Daily Archives: January 25, 2021

Paul Kaufman on Trump and nuclear weapons – Newham Recorder

Posted: January 25, 2021 at 4:35 am

We have often been warned, not least by the US, aboutthe risk of a "rogue" state acquiring nuclear weapons. But few imagined a dangerous malcontent like Trump would get his finger on the American nuclear button.

Its not as if Trumps nature was a secret. He promoted the racist "birther" conspiracy, aimed at derailing Obama, spouted anti-Muslim venom, and has given succour to neo-Nazis. He has normalised hatred and bigotry, trashed experts and science, and shown contempt for truth and integrity. It was entirely predictable he would deny losing the election, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, and incite mob violence.

Our group was proud to protest during Trumps London visits. But despite his obvious traits many rushed unreservedly to cosy up to Trump and give him the UKs finest red-carpet treatment. It shows the fragility of our democratic systems and how easily someone so flawed can gain sway.

Nuclear weapons are no less inhumane than chemical and germ warfare, long-since outlawed. They are indiscriminate. Victims die, or suffer agonising injuries, in their thousands. The US is the sole country to have used them, twice in 1945. Only a rogue, a spiteful egomaniac or someone delusional would contemplate using them again. Trump is arguably all three.

Our planet is in a terrible place. Man-made climate change, environmental destruction, and now Covid. Trump acted recklessly towards them all. The worlds priorities are ripe for review. Nuclear weapons should be one. They are hugely expensive, unproductive, and yet another threat to life on earth. Trump makes the unimaginable frighteningly imaginable.

Nuclear disarmament should not be a party-political issue. The UK signed up to the Non-proliferation Treaty in 1968, along with the US and other nuclear states. It has been ratified by most countries. All signatories undertake to pursue negotiation with a view to full disarmament. The governments commitment to renewing the Trident weapon system flies in the face of this.

Taking Trumps finger off the button has been a close call. To borrow from the Bible, surely now is the time to beat swords into ploughshares".

View post:

Paul Kaufman on Trump and nuclear weapons - Newham Recorder

Posted in Germ Warfare | Comments Off on Paul Kaufman on Trump and nuclear weapons – Newham Recorder

The economy can’t guarantee a job. It can guarantee a liveable income for other work – The Conversation AU

Posted: at 4:32 am

When the coronavirus pandemic hit Australia in March 2020, the Morrison government took bold and imaginative action.

The most notable examples were its income support programs JobKeeper, paying a A$750 weekly subsidy to employers to keep workers on the payroll, and JobSeeker, which doubled unemployment benefits relative to the Newstart allowance, frozen in real terms for nearly 30 years.

These measures were announced as temporary. The government has already begun winding them back as the economy recovers from the worst impacts of the pandemic. On January 1 the JobSeeker supplement (being paid to about 1.3 million Australians) was cut from A$250 to A$150 a fortnight. It will cease in March.

There are good reasons to phase out JobKeeper. It was designed specifically to assist businesses forced to scale back their activities due to COVID-19 and the restrictions introduced to control it. Eligibility is, therefore, tied to the impact of the lockdowns that took place nationally in the first half of 2020, and again in Victoria from August to October.

With those emergency times behind us, many businesses have returned to something like business as usual, while some have closed for good. Others have been brave enough to start new businesses. JobKeeper isnt relevant to any of these.

It has been partially replaced by JobMaker, a wage subsidy for employers intended to encourage the employment of younger workers, which is scheduled to be wound back in March and completely phased out by October.

Read more: In defence of JobMaker, the replacement for JobKeeper: not perfect, but much to like

The success of JobKeeper might lead to more consideration to temporary wage subsidies in response to future economic crises, perhaps along the lines of Germanys Kurzarbeit scheme, which will run at least to the end of the year. But designing such a scheme would take a lot of time. Winding down JobKeeper in the meantime makes sense.

The situation is very different with JobSeeker.

