netherlands right? What are some other bands from the Netherlands you guys love?

Yeah, we are from the Netherlands and when we started out there were quite some doom bands we dug like early The Gathering, Celestial Season, Castle or Beyond Belief. Having said that, the doom scene never was that big but we always had killer bands. Just think of Deinonychus or newer acts like Facade, Treurwilg or Beyond Our Ruins.

In other genres we have (and had) great bands, too. Death metal was especially huge. Pestilence, Pentacle, Asphyx, Sinister, Thanatos, Severe Torture, Bodyfarm, Gorefest. I could go on and on. Bottomline is that the Dutch scene always has been and still is great. We know quite a lot of bands personally and we get along real fine.

We are all Doomed! Are you Stoned?

Nope. Used to smoke a lot. Not anymore though. But that doesn't change the fact we indeed are doomed!

The Death of Gaia (Atmospheric Death/Doom Metal) by OFFICIUM TRISTE (Netherlands)

Your latest album 'The Death Of Gaia' came out December 13 2019. What has influenced the writing of this album?

As far as the music is concerned, our core values are still present, which is writing slow, heavy, melodic and melancholic music. I like to say we are still inspired by the bands that showed us the way in the '90s, like Paradise Lost, Anathema, Katatonia or Type O Negative. Along the way, also a band such as Shape Of Despair inspired a bit but also film scores, shoegaze or dream pop.

Lyrics are about subjects such as the decline of our planet, loneliness, insomnia, guilt, and stuff like that -- basically what is happening around us. So the reality of life inspired us in that department.

Throughout the years of your albums there is always great range and depth of song with varied instruments. Are there any instruments you haven't used yet, but would love to include in a song?

From a personal perspective, I'd like to include some percussive elements. I can totally imagine us using some proper timpani for that ultimate heavy sound.

Who did the artwork for 'The Death Of Gaia'?

When we figured out we wanted something different as artwork on this album and moved away from our earlier art, we got in touch with Chris Smith of Grey Aria Design from the US. We liked what he had done for Solstice from the UK and we really wanted that Art Nouveau-type art. Chris totally delivered what we were after.

Art by Chris Smith/Grey Aria Design

What makes you guys laugh?

We actually laugh a lot. We get along really well and joke around a lot making fun of each other. Other than that we are totally into dark, sarcastic humour. Or stand-up comedians like Steve Hughes of Jim Jefferies. Writers like Bukowski or Brusselmans (a Belgian writer). Ren & Stimpy, Pinky & The Brain, Invader Zim. There's plenty of stuff that makes us laugh.

What has been an awkward moment for Officium Triste?

Probably being too drunk on stage in our early years could be considered as awkward. Other than that, not much. Maybe some awkward moments on behalf of our previous bass player, but I won't get into details on that because it's better to let that rest.

You have a long history of making death doom and are in the same boat as other established bands such as My Dying Bride, Katatonia, Paradise Lost. What is in the future for Officium Triste? Will there be another 25 years?

Well, we take it as it is. Our current label Transcending Obscurity is quite happy with us it seems and has been asking if we want to do another album for them. We are gathering new song ideas as we speak, so you can expect another album in the future. Not sure if we'll last another 25 years, as we will be considered as elderly people by then. As long as we're having fun we keep doing what we like to do.

Who is in the band Officium Triste and what do they do in the band?

Right now it is the founding members Martin Kwakernaak on keyboards. He used to be our drummer, too. Gerard de Jong on lead guitars and I (Pim Blankenstein) on vocals. We have Niels Jordaan on drums, William van Dijk on rhythm guitars and Theo Plaisier on bass.

With the varied sounds in your music do you have several session players to record? Sometimes it sounds like you have a symphony accompanying your music!

