(remix) feat. Elevato

The Most Elevatonous Songs of 2011

2011-12-14T18:01:00.005-05:00

The Most Elevatonous Songs of 2011
The best arbitrary tie-riffic countup.

First, let's warm up:

Ok. As usual it was difficult because I don't really pick out "songs of the year" so much as "songs I most loved to throw on a playlist to play out loud". So it's more poppy, has more beats. The hooks more immediate. Less post-apocalyptic soundscapes with pitch-shifted children crying. Fewer reverb-drenched paeans to summery trees. The other common complication is that in a numbered position I tend to add in other songs by the same artist in the same place. This year I'm trying to make it a bit more interesting by adding some lyrics. So if you're okay with all that, enjoy!

Oh, and I added one of those Yahoo web players, so huge youtube embedded videos don't get in the way and you can listen easier.

1. Rihanna "We Found Love"
"we found love in a hopeless place" x100
One of my favorite forms of pop music. A dance beat set to melancholy. Hard to beat. It's probably a side-effect of watching Neon Genesis Evangelion and realizing apocalypse and pop are a great fit. Or according to the video, a bleak, poor, drug-addled British existence and upbeat dance music.

Little Dragon

2. Little Dragon "Ritual Union"
"… it drowns my feelings in the sea / then dried out over on the beach"
& "Shuffle A Dream"
"pick and choose if you want him / would you share? cause that's the deal, girl"
Yes, Swedes dominate the chart again. They're just too good at pop music. One thing I've been intrigued with in the past couple of years is seeing folks around my age who grew up with Mariah Carey and similar singers/pop stars showing their influence. Also "Shuffle A Dream" teaches you not to let someone who looks at rain steal your soul.

Cults

3. Cults "Abducted"
"He took my heart away and left me to bleed out, bleed out"
& "You Know What I Mean"
"And I can't sleep alone at night / Yeah, you know what I mean"
& "Never Saw the Point"
"I never saw the point in trying / Cause I would only let you down"
I definitely appreciated the cramming of hooks into the reverb.

4. SBTRKT feat. Drake & Little Dragon "Wildfire" remix
"I love em all, I just love me more"
Drake and Little Dragon make my favorite all-star remix of the year.

Joker and Jessie Ware

5. Joker feat. Jessie Ware "The Vision"
Jessie Ware has been a great presence for me this year (although "Nervous" came out last year). Check out her performances of this and last year's SBTRKT track "Nervous" in the Boiler Room on Youtube. While she is basically singing in front of a mixing board in a club, she tears it down. Joker provides an extra-hard Mega Man stage for Ms. Ware to navigate, which she does with grace.

Jay and Ye

6. Jay-Z & Kanye West "Otis"
Jay: "Photo shoot fresh, looking like wealth / I’m ’bout to call the paparazzi on myself"
Ye: "Lord, please let them accept the things they can’t change / And pray that all of their pain be champagne"
& "N***** in Paris" (NSFW)
The whole record is an odd victory lap for two people who've been taking victory laps for a while. The sheer amount of references to designer clothing is quite breathtaking. That s*** cray.

Azealia Banks

7. Azealia Banks "212" (NSFW)
I'll be honest and say that I did not hear this until year-end lists started to come around. Though it was first through a 'best videos' list. This lady is raw. Allegedly she comes from the same school as Nicki Minaj. I'm sure she won't disappoint by putting out an R&B album.

8. Beyoncé "Countdown"
She had me from the moment she yells "killing me softly".

9. Wild Flag "Electric Band" / "Romance"

10. Charli XCX "Nuclear Seasons"
& "Stay Away"
I really wish I could roller skate to "Nuclear Seasons".

11. Gang Gang Dance "Mindkilla"
A Street Fighter II stage featuring a mutant witch.

Ronika

12. Ronika "Forget Yourself" / "Wiyoo"
There are a lot of nostalgic synth tunes out there today, but Ronika puts out some genuine jams. I feel no affectation here. This is not to discount her other singles this year: "Only Only" and "In the City", which are also jams.

Lil Wayne and lasagna

13. Lil Wayne "6 Foot 7 Foot" (NSFW)
"Real G's move in silence like lasagna"
Weezy sounds like he was having fun here and I had fun listening to that. I just wish the playfulness and inventiveness spread to the rest of C4.

Nadia Oh

14. Nadia Oh "Taking Over the Dancefloor (Kate Middleton)" / "No Bueno"

We Swagging-ton. Warning: if you have not heard this before, you might hate it at first. Just give it a chance. It's easier to start with the shorter-length video versions of these songs, they're still entertaining and gives you a sense of what's going on without a full moombahton workout with all the squawks. You could get annoyed or you can dance. Here:

And as Popjustice says for "Taking Over the Dancefloor", there is much joy in the way she rhymes "moombahton", "Don Julio Patron", and "Kate Middleton". "No Bueno" has a bit more pop immediacy, with the autotune set to a less strangled modulation. That boy was just no bueno.

15. M83 "Midnight City"
An instant classic.

16. Grimes "Vanessa" / "Oblivion"
I love that her single is called "Vanessa" and in the video she looks like Denise and sings like Rudy. I love her story that she has basically been learning how to make music from album to album while having an ear for tunes and again hearkening back to Mariah Carey. Now she's putting out some amazing singles. "Oblivion" is the teaser for her full length album coming out next year.

17. Washed Out "Amor Fati"
Makes you want to put on tinted sunglasses and ride somewhere with waves. The man knows his aesthetic.

18. Cut Copy "Need You Now"
A slow-burning Cut Copy epic.

19. Katy B "Broken Record"

Solid emotions-on-the-dancefloor tune. An aside: Last year, I included Katy B's "Lights On", and since then I've had some kind of weird change in my feelings on the album. There's no sense that there's anything sensual happening on the dance floor and even a song titled "Easy Please Me" is about dudes trying to waste her time. Which is a thing, I know, and you should feel great about dancing on the dancefloor on your own (such was the theme of my favorite song of last year). Going back to "Lights On", because I've seen so many movies/TV shows with unhappy couples using the threat of sex with the lights on (like with Jon Favreau in I Love You, Man) that I laugh whenever I hear her lyrics "you can't scare me with the lights on" (by which she meant she will not stop dancing even if the house lights go on because the club is closing). The End.

20. Yasmin "Finish Line" / "Light Up the World" ft Shy FX & Ms Dynamite
I love "Finish Line". Even if the subject matter is a bummer and it sounds like one of my poli sci professors keeps saying the title. "Light Up the World" was the drum & bass jam of 2011 that I was not expecting.

21. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart "Belong"
& "Heart in Your Heartbreak"
I do admit that the beginning of "Belong" provokes me to nod my head once at the brief guitar distortion + angst. I'm surprised that there wasn't already a song called "Heart in Your Heartbreak" but this sounds like how it would sound. Timeless is what I'm saying.

22. The Joy Formidable "Whirring" / "A Heavy Abacus"

I'm usually not really big into big emotions conveyed with this much earnestness, but the bigness of this band's sound makes it powerful.

Willy Moon

23. Willy Moon "I Wanna Be Your Man"
The sheer economy of this song is just amazing. I'm pretty sure all the percussion is a balloon being popped. I still have no idea what the deal is with this dynamic young man. I think 2012 will be more illuminating.

24. Dum Dum Girls "Coming Down

Sounds like Mazzy Star's "Fade Into You" but that is not a bad thing. I did hear this song soundtracking a scene in an episode of CSI. That is bad, but I can forgive.

25. Peaking Lights "All the Sun that Shines" / "Tiger Eyes (Laid Back)"
Nice, warm, dubby, psychedelic pop.

Kreayshawn

666. Kreayshawn "Gucci Gucci"
In spite of the backlash, I was entertained.

Best Duran Duran song of the year:
Girl Panic

The Most Slizzard, Elevato-nous Songs of 2010, it's Tie-riffic!

2011-01-31T12:58:00.010-05:00

Note: You need to give the page a little time to load. There's a lot of videos.
So many videos!

So yet again a list of songs to commemorate a year. Yet again really late. My songs tend to be poppy. Quietly devastating tripped out tracks with mournful sampled vocals do not make this list. This list of no authority whatsoever.

It starts at #1. There will be ties with other singles by the same artist. Making this list "tie-riffic". I'm indecisive. Don't worry about it. It seems to end at about #13, but continues on. Still, good choons.

But first, Lyrics of the year:

"Poppin bottles in the ice, like a blizzard,
When we drink we do it right, gettin slizzard,
Sippin sizzurp in my ride, like Three 6,
Now I’m feelin so fly like a G6"

And of course: Word of the year is: "Slizzard". I don't know how I lived without that word.

So....

1. Robyn: "Dancing on My Own"

& "Hang With Me"

& "Indestructable"

ROBYN 'INDESTRUCTIBLE' OFFICIAL VIDEO from Lucy McRae on Vimeo.

Robyn is a pop star that does not get pop star sales but releases some of the best pop music out there. (Go pick up Robyn, her self-titled album and 2010's Body Talk now if you haven't!). And by "pop" I mean that in the best possible sense. She is able to paint a scene that we can all identify with and celebrate. She makes you want to be in her corner. Which makes Pitchfork's assessment that she is the "Rocky Balboa of pop music" pretty apt. Particularly in "Dancing on My Own", a song about getting your heart broken in the club, alone in the corner, watching it all go down. She makes you want to throw up a fist or lighter in the air while singing the chorus.

It was tough, but it gets the slight edge in this three-way tie for #1. "Hang With Me" comes from a different perspective, advising someone that if they play their cards right, you can indeed hang with her. But don't go all crazy. "Indestructable" is coming from the other extreme from "Dancing", in a relationship that feels so strong that it invokes its title. The line "I'm gonna love you like I've never been hurt before" is pretty strong considering the tales of rejection, not-so-great-dudes, and unease with getting in deep relationship-wise. Anyway, it was tough picking out a #1 and then coming up with excuses for the ties, but Robyn paints a strong, compelling picture with these three singles forming a sort of story arc.

2. Big Boi: "Shutterbugg" featuring Cutty

& "General Patton"

Big Boi has had to deal with some crap in order to release his excellent album Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty but it was worth it. Yet again, I guess I don't understand the music-purchasing public. This record was seen as difficult art and not radio-friendly by his former record label. To me, the record was a well-produced lyrical showcase for Big Boi and incredibly accessible. The best of both worlds. Anyway. Shutterbugg was tough for me to place. It vied for the #1 spot. Killer verses, killer chorus, killer production by Scott Storch with the voicebox and all. "General Patton" is majestic. Which is a feeling I aped to soundtrack Chopper John MD.

3. Zola Jesus: "Night"

Again, this was tough. The rise of Zola Jesus has been great to see this year. This song chills me to the bone. With the backwards sampled voices that bookend the track and the distorted echoes of the bridge into the chorus, it's basically like you've been seduced by a ghost and you can't escape. The great thing about this song is that I think that's actually what this song is about. Nika Danilova's voice is wonderful and the goth-y backdrop is just perfect.

4. Crystal Castles: "Baptism"

& "Not in Love" (Platinum Blonde cover) featuring Robert Smith

Crystal Castles - Not In Love from Video Marsh on Vimeo.

& "Pap Smear"

Crystal Castles (II) was an album I listened to on repeat a ridiculous amount of times in 2010. My last.fm page registered the albums tracks at the top of my most-listened-to list. "Pap Smear" was my favorite song off the album but not released as a single. Still, "Baptism" showcases what was so great about the album. It exists at an oddly danceable intersection of abrasive and poppy. Having Robert Smith of the Cure sing Platinum Blonde's "Not in Love" is just a ridiculous all-star moment. You literally can't lose.

5. Best Coast: "When I'm With You"

& "Boyfriend"

So I covered "When I'm With You" on last year's Best-of list. I'm adding it again because it got an official video and was included on this year's Pitchfork list. It's a great song, so I have no problem adding it again. Last year I said: "Lyrically it stays simple until the haunting end. It's haunting to me because I don't know if it calls the lyrics of the first portion of the song into question". Which I still think is a great interpretation. Though unfortunately the video for the song does not indicate such intricate layers. Over the past year, I've found that Ms. Best Coast loves California and her cat. She also enjoys mixing the subject of romantic longing with garage rock. That might sound limiting, but she's really good at conveying these things. It's been a pleasure listening to her album Crazy For You in 2010.

6. Arcade Fire: "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)"

& "Ready to Start"

Sprawl II is synth-y and dance-y and was not was I was expecting from Arcade Fire. Win Butler's voice can seem pretty thin, but when she wonders "if the world's so small" out loud, it hits me. Lyrics about sprawl and "dead shopping malls" are kind of trite, but the honesty of the track and the way it's sung more than makes up for it.

7. LCD Soundsystem: "Dance Yrself Clean"

See also: "I Can Change"

I haven't had the same relationship with LCD Soundsystem singles that everyone else has. I love James Murphy's lyrics and identify with them more than those of most artists. The meditative singles however don't stand out to me more than the albums they come from as a whole. "Dance Yrself Clean" is 9 minutes I can break out over and over again. It builds slowly but has great musical touches of electro and dance. "talking like a jerk, except you are an actual jerk, and living proof that sometimes friends are mean"... such a great line. I like it more than the critics' top LCD (actual) single "I Can Change", tho that single is also great.

8. Gorillaz: "Melancholy Hill"

& "Stylo" featuring Bobby Womack and Mos Def

& "Empire Ants" featuring Little Dragon

My favorite Gorillaz track from Plastic Beach was "Empire Ants" but it was not released as a single. It would have been a hard sell as a single because it's composed of two distinct halves. But when Little Dragon's part of the song begins and the synths swell, it's magical. "Stylo" is a solid track that owes a lot to Bobby Womack and his huge voice. "Melancholy Hill" is oddly the most current-sounding single they've done with its chillwave-sounding backing and 80's sounding synth notes punctuating the backdrop. The verses remind me of the Beatles "And You Bird Can Sing" with the similar "you don't get me" lines. I like. Also, thanks to the video, whenever I hear the beginning of "Melancholy Hill", all I see is Noodles in a mask firing a machine gun in slow-motion.

9 (tie). Kanye West: "Power"

& "Runaway" (the 35 minute film)

9 (tie). Lady Gaga: "Telephone"

& "Alejandro"

Lady Gaga and Kanye West are so ridiculously similar that it makes sense that they would have toured together before the Taylor Swift mess. They both strive for some kind of ridiculous pop-art sensibility. They use any opportunity they get in order to imbue their public persona with avant garde-ish visual representations. But they do so in a kind of clueless rich-person way. However, it's still enjoyable. They're feet are firmly planted in pop with Gaga's Madonna and Kanye's Michael Jackson obsessions. As long as the pop aspect is maintained, we're good. In keeping with that are these four great pop singles. Also, if you get to see Donald Glover do stand-up, you should hear his bit about his expectations for that aborted Gaga/Kanye tour. I can totally identify.

10. Kylie: "All the Lovers"

& "Get Outta My Way"

& "Better Than Today"

It is Kylie. We love Kylie.

11. Class Actress: "Journal of Ardency" (video slightly NSFW)

I'm not entirely sure this counts as a 2010 song, but it would seem that like Best Coast's "When I'm With You" the song was originally released in 2009 but with a video and more wide release in 2010. So I'm counting it. It's also great. From the red tint of the video and the rolling around provocatively in fishnets, seductive vocals, bouncy synth-y electro backing, you can tell that it's a bit of a sensual track. It succeeds.

12. Caribou: "Odessa"

When the piano banging picks up at the end, I just have to pretend like I will dance.

13. The Pipettes: "Stop the Music"

& "Call Me". It's unfortunate that The Pipettes kind of imploded. Their debut album We Are the Pipettes was full of big 60's girl-group sounds with great singles and hooks abounded. In the meantime they lost all but one member from that album, Gwenno. Then they kept adding and losing new members. Now it's Gwenno and her sister Ani. The sound changed to move up to the 70's and 80's. This did not please many folks in the critical community. The new album Earth vs The Pipettes definitely sounds like a different beast than previous. "Stop the Music" starts off with latin-sounding guitars that immediately break with the past and moves on to disco. It sounds different but it has enough hooks for three different songs.

14. Yeasayer: "O.N.E."
YEASAYER "O.N.E."
from Paranoid US on Vimeo.
It's a lovely track so earnestly sung that it sounds almost religious. Or like a Culture Club song.

15. Glasser "Mirrorage"

& "Apply"

Witch-ay.

HONORABLE MENTIONSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Jay Electronica: "Exhibit C"

& Shiny Suit Theory featuring Jay-Z, The-Dream, Charlotte Gainsbourg

Both Jays make it look easy. I also like how both tracks have Jay Electronica quoting a conversation he had with Diddy about how he should get out there and do something. "Exhibit C" show off Jay's almost conversational rhyming ability. He doesn't really have to stick with a theme and he doesn't. He still manages to make a ridiculous amount of references and quotes seem like part of one narrative. "Shiny Suit Theory" is more of a 2011 track. I think it was leaked to get some attention to his long long long awaited album. And it did because of its ridiculously clever production, verses, expert Jay-Z guest spot, Charlotte Gainsbourg singing in one section. Allegedly The-Dream is in there somewhere. He was an independent being courted pretty heavily by Diddy and Jay-Z (with Hove winning out). I'm not sure what the deal is. Jay Electronica is ridiculously gifted, but his style is always more famous in the indie hip-hop or college circuit. I don't see a HOT 97 Summer Jam in his future. So we'll see.

Sleigh Bells: "Rill RIll"

Sleigh Bells - New Music - More Music Videos

or here:
& "Tell Em"

& "Infinity Guitars"

Sleigh Bells were very polarizing this year, but I think they're enjoyable. Just not for more than 5-10 minutes. I believe strongly in the marriage of pop and noise, and SB have a very interesting combination. Shouting and guitar riffs. They also remind me a little of Bis, the difference being the red-lining volume and the hardness of the beats and guitar. One thing I can't decide whether I like or hate is the singer's constant use of "oh!" or "uh!"

Wild Nothing: "Chinatown"

Deerhunter: "Desire Lines"

It's really the backing "ahh"s that get me.

Die Antwoord: "Evil Boy" (video NSFW)

Guest-starring and produced by Diplo. First off, this video is crazy. Second, you have to read the Boing Boing articles about this track. There are some cultural issues you need to know before getting offended by the subtitled section of the video and the ever-present penis imagery. It is actually uplifting (ha?). With a sick beat by Diplo. I also love that the guest MC refers to his penis in the chorus via a pun on the name of the armed wing of the ANC during Apartheid, "Umkhonto we Sizwe" or "Spear of the Nation".

Salem: "King Night"

I don't really care about the indie rock debate about calling the music "witch house", I just know that when I first heard this track it nearly deafened me and I enjoyed it. "Holy Night"-sampling, ridiculous bass and all.

M.I.A.: "XXXO"

M.I.A. got the short end of the stick in 2010. She got "gotcha"d in an interview, all the critical support vanished, "Born Free" was seen as too much (though it was pretty cool with its sample of Suicide's "Ghost Rider"), and aside from hearing "It Takes a Muscle" on college radio, I haven't heard much. I didn't like "XXXO" initially, but the production, the hook, and the video with its portrayal of Arab dating sites and the garish gifs that go with it just sealed the deal.

Male Bonding: "Year's Not Long"
Nice guitar rock with enough hooks for several songs.

POP MUSIC

Sophie Ellis-Bextor: "Bittersweet"

The most posh-voiced pop singer ever released another great single in 2010. It's a very UK dancefloor pop single but considering that kind of production is becoming huge in the US, it's not so odd. It's a very close relative to the excellent Girls Aloud single "Untouchable". Sophie has put together an excellent collection of pop singles over the years, it's definitely worth checking out.

Jessie J: "Do It Like a Dude"

The video is a bit silly and all mugging for the camera. But this single is enjoyable. Especially the line "you think I can't get hurt like you, you motherfucker" which is really the core of the song. It would definitely be a boon to pop radio if she makes it here. A line that I think US pop radio needs: "do it like a man dem suga suga suga".

