Grey Tuesday
The thing is, I don't exactly have the connection or the time required to download the whole album and post it here, and I'm not a big enough fan to go through the trouble of making my site grey for a day and then changing it back. BUT, I urge you all to go here and see what I'm talking about.
By the way, I listened to the Grey Album on the internet and it is quite awesome. If I had the chance of buying it, I probably would. DJ Danger Mouse manages to put Jay-Z in a likable context that transcends the commercial rap world, but I think the record is really aimed at people who know and love the White Album. You can download the songs here.
Tuesday, February 24, 2004
Friday, February 20, 2004
so fresh and so clean clean
Thank you for the kind words, Cody, but what is up with that creepy picture? The ghost of Brett Smith, captured on film! He looks so restless...
I am listening to a compilation by 1980, aka Wes Medina, aka my cousin. Wes lives in LA where he works, makes music, and DJs at parties. He makes his music with mostly real hardware, not that computer nonsense.
1980's sound is smooth, atmospheric, and 'clean'. It seems to me that most 'clean' electronic artists today are a bit dull, but Wes keeps you interested with his close attention to melody and song structure. Even his messier tracks hold together as if every little sound is exactly where it should be. He knows that something clean and smooth is going to be examined up close, touched and felt. The slightest imperfection or annoyance will be distracting and glaring to the song's texture. He is able to back up the smoothness of the sound with songs that are interesting and emotional, that progress and change like a superb soundtrack. The music seems like the accompaniment to some kind of wordless narrative, like a (smoother) Brothers Quay film. I could imagine the odyssey of an animated character shuffling about a Charles Sheeler metropolitan world, meeting bizarre beings and encountering lots of tangible symbolism. Brian's Midnite Adventure, as the title of one song.
I don't think my music is as clean or as smooth, and most of the time that is intentional. I like adding electronic dust and garbage, like the fuzz/static effect in Bottle of Kids or the broken, disjointed latter half of Batteryfly (which I did under my old name Playgrounds and which I will make available for download as soon as I manage to record it again. Damn computer…). I feel like if I tried to make truly 'clean' music I would not be able to support it with such grace as 1980, but I'm glad he is there to make clean cool.
Thank you for the kind words, Cody, but what is up with that creepy picture? The ghost of Brett Smith, captured on film! He looks so restless...
I am listening to a compilation by 1980, aka Wes Medina, aka my cousin. Wes lives in LA where he works, makes music, and DJs at parties. He makes his music with mostly real hardware, not that computer nonsense.
1980's sound is smooth, atmospheric, and 'clean'. It seems to me that most 'clean' electronic artists today are a bit dull, but Wes keeps you interested with his close attention to melody and song structure. Even his messier tracks hold together as if every little sound is exactly where it should be. He knows that something clean and smooth is going to be examined up close, touched and felt. The slightest imperfection or annoyance will be distracting and glaring to the song's texture. He is able to back up the smoothness of the sound with songs that are interesting and emotional, that progress and change like a superb soundtrack. The music seems like the accompaniment to some kind of wordless narrative, like a (smoother) Brothers Quay film. I could imagine the odyssey of an animated character shuffling about a Charles Sheeler metropolitan world, meeting bizarre beings and encountering lots of tangible symbolism. Brian's Midnite Adventure, as the title of one song.
I don't think my music is as clean or as smooth, and most of the time that is intentional. I like adding electronic dust and garbage, like the fuzz/static effect in Bottle of Kids or the broken, disjointed latter half of Batteryfly (which I did under my old name Playgrounds and which I will make available for download as soon as I manage to record it again. Damn computer…). I feel like if I tried to make truly 'clean' music I would not be able to support it with such grace as 1980, but I'm glad he is there to make clean cool.
Thursday, February 19, 2004
if you find yourself in an international CD store...