Actually, this time around we used some session musicians. We decided to record some real string instruments, as opposed to using the sounds from the keyboard, so we asked Chris Davies to record violins. We knew Chris from Eye Of Solitude where he used to play bass and he played violins with Clouds, in which I am involved, too, in a way. He did a great job. On cello we asked Eliane Anemaat. She is quite known for her work with bands, such as Celestial Season, Mayan or Delain. She also did an outstanding job.

What are some bands from the beginning that have influenced Officium Triste? Who are some current bands that catch your attention?

I more or less mentioned some bands in an earlier answer, but we initially were heavily influenced by Paradise Lost, Anathema, Celestial Season, My Dying Bride, Katatonia, and Type O Negative. But also Metallica, Edge Of Sanity, Dismember or Winter influenced us to some extent. Later on, also bands such as Evoken, Mournful Congregation or Shape Of Despair impressed us. Currently, there's not a lot of bands that caught our attention and actually had an impact on us, but we do like bands that mix things up like what In Solitude, Tribulation, Alcest or Chapel Of Disease are doing, to name just a couple.

Film by Buzau Live Music

Beyond doom and death, what other music styles do you like and listen to?

We listen to quite a lot of varied stuff. Like heavy metal, classic rock, shoegaze, indie rock, new wave, movie scores, retro wave. As long as it is good music we listen to it.

Will you ever tour in the states?

Hopefully. If we ever get a proper invitation and stuff is sorted out, well we definitely would like to come. We are crossing the Atlantic in a couple of months to play a one-off in Mexico.

For me, I have felt positive things from the lyrics and the heavy music amidst the doom. I guess its nice to be able to relate to songs and feel the music with your soul. The balance of heavy and almost symphonic and atmospheric music still blows my mind! Officium Triste is one of very few with clean vocals accompanying death growls I love. Most clean vocals fuck me up.

Cheers for that!

"Burning all Boats and Bridges" is my jam! Fuck it all and starting clean! My life has to take another turn! A fresh start is what I yearn for! Please tell me a little about this song.

Actually, this song is basically the only one where we could use music provided by our previous bass player. But since he fucked things up I have a hard time listening to this particular track. I did write the lyrics, though, and I usually start with a song title. I'm not sure where I got it from, but the lyrics are about having a fresh start and cut all ties with your past. It's not something that happened to any of us personally. But I guess everyone can relate to the subject, so I wrote lyrics about this.

"The End Is Nigh." Do you think this song is relevant to current world events?

That's what inspired it. But to be honest, this world has been a shithole for centuries. So, when I wrote the lyrics I did think about the current state of affairs, as well as stuff from the past. I think everyone can decide for themselves what we talk about, whether it is politics, the environment or overpopulation. It all goes hand in hand, in a way. For the lyrics, I took the Four Horsemen of The Apocalypse as a metaphor. And the second song on the album World In Flames continues with the subject.

Pim, thank you very much for your time! It is a pleasure and an honor!

Thank you, Shawn, for the interview. Much appreciated. Hope your readers will check us out if they haven't done so yet.

Follow The Band

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[foulwolfdestiny-blog]

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[hazyheel]

WWE NXT UK 8/28/19 Review

Ilja Dragunov vs. Tyson T-Bone: The two started out going hold for hold in a simple manner, but Dragunov quickly fought out and started to hit some of his hard hitting and unique offense. T-Bone actually got in a lot of offense in here, at one point he totally starched Dragunov with a right hand that just put him on the mat. However, Dragunov is actually insane, so he fought back into the match and started to hit some crazy strikes and suplexes. From there, he hit the Torpedo Moscow for the win.

Grade; B-. Short and sweet, giving Dragunov some of his momentum back. T-Bone looked good here too, but I’m not sure if they will actually use him. NXT tends to have their people and not feature many others. But he could be a powerful heel if they wanted him to be. 

Jack Gallagher Backstage: he talked about how Kassius Ohno screwed him out of a win, because his foot was clearly under the bottom rope. So, he challenged him to a match for next week. Cool, I’m into it. 

