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Archives
dot-tv
I promise not to constantly fill up this site with videos from Pitchfork’s new .tv site, but today’s airing of Bill Callahan’s rooftop set seemed mentionable, and it is worth noting how well put together the site is - collecting videos along with exclusive live sets, interviews and occasional documentaries (The Pixies 2 weeks ago was great). I must admit that the Luddite in me only worries that the video side of music helps established acts and shuts out the unknowns… But it is very well thought out and programmed: it loads fast, has good quality video (try it in full screen mode), and is easy to browse through.
i love you but i’ve chosen wilderness
The last time Wilderness came through L.A., they headlined a show that was under-attended and inexcusably short. I don’t remember exactly how few songs they played, but it was a 30 minute or so set, and my disappointment with their lack of stamina overshadowed what was otherwise a pretty engaging show. They played almost entirely songs off of their recent release at the time, Vessel States, but based on what appeared to be a disdain for the L.A. audience (combined with their relative silence since), I got the impression that it would be the first and last time I’d have a chance to see them.
adult contemporary
Apparently, I’m not the only one who thinks that today’s “avant-garde” is tomorrow’s Kenny G. And this is not to say that I have a problem with our modern-day adult contemporary on the face. Actually, I think it’s great that more people are listening to indie rock - which I often think of as being better, more artful music (Sufjan would exemplify that). And while I find a some of these bands boring (Great Northern, I’m looking at you), I still think they make decent music - just not music that I especially want to give my attention to. What bothers me about indie-adult-contemporary are the empty acts that treat their audience as a ‘market’ and cater to them with shit songwriting that is as generic as it can be to cater to the broadest segment of this market. And to the public who listen to and perpetuate it. Yet again in America, status is assumed to be something that can be bought; and so if you buy an iPod, you automatically have acquired taste through the act of consumption.
april 2008 mix
Where’s the empty dance floor? We own those Tuesday nights. Raise my glass for a cheer; this time all the tears came out. I’m starting this one off casually with Brian Eno’s “The Big Ship,” which has been forever changed for me since the song was featured in the intro/build-up of Adam Curtis‘ The Power Of Nightmares BBC series. If you haven’t seen it and have never really understood what the hell is going on in the world, take some time and let him connect the dots for you. I still get goosebumps every time I listen to it. Evan Voytas sent me a few tracks last week and I can’t stop listening to “The Yellow World Of ‘83.” I have no idea what the idea behind the title is, but I do know what a healthy amount of 90s-style reverb is and this one serves it up a la Helium. Then there’s PWRFL POWER, a project by Kazutaka Nomura that Catbird released recently. His simple, but unexpected lyrics (”You are not that attractive / But something makes me feel that you are going to be my girl”) have a cute feel that might pique the interest of Moldy Peaches’ fans. I especially like his slight Japanese accent and inflection (note his pronunciation of “boobs”). A Mad & Faithful Telling’s “New World” is among the most epic DeVotchKa tracks to date, complete with a “How It Ends” feel, without really sounding formulaic. OK, maybe just a little bit. It is the album closer and probably would have made sense to close out this month’s mix, but I saved that spot for The Van Pelt this week.