With Love and Squalor

Oh hello there, I didn't see you come in.

Hope everyone is having a nice autumn. I presume it's better now that you have Goldblum burned into your retinas. My fall has been pretty chill, not too much new in the Life department. Been working on grad school apps. Moved in with three cool dudes at the top of Mt Olympus (I shit you not). Perpetually surrounded by clouds, we sit on our collective butt watch obscene amounts of Battlestar Gallactica. It's great. Also, I've been stocking up on authentic San Francisco experiences -- felt my first real earthquake the other day AND it was a two parter- 4.0 and 2.5. Then I saw Craig from Craigslist walking down the street because apparently we share a neighborhood. But that's all. So I guess it's about time to pump out another prepackaged bundle of associative memories to the Spotify cloud. This particular bundle was requested by Miss Natalia so I kept electro to a minimum. (Eh, I was in a broody grooves mood anyway.) Some newies, mostly oldies. Because my laptop is currently inpatient somewhere around Dell headquarters, this mix is only available streaming for now. Yeah, after two years of touching various metals to the side of my computer in lieu of a power button, I finally decided it was time to cash in on my warranty. Imagine! Anyhow, without further ado: For Nat--

With Love and Squalor

 Spotify / Grooveshark (boooo, incomplete)

1. Lifeboat (Instrumental) - Nathaniel Merriweather, Lovage, Dan the Automator
2. Power (feat. Danny Brown and Despot) - Das Racist
3. Parade - Justice
4. Rabbit In Your Headlights - UNKLE, Thom Yorke
5. Singin' In The Rain - Mint Royale
6. Oh Lord - Foxy Shazam
7. A Pretty Girl is Like - The Magnetic Fields
8. Tuff Ghost - The Unicorns
9. Foxes Mate For Life - Born Ruffians [Guest track contributed by Chris Johnson, "for your gaylist"]
10. Strangers on a Train - Nathaniel Merriweather, Kid Koala, Lovage et. al.
11. Daydreamin' (feat. Jill Scott) - Lupe Fiasco
12. Undiscovered First - Feist
13. This Momentary - Delphic
14. Weatherpeople (Instrumental) - RJD2
15. Phosphene Dream - The Black Angels
16. I'm A Goner - Souljaboy, Andrew W.K., Matt & Kim
17. Soundtracks & Come Backs - Goldfish
18. Experiment Number Six - Lemon Jelly
19. A Fifth of Beethoven - DJ Daddy Ray Z

Tangential Note: If you haven't read Salinger's Nine Stories (Title Reference), please do. You can't let negative associations Catcher in the Rye infect his other work. (Am I inside your head or what?)

Completely unrelated note: If you ever find yourself needing Photoshop on a computer where it's not installed- Pixlr is a ridiculously legit alternative. Spread the word!

Audio.Video.Disco.licious

(more like LEAK-a-licious, am I right? oh so right)

So listening through a few times I'm actually happily surprised. Maybe the early-released singles had lowered my expectations a few hundred kliks but in all the honesty, this album isn't half bad. It's solid. And precious. While any songs standing alone may be pretty weak, as a unit it allows you to appreciate this sophomore album for what it is: a little quest. Venturing off from Hard House roots, exploring and breaking through new sound ground.

<< Don't worry, I'll post links as YouTube catches up to the rest of the internet. Current favorite is Parade, so that'll be first on The List >>

Obviously, you can't go into this album expecting another Cross. Everything they've put out since A Cross the Universe has indicated they were heading in this new direction. Like glamrockers from the future nostalgic for the early 80's, there's just .... something in those epic orchestral synth chords. Their Dior Homme set (aka Planisphere) and remix of Let Love Rule were probably the most noticeable steps in the transition. The release of Civilization and Audio Video Disco were just confirmation.



So in the end, f you're still stuck on zee old Joostees, don't even bother. Go listen to some SebastiAn. That dude ROCKS HARD. He'll fill that hole in your heart right up. I think Total is the most cohesive bundle he's put out to date but I'm probably biased because I'm hands down obsessed! with that shit.

Then again, maybe these new Justice tracks will fill a hole you didn't even know you had. That one hole that requires equal parts Alan Parsons Project and Ratatat, slightly reminiscent of Daft Punk.

