BEGIN LINE_NOIZ.14 I S S U E - ! $ A P R I L 2 2 , 1 9 9 4 >LiNE NOiZ<<< >>>LiNE NOiZ< ______L_______I_______N_______E_______________________________________________ N N N O o O I i I Z Z Z CYbERPUNk I N f O R M A t i 0 N E - Z i N E <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< L I N E N O i Z >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I S S U E - ! $ A P R I L 2 2 , 1 9 9 4 : File ! : Intro to Issue 14 : Billy Biggs : File @ : Tales of the Book Of Dreamscapes - Part 2 : Vidar Hokstad : File # : Square One - Part 4 : Kipp Lightburn : File % : RMI CD #2: The Project Begins (final rules) : R.M.I CD project - Steve Boswell : File ^ : Nibbles of Information : Billy Biggs ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- --<----<----<----<----L - i - N - e ---- N - o - i - Z ---->---->---->---->-- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- File - ! Line Noiz is looking for a co-editor. If you feel that you have the time and feel like giving me a hand, please feel free to offer your services. Next issue will feature a few more opinion articles. I'm looking to remind people that this e-zine is not only science-fiction. I would appriciate more opinion/news related submissions. I look forward to any comments or suggestions from anyone regarding Line Noiz. -Billy Biggs, editor. ***** N o T E ****** - We have been experiencing problems with our subscription list. If you find that the following subscription instructions are not working then e-mail me at ae687@freenet.carleton.ca and I'll see what I can do.... =-*-= Subscription Info =-*-= o Subscriptions can be obtained by sending mail to: dodger@fubar.bk.psu.edu With the words: Subscription LineNoiz In the body of the letter. o Back Issues can be recieved by sending mail to the same address with the words BACK ISSUES in the subject. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --<----<----<----<----L - i - N - e ---- N - o - i - Z ---->---->---->---->-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - File - @ >From: ppack@oslohd.no (Vidar Hokstad) Tales of the Book Of Dreamscapes "Ideas, always new ideas. We worshipped the evergrowing Net, and with it we grew from beeing a movement of the underground to becoming a new guiding light, a liberation army of the masses." 0002 / Awakening He wasn't the typical revolutionary - one of those you read about in books. Either heroes living for their high ideals, or dangerous villains, depending on your point of view. In fact he was rather dull. Pale from endless sessions in front of his computer, and shy from lack of experience with people in general, he was unable to find a girlfriend. And when some "friend" saw him outside, he was in a hurry, searching trough a store for some absolute necessity before he once again went back to his dark home, where the sound of the harddisk, and occasionally the weird tunes created by a modem dialling a number, were the only sounds that added to his seemingly endless hammering at the keyboard. His awakening came as his knowledge grew to embrace technology. As long as all he knew was mother earth, as long as machines to him were only cold substances which inner workings he didn't knew, he was lost. Truth only come to you in binary codes, he later told the children that gathered around him like angels unseen, unheard but there. But they already knew. He was never the typical revolutionary, still he was one of those few, the silent, melancholic visionaries, that gave birth to the great revolution - the one which at this very moment embraces us, suffocating and liberating at the same time. The tidalwave of information that washed away all old conventions. He wasn't the typical punk either. On the outside he was *the* most conservative guy around. In his heart maybe; just maybe. Still his face always got a friendly, almost happy, look for a short second those precious moments when he heard someone call him a CP, but he always refused to label himself. Maybe he had been subject to too much brainwash from the flamers on alt.cyberpunk, claiming such a deed to be the most un-CP thingie one could do. It was his dreams that kept his rebellious mind going. The most wonderful dreams crept into his head when he fell asleep. In his early years it was images of earthly wonders, a beatiful sunset maybe or a meadow bathed in light, or as he became a little older dreams of steaming sex with hordes of women, sometimes even men, allthough he never really could accept those feelings. Later his dreams grew dark. He pictured an empty sky above a naked metal surface, and sometimes he even got to see what at a distance seemed to be a little crack, but which when one came up close looked like it almost parted the earth in two, no bottom within reach of his eyes. In his dreams he named it the poweredge, but did not understand what he actually meant by that name. As the years went by, and his dreamscapes were nurtured by his rising knowledge, he envisioned the wonders of a virtual world, and the Net later stood before him as the beginning of this world, a frontier between the abstract idea of reality, and the eternity of unexplored possibilities of cyberspace. His dark dreams were not so dark anymore, but occasionally his mind granted him a glimpse of a future he sometimes