PC Correct?

Ultraviolence HQ 2009

Despite a frightening episode of temporary blindness a couple of weeks ago, which was how you’d imagine it only more boring, I’ve been feeling loads better lately. My chest still bugs me but there have been no prolonged life stopping periods of pain so far this year, so the guys at the Pain Clinic decided its best not to stick any anaesthetic needles in there for now. I’ve been able to do regular short cycle rides and have built a new PC for my studio.
Personally, I think the headaches associated with owning a music PC are overplayed by some. I expect slightly less hassle than maintaining small to medium size analogue based MIDI studio from ten years ago, and on the whole it is. For every hour I’ve recently been spending messing around with software licences, I’d probably have had to spend two or three routing out suspect cables, power supplies, vicious Atari mice and so forth. The aforementioned licences have been much easier to handle with a broadband connection – I decided against an Internet connection for my last two music computers but this seems to have gone smoothly enough using Windows Defender for protection on known sites. Now it’ll remain safely unplugged apart from updates every month or so. Hardware wise, the more things you connect to a PC the more hassle can be – here’s a few units I’ve had extensive experience of…

RME 9632 Hammerfall PCI (soundcard)

I had been through several cheaper soundcards before biting the bullet and spending £300 on this, mostly due to compatibility issues with my Powercores (see below). I certainly wouldn’t look back – the card’s user interface seems simple but allows control of every possible function, along with extensive diagnostic system and level information with good value D/A converters. However, the single best thing about the unit is that it has absolutely never caused my PC to crash with any software or hardware configuration. The last thing you need when on a creative roll is error messages, and this is rock solid.

PC Electronic Powercore (DSP card)

Although clocking up the years this is a great sounding unit, and has a weight and depth that most native plug-ins lack. However, stability issues make it hard to recommend. Coupled with my original M-Audio 1010LT soundcard unexplained buzzes made for an untenable config, with neither TC or M-Audio admitting any responsibility for the common situation. I replaced the M-Audio with a Focusrite Sapphire – all was well until the introduction of a second PCI Powercore where instability issues, especially when using Access’s Virus synth plug, came about again. Even with the RME card the Virus plug is still unreliable, with timing issues when running more than one instance. Why? It’s still on version 1.0.0, as TC and Access can’t agree on whose responsibility an update is. Like all things Powercore, it’s great when it works but not worth the hassle. I’ve become something of an addict, but I’d recommend non-users to stay clear.

Universal Audio UAD-1 (DSP card)

This has the opposite problem to the Powercore – it is very easy to use but I find the plugs themselves to be very retro and that, for me, means dull. I’ve a friend who mixes band music and swears by it. He tested the Neve plugs and, summing aside, found them dead-on accurate compared with the real desk. But perhaps the thought of owning the world’s best studio in 1983, and having Phil Collins in for session doesn’t consume his mind with suicidal thoughts…There just aren’t many UAD plugs that work for me – unfortunate as the system is super user friendly, convenient and inexpensive. As my spare PCI slots get rarer, this might have to go. Maybe along with the Powercore as well…as PCs get more powerful do we really need accelerators? Possibly not unless they’re a…

SSL Duende (DSP card)

The future of user interfaces is now...draw and go

This is sublime – I have two firewire models that have effectively replaced my Tascam mixing desk, with 32 stereo channels of the giving the best EQ sound I’ve ever heard – including real SSL desks. The bundled plugs are great, but add the optional X-EQ for a frequency-busting 10 band filtered EQ using a graphic interface. I see no reasons for plugs, apart from emus, to stick to awkward virtual knobs – graphical interfaces are much quicker to edit, easier to see what’s going on, look nicer. In this case total control from floor to ceiling, bollock bashes to head splits, and the best thing for mixing ever.