What can I say, these musical heart holes are oddly specific.

Lucid Dreams

It's official, I'm addicted to making playlists.
That, or my tendency to obsess over a limited number of songs easily lends itself to documentation. Whatever. Either way, this one's an attempt to capture the experience of  wandering around SF in the summertime. Overall, pretty upbeat and chill, ranging from delightfully quirky to full-on strange. Definitely recommending you whip out a solid pair of headphones-- tracks like Cornelius' Mic Check and Franz Ferdinand's Lucid Dreams are infinitely improved with legit acoustics. Also, if there's any way you can absorb these tunes while laying in the grass bonding with rapidly shifting cloud formations, it's preferrable. Trust me.

Stream on Spotify or Grooveshark / DL on le Dbox

1. 7th Street - Chinese Man Records
2. Nights Off - Siriusmo
3. (My 1st) Big Break - Cut Chemist
4. Tetra - SebastiAn
5. Ladyflash - The Go! Team
6. Life Coach - Fang Island
7. Summer of All Dead Souls - ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
8. Winter That's All - Fol Chen
9. Royksopp Forever - Royksopp
10. Forever Lost - Pretty Lights
11. Bad Idea - Siriusmo
12. Rolling Nectarine - Hooray for Earth
13. Vision One - Royksopp
14. Run Run Run - Phoenix
15. Lucid Dreams - Franz Ferdinand
16. Youthless - Beck
17. Mic Check - Cornelius
18. Of The Mountains - Dan Deacon
19. High School Art Class - Pretty Lights

Album art: cropped Gustavo Peña painting
[Check out the rest of his work, this man's a boss.]

Strictly Electronic

It recently came to my attention that my significant other isn't familiar with a fuckton of the music I hold dear, namely key players in the world of electronica. This is unacceptable and must be remedied. Solution: PLAYLIST TIME! While I can't claim this is even remotely close to a History Of  or even Comprehensive Introduction to Techno,  I can put together a fun mixtape of songs and artists that were essential in developing my own personal appreciation of genre.

Because it turned out so long, I've divided into two movements. The songs are pretty much grouped by artist and somewhat organized by subgenre (...as defined by me). PART ONE starts off with Ed Banger bros and moves through artists based on what I consider to be incestuous remix relationships. It stays mostly within the confines of  minimalist, experimental house, if that's even a thing. PART TWO explores the more lyrical, danceable, psychadelic and poppy sides of electronica. So basically, everything else. It even has some dips into trance, drumNbass and triphop. God this was fun to make. A most productive trip down memory lane. Enjoy!

Listen on Grooveshark, Spotify or Download from Dropbox

PART 1

PART 2

Illustration by So Me.

HEADS UP: For the life of me, I can't find any of The Chemical Brothers on Grooveshark, so sadface. Also, in the zipfile version, the Lemon Jelly tracks aren't obeying my requested changes in their ID3 tags. They are supposed to be songs 63 and 64-- down with the triphop, out of electrohouse territory.

Lastly, no post about electronica is complete without a flowchart. Eventually I have plans to map out the artists featured in this mix based on their country of origin, remix connections and general subgenre tendencies. But that's a good amount of effort and research I'll reserve for another day. Til then, you get this classic:

(toothpastefordinner.com)

Yell at me for leaving your favorites out, I dare you. Some crucial dudes only had tiny roles because I believe their contribution to be universally acknowledged (yeah, I'm looking at YOU DPunk) and this lesson in techno was getting pretty lengthy as it was. But there are people I may have legitmately forgotten and I'm never opposed to expanding my music library -TEACH ME. This way I can have them all in the same thread. Actually I'll go ahead and start: "UHH...KRAFTWERK???"

