Antarctic explorers have discovered two crates of Scotch trapped in the ice, which Sir Ernest Shackleton abandoned during his disastrous attempt to cross the frozen continent in 1909. The bottles are appropriate artifacts of his incredible leadership instincts.

The journey never should have been attempted, for all sorts of reasons, but Shackleton emerged as perhaps the greatest crisis leader the world has ever seen in action. I’ve written about Shackleton’s emotional leadership before, which I believe explains his success.  As his men faced unspeakable odds, Shackleton stalked their despair relentlessly, snuffing it out in skillful and creative ways.  He turned their fear into faith, rage into love.

Food and drink played a starring role in Shackleton’s management strategy.  Ship cook was a high-status position in Shackletonia, and meal rituals were followed religiously, even as the idea of certain death began to threaten the team’s discipline. Rations were rarely cut, even when it wasn’t clear where the next meal would be found.  And just when the team’s endurance was about to give out, just when exhaustion and doubt were about to prevail, a round of snacks and hot milk would magically appear.

Food was fuel, of course, but I’d argue that its emotional nourishment was often just as valuable.  Shared meals affirmed the team’s interdependence and replaced unproductive animal spirits with reminders of everyone’s dignity and humanity.  Shackleton’s men were absorbing unimaginable psychic and physical stress, and feeding them was a way to both honor and reduce it.  Nothing says, “I feel your pain” like a glass of warm milk.

Shackleton has lots to teach us about leading in crises, and I’d put sharing a good meal at the top of the list.  I fear this lesson is being lost as cost pressures rise in today’s economic uncertainty.  That daily investment in coffee and donuts may seem like a painless thing to cut, but I think most organizations grossly underestimate the real value of feeding their people.  Take it from Ernest.  Wine and dine the team.  They may even deserve a toast of well-chilled, 100-year-old Scotch.

Agence Shackleton - Madrid

Vous avez peut-être déjà eu l’occasion de voir une campagne à la manière d’une comédie musicale; ça a été une première pour moi dernièrement avec VIVA LA RESISTENCIA le musical.

Ce spectacle met en scène 18 danseurs et chanteurs pour informer les espagnoles et prévenir le cancer du col de l’utérus, un fléau national apparemment.

Quand la communication en vient à faire intervenir l’expression corporelle, moi je dis bravo.

BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | Shackleton’s whisky to be dug up.

“Two crates of Scotch whisky which belonged to the polar explorer Ernest Shackleton are to be recovered after a century buried in the Antarctic ice.”

Add a bottle to my Christmas list! Shackleton’s story is pretty darn amazing, and so is whiskey.

What would it mean, what would it be like to drink a pre-World War I relic of a tremendous misadventure? I’m not asking about how whiskey ages, I’m asking about how an artifact of one of the greatest stories of human survival and determination can be consumed. What occasion could merit even a sip?

Take a bottle to Mars, maybe?

This discovery triggers more curiosity than anything else, but to think we’ve littered the world with relics from our great stories is something interesting. We might collect such items the way churches collect relics of saints and martyrs. That can’t be too much reverence for people who sought such a strange and fleeting glory, can it?

Why do great explorers mean to us today?

oder für alle verständlich: Lebenswasser. Whisky!

Als Shackleton vor 100 Jahren mit seiner Südpolexpedition scheiterte ließ er in einer Hütte eine ganz anständige Menge Scotch der Marke McKinlay zurück. Einige Flaschen dieses Schatzes sollen jetzt aus dem ehemals ewigem Eis geborgen werden.

“Er lag dort einsam und verlassen herum. Er sollte zurück nach Schottland kommen, wo er geboren wurde”, sagte Richard Paterson von Whyte & Mackay, der McKinlay and Co. inzwischen gehört,  der Londoner Zeitung “Daily Telegraph”.

Dieser Paterson ist doch ein echter Humanist!

DON´T PANIC

2562 - Unbalance

As coisas estão começando a minguar para o dubstep, que já não parece mais tão sólido como antes. Simultaneamente a uma evidente redução do estilo à uma formula, em 2007 a cena entrou no grande circuito enquanto todos esperaram ansiosos pelo Untrue do Burial, a Skull Disco fez seu status de aposta para o futuro do gênero, a Punch Drunk fazia a cena de Bristol reconhecida. Em 2008, parecia que as coisas iam ser diferentes e tudo começou a seguir uma nova direção. Começou-se falar em wonky, UK Funky e a introdução de techno, enquanto Hudson Mohawke, Rustie, Zomby, Skull Disco e até mesmo a Hyperdub começaram a mostrar que as coisas deviam mudar. E mudaram: 2009 quase não ouviu clichês em dubstep.

Dessa rápida introdução, vale tomar um destaque a Unbalance, novo disco de 2562, projeto do holandês Dave Huismans. O músico fez uma das maiores revelações nesta cena com o lançamento de Aerial, atestando mutações no gênero ao evidenciar a influência de dub techno na cena. Unbalance, mantém a mesma direção, olhando adiante. Porém, dessa vez, parece haver menos distinção autoral para justificar as conquistas recentes do gênero.

Unbalance é repleto do bom e velho dub techno, mas com sua palheta de sons líquidos e metálicos enquadrados numa lógica dubstep. Flashback abre o disco com esta proposta e a tardia Superflight parece propor o mesmo. O som da Tectonic é logo reconhecível e são evidentes os ecos de Martyn e Flying Lotus, que se juntaram ao selo neste ano. Aqui, o dubstep é mero pretexto para algo muito mais evoluído, que destaca camadas rítmicas, ecos e teclados baleáricos.

2562: Divulgação (www.last.fm)

Por outro lado, o toque de grime, como nos teclados de Like a Dream e no baixo quase wobble da música soam fora de lugar. Com certeza um dos destaques do álbum, essa faixa soa como uma aposta no dubstep à moda antiga, quando ainda preso à vertente do hip hop inglês.

Unbalance transforma-se em algo muito rico ao seguir esta linha. Huismans parece ainda acreditar no dubstep como sonoridade, ainda que reconheça sua evolução em algo distinto, principalmente pelas mãos de nomes citados acima. E parece uma proposta clara, sugerindo dupla interpretação ao título. Afinal, não é de des-balanço que se fala ao considerar as batidas complexas e múltiplas deste disco; ao mesmo tempo em que sugere as variações de uma estrutura que parecia justamente engessar-se conforme passou a ser aceita?

DAGUERREOTYPE

A daguerreotype (original French: daguerréotype) is an early type of photograph, developed by Jacques Daguerre, in which the image is exposed directly onto a mirror-polished surface of silver bearing a coating of silver halide particles deposited by iodine vapor. In later developments bromine and chlorine vapors were also used, resulting in shorter exposure times. The daguerreotype is a negative image, but the mirrored surface of the metal plate reflects the image and makes it appear positive when the silvered surface has a dark ground reflected into it. Thus, daguerreotype is a direct photographic process without the capacity for duplication.

Ref: Wikipedia 2009

This word can be found on page 39 of The Heart of the Great Alone which is a lovely coffee table book of photos of Antartica and the great explorers; Scott and Shackleton.  The photos were taken by  Herbert Ponting and Frank Hurley and give an intimate insight into the lives of those intrepid explorers in the early 20th century.