Video Nasties (part 2)

In an attempt to vanquish evil from 1980s society, there was much talk of blowing up Russian cities. However, a more immediate threat was posed by video cassettes of obscure horror films. 39 of them were banned, but like Russian cities, they survived, many now standing proud on DVD. But are they really shocking filth or just tedious bollocks? Find out in…

 Notoriety 

Tastefully known as SS Experiment Camp (1976) in the UK, this has become the best known exponent of the Naziploitation (Nazi exploitation) genre, and outraged newspaper articles coupled with half-decent marketing and distribution made this a must-see for 80s schoolchildren. However, the smoke and mirrors of outrage dissolved to see an uncut UK DVD release in 2006. 8/10

Gestapo’s Last Orgy (1977) remains theoretically banned in the UK as no company has tried to release it for 25 years, thus avoiding reclassification. It is little known despite the bonkers title. 5/10

DVD Editions

Both films are reviewed here are US R1 releases on Exploitation Digital label. SS Experiment Camp boasts a reasonable transfer of the film with a bare minimum of extras. The short interview with director Serge Garrone reveals an affable gentleman whose opinions on World War Two would suggest this work to be a low budget precursor to Schindler’s List. Which isn’t quite the case. 4/10

Respect to anyone with the tenacity to restore a film like Gestapo’s Last Orgy, but the post-production is quite shoddy, especially the audio which could have easily been cleaned up. English or Italian languages are offered, but no subtitles which again could have been cheaply done. Otherwise, only a few lobby cards and trailers are present. One of the trails (for Convent of Sinners) fades out and repeats itself, but another, for Porno Holocaust, features hardcore sex,  just to make up for it. 3/10

The Films

The Naziploitation genre was tiny, with around ten films slithering their way from Italy in the mid-70’s, some may know of it through Rob Zombie’s spoof  trailer Werewolf Women of the SS, part of Grindhouse (2007). SS Experiment Camp is quite typical, with a microscopic budget the shocks are derived from nudity, gurning reaction shots and poorly written dialogue which constantly reminds the viewer how terrible the whole thing is. The tortures on offer are claimed to be based on reality, but appear to be constructed from scrapped household appliances and wallpaper paste. Snail paced, the story is pretty non-existent, but the boredom is relented late on when the Commandant attempts an operation to steal a subordinates’ testical. Camp indeed. 2/10

There aren’t actually any members of the Gestapo in Gestapo’s Last Orgy, with the Nazi secret police force replaced by the usual SS costume rentals. Any further attempts to take the film seriously are thwarted early on with a grand line up of the usual nubile concentration camp inmates and their Nazi guards indulging in a scene of mass Reichsrape, complete with ridiculous “for the Fatherland” voiceovers, as the naked actors visibly strain to keep from touching genitals. The sequence brings to mind The Producers, had the protagonists opted for an X-certificate film rather than a stage play. The film lurches direction to contain a long section aping George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty Four, and its study of power between the Smith and O’Brian characters. The Room 101 scene is copied, only here part of the rats is played by an elite infantry of…gerbils! Anyone with a passing knowledge of rodents will find it hilarious, as the Commandant strokes the cute furry pets and talks of their love of human blood, eyeballs and brains. Camper still… 3/10

Gore content

With budgets this low, special FX are wisely kept to minimum but are very poor when present, with implausible make-up showing unlikely body functions punctuated by confusing edits. 2/10 apiece.

Result

It wasn’t much of a war, but SS Experiment Camp wins by virtue of reputation. However, I found Gestapo’s Last Orgy to be marginally more crass and ill-conceived making it the less boring watch of the two. I supposed with a shed load of beers and a couple of mates with an interest in exploitation flicks and film censorship, a Naziploitation viewing session might make for quite a fun evening - Reichsgerbils and all. But be prepared for the biggest disappointment about both films: ZEE LAK OV KOMEDY GERMAN AKKSENTS!!! NINE GOOT!!! DAS IST KAPPUT!!!

