Frantic Mantis

Mantii Sighting

2008-02-06T16:18:00.000+01:00

Thx to Zerobot!

FM blog on vacation

2008-01-08T20:46:00.001+01:00

Until further notice, this blog is on vacation... it deemed to be a good documentation for a certain time period in FM/post-Decahedron musical activities and technological/random musings. The domain name will expire soon... we very well may not renew it unless someone really thinks we should. If you have concerns or questions, you may write us at themindcontrol at gmail dot com. Thank you.

It is also to be noted that any continuation of Frantic Mantis and the previously unreleased recordings of 2006 will be addressed in the band: Man And Wasp. Visit and become a "friend".

/The management

Giant Mantis in Atlanta

2007-09-14T20:01:00.000+02:00

GIANT MANTIS sighting in Atlanta, Georgia by TheFuzzySlug... photo © TheFuzzySlug.

ESCHER MANTIS

2007-08-22T11:10:00.000+02:00

Dream (Mantis Religiousa) 1935 (detail), MC Escher

Vintage Video Game Photography

2007-08-22T11:01:00.000+02:00

"These photographs are long exposures taken while playing video war games of the 80’s created by Atari, Centuri and Taito. The photographs were shot from video game screens while I played the games. By recording each second of an entire game on one frame of film, I captured complex patterns not normally seen by the eye." - Rosemarie Fiore

Reblogged from centripetalnotion.com

New FM song

2007-08-02T19:15:00.000+02:00

[Pictured, "the band": Axiom MIDI controller, Ableton LIVE (registered copy!), Machinedrum (borrowed from Per)]

Believe it or not, FRANTIC MANTIS, as a musical projects still sort of exists! We (I) were(was) convinced to do a cover song for a LUJO RECORDS compilation where LUJO BANDS cover each-others songs. Well, this is our result... soon for sale on iTunes and stuff like that, but you can enjoy a version on our mYspace page if you'd like. If this continues... then our 80s/90s industrial feathers shall be exposed.

[ FM MYSPACE ]

Sliced Bread

2007-08-02T14:04:00.000+02:00

Apple spoof site... love the napkin with silly reflection on slick black surface.

[ VISIT iDEA ]

The World Beetle Championships

2007-08-02T10:56:00.001+02:00

The tourny was held today in Tokyo, and kids like these put numbers on their favorite beetles, put them in a miniature fighting ring, and made them battle until one prevailed as the ultimate beetle champion of the world.

DatA - SebastiAn!?

2007-07-28T16:16:00.000+02:00

[ DOWNLOAD FOR IPOD/ITUNES ]

DatA... LIVE

2007-07-28T14:47:00.001+02:00

[ DOWNLOAD FOR IPOD/ITUNES ]

Steampunk Robots are Totally Awesome

2007-07-18T15:04:00.000+02:00

By sculptor and animator Stephane Halleux

I'm not going to take this anymore

2007-07-17T18:02:00.001+02:00

Spin Screenshot

2007-07-17T07:44:00.000+02:00

A screenshot from the movie "Spin" we linked to earlier... couldn't resist this screenshot with transcript of a news-caster delivering news about post-LA after the LA riots.

Remember folks: News programs that want ratings and sell ads is NEWS ENTERTAINMENT much like pro-wrestling is SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT. Turn THEM off... open your eyes... see the world as it really is. This definitely makes life in the U-S-A much more pleasant and then you may find yourself walking the streets almost as if you have been unplugged from the Matrix and are truly free.

EEE

2007-07-15T07:52:00.000+02:00

EVERY EXTEND EXTRA by my favorite game author who made REZ and LUMINES. Screw buying music... this is the new music experience!

[ EEE Website ]

Satellite Feeds.... Spin

2007-07-13T06:52:00.000+02:00

This is a documentary worth watching... built up of satellite feeds, which is an amazing phenomenon of unfiltered footage. The synopsis:

Using the 1992 presidential election as his springboard, documentary filmmaker Brian Springer captures the behind-the-scenes maneuverings of politicians and newscasters in the early 1990s. Pat Robertson banters about "homos," Al Gore learns how to avoid abortion questions, George Bush talks to Larry King about halcyon -- all presuming they're off camera. Composed of 100% unauthorized satellite footage, Spin is a surreal expose of media-constructed reality

This is important... show your mom and dad.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7344181953466797353

(Thanks to EXRAYFACTORY for the tip-off)

Yaskawa's Motoman-DIA10

2007-07-12T10:21:00.000+02:00

Snail mail is no more? Yaskawa's Motoman-DIA10 is like your average mail boy, only on steroids. It can sort through an impressive 1,000 pieces of mail in under an hour with its two fully positionable He-Man sized arms. Its creators claim that they only plan on marketing the Motoman as a backup for your workers. Yeah right, more like a permanent backup after you fire everyone.

Jam On

2007-07-12T09:24:00.000+02:00

In deconstructing my mind as a child to this day I have also realized that this band: the breakdance/sci-fi kings NEWCLEUS, blew my mind completely. I thought they were futuristic musicians ready to take us to shows on the moon. It must have been the arpeggios on the synths and the fat synth bass.