Many of the photos were presented the King George V and have been in the Royal Collection ever since.  Some details of the original presentation are included.

Hoje radicado em Berlim, Sam Shackleton é talvez o maior produtor de música eletrônica em atividade. Conhecido primeiramente por EP’s e coletâneas editados pelo selo Skull Disco, capitaneado por seu parceiro Appleblim, trabalhou com Mordant Music e remixou Pole, Harmonia ‘76, Geiom, Moderat, Jacques Palminger, Ricardo Villalobos, entre outros. Three EPs é seu primeiro álbum editado pelo selo Perlon (casa do parceiro Villalobos) e é também seu primeiro álbum solo. (BO)

* # *

Por que Shackleton é tão adorado pela Camarilha? E não somente por nós, mas por todos aqueles que se interessam por música essencialmente aventureira e criativa, quaisquer sejam suas orientações, gêneros ou estilos? Por que Shackleton intriga, arrebata e se torna motivo de júbilo a cada remix, a cada single? Se este é o momento adequado para estas perguntas? Certamente, pois seu primeiro álbum solo acaba de sair. Há controvérsias entretanto: trata-se de um álbum triplo de vinil que somente agora foi editado em um só cd. Confuso. Mas eu proponho que esqueçamos essas dificuldades. O sanguinário Reign in Blood, álbum antológico do Slayer, com seus vinte e poucos minutos, nunca foi questionado enquanto álbum. Com uma hora de duração, Three EPs também não há de sê-lo: é sim o primeiro álbum solo de Sam Shackleton. Não se sabe se a iconoclastia do autor se reflete também na relativização do formato-álbum, a que se referiu nosso companheiro Thiago Filardi no seu post de fim de ano. Enfim, este não é o aspecto mais importante de Three EPs, embora desperte alguma curiosidade (por exemplo, ao tomarmos conhecimento de que os lados B, C e F foram impressos em 33 ⅓ RPM, ao passo que A, D e E estão em 45 RPM). Retomo então a pergunta: de onde vem essa originalidade que conquista sobretudo aqueles que se interessam por música nova e criativa?

Observando as resenhas relativas ao disco, seja em sites comerciais como a Boomkat ou em diários musicais como a Dusted, percebemos, a despeito da boa qualidade dos textos, que todos se debatem entre rótulos e categorias que variam da retomada dos elementos primordiais do pós-punk (o reggae, o dub) até o caráter soturno do dubstep e do minimal. Mas são apenas aproximações que não dão conta do trabalho de Shackleton. Tentam em vão cercá-lo de referências históricas locais como que para decodificá-lo e, assim, explicá-lo. Mas ele desenvolveu uma gramática própria, tributária sim de um contexto de reavaliação de sonoridades constitutivas do pós-punk, como quer o ótimo texto de Ben Donnelly presente na Dusted. Mas de forma alguma é possível identificar Shackleton com o dubstep, ainda que este seja o gênero mais interessante surgido nesta década. Então, a primeira constatação: Shackleton é Shackleton e nada se parece com Shackleton. Característica suficientemente imponente para que situemos o seu trabalho como um dos mais contundentes e desafiadores da atualidade, mas que ainda não basta para justificar essa diferença ao nível do discurso.

Three EPs tem tudo o que esperávamos de um álbum de Shackleton. As melodias e ritmos inspirados na música árabe e hindu. A obtenção de timbres robustos e, sobretudo, a manipulação prodigiosa dos graves. O reprocessamento harmônico das vozes e sua utilização como instrumento musical. O entrelaçamento inspirado de diversas camadas sonoras que resultam em texturas sombrias, mas ao mesmo tempo solares. A pulsação constante e a surpresa como estratégia¹. Não há nenhum elemento acima que não seja elegantemente partilhado pelas nove faixas presentes em Three EPs. E no entanto, a surpresa! Escuta-se muita coisa neste disco que de fato remete aos trabalhos anteriores, mas é uma outra pegada, um outro gosto pela variação e, novamente, pela surpresa. Ela ocorre de forma um pouco mais abrupta do que nas passagens contínuas de suas primeiras coletâneas, é verdade; mas não se quer dizer que sejam menos minuciosas e admiráveis, pelo contrário. Como não ficar absolutamente tomado pela sobreposição rítmica e as variações de “Moon Over Joseph’s Burial”? Ou pelos “AIAIAIAI” das vozes sintetizadas que irrompem juntamente com os tambores infernais em “Let Go”; ou ainda com a inacreditável “Asha in the Tabernacle”, com sua batucada de pratos e tambores eletrônicos e seu coro “gospel” (malinês? árabe?). E a trança de vozes, pratos, guizos e estalos que se ouve na genial “Trembling Leaf”? E os acordes satânicos na introdução de “Something Has Got to Give”? É simplesmente estarrecedor e põe Three EPs no topo das listas de fim de ano.

Impossível negar que o ar de Berlim e o convívio com Villalobos trouxe mais radicalidade formal à música de Shackleton e isso se demonstra à moda de uma escalada em Three EPs. Ao contrário de Goldie, na minha opinião um dos gênios da música eletrônica da década de noventa, preguiçosamente perdido dentro de sua própria megalomania, Shackleton parece ainda ter muita lenha pra queimar. O que faz dele o nome mais querido pela Camarilha na atualidade? Não posso responder por meus companheiros, mas arrisco uma hipótese: até o presente momento ele inovou dentro de seu próprio contexto, a partir de suas próprias concepções. Esta é ou não é a característica de um grande artista? Esta é ou não é a grande característica do trabalho de Sam Shackleton? (Bernardo Oliveira)

Nota:

1. Para que esta frase não se perca na aparência de um “poetismo” sem sentido, explico: trata-se de uma capacidade de conduzir o ouvinte por um caminho e, sem alterá-lo radicalmente, introduzir novos elementos de modo a alterar consideravelmente o tal caminho. Sugiro a audição de “Stalker” e “Hamas Rules” como exemplos dessa dinâmica.

* # *

Shackleton, de novo? Já falamos da primeira coletânea da Skull Disco, já publicamos comentário sobre remix dele para Geiom, discutimos recentemente sua colaboração com Mordant Music em Picking O’er the Bones… e ainda é um imperativo falar de Sam Shackleton. O fato de sua produção ser fragmentária, preferindo EPs e LPs partilhados com outros artistas, faz com que surjam vários de seus lançamentos. Isso em si não nos força a falar, mas quando a gente bota pra tocar a música, ela aparece com uma imponência que automaticamente nos instiga a comentar. E quem vai querer moscar mais um lançamento de um dos artistas mais criativos hoje?

