Is Reading Festival truly devoid of soul?

80,000 patrons decend on the Reading Festival arena daily over the August bank holiday weekend, a collosal ending to the ‘festival season’ of sorts that extends from Glastonbury in late June, through the T in the Park and Oxegen festivals in July, and ends in August with the likes of V Festival and Reading Festival. These are only the major festivals; trace back almost every weekend in the summer months and there is a festival to be found – Green Man, Latitiude, Lovebox, Z008, Offset, Standon Calling, Bloodstock, Download, Field Day, Connect to name but a few – many of which have been founded in the last couple of years following the more ‘alternative’ and ‘indie’ rock crossing over into mainstream radio play. Of course, as popularity of the music increases, so does the demand for the festivals, with Reading and Leeds selling out in mere seconds (even the 2009 presale tickets).

One problem – if Reading/Leeds sells out so fast, how is there time to look at the line up and consider if it’s worth the money (currently at £165 (not including booking fees) and rising)? The answer: you don’t. Which could logically mean only a few things:

1. The line up is predictable enough to base buying a ticket for, or
2. The broader appeal is in the event itself as opposed to the actual music.

First, focus on the implications of the first point – what bands have the festivals provided in the last couple of years? 2007 featured almost the entire roster of artists on the Decaydance label (Fall Out Boy, Cobra Starship, Gym Class Heroes, The Academy Is… and Panic At The Disco all making an appearance at the festival) – all of which impacted in the UK albums and singles charts. Again consider 2007 for the rise of dance/electronic based indie/rock – the Klaxons managed to secure a headlining slot on the second biggest stage on the back of their debut album, while CSS, Hadouken!, New Young Pony Club and Jamie T all were placed on the same stage on the same day. Can this attribute of booking the most popular alternative genres of the last couple of years be the reason for the massively swelling popularity of the festival, considering tickets didn’t sell out within the hour before, say, 2006? I do not believe so. Take the line up of Reading 1993 as a perfect example – Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, Butthole Surfers, Tool, Dinosaur Jr, Primus, Jesus Lizard, Swervedriver and The Flaming Lips all played the festival, and are all examples of early 90s alternative hard rock (bordering the bridge between the popularity of Shoegaze, which secured Chapterhouse, Catherine Wheel and Swervedriver places in 1991, and the popularity of Grunge, which did the same for Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden and Mudhoney in 1995).

So while the line-up may be predictable enough to cause the massive popularity Reading has embraced in recent years, flicking through previous line ups and comparing musical trends indicates that the music’s popularity isn’t so much a factor in the seemingly random mainstream appeal festivals have recieved – which leaves the second point, that the event itself precedes importance over the music, and taken that the event is centered around music, it seems almost paradoxical that this is even possible. However, quick musing around the summer’s mainstream media turns up results which are less “rock” as Reading was once percieved to be – no, in fact if you happened to chance upon the June issue of Grazia, you’d find the front cover showing ‘all the latest festival fashions’. Since when did a magazine designed for 18-40 year old women with interests in celebrity culture, fashion and dieting become entagled with the traditionally more alternative and arguably masculine, muddy festival stereotype? “Time to channel your best Kate Moss at Glastonbury-inspired outfit, pull on your gumboots and get rocking“, Grazia tells us – is this really the festival way, to festival for the sake of looking like your fashion idol? Have I got the wrong end of the stick? And more importantly, is this the reason why Reading Festival seems so damn devoid of the soul and spirit I found in smaller festivals such as Lovebox?

While it could just be a coincidence that Grazia latching onto festivals and the rest of the women’s weeklies clinging on like leeches trying to spot their favorite celebrities as the mean age of festival goers invariably falls, it’s a sad but true fact that the once mightly Reading Festival is being overtaken by younger audiences more focused on boozing up to the nines and finding facebook photo opportunities than having a true passion for the music – it’s an all too common occurance that a drunken troupé would shove into the middle of a crowd of a band that had that one big single, where they would shout to each other and take pictures of each other through the entire set until that one single begrudgingly flickered into life, where they’d suddenly burst into life by jumping around shouting along to the riff/synth line, before promptly leaving to get some more booze. Even at the most popular of gigs, this is usually a minor problem, but at a festival it seems acceptable – “we can do it because it’s Reading [or, indeed, most larger festivals]” being taken as a mantra, as a new way of life at festivals.

And not only are the crowd likely to be amoungst the worst or unappreciative for any type of music event (see the FF’ers disaster of 2008 where the band got bottled for not being the Foo Fighters), but the music specifically at Reading is starting to become dreary and uninspired; Dance Tents become more dance-flavored rock with CSS and Robots in Disguise, as opposed to the UNKLE, Coldcut and Aphex Twin of old, but bands are being put on the bill year after year at an alarming rate, The Subways for instance playing for 5 years straight, and both Biffy Clyro and Bloc Party playing 3 times in 4 years. Where’s the true variety? We want real dance! We want real hip hop, not just a couple of grime acts every year! We want more interesting, more experimental acts! We don’t just want new bands with a couple of older ones thrown in, we want a decent mix!

Or is that ‘we’? Is ‘we’, the music loving section of the populace, now not the main audience for Reading or Leeds? Is the real ‘we’ now the fashion obsessed, mediocre music listener looking to booze it up in a field? Music fans, read and weep: we have been outphased, our very tastes an outdated business model for the big promoters such as Festival Republic, and the new model, the new audience, becoming lucrative enough to draw in a whole host of new festivals offering nothing new, many of which collapsing under such pressures (Z008 being a disaster as well as Wild In The Country). And while the real music fans have been edged out of larger festivals, and turn towards the smaller festivals for their fix of remotely interesting music, such as the ATP festivals, something tells me that the larger festival bubble will surely sometime in the next couple of years burst – while I’m not hoping for collapse of an icon such as Reading and Leeds festivals, maybe it’s for the best interests of real music fans.

Or maybe I’m a massive narcisstic pretentious snob. Who knows.

 

The Flaming Lips: Lovebox Festival, Victoria Park – 20/07/2008

Ask yourself this: How do you top Goldfrapp’s set at a festival, which incorporated dancing colourful yetis, a cunningly disguised pole along with a couple of pole dancers, and a whole arrary of stuffed critters loitering amoungst the musicians? The answer, for The Flaming Lips, is you don’t; you completely destroy it. Before we get into more detail, let me just say that out of the many gigs I’ve been to in the last couple of years, this was probably one of the most extravagant, over the top and downright fun sets I have ever witnessed anywhere, let alone at a festival (and don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen some of the best at showmanship, for example Roger Waters and Bjork).

Having the band themselves set up their instruments (a rare occassion for any moderately big band, let alone the headliners of a festival) with a crew equipped with a curiously odd uniform of florescent orange worker suits (which parallelled the colour scheme of just about everything on stage apart from the band themselves and the guitars/drums), anticipation from the crowd was soaring as the screen on the stage burst into life and 2 groups of dancers joined the stage from either side, half aptly dressed as Iron Man and half laden in pink (someone correct me if I’m wrong) Imperial Star Wars suits. Ever the showman, Wayne Coyne, ever-enthusiastic frontman is lifted in a giant bubble onto the crowd, and much to the delight of the crowd, begins to roll around gleefully. The expression on his face is pure joy and evident love for his trade – much like a schoolboy in a sweet shop eying up the sherbert flying saucers, Wayne shows his love for his fans (one of whom turned up in a tiger outfit – I salute you). Getting back on the stage, the band tear into The Soft Bulletin opener Race For The Prize, all while setting off confetti “master blasters”, canes which fired streamers and more confetti from the end, and the aforementioned screen in the back of the stage which bizarrely enough showed a japanese game show with girls and alligators – all, of course, integral to the Lips’ quirky charm. Not that all this is a gimmick – oh no, musically, they captured all the magic and sparkle of the record, complete with the cheery keyboard which drives the song.

The set mostly featured from their more recent albums, Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots and At War With The Mystics, although it did feature choice cuts from their more noisy, psychedelic albums pre-Soft Bulletin – an unusual choice was a cover of Led Zeppelin song The Song Remains The Same, which was preceeded by Wayne reminicing about his own memories of the song, namely that of everyone in the crowd running around naked to the summery tune; obviously craving audience participation, he used every opportunity to draw the audience in and make them feel part of the show. Free Radicals, The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song and Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Part One all had Wayne demanding a good ol’ fashioned crowd singalong, and that’s what he got; “FANATICAL , FUCK!” and “YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH” impressively loud enough to perhaps grant Wayne’s wish of it reaching the White House and changing their delerious ways. The real clinch of the package was their ability to combine crazy and downright ridiculous on stage actions with mature songwriting and lyrics, yet combined with the singalong factor the band seems designed for (although the maturity doesn’t come out in the two singalong snippets I wrote).

