reblogging:

theremina:

“The real world had disappeared for them—it had completely lost its importance. They were in that notional space, and the machine in front of them was the brave new world. The only computers I’d ever seen in those days were things the size of the side of a barn. And then one day, I walked by a bus stop and there was an Apple poster. The poster was a photograph of a businessman’s jacketed, neatly cuffed arm holding a life-size representation of a real-life computer that was not much bigger than a laptop is today. Everyone is going to have one of these, I thought, and everyone is going to want to live inside them. And somehow I knew that the notional space behind all of the computer screens would be one single universe.” 

 ~Prophetic author William Gibson, recently discussing the origins of his concept of cyberspace with the Paris Review.

This past week, following a nasty emergency surgical procedure, I’ve been semi-bedridden. What’s a lonely, antsy music nerd to do? Well, in addition to antibiotics and deep breathing exercises, massive doses of hangout time at the upstart DJ social networking site, Turntable.fm, have been speeding my healing process along. (Kudos to Nadya Lev for introducing me to this brave new world of Sanrioesque avatars, lively conversation, and best of all, nonstop bitchin’ tunes.)

Over the weekend, I created “a semi-official Turntable room for Coilhouse Magazine + Blog: A Love Letter to Alternative Culture. Eclectic, gracious, playful, spookylicious.” The party’s been jumpin’ pretty much around the clock, ever since, thanks to the participation of all sorts of lovely people from all different parts of the world: Australia, Canada, England, the U.S.A., Brazil, Czech Republic, New Zealand, you name it. It’s proving to be a wonderful way to listen to music, spin tracks, lounge and chat in real time with far-flung friends, and friends-in-the-making.  I have yet to experience a cozier, or more congenial notional space online.

For several hours now, a rotating roster of DJs in the Coilhouse Room has been riffing off a wonderful theme, spinning nothing but music with a Space/Rocket/Cosmos/SciFi narrative. Here’s a playlist to give you an idea of how multifaceted the group is, and how much fun we’re having:

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Grinderman. Honey Bee (Let’s Fly To Mars)

*Bikini Kill. Alien She.

Shiny Toy Guns. Major Tom (Coming Home) [ Shiny Toy Guns Remix]

Soul Coughing. Unmarked Helicopters.

Rush. 2112: Grand Finale.

Underworld & John Murphy. Mercury.

*Death In June. Heaven Street.

Vangelis. Main Titles.

The Five Blobs. The Blob.

The Tornados. Telstar.

The Cruel Sea. Blame It On The Moon.

The Anacondas. Moon Dust.

*The Cramps. Blue Moon Baby.

Radio Moscow. Sputnik Announcement.

ELO. Ticket To The Moon.

Aimee Mann. Lost In Space.

ArnoCorps. Total Recall.

Sufjan Stevens. Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois.

Jay Reatard. There Is No Sun.

Jonathan Coulton. Space Doggity.

Imagined Village. Space Girl.

RushJet1. Asteroid Run.

Queen. Flash.

*The Pogues. The Sun And The Moon.

Grinderman. Man In The Moon.

Gustav Holst. Mars (Bringer of War).

Antiseen. Space Is The Place. (Sun Ra cover.)

Modest Mouse. The Stars Are Projectors.

The B-52’s. Planet Claire.

Dr. Octagon. Earth People.

Portishead. Wandering Star.

*Amanda Palmer. Astronaut.

Hosome. Space Deacadent.

Fall On Your Sword. Back To The Ship.

SBTRKT. Laika.

The Kills. Satellite.

*Tullycraft. Polaroids From Mars.

Yoko Kanno & The Seatbelts. Cats On Mars.

Perrey and Kingsley. Pioneers of The Stars.

Starkey. Spacewalk.

Faith No More. Woodpecker From Mars.

*Camper Van Beethoven. The Day That Lassie Went To The Moon.

John Coltrane. Jupiter Variation.

Sun Ra. Rocket Number Nine.

God Is An Astronaut. Suicide by Star.

David Bowie. Starman

*Frank Black. The Marsist.

The Misfits. Teenagers From Mars.

Afrika Bambaataa. Planet Rock.

The Monochrome Set. Martians Go Home.

Jeff Wayne, Richard Burton & David… The Artilleryman.

*Turbonegro. Let’s Go To Mars.

Asobi Seksu. Walk On The Moon.

Lucia Pamela. Walking on the Moon.

The Go! Team. Bottle Rocket.

Radium Cats. Martian Hop.

*The Mekons. Ghosts of American Astronauts.

MC Frontalot. Forbidden Planet.

Chase & Status. Time (feat. Delilah)

El-B. Among The Stars.

Pink Floyd. Astronomy Domine.

*The Twelve Caesars. She’s A Planet.

Goldfrapp. Rocket.

…As The Poets Affirm. Rocket Through.

Monster Magnet. Space Lord.

*Woody Guthrie. Better World A-Comin’.

Madvillain. Space Ho’s Coast To Coast.

Novadriver. Rocket Superstar.

Neil Young. Harvest Moon.

Lou Reed. Satellite Of Love.

*The Detroit Cobras. Out of This World.

The Dagons. He Went Into Space.

Man or Astro-Man?. Journey To The Stars.

St. Vincent. Apocalypse Song.

Deep Purple. Space Truckin’.

*Weston. Galaxy, Galaxy.

Thee Merry Widows. Grave Robbers (from Outer Space)

The Jewws. Moon Equipped.

Sonic Youth. Silver Rocket.

Guitar Wolf. Cosmic Space Girl.

*Rocket From The Tombs. Sonic Reducer.

Electric Six. Rubber Rocket.

Symarip. Skinhead Moonstomp.

Max Romeo. I chase The Devil.

Leonard Cohen. Waiting for the Miracle.

The Imagined Village. Space Girl.

*Men Without Hats. Pop Goes The World.

Alien Sex Fiend. Drive My Rocket Up Uranus.

Plus-Tech Squeeze Box. starship.6

Tom Waits. The Earth Died Screaming.

David Bowie. Space Oddity.

*Guns’n’Roses. Rocket Queen.

Zolar X. Rocket Roll.

Radium Cats. Martian Hop.

Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. Frenzy.

Reverend Horton Heat. Big Red Rocket Of Love.

*Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats. Rocket 88.

MC5. Rocket Reducer No. 62.

Ace and the Ragers. Bottle Rocket.

Ex-Girl. Rocket Keronian.

William Shatner. Rocket Man.HUGE hugs to Kate Black for compiling this epic playlist (which is still going, and will be added to later).

The one major issue I have w/Turntable is its FB dependency. It’s been posited that the upstart doesn’t have the capacity to handle arbitrary signups while still running in “beta” mode. Apparently, the site’s getting slammed as it is, and invites are on hold until tomorrow, but by all means, if you can get in, please do, and come say hi. And hopefully, once it takes off, non-FB-using people will have the option of joining in the fun as well.”

I am officially down with this.

For what it is worth Turntable FM is one of the best social media experiences I have had. I have made new friends and refound old ones. Let’s hope it survives.

via theremina