#daniel ottini

[danielottinimusic]

Beeps Are Not Squeaks

The main lesson of thirty-five years of AI research is that the hard problems are easy and the easy problems are hard. The mental abilities of a four-year-old that we take for granted -- recognizing a face, lifting a pencil, walking across a room, answering a question -- in fact solve some of the hardest engineering problems ever conceived.... As the new generation of intelligent devices appears, it will be the stock analysts and petrochemical engineers and parole board members who are in danger of being replaced by machines. The gardeners, receptionists, and cooks are secure in their jobs for decades to come.

STEVEN PINKER, The Language Instinct

[danielottinimusic]

Halfmoon

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. 

This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities. It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population. It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals. It is some fifty miles of concrete pavement. We pay for a single fighter with a half-million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people. . . . 

This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.”

 - Dwight D. Eisenhower

[danielottinimusic]

The best thing about modular synths... every time you turn them on, something different comes out. The worst thing about modular synths...every time you turn them on something different comes out

Daniel Ottini

[danielottinimusic]

Cloud Chamber

“He was the only person making his way into the city; he met hundreds and hundreds who were fleeing, and every one of them seemed to be hurt in some way. The eyebrows of some were burned off and skin hung from their faces and hands. Others, because of pain, held their arms up as if carrying something in both hands. Some were vomiting as they walked. Many were naked or in shreds of clothing. On some undressed bodies, the burns had made patterns—of undershirt straps and suspenders and, on the skin of some women (since white repelled the heat from the bomb and dark clothes absorbed it and conducted it to the skin), the shapes of flowers they had had on their kimonos. Many, although injured themselves, supported relatives who were worse off. Almost all had their heads bowed, looked straight ahead, were silent, and showed no expression whatsoever.” 

― John Hersey, Hiroshima

[danielottinimusic]

Pure Data

“We're an information economy. They teach you that in school. What they don't tell you is that it's impossible to move, to live, to operate at any level without leaving traces, bits, seemingly meaningless fragments of personal information. Fragments that can be retrieved, amplified...”

-William Gibson

[danielottinimusic]

A Duck in a Tree 2017-06-03 | High Sources

The 256th of a series of weekly radio programmes created by :zoviet*france: First broadcast 3 June 2017 by Resonance 104.4 FM and Resonance Extra Thanks to the artists and sound recordist included here for their fine work. track list 01 Harper / Russe / St. George - Celestial Cantabile 02 Richard Chartier - Removed 1 03 Chris Carter - XLS5(11) 04 Geoff Sample - Rockswell 05 Le Son des Bruits - Au trot moron 06 Ed Lawes - F/S Bowl / Fourths and Fifths 07 Daimon - By This Basement 08 Daniel Ottini - The Killing Box 09 Schmaidl - Not All Churches Are Buildings

[danielottinimusic]

The :zoviet * france: radio show. This week’s edition features a track from Richard Chartier’s new album, ‘Removed’, and recordings by Harper / Russe / St. George, Chris Carter, Geoff Sample, Le Son des Bruits, Ed Lawes, Daimon, and Daniel Ottini.

[danielottinimusic]

I really hate the phrase "Content Curation" - back in pre-internet days it was called "shit that we listen to" (this is the opposite of what it tends to be now, which is "shit which I am being paid to tell you to listen to"... we had a word for that back in the day too - Payola).

The Nazi's were so good at "Curation" that they were able to wipe the works of great artists (such as Amedeo Modigliani) from the public consciousness in favour of state approved, right-thinking German National Socialist artists (come to think of it, the Soviets were very good at that as well).

This is a round about way of saying that I while I hate what "Curation" has sometimes become, I still like making lists of "shit which I am listening to", which is especially easy to do in this day of streaming services (let's step away from the issue of artist compensation for a minute if we may...).

It is in this spirit that I offer up one of my many lists for your enjoyment - this one features artists whom I consider to be pioneers of electronic and experimental music and certainly remain influences on my work to this day. 

If you believe (as I do) that a pioneer is someone with arrows in his back (old joke), than you might consider the sheer "bravery" of some of these folk to do the work that they did (yes, I know that this is not the same "bravery" as a fireman, but none-the-less...) and I love listening to them as much for that, as the fine work they produced.

Makes you wonder if they (or their heirs) make as much money today from streaming as when they were busy pulling arrows from their backs...