terrigenus

on a bike ride to sausalito

2010-04-21T23:01:00.000-07:00

treepreciation #2

2010-04-18T14:35:00.000-07:00

Location: Fort Mason, SF

The Urban Forest Map launches this Wednesday, April 21, 2010. Their mission is to map every tree in San Francisco. The project recalls that omnipresent rose-out-of-concrete trope, but a bit less romantic. I'm working on contacting them for some advice on identifying trees like the leaning troglodyte pictured above. More on that to come...

BYOBW 2010

2010-04-18T13:49:00.001-07:00

easter sunday 2010, bring your own big wheel race

el matate!

no pain no gain

the starting line

hills for thrills

thank you sf for my new easter tradition

science goes here

2010-04-07T20:56:00.001-07:00

Noisebridge is a hackerspace in the Mission neighborhood of SF that I've been stopping by every once in a while for the past month or so. They define the term "hacker" broadly so as to include everybody who takes something, improves upon it, and then shares it with the community. Its the classic open source production model, or what some have referred to as the growing trend of commons-based production models. They basically liberate production from the constraints of, well... society... a "take your clothes off at the door" sort of approach to innovation.

I was there recently for a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) workshop, sponsored by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). More on that later, as I embark on a mission to discover who shot JFK and MLK, and in what California desert the 1969 moon landing actually took place.

Cheers!

Failed International Treaty #1

2010-04-05T16:12:00.001-07:00

(Image courtesy of NASA Archives).

One of the scariest and most unsettling notions for legal studies – and for society at large – is the discovery of a new frontier. Prospectors see opportunity in the wide open spaces, but someone else is sitting in a glass house watching their control of the universe dwindle and slip away. Cue the legislative trumpets! History has shown, though, that not even the collective minds of a select team of brilliant international superheroes can agree on the best way to own treacherous new waters.

Thus, we arrive at Failed International Treaty #1 (of a proposed series of 297) – the “Moon Treaty.” To affect some historical context, the agreement was considered and amended by a Legal Subcommittee of the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs(I bet that office has a inter-stellar cafeteria) from 1972-1979. Australia was the fifth country to sign the treaty in 1985, and as of 2008 a whopping 13 countries have signed the treaty. Kudos to Pakistan, Morocco, and Uruguay for stepping the fuck up. In principle, the treaty sounds great – the moon will never be used for anything but peaceful purposes, its resources are the property of all mankind rather than any single nation, disruption of the environment through “extra-environmental” means is prohibited, and sex in 0 G’s is not only allowed, but encouraged. Theoretically, weightless mating produces more free-willed offspring. Unfortunately for mankind, those principles are unlikely to make it out of the realm of theory and science fiction utopias.

So how did it fail? Well, no countries with a history of space-exploration have signed on. My guess is the United States thinks it owns the moon, just like it owns New England, Texas, and Iraq. Maybe a few of those exploration-savvy resisters are already in violation. Uh-oh! Thus, it is a failed treaty only in the sense that it has no direct relevance, consensus, or enforcement. I’ll let you know, though, that the day I own my own republic is the same day I sign line #14.

treepreciation

2010-04-05T10:06:00.001-07:00

tree, originally uploaded by imightexpl0de.

on the way somewhere... portlandia? point reyes? hoag's object?

cars are artifacts

2010-03-31T22:49:00.000-07:00

Sunlight in the weeds...I wish that I was blind...
to the ghosts dancing in the breeze...
blowing through my mind.
Got a Corvair in my yard. It hasn't run in fifteen years.
It's a home for the birds now. It's no longer a car.

Last night I dreamed that I was swimming in a sea.
Like always, with everything I went in too deep.
Got a Corvair in my yard. It hasn't run in fifteen years.
It's a home for the birds now. It's no longer...a car.

Got a simple friend out west, and in the blink of an eye,
I'd swap him straight, his life for mine...and never wonder "Why?".

three years in san francisco

2010-03-31T17:49:00.001-07:00

good friend katie just started this blog to reminisce about her three-year tenure in this truly unique city. a poignant denouement to three years well-lived.

i lived with her in the best apartment in san francisco for one year, and will miss her and jose even more than those infamous parties.

no touching!

2010-03-31T17:27:00.000-07:00

in an unfortunate twist of events in my unending search for new shoes, i liked these today. it's worth the zoom, but probably not the money. in other news, i'm still a broke-ass law student.

more cool shoes by common projects

wisdomatic

2010-03-29T23:22:00.001-07:00

this is an excerpt from an article on terry gross. not only does he kind of look like tim roth, he's about as cool.

guided by headphones

2009-08-25T13:50:00.000-07:00

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)

random image hosting

2009-07-02T15:26:00.000-07:00

threesix mafia

2009-06-24T14:59:00.000-07:00

this pic is pretty outdated. got to hang wit threesix and anna nicole smith lookalikes all night long.

manimal vinyl

2009-06-24T10:28:00.000-07:00

just did a little write-up on LA-locals label Manimal Vinyl for the tightrope crew. check it out here

new design

2009-06-23T13:23:00.001-07:00

photoshop is cool and all, but i wish i had illustrator

collagescope

2009-06-10T14:45:00.000-07:00

first experiments with cs4

2009-06-04T16:40:00.001-07:00

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.

man v nature

2009-03-03T14:26:00.001-08:00

i suck at updates

vidal v buckley

2009-01-30T21:18:00.000-08:00

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...

vision tricks

2009-01-13T19:05:00.001-08:00

focus

2009-01-05T16:07:00.000-08:00

(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.

The Rip - Portishead

TEN THINGS I'M CURRENTLY EXCITED ABOUT

2008-11-06T14:28:00.000-08:00

In reverse parabolic order...

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

join us

2008-10-25T03:28:00.001-07:00

join us

2008-10-25T03:28:00.000-07:00

bike gang

2008-10-16T00:56:00.000-07:00

callin all bloods if you're with me

707 circuit bent

2008-10-10T19:31:00.001-07:00

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...

Diabolical Modified TR707 from Meadows Ling on Vimeo.

50 YERES

2008-10-07T00:04:00.000-07:00

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...

Blue In Green - Miles Davis

Also, 50 years is a really long time.

back again

2008-10-01T17:29:00.000-07:00

it's been quite a while since last entry. i sorta can't believe i left enya a group of shitty enya videos as the top post for such a long time, but i guess the SF-->LA move really took it out of me for a while. it feels good to be back in LA and i'm brimming with energy and excitement for all the cool things that are about to happen and all the cool people to do things with. if you're reading this, i'm probably talking about you. on top of the geographic transition, i'm moving up in the world too. ya, i just got my first camera cellphone. none of this bogus iphone3g stuff. i don't need a gps system in my back pocket to tell me what street i live on. but the camera is cool, especially because film has been too expensive to develop and the replacement battery i bought in chinatown for my digital camera didn't fix any of its problems. so here are some photos from my cellphone... a few of them taken at some of the beautiful beach coves i visited in socal. for the record, northern california has its major perks, but the sun shines a lot brighter down south.

follow-up. i planned to transfer the photos to my computer using bluetooth, but my phone is not compatible with my computer. and it's not just because i don't have a mac. i'm a PC and sorta proud of it. so check out some gauzy folk tunes from portland instead.

Heavy Water / Id Rather Be Sleeping - Grouper

moving to LALALALA

2008-08-29T16:03:00.000-07:00

having some sensitive moments about leaving sf... nothing like some enya to really remind me that being emotional and sappy is for nerdz and wusses.

another one

2008-08-19T17:42:00.000-07:00

with aki... totally demo status...
Roses - I.M.

