WOEBOT.TV

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Second episode is up, and it's his top 10 records of 2006!

http://www.woebot.tv/

― flavio pessoa (flavio pessoa), Friday, 12 January 2007 15:47 (eighteen years ago)

bump!

― flavio pessoa (flavio pessoa), Friday, 12 January 2007 15:47 (eighteen years ago)

why isn't this showing on the new answers page?

― flavio pessoa (flavio pessoa), Friday, 12 January 2007 15:48 (eighteen years ago)

Because you're impatient.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 12 January 2007 15:48 (eighteen years ago)

Wasn't that interested in his list of 2006 or his reissues or his listened to most or whatever, but some of those distorted horns tracks sounded great!

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Friday, 12 January 2007 15:51 (eighteen years ago)

not sure if i prefer listening to reading. either way, total waste of time making it a VIDEO.

― reverto levidensis (blueski), Friday, 12 January 2007 15:56 (eighteen years ago)

i would actually want to read this! but i don't want to watch it, bloody hell.

― lex pretend (lex pretend), Friday, 12 January 2007 15:59 (eighteen years ago)

Woebot is the lonelygirl15 of music journalism.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Friday, 12 January 2007 16:03 (eighteen years ago)

Why make something when you can spend quality time on a message board?

― Andy_K (Andy_K), Friday, 12 January 2007 16:05 (eighteen years ago)

haha

― cheesesteak and shake (dubplatestyle), Friday, 12 January 2007 16:06 (eighteen years ago)

zing zang zung

― cheesesteak and shake (dubplatestyle), Friday, 12 January 2007 16:07 (eighteen years ago)

I think it's really good. Someone give him a series. I can't remember if I've ever seen a music show like it. If I have one criticism it's that it's not available fullscreen (unless I'm being a techno-peasant).

― Treblekicker (treblekicker), Friday, 12 January 2007 16:08 (eighteen years ago)

It just seems really pointless to make it in VIDEO form, unless you can make something interesting visually to justify the medium choice (I don't need to see the sleeves that desperately). An mp3 would've been fine! They're letting anyone on Resonance these days etc.

― reverto levidensis (blueski), Friday, 12 January 2007 16:10 (eighteen years ago)

whatever was wrong with words on a screen? this makes it MORE difficult to access!

― lex pretend (lex pretend), Friday, 12 January 2007 16:10 (eighteen years ago)

"Doing stuff" LOL

― Andy_K (Andy_K), Friday, 12 January 2007 16:11 (eighteen years ago)

I think it's great. I would never have dreamt of reading an essay about Gentle Giant, but Woebot.tv ep.1 actually made them seem pretty intriguing. The top 10 was less so, but then lists are boring whatever format. Good work Mr I!

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Friday, 12 January 2007 16:11 (eighteen years ago)

i kinda like it, the dance moves on the "mutated horns" section are funny; my only suggestion would be to raise his voice's volume on the mix.

― flavio pessoa (flavio pessoa), Friday, 12 January 2007 16:11 (eighteen years ago)

i kind of agree with steve and andy both.

― cheesesteak and shake (dubplatestyle), Friday, 12 January 2007 16:12 (eighteen years ago)

I'm doing stuff whilst listening to this.

― reverto levidensis (blueski), Friday, 12 January 2007 16:12 (eighteen years ago)

Envy is not a pretty spectacle at the best of times.

Matthew and I have notoriously failed to see eye to eye in the past but it's a great idea and he's clearly put a great deal of work into it. Enough of the jealousy please.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Friday, 12 January 2007 16:12 (eighteen years ago)

Yes of course it can only be jealousy. Any criticism ever = masking jealousy. Did the band make a crap album? NO IT'S BECAUSE THE CRITIC IS JUST JEALOUS OF THEM!

but then lists are boring whatever format.

even as an EOY CD? (yours rules btw)

― reverto levidensis (blueski), Friday, 12 January 2007 16:15 (eighteen years ago)

Perhaps when you've done something better than Woebot TV then you might have earned the right to criticise it.

He's made the quantum leap because you were too lazy and scared to do it first, deal with it.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Friday, 12 January 2007 16:17 (eighteen years ago)

http://redsox.collider.com/uploads/imageGallery/Quantum_Leap/quantum_leap_image__3_.jpg

― cheesesteak and shake (dubplatestyle), Friday, 12 January 2007 16:18 (eighteen years ago)

I have done something better than Woebot TV. Not that that is relevant when it comes to criticism anwyay. You really do come out with some ridiculous shit.

― reverto levidensis (blueski), Friday, 12 January 2007 16:18 (eighteen years ago)

my biggest criticism of this video: listen to an NPR music review, dude. i know you play the music in the background, but it's so hard to make out over your voice. you should shut up for just a few seconds and turn up the volume for each track at least once.

― critique de la vie quotidienne (modestmickey), Friday, 12 January 2007 16:19 (eighteen years ago)

You've done something better have you? Then show us (xpost).

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Friday, 12 January 2007 16:20 (eighteen years ago)

Music writers handling criticism of other music writers they respect worse than criticism of musicians they respect shockah

― reverto levidensis (blueski), Friday, 12 January 2007 16:20 (eighteen years ago)

You've done something better have you? Then show us.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Friday, 12 January 2007 16:21 (eighteen years ago)

i'm gonna lock this one in about...five minutes.

