The most interesting webcomic ever...

 Have you ever seen Electric Sheep Comix? Possibly one of the most interesting things I've seen in webcomics yet. Because although I do enjoy many of the webcomics out there, not a whole lot of them use the medium of the web to its full potential. It's mostly either page after page of the usual folio format, or the classic horizontal strips that's been transmitted to us by generations of newspaper cartoonists. Nothing wrong with that as such. But paper will do just as well for these forms and being on the web really only means that it's easily accessible.

The case of Electric Sheep was slightly different mostly because of the vision of an artist, one Patrick Forley. Scott McCloud had explained in his serie I CAN'T STOP THINKING the kind of tools a comic artist could develop for a web based comics. Those were the first ideas of that kind and they showed much promise, it's worth reading, even though it might seem a bit dated. Other artists came up with different approaches that permitted to expand on the idea of the page in comics, to create interactivity, to explore new storytelling techniques, but they were few: just like all the other artforms, comics were challenged by the new medium and artists had the choice to either keep doing things the same way or to find new means and manners of doing what they wanted. Let's not forget the ever present problem of the ecomics of the web, were free can mean the difference between success and failure and where success can hurt the very artist who has won the 15 minutes of fame lottery.


Nonetheless, Forley was amont those what wanted to invent, and create something new he did. Spiders, his most interesting piece, consists of an assemblage of web-pages that you have to scroll in different directions depending on the specific page, with simulated web-pages included when the story demands it. It recounts the story of a fictitious afghan war perpetrated by the USA with Al Gore at its presidential head. The point of view is a blend of the main characters and also of the spiders, in essence mobile webcams, that the folks at home control and monitor. What you might call a war effort@home! The story is very well laid out, with some strong storylines that keep you fascinated, and the devices of the webpages, animated gifs and links mixed in with the narration never feel gimicky, quite the opposite, as they really add depth to the story. Unfortunatly, only the first 3 parts were published; the fourth, which was supposed to come out in 2004, still has to appear. Nonetheless, it's a gratifying read. And it's far from the only interesting piece you'll find on  Electric Sheep. Apocamon also comes to mind, a wildly enthusiast adaptation of the Apocalypse in a mix of manga style and Chick tracts that's sure to knock you out. Anyway, don't trust me on this: go read for yourself, you won't regret it. Coming back to Spiders, because the URL expired for a while, you'll only find part 1 and 2 here, where it's a bit slow. Part 3 is here. There was also another wonderful piece that I remember called Delta Thrives. Unfortunately, I can't find it anywhere. If anybody knows where one can read this comic, let me know please, I remember enjoying very much.

Meanwhile, I've just found out through Warren Ellis that Forley was looking to jumpstart Electric Sheep and is asking for funds. I know I'll pledge something to that fund, because I'd really like to see more of those webcomics, and I hope that once you've taken the time to read Patrick Forley's excellent publications, you'll also feel compelled to help. After all, if a random dude can request money to fund the scanning of old floppy disks, text games and BBS files, I don't see why we can't give an artist the means to create what could very well be the next Maüs or Watchmen of the web.

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Let's play with some gravity!

The power of simulation: as an adolescent, it entertained my dreams in the form of diverse fantasies. As an adult, it keeps my mind entertained with the sheer scope of knowledge that computer simulations hint at. Cosmology, of course, is the one field that benefitted the most from recent advances in processor power and speed. We are no longer blocked by the billions of years that separate us from the primordial moments of the universe. What we can't observe yet, me simulate; it seems we understand enough about the laws of cosmology to have reached coherent models; the fact that we would require the calculation powers of supercomputers to be verify these models only hints at how much more will be accomplished if Moore's law holds true.

Meanwhile, for those of us that don't own supercomputers, we can still have fun running solar system simulations. And My Solar System is a pretty good place to start: it really does a great job at showing multiple-body interactions and is pretty easy to use for those of us who have limited grasp of the mathematical formulas involved (if you're curious, take a look here).

For my own part, I get a kick out of sending a comet on a slingshot every time!