-lee

a view of things to come

2008-08-18T14:29:00.001-07:00

OH MY GOD

2008-08-14T15:44:00.001-07:00

currently listening to and loving:

Boredoms - Super Roots, Vol. 7
Cass McCombs - Not The Way
The Upsetters - Return of the Super Ape
M83 - Saturdays=Youth
Disco Inferno - The 5 EPs
Lucky Dragons - Dark Falcon (seriously so upset i missed this show at triple base the other night because i was at home watching the brolympics)

also, i love the old man at rooky ricardo's record shop at haight and fillmore. go in there and ask him about his private vault of mixes. he'll give you some hot and probably heavy mix of amazing girl doo-wop jams.

and, even though i don't have the new deerhunter because it's not released yet, definitely listen to "nothing ever happened." such a good track on such a good album... a little more straight-rock than cryptograms.

-lee

another

2008-08-14T15:15:00.000-07:00

this one is dedicated to the 6 billion people in the world who will never see this blog. and all the haterz in the world.

What Flood - I.M.

-lee

new i.m. demo

2008-08-12T21:58:00.000-07:00

been recording with aki up here in the bay, laying out some new tracks. feelin good!

02 Sisters Swim REFFF.wav - I.M.

umm friday

2008-07-23T23:47:00.000-07:00

rerax is on friday. friday july 25.

-lee

also

2008-07-23T15:31:00.000-07:00

don't forget that this saturday is RERAX at senor fish in little tokyo. that's downtown LA for the non-initiates. my band i.m. will be rocking from 1115-12, so come see some absolutely killer live music. i might even be wearing a skirt.. for the ladies..

-lee

revisiting oldish music

2008-07-23T15:19:00.000-07:00

i truly think this is one of the most overlooked records of the past few years. i love how he combines simple and beautiful melodies with the complex and dark lyrics. 'lionkiller' is one of my favorites because of its driving and droning feel. plus his lyrics are particularly engrossing. seriously, though, every track off of 'dropping the writ' is a potential favorite. literally, every track.

Lionkiller - Cass Mccombs

2008-07-22T12:22:00.000-07:00

IMPORTANT: YOU MUST RSVP at URB. com/events

Come out for a night of live music, dancing, drinking and art!

Live performances by Intricate Machines,

Intricate Machines, Rough Cuts and Surrender!

With DJ sets by DJ Original Bozak

then i realized this summer i've been neglecting the sun

2008-07-22T00:27:00.000-07:00

wow, i know this has been passed around a bit for a while, but it's still so good.

sex vid

2008-07-07T11:15:00.000-07:00

killed it last thursday. here's to all those people who've been talking shit on the internet..

http://www.dustedmagazine.com/features/700

-lee

why the internet is so cool...

2008-07-03T11:13:00.000-07:00

last night i got all sorts of new great music. close friends know i've been lezzing out on some late 70s disco. i got some great tunes from cerrone, peter cowley, and donna summer. oh and this old single by dinosaur called 'kiss me again.'

i'll be recreating the sex-driven drug-loaded NYC disco vibe this saturday night at El Rincon in the mission (minus the drugs). it's a pretty sleazy cuban food joint.. so think studio 54 minus the models and with tons of spicy tostadas. also, kontrol after hours party at the end up... should be a good night!

-lee

wish list??

2008-06-16T21:05:00.001-07:00

listen to... mothertongue

2008-06-16T20:34:00.000-07:00

lately i've been listening to the newest cd of compositions by nico muhly called 'mothertongue.' he's a contemporary classical composer but has also collaborated with a handful of more rock/indie-minded folk. it's easy to hear that muhly draws inspiration from a variety of sources. his sound sampling and analog electronics bring to mind work by john cage, and his trance-like repetitive textures reference some of the more abstract choral work of philip glass. at the same time, his ear for melody makes his compositions more contemporary than those oldies. he uses melody and texture that can be appreciated by anyone.

whatever, this stuff is blowing my mind. it's abstract and inspiring at the same time - original, yet totally familiar. do what you can to get a copy of it.

-lee

ariel pink - for kate i wait

2008-05-27T00:26:00.000-07:00

this is such a ridiculously awesome tribute to kate bush by ariel pink. the track rocks and so does the video...

kate bush bush bush

2008-05-27T00:22:00.000-07:00

workin lately

2008-05-06T15:21:00.000-07:00

despite being super busy with school and finishing up my first year of law school, i've been workin with the ol' I.M. folks and our friend aki did some rad work on our recordings. he makes us sound better than we are, which is appreciated by us in the I.M. camp. once school is done we're going to start thinking about how to package some cds so we can start giving them out to everyone who wants one. that means cheap packaging. luckily, i've stumbled across a couple of good ideas involving folded record sleeves and some simple printing. check out the new mixes at the I.M. myspace.

some new photos from around sf

2008-04-27T13:33:00.001-07:00

indian jewelry at hemlock

2008-04-25T12:42:00.000-07:00

so indian jewelry absolutely killed it last night. i bought a t-shirt and i never buy t-shirts. guys were super nice after the show, too. i found this video of them performing an abandoned mansion back around sxsw... someone was filming last night, so i'ma keep my ears and eyes open for that vid.

ps. should have smoked more peyote before excepter... i wasn't quite on their level...

looking like a good week

2008-04-21T17:11:00.000-07:00

awesome show this thursday at hemlock tavern: excepter and indian jewelry are going to rock that tiny back room. should be pretty spectacular. also, caribou and fuck buttons will do it up at the independent. i hope fuck buttons have enough bassy scuzzz to fill up that place. then sf locals mayyors will shred this friday at the hemlock as well. hemlock is turning out to be a pretty great spot. kudos to whoever does their booking. hopefully i can make it out to at least excepter and mayyors, but we'll see if the law rips me away again...

Ecstatic Sunshine

2008-03-05T16:16:00.000-08:00

Ecstatic Sunshine opened for White Williams at a free show at Studio B in Brooklyn Sunday, February 10. I'd only heard of them before, but was really impressed by the show. The setup was a guitarist, a guy on pedals on his knees, and a guy on pedals at a stand. When they were ready to start, the guitarist launched full force into lightning-speed guitar strumming, and dude on the floor entered a fervent rhythm of up and down bobbing while assumably twisting some knobs, although I couldn't exactly see from my spot on the floor. It was a really nice pedal-heavy, drawn out yet high speed wave of guitar noise, and the band's energy made it really electric and easy to enjoy.

When listening though, it might be necessary to take into account the fact that they are recently minus one guitarist, and so the sound differed at least somewhat from recordings I've heard. Maybe we'll start continue to hear the new sound of Ecstatic Sunshine in these days to come..

www.myspace.com/ecstaticsunshine

NO AGE Remix Holy Fuck!!

2008-02-18T15:28:00.001-08:00

This track just premiered over at pitchfork. Just reading the title put a smile on my face. Holy Fuck's "Lovely Allen" is notched somewhere down in the bottomless archives of this blog, and I've flaunted my respect for LA-locals Randy Randall and Dean Spunt (aka NO AGE) on more than one occasion. It's no real surprise that these two groups would be inclined to do a little collaboration. They both adhere to the same simple recipe - equal parts noise and unadulterated beauty, with dashes of distortion and reverb... For this track, Randall ramps up the cymbal crashes. They must have so much fun playing this stuff live. Even through a shitty pair of headphones you can feel the energy of late-night dank warehouses, where it's always cheap to get in the door and the cheap drinks fuel all that positive energy.

Check it the OG pitchfork post here.

Then do Holy Fuck some justice and check out their myspace, which has posts a slew of upcoming tour dates. Check out that upcoming date in SF, with JMC-admirers A Place to Bury Strangers, no less...

White Williams and the rest of Tigerbeat6 hit SF

2008-01-24T14:25:00.000-08:00

White Williams is playing Cafe du Nord this coming Saturday, along with Bridez and Eat Tapes. It should be an awesome show. White Williams is essentially Joe Williams out of Cleveland plus a backing band of a few. He recorded his latest album, Smoke over a period of a couple years while bouncing between SF, Cleveland, and NY. The album was released last year on the Tigerbeat6 label, and it's been a repeat player ever since. White Williams' pop sense is reminiscent of 70s-era Eno albums, before Eno got all into that space-y ambient tribal stuff.

