Anthony Augustine

January 26th - Uptown Magazine

Did the Wizards Win Last Night?
 While Winnipeggers lament about the fact that the Jets are a horrible road team that can’t win back-to-back games if their lives depended on it, it could be way worse. You could be a fan of the Washington Wizards. Formerly known as the Washington Bullets (before the name was changed because it was deemed too violent), the team has been stinking up this shortened NBA season — and there’s even a dedicated website to help you know how it did the night before. The Wizards may have won a few games now, but they are still a struggling team and the grind of the shortened season is going to start showing up again. Don’t go crazy and bet your mortgage payment with your bookie thinking they aren’t as bad as their record seems.

Fundweaver
Fundweaver is a new online project that hopes to become the Kickstarter.com for Aboriginal business ideas. Launched last week, no projects have been submitted yet, but it’s only a matter of time before this interesting approach to raising some cash takes off. With Canada’s growing segment of Aboriginal entrepreneurs, Fundweaver could play an important role in helping bring some of their ideas to fruition.

Internet 2011 in Numbers
 If you are a number nerd, tech lover or just want to drop some interesting facts at your next dinner party, this look at the web is both fascinating and revealing. While some tidbits aren’t that surprising — people love YouTube, most of the email floating around the web is spam, China has the most Internet users — other data gathered might shed some light on just how rapid the growth of the Interwebs has been over the past few years. You can look at information dating back to 2008.

MP3 of the Week: The Lytics – I’m Here
With a new album due out this spring, a track in the upcoming flick, Chronicle, out Feb. 3, and a gig at The Atomic Centre (167 Logan Ave) with Rebel Yell as part of the inaugural Big Fun Festival on Jan. 28, this local hip hop act is definitely on the move again. While it has taken The Lytics some time to build on their early momentum, it looks like their patience is paying off. 

Video of the Week: oldseed – Witness
 Former Winnipegger oldseed (Craig Bjerring) performs his song, Witness, at The Folk Exchange back in November. Known for his time in acts such as The Vagiants, The Hummers, A Band Called Horse and even improv group Crumbs, Bjerring now lives in Germany and tours Europe extensively on the strength of his live show and a few 10-inch records he has put out.

January 26th - Winnipeg Free Press

Five Great Alternatives to MegaUpload

THE swift and massive multi-country raid and shutdown of file sharing giant MegaUpload caught a lot of people off guard last week. Everybody knows that digital lockers like MegaUpload were used to get around piracy laws and contained content with questionable copyright. But on the other hand, it was a very effective tool to store, share and send large files whenever you needed to. Caught up in this takedown were people who were using the service for what it was intended for. Hopefully most people were not storing a lot of valuable files and information on the site, because as part of the FBI lead raid, all the servers are currently offline and no one has access to their accounts. If you still need a way to store, share and access your files online, Lifehacker takes a look at five alternatives to MegaUpload. From old-school solutions like YouSendIt to more obvious choices like RapidShare and MediaFire. It will interesting to see the game of cat and mouse between website operators and the government after this Pandora’s box has been opened

Shorty Awards 2012

IT’S awards-season time and the web is no different. The annual Shorty Awards “honour the best of social media, recognizing the people and organizations producing real-time short-form content across Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, YouTube, Foursquare, and the rest of the social Web.” With dozen of categories to register that cover everything from entertainment to sports to activism to special awards like Foursquare Location of the Year to industry awards such as Best Branded YouTube channel, there will be at least a few categories you should be interested in. You still have time to register your vote. If you don’t spend a lot of time surfing the social web, The Shortys are a good way to discover new spots and content worth checking out.

iPad Board Games

IF you are a new to the tablet world and recently got an iPad, this site can help you navigate through the seemingly endless supply of board games that have been reformatted or created specially for Apple’s ubiquitous device. From classic crossword puzzles to slick new games that make the most out of your new device, iPad Board Games is a great resource to check before you start blowing your cash in the iTunes app store.

Sundance Film Festival Streaming Online

WHILE local filmmakers Lisanne Pajot and James Swirsky are making the most of their first time at Sundance with their project, Indie Game: The Movie, picking up an option from HBO, that includes Scott Rudin — the producer behind The Social Network, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and Moneyball, among other films — signed on to the project. While you won’t be able to stream the movie online, it will premiere in Winnipeg on Feb. 3. In the meantime, nine short films that are part of Sundance this year can streamed on-demand. Covering a wide range of topics from documentaries like Aquedettes, which is described as “a meditation on life, death and synchronized swimming,” to the The Arm, which follows a guy involved in a texting relationship and finally Henley, which centres around a nine-year-old “budding motel manager and roadkill entrepreneur.”

