In 1997 there was a Gilles Peterson show that I had recorded (in the days when he broadcast at lord only knows what o’clock) from which I ended up going out and buying three albums. One I can’t remember, one was by the delightful Japanese group United Future Organisation and the third was Roni Size’s … Continue reading 51 for 50 – 1997
This week I have learned: we all need to take a stand.that when events start to reinforce the message that you have been giving, it's not necessarily reassuringthat parakeets appear to have had enough and are now regularly dive-bombing our back windows to a certain death.lockdown continues to take its emotional toll, particularly on our … Continue reading Weeknote 487: facing up to the past
This week I have learned: when I saw a queue of traffic for the first time in months, it felt somewhat sad. I've enjoyed the quiet.the power of a shopping trolley analogy.our new MP is very responsive on Twitter. This is a good thing.I need to think about my corporate "brand". That I know this … Continue reading Weeknote 486: now that was a CPU
In my hip-hop obsessed teens, alongside the Run DMCs and Mantronixs, I had a special thing for the cut-up merchants like Double Dee and Steinski and I guess to an extent people like The Art of Noise. Beats and pieces sampled and scratched together to produce audio collages. Roll forward into my music-obsessed twenties, and … Continue reading 51 for 50 – 1996
In the course of my research for Who Shares Wins, I was told the possibly apocryphal story of how email was introduced into a law firm back in the early 1990s. The senior partners had been sceptical about this new-fangled communications medium, and had resisted its introduction. However a more tech-friendly group of employees started … Continue reading Let them play
This week I have learned: getting out into the countryside was nice after two months.how nice it was to be contacted out of the blue by someone asking a little bit about something I was involved in the foundation of 29 years ago.how a £12 bit of software can transform your image.what a lot of … Continue reading Weeknote 485: Memories
As a part of my current mini side project #NotAWebinar I was watching a clip from the psychologist and former NBA star John Amaechi. In it he talked about how behaviours that would be otherwise unacceptable in modern life are tolerated if not positively encouraged in the world of sport. He talked of a hypothetical … Continue reading Management by decree
I'm still of the view that Drum & Bass is the "newest" form of music that has emerged in my music-aware years of life. It stems from earlier club music, and took a path less annoying than genres like Happy Hardcore. It had roots in hip hop and funk. But it was new. And it … Continue reading 51 for 50 – 1995
This week I have learned: it's lost its novelty, this Lockdown thing hasn't it? Not sure I want it to end, though.the value in having someone external looking at what you are doing and asking questions and providing input.twice.finding new ways to propagate information and changing habits is key.find ways to find cracks between the … Continue reading Weeknote 484: hitting walls
Ah, the battle of Britpop. Blur vs Oasis. Let me nail my colours to my mast. I’m Blur. Parklife is a cracking album, The androgyny of Girls and Boys, the laddishness of the title track. And it’s not the Gallagher Brothers. https://open.spotify.com/album/0DBkFC6739trhCoVreZyds You can see the #51for50 project to date here: https://mmitii.mattballantine.com/category/projects/51-for-50/
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