The band managed to maintain an impressive balance between their newer, lush and fuller compositions and their older, sparser tunes; songs such as The W.A.N.D. and Pompeii am Götterdämmerung were the newer crowd pleasers, showing an arrary of truly powerful hooks and lush riffs (which garnered an odd amount of popularity given that the festival was more dance orientated, given Roni Size and Goldfrapp’s appearance earlier on in the day, not to mention the good few dance stages dominated by DJs), while songs such as Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Part One and Vein of Stars were more stripped down and fragile, especially Yoshimi, which was turned from it’s album personna of glitched up acoustic guitar and full blooded song to one played on two pianos, relying on the audience to sing along to it – one of the more memorable moments of the evening out of many. Of course, the older consistency of the back catalog begged for a visit, which was delivered by In a Priest Driven Ambulance’s Mountainside and Transmissions from the Satellite Heart’s She Don’t Use Jelly – both of which went down a storm with the crowd. Both She Don’t Use Jelly and Yoshimi’s Fight Test featured especially fantastic visuals in the background – Fight Test having clips of children being beaten and kicked in obviously fake ways (no need to call the social services just yet), giving a humourous backdrop to the song, while She Don’t Use Jelly was backed with a woman in a bath filled with tangerines, holding toast, an apt nod to the song itself.

Set closer Do You Realise?? amalgamated all the elements which made their set fantastic – fantastic visuals everywhere on the stage, streamers left right and centre, even more confetti, and of course the song – all encompassing and introspective, it served as the perfect closer to one of the most downright perfect sets I have ever seen, full stop. While it may have been a little bit on the short side, it was fantastic visually and musically, not to mention that this was a festival, where spectacles such as this are not readily expected save for the most extravagant festival, which Lovebox certainly was not (this is not a criticism, it was superb). Which makes me wonder; if their festival set is this good, just how good are their solo shows?

Setlist:

Ta Dah
Race For The Prize
Free Radicals
Fight Test
The Song Remains The Same
Mountainside
Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Part One
Pompeii am Götterdämmerung
Vein Of Stars
The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song
The W.A.N.D.
She Don’t use Jelly
Do You Realize??

 

Top 5: Short Films

Short films; while they don’t have the same broad appeal of your king-size film, there’s definately some out there which are worth a few minutes of your time. Okay, so they won’t have the same character development, special effects or action packed sequences as what’s in your box office at the moment, a simple few minutes sat down in front of Youtube or flicking through a DVD compilation is a bize sized introducion into the director’s imagination, and while there may be the usual cannon fodder of student portfolio pieces with dodgy dialogue, both professional and up-and-coming filmmakers showcase their talent through the media. Without further ado…

5) POUND

Director: Evan Bernard

Released in 2007, this video is incredibly complex in it’s simplicity – the basic premise is two people meet, who then for about a minute engage in a truly sterling example of how to do a handshake. After which, they look at each other for a brief moment, before doing a goodbye handshake – again, humorously complex. After this, a brief “see ya”, before one of the men walks around the corner and does it all over again with another person (obscured by credits). Conceptialized as a viral video designed specifically for YouTube, Evan Bernard streches from his usual expertise of music videos (having directed for the likes of Slayer, Beastie Boys, Basement Jaxx, and Moby) and produces a simple yet very effective piece – most of it is in one shot, which makes you admire just how long it took them to perfect the handshake.

4) RUBBER JOHNNY

Director: Chris Cunningham

Another short film directed by an acclaimed music video director (directing for Bjork, Squarepusher, Portishead, and more), this one is a slightly unsettling story of a mutant boy with a vastly oversized head, strapped into a wheelchair in a dark room, and how he amuses himself and his pet, a rather terrified pet Chihuahua. Oh, and he streches and morphs and appears to fire lasers. Oh, and the soundtrack is provided by none other than IDM god Aphex Twin. To be honest, you need to watch it to really make sense of it, as for those of you oof there who have seen other Cunningham videos (most notably All is Full of Love, Come To Daddy, and Come On My Selector), then you know how… imaginative he can be. Parts disturbing, parts amusing, all incredible.

3) STILL LIFE

Director: Jon Knautz

Ever seen The Twilight Zone before? This creepy, unsettling film is a stylish throwback to the same scenarios faced in the hit TV show, condensing a typical episode down into a story that will shiver your spine. Especially the second time you watch it, which you undoubtably will. The plot follows Nathan Evans, who finds himself sleep deprived, out of fuel in a strange, unfamilar town – and whose journey takes a turn for the worse when after hitting what appears to be a mannequin with his car, the entire town also appears to be a lifeless habitat of mannequins. One catch – Super-Mario-Boo style, they move when he is not looking, which sends him spiralling to the tragic, shocking ending… watch it in the dark.

2) FOR THE BIRDS

Director: Pixar

Remember when a CGI animation film at the cinema was a rare occurance? Remember how great they used to be? Forget Over The Hedge, Ice Age etc etc, For The Birds was first released alongside Monsters Inc. in 2001, as a kind of B-Movie to the main attraction – this was when CGI wasn’t a tired formula incorporating stock characters and plot around a tired framework. And I can, and will, argue it looks more fantastic than some of the stuff coming out recently. This particular short is one of those rare animated pieces that manage to reach a wider audience than just children, or just adults – it’s a story of a big, clumsy bird being rediculed by the smaller birds, before the big bird gets the last laugh. While it is a simple storyline, it is executed perfectly, no doubt helped by the expert animation that Pixar used to stand for – feathers fly, characters move perfectly… this is a perfect animated short.

1) SAY, MARIMO

Director: Atsushi Sanada

SPOILER BELOW: You might want to watch the film before reading

Appearing on the Japanese short film compilation, All About My Dog, this is probably one of the most poignant tear-jerkers you will watch all year – a daul narrative following firstly that of a Japanese girl then that of her beloved puppy, Say, Marimo explores the emotions and reasoning behind death; stay with me now, this is not a depressive story of a dog dying. Instead, through a style not dissimilar to 1930s silent films, the narrative of the piece is shown through a switching of the characters moving throughout the world, interjected with cards showing their throughts – one of the most memorable moments of the piece is where the schoolgirl, Mika, is running through the streets back to the home, having obviously heard the news that all is not good for her dog, Marimo, which is interuppted every few seconds with one repeated phrase written down: “Why?“. However, the second half of the film provides the dog’s narrative, and the unrelenting love he feels for it’s “elder sister”, all the way to the end, in which it provides a resolution in the form of an apology. The soundtrack similarly is reminicent of the silent films, and add a whole dimenson to the piece, fitting perfectly. While it is ultimately a sad tale, the resolution and the happiness in life are comforting, and create one of the most moving pieces of film I personally have seen in a long, long time.

Who needs a “regular” film when a short film can pack so much emotion into it, ranging from the sublime to the frankly bizarre (which, admittedly, is what a lot of them are)? Don’t disregard the short film as a medium of artistic integrity – in the age of bite size films in the form of YouTube and similar online video platforms, it just may, one day, become the choice size for mainstream film.

 

I’m Watching You…

It’s been said that there are 4,200,000 security surveillance cameras in the UK – that’s one for every fourteen people here. While this does, of course, pose major issues surrounding the boundary between protection and privacy, it also opens up windows of any location armed with a webcam as surveillance which is linked up to the online network.

So how would one go about looking through these cameras? Hacking? Transmodulating frequencies and cross matching amplitudes in order to transcorrelate a modulated image? No, good sir – our good friend Google, home of such phenomena as ‘Googlebombing’ (the act of influencing the ranking of a Google search result – for example, the phrase ‘French military victories’ brought up “Your search – French military victories – did not match any documents. Did you mean French military defeats?”), can dig up these surveillance devices and give you a glimpse inside. Try it now: type in “inurl:/view.shtml” into the Google search engine and watch as it produces page upon page of results similar to “Axis 2120 Network Camera 2.40″. Now, click one of these and you could be watching anything really – plane runways, cafes, Russian towns, bars, Japanese dams, roads, boats… it goes on really.