― cheesesteak and shake (dubplatestyle), Friday, 12 January 2007 16:22 (eighteen years ago)

It's a great idea, but it shouldn't be a replacement for a text blog at all, disability/accessibility issues anyone?.

People be missing the point of the .TV here though.

I'll agree the visual content isn't really up to much for this feature, but it made sense for the prog feature w/live footage etc.

― fandango (fandango), Friday, 12 January 2007 16:22 (eighteen years ago)

The blogosphere isn't Lambeth Council.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Friday, 12 January 2007 16:23 (eighteen years ago)

I think it's a great idea. I have less patience for this nonsense than Jess though.

― Tom (Groke), Friday, 12 January 2007 16:23 (eighteen years ago)

yes, thread unlocked!

now maybe we can suggest some themes for future episodes?

― flavio pessoa (flavio pessoa), Friday, 12 January 2007 23:29 (eighteen years ago)

Yes, sorry for the temporary locking - I thought it was best to stop a lot of time-wasting ugliness.

― Tom (Groke), Friday, 12 January 2007 23:34 (eighteen years ago)

that's allright.

one thing, has anyone saved the prog episode? on the dissensus thread, he said he isn't doing archives for the videos... i thought about saving and uploading the episodes somewhere else, with his aproval, of course.

― flavio pessoa (flavio pessoa), Friday, 12 January 2007 23:40 (eighteen years ago)

but it made sense for the prog feature w/live footage etc.

this was a good point and the only one to convince me that doing it on video is a 'great idea'. sorry to focus on negative here - i'm sure it'll all develop and expand tho. i liked being able to hear the music anyway.

funnily enough i do have a couple of video projects in the pipeline but they are by no means critic-based 'this is what i think' pieces.

― reverto levidensis (blueski), Saturday, 13 January 2007 00:00 (eighteen years ago)

hi everyone, thanks for the feedback.

i fully accept that the current episode was maybe less visual than it could have been,
certainly less so than the first episode. i spent a lot of time working on getting the audio right. so yes, it was kind of like a mp3 stream with extras.

the next three episodes are of a very different character and i think will remedy that bias. stay tuned!

― Matthew Ingram (WOEBOT), Saturday, 13 January 2007 08:25 (eighteen years ago)

hi! i have no opinion on your new video format but i want to say THANK YOU VERY MUCH for writing about quarteto novo. those records saved my life.

― friday on the porch (lfam), Saturday, 13 January 2007 08:30 (eighteen years ago)

Oh, it's down :(

― cnwb (cnwb), Saturday, 13 January 2007 09:45 (eighteen years ago)

jtn otm

― cozen (Cozen), Saturday, 13 January 2007 11:40 (eighteen years ago)

He's made the quantum leap because you were too lazy and scared to do it first, deal with it.

how is watching a video a "quantum leap" from reading words?! that is utter nonsense. videos on the internet actually seem less advanced than text what with the time they take to load - also bear in mind that blogs are a great way to pass time at work for many, and a video is obv not as suited to this.

― lex pretend (lex pretend), Saturday, 13 January 2007 14:03 (eighteen years ago)

http://www.gingkopress.com/_cata/_mclu/img/escape.jpg

― Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Saturday, 13 January 2007 14:24 (eighteen years ago)

the main reason this doesnt qualify as anything like a quantum leap in OMG VLOGGING is that so far it's only worked on telly's terms - the prog ep was basically an enjoyable matthew collingsish bbc4 essay programme that just happened to be on the interweb, while this new episode sails a lot closer to regular blogpost style and suffered badly for it. (i'd watch a bit of it again to qualify that a little better but the site's down now, so.)

― tsk. (mwah), Saturday, 13 January 2007 15:10 (eighteen years ago)

He has no ideas about how to make an interesting video. Or at least none that are on display here. It's called "Woebot TV" but even by the very lowest TV standards it's poor. The monitor head thing is just ridiculous. If you're loath to show your face then don't be a TV presenter - stick to blogging. Plus, what everyone else says about text blogs being easier and handier.

The content of what he's saying is fine though - I liked the Gentle Giant information because I don't know anything about them and now I do, kind of.

― everything (everything), Sunday, 14 January 2007 01:26 (eighteen years ago)

i really enjoyed this, great stuff. everything totally off the money - this looks better than 99% of TV: simple and effective. well done Matt.

― jed_ (jed), Sunday, 14 January 2007 02:00 (eighteen years ago)

I WANT MY MARCELLO CARLIN TV

― tony conrad schnitzler (sanskrit), Sunday, 14 January 2007 02:03 (eighteen years ago)

i think this is great!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Sunday, 14 January 2007 02:13 (eighteen years ago)

the prog ep was basically an enjoyable matthew collingsish bbc4 essay programme that just happened to be on the interweb,

I don't know who matthew collingsish is, but for me the fun part about woebot.tv, esp. the first one, is seeing that kind of show focusing on that kind of subject, something I can't find on the over 1000 channels I have care of Time Warner. I mean, Simon Reynolds doing haircuts maybe, but no discussion of gentle giant...

