Writing

Writing

As well as scripting and editing narrative documentaries, I like to write about a range of topics, including music, sports, history and culture. I also spend an unhealthy amount of time crafting the perfect email subject line and deciding whether a texted quip deserves a “haha” or a “hahaha”

Daniel Semo Daniel Semo

Album Review: Patrice “9”

When German singer-songwriter Patrice (Bart-Williams) released his last full-length album of new material, Life’s Blood, in 2016, the world was a very different place. Seven years later, he returned with a simple, more minimalist aesthetic in 2023’s 9.

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Daniel Semo Daniel Semo

A punk of a certain kind

Steve Albini died earlier this year. He was 61. People will disagree about what his best work was. Some will say Nirvana’s In Utero. Others the Pixies’ Surfer Rosa. The Breeders’ Pod and Low’s Things We Lost In The Fire will have their fans.

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Daniel Semo Daniel Semo

Unplugged and Cleaning

The first thing I noticed was the eraser. The little cheap one. The kind you get from the discount bin at the end of the aisle at Officeworks, with the red-and-white cardboard squarepants…

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Daniel Semo Daniel Semo

(Still) Outside the Line

I used to write about cricket a lot. I used to write about cricket so much that I once took a semester off university to go to the Caribbean and write about cricket for a month and a half…

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Daniel Semo Daniel Semo

Minor Plagal

I was jogging the other day, listening to Japanese Breakfast’s (excellent) recent album Jubilee, when a song came on that instantly perked my ears…

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Daniel Semo Daniel Semo

Things I Will Miss About Japan

A few months ago, I moved back to Australia after living in Japan for more than 2 years. When I left, I was planning to write a post about all the things I loved about the place and what I’d miss the most after leaving…

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Nigel Moyes Nigel Moyes

Wanna Make It Shine? Distort It

There are some deeply paradoxical things about recording and producing audio. For example, if you want to have a huge drum sound on record, you often need a drummer who’s able to lay back and play quite softly, in order to hit consistently…

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Daniel Semo Daniel Semo

The DAW as a Studio as an Instrument

Michael McDowell wrote an article earlier this year about the podcast industry’s reliance on Pro Tools, which sparked an online discussion on its gatekeeping role…

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Daniel Semo Daniel Semo

A Theory of COVID Peak and End

How will we remember COVID? What memories will linger with us in years to come? That might all depend on who “we” are in those questions…

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Daniel Semo Daniel Semo

Mini-Review # 2 - Girt

After the bland vanilla puree of Geoffrey Blainey’s A Shorter History of Australia, it’s nice to chew on the spicy meat platter that is David Hunt’s Girt…

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