And in case you need moaaarrrr, have some RELATED POSTS:

nom nom electronica

Sounds of Soulwax

It's not you, it's the E talking

Music for people who should know better

Ticket to Plagiarize

A friend of mine was casually blasting the new Mother Mother album the other day. It's quite good. But that's not what made it memorable. It was the fact that THIS particular song struck me as so eerily familiar:

You feel an almost intimate connection with the melody, yes? As if you'd heard it hundreds of times before. An impressive accomplishment for an artist, yet I was skeptical. The album is too new for me to have heard it at a party and glitches in the Matrix tend to be more blatant.
Then it hit me:


(specifically, 2 minutes and 47 seconds in)

Hm.
Now I know. there are all kinds of arguments to be made here. "There is no such thing as a creative thought," you say. "It's not stealing if it's an homage," you say. "Stop putting words in my mouth, I honestly don't care enough to have an opinion," you say. Well I agree. On all counts. Call it what you will-- allusions, samples, references, tips-of-the-hat-- unoriginal ideas saturate every type of media and they aren't always a crutch. They can add dimension and support and are sometimes necessary in framing new thoughts.

But seriously guys? That's the same song. Go write your own chorus.

Now, due to a construct in my mind

That makes these songs and their lyrics,

Symbolic of my entire existence.

It becomes important for me,

To make a playlist.*

Inspired by Nat, I've compiled a list of songs that were written for and/or about me. Basically, tunes that either perfectly capture what the voice in my head wishes it could say or somehow describe my life experiences with eerie accuracy. Not to be confused with my "Favorite Songs Ever Ever Ever" playlist, which is coming soon. And this, kids, is what I do after midnight.

HEY, YOU CAN LISTEN ON THE GROOVESHARK!

Also here's the designated coverart and tracklist with blurbs so I can look back at this post in 20 years and giggle. Oh, life.

**

Mr. Mastodon Farm- Cake Because everyone's attributed life-shattering significance to random external events at some point in their life, right? God, we're weird.

Breathe - Anna Nalick Honestly the best advice I've ever gotten from the radio.
Do You Realize??? - The Flaming Lips "The sun doesn't go down /It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round"

Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games- Of Montreal Oh hi there, blogname!

Winter Wonderland - Animal Collective Exposing ridiculousness of existential denial.
Why Do I Keep Counting? - The Killers Good question.

Trouble with Dreams- Eels "You never know when to hold on or when to let go. "

Dinosaur- Whitey A refreshing take on the circle of life.
Apartment Story - The National *Happy sigh* It just is.
Flagpole Sitta - Harvey Danger "Hear the voices in my head / I sweartogod it sounds like they're snoring"
Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan Psh. No blurb necessary.

Rock N' Roll Lifestyle - Cake. Way to make me self conscious about loving concerts, CAKE.

Time to Pretend - MGMT I love every single thing about this song. 

Feel Good Hit of the Summer - Queens of the Stone Age Or Fall. Or Spring. JUSTKIDDINGGUYS

Never Be Alone - Simian deliciously depressing song about friendship #1
All My Friends - LCD Soundsystem deliciously depressing song about friendship #2
Butterflies and Hurricanes - Muse "Your time is now." (Also +10 for chaos theory reference)

The Past is a Grotesque Animal - Of Montreal "At least I author my own disaster" (Even though Kevin Barnes authored the sentiment)
C'mere - Interpol Yup.

Tear You Apart- She Wants Revenge Yup.

Change your Mind - The Killers Also, yup.

Romeo and Juliet- Dire Straits "Yeah, I used to have a scene with him." 

Conquest- White Stripes bwahahaha. 

Red Flags and Long Nights - She Wants Revenge "You can rent a space inside my mind / at least until the price becomes too high"

Waters of Nazareth - Justice Shh. It doesn't need words, it speaks the language of my soul.

*to the tune of Mr. Mastodon Farm
**image from I LEGO NY

It always had to go this way.

I was asleep in a hammock

I was dreaming that I was a web

I was a dream-catcher hanging in the window of a minivan

parked along the water's edge.

I'd say that I was all alone.

Finally got around to listening to Wolf Parade's album Expo 86 and of course, am left absolutely infatuated. I know it's trite to say shit like "they've really matured as a band over the years and it's been a privilege to tag along for the ride" but there, I said it. Not because Expo is better than Apologies (blasphemy!) or Mt Zoomer (not-quite-as-blasphemous!), just that it demonstrates progression, exploring and conquering new territories of sound. There's something mesmerizing about their particular brand of synthpop -- the songs feel optimistic despite intense melancholy overtones and electric harmonies that pierce your soul.

Case in point: In the Direction of the Moon.