Nicole Scherzinger: "Poison"

It gets stupider every time I hear the lyrics, but it's very danceable and the chorus is amazing for it's simplicity. I'm also amazed at how helium-y her voice gets when she needs to hit a higher note. Still, it won't win awards for creativity, it's just a solid dance pop tune.

The Hundred in the Hands: "Pigeons"

More flash than bang, but still very catchy and elegant electro rock. Perfect for a night at the indie disco.

PREVIOUS YEARS:
2009 - 2008

The CL

2010-10-07T11:52:00.002-04:00

In response to the trees being taken down and my first reaction to their defenders. The defenders who I support wholeheartedly but can never take seriously.

I feel it's unfortunate that so many good causes are turned to jokes. These folks mean well, I wish their causes worked out. Those causes are my causes. But I've learned that most of my dreams for a better world will be turned into a joke living in a dusty and possibly expensive house with ugly clothes and a vague grasp of eastern religions and native american phrases who clutter public meetings with monologues that parallel how long they've stayed in the house talking to themselves or the similarly afflicted. It makes the world seem like a sick joke. These are the decent folk. But they make heartless and/or incompetent bureaucrats look capable. They make vicious, life-hating conservatives look pragmatic.

Sitting in circles.
Nowhere.

Acceptance

2010-03-05T11:11:00.004-05:00

[If you are not a sports or hockey fan, forget this post]

Just to close up that last post, I just wanted to say that it's ok.

At least it was okay when I saw USA goalie Ryan Miller smiling giddily (in the middle of the picture) with his silver medal and iPhone at the closing ceremonies later in the evening.

In general, I can't really get angry at the Canadians. They put on a great show with an immensely talented team. Something about Canada appeals to the good-natured and humble side of me. (And the part that understands that universal healthcare works more than a handful of filtered stories about how it doesn't. that's the great thing about the free market mentality here, they get guaranteed quality health care, we get fear and overpriced anecdotes).

Perhaps it's because I wasn't around for the heyday of the heated Boston Bruins - Montreal Canadiens rivalry. All the anti-Canadian sentiment I've seen in my life always seemed dumb, contrived, and radically misinformed. Canadians are basically like us, just more calm and polite, right? Ah stereotypes.

Besides, if you play by the fan rules, I'm technically not supposed to be supporting players like Ryan Miller. He plays for Buffalo, a division rival to the Bruins! Oh my god. So it (like all sports super-fandom) is all silly.

Anyway. Watching Team USA was incredibly exciting and a rewarding watch. In spite of the games driving away everyone else in the house, I was glued to the TV. When the US played Canada in the preliminary game, I was shocked and incredibly thrilled by the USA victory with Ryan Miller in goal. USA earned that victory. Earned by the mostly non-superstars (at least non- Sidney Crosby) of Parise (Devils), Kane (Chicago), Malone (Lightning), and wow Rafalski (Red Wings).

Still, in the gold medal game, as much as I wanted the USA to win I knew I wouldn't be crushed by a Canadian win. As long as the US put in a good fight and they certainly did. When one of my favorites Zach Parise scored the tying goal at the end of regulation, I jumped out of my seat.

Then in overtime came the Canadian victory. However, it contained the one thing I hated. Sidney Crosby scoring the winning goal. The Canadians had stood out to me more for the play of folks like Getzlaf (Ducks) , Iginla (Flames), Toews (Blackhawks), Heatley (Sharks). Crosby had a high point total, but he didn't really stick out like those guys. But the poster boy scored the poster goal....

but who cares. It's good for hockey. It was a great game. I'm very proud of Team USA's performance and USA vs Canada parts 1 and 2 will always be remembered for their intensity.

Now I go back to my sorry state of being a conflicted fan of both the Boston Bruins and New Jersey Devils.

--
One more thing, I couldn't understand the whole thing of deriding Canada on their medals performance in the overall Winter Olympics. They took the most gold medals, which means they won the most events. Going with the USA! USA! mentality, I find it really un-American that we are excited about not winning first place more times than Canada.
--

Unfortunately, now I'm stuck in Olympic withdrawal.

I was humming "O Canada" for days after.

Rematch

2010-02-27T00:13:00.002-05:00

The climax of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. me excited.

Elevato 2009 pt. 2

2010-01-28T11:51:00.003-05:00

I forgot to add some more faves to the previous post. I figure a whole new post would be easier than constantly adding stuff to an already posted thing. I'll either keep adding things to the end here or make a new post.

Part 1 is HERE

Fever Ray: "When I Grow Up"

When I Grow Up from Fever Ray on Vimeo.
One-half of The Knife, Karin Dreijer Andersson, broke out to be Fever Ray. The beautiful and pretty weird and synthy sounds with processed vocals are still there, but becoming more creepy and intense. Awesome! It was hard to pick out a Fever Ray track for this, but i let the line "When I grow up, I want to be a forester / Run through the moss on high heels" guide me. This track is relatively playful with lyrics indicating a mind growing restless with being in a house alone that's taken a life of its own in her mind. I highly recommend checking out her other videos from the Vimeo link above. The videos run from weird to creepy to scary. So good!

Neko Case: "This Tornado Loves You"

Neko has an amazing voice, which is never in doubt. The lyrics with their metaphor is spot-on. It makes me okay to end this brief description by saying: Neko Case is a force of nature. duh.

The xx: "You Got the Love" (Florence + The Machine cover/remix)

The song has a long history, sung originally by Candi Staton and THE SOURCE, winding its way through different versions and remixes since the 1970s. Wikipedia and Pitchfork can shed some light on it. I was introduced to the Now Voyager version of the song through the finale of the Sex and the City HBO series (yeah, i admit it, and it kinda made me tear up. dammit). It is an effective dancefloor filler because while the lyrics have religious overtones, they are easily transferable to reflections on strained relationships leading to dancefloor catharsis. Florence + The Machine covered this last year, staying pretty faithful to the sentiment and drama of the original. The video portraying her as a diva in Studio 54 testifying to her flock. The xx remix and cover this using their "sexy, smooth, understated" vocal style and minimal 2-step garage beats. I'm also a bit amused at what could be conceived as their lampooning of Florence's rather self-important vocals and music video.

Memory Tapes: "Bicycle"

(You can go to their MySpace page and listen to it straight up. There is no official video for the song, the only thing that comes close is this dance routine I found).
The guy behind Memory Tapes definitely knows which buttons to push to make joyful dance music. You can hear everything from David Byrne to New Order as the track builds up and coasts into a mesmerizing sunset.

Fuck Buttons: "Surf Solar"

(this is a 3:45 minute edit of the full 10+ minute experience).
What a great title. The slow burn of the synths pushing the samples along makes you feel like you're surfing the electromagnetic field of the sun which you are able to feel while buffeted with distorted radio signals from Earth. Which your translate into sound. A great marriage of noise with house rhythms.

jj: "Ecstasy"

Swedish act jj's A great reworking of Lil Wayne's "Lollipop" as a tribute to taking ecstasy. Bienvenido a Miamiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.............

Joy Orbison: "Hyph Mngo"

Was one of my favorite dance tracks (apparently it's dubstep. i would not have been able to pick that out). Just like "Surf Solar" above, this track was amazing how you can feel like the whole of the track through its splintered and stuttering parts. The beats and a Janet Jackson(?) sample keep the heart of the track beating.

While the video for their track "BRKLN CLLN" (DOLDRUMS)" was one of my favorite videos. I have memories of these parades from when I was 4-5 years old. Freak the hell out of me. I might as well have been tripping.

Basement Jaxx: "Raindrops" (possibly NSFW)

Yay! Welcome back, guys.

Smith Westerns: "Be My Girl"

Lo-Fi, but not putting their levels in the red. You have to turn up the volume. It kind of annoyed me. Still, they take advantage of the fidelity by making the song sound like a 50's rock orchestral masterpiece covered by T.Rex. that you have to pick through the fuzz.

and for some pop trash that I can't really justify but was an effective earworm:
Cascada: "Evacuate the Dancefloor"

It's really the chorus that ingrains itself. The Germanic insistence of the slightly nonsensical lyrics. Featuring MC Carlprit (get it? Carlprit). Europop continuing its never ending insistence on inserting a German rapper who sounds funny rapping in English, whether by accent or lyric. "Yo lady! yo baby!"

Most Elevato-nous Tracks of 2009

2009-12-05T14:36:00.020-05:00

Elevato 2009 was very quiet. Anxiety over the future has been overwhelming. The majority of my internet output has been in 140 characters or less (see upper-left side of this blog).

So, I thought I'd bring it back to old bloggy and make some comments in an area that I am not qualified to speak on with any authority. Music. Then again, who needs authority when I can just say here's my favorite music of 2009! Warning: it's very poppy.

Also, I know people can't be bothered to read these things so I'll start at the top. After that, it's not really in any order. Enjoy!

1. Dirty Projectors: "Stillness is the Move"

I started using Twitter this year and I was advised to follow Grizzly Bear's Ed Droste. During SXSW he started going crazy about the new Dirty Projectors songs he was hearing, in particular this track. Through fuzzy youtube uploads, I was able to gleam what he was going on about. It just made perfect sense, melding minimal repetitive guitar noodling, sounding vaguely like an African mbira thumb piano, and the fact that people around my age grew up listening to folks like Mariah Carey and other R&B jams since we were kids. The simple lyrics play up the latter angle, making it a sweet indie rock r&b slow jam that is not as obnoxious-sounding as this sentence sounds.

Also worth checking out is this excellent cover version by Solange Knowles (Beyonce's sister) check out sources and pitchfork review here.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs: "Heads Will Roll"

Yeah Yeah Yeahs: "Zero"

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs never do what I think they'll do, but whatever they do, they manage to make it sound like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Always fun, slightly abrasive and affirming. Karen O mesmerizing.

Lady Gaga: "Bad Romance"

In my circles, Lady Gaga is one of those folks that immediately got a raised eyebrow because she's mixed in with the regular pop trash that get immediate eyebrow raises once they get popular enough that non-teenagers hear about them. However, that eyebrow was eventually beat down by this song. People joke nervously over the weird opening "roma ma"s but then start to realize that this is going to be one particularly strange roller coaster of a song. It runs perfectly with swelling synths which become subdued (in a way that reminds me of Depeche Mode) when reaching the bridge ("you know that I want you"), all to explode in the hook of the chorus. There are some by-now-familiar sensationalist Lady Gaga bait lines in the lyrics (the "vertigo stick" "I'm a freak bitch, baby"), but rather than sounding like someone without a grasp of writing skills, it sounds like a commitment to her embrace of pop trash culture.

The video highlights this with pop cues suggesting everything from Christina Aguilera to anime girls to Britney Spears to Amy Winehouse. In general, she goes out of her way to give the appearance of Sunset Boulevard's Norma Desmond. It's pretty obvious she loves the stuff and is not unaware of what she's referencing. Of course this has caused your average mainstream fuckface to speculate whether she's a man. So in a sense, mission accomplished for accurately portraying the "fame monster" she's going for. But any idiot who just dismisses her because of these tangents is missing out and missing the point.

Camera Obscura: "French Navy"

I feel like at this point Camera Obscura can just turn on their Motown/Bacharach pop hooks like a switch. "French Navy" sounds effortless with big hooks and swelling strings.

Lily Allen: "Not Fair" (official video)
One of my favorite clips of the year was her performance at V Festival.

Lily Allen: "The Fear"

Lily Allen - The Fear (Official Video) HQ
by wonderful-life1989

The Lily Allen single of the year has been universally "The Fear". It's a somber affair about succumbing to the trappings of celebrity and fame told with mock sincerity. The music doesn't really convey the "mock", but is still quite listenable due to its subtle hooks and grandeur. My favorite thing about the song that is not talked about in other reviews that I've seen is her line "I'll look at the sun and I'll look at the mirror / I'm on the right track, yeah I'm on to a winner" which are definitely a reference to two London trash tabloids: The Sun and The Daily Mirror (hard to catch when yr not British). Two tabloids from which you should definitely not be getting life advice from. Kudos, Lily.

My favorite track of hers this year is "Not Fair". I'm actually surprised that it didn't seem to make as much of a dent in the music sphere. It's a pretty biting critique of her bedroom-challenged boyfriend with excellent lyrics peppered throughout. I thought it was a lot of fun, extremely listenable, and full of the Lily wit. What was the problem? For some, the country music was a bit of a novelty. Maybe it was the fact that if she was serious about solving her problem, she should've talked to the dude instead of skewering him in song. That's probably why the dude had a problem in the first place.

The above performance from V Festival 2009 was amazing with an outro added on that sounds like it was enhanced by "What is Love?". And Lily looked amazing. Just saying.

Royksopp ft Robyn: "The Girl and the Robot"

Röyksopp - The Girl And The Robot from moho on Vimeo.

Synthpop perfection.

Alphabeat: "The Spell"

I wasn't really sure whether this belongs on this year's list. It's the first single of the pop-tastic Alphabeat's new album due for release next year. Their previous album provided excellent singles for 2008 with an 80s sheen (see my list for last year). Now it would seem that we're getting to early 90s dance: Snap!, C&C Music Factory, Deee-lite. Acts that made me optimistic for a dance-filled future full of idealism. "The Spell" definitely conjures up Deee-lite for me with Stine B taking the role of Lady Miss Kier. As reductive as that sounds, it totally isn't. The song shines, only stumbling when Anders SG sings his part to provide his half of the slight story of the lyrics. He's weaving magic, she's falling for it. An ancient and slight pop convention, but it works for this song.

An aside: One thing that I find hilarious in songs like this are lyrics like "Your magic / Has got me where I want to be". It's fixing a lyrical convention of the past where one person (usually the man) is working the magic that puts the other (usually the woman) under a spell that makes her do what he wants. But now we ensure that the thing that magician wants is helping the other person do something that they already want to do. Very beneficial for both parties.

Crookers: "Il Cattivo PLUS THUNDER"

What was already a great house track is enhanced by AC/DC's "Thunderstruck". "I WAS SHAKIN' SHAKIN' SHAKIN' SHAKIN' SHAKIN'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Future of the Left: "Arming Eritrea"

I miss McLusky. But I was heartened to hear this screed against Rick. Fuck Rick.

Best Coast: "When I'm With You"

(unofficial video)
A great garage pop track. Lyrically it stays simple until the haunting end. It's haunting to me because I don't know if it calls the lyrics of the first portion of the song into question. Also: KEXP's review.

Shakira: "She Wolf"

Shakira - She Wolf official video music
by andrexfriends

I love this track, I love the "awoo"s. You go, loba.

Phoenix: "1901"

Phoenix: "Lisztomania"

Dizzee Rascal wanted to party. I was totally with him.
The critical community was not.
Dizzee Rascal: "Bonkers" featuring Armand Van Helden

I thought "Bonkers" was perfect. It's insane and catchy. It just didn't showcase his lyrical skills. Still, so much fun! This V Festival crowd agrees.

Dizzee Rascal: "Holiday" feat. Chrome

Dizzee Rascal: "Dance Wiv Me"

Lonely Island was upliftingly hilarious

Lonely Island: "I'm on a Boat"

I can sing this entire song. Before the song came out, and I heard they were putting out a song called "I'm on a Boat", I had a feeling the song would be like this, but it was so much more.

Lonely Island: "Like a Boss"

Anytime someone wants to skewer a self-congratulating concept like Slim Thug's "Like a Boss", I'm on board.

Pardon for the poor editing. I'm too tired to deal with it.

Aziz Ansari is RAAAAAAAANDY

2009-09-17T14:02:00.004-04:00

Comedian Aziz Ansari played RAAAAAAAANDY (with eight 'A's) in the movie Funny People. It was a great movie, but somehow I missed the fact that Aziz was playing that character. There was a lot going on in the movie. In any case, Ria had me look at Aziz's tumblr page to see his debut of Jay-Z's BP3 track "Hate" presented in mixtape DJ form with obnoxious yelling. The difference being it was him commenting on things like how he's making a turkey sandwich in mixtape DJ style. Hilarious.

Then I saw some clips called RAAAAAAAANDY on the side and was intrigued. They were promoting Funny People and had Aziz playing the character in short clips, MTV style, and doing live standup at clubs. It was so stupid, it was hilarious. He also had a DJ bolstering his punchlines with air horns and "RAAAAAAAANDY!" samples.

Watch! Though, it's not really safe for work. But it's worth the wait.

Raaaaaaaandy - Part 1 (Funny People) from Aziz Ansari

Raaaaaaaandy - Part 2 (Funny People) from Aziz Ansari

I'm only putting the first two. The third is ok.

As a debriefing, here is a clip of Aziz on Kimmel. He talks about RAAAAAAAANDY, Kanye, pudgy Indian kids. There's a great bit about him getting asked about being excited about the success of Slumdog Millionaire. Even though he's not in it, but there's Indian people in it. Which means that white people must be excited about the critical success of productions starring white people all the time. Hilarity. His impressions of his little cousins somewhat confirm what I immediately thought about the RAAAAAAAANDY character; that it reminds me a lot of young male cousins that I have. Not incredibly deep.

RAAAAAAAANDY!

PS: Also, Parks and Recreation starring Aziz got picked up for another season (which I know is not news considering the season starts tonight) which is awesome. It felt like kismet when I am about to finish grad school in urban policy/planning and a show starring talented funny people comes out about it.

Update: Apparently I'm just pop culture-deficient. He described the character several times as Soulja Boy pursuing a comedy career. After finally hearing Soulja Boy, it makes perfect sense. Likely the lovechild of Dane Cook and Soulja Boy.

Better Off Ted

2009-08-03T12:59:00.007-04:00

A cute and funny clip from Better Off Ted:

maw maw

Another great moment was when the legal department was coming up with explanations for hornets attacking a small percentage of women testing out a new cosmetic product. On a whiteboard was a list of possible explanations including "their pockets were stuffed w/ hornet chow". I laughed for a whole minute after catching that:

Initially I just wanted to post this clip because I love it. But I figure I might as well gab a bit about the show.

When the new ABC comedy Better Off Ted started its run this year, it was initially a difficult show for me to judge.

I like comedies with a bit of weird and the show was a bit non-traditional in that the setting is in a surreal corporate environment more detached from reality than other prime time shows. Other shows have surreal occurrences happening in real-to-life environments. Better Off Ted has surreal events happening in a surreal environment. I thought this would scare the salt-of-the-earth folks who give shows Nielsen ratings. Especially since a lot of jokes slip in through the dialogue or in the background. This was a plus.

The problem (for me) is that the show has a lot of narration from Ted, the lead character. He has to explain EVERYTHING. I can see this being a smart device to keep simple people from getting confused, but I can keep up with 23 minutes of light comedy. A lot of jokes were also (needlessly) explained away in the show, but I feel this is starting to come down a bit.

The writing is still pretty strong. Like I said before, it's a light comedy. It's not out there to completely weird you out or punch you in the stomach or otherwise test your limits like a cutting edge British comedy. It's still funny. In spite of the constant narration, the writers and actors really try and pack in the limited time with quality. In place of an opening title, there is a Veridian Dynamic (the corporation that is the background of the show) commercial; a parody of commercials from corporations selling themselves on a virtue when they don't seem to mean it.

Another plus is the strained friendship between Ted and Linda. You know they're going to get together but you won't know how or when. Linda is also a bit weird which makes her character compelling. Portia de Rossi plays her caricature-like boss character very stiff but in a surreal and comedic way. The hapless scientist duo, Phil and Lem, also have their moments as a bickering nerd couple.

As the season has moved on, I've grown to really like the show. It's almost like it had a chance to catch its breath. It's a bit more confident.

It has been renewed for another season which I think is great. The show's ratings seem to have declined over the summer after it was given a month off. I think TV needs a well-written comedy like this on the air.

Better Off Ted will be finishing its first season in August. Tuesday nights 9/8c.

Update: My vision of Hornet Chow (thanks to MS Paint).

