The screen is able to display song info, album art, wave data and other advanced song info. In addition to the WQVGA screen (480x234), the CDJ-2000 brings a number of enhancements over its predecessor. For starters, it has a touch-sensitive area called the "Needle Pad," which lets users jump to a specific song point with the flick of a finger. Secondly, the turntables can now act as a MIDI controller for other devices, with all of its 35 buttons at the ready for musical manipulation. Lastly, it comes equipped with Pioneer's "Pro DJ Link," which lets you plug and external data source into one turntable, and access that data on any other CDJ-2000 turntable linked up to the system.

But here's the kicker—we're gonna have the CDJ-2000 system setup at Giz Gallery '09, where DJs will be testing their skills on the new hardware. Those with even a passing interest in rocking the wheels of steel should come check these out.

NEW PIONEER CDJ DIGITAL TURNTABLES BRING THE ART OF DJING TO NEW HEIGHTS

CDJ-2000 and CDJ-900 Enable DJs to Access Their Music Directly from the Players

Long Beach, CA (September 17, 2009) – Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. Professional Sound and Visual Division, the leader in Pro DJ products and the innovator of the CD turntable, today launched two multi-format digital turntables, the CDJ-2000 and CDJ-900, with features that put the performance back into the art of DJing and reduce the need for laptops to access music files. DJs of all experience levels can enhance their mixing and scratching capabilities using proprietary technologies such as rekordbox™1 music management, Pro DJ Link, Needle Search and USB and SD card connectivity.

"Understanding the expanding needs of today's evolving DJs, Pioneer's new multi-format digital turntables allow DJs to access, search and control their content directly from the player itself," said Matt Dever, Vice President, Professional Sound and Visual Division. "The new CDJ players provide the same legendary quality standards and playability of the CDJ-1000/800 with the added convenience of native playback of key digital media file formats accessed through a multitude of compatible media, whether it's on CD, DVD, portable hard drive or flash memory device. In addition, both models are HID compatible with today's top DJ performance software, making these players the natural selection for any performance DJ."

Prepared For Any Performance
Adapting to today's variety of media formats, the CDJ-2000 and CDJ-900 enable playback of MP3, AAC, WAV and AIFF audio files from CDs and USB memory devices, and from DVDs and SD cards as well on the CDJ-2000. A USB port located on top of the turntable enables users to quickly connect an external storage device such as a Tonium Pacemaker™ or a hard drive packed with music files, minimizing the need to bring a laptop computer to performances.

Both the CDJ-2000 and CDJ-900 turntables include rekordbox™, Pioneer's proprietary music management software that organizes and catalogs a DJ's entire music library. When music files are imported to rekordbox, the software analyzes each file and prepares them for use specifically with the new CDJ turntables. Key elements of Pioneer's rekordbox software:

* Analyze:
o Beats Per Minute (BPM) Data – BPM / Tempo information for each song is identified and processed into rekordbox for use by the DJ in preparing and performing a set.
o Waveform Data – The waveform of each song is identified and then displayed on the bottom screen for quick data visualization and for use with the needle search function on the CDJ-2000 turntable.
* Customize:
o Tag Info & Artwork – Edit and customize the file information to performance needs.
o Hot Cues, Cue Points, and Loops – Prepare and customize cues and loops as well as create and manage hot cue banks.
o Playlists – Create, edit and manage customized playlists for various performances.
o Beatgrid – Utilizing the new Quantizing feature, cue points and loops can be set perfectly on-beat. The Quantize feature ensures cue points are set accurately and automatically, correcting and synching beats during manual looping or a real-time cueing, preventing off beat mistakes.

Pioneer CDJ-2000 and CDJ-900 page 2

Users can then transfer analyzed music files to their preferred storage media and play them directly from the new CDJ turntables. The software offers song information that can be viewed easily during performances on the CDJs' large displays to quickly search and access content by genre, title, BPM, etc. Also, as analyzed tracks are played through the CDJ products, the turntables automatically create and save a play history enabling users to review past performances on their PCs.

