Category Archives: music

Infuriatingly idiosyncratic

Posted on June 27, 2020 by things magazine

A film about Carmine Street Guitars (via The Guardian) / music by Danish band Tales of Murder and Dust / recommendations via We Love Lo-Fi / more via American Pancake / Twist Spin Tuck Jump (at K) / beautifully painted … Continue reading →

Posted in architecture, music | Leave a comment

Sounds to catch up

Posted on June 4, 2020 by things magazine

A collection of audio installations by Zimoun (via the TRACE archives) / music by Spare Planet / music by Airships on the Water / music by Unwed Sailor / undefinable pop from Jessica Genius / dreamy guitar pop by Winter … Continue reading →

Posted in music | Leave a comment

Ups and downs

Posted on May 26, 2020 by things magazine

The City of the Future versus The Mountain of the Future. We fear that the latter might be a more common direction in the future / AskMe offers up a selection of contemporary small presses / some guitary things. James’ … Continue reading →

Posted in architecture, music | Leave a comment

Neural Milk Hotel, etc.

Posted on May 5, 2020 by things magazine

‘Jukebox, a neural net that generates music, including rudimentary singing, as raw audio in a variety of genres and artist styles.’ Best explored through this Waxy post, OpenAI’s Jukebox Opens the Pandora’s Box of AI-Generated Music (via (Kottke): ‘The Jukebox … Continue reading →

Posted in music | Leave a comment

Furious Loops

Posted on April 28, 2020 by things magazine

Myth and Monolith, the story of the vast concrete Nine Elms Cold Store, written by Andrew Rogers for Vauxhall History. The piece delves into the building’s alleged satanic past, and includes mention of people like Pinkie Maclure and the late … Continue reading →

Posted in history, music | Leave a comment

Lost and found melodies (did we skip day 10?)

Posted on April 3, 2020 by things magazine

“This melody, which was played at some point on a real horn—well, maybe it was real; who knows?—has now passed through radio waves and magnetic tape and digital memory, into the mind of a brilliant arranger and back out into … Continue reading →

Posted in ephemera, music | Leave a comment

Not enough to keep you occupied for more than half an hour

Posted on March 15, 2020 by things magazine

The Case of the Missing Hit, already hailed as a legendary podcast episode (via tmn, amongst other places) / the ten most sampled basslines / a reddit for isolated vocals / Mi.Mu Gloves, as created by Imogen Heap. Explainer / … Continue reading →

Posted in music | Leave a comment

Letters of note

Posted on February 19, 2020 by things magazine

This Chinese Factory Makes $100,000 Architectural Models / see also the models of Made by Mistake printing money, visualising spending / here’s where some of that money went: an underground missile complex on 14.73 acres of land, yours for $495,000 … Continue reading →

Posted in architecture, music | Leave a comment

Unintended consequences

Posted on November 18, 2019 by things magazine

Open Memory Box offers the ‘biggest digitized collection of home movies from the GDR’, a dreamlike collection of silent 8mm films of a completely vanished world (thanks to TT for the tip) / Are compostable bags really compostable?, an ongoing … Continue reading →

Posted in music | Leave a comment

Activation

Posted on October 23, 2019 by things magazine

The real David Attenborough, a lengthy profile of the 93-year old film-maker and (sometimes) reluctant activist. To follow that up, Kottke always does good science and natural history: Watch Scavengers Devour a Fallen Whale Carcass on the Sea Floor; John … Continue reading →

Posted in music | Leave a comment

Outside the envelope

Posted on October 5, 2019 by things magazine

Behind You, a tumblr of original animated, spooky art / sort of related, Dungeon Synth (via MeFi) / Ste Holmes illustration / see also the Synth Evolution Poster / illustrations by Anna Isabella Schmidt / Barbican Winter, Stefi Orazi, at

Posted in music | Leave a comment

End of the week

Posted on September 27, 2019 by things magazine

Illustrations, including paper art by Aurely Cerise / old, but probably still pertinent: Uber knows when your phone is about to run out of battery and prices accordingly / more colour-us-surprised tech news: The ‘Smart Kitchen’ Is Very Stupid / … Continue reading →

Posted in music | Leave a comment

Echo Chambers

Posted on April 12, 2019 by things magazine

A short guide to Broadcast, retrofuturist pop & hauntological pop. See also this earlier collection of music loosely grouped as Folk Horror. There are endearing fictional diversions in the genre, such as Hereford Wakes, ‘a five-part ITV children’s drama originally … Continue reading →

Posted in music | Leave a comment

Golden Rabbits (or hares…)

Posted on April 7, 2019 by things magazine
Posted in music, nostalgia | Leave a comment

Some things to listen to

Posted on April 5, 2019 by things magazine

Codex 99 has some fine in-depth design history reporting spliced with personal recollections, e.g The XB-70: My Dad and the Cold War, the story of ‘perhaps the most audacious plane ever commissioned by the Air Force’. Also the Box of … Continue reading →

Posted in music | Leave a comment

Art and Music round-up

Posted on September 3, 2018 by things magazine

Illustrations by Wenjia Tang, especially Alphabet Zoo / Sightings, an illustration project by Juan Osorno (Instagram). See also the project Necessary Failures / Signalnoise, illustration by James White (via whizual) / illustrations by Vendi Vernic / illustration by Makoto Funatsu … Continue reading →

Posted in art, games, music | 1 Comment

Watch and listen

Posted on August 7, 2018 by things magazine

Art and music. Where have all the music blogs gone? From the comments, and elsewhere: Various Small Flames; Aquarium Drunkard; the currently dormant Ants in my Trance; songs for the day; mixes at Musicophilia; Mystic Sons / The Oldest Building … Continue reading →

Posted in art, music | Leave a comment

Love for life

Posted on August 7, 2018 by things magazine

Like Punk Never Happened, Brian McCloskey’s Smash Hits archive (via this Guardian piece on How we made Smash Hits. See also (or compare and contrast with) the Archived Music Press site (currently five years dormant) / The Creepy Things, a … Continue reading →

Posted in music | Leave a comment

Ashes to ashes

Posted on July 20, 2018 by things magazine

The Decline of Snapchat and the Secret Joy of Internet Ghost Towns (via Laura Olin’s List). Related, the Last Days of Club Penguin and Exploring The Digital Ruins Of ‘Second Life’ / there are 487 electric car manufacturers in China … Continue reading →

Posted in music, ruins | Leave a comment

Switched on

Posted on June 22, 2017 by things magazine

At the corner of Lovecraft and Ballard, the role of place and architecture in dystopian fiction, an essay by Will Wiles / we love generative music sites: this one if from Google in honour of Oskar Wilhelm Fischinger / Old … Continue reading →

Posted in music | Leave a comment