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Fetichizing towels is just wrong! (or Audiozobe in Exile)

The charming Mona from Exile On Moan Street invited me (of all the loser bloggers available out there) to be part of a loose collective of irregular contributors. Always happy to help, I figured I'd give a try to this formula, if only for the fun of it. So you'll see me posting some on this rather eclectic blog. Here's my first contribution: There has to be an easier way to get your kicks.

So thanks to Mona, and come and visit the blog if you're curious!

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GOT THE INFECTION, GOING EAST FOR THE CURE!

I gotta tell you about this album. See, we've got history, and that makes it even more special, sort of. The artist, Ramasutra, he's been around for a while on the lounge front. His real name's Ramachandra Borcar, and under that identity, has released the fantastic Steel & Glass album, a formidable future jazz soundtrack in collaboration with The Stacked Deck that you should run and buy right away. But that's not the main subject of this post.

Because it all started with Ramasutra and his first album, The East Infection. Now, I used to own this album, and it was very dear to me: there was a couple of tracks that I played regularly on my radio show, and I really enjoyed it as a whole.

But if you've had teenage children, you'll know what this is about. Sometimes, some precious objects disappear, no one quite knows where. Usually, it's not stolen or anything, simply misplaced, borrowed or worst: forgotten. And that was the sad fate of The East Infection. It vanished. I noticed one day it was missing, and there's no telling how long it'd been gone.

Now this was all before the iPod, so I had not yet ripped the album to my hard drive. It was truly lost.

I tried Amazon, but it was stupidly priced. I looked in used cd places to no avail. Time went by. Zoom to january, when I suddenly get the urge to check iTunes. I know: how very 20th century of me! It should have been the first place to check, I suppose. And there it was, waiting for me to download it for a small fee (surprisingly small, in fact). So I'm back to being happy about this album. And it's aged pretty darn well, too.

In fact, if you enjoy Bombay The Hard Way, Indian Ropeman, or any of those indian electro hybrids, I highly recommend this album: you won't be disappointed. There's this amazing track, New Wave (Permanent Wave DJ) where we're treated to a mix of surf guitar, spacey sitar, Brazilian percussions, all in the span of some 4 minutes. It's simply amazing. And there's many more. I found a couple of tracks on Youtube that came from this album, you can sample them here and here if you'd like.

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FIRESTART MY FLINT UP - or is a splinter from a Prodigy still a prodigy?

Remember The Prodigy's defining album, The Fat Of The Land? This was the album where there was a pretty surprising transformation of this act. If you weren't following the singles or the band, you basically went from a breakbeat/jungle act with more dancers than musicians on stage to a post-industrial heavily pierced and tattooed freakazoid demonstration of anger. The video for Firestarter was one of those moment where you raise an eyebrow and go: duh?

There was a funny story circulating, on how the band had tried to trick Natacha Atlas to guest vocalize on Smack My Bitch Up (the scheme included a renamed cassette demo with some key lyrics obfuscated). Good or bad for Natacha Atlas, she steered clear of those strange british kids.

Anyway, if you remember the vocalist for this album, a strange and imposing figure named Keith Flint, apparently the offspring of an unlikely mating of Gene Simmons and The Green Goblin, you might also remember thinking this: "Gee, what a charismatic singer... Don't I wish he had his own band and played some Ministry type heavy industrial metal!"

You don't remember thinking that? C'mon! Look harder. It's gotta be there, in your synaptic soft drive?

Well, whether you wished for it or not, the album exists. The band's name is Flint(!), and the album is Device 1. Thing is, it was never released. Possibly because the band was dissolved before it was released. But lucky you, there is this amazing blog, The Unheard Music, which specializes in reviving lost albums, unofficial releases and bootlegs: honestly, it's a good thing this blog didn't start too long ago, because I think I've already spent way too much time downloading his amazing archives. Here's Flint. Other key entries include: the banned albums of The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu, Plone's unreleased second album (a pure gem), and tons more.
As for Flint's failed attempt at rockstardom: look at Ministry. Jourgensen's not doing so great, and if it weren't for the strong anti-Bush current he rode, his latest albums were far from noticeable. You could do worst than listen to Flint's unborn vinyl clone: it's aged well.

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