Nostr notes by Chris Trottier

AI pisses me off in one respect: It used to be that I could pay ...

2026-09-25T11:02:07Z

AI pisses me off in one respect:

It used to be that I could pay freelancers to make music for me.

But I had to stop because too many of my orders were AI-made songs.

And sometimes I couldn’t initially tell. So weeks after I sent them money, I’d sit there and go, “Wait. How could I not spot that AI-generated vocal artifact there? It’s so obvious now that I think about it.”

Then I get very angry because something I spent a lot of time doing—composing a song—was not honoured with a human voice.

I’m still incensed that I didn’t get my money back.

I think there’s an easy way to know if someone is AI: Develop a ...

2026-09-25T10:37:29Z

I think there’s an easy way to know if someone is AI:

Develop a relationship with them.

See if they have interior lives. If they go out and do stuff. Post pictures from their daily lives.

Does that take too much effort? Then it doesn’t matter if they’re a bot because they’re an abstraction to you anyway.

quoting
note17qj…v807

I don’t care if someone is using AI.

I stopped caring long ago.

I simply know what I value and what I don’t and if something holds no value for me, I’ll stop putting energy into it—and that’s that.

I don’t care if someone is using AI. I stopped caring long ago. ...

2026-09-25T10:19:07Z

I don’t care if someone is using AI.

I stopped caring long ago.

I simply know what I value and what I don’t and if something holds no value for me, I’ll stop putting energy into it—and that’s that.

https://youtu.be/es70ohqGlvI

2026-09-25T03:47:08Z

https://youtu.be/es70ohqGlvI

Well, it's happening while municipal elections are happening ...

2026-09-25T00:27:22Z

In reply to nevent1q…qk73
_________________________

Well, it's happening while municipal elections are happening too. So people are bitter about that.

Cypress Hill with the London Symphony Orchestra. This is not a ...

2026-09-25T00:26:34Z

Cypress Hill with the London Symphony Orchestra.

This is *not* a Simpsons episode.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-Vd8UfYgiU

Yeah, it’s pretty good.

2026-09-25T00:07:06Z

In reply to nevent1q…f7l3
_________________________

Yeah, it’s pretty good.

BC NDP were colossally stupid for calling an election two years ...

2026-09-24T21:36:45Z

BC NDP were colossally stupid for calling an election two years early to take advantage of right-wing disarray.

Because now Conservatives are leading in the polls.

And yes, it's also colossally stupid that Conservatives are leading in the polls after an *entire year* of shenanigans. But people are *that* pissed at this crass election to the point they want to punish the NDP.

https://angusreid.org/ballot-backlash-bc-conservatives-open-8-point-lead-after-snap-election-call-but-electorate-far-from-locked-in/

The most Canadian beverage ever made. Listen, I didn't say ...

2026-09-24T21:22:16Z

The most Canadian beverage ever made.

Listen, I didn't say it's the *best* Canadian beverage. Just the *most*.

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/kd-launches-mac-n-cheese-180106344.html

My only pet peeve is that this collection doesn't include ...

2026-09-24T19:44:05Z

In reply to nevent1q…9ccc
_________________________

My only pet peeve is that this collection doesn't include Alien Breed Trilogy.

But whatever. Alien Breed Trilogy is cheap. You can buy it for $2.29 off GOG.

It's a much bigger deal that the early Alien Breed games are available again, including Alien Breed 3D.

COMMODORE JUST RELEASED ALIEN BREED 35TH ANNIVERSARY ...

2026-09-24T19:39:07Z

COMMODORE JUST RELEASED ALIEN BREED 35TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION!!!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4870460/Alien_Breed_35th_Anniversary_Collection

Yesterday, someone mentioned that album to me. I like Scritti ...

2026-09-24T19:20:14Z

In reply to nevent1q…5w87
_________________________

Yesterday, someone mentioned that album to me.

I like Scritti Politti's first album "Songs to Remember" but actually hate the commercial breakthrough "Cupid & Psyche 85".

But I did give a casual listen to "White Bread Black Beer" and I agree that it is leagues better than "Cupid & Psyche 85".

I only know this because I bought a CD of his then looked him up ...

2026-09-24T19:12:51Z

In reply to nevent1q…46zr
_________________________

I only know this because I bought a CD of his then looked him up on Wikipedia only discover he changed his name. So I realized there was a story here.

Let's talk about famous musicians who did their best work ...

2026-09-24T18:55:30Z

Let's talk about famous musicians who did their best work when they stopped being famous.

Yesterday, I stumbled across two albums that really opened my mind to this phenomenon. It happens more often than people realize. Sometimes artists just grab their money bag and then afterwards make what they *really* want.

The first example is Art of Noise. These guys had a hit with their debut album "Who's Afraid of the Art of Noise?". They had further critical acclaim with their next three albums "In Visible Silence", "In No Sense? Nonsense!" and "Below the Waste".

Then in 1999, when they were barely in the mainstream, they released "The Seduction of Claude Debussy". This is Debussy's music blended with with drum and bass, opera, hip hop, jazz, and narration. It's okay, but because of commercial considerations, it was not as good as it *could* have been.

And we know this to be the case because in 2022, what the album *should* have been was released as "Balance – Music For The Eye".

The original, unedited "producer's cut" sessions recorded by original band members Anne Dudley, Trevor Horn, Paul Morley, and Lol Creme. Unlike "The Seduction of Claude Debussy" which uses a traditional verse-chorus-verse structure, "Balance – Music For The Eye" is a continuous, 26-track ambient, classical-electronic suite divided into three distinct parts. There are no vocalists. Apart from narration to introduce each part, it is purely instrumental, relying on sampling, orchestral textures, and moody synthesizer soundscapes.

"Balance – Music For The Eye" has never been released in a physical format. If you want it physically, you either have to download the lossless files and burn it to disc yourself or record it to cassette tape.

Hardly anyone knows about this album. It is extremely obscure. And yet it is absolutely their best album, their clear magnum opus.

Another example is Terence Trent D'Arby. Or as he's known nowadays, Sananda Maitreya.

In the 80s, D'Arby seems like the heir apparent to Prince. His debut album "Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby" was HUGE. It sold 8 million copies worldwide. And it was a great showcase of soul, funk, and rock blended together.

Terence's problem is that he was just too weird for the mainstream. Yes, if you can believe it, even weirder than Prince. Many people were turned off by his big ego, which alienated many fans as well as the industry. But he continued to have commercial success and critical acclaim into the 90s, especially in the UK.

That is, until 2001 when he changed his name to Sananda Maitreya and declared "Terence Trent D'Arby was dead ... he watched his suffering as he died a noble death. After intense pain I meditated for a new spirit, a new will, a new identity."

Now Prince did the same thing but at least he also referred to himself "The Artist Former Known as Prince" and then changed his name back. Sananda never did.

Instead, he moved to Italy, decided to finally make whatever he wanted, and released these wildly ambitious double albums. He started putting more and more elements that departed from his initial soul, going deeper and deeper into prog territory.

And then in 2015, he had what I like to call his "Sun Ra moment" when he released "The Rise of the Zugebrian Time Lords" which is a sprawling 2CD space opera centring on time-traveling antagonist entities and existential battles. It is a riveting listen.

Was he finished? No, he decided to go more epic with the 2017 release "Prometheus & Pandora". This is a monumental 3-volume, 53-track concept album exploring Greek mythology, archetypes, and human suffering.

But believe it or not, *that* album was not the completion of the concept because he continued it with the 2021 release, "Pandora's PlayHouse". This is an additional 28 tracks that continues "Prometheus & Pandora". And this blends soul-rock, spoken word interludes, and jazz-inflected instrumentals.

And he was still not done. In 2024, he made the mythos a trilogy with "The Pegasus Project: Pegasus & The Swan". It is 44 tracks. And this time he's adding classical element by including the Archima String Quartet and the Budapest Art Orchestra.

Let me remind you that *all* of this is independently made and far, far away from the major label system. Whether or not you like Terence Trent D'Arby / Sananda Maitreya, you cannot deny that any other artists match this kind of ambition.