And what is even more mind-blowing... the remaining space-faring musicians posted their 4 track demos as free mp3 downloads online! My mind is sufficiently blown again...

[ NEWCLEUS DEMOS ]

W. Gibson "Spook Country" Interview

2007-07-10T08:27:00.001+02:00

Ethical Sneaker

2007-07-10T06:51:00.000+02:00

First we had Blackspot Sneaker, now we have Veja - Ethical Sneaker.

[ ARTICLE AT INHABITAT ]

The KLF

2007-07-09T07:55:00.000+02:00

The KLF were an influential band for me while growing up coming up with my musical concepts and what I want to "do" with my music. However, they were less influential musically and sonically but moreso conceptually. An excerpt from their Wiki:

"...From the outset, they adopted the philosophy espoused by esoteric novels The Illuminatus! Trilogy, gaining notoriety for various anarchic situationist manifestations, including the defacement of billboard adverts, the posting of prominent cryptic advertisements in NME magazine and the mainstream press, and highly distinctive and unusual performances on Top of the Pops. Their most notorious performance was at the February 1992 BRIT Awards, where they fired machine gun blanks into the audience and dumped a dead sheep at the aftershow party. This performance announced The KLF's departure from the music business, and in May 1992 the duo deleted their entire back catalogue."

May the spirit of KLF live on... and let us remember what the KLF taught us what to do with "fame"... if any of us "achieve" it. Long live the ancients!

[ READ ON... RAVE ON ]

Arpanet

2007-07-08T07:21:00.000+02:00

Two enjoyable tracks by Arpanet (name origin wiki) which I stumbled upon recently while pulling late night graphic design shifts:

[ DOWNLOAD ARPANET "NTT DOCOMO" MP3 ]

[ DOWNLOAD ARPANET "THE ANALYST" MP3 ]

[ BUY ARPANET ON ITUNES ]

SebastiAn - Killing In The Name Of...

2007-07-04T19:22:00.000+02:00

On this 4TH OF JULY we present you with some songs by the electro musician SebastiAn. Here he does a remix of Rage Against The Machine "Killing In The Name Of"... enjoyable and fitting for this day celebrating Freedom (tm). Also in the .zip you'll find the rare "Walkman (Re-Edit)" Yup™!

[ DOWNLOAD: DivShare File - SebastiAnRarities.zip ]

[ BUY "SEBASTIAN" ON ITUNES ]

Clear Channel still up to no good...

2007-06-27T22:29:00.001+02:00

Hypebot, a music industry blog, has revealed Clear Channel’s unctuous contract with independent artists who wish to participate in their FCC ordered “NEW! Discover Artists” promotion. The FCC’s requirement for radio stations to open their airwaves to independent artists was based on a recent Payola settlement. However, Clear Channel has still managed to stick a knife in an indie artist’s back to bleed them dry anyway…

[ READ REST OF ARTICLE AT FUTUREMUSIC ]

London 2012 Challenge

2007-06-26T15:31:00.000+02:00

I'm going to join in and wait for the great Mayan return by 2012 -

Visit london2012.com and join in

Japanese Poll Results

2007-06-25T02:45:00.000+02:00

- 40% of the young Japanese girls talk to their computer
- 60% of the Japanese admit that they talk to their PC from time to time
- 10% of Japanese women give a nickname to their computer
- 42% of those women buy gadgets to decorate their PC and 63% claim that it is relaxing.

(poll from akihabaranews.com)

You Can And Must Understand Computers Now!

2007-06-24T12:06:00.000+02:00

Look at the top caption! Written and published in 1974.

[ DETAILS OF BOOKS ]

NYShitty™ for all!

2007-06-24T11:56:00.000+02:00

Mtv and some other people decided to build a Virtual Lower East Side (NYC), so now you can hang out with the trustfundkids and play virtual shitty shows in bars while virtual local bands try and make you play last to about 5 people. At least the restaurants are good... I hope that creperie is there.

[ VLES.COM ]

ODO

2007-06-15T15:19:00.000+02:00

From Jeansnow.net: Sony has introduced a new line of products under the Odo moniker. The line bypasses batteries or plugs, with every item getting its juice from the human body. Only prototypes, sure, but an interesting look into a sustainable future.

Bricks and Mortars

2007-06-11T17:23:00.001+02:00

Mp3s, hurry up and take over... please? Har har!

Blandmissbruk

2007-06-10T19:52:00.000+02:00

Spotted and filmed in a secret warehouse party.

[ DOWNLOAD HI-RES IPOD/ITUNES VERSION OF VIDEO ]

Harmonia

2007-06-07T13:52:00.000+02:00

Amazing album with members of Neu and Cluster.. Great album artwork too!

