Farsong Blog-o-Matic

Today's playlist:

Soul Bossanova

Nature Boy

Three To Get Ready

If you were 10 and you had a rock-band, the songs you would write and sing are the songs that Uncle Monsterface makes.

You know it's a good song when it it ends “Dinosaur Robot Pants.” That's the kind of songs these are.


I got this album from their website with the promise to talk about it and share it. And I do.

Go listen to some electro-8-bit-cerebral-fun-adventure-rock. It's like someone crossed They Might Be Giants with Weezer, set them in a room of bright primary colors, then gave them a kids' keyboard, an Atari 2600, a tub of pixie sticks, and a crate of juice boxes and told them to “get to it”.

Kirk/Spock cartoon video / Pulp's "Common People" mashup

[via Boing Boing]


Terrible cartoon + Awesome song = SuperCoolAwesome Mashup

I'm going to hit you with bloggish philosophical ramblings:

I think I've figured it out, at least in part (and formed in part as a reaction to the fact that Weezer is releasing a new album in a couple weeks, and the fact that the last few albums have been somewhat lacklustre; but still, even then, I have high hopes for Weezer).

A problem is comparing new music to old music. I can't help it. Things like the last Weezer album. These things will always be judged based on the previous merits. I don't have to listen to anyone else to like something. I can like it because I like it, even if it's crap. I can like albums for their own sake, not because they're good (yes, I like the ones that are lauded as amazing by places like pitchfork — which shows that I have good taste — but I like other things that don't exist there. There's some amazing scum I listen to, and I need more of that.)

But I like things based on their own merits, and I need to be more self-assured of these convictions my own brain concocted. I'm also convinced that not all of the things I like might have real merit. Some of the music I like is crappy or annoying to others, but I like it. Sometimes that's because of the artistic merit of the music. Sometimes it's edgy, pushing the envelope of what's really music. Other times, it's just the repetitive, somewhat-robotic music that I find insanely dancable and gets my feet moving. Great for walking, dancing, working, background music. But in all cases, if I don't like it, I won't listen to it.

(Another funny thing about being self-assured is that I'll feel more assured about the comics I make, and might even make more).

Music is very much the product of where we are when it first moves us (I have memories of listening to the blue album's “Holiday”, and how it's tied so closely to Farsong when I first started writing it — the blue album, Pinkerton, and my junior year of High School). Perhaps I was feeling nostalgic yesterday. Not really sentimental, but I was feeling blocked in by all the things I thought were freeing as a junior and senior in High School.

This blocking-in is almost like the feeling of being trapped in one's skull. It's the feeling of becoming locked in one position in society, and I doing like it. Despite my best intentions, I feel this congealing. It's pigeonholing. It's categorisation, and I revile labels applied to me; I like doing my own thing. I fight it with every ounce I can muster, but I'm distracted.

But yesterday, I realised that I could take the position and make it what I want. That's still a little subversive. More than most.

But this idea ties in closely with the idea of liking things because I like them: it's not letting others decide what I like or what I do. I think I'm finally getting to the point that I'm comfortable enough with myself and know the things I like well enough to decide. To know. To not listen to other people.

You know, this would be called “being stubborn” if I were not the open-minded sort.

If there were any more internet memes in here, this video would cause the tubes to collapse upon themselves. Spontaneously. As it were, this is executed with precision.


If this is what the eponymous red album is shaping up to be, I’m excited. It sounds like the old Weezer we know and love. Pinkerton is still one of the best albums ever. “Pork and Beans” sounded silly upon the first listening, but it’s as introspective and representative of Rivers Coumo as Pinkerton was, but with a good bit of self-snark and dry meta-humour in the video, and plenty of Coumo’s personality in the song.

Though, I don’t know about the choice of the word “hoot” instead of “fuck”; frankly, I’d have preferred the latter, as “hoot” seems to send it straight into the post-ironic-rock, and Coumo failed utterly at that with “Beverly Hills”; that song utterly backfired in its intent, and was the worst on the album, despite the fact people loved it. With this one, Coumo seems to be saying that he’s just going to do what he wants (and briefly lamenting the fact he's growing older). Which is perfectly fine with me. He's always been better when he's being genuine. That's his strength, and the reason Pinkerton was so excellent.