Is it a breach of privacy? In some ways, sure; if you were the couple in a pub on the 15^th July (which brandished a scarf declaring support of Woking FC) at about 1pm who bought two pints of lager, then now’s the time to know that I saw you. For everyone else (and probably said couple), is that not worrying? The Orwellian fantasy of an eye in every life monitoring what we do is becoming reality – that is, if society’s views on security and privacy become so blurred that the populace believe that constant security is the answer to our troubles – despite a senior police officer denouncing their effectiveness in crime situations (as of May 2008, only 3% of all street robbers were caught and sentenced using CCTV evidence).

“CCTV was originally seen as a preventative measure,” Detective Chief Inspector, Mick Neville, talked about the failings of the practical uses of CCTV at the Security Document World Conference in London. “Billions of pounds have been spent on kit, but no thought has gone into how the police are going to use the images and how they will be used in court. Why don’t people fear it? [They think] the cameras are not working.” So the question must be asked, do people mind being watched by CCTV cameras if their practical use is not effective enough to be truly useful?

However, wide open networking without security on surveillance systems is hardly commonplace nowadays – it’s not like you can Google-spy on Area 51 or MI5, and to be honest, the places which can be seen are mostly mundane and just about interesting enough to stop your work for a few minutes while a boat sails by a holiday resort. Besides, the practical uses for Google CCTV ‘hacking’ are few and far between, and, while they may not have meant to be left wide open, serve as a sort of looking glass to areas of the other side of the globe, and can be seen as a simple distraction and a change of vista from our own landscape – the fact that they’re open surely serves as a signal that their overall importance in society in not paramount for the people. It is obvious that the intentions for such security devices are not meant to be looking through by prying eyes, and raises the question of just how safe continuous watching really is. 1984, anyone…?

 

ATP Nightmare Before Xmas 2008 [(No longer a) Rumour]

“Mike Patton and Melvins are set to curate this year’s Nightmare Before Christmas, ATP’s annual festival held in Minehead, UK in December.”

(Source: http://rock-a-rolla.com/main/?p=18)

If true, this is quite simply the best festival in the UK this year… who says a festival has to be in the summer? Swaying away from the usual festival suspects (Duffy, CSS, Manic Street Preachers – looking straight at you), Mike Patton vs Melvins could potentially include:

• Peeping Tom
• Fantomas
• Melvins
• Mike Patton
• Melvins/Fantomas Big Band
• Melvins/Lustmord
• Tomahawk

And that’s just those two artists alone – other linked artists which could (or could not) play are:

• Isis
• Boris (maybe with Sunn O))))
• Unsane
• Slayer (Dave Lombardo, drummer of Slayer, is also in Fantomas)
• Dub Trio

Mike Patton’s taste is music is noutorious for it’s incredibly electicity, so apart from the obvious linked bands, pretty much anyone could play. Forget the summer festivals – if rumours are true, then this is the festival to be at. Plus, you get to go on the go-karts (being in Butlins and all). Awesome.

EDIT:

Yep, it’s true. That strange popping sound is the sound of a legion of Mike Patton fanboys all over the country exploding from the sheer promise of Melvins and Mike Patton together with water flumes and chalets.

The line up so far is as followed, with more to come:

Chosen by Melvins: Melvins, Isis, Neil Hamburger, Dälek, Big Business

Chosen by Mike Patton: Fantômas perform The Director’s Cut, The Locust, Zu.

The price of the festival is around £140 per person (not including booking charge) – however, accomodation is compulsory for the festival (and, to be frank, hanging out in chalets instead of tents at a festival is a welcome change), and come in 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 berth chalets – 4 berth and higher self accomodating. Tickets are available from Seetickets or wegottickets.

More on it as it comes in.

P.S. The Hawk/You’ve Never Been Right – Melvins (Live Norway 2007)

 

Roger Waters: O2 Arena, 18/05/08

At sixty-four years old, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Roger Waters has sailed past his peak of rock-stardom, resigning himself to celebrity reality TV spin-offs or sitting miserably in vast riches where others who have tasted success as massive as Pink Floyd have. At the first of his two night residency at the newly rejuvenated O2 Arena, a rock spectacular featuring spacemen, pigs and giant laser prisms begged to differ.

Boasting a 20,000 person capacity, the O2 was a bursting metropolis of shops, cinemas and restaurants that surrounded the arena itself – tonight it was filled with a whole range of different people, young and old, showing that Roger Waters is still immensely popular not only to the people who were there for Pink Floyd’s original gigs, but also newcomers to the legacy such as myself. Walking in and taking our seats, the sheer enormity of what was about to come hit us – 3 screens took up pretty much the entire width of the O2 at the stage end, while a whole wealth of sound techs were situated in the middle of the floor, ready to fine tune the sound and pretty much pull the strings on the visual side of things. Before the show itself begun, the middle, biggest screen was occupied by that of an old vintage radio and WW2 model plane, complimented by whiskey and cigarettes – reminicent of all Pink Floyd work from The Wall onwards, the music played changed as a hand delved onto the screen and fiddled with the radio.

Promptly at 7:45, Roger Waters and his band strolled out on stage to overwealming reception from the audience, who greeted him with a standing applause well into this first song, In The Flesh. This was possibly met with somekind of dismay for a couple of thousand people who were still spilling into the seats by the time the third song started; the O2 is by no means quick to get into, taking about 15 minutes from when you entered the dome, through security checks and finding the entrance you were told to go into. However, the steady stream of people did little to detract those already seated from the spectacle Roger had started – at one point in the song, spotlights probed the audience as Roger sang “Are there any queers in the theatre tonight? Get ‘em up against the wall! And that one in the spotlight, he don’t look right to me. And that one looks Jewish, and that one’s a coon! Who let all this riffraff into the room?”, while a camera pointed onto said spotlights and showed the person being filmed on the two subsidary screens – cue person pointing and laughing at themselves on camera. The finale of the song played out as the sound of a crashing plane spiralled around the surround sound system and ended as a seemingly impossible amount of sparks and pyrotechnics erupted on stage: Waters was here.

As a stark contrast, the acoustic guitar was pulled out for another Wall classic, Mother. This returned to the vintage radio seen before Waters got onto the stage, and pulled the camera around the room it was situated in: fans of the film adaptation of The Wall would see a striking resemblance to Bob Geldof’s character in the film, smoking and looking at all kind of nudie mags, which was an eiree conterpart to the actual song – although the visuals lacked a real kind of climax to accompany the spiralling solo, the backup singers and Waters himself managed to keep the stadium transifxed. After this, a massive CG rendition of the sun loomed down onto the screens, which marked the first appearance of the night of a Syd Barrett-era song, Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun. Greeted by an enormous roar of approval, the visuals led the audience from the Sun and space to stills of old Pink Floyd videos Arnold Layne and Scarecrow, both of which feature Barrett in promince. The song seemed to take on a fiercer, more powerful personna than on the record, which by comparison was more spacey and psychedelic – this song alone is proof that Waters still has it in him to command a powerful tune.

Continuing the theme of Syd Barrett, the next song was the first half of Wish You Were Here epic Shine On Your Crazy Diamond. In case the Barrett tribute wasn’t obvious enough already, Shine On featured a journey through stars and space, all the way to stylised portraits of Syd Barrett himself. The music itself was flawless – the spacey keyboard intro, the guitar solos, the saxophone which characterises the track… at times, it was almost like watching a film – yes, the ride may be fixed on one set path, but hell, it’s a wild ride, and while Roger Waters lacked intimacy with the lack of any real on-stage banter (and of course the enormity of the venue), he really utilized the space he had in order to create the most spectacular show many in the audience had witnessed. And don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen the likes of Bjork fire lasers off walls, Animal Collective dazzle the crowd with pugnant, powerful lights, and The Aquabats create a mosh pit with beach balls and rubber dingys, but of all of the gigs I’ve been to, Roger Waters was the one that really pulled out all the stops.