A criatividade da música de Sam Shackleton está nos detalhes. Ela geralmente não se articula em trechos ganchudos (como “Skeng”, The Bug com Flow Dan) ou melodias imponentes (“Need You”, Darkstar) que nos fazem comprar imediatamente a música. É nas sutilezas que se percebe a grandeza de sua música. Em especial, no modo como ele utiliza elementos percussivos, em geral atabaques e guizos ou contratempos, para recortar ritmicamente suas faixas. Observe-se, por exemplo, em “There’s a Slow Train Coming”, a forma como os guizos são inseridos espacialmente no mix, com alternância de força entre a caixa direita e a esquerda, criando uma suntuosa base rítmica para os soturnos drones que compõem a única instância “melódica” da faixa. Ou pegue então os barulhinhos que aparecem com 1min45 em “(No More) Negative Thoughts” e que provocam desorientação rítmica por efeito de um delay sutil mas preciso que soma-se (ou melhor, se choca) aos padrões de atabaque/guizo e à linha de graves sub-bass. Ou então a serenidade quase religiosa com que o “narrador” de “Asha in the Tabernacle” emite as palavras “Sense it, know it, let it be”, como se fosse uma profecia. A notar, também, o preciosismo timbrístico e a opção pela discrição. Ao invés da dinâmica tradicional bumbo/caixa/prato, Shackleton prefere elementos percussivos mais nuançados, preferindo os guizos e atabaques já mencionados, mas partindo também para tabla (como em “Mountains of Ashes”) e mesmo para palmas de mão. Tudo isso com uma economia que, ao mesmo tempo que dá às músicas um impressionante senso de espaço, também faz com que pareça que estamos ouvindo aquelas sonoridades pela primeira vez. E quando as poderosas linhas de baixo surgem, o mundo parece acabar.

Se Three EPs aponta para novas ênfases dentro do mundo-Shackleton (porque o artista já constituiu seu mundo sonoro todo próprio), a novidade é uma atenção pronunciada dada a atmosferas soturnas, em particular no lado A do segundo EP (ou seja, as faixas 4 e 5) e na última do último EP, “Something Has Got To Give”, uma rara faixa de Shackleton em que o destaque não é percussivo. Da mesma forma como a troca de remixes com Ricardo Villalobos deixou o som de Shackleton mais cortante em suas explorações rítmicas, a parceria com o Mordant Music parece levar sua música a searas mais nebulosas, quase dark ambient por momentos. Naturalmente, isso não é nenhum demérito: grandes artistas bebem na obra de outros e a traduzem para seu próprio universo. Shackleton é um grande artista do dub, e como tal, ao invés de macaquear antigos mestres, busca novos caminhos para a exploração de linhas de grave densas, padrões de baixo/bateria e utilização de efeitos típica dessa tradição. Three EPs é mais um testemunho do talento de Shackleton e de sua constante busca por simultaneamente consolidar seu território sonoro com novas faixas geniais e vislumbrar novos caminhos dentro de seu mundo. (Ruy Gardnier)

Hoje radicado em Berlim, Sam Shackleton é talvez o maior produtor de música eletrônica em atividade. Conhecido primeiramente por EP’s e coletâneas editados pelo selo Skull Disco, capitaneado por seu parceiro Appleblim, trabalhou com Mordant Music e remixou Pole, Harmonia 76′, Geiom, Moderat, Jacques Palminger, Ricardo Villalobos, entre outros. Three EPs é seu primeiro álbum editado pelo selo Perlon (casa do parceiro Villalobos) e é também seu primeiro álbum solo. (B.O.)

* # *

Por que Shackleton é tão adorado pela Camarilha? E não somente por nós, mas por todos aqueles que se interessam por música essencialmente aventureira e criativa, quaisquer sejam suas orientações, gêneros ou estilos? Por que Shackleton intriga, arrebata e se torna motivo de júbilo a cada remix, a cada single? Se este é o momento adequado para estas perguntas? Certamente, pois seu primeiro álbum solo acaba de sair. Há controvérsias entretanto: trata-se de um álbum triplo de vinil que somente agora foi editado em um só cd. Confuso. Mas eu proponho que esqueçamos essas dificuldades. O sanguinária Reign in Blood, álbum antológico do Slayer, com seus vinte e poucos minutos, nunca foi questionado enquanto álbum. Com uma hora de duração, Three EPs também não há de sê-lo: é sim o primeiro álbum solo de Sam Shackleton. Não se sabe se a iconoclastia do autor se reflete também na relativização do formato-álbum, a que se referiu nosso companheiro Thiago Filardi no seu post de fim de ano. Enfim, este não é o aspecto mais importante de Three EPs, embora desperte alguma curiosidade (por exemplo, ao tomarmos conhecimento de que os lados B, C e F foram impressos em 33 ⅓ RPM, ao passo que A, D e E estão em 45 RPM). Retomo então a pergunta: de onde vem essa originalidade que conquista sobretudo aqueles que se interessam por música nova e criativa?

Observando as resenhas relativas ao disco, seja em sites comerciais como a Boomkat ou em diários musicais como a Dusted, percebemos, a despeito da boa qualidade dos textos, que todos se debatem entre rótulos e categorias que variam da retomada dos elementos primordiais do pós-punk (o reggae, o dub) até o caráter soturno do dubstep e do minimal. Mas são apenas aproximações que não dão conta do trabalho de Shackleton. Tentam em vão cercá-lo de referências históricas locais como que para decodificá-lo e, assim, explicá-lo. Mas ele desenvolveu uma gramática própria, tributária sim de um contexto de reavaliação de sonoridades constitutivas do pós-punk, como quer o ótimo texto de Ben Donnelly presente na Dusted. Mas de forma alguma é possível identificar Shackleton com o dubstep, ainda que este seja o gênero mais interessante surgido nesta década. Então, a primeira constatação: Shackleton é Shackleton e nada se parece com Shackleton. Característica suficientemente imponente para que situemos o seu trabalho como um dos mais contundentes e desafiadores da atualidade, mas que ainda não basta para justificar essa diferença ao nível do discurso.

Three EPs tem tudo o que esperávamos de um álbum de Shackleton. As melodias e ritmos inspirados na música árabe e hindu. A obtenção de timbres robustos e, sobretudo, a manipulação prodigiosa dos graves. O reprocessamento harmônico das vozes e sua utilização como instrumento musical. O entrelaçamento inspirado de diversas camadas sonoras que resultam em texturas sombrias, mas ao mesmo tempo solares. A pulsação constante e a surpresa como estratégia¹. Para que esta frase não se perca na aparência de um “poetismo” sem sentido, explico: trata-se de uma capacidade de conduzir o ouvinte por um caminho e, sem alterá-lo radicalmente, ele introduz elementos que alteram consideravelmente o tal caminho. Sugiro a audição de “Stalker” e “Hamas Rules” como exemplos dessa dinâmica.. Não há nenhum elemento acima que não seja elegantemente partilhado pelas nove faixas presentes em Three EPs. E no entanto, a surpresa! Escuta-se muita coisa neste disco que de fato remete aos trabalhos anteriores, mas é uma outra pegada, um outro gosto pela variação e, novamente, pela surpresa. Ela ocorre de forma um pouco mais abrupta do que nas passagens contínuas de suas primeiras coletâneas, é verdade; mas não se quer dizer que sejam menos minuciosas e admiráveis, pelo contrário. Como não ficar absolutamente tomado pela sobreposição rítmica e as variações de “Moon Over Joseph’s Burial”? Ou pelos “AIAIAIAI” das vozes sintetizadas que irrompem juntamente com os tambores infernais em “Let Go”; ou ainda com a inacreditável “Asha in the Tabernacle”, com sua batucada de pratos e tambores eletrônicos e seu coro “gospel” (malinês? árabe?). E a trança de vozes, pratos, guizos e estalos que se ouve na genial “Trembling Leaf”? E os acordes satânicos na introdução de “Something Has Got to Give”? É simplesmente estarrecedor e põe Three EPs no topo das listas de fim de ano.

