Friday, February 26, 2016

Election day in Ireland

Waving The Flag

It's election day in Ireland. Once again I am subject to cynical assessments of the process via social media. This derives from fundamental mistakes people make when considering their role within "democracy" and "politics", two terms that are basically meaningless without further descriptives.

I grew up in Canada, which is similar to the USA and UK in having "first past the post" elections. Technically called "plurality voting", such a system only simulates democracy. Voting is treated like a horse race. A representative government can never result by definition. It is safe to say that there is no democracy in Canada. (Despite Leonard Cohen's optimism!)
Saturday, February 13, 2016

The sensory phenomenology of gravity waves



I was as excited as many of you to learn this week of the discovery of gravity waves. And also happy to hear the audible chirp as two massive black holes collided over a billion light years away. But does this discovery mean that we can now "listen" to the universe? Are the claims for this as some sort of a revolutionary sensory phenomenology valid?

Read on for scientific wonder, sensory overload, and a mixtape.
Friday, February 05, 2016

Stolen Mirror release party

Fergus Kelly at Stolen Mirror release party

As 2016 dawns Stolen Mirror enters a new phase. In December my label released AC, the debut CD from Steve McCourt, featuring three compositions. And two weeks ago Fergus Kelly's latest album, Neural Atlas, saw the light of day. These two limited edition CDs contain electroacoustic music that plays with sound in intriguing ways.

Wednesday evening we had a release party at the very wonderful Guesthouse in Shandon, Cork. I have to thank Irene Murphy and the rest of the collective for being so generous with their time and energy. We had delightful vegetarian food and wine around an open fire before retiring upstairs for music.