Now I can think of other artists for which this occurred to lesser degrees: Scott Walker, Talk Talk, and Gary Numan come to mind. But the thing with those artists is that though their commercial visibility was long behind them, their critical visibility was not. At least music nerds know the story behind those artists.

But in the case of The Art of Noise and Terence Trent D'Arby / Sananda Maitreya, even the critics are unaware of their recently released work that far exceeds their successful mainstream albums.

Do any of you have any other examples of this happening?

Yes, I think most people are unaware of the tools available for ...

2026-09-24T18:13:41Z

In reply to nevent1q…2ptu
_________________________

Yes, I think most people are unaware of the tools available for recovery phases. Or worse, society at large has a zero-sum mentality and sometimes believes that for one person to win, another needs to lose.

No, you definitely wouldn't. I'd be very careful about ...

2026-09-24T18:02:19Z

In reply to nevent1q…w9wj
_________________________

No, you definitely wouldn't. I'd be very careful about who should handle my ass.

This guy's ads have been following me everywhere. And ...

2026-09-24T17:52:02Z

This guy's ads have been following me everywhere.

And it's unsettling.

Apple Music really is amazing on a Smart TV set-up. It's ...

2026-09-24T17:34:08Z

Apple Music really is amazing on a Smart TV set-up.

It's worth it for these features alone:

1. Atmos—and it actually sounds good with a 5.1 surround sound theatre!
2. Animated covers
3. Scrolling lyrics for karaoke

I'm giving away a FREE Steam key for Trine: Enchanted ...

2026-09-24T17:08:19Z

I'm giving away a FREE Steam key for Trine: Enchanted Edition!

To me, this is one of the greatest platformers ever made and whoever gets this key is a lucky person to play this for the first time.

First person to DM me with the key request gets the Steam key!

I support Canada's efforts to diversify away from Starlink. ...

2026-09-24T16:11:19Z

I support Canada's efforts to diversify away from Starlink.

Now if only the government would diversify away from X / Twitter as well.

https://cultmtl.com/2026/09/canada-confirms-plan-to-diversify-away-from-elon-musks-starlink/

I’m gonna let you all in on a secret: the world is actually ...

2026-09-24T06:27:50Z

I’m gonna let you all in on a secret: the world is actually getting better.

It just gets better SLOW.

Then, in between, things can get worse fast and ugly.

But if you plan for the crises, the drop doesn’t hit quite so hard.

Stairs up.

Elevator down.

This whole news segment on BC Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson ...

2026-09-24T05:14:49Z

This whole news segment on BC Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson is like a Tim & Eric sketch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=way3_7SWvJs

Grandmaster Flash’s uncle was world boxing champion Sandy ...

2026-09-24T04:02:26Z

Grandmaster Flash’s uncle was world boxing champion Sandy Saddler!

Star Trek – Original Motion Picture Collection. That’s the ...

2026-09-24T03:19:00Z

Star Trek – Original Motion Picture Collection.

That’s the first six Star Trek movies all together.

This whole thing cost me $6.

And I’m going to watch the first movie because I need some Star Trek right now.

This is it. The aliens are coming to invade us. ...

2026-09-24T03:04:53Z

This is it.

The aliens are coming to invade us.

https://www.sciencealert.com/astronomers-detect-radio-signals-coming-directly-from-an-exoplanet-for-the-first-time

QUEBEC CITY IS GETTING A CFL FRANCHISE!!! ...

2026-09-24T02:55:09Z

QUEBEC CITY IS GETTING A CFL FRANCHISE!!!

https://3downnation.com/2026/09/23/cfl-board-of-governors-unanimously-approves-quebec-city-expansion-report/

So I renewed nodebb.social. After a year, I’ve been thinking ...

2026-09-24T02:47:23Z

So I renewed nodebb.social.

After a year, I’ve been thinking about this a LOT.

I want to give a federated forum a real shot. But not something like Lemmy or Piefed, where everything leans on upvotes and downvotes. NodeBB (npub1d43…jl5u) can disable that, and to me that’s a pretty critical feature.

What I’d like is a general NodeBB board for general topics: art, video games, music, whatever people actually want to dig into.

Politics is the tricky part.

It’s not like the Threadiverse is starving for political communities. But politics also has a nasty habit of crawling into everything and taking over the room.

And yeah, I know an apolitical stance is still a political stance.

But I’ve lived through enough GamerGate-type scenarios to see how outrage and grievances can hijack things that are supposed to give us JOY.

I’m also against memes and low-effort junk because, frankly, that stuff attracts stupidity.

Deep dives, though? Absolutely.

I want people to go long. Get into the weeds. Actually think about what they’re posting.

I may also need somebody else who finds this project interesting enough to help run it. Maybe a co-admin. Maybe a moderator.

Because I can already see how this could get overwhelming, and managing the whole thing by myself could become a pain in the ass when I’ve also got a family.

Nothing is launched yet.

But I’d love some insight.

I've been complaining about this for years. Taylor Swift and ...

2026-09-24T00:09:15Z

I've been complaining about this for years.

Taylor Swift and her ilk have hijacked vinyl in order to turn the hobby into glorified Pokemon cards for her fans.

As a result, the price of vinyl has skyrocketed. And it's a big reason I'm less likely to buy it.

https://www.tvfandomlounge.com/pop-stars-taylor-swift-and-friends-gamify-vinyl-charts/

Thought today was gonna be another boring day in BC politics? ...

2026-09-23T23:35:03Z

Thought today was gonna be another boring day in BC politics?

NOPE!

Former Green Party leader Andrew Weaver is now running for CentreBC in Oak Bay-Gordon Head—the same riding he represented from 2013 to 2020.

https://cheknews.ca/former-green-leader-andrew-weaver-now-running-under-centrebc-banner-1349597/

She definitely wasn't a victim in this. She made her own bed. ...

2026-09-23T23:20:58Z

In reply to nevent1q…0mrc
_________________________

She definitely wasn't a victim in this. She made her own bed. Now she must lie in it.

Remember that American who posted pictures of herself and her ...

2026-09-23T23:17:21Z

Remember that American who posted pictures of herself and her family wearing “Lake America” sweatshirts in Halifax—which turned out to be AI-generated because she didn’t have the courage to actually do it?

On Facebook, she wrote:

> “Like our sweatshirts? Not sure Canada will. Lol lol”

Well, she had to cut her Halifax trip short after receiving death threats.

And no, I don’t condone death threats.

But she also said she wasn’t sure Canada would like the sweatshirts.

Now she has her answer.

So now she’s doing this whole song and dance about AI being dangerous and saying:

> “I am not a person that would ever want to offend or hurt anybody... I do regret having any post that would make someone feel like we don’t value them as human beings.”

Then why did you do it?

Even your own post suggested you knew it was a bad idea.

And clearly, it WAS.

https://petapixel.com/2026/09/21/american-ceo-forced-to-leave-canada-after-posting-ai-photo-of-family-in-lake-america-sweatshirts/

Hey What – Low\ 2021 • Post-Rock / Noise • Sub Pop\ ...

2026-09-23T22:49:27Z

**Hey What – Low**\
2021 • Post-Rock / Noise • Sub Pop\
Cassette Tape Album

This is the last album Low ever made, though when I bought it, I had no idea that was going to be the case.

At the time, I compared *Hey What* to Lou Reed’s *Metal Machine Music* because it seemed to come out of that same noise tradition. But knowing what I know now, the better comparison is David Bowie’s *Blackstar*.

Because little did I know Mimi Parker was suffering from cancer while making this album. She was fighting it the whole time. And 1 year after *Hey What* came out, she died.

Low was always built around a husband-and-wife core. So Mimi isn’t just dealing with her own mortality here. Alan Sparhawk—whose bouts with clinical depression are well-known—is clearly reckoning with it too.

The result is one of the greatest final albums in rock music.

This was a band that had never put out a bad album, and for the swansong they went all the way.

And *Hey What* is innovative as hell. Yeah, there’s cacophonous noise. But right beside it are some of the most beautiful, cosmic vocal harmonies I’ve ever heard. Screeching distortion crashes into male-female vocals carrying unbelievable love and sadness at the same time.

There’s a reason this album was nominated for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical at the Grammys. Pulling off that balance takes nerves of STEEL. This could have turned into nothing but unlistenable screech, but producer BJ Burton somehow made it work.