Bridez and Eat Tapes are also on Tigerbeat6. These three groups typify Tigerbeat6's affinity for experimental pop/punk/electro groups. An eclectic mix, but the same spirit inspires all three acts..

White Williams, Eat Tapes, and Bridez @ Cafe du Nord, SF.

For the meantime, check out www.myspace.com/whitewilliams

blood on the wall

2008-01-23T20:29:00.000-08:00

remember Blood on the Wall's last album, Awesomer, from 2005 ? probably not, because it seems like little do (if so, high five), but it ripped, and so does this hugely underrated lo-fi rock band's new LP, Liferz. it seems like they might be garnering more buzz this time, and here is one of the stars off the new record, called Junkee...Julieee... :

fuck yeah. www.myspace.com/bloodonthewall

Dae Kim "Postcard" Video

2008-01-19T16:34:00.000-08:00

Dae Kim is simple shoegaze in "Postcard." Their myspace shows more of their garage-rock side. It also says they're out of Bordeaux, France. Maybe jaded expatriates? Who knows... The three songs posted there are pretty low-fi tracks - nice and simple. I'm a fan of what they can bring to the table with a little higher production value, though. The little electronic blips and fuzz are used sparingly and effectively. Otherwise, the vocals really stand out in this track with heavy reverb and subtle but consistent harmonies. The video itself has a few of its own tricks. I dig the slow-motion shots of them playing in the living room, and that view of the ocean is shot with really cool light. The video adds context to the simple lyrics, and pretty much captures the washed-out mood of the whole song. Smile!

A Place to Bury Strangers at Death by Audio

2008-01-19T16:28:00.000-08:00

A Place to Bury Strangers, the self-proclaimed loudest band in New York, played a show a few nights ago at Death by Audio, a janky, unmarked Williamsburg warehouse which is home to a practice space, audio pedal workshop, and small stage. The show was recorded for an upcoming live LP, and the band played through their first album from start to finish. I kind of freaked because i forgot to bring earplugs and was anticipating leaving the venue completely deaf, but the sound must have been subdued as it had been when I saw them in LA, because I didnt notice any blood trickling out of my ears. The show was good, no exceptional performance, but im always kind of amazed that the sound they make is actually coming from a guitar, bass and drums, just with super heavy pedals. i took a bunch of photos at the show, so click the photo below for the gallery..

if you dont know APTBS, id say think jesus & mary chain my bloody valentine industrial shoegaze.

http://www.myspace.com/aplacetoburystrangers

Abe Vigoda!!!

2008-01-08T14:19:00.001-08:00

Recognition for this band is overdue... "Dead City/Waste Wilderness" is my latest fix. The song rips through riff after riff after riff, and it's so poppy and bright and energetic. It captures the good vibes of local LA joint The Smell, which has remade LA into a center for new experimental punk music. Check out the New Yorker article on The Smell and Abe Vigoda-pals No Age here. Anyway, Abe Vigoda rocks off socks, so check out this jam...

Then check out their blog of bizarre random photos if you really have some free time on your hands.

some older pictures

2008-01-07T14:52:00.000-08:00

we played a show a bit ago at the treehouse in los angeles. daniel berkman of rough cuts also played a pleasant set of tunes. a lot of friends showed up for a good time. here are some quality pics taken by our friend ian rios...

and so it goes

2008-01-07T14:18:00.000-08:00

so much for a day-by-day log of the recording process. we've been recording track by track, and it's been a very tedious but rewarding process. after spending five full consecutive days in the "studio," we have the basic groundwork for nearly seven new jams. some are a bit more rockin' and dance-able than others, but there's definitely a dose of melancholic drone that will transport you to other planets. each day leaves me pretty exhausted, and there's plenty of work to be done. needless to say, it's not necessarily the booze-trip whore-fest i expected it to be... i think that happens once we land the opening slot for the whitesnake reunion tour. i'll try and post some pics of the neighborhood we recorded in. it was pretty atmospheric. there were so many signs of life - houses, cars, shopping centers - but there were no people to be seen anywhere. just a bizarre, silent ghost-town vibe. the sky was perpetually gray, except for a brief period when a patch of teal space pierced through the thundering clouds. my feeling is that these surroundings influenced much of the recording process...

things i'm listening to...
50s/60s motown (the supremes, the isley brothers, vandelles, etc.) - this stuff still has such a fresh production style. it's upbeat and simple, but i dig the positive vibes.

talking heads "fear of music" - t-rock recently bought me this vinyl, and it has many of the major talking heads hits on it. you can always count on these guys for an instantly catchy groove.

king khan and the shrines "what is?!" - saw these guys at 12 galaxies in sf and was blown away. such fun summer jams, with bitingly witty lyrical twists.

as i continue to plunder the jewels of music's past, the recording continues. at least some of these tracks will be posted sooner than later.

-guido.

wiz khalifa

2008-01-07T08:14:00.000-08:00

it must be a year since ive posted to this blog, but being at home lends to more free time, and this song is too jamming to pass up. this is a DJ Howlermonkey remix of Wiz Khalifa's Youngin On His Grind. i havent heard the original, nor do i know anything about either of these two artists apart from what i read on pitchfork this morning, but the remix has this kind of simultaneously futuristic- and 80s-sounding beat made up of synths and drum machine and bass funk, all of which fit startlingly well with Khalifa's crisp, fresh vocals.

and you can cop the mp3 here

IM begin recording in friend's bedroom, day 1

2008-01-03T10:28:00.000-08:00

This post begins a short journal while IM is together to record for an upcoming 10-disc box set of their greatest hits. Should be fun!

Our New Years festivities were pretty massive although we were all separated by the time the ball finally dropped. I spent the last moments of 2007 in front of a liquor store chatting with a bunch of friends and some homeless guys. When I finally decided to make the long trek back to Lee's place I was chased there by two dudes with knives. Not exactly what I was hoping for in the first hour of the new year but I guess you gotta take what you can get.
Yesterday was the first day of actual recording in the studio and things went really well. It's hard to know what to expect when you first get started. We have been planning and thinking so much about this record and now it's time to just let go and let it happen. Now it's time for round 2. We'll let you know how that goes.

t

road trip playlist
Grizzly Bear
Of Montreal
Liars
Lil Wayne
Deerhunter
Betty Davis
Art Blakey
Dirty Projectors
The Talking Heads
Beirut
The Good, The Bad and The Queen
Interpol
The Clash

All I want for Christmas is Excepter

2007-12-15T14:48:00.000-08:00

In honor of the coming holiday, Excepter is bringing the holiday 'dreer' with their take on the time-honored classic "Little Drummer Boy." Perhaps a more accurate take on the holiday season than the famed original, Excepter's track finds the six-member Brooklyn noise troupe demonstrating their affinity for monotonous vocals and old-western twangy drones. The track is free for download from Excepter's myspace and I'll post it for download here as well.. eventually...

panda bear talks about the ten best things he did this year

2007-12-14T15:31:00.000-08:00

Noah Lennox, AKA Panda Bear, talked to pitchforkmedia about his 10 favorite things of 2007...

"
Bleza
In March my friends Nelson and Pedro set up a show for me in Lisbon at an old African music disco called Bleza. The people who ran the club were very nice and seemed pleased at the end of the night, and that always makes me feel good about how things went. Also some people came from far away (Latvia, I think) to see the show and brought me flowers bunched with leaves and carrots. I wound up giving the carrots and leaves to a man who worked at the place, and he was saying he was going to make them in a soup the next day, and I figured that was a much better use for them than if I had taken them home.

Pantha du Prince: This Bliss
While we were mixing the album I got really into these jams. Sometimes when I was listening I would feel things very strongly, and I liked that about the music. We met Hendrik (who's Pantha du Prince) when we played in Paris and he was awesome. A little later on in the night I accidentally spilled most of a small glass of water on his girlfriend and felt really stupid about that, but I dont think it did any harm in the end. Even later me and Bresson and Dave DJed at another club and Hendrik fell a little bit on a low seated broken stool, but he was all right.

