Anthony Augustine

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

Skrillex - Winnipeg Free Press

Symptom Technologies - 15 Years of Party Rocking - Uptown Magazine

Original flyer from Symtom Technologies’ first party. From the archives of Art Podsiadlo.

If you are looking for an example of how Winnipeg’s electronic music scene has grown, changed and adapted over the years, look no further than Symptom Technologies. 
    
Founded in 1996 by siblings Heather and Cory Ash (joined later that year by Nathan Zahn), Symptom’s first party was held in the infamous Nutty Club warehouse space and would be the start of a 15-year run promoting electronic music events in the 204 — as well as out west in Banff during two years in the late ’90s. 
    
Today, Symptom Technologies is Winnipeg’s longest-running crew promoting electronic music; along with Zahn, Mich Pambrun, Craig Sisk, Mike Jasper, Derrol Bear and about a dozen long-time resident DJs round out the current collective. It has managed to survive in an industry that chews up and spits out promoters with alarming regularity.
    
“We never threw parties thinking that it was a business that would make us any money and, true to that attitude, we often lost money putting on events,” Zahn says over email. “That being said, we always wanted to create a space where we could flex our creative muscles in terms of the mood, setting, décor and overall vibe of the event.
    
“The other obvious driving force for us was that we really cared about this incredible music we were spinning and we wanted to share our take on techno — a sound that we felt deserved to be heard and that we knew that people would love if we provided it to them. We have never strived to play the most popular or trendy music and, as a result, we didn’t always have the biggest crowds in Winnipeg, but we always had the most dedicated attendees who appreciated our artistic outlook and sophisticated taste in music.”
    
From dark and dirty warehouses that helped establish Winnipeg’s burgeoning underground electronic scene to large-scale productions such as the Moons of Saturn in 2000 to more club-oriented events over the past few years, Symptom has been a key part of Winnipeg’s electronic music culture. Its involvement in creating the Manitoba Electronic Music Exhibition with a few like-minded local DJs, producers, labels and artists may be one of the most important achievements of the artistically driven collective.
    
While the collective’s members have taken some body blows over the years  — and what promoter hasn’t? — they’ve never compromised their values. Money and profit is still not the driving force behind what they do. They may not throw as many parties as they used to, but their emphasis on quality, not quantity, has likely been a key factor in Symptom’s longevity. 
    
“We had many occasions where our shows happened less frequently as other parts of our lives took over, but there was never any idea of quitting,” Zahn says. “The passion for good music has really been a powerful force for us, especially now that we have teamed up with some talented people to put on the MEME festival.”
    
MEME may be one of Symptom Tech’s primary focuses now, but don’t expect the collective to burn out and fade away any time soon. Its members still intend to move the Symptom agenda forward.
    
“I turned 33 this year and I am inspired to see performers, both locally and around the world, who are producing and touring into their 40s and 50s,” Zahn says. “I don’t see why we won’t still be doing some kind of events and music-related productions for another 15-plus years.”

Top 5 Symptom Technologies parties over the years

1. The Nutty Club Series (1996)
2. Death Becomes Me @ Pantages Theatre with Matthew Dear (2002)
3. Ryan Elliot @ The Pyramid (2007)
4. Tiga @ The Pyramid (2002)
5. Maetrik @ The Academy (2007)

Honourable mentions: Rings of Saturn, Moons of Saturn, 20,000 Watts Under the Sea, Tommy Sunshine & Joey Youngman

SYMPTOM NYE
Dec. 31, The Cheer
Feat. Joe Silva, Nathan Zahn, Jereme Oliver, Sisk

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.

November 26th - Free Press

November 24th - Free Press

Suitts.me

SUITTS.ME is a recently launched a social shopping site that lets you collect crowdsourced opinions from other users about clothing you are thinking about buying online. It allows you to gather opinions about items you’re browsing for to see if what you are about to buy suits you. An interesting concept that is already gathering steam online, this could quickly take off in popularity.