This is also the album that got me back into cassette tapes.

Because *Hey What* is one of those records where the unpredictability of analog actually helps. Tape wow and flutter, hiss, all that instability—it makes the album even better.

One of the best albums of 2021.

And when the dust settles, this might be one of the best albums of the 2020s.

Kings of the Wild Frontier – Adam and the Ants\ 1980 • ...

2026-09-23T22:18:40Z

**Kings of the Wild Frontier – Adam and the Ants**\
1980 • New Wave • CBS\
12" 33 RPM Vinyl LP

When I first saw this band on MuchMusic, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

Here was this exotic-looking Englishman—who I later learned is Romanichal—putting on one hell of a show. And somehow, this was new wave.

But is it even right to call Adam and the Ants a new wave band?

To this day, I don’t think they fit neatly into anything. Even now, their sound is mystifyingly hard to pin down.

A whole lot of acts sure stole from them, though.

Michael Jackson yoinked Adam Ant’s jacket and made it part of his trademark look.

Hell, Malcolm McLaren stole Adam Ant’s entire BAND and formed Bow Wow Wow.

Not that Adam Ant didn’t do some stealing of his own.

Those trademark drums? That sound came from Burundi tribal musicians. Still, it was Adam and the Ants who brought Burundi drums into the mainstream.

And the guitar doesn’t get talked about enough. It hits just as hard as anything coming out of punk at the time, which makes sense considering the band’s punk origins.

What really fascinates me is how Adam Ant packs the lyrics with larger-than-life figures and ideas: Davey Crockett, Margaret Thatcher, Lawrence of Arabia, Clint Eastwood, even Nietzsche. There's history, politics, movies, and philosophy all here.

At times, I do think the album gets fetishistic toward Indigenous peoples.

“The Human Beings” is basically Adam Ant chanting the names of Indigenous North American tribes.

But considering Adam Ant’s so-called “gypsy” heritage—a derogatory term—I can understand why he might be drawn toward that, since his own people are often exoticized too.

This album sounds great on vinyl. It hits plainly in the mids. I personally like more bass and treble, but vinyl does mids really damn well, and that gives the whole thing a warm sound.

Definitely a classic album.

604 – Ladytron\ 2001 • Indietronica • Invicta Hi-Fi\ ...

2026-09-23T21:49:08Z

**604 – Ladytron**\
2001 • Indietronica • Invicta Hi-Fi\
Compact Disc Album

Fun fact: *604* is named after Vancouver’s area code.

Why? I have no idea. Ladytron isn’t from Vancouver. They’re from Liverpool.

Hard to believe now, but there was a time when electronics were largely looked down on in the indie scene. If you made music with synths, you were either a band like Stereolab using vintage gear that alluded to 60s psychedelia; or you were something like Disco Inferno—so colossally weird that indie fans wouldn’t even touch you.

Then, in the early 2000s, the dam BROKE.

Synths stopped being a dirty instrument. Suddenly you had acts as far apart as LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip, and The Postal Service getting embraced by the subculture.

Ladytron were part of that crowd. But what made them stand out was that cool, deadpan delivery.

A lot of that came from Mira Aroyo, who is Bulgarian and often sang in Bulgarian instead of English. And this is actually the only popular band I know that sings in Bulgarian. Aroyo makes the language sound futuristic.

The other thing that separates Ladytron from a lot of electronic bands is the songwriting. Plenty of electronic music leans on loops, layers, textures, and long build-ups.

Ladytron embraced verse-chorus-verse. You can hear it all over *604*, especially on songs like “Playgirl” and “Seventeen.”

People often called Ladytron electroclash, but I don’t really hear much in common with Fischerspooner, Peaches, or earlier acts like the Human League. Ladytron aren’t trying to shock you. They aren’t trying to be ironic either.

Instead, they’re stark. Perhaps even brutalist. Maybe with a little Soviet kitsch hanging around the edges.

If there’s one band they remind me of, it’s Kraftwerk. Same disciplined approach. Similar geometric, austere presentation too. Sometimes, like Kraftwerk, they performed in matching uniforms.

But Ladytron has something Kraftwerk doesn’t: sex. Not thrown in your face. Just sitting there quietly underneath everything.

And that’s why, even now, *604* still holds up.

More Blues on the South Side – Billy Boy Arnold\ 1965 • ...

2026-09-23T21:07:46Z

**More Blues on the South Side – Billy Boy Arnold**\
1965 • Blues • Prestige\
Apple Music

*Blues on the South Side* is the debut album from Billy Boy Arnold, one of the most important blues harp players of the latter 20th century and a major figure in the Chicago blues scene.

And hell, you could make a case that he’s one of the most unheralded rock musicians ever too. Want to hear his fingerprints? Put on Bo Diddley’s “Bo Diddley” and “I’m a Man.”

That harmonica? Billy Boy Arnold. That unique Bo Diddley sound? Billy Boy Arnold helped define it.

His own singles “I Wish You Would” and “I Ain’t Got You,” both recorded in 1955, are important too. The Yardbirds covered the first one. David Bowie covered the second.

But Arnold mattered to blues history even before that.

He has a direct line back to Sonny Boy Williamson I, who taught him harmonica when Arnold was 12-years-old. So right there, you’ve got that old “chugging” style being carried forward into the amplified era.

And he kept preserving blues history well into the 21st century. His autobiography, *The Blues Dream of Billy Boy Arnold*, came out in 2021.

*Blues on the South Side* is such a captivating listen because it catches Chicago blues right before the British Invasion grabbed that sound and ran with it. That helped expose blues to a much wider audience.

But it's also a hinge point. In 1965, blues still primarily spoke to a Black American audience.

And that’s what makes this album hit so hard. It distills an important moment in Chicago blues through one of its greatest harp players.

Thanks for letting me know. Contributed C$50. Hope things work ...

2026-09-23T19:00:15Z

In reply to nevent1q…wux4
_________________________

Thanks for letting me know. Contributed C$50. Hope things work out.

I’m amazed how quickly anti-Canadian rhetoric has risen within ...

2026-09-23T17:37:37Z

I’m amazed how quickly anti-Canadian rhetoric has risen within the past year.

And how things that are blatantly false and can be easily debunked by, you know, travelling up the border.

But I now know we’re in a post-reality world. The term for this is schizofascism.

I’m with Avi Lewis here. You see, the problem is when Jewish ...

2026-09-23T17:02:49Z

I’m with Avi Lewis here.

You see, the problem is when Jewish people say, “We need to speak up about what’s going on in Gaza—ensure it’s not in our name,” you get a dogpile of people accusing us of shifting collective blame on Jews.

But if you don’t say this violence isn’t in our name, you have anti-semites conflating Israel with Jews and getting away with it.

Ergo, it is not anti-semitism to say that Jews need to speak up. Quite the opposite.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/avi-lewis-israel-gaza-post-9.7353747

Yeah, I think that’s the ancestor of the Lumineers, Mumford ...

2026-09-23T16:14:35Z

In reply to nevent1q…z93c
_________________________

Yeah, I think that’s the ancestor of the Lumineers, Mumford & Sons, etc.

I like stomp clap music. That genre definitely hasn’t gotten ...

2026-09-23T15:57:46Z

I like stomp clap music.

That genre definitely hasn’t gotten its critical re-evaluation yet.

But come on—what kind of music says GOOD TIMES better than stomp clap?

It’s full of optimism. It’s music you hear when you’re drinking beer, going to farmer’s markets, hanging by the campfire. That kind of thing.

And it brought instruments into mainstream rock that hadn’t gotten much exposure there before: ukulele, banjo, mandolin.

Best of all, it’s participatory.

Anybody can join in.

So I'm not sure the DT 990 is better than the HD 599—though ...

2026-09-23T07:07:57Z

In reply to nevent1q…tzxc
_________________________

So I'm not sure the DT 990 is better than the HD 599—though they are definitely better than the 559.

So I might as well mention what they're good for and what they're not.

First of all, the DT 990 is studio headphones. They're designed to show you *all* the detail. So if you're looking for critical listening, they're great. You will get *all* the bass and the treble with an expansive soundstage.

