A century ago, this photo was taken in Haubstadt, #Indiana. This town had both a #train station and #electric#interurban service, with a population of less than 700.
Now it has over 1,600 people, but has no service of any kind. The station and several of the buildings in this photo are now gone or empty.
Even major cities with populations in the hundreds of thousands sometimes lack basic #rail service. It's painful how much we've lost.
I am just a human with an opinion. However I also host a music radio show. I know if a song is good or not, independent of which genre it is.
Of course, I also have my own taste. I.e. I'm not interested in anything trying to cling on mainstream, anything where polish ("production quality") is higher than substance (to be honest, production quality is the last thing that matters to me).
So this is a list which meets this criteria. A lot of good tracks are already left out, because others I did find even better. Maybe, if I would have time to listen again in a reversed order, I may have favored another track then and when.
I'm sorry if you feel you should be included here. You probably are, and I'm to blame. I mean it!
Anyway – this list really deals with a lot of different Genres and is meant as a help for anyone who doesn't have time to listen to all tracks, to anyone who knows how unfair that is (because lots of artists are left out) and to anyone having an "off mainstream" taste.
[RUGG] Grandios Roy Orbison country including a real banjo, if my ears don't deceive me. Rich composition, lots of structure (much more than just an ABAB scheme), text mentions "die nmi!" - my real musician handle (right? RIGHT?) - how couldn't I just love it (!!) ?
• Track link: https://fedivision.party/#RUGG
• Artist: @sknob
[UDIL] High production standards (multiband compression to the max, arrrrgh) which makes me skeptical (also Euro Dance style. Really? In 2024?) But damn, there is substance and boy, it grooves. Pretty sure the female singer is a sample, as it always repeats. I was once criticized for using such a sample instead of something original back in the 90s in a competition and that's why I wont complain here. I just... mention this :)
• Track link: https://fedivision.party/#UDIL
• Artist link(s): @yours_truly
[MOUL] YEAHhhhh!! Dirty electric Cyber tech(no) with a french vibe. Totally a candidate for my Radio Irrtum! Show! A candidate I said. Nothing is decided yet, but I don't claim this without reason. Moule by the way did also a fantastic review session of a lot of tracks very early on at his fediverse account! Thank you, Moule, you crazy horse (or whatever that animal is)!
• Track link: https://fedivision.party/#MOUL
• Artist link(s): @MOULE
[Side note:]
When I am looking forward to find out who the female singer of a track is, and then find out it's just an #AI. Then nope. Totally nope. Especially when you are a male musician: Don't abuse my remaining male hormones like this! I hear a beautiful woman, I expect a beautiful woman, not a filthy male with his AI. Screw all this!
[ELAN] That surf bass ❤️. And suddenly. All different! Who needs New Order or OMD now?! Should be rewarded for the most surprising turn during the song.So good! Bernard Sumner isn't around? Just ask for Nick Jennings!
• Track link: https://fedivision.party/#ELAN
• Artist link(s): @slvrbckt
[THRO] - I usually run away screaming from kitsch medival "feel good" folk. This one is different. Turns out. This isn't really kitsch. Just those guitar lines are gold. The composition itself. Sooo good! Plus: With singers with a nice sounding voice who know how to sing. Underestimated thing that can make all the difference. Vikings would have profited from this.
• Track link: https://fedivision.party/#THRO
• Artist link(s): @brindy
[CEPH] This code alone makes a lot of sense (in an IT environment full of Linux) but umm... this track has nothing to do with that: It's a bone dry rock track with rapped words as if Run DMC meet the early Beastie Boys again. Well done!
• Track link: https://fedivision.party/#CEPH
• Artist link(s): @Lioh
[BLAH] - Chiptune with modern FX + synths/samples (personally I try to avoid that and leave em dry). Anyway: This track is totally on FIRE!!! I'm drop dead serious! FIRE! Also gender changing substances for all! Can't not luv it!!
• Track link: https://fedivision.party/#BLAH
• Artist link(s): @fabi
[EATW]: Very sad but kinda rocky track with a female singer. Strong. Moving. Good!