D/L valid for a week:

Harmonia

eXb

2007-06-04T02:03:00.000+02:00

I once saw Earth Crisis over 10 years ago - it was an insanely energetic show of crazy vegan straightedgers freaking out to the mosh guitars of said-NY based band. And now recently I saw something just as crazy but more positive (and non-violent). Everyone reacted to the music and there was not even a band - just a guy DJing with CDs. As Dischord shook up the punk world in the 80s/90s, Ed Banger Records is doing the same in the electronic world... and the founder seen here.. Busy P.

[ DOWNLOAD HI-RES IPOD/ITUNES VERSION OF VIDEO ]

Floppy Disc Sleeves From Japan

2007-05-28T07:01:00.000+02:00

jeansnow.com posted a link to a comrade that has a site that has collected Japanese Floppy Disc sleeve images. Amazing! This image here is probably our next "record cover" if some of the things we recorded in 2006 get released! hah!

[ FLOPPY DISC SLEEVE COLLECTION ]

New template! Comments working!

2007-05-28T06:50:00.000+02:00

We got a new template care of minimal templates and our comments are working again. Yes. Now for more posts... mp3s, tech, and more... we blog and don't play shows because shows are so 2003. S & H

FM DJ

2007-05-24T16:12:00.000+02:00

So we had a DJ set last Tuesday and it was a blast! The question is, will we ever finish our new material or will we just start creating electronic music instead? It's never been out of the picture of options considering we have yet to play a show but we have an album. Here are two of our many favorite tracks we played:

[ SEBASTIAN "ROSS ROSS ROSS" ]

[ SPACE "MAGIC FLY" ]

The Future™

2007-05-19T17:07:00.000+02:00

Engadget posted some interesting things this past week... one of which was a rotating tower proposed to be built in Dubai that generates its own energy!

and this robot conductor from buildup™ in japan:

oblsk pyrmd

2007-05-09T07:04:00.000+02:00

NanoVoice

2007-05-06T15:43:00.000+02:00

Nanoloop has a new app for download... a little gameboy 4bit synth called Nanovoice. Check it out with your favorite emulator! Also some midi cables are finally in stock again! I picked mine up finally.

[ NANOVOICE LINK ]

Great ideas?

2007-05-05T04:21:00.000+02:00

A congressman in the US wants to convince NASA to sell ads in space [article at Engadget]. This make me think of the contrast of branding that I saw today in MAKE magazine - an article about engineering out the Apple logo on an iBook. I speculate that after a few more generations a trend will truly exist to be brandless or at least less-branded.

Making Of Dr. Who Theme

2007-05-03T18:07:00.001+02:00

New record?

2007-05-03T06:22:00.000+02:00

[>_<]

FM has not disappeared - the projekt has merely been in hibernation and now with our main musical projects starting to relax for a moment we are beginning to contemplate the songs that were recorded over the last year. Edits and reworkings to happen soon... Bzzzzz... [>_<]

RSS in Plain English

2007-04-28T18:48:00.001+02:00

Click To Play

There are two types of Internet users, those that use RSS and those that don't. This video is for the people who could save time using RSS, but don't know where to start.

Great video to show Moms and friends who don't RSS!

Future Interface

2007-04-28T14:52:00.000+02:00

Multi-touch interface talk with Jeff Han. Amazing interface possibilities that make you wonder when we will begin to think of keyboards and current laptop/computer design to seem outdated and silly.

Evolution Street

2007-04-27T22:03:00.000+02:00

CN blog brings to attention this amazing Evolution street art by Unknown artist.

[ FULL SIZE VERSION ]

Cellular Automata Video Synth

2007-04-27T03:15:00.000+02:00

The sound of my brain!

[ KIT FROM MAKE ]

Robot Recipes

2007-04-26T15:00:00.000+02:00

Google, Intel, and Microsoft are funding Robot Research! These big three corps are enabling researchers at Carnegie Mellon University to create a new series of Internet-connected robots using common parts and Qwerk kits.

[ VIEW A SMALL ASSORTMENT OF TELEPRESENCE ROBOT KITS ]

Sao Paolo, Brazil Bans Public Ads

2007-04-18T15:47:00.001+02:00

Photo by Tony de Marco.

Come the new year, this city of 11 million, overwhelmed by what the authorities call visual pollution, plans to press the “delete all” button and offer its residents unimpeded views of their surroundings.

(…) Since “it is hard in a city of 11 million to find enough equipment and personnel to determine what was and wasn’t legal, we decided to go all the way, to zero things out,” Kassab said. “When you prohibit everything, society itself becomes your partner in enforcing the law” and reporting violations.

That's one thing that is nice about Washington, D.C. - yeah there are some ads but really not that many, there are strict restrictions so there are bus ads, bus-stop ads, and ads in the metro trains. No billboards but a few walls in DC have some ads by some of the freeways but it's rather infrequent. I often forget about the infrequency of ads in DC and get a minor psychic landscape shock when traveling to other parts of the USA. This occurrence in Brazil is beautiful.

[ BILLBOARD BAN ANGERS ADVERTISTERS ARTICLE ] (Herald Tribune)

[ IMAGES OF AD-FREE SAO PAOLO ] (Flickr)

Mail App Mod, OS X

2007-04-18T03:35:00.000+02:00

For those of you with widescreen Mac laptops, Comrade Harlock tipped me off with a great mod for your Mail.app in OS X.