Pro DJ Link

The new turntables feature Pioneer's Pro DJ Link that enables up to four CDJ-2000/900s to be connected via the Link Port to share a single music source, whether it is a hard drive, USB and/or SD memory card. Once linked, users have the ability to quickly find, display and choose the music file from a connected source through the CDJ's built-in display and control knobs. A quick turn of the knob lets users scroll through created files and folders and a push of the knob confirms the song choice.

Advanced Connectivity

The new turntables feature a 24-bit/48 kHz sound card and HID and MIDI control compatibility via USB port. Up to 35 controls on the surface of each player can be used to trigger other devices, such as DJ effecters and software by way of HID and/or MIDI.

The HID controls were implemented into the players for superior interfacing with software, faster communication speed over MIDI, audio/visual streaming and two-way information on displays. HID enables easy, precise and native control of DVS systems such as Serato™ Scratch Live, Native Instruments' Traktor series and MixVibes Cross2 without the need for time-coded discs.

CDJ-2000 Enhancements

* LCD panel and Graphic User Interface – The flagship CDJ-2000 features a large WQVGA 6.1-inch full-color 480 x 234 LCD panel for displaying song titles and jacket art as well as detailed track information so DJs can select songs at a glance. The wave data of each song is also illustrated on screen, showing high and low amplitude to further assist DJs.

* Needle Search – Helps DJs instantaneously get to a specific part of a song with a simple touch of the Needle Search pad. Found directly below the CDJ-2000's high resolution LCD panel, the touchpad lets the DJ "place the needle" and jump quickly to a specific part of a music track.

* Jog Dial – Adjustments for tension were enhanced from previous models allowing the DJ to further customize the feel of the jog dial from a light to heavy sensitivity. Four illuminated areas on the sides of the Jog Dial aid the DJ in finding the desired spot on the plate in dim lighting environments.

CDJ-900 Enhancements

* Slip Mode – When activated, Slip Mode silently continues song playback during a loop, reverse or scratch and continues audible playback at the exact time when the loop, reverse or scratch is ended creating smoother transitions.

* Advanced Auto Beat Loop – The CDJ-900 generates a four-beat loop at a touch of a button creating a customized sound to provide more time for DJs to blend in transitioning music.

The Extras

For more accurate tempo control while mixing, each player is enhanced with increased frame increments of 0.5 frames that allow the DJ to set a cue point or loop point with more precision.

To achieve the highest sound quality, both the CDJ-2000 and CDJ-900 were equipped with the audio industry's highly respected Wolfson DAC processors, delivering a very transparent, accurate audio signal resulting in a highly improved signal-to-noise ratio and increased headroom.

The CDJ-2000 will be available in November 2009 with a suggested retail price of $2,150.

The CDJ-900 will be available in December 2009 with a suggested retail price of $1,600.

Pioneer offers a complete line of professional DJ Equipment through its Professional Sound & Visual Division. Its DJM series of mixers has become an industry standard at clubs, studios, mobile rigs and homes around the world, known for its high quality sound and reliability. For more information, visit www.pioneerprodj.com.

Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. is headquartered in Long Beach, Calif., and its U.S. Web address is www.pioneerelectronics.com. Its parent company, Pioneer Corporation, established in Tokyo in 1938, is a preeminent manufacturer of high-performance audio, video and computer equipment for the home, car and business markets.

1 rekordbox is music file management software developed by Pioneer in cooperation with MixVibes for use in combination with Pioneer products.

2 For more information on the version that improves compatibility when connected with the CDJ-2000, please see the MixVibes website at http://www.mixvibes.com.

Pioneer is a registered trademark of Pioneer Corporation

Rekordbox is a trademark of Pioneer Corporation.

MixVibes and CROSS are trademarks of MixVibes Companies in the United States and other countries.

Pacemaker is a registered trademark of Tonium AB.