feared, sometimes fell in love with. A future where no human ever walked the surface of the earth; Where all you could hear would be the wind and a distant sound of machines. Mostly, though, he just tried to forget. To concentrate on his fantasies. --- * ppack@oslohd.no (The Powerpack) --- BTW: I would really appreciate comments, but only by *E-MAIL* - please do *not* assume that i read alt.cyber* 'cause I haven't got the possibility to do so at present... ----------------------L - i - N - e ---- N - o - I - Z --------------------- File - # >From: ah804@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Kipp Lightburn) Square One - Part Four "Their computer has more meat to it than most of the stuff I've seen lately." "There's no way in?" "Not with the deck I'm using, nope." There's a sigh. My ears hand the conversation to me gently. Behind it all is the low hiss of a ceiling fan, two actually. "I don't understand, why would the hospital's computer have so much ice in it?" "Hospitals are part of the private sector, corps own them nowadays. And since corps are notorious for new ice..." I lay motionless, pushing the nearby conversation into the background and pulling the memories of my week long life span to the forefront. Everything violence. Everything blood. Everything a hunt. As my eyes wrench open sunlight slaps me with full force. My eyes beg to be shut again but my ears want to see the voices. Softness surrounds me, caresses me. Blankets wrap themselves about me like welcome arms. Across the linoleum floor on the other side of the room stand the two voices. The bald one. He drove the grey convertible. Ambulence. Girl. Bleeding. Leg. Hospital. Girl. Rain. Her. I don't know the other. My mind see's him as much smaller, my instinct tells me he's an easy kill. On the back of his neck is a small silver square. It shines in the sunlight that now embraces me. Under one arm he holds what looks like a keyboard. Above me two ceiling fans challenge one another. Occasionally they turn in unison. They wave to me. I move to sit. I find a brace on my right leg, chromed and cumbersome. Looking into it I can see the reflection of my face and my body, covered in bloodstained bandages. I still don't recognize me. "You're awake," the bald one walks toward me,"I didn't expect you would be for quite some time." "Who are you?" I waste no time. His eyebrow shoots up and his head cocks. The other one. The one with the keyboard, he sits down on the floor and stares like a child. "Who am I?" He looks down at me, and moves closer. Thats when I see the gun in his hand. The gun which was not there before. "No my friend, I'm not the one with the identity crisis. We want to know who you are." Confusion sits with me like an old friend. His body is patient, his eyes are calm. "You see I have a friend named Kyle..." Kyle. She called me Kyle. "...and he went missing a while back. I've spent the past few months trying to find him, and I managed to dig up you." He talks with his hands, my eyes follow the guns movements. Occasionally the barrel winks at me curiously. "The problem being?" I ask. "The problem being, you look like my friend, you move like my friend, you kill like my friend. Everything I know tells me you're my friend. You can lie to my senses, but you can't lie to his." He points at the smaller one who now strokes his keyboard like a pet. I scan the apartment. Aside from a few chairs and the blanket covered couch that I'm sitting on there's nothing. The bald one turns,"You explain this part Goldie." The small one stands but doesn't move any closer. He eyes me intently, as if trying to read my reaction to him. He's an easy kill. He shifts his weight onto one leg,"You see when we were patching you up we had to run a body scan to see how much internal damage was done... You would have fooled any other computer you know, but not mine." Baldie turns back to me and the gun is leveled at my head,"Which leaves us with a question I will quote from you, Who are you?" I don't follow a word of what they say. My silence portrays this. He pulls the keyboard up in front of him,"You're DNA pal. There's an unexplained change in your DNA. It's so insignificant a difference I almost didn't pick it up." Goldie lets the bald one talk,"I'm going to ask you one more time, very very slowly..." I see a second gun slide into his other hand from the sleeve. Goldie edges toward the door. His head turns sharply. "Spiro someones coming up the stairs!" "Stay right there," The bald one says as he moves to the door. The metallic click of two hammers being cocked in unison are almost drowned out by the sound of a key hitting the lock. Thats when I see them, dropping in front of the windows. Four men armed with submachine pistols. Wearing harnesses attached to cords. They swing towards the expectant glass while Spiro and Goldie, unaware, watch the door open. I'm about to dive behind the couch, when they hurtle through the windows blocking the sunlight, breaking the silence, and she walks through the door. -- ---------------------------------------------------------------- |/ | [ email at ] ------------- |\IPP |_IGHTBURN [ ah804@freenet.carleton.ca ] ------------- ------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------L - I- N - e ---- N - O - i - Z ---------------------- File - % >From: rmi-cd@primus.COM ("R.M.I. CD project") RMI CD #2: THE PROJECT BEGINS! Hi! Here are the final rules for RMI CD #2. The project begins immediately! If you have any comments about these rules, please join the discussion on rec.music.industrial, or if you do not have news access, mail them to me. If you volunteered to be a submitting artist or a reviewer, I'll get in touch with you later about what you need to do. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Revision history: v1.1 (19-Apr-94) -- Project started. Changes from v1.0 are: [1] Only one song per artist will end up on the final CD. [2] Participants get the lowest-numbered CDs. [3] Judging submissions may be on cassette, but remember that its quality may affect judging results. The final copy must be submitted in one of the given formats. No changes are allowed between the submission copy and the final copy. [4] Artists whose work is selected to appear on the final CD must sign a form (1) giving me permission to use their work and (2) assuming liability for any samples etc. used in the work. [5] Fixed numerous typos. v1.0 (16-Apr-94) -- First draft. Introduction ------------ The project, known as the "RMI Mind/Body CD volume 2", will consist of the top-rated industrial songs from those submitted. The graphic artwork will consist of the top-rated graphic artwork from those submitted. The booklet and inlay card will contain information about each song and each artist. The set will cost $10 prepaid, plus shipping, and each artist featured on the CD will receive a free copy. The address to e-mail to in all cases is rmi-cd@primus.com, and the snail-mail address is: RMI Mind/Body CD Project #2 c/o Steven Boswell P.O. Box 22121 San Diego, CA 92192-2121 Recommended subjects for correspondence are given below, when appropriate. The project is divided into the following time frames: [1] Finding interested people [2] Artist submissions [3] Judging [4] Putting the CD together [5] Collecting money, pressing the CD [6] Shipping the CD [7] Distribution of royalties Here's the outline for dates: Artist submissions: today to June 15th. (About two months.) Making review cassettes, getting money from each reviewer, sending out the review cassettes: June 15th to August 15th. (One month.) Judging: August 15th to November 15th. (Three months.) Taking money for orders: August 1st and onward. Pressing the CD: November 15th to December 31st. Shipping the CDs: Late December, early January. Distribution of royalties: When the CDs are sold out. These rules will be adhered to as much as possible. They may be changed as I see fit, always in the interest of fairness. Don't be afraid to ask about bending the rules -- this is meant to be a stable reference for discussion, not an inhibitor of discussion. Here are the rules and details on each time frame. [1] Finding interested people. I want to hear from people who want to submit songs, submit artwork, judge artwork, and/or buy the completed product. People who submit artwork may not be judges. I want no possibility of a conflict of interest. Information on what each of these people need to do is spread throughout the rules below. Therefore, there's no way to get out of reading the complete rules. :-) [2] Artist submissions. Artists may submit songs and graphic artwork. The submission period will be one month. Any submissions received after that time will not be considered for the project. Songs may be submitted on cassette, but remember that a low quality recording will suffer in the ratings. If one of your submissions makes it onto the CD, then you will have to submit a higher-quality recording. No changes are allowed between the submitted copy and the final copy. Songs must be submitted in one of the following formats, in descending order of suitability: [1] DAT, with VTC indexing, and with a 1k tone for :30 at -12 db up front. 44.1kHz rate only. [2] 1/4" 1/2-track stereo at 30 ips, dbx I [3] 1/4" 1/2-track stereo at 15 ips, dbx I [4] 1/4" 1/2-track stereo at 30 ips, no NR [5] 1/4" 1/2-track stereo at 15 ips, no NR [6] 1/4" 1/2-track stereo at 7 1/2 ips, dbx I No non-NR 7 1/2 ips, no 1/4-track stereo, and _no_ cassettes, no matter what they're encoded with. All of the analogs need tones, also -- 1k@0 VU, :30/100Hz@O VU, :30/10k@0 VU, :30/1k@0 VU, :30 are preferred, but just the 1k tones are OK in a pinch, all at -12db. These are needed mostly to find out what your concept of -12db is so your final recording can be at the proper level. Any questions about recording format should be mailed to the recording enginner, D.A.C. Crowell, at dacc@tigerden.com. Recordings should be of the highest quality possible. The quality of recordings will probably affect the judge's scores. The submitted recording will be the one placed on the CD, should the entry be selected: no "new and improved" versions may be submitted after the song has been selected to appear on the CD. An artist may submit a maximum of two songs. A maximum of one song from a single artist may appear on the final CD. Mail your submissions to the above address, marked "Music submission". Graphic art may be submitted in original form (not recommended) or in digital form in any popular Macintosh-readable format (recommended). Art may be either