Along with this, he also knew which songs would really get the crowd going: following Shine On were Have a Cigar and Wish You Were Here, which formed a tryptch of songs from Wish You Were Here. Needless to say, the crowd loved it – Have a Cigar’s bodacious bassline matched with equally spectacular precision lighting onto the stage and images of city life and, you guessed it, cigars, while Wish You Were Here was presented in it’s original, stripped down form, using two guitars, keeping the audience mesmerised. Following these were Southampton Dock and The Fletcher Memorial Home, both of which from The Final Cut, which is pretty much ugamiously the weakest of Pink Floyd’s discography. While these songs did little for me on record, Waters managed to create whole new beasts on stage, the dynamics of which were incredible – he could change from moving to powerful within a few bars, while the visuals showed WW2 veterans in homes from the old, a moving and poignant accompaniment to the music showing Water’s distaste for current politic problems in the middle east; graffittied quotes littered this home for the elderly, such as Stalin’s famous quote, “Death is the answer to everything – no people, no problem”.

Now, despite being a big Pink Floyd fan and being at a Roger Waters solo show, I had unfortunately neglected to listen to the man’s solo work beforehand. However, I got the feeling that most of the crowd probably had – the reaction to Perfect Sense (Parts I-II) was probably one of the biggest of the night, and you can see why: alongside the usual sprawling solos and tight saxophone work, it became apparant that a giant imflatable spaceman was, in fact, floating across the arena. After this, the screen turned into a stadium filled with water, in which a submarine fires a missile at an oil platform, and then, I kid you not, a miniature explosion goes off on stage, which the heat I could feel from my seat a good 30 or so rows back from the front in block B. Obviously people were far more accustomed to his solo work than myself, as, by the end, people were standing up and victoriously singing, arms spread wide open. Continuing with his solo work, Leaving Beirut was introduced by Roger explaining the backstory behind the song – a teenager travelling across the middle east (if I recall correctly), his car breaks down and he is forced to hitchhike back to England. Oddly enough, once the song starts, a giant comic book esque setting appears on the screen, in which presumably the real actions of Roger Waters are played out in comic book form. Now here’s the real quirk – when he sings a line, a fantastic speech bubble appears on stage, and then a smaller version appears above the backup singers! The song itself went on for about 10 minutes – this is by no means a bad thing, not at all; the song takes many progressive twists and turns throughout the song, filled with many an epic solo, yet also being very politically charged, and not in the Green Day-esque “fuck you, Bush”, but real criticisms of the system – although it did feel a bit… outdated, namedropping Tony Blair.

Ending the set on a politically charged noted, Waters brought out the now infamous pig for set finale Sheep, the only song represented from Animals. It’s hard to say that the pig didn’t completely stole the show – OK, I’ll go right out and say it, the pig completely stole the show. And if that wasn’t enough, the entire arena was rained down upon with confetti and bits of paper with the word OBAMA and a tick box next to it – although the message is probably falling onto deaf ears as, well, we can’t vote for Obama (well, I can’t vote for anyone anyway), his dedication to Obama is admirable. Despite the pig, the song itself was incredible – the keyboards, the bass, the guitar… everything driving, pounding to the finale of the set, in which Waters declared a 15 minute break before the Dark Side of the Moon set.

Building up to the Dark Side of the Moon set was, fittingly enough, a moon, coming closer and closer on the screen, until the end of the break where the famous heartbeat started, and people flooded back to their seats again as Speak To Me / Breathe started (do people not learn?). Taking on a very similar layout to the P.U.L.S.E. Pink Floyd DVD, most of the DSOTM set’s visuals took place in a circle in the middle of the stage screen, sometimes bursting out of the circle, creating a spectacular colourful visual experience. However, the visuals were at times tired and repetitive when compared to the first set – some songs just used different coloured moons, and Money had the potential to be so much better. But back to Breathe, the first real song of Dark Side of the Moon, introduced by Speak to Me - the first startling difference to the first set and, indeed, the record itself, is the fantastic use of surround sound – the sound effects used all over the album took a new dimension, characterised in Speak to Me by the man speaking, the innane laughter, the screams… things were taken to a terrifying, dynamic new high.

On The Run, the real electronic track of the record, took on a modern new personna on stage, and, much like the previous songs, was slightly terryfying – for the first time in the set, the colours were truly alive and jumped out of the circle. The sonic assualt swirled around yourself and took you to a different, colourful, psycedelic place… before being innteruppted by the roar of trains – this was oddly the most terrifying moment of the evening, and it was a dimension of the song I hadn’t felt since listening to the record for a first time a couple of years back. I’d imagine that many people in the audience felt the same, but some having listened to the record for the first time nearly 3 and a half decades ago no doubt, I can only imagine either the sheer nostalgia or the sheer terror they were experiencing.

After the sheer power of On The Run, Time had a lot to live up to. And, for the most part, it was indentical to the CD counterpart. Which was the main problem of the DSOTM set – it all seemed very similar, if not identical to the record most people had listened to in the arena countless times, the only real difference being the admittedly spectacular visuals on stage and around the arena. However, with all credit to the band, for this to be possible, they had to have been perfect with their instruments – and they were, Time taking on the classic song encompassing live, death and the entire world in a mere 5 or so minutes. Breathe (Reprise) was along similar lines, taking back the set to Breathe, before wisking away to The Great Gig In The Sky, which showed off the backup singer’s impressive array of singing to a backdrop of a saturated sky, while still engaging the audience.

Ah, the audience. Despite the relative age of the audience (and I mean no offense by that), they were, on the most part, really getting into it, some more than others. The most enthusiastic you could truly see getting into the music, and it was obvious that they were here to hear the record they had heard all those times in the flesh – dancing, singing, arms outstreched, some people truly were engaged. Of course, the most people got up and got truly enthusiastic during arguably Pink Floyd’s biggest hit off DSOTM, Money. The sound effects on this one were truly breathtaking – the sound effects that made the introduction so famous swirled around you and sucked you into the show. While the green hued lights all the way through the song were a smite uninspired, the backdrop of the record spinning and various different money clips was a perfect accompaniment to the swirling, famous saxophone solo and the bouncy bass riff which opened the song.

Us and Them was one of the songs which I felt was slightly underpowered compared to the rest of the set – it’s not the greatest song on the album in the first place, but the jazzy saxophone juxtaposed with the awe-inspiring chorus was still a formidable effort by the band. This can be compared to Any Colour You Like, which is my favorite song on the album – take this with a pinch of bias, but live, it is even more incredible than I could have ever imagined. For this song, they created the iconic prism, but made it out of light lasers – they then had another coupld of long, wavey, colourful lasers, which complimented the colourful and equally spectacular visuals on the stage. Of course, the musicians for this were at their peak – the effects laden, psychedelic guitar effortlessly joined with the equally trippy keyboard parts to create a colourful musical canvas. Behind Sheep, this moment alone was my favorite moment of the night.

Any Colour You Like eventually gave way to Brain Damage, another favorite off the album. Continuing the colourful trippy visuals which accompanied the previous song, this number featured computer generated visuals of brains, stars and pills opening into the infinates of space – epic does not describe it, it was the penultimate sing which pulled the set along to a grand climax in Eclipse. The prism was fully turned on, and fired out lasers which made it look like a full, giant laser version of the iconic album cover which still, to this day, graces the top album cover lists. This was greeted by the crowd as the driving finale to the show, as the entire arena stood up to show their appreciation to the creator of such classics – the screen similarly summed up the entire set’s visuals, visiting parts of every bit of the entire show, creating a moving retrospective of the entire album, moving the audience to a stunning standing ovation which lasted well beyond the final bow.

Although we had to leave before the encore in order to catch a train, I have it in good faith that after The Dark Side of the Moon, Waters and the band played a few The Wall era songs, including Comfortably Numb and Another Brick in the Wall Part II. I can just turn on the MP3s and pretend I’m there. Awesome.

Setlist:

1. In The Flesh
2. Mother
3. Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun
4. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts II-V)
5. Have a Cigar
6. Wish You Were Here
7. Southampton Dock
8. The Fletcher Memorial Home
9. Perfect Sense (Parts I-II)
10. Leaving Beirut
11. Sheep

1. Speak To Me
2. Breathe
3. On The Run
4. Time / Breathe (Reprise)
5. The Great Gig In The Sky
6. Money
7. Us & Them
8. Any Colour You Like
9. Brain Damage
10. Eclipse

1. The Happiest Days of Our Lives
2. Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)
3. Vera
4. Bring the Boys Back Home
5. Comfortably Numb

 

Media Case Study 2: Skype

Skype is a multi-platform application primarily used on Windows, OSX and Linux which allows users from all over the world to phone each other for free with as little equipment as a microphone, a computer, the Skype program and access to the internet. Skype offers crystal clear phone calls (with the right equpiment, of course), and for absolutely free (providing the call is to another Skype user on a computer). It is also possible to phone non-Skype users on landlines and mobile phones, however this costs a small price and is available in offers similar to a mobile phone network – Pay as you Go and Pay Monthly.