...you should pick up some goodness by Shiina Ringo (or Shena, or Sheena, or 363*#/2). I just had to do a little post about her, as she is probably my favorite musician to come out of Japan since Cornelius. Considering Japan's often bland, unoriginal popular music scene (besides the accasional Kahimi Karie) it's great to see an artist with actual chops have a brush with popularity and still keep her mind on the music. Apparently Ringo comes from a family of musicians, and studied piano and ballet as a child. She then moved on to writing music for school plays (awesome) and rock bands, eventually getting noticed by a label. I've heard from a few of my friends "she used to be popular. Not so much anymore." This is understandable; her last couple albums have been gloriously innovative and stellar in production, not as 'hip' and 'mainstream' as her earlier alternative rock projects. I read that 50 instruments from around the world went into making her last album, stuff like samisens (through effects pedals) and harpsichords (manipulated with computers). And she still writes and composes all of her music. Long live neo-classical Japanese prog rock!
That mole is strangely familiar...
...you should pick up some goodness by Shiina Ringo (or Shena, or Sheena, or 363*#/2). I just had to do a little post about her, as she is probably my favorite musician to come out of Japan since Cornelius. Considering Japan's often bland, unoriginal popular music scene (besides the accasional Kahimi Karie) it's great to see an artist with actual chops have a brush with popularity and still keep her mind on the music. Apparently Ringo comes from a family of musicians, and studied piano and ballet as a child. She then moved on to writing music for school plays (awesome) and rock bands, eventually getting noticed by a label. I've heard from a few of my friends "she used to be popular. Not so much anymore." This is understandable; her last couple albums have been gloriously innovative and stellar in production, not as 'hip' and 'mainstream' as her earlier alternative rock projects. I read that 50 instruments from around the world went into making her last album, stuff like samisens (through effects pedals) and harpsichords (manipulated with computers). And she still writes and composes all of her music. Long live neo-classical Japanese prog rock!
That mole is strangely familiar...
Sunday, February 15, 2004
newsic.
I finally managed to upload a couple Captain A and the Sounds of B songs. Go here to find Bottle of Kids and Victoria's Dance Party.
I also added a constant link to my OSU web space, for easy anytime access to the music.
I finally managed to upload a couple Captain A and the Sounds of B songs. Go here to find Bottle of Kids and Victoria's Dance Party.
I also added a constant link to my OSU web space, for easy anytime access to the music.
Friday, February 13, 2004
Thursday, February 12, 2004
Tuesday, February 10, 2004
"I'm a computer!"
Another reason to be glad the internet exists. Gloriously butchered G.I. Joe PSAs. If you've got the downloading time, you've got to watch.
This site was introduced to my world by a young man named Aaron Ross. He's a funny man, yes. Oooooooooooooh! (G.I. Joe!)
Another reason to be glad the internet exists. Gloriously butchered G.I. Joe PSAs. If you've got the downloading time, you've got to watch.
This site was introduced to my world by a young man named Aaron Ross. He's a funny man, yes. Oooooooooooooh! (G.I. Joe!)
Sunday, February 08, 2004
an emerging elf and a glowing mule.
I fixed a link, so now the Stinger picture in my last post works. Check it out if you haven't yet.
Yesterday saw music making. Captain A and the Sounds of B met at my 'retirement home' studio to produce 11 songs for a little 22-minute album. It turned out quite well. The tracks (I will upload a song or two later, so check back for links):
Day of Departure
Bottle of Kids
David Coppafeel interlude
Dog & Chicken
The Escape (blew up!)
The Gregarious Greeks
Bogart's Report
Victoria's Dance party
The 3rd Movement
Chocolate Factory
EIR
Homemade post-modernism! Unrestrained by thoughts of decency or music theory! Senseless words put to a senseless tune! Background noise of an insinuated dirigable! Overlapping butchered stories from the New Yorker! Fake video game music! Randall Cunningham! A song inspired by Russian politics with mostly jibberish lyrics (and the unintentional dog-kicking sound)! Dancing! All in good fun!
