Welcome to Press Continue
Casting a critical eye on digital media, new music & technology
Hello BBC Trust, Save 6 Music! - 02-03-2010
6 Music fans will have heard about the BBC Trust's plans to axe part of its broadcast network that includes 6 music and the 1Xtra Asian Network. Since I heard the news I emailed the BBC Trust to air my views. I was dismayed when I heard about the plans to axe 6 music in a shake up of BBC interests..
'Since I discovered 6 music two years ago on my DAB radio I stopped listening to radio one during weekdays and made the switch to 6 music. It offers the best mix of alternative music, band interviews and Craig Charles who plays Funk and Soul on his show which I listen regularly to on my laptop or iPod via BBC iPlayer.
It would be a disaster if 6 music were to suddenly die a death being as it offers far more interesting content beyond typical self referential gimmicks, over reliance on texting to provide content for the show, celebrity anecdotes, gimmicky game shows and tedious links (quite literally) by Chris Moyles. If I want good radio comedy I'll tune in to George Lamb or Lee and Herring who do a much better job of it!
While I'm on the subject everyone likes a mention on their favourite show but regular shout outs via text, "Hello to Suzanne having a bath in Milton Keynes", or "Mike making a cup of tea in Kent", filling up the time between links and news bulletins is getting old, fast!
It's a far better use of the licence fee when Steve Lamacq does his unsigned bands, scouts segment.
Please stop pretending to be Facebook or Twitter for our ears.'
Mobile World Congress in Barcelona 15-18 Feb 2010
Following the big hype surrounding Apple's iPad announcement in Steve Job's keynote, developer blogs were quick to point out the lack of Flash support on the device and discrepancies in the ads supposedly promising to deliver a seamless web browsing experience albeit with blue boxes placeholders where Flash content used to appear on desktop PCs. Apple and Adobe it seems have had a falling out because Apple wants to keep its iPod and iPad products proprietary - letting Flash work on its device they argue would open it up to buggy video playback and free alternatives to their huge library of paid for apps. Adobe meanwhile is pursuing a more open ended approach in partnership with other mobile phone manufacturers.
Mobile industry giants showed off their new product launches at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week. HTC, Vodaphone and Adobe got together to offer up alternatives to Apple's closed ecosystem for mobile apps and handheld gaming, so now there's credible alternatives to Apple's App Store to release flash based arcade games for mobile devices. Adobe have teamed up with nVidia to offer a Tegra powered Tablet that will benefit from Adobe AIR and nVidia's hardware to deliver an iPad-like experience but with the potential for added customization and existing Flash content on the web.
Watch video clips from Mobile World Congress on YouTube:
Faithless – Not Going Home (Eric Prydz Remix) 19 Feb 2010
Pete Tong played the world premiere of the brand new Eric Prydz remix of the essential new tune by Faithless, set to be a floor filler this summer. Their album will feature remixes from DJs Eric Prydz, Armin Van Buuren and Herve. With talent like that its set to be one of the highlights in dance music this year.
Faithless will be playing a string of dates including the O2 Acamedy, Leeds on the 26th Feb 2010 and Tall Trees in Middlesbrough on the 27th Feb 2010. Visit faithless.co.uk for more details.
Florence and The Machine - Dog Days (Breakage Remix)
Check out the outstanding Breakage remix of Florence and the machine's Dog Days featured on Pete Tong's website that went out live at the Brits on the 17th Feb.
20 years of Photoshop
In 2010 Adobe celebrates the 20th anniversary of the release of Photoshop, the image editing powerhouse that has been the mainstay of graphics professionals and enthusiasts alike. Photoshop has profoundly influenced media publishing in the worlds of print, film, new media and web design since 1990. What started out as a simple set of tools to enhance photo editing and retouching has grown to cater for specilaist fields such as as print, typography, layout, film, motion graphics, game development, web, and mobile.
