Plutonic Rainbows

Today, I will start trying to memorise the Truth Terms. Basically if something is true or false. These symbols forms combinations to tell Python what to do in a given situation. Now it's just a case of making them stick in my mind. Most of them seem fairly self-explanatory.

and

or

not

!= (not equal)

== (equal)

>= (greater than equal)

<= (less than equal)

True

False

I wrote a simple script for adding that uses a function to hold two variables and then add them together. You create a function by using def and then giving it a name.

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-

def add(value_1, value_2):
    print "Adding %d and %d together." % (value_1, value_2)
    return value_1 + value_2

cost = add(2345,1234)

print "The cost is: £{0:.2f}".format (cost)

Be sure to use the utf-8 value at the top or else Python will not understand the currency character.

Great new album from Lee Bannon. Tahoe has huge, cinematic sweeps often accompanied by feelings of sadness or unresolved strife. A really excellent addition, if you're into atmospheric ambient works.

Simple script to calculate days between two dates.

from datetime import *

today = date.today()
past_date = date(1994,2,10)
diff = today - past_date
print "That was %d days ago." % diff.days

I don't understand the need for the asterisk on the first line.

Pure 80s ambient style bliss now available on the Music From Memory label. You can order it here.

Going through the first twenty exercises once again. It will not become second-nature if I do not build revision into my learning. The trick is to make the revisions enjoyable.

Anthology Recordings is set to issue a collection of recordings from Philadelphia / New Jersey experimental synth group The Nightcrawlers—a trio comprised of brothers Tom and Peter Gulch and Dave Lunt.

Titled The Biophonic Boombox Recordings, the release will be the group's first ever retrospective and features cuts pulled from over 40 cassette tapes that the trio released from 1979 to the early '90s under their Synkronos Music label imprint. 

These early electronic explorations drew influence from the cosmic minimalism of the Berlin School (Klaus Schulze / Tangerine Dream) and other European pioneers (Cluster / Popul Vuh) and were recorded straight into the mic of a JVC Biphonic Boombox as fully improvised performances.

It's available on the 23rd February from here.

A wonderful little gem that puts me in mind of all those late 80s New-Age albums that appeared on esoteric electronic labels such as IC Innovative Communications and Narada. If you remember those types of albums, you'll feel right at home with this. The EP is available on the Antinote Label. Bleep also have a vinyl release.

Boomkat:

CV & JAB is Christina Vantzou and John Also Bennett, two artists that might already be familiar to many of you from their individual work over the years for the Kranky and Spectrum Spools labels. Together they have made this slowly engrossing album for Shelter Press - who else - perhaps one of the most elusive, uncanny and multi-layered “Ambient” albums we’ve heard in what feels like a long time, a worthy follow-up to a frankly astonishing sequence of releases on the label that started with Felicia Atkinson’s modern classic 'Hand In Hand'. If you’re into anything from Chris Watson’s field recordings to Vangelis and Badalamenti at their most romantic and evocative, or even Boards of Canada’s early forays into wildlife documentary pastiche, this one will sooth your mind like nothing else.

Don't let the very pretentious title put you off. This is excellent stuff. Vinyl and Digital are available here.