Joseph Connors vs. Oliver Carter: Carter is making his debut in this match after working on the European independent scene. He didn’t really make that huge of a splash in the bigger companies that he worked in, but he has a pretty good reputation. The two started things out with quick strikes on both sides, while commentary hyped up just how good of a striker that Carter is. Connors seemed pretty outclassed here, but he fought his way back into things after bending the rules a bit. At one point, Carter hit an awesome meteora off the top for a near fall. Carter was constantly trying for a springboard moonsault, but he missed later in the match. Connors took advantage by giving him a flatliner for the win. 

Grade: C+. Well, so much for that debut. In all seriousness, any good gatekeeper angle requires that gatekeeper to be taking out incoming stars left and right before they are eventually beat by the next big thing. So the booking here was solid. Connors needed this win for his gimmick, and because he has lost a whole bunch. Carter impressed with his offense, but I didn’t really see a huge star quality in him. Maybe he will impress more as things go on, but I didn’t care much for him. 

Cesaro Interview: this interview happened after Raw last week. Cesaro said that on his way to China, he will stop by Takeover: Cardiff, and he implied that he would get physical while he was there. Interesting, but these takeover shows shouldn’t just revolve around main roster stars showing up all the time to further some storylines. 

We also found out that Piper Niven vs. Rhea Ripley will be happening next week. 

Jordan Devlin vs. Kenny Williams: Early on, Devlin outwrestled Williams on the mat, and got very cocky because of it, but Williams showed Devlin that he was to be taken seriously by throwing him to the outside. Devlin then started to walk away, but Williams attacked him. As the two battled on the outside, Devlin totally destroyed Williams. He smashed Williams’ ribs and back into the apron and the barricade, before delivering a series of well placed kicks to the chest and stomach. Devlin then started to trash talk quite a bit, which fired up Williams who lit up Devlin with strikes and a suicide drop kick. At one point, it looked like Williams was going for his finish, but Devlin caught him and hit a wheelbarrow half and half suplex for a near fall. The two then started to trade blows in the middle of the ring, ending with a Spanish fly from Devlin, but Williams fought back with a super rana and a wheelbarrow driver for a near fall. Devlin then nearly hit his finisher, but wasn’t able to hit it. Instead, he put Williams on the ground, gave him a moonsault and then a saito suplex for the win. 

Grade: B+. This was a really good match. Lots of action, lots of back and forth and some really good wrestling. A great match to leave us off on before going to Takeover. The two are both phenomenal strikers, and that certainly showed. Coupled with their great agility, this was really good. I think that they actually went back and forth a little too much, because no one really retained control for long enough to get this into A territory, but they definitely could at some point. Match of the night. 

Grizzled Young Veterans Promo: Zack Gibson and James Drake came out to complain about the triple threat match on Saturday. They insulted the way they qualified by winning singles matches. However, Gallus, Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster all ran out and everyone brawled. 

Grade: B-. Gibson didn’t get enough time to talk to get this any higher, but he did enough. They are awesome heels, and the brawl got me excited for this match. Every match on the card looks awesome, I can’t wait to watch. 

Overall Grade: B-

Pros: Williams vs. Devlin

Cons: The go home segment could have been a bit more intense. 

[theydontknowaboutusimagines]

Meaning of Life - Harry Styles Series (Part 15)

Part 14

“It’s official Y/N has topped the Billboard chart with her debut album.” 

“The Music Industry’s top Songwriter, Y/N, has now made a name for herself debuting at number one.”  

“Y/N’s debut album could certainly break multiple records including ones held by Adele, Taylor Swift, Beyonce, and The Beatles.” 

“Harry Styles and Y/N are slowly becoming music’s it couple with both artists smashing the album sales.” 

“Y/N-” Harry started once again.

“Okay! Okay,” you laughed stopping him from reading yet another headline or article from his recent Google search. 