[ LETTER BOX MAP.APP MOD ]

Mini Cardboard Art Synths

2007-04-12T03:47:00.000+02:00

Wow, just found this guy out - Dan McPharlin, who makes tiny fictional modular synths from cardboard, posts the results on Flickr (Synth Set), and sells them.

(from Musicthing)

OLPC OS, The Future...

2007-04-11T20:29:00.000+02:00

One Laptop Per Child Linux OS now available. I shall download and try it on my macbook. I always thought one of these stripped down laptops would be good for touring bands. Biodiesel and OLPC Laptops and free album on bit-torrent is the future? It actually still surprises me that with all these community sites and everything bands are still thinking they have a "big chance" to be "rockstars", when in reality they have to wake up and realize we are all in this together and really redo the independent music code of ethics that doesn't really exist anymore since 1999.

[ IMAGE GALLERY OF OS ]

[ LINK TO BUILD .ISO ]

Care of engadget.com

Also blogging at...

2007-04-10T22:15:00.000+02:00

I am also blogging at: Expensiveshit.biz with Shadow-Mantii Gabriel!

Storage Robot

2007-04-10T15:44:00.000+02:00

A USB Hard-drive array "robot". Perhaps our data-redundancy woes are over. Like when two hard-drives containing the only copies of the latest Frantic Mantis recordings crashed. Fortunately there was a copy on Håkan's laptop - but still... what a fragile data-driven world we live in.

[ STORAGE "ROBOT" PRODUCT PAGE ]

New GIbson Book

2007-04-10T04:58:00.000+02:00

"Tito is in his early twenties. Born in Cuba, he speaks fluent Russian, lives in one room in a NoLita warehouse, and does delicate jobs involving information transfer.

Hollis Henry is an investigative journalist, on assignment from a magazine called Node. Node doesn't exist yet, which is fine; she's used to that. But it seems to be actively blocking the kind of buzz that magazines normally cultivate before they start up. Really actively blocking it. It's odd, even a little scary, if Hollis lets herself think about it much. Which she doesn't; she can't afford to.

Milgrim is a junkie. A high-end junkie, hooked on prescription antianxiety drugs. Milgrim figures he wouldn't survive twenty-four hours if Brown, the mystery man who saved him from a misunderstanding with his dealer, ever stopped supplying those little bubble packs. What exactly Brown is up to Milgrim can't say, but it seems to be military in nature. At least, Milgrim's very nuanced Russian would seem to be a big part of it, as would breaking into locked rooms.

Bobby Chombo is a "producer," and an enigma. In his day job, Bobby is a troubleshooter for manufacturers of military navigation equipment. He refuses to sleep in the same place twice. He meets no one. Hollis Henry has been told to find him. "

EXCITING!

William Gibson UK Book Covers

2007-04-10T04:43:00.000+02:00

Why are William Gibson's book covers a million times better in the UK than the US releases?! Here are the US equivalents below:

Help!

Jarvis Cocker on Music

2007-04-08T20:20:00.000+02:00

Interviewer: ...you said you were driven by the suspicion that music isn't as central to peoples' lives as it once was. Perhaps the act of listening to music is more passive now, and it's not the youth or pop culture force it once was.

Jarvis: It was just a question that had been on my mind a lot at that particular time, because there seems to be a contradiction in the fact that there's more music around and more channels or downloading music or more channels on TV, and yet at the same time, in some ways it doesn't seem to be as vital as it once was. It seems to be just another entertainment option or lifestyle enhancement aid or something.

Because culture shouldn't be a pacifying thing. It shouldn't be something that you just passively accept. I think it should be something that, in some ways, is quite disruptive-- makes you think and question things, and actually sparks debate. And a lot of the time now, people use culture and music and films and stuff in the same ways you use them on kids. If kids are driving you mad and chucking stuff around the house, you put a Disney CD or DVD on, and then they shut up and watch it, and you get some peace. I've done it. I feel guilty about it sometimes, but I do it. And I think that kind of thing, in some ways, has moved into adult culture as well. In a way, if you're watching a film on DVD, the time passes, and-- do you know what I mean?-- there's a bit too much just letting things wash over you rather than actually engaging with what you're watching, or what you're listening to. That was the point of having that debate, because I don't know the answers, and I still don't know the answers, and I'll try and do further investigation.

— Jarvis Cocker on Music/Culture

Google Reader

2007-04-08T18:58:00.000+02:00

I love this web-app... easiest for keeping up with websites/blogs:

Google Reader.

Steve Jobs Thoughts On Music

2007-04-08T18:48:00.000+02:00

An interesting article from Apple's honcho about DRM:

Excerpt: "Why would the big four music companies agree to let Apple and others distribute their music without using DRM systems to protect it? The simplest answer is because DRMs haven’t worked, and may never work, to halt music piracy. Though the big four music companies require that all their music sold online be protected with DRMs, these same music companies continue to sell billions of CDs a year which contain completely unprotected music. That’s right! No DRM system was ever developed for the CD, so all the music distributed on CDs can be easily uploaded to the Internet, then (illegally) downloaded and played on any computer or player."

Though it would be nice to choose to have DRM free music on iTunes if you are an independent label, perhaps someone should start a petition.

[ LINK TO ARTICLE ]

Is it too late? Probably.

2007-04-06T18:35:00.000+02:00

Web 2.0: The folly of amateurs?

An interesting article about Web 2.0, blogs, the internet... makes me want to read the book and complain along. I also have been recently thinking that the internet is kind of just as bad as Television, or at least a similar time vortex. Will there be a backlash?

Amazing Japanese Shooter

2007-04-06T05:44:00.000+02:00

I was obsessed with this shooter a few years ago - download the mac port and use Z to shoot and select game when booted!

[ DOWNLOAD NOIZ ]

Also, the original developers at ABA Games have the Windows versions and some other games they made. Kind of like REZ for PS2/DREAMCAST.

[ ABA GAMES ]

Sony Glass Interface Prototype

2007-04-06T02:44:00.001+02:00

Windows Vista

2007-04-04T18:59:00.000+02:00

Got the "Upgrade" version to work on Macbook running Parallels. Annoying microsoft really tries to make it hard when using a purchased Vista Upgrade (Requires a version of XP) and when it doesn't work the installer suggests you buy a higher version of Vista. C'mon!

This is how I did it (thanks to the Parallels Visualization Blog):

1) Get a modern licenced version of Parallels and install it on OS/X
2) Create a Vista partition in OS/X with at least 512Mb memory and 20 GB disk space
3) Boot the legitimate Vista DVD upgrade from the Parallels partition (when the Parallels session boots, it trys to start the DVD in any case)
4) Click "Install Now"
5) Do not enter a Product key when prompted - if you try to you will get an ACPI, BSOD or can't upgrade error.
6) You will see a list of Vista editions. Select the one you have bought.
7) Install Vista normally - though it will be a trial copy with no serial number, only valid for 30 days.
8) Once the install is complete (which takes circa 30 minutes), restart the DVD-based setup from within the demo Windows Vista.
9) Perform an in-place upgrade.
10) Enter your Product Key when prompted
11) Let Vista go through the upgrade a second time.

Didn't seem that I needed XP though with this method. So now I can explore this OS for work purposes. Exciting yes?

Frantic Mantis new album? Haven't touched the files for a few months - want to redo some things and write some new songs.

Steampunk

2007-03-23T11:28:00.000+01:00

DIY Steampunk Keyboard with detailed instructions!

5T33L M4NT15

2007-02-26T10:52:00.000+01:00

I have seen the future and there are swarms of titanium mantis bots!

Inactivity...

2007-02-17T02:30:00.000+01:00

FM has been rather inactive. The Swedish mantii are working on finishing the next Division Of Laura Lee album and the US mantii is going on tour with The Cassettes around a large chunk of the United States.

THE CASSETTES Tour dates as follows:

17 Feb 2007 Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar - Charlottesville, Virginia
22 Feb 2007 Brillobox - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
23 Feb 2007 Art Hospital - Bloomington, Illinois
24 Feb 2007 The Brick - Kansas City, Missouri
25 Feb 2007 Hi Dive - Denver, Colorado
27 Feb 2007 Rock Coffee - Spokane, Washington
28 Feb 2007 Towne Lounge - Portland, Oregon
01 Mar 2007 Funhouse - Seattle, Washington
02 Mar 2007 Diablos - Eugene, Oregon
03 Mar 2007 Blue Lamp - Sacramento, California
04 Mar 2007 ... busking/recording... San Fransisco, California
05 Mar 2007 ... busking/recording... San Fransisco, California
06 Mar 2007 ... busking/recording... San Fransisco, California
07 Mar 2007 Bottom of the Hill - San Fransisco, California
08 Mar 2007 The Echo - Los Angeles, California
09 Mar 2007 El Cid - Los Angeles, California
10 Mar 2007 Hotel Cafe - Los Angeles, California
11 Mar 2007 The Tangier - Los Angeles, California
12 Mar 2007 Modified Arts - Phoenix, Arizona
13 Mar 2007 Club Congress - Tucson, Arizona
14 Mar 2007 The Bean - Las Cruces, New Mexico
15 Mar 2007 SXSW - The Blender Balcony Austin, Texas
16 Mar 2007 SXSW - Austin, Texas
17 Mar 2007 307 - (tentative) Lafayette, Louisiana
18 Mar 2007 ... back porch busk... Lafayette, Louisiana
19 Mar 2007 Opolis - Norman, Oklahoma
20 Mar 2007 Outland Ballroom - Springfield, Missouri
21 Mar 2007 Vaudeville Mews - Des Moines, Iowa
22 Mar 2007 The Casbah - Ottumwa, Iowa
23 Mar 2007 Turf Club - Minneapolis, Minnesota
24 Mar 2007 South Union Arts - Chicago, Illinois
25 Mar 2007 Lager House - Detroit, Michigan
27 Mar 2007 Cafe Nine - New Haven, Connecticut
28 Mar 2007 Middle East Upstairs - Boston, Massachusetts
29 Mar 2007 Cake Shop - NY, New York

Also, there is a new community that doesn't have nearly as many errors as myspace! Join now by clicking here.