CSS: Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above [Sub Pop]

2009-07-03T01:11:00.008-04:00

Easily one of the best songs of all time.

"You're so talented
I'm in love
let's make love
and listen to Death from Above"

CSS: Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above [Sub Pop]

Sleater - Kinney: Entertain [Sub Pop]

2009-07-03T01:11:00.007-04:00

Part of the "Let's watch decent quality videos on the PS3 and not crash the browser" Series.

Sleater - Kinney: Entertain [Sub Pop]

Madvillain: Rhinestone Cowboy [Stones Throw]

2009-07-03T01:11:00.006-04:00

Part of the "Let's watch decent quality videos on the PS3 and not crash the browser" Series.

Madvillain: Rhinestone Cowboy [Stones Throw]

Camera Obscura: Lloyd I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken [Merge]

2009-07-03T01:10:00.004-04:00

Camera Obscura: Lloyd I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken [Merge]

Camera Obscura: French Navy [4AD]

2009-07-03T01:10:00.003-04:00

Camera Obscura: French Navy [4AD]

Mika Miko: I Got A Lot (New New New) [PPM]

2009-07-03T01:09:00.011-04:00

Mika Miko: I Got A Lot (New New New) [PPM]

Röyksopp: The Girl and the Robot [ft. Robyn] [Astralwerks]

2009-07-03T01:09:00.009-04:00

Even girls and robots have their problems. I love Robyn, she is made of charm.

Röyksopp: The Girl and the Robot [ft. Robyn] [Astralwerks]

Mos Def: Casa Bey

2009-07-03T01:09:00.008-04:00

Mos Def recapturing the Greatness. Worry less about acting, keep doing this.

Mos Def: Casa Bey

Lily Allen: Not Fair [Capitol]

2009-07-03T01:09:00.007-04:00

Singing a topical song over a random upbeat country-western track may seem like a "Whose Line is it Anyway?" routine, but yet again she has co-written a very catchy song.

Lily Allen: Not Fair [Capitol]

Future of the Left: The Hope That House Built [4AD]

2009-07-03T01:08:00.004-04:00

Future of the Left continues and expands on McLusky's job of contributing the most biting and funny titles and lyrics in rock. "The Hope that House Built" continues in this proud tradition. I don't even need a song, just that title.

Future of the Left: The Hope That House Built [4AD]

Dinosaur Jr.: Over It

2009-07-03T01:08:00.003-04:00

Dinosaur is awesome and cannot stop. They do not have the ability to stop being awesome.

Dinosaur Jr.: Over It

Major Lazer: Zumbi

2009-07-03T01:07:00.004-04:00

Who's my favorite survivor of the secret zombie wars with lasers for hands? Major Lazer.

Major Lazer: Zumbi

Dirty Projectors: Stillness is the Move

2009-07-03T01:07:00.003-04:00

Still one of the biggest surprises (to me anyway) of 2009. It's kinda like growing up on Mariah Carey and being in an indie rock band suddenly merged. A beautiful child of mixed parentage.

Dirty Projectors: Stillness is the Move

Major Lazer: Hold the Line

2009-07-03T01:06:00.004-04:00

With Santigold and Mr. Lex. Exactly how I imagined it would be.

Major Lazer: Hold the Line

Wavves: No Hope Kids

2009-07-03T01:06:00.003-04:00

Ah Wavves. Lots of talent which he uses to make lo-fi pop and terrible over-drugged live performances (leading to silly indie rock scandal). He's like a kid who gets in trouble at an expensive private school. All smoking in his school uniform where the headmistress can't see.

Wavves: No Hope Kids

SOnic Youth: ADD: Antenna

2009-07-03T01:03:00.003-04:00

Sonic Youth on one of Pitchfork.tv's shows, ADD. Good stuff.

SOnic Youth: ADD: Antenna

Michael Jackson, "hearty condolences"

2009-06-26T01:40:00.004-04:00

The impact is widespread. From the front webpage of Kerala's Malayalam Manorama. Who had to spread the news to grieving Malayalees. But more on that later.

MJ was pretty important to me, my youth was heavily shaped by his music. My first tape was a copy of Thriller that I stole from an uncle in Kottayam (Kerala) when I was about 5. He didn't really want to part with it, but I was a really obnoxious kid.

I was introduced to MJ around 1984 when I was really little and we were living in The Bronx. I'd stay at a neighbor's apartment who ran a sort of unofficial day care while my mom went to work. All the other kids were flipping through the channels on TV until they flipped out. They kept yelling about "Michaeljackson!" and I was confused. I sat down and saw a series of videos including "Thriller" and "Beat It". It was so frikkin cool.

Getting back to Kerala, I wanted to share some comments from Manorama's obit article. The purpose isn't really to make fun of the typos and grammatical errors (which is meaningless these days since all the comments below pretty much rival the internet language of most Americans on the internet for whom English is their first language). There's something very honest about what messages come through the linguistic and cultural divide. And I've been half-asleep copying and pasting them. The most repeated saying reflects the British English that Indians learn: "Hearty Condolences" (sometimes spelled "controlance", which I plan to use from now on).

So here's a tiny cross section of Kerala. From Thiruvananthapuram to Thrissur, from Kochi to Kozhikode, from Dubai to Dallas, TX and everywhere else.

Hareendran, Tamilnadu,
A legendary icon in the field of dance and song the world has ever seen. He won the hearts of people in the entire planet earth. He will be remembered ever. May his soul rest in eternal peace.

Harikrishnan, Thiruvananthapuram
my dear jackson your deth is a big lost in the world and my hertly bless and we have last a great pop, u ralways in my mind until my deth!HAARRYS BEAUTY PARLOUR ,TRIVANDRUM,PATTOM

Anil, Kochi,
My heartly condolenc. I never forget his song about world inveronment. it is so buitifull.

Shyam, Alleppey,
jackson...you are the only best...The way you make me feel,you are not 'Bad'..your life is a 'Thriller',always you may 'Rock my world'....

Rajesh, Cochin
My heartly condolenc. Its very BIG loss of our world MUSIC. and i am deeply feared about his tragedy.

Sujan, dallas usa,
HOMAGE TO THE GREAT SON OF MUSIC Dallas Malayalee Association

Anish, Tijo ,Prajith, Kochi Infopark,
My Dearest , Michle Jakson My Herty Controlence. By Wipro Guest Block Staff

Arun, Kattappana,
Hearty Condolance dear Jackson... U still moon walking through our heart.

NIX, COCHIN,
SHOCKING NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE THAT GUY,..I LOVE HIS MUSIC,. GOD YOU SO CRUEL

SUDHEER NAIR , DUBAI,
iam very sad in this morning becs of this shock . iam a big fan of MIC . I love you MIC....

Saheer, CALICUT,
we have lost a great artist.but i cant belive his death

ARJUN, THRISSUR,
ART SITS ABOVE ALL .........CONDOLENCES TO M J

Babee, Kottayam
My heartfelt condolence to the king of music....we love you...

What are some of your biggest fears?

2009-06-03T23:34:00.004-04:00

A while ago, Blog Owner Jonathan Airport and I were watching a reality cop show.

Cops were engaged in a road chase with some bad guy and were trying slow the bad guy's momentum.

Then the bad guy decides to try his luck with a side swipe of a cop car.

The announcer tells us that the cop's "worst fear was realized, when [The Bad Guy] rams him" with his car.

Now I know that this is a situation it would suck to be in. But we thought it was strange that the cop's "worst fear" was to be rammed by this particular man's car.

Did they meet before? With the bad guy saying to the cop, "I'm totally going to ram you with my car" and the cop is like, "that is my greatest fear, but only if you do it".

We puzzled over this. Wouldn't your worst fear be something like those nightmares where you wake up naked in class? Or about to fall off a bridge? Or being chased by an axe murderer? Or, after a while going down this line of thought, "like a rabbit stealing your penis"?

The cop tracks the rabbit through the forest. Suddenly there is a fluffy white blur near the cop's midsection. And the cop looks down with terror, wants to do something but knows it's too late.

Scene closes with cop on ground, eyes unfocused, trembling, covering his crotch with his hands, violently sobbing.

"his worst fear was realized..."

please don't stop emusic

2009-06-02T17:29:00.003-04:00

Abstract:
The excellent music subscription service, emusic, is raising its rates and cutting the number of downloads in subscriptions. Me sad. Also, I haaaaaaate people who comment on things like this and say "BYE" to whatever thing changed something.

Full text:
As those who know me are aware, I'm an avid consumer of music. This has meant shelves of CDs that hog most of the usable wall space in my room. I've probably spent way too much (I like to think that it's nothing compared to what I would have spent on a car had I ever owned one). Partly due to the money/space issue, I've gotten over my aversion to buying mp3s and I've been an emusic subscriber for a while.

With their continuous lures of 30 day trials with 30 free downloads (of individual tracks) and a well stocked armory of records from independent labels, I couldn't resist. They use a monthly subscription model at different pricing tiers (kind of like a health club).

A big plus is these are REAL MP3s. No streaming, funky file types, or DRM. The music is paid for and the cord is cut; it is mine.

I had a wonderful thing going. 90 downloads a month for $19.99. Ridiculous. Around $0.23 a track. A 12 track album would cost $2.67. Plus, I was grandfathered in past a rate hike. Of course it couldn't last.

Then came news of the impending arrival of some of the back catalog of one of the big 4 mega labels Sony, with "labels like Arista, Columbia, Epic and RCA - that means artists including the Strokes, Bruce Springsteen, Leonard Cohen and The Clash to name a few" according to the blog post of emusic's CEO. Which is great, that would definitely lead to some pretty good gains for me.

Unfortunately, also announced was the hiking of prices and lowering of downloads per tier. No grandfather clause either. Most probably having to do with pressure from Sony wanting some real money from the deal. I'm also going to speculate that it's probably so that emusic can pad out its razor-thin profit margin.

My sweetheart deal will now be 50 downloads a month for $19.99. Around $0.40 a track. A 12 track album would cost around $4.80. Not bad at all really, but still a bummer.

What is really annoying is a classic problem I seem to have with the billing periods: making sure you get your money's worth. Since monthly accounts go by 30 days instead of the same date every month, it's harder if you are trying to make sure you are using as much of your monthly downloads as possible. Multiple times I've meant to download albums in what I thought was the end of a cycle, thus using up my remaining downloads. But sometimes I couldn't make it in time.

It's sort of like how Netflix works from the customer's perspective. You think you're getting a deal by paying $20 a month and having 3 DVDs cycling in and out. But if you hold onto the DVDs, which it seems most people do, it's not much of a deal for you (though there are no late fees). You get more bang for your buck if you use it as much as you can.

So there is the constant feeling of missed opportunity. Which I hate. A year ago emusic had the entire Rolling Stones back catalogue from 1964 - 1970. I was excited and thought about what the best attack plan was going to be. Then it was gone because ABKCO, the label controlling the music, got freaked out and pulled everything. I had downloaded nothing and looked back wistfully.

Well, I hope at least that this means the artists will be paid a better share.

So now here I am. Faced with a download cut, I look back at how many albums I could have downloaded using all 90 downloads every month. Lives could have been changed, the world's colors made that much brighter.

In closing:
So, as you can see, I'm kinda pissed (mostly at losing a rate that I had been grandfathered) but I'll live. Emusic subscribers are still getting a HELL of a deal. If you like indie music (and soon music from at least one mega-label), you are getting music at a good to really good discount than what you can get from Amazon or iTunes (again, this is IF you are using your subscription).

But as with any announcement having to do with anything on the internet has been the chorus of groaners. It's hard to know if these haters are actually individuals who utilize or interact with the subject in question since trolling has long become its own brutalist art form on the internets. The thing to do in a reaction to change is to say "BYE" or something short and similarly stupid-sounding. Hard to argue with that.

Even when it concerns awesome things like Conan O'Brien hosting the Tonight Show (some idiot on twitter actually said "Conan? Goodbye Tonight Show... YOU LOST ME!" to which I say "great" and why don't you lose yourself from society?). Or free iced coffee with a sandwich at Dunkin Donuts (for which I imagine: "I LIKE PAYING FOR ICED COFFEE. NO LONGER. EPIC FAIL. BYE DD"). Ah the rank smell of haters.

Little Boots

2009-03-23T15:31:00.004-04:00

(Photo: Tom Oxley)
Little Boots Kicks Ass

i was reading a post at Pitchfork.com regaling the masses about the South by Southwest (SXSW) (the yearly super mega media explosion in Austin, TX that allows you to see all kinds of up-and-coming unsigned bands, crowd favorites, Metallica performing at a large BBQ (kinda hilarious), and forums on new ways of communicating through whatever medium possible).

I checked out acts mentioned like Ebony Bones (myspace) (check out "We Know All About U" and let it build up, find some live performances on the web, it's insane!), the ridiculous charm, fashion sense and legs of the woman in Chairlift (they did the song featured when Apple rolled out the new ipod nano), Kid Cudi blowing people up when he added the Crookers remix to his performance of Day N Nite (featured here before), amongst others.

LITTLE BOOTS
I came across a mention of Little Boots who apparently melted the heart of the Pfork reviewer, Tom Breihan:

"Her nervous between-song banter and goofy onstage dancing both completely won me over, but neither one competed with her songs. This lady knows how to put a tune together; every track is a deliriously catchy wub-wub dance-pop machine, none better than the set-closing monster single "Stuck on Repeat". She reminds me a bit of Cut Copy, a vaguely awkward and totally likable person making songs that build up and break down at the exact right moment, working a crowd until it's built up to total hands-in-air hysteria. She knows exactly what she's doing.

Toward the back of the venue, I saw Perez Hilton dumbing out with what sure looked like genuine joy, and it made me hate that guy just a little bit less."

That's a pretty big endorsement.

Little Boots is a 24 year-old lady from the UK whose chosen moniker does come from Caligula. She is a semi-self-made up-and-coming popstar that's been making the internets rounds for over a year now. She writes her own stuff using keyboards, synths, and now a Tenori-On (a ridiculously awesome synth machine that you'll see her use in the videos below), with a skill and ease that has made her very popular online.

She has been playing music for most of her life (she's 24) and had come into fame recently by performances at her house uploaded to youtube (Little Boots youtube). She does originals and covers and displays some pretty good pop chops, propelling her in youtube rankings and allowing her some publicity. A number of British media outlets named her a pop act to follow in 2009. Thus I did and was impressed.

She has a heartfelt love of pop music as you can see from her "funtimes" selection of covers and she can pull the tunes apart pretty well so that she puts her own signature on them with her keyboard and synth arrangements. Sometimes her little brother helps her with drums.

Her new album will hopefully drop by the middle of the year. (For the US) In the meantime there is a downloadable EP that's come out on emusic, iTunes, and AmazonMP3 (see details at the end).
HER MUSIC
As mentioned before, a huge single for her has been "Stuck on Repeat" (produced by the dude from Hot Chip) which to me sounds like all the wonderful electro bits of Kylie Minogue, Depeche Mode, and Saint Etienne blended together:
Listen here: Little Boots Myspace
and Live at SXSW 2009 or Live in Aberdeen

Another big song out is "Meddle" (the original version which you can also hear on her myspace page). A performance of this song in her room (see here) landed her on the front page of youtube. The producers of Later... with Jools Holland (preeminent UK music program) decided to put her on performing on a bill loaded with big name talent. What you get is this great and buzz-building performance that is less of the dancefloor but shows off her skills in a very effective way with a piano, Tenori-On, stylophone (what she uses a stylus on), and handclaps.

Little Boots "Meddle" live on Later... with Jools Holland
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cHX-znop8Q

COVERS
What finally possessed me to write this was seeing a youtube clip of her whipping out her Tenori-On and effortlessly doing a cover of Hot Chip's "Ready for the Floor". One of many excellent covers:
Little Boots "Ready for the Floor" (Hot Chip cover)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6tLRCDqJ2c

and for comparison if you didn't know, one of the best songs last year:
Hot Chip, "Ready for the Floor": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW94AEmzFhQ

SO
So, I like. Judging from whatever clippings I've amassed, she seems like a pretty cool person and I hope she gets some success and puts out her album soon.

A BUNCH OF INTERVIEWS AND LIVE PERFORMANCES
Last Call with Carson Daly performance and interview via Perez Hilton

The FADER cover story

Pitchfork interview

BBC 6 Music Hub Session (Jan 2009)

MTV Spanking New Sessions

New York Magazine interview
BUY
Little Boots - Arecibo EP:

emusic: sample/buy (hint: you can get a trial membership and free downloads) (I recommend sticking with it. I'm a subscriber and it's an amazing and super affordable service if you enjoy indie music).

AmazonMP3: sample and buy here

iTunes:

Nowhearmeout: Where's Me Jumper?

2009-03-03T02:05:00.004-05:00

Because content requires effort, I present another rehashed old Now Hear Me Out post of mine. More poignant because the group seems to have died. Enjoy!

"It's alright to say things can only get better, YOU haven't lost your
brand new sweater.."

Now, hear me out,

Sultans of Ping FC: "Where's Me Jumper?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWsHXX_HLKs

Back when I was a happy-go-lucky admin working at the Joslin Diabetes
Center, I got to listen to music at my desk at a pretty loud volume.
It was awesome. I would tune in to BBC's online station 6 Music. It has a good mix of indie-
ish"alternative" music, old and new. It was miles and miles (or
kilometers and kilometers) better than the soul-sucking mainstream
rock radio here. It also clued me in to songs that were classic tunes
for the UK indie pop crowd. The station helped to prepare me for
visiting Carolyn in London and sounding knowledgeable with the cool
kids at her school.

It was through 6 Music that I became aware of an obscure Irish group
from the 80s-90s called Sultans of Ping FC (their name seemingly a
brilliant play on the Dire Straits song "Sultans of Swing") and their
big 1992 underground hit "Where's Me Jumper?" It is a song about a man
that loses his jumper at the disco. You could dismiss it as a novelty
comedy single, but I think that it is just part of the rich history of
Irish/British indie pop.

Primer for Americans:
a jumper is a sweater. i did not know that.

This song always makes me smile. Especially when I imagine how the
video would look if I directed it. Particularly when the singer is
listing the individuals who would be "so, so angry" at him losing his
jumper.

The song has managed to stay in people's minds to this day. A few
years ago a renegade art and culture movement in the Irish city of
Cork had called itself "Where's Me Culture?". The website is gone and
I don't know if it still exists, but there's a t-shirt.

Well, that's it for me today. I'm just going to click this button...
wait, what's that noise? Its... its... no, it can't be! aaaaaaaagh!

THE END.
-bow-

-JSNK-

Now Hear Me Out: Jan 26 2009

2009-02-02T18:50:00.004-05:00

Some of my friends started a google group dedicated to shouting out our beloved songs, new and old. It's called Now Hear Me Out. It's not really public. Part of the its raison d'etre is to be able to show your love for a song or songs without judgment. Just an occasional thumbs up. While this may kind of limit discussion and people are forgetting to post because of the continual internet habit of starting things and forgetting about them (see my friend Elliott's KC Royals Super Fan blog which will soon be celebrating 3 months of inaction), it still has the ability to compel me to regularly post.

So I'll try to carry those posts here. Here's a recent one (I was a little tipsy when writing this):

Swedish pop. Name the Pet: "Get on the Bus"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQbLdDIdVTk

Now hear me out,

Don't you wish getting on the bus was this much fun?

Super simple. Very danceable.

Very unlike the local bus the last time its service quality was
measured.

Damn Scandinavians. Always lookin out for their people.

while i'm on the subject of this Name the Pet, I want to also shout out her collaboration with The Sound of Arrows, "Falling"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL76Dny3hf4

You know, I'm a cynical jaded... cynic, but gosh i wish i had this kind of enthusiasm (esp as shown in the video).

I'm a Scandinavian in my heart. A Welfare State in my soul.

Personal Hilary Duff

2009-01-07T00:48:00.002-05:00

Ok, so I'm months behind on this one, but what can i do?

