NPR.org: "Often hailed as the world's first reggae poet, Linton Kwesi Johnson was born in Jamaica in 1952, but moved to London in the '60s to study writing and poetry. He started releasing albums of his own poetry in 1978 with Dread Beat an' Blood. From there, he went on to release numerous collections of poetry and writing, and also to expand his horizons in the music industry, exploring the concept of poetry, spoken word and a cappella reggae." Listen here
pitchforkmedia.com: "The word "Hypnotic"'s overused, but the band's spatial know-how and rigorously muted flourishes are more than deserving of the accolade. It's well-deep, blossoming ambiance." Read on
BBC: "Bobby Friction travels to New York to find out how members of the hip hop community were affected and how it reacted to big events like hurricane Katrina" Listen here
npr.org: "The propulsive, rhythmic music of pioneering minimalist composer Steve Reich is represented by two major works: his Three Movements for Orchestra, which showcases the LA Philharmonic's percussion section; and Tehillim, his classic setting of Hebrew psalms, sung by Synergy Vocals.
Reich's minimalist style has inspired and influenced countless artists, including composers Phillip Glass and John Adams, as well as the progressive rock group King Crimson and electronic artist-producer Brian Eno." Listen here
bpb.de: "Tauendes Polareis, Landstriche, die im Wasser versinken, Naturkatastrophen von ungeahnten Ausmaßen: Erderwärmung und Klimawandel sind schon lange keine graue Theorie mehr. Für viele Menschen wurden sie bereits bittere Realität. Die amerikanische Journalistin Elizabeth Kolbert bereiste Orte, an denen die konkreten Auswirkungen des Klimawandels schon heute zu spüren sind – in Grönland, Alaska, den Niederlanden und England. Inuit in Alaska, die umgesiedelt werden, weil das Eis ihre Häuser nicht mehr trägt, Bewohner "schwimmender Eigenheime" in den Niederlanden, Schmetterlingsforscher in England, Gletscherbeobachter in Island, vor allem aber auch zahlreiche Klimaexperten und politische Entscheidungsträger schildern ihre Sicht der Dinge.
So entstand eine Sammlung eindrucksvoller Reportagen, in denen die Autorin verständlich und klar die historischen, wissenschaftlichen und politischen Zusammenhänge des anthropogenen Klimawandels beschreibt und nach Antworten auf eine der zentralen Herausforderungen des 21. Jahrhunderts sucht."
abc.net.au: "we'll revisit his back catalogue of amazing albums, 12 inches, remixes and collaborations. DJ SHADOW re-wrote the hip hop book in 1996 with the classic album 'Entroducing'. You'll hear tracks from that album and others, plus alternate takes. You'll also get a fair slice of his new album 'The Outsider' too." Listen here
zdf.de: "Laut Niklas Luhmann sind Massenmedien "alle Einrichtungen der Gesellschaft, die sich zur Verbreitung von Kommunikation technischer Mittel der Vervielfältigung bedienen". Wie stark haben sich diese Massenmedien in den letzten 100 Jahren verändert und wo geht der Weg hin?" Weiter
lfm-nrw.de: "Über das Internet kann heute jeder kostengünstig seine Meinung per Text, Foto, Audio und Video weltweit verbreiten: in Form von Weblogs etwa, die an persönliche Tagebücher erinnern, private und privateste, kritische und politische Ansichten verbreiten oder als Audio- oder Videoaufnahmen (Podcasts), die inzwischen massenhaft Eingang ins Internet gefunden haben - und zuletzt durch das so genannte "Hinrichtungsvideo" von Saddam für Aufsehen sorgten."
Die Broschüre kann kostenlos bestellt oder als PDF runtergeladen werden. Link
Not my cup of tea, but this record is in The WIRE's best of 2006 list.