THE HISTORY OF SKYPE:

Skype as it is known today started development in 2003, being first released in the August of 2003: the Skype Limited wikipedia page says this about the company’s history:

Skype was founded in 2003 by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, whose main intention was to develop a piece of software which would revolutionise telephone calls. Allowing users to speak to each other via computers promotes the use of the Voice over Internet protocol and the use of computers in the technologically advancing world. Users are able to talk for free, an incentive to future and present members.

Zennstrom himself started a professional career at telephone operator Tele2, before co-founding Altnet, the world first secure peer to peer networking platform which promoted commercial content to potential consumers. Interestingly, both also developed the popular p2p downloading platform Kazaa, which has faced major controversy due to the ability to breach copyright by downloading songs illegally from it. These programs were precursors to Skype itself, which used previous technologies the duo had developed in order to revolutionise the options both home and business users had to contacting each other by voice. The partners then sold the Skype technology to eBay, before going on to found Joost, an online platform for streaming video – clearly the pair are pushing the forefrounds of the user demand’s of the capabilities of the internet.

VOICE OVER INTERNET PROTOCOL (VoIP):

The technology that Skype uses in order to create a telephone network over the internet is called VoIP (or Voice over Internet Protocol). The wikipedia page goes into greater depth with the technology used, however the key strengths of VoIP are listed here:

• The ability to transmit more than one telephone call over the same broadband connection. This can make VoIP a simple way to add an extra telephone line to a home or office.
• Conference calling, call forwarding, automatic redial, and caller ID; zero- or near-zero-cost features that traditional telecommunication companies (telcos) normally charge extra for.
• Secure calls using standardized protocols (such as Secure Real-time Transport Protocol.) Most of the difficulties of creating a secure phone connection over traditional phone lines, like digitizing and digital transmission, are already in place with VoIP. It is only necessary to encrypt and authenticate the existing data stream.
• Location independence. Only an Internet connection is needed to get a connection to a VoIP provider. For instance, call center agents using VoIP phones can work from anywhere with a sufficiently fast and stable Internet connection.
• Integration with other services available over the Internet, including video conversation, message or data file exchange in parallel with the conversation, audio conferencing, managing address books, and passing information about whether others (e.g. friends or colleagues) are available to interested parties.
• Advanced Telephony features such as call routing, screen pops, and IVR implementations are easier and cheaper to implement and integrate. The fact that the phone call is on the same data network as a users PC opens a new door to possibilities.

The main advantages of the system clearly show that Skype is offered as an alternative to regular phone calls, even as the successor – the advantages of being on a digital system are that updates and fixes to the system are easy to implement, more features are easier to implement and are more likely to be more widely used, and the main reason is that despite all these features, it’s all no cost or very low cost. Disadvantages, of course, it that the protocol is on a digital platform – a digital platform leaves it easy suspectible to secruity exploits, wiretapping, and general system failures which couldn’t occur with a normal telephone network.

THE COST OF SKYPE:

For the most part, Skype is a free system; the program is free, the calls to other skype users are free, video calls are also free. In fact, the only component of the program which needs to be paid for are calls to phones on landlines or mobile phone networks. The exact pricing plan is here:

Skype-to-Skype calls	Free
Transfer calls to people on Skype	Free
Video calls	Free
Instant messaging and group chats	Free
Conference calls with up to nine people	Free
Forward calls to people on Skype	Free
Call phones and mobiles	From £ 0.012 per minute² – See rates Buy Skype Credit · Save with a subscription
Receive calls from phones and mobiles	£ 10 or £ 35 (3 or 12 months) Get SkypeIn · Save with a subscription
Send and receive voicemails	£ 3 or £ 10 (3 or 12 months) Get voicemail · Save with a subscription
Skype To Go number	Available only with a subscription.
Forward calls to phones	From £ 0.012 per minute² – See rates Buy Skype Credit · Save with a subscription
Send SMS messages	From £ 0.026 See rates · Buy Skype Credit
Transfer calls to phones and mobiles	From £ 0.012 per minute² Available with a subscription at no extra cost.

As you can see, the prices are relatively small. We can compare these costs to a typical mobile phone provider (using O2’s Pay & Go pricing plan):

Standard calls1	25p/min for the first 3 mins/day then 5p/min for the rest of the day
O2 mobiles	as Standard calls
Other UK network mobiles	25p
Video calls	50p
Text message2	10p per message
Picture message3	25p per message
Voicemail 901	15p per call
WAP via 915000 or +44 7712927927	10p
Browsing4	£3 per MB

Of course, a big advantage is that features that mobile phones have you dish out money for are standard on a computer – browsing the internet is free, as is sending other users emails (which are longer and more convinient than text messages),  video messaging, sending pictures et cetra. Skype adds phone capabilites to these features which of course excel over a mobile phone as they have been developed over years on the computer. The pricing of calls to any phone which isn’t Skype is also comparitvely cheaper than that of normal telephones, theoretically being more appealing than a normal phone.

WHO CAN USE SKYPE?

As of 2008, the user figures look like this:

Date	Total user accounts (in millions)[36][37][38]	Skype to Skype minutes (in billions)	Skype Out minutes (in billions)	Net revenue USD (in millions)
Q4 2005	74.7	N/A	N/A	N/A
Q1 2006	94.6	6.9	0.7	35
Q2 2006	113.1	7.1	0.8	44
Q3 2006	135.9	6.6	1.1	50
Q4 2006	171.2	7.6	1.5	66
Q1 2007	195.5	7.7	1.3	79
Q2 2007	219.6	7.1	1.3	90
Q3 2007	245.7	6.1	1.4	98
Q4 2007	276.3	N/A	N/A	115
Q1 2008	309.3	14.2	1.7	126

Over 300 million people use Skype at the moment, and this figure is growing increasingly rapidly. A key component of this is that Skype is available on many, many different platforms:

• Windows
• Mac OSX
• Linux
• Windows Mobile
• WiFi Phone
• Cordless Phone
• 3 Skypephone
• Nokia N800/N810
• Palm OS (Opening up a lot of PDA/Smartphones)

Not only is Skype available for pretty much every home operating system (Windows, Mac OSX and Linux collectively account for over 99% of all personal computers), it is also available for wireless platforms – this is key for the continued growth of Skype. If it was not available on handseld systems such as the Nokia N800 and the 3 Skypephone, then it’s growth would be limited to households and it would be unable to break ino the lucrative mobile phone market. New Media Technologies crucially are becoming wireless, free of the house and more openly available to use in everyday life outside – one example of this being streaming video for phones through WiFi. Skype hits that gap in the market by offering a free telephony alternative to the ordinary and making it available for everyday phones – increasinly so with the compatibility with Palm OS and Windows Mobile, which collectively runs most phones (at least, most Smartphones) and pretty much all PDAs on the market at the moment and recently.

WHAT OTHER FEATURES DOES IT HAVE?

Besides the obvious features Skype boasts which have already been covered in this study (Calls, Video Calls, Conference Calls), it also has a large number of useful features which further cement it as a good alternative to ordinary telephones. A full list of these is available on the features of Skype wikipedia page, however here are the key ones:

• SkypeOut
• SkypeIn
• Skype Voicemail
• Skype chat
• Skype Me
• Skypecasts
• Skype SMS
• Skype web toolbar
• Skype Zones
• Skype history logs
• SkypeFind
• Skype Prime

All are branded with the Skype name, and are an example of one platform converging existing communication technologies on the internet. For example, Skype Chat is a basic IRC program which allows a chat room of up to 150 Skype users to chat simultaneously, showing features of chat programs such as Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo Messenger. Skypecasts are live, moderated conversations between up to 100 people, moderated by a hst who has the ability to mute someone, pass the virtual microphone or eject someone from the conversation. SkypeFind is a user driven community, much like a massive online phone book where you can find anyone you want to who has signed up to SkypeFind and allowed people to find them.