Impossível negar que o ar de Berlim e o convívio com Villalobos trouxe mais radicalidade formal à música de Shackleton e isso se demonstra à moda de uma escalada em Three EPs. Ao contrário de Goldie, na minha opinião o gênio da música eletrônica da década de noventa, preguiçosamente perdido dentro de sua própria megalomania, Shackleton parece ainda ter muita lenha pra queimar. O que faz dele o nome mais querido pela Camarilha na atualidade? Não posso responder por meus companheiros, mas arrisco duas hipóteses: até o presente momento ele inovou dentro de seu próprio contexto, a partir de suas próprias concepções. Esta é ou não é a característica de um grande artista? Esta é ou não é a grande característica de Sam Shackleton? (Bernardo Oliveira)

Nota:

1. Para que esta frase não se perca na aparência de um “poetismo” sem sentido, explico: trata-se de uma capacidade de conduzir o ouvinte por um caminho e, sem alterá-lo radicalmente, introduzir novos elementos de modo a alterar consideravelmente o tal caminho. Sugiro a audição de “Stalker” e “Hamas Rules” como exemplos dessa dinâmica.

Hola, hola, hola, oatmeal and granola …

so its been too long since I posted anything and a lot of you have probably stopped reading or checking back … in any case here we go with some shiiiiiiat.

Well, firstly, lets get the music dose out of the way so you can listen to this while you read through the rest of the post

As you’ve probably deduced it’s a Skream remix of Chromeo’s latest tune “Night by Night” … to be honest I fucking love it even if it doesn’t exactly have the distinct ear shattering bassline Skream loves to put on his tunes… it’d be real interesting to see what Shackleton could do with this track but its totally not his genre … still I its something I find myself doing all the time … I love trying to visualize in my head people doing covers or remix of tunes that are completely out of their style … sometimes it really works. Although I can’t think of something off the top of my head, maybe you can.

Right, well where was I going with this post … oh yeah … so I’ve been collecting a few tracks over the past couple of weeks a medly of dubstep tunes obviously, a handful of experimental trip hop sounding stuff, as well as a nice little selection of soul and funk … so what ? Well … im toying with the idea of a new BroCast or maybe releasing this mix under the guise and blessing of the Shitledger Radio label … we’ll see…

Either way what I’ve got to really work on is just actually making the mix and choosing the songs … maybe this weekend it’ll happen … I hope so…

I’m thinkin about gettin a midi controller to start playing around on traktor a bit more which could be fun and might make the next mixes and podcasts more interesting at least in terms of production, I’m looking at either the Vestax VCI 300 (but that sticks you to using their software) or the M-Audio Torq Xponent … anyone who knows anything more please let me know your opinion / suggestion. I’ve been reading reviews and shiat but the word of a friend is always better…

Oh and I hopefully get my fuckin macbook back soon after its been at the computer hospital for fuckin ages due to a random graphics card error. When that happens I’ll be able to start toying around properly with my video camera as well and who knows … there was chat round these here parts of incorporating video somehow into the podcasts so stay tuned for that!

I’ll get to posting a bit regularly again I’ve just had a few hectic weeks in terms of work and other blah blah blahness, for now thats all I’ve really got for you… when I’m done with some artwork and things I’ve been doing I’ll be posting some of that, hope you’re all doing good whomever you are and wherever you are … thanks for reading.

D.

Playlist:
1. The Avalanches “Frontier Psychiatrist” (Since I Left You, Modular, 2000, Austrália)
2. Jonny Trunk “Wife Swapper” (Jonny Trunk’s Scrapbook, Trunk, 2009, Reino Unido)
3. RADIQ “1968 I” (People, Cirque, 2009, Japão)
4. Shackleton “Asha in the Tabernacle” (Three EPs, Perlon, 2009, Alemanha [Reino Unido])
5. Tantinho “Se Manda Mané” (Tantinho Canta Padeirinho da Mangueira, s/g, 2009, Brasil)
6. Roberto Silva “Você Está Sumindo” (Descendo o Morro nº2, Copacabana, 1959, Brasil)
7. Jorge Veiga “Café Soçaite” (“Café Soçaite/Eu Fiz uma Prece”, 78rpm, Copacabana, 1955, Brasil)
8. Greg Malcolm “Chairman Mao” (Some Other Time, Kning, 2009, Suécia [Nova Zelândia])
9. Sebastian Lexer “Tone” (Dazwischen, Matchless, 2009, Reino Unido)
10. Ben Frost “Killshot” (By the Throat, Bedroom Community, 2009, Islândia)
11. Fuck Buttons “The Lisbon Maru” (Tarot Sport, ATP, 2009, Reino Unido)

Halloween is less than a week away and party preparations are being finalized. Booze? check. Munchies? check. Playlist?…Playlist?…Bueller? Don’t worry, Fever Ray’s Karin Dreijer Andersson has your back. And who better? The reigning Queen of Everything Eerie probably lives for this time of year when everything that she’s done is seen as beneficial rather than just weird.

Resident Advisor has collaborated with Andersson to present you a playlist that will be perfect for your Halloween bash this weekend. The mix features Shackleton, Suicide, Zola Jesus, Burial Hex, Bruce Haack, Amadou & Miriam, Neil Young and Krause Duo. Although it seems like an odd mix, the hour long track flows beautifully.

To light up all-time gloomy skyline in this (52°24 N 16°55 E) part of the world I recommend this week’s musical revelation: the long-awaited Niederflur’s EP – Lumen, brought to you by Archipel records. Clicks & cuts altered with undeniable precision, profound bassline and originality (lack of it put me off recently from electronic music) accellerated my hearbeat the first time I heard it:

Btw, yesterday the city of Poznan, Eskulap club hosted Shackleton, Benga and many more. Just to mention Shackleton’s latest production:

Yup, no more negative thoughts all you seasonally depressed people!

And we return … week two of the four choreographers piece.

We left the action looking at timecode for the offstage quartet.

In the end, the timecode wasn’t much of an issue – the bigger issue was that the choreographer for that piece hadn’t realised that the quartet were in the wings. I’ve no idea why.

I do know that the several hours I spent setting up the quartet and grand piano in the wings on the saturday were pulled apart in minutes the Sunday morning to move the quartet into the orchestra pit.

“Don’t we have an orchestra in the pit?”

“Yes.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Yes we did have to work out how a 65 strong orchestra was going to manage with a Steinway and four strings in it’s midst – a lucky bit of programming meant that the quartet started the evening, with an interval to set up the orchestra.

[shop talk]

The composer was one Olafur Arnalds, a young Icelandic composer who has some very atmospheric pieces, similar (in my minds at least) to William Orbit. He was at the piano with his own copy of Qlab along with a effects pedal and sample pad. The string quartet with him had DPA4061 clip mics, though an absence of proper clips meant we go a little creative with tie wraps – finally have a use for those things.

The Steinway was miked with a pair of C414 clamped to the framework as it was a minimumly raised lid.

Olafur had two Tannoy V12 as monitors and the quartet shared two more Tannoy V8. To deal with the timecode from the AV position all five ended up on in-ears (and Behringer headphone amps absolutely suck! I really don’t recommend them.)