CKUW’s Annual Fundrive: Feb 10th - Feb 17th

phaseone:

CKUW is gearing up for our annual Fundrive which kicks off Feb 10th at noon.

Our volunteers are busy preparing special programs, arranging live performances, special donor incentives and more! Our goal this year is $53,000 in pledges and we’ll need your help to get there.

Phase One Radio’s Fundrive show is February 16th from 10pm to midnight. 

Support community radio. Phase One: Your source for house and techno for the past 12 years.

| Make A Pledge |

January 19th - Winnipeg Free Press

Payoff.com

Getting a handle on personal finances might have been one of your resolutions at the start of new year. Whether you are trying to save for a specific purpose, get your spending in check, put some money away for retirement or just trying to find out where all your money goes, Payoff.com may be just the type of online financial resource you are looking for. There are numerous financial management tools (if you don’t end up liking the novelty of Payoff.com, try Mint.com), but Payoff is unique in that it mixes serious money management tools with “fun and dynamic” elements that you would find in games to help you reach your goals. Gamification is a new buzzword and you are seeing elements of it pop up everything from personal fitness tools to weight-loss programs to websites looking to attract more users. Payoff.com’s CEO and founder Scott Saunders explains his two year old start-up as a tool that “enhances people’s intrinsic motivation to achieve financial goals through rewards and by illustrating the connection between short-term financial behaviours and long-term goals. We want to help more people sleep better with funded savings and lighter debt loads.” If you are looking for a unique way to keep more money in your pocket, Payoff.com might be right for you.

Shut Up and Play the Hits

Back in April, James Murphy and his art-project-turned-band, LCD Soundsystem, wrapped up their 10-year run with a sweaty, nearly four-hour-long dance party at Madison Square Garden. Considering the tickets sold out almost instantly (mainly due to the fact that scalpers and brokers wrangled most of the available tickets) and the whole confetti-filled concert was streaming live to the web, the fact that the whole project ends with a documentary film isn’t that surprising. For fans of the proto-dance-punk act, it’s a fitting final chapter and for Murphy, it is the perfect way to end the band. Although Shut Up and Play the Hits is supposed to be the end note for LCD, with the type of money being thrown around for reunions, they’ll probably be back together to play Coachella in 2021. The film is narrated by Grantland’s Chuck Klosterman.

January 19th - Uptown Magazine

Crashed Ice
If you’re crazy enough to think you can compete at Red Bull’s annual Crashed Ice event — a combination of ice hockey, downhill skating and boardercross — in Quebec City on March 17, there will be a local qualifier on Feb. 4 at Canlan Ice Sports at 1871 Ellice Ave. Note that, there are 200 potential slots for men and 20 for women, and that you need to register online by Jan. 26. Spots will be randomly drawn to determine who gets on the ice for the local qualifier and gets a shot at competing at the main event. If you are one of the lucky ones selected in Winnipeg, you will battle it out in time trials to see who makes the final cut and gets to represent Manitoba in La Belle Province.

ANIMALS TALKING IN ALL CAPS
There isn’t much to say about this Interweb gem except that it’s exactly what it sounds like and your productivity level will equal zero once you start reading it. Brilliant!

MP3 of the Week: At the Drive-In – Alpha Centauri 
When influential post-hardcore outfit At the Drive-In called it quits 11 years ago, Mars Volta and Sparta rose from its ashes. Mars Volta was OK if you were into prog rock, and Sparta had its moments but lacked the knock-out punch ATDI had. It’s no surprise (giving the amount of money being throw around for reunions) that At the Drive-In is getting back together. The band will play Coachella this spring, but no word yet on any other tour dates.

Video of the Week: DJ Brace - Synesthasia

Nobody has ever called former Winnipegger DJ Brace (Mike Topf) an underachiever. Along with winning the Canadian DMC Championships in 2004, he took home a Juno for his debut album in 2009. Last year, his second album, Synesthasia, received a Felix nomination (Quebec’s music awards) for Electronic Album of the Year. While he didn’t win (something he isn’t used to doing), he’s kicking off 2012 with an innovative new video from the album. Pushing turntablism forward, Brace’s nimble cuts are the the anchor to his melancholic soundscapes and carefully chopped beats. The slick clip was shot, edited and directed by local jack-of-all-trades Bill Acheson and also features art from Graham Landin, along with Topf’s 26 collaborators, Shaun Morin and Fred Thomas.