The inadequacy of the Newstart payment was widely recognised long before the pandemic. Organisations as disparate as the Australian Council of Social Service, the Business Council of Australia and the OECD have endorsed an increase. Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe has said raising Newstart said would do more for the economy than cutting taxes for high income earners.

The system of unemployment benefits in place before JobSeeker worked on the assumption there were jobs aplenty for anyone willing and able. Unemployment was seen as reflecting personal defects or, more charitably, a lack of particular skills needed for job readiness.

This assumption was clearly untrue even before the pandemic. As the long history of booms, busts and economic crises have shown us, all workers are vulnerable (some more than others) to losing their job through no fault of their own. The pandemic has reinforced that lesson.

The failure of Australias labour market to provide full employment is evident from high and increasing levels of underemployment, particularly among young people. Even before the the pandemic an unacceptably high proportion of workers struggled with stringing together part-time gigs.

Returning to the poverty levels of the former Newstart allowance as Jobkeeper winds down is a terrible option. We should restore parity between unemployment benefits and other social security benefits such as the age pension.

Until the 1990s these benefits were roughly equal in value. Since then the age pension and similar benefits have been increased in line with average earnings. Unemployment benefits, however, have been frozen in real terms since 1994.

Compounding the increasing financial hardship, life for the unemployed has been made harder by the steady intensification of compliance and reporting requirements.

While the controversial robodebt scheme in which many welfare recipients were hounded to repay money they did not owe has been abandoned, more fundamental change is needed.

Read more: Robodebt was a policy fiasco with a human cost we have yet to fully appreciate

In an economy that cannot provide full-time work for everyone who wants it, we need to take a broader view of the way people can contribute.

To respond to the post-pandemic era, we should adopt the concept of a Liveable Income Guarantee (LIG).

The LIG is closely linked to the participation income proposed by British economist Anthony Atkinson. It starts from the principle that everyone has a right to a liveable income and the opportunity to contribute to society. Its similar to a universal basic income but requires recipients to participate in socially useful activities.

The narrow measure of formal employment largely obscures the fact that many people without paid work productively contribute to society in other ways.

Unpaid work of parents, carers and volunteers has been estimated as equal to almost half of Australias GDP.

While the contributions of carers has been partly recognised through the Carers Payment, other forms of unpaid work have not.

Read more: Meet the Liveable Income Guarantee: a budget-ready proposal that would prevent unemployment benefits falling off a cliff

What other contributions might be acknowledged under the LIG? There are many possibilities, most of which have some precedent but have not been considered as part of a comprehensive program of social participation, including volunteering, ecological care projects and artistic and creative activity.

As the year of JobSeeker and JobKeeper draws to a close, its time for the Morrison government to show some of the same boldness and imagination it had a year ago.

The rest is here:

The economy can't guarantee a job. It can guarantee a liveable income for other work - The Conversation AU

Posted in Basic Income Guarantee | Comments Off on The economy can’t guarantee a job. It can guarantee a liveable income for other work – The Conversation AU

Antifa.com now redirects to the White Houses website. This doesnt mean anything. – Mashable

Posted: at 4:28 am

Hours after Joe Bidens inauguration, conservative personalities are rehashing an old disinformation campaign surrounding the antifa.com website.

If you go to antifa.com right now, youll find that the URL now takes you to the White Houses official .gov website.

Does this mean that the Biden administration owns the domain name antifa.com? Or is an official antifa entity showcasing their support for the new Democratic administration? No.

It doesn't likely mean anything, since anyone who owns any domain name can redirect it to any website. A domain name owner does not need any sort of affiliation, connection, or permission from a website owner to do so.

According to the Internet Archives Wayback Machine, the antifa.com domain name started forwarding to Joe Bidens official transition website, BuildBackBetter.gov sometime earlier this month. Then, on January 20, antifa.com began redirecting to WhiteHouse.gov.

