Dantes!

A sighting of santas at dantes! Waiting for Crosstide and longwave to
start!

A bad day for dairy.

A sad sight at my local big box grocer. Not helping my latte addiction.

Party in SE!

I love working in SE Industrial.

808s & Heartbreak - re-posted

If you were to look into my iTunes, you would see that I own every Kanye West album.

If you were to look at the play count on those albums, you would see that I've listened to "Jesus Walks" a TON. It's one of the 100 best songs I've ever heard. Ever. Also, you'd see some playage on some of his other singles, but I gotta be truthful here-- I've never made it all the way through one of his albums. I skip tracks and therefore, no Kanye album has been listened to 100% by moi.

Until now.

On a whim, I picked up 808s&Heartbreak, after hearing one too many of my non-musician friends use the word "Auto-Tune" in a sentence... ...and... ...its killing me. What the fuck has Kanye just gone and done?! I think this is a game-changer. He has always been on the fringe of hip-hop, in that he has been willing to break rules and simply be himself. That formula has always worked for him, too, and I hope this record doesn't change that trend.

Mr. West has just bridged the gap between indie-electronica and hiphop-- and its breathtaking. Some listeners might be put off by the constant vocal manipulations, but in my ears, they only add to the absolute beauty of this album. Listening to this album is like intersecting with Kanye's mind, his heart, his 808.

If you like hard core rap, maybe this isn't a record for you. But for wussy indie rock loving types like myself who like to flirt with hip/hop, this music is un.believe.able.

You've got my attention, Mr. West. If I can stop listening to this record, maybe now I will revisit your other work.

M83 in the Britney Documentary? Really?!

Forgot to note my COMPLETE AND UTTER SHOCK at hearing M83's totally mind blowing song "Lower Your Eyelids to Die With the Sun" at the end of "Britney: On the Record."

It just replayed on MTV, so I watched a smidge. I guess none of Britney's songs are really POIGNANT enough to capture what they were going for at the end-- which is making you feel awful for her. I mean, I really feel like she's in too deep to really emotionally comprehend what she is going through... like she is going to be a kid forever, her emotional growth stunted at adolescence. I'm not trying to bag on Brit, that's so de-rigeur that it's passe-- I'm just saying shebreaks my heart with how utterly LOST she seems. The good news is that I think she has plenty of time to turn her ship around, and I hope she does.

Meanwhile,

VIVA M83!!!

Get up and get-get-get down, VH1 is a joke in your town!

It's Saturday. I slept in. Woke up, pill'd Harley the Cat, made some coffee, sat down and turned on Vh1, knowing full well that Saturday morning is one of 2 times when they actually play any Video Hits. Specifically, it's the top 20 countdown. Honestly, its a pay-to-play video show... I can't believe that they can even determine what videos are IN the Top 20 because VH1 doesn't fucking PLAY videos! So who the hell is watching and who the hell is 'tallying' the 'top' videos? Its a fucking joke.

I guess videos are extinct now, unless you are Rihanna or have an American Idol 'pedigree'-- in which case, your record label will pay to have your video rotated on VH1 during the hours of 6am and 9am.

What's strangest about all this is how sad I feel that videos are no longer relevant. I mean, they were always just a means to market records-- but they were also another chance to put something creative into the world. Some artists took their videos as seriously as they did their music, and why shouldn't they?! Even simple performance videos gave you a way to connect with the performer. That said-- I miss having that extra dimension that added so much to so many songs.

Videos no longer help sell records because no one is buying records. Thanks to this magical thing that I am typing this on, I have access to everything I could ever want-- for free (but for the record, I still BUY my music-- I want my karma to remain unfucked). How will artists make a living now? Well, if you're Madonna-- you go on tour and break records for nearly grossing $290 million for 3 months of work. And if you're not Madonna, I hope you like your day job.

Blog Shopping.

I guess I've settled, somewhat, on blogger/blogspot. Even though I love the look of my 2-week trial typepad account... I can't promise that I will blog enough to make it worth it, even though mobile blogging to typepad is easy as pie, and so far, mobile blogging to google blogger doesn't seem to be THAT easy.