Also see:  What Did My Lover Say (It Always Had to Go This Way)

Maybe I'm too vulnerable to cover-art influence, but listening to the album straight up overwhelms me with nostalgia. The kind that gnaws at you until you stop whatever you're doing to go roll around in the grass or build a couch-cushion fort.

Well, that or channel the flood o' feelings into a Wikipedia binge...

Read more »

Some things to look forward to

We're out of Federal Holidays for the school year and I'm tired of counting down til Graduation. Time to set some new markers to cross off your calendar for the next few months.

NEW THE NATIONAL! (May 11)

EEEEEEEE! Listen to the singles: Bloodbuzz Ohio and The Runaway

NEW CHEMICAL BROTHERS! (June 7th)

Get ready for 8 tracks and 8 accompanying psychedelic short films. Listen to the single: Escape Velocity

NEW WOLF PARADE! (~July 2010)

Album name: Expo 86.

NEW DOES IT OFFEND YOU, YEAH?! (um, either March or Summer 2010)

NOT the album name, I just like the word: Interrobang.

NEW JUSTICE! (Projected: early 2010)

Vague article. Also: Spaceship Cross Shirt.

NEW INTERPOL! (Projected: early 2010)

Confirmed by an interview from Nov. 2009 and three million rumors spread by rabid fans.

: : : : : EDIT! FOUND SOME MORE! : : : : :

NEW LCD SOUNDSYSTEM! (May 18)

Play songs, preorder the album -> here. This is happening!

NEW OF MONTREAL! (September-ish?)

False Priest. (thanks for the tip, Dean)

NEW THE AVALANCHES! (October. Maybe.)

I certainly hope so...

Heligoland: Splitting the Album

First impression: Heligoland makes me want to take these Senneheisers into a sensory deprivation chamber and let phosphenes work their magic.

Second impression: Too entranced to move, so this computer-on-the-kitchen-table setup will have to do.

But seriously, if you haven't picked up Heligoland yet, you're missing out. Especially if you're into their brand of dark, calm, trip-hop (perfect for spring-cram-study-sessions if I may saysomyself). The album is seamless incorporation of various fun people and minor chords. If there was an English word seated directly between ominous and optimistic (semantically, not alphabetically) it would probably be the most appropriate. This is why I can't write nice things.

For whatever reason, we tend to be pretty harsh critics when Bands We Love release A New Album: sometimes you have to listen to music a few times before you can truly appreciate it. Yet Heligoland sucked me in on contact. The layers of sound are woven flawlessly, allowing you to deconstruct the levels of instrumentation or just let it hit you all at once. Back to first impressions, I was genuinely moved. Inspired, even. Closing my eyes, letting the audio flow over my consciousness, I swear I was one sensory deprivation chamber short of conjuring up an accompanying visual trip a la Interstella 555 (Hm note to self: get on that). Luckily for us chamberless folk, there have been five professional visual interpretations of songs from the album. All are absolutely phenomenal and I highly recommend this screening be your next break from productivity:

Splitting the Atom - directed by Edouard Salier Beyond being a miraculous work of CGI rendering, this pretty much exemplifies the "darkly sensual" tone of their sound in general and this album in particular. Cherry on top of the delicious video? You're hearing reggae-singer/songwriter Horace Andy (see: awesome voice from MA's Angel) and creepy keyboardings of Damon Albarn (aka Gorillaz...and 25% of Blur). Fantastique!

Paradise Circus - directed by Toby Dye (classy, but NSFW) This microdocumentary accentuates the song's underlying eroticism overlaying Georgina Spelvin's insight on the surreality of film, the narrative of sex, and the Devil Inside of us (allusion alert!) over vintage clips of her most famous work.

Flat of the Blade - directed by Ewen Spencer A day-in-the-life glimpse of black youth sifting through memories and experiences and music. Ambiguous, yet implicitly haunting.

Saturday Come Slow - Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin Exploring the physical effects of sound, resonance and vibration on the human body. Former Guantanamo Bay detainee Ruhal Ahmed reflects on his experiences, like high-volume music interrogations. Stunning, eerie visuals.

Splitting the Atom (Round Two) Except this time it's about Bullfighting. Proof that you can affix this music to essentially any image and leave the audience residually unsettled (and that's why we love them so!)