The monitor head thing is just ridiculous. If you're loath to show your face then don't be a TV presenter - stick to blogging.

c'mon...I'm sure he does that because he's so ashamed of his poor looks...no, it's some kind of meta comment on vlogging...no, wait...it's FUNNY.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Sunday, 14 January 2007 02:27 (eighteen years ago)

i love hearing someone actually say it! it makes it so much more interesting than a text blog to me. and i love the tv head.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Sunday, 14 January 2007 02:46 (eighteen years ago)

not that the spoken word is inherently more interesting than text, but in the world of blogging about music it makes such a nice change.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Sunday, 14 January 2007 02:46 (eighteen years ago)

I'm just waiting for him to take it to the next level...I want to see those napkin comics animated, please.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Sunday, 14 January 2007 02:58 (eighteen years ago)

I love the monitor head! He's Woebot, it's a TV. Seems obvious enough.

― Make a Beck Song #1 (M Matos), Sunday, 14 January 2007 03:14 (eighteen years ago)

he main reason this doesnt qualify as anything like a quantum leap in OMG VLOGGING...

actually the reason this doesn't qualify as a quantum leap is because it's just a fucking dude talking about music on a video on the internet.

jesus people, not everything is a fucking revolution just because you saw it on a blog.

― critique de la vie quotidienne (modestmickey), Sunday, 14 January 2007 04:12 (eighteen years ago)

no one on here has said it was but a lot of people liked it and some didn't. please fuck off.

― jed_ (jed), Sunday, 14 January 2007 04:16 (eighteen years ago)

He's made the quantum leap because you were too lazy and scared to do it first, deal with it.

-- Marcello Carlin (marcellocarli...) (webmail), January 12th, 2007. (nostudium)

hey jed, you are dead wrong. so how about you shut the fuck up you inbred idiot.

― critique de la vie quotidienne (modestmickey), Sunday, 14 January 2007 04:19 (eighteen years ago)

Don't you have some community service to fulfill?

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Sunday, 14 January 2007 04:20 (eighteen years ago)

Good on him, but I really don't get the mask. It's so unexpressive that it removes the point of it being a visual thing. This is pretty basic television surely - even the muppets have to have faces. To me, the content is 10 times more interesting and way more refreshing than similar type of bloggy stuff on Youtube, for example, but wearing a mask cuts out a lot of communication.

I think it's a cool idea that doesn't really work. If this kind of thing worked you'd see it on television and I can only think of a couple of examples - the alien from "Out Of This World" and Palladin from Glen Michael's Cavalcade (consider yourself lucky if you're not Scottish and don't know who Glen Michael is).

― everything (everything), Sunday, 14 January 2007 04:20 (eighteen years ago)

alex in sf, yeah, i'm doing it right now by sitting at home. write a letter to the judge with your dissatisfaction, faggot. tax dollars at work.

― critique de la vie quotidienne (modestmickey), Sunday, 14 January 2007 04:22 (eighteen years ago)

You are new Calum, aren't you? Minus the Scottish thing, I guess.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Sunday, 14 January 2007 04:24 (eighteen years ago)

sure, why not? time to go take a shower.

― critique de la vie quotidienne (modestmickey), Sunday, 14 January 2007 04:25 (eighteen years ago)

Someone handed me an album made last week. There is no triangle and I've yet to hear any of it on the radio. It has clearly failed.

― Andy_K (Andy_K), Sunday, 14 January 2007 04:34 (eighteen years ago)

p.s. alex, are you the new... i don't even know? get in line behind all the other uncreative assholes who thought it's automatically funny to point out that i'm on house arrest, as if it's some kind of zing. aren't you a little old to be acting like an asshole on the internet? go fuck yourself.

― critique de la vie quotidienne (modestmickey), Sunday, 14 January 2007 04:39 (eighteen years ago)

It is ALWAYS funny to point out that you are under house arrest! As for behaving like an asshole on the internet, Mr. Pot, I have a friend you might like to meet.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Sunday, 14 January 2007 04:43 (eighteen years ago)

yeah, i'm an asshole too. being friendly didn't really work out.

― critique de la vie quotidienne (modestmickey), Sunday, 14 January 2007 04:44 (eighteen years ago)

surely the mask is his Residents eyeball

― Make a Beck Song #1 (M Matos), Sunday, 14 January 2007 04:44 (eighteen years ago)

the monitor on his head means not having to sync audio to video or speak on camera, i thought. he mimes during the video, he's not actually talking onscreen, b/c that was recorded prior, while reading from a composed text . . . no?

and, as he said, he likes his music anonymous, so why not his tv? Cf every picture steve goodman ever appeared in (except red bull)

not that any of this matters, really, it's quality enough production i'd say

― ubbu (Tate), Sunday, 14 January 2007 05:51 (eighteen years ago)

i think this is fantastic! i like everything about it. the trumpet wormhole from #2 is something that is well suited to video and less so to text (even hypertext) (overlong/unwieldy blog excursions vs click-through vs watching).

DNFTT.

― josh. (disco stu), Sunday, 14 January 2007 06:17 (eighteen years ago)

I haven't seen the new one but I really liked the prog episode. part of it is doubtless the novelty value, there are so many blogs nowadays that I do want to see something that stands out from the crowd a bit. also he's a likeable presenter which is important if you're going down this route. (even with a TV for a head; I thought that was hilarious actually.) plus he does know what he's talking about - or is honest enough to admit when he isn't, like mentioning how his french prog writing coulda been better.

fandango makes a good point re: accessibility issues though. I had to take that stuff seriously in my old job. would like to see the script available to read on its own.

woebot if you're still reading, how often will you be posting new episodes?