It had been two weeks since your album dropped and it was still at number one. Shocked would be an understatement if you were being honest. Your name was featured in dozens upon dozens of articles, posts, and tweets. There were even a few billboards with your album cover and face on them scattered around the city. Every time you turned on the radio, it seemed as if you heard your name or one of your songs playing. 

You even had been on quite a few late night shows for interviews and a performance and you were scheduled to Carpool Karaoke with James Corden in a few days. Never did you think the world would respond in this way regarding your album and music. It was still overwhelming and you definitely got major anxiety before the interviews and performances, but as soon as you were in the moment, all those feelings of self-doubt fluttered away. 

“Sorry, I just, damn, Y/N, I’m so fucking proud of you and apparently the entire world is too,” he said. 

“Yeah, but not everyone is singing me praises,” you said. “I’ve seen just as many negative reviews.” 

“Which are complete bullshit, by the way,” he said. 

You rolled your eyes, “You’re biased.” 

“Yes, and no,” he said. “I may technically be biased, but that doesn’t mean my opinion isn’t the truth.” 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, why don’t you just put the phone away and maybe stay away from Google for the rest of the night? Let’s just watch the movie and eat our dinner,” you smiled. 

“Okay, okay, I’ll stay away,” he laughed grabbing another slice of pizza from the box. “So, I can’t wait until we go over to the UK for your promo.” 

“We? You’re coming too?” You asked. “I thought you’ve been working in the studio, some.” 

“Did you honestly think I wasn’t going to travel with you when you’re going to my home country, Y/N? Really?” He laughed. “Studio or no studio, I’m going with you.” 

“My bad,” you laughed holding your hands up in defense. “I just you hadn’t really talked about going, so I thought I was going by myself.” 

“Do you want to go by yourself?” He asked. 

“Of course, not,” you said. “I’d feel awkward being there, at your house, without you.” 

“Bold of you to assume I’d even let you stay in my house without me,” he joked. 

You rolled your eyes. 

“Anyway, so my Mum’ll be coming down to London while we’re there,” he said. 

You smiled, “I’m glad we get to spend time with her and your sister. Oooh, maybe while we’re there we can go on a double date with your sister and her boyfriend.” 

“Eh,” He groaned. “That’s weird.” 

“How is that weird, exactly?” You laughed. “It’s no different than us going out with a couple of our friends who are married or a couple.” 

“She’s my sister,” he groaned. “It’s bad enough they went to one of my shows as their first date.” 

“I thought you liked him,” you said. 

“I do, but it’s still weird,” he said. 

“You’re weird,” you laughed. “You’ve hung out with him before... you know as a group with other friends and family.” 

“Still weird,” he said. 

“You’re such a child sometimes,” You rolled your eyes. 

“You know, you’re not exactly the first person to tell me that and I’m really starting to take offense to such a statement,” he said. 

“You would,” you laughed. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He gasped. 

“Oh, nothing,” you said taking a bite of your pizza and turning back to the television. 

“You’re lucky I love you,” he mumbled. 

“No, you’re lucky I love you,” you smirked. 

“Somebody’s a diva,” he rolled his eyes. 

“Am not!” You defended. 

He smirked wrapping his arms around you and pulling over onto his lap. 

“Excuse you, I wasn’t exactly finished with my pizza,” you said. 

“It’ll still be there,” he smirked pressing his lips against yours. 

**

You were now in the UK, ready for your huge promotion tour across the UK and Europe. There was even talk from your team about doing promotion in Australia and Japan. You weren’t exactly sure if you wanted to do to that because of the fact you would be traveling even more than what you had planned. You knew it would be a good idea to do all the promotion opportunities, but you also needed to focus on what would be best for you. 

Once you and Harry were off the plane, you both headed to the car waiting for the two of you. You were shocked to see the number of fans, which wasn’t a huge number because of the whole airport security thing, but way more than you thought would be there. They were all screaming and crying across the street from where you and Harry were. 