Eye Destructor

Johnny Violent: Driven insane by the pain

One thing that I didn’t wish for the New Year was a painful long term illness, after all I’ve already got a substantial one of those and I’m not that greedy, however after spending half the Xmas period in the half abandoned Norwich and Norfolk General Hospital sharing floor space with the blood flecked amputees-in-waiting and piss-soaked lost souls I bring you…Recurrent Corneal Erosion, which means every time I go to fucking sleep for more than a couple of hours my eyelid attaches to my cornea and when I move or open my eyes it takes a little piece with it. I could take it for the first week or two but it’s driving me fucking mad, and I’ve taken to switching on an alarm to wake me up every 90 minutes, which is making me totally loony tunes. I caught the my bloodshot eyes on camera and Photoshopped them up for the previous post…

I’m seeing a specialist in a few days and the problem should sort itself soon, so it’s not hopeless like my chest sometimes seems, but that’s a little better right now and I’ll write a whingathon on it in a month or so when I’ve been to the “awesomely named” Pain Clinic for drugs and agony coping strategies. Meantime, here’s a rundown on some CDs I’ve been enjoying lately…

Defqon.1 Festival 2008: (3xCD) compilation

I’m a huge fan of the Stunned Guys and it’s a great shame they don’t have a full length CD out – here there’s around a 40 minutes DJ set. When people talk about Gabber or European hardcore it is often labelled as dumb, gratuitously aggressive and overly repetitive and here the Stunnies demonstrate complete mastery of all three attributes for everyone to love or hate. Also banging set by Evil Activities – any chance to here Neophytes Always a Rubberboot is fine by me. The other disc of DJ sets is slower trance and hardstyle which aren’t genres I listen to much, so it’s interesting to hear what is going on, especially on a technical level. Some huge meisterkickdrums break up the 140bpm strobe-gazing and over familiar preset synth sounds. CD3 is a mixed bag of tunes by the artists who appeared at the Defqon festival, the vocal introductions to which are mostly hilarious for one reason or another… 

Update (March 2009): I’m still regually listening to the Stunned Guys mix – I think it’s got the perfect balance between aggression and audio fidelity – really modern and powerful. The Void Settler track on CD3 has about the heaviest kick drum I’ve ever heard.

Omen Trilogy: OST

I can only think of two “devil” films that are close to being frightening; Rosemary’s Baby and The Omen, which is nearly as silly a film as The Exorcist, but Jerry Goldsmith’s pounding choir and orchestral soundtrack cranks up the fear level without the need for any visuals whatsoever. You could take just about any two bars from the first track Ave Satani and loop them with a suitable drum break for a seriously floor-quaking hardcore track. Best played very loud in a darkened room, just like most music. Classic.

Update (March 2009): On further listening disc two is numbingly hammy and overblown, featuring an unessesary pipe organ. However, disc three (Final Conflict) is a, ahem, revelation, taking the themes from the first film and adding an epic good vs evil element it is remanisant of Goldsmith’s work on Star Trek V. I’ve just ordered the film trilogy for a fiver from Play.com, as it contains a documentary on the score.

Goblin: The Fantastic Voyage Of Goblin: The Sweet Sound Of Hell 

Sticking with horror movie soundtracks, this CD has a couple of pieces from Goblin’s scores from the 70s and 80s, standouts being (especially) Susperia, Profondo Rosso and Dawn of the Dead. Disappointingly, Tenebre lacks the slamming main theme but don’t worry as the CD can be had for around a fiver, and the odd prog-rock dirge aside, shows genuine invention and transcends it’s time period. Unlike the dorkish title and sleeve design.

Blade Runner: OST (standard edition)

Maybe I’m listening to too much retro soundtrack music. I’ve always liked this but haven’t bought a copy since I got stung by the ridiculous “jazz” reworking that masqueraded as Blade Runner for years. Here we have Vangelis’ authentic score, but if I wanted to hear voiceovers from the film scattered over the music I’d have bought the (cheaper) DVD instead, which also comes with visuals. I can’t really recommend this recording.

M83: Before the Dawn Heals Us

Most of my CD collection is hardcore and classical/soundtrack music so I’m trying to find some modern electronic music I can listen to in more social situations such as when my girlfriend’s in the same room as me. I’ve only heard this once – I like the synth layers which give a nice Pink Floyd-esque expansiveness but could do without the over-excited clacking of the “real” drums, as well as some deliberately aimlessness lyrics. We’ll see…

Eyesores

Click images to enlarge.

