#local access

Yesterday the Republican-controlled Senate voted to allow ISPs to sell customer data including browsing history without prior customer consent. I tweeted that in response it is “Time to tunnel all home traffic through a proxy.” First let me explain for a less technical reader what that means. At the moment your ISP can see every web request you make. They can’t see inside encrypted requests and much of the web is encrypted these days (https versus http). But they can see whether you are going to Netflix or to Hulu. So being able to sell this information is valuable. Hulu might want to target their advertising at households that don’t already use Hulu. If you establish an encrypted tunnel to a proxy first, then all your connections goes through that proxy and your ISP no longer knows anything about which sites or services you are accessing.

Many people have objected to ISPs being able to do this with a privacy argument. As readers of this blog or my book “World After Capital” know, I think privacy is a red herring that is leading us down a path towards controlled computation. So on what grounds then am I objecting to this? Quite simple: this is a further abuse of monopoly power by broadband ISPs. I live on 22nd Street in the Chelsea section of Manhattan and I have zero choice in broadband providers. My only available option is Spectrum, formerly known as Time Warner Cable. That’s it. Verizon Fios is not available on my block. And even if it were, the two have stopped competing meaningfully with each other.

I already pay a lot of money for relatively poor bandwidth. As someone from Chattanooga pointed out they have a homegrown municipal ISP that provides them with 10GB.  I just ran Speedtest and got a measly 6.6 MBps downstream (and before you comment, yes, I have a fast router and switch setup and this is far below the speeds my wifi supports). So instead of allowing my monopoly provider to make even more money, I am looking for the opposite: better service at a lower price.

There are two routes toward that end goal. In the long run we can and will have more competition in the local access market. This will happen as wireless technology improves and as some competitive offerings enter the market. At USV we have funded Pilot Fiber and bought a stake in Tucows (both deals led by my partner Brad). This will likely take decades though to play itself out. In the meantime, we need regulation that limits how my local monopoly (or maybe duopoly) can use its market power to extract economics from customers and distort access to the internet. This is really the same reason I have been a longstanding proponent of net neutrality.

Dual Analog played a fantastic set at Barboza in Seattle, on 20 October 2023!

The band opened for Johnny Goth. DA was a new taste for the crowd, and after it was over the band had a bunch of new fans! The sound mix was excellent. The stage was a perfect size for the animated moves of the K-Man, Chip and Andrew. From a photographer's standpoint, I would have enjoyed more frontal lighting and a small stage riser. But it didn't reduce the power of Dual Analog's music, or the enthusiastic reactions of the crowd. Great show!

This writer is an oldster.

I can share stories of high schools with smoking areas in the 1970s, soul-crushing inflation and unemployment around 1980, and “those weirdos” playing punk and new wave.  I can also talk first-hand about how rockers like me laughed at music from the 1980s as wimpy and electronic - only to see all the genres mentioned thrive and survive into the 21st century.  This oldster’s perception of punk, new wave, and electronic has forever been changed by pitting it against much of the modern music we’ve been left with.  Those musical styles aged pretty damn well.

So naturally it warms my heart to know that people with no sentient memories of the 1980s can embrace the musical styles of that decade with such creativity and talent.

The NightCry is a special kind of project: a female band fronted by a male singer.  Andreka Jasek plays guitar, Sarah Campbell on drums, Hannah Rock on keyboards, Shana Fairchild on bass,and Vincent Vaurnet on vocals.

Sure, the opposite with a female singer is common.  But male fronted female bands are much more difficult to find.  The idea started from watching the Robert Palmer video “Simply Irresistible.”  For The NightCry it’s not entirely a gimmick.  This project - this band - is most definitely talented and excited to take their fans along on a trip filled with the best of what the 1980s had to offer musically.  The echoes of Simple Minds, Flock Of Seagulls, early U2, Duran Duran, The Cure, and Depeche Mode all make appearances in the band’s offerings.  Music fans who heard the sounds on boom boxes back in the day are equally at home with their sound as fans born years after the decade ended.

THAT in itself is a testament to the power of the era.

In a way, the 21st Century has been good for 80s music.  The NightCry gives us what the era was meant to be if the technology had been more advanced.  Now it is; no more $50 Casio keys, or bass guitars that feel like they’re made from cement.  The sound now is cleaner, better rounded, and mixed to envelope an entire range of emotions other than midrange. The band described the band name as “dark yet hopeful” - a term that would peak the interest of someone looking to ride the edge of their musical preferences in safety.  

An entire album is in the works, according to Sarah and Andreka. But some of the songs are being released as singles - Most recently “Find Hers Keep Hers.”

My immediate impression was both musicians represented the dedication to their craft that all members have.  Song writing is a group effort.  “Protect The Band” is their first line of survival.  The two talked intimately about their connection and love for the music and for this particular project.  

“What we do taps into the nostalgia part of your brain,” Andreka said. “The Duran Duran and the Depeche Mode.  You’ll remember every single place or time you were in when you heard these songs,whether your younger or older. Synthwave is really huge right now.  We’ve done something unique by pulling from our rock background.  Once in a while you’ll hear a cool guitar lick or a pinch harmonic thrown in that will make go ‘Oh, these guys play rock too.’”

Andreka is a shredder.  Self taught and creative.  She comes from a rock background and has always wanted to stretch her style into something more polished like this project. Watch her play, and you may not understand what just happened. But you'll know the sound was right.

Her understanding of music comes from a completely different perspective - a visual one. The sounds, the beats, the licks she hears are tied to colors. The method is very clear to her, and when talking to the band about what she hears is described in reds, yellows, burgundies etc. The band knows what to do with this, and together they create the colorful journey that starts on a color wheel.

Sarah’s journey into percussion started with her Dad who was also a drummer.  “I cannot truly put a drummer in mind from a style perspective.  But from an entertainment perspective?  Tommy Lee. He thinks outside the box.  What The NightCry has granted me is the ability to really be free.”

But Andreka will press Sarah into a zone where the soul takes over before the brain goes to work. “It’s one of those things,” she added, “Where Andreka will say ‘Ready? Play a beat in 3 - 2- 1’ and won’t let me think about it, because that’s usually when the best drum beat will come out of me.”  Overthinking gives way to letting the soul take hold. And a consistent simple beat in the songs allows Sarah to maintain eye contact with the crowd and the band.

Hannah has veteran-level keyboarding experience; she can bring out the advances in technology that the 21st century has afforded the world keyboards. Her knowledge of music theory also offsets the organic symbiosis the band possesses already - leaving no music idea unplayed.

And yes. Her last name really is Rock!

Shana's adventurous spirit comes through with her solid bass lines and clear stage confidence. Bass Force is a thing. It's that calming force which offsets the antics of the singer and the unchecked energy of the guitar - all while meshing with Sarah's drums to create a velvet rug of rhythm. Her presence honors the masters - Kathy Valentine of The Go-Gos, Michael Steele of The Bangles, and Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth.

Vincent has taken on many roles in bands over the years. We first met when he was playing bass for Thunderhound. Vincent has been part of the music, the performance, the marketing, and the social elements of bands for years. This role as singer for The NightCry suits him well - highlighting the stylish and animated presence he carries on stage. Power in the play, and he can do it all day.

The NightCry has their eyes set on a national and international stages.  The band has a clear idea of what they want to accomplish.  And they want the fans to be part of The NightCry - “See Us, Be With Us.” So far the band has been successful at introducing - and RE-introducing - the sound of the 80s to local fans. It's not a stretch to imagine them taking this message beyond the region and to other parts of the country. When a band like this has a clean sound and a clear message, fans will certainly flock to them.

Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong 🇭🇰