Is it worth a couple bucks a month to have a nice picture up top? Some podcast uploading abilities? I'm not even sure I'll have the time or inclination. Nothing beats free, at least in this day and age. So even though I love the idea of blogging several topics/categories on my main blog, maybe I will just have to upkeep several blogs to make up for it.

What will happen to my precious typepad url?! Lost forever, it will be.

Re-Published From a Dying Blog

Killing the Killers.

A banner night for me on iTunes. First, an EP for "Miles Away" which I was so excited to get-- I didn't notice that iTunes sells extended mixes of each of those tracks individually. SO-- I bought every fucking song TWICE. A short version. A long version. Hope that buys Lourdes some shoes, Madge. Since I love Stuart Price, I bought the Killers' Day & Age. I will have to save my thoughts on the Killers for another time-- I can only liken them to Splenda... or crack. They are lucky they had Stuart on this record or they never would have pried $10 out of my clenched fist. A Coldplay EP? Sure! Why not?! And then a small treasure to discover a new Longwave album, Secrets Are Sinister.

I had to cut myself off at that point, because-- well, I need to buy myself some shoes.

Stay tuned for my thoughts on these songs.

Posted at 10:58 PM in On Songs. | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Re-Published From a Dying Blog

Looking Good!

Can't figure out why Typepad wont let me make this HUGE, but all you need to know is that its Madonna looking amazing. (ETA: moving back to Blogger helped!)

Which is nice to see after seeing her in the Britney documentary, looking somewhat chiseled out of hardened Botox and cheek implants.

Posted at 12:40 PM in POP-POP in the Attic. | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Re-Published From a Dying Blog

November 30, 2008

Poor Fucking Musicians.

No, really-- I really mean it. I just feel sick inside when I think of the shit that celebrities have to put up with. Don't misunderstand me-- I feel sick when I think of the shit that normal everyday people have to put up with, too. We're all putting up with a lot of shit, so allow me to defend the famous for one moment here...

I just came across an article on how lots of touring acts are skipping Australia right now-- and yes, you guessed right-- I was reading this article because of Madonna. Irrelevant, but I'll keep her in the story. The last time she played in Oz was in '93. So last century, right? So some Aussie fans are pissed-- specifically some of the Aussie fans on Madonna's message board. Apparently, the Madonna camp was ready to seal the deal when the financial world [and OZ Dollar] came crashing down-- therefore, it's a no-go. Backstory = covered.

So I ask: do people have a right to be pissed at that? Do people have a right to expect things from artists? If I've been a fan of someone for thirty years, does that entitle me to something? Why do we feel we can expect things from celebrities? Do we realize that we give them their status? They aren't rich and famous because they won the lottery-- they are rich and famous because WE GAVE THEM OUR MONEY! It's practically a charity all its own-- all those rock stars and actors would be out on the streets if we didn't support their nasty artistic habits!

I'm super-irritated by those who feel that they somehow deserve something to happen to them, especially in the course of being a music fan. When I am priviledged enough to witness my favorite musicians playing live, it is a religious experience and I am so thankful for every second. I don't demand that my favorite bands and singers come to me-- but when they do, I raise my arms and rock out. I try to thank them by giving back in that moment-- completing the circuit between performer and audience. In my world, the artist has done enough by simply putting the music out where I can hear it.

I try not to ask for more. And when I get more, I savor every fucking moment.

Confession: That doesn't mean that, in my heart, I don't feel I COMPLETELY deserve to own Madonna's guitar rig from this most recent tour. Since she's not going to OZ, she won't need it after December anyway... right? Right. I'm off to start an Exectuve Email Bomb Campaign in her general DI-rection.

Posted at 01:20 AM in POP-POP in the Attic. | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Re-Published From a Dying Blog

Figure with Heart : Art in the Sky

The Coolest Thing I've Ever Seen Up High in the Sky.

Keith's dream come true-- a balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Not in his dream, but probably amusing to him as much as it was to me-- was the moment when Figure with Heart bumped into the Today show crow's nest and scared Meredith Vieira, who shrieked.

I cried seeing this balloon flying down the streets of NYC-- so happy to see his work revisited and especially to see this sort of living graffitti, several stories high. So happy. So alive.