We were able to minimise the impact onto the orchestra and could swop from one to the other in around ten minutes – labelling everything to death.

The orchestra had five SE300 with CK91 heads positioned fairly evenly about the pit with additional C3000 at the conductors rostrum.

And all the above was specially in for us as it’s all playback on the tour …

[/shop talk]

This show seems to have really caught poeple’s attentions. Reviews have been mixed; from zero stars to four stars and have even been mixed for the different pieces in the show.

The temple of cock has been the main talking piece – some absolutely vilifying it and some saying that it’s exactly in the Diaghilev mindset. Some have questioned having this piece to close it, some have wondered why it’s not earlier.

The answer – practicalities. It’s easier to have the piece with screens onstage first, switch to the blackbox/scanachrome pieces in the middle then spend the second interval setting up the temple and come in earlier the next day to reset back to the screens.

Personally, I’m prefering the central pieces (a solo and a duet) – the first piece doesn’t seem as vibrant – though it is based on Shackletons trip to the Antartic so vibrancy may not be the point.

And the final piece just seems to be as shocking for the sake of it. The first night had walkouts and actual boos doing the curtain calls (who sits through an entire piece they didn’t like?) but was causing laughter in the stalls on night three.

The choreographer on this seems to be going to extremes to live to the ’surprise me’ concept – I’d have been more surprised if the piece had been more involving than in it’s current form. Some dance in it would have been nice also for a piece that celebrates dance.

Still.

One reviewer was of the opinion that the boos shows that we are still stretching the comfort zones, pushing the boundaries.

That’s all very well – I’m just thinking that we’ve had several pieces recently that haven’t reviewed well, haven’t sold well and the only pieces selling are the ones that have the support of public opinion. It’s very well to be pushing the boundaries but I wonder sometimes if our boundaries are set further than that of the audience …

And whether or not that’s a good thing …

Dags för månadens musikskörd. De gamla nittiotalshjältarna The Orb är i farten igen. På den tiden var de hyfsat ensamma och banbrytande med sin dubambient. Nu har de minst sagt en hel del konkurrenter. Jag tycker dock att gubbarna står sig rätt bra.

Skivbolaget Perlon har någon sorts 100 skivorsjubileum och släpper en riktigt bra samling för att fira detta. Vanligen innehåller den typen av samlingar gammal skåpmat, men det här är ett undantag. Perlon släpper dessutom någon sorts trippel EP med Schakleton. Har inte hunnit skaffa dem än, men jag har svårt att tänka mig att det inte skulle handla om årets höjdpunkt.

Ricardo Villalobos tar den spanska duon Los Updates till hjälp och förklara hur bankväsendet fungerar. Man skulle kunna beskriva stycket som en version av Brechts:

Det är mer kriminellt att driva en bank än att råna den.

Lyssna och lär!

Jag vill även lyfta fram de tre avslutande spåren. Indigos “Home” kan mycket väl vara årets låt, den extremt pålitlige Scuba levererar som vanligt och mannen med det fåniga namnet Joy Orbison kommer du att höra mycket av framöver.

REKTOR SELEKTOR – OSANNOLIKA SKÄL – OKTOBER 2009

1 Super Soakers – The Orb

2 Unconventional – SQL

3 Protest 09 – Roberto Bardini

4 Reel Life (cv313 Dimensional Space Mix) – Luke Hess

5 Midnight Call (Dub Mix) – Fluxion

6 Wtorek – 3 Channels & SLG

7 Verse 2the Chorus (Salz Remix) – Five Green Circle

8 Blast (Format:B Remix) – Florian Meindl

9 Luechtoorn – Kollektiv Turmstrasse

10 Bank Brotherhood (Audio George Mix) – Ricardo Villalobos

11 Goodly Sin (Robert Hood Remix) – Ben Klock ft. Elif Bicer

12 Trummerfeld (Oliver Huntemann Remix) – Extrawelt

13 Code Two (Brendon Moeller Remix) – Subsonic Park

14 Monsters (Cardopusher remix) – Kid606

15 Spliffhead (Ramadanman Refix) – The Ragga Twins

16 Home – Indigo

17 Negative – Scuba

18 Hyph Mngo – Joy Orbison

Shackleton è tornato con un monolite intitolato Three EPs pubblicato per i giovanotti della Perlon, etichetta di Francoforte ora a Berlino specializzata nel dare spazio a matti completi come Nikolai, Narcotic Syntax e pure quel barbuto di un Villalobos. E vuoi perchè anche lo stesso Shack si è trasferito da Londra a Berlino, vuoi perchè ha sicuramente uno spacciatore di qualità, il nostro ha attraversato il guado post Skull Disco rinforzando la formula che l’ha reso noto. Se prima l’ansia adrenalinica e metropolitana che si percepiva nei dischi era irrisolta, con Three EPs l’uomo si lascia cadere nel vuoto di una disperazione senza compromessi, andando a scavare nei dub e nella pulsazione ciclica, nei sample vocali di un Burial sotto metadone. Il risultato è roba da andare ai matti e chiamare l’amplifon, tra droni in crisi mistica da pitch bending e la netta sensazione che Shackleton non solo possa fare quello che gli pare, ma riesca a farlo fino in fondo.

Cancel cancel.

Max invece l’ha visto e sentito dal vivo e ce lo spiega qui.

Zum Ende der Arbeitswoche ein neuer Keyring aus dem Bad Taste Bears-Sortiment: S H A C K L E T O N

NB: Tonight is the last update until Tuesday night.  I’m going out of town and I don’t want to take this stupid book with me.  So there.  See you on Tuesday.

I’m over the red text.  It’s silly.  Green text still tells you about original, dreadful, quotations.

Twilight – Chapter Eight.  An Afterschool Chapter.

A Summary, Full of Sound And Fury But Signifying Infinitely More Than This Chapter!

Bella: It’s time for dress shopping! Squeee!!

Jessica and Angela: You must have gone to sooooo many dances in Phoenix.

Bella: “…Not wanting to confess my dancing problems…” Have you been dancing in the morning? Has anyone told you you might want to cut back on your dancing? Do you ever feel like you need a dance in the morning just to open your eyes? Shoot, Bella, I wouldn’t want to admit that either.

Jessica: My eyes are suspicious. They are suspicious because Tyler has been telling people you’re going to prom with him.

Me: *rampantly shoving popcorn in my mouth* This is high drama indeed! Prom! Dresses! I think the excitement is just a little too real for me.

Bella: God, he needs to get over that he tried to kill me.

Jessica: Bella, I know you’ve never had a boyfriend, but I don’t think he feels guilty. He’d like to… run you over with his truck… if you know what I mean. Skid his van across your icy parking lot.

Bella: Let’s talk about dresses instead!

YES LET’S.

The dame decided on a long, strapless, basic black number. Or was it the electric blue? That’s the way of dames, they change their minds. I knew this one was trouble the minute she stepped into my office, talking about problems with some sorta blood-sucker. What’s worse, her pops was the Chief’a Police. When the head-fuzz’s daughter comes around searchin’ out a shamus, your mind’s gotta go one place. Someone was extortin’ her. I could only assume the bloodsucker she jawed about was one of those loan sharks always hanging around. Something told me… something told me this town was rotten, that the wolves and the bloodsuckers would be fightin’ it out on the streets soon, and there’d be hell to pay. I leaned back and let the Duke think me out a solution on the Victrola. The Duke… the Duke always knows what to do.