SERATO and Scratch LIVE are trademarks of Sigma Audio Research Limited.

TRAKTOR is a trademark of Native Instruments.

Wolfson is a registered trademark of Wolfson Microelectronics.

Read more about our Giz Gallery 09 here, follow @gizgallery on Twitter and see what else we'll be playing with at the event. And special thanks to Toyota's Prius — without their sponsorship, there would be no Gizmodo Gallery.

We're not sure how the music would be outputted—would there be a transmitter in the red sphere? It's probably not worth worrying about that kind of minor issue as we're pretty sure the entire idea is impossible, but it's also creative and great to look at, and would almost certainly blow your parents' minds. [Design Boom]

The peripheral, dubbed the Scratch Deck, is a collaboration between real mixer manufacturer Numark and electronics manufacturer Genius. It allows for realtime turntable mixing, while five promised-to-be-authentic Akai Pro MPC-style drum pads trigger various samples. A crossfader, USB mic and right/left-handed controls round out the options while the game allows players to battle it out "in distinctive urban environments."

Available this fall, I'm just praying that Harmonix announces a new DJ game of their own at E3 so my turntable trifecta pays out. [Press Release]

If you saw our feature earlier in the week, you know Michael Fremer is crazy about vinyl. He's been defending its merits ever since digital formats started to surface, and has published several DVDs detailing how best to set up a number of nice audiophile turntables.

But of course, you don't have to have to have an audiophile turntable to enjoy vinyl—great used tables like the Technics SL-D202 I got in high school (pictured) can be picked up all over the internet, at garage sales or from your Dad's basement for very little dough, and will serve you well as long as they're in decent shape.

Plus, with tons of record labels including a free digital download with the purchase of an album on vinyl these days, it's a great way to give back to your favorite artists—you'll get a cool tangible object that has the potential to sound far better than your MP3s, but with a digital copy for you iPod nonetheless.

So if you have a turntable that's never received a proper tune-up, here's how to set it up to get the best possible sound from it. With Fremer's help, my table is now in tip-top shape, and yours can be too.

What you'll need:
• The manual for your turntable and cartridge (the part with the needle attached)
• A 2mm Allen/Hex wrench for the cartridge screws (most are 2mm, anyway)
• A ruler
• Magnifying glass and flashlight (not essential, but makes things easier)
• Needle-nose pliers or tweezers
• A printout of a standard cartridge alignment ruler (available at vinylengine.com for free)

First thing's first, though—if you're unsure of the progeny of your table, or if it hasn't been serviced in a long time or ever, the easiest upgrade you can make to ensure it's at its best is a new cartridge. This part is almost solely responsible for the sound generated by your table, and you can get a very good new cartridge for less than $100 (try Shure's M97XE for a good one in the $90 ballpark, but there are cheaper options as well).

After that, there are three variables you want to make sure are set, and those are the three variables we'll be covering: cartridge alignment, tracking pressure and anti-skating. While there are tons of other adjustments that can be made, with some tables having more calibration options than others, these three are fairly universal and will get you in the ballpark of calibration, which is much better than fresh-from-the-dusty-garage.

Let's get started!

Tracking Pressure
This is what the weight on the back of your tonearm is for—it controls how much pressure is put on the stylus as it tracks the record's grooves. This should be set according to what's suggested in your cartridge's manual. Google around for your cartridge make and model and you should be able to find the manual, or your turntable manual may suggest a baseline range. Again, Vinyl Engine is a great resource for manuals.

1. If you're installing a new cartridge, connect the red, blue, green and white wires to the corresponding marked terminals on the back of the cartridge. If they're too loose and fall off the pins, put a toothpick inside wire clips and tighten it with the pliers. Once it's hooked up, loosely screw the cartridge into the headshell (we'll be adjusting its alignment later) with your hex screwdriver.

2. Set the turntable's anti-skating dial to zero, then turn the weight on the back of the arm just up until the point the tonearm floats on its own. Then, by turning the part of the weight with the gauge but not the entire weight, set the gauge back to zero to "re-zero" the weight.

