bengston

Credit Suisse und ihr Logo

Ein neues Logo mal wieder. Das alte war für 9 Jahre gut genug. Über das neue Logo wurde eigentlich schon alles gesagt: Stupide, unsexy, zu teuer etc. und als ob das nicht genug wäre liessen sie es in UK machen! Ich selbst finde es langweilig, beliebig und sicher nicht schön. Nun war die Spannung gross, wie denn die neue Kampagne aussehen würde und was für ein Flop! Langweilige amerikanisch angehauchte Anzeigen mit Golfern (!), welche vorgeben dass es hier um Partnerschaft geht. Als ob ein neues Logo die Art und Weise wie man Kunden betreut ändern würde. So einen Haufen Müll und teurer Müll noch dazu. Ich weiss nicht warum ich noch Kunde bin. Vielleicht weil es zweifellos eine gute Online Bank ist. Obwohl dies ja nicht mehr im Vordergrund zu stehen scheint: Die neuen Anzeigen haben keine URL mehr...!

Fee for DJ's who play out MP3's..

According to this article on BBC website, DJ's in the UK who play MP3's or other digital file formats must pay a fee of £ 200 per year in order to do so legally. An interesting concept, hard to control though. If only that money would go back to the artists...

What I like

Sorry, totally unusual post today...:

I like cutting chicken into small bits when they fry in the pan. I like Gin and Tonic, spicy food and I mix ketchup and mustard. I like roomy airplanes and stewardesses who let me sleep. I like the smell of acetate (dubplates). I like to get rid of my shoes without opening the lacing. I like to watch telly stations without ads. I like to shower long and hot. I like to hide from cameras but I love taking pictures. I like to go back to bed in the morning, even after having had breakfast and/or a shower. I like to read my books in original language. I do the same for movies (that sounds snob doesn't it?). I like to drive a bycicle in the city and be faster than cars. I like to travel in Europe. I like Lausanne. I like Francine Jordi but nobody believes me. I like hiking but I never do it. I like Gap Jeans but can't get hold of them. I like my first class train ticket but I don't like the people in first class. I like Belgian beer and their chocolate (!). I like hangovers for the beer farts. I like Switzerland for being small and I like what I like.

cinema stress

I can't complain about too few movies showing at the moment. In fact last friday I counted six movies I wanted to see immediately: Caché (will see tonight), Jeune homme, Jo Siffert, Good Night Good Luck, On a clear day (seen on friday) and L'enfant. Ok after tonight I'll have two less which makes it four. Not very interesting I know so I'll finish this post by staying on topic and saying that you MUST go and see On a clear Day! A proper feelgood movie without the US cheese...

bring dem mixtapes back!

I went to see this fantastic exhibition on electric guitars in Berne and along with it came a second, smaller exhibition called "mixtapes". A couple of people are portraied how and why they record(ed) mixtapes, who they give / gave them to and what sentimental values they attach to mixtapes. You can listen to some tracks and you see some samples of actual tapes including the selfmade covers etc. It struck me like mad. I mean tapes are so yesterday and still a million times funkier than a CD or mp3 could ever be! I noticed the very same type of tapes I used to have and record my shit on and I instantly missed the good old mixtapes. Maybe I'm being sentimental here but I think we should bring the mixtapes back. Not as a replacement for mp3 mixes or podcasts but as a form to spread love, to give a nice present to someone as it used to be until the late 90s.

Buureradio - ein Selbstversuch

I'll write this in German, sorry.

Toni Brunner's Buureradio war ja lange angekündigt worden und heute hat's mich endlich mal auf die nette Radioseite vom Land verschlagen. Ich bin ja selbst ein Landei und fühlte mich dort sofort zu Hause. Als erstes versuchte ich natürlich sofort den Sender zu hören aber weder die Media Player Variante, noch der m3u Stream wollten funktionieren. Wahrscheinlich auch besser so. Das Musikprogramm ist ja nicht allzu abwechslungsreich... Um die Zeit zu vertreiben stöberte ich ein wenig rum und klickte mich vom Programm (siehe Bild unten) über das Gästebuch (Eine Menge spannende Einträge finden sich dort und wie's scheint durchwegs nur positive) zu den Machern durch. Dort kann man ein sympathisches Bildli von Toni Brunner sehen und wissenswertes zu seiner Person (z.B. seine E-Mailadresse) erfahren. Auch sonst ist es ganz lustig mal die ganzen Profile der Buureradio-Macher durchzuklicken. Von der Banklehrtochter bis zur Präsidentin der Harmoniemusik Thalwil ist alles dabei. Auf der ganzen Seite wird ausserordentlich viel Wert drauf gelegt, dass auch Städter dieses Radio hören (sollen). Kein Wunder bei einer Sendung mit dem Namen "Hipp & Trendy"! Dort gibt's dann auch eine Rubrik "Bauer sucht Frau / Frau sucht Bauer", welche besonders hörenswert sein dürfte. Das Highlight wird zweifellos "Talk im Stall" sein: Toni Brunner im Gespräch mit wöchentlichem Gast! Ich jedenfalls werde am kommenden Sonntag den Wecker stellen, um mir rechtzeitig die Jodlermesse zu geben. Unbedingt mal vorbeihören: Buureradio.ch Stallseite.