This same misinformation about antifa.com came up during the summer when the domain started forwarding people to Joe Bidens official campaign website. As Mashable pointed out at that time, this doesnt mean anything.

Could Joe Biden or someone connected to the 46th president own the domain? Sure, its possible. Could the domain be owned by a troll or someone looking to create easily generate some sort of controversy? Also, possible.

Its not clear at this moment who owns the domain antifa.com.

The owner uses privacy protection to obfuscate their contact information in the domains whois results. Due to this, the owner of the domain is listed as WhoisGuard, a company run by the U.S.-based domain registrar, Namecheap.

However, that hasnt stopped right-wing influencers like Laura Loomer and Ryan Fournier, who have large followings on the messaging platform Telegram, from directing their fans to type in the URL themselves. These personalities have been spreading misinformation about the domain redirect in an attempt to tie the new Biden administration to an anti-right wing groups alleged official website.

But, even more important to note, there is no official antifa organization, meaning there is no entity to even create an "official" antifa website. Antifa simply stands for antifacist.

View post:

Antifa.com now redirects to the White Houses website. This doesnt mean anything. - Mashable

Posted in Antifa | Comments Off on Antifa.com now redirects to the White Houses website. This doesnt mean anything. – Mashable

No Reports of Violence as Antifa Hits Sacramento Streets on Inauguration Day – CBS Sacramento

Posted: at 4:28 am

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) The massive National Guard presence outside the California Capitol stayed in place Wednesday night, hours after protestors did rally around the downtown area.

There were no reports of violence.

Officers detained several protestors at one point, over concerns they were carrying explosives. One of the detainees spoke to CBS13 and did not want to identify herself.

They said that they got a tip that we had something dangerous in the car, she said.

Antifa posted to several social media accounts they would be demonstrating in Sacramento. Their trademark look is called the black block.

The black block is, youre dressed all in black, retiree FBI agent Glenn Norling said. Its very intimidating to the general public.

Norling now runs a consulting company called Train Be Ready that helps train law enforcement on how to plan for Antifa protests, which have become more visible and violent during the Trump administration.

More from CBS Sacramento:

And I believe the folks who are orchestrating these things are master manipulators of that group think, that crowd mentality, Norling said, and can contribute and understand how to tweak things, toward their goal.

Trump supporters who were denied a permit to protest the election at the Capitol did not show up in crowds.

Policing demonstrators on this Inauguration Day.

As the nation hands the power to a new president, Californias capitol security remains on high alert.

See original here:

No Reports of Violence as Antifa Hits Sacramento Streets on Inauguration Day - CBS Sacramento

Posted in Antifa | Comments Off on No Reports of Violence as Antifa Hits Sacramento Streets on Inauguration Day – CBS Sacramento

Portland and Seattle residents slam ‘weak’ response to Antifa riots – New York Post

Posted: at 4:28 am

Residents in Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington, say theyre fed up with local officials weak response to the Antifa riots that swept through the cities Wednesday.

In Seattle, city council members and Mayor Jenny Durkan merely issued statements over the Inauguration Day violence that resulted in smashed-up storefronts and burning American flags hours after President Biden was sworn in.

Victoria Beach, a community activist, told KOMO News that it wasnt enough.

Very weak. Very weak, she told the Seattle-based radio station on Thursday. Its not addressing the problem. I reached out to the mayor today [because] she needs to come out and say, Stop! Enough is enough.'

The station reached out to Durkan for an interview.

Her office instead issued a statement saying, Violent threats, vandalism, and misogynistic and homophobic hate speech are unacceptable in our community. Mayor Durkan has consistently denounced individuals who are targeting small businesses and government facilities.

But Beach said the mayor was missing the point.

We are not talking about all that other stuff, Beach said. We are talking about these fools [who are] nightly destroying our city. Thats what we want to hear about.

Seattle council members Andrew Lewis and Lisa Herbold also issued statements refusing to answer questions from KOMO News.