3. Now, turn the entire weight to the number (in grams) specified by your cartridge's manual. If it specifies a range, stick it in the middle.

4. If you're feeling like getting serious, you can buy a specialized tracking pressure gauge that will tell you the exact pressure. But for most folks, the guidelines on the tonearm's weight are fine—mine was almost exactly correct when measured with Fremer's digital gauge (as you can see in the picture).

Cartridge Alignment
Ideally, a tonearm would track across the record from the beginning to the end in a straight line across the surface, so that the stylus was perpendicular to the groove at all times, thus keeping distortion to an absolute minimum. But since the turntable arm is fixed, it traces a parabola across the surface of the record as you play it. Mathematically, the parabola arc has two points where the stylus should be sitting perfectly perpendicular to the groove. These are the points we'll use to set the alignment.

But you don't have to be Pythagoras Jr. to plot them—thankfully, there are protractor PDFs you can print out which will mark the approximate position of these points on most turntables. There are also PDFs for specific tone arms and turntables floating around—Google your model to see, but you should be served just fine by the standard approximation provide by the basic print outs at Vinyl Engine. (We're using a glass version here in the photo, but the paper ones are fine).

1. Many turntable manuals specify an ideal distance from the back of the headshell to the tip of the stylus, so consult your table's manual and screw in the cartridge into the headshell's adjustable slots so this measurement is correct.

2. Now, place your alignment protractor on the platter, and carefully drop the stylus tip onto the first alignment point. The goal is for the cantilever (the metal part that extends down from the cartridge with the stylus tip on the end) to be parallel with the guidelines on the printout. If it's not, loosen one of the screws in the headshell and move it back or forward slightly. This is where a magnifying glass and flashlight can be handy, as the clearance between the bottom of the cartridge and the platter may be slim.

3. Once it's aligned in the first point, test it on the second point. Both are mathematically determined, so it should be aligned on the second point too. If not, try to find a happy medium.

Anti-Skating
Most turntables have an anti-skating dial somewhere. This setting counteracts the vector force that naturally pulls the stylus tip toward the inner lip of the groove as the record spins, because as mentioned before, you want it to track dead-center whenever possible.

1. All you have to do is turn the anti-skating knob so that the number matches the tracking pressure you set earlier. Fremer likes to set it a quarter of a gram or so less, which he feels is more accurate than the scales provided on most turntables. So do that.

More Tips
• Keep your turntable on as sturdy a surface as possible—this will prevent it from warbling or skipping if you walk/dance around near it.

• Keep your stylus and records clean. You can get very inexpensive tools for cleaning both of these parts, and it will keep everying sounding great and will prevent your records from wearing out too quickly.

And that's it. For more info, check out Fremer's calibration DVDs, which many vinyl junkies swear by.

Hope you guys enjoyed our Listening Test audio week as much as we did. If you have any other advice or tips to share, please do so in the comments, and if you're interested, check out last week's audio-related How To on maintaining a lossless music library. Have a great weekend listening everybody!

Listening Test: It's music tech week at Gizmodo.

The ClearAudio Statement: At $100,000 the ClearAudio Statement, seen above, is everything that is wrong with the audiophile culture, combined into one four-foot, 770lb, variously suspended, NASA-electronics-adorned turntable (check out a full-length shot here). But it's a design triumph, coaxing a polished, demure aesthetic out of what should by all means be an ostentatious CNC-machined mess.

Speak-er: Spawned by a playful concept that nobody honestly expected to get made, the Speak-er isn't fancy, powerful or technologically impressive. It's a dead-simple desktop speaker in a fantastic shell, which opens up a slew of design possibilities for your office, room, or live-action comic book troupe.

Sonnance Freewheeler: Continuing the simple-but-perfect theme, the Sonnance Freewheeler is a wireless speaker disc, about the size of a car's wheel and able to run for about 8 hours on a full charge. It's also $21,000, but that neither here nor there, "here" being "within the range of you to buy" and "there" being "at all worth it, even if it was." But, pretty!

