If you're looking for some affordable artwork options without resorting to AI, may I suggest the work of Perplexing Ruins? He's an illustrator that works mostly in fantasy and sci fi who runs a super cheap Patreon that offers illustrations. He mostly intends them for #TTRPG use but I've confirmed with him that using them as album art is totally cool!

His Patreon is here:

patreon.com/c/perplexingruins/…

And you can see more examples of his work at Bluesky

bsky.app/profile/perplexingrui…

#AlbumArt #Musodon

Discover some new music this fine Saturday afternoon/evening!

etherdiver.com/2025/04/11/opm-…

This batch of Other People's Music selections includes a couple of hip-hop adjacent/influenced releases that mix in some unusual influences to end up ion weird places! Plus some folky pop, alt synthwave, guitar instrumentals & more!

@electronicmusic
@folkmusic
@experimentalmusic

#MusicDiscovery #OtherPeoplesMusic #Musodon

Okay, I'm still #mixing but it's time to look toward #mastering, which I'll be at soon enough.

So, those of you that do your own mastering (or do it professionally, if you don't mind sharing your secrets):

1) What does your mastering chain look like? Ideally, in generic terms (eg saturation -> EQ -> compressor -> limiter rather than Fab Filter Pro 9 -> UAudio LA1176 -> Izotope MasterBlaster 9k) because I'm using stock Ableton plugins for the most part apart from the limiter

AND...

in reply to Ether Diver

Hi, I’ve mostly been recording solo piano. I’ve yet to discover a compressor that doesn’t smear the sound a little. So I use the tiniest touch of equalization and then a limiter on the master bus. The most transparent plugins I have for these are the UA Precision Limiter and EQ. There’s a bit of harshness I haven’t been able to tame, so I’m not there yet. Special case I guess. Hope this helps. Oh and Seventh Heaven on a send for reverb.

In a resounding victory for law and order, a federal judge has upheld a Trump immigration policy allowing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to carry out enforcement operations at churches and other places of worship—dealing a sharp blow to progressive religious groups who sought to shield illegal immigrants from the consequences of breaking U.S. law.

thegatewaypundit.com/2025/04/f…

(The Center Square) -
Small businesses owners applying for federal loans will now face extra identification requirements following changes by the Trump administration.

justthenews.com/nation/states/…

At this point, if you're posting AI images, I'm going to assume you've seen the discourse and you just don't care. I'm not going to warn you or try to correct you, I'm just going to unfollow.

I mean, I'll use context clues and I might give someone a break if it was an accident, or they felt they had a legitimate reason to post the Bad Stuff this one time...

But if you post it in a favorable light, or use it to make your album covers or whatever, I'm out.

This entry was edited (1 month ago)
in reply to Ether Diver

My partner's youngest WILL NOT listen to the latest (and excellent) Tears For Fears album because the cover art was A.I. and they will not abide. I wish I could tell them what they're missing, but I can't fault their boycott, even as an OG TFF fan. Personally, I'm disappointed in TFF's artistic decision and... isn't one of the duo a pro photographer anyway?

President Trump underwent the first annual physical of his second term Friday at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and he received an overall healthy report, which was released on Sunday.

justthenews.com/government/whi…

Blue states made up most of about $400 million in unemployment fraud from the last 4 years, the Department of Government Efficiency found.

justthenews.com/government/whi…

The nation's deficit so far into fiscal year 2025 set a record as the House GOP moves forward with its budget reconciliation bill, which includes more than $5 trillion in tax cuts and projected economic growth that would only cover about 16% of its cost.

justthenews.com/government/con…

Newly-declassified FBI documents shine new light on the FBI’s mishandling of its relationship with anti-Trump dossier author Christopher Steele, on the FBI’s double standards on defensive briefings given to Trump and Hillary Clinton, and other key elements of the debunked collusion saga.

justthenews.com/government/fed…

He didn’t lead a movement—he nuked his own party. The Dems came out of the Obama era weaker, more divided, and utterly leaderless. And that failure, that collapse of the so-called “Team Obama” brand, played a much bigger role in the unraveling of his marriage than anyone might’ve guessed.

revolver.news/2025/04/report-t…

„Jeden kann es treffen“

Jörg #Bernig und die unsichtbare #Zensur


jungefreiheit.de/kultur/litera…

🇨🇳Wang Wentao, ministre chinois du Commerce :
La Chine est devenue le principal partenaire commercial de plus de 150 pays... Comme le dit le proverbe :
« Quand l’Occident se couche, l’Orient se lève. »
Les exportations chinoises sont devenues plus avancées technologiquement et ont acquis une large reconnaissance sur les marchés internationaux.

🇨🇳⚔️🇺🇲
🔴 La Chine va travailler au démantèlement des États-Unis et c’est presque terminé.

Toutes ces bases militaires américaines en Asie de l’Est et dans le Pacifique ont un seul objectif : déclencher une guerre avec la Chine.

L'empire américain fou et stupide.

Pékin n’est pas sans le savoir. Ses armes défensives sont prêtes et elle mène une guerre différente et efficace pour fermer ces bases dans les années à venir.

mishal reshared this.

🇨🇳⚔️🇺🇲
Urgent
🔴 Trump cède et recule
🔥 Surprise inattendue : Trump exempte les produits chinois de droits de douane de 145 % sans annonce officielle !