Mantii-releated Trig pages:

trig.com/divisionoflauralee
trig.com/thecassettes

Frantic Mantis hopes to do some more recording in May.

Sweden's Second Life Embassy

2007-02-07T16:22:00.000+01:00

The country of Sweden is opening an embassy in Second Life! It appears that these virtual worlds are just as valid as any other "place" for representing countries and their ideologies. Apparently the USA has a division devoted to new media technologies as well, which makes me wonder what the future will be like... people working online and bordless economies with countries attempting to regulate. Many questions to be answered.

[ READ ARTICLE ]

Even if you're not a fan of the music...

2007-02-05T17:42:00.000+01:00

You've got to be a fan of the humor.

Source...

2007-01-23T07:21:00.000+01:00

Beautiful image of blue screen of death in times square. The moment an advertisement died and showed it's soul. (Thanks Stu for the link).

Album Update / Mantis Robot

2007-01-17T01:54:00.000+01:00

Album #2 is coming along. We have a title.. "Novus Ordo Mantidae" and we have decided to record some more songs. 5 of the songs are mixed and we plan on doing some edits to one of them plus we have a song that Per sings on that we have to mix and add some guitar/bass onto.

Current tracks & status of unfinished compositions: Brain Delete, Save Our Shitty, Human Head, Signal To Noise, Out Of Body Out Of Mind (Rough Mix), Sex/Fashion/Numbers (+Overdubs), Nanoloop 1 (+Overdubs).

And now a news item about a Mantis robot in tokyo!

[ LINK TO MANTIS ROBOT ARTICLE ]

Buddha Machine

2007-01-11T12:31:00.000+01:00

Electronic band FM3 released their "album" in the form of a box that plays loops. The concept is really a welcome one in the creation of a special cultural object. People have been buying up the boxes and enjoying these ambient machines in their homes and in public spaces. The group has even gone "on tour" and set up Buddha Boxing matches where people interact turn-based with the machines. This is rather old news on the web but something I finally stumbled upon in my data-haze. Enjoy the interview below, it is inspiring.

I'll be getting my machine in the mail soon!

[ INTERVIEW WITH FM3 ON BUDDHA BOX ]

Guru Meditation: Archives Repaired

2007-01-10T11:06:00.000+01:00

Archives weren't operational and now they are repaired.

Factoid: "Guru Meditation" was the term for system error on the Amiga computer. I have only fond memories of these errors nowadays (even though they were frustrating at the time) while running my Amiga BBS and playing loads of games. I also have a Frodus song from our first cassette release called "Guru Meditation" to be released this year digitally.

[ READ THE WIKI ARTICLE ON "GURU MEDITATION" ]

Mini Mantis: Julian

2007-01-09T23:48:00.000+01:00

We'd like to announce the birth of new mini-mantis Julian Stålberg... 2nd son of Per Stålberg and Annette! CONGRATULATIONS and welcome to this weird-wild-world little one...

Technolitude™

2007-01-09T23:14:00.000+01:00

Yeah, the new iPhone sets the bar for new mobile phones in functionality and design. Yeah yeah. But for some reason this site, Gersh.no, touched me more today. I like the free apps this guy makes and in particular I like this quote on his page:

"Computers are not important. Internet either. Spend more time in the real world. Experience the fresh air and the silence of the nature. Get to know your friends better. There is much exciting on the internet, but the knowledge of computers are just temporary, its all gone tomorrow!" - Gersh

[ GO TO GERSH.NO ]

Technolitude: using electronic or techogadgets to sequester one's self from community, or to excuse one's self from engaging in meaningful social interaction...

[ READ THIS BLOGGER'S POST ON 'TECHNOLITUDE' ]
(Comrade of Birru, FM Shadow Mantii)

Torus

2007-01-08T14:18:00.000+01:00

Kind of random enjoyable wiki article that was featured today about Villarceau Circles, which are "...are a pair of circles produced by cutting a torus diagonally through the center at the correct angle. Given an arbitrary point on a torus, four circles can be drawn through it. One is in the plane of the torus. Another is perpendicular to it. The other two are Villarceau circles, usually not coplanar. They are named after the French astronomer and mathematician Yvon Villarceau (1813–1883)."

[ READ THE ARTICLE ]

Sony PSP Tracker

2007-01-04T01:41:00.000+01:00

I've been under a rock in my corner of the web, or I just don't go wandering around the internet as often as I used to. "Web 2.0 killed the casual explorer" (???)... Anyhow - I found this article from Octoboer 2k6 about a Sony PSP Tracker, it contains a link to a mp3 song which is rather enjoyable. Still think I like Nanoloops sound better but this is intriguing nonetheless.