Practice Week
In May Animal Collective toured for three weeks or so around the US to a bunch of cities that we hadn't been to before, mostly because they weren't on the easiest (and quickest) route around the country. Because we had just finished the album and because we had spent the last two or so years playing the Strawberry Jams, we wanted to get about a set's worth of new songs together for the tour. Even though it was a lot to do in a little time we still had fun doing it (got goofy often) and it came together pretty easy and surely.

John Maus: don't know the title yet
John had sent the songs for his new album a while before but it took a bit before I heard them. We were on tour (there was a lot of it) in France and were out driving in the rain near a coast and it was in the morning time. Whenever I hear these songs I feel some of that, I think, and I like it. There's a lot of attention in the songs and they feel soaked, and I'm into that for sure. I like the details, like the way the bass bounces with the delayed floor tom sound on one song, and the way the synth sounds pulse with the drums on the last part of another, and there's intense energies all over. I don't think this album is out just yet, but I'm pretty sure I've listened to these songs more than any others this year, I should say.

Tour Soldiering
We had some tough times on tour this year and some bad things happened, but I'm pretty sure that's par for the course for any touring band so I don't mean to complain at all. We played more times this year than any other, too, so we should have expected to hit some roughness. But I feel good about how we dealt with the problems and how we didn't let them mess us up too bad or get us down too much. We gave a very bad performance one night and I think I felt lamer that night than any other this year, and all I wanted to do was to try and play all right the next night. And the next night was all right and the shows on the tour after that were all right, too, and I'm happy that we just kept going and kept doing our best. I suppose this is where the skateboarding analogy (down below) holds up for me. Also there were some intense sick times on tour. Brad and I both got it bad in Europe the first time but we kept going and got better. I don't think I aced every one of those performances (I'd have to stop and gag every other song or so) but I did my best and I'm happy with that. Then more recently Dave got really ill and held on for as long as he could, but it became very clear one night that he couldn't make it happen. We were already at the club and Brian and I figured we could play something and we could play some sort of show so we did. I feel good about how we tried to make the best out of any situation this past year as far as the touring goes, and I won't feel bad about the decisions we made. I'd like to have that attitude always with just about everything.

Enjoi Video
I really like to skateboard even though I'm no good at it, and I really like to watch skateboard videos. Lots of times on airplanes or in airports I'll watch them or in the van or whenever, just to calm down. Something about the motion and the fluidness of it calms me and makes me feel good. When they're really good it seems like magic and it's like watching something that's impossible, and watching those impossible moves over and over again is very satisfying for me. I like to see sometimes what it took to get to the finished performance, like, all the falls and things like that. It's often pretty brutal but I think it's the really going for it, and going for it in your own way with your own style, that I find so attractive. The going for it and the trying to make impossible magic is what I'd like to be aiming for with music always, even though that sounds out there. I've been thinking about a lot of similarities between professional skateboarders and professional musicians lately, so perhaps this is all just on my mind. But the Enjoi "Bag of Suck" video is the one I watched more than any other this year, and it's the one I'd return to the most for sure. I like every part of it, but for different reasons I would say, and some of the parts I didn't like at first, but now they're my favorite, and that's always a good sign, I'd say.

Burial: Untrue
I really liked the first album and this one is more of the same but prettier and with more voices. I think of ghosts when I hear the music and I like that sensation. I really like how he (or she, I suppose, I really don't know) does things with the voices and how they're twisted around and high and then low. Also I'm really into how metallic all the sounds are and how sharp things are, and I like how deep it is and how dreamy. I like the simplicity of the words and the small repeated phrases all the time. I feel like this sort of thing is right up my way on many levels, if you know what I mean, so this is kind of a no-brainer if you've known me for a bit. Lots of people I've talked to who are into all the dubstep music don't really like this at all and say it's not dubstep and that's OK. I suppose I don't really care what it is; I just like it a lot.

Black Dice: "Kokomo" Song and Video
Black Dice are one of my favorite bands, for sure, and I've known them for a while. They took Animal Collective on our first tour and I feel like I learned so much just by watching how they did things and how they treated their situations. I saw this video on the internet while we were away and was so psyched and got really pumped to hear the album, although I haven't just yet. It's kind of a sensory overload, but all the images and the way they are put together are so pleasing that it feels really good to see it, and there's some funny parts in there and I always like that kind of thing so long as it's not overblown or over the top if you know what I mean.

Skateboarding in Lisbon
My friend Randy (a Baltimore expat in Lisbon as well) and I went to two parks around Lisbon during the summer. He's very rarely around town and I haven't been around much this year either, so we had to get it when we could. We went to this one up in a wooded park called Monsanto with his bro from Germany. They're both much better skaters than I am, and so were all the kids that were at the park. I was probably older than any of the kids by at least a good eight years or so. I tried to drop in on a pretty tender slope right when we got there and pancaked when my wheels caught in some cut up wood. I put my hand down to break my fall and skinned it all up but I kept it near my body the rest of the time in shame so no one would see the blood. I'm hard pressed to say whether I felt lamer this day or the night of the really bad show (up above) but I had a really good time rolling around and jumping off a foot-high box for most of the day anyways. I'd say it's good to get slapped in the face every so often, and it's good to get hit hard. I ate more than a few slices of humble pie this year, but I imagine anyone could say that.

Hanging Out With My Family
I was away so much that it made the times at home with my family more intensely sweet. I'm at home now and if I'm not playing music or at the computer doing more business or organizational kinds of things then I'm most definitely doing family things. That's a lot of the time, I should say. I like the routines with the kid for sure and mentally it's like washing dishes all day and I like that, and I don't mean it in a bad way at all. There's no room for my mind to meander towards useless thoughts if you know what I mean. Being with my family-- especially this year because the family times were contrasted so heavily and so abruptly with the touring and away times-- fully tunes my mind to what matters and what doesn't matter to me."
(Courtesy of pitchforkmedia.com)

His record Person Pitch was definitely one of my top three records from last year (check out the last post...)

Oh, and the Black Dice stuff is great, too. They're signed to Animal Collective's label Paw Tracks, out of Brooklyn, the little bureau that could.

Expect more posts about the human condition and flying pigs in coming days...

PLUG: Independent Music Awards

2007-11-15T17:39:00.000-08:00

I took some time today to vote for the PLUG: Independent Music Awards. Overall, PLUG compiled a pretty nice (though somewhat expected) set of nominees. I don't know much about the contest, but it's a great opportunity for me to be unabashedly indulgent in professing some of my favorite music of the year, at least until this point. I'm still trying to get my ears on the new Six Organs record. Below are my picks, all of which should be implicitly recommended...

ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Panda Bear - Person Pitch.

I love this record on every possible level. The album, like the artwork, evokes refined sentiments of pop nostalgia, liberation from construct, etc. Panda Bear creates a world that is as humanistic as it is digitized and manipulated. It is simultaneously experimental and immediately approachable. I found it strange that the latest Animal Collective record is not a nominee in this category, and Panda Bear's solo record is. (To initiate the uninitiated, Panda Bear is an elemental member of Animal Collective.) I'm a big fan of both records, and my vote for Panda Bear is just as much an attempt to voice my unrelenting support of the equally amazing Animal Collective record.
I also felt compelled to vote for Battles' "Mirrored." On a conceptual level, this record bears many similarities to the Animal Collective's "Strawberry Jam." Both are refreshingly original approaches to pop music, though Battles' approach is decidedly more experimental in form and content.

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Deerhunter

They hardly seem new anymore, but I've been a fan of "Cryptograms" since my first listen, not to mention the more sensibly refined "Fluorescent Grey" EP. Battles loses because I don't think they're all that new, really. And I almost voted for them for best record. I also really wanted to vote for No Age. You know, to show some LA loyalty. But that record gets some love a little later on...

FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Sally Shapiro

I got really into Itali-disco because of this record. I've read, though, that most credit for the beats go to some unknown dude she works with, and that she only writes the lyrics. So maybe she shouldn't get all the cred, and maybe I should have voted for Annie Clark (St. Vincent) because she's super cute and she actually rips on guitar.

MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Jens Lekman

Hands down. He gets a big push because I just saw him in concert last week at Bimbo's 365 Club in SF, and it was amazing. I spared Noah Lennox a vote, because I already hit him up earlier. Ya, I'm trying to diversify.

INDIE ROCK ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam

So the categories are appearing more arbitrary, and at this point I'm just going with my gut. I also dug the Sunset Rubdown record.

AMERICANA ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Angels of Light - We Are Him

WTF? Is Americana a fancy word for 'folk'? The Angels of Light record is great, and this gives me the chance to put in a word for Akron/Family, who backed up Michael Gira on the record. Also gets the prize for most.. umm.. thought provoking album art...

METAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Om - Pilgrimage

I rarely scout "metal" tracks, but I've been listening to this a bit lately, and it's pretty good.

PUNK ALBUM OF THE YEAR: No Age - Weirdo Rippers

This record is great. I'm a big fan, though not as big as some... cough cough wink. It's hard poignant noise/punk, and watching this band develop over the past year and a half has been entertaining and rewarding. They're the leaders in my book of this new-ish LA scene, which is also shooting bands like Mika Miko and HEALTH to new levels of notoriety. As a side-note, I also really enjoy the Black Lips record.

ELECTRONIC/DANCE ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Justice - (Cross)
This category was really tough, partially because I largely don't give a shit. I'd rather just vote for the DJ category... That said, I can't deny all the good times I've had dancing it out to the Justice record. As a caveat, I'm thoroughly sick of it, and don't find it particularly gratifying anymore. Maybe I should have voted for the lush and hypnotic The Field's "From Here We Go Sublime." I'm also not that interested in calling the Caribou record electronic/dance music, though I like it a lot as well.

DJ ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Ricardo Villalobos - Fabric 36.

I love the general vibe of this record. It's equal parts ambient, dub, minimal, and world. It's a continuously rewarding listen. Shout out to Lil Weezy, a very recent favorite...

AVANT ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Dirty Projectors - Rise Above

I thought I already covered this category like six times previously, but I'll jump at the opportunity to cast my Dirty Projectors love into the blogosphere. This is definitely one of my favorite records of the year, for its sheer musicality and the utterly brilliant use of the most organic of all instruments - the human voice. Dave Longstreth's voice is one of the most original voices I've heard in a long time, and he is complimented to great effect by two enormously talented fems. Ya, and the album is a reconfiguration of Black Flag's "Damaged," composed from memory. Eric Copeland's "Hermaphrodite" is also a really great listen, if you're into a lot of everything all at once and on hyper repeat.

Other votes:
LIVE ACT OF THE YEAR: Animal Collective. I haven't seen all the nom's in concert, but the Animal Collective show at the Fillmore was better than a snooz button.

MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR: Bat for Lashes, "What's a Girl To Do?"
Tres creepy. Check that one out...

MUSIC WEBSITE OF THE YEAR: elbo.ws. Somehow, terrigenus escaped a nomination... Elbo is a great resource, though, for making the internet just a little smaller and more easily navigable.

ONLINE RADIO STATION OF THE YEAR: KCRW, because I still love it. KEXP is a more recent favorite.

That's it! Go vote for yourself at www.plugawards.com.

'Fuck' Bands

2007-11-14T13:57:00.000-08:00

I was going to delve into a pro-first amendment tirade, but what the hell, maybe Tipper Gore was on to something. I mean, what's with youth today? A bunch of fuckers, if you ask me. And now it appears that the 'in' thing these days is to embrace this fuckitude. It's like attitude but with fucking involved. Both Fuck Buttons and Holy Fuck are purveyors of extremely loud, electronic-based music.

And I fucking like it. I like my fuck bands loud and hard and intense. Just like, you know...

Fuck Buttons has a mesmerizing website at www.fuckbuttons.co.uk...

Holy Fuck is Canadian, just released a new LP called 'LP', and rose to notoriety backing up Beans...

The Holy Fuck song reminds me of the last time I rode my bike on the moon.

new music from im

2007-11-02T09:18:00.000-07:00

so, the band is working on its epic eponymous debut every day. we have commissioned a 90-piece orchestra and a gaggle of italian opera virtuosos. it should be bigger than the moon landing and thriller combined. SIKE! anyway, here are a couple versions of a new-ish song that's been floating around. the first is me on a mandolin, recorded on a friend's computer (yo frooz) during some late drunken binge.

the second is a tasteful re-working of the tune from daniel landau. he plays around with the chord progression to great effect. it's a slick jazz-tinged version. kudos, daniel.

poupee de cire, poupee de son

2007-11-01T22:55:00.000-07:00

cool random old video of france gall singing a serge gainsbourg tune for the 1965 eurovision contest. the song won. too bad eurovision hasn't caught on over here yet. it's basically like a war between every country in europe, except instead of bombs they sing songs. and no one dies. wow, music really is the vehicle of peace.

stick a needle in my eye...

2007-10-28T17:47:00.000-07:00

Just read that Ariel Pink is on tour with Cass McCombs right now... It seems like a great pairing. Both genre stylists have that vague punk edge despite their more melodic tendencies. Cass McCombs has been a favorite for a while now. He's had a couple of great albums out there from years back. Lyrically dense, harmonically sound, simple tunes. "What isn't nature" is prime example of what I like so much about Cass McCombs... The song's simplistic, repetitive structure evokes an appealing, somewhat nihilistic, philosophical stance. I can't figure out many of the verse lyrics, but I'm pretty sure he's explaining who killed JFK and redefining the theory of relativity. In other places, McCombs tackles subjects in mythology and the spiritual universe. Oh no, am I raising just another singer-songwriter to demigod status? What, you say he doesn't deserve a gold-plated pedestal? Maybe not. I wish I was going to the show, though.

Check out his new CD before it hits the shelves at a Starbucks near you.

ariel pink - interesting results

2007-10-25T16:01:00.001-07:00

this track is really cool. ariel pink has been around for a while now. i saw him a while back when he opened for grizzly bear at spaceland. i thought his live show sucked, and he was a prick. i bought one of his self-made, one-of-a-kind t-shirts because i thought it was cool and had to talk him down from an asking price of $75 to $15. it wasn't that hard... also, the shirt is pretty weak. i must have been drunk. and it was dark. and this hot girl behind the counter with subtle arm tats told me it would look good on me.

anyway, the guy has a whole lot of really cool tapes that sound like he recorded them live with a full band in a bathroom. i just stumbled on this one the other day. i'm pretty sure he's signed to animal collective's label paw tracks. he manages a lot with this track. the production style is really cool.. it sounds like he's working with an analog 8-track to give it that late-60s/early 70s sound. his deadpan vocals flow in the same lyrical vein as jonathan richman. but where richman obviates his irony and cynicism, ariel pink cloaks it with meta-narrative. and that driving funk beat. the vamp at the end makes me tap my foot. i rarely tap my foot. cool track. listen up...

the desk-sitter's privilege

2007-10-25T00:18:00.000-07:00

every time i close my door, i sit at my desk, facing the door. every time i close my door, after thirty seconds it eases open, because it won't stay shut. my door won't stay shut because it is slightly too large for its frame. i almost asked the workers to shave it down, slightly, but i forgot. i forget every time because it really doesn't bother me much. except when i sit down at my desk and it eases open, unexpectedly, every time.

