Keep Houston __________

Not another Music Post

I'm going to ease back into this blog-writing business by defaulting to music obsessions and the unoriginal thoughts that accompany them. Cool.

Dethklok
I like the show Metalacolyse as much as the next guy, but I love the band. I guess there is something beautiful about a pretend death metal band with a cult following that openly mocks their fans and genre. Wikipedia says that "the album [is] the highest charting death metal record ever with 33,740 copies sold in its first week." HOW ABSURD.


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Bitter:sweet
Something about the crisp, clean sound forced me to put my dislike for female vocalists aside and fall helplessly in love with this cute little band. How can you resist their upbeat, quirky harmonies? I'm really excited for them to come to Houston in August. I expect to acquire at least one article of clothing from each band member so that my closet shrine will finally be complete.

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Scars on Broadway
This is one of many bands that splintered off of System of a Down when they took a "break" from each other. If you ignore the obnoxiously repetitive lyrics, they aren't bad. It's very SOAD-like. In a good way. Notice the sharp contrast with Serj's independent project/band which takes itself and its lyrics way too seriously. System of a Down is the happy medium. GAH, why can't System just get back together already? MAKE ME SOME GOOD MUSIC, GODDAMNIT. And while you're in there, a sandwich would be nice. Thanks.


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Even if this isn't a new artist or a new album- IT'S A NEW MOVIE! Apparently Soulwax put together a documentary about what it's like to be master DJ gods. I can't wait.

Summertime in the City

Pool? Check.
Awesome view of clouds? Check.
Classy green interior decorations? Check.
Cyndi's new apartment at Kirby place now has my official stamp of approval.
(But she's only allowed to move in on the condition that I get to keep the spare bedroom.)

Ah, the Fourth of July.
There's nothing more American spending obscene amounts of money towards blowing pretty shit up to appease the masses. (Bread and circuses are sooooo Roman Empire.) Besides, fireworks show how much we truly care about the environment. And the poor. And our National debt. (Calm down and remember Rule #20 mmk? No matter how much I mock the holiday, I still ADORE it. Even if this leaves me slightly disgusted with myself...)

Buy the ticket, watch the FILM.
(Seriously though. Go do it. Now.) Gonzo, the Hunter S. Thompson documentary, came out today. I thought it was pretty amazing, especially since I didn't know most of his background story going in. Then again, I can't objectively say whether or not it was actually a good movie since I'd probably end up enjoying anything that has to do the good Doctor. (This explains why I intend to buy all promotional material for the flick: the movie poster pictured here and a handful of severed kitten heads seared with F&L quotes. Delicious.)

And then there was the BBQ,
and it was good.
Learned something new today: apparently they make jalapeño flavored burger patties. Apparently they are quite delicious.
Many props to Alex-Randy-Viren on being great hosts. I can't wait to kill you all and claim the house. *ahem* I mean, move in for the school year.
Daft Punk is Playing in My Head, MY HEAD.
The walk back to the Esplanade to watch fireworks was trippy as fuck. Mostly because the medical center at night is absolutely GORGEOUS. You lose yourself in the pretty colors. (And find yourself in the Bright Lights, Big City *happy sigh*) And just so you know, I did actually have Daft Punk and LCD Soundsystem reverberating through my skull the entire time. I was living a James Murphy music video. I can now die happy.

Fireworks. are. visual. orgasms.
I have just decided this.

Soulwax remix, anyone?

Silver Lining on a Shitty Workday

Had a Lunchable for Breakfast.
It was awesome.

I got to play with a roll of bubble wrap at work that is bigger around than I am ( by "play" I mean sit in a classroom for 7 hours organizing and packaging textbooks)
It was awesome.

An EMBA student wandered into the classroom to chat for a bit and in the middle of a sentence he paused and asked me, "Oh no- is something wrong with your computer?" After a slight hesitation he laughed and answered the question himself "Wait. Never mind. That's just your music."
It was awesome.

The Sounds of Soulwax

Today's musical obsession: Soulwax.
I know I'm jumping between musical infatuations pretty quickly, but I have a feeling that this one might even last a few days. Maybe even a week. (who knows?!) Not only does this dynamic duo manage to capture everything I love about the electronic, remix/mash-up, and rock genres, they also tend to wear tight black outfits during photoshoots. Definitely a sign we were meant to be.

Remember "E talking" on Erol Alkan's remix album? Yup. That was Soulwax. However, I first noticed them last week during my Justice-binge. Justice remixed Soulwax's NY Excuse, and Soulwax remixed Justice's Phantom Pt. II. (Electronic incest, I love it.)

The best thing about Soulwax is their mastery of such different genres. In the album Any Minute Now (right), they are an alt-rock-indie band who's style is slightly reminiscent of QOTSA, with maybe a bit o' early Beck. (Incidentally, their lead singer sounds like he could have been the lovechild of Josh Homme and Beck. Ohgodthat'shot.) But here is where the personality splits completely... under the name "2 Many DJ's", they made 2 discs of crazy good electro-dance remixes (left). What makes the remix album so extraordinary (beyond the fact that each song is phenomenal) is it's cohesiveness. It isn't just a jumbled compilation of various artists and beats- there are many recurring clips spread throughout the disc connecting the different songs via musical deja vu.

Good stuff.

[Sidenote: Apologies about this post being ALLOVERDAPLACE. This music makes me really excited. That and I drank two cups of coffee this morning to make sure I'd survive the workday. You know, it's one of those days where you spend more time at work than you did sleeping in your own bed the night before (oh wait, that's every night... NEED MOAR coffeecoffeecoffeecoffeecoffee)]



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Seeqpod Tracklist
Originals: E talking, Compute, Miserable Girl,
ReMiXeS: E talking (Soulwax remix), Miserable Girl (Soulwax Remix), LCD System- Daft Punk is Playing at My House (Soulwax remix), Muse- Muscle Museum (Soulwax remix), The Gossip- Standing in the Way of Control (Soulwax Remix)