But they also require 250Ω of power. Which means they *require* an amp. They're not useful for computers or phones unless you have an amp plugged into them.

The other thing is, because they're studio headphones, they are not forgiving. Meaning that *if* there's a flaw in the audio, you will hear it. So if you're hearing brick walled audio or clipping—and a lot of recordings nowadays are like that—they will eventually fatigue your ears.

Nevertheless, if you want to hear everything—including the ugliness—the DT 990 definitely delivers.

Benny Hinn is a Palestinian. When I grew up with his family, they ...

2026-09-23T06:01:27Z

Benny Hinn is a Palestinian.

When I grew up with his family, they never called themselves Palestinians but identified themselves as "Israeli"—but I found out later they are specifically Palestinian Israelis.

They're Palestinians who are pro-Israel. And it's likely because of their evangelical Christian beliefs.

quoting
note1u3c…2kj0

WHOA! I used to know Costi Hinn!

I went to school with him!

It's wild to hear him on Business Insider talking about how televangelism is a scam!

https://youtu.be/DmqdkLqjmx4

FiiO is making a new cassette player and it looks amazing! And it ...

2026-09-23T05:38:55Z

FiiO is making a new cassette player and it looks amazing!

And it can record to Type I ferric oxide tape!

What do you all think of this upcoming CP15?

WHOA! I used to know Costi Hinn! I went to school with him! ...

2026-09-23T05:13:10Z

WHOA! I used to know Costi Hinn!

I went to school with him!

It's wild to hear him on Business Insider talking about how televangelism is a scam!

https://youtu.be/DmqdkLqjmx4

I just learned that Kerry-Lynne Findlay is not running as a BC ...

2026-09-23T04:33:26Z

I just learned that Kerry-Lynne Findlay is *not* running as a BC Conservative candidate this election.

So the Alberta separatist takeover of the BC Conservatives has failed.

I enjoy it quite a bit. It’s my preferred NA beer.

2026-09-23T04:16:05Z

In reply to nevent1q…mkdp
_________________________

I enjoy it quite a bit. It’s my preferred NA beer.

It’s so funny when people call me a millennial hipster because ...

2026-09-23T03:32:19Z

It’s so funny when people call me a millennial hipster because if you ever met me in person, you’d never think so.

For one, hipsters don’t drink non-alcoholic PC Blonde Brew.

That, right there, disqualifies me.

Nostr event nevent1qqsp5zflfeg7xf5q46p5g2vpkf7f9rynnex4ap4tldh0tvdm4wvfdfczyry5evsl9e6nmkxv93f387nr87ntmp476kpvrsuhhhtaljdkeuyv79v4jt2

2026-09-23T02:04:56Z

What if Metal Machine Music was covered by John Cage and Sun Ra?

pernoctate (intransitive verb): to stay up or out all night. ...

2026-09-23T01:37:21Z

**pernoctate** (intransitive verb): to stay up or out all night.

I prefer the word "all-nighter".

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pernoctate

As parody, this is hilarious. (Obligatory: let's also not ...

2026-09-23T01:04:47Z

As parody, this is hilarious.

(Obligatory: let's also not have a British Empire ever again.)

It was the C64 version that I'm most familiar with, and I ...

2026-09-23T00:26:55Z

In reply to nevent1q…lad5
_________________________

It was the C64 version that I'm most familiar with, and I have so many great memories of it. Love it so much, I have all the sequels on Steam.

Here's the Great Giana Sisters theme for the C64: ...

2026-09-22T23:50:59Z

Here's the Great Giana Sisters theme for the C64:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mafip6Am99c

Here's the theme for the Amiga:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wbc-VgZnUY

Here's the theme played by a symphony orchestra:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkdCADxlYXs

And here's the theme played by a rock band:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KK13BXhP6Qs

I once made the mistake of watching Requiem for a Dream while ...

2026-09-22T22:45:28Z

I once made the mistake of watching Requiem for a Dream while suffering from food poisoning, floating in and out of consciousness, and having concurrent hallucinatory dreams as a result.

That moment the fridge scene happened, I projectile vomited.

And let’s just say that when the electroshock moment came, I felt I needed that too.

And to top it all off, Brent Chapman just left the BC ...

2026-09-22T20:10:04Z

And to top it all off, Brent Chapman just left the BC Conservative Party to join OneBC. I think he’s bitter that his wife, Kerry-Lynne Findlay, was forced to resign as leader.

And then there are the rumours about secret tapes that allegedly show Chapman in a particularly bad light.

So yeah, that might be part of it too.

quoting
note1l4p…e53d

Premier David Eby just called a BC provincial election.

I'm not happy about this. It seems like a crass move to strike while opposition parties are in disarray. And as much as I don't like BC Conservatives / CentreBC / OneBC / The Aristocrats... we don't need this election.

So I'm thinking about voting Green.

Emily Lowan might be 25-years-old, but at least she cares about things.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/article/bc-provincial-election-called-voting-day-oct-24-live-updates-here/

Premier David Eby just called a BC provincial election. I'm ...

2026-09-22T20:00:47Z

Premier David Eby just called a BC provincial election.

I'm not happy about this. It seems like a crass move to strike while opposition parties are in disarray. And as much as I don't like BC Conservatives / CentreBC / OneBC / The Aristocrats... we don't need this election.

So I'm thinking about voting Green.

Emily Lowan might be 25-years-old, but at least she cares about things.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/article/bc-provincial-election-called-voting-day-oct-24-live-updates-here/

It finally happened to me 😟 A tape that I just bought has mold ...

2026-09-22T19:30:58Z

It finally happened to me 😟

A tape that I just bought has mold inside of it.

I actually put it inside my tape deck and must clean everything with alcohol because mold can spread to other tapes!

I know vinyl isn’t exactly popular with classical music fans. ...

2026-09-22T18:17:29Z

I know vinyl isn’t exactly popular with classical music fans. And I get it. Mechanical noise can really get in the way when the music gets quiet.

But as classical records go, this one is a KILLER. In my view, one of the best ever made. It’s the album that put the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields on the map.

Before this, a lot of recordings of *The Four Seasons* came at the music with big, heavy symphony orchestras and a whole lot of romance.

Director Neville Marriner went the other way. Smaller ensemble. Brisk tempos. More attention to rhythm and texture.

And damn, did that change *The Four Seasons* for me. You can hear those bows rubbing against the strings, then the sound just cascades into the air. When those violins get going, they take you for a ride.

And I’ve got to tip my hat to the organ and harpsichord too. Those instruments make some magic here.

The engineering is opulent. What really gets me is the sense of space. Classical music needs room to breathe, and this record has it.

This is the album that made me start seeking out smaller ensembles.

And for a classical record, this thing was a hit. 500,000 copies sold. It deserved every one.

Big Fat Soul – John James\ 1989 • Dance / Funk • Attic\ ...

2026-09-22T17:58:11Z

**Big Fat Soul – John James**\
1989 • Dance / Funk • Attic\
Cassette Tape Album

This was a blind buy at a thrift shop. Price? $0.25.

And I couldn’t help myself. If I see an album called *Big Fat Soul* with a guy wearing a hat on the cover, that sucker is MINE.

Now based on the cover, you’d expect bluesy guitar picking and some heavy soul singing.

Nope. And I think this whole album is a victim of some very weird marketing. Because the story behind *Big Fat Soul* is absolutely wild.

John James is a well-known Canadian session musician who plays saxophone. Remember Corey Hart’s “Sunglasses at Night”? When that song was performed live, James delivered the sax. And his credits stretch all over the place, from Sue Medley to Jojo Hermann to Toto.

But when it came time to put his own name on an album, John James went full throttle into ’80s dance music. And this thing is JAMMED with everything that was current at the time: funk, house, new jack swing, even bits of techno.

A lot of people dismiss the technical chops behind ’80s dance music. They shouldn’t. Because this sounds GOOD.

Take “I Wanna Know.” You’ve got a synthesized 4-on-the-floor kick drum, sharp synthetic handclaps cracking on the 2 and 4, and a rapid, slightly swung 16th-note closed hi-hat pattern.