January 12th - Winnipeg Free Press

January 12th - Uptown Magazine

Things Stephen Harper Does to Seem Human
 A clever play on the Kim Jong-il Looking at Things Tumblr, Things Stephen Harper Does to Seem Human is a brilliant photo blog that captures the awkward moments of Prime Minister Stephen Harper as he tries to seem like a regular Canadian as opposed to a bland political cyborg that lacks any form of real human emotion and struggles to make even the most basic connections with people.

Winnipeg is Beautiful
Winnipeg is Beautiful is a crowdsourced photo blog organized by the United Way that aims to show the world just what an amazing city we live in. We may be the geographic centre of North America, but we are usually forgotten about and that needs to change. Sure, the Jets are back, we are getting a new stadium, the Human Rights Museum is emerging at the Forks and IKEA is finally going to open, but those aren’t the real reasons why people live here. Submit your photos of the places that make your Winnipeg beautiful, or browse through the other shots that have already been uploaded, from sunrises in St. Boniface to buildings in the Exchange.

Interesting Things Explained in Soothing Voices
 Interesting Things Explained in Soothing Voices is the perfect site to escape to during stressful times. Need a break from your daily grind? Fire up your laptop or smart phone and watch a bunch of videos on subjects you may not care about, but are interesting enough to keep you entertained. You may even learn a few things you can use the next time the conversation hits a lull around the water cooler.

Video of the Week: Flying Down Thunder and Rise Ashen – Kijigog Nimiwan / Galactic Dancehall 
 Balanced Records’ Rise Ashen and Flying Down Thunder have released the first video from their collaborative album that blends a modern electronic palette of sounds with the traditional Anishinabe chants.  

MP3 of the Week: Clams Casino – Instrumental Collection
 If you’re looking for the most buzzed-about beats of the past year, Clams Casino is your man. The rookie producer’s moody, bare-bones beats and eclectic soundscapes have been sought after from every rapper from Soulja Boy to Lil B to ASAP Rocky. Even ambient icon Brian Eno has been heaping praise on the young producer, telling the BBC in a recent interview he was impressed with CC’s synth work and vocal cutups.

Winnipeg Free Press Best Albums of 2011

1. Art Department, The Drawing Board

This Toronto duo seem like they came out of nowhere, but Jonny White and Kenny Glasgow had been quietly paying their dues on their own until they got together in the studio, released a couple of monster singles and a stunning debut album that made everyone else take notice. Their dark, stripped-down, vocal heavy tech-house vibe is just what electronic music needed.

2. ASAP Rocky, LIVELOVEA$AP

2011 seemed to be the year of the mix tape and nobody made bigger waves than Harlem MC ASAP Rocky. The mayor of Swaggerville dished out a taste of his New York state of mind with stoner slow rhythms, hazy melodies and boastful proclamations getting served up with effortless ease on the near perfect debut.

3. Explosions in the Sky, Take Care, Take Care, Take Care

More than just the band that provided music for Friday Night Lights, this Texas instrumental act is the best at what they do. Take Care, Take Care, Take Care takes you on an emotional roller coaster that gets more rewarding every time you hear it.

4. F—ked Up, David Comes to Life

5. M83, Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming

6. J Mascis, Several Shades of Why

7. Cannon Bros, Firecracker/Cloudglow

8. The Weeknd, House of Balloons

9. Police Teeth, Awesomer Than the Devil

10. Diamond Rings, Special Afflictions

2011’s Top 10 (Uptown Magazine)

Anthony Augustine, Uptown
Top 10 albums, in order
1. Art Dept – The Drawing Board 
2. ASAP Rocky – LIVELOVEA$AP 
3. Explosions in the Sky – Take Care, Take Care, Take Care 
4. Fucked Up – David Comes to Life 
5. M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming 
6. J Mascis – Several Shades of Why 
7. Cannon Bros. – Firecracker/Cloudglow
8. TIE: The Weeknd – House of Balloons & Thursday  
9. Police Teeth – Awesomer Than the Devil 
10. Various Artists – The Starter Era, mixed by Skratch Bastid 

Year in Review: December 29th - Uptown Magazine

Site of the Year: Dear Photograph 

dearphotograph.com — Dear Photograph pulls at the heart strings in just the right way. 
    
Runners up: Grantland.com, Longform.org 

Best Tumblr: Feminist Ryan Gosling

Feministryangosling.tumblr.com — With a cool Tumblr being created every few minutes it seems, this was a tough category to nail down, but Feminist Ryan Gosling was a big viral sensation in 2011.
    
