20231015 - The old internet
Genesis
I miss "the old internet."
The old internet consisted of forums, blogs, simple web pages, the predecessors of modern social networks. Places where one could express themselves freely, meet people, showcase what they do, learn, teach, collaborate, interact. Endearing communities were formed where one cared about people, and people cared about you.
Am I idealizing it in my memory? I don't think so. I had multiple blogs, wrote for other blogs (even getting paid when I would have paid to do it!), participated in countless forums. I made many friendships, and some I still maintain to this day. I feel like that has been lost, or at least lost the way I knew it, and today, the people who could almost be my descendants find something remotely similar in Discord.
Modern internet has become a disaster where everyone shouts, and no one listens, attention spans last milliseconds, big brands ruin everything in their path without you being able to stop it, everything is consumed but nothing matters. It's all about CONSUMPTION! We even let a lousy word born from the depths of the rankest capitalism eat away at us, contrary to the principles upon which the World Wide Web was founded.
Advertising on the internet is literally the only thing that matters, and the reason platforms where we spend most of our time exist. We have almost no control over what content we receive and what we don't. For these two reasons, I stopped watching television two decades ago, and for these two reasons, I distance myself from that part of the internet that doesn't serve me as a person, as a consumer, or as an artist.
In my case, as a photographer, I constantly find myself adapting my work to a platform (Instagram) that explicitly strives to lower the quality of my photos and penalizes my exposure for not creating the content it desires. What began as an app for sharing photos (remember, the logo started as a camera) is now hostile territory for all of us who create images. In addition, every time I find an artist I'm interested in and follow them, the platform proceeds to say, "You like this artist? Great! You'll never see anything from them again," and continues to show me clickbait, misleading ads, and poorly made memes.
What has been pleasantly surprising to me is that it seems I'm not alone in wanting a more human, slower, more dedicated, and more enjoyable internet. There seems to be a trend, which, emulating "Slow Fashion," I've just thought of - literally writing this - naming "Slow Internet," and a quick Google search confirms that it already exists. Seven years late, I thought of it. The story of my life.
Although YouTube insists on "Shorts," the channels with more active communities are the ones that upload long and well-crafted videos in the traditional 16:9 format. Blogs have returned in the form of newsletters on platforms like Substack, as well as in more traditional formats like Medium, Tumblr, and personal websites (typically built on the indestructible WordPress), and they continue to grow. Did I fact-check the data? A thing of the past, baby.
In conclusion, consider this humble newsletter as the revolutionary act of rebellion by a hippie with a health insurance plan that lays the first stone to rebuild that internet I knew as a teenager. I want to sit down and grow old with it, like a rocking chair in the 2.0 garden, while I water the virtual plants generated by some AI, and a robot cat crosses my path purring between my legs.
Introducing
Hello, I'm Nacho Dramis, I was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and that's where I live.
What you're reading is a free monthly newsletter about music, photography, video games, technology, self-promotion, and the combination of all that.
It comes out on the 15th of each month and consists of the following tentative sections, ideally all together, but, you know, this is just beginning, and we'll see where it goes:
Music: A link to a Spotify playlist with full albums, along with brief comments about the albums included.
Process: I show a part of my creative process, in the form of a tutorial or as a simple account of events.
Gaming: Probably a mini-review or reflection on something I've been playing on PC.
Texts: A short story, micro-story, anecdote, reflection, free-form poetry, something amorphous like what you just read, you name it.
Links: Websites, tools, curiosities, videos, texts, interesting things I come across out there that I want to share.
Shall we begin?
Music
The playlists with complete albums, which you've seen me share on social media so many times, are back. If you want to recommend an album, you're always welcome.
KNOWER - Knower Forever
Los Angeles, USA, 2023
A new album from the duo formed by Louis Cole and Genevieve Artadi, now in a band format. Indefinable no matter how you look at it, they combine Louis's wild virtuosity with Genevieve's Martian harmonies and childlike voice, backed by a razor-sharp band to bring us the ultimate technojazzcore(?) experience.
Night Tempo - Neo Standard
Tokyo, Japan, 2023
Japanese city pop, retrowave, neo-funk, and more. Ideal for listening on the subway and pretending you're Shinji Ikari when he escaped everything on a train to nowhere, avoiding piloting Eva. If you come home believing your deceased mother's spirit resides in the microwave, I'm not responsible. (Thanks to Hongo for the recommendation!)
Paul Brown - The Funky Joint
Los Angeles, USA, 2012
Smooth jazz with guitar melodies that are so good you'll want to spread them on toast and slap them on your face. I challenge you to listen to this without tapping your foot and making faces worthy of Ben Stiller in Zoolander. (Thanks to Silvita for the recommendation!)
Purple Disco Machine - Exotica
Dresden, Germany, 2021
Electronic disco funk, modern and retro at the same time. A globally recognized artist (whom I didn't know because the last time I went dancing, Nicki Nicole hadn't been born yet), I stumbled upon him on Ale Sergi's IG account, and I loved it. It's like blending Justice and Dua Lipa.
Hiromi - Sonicwonderland
Shizuoka, Japan, 2023
The new jazzy album by the Japanese piano virtuoso, with a new band consisting of drums, bass, and trumpet, starting with the two songs they played during their recent Tiny Desk performance. Virtuosic to the max without neglecting catchy melodies. I particularly enjoyed seeing her delve into synthesizers without abandoning the piano.
FKJ - French Kiwi Juice
Tours, France, 2017
A very laid-back album from this French multi-instrumentalist who gained popularity during the pandemic with his YouTube live sessions. House, pop, chill, R&B, modern jazz with a touch of funk, a super-compatible blend to have as background music while working, setting the mood in a cool bar, or starting to get things going with that special someone.