BeoSound 5: It's somehow heartening to see so much design go into a remote control. That's what the BeoSound 5 is: a 1024x768 screen with a brushed aluminum control wheel that serves solely as an interface for the BeoMaster 5, a giant B&O media server.

Montegiro Lusso Turntable: Apparently designed in the Towers of Hanoi tradition, this conical turntable is adorned with enough expensive-sounding features for even the most credulous discerning audiophile. It's just under $50,000, but really, you can't put a price on tying a room together, can you?

Sony Sountina: So, it's a speaker in a glass stick, but it's also one of the rare speakers that would work in virtually any setting. As a bonus, it can be illuminated in blue, amber or purple light, though I think it looks best without any at all.

V-Moda Vibe Earphones/Headsets: This is one of the few items on this list that people actually buy, and with good reason. They're capable (though not outstanding) earphones, on which V-Moda has shown extreme attention to design. The corrugated bodies, Mont Blanc-esque pen-tip wire accessories and (sometimes) fabric wire casings make for the most stylish earbphones on the market today.

Harman Kardon Soundsticks: You've seen this at Apple Store and Best Buys for years, but they're due some credit: they bring a stunning transparent aesthetic to mainstream buyers, perfectly complementing a generation of Apple hardware while being generally gorgeous enough to be appealing to the PC crowd too. You'd still be hard-pressed to find a lovelier set of speakers for under $200.

Opera Sonora Speakers: Every once in a while, questionably scientific theories of audiophilia result in extremely handsome products. That's the story of the Opera Sonora line of speakers. The theory: Bolting little speaker driver on to the back of tonewood—the same stuff used in high-end violins—will provide a rich, warm sound. The result: Speakers that look like they were designed by a reanimated Antonio Stradivari, with a sound—well, not many people have actually heard them yet.

Sony Qualia 010: Priced at over $2500, slapped with a painfully pretentious name and jinxed forever to be rejected by mainstream-averse audiophiles, these futuristic headphones were doomed from the start. But whatever, these are subtly good-looking cans, blending in for day-to-day use but revealing meticulous design and construction on close examination. (Image from Head-fi)

Listening Test: It's music tech week at Gizmodo.

The question is, do these actually work, or is it just a bizarre casing for the real hardware housed inside? Furthermore, if it was a real product, would you actually want one? [Pete Verrando via Boing Boing Gadgets]

Joel over at Boing Boing Gadgets says that Audiowood's founder, Joel Scilley, has a PhD in Media Studies, but instead hopped over to the Bay Area to pursue the most awesome profession of building wood turntables. The work pretty much speaks for itself, but I will say that I'm in love with that off-kilter platter on top of a tree stump slice. Swoon. [Audiowood via MocoLoco via BBG]

Previously, we told you about the LP2Flash turntable that converted your vinyl records, to MP3 files, onto a flash drive. Similarly—if CD's aren't your thing—what's cool about the LP2CD player is that you can connect it to your computer using a simple USB cable, and transfer your music directly into iTunes. However, for about $490, I'm sure some of you will stick to updating your music through torrents... shhh. [I Want One of Those]

[audiojunkies via Born Rich]

There are two turntables (one for 45rpm, one for 33rpm), as well as a power amp, stereo amp and CD player. The system was unveiled at the Geneva car show last week and if you need to ask the price, yeah, yeah, you can't afford it. [Sybarites]

FOR VINYL BUFFS SONY OFFERS TURNTABLE WITH USB OUTPUT FOR CONVERTING RECORDS TO DIGITAL FILES

LAS VEGAS, Feb. 26, 2007 - Providing a clever approach for converting vinyl records to digital files, Sony today unveiled a turntable system with USB output.

