Author: <span class="vcard">Aksel van Elteren</span>

Film Noir

11/10/2018
Memories
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I first heard OK Computer in the bus during a power outage that stopped all train traffic. I still remember the sensation of Paranoid Android hitting my brain. I first heard The velvet Underground & Nico on my Walkman, cycling to a sports event. The relative conventionality of Sunday Morning almost made me switch it…

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It’s all in the movies

17/09/2018
ListOpinionReview
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How many people knew about Jesus & Mary Chain before the release of Lost in Translation? Not a lot. What made ‘Don’t You (forget about me)’ such a massive hit for Simple Minds: the song’s quality or its presence in The Breakfast Club? Posing the question is answering it. Sometimes the soundtrack of a movie…

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Observations of a luddite

06/09/2018
Opinion
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Some words have a near-perfect harmony of sound, form and meaning. One of those words is Luddite. The word refers to people who are resistant to (particular) new technologies and is derived from a 19th century movement, the Luddites, a group of English textile workers who destroyed weaving machinery as a form of protest. The…

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Pushing against boundaries: create your own art!

16/08/2018
Opinion
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All governments want to control art. They either use public funding to support the arts, but dictate terms in the process of doing so, or they push it out to the market, in the hope that only commercially viable art will see the light of day. I agree. I think government should stay far away…

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Fantasy Football II – The needed substitutes

10/08/2018
ListOpinionStory
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I told you, a football team only has 11 players, and in putting together my near perfect line-up for the land of Music I had to make a lot of hard choices. let’s not try to be complete here. I could come up with at least 100 artists I could also have added. Let’s just…

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Fantasy Football

02/08/2018
ListOpinion
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If the land of music existed, which team would it send to the World Cup Football? Which players would be selected for which positions? Who would be their coach and what type of system would they play? Endless variations are possible, all with their distinct advantages and disadvantages. Numerous decisions have to be made, and…

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Get into the groove; reflections on side A opening songs

26/07/2018
ListOpinion
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I’m a romantic who loves destruction and a bit of chaos. I love human-made ruins, the results of criminal neglect or failed maintenance. I once saw a deserted and completely run down football stadium somewhere between Milan and Malpensa airport. Deteriorating tapes, scratched records, it all appeals to my romantic self. I hated the false…

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Give me convenience

17/07/2018
MemoriesStory
11 Comments

Because I was too young, Because I was too shy and too scared, Because I was too young, (not) much too young, Because fear was not my best friend, Because I was (still not Neil) young and fading away already, Because the spotlight frightened me (and still does decades later), But mainly because I was…

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We’re only in it for the money

13/07/2018
Opinion
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Much has been said about the (in)famous algorithms #Facebook and #Google. These algorithms are supposedly so advanced and so complicated that no one, not even the people who developed them, understand their behaviour. I never really believed the claim, but until yesterday I also never really paid attention to it. Yesterday I watched @KaceyMusgraves new…

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On heresy and heredity

17/05/2018
OpinionPersonal history
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My father is a funny guy. I used to think he was a classic left-wing conservative; believing in the power of regulation, against free, uncontrolled capitalism and most of all, always longing for the ‘old days’, when things were better. Like music. He got stuck in the 60’s, introduced me to The Beatles, and believed…

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