Property destruction is a crime, not free speech, Lewis said. Last night a small group of people committed acts of vandalism in Downtown Seattle and were promptly arrested. It has never been hard for me to distinguish between acts of petty vandalism committed by opportunists.

Herbold said, I have spoken out against property destruction and violent behavior and will continue to do so.

About 200 miles south, riots simultaneously took place in Portland, where the far-left militants vandalized the Democratic Party headquarters and the citys Immigration and Customs Enforcement building.

On Friday, local business owner Stacey Gibson said politicians werent doing enough to condemn the acts of violence or prosecute the criminals that forced her to board up her Subway franchise.

I mean, they say a lot of things, but actions are what matters, Gibson said on Fox & Friends. They dont prosecute anybody. Theyll arrest them, but theyll be out within a few hours.

She added, Theyre just going to keep doing it, which is evident. I dont have any idea why they dont, you know, just actually crack down on it. It would be great if they did.

Portland and Seattle have been hotbeds of violence at the hands of Antifa, the so-called leaderless group of anarchists who are against fascism.

The group routinely clashes with police and leaves a trail of destruction in their path.

In both cities Wednesday night, the crowds chanted, Fk Trump, fk Biden too, they dont give a fk about you.

Tensions escalated in Portland in late August when Antifa follower Michael Forest Reinoehl shot and killed a right-wing counter-protester, Aaron Danielson.

Reinoehl was shot dead by authorities days later.

Originally posted here:

Portland and Seattle residents slam 'weak' response to Antifa riots - New York Post

Posted in Antifa | Comments Off on Portland and Seattle residents slam ‘weak’ response to Antifa riots – New York Post

Antifa.com Redirects You to Whitehouse.gov–at Least It Is Today – newstalk870.am

Posted: at 4:27 am

It was brought to our attention by some of our Newstalk Facebook friends...

Usually when information like this is passed along, we're initially skeptical. OK, rrrrriiiight...but in this case, it worked.

When you enter Antifa.com in the URL bar (not search bar) on your computer, it re-directs you to whitehouse.gov. Which just happens to be the official White House website--at least for now.

We tried it 3 times in a row and it worked. We're not the only ones who noticed this...WTRF News in D.C. also picked up on it.

According to several sources, it is not clear who owns the domain name "Antifa.com."

We tried it with both upper and lower case "A" in antifa, and both link to the White House. Previously antifa.com linked you to Joe Biden's campaign website, late last summer and fall.

It also briefly re-directed to Kamala Harris' campaign site. However, before you get too concerned, consider this.

A few brief bits of research show that anyone who owns a domain name can link, or redirect it to another one of their choice, and there's nothing the 'second' site can do about it. If we wanted to, we could re-direct "newstalk870.am" to whitehouse.gov as long as we own the newstalk domain name. In doing so, however, it renders the domain that's being redirected useless as it's OWN website.

So, the end result is, find who owns the domain "antifa.com" and you will know who is redirecting.

We ran antifa.com through the website namecheap.com, who can look up and find who owns various domain names. This is what we found:

Domain Name: antifa.com

Updated Date: 2020-08-14T19:04:21Z

Creation Date: 2002-04-24T12:35:11Z

Registry Expiry Date: 2021-04-24T12:35:10Z

Apparently the registry expires in April, so if you wanted you could go to namecheap.com and make an offer on it. It would appear whoever owns antifa.com, based upon these redirects, appears to be on the conservative or non-Joe Biden supporter side.

See more here:

Antifa.com Redirects You to Whitehouse.gov--at Least It Is Today - newstalk870.am

Posted in Antifa | Comments Off on Antifa.com Redirects You to Whitehouse.gov–at Least It Is Today – newstalk870.am

The Gainesville 8 was the antifa of its time – Gainesville Sun

Posted: at 4:27 am

opinion

Ron Cunningham| Columnist

I have seen the face of antifa.

He is gray and gaunt with age, and needs glasses. When he isnt presumably burning down cities or ransacking Congress, he helps candidates get elected to local office.

