State of the Music, 10/31/09

Since my official musician site is down I figure there's gotta be somewhere I should (try to) keep people informed on my musical exploits. Here's what's going on.

First off, the next album is going to take a little bit longer than I'd like it to. I'm looking into new ways to get it recorded; the studio at SCA is no longer reliable for a number of reasons. At this point (and this may change) I am thinking that I will be recording and mixing the entire album completely by myself - which is absolutely fine with me, as it will be exciting, challenging, and fucking fun, but for the fact that I need some better tools to work with first. As soon as I acquire them the first full-length LP will be a go.

Second of all, back in the spring, myself and a few friends and fellow musicians put our heads together and started playing what I cannot stress enough is the best music I have ever played with anyone, hands down. I wasn't able to give it my full attention with all the work I was putting into my own EP, and following that we kind of had to abandon ship for awhile with the more-or-less departure of our drummer. We've got a new one now and we're getting back into the swing of things - playing the few songs we came up with over the spring and coming up with some new ones. I will be on lead vocals and occasionally some rhythm guitar as well. The band doesn't have a name yet but it sounds like a cool cross between Explosions in the Sky, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Mars Volta - in other words, EXACTLY the kind of music I've always wanted to play. I can't wait to get this show on the road; it's going to be very exciting times. Hopefully once we've played a few shows and gotten our shit together we'll be able to record some of it for you all to hear.

In other news, as soon as I can lay down vocals for a relatively new song, "Seen Across The Way," that has been on MySpace since about halfway through the summer, it will be available in its finished form as a free download, along with a remix of "The Last Free Place" featuring Link of Backpack Boyz.

Okay, that's all I got.

Download: The Good, The Bad, & The Queen

Between being the frontman for Blur and the mastermind behind Gorillaz, it's probably safe to assume that Damon Albarn just shits out great music with his morning dump. But somehow, two years back, he managed to get another project off the ground, called The Good, The Bad & The Queen. Easily the most indie of his various projects, 2007's TGTB&TQ is actually only the name of the album - the band, which consists of Albarn, The Clash bassist Paul Simonon, The Verve's Simon Tong, and veteran old-fart drummer Tony Allen - doesn't have a name. Go figure.

This is easily Albarn's most indie-sounding project yet, although I think Gorillaz fans will definitely be able to dig it - one or two of the songs distinctly remind me of "El Manana" off Demon Days. Click below.

The Good, The Bad & The Queen

Paranormal Activity's Original (2007) Ending

It's amazing how quickly Paranormal Activity has come up in the past month. The film has been around for a good two years or so now. I caught wind of it maybe a month and a half ago when I first saw the trailer online. No one I mentioned it to had heard of it. A month later, it had screened in a few cities and then been "demanded" via viral marketing for a wide release, and suddenly everyone had managed to get to see it before me. (Figures.) I finally got a chance to see it last night, and it honestly scared the piss out of me.

Anyways, the film that we are seeing now is largely the same as what made the independent film festival rounds in 2007 - save for the ending, which was changed about a year ago, according to director Oren Peli. The original ending is a lot more drawn out than what you have seen in theaters, and the studio has allowed for it to be put on YouTube. I advise you not to watch this until you've seen the version that is in theaters now.

Rumor has it a third ending exists, screened only once, in which, after having killed Micah, the possessed Katie returns to the bedroom, stands in front of the camera, and slashes her own throat. Personally, I think the ending currently in theaters is the most effective, although the other ones work well in their own right.

Windows still sucks.

Well, it's only a matter of time before people get as fed up with Windows 7 as they are with Vista. I haven't used it, but I don't need to eat a shit sandwich to know it's not gonna taste good - Mac's Leopard is the only OS for me. In a pretty piss poor attempt at a money grab, Microsoft has unveiled the top ten reasons to get Windows 7. Here I will tear them down, one by one.

1. Get quicker access to all of your stuff.
One word: Finder.

2. Manage open windows easier.
Macs have one button that lets you instantly see every window that's open and jump to it immediately, like this. Also, this seems pretty basic to be the number two reason to get on Windows 7, don't you think?

3. Quickly find what you're looking for.
Mac has a Search feature right in the top of my task bar. Also, it seems like they're trying to use number one twice.

4. Share files and printers easily among multiple PCs.
Done so easily and so basic to the OS that Apple doesn't even mention it when they try to sell it to you.

5. Stay entertained effortlessly.
Two words: Front Row. Two more words: Apple Remote ($10; usually comes with Mac.)

6. Easily create and share movies.
That's what iMovie is for, and that's came free with your Mac since Tiger.

7. Connect to networks easier.
Microsoft's website boasts that you can connect to your network in three clicks; I can do it in two at the very most. Like this. Again, old news for us and so basic no one even mentions it.

