I'm seeing the greatest living musical artist in the world on his first tour in 12 years. If you don't believe that he played all the instruments on those classic albums, watch this video.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Why my first week of September will be more awesome than yours
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Mix Tape Maddness
You don't have to be Lil Wayne or a 1990s teenager to make a mixtape. It doesn't even have to be a tape and your recipient need not be a potential love interest. Just don't dump a bunch of MP3s on someone, you've gotta make something tangible and you owe it to the other person to put some effort into it.
For example, I'm a hardened music snob and I hold the current aesthetic in contempt, but once and a while I'll find an artist that I like. It usually means putting my prejudices aside, sometimes in a big way. I generally don't like "indy" rock and the smug-ness that pollutes the scene, so when considering a rock band, their lack of indy cred holds little to no sway with me. My old friend and longtime blog reader, Mike Brown and I have embarked on a monthly mixtape exchange program wherein we send each other a CD of artists we haven't heard of or haven't embraced. I recently sent him a mixtape of 21 songs, all of them good and I'm eagerly awaiting his impressions. Last week I got his opening salvo, full of stuff I never expected to dig with only a couple of things squarely in my comfort zone. I only owned one of the 18 tracks. I've gone through this CD about a half dozen times, and here's what has stood out (I'll add song titles later):
Anberlin - Initially I hated this selection, but it has really grown on me.
Ben Folds - Two Ben Folds songs, both of them really clever
K-OS - How have I managed to sleep on K-OS? I don't know
Pigeon John - How have I managed to sleep on Pigeon John? I don't know. True-school west coast hip-hop my kids can listen to.
Junior Senior - I don't believe in guilty pleasures. If it's good, don't be guilty. If you're guilty, don't do it. I'm unashamed to say I dig this.
Modest Mouse - I totally look foward to digging through their albums, I love this sound.
El Michel's Affair - Funny thing is, I tipped Mike off to these guys, a neo-funk outfit, after hearing Oliver Wang sing their praises on The Sound of Young America. He went ahead and got the album, while I had to get a late pass.
A few others I'm liking, and a few more have me undecided. If anyone wants to get in on this, let me know. I'll audit your playlist and fill out the right prescription.
For example, I'm a hardened music snob and I hold the current aesthetic in contempt, but once and a while I'll find an artist that I like. It usually means putting my prejudices aside, sometimes in a big way. I generally don't like "indy" rock and the smug-ness that pollutes the scene, so when considering a rock band, their lack of indy cred holds little to no sway with me. My old friend and longtime blog reader, Mike Brown and I have embarked on a monthly mixtape exchange program wherein we send each other a CD of artists we haven't heard of or haven't embraced. I recently sent him a mixtape of 21 songs, all of them good and I'm eagerly awaiting his impressions. Last week I got his opening salvo, full of stuff I never expected to dig with only a couple of things squarely in my comfort zone. I only owned one of the 18 tracks. I've gone through this CD about a half dozen times, and here's what has stood out (I'll add song titles later):
Anberlin - Initially I hated this selection, but it has really grown on me.
Ben Folds - Two Ben Folds songs, both of them really clever
K-OS - How have I managed to sleep on K-OS? I don't know
Pigeon John - How have I managed to sleep on Pigeon John? I don't know. True-school west coast hip-hop my kids can listen to.
Junior Senior - I don't believe in guilty pleasures. If it's good, don't be guilty. If you're guilty, don't do it. I'm unashamed to say I dig this.
Modest Mouse - I totally look foward to digging through their albums, I love this sound.
El Michel's Affair - Funny thing is, I tipped Mike off to these guys, a neo-funk outfit, after hearing Oliver Wang sing their praises on The Sound of Young America. He went ahead and got the album, while I had to get a late pass.
A few others I'm liking, and a few more have me undecided. If anyone wants to get in on this, let me know. I'll audit your playlist and fill out the right prescription.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Join this thing that I joined
Because if you don't, I won't like it. It has a bitter taste at first, but if you give it a good 30 minutes, you'll see that facebook beats myspace any day of the week.
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