― slackety yax (H2-H4), Sunday, 14 January 2007 06:34 (eighteen years ago)

I really enjoyed it. My favourite part; "Bruno Spoerri... cool!".

― cnwb (cnwb), Sunday, 14 January 2007 07:20 (eighteen years ago)

ts: head monitor vs. ankle monitor

― bobby bedelia (van dover), Sunday, 14 January 2007 08:22 (eighteen years ago)

The monitor on the head is clearly an homage to the *original* wobot:

http://members.tripod.com/~Magnesite/waltlogo.jpg

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Sunday, 14 January 2007 15:10 (eighteen years ago)

and who the hell are you? fuck off asshole. i know you want to stand out somehow and get the rest of ilx to notice you, but you're going to have to try harder than that.
xpost

― critique de la vie quotidienne (modestmickey), Sunday, 14 January 2007 15:12 (eighteen years ago)

is it miller time in your time zone? cause i would imagine that refreshing beer could help you forget the fact that you are a small-minded syphilitic degenerate with shit-for-brains and a huge mouth.

― friday on the porch (lfam), Sunday, 14 January 2007 19:10 (eighteen years ago)

" "

― friday on the porch (lfam), Sunday, 14 January 2007 19:10 (eighteen years ago)

I think woebot.tv is great

― Rebel.yell.For.Internet.cakes (nordicskilla), Sunday, 14 January 2007 20:01 (eighteen years ago)

Also - I sent Woebot that Hijack record! =)

― Rebel.yell.For.Internet.cakes (nordicskilla), Sunday, 14 January 2007 20:01 (eighteen years ago)

I feel like a proper music nerd now

― Rebel.yell.For.Internet.cakes (nordicskilla), Sunday, 14 January 2007 20:02 (eighteen years ago)

"intro intro didn't like any music from 2006" MUST CLOSE WINDOW ABORT ABORT

― Ronan (Ronan), Sunday, 14 January 2007 21:08 (eighteen years ago)

i'm firmly in the "i like this" camp, although i understand how some folks view it as novelty alone. i guess i'm also firmly in the "i appreciate novelty" camp.

― fukasaku bloodbath (blackmail.is.my.life), Monday, 15 January 2007 18:37 (eighteen years ago)

Haha, I like your geezer body language woebot (assuming that is you with the monitor on your head). Tilt head, make hand sliding gesture.

― Dan I. (Dan I.), Monday, 15 January 2007 19:24 (eighteen years ago)

tried to watch it, got bored in a way i wouldn't have done if i'd been reading. i have a v short attention span when it comes to tv.

also ronan otm! god when will these grumpy grandads stop bristling about new music.

― lex pretend (lex pretend), Monday, 15 January 2007 22:04 (eighteen years ago)

no one's yet made a convincing argument for this being better than a text blog post would have been

― lex pretend (lex pretend), Monday, 15 January 2007 22:04 (eighteen years ago)

no one's also made a convincing argument why "better than a text blog post" should be the criteria by which it is judged.

― acid waffle house (dubplatestyle), Monday, 15 January 2007 22:07 (eighteen years ago)

did he actually say he didn't like any music from 2006? and even if he didn't, does that like threaten you so much you can't even bear to look at it for a second?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 15 January 2007 22:09 (eighteen years ago)

"no one's yet told me why this pizza is better than a sandwich, which i could have also eaten."

― acid waffle house (dubplatestyle), Monday, 15 January 2007 22:10 (eighteen years ago)

no ingredients invented in 2006? MUST CLOSE PIZZA BOX ABORT ABORT

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 15 January 2007 22:14 (eighteen years ago)

anyway... isn't the whole thing about his favourite music of 2006 (with some digressions)?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 15 January 2007 22:14 (eighteen years ago)

the other reason i closed the window at that point was because it stopped because it hadn't loaded because videos on the internet are fucking slow, which is possibly one criterion by which this stuff could be judged

― lex pretend (lex pretend), Monday, 15 January 2007 22:24 (eighteen years ago)

yes, that's a great angle for a review.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 15 January 2007 22:25 (eighteen years ago)

it doesn't threaten me it just makes me think I can't be bothered seeing pop culture through the disapproving eyes of someone whose ideal for it has zero in common with me or anyone I know

― Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 15 January 2007 22:28 (eighteen years ago)

no one's also made a convincing argument why "better than a text blog post" should be the criteria by which it is judged.

because it's replacing a text blog post, and if you want to read/hear what woebot thinks at all, you only have this option?

― lex pretend (lex pretend), Monday, 15 January 2007 22:30 (eighteen years ago)

the disapproving eyes are where i'd start!

(not with woebot's obv: he has lots in common with me)

― mark s (mark s), Monday, 15 January 2007 22:31 (eighteen years ago)

This is absolutely great and I've quietly enjoyed every variation of the woebot site over the last few years. While I doubt I'll ever get to listening to every little bit, I feel like my horizons are just that much broader for having listened.