Bella: I helped by returning the rejects to their racks. Kinda like you’re helping out the rejects by helping them dress-shop, amirite?

-more shopping happens-

Bella: Angela lets me talk without annoying “conversation” or “questions”. I find that quality wonderful in a person!

-later-

Bella: Time to find a bookstore. There’s one now! Ew, it’s all independent. Isn’t there a Borders or something?

-Bella is lost in thought as she drives to find a bookstore more suited to her demanding literary needs-

Bella: I miss Edward. What a “stupid, unreliable vampire.” But… but I thought “reliable” was one of the leading characteristics of vampires! If you call up a vampire cable company, they don’t give you any “between 8 and 5″ nonsense. No sir! They show up ON TIME.

Then some Hoodlums show up, wearing flannel, cut-off jeans, and sandals. Yep, sounds like trouble to me. I mean, come on… flannel? Call the fashion police!

So we’ve officially entered the world of an afterschool special, right down to the attire. But because this is Stephenie Meyer, we take a break for overwrought descriptions of the sunset. Is the sunset important to Bella’s life-affirming tale of struggle that will keep our Youths off the Street? Of course not. It’s just that Ms. Meyer has been told that you need to describe things, and she does this indiscriminately.

I’m a-quiver (with no arrows) trying to figure out what sort of Health-class message we’ll learn from this cliche. As Julia and I were discussing before we started writing tonight, this thing we’re doing is very like pushing into a frozen ocean of cliche.  We bravely press on, like explorers of old.  On further reflection, they’re not even going to put up a couple of sad-faced statues with books, our despair palpable through the levels of pigeon crap. In the manner of Franklin, we shall not have died for our Ice of Glory. No, our expedition is more like leaving London to try to find the elusive ice-route to Portsmouth. Or, to put it another way, we’re trying to take the northwest passage through the deadly ice so we can get to Dallas. In Snuggies. So we can go to Whataburger. That’s the sort of stupid expedition we’re on right now. The only monument will be a sort of sad shaking of the head.

Anyway, will our message be about anorexia? Drugs? A lovable Very Special Episode about an orphan cousin or something? Nope, this is about robbery, and maybe rape. Charming!

Bella initiates herself into the world of the Internet Tough Guy by thinking about all those dubious self-defense skills designed to bring about instant death for the victim. You know the type, “heel of the hand thrust upward” and all that.

But all this is moot, because who should show up to save Our Heroine but a man! And not just any man, but Edward!

Then Edward wants her to distract him, so he doesn’t Go Back There and Finish Things. How dangerous! How manly!

Now Edward wants to take Bella to dinner. There’s room for this to be an Eating Disorder Very Special Episode after all!

It isn’t to be, alas. Instead, Bella drinks lots of Cokes. And they’re not even Diet, or light.

Bella, dear, if you keep sucking down the soda, you’ll get fat, and then no boys will like you at all. Not even Mike.

Blah blah blah. They cage about at dinner, talking about nothing.

Apparently Edward can read minds. Except for Bella, because she’s a special snowflake. Even more special than actual snowflakes, because if you’ll recall she said those all looked the same to her.

Edward tells her she’s a magnet for trouble. Trouble just happens to her, you see. Like the gang, who I have dubbed Big Papa Flannel and His Port Angeles Hoodlums. They’re playing Chico’s Pizza joint this Friday. Your cousin is the bass player, you should really go and support them.

Anyway, trouble like Big Papa Flannel just happens to her. Certainly it has nothing to do with her choices, like walking into a shady neighborhood after splitting from her friends in an unknown town. That’s a fine choice, I say! And then she doesn’t even save herself. What, if I may ask, does Bella actually DO in this book?

Edward followed Bella to Port Angeles so that he could keep tabs on her. Not creepy or anything, right? Keep in mind that this is a guy that many modern women say more men should be like. He read the minds of everyone in town so that he could find Bella-kins. That’s not a problem either, right? Anyway, then he knew to save her. Good for him. And the chapter ends.

Commentary Most Wondr’us And Insightful

Chapter 8. Port Angeles- I’m hoping this chapter title peters out as quickly as the last one did. I’m not even good at shopping in real life.

“Angela was passively happy to be going to the dance…” Angela is passively everything. This is why she’s only the character to have survived the slaughter of adjectives.

“‘Tyler told everyone he’s taking you to prom.’” It took me a bit to recall that Tyler was the van-flinger. This style of reading isn’t exactly conducive to recalling characters or the the things they do and say. I’d call it a failing, but so far there’s no one I’d be particularly sorry to have forgotten (except Angela. Though I don’t particularly know why…). I’d also call the quoted sentence preposterous, but that’s really how this shit goes down, in my experience. So far, this chapter is going pretty well. [As I read this I know, people will one day say, "This is the moment where she went wrong."]

“‘That’s why Lauren doesn’t like you.’” Holy shit, there’s a reason! There was no indication this could be possible, unlike with Jessica (whose nickname was only a one-time experience) and Whosie-whatsit…Mike, but, damn… I’m still impressed. My standards are sickeningly low.

Page 74

“The whole process was much shorter and easier than similar trips I’d taken with Renee at home.” This whole Mom-Dad-Charlie-Chief-Renee bullshit is starting to annoy me. Her use of these different names is entirely dependent upon how she feels about the given person at the given time. Now, her mother, who is also her best friend, is ‘Renee’, because she has fallen out of favor; her shopping trips were much more arduous for Bella and this one has been duly short. I wouldn’t put this past a teenager, that’s true. However, it is another demonstration to add to a very long list of reasons while Bella is, just as a person, an asshole.

“Jessica had drifted the jewelry counter and we were alone.” Quick, Angela! Don’t look into her eyes! Don’t fall asleep! ‘No’ means ‘No’! Klaatu barada nikto!

“She didn’t ask one question… I was beginning to really like Angela.” Yes, exactly, Angela, hold still. Don’t show fear. She can smell fear.

Jessica is Jess again. I just wanted to point it out because this book is built to mock me.

“I wasn’t paying as much attention as I should; I was wrestling with despair.” Like Jacob with the angel, or like Kierkegaard, or like The Undertaker with Hulk Hogan in Death Cage ‘85.

Page 75

“I stomped along in a southerly direction…” ‘my pith helmet upon my head, and compass in hand!’

By the way, we’ve witnessed the Cullen’s Volvo already, and I suspicion we are about to have an utterly chance meeting of our Hero Edward that Will Go Some Ways Towards Advancing the Plot.

Bella narrowly avoids an encounter with some Youthful Street Toughs. I suspect they will turn out to be vampires. Or merely fodder for Edward to toss around manfully. They give no great indication of harassment, except for being masculine and demonstrative and wandering around a not-great neighborhood (which Bella is navigating like a sherpa). I -and I suspicion a lot of other young women as well- would have precisely the same reaction, and flee with trepidation. This worries me, but I won’t elaborate because it wouldn’t be funny. (okay, I’ll elaborate a little- agreeing with any of Bella’s reactions makes me doubt my intellectual abilities. I reassure myself by counting to any number past my own age; after doing so I can rest at ease, knowing that I’m at least not on par with our heroine).

