Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Exodus Damage
September 11th on your mind?
Forget the movies, and listen to this John Vanderslice song Exodus Damage (free MP3) from the album "Pixel Revolt." It's a message from one doomsdayer to another, with an amazing arrangement and a fatalistic worldview. Plus, you'll never think of Dance Dance Revolution the same way again.
Update: Check out this remix of the song.
Discovered via KEXP's absolutely essential Song of the Day.
Support musicians! Save Net Radio! Call or write your Congressional representative in support of The Internet Radio Equality Act (pdf).
Forget the movies, and listen to this John Vanderslice song Exodus Damage (free MP3) from the album "Pixel Revolt." It's a message from one doomsdayer to another, with an amazing arrangement and a fatalistic worldview. Plus, you'll never think of Dance Dance Revolution the same way again.
Update: Check out this remix of the song.
Discovered via KEXP's absolutely essential Song of the Day.
Support musicians! Save Net Radio! Call or write your Congressional representative in support of The Internet Radio Equality Act (pdf).
Friday, May 04, 2007
Coachella wrap-up
We're too old for this. Or at least too ornery.
We never did get to see Sonic Youth or Bjork last Friday at Coachella, because we left early to avoid getting stuck in another monster traffic jam like the one we encountered on the way in. And as it turned out, Sonic Youth didn't take the stage until much later than scheduled.
But we did get to see Scarlett Johansson sing with The Jesus & Mary Chain.
My previous festival experience had been the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, which arranges the two big stages at either end of a figure-eight loop (see map). Scattered along the way are smaller tents, arts exhibits and great food. There are plenty of options for getting to the venue, and it's over in time for dinner.
Compare that to the one road through town going to the Polo Grounds at Coachella, with an ugly merge every half-mile or so. Then, once you enter the grounds with its L-shaped layout (see the Coachella festival map), you'd get bottled up in various choke points, with very few places where you could comfortably listen to one and only one band.
We did enjoy the fire and lightning shows, the giant spider, and the various structures erected to allow people to take a break from the sun.
Anyway, here's a map of how they should lay out the festival next year.
UPDATE: Here's a review highlighting the key demographic of the festival - college kids smuggling booze.
We never did get to see Sonic Youth or Bjork last Friday at Coachella, because we left early to avoid getting stuck in another monster traffic jam like the one we encountered on the way in. And as it turned out, Sonic Youth didn't take the stage until much later than scheduled.
But we did get to see Scarlett Johansson sing with The Jesus & Mary Chain.
The reunited Jesus and Mary Chain drew cheers from the large crowd that by now had amassed in front of the stage. Despite the fact that they hadn't toured since 1998, the band was in sync and even played new music. Toward the end of their set they brought out actress Scarlett Johansson, who did backup vocals during "Just Like Honey." There was no introduction, and it seemed as if most of the audience had no idea who was up there. Her vocals, which consisted of her repeating "just like honey," were drowned out by the guitars, and she just looked uncomfortable.Here's a review from Los Angeles City Beat that captures the overall experience. Especially the heat, the traffic, and the fact that you either had to fight through the crowd to stand next to a high-decibel column of speakers or accept the fact that you'd have to listen to at least two bands at once.Catherine Garcia, Redlands Daily Facts, May 3, 2007
My previous festival experience had been the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, which arranges the two big stages at either end of a figure-eight loop (see map). Scattered along the way are smaller tents, arts exhibits and great food. There are plenty of options for getting to the venue, and it's over in time for dinner.
Compare that to the one road through town going to the Polo Grounds at Coachella, with an ugly merge every half-mile or so. Then, once you enter the grounds with its L-shaped layout (see the Coachella festival map), you'd get bottled up in various choke points, with very few places where you could comfortably listen to one and only one band.
We did enjoy the fire and lightning shows, the giant spider, and the various structures erected to allow people to take a break from the sun.
Anyway, here's a map of how they should lay out the festival next year.
UPDATE: Here's a review highlighting the key demographic of the festival - college kids smuggling booze.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
This is Ivan's Trip
We're heading to Palm Springs this afternoon, and going to Coachella on Friday to see Björk and Sonic Youth.
Björk was on Saturday Night Live last weekend, but Scooter made me turn it off because she didn't want to spoil the live show experience. She doesn't like watching movie trailers either. Me, I'm all for the big build-up. Plus, you can't spoil a concert by hearing a couple songs in advance. When you know a couple of the new songs already, it just makes the live show better.