Last but not least: Atlas Air Live from Russia with love.

Apparently the song is named after an airline company that sold out to the US military after going bankrupt by transporting supplies to war zones. My only source is some dude on YouTube, so take it with a grain or two.

Then again, in all honesty I don't even care what the song is about. The music this band produces transcends meaning. I'll bother with the allusive (/elusive) meanings of lyrics after I can comprehend the pure audio so uh... this might be a while.

: : : : : Buy the digital download, check out their tour listings, or find similar music

: : : : : Official Website: http://massiveattack.com/

Voodoo Day One- Justice & Eminem

Only good decisions are made between the hours of two and four and the morning. Like deciding to drop my weekend plans of being lame and studious for a six=hour roadtrip to VoodooFest in New Orleans.

We got into the actual park around 7:30, and literally RAN to the playstation stage so we could get a good spot for Justice. I was a little surprised to not see the big cross and epic speaker system set up that they'd had at Treasure Island, for a moment I thought we might have run to the wrong place. But sure enough, my boys Xavier and Gaspard strut out, looking ragged yet adorable with their long tangly locks and unshaven faces. They started out the set playing remixes of Across the Universe which pounded both eardrums and chest cavities with its "block rockin' beats." Pretty soon they'd abandoned their music and were toying with random beats and sirens. The rest of the show they spent sampling/remixing other sweet djs: Boys Noize, Chemical Brothers, Bloody Beetroots, Daft Punk represent! So in the end, it might not have been as fucking epic as Across the Universe, but it was crazy fun for a dj set.

Next up, Eminem. Floods of sixth grade memories and obsessions come rushing back- WHAT UP SLIM SHADY! Since he closed the night, the show turned out to be more of a music video than a festival set. Songs were separated by strange "personal" narrations, as if he was trying to add a bridge of stories. Honestly, I found it a little awkward. I just want to you RAP your ass off, Marshall, I don't want all that dramatized bullshit.

Drunk, happy, tired, cold and wet, we journey home- only to change into dry clothing and head back out for some steak po-boys and Harpoon IPA nightcaps.

I can't believe I've never been to New Orleans before.

This Must Be The Place- Miles Fisher

Miles Fisher - This Must Be The Place (Cover) from Miles Fisher on Vimeo.

A Talking Heads cover with an American Psycho music video?
I think I'm in love.

Download the EP for free on his site: http://milesfisher.com/

Beyond Wizard's Sleeve

Now that school is FINALLY done interfereing with my music stalking abilities: here's something I seem to have missed in the past months...

Apparently Erol Alkan and his buddy Richard Norris (aka Beyond the Wizard’s Sleeve) have putting out new albums without telling me! Unlike Erol's usual M.O. of high intensity club remix, this side-group demonstrates his mind-blowing electro skillz taken off into another direction: experimental electro trip-hop (or whaever). The use of audio reminds me of The Avalanches and Lemon Jelly, but past that it's hard to really tie them down to a genre. Too bad I found this after finals, it’s the perfect study music: interesting enough to keep you awake, but not so much that it’s distracting. The good ol’ interwebz has sponsored the first album- Ark 1 and a neat 2007 DJ set they did if anyone is interested. I'm still searching for the Re-Animation, their remix compilation album, so till I actually find it, I'll just post the tracklist to drool over:

01. The Chemical Brothers - Battle Scars (Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve Re-Animation)
02. Franz Ferdinand - Ulysses (Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve Re-Animation)
03. Late Of The Pier - The Bears Are Coming (Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve Re-Animation)
04. Peter, Bjorn And John feat. Victoria Bergman - Young Folks (Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve Re-Animation)
05. Tracey Thorn - Raise The Roof (Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve Re-Animation)
06. Badly Drawn Boy - Promises (Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve Re-Animation)
07. Goldfrapp - Happiness (Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve Re-Animation)
08. Midlake - Roscoe (Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve Re-Animation)
09. Dust Galaxy - Come Hear The Trumpets (Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve
Re-Animation)
10. Real Ones - Outlaw (Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve Re-Animation)
11. Simian Mobile Disco - Love (Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve Re-Animation)
12. Findlay Brown - Losing The Will To Survive (Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve Re-Animation)

update: posting links as I find them!

thanks to Feeder, Kumo, 

A Note to Unknownbrother81

Okay, so a million years ago I posted a youtube video called "Know your Dope Fiend" up on my blog. It featured a scene from the movie Halloween, a few audio clips from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas set to the user's own "industrial beat."

