BEGIN LINE_NOIZ.1 I S S U E # ! N O V E M B E R 1 , 1 9 9 3 &)@$C*y#b(e&r(p^u5n9k&)#*$)n^e*w(a&g!e&t)e*c&h^n(o)-(r&e(b&e@l*%$(#)($!)()(*) n(e@u$r@o)m_a(n)c#e*r%(&^(#&%)&~!%%$#@`@$&)(*^)*&(*$&(%$)$p^h$a)s*e$s(h^i(f*t $@$^@$##@*^%#@%@%$^ LL IIIIII NN NN EEEEEEEE s$u&b%l(i$m(i)n*a)l &%?><%&$@?&%#$@&>$# LL II NNNN NN EE }{m"e#s^s{a~g%e%s#$ b(i@l*l)y*i^d^o*l_$ LL II NN NNNN EEEEE *#$!$)!(_~)#(@(%)(# f$u%c)k(o*f%f*!(!^$ LL II NN NNN EE &^#$h$y#p(n*o#t*i*c !%R$&^%$#^&*%#\.%$% LLLLLLLL IIIIII NN NN EEEEEEEE (!&$^#(*%(*#&%^#)() /\ /\ /\ / /~~/ / ~~~/ /\ /\ ____/ \ / \_____/ \/ ___ /__/ ___ / ___ /___ _____/ \ / \ _____ \/ \/ \/ L I N E N O I Z ()()()() CyberPunk Electronic Techno-babble and assorted Oddities ()()()()()() Well, gee. This is the first issue. It looks like this issue is mainly a one man show. Sorry. I hope to get alot more submissions for the next issue. Please send all questions, comments or suggestions to me at: ae687@freenet.carleton.ca Thanks. [][][][][][][][][][][ L I N E N O I Z ][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] I S S U E # ! N O V E M B E R 1 , 1 9 9 3 : File ! : SMALL FAQ FOR THE E-ZINE : Billy Biggs : File @ : CYBERPUNK DEFENITION LIST #1 : Billy Biggs : And Various Others : File # : FRONT 242 05:22:09:12 Off CD REVIEW : Al Crawford : File $ : SUBMISSION GUIDE : Billy Biggs =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= File - ! ***************** SMALL FAQ OF THE ZINE ***************** First off, we have written up a series of questions designed to introduce this e-zine and what the hell we are trying to do here. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS E-ZINE?? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This 'zine was created to provide a forum for disscussion and expression of views and issues related to cyberpunk themes. We wish to allow you to show your own personal views on CyberPunk and what it means to you. We do not have any restrictions as to who can contribute or recieve this 'zine. You can contribute whether or not you consider yourself a cyberpunk or part of the cyberpunk community (if it exists. That is another question). HOW OFTEN IS THIS E-ZINE GOING TO COME OUT?? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well, right now we aren't quite sure. We are looking at maybe every two weeks a small version comes out or a large version that comes out monthly. Please express any comments or suggestions. WHAT KIND OF CYBERPUNK IS THIS E-ZINE ABOUT?? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This e-zine is going to taylor to all forms of CP, from the modern day cyberpunk to the William Gibson style cyberpunk. We hope to discuss CP sci-fi, CP music, dress, food and other controversial issues. If you have any questions that you want added to this list, please send them to me and I will include them in an updated version of this FAQ to be posted some time soon. WHAT IS GOING TO BE IN FUTURE ISSUES?? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well, we have plans for science-fiction stories to be posted in parts throughout the coarse of a few issues. We also are planning to have expository works on cyberpunk views/art/music/litterature/clothing/ fodd etc. Each issue is probably going to be designed with one main disscussion. For example, this issue has a large article on the defenition of cyberpunk. Maybe some hacker/phreaker/anarchy kinda stuff will be posted in future issues if I get anything interesting. HOW DO I SUBSCRIBE?? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gee, it's easy. Send mail to my handy-dandy mail distributer guy at: dodger@fubar.bk.psu.edu With the words: Subscription LineNoiz in the body of the letter. Is everyone Okay on that?? Good. We'll be awaiting your subscription. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= File - @ . C Y B E R P U N K . d e f e n i t i o n l i s t #1 of an ongoing series probably to be posted every two months or so by: Billy Biggs and alot of others -- Assorted meanings not neccesarily reflecting the views of everybody -- [INTRO] Cyberpunk, the undefinable. Do we really need a defenition? Do we need to classify ourselves as a seperate entity from the world of the network. Probably not, but here are the defenitions given by many people from many walks of life. [DA DEFS] First off, we have the FAQ defenition. The defenition tailored to please all and show our image to the world (you may not think so, that's your opinion). This is from the *NEW* FAQ file. >From: erich@bush.cs.tamu.edu (Erich Schneider) 1. What is cyberpunk, the literary movement? The first use of "cyberpunk" to designate a body of literature is credited to Gardner Dozois, who, at the time (the early '80s), was editor of _Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine_. He cribbed it from the title of a short story by Bruce Bethke, "Cyberpunk". (Bethke has since proclaimed himself to be an "anti-cyberpunk".) Before its christening, the "cyberpunk movement", known to its members as "The Movement", had existed for quite some time, centered around Bruce Sterling's samizdat, _Cheap Truth_. Authors like Sterling, Rucker, and Shirley submitted articles pseudonymously to this newsletter, hyping the works of people in the group and vigorously attacking the "SF mainstream". This helped form the core "movement consciousness". (A tar-file containing the run of _Cheap Truth_ is available by anonymous FTP as "ftp.u.washington.edu:/pub/user-supported/ alt.cyberpunk/Essays.and.Articles/Cheaptruth/cheap.tar".) Cyberpunk literature, in general, deals with marginalized people in technologically-enhanced cultural "systems". In cyberpunk stories' settings, there is usually a "system" which dominates the lives of most "ordinary" people, be it an oppresive government, a group of large, paternalistic corporations, or a fundamentalist religion. These systems are enhanced by certain technologies (today advancing at a rate that is bewildering to most people), particularly "information technology" (computers, the mass media), making the system better at keeping those within it inside it. Often this technological system extends into its human "components" as well, via brain implants, prosthetic limbs, cloned or genetically engineered organs, etc. Humans themselves become part of "the Machine". This is the "cyber" aspect of cyberpunk. However, in any cultural system, there are always those who live on its margins, on "the Edge": criminals, outcasts, visionaries, or those who simply want freedom for its own sake. Cyberpunk literature focuses on these people, and often on how they turn the system's technological tools to their own ends. This is the "punk" aspect of cyberpunk. The best cyberpunk works are distinguished from previous work with similar themes by a certain style. The setting is urban, the mood is dark and pessimistic. Concepts are thrown at the reader without explanation, much like new developments are thrown at us in our everyday lives. There is often a sense of moral ambiguity; simply fighting "the system" (to topple it, or just to stay alive) does not make the main characters "heroes" or "good" in the traditional sense. 2. What is cyberpunk, the subculture? Spurred on by cyberpunk literature, in the mid-1980's certain groups of people started referring to themselves as cyberpunk, because they correctly noticed the seeds of the fictional "techno-system" in Western society today, and because they identified with the marginalized characters in cyberpunk stories. Within the last few years, the mass media has caught on to this, spontaneously dubbing certain people and groups "cyberpunk". Specific subgroups which are identified with cyberpunk are: Hackers, Crackers, and Phreaks: "Hackers" are the "wizards" of the computer community; people with a deep understanding of how their computers work, and can do things with them that seem "magical". "Crackers" are the real-world analogues of the "console cowboys" of cyberpunk fiction; they break in to other people's computer systems, without their permission, for illicit gain or simply for the pleasure of exercising their skill. "Phreaks" are those who do a similar thing with the telephone system, coming up with ways to circumvent phone companies' calling charges and doing clever things with the phone network. All three groups are using emerging computer and telecommunications technology to satisfy their individualist goals. Cypherpunks: These people think a good way to bollix "The System" is through cryptography and cryptosystems. They believe widespread use of extremely hard-to-break coding schemes will create "regions of privacy" that "The System" cannot invade. Ravers: These are the folks who use synthesized and sampled music, computer-generated psychedelic ("cyberdelic") art, and