Then underneath that is this staccato, bouncing bassline with a metallic FM-synthesis timbre, sequenced tight against the kick drum.

And sitting on top are bright, percussive synth chords mimicking a brass section, while sustained airy synth strings fill out the mix underneath.

There’s a lot going on here.

But John James is really about the vocals, and he’s fire. He sings straight from the chest. Soulful stuff.

I also love how the sampler chops up spoken-word bits and vocal grunts, then spits them back out rhythmically until the human voice becomes another percussive instrument.

This is the kind of album that really could have only been made in the late ’80s. Dance music had its own distinct flavour then, and it’s never been replicated quite the same way again.

*Big Fat Soul* is a hidden gem.

Ruthless for Life – MC Ren\ 1998 • Hip Hop / Gangsta • ...

2026-09-22T17:18:21Z

**Ruthless for Life – MC Ren**\
1998 • Hip Hop / Gangsta • Ruthless Records\
CD Single

Living in Vancouver, I almost *never* come across hip hop records at flea markets or thrift stores.

Cantopop? Sure. Bhangra? Sure. City pop? Absolutely.

But hip hop? Slim pickings.

So when I see *any* kind of hip hop, I grab it and don’t even think about it.

MC Ren, of course, was the 6th member of N.W.A. Along with Ice Cube, he was one of their principal lyricists. And after Ice Cube left, Ren became the lead lyricist. In N.W.A., his gruff voice gave you the perfect counterpunch to Eazy-E’s high-pitched tone.

After N.W.A., he never had the same success as Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, or Eazy-E. I suspect part of that is because he preferred staying more low key. But he’s still making music, mostly putting out singles.

This particular single is a little confusing because the cover and title look *identical* to the album *Ruthless for Life*.

Which is why it helps to look at the tracklist on the back. I didn’t. Oh well. It was $1 at a thrift store.

There are 4 versions of “Ruthless for Life” here: the LP version, LP acapella version, clean radio edit, and instrumental.

And they’re all decent. It’s a good song. I dig it.

Apparently a lot of other people did too, because it hit #13 on the U.S. Hot Rap Singles chart.

Time for me to talk about what music I've been listening to ...

2026-09-22T16:55:58Z

Time for me to talk about what music I've been listening to lately!

Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro Studio Headphones, which are also open ...

2026-09-22T15:53:48Z

In reply to nevent1q…7362
_________________________

Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro Studio Headphones, which are also open back headphones.

It's got a much more expanded soundstage, and you can hear much more detail in the high and low frequencies without muddying the mids. This is used by professional audio engineers.

I ca t go back to the Sennheiser HD 559 headphones. They did ...

2026-09-22T07:51:19Z

I ca t go back to the Sennheiser HD 559 headphones.

They did serve me well. They’re the cans that opened my eyes to the benefits of open back headphones, freeing my ears from their sealed cage and letting the sound waves pass through.

The problem is they’re not reference-grade headphones. Which means it’s easy to lose detail when you’re actively listening.

Recorded onto Type II cassette with Dolby S! Type II tape is ...

2026-09-22T05:47:20Z

Recorded onto Type II cassette with Dolby S!

Type II tape is expensive now, so if I’m using it, I have to *really* like what I’m recording—and the album itself has to be harder to find than the tape.

*Psyche* absolutely qualifies.

This is an ultra-rare city pop solo album by composer, arranger, and producer Masayuki Sakamoto. His resume includes producing “Jupiter” by J-pop singer Ayaka Hirahara, composing for the *Tales of Phantasia* video game series, and working on *The Beast Player Erin* anime.

But *Psyche* is the only album Masayuki ever made under his own name.

And what an album.

It’s a tour de force of synths and gated reverb, blending jazz, Japanese folk, ambient, and what’s often called “new age” into one tight whole. The dynamics are incredible. This is the kind of album where you turn the volume UP because you want every little detail.

Getting the CD shipped to Canada costs $88. The vinyl? That would set me back $739.

Now, I’m not against dropping big money on a rare album. And this thing is rare. It came out in 1987 and was never reissued.

But I like the colour cassette gives the music, and my Sony TC-WR901ES gives me one hell of a cassette experience. Type II with Dolby S gets me 82 dB of dynamic range—which is massively superior to vinyl.

And *Psyche* was never released on cassette. So just having this album exist on cassette makes my copy one of a kind. Finally hearing the playback was a treat.

Definitely worthy of Type II.

Nope! No need for a tube amp! I can make the tube amp through ...

2026-09-22T04:46:02Z

In reply to nevent1q…pcp9
_________________________

Nope! No need for a tube amp! I can make the tube amp through software!

So why did I spend all day trying to turn my Linux PC into a tube ...

2026-09-22T04:40:49Z

So why did I spend all day trying to turn my Linux PC into a tube amp?

Because I’ve got a huge library of digital music sitting on this computer. Thousands of songs I’ve collected over 26 years.

And I’ve always wished those files had a little more analog warmth. Not necessarily vinyl or cassette. Just something warmer.

A tube amp is one of the easiest ways to get there.

Problem is, I don’t want everything warm all the time. I like my Onkyo TX-8020 solid-state receiver, and I sure as hell don’t want to start swapping receivers every time I want to add or remove that colour.

I thought about adding a tube preamp. Then I looked at my power bar. It's FULL.

And the electrical socket can only take so much.

But god damn it, I have Linux. Linux can do anything. If it can emulate guitar pedals, then it can emulate a tube amp.

So I spent 5 hours trying, failing and trying again.

And finally, I got the damn thing working.

Now my entire digital music library can have that analog warmth whenever I want.

And it sounds AMAZING.

quoting
note132s…5gv7

I DID IT!

I turned my Linux desktop into a tube amp.

Well, not literally. I *emulated* a tube amp in software, then routed the whole thing through an external DAC and into my receiver.

I started with EasyEffects and Calf Exciter, but that was the wrong tool for what I wanted. The Exciter only works on the upper part of the frequency range. I wanted the whole signal going through something more like a tube stage.

So I installed Carla and loaded Calf Saturator.

Carla is basically the host, and Calf Saturator does the dirty work.

Inside Calf Saturator, I kept the effect fairly subtle. Input Gain stayed at 0 dB. Blend moved toward Tube. Mix stayed at 100% Wet. Pre and post filters went off. Tone controls stayed neutral.

For Saturation, I started around 2.5 instead of the default 5.

This is because I wanted colouration, not obvious distortion.

Then came the next problem: getting Strawberry Player through the plugin.

Strawberry wasn’t showing up in Carla’s routing view, so I switched Carla to JACK and used qpwgraph to handle the actual PipeWire routing.

With music playing, qpwgraph showed Strawberry connected directly to my FX-AUDIO DAC.

So I disconnected those direct connections.

Then I routed it like this:

```text
Strawberry output_FL
→ Calf Saturator in L
→ Calf Saturator Out L
→ FX-AUDIO playback_FL

Strawberry output_FR
→ Calf Saturator in R
→ Calf Saturator Out R
→ FX-AUDIO playback_FR
```

So my final setup is:

**Strawberry → qpwgraph/PipeWire → Carla → Calf Saturator → FX-AUDIO DAC**

Carla hosts Calf Saturator.

qpwgraph handles the routing.

Calf Saturator adds the tube-style harmonic coloration.

Once everything was connected, I could open the Calf Saturator GUI and hit Bypass to compare the processed sound with the original.

So why bother doing any of this?

Because I already have a receiver. A good one. I don’t want to buy another piece of gear just to stick it physically between my DAC and my receiver.

And apparently, I don’t have to.

If I can emulate the gear in software, why buy the damn box?

And it WORKS.
note1grn…839n

I DID IT! I turned my Linux desktop into a tube amp. Well, not ...

2026-09-22T04:03:55Z

I DID IT!

I turned my Linux desktop into a tube amp.

Well, not literally. I *emulated* a tube amp in software, then routed the whole thing through an external DAC and into my receiver.

I started with EasyEffects and Calf Exciter, but that was the wrong tool for what I wanted. The Exciter only works on the upper part of the frequency range. I wanted the whole signal going through something more like a tube stage.

So I installed Carla and loaded Calf Saturator.