The new PS-LX300USB turntable provides fully automatic operation of vinyl playback at 33-1/3 and 45 rpm speeds. It offers a belt drive system for reduced motor noise and rotational stability, in addition to a static balance tone arm with a bonded diamond stylus for precise tracking and low record wear. A supplied moving-magnet phonograph cartridge and built-in phonograph pre-amp allows for compatibility with A/V receivers without a phonograph input.

The turntable is packaged with Sound Forge Audio Studio software for simple professional-quality audio editing and production on a home computer, allowing for MP3 playback on portable music players.

The new turntable will be available next month for about $150 at sonystyle.com and at Sony Style® retail stores nationwide, as well as at military base exchanges and authorized dealers around the country.

Product Page [Via CNET]

Product Page [Rega, via BornRich]

We've reported on some of the equipment before–the DVJ-X1, for example. Other featured models were the DJM-400 two-channel mixer, the CDJ-1000MK3 and MK2 CD turntables, the DJM-800 mixer and the CDJ-200. When their powers combined, the room was officially bopping.

As you might know, the DVJ-X1 is a video remixer of sorts, letting DJs or DJ wannabees scratch, rewind and fast-forward DVD video as techno music fills the room. Seeing the European-sounding house DJ scratch live was a quite a sight.

Pioneer is trying to straddle the market between the pros and the amateurs, with the high-end pro equipment, like the aforementioned DVJ-X1, costing in the thousands of dollars, while equipment like the DJM-400 running only into the hundreds.

Should your rave get busted, however, don't blame us for any fines you incur. – Nicholas Deleon

Pioneer

The unit has three separate motors that are synchronized by a special Accurate Power Generator (APG) motor control system, and it sits on six legs that keep it perfectly resonance-free. This baby is called the best turntable on the market by those in the know, and had it been released 30 years ago, that might have actually been saying something.

At $19K, most DJs won't be doing a lot of scratching on this table. But as a piece of precision engineering and mechanical perfection, it s second to none. Just as a design exercise, you can't help but be impressed.

ClearAudio Master Reference Turntable [Uncrate]

Product Page [Crane Audio]

Interview/Article by Jonah Brucker-Cohen

As technology gains ubiquity in popular culture, the rules and contexts that govern its use have begun to draw our attention. From lawsuits against Napster to federal hearings about Microsoft s Internet Explorer, the problem of digital rights management is becoming a mainstream phenomenon. Exploring this clash between mass consumption of technology and personal use, Danish artist Mogens Jacobsen creates work that challenges the incorporeal existence of digital objects and the physical incarnations they assume. From examining the legal restrictions of file sharing in Crime Scene: Installation for 2 Computers, where a copyrighted file is transferred between two computers ad infinitum, to creating a PC-turned networked record player with Turntablist PC, Jacobsen s work explores how mass culture is striving to amalgamate and restrict digital objects into categories that previously only existed for physical ones. Gizmodo recently caught up with Jacobsen to discuss his work and why media art is often laid to rest on the fringes of the official, commercial art world.

Interview and images after the jump...

Name: Mogens Jacobsen
Age: 46
Education: Studied mathematics but after a few years slipped over into film- and media-studies.
Affiliation: Independent artist and co-founder of the non-profit Artnode Foundation in Denmark
URL: http://www.artnode.org/art/jacobsen

Crime Scene: Installation for 2 Computers (Jacobsen, 2003)

Gizmodo: Your project, "Crime Scene: Installation for 2 Computers" examines the legalities of file sharing over the Internet. What were you trying to achieve with the project? And why was the project illegal in Denmark?