It Becomes Dark. I Sense a Conflict. Bella is Being Followed by The Young Toughs! Quick, hail a Mountie- I’ll follow the Dastards! They seem to be heading to the Railroad Tracks!

Page 76

If the the previous action scene went well, this one is going like she flung her pen across the room after each sentence, and had to get up to retrieve it. It goes like an old dude with and enlarged prostate. It goes like a kid in shorts down the summer-hot slide at the playground (for those of you with metal slides). Find a CD player, load it with the theme from psycho, then have it play while you slide it downstairs, and you can skip this whole part.

“A blue car turned onto the street… I thought of jumping in front of it, but I hesitated… and then it was too late.” This is the most disappointing sentence I’ve read in a long time. I was rather hoping the anonymous blue car could complete the work of Tyler’s Van. Alas, we shall have to send another- perhaps a Volkswagen Rabbit can do it. Also, in the midst of a high-tension action/chase scene, it’s unwise to toss around the phrase, ‘and then it was too late.’ Especially at the end of paragraphs.

“I risked a quick glance over my shoulder, and they were maybe forty feet back now, I saw with relief.” This is two sentences, mated butt-to-butt like lovebugs. And, like when see lovebugs flying around in their poorly-thought out copulatory conjunction, we are filled with appreciation for the simple beauty of the Missionary Position.

“I skipped around the corner with a grateful sigh.” I’m serious. Our curl-bedecked heroine has fallen right into Their Trap! Beware, young lady, for These Hooligans could be Reefer Addicts!

I’ve completely lost the trail of the action. I don’t know which side of which street we’re on, and who’s standing where, and what time of day it is, and which of these young men promised me candy. But I warn you, I want me a Reese’s…

Page 77

We are rescued by a knight in shining Volvo… simultaneously missing the third chance to have Bella hit by a car. This has followed such a cliche pattern that I can’t even criticize it.

Edward abducts Bella to deserted stopping point somewhere outside of town and announces he “sometimes [has] a problem with [his] temper.” (okay, okay, out of context it sounds pretty bad; in context it’s just more of the same. Kudos to the author for having a harmlessly typical series of events).

Page 78

Edward has magickal driving skillz, as well. No mortal can meet them! He drives like Helios, brilliant and swift! His engine purrs with quiet of lion, tamed by his shining, strong hand! He parallel parks like a God of Volvos.

Page 79

“I could see from their staggered expressions” (by which we can tell, they standing slightly separated, perhaps on different levels) that he had never unleashed his talents on them before.” ‘He’s unleashed them on me dozens of times’

“‘I wanted nothing more than to be alone with my perpetual savior.’” Leave room for Jesus, kiddos.

Angela swiftly departs, happy to have, for just one more day, escaped the jaws of the beast… (I want stories about Angela. Seriously, she’s like some mystical figure, somehow managing to stay firmly on the sidelines despite the mysterious coincidence of her presence during important catastrophes. Like Marius (yes I’ve read Anne Rice) sneaking himself into paintings all over the place… hmmm… I’m watching you, Angela, oh yes… I’m watching you now).

We’ve moved onto Edward as some sort of bashful Carey Grant. Or a femme fatale from a noir film, seemingly innocent while telling everyone to pucker their lips and blow. I’m not even joking: Bella: “You have to know the effect you have on people…” Edward: “…I dazzle people?… …do I dazzle you?”

Page 80

“his face twisted up into that perfect crooked smile.” Part of the charm of the crooked smile is the imperfection of it. That’s generally what something ‘crooked’ is- slightly imperfect, and in the case of facial features, generally implying a bit of roguish charm. God forbid she ever hear of it, but I’d actually encourage the author to use ‘perfectly’ instead of ‘perfect’, as ‘perfectly crooked smile’ at least implies some kind of jovial hint at oxymoron. I’d also encourage the author to make the crookedness a tragic remnant of childhood paralysis, but I think it may be too late.

“‘I’ll feel better when you have some sugar and food in you.’” Edward says, adding, “‘I’ve got some sugar for you. I’ve got some sugar right here in my pants.’”

Beige leather jacket. Ivory turtleneck. Any given day, I could pull a picture of Edward from GQ. I mean, provided I stayed away from models who aren’t white.

Page 81

“his eyes were… golden butterscotch.” Like Werther’s Caramels… (Candy eyes + creepy old man = Bella’s ultimate fantasy)

“That displeased him; his alabaster brow furrowed.” In desperation I burned more sheep entrails for fear my crops would be blighted by lack of rain.

“…or are you still stealing from comic books?” Or is it just after school specials, fanfiction, and random websites?

Page 82

“Long white hands…large hands…” Edward’s like an albino Labrador puppy. (Not a golden retriever, though, NOOooOOO, FUCK golden retrievers).

“I thought you were always right.” “I used to be.” Well, at least Edward doesn’t go for the false modesty thing…

Page 83

“Ordinary people seem to be able to make it through the day without so many catastrophes.” Bella is special, literally, because she is markedly incapable of continuing her own existence.

“I wondered if it should bother me that he was following me; instead I felt a strange surge of pleasure.” Oh, goodness. I sense that here is where my more serious troubles shall start.

Page 84

The problem is that Edward cannot read Bella’s mind. Holy Shit. Edward, I personally volunteer to trade you problems.

There is, literally, nothing that happens in this chapter that is not straight, textbook, Romance plot development. Girl goes out amongst female companions. Girl becomes separated, and harassed by local toughs. Girl is rescued, seemingly out of the blue, by love interest. Here’s one bit where you can select various options- multiple choice, if you will. The author selects C) Love interest displays manliness not only by refraining from violence for the sake of the lady, but also by facing the moral dilemma raised by the extremity of his disapproval. This sequence segues straight into dinner at an Italian restaurant, complete with charmingly humble romantic male, jacket-lending, mannerly food-ordering and pointed ignoring of other female company, in spite of their best efforts. This is so devastatingly dull and predictable that it hardly stands to be read word to word. Whole pages, sequences of actions, conversations, can be skipped completely, and grafted in with general headings without anything important having been missed.

I wait in fear of what next rises upon the horizon. We’ve tread so far into the waters of cliche I fear we’ll be frozen into the continental shelf of Tropeland. We did not come equipped with dogsleds (though we’ve mysteriously been provided with a Lab and a retriever, who may have to do for pulling stores). If we should not return promptly from this venture- send Shackleton. Only he is capable of rescuing someone from this monumental a fuck-up.

David Hempleman-Adams

 

By Cara Sulieman

AN EXHIBITION celebrating the 100th anniversary of Captain Scott’s journey to the South Pole opens tomorrow (Fri).

Photographs on display include those taken by Herbert George Ponting during the tragic expedition in 1910-13 and Frank Hurley’s snaps from Ernest Shackleton’s expedition in 1914-16.

Also on display are the flag given to Scott by Queen Alexandra in 1910, the Union Jack given to Shackleton by King George V and books from the Royal Library, including a copy of ‘Aurora Australis’, the first book to be printed in the Antarctic.

The show, being held at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, was opened by explorer David Hempleman-Adams who was the first man to reach the four geographical and magnetic poles.

