The Twelve Quests

Solstafir - Svartir Sandar

2012-04-17T16:33:23+00:00

Once the dust had settled, I suppose the journey from black metal, or Viking metal as it might well have been, to a psychedelic form of rock was much clearer than that brief description would suggest. It might seem like there are no parallel lines to be drawn from Sólstafir's transition from a black metal based type of music to psychedelic rock but, even from the very beginning, there clearly are. At the start of their full-length career it was a challenge to pigeon hole Sólstafir and place them into a suitable genre whereby we reviewers can describe their music in accordance with the traditions and values that composes that genre, but even with time and a lot of troublesome digestion, the Icelandic four piece band are still as difficult, if not more, to define. `Í Blóði og Anda' was very much a work in progress. It highlighted, although not considerably well, some of the quirky talents within the band that we would later come to admire, like the vocals of Aðalbjörn Tryggvason, albeit in a vastly different manner to how the band portray themselves in the present day. From there onwards, the Icelanders were on the up-and-up, climbing the mountainous task cautiously on `Masterpiece of Bitterness' before successfully conquering the mountain and placing their national flag upon the top in the form of `Köld', a record which warmed the hearts of many to the band and helped them become a recognised face of metal and rock around the globe. Although I didn't initially enjoy this record much, perhaps due to the fact that the sophomore exceeded many of my expectations, catching the band live in London last year helped me understand the direction of this record and the journey these immaculate performers took to reach this destination with an emotional performance in front of an engaged audience. Having expected Sólstafir to steal the show away from the grasp of Secrets of the Moon, I was overjoyed when they not only did that, but completely blew away all opposition to the crown of "best band of the night". To call it a grand performance would be an understatement and, thankfully, the material present on this divine record makes much more sense to me now than ever before, touching me emotionally. The metal roots haven't been washed away completely as this record definitely amasses an edgy sound akin to the older metal works. There is still a metal backbone to the record, in my eyes, with the use of fast, repetitive riffs on both bass and guitar, both of which are audible alongside one another and pressing drums which hunt us down like a savage beast. I was particularly impressed with the bassist in the flesh and have come to realise what impact the bass has on the atmospheres, helping them remain fresh, as songs like `She Destroys Again' wonderfully displays. Listening to the beginning of `Necrologue', it is easy to understand why the psychedelic tag has been bestowed upon them as the bass sullenly sweeps in and out of consciousness underneath the achingly beautiful vocals. The bass and vocal combinations definitely adds a psychedelic structure to the atmospheres. Considering Sólstafir have changed on every record, it will be interesting to see where they go from here and whether they can keep up with the levels of performance they're putting in nowadays. I cannot review this record without mentioning the fantastically catchy `Love Is The Devil (And I Am In Love)'. Definitely recommended.

Apple and Google working on wearable smartphone-based computing?

2011-12-20T17:29:55+00:00

On the New York Times Bits Blog, Nick Bilton suggests that both Apple and Google are engaged in (separate) projects to turn smartphones into more wearable devices. Apple has already been wearable in some respects—you could clip the iPod Shuffle to your clothing, or attach the iPod Nano to a wrist strap to make it impersonate an oversized watch. Now it seems like Apple wants to make it so people can wear their iPhone on their wrist, and perhaps interact with it with Siri. And Google may be working on something similar. This all might lead, in the next ten years, to real “Google goggles”, or otherwise computerized glasses, that use the smartphone as their processing hub. Wouldn’t that be an interesting way to read e-books, having the text floating in front of your eyes? But Kevin Fogarty on the IT World blog says not so fast, pointing out that the New York Times obtained this information from anonymous and unidentified sources. Without knowing who they are, it’s impossible to gauge such sources’ reliability—or their motives for revealing what they do. No matter how convenient, cool and wearable our computers become, they’ll still only be a conduit for the information we get through them. If more and more of that information comes from "people" hiding their identities and touting products they hope they’ll eventually be able to produce and sell, we might be better off sticking with the old, clunky technology we have to stick in a pocket instead. Original Article: http://www.teleread.com/chris-meadows/apple-google-may-be-working-on-wearable-smartphone-based-computing/

I Wrote A Comment On IPN | Irish Booksellers Are Missing Out On Digital Sales | Irish Publishing New

2011-08-31T20:37:55+00:00

It’s about booksellers and ebooks: Last week a new science-fiction and fantasy title, A Dance With Dragons, sold 2,200 copies …Continue reading »

Go Read This | Unbound: The Crowdfunding Cargo Cult | Mssv

2011-08-31T20:37:55+00:00

Great piece on Unbound, all of which I agree with, by Adrian Hon: Where Kickstarter is transparent, Unbound is bafflingly …Continue reading »

Go Read This | What’s a book? It’s whatever you want it to be — Tech News and Analysis

2011-08-31T20:37:55+00:00

In case you missed it, stop thinking book or ebook and think, content and the many ways to sell it: …Continue reading »

Ebury reveals Less Ordinary digital list | The Bookseller

2011-08-31T20:37:55+00:00

There’ll be a lot more of this, or at least you’d hope there will be, as publishers look to profit …Continue reading »

Exclusive: Indie Author Michael Wallace Signs 5 Book Deal With Amazon | David Gaughran

2011-08-31T20:37:55+00:00

Fascinating post over on David Gaughran’s blog from Michael Wallace on why he signed a deal with Amazon’s Thomas & …Continue reading »

Go Read This | Push Pop Press Acquired By Facebook

2011-08-31T20:37:55+00:00

I’m not certain what this means, but it is damn interesting that’s for sure. “this is one of the most …Continue reading »

Go Read This | Agents have to do it, but their new service offerings change the publishing ecosystem

2011-08-31T20:37:55+00:00

Interesting note from Mike Shatzkin this: Many of the agents, but not Waxman with Diversion, are specifying that their services …Continue reading »

Go Read This | Will print and ebook publishers ultimately be doing the same books? – The Shatzkin

2011-08-31T20:37:55+00:00

Mike Shatzkin looks at the current realities of ebooks and print books and what is happening. I think we are …Continue reading »