designer drugs to create massive all-night dance parties and love-fests in empty warehouses. However, one person's "cyberpunk" is another's everyday obnoxious teenager with some technical skill thrown in, or just someone looking for the latest trend to identify with. This has led many people to look at self-designated "cyberpunks" in a negative light. Also, there are those who claim that "cyberpunk" is undefinable (which in some sense it is, being concerned with outsiders and rebels), and resent the mass media's use of the label, seeing it as a cynical marketing ploy. --------------------------------------------------------------------- This defenition is taken from the old FAQ. >From: ahawks@nyx.cs.du.edu "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel" :::::opening lines of Neuromancer Asking someone to define Cyberpunk is like asking someone to define art. Each person has their own ideas about what art is, what constitutes art and what doesn't. Yet we all still know art when we see it. The same is true for Cyberpunk - each cyberpunk has their own definition for it, yet common threads remain. In basic terms, these might be definied by an emphasis on individualism and technology (both in the present and in the future - and in the past as in The Difference Engine [a book by Gibson & Sterling]). So what seperates cyberpunk from other types of sci-fi? Generally, cyberpunk occures in the not-so-distant-future. It generally occurs on earth, in a time where technology is prominent. Characters are generally "average Johnny Mnemonics" - not some fantastic hero with lots of virtue and a blinding smile. Cyberpunk revels in high-tech low-lifes, so you can expect to see lots of crime and back-stabbing and drugs and such. These are the basic elements of Gibsonesque CP (cyberpunk) - we've all seen it before in movies such as Blade Runner and TV Shows like Max Headroom. In many cases, it appears as if our world is evolving into a classic cyberpunk setting: the rise of post-zaibatsu Japan with it's monopoly on technology, American cities developing into the "sprawl" (basically just large, mega-cities), drugs and crime are predominant in some cultures, and we thrive and survive on technology. So, it isn't too hard to see how cyberpunk evolved from being just a literary movement into a growing sub-culture - industrial and post-industrial aspects of the culture, virtual reality, rave parties, nootropics, computer hacking - they're all aspects of our culture, they all would fit nicely into a Gibson novel, and they all exist *now*. So, what makes a cyberpunk? If you already knew all this stuff, and you're laughing at my generalities and inconsistencies, then you're definitely a cyberpunk. If you're a techno-junkie or an info-junkie, than you'd probably consider yourself a cyberpunk. Basically, if you live in a world in the not-so-distant-future, ahead of the masses (the masses being guys named Buford who sit out in front of their trailer homes in lawn chairs sipping a Bud and watching the Indy 500 on an old tv), then you could probably safely consider yourself a cyberpunk. It's a spectrum, though - I mean, it's kind of like if Micahelangelo had an assistant, he would probably not consider the assistant an artist. Yet to his friends and family, that assistant may seem like a great artist. I consider myself a cyberpunk compared to the masses that walk the halls of my school, yet at a virtual reality conference in the presence of the likes of Jaron Lanier, Gibson, John Perry Barlow, Timothy Leary, RU Sirius, etc. I would probably be more hesitant in labeling myself a true cyberpunk. But one the beauties of cp is that it is still somewhat elitist to an extent: members of the community realize that we who walk on the fringes of culture need to hold each others' hand until the masses join us - the communal atmosphere, at times, can be seen as similair to the early hippie movement of the late 50's/early 60's. --------------------------------------------------------------------- But, unfortunately, the media has siezed cyberpunk and overexaggerated it to make a story. In the March 1, 1993 issue of Time Magazine, their story on cyberpunk is this: "With virtual sex, smart drugs and synthetic rock'n'roll, a new counterculture is surfing the dark edges of the computer age" "They call it cyberpunk, a late-20th century term derived