Steve Jobs has recently posted his "Thoughts on Music". Its very well worded; mainly, I think, to try to push any responsibility for DRM onto the big four (Universal, EMI, Sony BMG and Warner). Still it is interesting to note that Steve, and hence Apple inc., would drop DRM in a heartbeat if they didn't feel shackled by the music companies. Obviously this is passing the buck a little. At least publicly they don't appear to be putting pressure on anyone to change this behaviour. This open letter is definitely just the start of their response to a court case heading Apples way from Norway.

...When the wolves come out of the walls then it's all over. If you want to know what's all over, and who 'they' are, then you should find yourself a copy of Neil Gaiman's "The Wolves in the Walls". It is obviously a childrens story, but as with all Neil's work, and the work of many childrens authors these days, there's plenty for adults too. Unfortunately for you, you're too late to catch the Improbable play of the book. Here are some photos to tease you even more with what you missed. I wish there were some better shots to be honest. Something to show just how amazing and fluid the set designs were; how Dave McKean like they managed to get the whole look and feel. Although you can see how good the wolf puppets look you can't see just how good the puppeteers were, how the whole experience was injected with humour, a perfect counterpoint to the implied horror of having the wolves come out of the wall. The kids in the audience loved it, the adults roared with laughter in all the right places. Definitely the best piece of theatre I have ever seen. According to this page they'll be touring with it again in the Autumn in the UK, and next year taking it to the US. Book a ticket as soon as you can, you'll not be disappointed

Why have I never stumbled on this before? Its a collection of videos from the Ninja Tune label (and Ntone and Big Dada), including Coldcut and Hexstatic's amazing Timber. There's also vids from Mr Scruff, Jaga Jazzist, Wagon Christ, Roots Manuva and some more Hexstatic amongst others.

Last night I was listening to Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and realised that I'd forgotten just how good it was. John agreed with me but pointed out that The Soft Bulletin is considered by some to be a better album (I'm not certain where John stands on that one). So there I am this morning listening to The Soft Bulletin when I start thinking "That sounded awfully like a Pink Floyd progession" amongst other prog rock thoughts. Now I know John claims to hate prog rock (especially Floyd) and likes Flaming Lips so I wasn't sure if my ears were decieving me. But no, look at all these other people that see the similarities: http://www.leisuresuit.net/Webzine/articles/flaming_lips.shtml:

It does sound tremendously like Yes and Floyd, and early Genesis, and, in spots, early Rundgren

http://www.inkblotmagazine.com/rev-archive/FlamingLips_Soft.htm:

A perfect example of this idiosyncrasy is the bizarre and eccentric "The Spark That Bled (The Softest Bullet Ever Shot)." Moving from Neil Young ballad into psychedelic Pink Floyd riffing

http://www.statenews.com/editionssummer99/062399/ms_flaming.html

Although labeling isn’t an ethical reviewing practice, I couldn’t help but think the songs were a solid mix of Radiohead and Pink Floyd

You're going to have to try harder to like Pink Floyd John. Or perhaps you'll have to stop liking Flaming Lips :)

Since Jonathan Ross is doing Wogan's usual slot on Radio 2 breakfast I thought I'd tune in. The first song they introduce is the new Morrissey track, Let Me Kiss You. It turns out that I really quite liked it which came as a bit of a shock; perhaps I'll have to check out some of his other stuff! I was a little late coming to work so I also got to hear the start of Ken Bruce, and what a start - Easy Lover by Phil Collins and Philip Bailey.

Apologies to everyone that saw this already, I try not to blatently rip links and ideas out of others blogs but I felt this one was worth it. Thanks Phil. Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music is an interesting read. I especially like his write-up on 2-Step Garage (UK Garage) "God, this stuff is so f**king boring......". I'll have to spend some time checking it all out and seeing what he makes of some of my favorites. And on a similar subject you really should all check out the music of Chenard Walcker. As far as I can tell it is all freely available although if you ever get the chance to slip him some cash then I suggest you do so. The best place to get hold of his material is over at the Internet Archive. Download and enjoy.

On Saturday I made that expensive trip through the doors to Fopp! I bought the new Prodigy album. On first listening it's a pretty good return for Liam and friends despite the rumours I'd heard to the contrary. Then I picked up a copy of Massive Attack's Protection as I noticed the other day that I couldn't find it anywhere in the house and also a copy of Purple Rain to replace my old audio cassette version. Next was a copy of the Soulwax album, Any Minute Now. If you've never heard their 2 Many DJ’s – As heard on radio Soulwax part 2 then I suggest you go and find a copy. And take heed of the website warnings about all other 2manydj's albums being bootlegs and unauthorised mixes! Last but definitely not least was a copy of Luke Vibert's Yoseph album. Its not left my car CD player since and it reminded me that the video to I Love Acid was available on the 'net. So if you have Quicktime head over to the delicious 9 website to take a look.

Big Chill For now here are my rather limited photos, hopefully Mike and Paul will have done better. Also here's who I saw without comments: mach v, noiseshaper, mr scruff (start of his set), adam freeland (but not for long, not a fan of club tent I'm afraid), bent, coldcut live, the alice band, magnet (while I ate dinner), ralph myers and the jack herren band, quantic soul orchestra, hint, lemon jelly, norman jay, crazy penis (start of set), jazzanova (another aborted club tent visit), ukelele orchestra of great britain, senor coconut & his orchestra, bj cole (featuring laura b), easy star all stars, the end of show show.

I know some people don't think that a web site is any good if there aren't any ringtones available. Unfortunatley I don't have the means to deliver tones direct to your phone but if you have the means to install them yourself here is the midi file for my current ringtone. It will sound a little odd in a normal midi player due to the track which tells your phone to vibrate (this is likely to only be a Nokia function so don't blame me if it doesn't work on your substandard model). I downloaded the midi from the Internet before adding the vibrate channel and reordering the tracks so it would work on a 4-channel phone such as my 7250i. I cannot remember where I got it from so if it's yours and you want credit (or me to remove the download) let me know.

The tent arrived a few days ago - or was it longer than that? Anyway, I got around to erecting it this evening and put a few photos up for everyone to see. So, here is my tent in Astrid's garden. Bought specifically to use at this years Big Chill Festival, although I'm sure it will come in handy in the future too.