MJ: For many years I was always discussing new media art with folks from the art world — gallery owners and people from museums. They all seemed very interested in this new media art scene. But it always ended up with this new media art being defined as multimedia art —stuff with computers showing impressive interactive graphics on a screen or projected on a wall. So I wanted to get away from the multimedia thing, which I essentially see as an idea the computer industry has invented to sell us computers as home entertainment centers. I wanted to make something that was utterly boring! The piece would consist of very dull office-style computers. And it should not be interactive nor should it show any fancy graphics. And the theme of the piece—file sharing—is something I personally have been quite baffled by the discrepancy between the legal stuff and what goes on in the real world. And at the same time I really tried to figure out what was legal and what not. But in the end I gave up. So I made this installation with the simplest possible setup: A network of 2 computers sharing files—just sharing the files. Not utilizing the files, not using them for anything, not playing the MP3 files. After showing the piece at the Electrohype Gallery in Sweden, I was asked by a group of museum curators and public servants from the Ministry of Culture, if I wanted to participate in a study regarding problems with showing new art in museums. We had a lot of meetings with representatives from the music industry and with attorneys. It all ended up with a paper saying that the piece is illegal to sell or even to exhibit in Denmark.

Gizmodo: With "Turntablist PC" you combined a turntable with an old PC and converted it into a server that allowed for remote access over the Internet. Depending on the distance and location of the visiting user, the turntable will spin in certain directions and for a specific amount of time (i.e. If you are west of the project and far away it will spin counterclockwise and play the entire record, whereas if you are east and close to the project it will only play a small amount and spin clockwise). The Internet is often thought of as a technology that eliminates distance as a mediating factor in connectivity. Why are you re-introducing distance as a key component to online interaction?

MJ: That is exactly the point! The piece plays on the concept of local and remote. Even when a technology tries to remove distances, it brings focus on the idea that you have to accept there is something going on at other distant places. Some years ago I read the book Vom Verschwinden der Ferne by Peter Weibel. In this book there is a comprehensive review of telecommunication and art. And essentially not much has changed since we had first forms of electrical communications like cable-telegrams, radio and telephony. The speed of communication might have accelerated, but culturally I still find the world a huge place.

Power of Mind / Memory (Jacobsen, 2004)

Gizmodo: "Power of Mind / Memory" consists of a web server powered by a couple hundred potatoes (The Danish national food) that hosts an interview with chief of staff lieutenant-colonel Poul Dahl. As the potatoes dry out, the interview fades away and the text is replaced by heart symbols. Is this project a comment on the temporality of organic power sources? Or is it a political statement about the fleeting nature of negative sentiments by this public feature?

MJ: I was working on my computer one evening and suddenly Mr. Dahl was on TV defending the use of torture. He was a very rational and polite speaker. So I made this thing where a collective of potatoes was trying to keep his words alive. But I guess it is an homage to the powers of nature. The potatoes are organic and fragile—they die, rot and fade away. And they take the ugly words with them—to dust.

"Skip (Jacobsen, 2004)

Gizmodo: Skip was an experiment in building a "reactive record player that replaces the standard stylus with two ultra-bright white LEDs that are modulated by four sine waves at different frequencies, while a 12" mirror disc rotating on the turntable reflects the modulated light. The LEDs fluctuate their illumination based on vibrations sensed from the floor. What was your impetus for building this project? Also, "Deep Maus" connects a mouse with the turntable to create sound from the simple act of placing a mouse on a spinning record? Why is this physical connection of the two objects important?

MJ: Skip and Deep Maus are based on my personal fascination with analog audio and vinyl records. It started in the 1980s, where I ran a record label with a friend of mine. We published a lot of really bizarre records—anything from noisy electronics to acoustic guitar duos. And when I got involved in media art—or more specific net.art—I made a whole bunch of pieces with reference to records. One of these is still online; Everorange from 1996. (http://www.artnode.org/art/jacobsen/eart/orange/norange.html)

Deep Maus (Jacobsen, 2001)

Gizmodo: What projects are you currently working on? How are they similar or different from your past projects?

MJ: I m trying to do more pieces based on eccentric custom-built gadgets. I m really trying to move away from the graphical user interface; doing tangible pieces that don t look like muscle technology". I would much rather prefer my things looking quirky and boring. So at the moment I am re-doing an installation for a show in France. And most of the work actually goes into removing the GUI-based interface and going for a version that is console/command-line based.