Seriously? Even Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus" is ready to go and be the background for a modern pop song? I know this isn't exactly an old or original fad, but I'm always amazed at how kids respond to music sampled from songs I liked when I was a kid.

What a job it must be to make hit songs from hit songs. Its like those people who make money from money. I wish I could.

Elevato Top Tracks of 2008

2008-12-16T19:33:00.001-05:00

Here is the best I could do with a year end track list for 2008. I'm not so encyclopedic about the year in music. I've failed in the past to do this. I already realize that I'm missing TV on the Radio singles as I write this. All I can say is that their new album Dear Science is damn good. Go grab it!

I tried to do a sequential list. But I couldn't commit numbers past the top 5. Even they are up for resequencing. Still, these are all good songs. Eat em up. You won't be disappointed.

1- Cut Copy - "Hearts on Fire"

In a perfect world, these guys would be performing this track to sold out crowds of heart-struck, drooling, screaming admirers. Actually, they already do. Lighting up dancefloors all over the country, this is usually the final shot that sends an already excitable crowd over the top. But the music itself isn't exactly a loud pounding house track. Its a track that vaguely taps the heroic lovestruck emotions that only dance tracks like these can bring up.

2- Portishead - "Machine Gun"

The world had to wait over a decade for Portishead to come out with a new record. My hope was that they would not rehash what they did, but at the same time not embarrass themselves jumping into left field experimentation. Their interviews definitely gave a sense that they wanted to sound fresh, which was intriguing to me. Could they change their sound without losing what Portishead actually meant? The answer with this first single from their new album Third was a resounding "yes". This truly excited me. Martial beats, haunting vocals. They successfully changed their sound while keeping their vibe and still created some of the best music of today.

3- Alphabeat - Fascination

I've been fascinated with Scandinavian and Japanese bands that sing in English. They seem to sing rather excitedly about things and feelings that I'm not really sure what they're talking about. Fascination, I would surmise. However, this is a bright and shiny gem of a song about fascination that is difficult to get out of your head. Kind of Bowie's "Modern Love" but amped-up to a high degree, excited about life, and filled with more pop hooks than other people have in their whole albums.

4- Kylie Minogue - In My Arms

Here's a song I'm sure that's in no "tasteful" person's top of 2008 lists. Kylie has charmed me since I became aware of her around the time of "Spinning Around" (because I live in the US). Then falling completely for her in "Can't Get You Out of My Head". She knows her way around a good danceable pop tune. While the beginning of "In My Arms" is a bit irritating, the rest of it is pure french-disco-inspired loveliness. Of course she's doesn't tend to ask any hard questions. "How does it feel in my arms?" I'd imagine pretty satisfying. Track wins.

5- Hercules & Love Affair - "Blind"

While at the end of the year this is a huge understatement, but MY GOD Antony (from Antony and the Johnsons) is such a natural fit for a dance track. He turns an already glorious song into an understated anthem.

Lil Wayne - "A Milli"

Part of the fun of enjoying this track this year was defending against my friends who don't understand the pleasures of non-conscious hip-hop. This is an ugly track with the repeated "a milli", loping bass, and minimal typewriter beats. There is also the fact that Lil Wayne is a gifted lyricist who also happens to sound ridiculously high when he raps. He tends to waste his abilities on tracks that have an R&B hook that will sell millions. Here, we get it short and simple. No guest stars. Just Weezy, his dirty and high sense of humor and a sort of brilliance. I don't need to say anyting though, "My criteria compared to your career just isn't fair". "You drop em cuz we pop em like Orville Redenbacher"

Beck - "Gamma Ray"
Beck - Gamma Ray

Beck did me proud this year by putting out a no-nonsense record that maintained his integral dynamic of weird and familiar without sounding forced. "Gamma Ray" is a fun and tuneful tune.

Crystal Castles - "Courtship Dating"

What was 50 Cent and Timbaland's loss on Ayo Technology is Crystal Castle's gain on the forceful "Courtship Dating". While the track has the potential to grate, its even better because of it. Even these words used to describe it fit the track: forceful, grating, courtship dating.

Crystal Castles "Untrust Us"

Santogold - "Lights Out"

The effect of the song is a little dead now thanks to its neverending appearance in beer commercials. Which is just weird. Such a sweet song with lovely melodies and her own backing vocals (you'll remember them from the end of the commercial) to ice the cake.

Santogold - "LES Artistes"

Where she proves that she's a power in another pop gem.

Kanye West - "Flashing lights"

kanye west ft dwele -flashing lights from mike quintanar on Vimeo.
God bless Kanye for his dedication to not just be pop chart filler.

Rihanna - "Don't Stop the Music"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsRWpK4pf90
Definitely wins the prize for "Song I heard the most often that made me run back to the dancefloor".

Kid Cudi - "Day N Nite"

Kid Cudi is a Cleveland rapper who is apparently pals with Kanye. He seems to share Kanye's passion for a different way of doing things hip-hop. You'll definitely
hear more from this man next year. This track has apparently been making the rounds for a while. Since I don't really go out and not incredibly hip to the latest, its taken me a year to find this. I swear I've heard this before, but I don't know from where.

Crookers remix video:
Memories of the track were reignited in my mind by seeing the video for the remix of the track by Crookers. A remix that apparently Kid Cudi completely disapproves of, but is really dancey and catchy and I think keeps the track's essentials in hand. It also rides the wave of the latest British dance trend, bassline house (descended from grime and much more dance-y) (thanks Pitchfork).

Annie - "I know ur girlfriend hates me"

Right off the bat, not even giving a chance to respond, Annie lets you know that she knows ur girlfriend hates her. In Annie's world, this is inconsequential because she has won already. Then why the song? Because it is a great slice of pop perfection. Annie doesn't let go for a second. If her album holds up to this gem, it'll be hard to put it down.

Roisin Murphy - "you know me better"

This is here because it was released in 2008 and Roisin still has that amazing voice and a good ear for the pop tune. A gift to have releasing singles and albums. Another bit of perfection.

Vivian Girls - Where Do You Run To

One of the great debuts of the year. Their influences are dead on and they are loud and cacophonous. Injecting a bit of harmony into the noise. Lovely.

M83 - Kim & Jessie

You feel like you've heard this before. If you're lucky its because you have M83's Saturdays = Youth in your collection. Artfully constructed.

TI - Whatever You Like

TI - Live Your Life

Air France - Collapsing At Your Door

"Sort of like a dream"
"No." "Better."

Vampire Weekend - M79

Say what you will about indie backlash, Vampire Weekend was liked because they are great to listen to. M79 is just too damn charming. It is the soundtrack for the Wes Anderson movie in my mind.

Andy Samberg & The Lonely Island "J*** in my Pants" on SNL

2008-12-09T11:18:00.005-05:00

Since I've constantly been mentioning this, I figure I'd make it easy and just post it here.

I proudly present Andy Samberg and The Lonely Island's new SNL Digital Short, "J*** in my Pants". It just might take the #1 ranking from "D*** in a Box", or at least be a close tie. The song is just so brilliant a take on something I can only call "Euro club rap" and a rather heightened version of an unfortunate premature male affliction. I thought the humor would die down for me once the twist of the song (the effect of which I'm trying to keep for you that haven't seen it by the asterisk censorship) wasn't so surprising as the first time I heard it. But no. Its so seriously done. Even things which don't tie in to the theme of the song are funny.
So again, I must say to watch it if you haven't:

Some bonus jams:
And the perfect anthem for white college dorm rastafarians: "Ras Trent"

and fundamentalist love song "Iran so Far"

I'm sick of this Rocky Economy

2008-10-27T20:18:00.001-04:00

I'm also sick of people mentioning it.

i'm a kid!

2008-10-09T15:24:00.003-04:00

Whoops. I saw this blog draft kicking around unpublished. I forget what needed to be done, but it refers to something i remember being hilarious.
---

Chris Onstad's webcomic, Achewood, is one of the main reasons to connect to the internets.

The strips are written in a way that makes you feel the experience of its characters, how they would speak and anticipate how they would react to different situations. In this, Onstad has successfully created his own hilarious and impeccably detailed (yet minimalist) world.

One of these characters is Phillipe, a 5 year old otter who exemplifies the innocence of childhood. He also serves as a reminder of how annoyingly precocious you probably were as a kid.

Jonathan Airport seems to have found his equivalent in a "local blog" feature of weather website, wunderground.com

Discovered at the bottom of the wunderground forecast, one of the local "blogs":

About Dogloverforobama: I am a kid and love weather!

I entered in the Backstage with Barack
Posted by: Dogloverforobama, 11:10 AM GMT on August 12, 2008
I got my shirt I am hoping so bad I win my lifetime dream is to go to MIT and get a masters degree in engineering and work for the advertising for nasa and meet barack obama!

I am going camping for 2 weeks!
Posted by: Dogloverforobama, 11:02 AM GMT on August 18, 2008
I'M GOING CAMPING IN MAINE OH YEAH IN A COUPLE OF MINUTES WE GET INTO OUT CAR AND WERE ON ARE WAY! TENT CAMPING ALL THE WAY!

Camera stolen!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Dogloverforobama, 2:18 PM GMT on August 29, 2008
My digital camera was stolen while I was camping! I will not be posting pictures for along time until I get a new one!

foubd and lost!
Posted by: Dogloverforobama, 2:08 PM GMT on August 31, 2008
I found my camera and my brother is in new orleans because he is an emergency respons

And my favorite:
Weather Chat Is Fixed!
Posted by: Dogloverforobama, 12:07 PM GMT on August 05, 2008
Yehaw Party! I am so glad!

Yet another secret show not in Boston

2008-09-10T13:35:00.002-04:00

When I try to tell new people the benefits of living in Boston, one of the things I say is that big artists find the city so cool they will play special secret shows in intimate venues.
Then, years later admit that I was cruelly jokin.

Here's Kanye doing a secret show recently at the Knitting Factory, NYC, playing some old and new stuff (like Love Lockdown). (from Nah Right)
http://nahright.com/news/2008/09/10/video-kanye-consequence-knitting-factory/

Crazy Man at Davis

2008-07-01T16:16:00.003-04:00

me: on my way to school, i was waiting at Davis for a bus and this weirdo guy came up to me and asked for a cig
you can probably imagine what the guy looked like
big glasses
unkempt and nerd-looking
fat
unshaven
[white, middle aged]
and asked me if i was "Indian"
i said yes
then he asked where my headdress was
i said "no, like India" and pointed out which state
he said "so, you're an Apache"
and kept inquiring about my headdress
i said i didn't bring it with me, its cumbersome

but this guy was obviously an obnoxious nerd in his previous probably less-mentally challenged life
i asked if he was European

he said yes and eventually "french canadian"
i asked him "where's your french?"

Ria: where is your poutine?

me: and he said "i'm just a typical american"

i know! i was searching real hard for something french-canadian, but i couldn't think of one

in any case i said "well, i thought i was one too"

Ria: yeah, they don't have many good cultural props

me: and he said "but you said you were indian"

me: and i said "you said you were french-canadian"
which he apparently couldn't beat

so he asked about my religion and i said "christian".
[that's my answer as if i was jewish but not really religious]
[also to deflect the constant wishes from people of other races for me to embrace Jesus or politely praise Allah or some Hindu god at me]

and he asked what i thought about the afterlife
i said "i hope there is one"
and then my bus came

Ria: that would make for a lovely movie vignette

me: yah, i was hopin to see where the hell that conversation was going
see if he was trying to be a dick or whether he was just mentally challenged

Ria: probably a bit of both

-fin-

Fuck You Fridays: Budweiser

2008-06-29T21:28:00.002-04:00

(it is actually Sunday)

Fuck you, Budweiser.

Budweiser is urine. It is cold urine when it is drinkable.

A commitment to making Budweiser is equivalent to a commitment to urination into a bottle or can.

All men are not these clones made of hair product and ignorance.

The Vines are fucking horrible. They suck urine. When one of their albums was reviewed by Pitchfork, it linked to a youtube video of a monkey drinking its own urine.

What a wonderful end to this circle of thought.

Budweiser, Fuck You.

...

On the other hand, all these things are true but this commercial is still wonderful:

hate the police

2008-06-17T04:00:00.005-04:00

While unwisely avoiding sleep via looking up music videos, I decided to look up "hate the police", a song made popular by the legendary 80s hardcore punk band The Dicks, but i was made aware of through Mudhoney's 1989 classic (and recently re-issued) Superfuzz Bigmuff.

Mudhoney played at the Middle East (a wonderful 2 minute walk from my house) recently and tore it up well. The show has been on repeat in my head for days. "Hate the Police" in particular is a great song about a racist prick becoming a cop and how i would hate that. Actually, the wikipedia article for The Dicks has a great summation: "In the song Gary Floyd portrays a policeman who abuses his power by going after minorities and taking his anger out on civilians." With the beginning lines of "Mommy mommy mommy! / Look at your son / You might have loved me / but now I got a gun / you better stay out of my way / i think i've had a bad day" and the refrain "if you don't find justice, it'll find you"... the song just hits me in the gut every time i hear it.

I'm not looking to get into any debate about myself and cops. This song isn't about the nice ones, its a story about the bad ones who infringe on the rights of people through bigotry, bullying, etc.

In any case, I'm on youtube looking for video of the Dicks or Mudhoney playing the song live. I find Mudhoney at what looks like the Glastonbury Festival and i see this and laugh:

and laugh.

Its time for Amtrak

2008-06-11T16:16:00.006-04:00

My friend, Jonathan Airport (merely his pseudonym, not his ideology, sounds better than Mr. Trainstation or Hauptbanhof; Mr. Conductor was already taken), was asked if an image of his on flickr of an Amtrak train could be used by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative "think" tank. Mr. Airport was afraid that it would be used in the foundation's continuing crusade for stupidity. Airport seemed to be correct.

The Heritage Foundation sucks and couldn't be more behind the times than now with our transportation energy crisis. They hate Amtrak and fail to see how funding might help our beleaguered intercity corridors in this country. They continue to attack Amtrak's performance when most of the factors which keep it from "performing" stem from underfunding and the fact that Amtrak's cross-country routes mostly run on the poorly-maintained tracks of private freight railroads where Amtrak trains are often forced to stop and fall behind schedule. Whereas in the Northeast Corridor between Boston and Washington DC, where Amtrak owns a good amount of track, things are fine. Ridership continues to increase and Amtrak serves about half the total market.

With high gas prices affecting airlines and drivers, Amtrak is continuing to look like the best option for corridor travel between cities. In terms of the ongoing fight against climate change, full trains going between cities like Boston - NYC - DC are much more preferable in terms of emissions and land-use impact than congested highways and short-hop airline flights.

These are things I'd tell you on a regular basis. I mainly wanted to have some background as I post these editorial cartoons:

Thing that would've been awesome to be at #1

2008-04-24T00:14:00.003-04:00

Crystal Castles live. Doing their remix of the Klaxons' "Atlantis to Interzone".

Crystal Castles' own stuff is awesome as well and will be covered soon. I just needed the sensation of jumping up and down screaming ~~"Aaaatlaaaantis to Interzoooooone"~~! whilst being blinded by strobes.

Music Mood Swing Friday

2008-04-11T14:30:00.006-04:00

Today's mood swingin tracks are:

Portishead: "Machine Gun"

Portishead have a new album, Third, out this month. I haven't paid much attention because I've been hearing for a few years now that Portishead was getting a new album ready. And all this after about 10 years since their last record, in its self-titled brilliance.

So no mind was paid until I saw a studio performance of "Machine Gun". All sins forgiven in my book. It was a little strange at first for me, with its industrial-ish beat. But Portishead is all about atmosphere, and this track is no different. Beth Gibbons's mournful wail = check! Claustrophobic (but rhythmic) arrangement: double check!

Love when the keyboards kick in at the end.

Next:

Robyn: "Who's That Girl" (feat. The Knife)

Next up is Swedish avant-pop star Robyn collaborating with brother/sister beatmakers The Knife on "Who's That Girl". A great pop track with a proper dosage of nostalgia on its beats. The Knife definitely have the pop turned way up like on Deep Cuts singles like Heartbeats and You Take My Breath Away. Robyn injects a good amount of her charm into lyrics about the pressures of being a girl compared to the media ideal. The video isn't that spectacular, but whatever. Great track. Great drum major uniform as well.

---

Actually that was supposed to be it, but you get a bonus mood swing.

The Long Blondes: "Century"

This was a bit of a surprise to me as "Century" is a radical departure for The Long Blondes. After last year's stylistic and rocking Someone To Drive You Home, the Blonde's new "Century" is radically different. Its more based on synths, subtle beats and Kate Jackson's different take on vocals. Very high, very pretty. Some say Cocteau Twins. Who knows. I figure if the last album paid tribute to a certain era of Britpop, with touches of Pulp and Elastica, then why not pay tribute to the new wave. I like it, and I'm willing to give the new album, Couples, a chance even though it seems some reviewers are not feeling as charitable.

You can (should) also download another new Long Blondes track: "Here Comes the Serious Bit", which is catchy and shouty in more traditional Blondes flair. Stream and/or download here: http://pitchforkmedia.imeem.com/music/oeEE6gUm/the_long_blondes_here_comes_the_serious_bit/

er.. and here's me and Kate!

Apologies to Stephen Malkmus, Bronson Pinchot

2008-03-12T01:37:00.006-04:00

I've been on a Pavement/Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks kick.

That and desperation over my thesis have forced me to unearth....

Malki Martokomous!!!!

Cousin Larry will be pissed when he hears about this scheme!

Verizon hearts suburbs

2008-03-11T00:30:00.005-04:00

As you might already know, the Boston Metro has a regular feature where people write in to Mayor Menino.

On March 6, there was a letter about Verizon's FiOS fiber optic cable/internet service and why we in Boston (or Cambridge or other big city in the metro area) are bombarded with ads about it, but can't actually get the service. Turns out its because we aren't in the suburbs.

Menino:

Thank you for this question. My Office of Cable Communications monitors cable TV franchises and mediates consumer issues regarding cable TV service. I have recently written to Verizon asking them to bring FiOS to the entire City of Boston. To date, Verizon has declined the City’s repeated encouragement to enter a cable franchise negotiation, opting instead to slowly build in the suburbs. Meanwhile, the cities and towns of Boston, Brookline, Somerville, Cambridge, Everett, Revere, Chelsea, Medford, Melrose, Watertown and Quincy are left without this service.

Verizon has said in the past that their business plans do not include urban areas, but how do they explain their FiOS builds in New York City and Washington, D.C.?

I don't know, man. However, I am glad that he gave a straight answer to a question that doesn't involve fixing a pothole, traffic signal or parking restriction enforcement. Damn those suburbs. First, they give us Mitt Romney (not really the first crappy thing the 495 belt gave us, but I've only been around here for 10 years) and now this. I want me some fast internet and a choice beyond DSL or craptastic Comcast cable for internet/tv.

Read here for original article

Bowdoin: Destination Freedom

2008-02-25T15:57:00.007-05:00

Destination Freedom is one of my required weekly readings. It is the weekly newsletter of the National Corridors Initiative, a group heavily involved in getting semi-high speed Acela passenger rail service on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor between Boston and Washington DC.

NCI "exists to support the development of infrastructure, including an integrated national transportation system that emphasizes rational transportation decisions, such as a network of intercity passenger and freight corridor rail corridors augmented by commuter rail, and served by feeder systems."

Which is all great and I totally support it and think everyone should. Unfortunately a major problem which exists for a lot of passenger rail advocacy is that the main advocates who speak are all old and a little removed from reality. Old-man reality is great when attempting to garner support from old-school politicians who generally support Amtrak and such. Amtrak actually manages to get support from both sides of the aisles.

My hope is that my linking the promise of economic development (or whatever cash prize for the constituency the politico thinks they'll get) with our current understanding of the impact that our transportation habits have on the planet: single-occupant vehicle = bad; short-hop flights = bad; intercity passenger rail = Rockin like Dokken.

