November 2004 Archives

I still love electronic music.

This love started back in high school with Orbital, continued as I pretended to be a DJ and still hides in my heart always listening for the four on the floor and wondering how well that would work in a mix.

It takes a lot these days, to really spark my ear in regards to electronic music, it has to be . . . well, it just has to be what it was intended to be when it was created.

I hadn't listened to much electronic music lately, mostly downtempo, having abandoned house for indie rock. But somehow I always get taken back that way and its funny how things work, full circle. In my quest for indie goodness I stumbled upon Postal Service, a collaboration between Jimmy Tamborello of DNTEL and DCFC's Ben Gibbard, a quirky electronic masterpiece of glitches and beats holding up cheesy lyrics about love and heartbreak. I liked it. And so I listened on and off growing fond of the quirks.

Stuff to Steal: DNTEL - (This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan (Safety Scissors Spilled My Drink Mix) and (This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan (Lali Puna Remix) (If you are asked for an email address, just look to the right and click "Skip It") Also here is Postal Service - Such Great Heights Read on.

Then I found some more, singles and live perfromances and they too were good. And I listened on. And then one day I found Postal Service - Rare and Unreleased Tracks. They were neither, to be exact, just singles from Postal Service and remixes from DNTEL that Ben just happened to provide vocals for. This remixed song, (This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan, is what I looked for when constructing a house set, deep and moody with great, obtuse vocals able to blend in and out from one song to the next. And suddenly I have the urge to mix again. It had been gone but it is back and I am thinking once more about deep, low beats, lush soundscapes and how I could take these perfect pieces and make them better by combining only the best of both.

I don't like George W. Bush. His agendas bother me.

This post deals with that and my thoughts about politics in general. Read it if you want OR go back to stealing stuff. It doesn't make much difference to me.

Well, I was wrong. Kerry lost. Granted, I was basing my confident presumption on the play of the Washington Redskins (they lost to the Packers), but that's what I get for predicting the presidential election on the outcome of a football game. So now we have four more years of Bush. Not good. But then, four years of Kerry would not have been any better. Marginally, maybe. But in the long run, not much better.

Everyone says, "Lesser of two evils! I picked the lesser of two evils!" But what does that mean? It means, by voting for the lesser of two evils we are validating that the system is evil (and if you voted Third Party, please stop being so deluded, its a valiant effort, but you only have two choices, evil or less evil). Picking someone who is "less evil" is like picking the less psychotic serial killer. Do you want the one who's imaginary dog named Bob commanded him to wear that little boy's head as a hat for a week straight OR do you want the one who thinks trees are his enemy and the only way to escape the menacing stares of the Ash and Oak trees is to eat the lower intestines of the elderly?

So what does for more Bush years get us? Lower taxes? Maybe. We'll see how long that lasts with the deficit growing out of control. More War? Probably. I've got five dollars that says we'll be in Iran before 2006. Environmental Protection? Not on your life. And the sad truth is, I don't care. Humanity screwed itself a long-long time ago.

"Nature is, in unsuspected obscurity, equipping some now humble creature
with wider possibilities of appetite, endurance, or destruction to rise in the
fullness of time and sweep Homo away into the darkness from which his
universe arose. The Coming Beast must certainly be reckoned in any
anticipatory calculations regarding the Coming Man."
- H.G. Wells

And yes, this won't happen for thousands and thousands of years. But I do hope it happens and I hope humanity doesn't even see it coming.

So . . . four more years. I'm disappointed, don't get me wrong but the worst specter about four more Bush years is all the whining liberals that will continue to crawl out of the woodwork. I know you don't like Bush, I know you have a problem with the Republicans but, and this is a big BUT, apparently the rest of America doesn't. The rest of America likes him, and they like him a lot. (And none of that "Bush hacked the vote" stuff. Even if he did, good for him. Nothing will come of it. In fact, it's genius. Now you have crazy liberals run around yelling "Bush hacked the vote! He used his computer to change the vote!" That sounds about as silly as asking for the definition of "is." But they both got away with it. However, if this did happen, and the media grows some balls, I will laugh as Democracy and Justice and Liberty for All spin in their grave. We all know they're dead)

So as the democrats whine and churn up anger, they start to resemble the angry right wing from the 1990s that couldn't stand to look at Clinton, let alone say his name. To all the Angry Democrats and Liberals: go ahead, keep on talking and being pissed off, you just become the thing you hate the most. Close-minded, hate-mongering, bumper-sticker placing, mud-slinging, feeling physically sick at the mention of Republicans, wanting desperately to impeach the president that can't be touched, members of the Democratic Party. That used to be you, sitting high and mighty and now look at you, can't even muster a majority in the House or the Senate. And this is a good thing, or the worst string of events ever to befall this great country, depending on where you stand.

And I still don' care. This county was founded by the most stuck-up group of sexually repressed, close-minded jerks to ever leave the Old Country. If I was in Europe in the 1600s I would have been persecuting the Puritans too.