Video Nasties (part 1)

In 1984 the British Department of Public Prosecutions issued the Video Recordings act, outlawing 39 horror films released on video cassette. The tabloid press labelled them the “Video Nasties.” Most of these films have now returned uncut on DVD, but, a quarter of a century on, are they worth the bother? Find out as two films selected for their similarities fight through four brutal catagories in…

Notoriety

I Spit on Your Grave is king here, having received outright bans in various countries and the current UK DVD release is still missing 41 seconds. Mostly due to its title and ingenious marketing, which had very little to do with the film itself, this has become one of the most notorious nasties. 9/10

Last House on the Left is not widely known to those unfamiliar with the horror genre, lacking in a title of shock and awe. The “keep repeating, it’s only a movie” tagline may produce a comforting wave of nostalgic outrage in a small sector of the moral majority, though. 3/10

DVD Editions

Bizarrely, I Spit gets the THX certified treatment in the R1 Millennium Edition meaning this uncut print of the 1976 film looks fantastic, a commentary from bonkers director Meir Zarchi which goes some way to explaining his misguided and misunderstood attempt to strike a blow for rape victims, and film critic Joe Bob Briggs who at some points gets close to realising how risible the movie is. Also the usual trailers etc which are of some historical interest. 8/10

The new British Ultimate Edition of Last House lives up to its name with exhaustive extras that can provide months or a one very long night of entertainment, depending on the viewer’s enthusiasm levels. Three discs are rammed with facts and interviews surrounding this fascinating film. A personal favourite part being the interviews with star David Hess, who tries painfully hard not to be like his on-screen persona, whilst paradoxically being employed in the hope that he does so. Adding to the hilarity is co-star, and latterly porn producer Frank Lincoln who rejects this work as amoral, inexplicably citing it as responsible for “eighty rapes in America.” He insists he had a “great time” during production, though. Add interviews with Cagney and Lacey’s Martin Kove and you’re in for featurettes as eccentric as the film itself. Shot on blurry 16mm, the film looks about as good as its likely to for the foreseeable future, and so any HD version would be pointless. The inaptly named Carl Daft gives a heartrending account of his battle with the BBFC to give the UK an uncut DVD release. 10/10

The Films

Meir Zarchi claims I Spit to be made as a reaction his seeing a gang rape victim, ignored and bloodied in a police station, and so around a third of the running time is a rape scene, a third whilst the protagonist exacts revenge and the other third is spent asleep. There is no reason to doubt his sincerity, but Schindler’s List it isn’t and the single offensive thing about I Spit is that such a poor film should be made about the upsetting subject matter. The script, which he gleefully proclaims to have been written in 20 minute intervals during his commute, is very, very poor with the all the characters behaving strangely with no insights into anything at all. The editing, which Zarchi performed himself over the period of a year, is tortuously slow, embarrassing the actors (who appear to deal well with a difficult task) as they are shown walking and shuffling, filling long gaps between lines of silly dialogue, the lack of musical soundtrack heightening the effect. The only way to view this film without suffering suicidal tedium is as a comedy – a few friends and beers and retarded character Mathew’s assertions that he “can’t come”, or lead rapist Johnny’s reasoning that his actions were “what any man would have done” are hilarious. 2/10 

Contrastingly, 1971’s Last House on the Left is far from boring and gallops through its 83 minutes with the enthusiasm of some loosed steroidal stallion. I would take issue with the film’s commonly perceived status as the first slasher movie, as the characters are far in advance of the masked cartoons of the genre. The acting as all the artistic qualities far outweigh the $90,000 budget and first-time director status of Wes Craven as well as a crew experienced only in the making of documentaries enhance rather than limit the making of what was an experimental film. The violence can be genuinely affecting and depressing, evoking a time of the Manson murders and Vietnam as the tale which is on the surface one of good and evil, but occasionally slips into one of the futility of conflict. The folk music of the soundtrack provides a distracting lyrical aside to the action, its humour misplaced here, but the more avant garde pieces during the murders are quite effectual, which the naïve clangings and synth squelchings producing a surprisingly chilling atmosphere to the fraught scenes of abuse. This film far outguns its status as “video nasty” and this is as good as real-world horror gets. 9/10