Know Your Dope Fiend

Awesome.

Anyhow, I decided to go back and stalk Mr. unknownbrother81 to see what else he's been up to- and came across some pretty pleasant surprises. I mean, if eerie techno beats are your thing...

Destroyer of Worlds

Described as "a tribute to the first atomic bomb." All audio comes from nuclear bomb test.

False Flag Assault: Another industrial beat matched with eerie, highly-saturated images of soldiers.

Perception: A scene from Jacob's Ladder & a synthesizer.

Dream State: Industrial beat, scattered audio.

Pull Out: Hip-hop beat. No images. Still pretty cool.

Anyway, posting all of these was my little internet wave of acknowledgement: "Hey, your stuff is cool. You should post some more."

The end.

Music Festivals, Schmusic Schmestivals

I still can't decide whether to spend my recently-earned kidney-money on Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, or ACL. I even made up an excel document to help me quantify pros and cons, but I'm still torn...

So, as a part of my hourly routine of procrastination (wow, I'm optimistic) I decided to put together my ideal lineups for the three festivals. (PS they're all free) 

Austin City Limits

Lollapalooza

Bonnaroo

Unfortunately, I cannot take all of the credit for the awesomeness of these "wrdlz":

First saw it @thiswebsite, 

got my lastfm info all text-ed up @thiswebsite, 

and had wordle do the rest of the work.

However, I can take all of the credit for the awesomeness in my music taste. haHA!

(My lastfm overall top artist's, 6 month rolling, and this week's music chart, respectively) 

Anyhow, there's always 2010, amirite? Get on it, music fest peeps!

update: yes, I expect Jimi to be there. Somehow.

nom nom electronica

Nothing much new this week.
Insert generic complaints about school, overall tiredness, strange weather etc. Every day brings a new excuse to skip classes, go to bed (or similar iterations: skip classes, catch up on work and skip classes, play outside) Something about Spring semester in general just pisses me off for no good reason. Probably the cumulative lack of sleep and proximity to summer.

But anyway, KNOW WHAT MAKES EVERYTHING ALL BETTER?
NEW MUSIC!
(and NEW MUSIC VIDEOS!)

Slagsmålsklubben
Cute swedish electro-pop group. Their sound is definitely reminiscent of old-school video/computer game music, and listening to it almost makes you feel 8-bit. Almost. Fun fact: Slagsmålsklubben means "fight club" in Swedish. Here's a cute techie interpretation of "Little Red Riding Hood" using their song "Sponsored by Destiny":

Slagsmålsklubben - Sponsored by destiny from Tomas Nilsson on Vimeo.

Röyksopp
Not a exactly a new band, but a new album! Hooray!
Junior was released online March 23, and Senior (a "more mature and introspective album") will be coming out some time later 2009. So be on the look-out! Till then, we can just replay the video for "Happy Up Here" over and over because Space Invaders rock.

Happy Up Here from Röyksopp on Vimeo.

Lemon Jelly
Sounds delicious, yea? WELL IT IS. And it's also super chill "trip-hop." Songs @ seeqpod. But since EVERYOTHERBAND I posted got a vimeo embed, I figure it's only fair to include one here: okay, so you know how people with too much time and Christmas spirit wire up their house's lights to flicker synchronized to the tune of a Trans Siberian Orchestra song? Well someone chose to use Lemon Jelly's "Space Walk" instead! Whatta trendsetter.

HD Version - Space Walk - Christmas Display from Richard Holdman on Vimeo.

N.A.S.A.
I hadn't heard of this group till they came out with a video for the song "Gifted" (which features Kanye West, Santogold, and Lykke Li). But a little last.fm background check proves them to be as fucking awesome as the vid implies. Basically, N.A.S.A. is the musical production two DJ's and their "international collective of musicians." Which translates to 'catchy melodies that transcend genre'. Nice.

N.A.S.A. - "Gifted" video from Anti Records on Vimeo.

