After a prolonged absence, I thought it was about time that I pulled up my sleeves and actually updated this site. So here it is. A new post and more pertinently, a new site design. Well, actually, it’s another realign because if you have any memory of what the previous design was like, then you’ll realise that this one isn’t actually straying too far at all.

I started working on this way back in April, intending to have it ready for the May 1st Reboot but as that deadline loomed, it was quickly obvious that it was never going to happen. That said, I did think it’d happen sooner than mid-June but there you go.

The most significant change can be seen on the overall site home page (http://www.mattnortham.com) where I’ve ditched the old basic static look and tried to incorporate more of the blog content (as well as content from external places like youtube and last.fm). It’s an approach I used to roll with when I first set up this blog on my scpgt domain but for whatever reason I didn’t maintain it over here. So now it’s back; complete with fancy sliding jquery goodness. It took a bit of tweaking and some wordpress custom fields to get it sorted but I like it now.

The design isn’t actually what I consider completely done so bear with me if there appear to be any issues in the next week or so - but I didn’t want to leave it any longer than I already have. This was supposed to a ’summer’ design and seeing as our summers are notoriously short, I thought it best to just unleash it as is.

But anyway, on with the content.. I promise to pull my thumb out and put more effort into this. Got a few bits of work to add to the portfolio too shortly so stay tuned….

Shortly, the new Atmosphere album “When Life Gives You Lemons You Paint That Shit Gold” will be out (April 22nd to be specific) and personally, I can’t wait. The couple of tracks that I’ve heard off of it have upheld my expectations and I’m sure the album wont disappoint (more on this next week. probably). The reason for this post however is to celebrate the way that Rhymesayers (or indeed, Slug and Ant) are promoting the album because it’s a definite change from the standard stickers/posters/myspace bulletins approach (although it includes those things as well).

Firstly there was the announcement..

..that in order to curb illegal downloading, they would not ship promo copies of the new Atmosphere disc. Instead, the label planned listening sessions in New York and Los Angeles. Either music reviewers made the trip, or they waited for the album to hit stores like everyone else.

- see here

It’s a bold move and until this morning, one that proved effective (the album leaked today.. only 6 days before the release.. not bad at all really). The rest of that article talks in more detail about the approach and puts it in context of the whole music industry / download ‘market’ thing. Go read it. It’s good.

There’s also been the recent talk of ‘Atmosphere Karaoke’ where the group are going to host a sing-a-long of their songs before each of the US tour dates. If they do this in Bristol this summer, I’ll be all over it. My Slug impression is fiyah!

What else(?) Oh yeah, the ‘moldy lemon in an envelope‘ thing which is quite funny as long as you weren’t the poor sap who ended up with rank lemon all over your hands.

And the free download on Christmas Day of ‘Strictly Leakage‘ was inspired. It’s still available if you missed it.

But the main thing I wanted to highlight is the ‘Paint It Gold‘ series that they’ve been putting out on Youtube. For the last couple of months leading up to the release date, Slug & Ant have been filming these 10 minute clips in their basement, answering questions emailed in, talking about random shit, and promoting the shit out of the album at any available opportunity. It’s entertaining. And genius. The episodes are getting better each time which makes the forthcoming release (and presumably, forthcoming end of the Youtube things) a bit upsetting. But fuck it, at least the album will be out :).

So yeah. I did have a summary in mind for this, talking about how it’s a clever ploy in today’s society which is so indifferent to modern advertising techniques. How utilising Youtube in (what I think is) a novel way is a great use of the service. That managing to fend off ‘leakage’ til so close the album release date is nothing short of a miracle these days. etc etc etc blah blah blah. But this’ll do. for now

BUY THE ALBUM!!

‘sunset over the river nile‘ by Matt Northam (me )

A couple of months ago, I went to Egypt and had fun. It was nice. I also took a couple of thousand pictures, most of which aren’t anything special. They’re holiday photos - you know what they’re like. However, I did take a few that I thought came out rather well, and you can see them in a ‘egypt’ set on flickr. I also submitted one of them to the Guardian Unlimted (The Guardian Online) travel section (Been There) and now, many moons later, I’ve been awarded the ‘February 2008 Photo Of The Month‘. Awesome!

I’m still fairly surprised and genuinely stoked to have won because it puts me in fairly illustrious company. It’s an honour and all that.. I’ve been smiling all week.

My winning photo is recreated above in all it’s glory but you can also see a larger version on flickr, or the individual photo page on ‘been there’, or the rest of the months entries.. Whatever takes your fancy.

Ranjit Dhaliwal, the Guardian’s assistant picture editor, says:

“This is a wonderfully evocative travel image, it oozes atmosphere. The use of an architectural feature to frame the subject shows that the photographer has a good eye for composition.”

I says:

Oooooh yeah!