Gore content

I Spit contains little blood letting, and whilst the famous castration scene is reasonably effective the other deaths are laughably poor. The elongated rape scene contains a few hair raising moments, but more due to the ill-treated subject matter and consistent screaming than anything else. 3/10 

Last House is also remarkably free of gore for a work so tirelessly pursued by the censors, but what little there is enhances a harrowing view. 4/10

Result

Last House slays I Spit by four points, remaining a classically powerful piece of horror cinema as opposed to a curio which, like many of the nasties, may well have been forgotten were it not for attempts prevent its distribution.

New Order: Original Masters

Blue Monday: art over wealth and ego

When I was awarded my first recording contract in the early 90s I was shocked at how the music business still encouraged childish images of rebellion and pretentious attitudes from artists, because I thought that had all been killed off. Not by the then current rave culture but by New Order, surely the best band of their era. The most iconic image, for me was their Top of the Pops appearance for Blue Monday. Seemingly dragged from Manchester via the Co-op clothing department, they looked gaunt and uncomfortable as they shambled their way through their beautifully melancholy electronic symphony. They imsisted on playing live and, as though to prove it, even the synthesizers were out of tune. Such a world away from Miami Vice, big hair, big grins, big voices, big wallets, wanker DJs, the whole shebang.

Hearing recent pastiches of their work by The Ting Tings and Sugarbabes reminded me to restock my New Order CD collection, as when my old discs were either played to death or killed by trampling and oxidisation. All their 80s albums now come remastered in a collector’s edition with a second CD of remixes. The original album tracks still sound fresh, with Bernard Sumner’s little stories and/or streams of consciousness are always poignant and warming even when intending nonchalance and sarcasm. The backing is mostly inventive, and can fluctuate from charmingly naïve to toweringly statuesque in a brilliantly disarming fashion. The effect is heightened by the fact anybody with a modern PC could theoretically make this music, but nobody ever will. The remixes, however, from the likes of Shep Pettibone sound hideously dated and weren’t that great in the first place, overlong and literally laced with bells and whistles. Blue Monday ‘88 sounded bad by 1989, its shameless commercialism standing in monotonic contrast to the accidental ethics of the original’s infamous loss making sleeve design. The pleasingly restrained remastering process whilst adding nothing to the recordings, doesn’t spoil anything, making it no worse than pointless. The Perfect Pit is a glaring omission from the Lowlife CD – a short deconstructed version of The Perfect Kiss which I beleive to be the precursor of 808 State’s Cubik – the track which defined early ‘90’s hardcore and remains influential.

New Order were so hardcore from a marketing perspective that many of their singles didn’t appear on the albums at all. But the remastering of the relatively recent singles compilations has fared much worse than the albums, with the sound compressed to all but eliminate dynamics in order to raise the volume – perhaps to appeal to the severely disabled listener incapable of adjusting his or her hi-fi controls. I don’t really see the point of remastering old material at all – the originals sounded fine and translated well to CD so what’s the point? Current music is mixed in the knowledge of what the modern mastering process involves, and therefore is well suited to the procedure. Take the aforementioned Sugarbabes’ About You Now, for example. Its titanium clad production thrives on the mechanical pummelling and squashing like a super-knight, but older recordings cannot survive the punishment that they were not designed for. There is no point in imposing these 2008 production values onto old recordings, any more than there is a point to applying 21^st century moral values onto a 17^th century witch-hunt.

So as well as recommending the old editions of the New Order albums, a real must-have is Substance 1987 – now widely available for well under a tenner. Over two hours of New Order single heaven with their own remixes, completely untouched by misguided tweaking. The one problem – you might have to turn the original masters up.

Racing Green?