Personally I've been using Photoshop since 1996 so the learning curve has been constant, with a paradigm shift since CS2 but these days Photoshop is such a mammoth app for the novice user that it can seem a daunting prospect. However help is at hand from many free to access online resource sites, a huge array of podcasts, try a search on photoshop on iTunes to see what I'm talking about, and training companies like Lynda.com cater for fledgling artists and designers. Even the pros find something new in the package every day as artists on popular forum art forums like Deviant Art can attest.
The great thing about picking up the tools now is the vast amount of learning materials and user forums dedicated to solving software problems which used to be somewhat exclusive to Apple and registered users only. Many of these community sites give you a taster of what's on offer with full access given only to registered users.
Photoshop.com is one such site offering Adobe's take on Facebook's photo sharing with a sample test drive of what you can expect when you sign up for an account with them. Picassa style slideshows, galleries and browse buttons are all present and correct so you can play around with your latest collections to your heart's content. You could also try Flickr.com a worldwide community of photographers with a huge body of inspirational work.
Gil Scott-Heron
On 8th /9th February 2010, Gil Scott-Heron released his new album I'm New Here on groundbreaking independent label XL Recordings. Produced by XL label owner Richard Russell, Im New Here is Scott-Heron’s first album in thirteen years.
Craig charles spoke to his all-time hero Gil Scott-Heron on Saturday in the run up to his new album The return of one of hip hop's early pioneers marks an exciting chapter for fans of soul and black music in general. Here's what Wikipaedia had to say:
'Gil Scott-Heron is an American poet, musician, and author known primarily for his late 1970s and early 1980s work as a spoken word soul performer and his collaborative work with musician Brian Jackson. His collaborative efforts with Jackson featured a musical fusion of jazz, blues and soul music, as well as lyrical content concerning social and political issues of the time, delivered in both rapping and melismatic vocal styles by Scott-Heron.
The music of these albums, most notably Pieces of a Man and Winter in America in the early 1970s, influenced and helped engender later African-American music genres such as hip hop and neo soul. Scott-Heron's recording work is often associated with black militant activism and has received much critical acclaim for one of his most well-known compositions "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised".'
Samsung Showcases Transparent Display Notebook at CES 2010
If you're like me and you enjoy reading about exciting developments in display technology, you may have heard of CES 2010. Every year at the Consumer Electronics Show the big manufacturers like Sony, Samsung and Panasonic showcase new concepts and devices they're working on bringing to market.
In January 2010 Samsung showcased a prototype of a new, transparent Organic LED or OLED display on a notebook at CES 2010. The display used in the prototype notebook is a 14'' inch transparent OLED display, and when the screen is turned off, the display is up to 40% transparent. One of the great advantages of OLEDs is they don't require a backlight to function thus saving energy and resulting in longer battery life.
Samsung annouced plans to use the display technology in future products like MP3 players and ad displays but it could be used in just about any hand-held device. When this display technology is perfected we'll no doubt see it being rolled out as a replacement for LCD TVs.
YouTube has a nice video post of this in action:
As I wrote this I noticed Wikipaedia had some interesting specs on the world's first OLED TV dubbed the XEL-1 produced by Sony. Currently going for a whopping $2,499.99 retail price.
Craig Charles Funk and Soul Show
Craig Charles returns to the BandontheWall club in Manchester on the 5th March to play more tracks from his Funk & Soul Show that goes out on Saturdays on BBC 6 music.
In his deubt at the Leeds club Craig Charles dropped Voodoo People at Bandonthewall, performed by funk band 6ix Toys for BBC Maida Vale last year. It was a great night and a hassle free zone, with speedy service at the bar.
No long queues either which is rare for anyone used to packed Dance and 80s nostalgia clubs.
On last week's show Craig played an exclusive track by The Underbelly feat Roxie Ray — I Keep Heading On. Previously unsigned until very recently, expect great things from this band. What a belter indeed! They will be in session from the beginning of April so look out for them very soon!
Skint play Roman Bath on Thu 11th Feb
York indie band Skint play Roman Bath on the 11th Feb, the 2nd of two warm-up gigs since the new year. Situated in the heart of York's Parliament Square and rapidly becoming a corner stone in York's alternative scene, Roman Bath has hosted several indie nights last year to receptive locals and students alike.