Oh, and he enjoys a rousing Sunday afternoon volleyball match.

At least he did before COVID.

It was the one thing I really looked forward to, he laughs. But Ive gotten my shot, and once everybody else has their shots we can start playing again.

If you believe the likes of Donald Trump, Kat Cammack and Matt Gaetz he is the very personification of evil. Why, he was probably one of the guys who invaded Congress, cleverly disguised as Nazis, neo-Confederates, Qanonites and other true American patriots.

Scott Camil has heard it all before.

Heck, John Mitchell once tried to put him in prison for the crime of calling Richard Nixon a warmonger.

I was really surprised that they got so far, Camil said of the Trumpsters who really did occupy the Capitol. And I was surprised by how gently they were handled. We were always handled like the enemy, those guys were handled more like friends.

It may seem like ancient history now, but once upon a time the government of the United States tried to railroad Camil and the rest of the Gainesville 8 for conspiring to violently disrupt the Republican National Convention.

They did nothing of the sort. Like the Chicago 7 defendants, they were just convenient scapegoats for scheming politicians who wanted to divert public attention away from their own bloody failures.

It took a Gainesville jury of their peers almost no time at all to decide that the feds were trying to railroad the G8 for their real offense opposing the Vietnam war.

Not that acquittal was the end of it. Having failed to convict him, a federal agent would later shoot Camil in the back a botched assassination attempt disguised as a drug bust.

Half a century later, what the government did to Camil and his co-defendants is as relevant as todays headlines.

Its always been painted that the left are the bad guys, Camil reflects. Its always been clear that the right is much more violent.

So it should surprise no one that before the dust had even settled in D.C., duplicitous politicians were blaming the Capitol invasion on … antifa. Because even after all these years it still suits the Republican narrative that liberals must be the real terrorists among us.

We were veterans of a war that was still going on, and we had friends who were still fighting it, Camil recalled. We knew what we were talking about and we wanted to stop it. And the majority of Americans agreed with us. It was only the authorities who wanted to keep us down.

The Gainesville 8 was the antifa of its time. Straw men targeted by the government to steer public attention away from the fact that Nixons prosecution of an unjust war was going horribly off the rails.

I suppose it is to his credit that Trump hasnt squandered tens of thousands of American lives on an unnecessary war half a world away. All Trump wanted to do was keep his cult of personality engaged and loyal in the face of his monumental incompetence and dishonesty.

But, by all means, lets blame antifa whatever and whoever that may be.

Camils been there and done that.

Ron Cunningham is former editorial page editor of The Sun. Read his blog at http://www.floridavelocipede.com. Email him at rondarts2008@gmail.com.

Read the original:

The Gainesville 8 was the antifa of its time - Gainesville Sun

Posted in Antifa | Comments Off on The Gainesville 8 was the antifa of its time – Gainesville Sun

Perfect medley: Indie-pop song Daastan combines trance, future house, hip-hop and alternative rock – The New Indian Express

Posted: at 4:26 am

Express News Service

Its not every day that four genres of music trance, future house, hip-hop and alternative rockmerge in one song. With his recently released new-age indie pop song Daastan, Bollywood playback singer Amit Mishra achieves just that.

Collaborating for the first time with music composer and lyricist Apoorv Singh, Mishra is certain that the youth will like the song. Inspired in part by Stings haunting Desert Rose, Singh says he wanted to have a similar effect with limited lyrics.

While Singh has also done the songs arrangement, Yash Pandey produced it, Tosief Shaikh mastered the mix and the guitar is played by Rakshit Wesley from Armenia. The collaborators aimed at keeping the track in crescendo mode. While blending the tracks four elements together, we made sure that each genre compliments the other, says Singh. Keeping the pace of the music in mind, they first started with hip-hop, followed by alternative rock and future house, and ended the song with trance music.

