The internet in “bloody good idea actually” shocker. Muxtape allows you to upload songs you like to make an online mixtape, which can be shared with friend and foe alike. Check out mine, and post your own. 

Some message threads from the Drowned In Sound site.

Bands that seemingly everyone loves and you don’t
Seriously, the best electronica album of this millenium
What do you value more in songwriting? Intellect, musical complexity or emotion?
Artists that changed/developed your music taste?
wheres the hip hop thurston?
write an essay about why you like a certain band
Songs which start steady or quietly and flip or spaz out
mainstream+indie success=harmony?
Bollocks to The Enemy: this is what Coventry really sounds like
british city to produce the last great bands?
myfirstmine accidentally invents a genre
bands that started off bad and then got really good
the girl version of the horrors have supposedly been found
single of teh year?
Signficant albums of 2007 so far
Promoting bands you really like but hardly anyone’s heard of
Building a following
I wrote a song. It’s 6 minutes long, about a boy who rapes girls and you can listen to it…
Singles which arn’t named after any track on it
Which 65daysofstatic album is the best and for what reasons?
OMG
How do our youth group themselves? (in relation to music/fashion)?
If your band had a support slot with a band that you despised musically,
Do you ever buy a CD you that would not usually be to your taste to attempt to diversify, musically
Great Melodic Punk Band I Stumbled Upon
Joanna Newsom’s voice is horrific
bands who you loved but now you fucking hate
Name me the most cutting edge indie you can think of right now
bands that sound like other bands but do it really well
What proportion of Art Brut’s success in the US is down to their Pitchfork reviews?
Bands you briefly thought were good, but then realised weren’t
Do you ever stop liking music?
is there such a thing as unsigned anymore ?
Ever feel like your finger’s fallen off the musical pulse slightly?

Those of you with time on your hands (Hi Chris!) might be interested in ZineWiki, which I have just stumbled upon. Yes, a wiki directory of zines. The fact that it doesn’t include Damn You, Ablaze or indeed any other amazing UK zine that I spent my days swapping with back in 1998, means we need to act. Get on it, people!

Hello, by the way. I have no internet (this is DAY NINE) and thus have not been able to do anything much including update diskant, reply to email, activate the diskant robot etc. However:

1. I am back from Japan and it was awesome. You can look at my 700 photos on Flickr and also read my Tokyo Shopping Guide in progress.

2. My exhibition is now open so do go along and be impressed at the sight of an enormous banner with my name on it (and my handmade purses). More info here.

3. The annual diskant end of year polls will be taking place very soon. If you are a long time diskant reader why not email me (diskant-overlord AT diskant.net) and we’ll let you join in.

4. Please go round to BT and kick their asses for me. Dial-up is for losers! I want my broadband back! Thank you.

In case you hadn’t heard, UK music site Stylus is no more. I always liked their writing and it’s sad to see it go but I think every online music writer will understand why. Freaky Trigger posted a link to Stylus writer Nick Southall’s blog post Why We Killed It and really, never a truer word spoke. If you’ve ever wondered why diskant isn’t updated more often, there is your answer. It is literally another day job for many of us, who already have a day job and one or two other side projects on the go. It’s also pretty much a thankless task repaid in endless emails, piles of terrible demos and without even the ego stroke of web stats, now that RSS feeds count for many of our readers.

The Web 2.0 stuff is also a problem we have at diskant. None of us are programmers and we just can’t build the things we and our readers want to make the site better or easier to use. So, we have to stick with the old ways which are more and more time consuming with less and less people to help out.

I hope I won’t be killing off diskant any time soon but I also hope you’ll continue to be patient and take us for what we are – a bunch of busy people trying to write about the music (and films! and PIE) we love.

Anyway, go read some of Stylus’ best writing while you can. I hear some of the writers are moving to Pitchfork too.

Craigslist is kind of like the Free Ads in America (though the Craigslist site does appear to have sections for the UK now, anyway…) and, like any public service platform, people get creative with it.

The Best Of Craigslist:

http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/all/

3 random entries selected off the 1st page for you:

You’re not looking for them, but I found your two dogs.

