The Third Eye

Remember* when this blog was all about nostalgia? Like lots of people born in the late 70s, one of the things I am distinctly nostalgic for is the children's television I was exposed to as a kid. Before the advent of YouTube, indulging in that nostalgic impulse entailed a lot of musings on the lines of "remember that one show about the thing? with the kids? and the creepy music?" That show about the thing with the kids was actually The Third Eye, an anthology collecting various creepy shows from unAmerica, and it was an early staple of my Nickelodeon viewing along with Today's Special, Danger Mouse, and Mr. Wizard. Hauntological blog Toys and Techniques has a nice rundown of the series plus lots of clips here.

*I think we can all agree that it took real heroism not to make a lame joke here.

Bailliwik Issue 08

It occurs to me that somewhere there may be somebody I have neglected to mention this to: the website for the new issue of Bailliwik is up. Unfortunately, we've already sold all of our non-virtual copies, but enjoy the site, which was designed by the amazing Sujata.

New South African Music

In typical Western hipster fashion, I know more about obscure '70s Afrobeat, Ethiopian jazz, and Congolese soukos* than I do about what people in Africa currently listen to--or as Wayne Marshall put it "African popular music that is, you know, actually popular (not just what might best fit outsiders' expectations of African difference)." Two new compilations of South African electronic dance music offer an exciting glimpse of what's going on right now.

*Not that I'm by any means an expert in any of those genres!

From Shangaan Electro: New Wave Dance Music From South Africa, on Honest Jon's and compiled by (Saint) Mark Ernestus of Basic Channel:



From Ayobaness! The Sound of South African House on the German label Out Here Records: