Nineteen Ninety Never

In the comment section of io9 a few months ago, someone suggested that t-shirts be made depicting a quote attributed to George Orwell:

“Back in the 1900s, it was a wonderful experience for a boy to discover H.G. Wells. There you were, in a world of pedants, clergymen and golfers…and here was this wonderful man who could tell you about the inhabitants of the sea, and who knew that the future was not going to be what respectable people imagined.“

Its a wonderful quote, and I completely agree with the commenter that shirts should be made, so I’m offering my design above, paraphrased from that quote (clicking on the image will give you the layered, PSD file should you wish to use it - I can’t remember where I got the template).

I’m certainly not a graphic designer, so if you make your own version, let me know in the comments or via email. It’ll probably be better than what I’ve come up with.

Keep the sci-fi dream alive, my friends…and while you’re at it, grok these future tracks:

Cut Copy - Future

Futurecop! vs. Ciara - Fast Forward 1 2 Step (props to Trash Menagerie for posting that one)

If you liked this shirt, check out more sci-fi shirts themed shirts on 199x

Its the beginning of March here in Toronto (actually, its probably the beginning of March in the whole world) and the weather is unseasonably warm. To celebrate, I ate lunch on a patio.

Is this the beginning of summer? I hope so, and to get in the mood I’ve been listening to these smart Beach Boys remixes.

Beach Boys - Good Vibrations (Stanton Warriors Remix)

Beach Boys - Wouldn’t It Be Nice (TheGirlsCanHearUs! Remix)

More love for TheGirlsCanHearUs! and a few more Beach Boys here.

The lovely girl in that photo? That’s Heather and she writes Toronto Uncovered.

Phase02 is one of those blogs that is the perfect mixture of design and music - you can tell that they’ve put some serious thought into the way they want the blog to look and how it fits with the sound they’re sharing.

They recently posted this track by RSD and I knew I just had to listen to it. I mean, the title of the track is “Naked Mario Kart.”

I love Mario Kart. I’m pretty sure that the original Mario Kart is one of the most perfect video games ever. Like chess, it is easy to learn the rules but you can spend a lifetime mastering it. When I lived in Japan, my roommate Ian and I would spend hours playing Kart. We’d enter a kind of zen-like trance, and stay up all night dodging red shells and sniping green shells.

That’s why I was slightly disappointed that the track “Naked Mario Kart’ wasn’t really about Mario Kart. I mean, one of the sounds might be sampled from it but that’s it. The good news is that it’s really got that etheral, spacey feel that I’ve been digging lately.

Someone also dropped me this Peo De Pitte rework of Telepopmusik’s Breathe, and its also worth a listen. Let them be the soundtrack to your Sunday evening.

RSD  - Naked Mario Kart (Graphics Remix)

Telepopmusik - Breathe (Peo de Pitte Remix)

Between this post and the earlier one with the Starfox image you’re probably thinking I’m getting nostalgic for the SNES days of yore (the Starfox battle mode being great, but nowhere near as good as classic Kart).

You’re right, but its not a new thing. I’m sure one small part of my mind is always thinking about Super Mario Kart.

For more video game themed tracks, check out this post with a Metal Gear Solid rap and this one with some more MGS and a track from the Ocarina of Rhyme album.

Satellite image via here

I haven’t seen it, but I’m pretty sure 1980’s GALAXINA is probably the most perfect movie in the world. Produced by Playboy, it stars the 1980 Playmate of the year Dorothy Stratten as a “voluptuous android who finds herself alone for many years, developing emotions and falling in love with the ship’s pilot as he and the other crew sleep the years away” after they’ve been placed in suspended animation (Parts of this actually sound suspiciously similar to Alastair Reynolds epic book House of Suns).

The tag line on the movie poster (via) is “IN THE 31st CENTURY MAN FINALLY CREATED A MACHINE…With Feelings” and its going on my must-watch list.

Speaking of machines with feelings, you can’t go wrong with remixes of Florence + the Machine’s You’ve Got The Love. I wrote about the XX remix of that track a little while ago (damn, I love golden robots), and I was glad to hear Adam Smith’s take on it.

The Secret Galaxies remix comes courtesy of T-dot ballers Borracho, who were kind enough to post it on their Myspace page. Its a little more mellow than some of their other stuff, and I definitely like it.

You can’t go wrong with a little Ellie Goulding, and when the theme of the day seems to be galaxies and robots what better than a space-disco track about getting starry-eyed (I’m just going to assume she’s singing about looking at the stars and dreaming about space). These Monarchy cats have done some other mixes, and I dig that they called this one the Horses Head Nebular remix.