On June 12, Sonic Youth will be releasing Daydream Nation as a two-disk set (also available in special edition on vinyl), which will include the remastered original album plus live versions from the tour in support of the 1988 album. Many of their live shows following the release are billed as "SONIC YOUTH PERFORMING DAYDREAM NATION." Perhaps in another couple of decades or so we can look forward to the release of a recording of the 2007 live version of the 1988 masterpiece, paired with a tribute album by the incredible Chinese bands that will soon arise inspired by SY's performances earlier this week in Beijing and Shanghai.
Björk was on Saturday Night Live last weekend, but Scooter made me turn it off because she didn't want to spoil the live show experience. She doesn't like watching movie trailers either. Me, I'm all for the big build-up. Plus, you can't spoil a concert by hearing a couple songs in advance. When you know a couple of the new songs already, it just makes the live show better.
On June 12, Sonic Youth will be releasing Daydream Nation as a two-disk set (also available in special edition on vinyl), which will include the remastered original album plus live versions from the tour in support of the 1988 album. Many of their live shows following the release are billed as "SONIC YOUTH PERFORMING DAYDREAM NATION." Perhaps in another couple of decades or so we can look forward to the release of a recording of the 2007 live version of the 1988 masterpiece, paired with a tribute album by the incredible Chinese bands that will soon arise inspired by SY's performances earlier this week in Beijing and Shanghai.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
The Tax Rap
After filing my taxes online, I noticed a link to the TurboTax "Tax Rap" contest website.
Intuit has a $25,000 contest inviting users to perform YouTube rap songs about TurboTax software. The host of the contest is Vanilla Ice, who set a definite example for many of the contest participants.
Although I sampled many of the latest entries, I was incapable of watching any of them to completion. Here are some of the images I'm trying to forget:
Intuit has a $25,000 contest inviting users to perform YouTube rap songs about TurboTax software. The host of the contest is Vanilla Ice, who set a definite example for many of the contest participants.
Although I sampled many of the latest entries, I was incapable of watching any of them to completion. Here are some of the images I'm trying to forget:
- Formerfatboy: "I make 30 grand a year, so much for my degree / and I write about games so I can write 'em off, sweet!"
- Gmiller10304: SNL "Chronic of Narnia" redux.
- Rhettandlinl: Geeky duo in early Will Smith style. The non-rapping, singing climax was painful.
- Goremy: All about the Uncle Sam costume.
- Lucidsurreal: Animated entry, with the best sound editing, overdubs and syncopated rhymes.
- Djfwally: More Zappa than Rappa.
- Evcakes: Guys wearing suits riding tricycles boasting about their financial planning skills. "You'll be workin' in the factory while I'll be sippin daquiries/Playin' shuffleboard with senior ladies comin' after me."
- Funkyfreshco: Guy wearing an oversized dog mask going old school. Plus a guy with a robot mask does the robot.
Labels: accounting, music, tax
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Cloak and Swagger
An auction house just sold Ol' Ben Kenobi's cloak for £54,000.
Which is a rip-off, because the original was destroyed during the explosion of the first Death Star.
The sale of Dr. Who's entire outfit for about £24,600 was a relative bargain, and scientifically plausible considering that Dr. Who had a time machine, most recently used by Pete Townshend et. al. to continue touring in support of their new album.
By the way, did you know that "The Who" was originally a problematic Google search? The words "the" and "who" are both considered "stop words," which were ignored by search algorithms. Now, if you search for a term that contains only stop words, Google will conduct the search. The results for "the who" – just as expected.
But Google hasn't yet figured out "The The" (search results here).
Which is a rip-off, because the original was destroyed during the explosion of the first Death Star.
The sale of Dr. Who's entire outfit for about £24,600 was a relative bargain, and scientifically plausible considering that Dr. Who had a time machine, most recently used by Pete Townshend et. al. to continue touring in support of their new album.
By the way, did you know that "The Who" was originally a problematic Google search? The words "the" and "who" are both considered "stop words," which were ignored by search algorithms. Now, if you search for a term that contains only stop words, Google will conduct the search. The results for "the who" – just as expected.
But Google hasn't yet figured out "The The" (search results here).
Labels: auctions, movies, music
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