F1 tryers

In another embarrassing attempt for Formula 1 motor sport to gain ecological credentials, this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix will feature cars with green striped tyres. Personally, I love the sport and am happy to spend a couple of hours of excitement and escapism, tending to forget the prospect of being globally warmed. All the silly painted tyres will do is remind viewers of the car’s huge fuel consumption - as well as mass air travel to the races, and possibly even how the automotive industry are using Grands Prix to promote road car use in the new markets of the Middle and Far East. Indeed, if F1 continue to draw attention to the political issues inherent in international motorsport, perhaps the promotional material for the last few races of the season could look something like this…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Get off my back, DUDE!

 

After being too ill to cycle for a over a year, I sometimes peruse my Raceface hydropack that lurks in the kitchen. I first bought a hydropack around ten years ago – it’s a backpack that contains a plastic bladder (usually around 1.5-2 litres) to fill with water or energy drink, a tube goes over your shoulder and you suck on it to have a drink. There’s also space in the pack for a few spares, pump, inner tubes etc – I guess you get the message that it isn’t an especially glamorous piece of equipment. In fact, I used to get some very strange looks. SCARY!

However, around five years ago some “extreme” mountain bike riders were photographed wearing hydropacks whilst performing outrageous tricks – road gaps, cliff drops, 360s and even fully inverted – upside down and fully hydrated. WOW!

To begin with I thought there to be some humourous fad, but no. These were freeriders (previously, “freerider” was cycle company Cannondales’s copyrighted term for non-race or downhill mountain biking) who, the story goes, ride on 45lb bikes pulling mad tricks but covering enough of Canada to require tools and water. Now the UK cycle industry are playing it is that, if you’re on a normal UK trail rider you need an expensive overbuilt bike with 6 inches of suspension travel – plus a hydropack - presumably for bandages and morphine. MENTAL!

Even more bizarre, though, is the appearance of backpacks is new quad bike videogame Pure. They may have lost the plastic tubes, but I recognise ‘em – hydropacks worn whilst the riders race and perform fantastical freeride manoeuvres – a utilitarian device rendered free of any practical use! Now we’re just literally twiddling our thumbs – controlling a virtual hydropack. AWESOME!

I blame Red Bull for making the link between drab items and adrenaline fueled excitement – their marketing has implied for years that opening a can of pop may make you an F1 pilot or aeroplane racer. But I remember long before Red Bull there were Pepsi Max adverts making the link between extreme sports and soft drinks. Now even PCs are also often described as “extreme” – another thumb twiddler. Along with shitty brick-slow 4×4s. And every other crappy TV programme that inserts the word into the title to luridly suggest voyeuristic danger – all from the safety of one’s own armchair. CRAZY!

The word “extreme” and most of the surrounding vocabulary were wrought into marketing buzzwords around the turn of the century, and you can blame the same kind of marketing people who re-invented the hydropack. Or maybe it was Bill and Ted. But I’d rather imagine it was an elite squad of London-based media chicks, replete with 3 litre hydropacks containing enough vodka and Red Bull to talk shite for weeks. LET’S ROCK N’ ROLL

 

Links

Pinkbike.com has thousands of genuinely awesome freeride shots – with and without hydropacks

Camelback are the originators of the hydropack

Before the drugs kicked in, this post was going to be about Pure, a quad bike game – see developers Black Rock Studios

Toetag Pictures

It’s a frustrating life being a hardened fan of the horror film. Finding sufficient blood letting is hard enough, but any sort of invention and excitement in what has become a remarkably conservative genre is a rarity. One such rareity, however is Toetag Pictures, an independent collective of talented young people from the land of the dead, Pittsburgh. Quite literally graduates of the Tom Savini school of gore, their movies delight in pushing the boundaries of acceptability into…well, not being very acceptable at all!

August Underground

The first Toetag celebration of vileness invites us to watch the video recorded exploits of two serial killers, but in a completely unflinching way with elongated scenes of realistic torture, including some nasty sexual violence. I imagine this is pretty close to being what a snuff movie would actually be – and if that appeals to you you’ll probably love it. Otherwise absolutely don’t bother. I think they got a bit carried away with the idea of the killer being otherwise “normal”, though, as the day-to-day sequences can be dull.