8. Do more and wait less.
From the time I push the power button til the time I'm harassing people on my blog: 60 seconds.

9. Touch and tap rather than point and click.
They might have a point here, but who the fuck really uses a touchscreen?

10. Manage devices more easily.
I didn't even have to install my M-Audio Keystation in Logic or Garageband.

If you've been paying attention, I haven't even mentioned the REAL good stuff that Macs can provide. Microsoft is trying to hock Windows 7 on the premise that it can (finally) perform the most basic shit almost as well as Macs can - and these are their top ten reasons you should buy it? Where's the stuff to challenge the Dashboard, Garageband, iPhoto, iMovie, iCal, iDVD, Expose, iWeb, and Time Machine - all of which come pre-installed on your Mac?

Windows still sucks.

I'm gonna blow up my car.

My '98 Cherokee needs ball joints, probably a new battery, left side mirror, catalytic converter (Google tells me I actually spelled that right without looking it up), new speakers, a new stereo console. And a wash. And I should probably clean it out, too. (I'd like to note that I was only able to spot the last two things myself, since I know precisely dick about cars to begin with.)

But that's an awful lot of time and money and effort for such a gas-guzzler, don't you think? Time and money and effort are three things that I definitely don't excel at.

Desperate times call for desperate measures - when in doubt, blow it to kingdom come.

I urge everyone who is fed up with their whip to do the same. First of all, blowing stuff up is just awesome to begin with, and maybe now insurance companies will start covering spontaneous combustion along with your basic collision. This would mean that you win in not one, but four ways, because a) you get to blow something big to smithereens in glorious fashion, b) you get paid for it, c) you simultaneously rid yourself of the headache that was your shitty car and d) as long as you're not an idiot about it and don't, say, post on your blog that you're going to do it, you get to get away with fisting the insurance guys.

...Oh.

Dance Vader!

I feel like an update, but I've got literally nothing interesting to say, short a very half-assed and very non-committal forthcoming review of Where the Wild Things Are, which I'm sure I'll put up either a) never or b) whenever I make up my mind about the movie (see A.)

In the meanwhile, please enjoy my friend David of In The Mind of a Young Eccentric being completely awesome.

Download: Toonami!

Anyone who's roughly my age may remember spending their afternoons as a pre-teen watching action cartoons on Toonami, Cartoon Network's action block. That shit was badass. Dragonball Z, Gundam Wing, and various other anime are the height of awesome when you're eleven years old.

Time for a trip down memory lane. Anyone who remembers Toonami is sure to remember the cool trip-hop and drum and bass that accompanied the promos, intros and bumps in-between shows. Thanks to me and how awesome I am, you can get all of that good business for free - four albums of it.

Initially all the music was done by in-house artist Joe Boyd Vigil, but in later years legitimate artists from the Ninja Tune Label had their work used instead - check out Volume 3 for those.

Toonami: Deep Space Bass
Toonami: Black Hole Megamix
Toonami: Rare, Restored and Recut
Toonami: Volume 3

You are not a crunk star. Stop it. Stop it now.

Is it just me, or does spending $40,000 to go to school for two years to learn how to make the most cookie-cutter generic crunk beats sound like kind of a waste of money?

Allow me to back up and voice my frustration. Earlier this year, roughly half of my first EP, Peace In Outer Space, was recorded in the studio at the School of Communication Arts in Raleigh, where my friend is an audio student. Long story short, the EP was great and is probably the single greatest record ever released (even at only six tracks) but the people need MORE.

Problem is, it's hard to record a new album when you can't book the studio, and it's hard to book the studio when it's nigh-constantly being used, not by thoughtful, talented artists who have something to say, but by a dozens of wannabe crunk stars who spend the day yelling the most completely obnoxious crunk tripe into microphones that I can't honestly say deserve to be used by them.

Anyone that knows me knows I have a very serious problem with most hip hop that comes out these days. As I've tried to make clear, I love hip hop - rather, I love GOOD hip hop. Talent. Skill. Message. Innovation. The shit the comes out these days just saddens me - this is something I'll save for another rant, because justice must be done to such bitching and moaning on my behalf.

Bottom line: Some people want to book that studio to make art, to say something. Some people want to throw together something where they yell a few words over and over onto a shitty beat crafted from pre-made Fruity Loops with absolutely zero artistry so they can look cool and be the next Soulja Boy.

And for that they should be ashamed, but they never will be.