——————————————————————————–
Date: 2007-08-16, 10:19AM PDT

Sigh. No one is looking for these guys. And I see why. They hump everything in sight, try to dominate our old doggies, try to eat our cats and pee on everything and bark at everything. Neurotic, lick constantly. They know no commands, either in English or Spanish. They are aggressive and probably lived in a puppy mill. You dumped them, probably, and we picked them up before they were killed by traffic. Unneutered, no tags, under 1 year old small males. I hate you, person who dumped these dogs. There are no lost ads on phone poles, no lost ad on Craig’s list, no lost ad in the paper. We put signs up all over, put a found notice in at the local pounds and if you were looking for these filthy little ragamuffins, you would have found them. We are afraid to take them to the pound because under stress, your dogs were snappy and horribly afraid and dogs are judged by temperment for adoption placement. They would not have passed that test. However…..

They are, under their filth, mats and horrible habits, adorable. They have learned “Quiet,” “Come,” “Sit.” They have stopped being so neurotic and we have broken most of their bad habits in just a few days. They are smart and sweet and are looking for guidance and WANT to be good little dogs. One is a purebred little white and buff guy with an underbite, the other is a brown little dog that looks almost exactly like a miniture version of a larger breed dog. They know each other and were obviously (by the same bad habits) raised (poorly) together. We will get them neutered, train them and get them into a good, loving home with people who use the brains God gave them.

If these are your dogs, come on by, I’d like to kick your ass.

Scary Porcelain Dolls

——————————————————————————–
Date: 2007-07-20, 10:24PM PDT

The thing is, I’m afraid of porcelain dolls. I’m esp. afraid of clowns. These are not clowns, they are just very ugly and evil-looking girl dolls with dresses on. I keep them in the garage, because I’m concerned about them animating at night and attacking me while I sleep.

Please take them away.

MC Hammer Pants

——————————————————————————–
Date: 2007-06-22, 2:58PM MDT

Guess what,

I was cleaning out my closet and I found 47 pairs of BRIGHT NEON MC Hammer pants. I was going to burn them and dance around the flames to try to make it rain or something, but I thought that maybe somebody would want these. They are absolutely the worst pants of all time. I can’t remember being stupid enough to buy these, but I must have been. Either that or MC Hammer owes me a bunch of rent money. I have them all in a huge garbage sack sitting on the sidewalk. If you want them you must just come pick up the bag and drive away. If anybody comes up and tears the bag and spills those hideous things into the street where my neighbors can see, I will be very unhappy. Garbage collection is on Monday so if they aren’t gone Mr. BFI gets them.

If you want this garbage, email me and I will give you instructions.

Making The Best Of Craigslist the best comedy site for the perpetually bored…

I keep meaning to mention this. If you are a member of hip new internet sensation™ Facebook, then come join us in the diskant rocks! group where you can talk to us and find out the latest happenings in diskant world. It’s almost as exciting as real life!

The actual latest happening in diskant world is that the Supersonic 2007 round-up article is now online for your reading pleasure. Who says Sundays are boring?

Some things that caught my attention recently:

– A very interesting interview with Thurston Moore about his Ecstatic Peace label at Austin Sound (via TMN)
– Andrew at The Morning News scoffs at us lightweights and our annual roundups. He’s working his way through the top ten albums of EVERY YEAR since 1978.
– the pie debate reaches a whole new level of mentalism over at Freaky Trigger
– OxfordBands.com has had a makeover and looks much cleaner and more streamlined. And orange! We need more orange on the web.
– How could I forget?! I have had to create a website at work using our new web building product for testing purposes and so there now exists Bunny Bento, the lazy girl’s guide to bento. I think I will actually keep updating this.

Don’t forget I am adding new links on the home page regularly. I am working on some kind of ALL ENCOMPASSING RSS feed that will basically inject diskant’s every move straight into YOUR BRAIN your RSS reader. Until then, you’ll have to do the work yourself by clicking on this link occasionally.

I am addicted to You Tube. And specifically one micro-genre of films contained within – people trashing their musical gear at gigs (or, bizarrely, at home or in the yard). Seems like a mainly Americanised genre and most of the films are made by bands that are beyond awful or by surburbanite monosyllabic windowlickers. Lame as it is, I sort of get why you might do it at a gig – but in your back yard?
This has somehow made it appeal to me even more. It is addictive and often hilarious. It is occasionally excruciating.