• Track link: https://fedivision.party/#EATW
• Artist link(s): @whoosh
Side Note
Good Harsh Noise Tracks are abstract and still have a structure. Applying distortion to an average track isn't enough for Sonar fans like me ;)
[RAIL] Disclaimer. I'm on good terms with Stephan and respect him as a human, his music, and his role in the CC movement a lot. However that doesn't cloud my opinion. If I don't like the music of a friend, I'm brutally honest about it. Already lost friends because of this habit. Now about the track:
Super well executed super rich material (what a unbelievable composition this is, what a huge arrangement). It's Schall und Stille and friends. Didn't expect anything less... but still. I'm super moved by this huge positive impact this has on me. I mean, there is a CELLO in it! Just because of that (but there is soooo much more): Instant luv!! By far, I mean it, by far the best track in all departments in the whole competition (well, DEEZ comes close). Which is perhaps the problem with that track. It sounds just too damn well (because it is). Congrats, Stephan, MyLoFy and Tobias.
• Track link: https://fedivision.party/#RAIL
• Artist link(s): @stephan, @MyLoFy
I've finally managed to get through the whole #Fedivision2024 playlist (72 songs, pant pant...). I was quite impressed with the quality, since I was expecting something more amateur-ish on average (like my crummy contribution).
Eventually, I took some notes and came up with a list of 11 #Fedivision tracks in particular that I liked more than the others, and so candidates for my three votes this week (I won't vote for myself).
The tracks starts sounding a bit like a Blackfield song (which is excellent), and I like it a lot when piano and cello come in to paint the scenario. The build-up is really cool as well, and shout-out to one of the other few guitar solos in this Fedivision, and a great one at that!
OK, so I finished listening to all the #fedivision2024 entries, and I felt compelled to jot something down about more than twenty out of the 72 songs, for a wide variety of reasons.
And please don’t feel bad or left out if I don’t mention you in the following thread. It doesn’t necessarily mean I didn’t like or connect with your entry!
A quick note about TCRE. Love the verse, but I would never have guessed the incredible vocal is in fact a synth, and I really don’t know how I feel about that…
Eight arrested after #climate activists breach German airport
"Climate group #LastGeneration said six individuals had seated themselves on airport asphalt at 4:45 a.m. local time (0245 GMT) to block planes, and it criticised Berlin for subsidising #airlines at the expense of #rail.
Germany's transport minister, Volker Wissing, said new laws were needed to punish such actions as criminal, with up to two years in prison. Current laws classify them as minor offences."
It's worth mentioning that BILL C-371 from Taylor Bachrach would give #canada passenger #rail priority.
It's just sitting there after first reading.
People who like rail transportation should encourage their local MPs to support this bill.
It's an easy win. https://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/44-1/bill/C-371/first-reading
I am travelling by train from Brussels, in Belgium, to Messina, in Sicily. I am used to international rail travel, but this is my longest one-way trip yet at 2,500 km. Day one was Brussels - Paris - Geneva - Milan. Day two is today, Milan - Messina with an early start that should take me to Messina by dinner time. Beautiful early morning light! #rail
Belated update: the whole 2,500 km journey through four countries ran flawlessly, not one minute of delay. And day 2 was even a day of strike by Italian rail workers!
So that was great. Unfortunately it is always rather unusual. I love #rail travel, but delays and missed connections are a real problem, especially with international trips where you need to ride with several operators. A @EU_Commission passengers rights directive, like we have for air travel, would help.
New at my Patreon... Here's my arrival by train at Longreach Station, a fine example of Queensland's long-distance rail terminals. I share a surprising fun fact about it too...
Maybe in 2010, I needed to get to Cambridge. I figured I could fly into Heathrow and take the Underground into central London and take surface rail from there.
At the airport rail station, I was surprised and delighted when the ticket agent asked me where my final destination was and said they could sell me a ticket for the entire journey (on two different operators!).
A good passenger experience starts at the ticket counter, and the UK clearly understands this.