These features, while allowing more freedom on the internet to do what you want to do in regards to community driven expansion and communication, are all also suspectible to the usual downfalls the internet has, however. All talk is uncensored, which probably upsets some mother somewhere. More seriously, Skype is shown to be open to some serious security issues related to how the data is encrypted which would potentially allow someone to listen in, exploit and bring down the network. This in itself is one of the biggest disadvantages of a completely digital server based means of communication – the phonelines always have a backup, and are relatively hard to manipulate and exploit, where digital servers are easier to hack into and bring down – the reliablity of these new networks can probably ever be no where near as good as regular telephony networks.

SKYPE’S INTEGRATION WIH PRODUCTS:

Skype’s logo and brand can be seen tied in with many products on the telephone and communication market, including computer accessories such as headsets or microphones. On the Skype Shop website, all of these products can be seen; for as little as £69.99, a twin set of ‘3 Skypephone’s can be bought, which in turn encourages growth as the second phone is designed to be given to someone who will also join the Skype network. Packs of wireless routers and cordless house phones can also be bought, which not only encourages use of Skype, but also use of other WiFi enabled products in the household such as laptops, games consoles, et cetra. Finally, the Skype shop offers mobile phones with Skype pre built into it as the network provider – this is Skype’s convergence of mobile phone techology with it’s own internet communication technolgy.

IN CONCLUSION:

Skype is a flourishing network, having only been founded 5 years ago. However, 300 million people are signed up to the service (including myself), and this figure is increasing daily. The question is, how will mobile phone and indeed normal phone manufacturers respond to the rising free telephone revolution? Will they embrace Skype and try and converge technologies, much like Skype has already started doing, or will they create yet another alternative to confound consumers? The next few years are crucital for the market’s growth, both economically and on the internet.

 

Media Case Study 1: Nintendo DS

The Nintendo DS caused shockwaves in the gaming industry when first released: the basic premise of the console, as described by Nintendo themselves, is to “combine dual screen action with Touch Screen interaction, providing the player with a unique gaming experience”. A direct competitor of the PSP in the ‘handheld console wars’, it is the forth distinct Game Boy product on the market (after the Game Boy, the Game Boy Colour and the Game Boy Advance).

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE NINTENDO DS:

The Nintendo DS is part of the seventh generation of computer gaming systems, which covers both portable mainstream video game units in the market, Nintendo DS itself and the Playstation Portable (PSP), and the home console units, Nintendo’s own Nintendo Wii, the Sony Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360. However, Nintendo has a long and fruitful history in the video game business, arguably starting off the current enormity of the industry with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and it’s direct competition to the Sega Mega Drive. Nintendo’s foray into the handheld console business started with the Nintendo Game Boy: released in 1989, simple games such as Tetris and Super Mario Land amoung others gripped the world over in all it’s monochrome glory, while it’s use of 4 AA batteries was far superior to the nearest competitor, the Sega Game Gear, which guzzled up 6 AA batteries in half the time it took for the Game Boy’s power supply to finally run dry:

“In 1991, Nintendo experienced heavier competition from Sega’s Game Gear. To promote its new, color console, Sega aired a number of negative but unsuccessful ad campaigns in the United States that criticized the Game Boy’s monochrome color palette. Like the [Atari] Lynx, it too required six AA batteries that only lasted about 4-6 hours and was much more expensive than the Game Boy. The Game Gear had the advantage of being fully compatible (with an adapter) with all Sega Master System games and, while not as successful as the Game Boy, it sold from 1991 until early 1997.”

As mentioned here (found on the Game Boy wikipedia page), the Game Boy’s monochrome was quickly becoming obselete in portable consoles, to be overtaken by the Atari Lynx and Sega Game Gear, which offered superior graphics more similar to their home console conterparts (the Jaguar and Mega Drive respectively). In order to keep up with the changing landscape of portable graphics, the Game Boy Colour was released. By March 31st 2006, the Game Boy and Game Boy Color combined had sold 118.7 million units worldwide – their roaring popularity due to franchises such as Pokémon, Mario, Tetris, and a wide variety of TV/Film tie-ins. The Game Boy Colour could play not only the rich, colourful Game Boy Colour games which had been created, but it could also play the original Game Boy games (in some cases adding colour to the existing game, such as Pokémon Red/Blue). This console also easilt beat off competitors such as the Neo Geo Pocket/Colour, which legendarily were pulled off some shelves in under a month.

The natural successor to these consoles was the Game Boy Advance, which boasted 32-bit gaming, wired multiplayer of up to 4 players (this, later in the life cycle of the GBA, was upgraded to wireless multiplayer for the Pokemon Crystal games), and has sold 81.06 million units worldwide (including highly successful redesigns SP and Micro, SP in it’s own right selling 43.23 million worldwide, over half the total units sold). By this point, Nintendo had clear dominace of the handheld video game console market, with only minor competitors available for very brief, unsuccessful periods of time, such as the Wonderswan, the Zodiac and the Nokia’s foray into gaming, the N-Gage.

TECH SPECS OF THE NINTENDO DS:

• Mass: 275 grams (9.7 ounces).
• Physical dimensions: 148.7 x 84.7 x 28.9 mm (5.85 x 3.33 x 1.13 inches).
• Screens: Two separate 3-inch TFT LCD, resolution of 256 x 192 pixels, dimensions of 62 x 46 mm and 77 mm diagonal, and a dot pitch of 0.24 mm. The gap between the screens is approximately 21 mm, equivalent to about 92 “hidden” lines. The lowermost display of the Nintendo DS is overlaid with a resistive touchscreen, which registers pressure from one point on the screen at a time, averaging multiple points of contact if necessary.
• CPUs: Two ARM processors, an ARM946E-S main CPU and ARM7TDMI co-processor at clock speeds of 67 MHz and 33 MHz respectively.
• RAM: 4 MB of Mobile RAM
• Voltage: 1.65 volts required
• Storage: 256 kB of Serial Flash Memory
• Wireless: 802.11 + Nintendo Original Protocol
• Wi-Fi: Built-in 802.11 Wireless Network Connection (802.11b/g compatible with WEP encryption support only)

We can compare this with the specifications of the Sony Playstation Portable:

“Playstation 2 level graphics, a compact 1.8GB media, Wireless 802.11, USB 2.0, 7.1 channel Audio, and a 24bit 16×9 screen TFT LCD Screen. Sony has called this device the ‘Walkman for the 21st Century’, and plans to allow the user to enjoy movies and music for the device, along with games”

The difference here clearly between the Sony Playstation Portable and the Nintendo DS is that the PSP is intended to be a convergence of all of Sony’s products (shown by the high focus in promotional material on the widescreen LCD screen and the frankly rediculously high audio specifications (one wonders the true use for having a portable unit support surround sound). The Nintendo DS, on the other hand, is clearly meant to be used for games, which is obvious through it’s touch screen, the low RAM, the lack of a hard drive to hold other media, yet having wireless networking to enable online play. The graphics are also far inferior to the PSP, as the DS can only produce graphics as techincally advanced as the Nintendo 64, while the PSP is a whole generation ahead, producing graphics on par with the Playstation 2. So what is the broad appeal which means DS continues to sell more than the PSP on a worldwide basis?

“TOUCHING IS GOOD”:

The main obvious draw of the system are the dual screens, one of which being touch screen – Nintendo explains in it’s promational content:

“With two super-sharp, backlit LCD screens, the Nintendo DS Lite offers a groundbreaking new approach to gaming. Each 3-inch screen is capable of producing true 3D graphics; the DS has the power to produce even more advanced visuals than the Nintendo 64 could display. Plus you can adjust the screens’ brightness in four different levels to adapt to different lighting conditions.

The possibilities are limitless – one screen can be used to show the main action, while another might be used as a map, inventory, or secondary viewpoint – or both screens can be used simultaneously to depict huge boss characters!”

Playing one game, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, it becomes apparant how well implimented the system is into the games; in my playtest, I tried the Nintendo DS out in direct sunlight, and then again in the night. In both scenarios, the game was birhgt and easy to read, in comparison with a number of mobile phones I have owned, which don’t just cut the mustard when played in direct sunlight. As promised, both 2D and 3D graphics were boasted simultaneously on both screen, with no drop in the smoothness of play or the frame rate. The screens were used to great effect as well: inventory and items were shown on the top (non-touch) screen, while the action itself was played through on the bottom screen. This enabled features such as hitting away blocks of rock which blocked your way in the game with your finger, or creating a shape on screen in order to finish bosses, lest you have to chip away at their health points all over again.