― mh. (mike h.), Monday, 15 January 2007 22:47 (eighteen years ago)

I presumed the TV-on-head thing was to maintain the semi-anonymity of a blog even with a visual, human-presented front. I think to that extent it is extremely successful. Whether these things will replace text-blogs is another question, its clearly something else again, and this is clearly the best example of it I've seen yet (tho not perfect, of course).

― gekoppel (Gekoppel), Monday, 15 January 2007 23:12 (eighteen years ago)

I really like this format, but I find it highly unlikely it'll gain the ubiquity of blogs any time in the immediate future.

― Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Monday, 15 January 2007 23:14 (eighteen years ago)

vlogging is so hott right now. but maybe focus on esoteric niche music rather than being such a gloomy gus about this past year.

― Wrinklecause for Applause! (Wrinklepaws), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 00:39 (eighteen years ago)

I can't be bothered to watch it again, but didn't he say he felt it was a bad year for "collaborative music" (live & group based, I imagine he meant?) not across-the-board bad as such?

― fandango (fandango), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 01:19 (eighteen years ago)

yeah, listening skills seem to be in short supply. he didn't write off 2006 entirely, but if that's what you want to hear well...

― fukasaku bloodbath (blackmail.is.my.life), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 02:15 (eighteen years ago)

no one's yet made a convincing argument for this being better than a text blog post would have been

Because you're all talking about it, which you wouldn't be if he was Just Another Blogger?

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 02:31 (eighteen years ago)

(though i don't think anyone would say woebot is "just another blogger")

― Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 02:45 (eighteen years ago)

i love everything about this project.

i think it demands a level of planning and production that dwarfs your average, ill-thought out blog or messageboard post. the reason people are perhaps tiring of both isn't because words have become irrelevant, but because, as the same old people are handily proving on this thread, the cost of entry to kneejerkily typing out any old bullshit is next to nothing. maybe 'the way forward' is less about some groundbreaking new technology/software trend and more about establishing, as a community, a slightly more work-intensive production standard that has the happy side effect of squeezing out the ill-considered filler that makes up a way-too-substantial portion of the critical 'community'.

― m@p (plosive), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 03:58 (eighteen years ago)

without people pushing the envelope technically and creatively there wouldn't be blogs in the first place. xp.

― josh. (disco stu), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 04:05 (eighteen years ago)

xpost. Youtube is absolutely crammed with this kind of stuff, especially the community building aspect.

― everything (everything), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 04:32 (eighteen years ago)

i like the computer-head gimmick as a "distancing" gag; like, when you read someone's blog for awhile (as a lot of ILX/dissensus have with woebot), you start developing a mind's-eye view of a human behind the text, and it's kind of funny to me that when we finally get a chance to see video of him doing his thing he's ACTUALLY JUST A COMPUTER AFTER ALL OH NOES. and yeah i think this is just excellently done overall, the "ghost trumpet" segment was great

― joseph (joseph), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 04:40 (eighteen years ago)

opinions don't have a cost of entry, whether on a message board or in a video blog.

if people don't value the opinions expressed then I don't expect them to pay homage to the "cost of entry". what a hellish critical community we have wherein anyone can get published on.....A MESSAGEBOARD.

"cost of entry", don't make me laugh, if half the people on this thread were so precious about actual works they'd be in opposition to criticism itself, whether of the kooky video variety or the message board post blithely flung at the wall....which I hadn't realised was a bad thing...but seemingly anyone not inspired by this video blog shouldn't express an opinion until such time as they have made something similar....I should learn to play the guitar before I say Dave Matthews does not know how to rock right???

Just deal with the fact that some people didn't like the video without resorting to grandiose theorising about how this video is needed to combat the fact that the internet allows the constant expression of dissatisfaction with everything.

― Ronan (Ronan), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 04:59 (eighteen years ago)

hahahahaha!

― R_S (RSLaRue), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 05:01 (eighteen years ago)

ronan, you're reading waaaaay too much into what i said.

― m@p (plosive), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 05:14 (eighteen years ago)

Well, I just don't like the general "sermon from the mount" vibe here....

― Ronan (Ronan), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 05:20 (eighteen years ago)

If you can't be bothered, then why are you acting bothered?

But crankiness aside, this is one of those situations where a small group of people in one corner of the web have a reaction, the importance of which isn't that broad in the larger context of things as a whole. ILM is a tiny percentage of the internet population, and really only a small portion of people here will really glom on to this. Expressing dissatisfaction is really only useful if this is material that *could* appeal, and it's constructive criticism to pull woebot's venture in a slightly different direction. All in my opinion, of course.

I am still intrigued by the fact that the pacing of his writing nearly exactly translates to audio and video. I really have to be in the right mood to read a lengthier woebot blog post but it's really rewarding when I do. I think I caught myself starting to drift away at similar points in the video! My attention span is broken.