I fixed a link, so now the Stinger picture in my last post works. Check it out if you haven't yet.
Yesterday saw music making. Captain A and the Sounds of B met at my 'retirement home' studio to produce 11 songs for a little 22-minute album. It turned out quite well. The tracks (I will upload a song or two later, so check back for links):
Day of Departure
Bottle of Kids
David Coppafeel interlude
Dog & Chicken
The Escape (blew up!)
The Gregarious Greeks
Bogart's Report
Victoria's Dance party
The 3rd Movement
Chocolate Factory
EIR
Homemade post-modernism! Unrestrained by thoughts of decency or music theory! Senseless words put to a senseless tune! Background noise of an insinuated dirigable! Overlapping butchered stories from the New Yorker! Fake video game music! Randall Cunningham! A song inspired by Russian politics with mostly jibberish lyrics (and the unintentional dog-kicking sound)! Dancing! All in good fun!
Friday, February 06, 2004
dude, this game is like, real but not real at all!
Hope you all like the neu song. It ain't much, but it came out perfect, only slightly retarded.
I've been thinking a lot about NES games, how good they were, and how carefree they were in terms of making sense. When I read an article in Wired magazine about how the creative team for the Atari 2600 would sit around doing drugs and writing down ideas, I thought "of course they did! And I'll bet the programmers for some Nintendo games did the same thing." So here I present to you a list: my top 5 most psychedelic NES games.
5. Super Mario Bros.
I had to include this gaming cornerstone, because when you think about it, what the hell was this game about? The princess of a kingdom of mushroom people has been kidnapped by the leader of turtle monsters. It's up to an Italian American plumber to run and jump his way through a landscape that features lightbulb trees. And aside from the underlying drug references (magic mushrooms make you big, a pipe is a gateway to another world), what were the goombas? And why were they called goombas?
4. Thrilla's Surfari
Yes, I know it was the product of a surf t-shirt company, but did anybody else out there play through the whole game?
Did you make it to the purple jungle, with giant skulls and flying dinosaur-birds? Did you fight the huge, winged, push-me pull-you rhinoceros? Did you skateboard through the baby-blue desert, where a pink elephant head tries to knock you off your board? Did you get to the end and battle the big lava head thing? ...Cause you should if you want to know where I'm comin from.
3. Maniac Mansion
I'll be honest, this one just came to me while I was sitting here. While this game did have an actual story that was semi-believable, its normal-ness is deceptive. In the game you meet: a family of psychos, a talking severed tentacle that wants to be a rock star, a mummified body in a bathtub, an evil talking meteor, an intergalactic police officer...In fact, forget what I said. This game isn't believable in the least. But it did have the bestest game secret ever: find the secret control pad in the wallpaper, type a few buttons, and the house explodes!! Game over!! You shouldn't have messed!!
Hell, looks like my family.
2. Totally Rad
Oooh man. I only played this game once, back in middle school, but I remember vividly how messed up it was. I don't even remember the story. All I can remember is that you control a white boy with an afro who can shoot plasma from his hands and do a white boy dance that transforms him into a fishman, a birdman, a tigerman, etc. Then there were the bosses. These guys visualized the term "bad trip". I think the first boss was a gigantic corn rock star. The rest of the game is just totally rad, man. Totally rad, man, YEAH! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha....uuuughh.
That tatoo makes him look like a weirdo.
1. Stinger
Yep, this one beats 'em all. Story? A scientist gets abducted by aliens, so you must fly a cute little spaceship around Earth (maybe) and shoot dangerous enemies like closet hangers, TVs, oranges, strawberry faces, and many more random nouns. When you die, you have the opportunity to catch your ascending angel for bonus points. I have never reached the end of this game. I'm sure the ending reveals something profoundly significant, but I just can't handle all the insanity. Play at your own risk.
The churches won't protect your secret lab from falling radishes.
Hope you all like the neu song. It ain't much, but it came out perfect, only slightly retarded.