the wind-tunnel effect

2007-10-22T16:14:00.000-07:00

related to, but distinguishable from the aforementioned song-sound dialectic, this is the result of being repeatedly slapped in the face by mass media and other meaningless catch-phrases, in addition to the abstract consequence of spam, pop-ups, and non-mahalo-generated web searches. the wind-tunnel effect is akin to standing in a large cylindrical room surrounded by ten large speakers which play a different form of sound for a matter of seconds before they alternate and one stops when another begins, for example it all begins with this group of twenty kids laughing really loud and having fun but then it switches to the sound of a bomb exploding and the transition is so seamless that it sounds like it never switched, except in reality the transition is one where the mixed sounds don't gain or lose meaning through some trite juxtaposition. or like having the small end of a huge funnel stuck down your throat and this old italian grandma shoves some food in there and then an old greek grandma shoves some food in there and then some old grandma of another nationality gets up there and does the same thing until every type of food has been shoved down your throat and it all tastes so good because only grandmas cooked it. or like having your eyes peeled open all kubrick style and watching the best scenes from every best movie ever made but only the best scenes so they are totally out of context and you don't know what they mean but they are so beautiful and painful and sublime like standing on top of a cliff and feeling like you're about to fall. and it's so good that you almost cry but you don't because the aura evolves so fast that you forgot what you were feeling five minutes ago or thirty seconds ago, and time has become a series of tiny pin pricks coming at you from all directions. and then at the end of the day you realize that you've seen so much good stuff, and eaten so much good food, and heard so much rad shit, but you don't even know where it came from or what it means, but it was all so good and you want more and more and you want to be all of it at once, and in a way you are all of it at once, just like pinocchio was always somewhat human.

the song-sound dialectic

2007-10-22T15:56:00.000-07:00

the beginning of an exploration of pop music theory, pitting the best elements of song composition against the most unique forms of sound production, fusing the two with a force greater than the collision of opposite polarities, with the boomerang effect of a black-hole whipping you around and then making you forget everything that happened like those memory-erasers in men in black, and then your mind is blown like that ground mixture inside a sausage wrapper that tastes sooo good if you boil it and serve it with worcestershire sauce and maybe some grilled peppers and onions over egg noodles, and then, like, you spread some blueberry jam over all of it and it just doesn't make sense anymore but you still like it so much

Live Review of "In Rainbows"

2007-10-09T23:24:00.000-07:00

Right now, I'm pretty sure I'm the first person in the world to hear the new Radiohead album "In Rainbows." The only thing that is more certain than this is the influence that this record will have on the music world. I can say that even though I haven't heard the whole thing yet. I could have said that a week ago, too. After all, it's a Radiohead record, and it's already shaken up the music industry pretty substantially. The marketing/distribution scheme behind this record has been the subject of every major news stream since the band announced it only ten days ago. Already two tracks in, there's no doubt that this is a Radiohead record. First of all, Thom Yorke's voice is front and center, virtually unmanipulated, though unsurprisingly indecipherable. Then there's the unconventional metrical structures and the seamless blend of electronic and acoustic instrumentation that is a staple of Godrich's production on former Radiohead records. "Nude" is the fifth track on the record, but there is little that is naked about Godrich's lush production. The guitar picking of the following track, "Reckoner," immediately recalls earlier Radiohead "Knives Out." Yorke's voice is heavily layered. It's a chorus of Yorkes, and they all have that distinct falsetto warble. This is cool. The track takes its time, embellishing a repetitive guitar riff with layer after layer of strings and vocals. I've heard the essential elements of "Arpeggi" back when it was recorded at a live performance backed by flowing orchestral movements. This version throws in a beat and a looping guitar melody that almost stumbles over itself. Structurally, it is a more sound song, but I miss the unstable, spontaneous feeling of the leaked live recording. "Bodysnatchers" is a ripper of a song. This one will probably be fun to see live, and I bet Yorke will do that thing where he's all impulsively bouncing around the stage. There'll probably a light show, too...

Just like that, it's over. No epic denouement. Just an ending. I'm not sure what I expected from the record. Considering only the title and the graphic design preceding the record's release, I guess I expected a sonic blend of colors - something that maintained variety through the blending of separate and complimentary tonal qualities. After hearing the record, that's pretty arguable. The majority of the record has a constant mood. Above all, it sounds like a Radiohead record. Maybe that's a little disappointing. Granted, I've placed this band on a pretty high pedestal, but I don't think I'm wrong in expecting groundbreaking sounds from them. These expectations were supported last week when I first heard about how the band was going to release the record. In the end, though, it's a pretty unsurprising record. That's OK, I guess. It's still good. It's still fun to listen to. But it lacks the moments that made earlier Radiohead records so exciting - "gucci little piggy" moments, moments of pure undeniable beauty, moments like the chills I got in the first moments of "2+2=5." Maybe I'm too old to be surprised by anything this band does anymore. Or maybe the whole time I was expecting something unexpectable.

p.s. I still think Radiohead did something amazingly cool by releasing this record as they did. I shudder at the thought of saying anything less than stellar about them. But whatever. Maybe it's a grower...

dream machine

2007-09-23T16:13:00.000-07:00

It is an essential human impulse to apply abstractions to people/places/event for the sake of understanding ideologies inherent in the mundane or random. It is a practice that distinguishes human understanding. I fear sounding overtly anthropocentric with the observation, and perhaps it is ignorant of me to assume that dogs and cats are not speeding through life while carelessly pigeon-holing the external world for the sake of distilling the dangerous chaos around them. Living across from a hospital will make anyone aware of the chaos. So will an overly-sensitive smoke detector. It is reflected in the frequent sirens, the flashing red lights permeating the safe white-wall confines of my pantry of a living space. Perhaps this was the impulse behind my recent (cough) acquisition (cough) of the BBC Sound Effects Library, a forty-disc set consisting of random sounds, divided into categories like natural atmospheres and farm machinery. I think they're coming out with "CD 41: Sounds of Medieval Childbirth" next year. I can't wait...

(amateur graphic edited with Windows Paint application.)

SIKE! Anyway, the set offers an intimate sonic encounter with all of those noises that tend to invade the subconscious anyway. Fuck it.. the siren outside just isn't good enough. I need to have it blaring through my headphones. Currently I have the sound of a match being struck stuck in my head. It's a catchy mix. There's even a whole CD devoted to the miscellaneous sounds of Spain. I close my eyes and I'm stabbing a bull in the side with a sharp pole.

I'll leave you with this...
(Warning: It may be the most anti-climactic experience you've had in a while. The music is an excerpt from Terry Riley's "Rainbow in Curved Air.")

p.s. thanks to all visitors who came up this weekend. tecate light would not have been the same without you.

In Flatland & the Object's Bill of Rights

2007-05-18T22:33:00.000-07:00

"The Happiness of Objects" is the title of a new exhibit at the Sculpture Center in Queens, New York. The title is inspired from a book by W.J.T Mitchell entitled, "What Do Pictures Want? The Lives and Loves of Images." In it the author notes that "modern, rational, secular" people don't generally treat pictures like persons, yet "we always seem to be willing to make exceptions for special cases." The curator of the Sculpture Center took that concept and created an exhibition, where visitors, upon entering, receive "The Object's Bill of Rights" from which below, I've selected a few of those rights to share:

The Object has the right to many lovers
The Object has the right to fuse with other objects
The Object has the right to acknowledge its history of production
The Object has the right to be out of order
The Object has the right to define the terms of its exchange with other objects
The Object has the right to be gendered, non-gendered or hybrid
The Object has the right to create its own language
The Object has the right to a new identity
The Object has the right to free speech
Sign or design? That is the question of the object.

One particular work is a two-foot-wide, four-story transparent structure titled Flatland (2007) constructed by Ward Shelley (image below!). For twenty days, he and five artists live in a "two-dimensional space." Apparently, Flatland is streamed live online, accessible twenty-four hours a day at www.flatlandproject.com.