amazon.com: "While the rest of the Wu-Tang Clan now seems a faint memory from hip-hop's '90s era, Ghostface has become a one-man force in maintaining the vitality of the Clan. The way he opens Fishscale with the frantic, hyperactive "Shakey Dog," is all the evidence you'd need to see how Ghost is that rare MC who's gotten better with age. His jumble of colorful wordplay is now honed into a sharp edge of drug-game narratives ("R.A.G.U."), neighborhood stories ("Barbershop"), honeyed pimp talk ("Big Girl") and braggadocio raw enough to melt minds ("Be Easy")." More
bbc.co.uk: "Mark Russell and Robert Sandall report on the latest happenings in the avant-garde and alternative music scenes of Berlin. They encounter sound artists, neo-cabaret singers, practitioners of Noise and post-techno electronica boffins including Alec Empire, Mattin, Christina Kubisch, FS Blumm and Antje Greie." Listen here
wikipedia.org: "Christian Wolff (born March 8, 1934) is an American composer of experimental classical music. At the age of sixteen Wolff was sent by his piano teacher Grete Sultan for lessons in composition with the composer John Cage and quickly became a close associate of Cage and his artistic circle which included composers Earle Brown and Morton Feldman, pianist David Tudor, and dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham. During the 1960s he developed associations with the composers Frederic Rzewski and Cornelius Cardew who spurred each other on in their respective explorations of experimental composition techniques and musical improvisation, and then from the early 1970s in their respective attempts to engage with political matters in their music." More
The WIRE:" The first thing you hear is a laser blast: a fat, toothsome laser blast, which could have been fired into Space from any number of sci-fi B movies from the last 40 years.The next thing you hear is silence, and the rest of RafaelToraI's latest sound essay unfolds almost entirely from these two elements. Beyond the title, space has a double significance within the work. It's selfconsciously futurist and extraterrestrial, greedily absorbing acoustic vocabularies from the sci-fi section of library music sound design. Toral himseif namechecks the Forbidden Planet soundtrack and Star Wars." More
"Do you love Resonance FM? Then put your money where your ears are! Become a Friend of Resonance FM. Give us £10 per month - and help the most exciting, probing, intelligent, challenging and wide-ranging radio station in the world continue to make world-class programmes. Your £10 per month can make a real difference to us" More
Arte: "Die Dokumentation zeigt, dass es auch in der sozialistischen DDR einen Bedarf an Pornografie gab. Offiziell verpönt, entstanden freizügige Fotos und Filme im real existierenden Sozialismus in erster Linie im Rahmen privater Amateurfilmerzirkel. Doch hartnäckig hielt sich das Gerücht, dass in der DDR Pornohefte und einschlägige Filme für das kapitalistische Ausland produziert wurden. Die Dokumentation geht diesen Vermutungen nach."
BBC: "From Elvis's pelvis through Max Romeo's Wet Dream to Frankie's Relax, how can musicians express life between the sheets without facing the wrath of the censor?" Listen here
bbc.org: "Robert Sandall explores the music of the American musician and producer Jim O'Rourke. The programme also features pieces by Joanna Newsom, Sonic Youth, Loose Fur and Fennesz." Listen here
"Jim O'Rourke (born January 18, 1969) is an American musician and producer. He was long associated with the Chicago experimental and improv scene.
Known for his idiosyncratic tastes, and regarded as something of an expert on modern experimental music, he has released albums of jazz, noise and guitar rock music. O'Rourke has collaborated with the likes of Derek Bailey, Loren Mazzacane Connors, Nurse With Wound, Fennesz, Organum, Henry Kaiser, Flying Saucer Attack, and most recently mixed Joanna Newsom's new album Ys." More
dradio.de: "Was ursprünglich von ihrem Erfinder als Theorie der technischen Kommunikation gedacht war, erhielt von anderen den Namen Informationstheorie. Und auf die Frage, wie er das zentrale Maß seiner Theorie nennen sollte, riet ihm ein Kollege: Nenne es Entropie, das klingt geheimnisvoll. Seitdem herrscht Begriffsverwirrung. Gibt es mehr als einen formalen Zusammenhang mit der physikalischen Größe Entropie? Ist Information eine fundamentale Größe wie Materie und Energie? Wer meint was mit dem Wort Information? Was unterscheidet Daten von Signalen, Botschaften von Nachrichten, Information von Wissen, was Quanteninformation von klassischer? Ist alles Information, Information alles?" Weiter
wnyc.org: "Annalee Newitz and Charlie Anders, the editors of the new collection of essays She’s Such a Geek!, celebrate women who are passionate about science, technology, video games, and other subjects that are often dismissed as nerdy and male-dominated." Listen here
wnyc.org: "DJ Drama was arrested January 16 for producing unlicensed mixtapes even though his compilations have been used as promotional tools by record executives. New Yorker music critic, Sasha Frere Jones, and DJ Pete Miser, discuss the RIAA's awkward relationship with mixtapes and what the recent crackdown on DJ's could mean for the hip-hop community" Listen here
NPR on the same topic:
Hip-Hop's Mix-Tape Tradition Meets with the Law
npr.org: "DJ Drama, a hip-hop mixtape artist, was arrested and charged last week with selling unlicensed CD collections and remixes. But many hip-hop artists and record labels cooperate with mixtape artists as a way to get their music to the public. New York Times music writer Kelefa Sanneh talks with Luke Burbank." Listen here
lfm-nrw.de: "Über das Internet kann heute jeder kostengünstig seine Meinung per Text, Foto, Audio und Video weltweit verbreiten: in Form von Weblogs etwa, die an persönliche Tagebücher erinnern, private und privateste, kritische und politische Ansichten verbreiten oder als Audio- oder Videoaufnahmen (Podcasts), die inzwischen massenhaft Eingang ins Internet gefunden haben - und zuletzt durch das so genannte "Hinrichtungsvideo" von Saddam für Aufsehen sorgten." 
npr.org: Washington Post reporter Thomas Ricks discusses his book, 