It is clear that Nintendo believes that user interactity is the next step in video games; the interactivity adds a new touch (no pun intended. aha. ha. ha.) to the games, a new excitement which picks up the recently floundering games that reuse the same old forumlua over and over. On the other hand, it can be argued that the touch screen is a gimmick used to draw in punters; this view is spread widely over the gaming community. Browsing internet forums, I found mixed views:

• “to be honest I did not got intothe whole touch screen gimmick at the begining. I later got into it when the ds lite came out” – white143papi, Gamespot forums
• “I sold my ds as the wow factor wore off after 2 weeks and after playing a psp and realizing that the ds can’t compare.” – screw, 1Up Forums
• “That Harrison guy is pretty funny calling the DS a gimmick. I say call it what you want. The fact is Nintendo has sold over 5 million “gimmick” DS systems worldwide. Just double that of Sony’s PSP. Hmmm.” – jimmyangel82, 1Up Forums

These views come from multi-platform gaming sites, so it is unlikely that the views would be too biased on the whole. Some comments were very biased though, so I am only using this evidence as a general basis for video game fans’ views on the subject.

However, the touch screen is not just used for gaming, it is also used for an application known as Pictochat: “Draw pictures and send them to your friends with PictoChat”, the Nintendo website boasts. While the Nintendo DS is a clear example of a more pure gaming experience than the PSP, it appears that Nintendo has also attempted convergence in it’s own consoles, offerig a basic messaging service available over only a short distance of space, 100 feet. This pretty much rules out the concern of the likes of paedophiles gromming children as it is a small distance, used very little on the console (although Fox News appears to want to show the true horrors of it).

TOUCH! GENERATIONS:

As the touch screen on the DS is clearly one of the USPs on the console, Nintendo very wisely decided to put it’s advertising focus on this as much as possible. The result of this is a series of games known as the Touch! Generations games – these games are designed to appeal to all ages and sexes, and make full use of the touch screen. The series also trancends onto the Nintendo Wii, the home console counterpart which uses a motion sensitive wand in order to control the gameplay. Nintendo states in it’s Touch! Generations promotional material:

“Nintendo’s ‘Touch! Generations’ range is a collection of software for the Wii console and the Nintendo DS handheld system that offers a variety of unique and accessible ways to play. By keeping the controls simple, Touch! Generations titles open up a world of video game experiences that anyone can enjoy.

Nintendo’s Touch! Generations titles can help you train your brain, play sudoku, become a doctor, make music or connect with people thousands of miles away. They can be enjoyed on those quiet moments for yourself, or together with the whole family.

There are already several Touch! Generations titles available, which you can easily recognise in the shops by the Touch! Generations logo on the packaging.”

Games range from the fairly uninspired 42 All Time Classics, which lets the user play cards and basic board games with the touch screen, to Trauma Centre: Under the Knife, which places you in the shoes of an operating surgeon, to the Brain Training series, which has recently been advertised by the lieks of Carol Vorderman and is designed to improve your intelligence, all the way to Electroplankton, which is a game that – no joking – lets you create ambient, experimental music by controlling plankton around the screen. Obviously here, one advantage of the Nintendo DS is that it has opened up games to a higher level of variety, with a whole host of original games that haven’t been dreamt before, let alone seen before on any other console.

One disadvantage of primarily touch screen games is that people who are physically disabled or elderly are at a disadvantage when playing the games, or simply may not be able to play the game at all – this is one common complaint of NWTs, and in games specifically, which aren’t exactly known for disabled-friendly fun times, it can only get harder.

PLAYING WITH THE FAMILY:

The promotional pictures all have a common theme, from the pictures to the TV adverts – all show a family scenario in which the family are huddled around DS or Wii, playing a game together (one example of the TV adverts is found here courtesy of YouTube). It has been argued that in recent years that video games are a stereotypical male activity to partake in – with the guns, Lara Croft and aliens, this preconception is probably founded. However, Nintendo are trying to breathe more life into video games by broadening the appeal to a far wider audience – a look at the sales figures (in millions) of the Nintendo DS since release is evidence of this:

Date	Japan	Americas	Other	Worldwide
2004-12-31[33]	1.45	1.36	0.03	2.84
2005-03-31[34]	2.12	2.19	0.95	5.27
2005-06-30[35]				6.65
2005-09-30[36]	3.63	2.87	2.34	8.83
2005-12-31[37]	5.70	4.63	4.10	14.43
2006-03-31[38]	6.91	5.11	4.71	16.73
2006-06-30[39]	9.24	5.90	6.13	21.27
2006-09-30[40]	11.52	7.51	7.79	26.82
2006-12-31[41]	14.43	10.18	11.00	35.61
2007-03-31[42]	16.02	11.74	12.52	40.29
2007-06-30[43]	18.11	14.14	15.03	47.27
2007-09-30[44]	19.71	16.06	17.88	53.64
2007-12-31[45]	21.66	20.18	22.94	64.79
2008-03-31[2]	22.38	22.39	25.82	70.60

Since Touch! Generations was introduced in 2006, you can plainly see that the quarterly sales if the machine increased at a rate which is rarely round in consoles – a more typical chart would show sales very strong at the release and few months after release (discounting shortages in supply), before a steady decline up until production is stopped. The DS, on the other hand, as increased at an impressive rate, one which the PSP simply cannot stand up against – worldwide, only 20.7 million have sold as of March 31st 2008, 4 million selling in 2006 compared to 3.1 million in 2007. While a reason for sales not being as strong could be due to the strong Game Boy brand, the sales figures were much more level at both systems’ launches, and it wasn’t until Touch! Generations was released that the figures started to pull away from each other.

One criticism for the Touch! Generations series is found in the special edition Pink Nintendo DS, more often than not bundled with Nintendogs, sometimes even bundled with an adorable cuddly dog which matches the edition of the game bought. This can be seen as perpetuating female stereotypes in a business which is trying to get rid of the male dominated community – a pink edition console is more likely than not going to segregate the user base between sexes, and targeting specific games at girls would only add to this. Especially ones which are the more caring, calm, sandbox style of games. Especially when it involves cute dogs. However, I believe Nintendo are veering away from that in the recent months – in recent promotional work, all the consoles used and all the advert colour schemes are white, which gives a less gender orientated look at the consoles, encourages potential gamers from all walks of life to join on in.

IMPORT GAMING FOR THE NICHE AUDIENCES:

While gaming itself can be seen as a niche audience, there are many features of the Nintendo DS which would appeal to a more refined, smaller selection of niche audiences. Firstly, a small subculture of gaming requires games that are not even released in this country, for example, the games Daigasso! Band Brothers and Jump Super Stars are japanese games which are not available in this region. For regular consoles, such as the Playstation 3 or the Xbox 360, your console would have to be specifically chipped in order to play games which aren’t in the specified region (much like DVDs) – this is alledgedly done in order for specific regions not to lose profits. This, quite clearly, is not done in the best interests of the conumer. The Nintendo DS removes specific regional coding in order to allow these niche markets to exist and so improve the consumer satisfication levels through the existance of niche markets – this is one common benefactor of new media technologies, as NWTs such as YouTube and Facebook are free from regional segregation.

WHY-FI? (sorry):

Another feature relatively new to Nintendo consoles (at least, on a mainstream basis that is easy to connect) is the option to connect to a Wi-Fi network and play online. Nintendo boasts these features:

“Nintendo DS Lite comes with built-in wireless communication technology which lets it link up to Nintendo’s free online gaming service, Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. This easy to set up service lets you compete with your friends online whenever you like; all that’s needed is a Wi-Fi compatible game like Mario Kart DS or Animal Crossing: Wild World. Players can connect at home through their existing wireless broadband connection, or at public Wi-Fi hotspots.

Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection is not only free and easy, but also safe: you play with people you know by swapping Friend Codes. Plus, new voice chat technology means that in certain games, like Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl, you can even talk to your competitors via the DS microphone.”

Wi-Fi is a relatively new technology which allows people to go online from any location which is Wi-Fi enabled – be this in your own home through a router or a dongle, public wi-fi hotspots, or in businesses such as restaurants and cafes. This means, for the DS, anyone can go online for free (not counting connection costs: basically, Nintendo doesn’t charge you) and play anyone over the internet, from anywhere over the world, and get ranked online. Advantages of this are that, in theory, the game becomes limitless in opponent potential – the thrill of playing a game online far outweigh playing a computer repeatedly. The lack of a service fee is also an advantage over other gaming online services such as Microsoft’s Xbox Live – while the service certainly lacks the features that Xbox Live has, the cheapness and ease of the service can make people more likely to play online and promote growth of such communities.