But still, it’s a good song. And oddly, the video reminds me of the one for “The Good Life” off of Pinkerton.




June 3^rd.


I’m overthinking this, aren’t I? That’s okay, too.

Two new albums to-day:

Envelopes — Here Comes The Wind
A little bit Architecture in Helsinki, a little bit Firey Furnaces, a little bit Ima Robot, a little bit Broken Social Scene, and a little bit B-52's.

Excellent little Swedish indie-pop band. Each song is different, but they actually fit together as a whole. This is on this year's The List*.


Don't Stop: Recording Tap
Funk/dance/disco/pre-rap beat poetry. Good stuff.


Now, I'm sitting here drawing things, and have been for hours. I'll post the completed comic later, but this week is busy. It's seriously the cheesiest thing I've ever drawn. I just realised a few minutes ago that I need to keep all the micron pens in order, otherwise I'll go insane because I can't find the nib/tip size micron pen I need.

Also, this inking 6 pages of comics business goes slower than I anticipated. I don't think I've actually ever done this many full pages before. Fortunately, I can devote all my time till Thursday on this project as a whole (the comic is a small part of the overall presentation); then it'll be smooth sailing for the most of the semester.

I'm totally strung out on Dr Pepper and sour cream and onion Sun Chips right now. I neglected to get the Nutter Butters, but I think I can survive.

I just realised that this is the first real "24-hour-comic" style thing I've ever done. I need to do more of those.


--
* dragon is too lazy to look up The List (of albums for the year). Click the "music" tag and find it maybe. Last year's is probably towards 31-Dec-2007 or 1-Jan-2008.

Because I find these things like this interesting.

I've been listening to M83's new album, Saturdays = Youth almost continuously since last night, and I love it. It's exactly like what I was looking for seven years ago when I started watching 80s movies and listening to more than just Jazz. It's full of detached and sometimes buzzing synth, and it's big. It's M83. It's the 80s if they happened two decades later, full of quiet utterances of darkness in major keys. It's a view of the black and white of teenage years, filtered through the never-absolute greys of adulthood.

It's M83, without a doubt. It's one of those albums that I can sit and listen to repeatedly, all the way through. Yes, there are some tracks I love more than others, but it's a whole thing; an album, and it's genuine.

The track “Graveyard Girl”:

It's been at nagging me for a while.

August 2003 I got my first iPod. Zeitgeist: Most people had not heard of iPods. For HDD players, it was either Apple's or Creative's offering. One player from each, and Apple had just introduced support for the iPod on Windows — though this involved MusicMatch Jukebox and a plugin, as hell hadn't yet frozen over. The Rio was still big, and 256mb was a lot of Flash; 512mb was unheard of.

( iPod Ramblings )

So, I totally posted this in a comment to Allen, but this is Wir Sind Helden, circa 2005. It really typifies Wir Sind Helden's sound, though. A translation of the chorus would be something like, "Please give me another word."

I saw this video on the German MTV (they really do play music videos on that channel there!), and the song stuck in my head, mainly because of the visual element.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVmXgOQNtNQ

Really cool, well-edited video, featuring the whole band, even if it is a rehashing of Subterranean Homesick Blues

Dylan's video been rehashed before, but it's not overused (actually, I can think of a lot more references in modern music than just that visual element with the signs, but they're obfuscated such that, not knowing Dylan, one wouldn't know the references). Also, I think that Judith Holofernes, vocalist, is the one who wrote the signs; they are a lot more precise than Dylan's -- though that is part of the charm of Dylan and his smoky voice.

Flight of the Conchords might just be the best thing ever.

I do believe I need this disc.

I've been on a bizarre music kick this week (by "this week," I mean "since last Monday"). I've been listening to music that sucks, and it's awesome. It has involved a lot of DEVO on repeat on my iPod (which, in and of its self, is ironic).