YouTube trends

YOUTUBE is still the number No. 1 spot for video content on the web and is ground zero for many memes and viral content. The video-sharing giant has launched a new feature that not only aggregates the site’s video stats, but draws upon “the wisdom of top curators across the web” to give users a real-time look at the trends on the popular video sharing site.

 Five best online file storage services

EVEN a few years ago, if you wanted to work on a document on different computers in different places or access some of your files remotely, it was a bit of a hassle. That’s all changing with online storage services popping up all over the web, giving users free space to keep their documents, files, music and photos online.

Not sure where you should back up and store your important info or where you should keep your documents so you can access them on the go? Lifehacker takes a look at five major storage services, from big players like Dropbox and Box.net to competitors like SugarSync, SpiderOak and Windows Live SkyDrive.

Bookflavor

A NEW social discovery tool for books, Bookflavor compiles crowdsourced reviews from across the Internet to help you decide what you want to read next. While this isn’t the first book-discovery tool on the web, its straightforward premise and ease of use will make it a destination for avid book nerds.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 24, 2011 E7

November 24th - Uptown

Red Bull Thre3style: Canadian Finals
 After a fierce battle against 10 of Canada’s best party rockers, Eh! Team DJs’ member Hedspin was crowned the Canadian Red Bull Thre3style champ, edging out defending 2010 winner Drastik and Toronto’s own Mensa, who came in third. DJ Hipnotic represented the 204 but wasn’t able to break into the Top 3. You can judge how the DJs did for yourself — all of the 15-minute long mixes are available on-demand via Mixcloud.com. Hedspin will be on home turf and surrounded by supporters when he battles 18 of the best turntablists from around the globe at the World Red Bull Thre3style Finals at the Commodore in Vancouver on Dec. 17.

Drinkify
Who knew that Fugazi went best with Dark Havana rum and grapefruit juice? Drinkify is a new site that tells you what you should be drinking based on what you’re listening to. Not only does the site offer up suggestions on what to tip back, it streams music from the artist it matches. 

5 Dollar Auction Deals
Trying to keep your Christmas spending on budget after dropping all your cash on Jets season tickets? Unsure about what to buy for that stupid Secret Santa exchange at work? 5 Dollar Auction Deals pulls deals from eBay that are five bucks and under.

MP3 of the Week: LOL Boys – Lookout Presents Mix
 LOL Boys will make their first appearance in the city on Nov. 26 when they bring their genre-jumping blend of modern electronic beats to Osborne Village’s latest hot spot, The Greenroom. Check out the DJ duo’s mix for Lookoutpresents.com for a taste of the acid-dipped, bass-heavy sound you can expect from the Boys at the launch of Strange Brood’s new night, †∑MPL∆†∑. Footwerk, Rawdman (The Hosers) and Dirty Teez are also on the bill. Pictures by Pull Teeth. Cover: $5 before 11 p.m., $10 after.

Video of the Week: Art Department – I C U

While red-hot Toronto tech-house duo Art Department might seem like it’s enjoying overnight success, its members have been paying their dues way before they got together to form the group. Kenny Glasgow is one of the city’s well-known techno veterans and Johnny White has been doing his own thing for the past decade. Taken from Art Department’s critically acclaimed debut album, The Drawing Board, I C U is the group’s second video and is directed by Annikki Heinemann.

November 17th - Free Press

Worldwide Feast: 55 Great Global Food Blogs

YOU know food blogging is hot when The Simpsons skewers foodies and their love of blogging on a new episode. Food culture on the web is global, with local, regional and national delicacies, interestingingredients, trends, restaurant, chefs and techniques being highlighted on an increasing number of must-read food blogs.

Saveur tracks and writes about food trends and has come up with a list of 55 great global food blogs. From India’s The Cook’s Cottage to Canada’s Brûlée Blog to Market Manila from the Philippines, there are plenty of places to start if you want to spice up your love of food.

The Sports Video Games of the Year

WE’RE only into the third week of November and already the first “Best of the Year” lists are starting to trickle out. Deadspin is looking back at the year in sports video games, giving out awards in seven categories.