You smiled waving to them, which caused them to scream even more. You got into the car and Harry followed you into the car. The loud, deafening screams turned into muffled ones when Harry shut the door. You looked out the window and it almost seemed as if the crowd grew in just those short few seconds. 

“Well, you seem to be getting used to that,” Harry smirked at you. 

“To what?” You asked confused. 

“Having fans... waiting for you... screaming for you... and well, crying,” he laughed. 

“It helps when they’re on the other side of the street, away from me,” you laughed. “I’m able to enjoy them at a distance without feeling trapped and claustrophobic.”  

“That’s true,” he nodded. “But I do think you are getting better with it.” 

“Well, thank you,” you smiled kissing his cheek. 

By the time you had arrived at Harry’s London house, your stomach was growling to the point the entire block could hear it and the many hours spent on an airplane started to catch up with your body. Harry got the bags from the car and carried them into the house behind you. 

“I had some food delivered, so it should be in the fridge,” he said. 

“And by delivered you mean your sister brought it by?” You joked. 

“Hey, I paid for the food,” he laughed. 

“Yeah, yeah,” you said walking over to the fridge and opening it to see what was inside. 

You started grabbing different things and decided on just making a couple of sandwiches. You put them on a plate and quickly started eating. 

“So, fucking good,” you mumbled. 

Harry laughed shaking his head, “All that food and you decided on a sandwich?” 

“Hey, it was the quickest thing to make,” you laughed. “I’m hungry and sleepy. Plus, I want to take a shower to wash off the airport grime from my body before sliding into bed and sleeping for the next fourteen hours.” 

“But if you want to make something super fancy, go right ahead,” you added. 

“Nah, I’ll take a sandwich,” he said. 

“See!” You laughed handing him one. 

He smiled taking it from you and finishing it less than four bites. You rolled your eyes shaking your head at him as you finished up your own sandwich. Once you both were done, Harry carried the bags up to his room, while you followed him. You quickly got in the shower and back out before crawling into the bed, not even bothering to get redressed and let the sleep overtake your body as it prepared for the mountains of interviews the next day held. 

[velvetpiggie]

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The Sizegenetics system has become incredibly popular since its release back in the summer of 2004; promising to deliver fast, long lasting results and safe. Quite apart from being a cunning marketing ploy however, it has gained the respect of many well respected surgeons and doctors in the field of sexual dysfunction.

Sizegenetics review - https://goo.gl/Qs2f12

When conducting this Sizegenetics review, the first thing we discovered was its make use of is remarkably easy. To arrive two parts, the first part of the program requires you to put on an extension device. Extremely comfortable, and light as a feather, it could be worn anytime of your day, and is perfectly fine to put on under loose fit clothes.

The penis is inserted into a padded base ring, and adjustable screws are tightened to gently increase duration. At the glands of the penis, an variable strap, which can be padded, can be used to secure penis, and device. Wearing the device through the day, you can adjust the screws relating to your progress. A real plus is that it could be worn during the day with regular clothes, which really helps boost its effectiveness.

The idea in laymens terms is that the penis can be like a muscle...and it can grown exactly like any other muscle mass if exercised properly.

The ancient Chinese and East Indians have already been doing these kinds of exercises for thousands of years...plus they work. What Sizegenetics is hoping to accomplish is to marry modern tools with ancient exercises that have produced results.

Sizegenetics review

As stated above, wearing the device is only the first portion of the program. The Sizegenetics system can be provided with a wealth of DVDs and literature with confirmed penile exercises. Applying a sensible regime to your day to day routine, these can really work very well in conjunction with one another. The opinion of this Sizegenetics review is, given a bit of period, you should feel, and see, the benefits.

It is important to notice that the system isn't a magic pill. You must treat it just like a workout program as that's exactly what it is...but those who do follow the system have reported really nice results.

Sizegenetics review

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