Here’s an original song I wrote for this year’s CD Exchange Party. It’s inspired in equal parts by “The Girl from Ipanema,” cheesy theme songs to risque European game shows, and prog-funk soundtracks from schlock Italian horror films of the ’70s. Special thanks to Stephanie Fisher for lead vocals and the Launch Players for screams, chants, and assorted background noise.
1 week agoSo. Matthew Friedberger of The Fiery Furnaces (a band I love) took a potshot at Radiohead (another band I love) and their tribute to the British airman Harry Patch. Only he mistakenly(?) thought it was actually a song about the avant-garde American composer Harry Partch.
Later, he explained the Patch/Partch mixup was a deliberate joke, and in the process managed to also insult Beck (yet another artist whose work I like) and his Scientologist faith. You can read a nice sum-up of the proceedings at Pitchfork: http://pitchfork.com/news/37147-beck-writes-song-about-harry-partch/
But wait, it gets better. Rather than declining to respond as did Radiohead, instead Beck wrote a 10-plus-minute musical response (appropriately enough, titled “Harry Partch”), which somehow manages to lampoon/celebrate the cut-up musical approach of The Fiery Furnaces AND pay tribute to the microtonal/American gamelan style of Harry Partch, resulting in one of Beck’s strangest, coolest and most adventurous tracks in years. Oh yeah, and he’s giving it away for free. Check it out here: http://stereogum.com/mp3/Beck%20-%20Harry%20Partch.mp3
So…I guess….thank you, Matthew Friedberger?
2 months ago(Link via Gizmodo) Just when I started to think Hulu might be on to a successful model (stream major network shows for free, but embed impossible-to-skip streaming ads), they announce the service will be moving to for-pay. If this does come to pass, I predict a major slide back into TV torrenting, which will only hasten the demise of the major broadcast networks. Here’s hoping they wise up to reality quickly.
Monster Map of Lavaland
Lizzie Boredom
The Keytards
Dreadful Moisty
Beaver Rainbow
The Schaudenfriends
The Homosensuals
Sunshine Bubblewand
Balalycra
5 months agoJust as a quick follow-up to my previous post, I was thinking it might be fun (and perhaps educational) for me to document the steps I take along the way in replacing my cable TV service with a Mac mini-based entertainment setup.
Just curious what people would like to see—blog posts? Step-by-step videos? Both? If you have any ideas, please leave me a comment.
5 months agoDue to various reasons, both economical and philosophical, I am giving serious thought to ditching my $60-a-month cable TV subscription and replacing it with a Mac Mini-based media center. That way, I can simply use free open-source software like Plex and Boxee to stream free video content on demand. In researching the possibilities, I discovered this blog, which takes you through one person’s experiences with cutting the cord. It’s highly valuable reading for anyone considering taking the plunge.
Just discovered “Breakfast at Sulimay’s” this morning. It’s a funny Web series that features three senior citizens at a diner in Philadelphia, weighing in on the latest indie releases. Cute, raunchy, hysterical and definitely worth checking out.
7 months agoApparently Danger Mouse (acclaimed producer and one half of the excellent Gnarls Barkley) has run into some difficulty with getting his record label to release his new collaboration with Sparklehorse and auteur David Lynch, title “Dark Night of the Soul.” His solution? Release the album art with a blank CD-R, and encourage people to track down the music by whatever means necessary. Does the term “BitTorrent” ring a bell? A truly ballsy move by a truly genius talent. Gotta love it.
I recently picked up Delicious Library 2 as part of the MacHeist promotion, and have really been excited about all the OCD media cataloging potential.
It even lets you publish your library with one click, including an auto-sensing iPhone-optimized version (you can see mine here).
Me likey!
10 months agoAn important editorial by Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree on why the album format still matters in the digital age.