Most of the finding of this music has involved clicking random links from one video to another on the youtube.

Anyway, there are some videos, and they're under a cut.

( I Wanna disco to awesome music that sucks so badly it's awesome: this is New Media at its finest. )

I realised that I had not yet put up my list of top-ten albums for 2007. And were there ever a lot of new things this year! Unfortunately, a great many of the things that were new to my ears were fairly old to others', including the likes of Devo, The Clash, The Talking Heads, The Who, The Scissor Sisters, the New Pornographers, James Kochalka Superstar, and !!!.

Also of note, this is the year I maxed out my old 40 Gb iPod (and acquired a new 160 Gb one).

Since 10 is rather arbitrary, we start here:( There is a list under here )

I am watching HOAPAR_CBCM* on my iPod. This is cool, in and of its self.

( Things I have learned about the new video-playing iPods )

Not as good as What She's Like, though. Scrub to 2:10.

I must confess: one of my ultimate weaknesses is techno music, and of this, most especially House. It's robotic, with beeps and synthesisers and clicks that sound like the ministrations of a dying computer, with a steady, mechanised beat. Some of the best groups out there are the likes of Kraftwerk, Vitalic, and especially Daft Punk. So, then, imagine my excitement when I realised that there was a new album out from Daft Punk.

It's okay. You can take this time to imagine. Please stop when you hear the tone.

*F# Major*

Enter: Alive2007. Daft Punk.

A little history. Daft Punk is a magical robotic musical duo from France. It's music for robots. House-style techno. It's awesome stuff, and the musicality has been shaping since their release of Homework, eleven years ago. Moreover, Homework still sounds fresh. Then there was a tour, with an LP called Alive 1997 made of live stuff. It's ten years since then, and this new album is a call-back to the last live album.

So, it's a live album from the recent tour. A tour filled with giant video effects and LEDs and amazing things. But it's a live album.

And all the songs? They run the gamut. It's familiar stuff from all the albums. The joy is not in the fact that there's new content (there isn't; it's all old music), but in the way the tracks are blended together. New and old; new from old. It's fresh and good. It is full of groove. The crowd noise is toned down, too; it adds ambience without being annoying.


Anyway, I mention this because, as we're nearing the end of 2007, I'm making The List. Number one is already decided, but the rest are still changing, even at this late date. It's been a heady year of releases.

Because I've found I enjoy discussing design of things with people, here's a thing I just put together:



I think it's better than the last. I might tweak with it a little to-morrow, but this is pretty much it.

Also, Allen, I'll e-mail a higher-res file. Don't use the one here. It will look crappy.


Discuss!

Reasons Steve likes his iPod (alternately titled “Reasons Steve's iPod is Not Really That Great to Steal”):

1) It's Firewire (IEEE 1394) only. Yeah, it does USB 2.0, but it only charges over Firewire--USB just drains the poor thing's battery. Face it: most Windows boxen don't come with Firewire. Of course, that's because Firewire is about fifteen times more efficient than USB 2.0 (which means it's multiplied by a factor of roughly 400 for USB 1.1, and another 1200 for USB 1.0)

2) Battery life of <8 Hrs. You just try going without charging it (see above).

3) Monochrome only. No color. Certainly no video. I can play Doom on it, but only under linux. Seriously, though--do you really need to Video bit, let alone the color bit on a device used for music? A 2" 320x240 pixel display does seem a bit … cramped. I have a laptop for whatever video I need.

4) 40 GiB HD. It's a little cramped, but the battery'll give out if you try to load 15 Gb over USB or unpowered Firewire.

5) It came with a Firewire AC/DC converter-charger. Actually, the fact that it came with a wall-plug at all is amazing. And a dock.

6) The Button layout will confuse anyone used to the accursed click-wheel. Plus, the buttons light up with awesome little red LEDs.

7) It's thick. About the size of two new iPods stacked together, like a pack of playing cards.

8) The case is white, and white Apple products are so last-season. It's all brushed aluminium and black and glass, now (funny, how the brushed aluminium look came out in 2003 …)