Amit, who is known for Bollywood chartbusters such as Bulleya, Galti Se Mistake, Tubelight, Ding Dang, Fikar Not and Allah Duhai Hai, calls himself a music directors singer. While dabbling with new music styles and global music genres is almost second nature to him, he has also been working on creating artificial intelligence-based virtual shows, which will be out soon. I enjoy observing the projections of various singers in genres such as jazz, blues and alternative rock. I try to make my music relevant by working on vocals and expressions. I have been practicing a lot of head voice, because Bollywood is all about soulful throat music, he says.

Elaborating on his experience of working on Daastan with Singh, the talented singer says after the initial talks and a rough cut, he was impressed enough to not let the song go. Besides, the fact that it was part-alternative rock and required him to showcase his powerful vocals made the song a winner to him. I wanted very much to be a part of it, he says. He is also ready with two new songs that will release with a big music label soon. Not just that. He promises his fans a bouquet of 20 tracks this yearall different from the other.

Singh is celebrated in the music circle for his popular liquid drums acts that are showcased across the globe. He is working on a number of singles this year. One of his devotional tracks, Jai Shree Krishna, released recently, and another Sufi song with Anand Tripathi will be out soon. He is also working on a Bollywood project. Further, he has collaborated with music composer Palash Muchhal for another hip-hop track.

For Singh, his love for experimenting with different musical styles gave birth to the idea to create something new with Daastan. Through the making of the song, the DJ-turned-composerhe curated The Apoorv Singh Show, where he performs as a DJ, drummer, percussionist and rapperwanted to prove that trance or hip-hop does not only work with English lyrics, but with Hindi ones too. Further, the track was created keeping in mind that it should resonate with the youth. Needless to say that the creators are overwhelmed with the response they have received.

View post:

Perfect medley: Indie-pop song Daastan combines trance, future house, hip-hop and alternative rock - The New Indian Express

Posted in Trance | Comments Off on Perfect medley: Indie-pop song Daastan combines trance, future house, hip-hop and alternative rock – The New Indian Express

ASK THE VET: No such thing as a hypoallergenic dog – Arkansas Online

Posted: at 4:26 am

Q I recently got a Havanese puppy, Marcos, who was supposed to be hypoallergenic. However, every time I'm near him, I break out in hives, sneeze and get itchy eyes. Would modifying his diet make him less allergenic?

A I'm sorry to hear you are allergic to your new pup. Unfortunately, no dog is hypoallergenic, and no dietary modifications, supplements, medications or vaccines have been shown to change that.

All dogs produce at least six allergens, substances that can trigger allergic reactions in susceptible people. These allergens are present in dogs' skin, hair, saliva and urine.

Breeds once thought to be hypoallergenic are those with continuous hair growth, that rarely shed. Such dogs require monthly grooming, which temporarily removes some of their allergens.

However, these supposedly hypoallergenic breeds still produce as much allergen as nonhypoallergenic dogs. In a 2011 study, researchers measured canine allergen levels in homes with breeds reported to be hypoallergenic and in homes with nonhypoallergenic dogs. They found the same levels of canine allergen in both groups.

To live comfortably with Marcos, I suggest you start by consulting your own allergist. A number of treatments are available for people who are allergic to pets.

To minimize Marcos' allergens, have him groomed monthly.

Once or twice a week, bathe or rinse Marcos and launder his bedding to remove as much of the allergen load as possible. Since his hair retains pollen and dust, regular attention will also remove these potential allergens.

Vacuum your home every few days. Install a HEPA filter, and run your HVAC fan continuously.

Finally, have your new pup sleep in his own bed, not with you.

I hope these suggestions make living with Marcos more comfortable for you.

Q My cat has many endearing qualities, one of which is that he kneads his paws when I pet him. Why do cats do that?

A Many adult cats knead their front paws when they are content, relaxed and feeling secure. The movement is sometimes called "making biscuits" because it looks like the cat is kneading dough.

