From the webcomic Diesel Sweeties.
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Venn diagram for the indie rock snob
January 14, 2008Capturing the zeitgeist
January 11, 2008Apparently, I’m not the only person who thinks that LCD Soundsystem’s “All My Friends” is the defining song for the year.
Pitchfork’s Top 10 Singles of 2007.
“Someone Great,” also off Sound of Silver, is at number 7.
The quintessential Boston New Year’s song
January 1, 2008Pop open a bottle of bubbly – here’s to another goddamn New Year.
On being relentlessly positive
December 30, 2007Reading this blog, you’d probably get the impression that I am uncritically enthusiastic about music. But this is a place for me to share the music and bands that I like, and that I want to see gain more fans. So you’ll never hear about me walking out of a concert after a song and half because the lead singer had negative charisma, or the album that I listened to in its entirety before realizing that none of the songs impinged on my consciousness. If you are interested in snarky album and concert reviews (and really, who isn’t?), might I recommend such venerable music sites as these?
Heartbreak, mix CDs, and something happy
December 29, 2007I love making mix CDs, for other people and for myself, and I’m delighted that technology has revivified and simplified this art form. One of my favourite creations is called Heartbreak, Unrequited Love, and Clever Lyrics, and I recently created a sequel, The Heartache Continues. This exercise reminded me of a passage from Nick Hornby’s novel, High Fidelity: “What came first — the music or the misery?”
Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands — literally thousands — of songs about broken hearts and rejection and pain and misery and loss. The unhappiest people I know, romantically speaking, are the ones who like pop music the most; and I don’t know whether pop music has caused this unhappiness, but I do know that they’ve been listening to the sad songs longer than they’ve been living the unhappy lives.
So, as an antidote to all of the Dave Gahan and National and Nicole Atkins, here’s a cheerful song about the unbridled enthusiasm of young love, writing poetry, and unprotected sex.
Link to MP3 download page: The Moths – Valentine
Concert etiquette: miss debcha speaks
November 27, 2007My inner Emily Post is struggling to get out and rant about polite behaviour at concerts, so here’s a few tips. Note that this is strictly geared towards small, crowded concerts at bars – we’re not worrying about showing up late and waiting for the intermission before the usher shows you to your seats.
Smell nice. At a typical show, you can expect to have a dozen people within a one-metre radius of you. Unless you ride the Tokyo subway regularly, this is probably the most people you ever have within smelling distance. Shower. If you normally use deodorant, now is a good time. If you use perfume or cologne, lovely, although you probably don’t want to reapply right before the concert.
Don’t push your way to the front. If you want to stand in front of the stage and flirt with the bassist, arrive early. That’s what everyone who’s already there did. Just because we’re too polite to do more than glare at your back as you shove us out of the way, it doesn’t mean you’re not being rude.
And on a related note, don’t hold hands as you move around. Attending the concert with a group of friends? Fine. Negotiating a crowded space is bad enough solo; you don’t need to hold hands as you move from one part of the room to the other. You are not crossing the Khumbu Icefall.
More tips, a link to more conventional concert etiquette advice, and an MP3 after the jump.
Concert notes: The Pipettes
November 17, 2007
[Great Scott, Allston, MA; November 15, 2007]
The Pipettes are my guilty pleasure. They sing these sweet, catchy songs that almost exclusively about, as they freely admit, love and dancing. And they are this total retro throwback to the girl groups of the 60s, which I’m not particularly into. But somehow, they manage to produce wonderfully infectious indie-pop songs that I love. And, not surprisingly, the Pipettes (with a short ‘i’ if you are from the UK, it seems, but us North American scientists definitely go with the long vowel) put on a great live show, complete with matching outfits and synchronized dance moves. Their band, Cassette, did an excellent job of backing them up, but they aren’t really the point – they were as nondescript, in their grey, British-public-school-boy vests, as the Pipettes were flamboyant – and they are barely visible on stage. With their charming lyrics and memorable tunes, the Pipettes are a nice antidote to the mopey, dark music that I normally listen to.
This MP3 is for Kate, who was curious that I knew all the lyrics to the song they described as ‘a bit naughty.’
The taste of going out
November 12, 2007
Techno and impressionable young minds
November 6, 2007A friend of mine pointed me to this vintage Sesame Street clip, with the description, ‘The last few seconds of this clip may hold an answer to my early love of techno.’
More: A taxonomy of electronic music; The zen garden theory of minimal techno; xkcd and techno
Two guiding quotes
November 3, 2007Today, we have an infinite number of choices available to us, and when content is infinitely abundant, the only scarce commodities are convenience, taste, and trust. [Peter Rojas]
Obscurity is a far greater threat to authors and creative artists than piracy.
[Tim O’Reilly]
zed equals zee 