Carla is basically the host, and Calf Saturator does the dirty work.

Inside Calf Saturator, I kept the effect fairly subtle. Input Gain stayed at 0 dB. Blend moved toward Tube. Mix stayed at 100% Wet. Pre and post filters went off. Tone controls stayed neutral.

For Saturation, I started around 2.5 instead of the default 5.

This is because I wanted colouration, not obvious distortion.

Then came the next problem: getting Strawberry Player through the plugin.

Strawberry wasn’t showing up in Carla’s routing view, so I switched Carla to JACK and used qpwgraph to handle the actual PipeWire routing.

With music playing, qpwgraph showed Strawberry connected directly to my FX-AUDIO DAC.

So I disconnected those direct connections.

Then I routed it like this:

```text
Strawberry output_FL
→ Calf Saturator in L
→ Calf Saturator Out L
→ FX-AUDIO playback_FL

Strawberry output_FR
→ Calf Saturator in R
→ Calf Saturator Out R
→ FX-AUDIO playback_FR
```

So my final setup is:

**Strawberry → qpwgraph/PipeWire → Carla → Calf Saturator → FX-AUDIO DAC**

Carla hosts Calf Saturator.

qpwgraph handles the routing.

Calf Saturator adds the tube-style harmonic coloration.

Once everything was connected, I could open the Calf Saturator GUI and hit Bypass to compare the processed sound with the original.

So why bother doing any of this?

Because I already have a receiver. A good one. I don’t want to buy another piece of gear just to stick it physically between my DAC and my receiver.

And apparently, I don’t have to.

If I can emulate the gear in software, why buy the damn box?

And it WORKS.

quoting
note1grn…839n

I have spent the ENTIRE DAY trying to get Linux to simulate tube amp effects because I do NOT want to buy a tube amp.

I have spent the ENTIRE DAY trying to get Linux to simulate tube ...

2026-09-22T03:22:28Z

I have spent the ENTIRE DAY trying to get Linux to simulate tube amp effects because I do NOT want to buy a tube amp.

Shut the hell up, Christy Clark. You're a bald-faced ...

2026-09-21T18:59:06Z

Shut the hell up, Christy Clark.

You're a bald-faced opportunist.

And the Conservatives are never going to accept you as a leader because you were a "Liberal".

https://www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/article/im-going-to-help-however-i-can-former-premier-christy-clark-urges-unity-after-findlays-resignation/

Looks as though I lucked out with the FX-AUDIO DAC-X6MKII. This ...

2026-09-21T08:55:31Z

Looks as though I lucked out with the FX-AUDIO DAC-X6MKII.

This was the only affordable external DAC that supports USB, Bluetooth, Coax, and Toslink inputs.

It also has RCA out and works as a high-powered headphone amp.

Commodore Rock – Ladytron\ 2000 • Electropop / New Wave ...

2026-09-21T07:08:15Z

**Commodore Rock – Ladytron**\
2000 • Electropop / New Wave • Emperor Norton
Compact Disc

When this band first made it big, I was intrigued.

Mostly because of the name: Ladytron. Reminded me of feminine robots. That alone got my attention.

And musically, I thought they had something in common with Stereolab, just pushed further into the sci-fi end of things.

This is Ladytron’s 2nd EP, and it got a lot of critical acclaim at the time. It's only 4 songs. 13:36 total runtime.

So yeah, this thing is SHORT.

You can’t find it on streaming services. All 4 songs exist somewhere else, but hearing them together like this makes a statement because every damn one of them is good.

“Playgirl” is the famous one. Catchy as hell, and it’s about a small town girl thirsting for the big city life.

But my favourite is “Paco!” It's got bright synthsm and is a good time. And underneath all that, it’s about consumerism, delivered in this almost robotic tone.

Today I played this EP 4 times. Every time it ended, I had the exact same thought: “Damn it, I want more.”

So I played it again.

Bull – Bootsauce\ 1992 • Funk / Hard Rock • Vertigo ...

2026-09-21T06:37:22Z

**Bull – Bootsauce**\
1992 • Funk / Hard Rock • Vertigo /Polygam\
Cassette

Did you know Canada had its own answer to the Red Hot Chili Peppers?

Same style of music, though Bootsauce leaned a little more metal. So damn similar that even Wikipedia says they were “compared favorably to the Red Hot Chili Peppers.”

Now you might say Bootsauce just copied RHCP.

But here’s the wild part.

Bootsauce recorded a cover of “Love Rollercoaster” FIRST. On this album it’s called “Rollercoaster’s Child,” but it’s pretty much the same thing. RHCP recorded their version 4 years later.

Bull is very much a product of its time, though. There just isn’t much funk rock in this style anymore, with RHCP being the lone mainstream exception.

I really like “Love Monkey #9,” which opens the album with a complete scorcher.

Then there’s “Dogpound.” It has bass. Bass for DAYS. And that chorus is delicious.

This album was a modest success in Canada and went gold. It never really reached ears beyond this country.

But that’s all right.

Some music is just for Canada.

Refresh my memory.

2026-09-21T05:36:43Z

In reply to nevent1q…2h5p
_________________________

Refresh my memory.

Niles Rodgers and Chic just performed "Let's Dance". ...

2026-09-21T03:38:38Z

Niles Rodgers and Chic just performed "Let's Dance".

I wouldn't call this a cover because Niles co-wrote this song with David Bowie.

But the singer really does a good job paying tribute to Bowie all while injecting the song with some disco and soul.

https://youtu.be/jxDrmAiJyRQ

Today’s thrift store pick-ups. Have any memories of these ...

2026-09-20T22:58:03Z

Today’s thrift store pick-ups.

Have any memories of these albums?

So Pierre Poilievre’s new schtick is to be anti-EU and fear ...

2026-09-20T22:27:53Z

So Pierre Poilievre’s new schtick is to be anti-EU and fear monger about it—when Canada can’t be the 28th EU state anyway?

You see, this is why people believe he’s a crypto-Trumpist who will bend the knee if given the chance.

https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/poilievre-says-canada-will-never-be-the-28th-state-of-the-european-union/article_6365648b-c2ee-5a15-93d8-86fe68e4cc9f.html

WOW! Kerry-Lynne Findlay finally resigns as leader of the BC ...

2026-09-20T21:25:50Z

WOW!

Kerry-Lynne Findlay finally resigns as leader of the BC Conservative Party.

Her time as leader was an absolute disaster.

I’ve seen political meltdowns before.

But nothing like THIS.

https://cheknews.ca/kerry-lynne-findlay-resigns-as-b-c-conservative-leader-1348999/

This how I entertain myself during a workout. ...

2026-09-20T17:20:21Z

This how I entertain myself during a workout.

There really are people out there with no genuine interests. ...

2026-09-20T16:47:53Z

There really are people out there with no genuine interests.

Instead, they use hobbies as a pretext for status seeking.

And I know this because I have a relative who’s exactly like this. In fact, she’ll look down on you for caring about anything too much because caring gets in the way of status.

She’s spent a fortune on furniture, jewellery, and cars in a neverending chase for status—getting that little hit of social validation, then abandoning it the second it becomes passé.

But amateur sewers, jewellers, and mechanics?

NERDS.

She looks down on them and would never be caught dead with them.

And keep in mind, this is no child.

She’s 70 years old.

The Kick Inside – Kate Bush\ 1978 • Prog • EMI\ Vinyl ...

2026-09-20T05:58:44Z

**The Kick Inside – Kate Bush**\
1978 • Prog • EMI\
Vinyl

This was the highlight of my night.

And I’m going to be hearing it for the rest of the week with my daughter, who LOVES Kate Bush.

Kate Bush is incomparable. People try anyway. Female David Bowie or female Peter Gabriel or female David Byrne. Yeah, I can see what they mean.

But Kate Bush was her own force of nature.

Just look at this: she started recording *The Kick Inside* when she was 16. She wrote the songs, they eventually reached David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, and he was so knocked out that he produced the album himself.

And did she live up to the hype? Hell yeah.

You can make a very good case that Kate Bush is one of the greatest prog musicians ever.

Then there’s “Wuthering Heights.” What a performance. She sounds downright GHOSTLY on that song. It is catchy as hell. It’s also literary. A whole gothic romance shoved into a pop song.