J. Airport has regularly supplied me with oddities that the removal from reality has wrought. References have been made to "Islamofascists" (which actually turned out to be from a guest editorial), nicknames to things and areas that I have never heard anyone say, and other examples of poor journalism.

One particularly eyebrow-raising claim regarding the CharlieCard was made here:

Aside from the association with the former folk song, a somewhat-popular slang in the Boston area calls frequent transit users "Charlies" and getting around town by subway is to "Charlie it."

I must have a very different definition of "somewhat-popular" in my mental dictionary. To me, "somewhat-popular" would probably extend beyond a man and his well-worn fedora. From now on, I'm calling the CharlieCard a "ham n cheese" based on the sandwich that Charlie's wife probably gave him before he starved to death on the T. I hear its somewhat-popular.

So, what's the in paper this week?:

In an article about the new subway cars introduced to the MBTA Blue Line:

The present end-of-the-line station at Bowdoin Square, just one stop and a very short distance from Government Center, will close as it cannot be lengthened due to its close proximity to building basements and utility lines. To accommodate Bowdoin passengers, a new entrance to Government Center station will be created by re-opening an old passenger access portal, presently used solely for ventilation. The passenger portal to be re-opened is approximately one-half way between the two stations. To prepare passengers for this transition, Bowdoin Station is currently being closed on weekends and after weekday rush hours.

In the words of J. Airport, "Yes the MBTA has taken the steps to prepare passengers for this transition since 1982."

zing!

Ok Elevatoheads, its time for this Charlie to Charlie It! Catch you at the soda fountain before the sock-hop.

credits and apologies to J. "Sorry, I have an airport to run" Airport.

i don't know about Juno and Kimya Dawson

2008-02-13T22:23:00.007-05:00

I was recently in a store of unmentionables.

In this store they were playing the Juno soundtrack. In several songs there was this girl who sang songs of incredible-sounding innocence. Like she came from a family where they forced her to sing cute songs that she did not want to sing. They would occasionally back her up.

While I could see considerable merit in what she was doing, I did not like it.

I would later find that this was one Kimya Dawson. Of the Moldy Peaches. One of those bands that the painfully indie in NYC would pander to like crazy. I was suspicious and did something I don't normally like to do, let the bad album reviews completely steer me away from listening.

But now here she is. There is a Village Voice article talking about the Juno and Kimya Dawson phenomenon. I've yet to see Juno, and now I'm even more unsure:

It is sweet and heartwarming and winsome in its utter preposterousness. Just the fakest dialogue imaginable. Pop-culture-savvy sarcasm as suburban religion. Teenagers who talk like thirtysomething screenwriters. "Cool" parents who talk like teenage screenwriters. A 16-year-old heroine who actually says things like "Just looking to secure a hasty abortion!" and "Just dealing with things way outside my maturity level!" and (grits teeth) "Swear to blog!" Just appallingly cute cute cute CUTE CUTE. You'll probably really like it.

They go on to mention a slight Garden State effect: "The Shins will change your life"

But seriously, "SWEAR TO BLOG"?!?!?!?!

I can't stand that kind of fake not-so-clever dialogue. The Gilmore Girls were built on that and it made me squirm during the few moments I could stand to watch it.

In any case, this is all incredibly presumptive as I've not seen the movie.

Still, Kimya Dawson does not want her stardom. I will agree with her on this. Please stop listening to Kimya Dawson in shops. I'll do my part. I'm hoping this will go the whole way of the cutesy 'twee' movement that indie rockers were hustling for during the late-90's - early aughts.

I can't totally hate tho. I did find her straightforwardness and minimalist performances to work quite well.

Its just gross.

Winter fun (between papers)

2008-01-03T13:10:00.000-05:00

During the hell that was trying to finish up papers at Tufts, there was thankfully scheduled a karaoke night at the Do Re Me in Allston. Entertainment was had by all. I seem to have hogged the mic a lot, but twas all in good fun. And a great hangover the next day. and it was back to the library.

These pics are mostly me-centered. For more, please consult your local library or here:
Kim's flickr set
Luba's fotki set
Jess's picasa set

enjoy (my comments below photos):

Kari and I warm up the crowd with a Backstreet Boys song that I didn't know well.

Erin sings beautifully into the beer bottle.

Danielle and I duet to Abba. Multiple times. It was awesome.

Everyone rockin out to Bohemian Rhapsody.
Excellent headbanging hair by Alison.

A committee is on hand to ensure Josh and I sing "On Bended Knee".

bruce banner

2007-12-20T23:25:00.000-05:00

this is a prelim design for me new banner.
as i was freaking out over my final paper, for some reason instead of actually finishing the paper, some demon possessed me into learning how to use GIMP, the open source Photoshop alternative.

Its actually pretty neat and I learned some stuff.

But i don't have a real designer's eye. I know what I like in design, but i don't have the years of training, practice, trial and error, etc. that comes with being a real design person. i don't really pretend to be, but still, i like good design, but can never really pull it off.

There are already a bunch of problems i have with this, but it looks good enough for a half hour of trying. it just doesn't pull yr eye in the right way, no flow.

the "entering" biz i thought was cool months ago is distracting. the LED typeface now heavily reminds me of the LCD art for Dizzee Rascal's "Stand Up Tall" single.

the constant futility just reminds me of The Germs 2nd version of the classic "Forming" at the end: "“…Fucking jerk, he’s playing it all wrong; the drums are too slow, the bass is too fast, the chords are all wrong… ahh, i quit”

It's an 8-Bit Thursday

2007-12-20T02:37:00.000-05:00

Hello. I am currently going insane writing a program evaluation plan.

So, for you I have picked out two awesome things from NES days.

1. A message I saw a lot in my childhood while playing Castlevania II: Simon's Quest. When day became night, things got bleak and enemies took twice as many hits. And they came into town. scary:

2. A message I probably only saw once or twice. Gauntlet never really crossed my path much as a kid. But while looking at errorwear, I saw this shirt and nearly lost it. This message is important. Its about the nicest thing you can say to someone:

favorite lyric of the hour: Jay-Z

2007-11-14T16:42:00.001-05:00

from the track "American Dreamin'" off American Gangster:

"And its not like we’re professionals movin’ the decimals
Know where to cop? Nah! got a connect? No!
Who under Heaven know how to be successful
Need a Personal Jesus, i’m in Depeche Mode"

awesome.

Remember Jamaica Plain?: Dear Editor

2007-11-13T14:41:00.000-05:00

Apparently, when it comes to finding quality public transport, there were really no "good old days".

I understand the frequent answer to an inquiry for some old resident of Jamaica Plain is: "He has passed away; he got his death on the horse cars."

Read here for the rest:
Remember Jamaica Plain?: Dear Editor

Paul the Greek

2007-10-30T01:30:00.000-04:00

So, weeks after the incident described below, my landlord passed away. Monday, 17 September 2007. It was an unpleasant surprise. My roommates and I did not visit him in the hospital. Partly because it was awkward since we weren't family and partly because we were busy. When his wife told me he'd be home "soon", for some reason I believed her. Or I figured that it was probably best to think that way.

One day as I was making my way to school, the wife of the soon-to-be neighbors re-building the house next door asked, "Have you heard anything about Dan?" to which I replied, "Well, he hasn't been doing his physical therapy and he's had trouble recognizing people..."

Whereupon I was told that he'd actually died two days ago. Ah.

After the news had been spread, Jess sent flowers. Which was awesome because she was in Chicago but still had the presence of mind to call a florist and have them sent to the funeral home here. Scott and I are not really what you would call 'attentive'. That evening I led Carolyn (whose had plenty of run-ins with the landlords) and new roommate John (what an awful way to get started at a new place) to give condolences to Mary. It went about as well as it could. However I, of course, managed to say one of those things you don't say at moments like this: "have a good night". Of course, the the answer is "I don't know if I can."

Scott and I attended the wake the next day. I really do not like funeral culture. It may have made sense in the past to be able to see the deceased one more time. I think its a terrible thing. I don't like it at all. It's not them.

The wake did give us the opportunity to see pictures of Dan when he was younger. To be able to visualize him in a way that made him whole was kinda nice. He wasn't just the old infirm landlord who seemed to come up with new ways to accuse us of things everyday. Through the pictures and talking to his wife, relatives, kids and grandkids I was able to make him more solid in my imagination.

It also helped to solve a mystery. His wife always called him "Paul". I just thought it was old age, but after seeing his obituary, it turns out his middle name and nickname was Paul. "Paul the Greek" apparently. In a kind of story that I love, he hung out with a bar owner in the West End whose name was appended with "-the Greek" (I can't remember the exact name now). So, by association, he became Paul the Greek.

So here's for Dan, Paul the Greek. Who's probably punching someone's lights out who deserved it right now.

Here is his obituary in the Herald:
http://bostonherald.com/news/obituaries/death_notices/view.bg?articleid=1032597
Daniel Paul "Paul the Greek" Sr. Adkins
Cambridge, Mass
Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Daniel Paul "Paul the Greek" Sr. of Cambridge, September 17, 2007. Beloved husband of Mary (Russell). Father of Marion Grey and Paula Baptist both of Cambridge and Daniel Adkins Jr. of Malden. Brother of James Frtiz and his wife Jenny of VA. Grandfather of seven and great-grandfather of five. Funeral Services in the Cota-Struzziero-McKenna Funeral Home, 197 Washington Street, SOMERVILLE, on Friday, September 21 at 10:00 A.M. Relatives and friends may call at the funeral home Thursday 4:00 P.M. thru 8:00 P.M. Interment Westview Cemetery, Lexington. Daniel was a member of the Fresh Pond Golf Club and a veteran WWII US Army.

Evangelion Rebuilt

2007-09-03T02:35:00.000-04:00

My lack of internet savvy and my excess of not paying attention to things led me to miss the fact that one of my favorite bits of media, Neon Genesis Evangelion, is being relaunched.

But let's turn back the page.

[Disclaimer: i don't claim to be an expert on Evangelion here, i'm just relaying my experience].

For those of "you" not in the know, Eva (as its known in short) was a 26 episode anime series capped off with 2 movies. Its an incredibly difficult show to explain, so I'd recommend hitting wikipedia's entry or something. It involves teenagers, twentysomethings, robots, the military, world government conspiracy, angels, angst, apathy, longing, sex, judeo-christian mythology and the apocalypse. You know that feeling as a moody kid that the world is ending based on your problems? This makes it happen. What I can tell you is that that the show and movies were a mindf*ck. Its also incredibly popular and apparently a multi-billion dollar industry.

In my incredibly losery freshman/sophomore years, I spent hours at anime clubs around the different universities in town watching the series til the end of the series, then the first movie "Death and Rebirth". See, the end of the tv series made no sense whatsoever. Lots of happy music, dreams, death and still shots. The director of the series, Hideki Anno, was not a popular man in Japan after this. Like death threats unpopular. So the "Rebirth" was the first part of a second attempt at the end. The End would be in the second movie.

The End came for me on the floor of the now-closed Anime Crash in Harvard Square. They arranged a viewing of "End of Evangelion", after someone snagged copy from Japan which had been hurriedly fan-subtitled (thank god these are MIT/Harvard nerds). I left the store after it had finished and stumbled into the night, walking back to Northeastern in a daze.

Now, many years later, I hear that a four-part movie series called "Rebuild of Evangelion" (http://www.evangelion.co.jp/) will relaunch and re-end the series. The first part may have actually been released in Japan. My eyes are peeled.

For now, all I have are trailers. These highlight many of the virtues of the series. The music featured in the series, such as opening and ending themes, are pop songs which contrast sharply with the darkness of the characters and events. The new opening theme song, "Beautiful World" by Hikaru Utada is a wonderful slice of j-pop. I did say "j-pop" so if you cannot appreciate sugary pop, then yr not going to like this. Of course, you can only go so far. The newly remixed version of ending theme, "Fly Me to the Moon," is just too awful. The understated original, which i was already on the fence about, was much more palatable. The morose mood and pop combination succeeded (for me, at least) to make the events even more poignant. When things are going pear-shaped, having a positive tune in your head can make you pretty wistful, pleading with you to keep moving forward.

Other elements featured are the attention to detail focused on what would usually be background objects. Desks, stairways, glasses, rain, powerlines, etc. Even shots where rain is gently falling on silent military equipment is just too beautiful. A street full of traffic can make you feel utterly alone. An escalator provides the only movement capable of being had.

Yeah, it makes no sense. But what a series, I hope that this "Rebuild" can provide the same amount of bewildered emotion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neon_Genesis_Evangelion

Moloko / Roisin Murphy: Forever More

2007-07-30T22:59:00.000-04:00

With my constant intake of music (of which i never seem to express properly here) I tend to pass by an excellent track.

This time it comes courtesy of Moloko. The song is "Forever More", a single from their last album, Statues (2003). Its just so good. It has totally picked up my spirits (which as you might now is difficult to do) and I listen to it constantly in physical and mental repeat.

It starts slowly from simple synth lines and builds up into an eruption of dance floor magic with beats, organs and horns. But what makes the track really stand out is Roisin Murphy's vocals. She has such an interesting range and can get high or low. She really shines at the low registers it gives her a sensual and firm grip on any song she sings.

"Forever More" is a plea for "someone to love me". Coming from what seems like a place where a real and reciprocal love is expected but isn't forthcoming. "Will we receive?/ Without ever asking/ I'm just curious".

That's another thing, Roisin's phrasing and intonations are absolutely amazing. When you hear her sing "curious" and "furious" you can just see the defiant look that would come with it. Or that's just me. Anyway, SUCH a good song. Here's the vid of the single version of the song (the album's version is over 7 minutes. of awesomeness.):

Being at the end of the Moloko canon, it comes a million miles away from "Fun for Me" from 1995 (1997 in the US with the "electronica" hype craze). Back then, as enjoyable as it is, they were going for more quirky thrills. As time went on and with the gigantic international danceclub success of "Sing it Back", they found great success keeping it simple yet inventive with Roisin ascending to be the queen of the dancefloor with her vocals still throwing some interesting quirks but serve to add weight to the songs rather than be misperceived as novelty. With this came the future singles/dance floor burners:

"The Time is Now" (whenever i hear this song, I feel the same way Roisin does in this video)

"Pure Pleasure Seeker" (a performance sure to please Morris Day and the Time fans)

"Familiar Feeling" (I wish I could dance like this)

Along with other great singles. To get an overview, please pop by your favorite record shop and pick up their singles compilation "Catalogue". Unfortunately, its the only Moloko record aside from their debut "Do You Like My Tight Sweater?" from 1995/97 that is available in the US. If you can, pick up the imports "I Am Not a Doctor" (1998) "Things to Make and Do" (2000) and "Statues" (2003).

After Statues Roisin went on to a successful solo career with an excellent album Ruby Blue which produced smashing singles.

"If We're in Love"

"Sow Into You"

aaand now the lead single "Overpowered" from a forthcoming album called "Overpowered" oddly enough. An instant classic to my ears. Fantastic video.

This song is waiting to overthrow "Forever More" in my brain but it will take a little bit. Once the "oxytoxins" kick in.

landlord

2007-07-17T16:20:00.000-04:00

My landlords are an elderly couple. Both 86.

They are nice, but can get cranky and haven't really accepted their oldness.

The husband is out every day working in our little yard and driveway.
He is not in good shape.
The paramedics asked later what ailments he had including heart-attack, stroke, etc.

he pretty much said "yah, all that".

So while i was between class and work and came home, i had noticed that the stones at the edge of the driveway were being moved. a bad idea if i ever saw one.

after a while inside, i heard hollering from the driveway. "HELP!"

i looked out and saw it was Dan on the ground and ran out. i made a mistake because he wanted me to help him up and i did.

i propped him up (incorrectly) and helped him shuffle to the chair, only later realizing that i shouldn't have moved him.

i should have just made him lie down and gotten something to cushion his head with and support his leg.

his wife couldnt hear him
they had the windows closed with a/c and tv on

she was a little out of it at first
when the situation presented itself, she was more in control

but of course leading off with the old people yelling at each other thing.

he was in a good bit of pain, it was awful.

we tried calling family and then we realized that the ambulance needed to be called.

he was relieved to see them.

after the ambulance took him (i'm sure he'll be fine) a cop said we should discourage him from exerting himself.

i've tried. but he just hasn't faced up to reality.

tho the reality sucks and what is it really.

but when you may have broken your hip, its a little too real.

i really don't want to get old.
or at least i want to take care of myself a little better.

[kerala] Champakara!

2007-06-22T21:14:00.001-04:00

[kerala] Champakara!, originally uploaded by jasonik.

Someone asked a question that i never thought i'd have to answer.

Nightowlcity is "teh best blogz LOL!"

2007-06-14T13:47:00.006-04:00

A shocking development from Jonathan "I do not maintain a blog" Airport.

From Nightowlcity.org:

"O HAI! DIS IS JON!!! NITE OWL CITY IZ BLOG I SAY SO!

HOW DIS HAPPEN?

ACCORDIN 2 WIKIPEDIA: BLOG (A CONTRACSHUN OV TEH TURM WEBLOG) IZ TYPE OV WEBSIET, YUSHALLY MAINTAIND BY AN INDIVIDUAL WIF REGLER ENTRIEZ OV COMMENTARY, DISKRIPSHINS OV EVENTS, OR OTHR MATERIAL SUCH AS GRAFICS OR VIDEO. ENTRIEZ R COMMONLY DISPLAYD IN REVERSE-CHRONOLOGICAL ORDR. "BLOG" CN OLSO BE USD AZ VURB, MEENIN 2 MAINTAIN OR ADD CONTENT 2 BLOG.

LOTZ DA BLOGS PROVIDE COMENTERRY OR NEWZ ON PARTICULAR SUBJECT; OTHERS FUNCSHUN AS MOAR PERSONAL ONLINE DIARIEZ. TYPICAL BLOG COMBINEZ TEXT, IMAGEZ, AN LINKZ 2 OTHR BLOGS, WEB PAGEZ, AN OTHR MEDIA RELATD 2 ITZ TOPIC.

SO I IZ TEKNIKLY KEREKT IN MAI DECLARASHUN

KTHXBAI"

A chilling portrait of things to come.

Smoosh - A Modern Love (Bloc Party cover) (live)

2007-05-08T02:02:00.000-04:00

The girls are apparently turning out alright. Now 13 and 15 last i heard.

After touring with Bloc Party, Smoosh've incorporated a cover of "A Modern Love" in their live show, blowing audiences away.

part 1:

part 2:

and now they've got a new kid (literally) on bass.

I've been told that to see Smoosh rock out like this when you are much older than them is to question where things went wrong in your own creative life.

Never started that band?

Look at this.

Cry.

Lily Allen @ The Roxy - April 7, 2007

2007-04-10T20:31:00.000-04:00

Easily one of the best shows I've been to in a while.

Full band, horn section kept things lively. As Sue kept saying, she was quite endearing. Lily had a great attitude and presence all night. Apparently it was her first show sober and seemed a little giggly at the crowd. She also yelled at some people shoving each other, appreciated. Cracking renditions of her tracks as well as two covers: a Keane cover with a little skank in it (not what i was expecting) and most appreciated of all, "Heart of Glass". With the crowd filling in the "oooohh woahh".

In spite of it being in the Roxy, filled with youngins, it was a great time. Dancing and all. The night was lit up by Lily and her glow in the dark laces on her sneaks.

Caged Fury

2007-03-16T11:08:00.001-04:00

Caged Fury, originally uploaded by Night Owl City.

I feel like one of those pictures in the opening to Cheers.

Dream Deferred

2007-03-14T10:36:00.001-04:00

Dream Deferred, originally uploaded by Night Owl City.

No 355?: Deadhead Trips for the 352

2007-03-13T14:19:00.000-04:00

I thought I knew everything about Deadhead Trips, I was wrong.

I was looking at the most MBTA Service Plan because I'm calculating subsidy
{Subsidy = [cost - revenue]) as far as i understand it}

I came across a bus with ridiculously low ridership, the 355 which goes from Mishawum Commuter Rail Station to downtown. I'm still a little unclear why there needs to be a bus that does what the commuter rail does, but apparently 15 people (probably 7-8 people going round trip) who ride this bus everyday do.