I've been thinking a lot about NES games, how good they were, and how carefree they were in terms of making sense. When I read an article in Wired magazine about how the creative team for the Atari 2600 would sit around doing drugs and writing down ideas, I thought "of course they did! And I'll bet the programmers for some Nintendo games did the same thing." So here I present to you a list: my top 5 most psychedelic NES games.
5. Super Mario Bros.
I had to include this gaming cornerstone, because when you think about it, what the hell was this game about? The princess of a kingdom of mushroom people has been kidnapped by the leader of turtle monsters. It's up to an Italian American plumber to run and jump his way through a landscape that features lightbulb trees. And aside from the underlying drug references (magic mushrooms make you big, a pipe is a gateway to another world), what were the goombas? And why were they called goombas?
4. Thrilla's Surfari
Yes, I know it was the product of a surf t-shirt company, but did anybody else out there play through the whole game?
Did you make it to the purple jungle, with giant skulls and flying dinosaur-birds? Did you fight the huge, winged, push-me pull-you rhinoceros? Did you skateboard through the baby-blue desert, where a pink elephant head tries to knock you off your board? Did you get to the end and battle the big lava head thing? ...Cause you should if you want to know where I'm comin from.
3. Maniac Mansion
I'll be honest, this one just came to me while I was sitting here. While this game did have an actual story that was semi-believable, its normal-ness is deceptive. In the game you meet: a family of psychos, a talking severed tentacle that wants to be a rock star, a mummified body in a bathtub, an evil talking meteor, an intergalactic police officer...In fact, forget what I said. This game isn't believable in the least. But it did have the bestest game secret ever: find the secret control pad in the wallpaper, type a few buttons, and the house explodes!! Game over!! You shouldn't have messed!!
Hell, looks like my family.
2. Totally Rad
Oooh man. I only played this game once, back in middle school, but I remember vividly how messed up it was. I don't even remember the story. All I can remember is that you control a white boy with an afro who can shoot plasma from his hands and do a white boy dance that transforms him into a fishman, a birdman, a tigerman, etc. Then there were the bosses. These guys visualized the term "bad trip". I think the first boss was a gigantic corn rock star. The rest of the game is just totally rad, man. Totally rad, man, YEAH! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha....uuuughh.
That tatoo makes him look like a weirdo.
1. Stinger
Yep, this one beats 'em all. Story? A scientist gets abducted by aliens, so you must fly a cute little spaceship around Earth (maybe) and shoot dangerous enemies like closet hangers, TVs, oranges, strawberry faces, and many more random nouns. When you die, you have the opportunity to catch your ascending angel for bonus points. I have never reached the end of this game. I'm sure the ending reveals something profoundly significant, but I just can't handle all the insanity. Play at your own risk.
The churches won't protect your secret lab from falling radishes.
Thursday, February 05, 2004
Monday, February 02, 2004
Sunday, February 01, 2004
rock music! pop music! pock rop music!
This weekend I met with me mates after a long period of inactivity to play some more band music. I learned that a group of young people getting together to use musical instruments does not necessarily mean that music will happen. However, it was a lot of fun, and who cares if we sound like an amplified train wreck as long as it's fun?
On a more hopeful note, Captain A and the Sounds of B are planning on recording some more happy tunes as soon as I get some equipment back. And on a slightly bitter note, I was going to upload a new Caws Pobi song yesterday but my internet was being a bitchy child and wouldn't let me. I will try again this week.
This weekend I met with me mates after a long period of inactivity to play some more band music. I learned that a group of young people getting together to use musical instruments does not necessarily mean that music will happen. However, it was a lot of fun, and who cares if we sound like an amplified train wreck as long as it's fun?
On a more hopeful note, Captain A and the Sounds of B are planning on recording some more happy tunes as soon as I get some equipment back. And on a slightly bitter note, I was going to upload a new Caws Pobi song yesterday but my internet was being a bitchy child and wouldn't let me. I will try again this week.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)