An electro-opera about Charles Darwin's life?

While I initially found the idea of the opera 'Tomorrow, In a Year' quite intriguing, I wasn't convinced that a bunch of songs about Charles Darwin would translate well as an album. The project is a collaboration between Mt. Sims, Planningtorock and The Knife. And the results are amazing.



An album version of the opera is to be released in March this year.

UPDATE: Listen to the whole album free at NPR
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122944293&sc=fb&cc=fp

New Portishead - Chase The Tear

Portishead have released a new track for Amnesty International. Proceeds from the single will support the Charity's work with human rights.



While Beth Gibbons voice is wonderful as ever, the track isn't quite as good as songs from the band's recent album, 'Third'. Note: Just to clarify, the title doesn't refer to the type of tear that comes from your eye, rather a tear in a sheet of paper.

The Alternative Christmas Tale

This wonderful claymation short film is based on a short story by William S. Burroughs. The author narrates, and Francis Ford Coppola directs. It tells the story of Danny, a down on his luck drug addict at Christmas time. Find the subsequent parts on Youtube. While at times bleak, the overall message is in the spirit of the season. Even a junky can come good at Christmas time. There's hope for us all.

A Christmas favourite.

A bit early getting into the Christmas spirit, I know. While I don't want to be the bloggers version of those shops that insist on playing holiday songs weeks before Christmas, I feel that 'Arthur McBride' by Paul Brady is worth the risk.



This is the one song that my family plays every Christmas morning, without fail. A traditional Irish anti-recruitment folk song, the content is perhaps a little more gory than most Christmas tunes.

An early Christmas present to myself.

This year, I decided to get my Christmas presents for family and friends early. This, combined with the fact that I have taken on a second job for the holidays, meant that I had quite a bit of extra cash this month. The money was burning a hole in my pocket, so I decided to splash out on a new gadget.



Behold, the Sony eReader Touch edition. At just over £200, it wasn't a purchase I rushed into. However, after carrying out a lot of research into the readers on the market, I elected to go for Sony's offering. Why? Mainly because of the device's compatability with a number of common file types (.txt, pdf, rtf etc) The 'Touch' element, while a cute feature, is a far way off the technology available in mobile phones at the moment. However, I have thus far been able to find great copies of many new books for free. What else could you ask for? Lets just hope the eReader doesn't break down.

A rap tribute to Bob Marley

While perusing this week's Guardian Guide, I came across this Youtube clip of amateur rapper Shaun Boothe. He has produced a series of these 'Unauthorized biographies', other similar songs celebrating the lives of figures like Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X.



The idea seems to have originated from rapper Nas and his song 'Unauthorised Biography of Rakim.'

The Garden of Forking Paths

A friend recently recommended Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges to me, so I picked up the short story and essay collection 'Labyrinths' from my local bookstore. I was not disappointed.


While initially the scope and detail of some of the writer's stories proved a bit overwhelming (see Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius), what one can't deny is the originality of his ideas. The fact that these complex tales are told in this condensed form is a testimony to his skills as a writer. Here is a link to the full text of my favourite of his short stories, The Garden of Forking Paths. http://courses.essex.ac.uk/lt/lt204/forking_paths.htm