Download: The Kills

In a similar garage-rock sounding vein of the io echo song I posted the other day, I bring you The Kills (not to be confused with the Killers, who are alright at best) and their most recent outing, Midnight Boom.

I had the wonderful opportunity to catch this duo live back in May at Cat's Cradle here in North Carolina and it was one of the best shows I'd seen in awhile - and that says a lot for a band consisting of two members, a drum machine, and a shit ton of cool effects pedals. If you ever get wind of these guys coming through your town, make sure you go out and see them - especially if it's in a club setting where you can smell lead singer VV's chainsmoked cigarettes.

For those unfamiliar - if you like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, you'll probably like this. If you don't, take your thumb out of your ass and improve the quality of the music you listen to by downloading this anyway.

The Kills - Midnight Boom

My 9 Principles and 1 Value: Take that, Glenn Beck.

Since I am Awesome - relentlessly so - it is my duty to keep everyone informed of things that are similarly Awesome. By the same token, it is my duty to make sure you stay on top of things that aren't; of people who are assholes.

And Glenn Beck is an asshole.

There's a lot of pundits I can't stand - some of whom I even agree heartily with - but usually I can let them go. Not the case here, for the more my bosses at work fail to recognize that their Dish Network package includes news outlets besides Fox News, the more I'm forced to hear his hyper-Conservative harangues and have to go in the back and count to ten.

I've got a long list of things that piss me off and his self-championed "9/12 Project" is up there (clicky-clicky.) The "9/12 Project" was named for Glenn Beck's call to unity - for us all to unite as we did the day after 9/11. Except, of course, for the families of the 9/11 victims, whom Glenn Beck has expressly said he hates and wishes would shut the fuck up already. (Because, as everyone knows, asking why three thousand people were killed in one morning in three cities is completely unpatriotic.) So in answer to Beck's 9 Principles and 12 Values, I give you my own. I've edited where I see fit (in bold), and you'll also notice that while it takes Beck twelve values to accomplish his message, I can knock it out in one. Fuck you.

1. America is good pretty good, but sometimes we can be arrogant shitheads and we need to work on that.
2. I believe in God and He is the center of my life. I may not ever fully believe in God and that's okay. In the meanwhile I'll try to be the best person I can and make the world a better place where possible.
3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I Fox News was yesterday.
4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government. Also, spouses can be of the same sex if that's what you're into.
5. If you break the law, you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it. Not even Presidents who use illegal wiretaps and torture methods.
6. I have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results. But sometimes not everyone has the same shot, and the government should help out to a reasonable degree.
   
7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable. Those who have the most should give the most.
8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion. No, seriously, Glenn Beck/Bill O'Reilly/Sean Hannity.
9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me. While we're at it, so do you. Go make me a sandwich. Extra banana peppers.
   

And my one virtue:

Honesty, Reverence, Hope, Thrift, Humility, Charity, Sincerity, Moderation, Hard Work, Courage, Personal Responsibility, Gratitude Awesomeness

Download: io echo

As I said, one of the aims of this here blog is to aid in the piracy of music that is almost certainly better than what you probably listen to. We'll get to albums and mixtapes later on but in the meanwhile make sure you check out this single from this kickass band, io echo. The song is called "Doorway" and you may recognize it from a catchy little Sprint/Palm Pre commercial. This band is making the rounds already, having opened for a shit ton of cool bands - most notably they were the opening act for the last Nine Inch Nails show of all time last month. Unfortunately there isn't a full album from these guys yet, but I'm looking forward to one when it becomes available. In the meanwhile make sure you support by checking out this MP3 and maybe throwing down $.99 at Amazon for it if you like it.

io echo - "Doorway"

And so it begins...

In the last few years I have started and abruptly stopped several blogs.

Mostly this is because I am lazy as shit.

I've done Blogger, Wordpress, Tumblr, and two of my own domains - none of which were remotely successful. This is a damn shame, because I can write like no one's business (or so I'm told.) I'm sure part of the reason for this was overambition on my part. Way too much time spent setting up domains, tweaking styles, etc. So I'm keeping it simple this time, and I'm gonna keep keeping it simple. Blogspot. Bare bones.

So let's try this again. What this blog is for:

1. Ranting about things that are Awesome.*
   
2. Ranting about things that suck.
3. ...But doing so like a man.
4. Aiding in the piracy of music that is probably better than what you listen to.
5. Chronicling my very likely doomed musical exploits.
   
6. Forcing my wisdom upon you, for I am Awesome. Follow me; I know the way.
   

Alright, I'm beginning to feel lazy again, so we should wrap this up pretty quickly.

*Capitalized for emphasis. It's important, you know.

Hi.

This is my blog. It is Awesome, and so am I.