Apparently I win a canvas print of the photo so we’ll see how that goes..

Tagging is not an art form or about expressing oneself. It is vandalism and the destruction of private and public property. Tagging is any unauthorized marking, etching, scratching, drawing, painting or defacing of any surface of public, private, real or personal property.

Brilliant. You couldn’t make this up. I actually agree with some of the criticisms of tagging but really, is this the best way of clamping down on it(?) I know my parents wouldn’t've been reading any Plymouth City Council things about graffiti when I was a wee lad for example and I doubt that too many people are bothered about this.

Still; good work.

http://www.ci.santa-ana.ca.us/pd/Graffiti.asp

via Wooster

Just when you think that Lost couldn’t get any more confusing, they go and introduce new characters with potential ghost-talking abilities and multiple future-past-present-future flashforwardback things. Oh, and the bones of a polar bear wearing a Dharma collar in the Tunusian desert. Brilliant.

There’s all sorts of mental, overly complex theories out there but all I want to know is - what is the monster?! When Locke asked Ben that very question in episode 2 of the new series, I almost thought we’d get an answer. But no. That’d be too easy. Actually, there’s tonnes of things that still need answering but I won’t dwell on those; instead, I’ll rejoice in the revelation of how the plane wreckage was found in the ocean. They touched upon on it in the show with some news footage, but for the full story take a look at Find 815 (or if you’ve not got the time to unravel the events yourself, click here for an overview). It’s another nice accompaniment to the main tv series which answers a few things but also creates even more mysteries. Worth a look if you’re a fan of the show

The extent to which the makers of Lost go in order to support/add to the story never ceases to amaze me. The amount of work they put into things like The Lost Experience is uber-impressive and while there’s a part of me that just wishes they would concentrate on answering things within the show, I definitely appreciate the extra legwork that goes into creating the whole ‘Lost-universe’. Cross-platform immersive narrative-ness at it’s best.

Some assorted youtube goodness that’s worth a watch if you’ve got a spare few minutes.

Wu Tang & El Michels Affair -”Bring Da Ruckus”

I’ve had the MP3’s of this session for a while now, and though the majority of the Clan are missing, they’re still quality recordings. What’s been lacking for a while however, are any accompanying videos.. But no longer! Youtube comes through again..

tsatsulo street soccer

Ridiculous. Just ridiculous. I like to think that I’m an alright footballer but seriously.. Ridiculous.

bonus: the new FIFA Street 3 viral ain’t too shabby either..

DJ Sara and DJ Ryusei

If only I’d've got my Technics 10 years earlier, then I too could’ve been a superstar child DJ. But I didn’t. So now I can’t scratch for shit. But these kids can.

Wasn’t that fun(?)

If you’ve never heard of Hyper Island, then I question your commitment toward being the source of all knowledge regarding Swedish design schools. However, if that’s not a aim of yours, then fair enough.

But really though, you should know about Hyper Island (and their illustrious graduates). As a incredibly small example of how cool it would be to attend there - their building is an old prison. I find that cool

They’ve recently unveiled a new course packed to the brim with things that are undoubtedly going to produce another wave of stupidly talented interactive media professionals. Following a cursory glance of their website, it sounds like the course that I’d jump at if I had the chance and someone else would fund my mortgage for the duration. It’s crazy stupid dope (that’s good). The website has been done by some current students. It says it all. Oh to be young again

Have a look: IAD:08

..because it’s going to ban negative seller views. They’re taking away the ability to leave negative feedback about someone which, to me, is one of the best things about eBay. Not that I particularly enjoy leaving comments of that type, but surely they’re core to one of the best things about eBay - user ratings.

Clearly, the system as it stands isn’t perfect. I’ve been tainted with some unjustified negative feedback before and it’s frustrating to think that future buyers opinions of my trustiness will be affected by that but fuck it, I’ve got a 98% rating and I’m happy to let the buyers make their own mind up. Similarly I like being able to read feedback (both + and -) about sellers before I decide to place a bid on something. Buying from someone with 100% positive feedback isn’t a guarantee that you wont be done over and nor is it a definite that someone with no feedback at all will be trying to fleece you BUT they’re actually fairly reliable indicators and generally, I think the system works. Or at least, I think it works better than what eBay are proposing to introduce as a replacement.

Who comes up with these ideas? Madness! You’d've thought that with all the free time eBay employees have (because let’s face it, they do fuck all. Ever tried to get in touch with their customer ’service’? Not happening.) that they could come up with a better solution to the feedback ‘problem’ they have.

p.s. Like what I’ve done with the image here? ’stupid-bay’? Get it? Clever innit.

In other random eBay news. Feel free to buy me this. It’s awful, and I’d never buy it for myself but I’ll happily accept it as a gift

Terrifying.

From a collection of photos here. I have no idea what they’re about (anybody care to translate?) but some of them are fun.