August Underground’s Mordem

Not sure how the titling system works, but this is the second, and best, in the series. Gone is any mooching around – just hardcore violence – although the acting (of the main characters, anyway) and characterisation are far superior to the first film. The aforementioned sexual violence is ramped up to almost pornographic levels and of the protagonists is female which adds a great twist. This is quite unbelievably sick and reminds me of nightmares I used to have years ago, with people chopped up and fucked all over the place! Sublime and unmissable.

August Underground’s Penance

Not a great conclusion to the trilogy for me, but I gather Toetag consider it the best. Much wandering around and soul searching between the gore, spiced up with infrequent animal slaughter. It’s not exactly Cannibal Holocaust, in that the sequences aren’t staged for the camera, thus avoiding any moral paradox. But I just spent the film feeling sorry for the animals which isn’t how I wish to spend my leisure time, thanks.

The Redsin Tower

The first TT production to be shot on film and it looks not only professional but very good indeed. Coming across like an Evil Dead meets Friday 13th homage, with some knowingly inane and humourous dialogue. The highlight for me is a great “demon baby plucked from the womb” sequence, which is shot in bright light, unlike some of the other special FX, which lose some impact inside the dark and eponymous tower. This, like all TT’s work, shows great promise.

Sp what’s next for Toetag - personally I’d love to see something with the violence of Mordem shot on 35mm, but it is unclear if the company wish to continue producing material like that or become a pure SFX lab which would be a shame. Even if these films aren’t to your taste they are at the very least interesting and are bound to make everyone feel something. Most horror films simply aren’t horrific whilst Toetag seek to innovate and up the gore, sometimes in truly shocking ways. I’d like to see films that will cause as much outrage now as the video nasties did in the 1980s – not nostalgic or ironic recreations of a time gone by. Movies to punish the senses, spill guts and make it hurt.

Toetag’s films are all available on DVD from their website with international delivery. There is also much entertaining info on the company. I am gleeful to report that the AU films sometimes get confiscated by customs in the UK, so you may to prefer to use Ebay

Those were the tedious days…

Be in no doubt, there was fuck all to do in the 1980s. As a fourteen year old uninterested in sport, a dysfunctional family life and television programs a dirge of smug, po-faced rubbish my Commodore computer was my escape, and effectively introduced me to electronic music. Prior to that, my main source of music was listening to metal and punk tapes through my ZX Spectrum tape deck – just like a primitive EA Trax. With the C64 you couldn’t use the tape deck for music so I was forced to listen to the in-game music (on the “SID” chip) and loved it, and through that developed a taste for Jean Michel Jarre, through to Front 242 and European industrial music up to techno 12”s, all of which directly influenced my early musical output.

Playing the games themselves for any length of time, like watching films from the 1920s or a four hour plays from the 16th century, is a truly specialist interest, requiring dewy yet steely eyes for the appalling graphics, and saintly patience for the high difficulty levels – there was a lot less entertainment on offer in those days – so plenty of time to plug through the ever repeating levels ad nauseam.

The music, however, can be enjoyed whilst doing more interesting things on your PC and the Sidplay emulator is excellent and absolutely free. Most of the tracks are poor even allowing for the technology but downloading the, ahem, “top 64” is a slight quality control – a few that made me smile are Rambo: First Blood Part 2, Crazy Comets, The Last V8 and Forbidden Forest.

I’m not sure the whole thing is interesting enough to warrant the small cult that appears to be surrounding it, but following the links to the sites of the obsessed is interesting in itself, as is the fact that many producers such as Timberland are using SID sounds in their productions, via SID VSTi plug-ins. However, for a supreme example of a modern interpretation of C64 music, check out the free demo of Bionic Commando: Rearmed for Xbox 360.

 

Links 

Sidplay 2 emulator

Top 64 C64 trax

Full collection of SID files

Quadrasid VSTi plug-in

Buy a hardware SID for £300!

Slay radio – “modern” C64 remixes