When I bought this album, Kate Bush had mostly slipped out of the cultural spotlight. You can see it in the price. I paid $5 for *The Kick Inside* at my local record shop.

Then 2022 happened, the big career resurgence hit, and suddenly everybody remembered how incredible she was.

And that’s another good lesson about vinyl. You can still find great records for cheap if you buy what you actually like instead of chasing whatever everybody else suddenly wants.

Terrific album. One of the best ever.

I Thought the Future Would Be Cooler – Yacht\ 2015 • ...

2026-09-20T05:41:39Z

**I Thought the Future Would Be Cooler – Yacht**\
2015 • Indietronica • Downtown\
Compact Disc

A dance record with some thought behind it.

In a lot of ways, this thing was ahead of its time. It’s one of the first albums I can think of that really leans into techno-pessimism, and I think part of that comes from singer Jona Bechtolt’s other gig as a tech journalist.

I’ve always found the term “indietronica” a little screwy. How is this really different from synth-pop? I think what it means is that hipsters are allowed to like it, but nobody would chase it out of an EDM festival with a stick.

Whatever you call it, the album clearly did something right. It hit #9 on Billboard’s US Top Dance Albums chart.

The title track is fine. But the one that really gets its claws into me is “I Wanna F*ck You Till I’m Dead.”

That thing is LOUD, gnarly, and sleazy. Just filthy energy pouring out of it.

I haven’t run any data analysis on the mastering, but my ears are telling me this album is pushed pretty hard.

And you know what? I don’t really mind.

Because even with the loud mastering, it still sounds like somebody gave a damn. No digital clipping. No complete wreckage. And through my surround sound home theatre, it actually sounds pretty damn good.

Cosmic – FM Attack\ 2023 • Electronic • Starfield ...

2026-09-20T05:28:19Z

**Cosmic – FM Attack**\
2023 • Electronic • Starfield Music\
Cassette

A local Vancouver synthwave act with just a little vaporwave creeping in around the edges.

I found this album at Red Cat Records for a pretty damn reasonable price. Never heard of FM Attack before, but with a name like that, I figured he’d probably be right up my alley.

And yeah, he is.

This is easygoing stuff. Synths that PURR, but with just enough bite to keep things moving. Danceable too. All instrumentals.

A lot of these tracks remind me of Mood Hut, the celebrated dance label based here in Vancouver. Makes me genuinely curious whether FM Attack rubs shoulders with those folks.

And the cassette sounds fantastic on my Sony deck.

This thing was recorded with care. Plenty of dynamic range. Nothing crushed flat or smeared together.

It sounds like FM Attack actually gave a damn about how the tape was going to SOUND.

*Romeo Must Die – Various\ 2000 • Soundtrack • Warner ...

2026-09-20T05:13:07Z

***Romeo Must Die – Various**\
2000 • Soundtrack • Warner Bros. Records\
Vinyl

Great movie. A classic too. But that soundtrack gets slept on.

I kid you not, this is one of the best hip hop and R&B albums of the early 2000s. A double LP packed front to back with bangers.

Look at who’s on the damn thing: Aaliyah, DMX, Timbaland, Destiny’s Child, Ginuwine, Dave Hollister of Blackstreet—and plenty more.

The standout is “Try Again,” made specifically for *Romeo Must Die*. It became Aaliyah’s signature song and hit #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

And it deserved every bit of it. Hearing this thing on vinyl through reference headphones was a TREAT. The instrumentals pop right out.

Then immediately comes “Come Back in One Piece,” which has to be one of the best follow-up tracks on any soundtrack. Aaliyah is the main performer again, but then DMX comes barging in with those trademark barks and so much force he damn near steals the whole song.

I could keep going because there are 18 tracks here and the album runs 74:25. But there's not a dud here. Not one.

And after hearing this again, now I want to watch *Romeo Must Die* all over again because the soundtrack fits it so damn well.

I miss movies like this. There was a time when a Hong Kong action star could get top billing in a Hollywood movie. And we LOVED it.

*Songs of Love, Play and Protest – Frank Schildt\ 1960 • ...

2026-09-20T04:53:43Z

***Songs of Love, Play and Protest – Frank Schildt**\
1960 • Folk • Folkways Records\
Apple Music

Frank Schildt was a Dutch-American folk singer who first got experience entertaining American troops during World War II. Then, in the late ’50s, he toured the USA.

And this was his only album.

What makes Schildt interesting is how seriously he took the songs. He didn’t want to sand everything down into some easy American folk-club version. He wanted them as authentic as he could get them.

So he sang in a pile of different languages: Indonesian, Liberian, Yiddish, and more.

And he meant it. He clearly cared about getting the songs RIGHT.

That fits Folkways Records perfectly. Folkways is now owned by the Smithsonian, and they’ll actually make you a custom CD of this album for a pretty reasonable price. You can buy a digital download too.

I’d buy the CD. Problem is, tariffs have made the shipping completely ridiculous. So for now, Apple Music it is.

I've been listening to music all day, so I thought I'd ...

2026-09-20T04:37:36Z

I've been listening to music all day, so I thought I'd share some of the gems I've been hearing...

ALBUM TALK COMING!

Watching the complete and utter destruction of Conservatives in ...

2026-09-20T02:47:48Z

Watching the complete and utter destruction of Conservatives in British Columbia is A-MAZ-ING!

I don't think this has ever happened to any right wing party in North America in this wild manner.

https://www.westernstandard.news/bc/exclusive-caucus-faction-tells-findlay-to-resign-saturday-night-or-husband-tape-drops/77123

This man is worth $500 million. He can pack it up and go home. ...

2026-09-20T02:05:42Z

This man is worth $500 million.

He can pack it up and go home.

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/ed-sheeran-concert-tonight-macklemore-b3053025.html

Nostr event nevent1qqst05cfzjave4l497aknh8ut4fd9q4tcdmxy2yr40aq08pvj2x7g8czyry5evsl9e6nmkxv93f387nr87ntmp476kpvrsuhhhtaljdkeuyv7uynvc5

2026-09-20T00:49:29Z

The word “elbow” means “the bow” in Spanish.

Sure, if you define moderation as gatekeeping. That said, not ...

2026-09-19T17:57:45Z

In reply to nevent1q…t9ds
_________________________

Sure, if you define moderation as gatekeeping. That said, not everyone should be a moderator.

Not to say I've never made mistakes, but a key learning ...

2026-09-19T17:39:24Z

In reply to nevent1q…umce
_________________________

Not to say I've never made mistakes, but a key learning I've made about moderation is that the approach should be boring and bureaucratic in nature.

When you remove content, send a *private* message why it's removed. Don't offer a long drawn out explanation. Instead, inform them about what rule was broken and where to read the rules.

Nothing should ever be personal. You're just enforcing the rules, which are clear and transparent.

I keep wondering why the Internet got so damn stupid. Part of it ...

2026-09-19T17:22:36Z

I keep wondering why the Internet got so damn stupid.

Part of it is deliberate enshittification and bots. That part isn’t even up for debate.

Part of it is just numbers. More people online means more people talking, which means a bigger pile of stupid gets dumped into the street.

But I think the real poison is Internet points.

Every like, every upvote, every little number beside your name becomes a marker of status. And if you want more status, you have to appeal to more people.So people keep widening the net, sanding off the edges, making everything easy to swallow.

And eventually you start appealing to the stupid.

I’ve spent 10 years experimenting with my own Reddit community, and I think there are some pretty simple ways to beat this stuff back:

1. **Disallow memes.** They’re low effort by definition, and low effort attracts stupidity like flies.

2. **Remove short comments.** If somebody can’t scrape together 20 characters, there’s a pretty good chance they haven’t scraped together much of a thought either.

3. **Demand attribution.** Either you made the thing or you credit whoever did. If somebody throws out information with no source at all, get rid of it.

4. **Retire repetitive posts.** If the same damn subject keeps getting dragged back onto the floor, eventually you ban new threads about it. We heard you. Move on.

5. **Require topical flair.** It’s a tiny barrier, but even a tiny barrier makes people stop for 2 seconds and THINK. If somebody can’t even apply the right flair, remove the post. They obviously didn’t bother reading the rules before barging through the door.