More about the exhibit:
http://www.sculpture-center.org/pe_hoo_des1.html

More of the Object's Bill of Rights:
http://www.sculpture-center.org/pe_hoo_des1.html

A blog of the Flatlanders:
http://flatlandproject.blogspot.com/

And finally, the project itself:

brad mehldau trio plays "exit music"

2007-05-02T19:19:00.000-07:00

sylvia plath reads "daddy"

2007-05-02T19:13:00.000-07:00

Plath's well-known poem, "Daddy," was published two years after her death in 1965. Text of the poem:

You do not do, you do not do
Any more, black shoe
In which I have lived like a foot
For thirty years, poor and white,
Barely daring to breathe or Achoo.

Daddy, I have had to kill you.
You died before I had time—-
Marble-heavy, a bag full of God,
Ghastly statue with one gray toe
Big as a Frisco seal

And a head in the freakish Atlantic
Where it pours bean green over blue
In the waters off the beautiful Nauset.
I used to pray to recover you.
Ach, du.

In the German tongue, in the Polish town
Scraped flat by the roller
Of wars, wars, wars.
But the name of the town is common.
My Polack friend

Says there are a dozen or two.
So I never could tell where you
Put your foot, your root,
I never could talk to you.
The tongue stuck in my jaw.

It stuck in a barb wire snare.
Ich, ich, ich, ich,
I could hardly speak.
I thought every German was you.
And the language obscene

An engine, an engine,
Chuffing me off like a Jew.
A Jew to Dachau, Auschwitz, Belsen.
I began to talk like a Jew.
I think I may well be a Jew.

The snows of the Tyrol, the clear beer of Vienna
Are not very pure or true.
With my gypsy ancestress and my weird luck
And my Taroc pack and my Taroc pack
I may be a bit of a Jew.

I have always been scared of you,
With your Luftwaffe, your gobbledygoo.
And your neat mustache
And your Aryan eye, bright blue.
Panzer-man, panzer-man, O You——

Not God but a swastika
So black no sky could squeak through.
Every woman adores a Fascist,
The boot in the face, the brute
Brute heart of a brute like you.

You stand at the blackboard, daddy,
In the picture I have of you,
A cleft in your chin instead of your foot
But no less a devil for that, no not
Any less the black man who

Bit my pretty red heart in two.
I was ten when they buried you.
At twenty I tried to die
And get back, back, back to you.
I thought even the bones would do.

But they pulled me out of the sack,
And they stuck me together with glue.
And then I knew what to do.
I made a model of you,
A man in black with a Meinkampf look

And a love of the rack and the screw.
And I said I do, I do.
So daddy, I'm finally through.
The black telephone's off at the root,
The voices just can't worm through.

If I've killed one man, I've killed two—-
The vampire who said he was you
And drank my blood for a year,
Seven years, if you want to know.
Daddy, you can lie back now.

There's a stake in your fat black heart
And the villagers never liked you.
They are dancing and stamping on you.
They always knew it was you.
Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I'm through.

punks not dead

2007-04-02T13:31:00.000-07:00

Punk rock blew up in the late 70s and early 80s with the Sex Pistols, the Clash, the Ramones, the Stilts, and about 30 other bands that unconformed through conformity and were established by their anti-establishment ideals. Raw music coupled with a DIY ethic and a ripped, torn, and mucusy aesthetic spawned legions of dark-eyed, died-haired followers. Not coincidentally, stock in Elmer's Glue soared for three years and a bunch of old grey-haired men on the Elmer's Board of Directors filled their suitcases with gold bricks. These bands and their seedy entourages spawned in the streets of Manchester and grew outward, new spawns riding the whip in the back alleys of Brooklyn and the Lower East Side. They were united by the unrelenting constant punk aesthetic, which was more ideological and philosophical than they gave themselves credit for. Sid Vicious spewed more vomit than rhetoric.

Punk rock still exists, but as an evolution of the form in which it originally appeared. Here are a couple of bands that are still slammin' it to the man...

The Black Lips

Deerhunter

both bands are from atlanta.

Clark - Herr Bar

2007-03-12T13:50:00.000-07:00

Another Clark song and another Clemens Kogler video, all in one. Click for video:

Clemens Kogler

Amateur

2007-02-26T23:22:00.000-08:00

He's from Larvik, Norway. He can't play drums or piano (though after watching this video, this modest claim would seem absurd since his unique style completely makes up for it).

http://www.myspace.com/lassegjertsen

Coalinga, CA

2007-02-21T22:53:00.000-08:00

Coalinga, CA might not sound like much. It's certainly not a place I had heard of or would even think to stop at. There are a few fast food chains for the hungry truckers, the 39.99 per person motels for the weary traveler and two competing gas chains. After my car slowed to a complete halt on a stretch of Interstate 5, AAA and circumstances out of my control led me here.

If my car’s timing belt hadn’t finally decided to deteriorate into nothingness in the middle of nowhere, I may have never stumbled upon:

It’s the only one of its kind in the area and the closest thing to any bit of culture for miles. Unless, of course, you count Hamid, from Iran, who works at the auto repair shop and his co-worker Kheru, from Tanzania. The latter is a pleasant old man full of sweet fortune cookie wisdom like: "A good companion on a long distance, is the short cut."

Of the many things that can happen to one in a bad string of events, always look on the bright side of life.

I recommend the Denny’s.

white flight!

2007-02-20T01:18:00.000-08:00

this video, this song, this guy... his name is justin roelofs. he was the guitarist/vocalist for alt-rock band the anniversary. it looks like he had a few tricks up his sleeve. vocal vibrations and rapid flash beats. enjoy.

white flight's debut EP, titled "white flight," was released in february 2006 on justin's own label, range life records...

Range Life Records: www.rangeliferecords.com
White Flight (on myspace): www.myspace.com/whiteflightsounds

clark - ted

2007-02-13T19:53:00.000-08:00

Video for Warp Records' Clark's Ted. Some detailed, disturbing insect-manipulation thanks to 1stAveMachine:

*armer

2007-02-05T13:51:00.000-08:00

Some grandiose paint pieces from friend Armer, click image to open in new window:

*armer's flickr: here (new window)

There is a concert in a cloud...

2007-02-01T00:11:00.000-08:00

"I’m getting too old for this," has only been an utterance of mine as of late and has generally never applied to concerts, until...

Imagine 250 people (mind you, really hip looking people) shrunk down to your knees and stuffed into a room. Half of this room just happens to be a restaurant/cafe and the other half occassionally serves as a concert venue... Wait a minute. Am I in someone’s attic and this is just another follow-up to Honey, I Shrunk the Scensters?

I miss the intimate concert experience. Back when Of Montreal was playing on campus in a dining hall and I wasn’t cramming my neck just to see Barnes in his infamous spandex. There couldn’t have been more than 40 people and the entry was 3 bucks.

It’s not that they didn’t deliver because the music was great. But I needed air, not people’s elbows poking at various parts of my body or the flamboyant dude next to me throwing his arms and shaking his ass as if he were the only one on that dancefloor and everybody was a hologram he could move through. I also didn’t need the girl in front of me to toss her pony tail, back and forth across my face as she tried to synchronize to the beat. Oh the mesh of a crowd that has become the OM fan club! Was it a joke that everytime Barnes took off an article of clothing that girl’s were screaming and fainting? Is he a new sex icon? (Admittedly, I can see the appeal!)

I sound like the Scrooge of Fun. Thinking back, I wonder why I suffered through those shows, sometimes on my tip-toes, sometimes feet firmly planted to hold my ground against the incessant moshers. This was the first show I've been to, where I didn't care enough to jump up to glimpse band member's limbs. I also ended up leaving my place behind The Tallest Student Here and going towards the back where the merchandise was, taking advantage of the free water (yes!) and I did dance back there! No shame in booty shaking when there's no one around you but the staff.

