Tuesday, August 30, 2005

I GIVE UP (ALMOST)

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, FUCK, PLEASE PUT OUT A GREAT RECORD THIS YEAR?

Let us take stock. Not good records I might have cared about from 2005:

Beck- Guero
The Decemberists - Picaresque
Hot Hot Heat - Elevator
311 - Don't Tread On Me
And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
NIN - With Teeth
and, this night Death Cab For Cutie - Plans

These albums are unbelievably depressing. And yet I continue to go out at midnite, hope in hand, only to end the night trying feeling that the listening experience was a relative success if I don't want to never listen to music again. A few tracks in to this records I find myself rooting for the band - "Come on, guys! You can do it! I've heard you do it before! Get it together!" And nothing happens.

Now there are some exceptions:

M. Ward - Transistor Radio
Sleater-Kinney - The Woods
Stephen Malkmus - Face The Truth
System of a Down - Mesmerize
Architecture in Helsinki - In Case We Day

And still, the only of these records that I think is better than just pretty good is the M. Ward, which is terrific, but in the most traditional way, which makes it hard to get excited about the vibrancy of contemporary music.

Likewise, none of the new bands whose praises have been sung on the various hipster or popular music sites have excited me.

There is hope still for 2005, if pre-release singles are any sign:

Broken Social Scene
Animal Collective
Sigur Ros
Devendra Banhart
Deerhoof
The Joggers

So this could be a back-stacked year. But, still, where's the exciting, out-of-nowhere and deserving success stories from this year ala Joanna Newsom, Broken Social Scene etc.

Of course, this frustration with the sonic way of the world is only intensified by making music that you really believe in and think is good, but can't get anybody to care about. We're working on it. We think we have a really special record on the way. I hope others agree.

Six Feet Under is a rare reminder that people can still make good art this year.

And now, to watch some Coupling.

Anyone see HBO's Rome? How was it?

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Radiohead Blog

Ye Pitchfork news followers doubtlessly already heard that Radiohead has started a blog to chronicle the making of their new album. I've reproduced below the very first entry, originally posted by Thom one week ago today. I will comment upon this in no way.
_____________________________________________________________________
is anybody there?

THIS IS A TEST.
-_______

ch
glu d
to a room
in a skyscrapER
idontSpeakTheLAnguage
no st
IMulAtion
the dust and flexs
too dangerous to v enture
out side nothin aliVe
nothin in th Microwave
isleep withthe screen on
noonec h anges the bed a ndth e war dr obe s ar e
empty
i want to walk on dry land get out of this fucking room
no
a ir

Rnm64 48th fl oo r

a knokin in above argu ing shuFFling

label on pressd shirt
complimenntryyy dryyy clleeeeaaning

Thom

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

DIY Viking

I like this guy.

In other news, for enquiring minds, PDXPOP went off phenomenally well up here in PDX August 5-7. We were over capacity every night and had to hold people at the door. Audience members were incredibly open-minded, staying to listen, sequentially, to laptop experimentalists, beatboxers, postpunkers and americana nostalgists. Bands I've only ever seen play in basements to crowds, well, like ours, played to 800 people. Just a very heartening, gratifying event. Lots of people who can't usually make it out to shows - kids, disabled folks...And Meri worked the merch booth with Greg and our two youngest volunteers all weekend!

Meanwhile, all's going well up here in Portland. The weather's beautiful in these late summer days. It's a 95% sure deal that my awesome boss and school are agreeing to cut my equally awesome ELL job down to 20 hrs a week this semester so that I can really focus in on recording the upcoming At Dusk masterpiece. We're playing what is undoubtedly our biggest show in Portland in just over a week on my birthday, so that ought to be fun. Plus I'm trying to talk the surviving Portlanders into coming with me and Meri to the 6 Flags theme park up near Seattle earlier in the week.

I highly recommend the Kusturica movie Black Cat/White Cat to you all.

I continue to wait patiently for someone, ANYONE to put out a truly awesome record this year. Sept. and Oct. are promosing based on the mp3s I've gleaned: Broken Social Scene, Animal Collective, Constantines, Deerhoof, Joggers, Devendra Banhart...At Dusk. The new 311 record, at least upon first listen, was pretty damn unremarkable.

As always, it'd be great to see any of you folks, should you get the hankering for a visit.

Also, I think I posted about it before, but I have a blog.

Sunday, August 14, 2005

keeping up

hey guys. it's been a while. i'm sorry that it's been so long. i miss you guys.

this summer has been great, but i'm already feeling dread for the next school year to begin. having a summer vacation reminds you how wonderful summer vacation is, and this is, in fact, my last official summer vacation.

greece with cary was fantastic. my new little nephew in LA is the cutest thing ever. PDX Pop was amazing to see. watching hours of the West Wing has been mindless and wonderful. bloody knees from falling off my new bike aren't so bad. all this time doing this is sort of making up for the countless entire weekends i spent studying this past year. funny, i don't think i remember an eighth of what i studied...

anyway, i just wanted to post something to let you know that i'm still alive and thinking of you. i'd love to hear from you.

:)

Saturday, August 06, 2005

Obama

I would like take this opportunity to offer my services as Secretary of Education for a future Obama presidential administration. I just want to hear Fox talk about how the negro president picks his cabinet based on how much they look like him. Also, Obama is awesome.

How's PDXPOP going? Good stuff?

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Plane Crash Survivors

I can't believe it. Nobody ever survives plane crashes. This is amazing! Granted this wasn't a falling-out-of-the-sky kind of crash, but it sounds pretty spectacular in its own right. I'll choose to take this, in conjunction with our unusually successful show last night, as a positive sign that this year will turn from its current course.

In other news, PDXPOP is this weekend (Aug. 5-7).

Man - how do you decide what to put on this blog versus your personal ones? Mine has been dormant for a while. Maybe I'll have to fix that. But Whither the time?

Also, I highly recommend Murderball to all with eyes and ears.

Monday, August 01, 2005

Hit me

With your imaginary book titles.