snail-mailed or sent via ftp to primus.com in the directory /pub/rmi-cd/incoming, using the submitter's e-mail address as a filename. (Following the submission with a letter to rmi-cd@primus.com is appreciated.) Your e-mail or snail-mail should be marked "Graphic artwork submission". Snail-mail should be prominently labeled "DO NOT BEND" or else the Post Office will cram it into my P.O. box. And even then, it's iffy, which is why electronic submission is preferred. Graphic art can be full-color, but must look good when shrunk to the size of a CD booklet panel, approximately 120 mm by 120 mm. An artist may submit a maximum of one graphic. Artists who wish their artwork returned to them must enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope. Artists whose work is selected to appear on the final CD must sign a form giving me permission to use their work and absolving me of any liability for any samples etc. used in the work. [3] Judging. Anyone who has not submitted artwork may volunteer to be a judge. Once all of the artwork has been submitted, reviewing cassettes will be made, and color copies of some sort will be made of all submitted graphic artwork. The cost of producing the review cassettes and graphic artwork will be split among the reviewers and each will need to pay that amount, plus shipping, in order to be a reviewer. Because of this, the review materials are the property of the reviewer. The only restriction is that copies of individual pieces may not be made, or played on the radio or whatever, without the consent of the artist. Each reviewer will have three months to review the artwork and submit scores. The name of each reviewer that submits scores will be printed in the credits of the CD. Each song and graphic artwork will be given a numerical score, from 0 (the lowest rating) to 100 (the highest rating). Art may be rated on whatever the reviewer feels appropriate. Examples of criteria include recording quality, skill of execution, and "industrialness", whatever that means. Shorter songs should be preferred over longer songs, since there is limited space (78 minutes) available on each CD. Scores may be returned via snail-mail or e-mail. Scores should also include the opinion of the reviewer as to whether the song is "ambient" or "dance". These opinions will be used to determine the CD (Mind or Body) that the song will appear on, should it be selected. [4] Putting the CD together. Once the scoring is complete, the master tapes and artwork will be made. The CDs will consist of the top-rated songs. The top-rated songs considered to be ambient will be put onto the "Mind" CD and the top-rated songs considered to be modern/dance will be put onto the "Body" CD. This line may be blurred in order to put a higher-rated song onto the disc over a lower-rated one. The top-rated graphic artwork will become the cover. The runners-up will be placed in other places on the booklet or inlay card as space permits. [5] Collecting money. At some point, probably during the judging, those who showed interest in buying the final product will be asked to send their money. Once there is enough money to press the CD, it will be pressed. The CD will be pressed by CEI Industries, who offloads work to Ritek of Taiwan. They did the last RMI Mind/Body CD and are a very reliable company. The artwork will be printed by Riddle Press, based in Oregon. They did the last RMI Mind/Body CD artwork. Each CD will be numbered. The artists who appear on the CD will get the lowest numbers. Those who pay sooner will receive the next lower-numbered CDs. I will keep the first 10, in any case. Each 2-CD set will cost $10, plus shipping. Shipping depends on how many CDs you order and where you live. Please don't send me money without asking me for a total first. You may buy insurance for your order, if you wish: $50 worth of insurance is 75 cents, and it goes up from there. (Insurance is provided by the U.S. Postal Service.) [6] Shipping the CD Once the CDs have been pressed, they will be shipped to those who have paid, in the order they paid. They will be shipped by U.S. Mail. Any band or graphic artist with a track or graphic in the final CD will get a free copy. [7] Distribution of royalties For the first pressing, I will press as many CD sets as I think I can reasonably sell, but no less than 1000. Each artist that was selected to appear on the CD, including the graphic artists, will get royalties. On the first 1000 CDs, half of the profit will go to me, and the other half will be split amonst the artists. This reflects the huge amount of work it takes to do a project like this. I will see less of any profit on CDs past the first 1000, to reflect the decreased amount of work. If I am able to get mainstream distribution for the compilation, through a record label or something, my compensation will approach zero, and the artists will receive everything. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Steve Boswell rmi-cd@primus.com Man succeeds by adjusting his environment to him, not by adjusting to his environment. ----------------------L - i - N - E ---- N - o - i - Z ---------------------- File - ^ ... n i b b l e s of information /by billy biggs o Classic Moments in Cyberspace v1.0 : Net.stupidity ftp> get life.zip >From: root@all.evil.org (The root of all evil) o The Music Review Corner : Reviews of stuff, old and new, bad and good... ------------------ Artist: Enigma Date: 1990 Album: M C M X C a.D. Length: 7 tracks, 40 minutes Review: The first (to my knowledge) release by Enigma, the pop/techno group with that new hit 'Return to Innocence'. The album has it's strong points, and it's misgivings. The main samples used in most of the songs is a traditional Gregorian chant, creating a somewhat mystical atmosphere. Combined with the annoying panflute sample and the sexy french female vocals, it can be pleasent to listen to (although the heavy breathing can really get on your nerves). The major disapointment was in the percussion samples. Every song has the same overused techno beat, a minus ten for origionality. Finally, I'd say it's nice to have on tape, but I wouldn't buy the CD. Erland Rating: - 1 ------------------ Artist: Enigma Date: 1993 Album: the CROSS of changes Length: 9 tracks, 45 minutes Review: The second release by Enigma proved to be an improvement from their last album. While the group tends to use the same beat every now and then (listen to 'Return to Innocence' to hear it), this CD does present itself as being more origional then their first. Comparitavely, 'the CROSS' is less dynamic, losing the mystic feel of the first, but it gains in the use of more samples, more instruments and more vocals. The vocals are much more predominant in this release, the tracks showing a strong influence towards commercial pop. So much, that the inlay has ordering info for 'fan' merchandise, a big dissapointment. It's quite a short CD, the time unevenly spread out leaving some songs at +6 min. and others at -3min. Musically, 'Return to Innocence' is not the best song on the album (a whole 3 chords!), there are some very well put together pieces that will never make it in the charts. A good buy, if you're into this stuff. Erland Rating: + 1 ------------------ >From: jkettune@cs.joensuu.fi (Juha Kettunen) Artist: Various Artists Date: 1993(?) 1994 here... Album: CYBERSPACE Length: 12 tracks, 76 minutes Review: A Positive Surprise Description: CYBERSPACE was advertised as a collection of trance techno. I saw a showy commercial on the TV and expected the album to be like the usual stuff: full of disco hits and definite money makers. Well, my first impressions were a little bit confusing, because after listening, I remembered there had been one or two tracks that could perhaps be called hits, but didn't remember that much of the others. The music had flowed fluently and I had surely enjoyed it. Had I been tranced? Now, weeks later, CYBERSPACE is still a difficult CD to review. Many of the tracks are somewhat out of the ordinary and surprisingly personal. A couple of them really meet my idea of good trance: hardcore basses with pulsating beats create an excellent atmosphere of hypnosis. CYBERSPACE has reached a successful whole: the tracks fit nicely into each other, and although some of them sound more like house instead of trance, it doesn't really bother. The other side of the coin is that nothing really bounces onto your face; no track really sticks into your mind. But perhaps that's what trance is all about. It's the state of mind that counts, not the music it's reached with. One more note of the nice- looking cover picture. A guy with a virtual reality helmet and a data glove, and the texts "information wants to be free" and "cyberspace is the beginning of a new era". Sounds like a cliche, yes, but fits into the theme nevertheless. Erland Rating: + 2 ------------------ Artist: path8 Date: 199? Album: techno animal Length: 8 tracks, 72 minutes Review: Perfect when you're in the mood, when you want to listen to nothing but noises put together with a sampler. Description: If you're looking for experimental industrial, this is the album for you. The endless tracks consist mainly of noizy samples of all kinds, sometimes tied together with a simple beat. Some meditative, never-ending tones that some open-minded might consider to be melodies. If you're not in the correct mood, you'll probably get a headache. When feeling extremely dull, techno animal should be able to lift you up from the swamp. Aggressive? path8 will either make you mad or truly calm you down, depending on _how_ aggressive you feel. It would make a nice soundtrack for a cyberpunk movie, but is hardly recommended for the occasional music lover. Who should check techno animal out? Nobody who's looking for traditional melodies or dancefloor hits. If you're really into experimental stuff, have a listen before buying. Not for anybody who gets a migraine easily. A plus from the images on the booklet. Erland Rating: - 2 ------------------ [ You think you can write a review too, then do so! ] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- --<----<----<----<----L - I - N - e ---- N - o - i - Z ---->---->---->---->-- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> Scheduled for NeXT iSSUE: << >> o Opinion: Recycled cyberpunk << << o Info : The Canadian Teale/WIRED ban >> >> o Sci-Fi : Sayl continues 'Where Am I?' << >> o Reviews: RMI CD #1, Intermix - Phaze Two << END LINE_NOIZ.14 -- Billy Biggs Ottawa, Canada "When all else fails, ae687@Freenet.carleton.ca read the instructions"