It serves Cummings Industrial Park. Biotech. Au Bon Pain. And other crap.

355 Mishawum St. (Woburn) - Express to Downtown Boston:

This is a bus that serves 15 passengers a day.
Costs $434 a day to run with an average fare collected of $2.85. (before the fare increase, I assume)
resulting in a cost of $26.09 per passenger

so just for weekday travel, the bus costs (minus revenue) $101,751 a year.

Of course, for me, the point is not that money should be taken away from public transportation, but that people should use it. This is a commuter bus, it operates maybe twice a day for the purpose of bringing people to work. Highly infrequently. Stupid suburbs.

From the MBTA 2006 Service Plan Appendix:

"Due to the limited service provided by the Route 355, it fails the span, frequency and net cost/passenger standards. However, because three of the four Route 355 trips would be deadhead trips on Route 352 if the Route 355 were not operating, it is recommended that Route 355 not be changed. Route 355 also fails the schedule adherence standard. Because this route now operates using some GPS-equipped buses, as subsequent data become available, analysis of the run times will be conducted and additional changes introduced if warranted."

I assume a "Deadhead Trip" is a return trip to a bus depot without being in service.

well, the point of this post is lost on me. enjoy.

stupid suburbs.

Silver Line gets Friday off

2007-03-12T11:05:00.000-04:00

J.Airport and I are about to take a trip out west. Just need to get to the airport, involving a simple Red Line to Silver Line connection and we're there. We just need to know what time we should leave.

Thankfully the MBTA's website has their handy trip planner on the front page. Simple. Convenient.

Except that it seems to forget that certain lines exist on Fridays. The Orange Line has not existed on some Fridays.

This time, its a F**k You (Silver Line) Friday. It has been disappeared. On J.Airport's first attempt to plan our trip, you needed to get old skool and take the Red to the Blue Line to Airport Station. Not for me, thanks.

So I try and I learn of a bus that hits up South Station AND the Airport. On its way to Salem.

Take Red Line - Braintree Sta To South Station view route
Approx. 3:44 PM Depart from Central Sq - Inbound
Approx. 3:55 PM Arrive at South Station - Outbound
459 Salem Depot Via Logan Airport & Central Sq view route
4:07 PM Depart from Summer St & South Station- Red Line entr
4:23 PM Arrive at Terminal C - Departures Level

Well, damn. Why did the T build a Silver Line anyway? The magic number is 459. Forget that Silvery thing above the Red Line. It doesn't exist.

J.Airport points out that on Thursdays the Silver Line exists, but moves in mysterious ways:

Take Red Line - Braintree Sta To South Station view route
Approx. 3:31 PM Depart from Central Sq - Inbound
Approx. 3:42 PM Arrive at South Station - Outbound
Sl1 Logan Airport view route
3:50 PM Depart from So Station Silver Line (outbound)
4:05 PM Arrive at Terminal A
Sl1 Silver Line South Station view route
4:05 PM Depart from Terminal A
4:16 PM Arrive at Terminal E
Walk For 11 Mins. To Terminal C, Logan Airport
Walk approx. 2 blocks W on Terminal E.
Turn right on Ramp.
Walk approx. 1 block NW on Ramp.
Walk straight on Terminal E.
Walk a short distance NW on Terminal E.

Ride the Bus to Terminal A.

J.Airport: Get out of the bus. Get back on the bus. Ride past Terminal C. Get off the Bus at Terminal E. Walk on the Highway ramps back to Terminal C.

My Feel Trip

2007-03-09T15:35:00.000-05:00

From Villa Ria arrives this horrible depiction of African American Vernacular English from some sort of linguistics text that was obviously written at least 150 miles away from the nearest person who would actually speak it.

Help the Police

2007-03-07T19:14:00.000-05:00

Its NWA Day! With an important message for children:
Help the Police, Help the Police, Help em

I'm just surprised to see a Brit who can seamlessly work with any NWA track, really.

"having lots of fun cause I'm a teenager, with little bit of gold and
pager. Searching my car looking for the biscuits. Thinking every chap
is selling bits of chocolate"

[thanks to Airport for the tip]

Tavares, draft 1

2007-03-05T14:19:00.000-05:00

The 'Mats and Me

2007-02-25T21:38:00.000-05:00

I decided to wait several dozen years and get into The Replacements. Who are awesome.

I think I was distrustful of this music when i was younger.

But at the same time, now when i hear these songs to sing with a beer, i feel an authenticity. I feel like I should be walking around my austere apartment with wooden floors with barely a couch and a table with a turntable playing 'Mats songs.

Then i realized that i was probably wearing a faded combination of denim and flannel. And Authenticity.

But then I realized I was remembering a video.

Jarvis and Kristin

2007-02-10T00:33:00.000-05:00

Two music videos that I wanted to point out for two great releases.

First is Jarvis Cocker, the former lead man of Pulp and an idol of mine. This is the video for his latest single "Don't Let Him Waste Your Time", and I believe that the song is pretty self-explanatory from the title. The video is hilarious as it takes on a needless theme and takes the ridiculous theme to an extreme. And the woman is going to Bethnal Green.

It on his album Jarvis! and its coming out in the US on April 3 (see story here: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/40648/Jarvis_Gets_U_S_Release_Date_Tours_Europe)

----

The next video is from another idol of mine, Kristin Hersh. You know school is driving me insane when i just perchance to see in a record store a NEW KRISTIN HERSH RECORD! What happened to me? I fell off my game. Kristin however, did not do such a thing. Her new solo record is loud, full band-ed, and muscular. I really admire that as time has gone on, a need developed to make things louder and harder. At the same time, not having that loudness be a distraction. Whether she is alone on a stool with an acoustic guitar or pounding and shredding your eardrums with 50 Foot Wave and Throwing Muses reunions, she has a power that scares people. As well as charms.

The song is "In Shock", the first single from the new album Learn to Sing Like a Star which is out in stores, so get it.

Where you stand: Revealed!

2007-02-03T13:28:00.000-05:00

Sugababes Addendum

2007-01-31T21:42:00.000-05:00

I should have probably made some sort of extra note about my allegiance to a pop group. Especially one that does not exactly pitch the most feminist image out there. Feminism is a tricky thing. I consider myself a type of feminist and I think that its a matter of fact that everyone should be. Kind of how you shouldn't be racist and that poor evil terrorists are sneaking over the Mexican border to eat your children and shower themselves with your tax money.

I'm a little off-track.

So, the Sugababes. If you are a longtime reader of this blog (sorry, even I had to laugh), you would know that while I am an avid connoisseur of music, I have also (for years) embraced that all my guilty pop pleasures should not have been guilty. Good pop songs are good songs. They are just in the pop genre.

The pop genre requires personas to be created. I realized that you don't have to take it seriously. I try to look at it like a Warhol or Lichtenstein painting. Without getting any deeper than that. Costume changes? Ridiculous songs? Fine. Just make it good listening (the 'Make It Work' philosophy).

One thing in my early days at Northeastern that helped me to get it was hearing the cute Scottish group Travis do a cover of Britney Spears "One More Time" with an acoustic and all maudlin singing. It was perfect.

Here's a reprise:

So anyway, the point is more of me covering my tracks. To convince those of you who have not had my moment of Pop Awakening that YES i like other music. (and as i usually think of my taste) GOOD music. I also realize (as music critics have discovered) that "pop" invades most music. Horrid bands ranging from Good Charlotte to Dashboard Confessional are pop groups. Bad pop groups. Because they are boring. and bad.

Really, the second you start putting elements of order in music, through singing, beats, riffs, etc in an order that people find pleasing and memorable, its pop.

In any case. I like the Sugababes. They make excellent pop music. Yes, the lyrics can be atrocious, the values put forth in the videos vapid and questionable, the dancing in the later videos slightly stripper-informed, its pop. If you can find yourself singing along to "Hole in the Head", "Since U Been Gone", "Can't Get You Out of My Head" or "La Isla Bonita" the job is done.

The only crime is to be boring like if you turn on a modern rock station. Or boring and unforgivable like Destiny's Child's "Cater 2 U".

Just you wait until my gushing Kylie Minogue post.

SUGABABES Compendium

2007-01-26T13:13:00.000-05:00

The holiday season gave me a chance to reflect on the past year as we come upon a new one. Or at least it should have, but my mind refuses to remember most of the preceding year. This especially hurts when I try and fail to put together a year-end best singles/albums/blah list. I remember nothing.

One thing I do know is that coming towards the end of the year, I've been listening to a lot of the Sugababes. I've been making a little playlist for myself because they've put out excellent singles.

SUGABABES

Almost as if sensing this, the 'Babes record company have put out a singles compilation called "Overloaded" (buy) (named after their first single "Overload". While today's overwhelming need for record companies to capitalize on their artists with quick comps is a but irritating (frikkin Semisonic has a compilation!?) it still allows for good singles comps. as long as an artist or group actually puts out good singles. and the Sugababes are one of those groups.

While its not all the singles, or even all their best songs, its a damn solid slice of good pop.

I am now going to assume you have little to no exposure to the Sugababes aside from me putting on "Hole in the Head" at a party.

Since I am not British nor am I absolutely obsessed with the 'babes, I cannot fully comment on the history and impact of the singles. I will tell you what little I know and direct attention to some of their best stuff utilizing everyone's favorite medium... YOUTUBE videos!!! yay!

My descriptions are also there more or less as filler. just listen to the songs, enjoy the videos. i wasn't totally hooked until "Freak Like Me" and "Hole in the Head" so who knows.

SUGABACKGROUND

The Sugababes were introduced to me back in 2000-1, when i used to read the NME's site regularly and they and all the British music rags were all losin their juice to their debut single 'Overload' and album One Touch. They were all mad over their maturity implied in song despite their age (around 16) and the fact that they co-wrote their songs.

At this time, the Sugababes were Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena (one of my favorite names ever), and Siobhan Donaghy (another of my favorite names). They were then as they are now, a melange of ethnicities. Keisha's black, Mutya's Filipino/Irish, Siobhan's... really white, i don't know. Keisha and Mutya were childhood friends singing together as the Sugababies.

I had no patience to wait for their videos to fully download from the UK sites (which were ridiculously slow back then) so I gave up interest. What little I saw or heard (or heard hyped from the UK rags) hinted at an organic soulful pop. With the girls doing their best looking cool and hip, as you will see in their video "Overload".

ONE TOUCH (2000/1)

By the time they released One Touch in this country, it was in typical style for American record companies releasing UK music. It was completely late, there was no promotion done, and the record was buried. I had a chance to pick it up but didn't. That record sold about 1000 copies in this country to this date according to Billboard. A shame. Also a shame I didn't know then what I know now and just picked up the damn thing. It was cheap and you can't find it in stores now. Anyway.

Here's the video for "Overload". Its a lot of Siobhan, so get it while you can because the dynamic changes quickly after this album. In any case, they all look so cute and young with higher vocal registers and its sorta refreshing to see them before they vamp it up afterward.

------------

and yeah, i'm not as big a fan of the other One Touch singles: "Run for Cover" "Soul Sound" "New Year". They're alright. I put their vids at the end of this post.

------------

After the album's singles had rolled out, I kept them in the back of my mind. I had a good feeling. (A similar feeling was had after Basement Jaxx's Remedy album with singles like "Red Alert", and BAM, they came back with "Romeo", so I was feelin pretty good).

In this meantime, Siobhan left the group due to what seems to be a falling out of personalities or styles or whatever. She's put together a solo career and it sounds good, we'll see how she does when her latest hits in 2007.

Siobhan was replaced by Heidi Range of pop group, Atomic Kitten. and the melange of race was intact. However, the pure pop to soul ratio starts to heavily favor pop afterward.

------------

ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES (2002)

This feeling was pretty quickly rewarded in 2002 with the single "Freak Like Me". In those rollicking days of the mash-up, this was a Richard X (a fine pop producer) track mashing up the music to Gary Numan's "Are Friends Electric?" with the lyrics to Adina Howard's "Freak Like Me". Apparently the blooping at the beginning is from Frogger. In any case, the track is a smash and was a UK #1 single. it is wicked.

---
The follow-up to this was "Round Round", which was produced by one of the best modern pop production team: Xenomania. For some reason I didnt dig this originally. I have no idea why. I love the -plink-s that come with the beat, the subdued wall of sound. The chorus is instant-catchy. The easy flow of the song makes me think of it as a sequel to "Overload". call me crazy. what i also like is that they use parts of the song in which a verse would be sung and use it as an slightly long lead-in to chorus! SCHLINK!PLINK-PLINK-PLINK. uh yah. Also is the great pop effect of all the stuff in the video stopping with the song when Heidi sings her slow verse:

---

If yr not a fan of the slower songs, then skip on ahead, but "Stronger" is definitely strong. One of those break-up empowerment ballads.

It was part of a double-A-side with title track "Angels With Dirty Faces" used in the Powerpuff Girls Movie. Here is a sadly lifeless video of it in the Powerpuff's world:

-----------

THREE (2003)

The first single off of Three was "Hole in the Head", a Xenomania production. This is one of my favorite pop songs of all time. (As some of you know/saw) it was in Dublin where I first heard the track in a pub, got real excited, had a feeling it was a new Sugababes track, and bam, rewarded by info from the DJ. Its an island-pop track, makes you want to dance and has this absolutely wicked hyperactive bass line with an equally mad guitar riff playing very subtly in the mix with it. The only thing on this track that even comes close to disappointing is its two 'ass' references. Not because i'm offended by the word "ass", its that both refs make no sense and this is a trend in many modern 'Babes tracks. Even so, the song still makes me insanely happy to this day.

---

The second single "Too Lost in You" is a bit of a shocker for me because of how much i like it. Its written by evil songwriter Diane Warren, who wrote shit for Celine Deon and "don't want to miss a thing" for aerosmith. An awful woman. However, the 'babes continue on their streak of respectable ballads in their repertoire. Its sung with strength, good harmonizing, and it doesn't put you to sleep. The part where Mutya sings "fell too far this tiiiime" before the first chorus with the low throaty voice is all you really need. It was used in the movie Love, Actually. The video reflects none of this and it is weirdly eroticized.

(here is the version of the video that is not just the Love Actually tie-in)

---

The third single "In the Middle" is just a pure fun moment. The song has no meaning with references to "drunken elevators" "speaking all in code" "acting out of character is everything we know". Still with its rockin horn effects and tempo it catches you. Its nonsense chorus will stay with you forever, i catch myself saying it quietly all the time:

"I'm caught up in the middle
Jump into the riddle
I'm fallin just a little tonight (uh uh)
Cuz everybody's making trouble
Someone's burst their bubble
But we'll be getting by alright (uh uh uh)"

---

Fourth: "Caught in a Moment". ballad. at the bottom.

---------

TALLER IN MORE WAYS (2005)

So we're in the home stretch. First single is "Push the Button" produced by Dallas Austin. Its almost an exercise in great pop. Steady build, bridge ascending to chorus (seemingly descended from Sheena Easton's "Morning Train", chorus absolute sing-along. electro flourishes. unfortunate are the horrendous lyrics. its basically about them wanting a nice guy and wanting to him to get with "it". there is another annoying ass reference. but still, it is a pop gem:

---

The next single "Ugly" is at the bottom. "Ugly" is a sister song to Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" as a piece of empowerment "if i'm ugly then so are you".

--

Then came some bad news. My favorite, Mutya Buena left. I really dug her and her voice. at least in video even her facial expressions had such coolness and swagger. She was then replaced by Amelle Berrabah, who had been making the rounds of the UK pop scene's minor league before bursting through here. Her voice is even throatier than Mutya's, which i'm still getting used to, but I hope it works out. Plus, she is of Moroccan descent and the group's skin-tone rainbow still shines on. They re-recorded "Red Dress" and "Follow Me Home" and re-released the album with her on the cover.

However, this also means that Keisha is the only original member of the group left. Which is a little sad considering Sugababes originally consisted of teenagers who were friends.

---
The third single which was re-recorded with Amelle's vocals (plus her video debut) is "Red Dress". Yet another pop monster. Great horns that take over in the middle. I dunno if its me, but Amelle's "coolah"s at the beginning are insane.

----------

Fourth: "Follow Me Home" re-recorded with Amelle. at the bottom.

---------

OVERLOADED: THE SINGLES COLLECTION (2006)

Bringing us to now. There are two new songs on the collection.

The first single is "Easy". It is the very synthesis of the 'babes. Horrendous, innuendo-laden lyrics that are awesome with how horrendous they are and the chorus is so DAMN CATCHY. For the verses, its almost like they were having an innuendo contest and trying to outdo each other. I just have to quote with remarks in [brackets]:

Keisha:
Engine's running high baby, can you come and check it?
[mechanical!]
Got such a pretty kitty, boy I know you want to pet it
[i love cats!]

Heidi:
The weather's nice and wet just south of the border
[humidity is hot]
I can cook up anything that you have to order
[ehhh... doesn't follow up]

Amelle:
Hey Mr Postman, where's the mail for my mailbox?
[OHHHH SHIIIIIIIIIT, i dont even know what that means]
I wanted sex on the beach and I don't mean on the rocks
[and you lost 20 points]

Heidi (2nd attempt):
It's your serve baby but the ball's in my court,
[tennis is also hot..]
I've got a landing strip clear for you at the airport
[ding! we have a winner!]

but again, the chorus rocks. it heals all wounds and forgets all comedy. Then the verses fade away into chorus chorus territory and the music swells with middle eastern influence.

In the video the girls are stuck in a world that consists wholly of a women's bathroom in a pvc club and sexual aggression.

------------

i will end it here. i love the 'Babes. May they continue to pop.

Though the next single is a team-up with Girls Aloud for Comic Relief 2007 and is a cover of "Walk This Way" with each group playing the role of Aerosmith and Run DMC.

------------

Here's some extra vids. they're goodies:

"Follow Me Home" - Taller in More Ways (2005)

----------------------
"Ugly" - Taller in More Ways (2005)

----------------------
"Shape" w/ Sting - Three (2003)

----------------------
"Caught in a Moment" - Three (2003)

----------------------
"Run For Cover" - One Touch (2001)

----------------------
"New Year" - One Touch (2001)

----------------------
"Soul Sound" - One Touch (2001)

----------------------

Spam Poetry for Jan 37, 1953

2007-01-18T01:13:00.000-05:00

I'm always fascinated by the spam of today. It's definitely not the spam of 1995. There are wonderful names and fascinating stories. Though, the graphics are as bad as 1995.

But the stories... Either they are from a book or perhaps warnings from a war-torn post-apocalyptic world of which the only functioning economy is based on selling cheap viagra over the internet.