[ LINK TO ARTICLE ]

8bits

2007-01-04T01:26:00.000+01:00

Slowly editing and piecing together album 2 by Frantic Mantis. Less nanoloops... however, I have created a new 8bit nanoloop that I played guitar on that I may do some vocals on for this album. It becomes confusing when creating Nanoloops for various projects and to know where they should have a home! That's where oblique strategies and intuition comes in.

Above image from this article about stiched DOS commands.

Rocketslime

2007-01-02T00:45:00.000+01:00

When not mixing and not eating holiday and post-holiday food I find myself gaming when i want to wind down and clear the brain, this is of course when I choose to not take a walk amongst the winding Bucharest city streets. The game of choice aside from Contact (see post below) is Rocketslime. It's based on the Dragon Warrior world and consists of a small slime that must save his kingdom of Slimenia. The gameplay is jumping and slimeattacks (stretching yourself and shooting your body at enemies) and extensive tank battles (which are rather addictive). It's an overall simple game but if you love japanese animated absurdity and just good old school minded gaming with a twist of a RPG, this is it! My pick of 2006!

[ GAMESPOT REVIEW ]

[ ROCKETSLIME MYSPACE???? PAGE! ]
(Okay folks, this is really getting ridiculous)

[ ROCKETSLIME OFFICIAL SITE ]

PS .. someone please make a sequencer for the Gameboy DS! If not, then I will have to learn how to program. Give me 10 years.

New Songs / Contact

2006-12-30T22:16:00.000+01:00

New songs posted on our MySpace page.

Also completed CONTACT for Gameboy DS this holiday season. It contains some funny in-game social commentary about net phenomena and community sites. In particular they reference "MySpot" (a.k.a. MySpace™) and a net-hyped "band". An overall enjoyable adventure with design and contextual tips o' the hat to early gaming and computing.

Sent from the shadownet

2006-12-26T00:20:00.000+01:00

We were tipped-off of a mention on the SUNY Fredonia University site in reference to us blogging about their article about mantii earlier. [here]. A welcome mention and our hats are tipped to those who work with insects. We would happily create a soundtrack for an ecosystem of mantii.

I just like this

2006-12-21T23:32:00.000+01:00

Image originally posted at: http://www.rareads.com/scans1/26257.jpg

[ NOTE: It looks like they took down the ad. Maybe too many people were looking at the amazing 1980s cube and increasing the site's bandwidth. Hmmph! ]

Mixing Madness: Han Shot First

2006-12-17T16:58:00.000+01:00

When mixing digitally.. or even in an analog setting, the "studio madness" that sets in can never be avoided. It seems though even more with digital that the concept of being able to fix and edit seems like an endless process. Self-editing in the DIY recording realm is a tricky thing to do. The learning process to this I have found to be a combination of perspective and patience. Taking breaks to have fresh ears, not being too eager to be finished and share your work with the world. So in a way one has to go against the flow in the newly found internet-age habit of instant publishing and satisfaction in one-click. And with these tools at your fingertips one also must remember to remain spontaneous and capture human energy so you don't end up with a completely edited plastic version. As Chad Clark (Beauty Pill) once said... "it's a thin line to the path of evil". The "path of evil" being overly editing things and fixing parts with clinical intensity thus sucking out the human quality of music.

Anyone remember what George Lucas did when he got too overly excited about the digital age and re-edited the early star wars films? I weep at that memory. Greedo shooting han first? Wat da faa!

Mixing...

2006-12-14T11:38:00.000+01:00

We will begin mixing the new Frantic Mantis album shortly. We had some bad luck with hard-drives... one external HD died and then the backup HD with some Division Of Laura Lee data also crashed. Fortunately, the data for FM was also on two laptops. It was almost a serious situation, however it did cause delay in mixing as I didn't have my version of the album back in the US of A! But now... mixes begin in kitchens and other living spaces.

2006-12-08T17:25:00.000+01:00

Romanian inventor creates a 100TB CD!

Underground

2006-10-14T07:37:00.000+02:00

We have gone underground to finish some of our recording. Per Stålberg is adding some of his parts to the album and then mixing must begin. The mixing sessions will most likely be spread out over a few months. No definite time of completion but we are thinking by early next year we shall have some things to share, or perhaps even December this year. For the time being the Frantic Mantis members are busy with The Cassettes and Division Of Laura Lee respectively.

WABIAN-2R

2006-09-27T16:43:00.000+02:00

There's a new humanoid bot in play named WABIAN-2R that's taking Japan by storm. Well, not really, but it is walking through Japan's malls at a blistering 1.24 miles per hour. He can very well be the 4th Shadow Mantii...

FM Recording Day 5, 6, 7

2006-09-18T22:46:00.000+02:00

Final video documentation of recording of next Frantic Mantis album. Overdubs went into Monday. Now for finishing touches at home studios, etc... 8 songs down with full band. Status: album two in overdub and mixing stage 1.

Lonely breakfast Saturday.

Final transmission... for now.