WEF participants to blog...

oh no as if WEF wasn't bad enough they announced, that the participants are encouraged to blog! Apparently the participants can join the forum blog. Found over Micro Persuasion

I am retiring from DJing

In case you haven't heard it yet and were looking for the former dj bengston site, here is the official statement:

After 9 years of DJing, I decided to call it a day and stop playing records at parties. This decision is certainly not an easy one to take but it has been coming for a while.. I have enjoyed countless good moments and loved what I did for the greatest part of it. But the buzz is over. I am no longer feeling the thrill, can't be bothered to buy / feedback on records anymore (and dislike most of what is being released). I am fed up of lugging heavy record cases around airports and am no longer feeling the music I used to play. I have also set other priorities in my life which leaves me less time and space for the glorious life of DJing. My ears and my back will probably be happy about this decision :)

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the people out there! I have started out in order to make my own mix tapes and ended up going semi pro only five years later. Things went very well for me with highlights including gigs in places all over Europe, notably many gigs in Germany, a top night in Brussels, Gigs in London and very good parties in Eastern Europe as well as playing bäckflash, one of the biggest breaks festivals in Spain and twice at the huge Nature One festival in Germany. Not forgetting the countless gigs in almost every club worth mentioning in Switzerland over the past couple of years. My sets have found many friends around the world, especially the downloadable drivin' breaks mix series which I've started in 2001. I will probably start a radioshow and do the occasional mix but will no longer be standing behind turntables in clubs. I will also continue to run the label Ritmic records and I will keep on producing music. I still love making music so expect to hear more (varied) stuff from me in the future. All those lovely people who kept sending me records: Thank you for the continued support! Please send them no longer to me.

Thank you: Juz @ Freakaboom, Biff @ Functional, Neil, Matt, Sam & Steve @ Plastic Raygun, Aras, Guy Hyper, Rennie & Pippa @ TCR, Kieron @ Aquasky, Glen @ Default/En:Vision, Johan @ sound of habib, Mole & Aya @ Boombox, Will Saul, Moguai, Malinna, Kevin @ Chi, Aidan @ Waxworks, Colin & all at Whitenoise, Zac & Cleg @ Zaudio, Don @ Resin, Paul & Alex @ Sinister, Bill Vega, all @ unique, Tamir and all @ 2Wars & related labels, Colin & Peter from Brussels, Cedric @ labrok, Shack, Loes Lee & Peter (where are ya?), Juanma @ Nätural, EK, Dean, Mike Hogan, angus @ release, Akos, Clau, Corin & Vela @ Dangerous Drums Berlin, Circuit Breaker, Arzt, Gaya, Jule and all the Berlin crew, Marten Hörger (+his Mum!), Tilman, Versus, Mexiko, Valerian & Konstanz Crew, Basti, Daniel (all of them), Simon & Garbfunkel, Gid & groovalistic crew, Arthur (where are ya?).

A special thank you to all those who helped making Ritmic what it is:
Be&See, Downpressor, André Absolut, Erik, Stookie, Smash FX, Tek Jam & Inzekt, Muddyloop, Orlando Menthol

And of course all the Swiss crew:
DJ F, Sam Whitemoon, spectron, ramax, smat, swo, selecta j, diferenz, filewile, Rydemsplurt, Marc Ridet @ Swiss Music Export, Thierry and all @ hexadance.com, gilles, nicola @ united underground (good luck with hive!), mike & all at bitboutique, vin, aless & vamp crew, gregory @ nordstern, Pierre-Yves, Valentin @ irata.ch, Goo, Gregoire, Mättu, mental @ virus, mark brook & arian cerddor & the meadow crew, Mewa, Mede, Batt, Bally, Burgener, Lopetz @ Bureau Destruct and all the others who've booked me, supported me, critised me and made this possible!

Back in the loop

I have not been blogging for two weeks because Barbara came home and we had tons of work to do for the flat. Now I'm back at the office and it couldn't be worse.. Motivation is zero. I will think about holidays now and will be back when I got something worthwhile to say.