― mh. (mike h.), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 05:52 (eighteen years ago)

I'm a little bothered now because people seem to be denying the right to say this is not for me, on a music message board.

since when does expressing dissatisfaction have to be "useful"? you really are granting this video blog a great deal of gravitas...what's more, by your own definition none of the opinions in the video are "useful", they're merely one person's take which isn't that broad in the larger context of things as a whole. woebot's audience is a tiny percentage of the internet population and only a small portion of the people will really glom on to it....blah blah blah

― Ronan (Ronan), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 06:07 (eighteen years ago)

you lost me when you said dave matthews didn't rock

― mark s (mark s), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 09:13 (eighteen years ago)

i prefer reading to watching (entirely my own personal taste), so havent seen this yet. reading this thread, though, i'm getting a max headroom type vibe from this.

kind of puzzled by lex *mr youtube.com* being an 'anti' on videothings

― Storefront Church (688), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 09:13 (eighteen years ago)

My Walter the Wobot pic disappeared! and this thread feels naked without him, so here he is again.

http://www.2000adonline.com/images/page/walter.jpg

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 09:15 (eighteen years ago)

tried to watch it, got bored in a way i wouldn't have done if i'd been reading. i have a v short attention span when it comes to tv.
also ronan otm! god when will these grumpy grandads stop bristling about new music.

-- lex pretend (lexusjee...), January 15th, 2007.

This is Mr Agreeable doing Lex, right?

Of course I don't agree of a single syllable of what Woebot says - Ornette "happenstance music"? My office tomorrow morning at nine, sir - but it's still a neat idea. Certainly got me thinking about the viability of CoM TV, though I'd like to do it full-scale Simon Schama-style, i.e. me wandering about various picturesque locations declaiming my errant views and so on and so forth. Perhaps I'll look into it more when Lena gets over here 'cos I think it would work even better with the two of us.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 10:27 (eighteen years ago)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/fastshow/characters/images/brilliant2.jpg

aren't improv musicians brilliant?

― the original hauntology blogging crew (Enrique), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 10:30 (eighteen years ago)

Yes!

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 10:31 (eighteen years ago)

me wandering about various picturesque locations declaiming my errant views and so on and so forth

http://pds.egloos.com/pds/1/200412/22/54/b0015054_20175416.jpg

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 10:36 (eighteen years ago)

kind of puzzled by lex *mr youtube.com* being an 'anti' on videothings

i hate youtube for the same reasons! too slow. i want instant gratification from my technology. the only things i watch on youtube are pop videos and tennis clips though. i have a short attention span when it comes to people speaking, but not music or tennis.

― lex pretend (lex pretend), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 10:41 (eighteen years ago)

what in god's name are you on about?

― the original hauntology blogging crew (Enrique), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 10:42 (eighteen years ago)

(Lex-vaulting xpost)

I was thinking more in this line:

http://www.reelstreets.com/blog_pics/KennethGrifith.jpg

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 10:42 (eighteen years ago)

I'd like Dom Passantino tv but i doubt that fat four eyed fuck could fit on a regular tv screen.

― Dimehitter Dwayne Hosey (dwaynehosey), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 10:47 (eighteen years ago)

lol at clipse fanboy venturing out onto other threads

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 10:51 (eighteen years ago)

'Sup Dom, gawd..I don't really like The Clipse that much..i mean, they're alright but they're no Money Boss Players.

― Dimehitter Dwayne Hosey (dwaynehosey), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 10:53 (eighteen years ago)

http://www.livetheatregang.com/Haters%20Rag%20Web%20Art%202.jpg

― the original hauntology blogging crew (Enrique), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 10:57 (eighteen years ago)

i'm getting a max headroom type vibe from this

i got this vibe even after seeing the video ha ha.

a lot of people have said it's a great idea and refer to the cute visual elements as if to back that up. it's probably quite difficult to get the balance right with video work so that you don't distract viewers from what you're actually saying. a visually busier piece would've run that risk but the novelty of this piece risks doing the same (and as i said before i don't think enough is happening visually for my liking but never mind). there is not much discussion here of anything Woebot actually says in the video, it is largely replaced by arguing about the method and medium instead, but as the novelty wears off i expect that will too.

― vita susicivus (blueski), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 11:00 (eighteen years ago)

thing is you can read ilx whilst it's on and refer back to the video occasionally when you wonder what the covers look like. learn to multitask people.

― acrobat (elwisty), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 11:29 (eighteen years ago)

"no one's yet made a convincing argument for this being better than a text blog post would have been"

The Bruno Spoerri dancing scene.

― cnwb (cnwb), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 23:04 (eighteen years ago)

i was the first to mention the connection to max headroom on my blog

other influences:

open university TV
snub tv

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 23:14 (eighteen years ago)

i was the first to mention the connection to max headroom on my blog

i should hope so considering it is YOUR blog

― vita susicivus (blueski), Tuesday, 16 January 2007 23:17 (eighteen years ago)

omg, snrub tv

― tony conrad schnitzler (sanskrit), Sunday, 21 January 2007 23:36 (eighteen years ago)

i just got a presumptuous email saying i wanted to subscribe to this. woebot and hilary clinton on the same day.

― the original hauntology blogging crew (Enrique), Monday, 29 January 2007 13:48 (eighteen years ago)

same here
but replace hilary with jeremy clarkson

― vita susicivus (blueski), Monday, 29 January 2007 13:49 (eighteen years ago)

This list has a double optin feature so you must go to the URL listed below
to finish joining this list. This is a safeguard for you.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Monday, 29 January 2007 13:50 (eighteen years ago)

I got the email as well. Not too classy, mr woebot.

