Posted by Lindsey

 

It seems sometimes that the internet exists purely to enable people to embarrass themselves faster and more publicly than ever before.

This week we were reminded of this truism by yesterday's (16 June) completely unfounded rumour that the colour of the BBC homepage was set to green as a public statement of solidarity with Iranian opposition, who lost in the recent elections (in case you've been living under a rock). This is not and was never true. The BBC homepage has for some time been designed to change between a selection of colours relative to the content being displayed. The fact that it was coincidentally green yesterday was inexplicably enough to overheat at least one person's imagination.

In the way that these things work nowadays, the mistruth spread from some anonymous corner of Twitter or the blogosphere all over the internet, at the blazing speed enabled by broadband, to reputable blogs and countless re-Tweets and re-postings all over the internet. We can't yet tell when the first authoritative debunking appeared, but it was certainly by the afternoon of 17 June, and a quick glance as of 22:00 on the same day shows only one high-profile retraction, Andrew Sullivan's classy post admitting his mistake (although he has mistakenly fed the idea that the BBC homepage is *always* green).  A precious few weren't fooled in the first place.  Unfortunately most bloggers appear to have left their various condemning and applauding (mostly condemning) posts up intact, although a handful of retractions and corrections are viewable on Twitter. Looking at the numerous blogs and handful of Twitter posts on the subject yields a sense of the speed at which the rumour must have sped round (at least the English speaking) world, being absorbed and then re-transmitted almost in the same instant.

Regrettably one is also alerted to the lack of sense exhibited by most contributors, and especially the complete lack of intellectual embarrassment by many who repeated the rumours (again, with the exception of Andrew Sullivan as of this time). It is shameful that the ability to start a self-publishing platform is not accompanied by a sense of responsibility to research wild claims (accusing a major international news service of political bias is generally seen as a wild claim), and that there is no clamour or judgement from consumers of this content for greater rigour; or at least the honour to admit mistakes when they've been made. The strength of web self-publishing is its speed and democratic nature, but when its members fail to editorialise or monitor themselves or each other, concerning such a severe charge, it severely undermines the case for blogging and other kinds of informal journalism to win mainstream respectability.

 

The past ten days has been an immensely sad time for anyone who knew Ben Brydon, known to many as Ben Bracket, who passed away on 6 April 2009, aged 32.

 

A talented and hugely popular figure on the UK's electronic music scene, his passing has left a void in many circles that can never be filled. Ben was one of the most upbeat and good-natured people you could ever wish to meet. A discerning DJ who knew how to rock the party, he was coming on leaps and bounds as a producer, making the kind of wild bassline music for which he had such a passion. Ben leaves behind a stack of his own music, some of which was beginning at surface on vinyl around the time he left us, to accompany the memories we have of him. He certainly won't be forgotten.

Among the many online tributes to appear since his death was yesterday's Rag & Bone show on Sub FM. The first part of the show pulls together lots of Ben's own tracks while part two is packed out with requests from many of his friends. You can download the show here. Mary Anne Hobbs also played his mix of Scorn's Gravel Bed on her show last week by way of tribute.

The London crews that Ben was involved with are hosting a party in his honour — Brackout — at The Foundry (the only place worth having a drink in Shoreditch), Old Street, London on Saturday 25 April. Plenty of excellent music to be had from 5pm-midnight, with representation from Uglyfunk, Coin Operated, Rag & Bone, Combat, Don't, Victim, Ill FM and others. Get on down there, get your jive on and raise a pint of organic lager to his memory.

 

As someone said recently, you left for the afterparty far too soon Ben.

 

(thanks to Sofie for the photo)

Back in the days before folk roved the streets with more tunes that the local HMV store squished onto a chip inside their phone, former Human League members Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh released a cassette-only album of offbeat electro, dark disco-pop instrumentals and weird ambient works entitled Music for Stowaways (1981). The tracks, recorded by the pair under their ongoing B.E.F. (British Electric Foundation) moniker, resurfaced in the late 90s on the CD Music For Listening To; yet the title failed to impart anything of the duo's pro-cassette stance that inspired the initial release — Music for Stowaways referencing the arrival of the mighty Sony Walkman.

 

The Same Mistakes blog wafts out some wonderful ferrous oxide nostalgia with this post on B.E.F.'s first release, together with a glorious 320 kbps zip of the album itself.

Cruelly removed from the world last month, the Cramps frontman gets a damn fine mixtape tribute over at Randy & Earl's Record Club blog. God bless.

 

 

Great little interview here with Bernie Krause, where he talks of his career switch from music to bioacoustics, the Wild Sanctuary archive, and the bitter-sweet sounds of his backyard on 12 September 2001.

...etc. Big thanks to our contributors throughout the year, and thanks to everyone else who got in touch during 2008. Apologies if we didn't respond to everything sent to us, either by email or post. We aim to be less slack in 2009 (we might even do a mailout, you never know).

Cheers.

Spannered.

We may not have known where on the planet Maga Bo has been at any given time during 2008, but he's been busily fleshing out his Sambacana Brazilian music archive throughout the year. Recent additions include a super-slick all-Brazilian dancehall selection from Jimmy Luv and a huge Jorge Ben tribute mix, the latter a 28-track selection of covers from Rio's Soundgoods blog.

 

Lots of Jorge Ben and other goodies (links courtesy of Soundgoods)

We recently stumbled on Bo's YouTube channel. If you enjoyed reading Camilo Rocha's series of Globalista interviews, go check Bo's nicely shot minidocs on the likes of Diplo and DJ /rupture, along with other videos put together on his travels. He just set off for tours of Australia and Europe - dates here!

 

 

Sonar Calibrado Tangier Morocco (Maga Bo and Filastine)