six degrees #3

This episode of six degrees traces Avant Garde composition all the way from Luigi Russolo, the Futurist noise composer in the early twentieth century, through Spacemen 3 in the late eighties and ninties.

Want to see the most amazing and terrifying thing ever?

Just follow your mouse!

Its fun for the whole family! And also proof that we've gone so far as a society to bring back the centuries old art of the Paper doll to mock people who probably don't need any more mocking (or gawking in this case).

But this is also awesome, and I made one.

Six degrees #002

So Stylus has just added my second edition to my podcast, Six Degrees. Huzzah!

Now go listen please or I'll start trying to lean over you and complain about The Family Circus when you're doing Sudoku.

If you haven't already

seen the crayola commercial using Animal Collective's "Sweet Road" from Sung Tongs check it here

Avey Tare aparently responded to questions on the animal collective message board which I'm completely ripping from Shameless Complacency blog instead of the message board cause my pants are over-sodden with memberships to useless message boards anyway.

hey…

yes noah and i ok’d our song being in that commercial. They sent us a version so we could see it before hand and found it really funny and i checked up some on crayola just to make sure they werent that bad of a company which from the info i gathered seems like they are ok.

I wouldnt expect to be seeing our songs in too many other commercials. We are pretty careful about it. We turn down mostly everything (alot of beer commercials actually…always asking for sweet road…go figure) and dont feel the need to expose our music that way. This particualr instance seemed cool cause it invovled somthing for kids and somthing which had a big impact atleast on me when i was young, that being crayola markers and crayons.

cute guys. cute.

Spreadin' them wings

I really have nothing today. I suppose I can talk about the shows I've been seeing recently such as LAURIE ANDERSON AND LOU REED at Joe's Pub. I was a very happy camper. Laurie Anderson is as lovely as ever and a really nice lady and Lou, well, he was old.

The show itself was pretty good. Laurie Anderson played mostly new material from her forthcoming album, it was surprisingly more ambient than her typical stuff. It retained her humorous spoken observations, though.

Kitsch, my hetero life partner, noted that much of the material sounded dated a sentiment I concur with, although I'm not sure what to do with that. I'm not sure how to go about criticizing two living legends on stage together. Saying they sound "dated" is like saying the Empire state building looks dated, its true but you can't really argue either way. Now if the Empire State Building stopped doing what it does best, which is to be tall, then we'd have a problem.

Its always good to see living legends.

We All Have Hooks For Hands

I'm a sucker for catchy. I've been known to say that Creed is catchy. (ith ahhwmms wahd ohhpeaghn) I'm also a sucker for twee.

I'm a moderate fan of The Boy Least Likely To, I like their birthday cake aesthetic, their Gramma's music trunk in the attic aesthetic.

So while browsing through Chicago's Afternoon Records website I stumbled upon a magical little band called "We All Have Hooks For Hands" a very new band that has yet to release its debut album but put up an awesome song called "Hold On, Come On" that drinks from the same tap as The Arcade Fire and the icing-balloons of The Boy Least Likely To.

I want to see these guys live, be the jumping singing-along drunk in the corner and then go have really cute make out session with a girl in a cat sweater.

We All Have Hooks For Hands - "Hold On, C'mon"

L. Diamond

The New Yorker called Becky Stark a "Less florid Tori Amos" Sure. I call her a cutie pie and so is her music. Actually sometimes its a little bit too cutie pie and sounds like an Eastertime marshmallow Peep that got burped out by a bunny on a Broadway stage.

here's more from the New Yorker "Her words and topics are neither obscure nor figurative: the heart, and love, are the main subjects of the upcoming Lavender Diamond album imagine our love..."

but she sounds like she's having such a darn good time, kind of like John K. Samson of the weakerthans always sounds like he's got a smile on his face and that makes me feel warm.

The real draw behind Lavender Diamond is that their music doesn't really fall into a category at all. I mean, its indie pop, but its not like you'd take this onto a dancefloor, unless you're as into prancing in flowy pastel dresses as I am.

Truly, though, everything about this music should make me angry and vomitous. If I wanted to listen to pretty acoustic sing-alongs I'd grow a Youth group leader goatee and work at a summer camp.

check out the best track on the EPhere

and here's one for all the stupid babies:

Six degrees #001

Yes friends, I have officially written a podcast for Stylusmagazine.com

Its pretty hott. I think I'm going to continue to do them because, well, why wouldn't I?

Its kind of a pain in the ass but its not all bad thanks to Wikipedia and Allmusic.

Stypod!!!

Unfortunately for this one I merely wrote the script and the mix. In the future I hope to do it myself. Give me feedback.

Sami Sänpäkkilä

Alex brought home a li'l Finnish comp by Fonal records the other day. Once upon a time I may have said something to the degree of "this sounds like the faint played slow and backwards" These days, these days I've taken on that squall of sonic experimentation that Alex once represented to me and I've sailed straight through it leaving a Cap'n Guthrie shaped hole behind. I've been dubbed "the new Alex" by Ms. Sarah Appleby, musically at least. I hardly have a Masters in some useless ka-ka. Nay. I have a Masters of the Universe.

I'll take that Sarah. I'll take that.

So! Here we we we are. In Finland. Um. Theres lots of hot blonde people, lots of beard, lots of reeds. I feel like there are a lot of reeds in Finland.

The music is great for the most part. Trekking between dark laptop psych-folk and distinct eastern European gypsy sounds Fonal records seems to have itself a nice li'l package here.

And you thought the only good thing to come out of Northeast Europe was Black Metal and genocide. HA!

Es is the name Sami Sänpäkkilä (ow, my tongue) has given himself and his dark, ambient looping project. Les Fleurs Sont Des Bonnes Auditrices is so simple it could beat up Nancy Reagan's anti-drug slogan team and have room left over for a "book it" pizza party afterwards.

The rubato piano loop over crackling, creepy sing-songing voices and the occasional thunderclouds made of zeros and ones in the distance will brand themselves on your brain. I can't stop listening to it, its so very subtle.

Es - Les Fleurs Sont Des Bonnes Auditrices

Sami also does a little bit of video work (most of his music is designed for his videos) but he also works with other fonal records people including Risto, a pretty decent indie pop band with nonchalant singer and everything. but theres more cred here because they're singing in a different language!

check the Rakkauden Rock vid:

A certain someone

A certain someone dear to my heart (and internship) has directed me to this video because, and I quote, I am "a panda bear." cute. I wish I was some days, then I wouldnt have to blog.

yes yes, it is most certainly panda in his most strangeness of being and I think that dude in the shower works at other music. no idea about that cat though. mr twinkles? thats what I've dubbed him.

Anyhow I don't really think this fits the mood of the song, but its ok, music videos are old hat anyway. Also, the song is shortened, clearly 12 minutes of song is too long for the youtube elite. I mean, 12 minutes is too long for me too, unless I'm listning to Bros.

anyhow, enjoy it.