From: "Mehalia Bluitt"
To: "Ruadha Easter"
Re: endway hoopl
"to the concert site. There was a grove of trees here that were serving

Hello, Tremearne, are you there?
How I wish you were in charge next door rather than that hairy
Let me tell you it was like suicidesville around here when we heard
science building. Do you know about it?
In the science building. So it must be gone too.
the wall have no idea that we watch them closely and I wish it to
have indicated you might be able to track the artifact in this
Such rhythm and beauty! he said.
back to the ground.
of the most ancient data bases, the lyric written in a long-lost"

From: "Fiachna Alewine"
To: "Jaume Eady"
Re: my stockyar
" Sit, he commanded. Behind us was a clank and rattle, a hiss of

looking for something in the pool, and have to work very very hard
They were nattily., dressed in camouflaged uniforms and steel helmets,
looking at the sky. When we were ready to go, Svinjar himself came
that same afternoon.
I know that now-and it wont wash. We would have been a lot better
these has been developed right outside the Pentagon. They call
Tremearne shook his head. No idea. Looks like a wall, thats all.
Paradise. A rusty, chipped old fedha will do . . .
passed me he dropped something small into my lap. I waited a minute"

From: "Nekane Milam"
To: "Izz Lookabaugh"
Re: my undergraduat
"and stepped aside as the door opened. A chubby, bearded youth came in

examination. Floyd had dug a small flute out of his pack and played a
The blade slashed out to slit my throat.
struggle by one of your lot who did nothing to help.
Ive nothing to say . . .
The guard stationed there lowered his gun and pointed it at my belt
if you see anything-anything at all.
Keeping me going, aint that a bitch!
miserable or dead. Besides, the military is no place for a groom man.
with all of us playing it. Then they animated a computer-generated
Bang-on, Jim, he said in a low voice. The story is trying to tell"

From: "Elmo Helbig"
To: "Gweneth Littleton"
Re: my minif
"asked for and I modified everything in the machine shop. It was
the bottom?
It was. The next day an anorexic and pallid young man was brought to

last black-robed Fundamentaloid crawled over the horizon, the trampled
back of my chair because Aidas voice whispered in my ear.
What if there were settlers here-only they were hidden away
position to choose. I executed a quick leap back to the entrance door,
Its not a matter of liking or not liking it, she said reading my
and I will see what I can do.
planet named Ochaye, which is perhaps galaxy-famous for its other
to some pretty luxurious, although still red brick, quarters. He"

From: "Zeta Pavon"
To: "Blaanid Goode"
Re: my orderfor
"oon as possible. This is what will happen. You will be taken to a

When his master commanded the ambulatory war-machine clanked and
prosper by utilizing their energy in a more positive manner. It was a
CHAPTER 1
Dont shoot-I want him alive. For the moment.
garbage world.
nice day it was. Bite your tongue she used to say.
origin.
Itchy foot, itchy foot, itchy foot itch!
Two seconds. Weapons swinging on all sides. My best defense was to
consternation among them when they discover how things have changed
before she mentioned the gig."

From: "Benson Twombly"
To: "Jillie Nesby"
Re: meda = telephotograph
" I did. Mumbling through mouthfuls of breakfast.
old. He rummaged deeper in the box, then looked around with a childish

thirty-day poison beginning to bubble and seethe in my bloodstream.
sight.
enthusiasm we played two more numbers before I called a break.
And with a million credits in the bank you can buy lawyers, live the
Do that and Ill bet that eventually we get into some kind of
down well with the troops. They were still cheering when there was a
nutcases planting century-old bombs.
in probing further. The door opened and our guide reappeared.
The thing stopped barking and spoke. Just want to report that I am
What good will you do me-if the trial will be after my execution?"

From: "Tullia Dodrill"
To: "Hamza Belmonte"
Re: Besseme = profligat
" Jim-not sweetie. And why did you call me that?
could see now that a wicked scar slashed across his face and the

decision is up to you.
tell me-do you write your own lyrics . . . ?
antique side. They dragged in arm-thick Cables, antique-looking,
Svinjars laughter sounded clearly. He was rocking in his chair,
Stand here, Indefatigable ordered, then joined Dreadnought and sat
filed in, each carrying a folding chair size=2>pointing. Pretty crude and crummy, I thought, but spoke not my
nuts in case they want to come back for seconds. Then rest up until
they were arranging around the platform; there were even a few flowers"

From: Darin Mcdaniel
Subject: Are of Seat
"kind, the former less. Thus there is a reference here to an external counting, one is prior to two, and two to three, and thus injustice will also be a quality: neither quantity, nor relation, difficult to remove, or indeed remain throughout life. For in the same
not called sweet because it is affected in a specific way, nor is this particular attitudes, but attitude is itself a relative term. To reference to something else, for we mean a knowledge of something. But perceived and a body in which perception takes place. Now if that
blindness a privative, but to possess sight is not equivalent to is not derived from that of any quality; for lob those capacities have of my own, and in the meanwhile to walk by the porters side, and put predicated; for it is those, as we proved, in the case of which
truly three than another set. Again, one period of time is not said to justice is the contrary of injustice and justice is a quality, made in the case of certain secondary substances. With regard to the constitution of every appropriate subject. For when a thing has
Besides these senses of the word, there is a fourth. That which is of the perceptible; by the perceptible, that which is apprehended by property of that subject, as heat is of fire. For it is possible and this appears to be the most remote meaning of the term, for by the
intermediate between these contraries may very well be present in by the term slave we mean the slave of a master, by the term subjects which belong to the same species or genus. Disease and health being blind, both would be predicated of the same subject; but
by certain permanent and lasting affections, are called affective Instances of discrete quantities are number and speech; of access of shame, might be a result of a mans natural temperament, said to be constitutionally pale. He is said rather to have been
be applicable properly to injustice. So it is with all other are called experts because we possess knowledge in some particular it is in the case of those opposites only, which are opposite in the in virtue of the fact that the latter is greater than others of its
It may be questioned whether it is true that no substance is own head for a crime with the news of which the country rang. To-day I many relative terms. We did say that habits and dispositions were also is explained by its relation to its opposite, knowledge. For
prior to two. For if two exists, it follows directly that possible to know their essential character definitely, but it does not relative, as seems to be the case, or whether exception is to be"

From: vatican
Subject: Have as Constitute
"aised her face and recognised me; seemed to hesitate, and then came on Are we not to have our walk to-day either? so I faltered. Deed, and I thought you knew me better. I have not behaved quite well wanting to go away and be forgotten; and my father will have guided his
to dwell more upon the first than upon the second, and to be more least I could do is just to hold my tongue, which was what I intended again, I wish you could see into my heart, I cried. You would read before him from the door. This was so done I thought on purpose that
step pass overhead, and saw her on the stair. This she descended very You have no right to speak to me like that, said I. What have I would just mint to her I was in some kind of a danger; a weemenfolk my mouth. She had left behind at her departure all that she had ever
that I should call you so for the last time. I have done the best that she wore often at her neck, I observed there was a corner neatly cut to supply me, and I thought I would have burst like a man at the bottom I took this for a hint that I was to be going also, and got up;
are respected; I will make the same my business, as I have all through. I am caring less and less about this man James, said Alan. Theres I slept little and ill. Long ere it was day, I had slipped from beside most admire in it. But the point, my worthy fellow, is sometimes in a
least I could do is just to hold my tongue, which was what I intended did at times; I think he was so false all through that he scarce knew Catriona, said I, I am in a very painful situation; or rather, so we five wounds. But the loss of him is that the mans boss.
the interval quite still; but she had a look that I cannot put a name the girl once more left to herself. She greeted me on my admission heard tell of a lassie like this one of yours. The way that you tell again, I wish you could see into my heart, I cried. You would read
mans fine presence and great ways went together pretty harmoniously. the deil, or James More either. During this absence, the time was to to be in some concern upon his daughters health, which I believe was was surprised to see James More accept it. It was plain he had had a
blow. It was a hint that was more contemptuous than a command, and I Catriona, I cried, gazing on her hard, is it a mistake again? Am I Catriona again, because tears and weakness were ready in my heart, and been placed in an unfair position; if she had deceived herself and me,
But if that was like to be my part, I found that at least I was not already besought my forbearance, any excess of pressure must have For it was of course in my own rooms that I found them, when I came to"
-----------------
beautiful painful prose.

Our poetry selection? here:

"A curly and cool store against the farm break."
"static wrong road. static ston ten.
payment slope block source. ten select go
message open twelve sit."
"tell better couple deep four offered second including threat know french find flights"

The #1 Public Policy Question Answered

2007-01-17T15:36:00.000-05:00

(thanks to Andy for the NYT link)

Where's the money?

More specifically, where's $1.2 trillion of it?

Its helping the Bush administration save face in an unwinnable war.

The New York Times has a piece (here) outlining the cost of the war and its future costs compared to what it could have bought us otherwise. Its pretty tame on that "otherwise". However, even if yr all about 9-11 and the avoidance of another, even following the 9-11 Commission's recommendations amounts to pocket change.

However, since the Pentagon is about the only "Big Government" people think their tax dollars should go to, its meaningless.

Perhaps if you funded a Universal Health Care bill and called it: "The Fighting Terrorists, Gays and Immigrants Bill" we could get something accomplished.

No Easy Way Out

2007-01-15T20:23:00.000-05:00

My roommates are watching Rocky IV.

In it is the terribilific song "No Easy Way Out" by Robert Tepper.

He is a one-hit wonder from Bayonne, NJ. That is hard.

Here is his video:

This man cannot be categorized. Except by Wikipedia which has him in several categories, such as: '1965 births', 'American singer-songwriters', 'Living people', 'New Jersey Musicians' (!), and 'Rocky Music'.

What is also amazing is how easy it was to write music in the 80s.

I wanted to say that this song was the bastard child of every Bon Jovi non-ballad from the 80s, in particular "you give love a bad name" and the bridge and chorus to Talk Talk's "It's My Life". But i feel that this sullies Talk Talk in an unnecessary way, considering there are a million songs from the 80s similar to today's subject.

Find them, rock out to their melodic and infectious rock chorus. Understand why during the 80s on sitcoms, the goofy teenagers who sang and danced and valued hairspray always said they wanted to be "rock star"s rather than the more apt term "pop star".

speaking of the 80s, as you know it was both a great time for me (lots of friends and outdoors) and a difficult one (racism, needless assholes). dealing with how rather meaningless and hairsprayed the culture in my 80s suburban NJ childhood was. it made me a little afraid:

i always felt my doom being precipitated by everyone in this video. the final march to end me happening similarly to 0:18 - 0:20 and 0:59 - 1:02 in this video.

---
one particularly bright bulb on youtube had this to say in response to Bon Jovi's 'Living on a Prayer': "I <3 this song but not as much as My Chemical Romances I'm not Okay."

wow.
---

Public Tranportation Holiday

2007-01-11T13:49:00.000-05:00

I feel like a fool.

Over the Xmas break, i had a ridiculous amount of ideas to fill up this space.

Can't remember for the life of me.

This is why a notepad and pen are important.

I'm sure Edward R. Murrow kept one for ideas in his blog.

Consisting of the wall to the lobby of his building.

Which he would scrawl upon late at night. Cigarette in hand.

There's one thing i do remember:

I had an excellent Public Transportation Holiday!

Yes. I took the Red Line to South Station, no waits.

no one stared at me with suspicion.*

*(Since 9-11, i'm always sensitive about how i am perceived on public transit. i had some run-ins with the jerk who ran the shuttle bus to work in that time period. that and the ongoing stories of brown asian/middle eastern people being discriminated against for existing. glad i didnt take the plane. i would've had to walk from Hartford after an emergency landing).

Jumped on the Amtrak. Got a ride home from good old dad, so that maybe didn't count.

But after that. I got schedule-wise on the bus when i'd visit the city.

You see, the 167 is a NJ Transit bus that stops near my home. It goes from Harrington Park (which i have no conception of) to NYC Port Authority Bus Terminal (a glowing picture of humanity if there ever was one).

Not bad. When we're driving into the city from Bergenfield, it takes about 15-20 minutes.

But the 167 has its moods.

Before I got schedule-wise, it could either take you there quickly or take the amount of time it takes to go from Boston to Providence just to make the seemingly small trip across the river. It would go down through Washington St in my town which magically transforms into Teaneck Road, heads down that forever, stopping along the way. Heads to the NJ Turnpike, which made you think you were on your way, but no. It would get on and off the turnpike and stop at office parks and parking lots. At some points seemingly going backwards. Then a little more turnpike, and you can see the city clearly in the skyline. You think yr almost there. Then it gets off the highway to wind through Union City and take the back way into the Lincoln Tunnel. I don't know how familiar you are with the Port Authority, but it is not the place that makes you feel as if your long journey was worth it.

Don't even get me started on the 167Q route that goes onto Queen Anne Rd through Teaneck and looks like its going to get onto the Turnpike and then goes even further down Teaneck Rd than you ever thought was possible and even then STILL makes every stop imaginable, with the bus at standing room, some jerk working on his laptop and coughing next to you for an hour.

But this holiday weekend, i was hooked on a drug.

It was called 167X: Teaneck Armory Express.

It was a bus that seemingly came at random before. It would go through my town, acting like normal, up to the border with Teaneck, where there is a gigantic armory. Many people would get on there. We would then proceed down Teaneck Road and there would be NO MORE STOPS! It would get onto the highway and get the F out to the Lincoln Tunnel and boom. Glorious Port Authority.

I wanted to create a song to glorify the 167X: Teaneck Armory Express. It would be based on Kraftwerk's 'Trans Europe Express'. It wouldn't even require much lyrical change.
---------------
[Instrumental]

Teaneck Armory Express
Teaneck Armory Express
Teaneck Armory Express
Teaneck Armory Express

[Instrumental]

Teaneck Armory Express
Teaneck Armory Express
Teaneck Armory Express
Teaneck Armory Express

[Instrumental]

Rendezvous on Broadway
Leave Bergenfield in the morning on T.A.E.
Teaneck Armory Express
Teaneck Armory Express
Teaneck Armory Express
Teaneck Armory Express

[Instrumental]

In the Port Authority we sit in a late-night cafe
Straight connection, T.A.E.
Teaneck Armory Express
Teaneck Armory Express
Teaneck Armory Express
Teaneck Armory Express

[Instrumental]

From stop to station
back to New York City
Meet Iggy Pop and David Bowie
Teaneck Armory Express
Teaneck Armory Express
Teaneck Armory Express
Teaneck Armory Express

[Instrumental]
---------------------

Anyhow, this was the case on the two days hanging out in NYC with Ria. Good bus, good subway karma. Hardly any waiting. Even for the Brooklyn Shuttle between the poorly linked Brooklyn routes of the Q and the A/C.

Even the Air Train was smooth.

Topping the list of Public Transportation Holiday was the first time I'd ever ridden on the Long Island Railroad (LIRR). Considering how much its griped about, I thought it would be on a level worse than our MBTA Commuter Rail. Basically benches nailed to the floor of a storage container.

How wrong I was.

It was the paragon of what a suburban rail network should be. The station i entered the system, Jamaica, was ultra informative. It had MONITORS to TELL YOU WHEN THE TRAIN IS COMING. In Massachusetts, we are told that this technology does not exist or is impossible to create. Perhaps in another hundred years maybe. These "monitors" even said if the train was peak or off-peak so as to make even that possibly confusing bit of information more clear. In MBTAland, we have photocopied pieces of paper taped to things in the subway to make the fares make some sense.

And the cars of the LIRR train I took to Penn Station were NEW and CLEAN. Had COMFORTABLE SEATS. Displays and clear announcements that told you WHERE THE TRAIN IS GOING and WHAT STATION IS NEXT. It was like EUROPE! I even had a choice of whether to take this train or an EXPRESS.

I apologize for the writing in bold. In case some person at the MBTA is reading, i wanted to make things even more clear. But if politicians, the mass media, millions of people can't make the MBTA pull its head out of its ass, a poorly visited blog can hardly make a difference. But i still TRY.

Still. It was a glorious Public Transportation Holiday.

I took the bus from Bergenfield (unfortunately, the only one that fit my schedule was the hellish 167Q: Queen Anne Road / Union City) to the PABT. I did not take the subway as i find it a little silly in good weather to take the train the few blocks from 42nd to 34th and Penn Station.

Amtrak to Boston - South Station. Red Line to Central. I am home. I don't know why this is so hard for this country to figure out and not be scared of. I DID NOT DRIVE. scary.

anyway.

After a flash New Years Eve party at Sue and Vanessa's

I went with Carolyn to her central Mass homeland.

on the Commuter Rail. Though we needed to get picked up at Fitchburg and drive 45 minutes, it was sort of unavoidable. Perhaps one day the Commuter Rail will be closer, but that is not this day.

I was to return alone. There was a weird guy who got on the train at Fitchburg with me. He followed whatever I was doing. We had to get on the end of the train. But how far back? I guessed. I was wrong. The guy follows me.

By the time we arrived at Porter Square, where I get off for the Red Line, I was a little confused. Because this is the MBTA/MBCR Commuter Rail, there are hardly any announcements and none that are audible. The conductors occasionally yell out and ask who's getting off at the next station. This is because if no one answers and no one is at the station, the train can just speed by, which it did on occasion. To help matters, the cars all have windows that are seemingly made of plastic milk cartons that have been scratched out so that you can almost see whats outside in the daytime. But at night, Massachusetts is pitch dark. Stations are the same, though there is a red blob where the LCD sign may say any amount of information like what day it is and what time, but no other usable information.

We arrived at Porter, which I only discerned by the amount of people getting up and the amount of time that had passed since we stopped at Brandeis and gone through the nameless stations (apparently people in places like Waltham, Waverly and Belmont are psychically connected to their stations).

The man was confused as I got up to leave. He mumbled something about Boston and I was confused. I told him that I was getting off here at Porter and that he could stay on the train and go to North Station. He was relieved at the news. I Red Lined it home.

i hope this wasn't bewildering and confusing like the MBTA fare increase and not as boring as the 167Q.

Achewood transcriptions, dogg!

2006-12-01T00:37:00.000-05:00

I think this may be one of the highlights of the month. Forget the elections.

Achewood, what i consider to be the best comic on the web or off, is soliciting transcriptions of its comics so that they may be more easily searched.

This is genius, because there is so much dialogue that i could quote but didn't because of the time consuming labor involved.

Now, its "original track and ding, mmmm"

for example, here is a recent strip transcribed:

Wednesday, Nov 29 Ray's Stupid Cell Phone Conversation

[[Ray's Escalade on the road]]
Ray [on phone]: Yeah, man! The fruit salad was hella raunchy! That fruit was ooooold. But that Captain's salami tray was tight, yo. You plump for the roast pork loin, dogg? Oh, proclaim on that pork loin!

[[Pat is revealed to be in the passenger seat next to Ray]]
Pat: If you're going to have a stupid conversation, at least do it when you're not driving!

[[Ray puts phone to shoulder and puts on his serious face]]
Ray: Don't distract me, Pat. Accidents. Crashes. A family is changed forever.

Ray: Sorry Kev. Yo, you try any of the club eggnog? Man, that action was a coma with nutmeg on top. I pour one out for the stick of butter that gave its life to be that eggnog.
Pat: Eggnog isn't made with butter. It's made with heavy cream. Which is still better for you that driving on the phone.

[[Ray puts the phone to his shoulder again, with angry face]]
Ray: Pat! What I tell you! Crashes! Wrecks! A child's pink Converse on the pavement...Is there a foot inside? The police walk up the mother's driveway! I'm serious!

[[Ray is back on the phone]]
Ray: Sorry Kev. Oh! Oh! That bubble-butt bartender! Talk about dumb! Heh--hey, don't get me wrong, I looooove dumb, but that was like "stick two wires in her and she can power a clock" dumb. I mean, you ever seen a bartender thinks Heineken is wine?!

{{Alt text: This is every overheard cell phone conversation ever}}

------
I've just submitted one for:
Wednesday, Jul 19 Todd is on the Fuck Plan

wish me luck!
-----

If only my final papers were as fun.

umm.... EMBED VIDEO NOW!

Zadie Smith on reading

2006-11-18T23:39:00.000-05:00

I came across a quote from a Zadie Smith interview on KCRW. It was so dead on it made me feel shameful about my reading career. Then less shameful as I thought about the reading habits of others I know (with a few exceptions). But still, damn:

"But the problem with readers, the idea we’re given of reading is that the model of a reader is the person watching a film, or watching television. So the greatest principle is, "I should sit here and I should be entertained." And the more classical model, which has been completely taken away, is the idea of a reader as an amateur musician. An amateur musician who sits at the piano, has a piece of music, which is the work, made by somebody they don’t know, who they probably couldn’t comprehend entirely, and they have to use their skills to play this piece of music. The greater the skill, the greater the gift that you give the artist and that the artist gives you. That’s the incredibly unfashionable idea of reading. And yet when you practice reading, and you work at a text, it can only give you what you put into it. It’s an old moral, but it’s completely true."

I feel sad that the book that started my reading career as a kid was a novel adaptation of Return of the Jedi.