Some cats knead with all four paws. Many also drool, suck on soft fabric or look like they're in a trance.

I once had a cat that shared my pillow at night. Sometimes, I'd awaken to find him kneading my head, purring into my ear and drooling on my hair. It was soothing until his purring grew loud and his kneading escalated to digging his claws into my scalp, making sleep impossible.

Adult kneading has no known function but is thought to be a carryover from when the kitten was nursing. Kneading the mother cat's mammary gland increased the flow of milk, which helped the kitten grow quickly and eventually produce young that repeated the kneading behavior.

Other theories are that kneading allows the cat to stretch the paw muscles and that kneading stimulates the paws' scent glands to mark the cat's territory.

Though not all cats knead when they are content, many do. And all of their humans undoubtedly find it as endearing as you and I do.

Lee Pickett, VMD, practices companion animal medicine in North Carolina. Contact her at

vet@askthevet.pet

More here:

ASK THE VET: No such thing as a hypoallergenic dog - Arkansas Online

Posted in Trance | Comments Off on ASK THE VET: No such thing as a hypoallergenic dog – Arkansas Online

Bicep ‘Isles’ review: trippy electronic tales that transcend the club world – NME.com

Posted: at 4:26 am

In the years since the rise of their 2009-born, disco-gem-uncovering Feel My Bicep blog and 2012s pumping breakthrough EP Vision Of Love, Bicep have transformed from underground house-head favourites to festival-headlining daytime-radio-infiltrating sculptors of emotive electronic anthems. Really, though, its what Andrew Ferguson and Matthew McBriar had always been building towards.

The London-based Belfast duos melodious 2015 single Just teased at a more expansive style. But it was their multi-textured debut album released two years later via Ninja Tune and an unexpected top-20 chart hit that certified these deep-digging studio heads growing reputation as architects of introspective yet kaleidoscopic anthems.

Fast forward to 2021 and, with clubs still shut for obvious reasons, theyve retooled their second album to suit lockdown listening at home ahead of, theyve said, a much harder live version. Created in their keyboard and drum-filled London studio, Isles finds the DJs and producers again fusing atmosphere-building bleeps (the melancholic Cazenove) with infectious synth lines Fir elicits the eyes-glued rush of watching an edge-of-your-seat epic and feels as though it could explode at any moment.

Israeli artist Ofra Hazas Love Song forms the starting point for cathartic opener Atlas and eerie breakbeats rumbler Sundial, which samples Bollywood song Jab Andhera Hota Hai, provides a moment of near-ambient contemplation. This is an album that trades on Biceps early penchant for obscure vocal samples see also the eerie, vocal sample-led late-night trance anthem Apricots, a brilliant recent single.

Whats new this time around, though, is that the boys worked with other live singers and instrumentalists, adding another layer to their tried-and-tested formula. Icy-toned labelmate Clara La San appears twice: the London-based R&B star lends her voice to the movingly nostalgic trip of Saku and the heavy and futuristic X. Rever, meanwhile, carries a comparatively chilling energy, its chant-like vocal hovering hauntingly over a lightly shuffling mechanic techno beat and affecting cello playing from Canadian cellist and composer Julia Kent. Later, the sci-fi-infused synth whirrs of ominous closer Hawk run alongside Korean Tokyo-based artist Machnas faint voice, before things rush skywards one last time.

While many in the electronic scene have attempted to imitate Biceps signature sound, nobody builds melancholy into colourful trance and techno quite like these Irish mates. As they prove across Isles 10 intricately-crafted tracks (which were whittled down from more than 150 demos), few other artists can conjure up these much-missed moments of patiently rapturous rave ecstasy quite so artfully.

Release date: January 22Record label: Ninja Tune

View original post here:

Bicep 'Isles' review: trippy electronic tales that transcend the club world - NME.com

Posted in Trance | Comments Off on Bicep ‘Isles’ review: trippy electronic tales that transcend the club world – NME.com