6. **Disallow gatekeeping.** Moderators and admins enforce the rules. Everybody else can knock it off with deciding who belongs, what counts, and what other people are allowed to enjoy.

I’ve used these rules on r/Sizz, and I think they’re a big reason the place has kept its quality since 2017 instead of slowly turning into sludge.

More importantly, they’ve been extremely good at filtering out the stupid.

If I launch nodebb.social, I’ll probably run it the same way.

And it's not because I want the place wrapped in velvet ropes, but because sometimes you need a damn screen door.

Just saw that a McDonalds frappe is 460 calories. That amount of ...

2026-09-19T14:53:55Z

Just saw that a McDonalds frappe is 460 calories.

That amount of calories in a beverage should be a crime.

The concert scene in Vancouver is pathetic. I really do think ...

2026-09-19T06:14:49Z

The concert scene in Vancouver is pathetic.

I really do think Barnside Harvest Festival will be the last concerts I see in 2026.

The only band I want to see for the rest of the year is the Crash Test Dummies. And wow, there really isn’t anything better.

No government should ever have critical communications on X or ...

2026-09-19T06:10:11Z

In reply to nevent1q…6rhs
_________________________

No government should ever have critical communications on X or Meta networks.

I’m going to finally start a NodeBB instance. For the past ...

2026-09-19T05:42:40Z

I’m going to finally start a NodeBB instance.

For the past year, I debated whether it should be Piefed instead.

Thing is, I own the domain nodebb.social and I got the full blessing of @julian@community.nodebb.org to use it.

I’ve tried this too. Sometimes it works. Other times I get, ...

2026-09-19T04:03:21Z

In reply to nevent1q…wla8
_________________________

I’ve tried this too.

Sometimes it works. Other times I get, “Well, if you don’t want to sound like AI, you should change how you write.”

And every time I hear that, I wonder what they’re REALLY saying.

Do they just want me to sound like them?

It's not paranoia to say that popular social media has been ...

2026-09-19T03:56:36Z

It's not paranoia to say that popular social media has been captured by governments and corporations.

This is why the only way to fight back is to *own* your own social media.

A week ago, I bought a neo-classical / electronic CD that has ...

2026-09-19T03:34:12Z

In reply to nevent1q…3w0u
_________________________

A week ago, I bought a neo-classical / electronic CD that has done some impressive things with psychoacoustics and dynamic range—an album that's not available lossless on streaming services. And I can't wait. It will be epic.

Here’s the truth: I don’t give a shit about Internet karma ...

2026-09-19T03:28:19Z

Here’s the truth:

I don’t give a shit about Internet karma anymore.

The only time I cared was when my literal JOB depended on social media—when some stupid Internet argument could stop being words on a screen, jump straight into my employer’s inbox, and suddenly become a problem in my real life.

Those days are dead. I work for myself now. I own this domain: atomicpoet.org.

So I write what I want. I say what I think. I’ve got that luxury now, and I’m damn well going to use it.

But Internet karma? Don't care.

Yep, because Reddit is an echo chamber.

2026-09-19T02:26:07Z

In reply to nevent1q…l035
_________________________

Yep, because Reddit is an echo chamber.

If my purpose was to infiltrate social media with AI, here’s ...

2026-09-19T02:08:20Z

If my purpose was to infiltrate social media with AI, here’s how I would do it:

1. Train my AI on how people on a network talk, copy the parlance
2. Repost things that already proved popular in order to build karma and reputation
3. Be as agreeable and gregarious as possible with my replies

And then I would use my influence to push my agenda.

What I wouldn’t do is sound like *me*.

quoting
note1vca…szr3

For the first time in a while, nobody on Reddit has accused one of my long effort posts of sounding like AI.

My secret?

I took my normal writing style—the one you’re reading right now—and told ChatGPT to make it sound like a Redditor.

Lowercase. Apostrophes ripped out. Barely any punctuation. Short paragraphs. Simple words. No polish. Nothing too clean.

And suddenly I’m more “authentic.”

Which is funny as hell because I’m clearly not.

Apparently, sounding human now means making the writing shittier on purpose.

But congratulations.

Less “slop.”

Nostr notes by Chris Trottier

AI pisses me off in one respect: It used to be that I could pay ...

I think there’s an easy way to know if someone is AI: Develop a ...

I don’t care if someone is using AI. I stopped caring long ago. ...

https://youtu.be/es70ohqGlvI

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So I'm not sure the DT 990 is better than the HD 599—though ...

Benny Hinn is a Palestinian. When I grew up with his family, they ...

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WHOA! I used to know Costi Hinn! I went to school with him! ...

I just learned that Kerry-Lynne Findlay is *not* running as a BC ...

I enjoy it quite a bit. It’s my preferred NA beer.

It’s so funny when people call me a millennial hipster because ...

Nostr event nevent1qqsp5zflfeg7xf5q46p5g2vpkf7f9rynnex4ap4tldh0tvdm4wvfdfczyry5evsl9e6nmkxv93f387nr87ntmp476kpvrsuhhhtaljdkeuyv79v4jt2

**pernoctate** (intransitive verb): to stay up or out all night. ...

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Premier David Eby just called a BC provincial election. I'm ...

It finally happened to me 😟 A tape that I just bought has mold ...

I know vinyl isn’t exactly popular with classical music fans. ...

**Big Fat Soul – John James**\ 1989 • Dance / Funk • Attic\ ...

**Ruthless for Life – MC Ren**\ 1998 • Hip Hop / Gangsta • ...

Time for me to talk about what music I've been listening to ...

Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro Studio Headphones, which are also open ...

I ca t go back to the Sennheiser HD 559 headphones. They did ...

Recorded onto Type II cassette with Dolby S! Type II tape is ...

Nope! No need for a tube amp! I can make the tube amp through ...

So why did I spend all day trying to turn my Linux PC into a tube ...

I DID IT! I turned my Linux desktop into a tube amp. Well, not ...

I have spent the ENTIRE DAY trying to get Linux to simulate tube ...

Shut the hell up, Christy Clark. You're a bald-faced ...

Looks as though I lucked out with the FX-AUDIO DAC-X6MKII. This ...

**Commodore Rock – Ladytron**\ 2000 • Electropop / New Wave ...

**Bull – Bootsauce**\ 1992 • Funk / Hard Rock • Vertigo ...

Refresh my memory.

Niles Rodgers and Chic just performed "Let's Dance". ...

Today’s thrift store pick-ups. Have any memories of these ...

So Pierre Poilievre’s new schtick is to be anti-EU and fear ...

WOW! Kerry-Lynne Findlay finally resigns as leader of the BC ...

This how I entertain myself during a workout. ...

There really are people out there with no genuine interests. ...

**The Kick Inside – Kate Bush**\ 1978 • Prog • EMI\ Vinyl ...

Cypress Hill with the London Symphony Orchestra. This is not a ...

Hey What – Low\ 2021 • Post-Rock / Noise • Sub Pop\ ...

Kings of the Wild Frontier – Adam and the Ants\ 1980 • ...

604 – Ladytron\ 2001 • Indietronica • Invicta Hi-Fi\ ...

More Blues on the South Side – Billy Boy Arnold\ 1965 • ...

I just learned that Kerry-Lynne Findlay is not running as a BC ...

pernoctate (intransitive verb): to stay up or out all night. ...

Big Fat Soul – John James\ 1989 • Dance / Funk • Attic\ ...

Ruthless for Life – MC Ren\ 1998 • Hip Hop / Gangsta • ...

Commodore Rock – Ladytron\ 2000 • Electropop / New Wave ...

Bull – Bootsauce\ 1992 • Funk / Hard Rock • Vertigo ...

The Kick Inside – Kate Bush\ 1978 • Prog • EMI\ Vinyl ...

I Thought the Future Would Be Cooler – Yacht\ 2015 • ...

Cosmic – FM Attack\ 2023 • Electronic • Starfield ...

*Romeo Must Die – Various\ 2000 • Soundtrack • Warner ...

*Songs of Love, Play and Protest – Frank Schildt\ 1960 • ...