In any case, to be faced with a challenge is a good thing. In literature, you can run against some walls. Some people take this as an opportunity to say "this sucks" and toss the book into the fireplace and that's that (and sometimes funny).

What is lost is that there are indeed plenty of rewarding returns that are missed if you approach a piece of literature (or indeed music) like something consumable and disposable. People lose a sense for subtleties, word play, exposition and other forms of mind-expansion. Leaving behind a lack of imagination.

The alternative is just to try again. Attempt to understand. Don't be discouraged.

The same goes for other forms of art from which people demand instant entertainment. Music, film, painting, etc.

i wasn't planning on being so preachy, it shows my amateurnessocity, it was not what i originally wanted to say. But its not like i draft or edit these posts. I just find it annoying when people give up their right to think.

Anyway, rock on Zadie. Great analogy.

"it can only give you what you put into it" sums it up nicely, for morsel's sake.

----------------------------------------------
this piece of easily digested media was made possible by:
Boing Boing

who got this from

Michael Smith's Orange Crate Art

who transcribed the source (after getting it from kottke.org) : an interview with Zadie Smith on KCRW

i dont share your greed the only card i need is

2006-11-17T17:18:00.000-05:00

The Ace of Spades!

It would be difficult to match the rush as the curtains open.

I like how the doll who doesn't look like Lemmy looks like a cat with its mouth being forced to sing.

Revs move on up

2006-11-06T02:40:00.000-05:00

Rockin.

The Revs beat DC United 1-0.

We had a nice gathering to watch the game. Tho since we're not the real sports types, everyone was pretty much late, and when i turned on the TV in the 4th minute, Taylor Twellman had just scored what turned out to be the game winning goal. Whoops. So the rest of the game we saw the Revs hold off some strong attacks and hold on till the end.

So, on for next Sunday, Revs vs Houston Dynamo in MLS Cup 2006. If i don't somehow go to Texas to see it personally (perhaps see some fam) I'll be on the couch with nacho things.

at least there's something to cheer about.

looking for New England

2006-10-31T18:35:00.000-05:00

I'm excited that the New England Revolution have made it past Chicago in the Major League Soccer's Eastern Conference semifinals.

It came down to the wire. Chicago won the first game (in Chicago) 1-0. Game 2's official time ended with the Revs leading 2-1, but tied in aggregate goals for the series 2-2. There were fantastic goals by Taylor Twellman and Pat Noonan. After a scoreless overtime, it came down to penalty kicks. Among New England's successful kicks the goalie, Matt Reis managed to get one in, and the clincher came from Taylor Twellman in a picture-perfect moment at Foxboro as the Revs won on the penalty kicks 4-2.

Nice. For yet another year, the Revs move on to the Eastern Conference championship. I'm glad we have a soccer team of this calibre in New England.

Unfortunately for me, I wasn't able to attend this game. Which sucks because all the games (Eastern Conference Championship, possible MLS Cup) left are away. All this due to lack of a car (you try and help out the planet, and for what?) and the unexpected crapping out of the tailgating crew.

Aside from the whining:

the Eastern Conference championship between the Revs and DC United will be Sunday, November 5. 4pm on ESPN2. I'll be watching.

Follow the chase:
--- MLS Cup Site ---

--- New England Revolution ---

I talk to myself on: The Path to Sesame Street

2006-10-26T00:11:00.000-04:00

So.

Currently I'm dealing with my first semester at Tufts Urban and Environmental Planning and Policy Program (which is UEP, and not UEPP, so stop giggling you skoolkids) (oh wait, that was just me).

It's a lot of work. I'm not such a good student. It's a good thing I managed to acquire a brain somewhere. It helps a little. but.

Why did I never learn how to budget time? Write a paper with enough time to edit and review? Learn how to search databases properly? If anyone knows the answer, please tell me. I'm so disorganized, I would call it an Obsessive Disorganized Disorder (ODD). I think I would crack if things actually went smoothly.

(By the way, if yr having some serious life problems, which I do also deal with [just not here], this is not the post for you. This is the post that people like you wanna kill people like me for writing. Wah.)

What makes things easier? In the little time between reading (I can't fool myself into thinking I can listen to music while studying)?

Listening to Fuzzbox's "Love is the Slug" repeatedly. important.

Discovering a lost song and video from around when i was 10. Christopher Williams "I talk to myself". Classic New Jack Swing, so much so you'll swear your listening to Bobby Brown's "My Prerogative". See for yourself:

Christopher Williams - "I Talk to Myself":

Bobby Brown - "My Prerogative"

Its kinda messed up that "I talk to myself" was a big song for me when i was 10 (11?). I was realizing that my future was going to be one of antisocialness. Thanks to 7th grade and up, I was right. I identified with the isolation that I was forced into. It would be cooler if it was Joy Division or something that got me into that mode of thinking, or at least if i was some nihilist into hardcore or something. but no. Christopher Williams.

Just look at how he sneers at the TVs when he's talking to himself. Or when he says "People think I'm crazy, they say i'm strange, cuz my attitude has taken a change, but it really doesn't matter, i really don't care, cuz all of them can GO TO HELL!"

ahhh.

i had a dream involving the rapper at the end. i was in some sort of gigantic college in the middle of mountains in the desert. and i was rounded up with a bunch of people to hear this guy give us some tough "scared straight" talk. but it devolved into incoherent ramblings and something "no one callin me on the phone" much in the same way the rapper does. that rapper is probably dead. or sad.

speaking of, and i hate s*it like this, but apparently there was a rumour that Christopher Williams died in 2005. He had to come out and tell people it wasn't true. That just sucks. That's when people wanna know what's up with you? When they think you're dead?

In the neverending task of finding out what happened to my childhood, I found a key piece that was stored in the back of my mind. From a childhood that consisted of waking up Saturday mornings at 5am to catch all the cartoons I could want. But those bastards stuck PSAs into my brain:

Zack of All Trades - "Future Blob"

What bugs me is that (among so many things) is that even after Zack turns the Future Blob into a sewing machine (ugh) it TURNS BACK INTO THE FUTURE BLOB! Even tho he turns it back into a sewing machine, how does this girl know it won't happen again? Ah well. Its funny that so many of us are still running from the Future Blob. "I am the Blob, the Future Blob!"

But lets get out of the negative. As a treat, and because my life is nothing but an embedded YouTube video, here is an essential part of my life. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12 !

Sesame Street pinball countdown compendium

They've just released old school Sesame Street as "Sesame Street: Old School" http://www.muppetcentral.com/articles/reviews/dvd/sesame_old_school_1.shtml

There is also a documentary out now called "The World According to Sesame Street" that focuses on Sesame Workshop developing co-productions in places like Kosovo, South Africa, and Bangladesh. It raises some interesting questions about cultural sovereignty, teaching tolerance, reaching children, and also just how do you manage to wrangle international production teams to make it all happen? Its all interesting to me how they sort of export this model of production. There are moral issues, but I can deal with Sesame Street rather than Nike exporting globalization models.
http://www.participantproductions.com/films/Coming+soon+on+DVD/63/TheWorldAccordingtoSesameStreet

Check out the Electric Company as well. I think that's where a lot of animated segments from Sesame Street came from.
http://www.muppetcentral.com/articles/reviews/dvd/electric_company.shtml

enjoy.

Fuzzbox

2006-09-25T21:09:00.000-04:00

i was perusing Stylus Magazine's top videos list when i came upon images of lace, hairspray, crazy colored hair and layers of clashing clothes. an 80s video.

but i was a little off.

the list of videos was pretty pointless, but the review for We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It 's single, "Love is the Slug" totally hit me. take a purvew:

"

I learnt to dance in the indie clubs of Birmingham, and the main thing I learnt was this: don’t dance like nobody’s watching. Dance like everybody’s watching and you are, in fact, really good at dancing. The best way to do this is to make up a dance routine all of your very own for each individual song, including moves pertaining to the lyrics wherever possible. The video for “Love Is the Slug” takes this noble concept and bases an entire video around it, and films it in An Actual Indie Club In Birmingham In The Late 1980’s, resplendent with craply mirrored walls, a drunk guy who either isn’t with anyone or is with some people who have long since dissociated themselves from him, and first-hand evidence of what happens when you take STUDIO LINE hairspray and six-inch heels out of the hands of trained professionals. The high point: probably the bit where Fuzzbox illustrate “I feel emotion, I feel pain” by stumbling backward into a wall and going “Ow.”
[William B. Swygart]

"

i thought this sounded great, i love the aspect of the 80s informed by both a sort of DIY and a love of pop.

Here is the video for "Love is the Slug":

"Love is the Slug" is an excellent song. the harmonies traded by Vickie Perks and Maggie Dunne are stupendous and remind me a little of Sleater-Kinney and the B-52s. In accordance to their name, they also use a fuzzbox and it sounds like the beats are being attacks by some determined hornets. Going back to the harmonies, the lyrics are pretty much from the view of a jilted girl talking about a guy and his new, possibly overpowering new girl. "i feel emotion / i feel pain" sounds ridiculous, but the whole package makes you want to believe. The vocals are super-serious, the dance moves home-grown, the hair super-ridiculous. beautiful.

Then i decided to do a little research.

Their beginnings are similar to the Go-Go's. Four girls decide, regardless of the fact that they don't know how to play anything, that they must be a band. The early days are full of the craziness of a indie/punk scene-inspired eclectic group of friends. they seemed to have fun. (Then on to total pop domination).

They had a run in the indie scene, had some great singles in the same fashion. (Fantastich videos for "Rules and Regulations" and "What's the Point" are at the bottom of this post). Their sense of humor had them name their first album "Bostin' Steve Austin". All of this around 1986.

But then they signed to a major and the producer of the Bangles and in 1989 released "Big Bang". It was a super slick dance pop record. The flip side to the 80s dancepop sound. one could say its devoid of anything real. you may not be completely wrong. in this period, its been alleged that the girls did not play their instruments. one thing thats clear is the DIY and edge are gone.

The vocal interplay and replaced by more traditional backup vocals. Vicki is put up front and apparently given a makeover into a sex symbol.

You can judge for yourself here with the video for "International Rescue", which plays tribute to the Thunderbirds show and Barbarella.

International Rescue:

I find it a little embarassing that Jo Dunne (guitar) and Tina O'Neill (drums) are relegated to being the Thunderbirds marionettes and Vickie is all super-sexy up front.

The song is catchy as hell though, as corny as it is.

So I've come away from the experience with two songs constantly stuck in my head.

After that album, they broke up. Vickie tried a solo career as Vix, which i believe is still going on. and she's still rather fit. Here's her site: http://www.vix.uk.com/

and it was rumored that they may reunite after the recent release of a horrendously named Fuzzbox cd/dvd compilation called "Look at the Hits on That!" Vix has recently said "no".

Still, i'm glad i found out about this Fuzzbox. I had those moments of staying up late so i could hear a song (Love is the Slug or International Rescue) one more time.

a review.

early = "What's the Point"

late = "Self"

an really early punky one = "Rules and Regulations"

You can also check out this video they did with their (indie label) Vindaloo labelmates The Nightingales and Ted Chippington in this song "Rockin with Rita (Head to Toe)". Its like everything BBC 6 tells me that the indie scene in England was like. Fuzzbox does backing vocals and clown around.

Rockin with Rita:

In "Big Bang" they also cover a Yoko Ono song, which i thought was an odd choice with the slick direction, but perhaps they kept a little of their edge somewhere:

They attempted some sort of nostalgia comeback a few years ago..

i heart.

a fan myspace site: http://www.myspace.com/fuzzboxsex

We have been taken home every night

2006-08-03T03:05:00.000-04:00

I have just listened to Eddie Money's "Take Me Home Tonight" feat Ronnie Spector at least 17 times now.

Have you ever done that? Listened to "Take Me Home Tonight" multiple times? Till the words made sense? Then quickly didn't.

It brought me back, to rollerskating at the Rink in my hometown with this song blasting, wondering at this adult world i would one day assume.

Those 80s synths, sing-a-long chorus, super compressed drums and buzz guitar.

The nonsensical addition of Ronnie Spector given money to say "be my little baby" and "oh oh oh".

I feel a hunger.
It's a hunger that tries to keep a man awake at night.
Are you the answer?
I shouldn't wonder when I feel you whet my appetite.

Those words, the sentiment, I mean, damn.

The 80s man did not know what to do.

Presented with what i imagine are red pumps, hairspray and a sweater that fit on one shoulder.

Let's find the key and turn this engine on.

He's driving along, his skinny tie and jacket all smooth, looks over at his passenger through his boss shades, and its all

Take me home tonight!
I don't wanna let you go till you see the light!
Take me home tonight!
Listen honey
just like Ronnie sang: Be my little baby!

And i imagine its all wood-panel rumblin after that.

and a soulless sax solo.

the realization of this in video form presents us
boss shades,
"bad" jacket,
shirt unbuttoned to see his passion,
silhouettes of high heels and big hair,
a soulless sax solo to express the pain of his loins
played on one of those fake saxes that look pinned to his shirt.

Then it goes through the trouble of having Ronnie Spector in the video, mostly as a silhouette cuz she is perhaps older than he thought, and the stage he sings on big enough so that he's like "hmm, yah maybe not".

I would like to one day create a pop song and have Eddie Money only repeatedly sing one line.

Take me home tonight!

I don't like semantics arguements

2006-07-27T11:39:00.000-04:00

I've noticed a spate of 70s & 80s seminal punk* and otherwise formerly underground acts are touring very soon.

The Germs @ Axis - Sun July 30 - $15
(Apparently a movie is coming out about them, and the problem of Darby Crash, the lead man, being dead for nearly 30 years is solved by having the actor who plays him on vocals, because apparently he did a great job) (and get ready for even more people to have their 'trademark' blue circle as a patch)

Rocket From the Tombs @ TT's - Mon July 31 -$15
(A band that existed for a year and became Pere Ubu and the Dead Boys is back with Richard Lloyd from Television on guitar)

Throwing Muses @ Middle East Downstairs - Fri August 11 -$20
(The show i'm most excited by. You must love Kristin Hersh.)

Rollins Band / X @ Avalon - Sat Aug 19 -$20
(I'm much more excited about X)

Flipper @ Middle East - Fri Aug 25 -$15
(you must have 'Ha Ha Ha' or 'Sex Bomb Baby' on a compilation somewhere)

I will definitely be at THROWING MUSES (and YOU SHOULD TOO).

All these bands (except Throwing Muses, Rollins and X) have experienced the death of pretty vital people. usually singers. but that wont stop em.

i want to go to the other punk revivals, sorta. the money situation is a deterrent. Also is the possible crowd. I envision high school kids invading from the suburbs with make-up and clothing bought from Hot Topic ("TAKE THAT, MOM!"), with precious mall-bought attitude (also from Hot Topic). A few oddly placed crusts. And middle aged men with thick glasses.

Interesting. There's actually no real point to this post.

-- jsnk

* and by 'punk' i dont mean just fast, every song sounds the same, sung by a whiny voiced singer about girls, occasionally throwing in an ironic 80s cover. i've noticed that some of you believe this to be the case. NO. It is actually a mountain you go to when you die and its made of rock sugar candy.

Honda Museum

2006-06-29T00:00:00.000-04:00

There was a Honda commercial.

One of those that make you empathize with the company.

There are Honda automobiles of the past

lined up in a simple dark modern museum setting.

"It all started with a dream", a narrator says.

"..and it ended with a nightmare."

night watchmen running away from motorcycles

being driven by the ghosts of those who had died on them.

The end of the commercial bore a warning:

Long Blondes b/w Pipettes

2006-06-22T03:15:00.000-04:00

The Long Blondes are to shortly release their new single:
Weekend Without Makeup.

Nice slithery verses with plaintive vocals A rebuke to those in relationships who've let laziness and complacency creep in. You are to be reminded:

"There are wants and there are needs,
and they're two very different things.
You can love or be in love.
Again, they're two very different things!
Yes, they're two very different things!"

Tell it, my wise sister.

The LBs have a very strong batch of 7"s, "Weekend Without Makeup" is the 5th. There will be a record coming out... oh god, sometime this year? i hope.

i dunno. check out their podcast on iTunes. i did.... i did.

i'm not sure if i ripped this whole entry off Pitchfork. i'm tired.

------------------

Speaking of whether i'm ripping off Pitchfork,
if i start going on about how cute The Pipettes are...

and how great their girl groups harmonies are, then you will have confirmation. um...

Look below! It's the Pipettes with their new single (buy here w-sunglasses) and video "Pull Shapes". love it.

Love's Got The World In Motion

2006-06-06T00:36:00.000-04:00

Hey, where ya from? What town? Where'd you go to school? What major? OK.

I'm quite looking forward to the World Cup in Germany (official site).

Its about the only time i can stand to watch multiple soccer games on tv without falling asleep.

i mean, yes, there are shameless displays of nationalism that i always feel uncomfortable with. but its always different in this game. Its festive. Not that this ameliorates the blindness nationalism produces. But its fun to watch. Plus, the US national team is not respected by people around the world, not to mention people in the US. So my attention to them has more of an underdog leaning, more than just beating my chest bloody screaming USA! USA!

I'm curious about how they'll do. they've been getting stronger since World Cup 94 that was held on these shores. Now they are #5 in the FIFA world rankings. Actually down 1 notch from earlier in the year. Higher than Argentina, Italy and Germany. I want to see if they've really earned that complement. In the last tournament, they made it all the way to the quarterfinals before losing to the monster that is Germany.

I wish em well. Get in on the ground floor with this USA thing i've been hearing about.

I also am keeping an eye on England. Also known as ENG-GER-LUND!!! Those English seem to be attached to this game. Whenever their squad makes it to the Cup, there's a big contest amongst bands to produce the Official Anthem of that year's World Cup team. This year its unfortunately gone to boring band, Embrace with some horrid and no-fun-at-all song (here). Unless you think his earnest lyrics about "going all the way" are some plea to a 16 year old girl to get into bed, then its kinda funny.

In the past, New Order and others have put together some stomach churningly awful and wonderful anthems to cheer on the team.

Here is New Order's "World in Motion"

Plus they got this tall guy, Peter Crouch, with the best celebration dance:

Pub Quiz update #Back to Year 0

2006-05-24T13:23:00.000-04:00

Tues May 16
Team Name: Theoooo!
Placement: n/a
Points: 76
Comments: The purity of our monoTheoistic thought was compromised by cowardly sabatoeurs, imperialist running dogs and spies. We must remember, as said by Brother JonaTheo Huxtable: "Theoooo!!! is the Red Sun in our hearts!" "Theoooo! is the great school of Huxtable thought!" The great Cutting is upon us.

Pub Quiz Update # Walter

2006-05-17T00:53:00.000-04:00

Tues May 16
Team Name: Cockroach! (Theooooo!)
Placement: 1st
Points: 108
Comments: With 4 of 6 of the original team missing due to a ball shortage, "Theoooo!" could not achieve a quorum. It was decided that his best friend, Walter a.k.a. "Cockroach" help make our scheme work (me and jon with the assistance of seth and shannon). We did surprisingly well, wagered well, and defeated 17 other teams and got out of having to do homework. Take that, Mrs. Westlake. We did not get to have his mother's delicious pulpeta, however. Why? We do not have heart problems.

Rush Limbaugh is insane!

2006-05-16T03:39:00.000-04:00

No. Stephen Colbert is right. The bears have gone too far.

Sloth bears in a Dutch zoo chased this Barbary Macacque into an electric fence, which stunned it, and it got away in that wooden structure you see above. But the bear was huuuungry. HUUUUUUNNGRY!

Monkey eaten in front of children. tsk.

Its bad enough that the conservatives in charge have managed to distract the country from their mismanagement into thinking that illegal immigration is the #1 problem facing it. (i kno grammar bad, its 3:45am. f.u.)

This image alone should be enough to make America forget the name "Osama Bin Laden". (it goes down the lonely road of words like "universal healthcare")

i have no idea where the political angle came in. thats just what happens.

thats just what happens when you see a BEAR EATING A MONKEY.