from CYBERNETICS, the science of communication and control theory, and punk, an antisocial rebel or hoodlum. Whithin this odd pairing lurks the essence of cyber- punk's international culture - a way of looking at the world that combines infatuation with high-tech tools and disdain for conventional ways of using them. Origionaly applied to a school of hard-boiled science- fiction writers and then to certain semitough computer hackers, the word cyberpunk now covers a broad range of music, art, psycadelics, smart drugs and cutting-edge technology." In the May 29, 1993 Ottawa Citizen newspaper, they defined cyberpunk as "[...] an emersing youthful sub-culture, fusing punk rock's anti- authoritarianism with a love of cutting-edge technology." Summed up in a sentance. I hate that. I pulled this one off internet somewhere. THE BOSTON GLOBE Tuesday,November 24, 1992 LIVING ARTS pg. 29 & 32 [INTERESTING ARTICLE ON CP DELETED] (I might post it next issue) Cyberculture: the digital society of the late 20th century, which includes electronic couch potatoes, academic researchers, corporate executives, college kids, cyberpunks, et al. Cyberpunk: 1. a science fiction movement; 2. a subculture of cyberculture populated mainly by hackers, crackers and phreaks; 3. a pop culture phenomenon based on 1 and 2. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Back to the net, here is a definition that belongs in the dictionary. Real creative in my opinion. >From: jrw@engr.LaTech.edu ("James R. Weeks") Cybernetics: the study of human control functions and of mechanical and electrical systems designed to replace them. [< Gk _kybernet(es)_ helmsman, steersman (_kybern(an)_ (to) steer + _-etes_ agent suffix) + -ics] Punk: defn(1): Any prepared substance that will smolder and can be used to light fireworks, fuses, etc. defn(2):n. 1._slang_ a. something or someone worthless or unimportant. b. a petty criminal or hoodlum. 2._See PUNK ROCK_ 3._Archaic_ a prostitute adj. 4._informal_ poor in quality or condition 5._slang_ characteristic of punk rock or those who perform it. Punk_Rock: a type of rock-'n'-roll, culminating in the 1970's and characterized by load, insistent music and abusive or violent protest lyrics, and whose performers and followers are distinguished by extremes of dress and socially defiant behavior. cat -rndmix Cybernetics Punk(defn(1)) Punk(defn(2)) Punk_Rock > cyberpunk cyberpunk: 1._slang_ a technosuperior, extrasocially unacceptable, bad-ass-motherfucker who is licensed to -and will- flame or worse for themselves or for someone at a low price (although it almost always starts high). 2._slang_ is the only way in which to define cyberpunk --------------------------------------------------------------------- >From: Tragedy@cup.portal.com The pioneering soldiers of the 21st century. Embarking into the new technological frontier. --------------------------------------------------------------------- >From: bfundak@andy.bgsu.edu (The Changing Man) cyberpunk-A way of life centering around computer technology, hardcore music and teen angst. Cyberpunk gives us an ability to be free. Technology belongs to the young and we must exploit it to our advantage. It is the new age... Ooo. Revolutionary. I liked this one. Personal opinion applies here. --------------------------------------------------------------------- >From: DHT104@PSUVM.PSU.EDU : There are really several definitions of the word 'cyberpunk'. First and foremost is the popular 'electronic outlaw' image, the rough rider in a new area of exploration. The western cowboy all over again... Other images abound. As is nearly everything in life, it is a matter of presonal preference and thought. One day you wake up and say "Gee, I'm a cyberpunk today" and go off and hack the Pentagon or something (not that _I_ would _ever_ do something like that :-)). Then tomorrow you wake up and say "Gee, I'm a cyberpunk today" and go off into the little place called your computer and build a program that will end all world problems when uploaded and then forget to save it... :-) The whole point of all this blabber is that the definition is all a matter of personal interrpretation. It's like a new religion; Martin Luther is just waiting in the wings... Someone will always have a different definition but the only definition that counts is yours! Can't you tell I'm into freedom and individuality? :-) --------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, those were the defenitions. Sorry I didn't have more. In conclusion we can say that cyberpunk is undefinable. One cannot give it a purpose or a founding. Those who would most likely be considered cyberpunk either don't realize it or don't want to be cyberpunk. CP is personal. What it means to you is different from what it means to me, or what it means to Billy Idol. Let's just keep on doing what it looks like were supposed to be doing and maybe someday someone will invent cyberpunk. In the mean time, I have started this e-zine and intend to continue it. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= File - # . N E W F R O N T 2 4 2 C D R E V I E W . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Posted to usenet by Al Crawford Intro by Billy Biggs Fairly recently (this is yesterdays news for alot of you but this is our first issue so we aren't tottaly up to date) Front 242 released their latest CD entitled Evil Off. I have for you a review of the CD, which by the way has not been released (or just been released) in North America. For those of you who do not consider Front 242 cyberpunk then I am sorry if you do not like this review in the 'zine and please tell me and I will post your views in the next issue. Thanks to Al Crawford for letting me repost his darn nice review. >From: Al Crawford Subject: Review: Front 242 - 05:22:09:12 Off Front 242 05:22:09:12 Off RRE 22 CDX [Bel] Total Running Time: 71 min 21 sec 1. Animal (Cage) 3.00 2. Animal (Gate) 3.02 3. Animal (Guide) 2.44 4. Modern Angel 4.12 5. Junkdrome 7.35 6. Serial Killers Don't Kill Their Girlfriend 5.57 7. Skin (Fur Coat) 3.59 8. GenEcide 6.53 9. Crushed 6.13 10. offEND 1.38 11. Animal (Zoo) 4.02 12. Serial Killers Don't Kill Their Boyfriend 3.08 13. Happiness (More Angels) 6.39 14. Crushed (Obscene) 4.09 15. Melt (Again) 5.06 16. Speed Angels 2.52 _05:22:09:12 Off_ is the second album by Front 242 this year, following hot on the heels of the excellent _06:21:03:11 Up Evil_ which appeared in the spring. Despite some new elements appearing in the group's sound, that album was still easily recognisable as a Front 242 album. The same is not necessarily true for this new one though - while several tracks have that familiar F242 sound, the rest show the group experimenting a lot more than in their recent releases and many tracks have only a little in common with _06:21:03:11 Up Evil_ and almost nothing in common with their earlier works. I suspect that many fans of the group may find that this new disc takes some getting used to since it's *so* different from anything they have done before. The disc kicks off with three versions of "Animal" - well, that's what the insert claims anyway. The second and third tracks are definitely what they claim to be, but "Animal (Cage)" is an ambient piece of low-pitched chords, electronic effects, the occasional split-second snippet of melody, distant screams and a wide variety of difficult to identify noises. It's all quite hypnotic and gets the album off to a good start although it bears no resemblance whatsoever to any of the other mixes of the track. The next version ("Animal (Gate)") is, superficially at least, back on a more familiar track. The rhythm is more than a little reminiscent of "Headhunter" but the rest of the song is considerably different - it is somewhat minimalist, consisting of little more than the rhythm track and vocals, and the vocals themselves are something entirely new for Front 242 - they're heavily distorted (gated?) and sound distinctly female! There's also a soulful female backing vocal that appears from time to time. The third mix of "Animal" adds more meat to the bones of the rhythm track introduced in the previous mix. The sound is richer and denser, with the usual Jean-Luc De Meyer vocals, and other than being slightly more techno-oriented than most of the material on _Up Evil_ there's nothing here to frighten off fans of 242's earlier work. "Modern Angel" also appears in several versions on the CD, although these are spread out across the disc rather than clumped together. The techno influence is again strongly in evidence, along with aggressive yet androgynous screamed/distorted vocals and more of those soft female backing vocals. It's all rather appealing - especially the haunting melodic interludes - although