This, of course, can be a disadvantage – those opposed to globalisation especially. The fact that anyone in the world can play anyone else anywhere in the world is likely to cause a closing in the gap of culural divide and make our world a less culturally diverse place, which many agree is important in society – no one wants to be the same as everyone else, do they? Another disadvantage is that online systems are prone to abuse. Take this hypothetical scenario: a child is playing Mario Kart online, when suddenly a person uses the built-in microphone to blare out racist/sexist/offensive slurs – would the child be affected? As there is no real way to filter online talk without taking away freedom to those who do not abuse, will children ever be protected online? Then again, this is a general arguement against online systems, and is not restricted to merely the Nintendo DS.

IN CONCLUSION:

I feel that the Nintendo DS is a positive, shining example of a new media technology for a variety of reasons. It opens up video games to a wider audience, it promotes game manufacturers to create a more diverse selection of games, yet it is also a mild example of convergence: the Nintendo DS combines casual, more traditional games with more “mature” games such as Su-Doku and keeping dogs happy. Although one does wonder if it’s gradually taking away reality from people: why should you not just play Su-Doku in real life, or actually get a real dog? While this console is improving games, is it improving worldwide culture? The future will tell.

 

The Mars Volta: Brixton Academy, 14/03/07

Formed from the ashes of the now-defunct post-hardcore band At The Drive-In, The Mars Volta have been pushing the boundaries of the aged formula of progressive rock through an injection of Latino beats and jazz improvisation for nearly seven years now, quickly progressing from album to album; starting with the mostly song based De-loused in the Comatorium, the eight-piece headed by former At The Drive-In band-mates Omar Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala quickly progressed their style to the now signature jazz-tingled prog rock fusion jamming evident on Frances the Mute and Amputechture. Now, in 2008, The Mars Volta having released the latest twisting, turning, furious offering, The Bedlam in Goliath, Omar and Cedric have affirmed their status as the new kings (perhaps even the saviours) of prog rock through the sprawling 3-hour, 10 track trip that managed to win over even the most stubborn people in the room.

Choosing to have no support act is a bold move for any band, but from the moment the band strolled out onto the stage in all-black apparel to the sound of the classic Fistful of Dollars theme, it was apparent to all in the audience that it was going to be special, characterized with the grins plastered over pretty much everyone’s faces; starting as they meant to go on, fan favorite Roulette Dares (The Haunt of) from the debut album opened the mammoth set, which was greeted with the crowd immediately igniting and dispelling any fears that through making the last few albums they’d have lost an ounce of their ferocity.

Fifteen minutes into the gig and they’re still playing the same song, neither audience or band having lost the opening enthusiasm – at the point, the band’s live trademarks are out there in their full glory: singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala is a man possessed, leaping around the stage, thrashing/dancing like a madman, swinging his mic stand around… you get the picture. Meanwhile, guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is similarly under some kind of spell, managing to keep the pace up on the guitar, while acting as a kind of composer – sporadically signalling to the rest of the band, it’s obvious that he is the key driving force in the instrumentation, and you can’t help but to marvel at how he does this while pulling off the most engaging and simply dazzling solos I’ve personally seen since… well, ever!

Keeping up the unrelenting pace, Viscera Eyes, the only single off 2006’s Amputechture was next up on the set, effortlessly seaming the songs together, never breaking the enchantment that the band created. During the songs themselves, the entire band are seen jamming along to Omar; at one point, brass player Adrián Terrazas-González duels with him, each taking their turns on belting out a quick-fire phrase of their intstruments, amalgamating in an intense greeting of brass and guitar, kept up to pace by the rest of the band all backing up the battle.

In a rare moment in tonight’s show, the group tear into a rendition of The Bedlam in Goliath’s Wax Simulacra, which follow’s the album track length of about three minutes – even though it’s not long (by tonight’s standards, anyway), this ruthless number features the warmest reception of all the new songs that rocked Brixton, backed by drummer Thomas Pridgen’s simply transfixing drumming skills – first seen by a brief solo back in Roulette Dares, the first of the material which he drummed for on record drives the entire song and shows how skilled this man really is – not only does he have the necessary speed to keep with the pace of the songs, but he also has the endurace and the sheer power to pull it off; all night he keeps up the sheer power which which he hits the drums, it’s a small miracle that the drums didn’t just give way or burst.

Next on the set was another song from the lastest offering, this time Goliath, which for me personally was one of the highlights of the album, so when it came to hearing it live, the result was incredible – the key lines of vocal in the song, namely “Never heard a man speak like this one before… watch me now” were delivered as powerfully and perfectly as on the record, and obviously other fans agreed with me, as those lines garnered possibly the biggest post-Comatorium song singalong of the night. Keeping true to it’s name, Goliath was a sprawling, multi-part jamming session which was at times as brutal as it was technically outstanding, keeping the mosh pit as happy as the people standing at the back just absorbing the experience.

This was then followed by Tetragrammaton, the 17 minute monster that dominated Amputechture – it’s meandering, disorientating way of stopping and picking up a new musical thread on the record was mirrored on stage, and by this point, which was at least halfway into the 3 hour mammoth gig, the band had not relented on their antics up on the stage; Cedric was still seemingly possessed, drinking out of a mug in between jumping off drum kits and throwing his microphone around, while the rest of the band still played with the ferocity and enthusiasm which had opened up the gig.

Ouroborous and Agadez from The Bedlam in Goliath followed, and while the songs themselves were excellent as the previous songs had been, the audience at this point were starting to visably wear out a bit for the jamming sections that preceeded the two songs – while some moments were undeniably moments of brilliance, some of the jam did seem to drag on a bit and I do admit to, at one or two points, thinking “I wonder when they’re going to play the next song”. As I said, the songs were absolutely brilliant, especially Ouroborous and it’s uncompromisingly face paced percussion and bongos interlaced with some superb guitar again, and once the songs were in full momentum nothing was going to stop the El Paso eight piece.

The only song that represented 2005’s Frances the Mute was, for me, the real highlight of the set: Cygnus… Vismund Cygnus, the opener of the record, not only got the crowd worked up, but managed to keep them engaged and riveted on the performance for around a good half an hour, an impressive feat in anyone’s books – getting rid of the quiter section which ended the album version, the live counterpart not once let the pace slow down. People were dancing without a single grain of self-consciousness, letting the music take them wherever their body would take them, which is really what the point of the music tonight was – to relieve people of reality, and, for one night, to show them another place completely. The whole band were still working together perfectly, a well oiled machine that never once faltered, and this perfect fusion of all the instruments summed up the night.

Bedlam opener Aberinkula was the penultimate song of the set, continuing the momentum brought forward by Cygnus, and translated pretty much exactly from the record, and was essentially a build up to the set closer, Drunkship of Lanterns, another fan favorite for De-loused in the Comatorium. The exact time that this song went on for I am not sure, but it’s something in the region of thirty to forty minutes, a massively epic ending for a massively epic show. The song brought together all the parts of The Mars Volta which makes them who they are; after over 2 hours and 20 minutes, you’d expect the sheer energy of the band on stage to wane, however instead it was the exact opposite – drummer Thomas Pridgen was given a good 5 minutes drum solo, his stylish yet brutal drumming coming together in a solo which consited of machine gun fast hits to the snare and bass, displaying again his skill and why he is as renowned as he is. All the band looked as lively as they could of, grinning immensely as they pulled off collectively the most intense ending to a set Brixton has possibly ever seen, with the lights flashing and swinging in time to build up the set to a spectacular climax, creating an incredible sensation for both visual and audio: this was one of many unforgettable moments in the gig.

As all gigs have to, it eventually finished: Cedric gave his thanks and apologised for not coming to London for near enough to 3 years, which was greeted by a roar of applause which continued long after they had left the stage. The audience left stunned, dazed, yet all knowing of the marvel which they had just experienced: this gig alone proves prog rock is still well alive, and The Mars Volta are the forerunners of the latest generation.

SETLIST:

1. Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)
2. Viscera Eyes
3. Wax Simulacra
4. Goliath
5. Tetragrammaton
6. Ouroborous
7. Agadez
8. Cygnus… Vismund Cygnus
9. Aberinkula
10. Drunkship of Lanterns