Here are some of my favourites for you to enjoy – famous or otherwise, all totally pointless:

“I don’t come to the bus station and slap the dicks out of your mouth when you’re working do I?”.
My personal favourite.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4NXlkt_o_Q

I don’t know what the fuck is going on here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op_WDUaWZW8

Here’s about 7 minutes of Richie Blackmore acting like a nobber from 1974.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aQ9P4qi8uo

Kiddy toucher takes an age to break his guitar. His roadie loosens the screws for him too y’know. To make it easier. It’s true.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUY5oRd1lBk

And here’s the middle class big nosed art student doing it again. Ouch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URfzAemzG2s

This dude trashes his guitar to stick it to the hippies man and then his band launch into the most fucking amazing full-on rock you’ve ever heard. It stirs me, emotionally.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLwrW77zTaU

The classic “switch to the shit guitar” trick. Genius. Great band too obviously.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7_9X0AN3Hg

Yngwie Malmsteen having a wank onstage. Check the drumming.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMVbDtNBX0U

Journey? What fascinates me about this one is the way he keeps strictly to his side of the stage, as per the stageplan. He collects the guitar each time and then retreats to his position.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FT_6C9mF-Ow

This is priceless. A fat dude in his garage.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzfzgGBctyw

A digger truck? Isn’t that cheating? And pointless?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG8-nYHNF9k

Man in bike helmet with strange moustache miming in garage and filming himself. On his own.I have to admit this one pains me a little as it’s a nice guitar. Or was. He looks like Bob Log III too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zrMb7HsRLI

OK, not strictly a guitar but this surely can’t be for real? It’s like watching myself deal with a mobile phone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2krt04eO6s0

My housemate Gareth’s favourite and one of mine too. Practise in the school hall style. Note the kiddy’s plastic red n yellow car onstage and the recoil in fear as the guitar goes mid-air.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDkAZFrOF6Q

And, finally, the real way to smash something in two. With your stomach.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQTZEIDVVYc

A sub genre: the world’s need for those little red Grolsch bottle tops to put on their guitar straps…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKRJLz90NJI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l67oTM6FtIE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avSYPyQ2GWU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx4K4A8r_-M

Some incredibly ambitious 2006 round-ups for you to enjoy. Makes our annual struggle to put together 10 albums look a bit pathetic.

Edward O counts down his Top 100 Singles of 2006 on Enthusiastic But Mediocre with much europop and, well, pop. His 2005 article was one of my favourite things and I am enjoying this year’s a lot so far.

The Silent Ballet write about The Top 50 Instrumental Releases of 2006 AND The Top 25 Instrumental Tracks of 2006 and still have stuff left over they have to put in an honourable mentions page. Hardcore.

Also, a small bit of self-promotion: Cake Tourism. We are eating cake around the globe, photographing it and posting it here for your delight. If you have eaten any exciting cake recently do tell us.

Today, as part of my actual job, I have been researching add-ons, features and widgets people might like to add to their websites. In the course of this I have emailed eBay to tell them how aghast I am at their lack of web widgets and discovered that two of my long-held brilliant internet ideas have actually been realised by other people. Someone who actually had any ambition might be annoyed by this, I am just delighted they now exist.

GiftTagging have answered my frequent question of ‘Why isn’t there an Amazon Wish List but for EVERYTHING you can buy’ with a site that is something of a cross between del.icio.us and ThisNext. You can import your Amazon wishlist, add new gifts by hand or add them from any website with a toolbar button. You then tag them with handy descriptive words and your friends, family and random stalkers can buy you a present that you actually want. It’s a little clunky and basic at the moment but it looks great and has loads of potential.

Remember The Milk is the answer to my other daily trauma, two computer forgetfulness. I have all my best ideas at work and then forget them all by the time I get home and can do anything about them. Usually I resort to that utter patheticness – emailing myself reminders. Remember The Milk though, lets you set up a web-based to-do/task/reminder list which you can tag and split into seperate lists and, best of all, you can email reminders to it which it will automatically add. Put an RSS feed of it on your blog or RSS reader and you’ll never forget anything again.

Marvellous. I’m so glad there are so many clever people on the internet.