And now I'm on my knees praying for God (the right-wing, happy with the homophobic Republicans that uses his name to justify every lie and piece of evil they participate in) to send the Coming Beast with in the next four years, before I have to go to war in Iran and before I have to watch another Bush run for the presidency. Hell, do it tomorrow.

Amen

You think you're pretty? You ain't got nothing on my boys from The Handsome Boy Modeling School. Prince Paul and Dan the Automator will be returning soon. I know this, mang.

I know this because I just snapped up the new single. A sampler of the new album, if you will. It will be coming soon. The Automator has been busy. A solo album coming soon too, plus producing a rock project called Head Automatica. So overwhelming and wonderful but right now I just being impressed by what I'm hearing coming out of the Modeling School. The sample tracks all sounds so new and smooth, yet so familiar and inviting.

Mmmmm . . . .

Like sweet pink apple pie.

Stuff to Steal: Stream of the album on the website (56k warning). No MP3s. Where is the Love?

What can I say about this dirty-blues, rock-n-roll, rump-shakin duo from good ol Akron, Ohio?

Dan and Pat make up one of the best things going right now.

And to tell the truth, I stole their first album Black Keys - Big Come Up. Correction, I was given their first album. I stole the next one, Black Keys - Thickfreakness but promptly bought it after seeing the live show they put on. As they got ready to put out their newest album, Black Keys - Rubber Factory, I was copying all their tracks from the web feed (cuz i couldn't wait) and then went out and bought the new album and received a bonus DVD.Now, The Black Keys rock my living room. So let me break this down as a cause and effect.

Cause: I am given Big Come Up. I dig it.
Effect: I steal Thickfreakness and dig it more.
Cause: Dig Thickfreakness so much I go see them live.
Effect: Totally impressed, run up to merch table, buy vinyl copy, meet the guys,
get record signed and really dig what they are trying to do.
Cause: Wait anxiously for new Black Keys album
Effect: Run to local indie record store and BUY (never steal from the one's who
do it out of love) Rubber Factory. New album comes with DVD.
Cause: Listen to album nonstop, see them in concert again and watch DVD
Effect: The Black Keys Rock My Living Room.

Stuff to Steal: Here's The Lengths, and 10 A.M. Automatic off the new album Rubber Factory

Tip: If you find their first album The Big Come Up in vinyl form I advise you snatch it up, its on white vinyl. Creamy.

There is this Brooklyn duo called Ratatat that I had heard about a while ago. I finally stole their album of the same name and have given it my full attention on several occasions. Now I am sort of torn on what to think.

The album is this great electro-fuzz guitar riffs and synth over break beats and house beats and blips and glitches. My only problem with it is that they sound French. I know they are not French, thats not my problem, and there isn't any of that accordion music with an effeminate French man singing about his mother. No, none of that.

Ratatat sounds French because the use the same guitar and similar chord progressions to Daft Punk's last album Discovery. And personally, it is really close to ruining the whole experience for me. I loved Daft Punk - Homework. Daft Punk - Discovery was not all that good with the electro fuzz guitar and the silly animations. Yes, you are a pair of ugly French men, we get it. Stop hiding behind the masks and the effeminate cartoons. I mean, there are numerous other "famous" people who are probably much uglier then you two (I was about to cite any band from the UK, but since I already knocked France I thought I'd hold off).

All I'm trying to say is Daft Punk -- Discovery has ruined almost any chance of me giving Ratatat a fair shake because when ever I hear that type of fuzzed out electro guitar I immediately think about two pansy French DJs. At least Ratatat didn't get some singer to sing on every other song. In fact, Ratatat's album is completely instrumental. Not too shabby. But if there was singing, it would probably be done by a
less then manly cartoon using a Frampton-esque voice box.

Stuff to Steal: Ratatat - Seventeen Years

I am beginning to notice a pattern. I thieve. I steal mostly indie rock, some lo-fi, lots of down tempo, and the occasional classic rock. Because Thin Lizzy is the shit. Don't question that.
But looking back so far we have Ambulance Ltd., Snow Patrol, The Pixies and Interpol. All are "indie" in one way or another, some I should pay for and some are already making a ton of money. And as I can not come up with a decent transition at this hour, I'll just say it. I stole Interpol - Antics. And now, an open letter to John Norris, MTV VJ and walking example of the detrements of dying your hair.

Dear John Norris,
Your MTV be damned and all that it stands for. But maybe, just maybe there is hope. You see John, like you said, Interpol - Antics is a great album. I didn't steal it because you told me to go buy, no, no, I stole it because I could. I listened to it because of you, John. I wanted you and your ever-changing weird-shaped head to be completely wrong.