All died

Captain Scott set sail for Antarctica on his ship Terra Nova in 1910 with the aim of becoming the first man to reach the South Pole.

But in March 1912 – after Ponting had left the expedition – all remaining team members died on their journey back from the pole.

Herbert Ponting captured around 2,000 glass plate negatives in his time on the trip, including images of the landscape, crew, and wildlife.

Australian photographer Frank Hurley joined Ernest Shackleton on his expedition to the South Pole in 1914.

In October 1915 the ship started to sink after getting trapped in the ice.

Royal Photographic Collection

Despite losing most of his equipment in the wreck, he managed to salvage 120 plates and a small pocket camera which he used to document the rest of the trip – despite the low quality of the images.

The photographs were all presented to King George V and form part of the Royal Photographic Collection.

The exhibition runs in the Queen’s Gallery in Holyrood Palace from October 2 until April 11 2010.

See more of our pictures at our Flickr site and videos at our dedicated channel,  Deadline TV.

Playlist:

1. Autechre “What Is House (LFO Remix)” (Warp20 (Recreated), Warp, 2009, Reino Unido)
2. Burial “Fostercare” (5 Years of Hyperdub, Hyperdub, 2009, Reino Unido)
3. Harmonia & Eno ‘76 “Sometimes in Autumn” (Shackleton Remix) (Harmonia & Eno ‘76 Remixes, Amazing Sounds, 2009, Reino Unido)
4. Evangelista “I Lay There in Front of Me Covered in Ice” (Prince of Truth, Constellation, 2009, Canadá [EUA])
5. Vic Chesnutt “Philip Guston” (At the Cut, Constellation, 2009, Canadá [EUA])
6. Richard Hell & the Voidoids “I Gotta Move” (Destiny Street Repaired, Insound, 2009, EUA)
7. Allen Toussaint “Egyptian Fantasy” (The Bright Mississipi, Nonesuch, 2009, EUA)
8. Oumou Sangaré “Wele Wele Wintou” (Seya, World Circuit, 2009, Reino Unido [Mali])
9. Liars “Broken Witch” (They Were Wrong, So We Drowned, Mute, 2004, EUA)
10. Lightning Bolt “Colossus” (Earthly Delights, Load, 2009, EUA)

Título: Narraciones Completas. Volumen II. Autor: H. P. Lovecraft. Editorial: Valdemar. 942 páginas. Precio: 35 euros.

“El primero en avistar la línea dentada de conos y picos de aspecto maléfico, delante de nosotros, fue el marinero Larsen; y sus gritos atrajeron a todos a las ventanillas del gran aeroplano”.

Esos conos, esos picos son “Las Montañas de la Locura” que dieron nombre a la segunda y última novela de H. P. Lovecraft (1890-1937), incluida en el Volumen II de su Narrativa Completa (Valdemar). Todo hay que decirlo, es inferior a “El caso de Charles Dexter Ward”, aunque tiene pasajes brillantes.

El retraído escritor de Providence quería condensar el horror de sus visiones con ese lenguaje ya anticuado, sospechoso, intensivo e intenso de sus relatos, generalmente en primera persona. Son relatos más “para ser más escuchados que leídos”, como dice Juan Antonio Molina Foix. Sus inicios tienen un tono gravoso y una premura acogotada muy característica.

“Las montañas de la locura”, de su etapa de madurez, (de 1931) empieza así: “Me veo forzado a hablar porque los hombres de ciencia se niegan a seguir mi consejo sin saber por qué”.

Sus antólogos y comentaristas definen este género como “terror cósmico“, ya desgajado del gótico fundador. Como Mary Shelley y como en algunos relatos de su maestro Poe, propuso Lovecraft un envase de ciencia para la insania, con sus palabros y su futurismo. Sus personajes, por lo general, son científicos o albaceas de científicos desaparecidos en extrañas circunstancias. Y de los descubrimientos de laboratorio de su tiempo se nutrió.

Durante su juventud, geólogos, biólogos y aventureros volcaron sus miras en el único continente ignoto del globo, la Antártida. Lovecraft siguió los avances de exploración de las regiones australes. Se nombra en el relato a Shackleton, (primero en pisar la Meseta del Polo Sur), a Amundsen (que clavó la bandera en el Polo Sur geográfico en 1911), a Scott (rival del anterior, que pereció en la carrera) o al piloto aventurero Byrd.

Esta es la Expedición Miskatonic, de la Universidad Miskatonic, en la localidad imaginaria (y recurrente) de Arkham, en Nueva Inglaterra. El universo del autor en cuestión es un cuadro cerrado, muchos de sus cuentos sólo procuran perfeccionar una línea de guión ya establecida. Un ejemplo: el familiar enclaustrado que se dedica a no se sabe qué fáusticos experimentos, generalmente relacionados con anfibios y que culmina en una transformación.

“Las montañas de la locura” aborda la temática de los mitos de Cthulhu, que sobrepueblan su obra. En el primer volumen de Valdemar, en “La llamada de Cthulhu”, el narrador, asustado, da cuenta de sus investigaciones pesadillas proféticas y brujerías, y de cómo la policía captura a un grupo de lunáticos criollos en pleno festejo nocturno. Cantaban: “En su morada de RŽlyeh, Cthulhu muerto aguarda soñando“. Uno de ellos menciona a Los Antiguos, durmientes.

Como los protagonistas de “Las aventuras de Arthur Gordon Pym”, los buscadores de fósiles de Lovecraft se internan en el desierto blanco. Una radiotransmisión recibida de otro campamento cambia el rumbo de la trama:

“Señalen importancia descubrimiento a prensa. Significará para la biología lo que Einstein para la matemática y la física. Prolonga mi trabajo anterior y amplía conclusiones. Parece indicar, como yo sospechaba, que hubo en la Tierra ciclo o ciclos enteros de vida orgánica antes del que se inicia con células arqueozoicas que conocemos”.

Como en “La cosa”, los perros de tiro se vuelven locos a ladrar. Las visiones oníricas se suceden. Lovecraft describe conglomerados de piedra con diversas formas geométricas, habla de pingüinos gigantes ciegos, de bóvedas interiores en el seno de las montañas, y de abismos. También de jeroglíficos y de tentáculos.

¿Sorpresas? Nada que no viniera ya escrito en el “Necronomicón“, de Abdul Alhazred, el poeta loco de Yemen. Muerto en 738 d.C. (“Dice Ebn Khallikan – biógrafo del siglo XII – que fue arrebatado por un monstruo invisible en pleno día, y devorado ante gran número de paralizados testigos”, escribe Lovecraft en otro lugar). El libro, único en el mundo, está en la Universidad de Miskatonic, en Arkham. Allí sabrán más del gran Cthulhu y de los suyos.

Ficha del libro│ Editorial Valdemar.
Cuentos de H.P. Lovecraft – Biblioteca Digital Ciudad Seva.

Texto: Álvaro Cortina.

As OnOrbit reports, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has gotten all its equipment calibrated and begun mapping, specifically the lunar South Pole and Shackleton Crater. This is where the real fun begins, if you will

Due to near-constant sunlight, the south pole is the ideal location for solar power, and therefore for a base.

Check out the full mosiac and more nifty info at this mission blog post.