Runner up: Awesome People Hanging Out Together

Best Meme: Tebowing 

tebowing.com — Tim Tebow has been the talk of the sports world lately, not just for his performance on the field for the Denver Broncos, but for always referencing God and openly praying in a way that has become known as Tebowing. Forget planking — it’s all about the big T. This crowdsourced site has examples of people Tebowing in some great locations, including all seven wonders of the world.
    
Runners up: Pepper Spraying Cop, Kim Jong-Il Dropping the Bass

Best Music Site: Soundcloud.com
    
Soundcloud has been described as a YouTube for music and, in many ways, that’s accurate. It has a very active community of users and, although it started out as a way for DJs and people in the industry to share music, it has become so much more. With streaming, embedding and downloading capabilities — and an effective mobile app that also allows listeners to record using their phone and instantly upload to the site — Soundcloud is on track to become one of the major players in the online music world.
    
Runner up: Last.fm 

Best Sports Site: Grantland.com
    
Backed by ESPN’s cash and stocked with  a crew of hip writers hand-picked by Bill Simmons, Grantland’s in-depth style may may not appeal to everyone, but it’s the No. 1 destination for discerning sports fans and pop culture junkies. The Fake Grantland Twitter feed is pretty awesome, too.
   
Runners up: Sportsfeat.org & Fiftymissioncap.ca

Most Useful Site: Lifehacker.com
    
If you’re a curious keener, do-it-yourself-er or someone like me who is constantly reading about how to get things done but never actually doing them, Lifehacker will be your new favourite site. From tech tips and DIY projects to personal improvement and a range of endlessly helpful lists, Lifehacker is a daily destination for all the right reasons.
    
Runner up: Howcast.com

Best Photo App: Instagram
    
You could say that camera apps such as Instagram are ruining photography (and that may be true), but you can’t deny the ubiquity of the photo-sharing community in 2011. 

Best Mobile Application: Flipboard
    
Cancel your magazine subscriptions and fire up Flipboard for your iOS device. This may be the first app that makes you think twice about spending all that cash every month on glossies — especially since you spend all your time reading stuff on your tablet or phone anyway.
    
Runner up: Instapaper

Most Improved Site: Netflix.ca
    
For $8 a month, it’s hard to complain about Netflix, but its selection definitely got better in 2011. New content providers and a wider selection means more customers — which will hopefully continue to translate into more even more partners coming on board the Canadian version. If you don’t think Netflix and streaming content is a big deal, try telling that to anyone with Blockbuster stock right now.

Biggest Tech Blunders: BlackBerry & Sony 
    
Between the mega flop that the BlackBerry Playbook has become, uninspiring phones and poorly timed network outages, Canada’s Research in Motion (RIM) had a tough year, followed closely by Sony. After a breach forced the company to shut down the Playstation network for an extended period, customers who use the PS3 as a way to purchase digital content were left wondering how long the service would be down and how safe their information was. Gamers were stuck in isolation or were firing up their Xbox to play online.
   
Runner-up: Netflix and its aborted Qwikster plan

Best Twitter Feed That Should Be a Reality Show: Paulina Gretzky

www.twitter.rs/PaulinaGretzky — Forget Shit My Dad Says, how has some TV producer not given Paulina Gretzky a reality show yet? Can you imagine how huge that would be? We already know she could provide some of the songs for the soundtrack. I suspect the Great One probably won’t allow it, but if I was a producer with CBC or MTV Canada, this would be my No. 1 priority in 2012.

Best Site Canadians Can’t Access: Turntable.fm
    
Social listening on sites such as Turntable.fm was a big trend in 2011, but you wouldn’t know it if you lived in Canada. Users north of the border are locked out of the collaborative, crowd-driven, Turntable.fm and have to use workarounds and pay-as-you-go-credit-cards to have access to some online streaming services such as Spotify.
    
Runner up: Spotify.com

Underachiever of the Year: Google+
    
With Facebook in a transition period and the fact that Google+ has some cool features, it’s too bad more users haven’t migrated to the latest social network in any serious way. Sure, people have signed up — but until a good chunk of their friends start to post and interact through the site, it’s going to remain a wasteland for tech geeks and early adopters. It’s currently the world’s biggest sausage party, but there is still hope it will turn around.