I wanted Interpol-Antics to suck so bad so I could tell myself that you were a fool with silly highlights and a microphone. I wanted to feel superior to your musical taste because you work for the spinning, growing, insatiable vortex of all that is wrong with music today. But, John, you see, it was I who was wrong. Interpol - Antics is a great album. No thanks to you or your horrible TV station. You will never play their videos. Maybe, in a year, they will win the MTV2 VMA, but I won't know, because I won't be watching. I won't. Not this year. Not ever again.

You see, John, Interpol sharpened their sound and released a solid album that will stick with me much longer then your latest die job. Seriously, go into radio so I don't have to ever see your ugly mug again. Your voice is punishment enough.

Sincerely,
The Management

The Pixies are back to thrill a new generation. I'll be seeing them soon. They've changed a bit, they have. Little older, little wiser, little fatter and getting a little richer. Selling out several shows in a row, in the same city at the same venue or multiple venues. They are getting filthy rich for doin what they do. And why shouldn't they? With out the Pixies, where would we be? I'll tell you where . . . . 1986. A perpetual 1986. Nothing but cheesey hair bands and depressed New Wavey and Post Punky bands. Not that there is anything wrong with New Wavey or Post Punky, but I'd kill myself if Poison was still rockin the charts. Seriously.

So, what I'm trying to say is go see the Pixies. Go buy their DVD, and pick up Frank Black Francis' new album. It has these old demos of old Pixies' songs plus these crazy reworks of some of the Pixies best old songs that Frank Black Francis did with Two Pale Boys. Great stuff, I cant even begin to explain. Horns make the Pixies better. You heard what I typed. Horns.

I got Snow Patrol - Final Straw some time ago. I don't remember when. It was just there one day and it hadn't been there the day before and that was several months ago. I finally listened to it and it gave me this ambigious warm feeling. It was like De ja vu. I know I've heard what they've done before. I know I have. They sound so familiar. And I can't pick it out. It's going to haunt me until I figure it out. It is just this one song and I dont know why but it sounds like the singer is talking to me from the past.

It was sometime in the mid 1990s. And I still cant place it. I guess I'll have to go listen to it again, for the tenth time, and hope it comes to me.

I finally got Interpol - Bright Lights. I have not yet listened to it but I could make a snap judgement and write for an hour about how I MTV told me that they sounded like Joy Division.

Now, I hate MTV. What right do they have to talk about Joy Division and a sound-a-like band called Interpol from New York (of all places)? They don't play Interpol, atleast not on regular MTV and I'm not about to pay extra money to get MTV2 . . . because, really, what's the point? More horrible music, just in video form and not inserted into some crappy reality show.

MTV never really had any credibility in my mind. Maybe a long time ago, when I was three and they were "shaking up" the lowly cable industry with an unheard-of format featuring all music, all the time. But now, they are just like most other networks, 24-hours of crap. Not very groundbreaking.

So, I could say that Interpol-Bright Lights sucks because MTV let John Norris do a five minute featurete on the band, and that constitutes selling out, but how fair is that? I'm positive, if I were in their position, I would have done the same thing, because millions of idiots watch MTV and if only a fraction of those idiots buy the album, becuase John Norris told them to, well, that's a lot of money towards useless rock-star expenditures.
Chalk another one up for the New York Indie Rock Scene.

I haven’t stolen anything in the past three days. What is more surprising . . .
I actually paid for some stuff. I paid to see two of the best DJs I’ve ever really cared to go see. I understand the art and am not easily impressed by some scritchy-scratch. But I was impressed by Diplo. So impressed, in fact, that I bought his new album.

Diplo's Florida is good. Not as good as RJD2's Since We Last Spoke (or Dead Ringer) But it is good. Once I figure it out, I will post a few select tracks off of Florida for you to sample.

Diplo spun a party mix for his set, and he did so in such an unabashedly white-boy way that I almost cried. Stuck in between the break beats, hip-hop funk, jazzy soul and electronic fuzz was a little Pixies, some Weezer, Postal Service and the coup-de-grace . . . The Cure. I’d explain further but I don’t want to. He worked The Cure in twice, into places The Cure has never been. That is awful amazing.

And RJD2, where do I begin? Mind blowing, maybe? Four-turntables and one sampler. He worked for over an hour and never once used a pair of headphones. Not once. And then . . . and then . . . for the encore he pulled out an acoustic guitar and played "Making Days Longer" as the crowd sang along. So unexpected yet so perfect to end on.

Today I got Ambulance Ltd. - LP.
It's decent. I've listened to it alittle bit.
They are a New-York-indie-post-punk-new-wavey-still-wishing-it-was-the-early-90s sort of band. They all have the trendy-t-shirt-wearing-that-looks-like-it-is-
from-Goodwill-but-really-cost-$80 fashion sense with varying degrees of moppy hair. Which is, I guess, what I look like, but I really did buy that shirt from Goodwill. Because stealing from those trendy store is not easy. They have pretty stiff security systems. As opposed to the distracted-girl-behind-the-counter-flirting-
with-a-customer-security-system at Goodwill.

But what would be the point of stealing a 50¢ t-shirt?