I missed this the 1st time round, so just watched the presentation now. I found it bizarrely enjoyable and annoying at the same time. The guy's manner I thought somewhat open-universityish, and the way he seemed to lay down the law wrt some of the stuff he was talking about, like his truth is the objective truth. ditch this and I'd probably enjoy it a lot more.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Monday, 29 January 2007 13:57 (eighteen years ago)

curious to see the prog rock one, though I'd probably wind up seething angry after seeing it.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Monday, 29 January 2007 13:58 (eighteen years ago)

i agree with pash. i found it very informative and ended up downloading a lot of the stuff he mentioned (Bruno Spoerri is particularly appreciated), but the delivery could be pepped up a little. Visually it is very slick, but there isn't a lot going on on screen. Even a face on the front of the Woebot could have been a nice touch(although perhaps a little difficult to pull off), and yeah the Whispering-Bob tone does come off a little simpering and preppy and could have been spiced up with a little humour. After all, it is a guy with a PC monitor on his head.

Needs to find a balance between something entertaining and informative to watch (which it is) and the ramblings of an obvious trainspotter (which it is also).

― wogan lenin (dog latin), Monday, 29 January 2007 14:03 (eighteen years ago)

hope the spam email didn't piss everyone off too much.

the thing is episodes are so few and far between in comparison to blog posts and seeing as how i can't activate RSS on the site i thought a mailing list would probably be a good idea. that way no-one has to check-in to see if a new episode is up etc blah blah blah

next episode is going up sort of middle of next week-ish though obviously of you've subscribed to the email you don't need me to tell you that

also subscribe here

― WOEBOT (WOEBOT), Monday, 29 January 2007 15:47 (eighteen years ago)

Just post up on this thread when you have a new episode up, perhaps?

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Monday, 29 January 2007 15:48 (eighteen years ago)

is the prog issue archived?

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Monday, 29 January 2007 15:57 (eighteen years ago)

i didn't mind the email really.

― vita susicivus (blueski), Monday, 29 January 2007 15:57 (eighteen years ago)

no, nor me

― Ward Fowler (Ward Fowler), Monday, 29 January 2007 16:06 (eighteen years ago)

I didn't even get his email.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Monday, 29 January 2007 16:07 (eighteen years ago)

I don't mind getting an email either! I was just put out b/c it was kind of "you have joined this mail list", which is a bit alarming, since someone signed me up for that ludicously bust yahoo shoegazer list a few years ago w/o asking.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Monday, 29 January 2007 16:11 (eighteen years ago)

ludicously busy, even.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Monday, 29 January 2007 16:17 (eighteen years ago)

i didn't see the point of it being an email. better suited to carrier pigeon format.

― vita susicivus (blueski), Monday, 29 January 2007 16:18 (eighteen years ago)

I missed the prog one too. Any chance of putting old ones on YouTube for us slowpokes eh woebot?

― NickB (NickB), Monday, 29 January 2007 16:20 (eighteen years ago)

putting them on youtube would probably 'corrupt the mystique'. there's no actual text info on woebot site about the videos either (for same reason?).

― vita susicivus (blueski), Monday, 29 January 2007 16:24 (eighteen years ago)

lol @ ilxors' coping mechanisms. i'm happy that i won't have to compulsively check woebot for new material fearing that i've missed an episode. thx.

― fukasaku bloodbath (blackmail.is.my.life), Monday, 29 January 2007 16:35 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah. Mr Woebot, any sneak preview of what the next one's about though?

― Treblekicker (treblekicker), Monday, 29 January 2007 17:49 (eighteen years ago)

woebot, please email me guess papers

― the kwisatz bacharach (sanskrit), Monday, 29 January 2007 18:31 (eighteen years ago)

Episode 3 has just gone up.

― cnwb (cnwb), Saturday, 3 February 2007 23:50 (eighteen years ago)

Best one yet - great stuff, mr woebot.

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Sunday, 4 February 2007 01:55 (eighteen years ago)

episode 3 is great! bump

― critique de la vie quotidienne (modestmickey), Sunday, 4 February 2007 14:25 (eighteen years ago)

thanks for the nice remarks

@vita susivus "putting them on youtube would probably 'corrupt the mystique'"

ha! that's possibly one aspect. mainly however is youtube's small-print. if you put something up there they more or less own it......

― Matthew Ingram (WOEBOT), Monday, 5 February 2007 18:45 (eighteen years ago)

fair point matthew. i like that you've included the Juana Molina phone interview in this new episode presumably unedited even if it was a compromise as you point out (but if you'd been able to film the interview would it just have been both of you on screen wearing monitors? is it all an elaborate ruse?).

― vita susicivus (blueski), Monday, 5 February 2007 20:41 (eighteen years ago)

Always nice to find birdsong in music. Puts me in mind of lots of other things - Virginia Astley, John Martyn's 'Small Hours', Mahler's cuckoos. Good subject to ponder on that. Quite a clunky device really for evoking nature, but most of the time it is genuinely quite a charming effect (the Tweets excepted).

― NickB (NickB), Tuesday, 6 February 2007 00:13 (eighteen years ago)

Really lovely new piece. I've always been fond of Ms Molina's work and it's nice to see her contextualized in such a thoughtful manner. I especially loved the questions and enjoyed Mr. Woebot's visual cringe when she claims that she has absolutely nothing to do with electronic music because she "doesn't record on a computer" or "use repetitive beats." Too funny. It's nice to see that some artists can be willfully un-self-conscious in a charming (yet frustrating) manner.