December 29th - Free Press

The 10 Best TED Talks of 2011

IF you think the web is a big waste of time and all the videos on YouTube are of cats doing weird things, kids doing things they shouldn’t and video blogs about stuff you don’t care about, you may want to watch some of the Technology Entertainment and Design (TED) talks from this list. Touching on a wide range of topics, TED talks are usually fun, inspiring and informative. Add the TED app to your smart phone or stream the videos on demand to your computer and check out offerings from Try Something New for 30 Days to Three Things I Learned While My Plane Crashed.

TEDx Manitoba is set for Feb. 9. You can watch all the talks from last year’s inaugural event online.

Arcade Fire — Sprawl II

LAST year, Montreal’s Arcade Fire dazzled web viewers with their Google Street View-powered video for the single We Used to Wait that pulled on your childhood heartstrings. For their sequel, they’ve produced an interactive piece for the track Sprawl II that uses your web cam to control elements of the video. Another interesting way to get people to take notice of the band and feel connected to the music.

Filmography 2011

THE video wizard behind the Filmography project, a mega-mash-up of movies from the past year, is back with his new instalment. Packing 230 clips from 2011 into a glorious mélange from the past 12 months, Hollywood gets carefully stitched together in ways you probably never thought possible. Essential viewing for any movie lover.

No mega spoilers, so don’t avoid watching it just because you are worried major plot points might be revealed.

Top 5 Online Music Trends for 2011

WHILE the music industry is scrambling to keep up with the different ways people are consuming music and changing the way they interact with digital media, there were a number of important trends this past year. Cloud storage became a hot topic, with major players like Google, Amazon and Apple all offering up their own solutions. Social discovery and increased social integration of music into Facebook and other social networks is also impacting how we listening to music and find out about new bands.

The way some music tools recommended music to users also improved in 2011. While music algorithms are nothing new, better integration and improved matching seem to make all the difference. Although Canadians are shut out from group listening services like Turntable.fm, you’ll see more services pop up that have these type of features. The past 12 months also saw a trend toward more effective mobile music creation with apps such as Garage Band, iMaschine and some of Korg’s virtual digital workstations all breaking new ground on touch devices and mobile phones at rock-bottom prices.

December 24th - Free Press

December 22/11 - Uptown Magazine

Resident Advisor Poll: Top DJs of 2011
If DJ Mag’s annual list is a global barometer of the growing popularization and commercialization of electronic dance music, then Resident Advisor’s readers’ poll is a gauge of underground dance music culture. While some may argue that RA’s list is too heavily weighted toward house and techno DJs, it is the most respected annual poll in electronic music. From newcomers such as Minneapolis’ DVS1, who has taken the world by storm with his stripped-down techno and seemingly endless tour schedule, to hybrid bass house lover Justin Martin, who tore up the Pyramid when he played here, to Toronto’s Art Department, which released its critically acclaimed breakthrough album this year, to deep house aficionado Jamie Jones, who played over 142 gigs and seemed to be everywhere you turned over the past year, the best and brightest are represented. 

This is My Jam
This is My Jam hopes to be the new go-to spot to find out what tracks are hot on the web and make it easy to let your friends know about new music you are into. Although still in private beta, it only took a couple of days to get my invite after signing up. Right now it works for Canadian users, but who knows how long that will last.

The Classical
 While ESPN backed Bill Simmons’ recently launched sports site, Grantland, The Classical took a different approach. Using crowd-funding from Kickstarter, The Classical was partially bankrolled by readers who were interested in the site’s concept. While the web design leaves a lot to be desired, the wide-ranging sports coverage helps you forget the fact that the site looks like it was thrown together after an all-nighter fueled by Red Bull and looming launch deadlines.

MP3 of the Week: Office of Future Plans – Harden Your Heart
 Former Government Issue/Jawbox/Burning Airlines member J. Robbins is back with a new group called Office of Future Plans. Despite its reunion for Jimmy Fallon, it doesn’t look like Jawbox is going to hit the road anytime soon. Out this month on Dischord  Records, Office of Future Plans’ debut will have to do.

Video of the Week: Porter Robinson – Tiësto College Invasion Tour 2011 Mini-Documentary
 If Contakt showed the ubercoolische of Richie Hawtin and the Minus crew, and Take One was all about the explosion of the Swedish House Mafia, then the new mini-documentary on electro whiz kid Porter Robinson is firmly rooted in the rejuvenation of electronic dance music (EDM) in the United States. He may not have reached superstar status but, with endorsements from Skrillex and a bunch of tours with Tiësto, Robinson is on the forefront of the new hybrid electro, dubstep, trance and big-festival house sound that is sweeping across North America right now. From bedroom producer to rising EDM star, few artists had the type of breakthrough year Porter had in 2011.