What I miss still exists. It usually happens at the beginning of any musician’s career. Perhaps they re-formed recently, like Hello, Goodbye and didn’t publicize their last concert till very late, so only 10 people showed up (though that's a shame because it was pretty damn good). Well guess what, there were couches and I could sit and stand as I please and not be in anyone’s way and I could suck in air freely like a fish out of water. They didn’t play their three-minute songs any less enthusiastically and afterwards I was invited to join them at a bar.

It’s not that I don’t like seeing people dancing, singing along and all that good fun, cause I do! But after the small superficial chit-chat before any show it becomes every man for himself and people forget how tall they are, how obstrusive their movements can be and that even if they fart, it still smells, but let’s just be a little more mature about it than point fingers and make faces!

Perhaps my expectations are becoming greater. I need to be blown away with something orginial everytime. So far it happened twice last year and coincidentally, it involved sitting.

A sample of Hello, Goodbye's (relatively) new CD can be found below. It's slightly complicated but I'm giving sendspace a chance.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/i9oixr
http://www.sendspace.com/file/p6q6s2
http://www.sendspace.com/file/np6rz3
http://www.sendspace.com/file/fsekde
http://www.sendspace.com/file/xpczqe

OOIOO

2007-01-29T21:04:00.000-08:00

Can't get much tougher than these four Japanese girls. Video from OOIOO, one of the side projects of the Boredoms, a "Japanoise" rock band from Osaka. OOIOO was founded by drummer/singer/trumpeter Yoshimi P-We, and yes, that's the Yoshimi from the Flaming Lips' album title.

Click for video:

Website: OOIOO

the rinpa eshidan

2007-01-25T13:55:00.000-08:00

The Rinpa Eshidan are a group of people brought together by a "common creative expression." And it's pretty awesome. The emphasis lies on the creative process itself, rather than the final product. The images themselves lack permanence. Like all good things in life, they are spontaneous and fleeting. Unless, that is, you make a video of that good thing, then it's all permanent again. I smell a contradiction...

For more cool Rinpa Eshidan videos, visit their website at:
www.rinpaeshidan.jp

air france

2007-01-24T10:47:00.000-08:00

Air France is a Swedish outfit whose ep 'On Trade Winds', according to their somewhat mysterious label Sincerely Yours, is a "romantic and brave attempt to track down reality in four acts." Proclaimed profundity aside, here's a link to their video for 'Beach Party'. In spite of the video's imagery of some swanky country club polo extravaganza, the song is a feel-good tropical jam with lyrical samplings of Lisa Stansfield's 'All Around The World', and for some reason I can't stop listening to it.

Click for video:

Snag the mp3 here: Air France - Beach Party
More videos from Air France: Here
Label: Sincerely Yours

Semanticist nightmare or dream?

2007-01-22T22:30:00.000-08:00

Excerpt from "Waiting for Godot"

Pozzo: Who are you?
Vladimir: Do you not recognize us?
Pozzo: I am blind.
Silence.
Estragon: Perhaps he can see into the future.
Vladimir: Since when?
Pozzo: I used to have wonderful sight - but are you friends?
Estragon: (laughing noisily). He wants to know if we are friends!
Vladimir: No, he means friends of his.
Estragon: Well?
Vladimir: We've proved we are, by helping him.
Estragon: Exactly. Would we have helped him if we weren't his friends?
Vladimir: Possibly.
Estragon: True.
Vladimir: Don't let's quibble about that now.
Pozzo: You are not highwaymen?
Estragon: Highwaymen! Do we look like highwaymen?
Vladimir: Damn it can't you see the man is blind!
Estragon: Damn it so he is. (Pause.) So he says.
Pozzo: Don't leave me!
Vladimir: No question of it.
Estragon: For the moment.
Pozzo: What time is it?
Vladimir: (inspecting the sky). Seven o' clock... eight o'clock...
Estragon: That depends what time of year it is.
Pozzo: Is it evening?
Silence. Vladimir and Estragon scrutinize the sunset.
Estragon: It's rising.
Vladimir: Impossible.
Estragon: Perhaps it's the dawn.
Vladimir: Don't be a fool. It's the west over there.
Estragon: How do you know?
Pozzo: (anguished). Is it evening?
Vladimir: Anyway it hasn't moved.
Estragon: I tell you it's rising.
Pozzo: Why don't you answer me?
Estragon: Give us a chance.

It goes on...

danish language

2007-01-21T11:06:00.000-08:00

some Norwegian humor:

le grand content

2007-01-20T10:33:00.000-08:00

Nice animation by Austrian art student Clemens Kogler:

[grә’fiti]

2007-01-18T00:46:00.000-08:00

There was an exhibit at the MOMA in San Diego a few years back. The piece was a video focusing on the subtle art form of buffing, or the process of removing graffiti with chemicals or by painting over it. An orange, plastic couch was positioned in the center of a white walled room for visitors. It was all as absurd as it sounds.

For those who thought that tagging was the only medium for graffiti:

Alexandre Órion; 27 years old, born in São Paulo, Brazil. He combines painting and photography in an amusing way.

For more:
http://www.alexandreorion.com/_orion.htm

here's the deal...

2007-01-17T20:06:00.000-08:00

our present world may be concisely characterized by its tendency toward hyperindividuality. it is becoming progressively easier for one's voice to be heard. with the aid of the internet, publishing is free. other formats of expression are becoming progressively easier as well. bands make studio recordings out of their own bathrooms. movies are being made on cellphones. technology is revolutionizing individuality... and a few other things. thus stated, we humbly add our "voices" to the pool, with the chance that somewhere out there, someone/something will be interested. as critics of music, books, society, and all other planetary going-ons, we hereby commit ourselves to posting anything of intrigue that has not already been reviewed or trodden on by the plethora of writers/musicians/journalists/bloggers before us or around us. as dim lights in an expanse of neon, we accept the task of shedding what little light we may have on the works (whether trivial, absurd, or grand) of our contemporaries... and maybe some of our own words here and there... also, as a reaction to the general favor for everything new, we will also consider cool shit from the past that should not be forgotten. like fads from the early 90s and 1870s porn. ladies, gentlemen, and everyone in-between, this is:

terrigenus - (Latin) indigenous, born from the earth, human being

day one.

2007-01-17T19:57:00.000-08:00

conception, 1/17/07.

terrigenus

on a bike ride to sausalito

treepreciation #2

BYOBW 2010

science goes here

Failed International Treaty #1

treepreciation

cars are artifacts

three years in san francisco

no touching!

wisdomatic

guided by headphones

random image hosting

threesix mafia

manimal vinyl

new design

collagescope

first experiments with cs4

man v nature

vidal v buckley

vision tricks

focus

TEN THINGS I'M CURRENTLY EXCITED ABOUT

more music videos

join us

join us

bike gang

707 circuit bent

50 YERES

back again

moving to LALALALA

another one

a view of things to come

OH MY GOD

another

new i.m. demo

umm friday

also

revisiting oldish music

then i realized this summer i've been neglecting the sun

sex vid

why the internet is so cool...

wish list??

listen to... mothertongue

ariel pink - for kate i wait

kate bush bush bush

workin lately

some new photos from around sf

indian jewelry at hemlock

looking like a good week

Ecstatic Sunshine

NO AGE Remix Holy Fuck!!

White Williams and the rest of Tigerbeat6 hit SF

blood on the wall

Dae Kim "Postcard" Video

A Place to Bury Strangers at Death by Audio

Abe Vigoda!!!

some older pictures

and so it goes

wiz khalifa

IM begin recording in friend's bedroom, day 1

All I want for Christmas is Excepter

panda bear talks about the ten best things he did this year

PLUG: Independent Music Awards

'Fuck' Bands

new music from im

poupee de cire, poupee de son

stick a needle in my eye...

ariel pink - interesting results

the desk-sitter's privilege

the wind-tunnel effect

the song-sound dialectic

Live Review of "In Rainbows"

dream machine

In Flatland & the Object's Bill of Rights

brad mehldau trio plays "exit music"

sylvia plath reads "daddy"

punks not dead

Clark - Herr Bar

Amateur