― William Selman (William Selman), Tuesday, 6 February 2007 15:17 (eighteen years ago)

two weeks pass...

It's nice to see that some artists can be willfully un-self-conscious in a charming (yet frustrating) manner.

Ha! Yes. I can't quite see why she couldn't get her head round it. I think perhaps the folk people (likes of Adem etc) have put a move on her with regards to the horrors of electronic music. Especially since she recently collaborated with a guy called alejandro franov which (according to a mate) is yet more electronic.

-

New Episode up btw

― WOEBOT, Monday, 26 February 2007 11:40 (eighteen years ago)

WOEBOTALACALYPSE

― modestmickey, Monday, 26 February 2007 14:28 (eighteen years ago)

one month passes...

the folk music exploration is my favorite yet.

― fukasaku tollbooth, Friday, 6 April 2007 18:52 (eighteen years ago)

the folk music piece TOTALLY ignores ppl like Richard Youngs and Alasdair Roberts in order to make the wonky point that yr Devendra Banharts and Joanna Newsomes are like soooo inventive, weak history

― Ward Fowler, Friday, 6 April 2007 18:57 (eighteen years ago)

i kinda chalk that up to a bit of orientalism actually. a lot of US neo-folkies seem to prioritize the late '60's UK stuff over American stuff.

― fukasaku tollbooth, Friday, 6 April 2007 19:37 (eighteen years ago)

Does otherizing US music count as orientalism?

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Friday, 6 April 2007 19:45 (eighteen years ago)

i think there's valence fetishism that happens on both sides of the pond. and i like said term more than a haplessly late nineties gender studies gerund.

― fukasaku tollbooth, Friday, 6 April 2007 21:23 (eighteen years ago)

richard youngs probably best case against the point......apparently.

have heard roberts stuff. even got an email from him once! not a big fan.
have seen the following live: adem (twice), james yorkston, king creosote etc
yoiks.

difficult to name names on "the show" cos when it's spoken-out, it sounds incredibly catty.

possibly fair to say that i'm assuming grass is greener, thought of saying that, but stalled cos it seemed a bit too nuanced.

― WOEBOT, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 14:32 (eighteen years ago)

one month passes...

The last two episodes have been my favorites (the guy at the Folk museum was darling as is Twitch in his bit.) Good job Matt! Thanks for doing this.

― Alex in SF, Sunday, 13 May 2007 20:14 (eighteen years ago)

great stuff.

― jed_, Sunday, 13 May 2007 22:09 (eighteen years ago)

five months pass...

what a loser. he discovers that he owns some rare promo mix of cybotron's clear. every person i know would want their friends to hear it and spread it around. his offering? 64 kbps mp3 with low levels. just so he can prove to his dissensus minions that he actually owns the golden disk. but no hi-hats for the rest of us!

between this and his down-the-nose attitude towards everybody at his <s>message board</s>shrine he is losing whatever esteem he gained by introducing me to quarteto novo.

― elan, Wednesday, 31 October 2007 20:17 (eighteen years ago)

as if juan atkins or his label would sue you for this!

― elan, Wednesday, 31 October 2007 20:18 (eighteen years ago)

Does otherizing US music count as orientalism?
-- BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Friday, April 6, 2007 7:45 PM

what the fuck am i talking about

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 31 October 2007 20:19 (eighteen years ago)

wouldn't that be occidentalism? or in this case, "i'm a retard with a fan club"

― elan, Wednesday, 31 October 2007 20:23 (eighteen years ago)

^ not you hoos

― elan, Wednesday, 31 October 2007 20:24 (eighteen years ago)

knowing woebot there's probly about 5000 of that rarity sitting around on gemm

― r|t|c, Wednesday, 31 October 2007 20:32 (eighteen years ago)

er elan how would you say this promo mix differs from the original anyway? i can't hear much new at all, from memory.

― r|t|c, Wednesday, 31 October 2007 20:43 (eighteen years ago)

i listened, it doesn't seem that different. i noticed a couple of odd vocal parts but i don't really want to listen again, it's like running a plumbing snake down my ear canal.

― elan, Wednesday, 31 October 2007 20:53 (eighteen years ago)

knowing woebot there's probly about 5000 of that rarity sitting around on gemm

lol, i wonder if he paid 70 pounds for this record, too.

― elan, Wednesday, 31 October 2007 20:55 (eighteen years ago)

shame i can't be bothered to dig mine out and compare really

would have been a fun evening

― r|t|c, Wednesday, 31 October 2007 20:57 (eighteen years ago)

1 FUN EVENING LATER!!!

... i found the sleeve but haha not the record. no demonstration only stamp tho.

― r|t|c, Wednesday, 31 October 2007 21:25 (eighteen years ago)

lol dusty fingers besmirching my keyboard, how poetic

(good lord some of the shite you find when you actually look at the stuff you've amassed. who was i then! i could bang out a cracking woebot post right now)

― r|t|c, Wednesday, 31 October 2007 21:30 (eighteen years ago)

one year passes...

vlogging is so hott right now. but maybe focus on esoteric niche music rather than being such a gloomy gus about this past year.

― Wrinklecause for Applause! (Wrinklepaws)

http://images64.imikimi.com/image/images_full/60455564.jpg

― velko, Sunday, 21 June 2009 03:14 (sixteen years ago)

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