Tuesday, April 3, 2007

the future of the past


the music on this one matches the cover. i don't even think a description's necessary.

so what have i been up to? well, a few months ago I finally figured out "music on the computer" and "downloading." Long story short, I had Mike Parker give me a tutorial on gigabytes and now my iTunes is using up about 45 of them. I bought an ipod off of ebay to catch up. Evidently it used to belong to someone named "Yulia" who lives in California, and judging from her musical tastes, I'm guessing she's a college girl with an indie bent, perhaps even a music student. she might be into physical therapy.

pretty soon after going digital I started to cool it a little with the guitar grooves and started getting into some of the more artificial stuff. like keyboards. and krautrock. i felt a little sickened just now writing that, like I turned my back on my baby or something, but don't worry-- I know it's only a passing phase. and i'm still wasting money on records. It's just that I love good sounds, or at least what I consider to be good sounds. I love when guitars talk to me, when atypical instruments produce neat tones, and when r & b guys sing through vocoders. That was the first thing that really drew me to Enoch Lite-- those kooky, crazy, vintage futurist sounds accompanying the most banal melodies. Anyway, I started my journey where I left off in my last blog, with some of the more experimental moog-ers like Morton Subotnick, Dick Hyman, and Donald Erb, piquing my interest in early electronic music- which encouraged me to take a tangential trip into modern classical--I did that over spring break (woo-hoo) and came out with more than a few major gems, so in the interest of space I'll just drop one for now: MESSIAEN.

what else? well, Belgain prog has taught me to open up a little more to female rock vocalists. some of it still makes me feel a little weird and embarrassed, though. Like Mad Curry. It took me a while to get beyond the diva-ness of Mad Curry lady's voice, and her awkward speech impediment [am I the only one hearing this, by the way?] before realizing that they actually rule.

I'm really surprised that three people have actually bugged me about slacking off on the blog- thanks dudes, I appreciate the interest. check back within a few days, because I'm thinking about trying to make a few of the links "special," although I'm not sure yet. I'm kind of busy right now counting down the days until Spider Man 3 comes out. [2009 edit: Spider Man 3 was lame. couldn't live up to Spider Man 2. I'm not even a fan of comic books, super heroes, or whatever--but I have to admit that Spider Man 2 was excellent.]

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

another list or, "the Evening Redness in the West"

over a month has passed; here's another list of 13 albums I've listened to a lot recently:

1. I.d. - 'Company' [half Inga Rumpf (hippie shit), half Dagmar Krause (creepy freak-out)]
2. The Free Design - 'Kites Are Fun' I'm not going to lie, this album is like, changing my life. I'm not ashamed.
3. Osmonds - 'The Proud One' ok, I am a little ashamed of this one. at least I'm being honest.
4. Cos - 'Babel'
5. Chrysalis - 'Definition' what the fuck is going on with this band
6. Autosalvage - s/t
7. Gandalf - s/t
8. Pharoah Sanders - 'Karma'
9. Matching Mole - 'Smoke Signals' I've been revisiting this one after a few years. ain't nothin' out there like "Instant Pussy." my favorite snippet of vocal improv.
10. The Everly Brothers - just about all of their stuff. I'll do my cryin' in the rain, thank you very much.
11. 'MOOG: The Electric Eclectics of Dick Hyman' this guy also happens to be an excellent OBGYN... did I really have to make that joke?
12. Bo Hansson - 'Music Inspired by Lord of the Rings' I've never felt so nerdy as I did one second ago as I typed that out. It's nowhere near as bad as the title implies. again, I'm being honest.
13. a certain italian prog album that I'll hopefully write more about later...

not a particularly interesting or proggy list, and a little light on testosterone-fueled riffs (at least in comparison with last month)- but hey, let's not forget that I am, first and foremost, a member of the fairer sex. plus I've been busy doing other things, like cooking, hanging out with friends, trashpicking (and purchasing) junk, and putting together puzzles. and reading lots of Cormac McCarthy and Antonin Artaud:
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uber-violent westerns and writings about madness and opium. maybe that's why at the end of the day, all I want to do is chill out to that "feelin' groovy" song---actually no, it's not really all that deep.Add Image

Saturday, January 13, 2007

public service announcement

If you live in New York, or near New York, go see this movie at the Film Forum. It's incredible, and unavailable (although I've seen an "unofficial" copy on the shelf at Kim's). I'm going to try to go today!

New 35mm restoration!

whoa whoa whoa wait a minute- what the fuck is this?????????? How did that just pop up on the website? There is no way I'm not seeing that, immediately. Later guys, I'm going to Film Forum now...