controversy

Brian Eno spoke out against the Gaza situation at the Stop Gaza Massacre protest, London Saturday 3 January 09.

Here’s his summary of his comments:

An Experiment in Provocation

Stealing Gaza

By BRIAN ENO

It’s a tragedy that the Israelis – a people who must understand better than almost anybody the horrors of oppression – are now acting as oppressors. As the great Jewish writer Primo Levi once remarked “Everybody has their Jews, and for the Israelis it’s the Palestinians”. By creating a middle Eastern version of the Warsaw ghetto they are recapitulating their own history as though they’ve forgotten it. And by trying to paint an equivalence between the Palestinians – with their homemade rockets and stone-throwing teenagers – and themselves – with one of the most sophisticated military machines in the world – they sacrifice all credibility.

The Israelis are a gifted and resourceful people who fully deserve the right to live in peace, but who seem intent on squandering every chance to allow that to happen. It’s difficult to avoid the conclusion that this conflict serves the political and economic purposes of Israel so well that they have every interest in maintaining it. While there is fighting they can continue to build illegal settlements. While there is fighting they continue to receive huge quantities of military aid from the United States. And while there is fighting they can avoid looking candidly at themselves and the ruthlessness into which they are descending.

Gaza is now an experiment in provocation. Stuff one and a half million people into a tiny space, stifle their access to water, electricity, food and medical treatment, destroy their livelihoods, and humiliate them regularly…and, surprise, surprise – they turn hostile. Now why would you want to make that experiment?

Because the hostility you provoke is the whole point. Now ‘under attack’ you can cast yourself as the victim, and call out the helicopter gunships and the F16 attack fighters and the heavy tanks and the guided missiles, and destroy yet more of the pathetic remains of infrastructure that the Palestinian state still has left. And then you can point to it as a hopeless case, unfit to govern itself, a terrorist state, a state with which you couldn’t possibly reach an accommodation.

And then you can carry on with business as usual, quietly stealing their homeland.

I tend to agree with Eno. The US has been dumping buckets of money into the Middle East for decades, and it’s difficult to see how this serves our interests or humanitarian interests anymore.

You can hear that there were both supporters and hecklers in Eno’s audience, though.

Do you think Eno is right? Or do you think he should STFU and get back to making music?

via Dean Whitbread

This is a new version of Wojciech Kosma’s Blow Job, which explores the audio feedback effects of fellatio on a microphone.

From a performance at Image Music Text Gallery in London.

Is this art, music or just an attempt to scandalize people that kind of liked the heterosexual Blow Job with a gay version? It certainly pushes the boundaries of music and challenges your preconceptions of what music is.

Let me know what you think in the comments.

This video captures a performance of Blowjob, a experimental exploration of controlled feedback.

If you’re in London, you may want to check out the Dec 12 IMT performance, which will feature Wojciech Kosma’s recent compositions, Headfuck and Blowjob, a composition by Berlin based artist Oliver Laric, and an appearance by Polish new-media artist Jan Simon.

Is this music? Art? Exploitation?

Let me know what you think in the comments.

And if you can’t decide, there are more performances of this particular piece that may help you make up your mind. Read more…

Earlier in the year, we highlighted a controversial ad for Deckadance DJ software, and asked for your thoughts on it.

The ad, shown above, is dominated by a large image of a woman’s rear, with second woman swooning in minimal bathing attire under the first woman’s crotch. 

The post, and the ad, inspired a lot of comments:

• Unless the females in the industry unite and complain against this, you can expect more from them since they’ll most likely see a sales increase from all the horny males. – Bluebrat
• I clipped the image from your site and used it as my desktop wallpaper. Maybe I’ll photo-shop out the Deckadance logo. – umourman
• I’m a girl and I was not offended at all by this. Girls who are offended by it are, in my opinion, a bit ridiculous. Advertisements are for selling things. - Kalilamae
• It is true that sex sells, but to throw two half naked women onto an ad rather than show off their product makes me skeptical about the quality of what they’re selling. – Trinisa
• What century do we live in? you would have to be blind to say this ad is not offensive. it portrays these women as sex objects and not people. it also reinforces many stereotypes that our society has about women. wow…all I can say is grow up, stop living in the dark ages, and learn to value women for more than their looks. – will
• Using this picture to sell anything other than bathing suits or some high price / low class resort is just puerile and lame.  - Jake
• When your first foray into the world of DJ software fails miserably, ou need some ass to sell the product. Seriously this is the most unfinished piece of crap software I have ever tried to use. Not for pro-djs stay away from decadance! – Yo
• If i was a dad i wouldnt want my young kids looking at this, it’s porn. – spikypunker
• As a female and a DJ I find such advertising alienating. And it might not have anything to do with my sex/gender: I too think that since the actual product is nowhere to be seen, it must be rubbish.  - Zt

FCC legal action against Behringer has served as a wake-up call to the company’s management, according to a company spokesperson.

In February of 2006, the FCC proposed a $1 million fine against Behringer USA for apparent violation of the FCC’s equipment authorization rules. The equipment found to be in violation of the FCC rules included audio processors, equalizers, mic preamps, sample-rate converters, mixers, amplifiers and lighting controllers.

“The products in question were shipped to the US between the years 2000 and 2005,” stated Ron Koliha, Global Communications Director. “One of the FCC’s allegations was that we didn’t comply quickly enough with their notifications. Behringer’s top management took that as a serious ‘wake-up call’ and set about to prevent mistakes like this from happening again. That’s one reason why all currently available models shipped to US dealers after our response to the complaint in early 2006 fully comply with FCC regulations and are properly identified as such.”

CEO Michael Deeb cited Behringer’s investment in what he called “state-of-the-art safety and RF emissions pre-testing facilities” with a staff of 15 technicians and engineers, appointment of a Corporate Compliance Officer, consolidation of compliance activities and operations to ensure all products comply with FCC and other global regulatory standards, and development of an in-house tracking and global regulatory review system

“Testing and labeling oversights like the ones that happened prior to 2005 are behind us now,” said Deeb.