Anyways, if you’re in a galactic mood, give ‘em a listen:

Florence + The Machine - You’ve Got The Love (Adam Smith Remix)

Cavaliers of Fun - Secret Galaxies (Borracho! Remix) (via Borracho!’s MysSpace)

Ellie Goulding - Starry Eyed (Monarchy “Horse Head Nebular” Remix) (via DiscoDust)

Looking at pictures of future cities is always a good time, and when you’ve got electronic soundtrack its even better.

These are some tracks that have landed in my inbox, and while they don’t have as heavy of a beat as some of the stuff I’ve been listening to lately they’re still pretty good. I’ve written about Dr. Hollywood before, and I think they’ll probably have some great stuff coming up.

This week marks the first time I’ve heard of Belfast Synth pop duo Uber Glitterati, and I think they’ll stay on my iPod for a little while. I think it’ll make for great music to walk around the city with, something a little lighter than what I usually listen to. You can find some other tracks by them on Soundcloud.

Dr. Hollywood - Partner In Crime

Popskarr - S.P.I.L.L.S

Goldhawks - Running Away (Melechtric Remix)

Uber Glitterati - Out of Mind

Image via Cool Vibe. They’ve also got a ton of other great sci-fi art.

I’ve never been a huge fan of La Roux, but someone sent me this track a few weeks ago and its been keeping me entertained. I just love the way you think its really going to drop just before the 2 minute mark, but then it goes all wobbly again.

La Roux - In For The Kill (Skream’s Lets Get Ravey Remix)

Check out more of that horror sound on 199X. Then hit us on on Twitter

On a lighter note, does anyone think La Roux looks like Fry from Futurama?

(Image via Brandon Sek via Ffffound)

If you’re not already hip to the Scotty Dynamo scene, grab his new album and hear what everyone’s been talking about.

His beats will are great, and he’s got  hilarious lyrics like “no that aint my number that’s my bank account.”

Scotty Dynamo - Dance All Night

Scotty Dynamo - Tik Tok (Kesha Cover)

Kesha - Tik Tok

I expect big things from this kid in twenty-ten. Check him and get his new album for free at ScottyDynamo.com

You gotta hand it to Adult Swim. First they brought us the Mouse & The Mask, an album by MF Doom and Dangermouse that was heavily influenced by Aqua Teen Hunger Force and other adult swim shows. And now they’ve dropped ATL RMX on us, a free album featuring southern hip-hop tracks remixed by electro artists. Young Jeezy? Check. Young Dro? Check. Two (count ‘em) Li’l Jon tracks on the mix? Check.

Lil Jon feat. Kee - Give It All You Got (Drums of Death Remix)

Young Jeezy - I Got This (El-P Remix)

OJ Da Juiceman feat. Gucci Man - Good Night (HEALTH Remix)

Grab all the ATL RMX tracks here.

I’m about 500 pages into the first book, The Reality Dysfunction, of Peter F. Hamilton’s “The Night’s Dawn Trilogy” and so far I’m loving it.

Part of the reason I like it is because some of the main characters, the “Edenists” are similar to the post-human Culture of Iain Banks’ books. One of the key differences is that instead of having their main technologies be based on computers, the Edenists grow their sentient starships and habitats out of a substance called “bitek” (that I can only assume is short for “bio-technology”). This gives both their habitats and ships personality and sentience, with the Edenists connected to them via a telepathic affinity bond.

Like a lot of the sci-fi I’ve been reading lately, its full of huge ideas and takes place on an epic scale. Reading it, I feel the same way that I do when I look at that picture of the astronaut floating above the earth.

I added the tracks from the XX below because they definitely have a spacey-feel. If you listen closely to the lyrics of “Shelter,” it almost sounds like they were written about the Edenists and their living technology. The original version of this track is pretty good, but I really like the the rework that Death to the Throne gives it.

The XX - Shelter (Death to the Throne Remix)

The XX - Basic Space (The Astronomer Remix)

Joachim Garraud - Back From Space (Frederico Fanchi Remix) (via the always-classy Palms Out)

I’d say that half of the music I like is pure, decadent electro that doesn’t really require much thought. The other half is music that tells a story, and that’s why I like this track from Oddioblender. Give it a listen and let the story play out.

Oddioblender - Psychics Don’t Need Hooks

After listening to it, I totally started remember Psycho Mantis from Metal Gear Solid. Remember how he read your memory card, and the only way to beat him was to unplug your controller, and plug it into the other port? Truly a memorable moment, and definitely some fourth-wall breaking shiznit right there.

You know who else doesn’t need a hook? Jay-z, that’s who.

Jay-z - No Hook (Team Teamwork Meeting the Owl Remix) (from their nerdtastic Ocarina of Rhyme album)