Farewell Gil Scott.(visual poetry c/o Chris Cunningham)

Farewell to another freedom fighter.

Throat singing and sound colour

Stephen Hawking on Death

Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking recently explained his belief that there is no God and that humans should therefore seek to live the most valuable lives they can while on Earth.

Guardian writer Ian Sample asked Hawking if he feared death in a story published yesterday. This was his response:

I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I'm not afraid of death, but I'm in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first. I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.

Hawking's 1988 book "A Brief History of Time" sold 9 million copies, and in it Hawking referenced God metaphorically as the force that could fully explain the creation of the universe.

But in 2010, Hawking told Diane Sawyer that "science will win" in a battle with religion "because it works."

"What could define God [is a conception of divinity] as the embodiment of the laws of nature. However, this is not what most people would think of that God," Hawking told Sawyer. "They made a human-like being with whom one can have a personal relationship. When you look at the vast size of the universe and how insignificant an accidental human life is in it, that seems most impossible."

Hawking's latest book, "The Grand Design," challenged Isaac Newton's theory that the solar system could not have been created without God. "Because there is a law such as gravity, the Universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the Universe exists, why we exist. It is not necessary to invoke God to ... set the Universe going," he writes.

Hawking was diagnosed with the degenerative Lou Gehrig's disease at the age of 21. He lost his power of speech and for decades has talked through an electronic speech synthesizer. The device has allowed him to continue his research and attain a top Cambridge research post, which was previously held by Newton. His most famous theory explains how black holes emit radiation, according to The Guardian.

So if everyone is destined to power-down like computers at the end of their lives, what should humans do to lend meaning to their experience?

"We should seek the greatest value of our action," Hawking told the paper.

King Midas Sound raw/roar

An audience vid from Territorios/Sevilla capturing hints of the next chapter of King Midas Sound. Raw, blurred and noisey = cool.

Appropriate Demdike Stare video = Very cool

Demdike Stare - Violetta from The Wire Magazine on Vimeo.

Soul Jazz/Bug bashy dubs comp collab soon come

Soul Jazz Records presents Invasion of the Killer Mysteron Sounds in 3-D (Dancehall Digital Dub)

Compiled by Kevin Martin (The Bug) and Stuart Baker (Soul Jazz Records)

Available on 2 part 2LP & 2xCD, to pre-order please contact us at info@conch.co.nz

Kevin Martin (aka The Bug/ King Midas Sound) and Stuart Baker (Soul Jazz Records) have put together a unique new project bringing together new, exclusive and in-demand digital music by electronic futurists Harmonic 313, Diplo, Roots Manuva, South Rakkas Crew,The Bug and more alongside a killer selection of Jamaican digital and electronic scientific dub and dancehall.

Exclusive new tracks and mixes by Harmonic 313, Stereotyp, Federation, in-demand tracks from the likes of Roots Manuva, Diplo and South Rakkas Crew, the toughest digital and twisted rhythms from legendary producers King Jammy, Steely and Clevie, Sly Dunbar, Prince Jazzbo, King Tubby, Firehouse Crew and more all feature on this unique release.

The double album comes in limited edition heavyweight deluxe hardcover 2-CD card-casing complete with a limited-edition graphic novel by Italian comic book designer Paolo Parisi (whose books include subjects as diverse as John Coltrane and Chernobyl). This specially commissioned graphic novel is a science-fiction vision of the future of digital music, featuring King Tubby, Steely and Clevie, Jammy, Jazzbo, complete with Alien Sound Lord Abductors, Aural Freedom Fighters and Digi-Dub Voyagers!

There are also two super-heavy, super-loud, deluxe gatefold double-vinyl editions (with the first copies also including a limited edition graphic-novel).

Tracklisting:

CD ONE / Double LP volume one

1. Steely & Clevie ‘Streetsweeper’
2. Lenky & Sly ‘Now Thing’
3. Ricky Ranking fT. Roots Manuva ‘Doogoo Dub’
4. Dave Kelly ‘The Return’
5. Annex Crew ‘Summerbounce’
6. Federation Sound ‘Flatlands (Brooklyn Dub Mix)’
7. Lenky ‘Diwali Riddim’
8. Team Shadatek ‘Yoga Riddim’
9. Stereotyp ft. Alley Cat ‘Modern Times’
10. The Grynch ft. Tippa Irie ‘Electro Agony in Dub’
11. Fira ‘Hummer Version’
12. Diplo ‘Diplo Rhythm’
13. Harmonic 313 ‘Bazooka Riddim’
14. Ward 21 Productions ‘Pit Bull’
15. Redlight ‘M.D.M.A’.
16. The Bug ‘Aktion Dub’

CD?TWO / Double LP volume two

1. Fat Eyes ‘Clothes Pin Rhythm’
2. Steven Ventura 4 Kings of Kings ‘Throw Your Hands Up version’
3. Sly Dunbar and Christopher Birch ‘Corners Boy’
4. David Jahson ‘King of Kings Dub’
5. Fat Eyes ‘Steel Plate’
6. South Rakkas Crew ‘Red Alert’
7. Parara and McCoy ‘Them Can’t Hold Yuh Gal version’
8. King Tubby ‘Fat Thing version’
9. World Beat ‘Gold Mine’
10. Andre ‘Suku’ Gray (Jammys) ‘Sign Rhythm’
11. Henfield and Shadowman ‘Babatunde’
12. Firehouse Crew ‘No False Hair’
13. Computer Paul ‘World Talk’
14. Fat Eyes ‘Overdose’
15. Prince Jazzbo ‘Great Stone version’
16. Kickin’ Productions ‘What You Gonna Do’
17. Pliers (Bonner Productions)’ I’m Your Man Dub’
18. Wiz Kidz ‘Team In My Heart version’
19. Jammys ‘Jam 2’ James (Jammys) ‘Peenie Peenie’

Ras G & his Afrikan Space Program Kiiiiiiiilling it !