FM Recording Day 4

2006-09-16T23:55:00.000+02:00

I'll be uploading the little video to this day later however just shot a "lone breakfast" video for this day. Actually started on vocals for two songs and overdubbed bass. Oddly enough at the moment I feel like this next Frantic release will be a cross between Sex Pistols and Frodus... strange as I never really envisioned it going that way but that seems to be the natural progression of the recordings at the moment. Of course things may change, but the sounds have a life of their own.

FM Recording Day 3

2006-09-15T23:58:00.000+02:00

Håkan and Per and DP screen

Candidly recording Per listening to a recording.

Also uploaded some unearthed 2005 footage of FM including Stephen Guidry of The Cassettes on his Moog and other travels/places. Goto CHANNEL ZLORBOK!

FM Recording Day 2

2006-09-15T01:36:00.000+02:00

FM Recording Day 1

2006-09-14T10:13:00.000+02:00

This day started with a reminder of life before the mobile phone. Håkan and I met in town and made a plan to meet at his apartment after we purchase some items we needed. I arrived at his apartment building but realized I had no idea which Apt number he lived in and all the names in the directory were still the old names since he just moved into his place. After ringing some random names to no avail I attempted jumping on his wifi network but it didn't have a strong enough signal from the ground floor. So finding his number in my laptop I wrote it down with pencil on a receipt and walked with studio gear and microphone stand strapped to my sweaty back down the road to a phonebooth. I then proceeded called him while I watched my Kroner credits go down almost by the 10 second interval as I kept pumping in money in this infernal booth. It was bad, US phone booths were never this gouging and I was calling someone within the same city! Anyhow, I left him a frantic message in annoyed english (which comes out in frantic situations) within 5 seconds to come out of his apartment.

I hung up and walked briskly down the road and by the time I reached his place he had listened to his message and had come out. Apparently, previously he searched high and wide for me since he arrived earlier than my tram so since I wasn't there. He and a pal took to the local streets in vicinity to check every café and their rehearsal space in search for me. The lesson to be noted was the world without mobile phones required more planning. I don't even remember actually the last time I used a phone booth... I feel like it was in 1998 while on tour of the USA.

We then made our way to the fancy Shell gas station after doing some design work to eat some fine food. Believe it or not they have a rather good fare including freshly baked pastries that they bake there. Advanced Swedish Convenience Concepts™. After consumption we went to "replokalen" to take care of business.

Gas Station Consumption

To the rehearsal room

Recording Tech Roundup

Rehearsing New Song

A Brain Cell is the Same as the Universe

2006-09-11T11:04:00.000+02:00

Scientist discover similar patterns in the universe's form and our brain cells.

[ LINK TO ARTICLE ]

Carl Sagan Speaks

2006-09-05T00:00:00.000+02:00

Commie 64

2006-08-30T03:39:00.000+02:00

Uhhhhh....

FM Pitchfork

2006-08-28T21:24:00.000+02:00

Spotted here is a Frantic Mantis CD in pitchfork's offices (see at the bottom in mail bin).. the CD hasn't been reviewed yet, but just found it humorous that the [>_<] face sticks out. Interesting article on the webzine that I haven't read since 2001 as well.

[ PITCHFORK ARTICLE @ WIRED ]

Gameboy bitGenerations

2006-08-20T01:39:00.000+02:00

Nintendo is releasing a batch of new gameboy titles in which they get zen to the origins of gaming and interface. I can't wait.

Surveillance County Players

2006-08-08T02:00:00.000+02:00

Surveillance county players doing art-activism.

[ LINK TO WEBSITE ]

[ MORE SURVEILLANCE INSPIRED ART ]

7Km Market

2006-08-07T12:54:00.000+02:00

A 7km market outside of the airport in Odessa, Ukraine built of shipping containers with everything you need and more.

[ 7KM WEBSITE WIKI ]

Open iTunes?

2006-08-02T00:20:00.000+02:00

"Apple Computer on Tuesday responded to claims made by Scandinavian governments that the company was violating their laws by not allowing other music devices to access music from iTunes."

"In June, France's parliament passed a law that could force Apple to open up iTunes to competitors. Apple has called this "state-sponsored piracy.""

State-sponsored piracy?! Up the irons!

[ ARTICLE ON CNET ]

Smart Egg.

2006-08-01T10:27:00.000+02:00

The smart egg that shows you when it's boiled to perfection.

[ LINK TO ARTICLE ]

Cosmic Blob

2006-07-31T10:58:00.001+02:00

Cosmic Blob biggest thing in the universe.

[ LINK TO ARTICLE ]

Praying Manti Wise To Sexual Cannibalism Risk

2006-07-31T10:58:00.000+02:00

If you were a male praying mantid, the top item on your prayer list would be to survive sex. Female praying mantids are notorious for eating males after they mate. Now for the first time, scientists have experimentally shown that the males are hip to the risk and not too keen on being food! Looks like us boys aren't as dumb as we look.

[ LINK TO ARTICLE AT LIVESCIENCE ]