MOAR @ myspace.

And a little musical sidenote from the ole' orifice:
If you're into the whole female-vocalist-acoustic-guitar thing, check out Jasmine Commerce. She's a coworker's friend from college, which is pretty cute and worth a mention. In other news, my boss's high school friends also started a band, and they're more my style. You might have heard of them....

I don't care for fancy things

Since I know you probably have better things to do with your lives than obsess over music blogs, I'll help spread the word. Merriweather Post Pavilion, Animal Collective's new album, leaked a few days ago. And it is beautiful (even beyond the trip-tastic album art.)

In all honesty, it's not my favorite album of theirs. At first I thought it was overly repetitive and, considering it's Animal Collective, tame. But second time around, it hit me. This album is repetitive in the same way that techno is repetitive: a certain acoustic elegance emerges from patterns and echoes. It allows you to focus in on various sounds by playing with slight variations in these patterns, and each time around the chorus you unravel different layers of sound. Or maybe I'm listening way too much into this (hey, I had to think of a way to justify my electrohouse obsessions somehow...) As for the album's "tame-ness," I guess I can appreciate a chill album every once in a while. BUT I EXPECT THE NEXT ONE TO BE OFF THE WALLS, MMKAY?

Anyway, in the end, who could turn down fiftyfour minutes of cheerful tinkling, ethereal reverberations, warm harmonies, and well... all of the other soundbyte goodies that come with an experimental-psychadelic-freakfolk-band? Not me, that's who.

Torrent link
MOAR Animal Collective

Treasure Island 2008

*melt*

Video: Justice remixes D.A.N.C.E.

This is a super cop-out post.
More eventually.

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.


SeeqPod - Playable Search

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.

SeeqPod - Playable Search

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.


SeeqPod - Playable Search


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.

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)]



SeeqPod - Playable Search
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)

One more time.

Today I decided it would be a good idea to walk out to my aunt's house. She was going to take me to lunch and a haircut, so I figured I would do her a favor and save her the drive to campus. She lives in WestU, so it was really the perfect plan- I could make a pit stop in the Village for a Jamba Juice refueling (or rather, my daily fix), pick up a book I ordered at the WestU library (Kings of Methlehem... I hope it's as cahrazy as it sounds), and then meet her with time to spare. Halfway there, she calls me asking where I want to be picked up, to which I gleefully respond, "Don't worry about it! I'm walking over so I'll probably be there in about twenty minutes." She laughs for a bit and reminds me that she moved earlier this summer. Far away. Past 610. Which means I'm retarded and walking to the wrong house. Now that was a fun conversation. Though I have to say, the award for most awkward exchange of words goes to one we had later in the day:

Aunt: What's that red mark near your shoulder?
Me: What mark? Oh, err...it's from my bag. I always put too much stuff in it so it's really heavy.
Aunt: Ah, okay. I was worried for a moment. And what's that mark on your neck?
Me: Uhm...that's from my bag too. Sometimes I have to change up the way I wear it since it's so heavy...
Aunt: Hm, it looks more like a bruise.
Me: I bruise easily.
Aunt: On your neck?
Me: Wowlookattheclouds! Can you believe that it's looked like it was going to rain all day and it hasn't yet? Houston weather is so crazy.

In other news, I'm temporarily obsessing over Daft Punk. Again. I blame the viewing of Interstella 5555 (anime version of the album. So fucking good.) I went through Discovery on my walk to the house that is NOT my aunt's and it turned out to be surprisingly good background music. Especially for a journey leading nowhere. One more time. (Story of my fucking life, amirite?) The songs all set the perfect walking pace and I realized that the lyrics, though repetitive, shouldn't be discarded as just meaningless accompaniment to the pulsing melody. Music makes you feel so free. Don't stop. Let's just celebrate. You know you need it. Hey. I need it too. Allright. It's good for you.
One more time.


So yea, good day. I really enjoyed my walk. Found some gorgeous flowers (see pic above. I bet you thought I stole that off the inturwebz to add some color to this post, didn'tya? WELL I DIDN'T. Houston really is quite colorful when you stop and look around), really listened to a great soundtrack...

I guess even journeys to nowhere can end up being pretty meaningful if you let them.