Trump vient d’exempter plusieurs biens importés de Chine d’un tarif de 145 %, notamment une gamme de produits électroniques grand public tels que des ordinateurs portables, des smartphones, des tablettes, des montres connectées, des téléviseurs et des produits d’énergie solaire.

Trump fera des concessions, mais il ne le dira pas publiquement pour sauver la face.

Pour Pascal #Praud : "Tout ça n’est pas très grave, tout ça ne me choque pas beaucoup" concernant le détournement de 4M€ de fonds publics européens par le @RNational_off. Le pédophile #Morandini aussi c'est pas très grave ! Corrompre les pays africains pour faire du business par Bolloré non plus, c'est pas si grave...
Mais le voile dans le sport, ALORS OUI, là c'est très GRAVE !
in reply to Emmanuel Florac

ha ouais docteur en philosophie Emily, vachement prolifique en article on dirait

researchgate.net/profile/Emily…

La philo des sciences à l'américaine décidément c'est pas comme en France, ya même des maths dedans. Pour ce que j'en ai vu chez nous ils passent leur temps à se branler 100 pages sur un mot et à snober les sciences dures (parceque "pas assez précis", non mais le culot)

#Catholic #Priest hooks-up on #Grindr, and his details were part of Grindr's #DataBreach. Goes to sue #Grindr and gets slapped in the face with a wet noodle when he discovers #MandatoryArbitration! 😆 #privacy

usa.inquirer.net/170021/priest…

Amazingly restored Dambusters footage, with spectacular scenes of the bouncing bomb trials (1943)

youtube.com/watch?v=lT5rvKS56d…

youtube.com/@Rick88888888

The daring Dambusters raid on the night of 16/17 May 1943 is among the most memorable events of WWII. Already well before the war in 1937 the British Air Ministry had contemplated about what could be strategic targets in Germany in case war would break out. The Dams in the Ruhr valley were high on their list, but at the same time were also ...

in reply to HunDriverWidow

considered as complicated targets. Simply bombing these huge concrete dam structures was deemed impossible.

You will most certainly appreciate this historic documentary as it provides the clearest & sharpest film footage of the Dambusters bouncing bomb trials, as well as the deployed Avro Lancaster 464 bombers by the famous 617 squadron.

Amazing enhanced & colorized footage of British, French, German & American tanks during WW-I

[HD]youtube.com/watch?v=Df0rqa6BYs…

Philip Glass - Mishima Closing
performed by 'Multiphonic Saxophone Quartet'
Video
#music

Birne Helene reshared this.

Why China will beat the West - UnHerd


#geopolitics #economics #war

In 2003, China had no high-speed rail, but by 2011 it had the world’s biggest network. The country produced more steel in two years than Britain has in almost two centuries. Similarly, China poured more concrete between 2018-20 than the United States has done in its entire history. China melts and refines almost half the world’s copper supply. Chinese oil imports, at 11 million barrels per day, are more or less equivalent to the entire output of Saudi Arabia. China burns 30% more coal than the rest of the world combined, and its consumption is still rising. This means that the Chinese energy system is, by far, the biggest factor determining the future of the climate.


unherd.com/2025/04/why-china-w…

Intelligentsia in power - by Branko Milanovic


#economics #politics #marxism

Neoclassical economics is a silly religion.

Bukharin muster[s] enough sarcasm to make fun of Böhm-Bawerk and the Austrians; thus (p. 41), in a remarkable passage, he lists Böhm-Bawerk’s and Menger’s favorite examples with which to explain pricing in a capitalist economy: “the inhabitant of the forest primeval”, “dwellers in an oasis”, “an isolated farmer”, “shipwrecked people”, “people in a besieged town” and my favorite, “short-sighted individual on an isolated island.”


branko2f7.substack.com/p/intel…

A WWII Veteran Remembers the Deadly Rhine River Crossing | History Traveler Episode 426

youtube.com/watch?v=-nnGNGu97C…

In the closing mos of the war in Europe in WWII, the Rhine River served as the last line of defense for the German army on the Western Front. Much attention has been given to the bridge at Remagen & some has been given to things like Operation Varsity & Patton's crossing. But there was another deadly crossing of the Rhine that took place with the 87th Div just south of Koblenz.

Koalitionsvertrag: Die wahre Bedeutung von 14 Sätzen zu Klima und Verkehr

#Heise #SchwarzRot #Klima #Umwelt #Gaskraftwerke #WirHabensJa

On AI And Consciousness - by Caitlin Johnstone


#politics #plutocracy #genocide

Tech bors (Musk, Thiel and co) are genocidal maniacs. Just in case you wondered.

Asked by host Sean Illing about people’s anxiety regarding AI and the possibility of human extinction, Lanier said many in Silicon Valley have come to view humanity as a mere birthing vessel for these new technologies, which will become our vastly superior replacement.
<
“What drives me crazy about this is that this is my world,” Lanier said. “I talk to the people who believe that stuff all the time, and increasingly, a lot of them believe that it would be good to wipe out people and that the AI future would be a better one, and that we should wear a disposable temporary container for the birth of AI. I hear that opinion quite a lot.”


caitlinjohnst.one/p/on-ai-and-…