i'm re-falling in love with portable music blasting directly into my ears. random selection ('zufaellige titel' as my deutsche-pod puts it) is the only way go. abandoning choice, let sapphic gods control my experience. following are the last ten picks. no complaints when it works out this well...
my bloody valentine - when you sleep high places - namer the beach boys - here today brian eno and david byrne - america is waiting cornelius - i hate hate fellini - rock europa arthur russell - in the light of the miracle disco inferno - the last dance ariel pink's haunted graffiti- interesting results primal scream - higher than the sun (a dub symphony in two parts)
as of 6/1, i'm addicted to photoshop cs4. i just started messing around with it, low expectations, and am finding out how to do some pretty fun things. it's the basics, ya, but i'm not looking to get much out of it.
It doesn't quite beat seeing Sir Jeff Goldblum at a screening of David Lynch's shittily collaged fiasco of a film, "Inland Empire," and it doesn't quite top being in the same room as David Lynch once even though I didn't see him, but I did see Miss Doris May Roberts at a swanky new dining establishment last week. Doris May Roberts is probably best known for her role as Ray's mother, Marie Barone, on Everybody Loves Raymond, a role for which she one between one and five Emmy Awards. She looks particularly fetching in this photo with what's-her-name from that steamy movie with Neve Campbell and a messd up marriage to the dude from Platoon whose dad is prez on "The West Wing." Ya...
My first forgotten-about-relisten-who-I'm-now-planning-on-seeing-in-concert-with-Deerhoof-in-May award goes to Cornelius...
check out this somewhat hilarious video... two of the twentieth century's greatest men of letters, gore vidal and william f. buckley, trading barbs at the 1968 democratic convention. vidal calls buckley a "crypto-Nazi" and buckley shoots back calling vidal a "queer." pretty amazing that two brilliant men could stoop so low...
(insert: quick obligatory "i haven't updated this blog in forever" comment..) i've been thinking lately about the quintessential challenges of our generation. among them, averting boredom, not caring so much about your favorite old band's new comeback, appreciating coffee from third world countries as much as wine from the south of france. seriously, the bouquet in my kenyan brew tells stories and complements my recent hangover better than your cab-sav/rack-o-lamb pairing. also, and perhaps most relevant to my current endeavors, is finding how to humanize our increasingly digital lives. shoutouts to my sci-fi-loving friends... musically, this means putting the soul back into drum machines. i don't pretend that this is a totally new idea, but it does seem to fit into the iGeneration plan. i'm completely stoked on a couple of bands that are increasingly successful at this: Animal Collective (always), Portishead, and one of my new favorite haunts, Tussle. if you can figure out how to get a hold of me, i'll give you samples of all three. there are plenty more, but those are the three on repeat. i think that if we are crafting a new genre of music it has to somehow sieze on this essential balance. intimately speaking, i think a lot of this success can be achieved by making relentless repetition something less than only meditative. check out the two album covers above, which effortlessly show how the beauty of repetition can be both a) incredibly organic and b) mind-altering. tip: view the second one at actual size for desired effect.
which reminds me, i've written about the importance of balance before, and it's fair to say that balance is as important in every facet of my own life as it is in nastia liukin's (we will never forget).
with that, here is a great track that exemplifies the blend of acoustic and digital elements to profoundly soulful success. just check out how seamlessly the twangy guitar plucking transmogrifies into hypnotic repetitive static synth line. listen to the rest of portishead's latest, third, for ten more beautiful examples.
Intricate Machines getting back in the Stu-stu-studio Collectivism New Tracks posted by PicturePlane (myspace.com/pictureplane listen to slang war) Coke Zero Eggdrop Top Ramen Friends starting new bands (check out vince, johann, and erik at myspace.com/furcastmusic) Repealing Proposition 8 Halloween 2009 The climactic ending to Karate Kid (1984) Going on vacation to Morro Bay
i've been pretty hooked on watching music videos lately. not that i haven't always been into them. i think i really want i/m/ to do a music video sooner than later.
don't dwindle on the good things you've had. everything good you've ever had you've either hurt or broken. this is probably not your fault, but through some impulse of wandering destiny you recognized another perspective on life. relax. in 20 years you'll probably realize that all concern was temporary. there are greater arcs of human emotion. be happy with a house or sugar.
my good friend and roommate general eric chao-dong just sent me this video. it's the most accessible use of circuit bending i've ever seen. check it out...
In moments of cynical backlash, I've considered anniversaries pretty arbitrary cause for celebration. The shifting of the tides aside, the turning of years offers little more than historical convenience. Regardless, it was 50 years ago this year that Miles Davis released 'Kind of Blue.' It's a landmark jazz album, and it's a bit amazing that it has maintained its relevance over such a long period of time. I don't need much of an excuse to revisit this one...