Sports games are an interesting market — players demand innovation year-to-year, while at the same time wanting familiarity. Things have come a long way in the last few years, but there were no big, game-changing advancements in 2011. With FIFA 12 taking home the honours for Best Multiplayer,Tiger Woods 12 getting the nod for the Best Individual Sports Game and NBA Jam winning the Best Downloadable Game category, it’s been a decent year for sports gamers.

Even though NHL 12 didn’t make the cut, Jets fans are just excited they get to control Dustin Byfuglien when he gets caught out of position trying to rush the puck or when Chris Mason lets in a soft one.

Ashton Kutcher’s Making a Big Twitter Mistake

You may or may not have heard (or care) that Aston Kutcher (@aplusk) has decided to hand over the management of his Twitter account to Katalyst Group, a company he co-founded, after a tweet from last week put the social-networking enthusiast in hot water. Not knowing the full story about why Penn State’s Joe Paterno was fired, Kutcher took to Twitter to defend the Nittany Lion’s longtime coach. Kutcher’s knee-jerk reaction did not go over well with his followers, who obviously knew more about the alleged child sexual-abuse scandal at the school — which involved a retired assistant coach who worked with Paterno — than the new Two and a Half Men star.

While Kutcher’s post was obviously boneheaded, uninformed and a reactionary mistake played out in front of millions, it shouldn’t be a reason to ditch his account and sanitize his posts through a third-party editor. The beauty of Twitter is that it removes a level of separation between celebrities, athletes, musicians, writers, artists and their fans. Kutcher has been successful at building a following of eight million people because his posts are real, not penned by some media handler. That level of honesty and insight doesn’t happen very often in the hyper-controlled world of Hollywood.

If you want a tightly controlled message that’s been put together by a publicist, you can visit a star’s Facebook page or personal home page. Like him or not as an actor or a person, at least Kutcher was himself on Twitter.It would be a terrible trend if other active Twitter users with large numbers of followers started to change they way they used the social network.

November 17th - Uptown Magazine

Occupy Tebow
One of the fastest-growing memes of the year has been the Occupy Tebow phenomenon that has taken over the ESPN comments section of a now-famous article on Denver Broncos’ struggling QB and former college star, Tim Tebow. While ESPN originally tried to delete negative comments about the QB, it couldn’t keep up with the onslaught of posts and instead of just turning off the comments, it let the page get taken over. OccupyTebow.com is a collection of some of the best phrases that have popped up since the meme started.

Canadian Street Style
 A new street style blog seems to pop up every day, but finally there’s one that focuses on what hip Canadians are wearing. Shot in Winnipeg, Montreal and Vancouver, Canadian Street Style proves you don’t have to live in New York, London, Paris or Milan to be fashion-forward.

MP3 of the Week: ASAP Rocky – LIVELOVEA$AP
The three million man’s new mixtape dropped on the Interweb last week, slowing servers to a near halt as eager fans, hipsters and curious music lovers gobbled up one of the most anticipated hip hop releases of the last few years. ASAP Rocky may be the new kid on the block, but his slow-burning, purple juice-sippin’ style is already making people take notice.

Video of the Week: Thomas Fehlmann – Live at The Cube (MEME 2011)
Looking back at Thomas Fehlmann’s performance on the second night of the Manitoba Electronic Music Exhibition, it felt like Winnipeg’s electronic scene had come full circle. From under-the-radar illegal warehouse events in the Exchange District, to a free, three-day event in Old Market Square that saw thousands of Winnipeggers of all ages dancing together, it was impossible to not feel the significance of the weekend. Along with a who’s who of local, Canadian and international talent, the fact that MEME organizers managed to book a rare solo performance by a member of one of the most influential electronic groups of the 1990s, The Orb, made the weekend even more special. Here is an extended clip of Fehlmann’s trippy brand of dub-influenced melodic techno, recorded near the end of his hour-and-a-half-long set.