Anders Enger Jensen - Retro Grooves vol 4
Oslo, Norway, 2020
Joyful and cheery electronic music with lots of synthesizers and a 90s Japanese video game vibe. Catchy and synthetic melodies for donning that blue hedgehog suit hidden in your closet and bouncing around the living room. If you like it, he has several albums in the same vein.
Process
I had a lot of fun with an express job for Queen Conga & The Containers, with whom I had worked previously (including a session I still can't show, hehe), and it's always a pleasure.
On this occasion, our photo session was limited by multiple time and material constraints:
The band needed photos for some events that suddenly appeared on their schedule with very little notice. This required the photos to be taken as soon as possible. Because they had a substitute member in the lineup, they couldn't use old photos to announce the dates. This also significantly restricted the time available for editing and retouching.
On the only day available for the session, I had an unavoidable medical appointment just before. This meant I had to go directly to the session without stopping at my home. Additionally, medical advice prevented me from carrying heavy equipment, and my DSLR with a Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 lens (ideal for the day given what I had) would have meant hanging about ~1.5kg around my neck, severely limiting the equipment and accessories I could use.
During the two hours when all the band members would be together, they also had to rehearse. This left very little available time with few opportunities to rely on natural light.
Knowing that we had limited time and tools, in the hours leading up to the client meeting, we were brainstorming some compositions, locations, and moods we wanted to capture. We also assessed, based on our knowledge of the location, the possibilities of making the most of natural light. I packed my compact Ricoh GRII camera, a tripod, a small LED light panel, and set off to the location.
With the experience of having worked with the band several times before, everything went smoothly and was a lot of fun. We chatted for a while, had some mate, set up three scenarios, discarded two others, and once the rehearsal started, I took a few more photos of the musicians in action.
The process of selection, editing, and retouching was also swift. I took the photos on a Monday, and by Thursday, I already had the link with all the material. I adjusted tones, added a little light here, reduced noise there, and for some, I found it suitable to export both in color and black and white. And that was that.
Here are some conclusions that emerged from this work (or reaffirmations of truths we've known for a long time, but it's good to be reminded of them from time to time):
The only truly useless photos are the ones that aren't taken.
Limitations (constraints) can become a creative tool.
The photographer is worth more than the camera and equipment, always.
Working in an atmosphere of trust, friendship, and good vibes makes everything easier.
Always have a plan, a backup, and an open mind for improvisation.
Less equipment is less intimidating to people who are not used to being in front of a camera.
Gaming
This section is going to be short this time because I haven't been playing much lately :-) .
A few weeks ago, I bought and played Assassin's Creed Odyssey (2018) on my PC. It's the crown jewel from the Ubisoft game distribution company and (I think) one of the three most well-known and widely played video game franchises in the world, even outside the hardcore gaming community, alongside Call of Duty and FIFA.
My last encounter with the series was its second installment (2009). Combined with the fact that I haven't been playing many AAA games (those produced by teams of hundreds of people and financed with millions of dollars from the industry's biggest companies), I felt like I was at a U2 concert in Abu Dhabi after spending five years watching underground bands play to 20 people in bars at 3 am in Ezpeleta.
Although I haven't put in many hours yet, my impression so far is that it's WAY TOO LONG for the little it offers. At 15, it would have had me glued to the chair for months, not leaving my house. But at this point in my adult life, I prefer video games with short but valuable experiences, even if it means sacrificing a bit of freedom and exploration. Additionally, and this may be influenced by years of playing highly complex RPGs, the mechanics it borrows from this genre seem boring, flat, and tedious to me. And a criticism I can't ignore, why do they give those awful accents to the characters? Give me Greek voices so it makes sense, or English so I can understand... All the characters sound like Greeks speaking bad English, and it's ridiculous.
Nevertheless, I'm still enjoying the experience, the connection with the historical period in which it's set, the vastness of its environments, the story that changes based on my choices, and some aspects of the combat system.
I don't think I'll finish it, and I'll probably abandon it to tackle indie art games that last 3 hours, made by a three-person studio in Eastern Europe because I'm that much of a hipster.
Links
Various things that caught my attention on the internet without any particular order.
Ale Sergi chatting with Nico Astegiano (2020) about streaming services, the artistic production of Miranda's first album with what they had, the role of record labels as intermediaries, anecdotes with Gustavo Cerati, etc.
The story of Kurzgesagt, a huge and beautiful channel that focuses on animated scientific outreach. They share a lot about the behind-the-scenes of their growth in recent years and how they manage their team and finances.
"The search for purpose," one of the articles that helped me make a couple of abrupt and necessary turns in my life in recent years.
https://www.unafreelancer.com/la-busqueda-del-proposito/
Although it's been a few months, this article from Bill Gates' blog, "The Age of AI Has Begun," is still very interesting. "Soon the pre-AI period will feel as distant as the days when using a computer meant typing commands in C:> instead of touching a screen."
https://www.gatesnotes.com/The-Age-of-AI-Has-Begun
Delivery of Craig Benzine's (AKA Wheezy Waiter) newsletter (highly recommended if you don't follow his YouTube channel) about trusting the process.
A reading recommendation given by Substack itself on creating a "sacred space" for writing.
A small list of internal rules for dealing better with one's own and the world's hostility.
Venus Theory, a channel I love about music production, showing the process of learning a new and uncomfortable tool under a tight deadline. It's about stepping out of your comfort zone, challenging yourself, and growing, among other things.
Thanks for reading!
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Thank you very much for reading!
I miss the old internet too! I was once very active on Tumblr but haven’t visited for quite a while... I must return. And you’re the only other person I’ve come across who knows of Louis Cole and Knower ☺️
Muy buena entrada, espero leer mas pronto!