the extended tinkly outro does go on a little too long. "Junkdrome" is the first of the three remixes from _06:21:03:11 Up Evil_ on the disc, and is a lengthy and drastic instrumental remix of "Crapage" that moves from an ambient intro that's almost three minutes long into something that sounds like Jean-Michel Jarre on steroids. "Serial Killers Don't Kill Their Girlfriend" is also worth a listen - an odd, bouncy beat combined with Jean-Luc singing interesting lyrics and a really melodic chorus that's pure Front 242. The second of the _06:21:03:11 Up Evil_ remixes is "Skin (Fur Coat)", which takes the original track and beefs it up into something more substantial with plenty of rich synthesizer sounds and a chunkier beat. True, it also has some slightly cliched bleepy sequences, but it still preserves the essence of the original track. "GenEcide" starts as a tinkly Orb-like piece, with pretty female vocals but the beat that eventually emerges and the addition of distorted, shrieking vocals mark it as something a little different. The contrast between the distorted screams and the untreated female vocals is interesting but the track on the whole has a distinctly un-Front 242 feel to it - it is impossible to make any comparisons to earlier releases since they've never done anything that sounded like this before. Compare this with "Crushed", where the first notes show clearly that we're back in safer territory. While the contemporary beat and the presence of yet more of those female vocals jars slightly, the synth sound is unmistakable. The distorted yet melodic vocals work very well indeed, making this track one of the more enjoyable ones on the album. "offEND" is presumably meant to be the tailpiece of the LP version of the album - a short ambient track that takes the album out in a similar manner to the way "Animal (Cage)" brought it in. However, both the CD and (to a lesser degree) cassette versions of the album offer additional tracks - another six in the case of the CD. The first of these is yet another version of "Animal" - this time it's the "Animal (Zoo)" mix that sounds even more like "Headhunter" than either of the earlier versions did. In many ways it is a mix of those versions, combining the more substantial sound of the "Animal (Guide)" mix with the vocals of "Animal (Gate)" and thickening the sound still further in the process. "Serial Killers Don't Kill Their Boyfriend" is a noisier (and considerably shorter) version of "Serial Killers Don't Kill Their Girlfriend" that is to all intents an instrumental - there are a few vocals here and there but they are so heavily distorted that they are almost completely unintelligible. "Happiness (More Angels)" is a somewhat repetitive remix of "Modern Angel" that strongly stresses the techno aspects while dispensing with the vocals. As such it's quite good but there are hundreds of artists putting out anonymous identikit techno like this and I personally think Front 242 (or what is left of Front 242 - Richard 23 seems to have gone, and Jean-Luc De Meyer isn't much in evidence on this album either) would be better off pursuing their own distinctive sound instead of just following the trend. "Crushed (Obscene)" gives that track a similar treatment and in the process throws out most of those lovely lush synths but the combination of the distorted yet haunting female vocals and the subtle rhythm track still works reasonably well and is reminiscent of a hard-edged Single Gun Theory. "Melt (Again)" is the third and final track from _06:21:03:11 Up Evil_ to be remixed here. The differences are minor - the track has been stripped down, the percussion has been pumped up and a bucketful of extra effects have been thrown into the mix for good measure. Oh, and doesn't that new intro sound just the teeniest bit reminiscent of an old Skinny Puppy track? "Smothered Hope" or "Far Too Frail", I can never remember which. The CD is rounded off by "Speed Angels", the third remix of "Modern Angel". This, as the name suggests, is *fast* and marries the atmospheric synths and some of the vocals of the original with a high BPM breakbeat techno rhythm track. Short but sweet. My general impressions of this album are mixed. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the most innovative album Front 242 have released in a long time - all their past albums have developed their sound steadily but _05:22:09:12 Off_ seems to leap in several different directions at once. I think it is the precise directions they've taken that concern me - while it's interesting to hear Front 242 trying their hand at commercial techno that's the one time when the album seems to lose any distinctive flavour. Their attempts at ambience work well, although the pictures they conjure up would only fit in with the trendily peaceful ambient techno imagery of tropical rain forests and dolphins etc if you were willing to throw Agent Orange and perhaps a couple of dolphin-unfriendly tuna fishing operations into the equation. The tracks that seem to work best are those where they've thrown all the ingredients - the usual Front 242 EBM sound, techno influences from hardcore to ambient, heavily distorted vocals - in together, mixed them around a bit and stuck them together. Like _06:21:03:11 Up Evil_ the album is nicely put together, with tracks flowing together via subtle bridges. However, unlike the previous album where the overall effect was of a seamless whole (with the possible exceptions of the add-on remixes on the CD and "Religion") this new album just doesn't seem to hold together as well. This might be due to the jarring contrast between some of the tracks, it might be because of the way that where _06:21:03:11 Up Evil_ flowed from beginning to end, _05:22:09:12 Off_ has loops in its flow with tracks seeming to pop up again and again. Either way the result is discontinuity and disorientation, although that might (given the schizoid nature of the album) be intentional. As with the previous album, the initial release of _05:22:09:12 Off_ in Europe at least comes in a special poster pack in the "Compac Plus" card/plastic box that has the dubious privilege of being about the only cardboard CD box I've seen that can give a jewel box a run for its money. Those who object to cardboard packing in general rather than just to Digi-paks should (in Europe at least) probably hold off a few weeks before buying this, as by that time the regularly jewel boxed version should be appearing. Speaking of who should buy this - fans of older Front 242 who found _06:21:03:11 Up Evil_ a little too adventurous or those who liked it for its moves towards the guitar-oriented end of the dance-industrial genre should probably steer clear. However, the ambient and techno influences that abound here mean this album might appeal to some people who didn't particularly warm to _06:21:03:11 Up Evil_. So I'll give it exactly the same rating I gave that album, since what this album lacks in memorable songs it more than makes up for in its variety and experimentation. Erland Rating: +3 -- Al Crawford - awrc@dcs.ed.ac.uk Department Of Computer Science, The University of Edinburgh Rm 1410, JCMB, Kings Buildings, Mayfield Rd, EDINBURGH, EH9 3JZ, Scotland Tel: +44 (0) 31 650 5165 Fax: +44 (0) 31 667 7209 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= File - $ S U B M I S S I O N G U I D E Ver 1.00 For submissions to this E-Zine I am looking for the following: > Cyberpunk Defenitions (for the list) > Opinions > Happenings (hacks, related CP information) > Reviews (Movies, Music, Litterature) > Just plain neato net stuff (little things) > Science-Fiction > If you can get an interview w/somebody neat > Tech info (cool CP kinda stuff) > Computer Underground Info: If I recieve any interesting hack/phreak/anarchy I will probably post it as is. If you want certain parts blanked out, I will. Annonymous posting is okay. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= THIS SPACE AT THE END OF THE E-ZINE IS RESERVED FOR A CP SCIENCE FICTION STORY. IF YOU CAN WRITE ONE OR HAVE ONE WRITTEN THAT I COULD POST HERE IN PARTS THEN PLEASE CONTACT ME RIGHT AWAY OKAY???? GOOD. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Next week/month's issue will have a large article on cyberpunk ethics and opinions. What slogans/attitudes can you think of? I am awaiting any submissions you might have. Please send anything interesting. END LINE_NOIZ.1 So that's it. Sorry about the spelling. Expect issue 2 to be out soon (yeah, um, soon) Please sendsubmissions. Thanks. L8r. -- Billy Biggs Ottawa, Canada "If you don't want anyone to know, ae687@Freenet.carleton.ca don't do it." -- Billy Biggs Ottawa, Canada "When all else fails, ae687@Freenet.carleton.ca read the instructions"