Fluxtumblr

"Times New Viking sound like the kind of band I’d really like – they play short, sharp, noisy,..."

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:21:10 -0400

“

Times New Viking sound like the kind of band I’d really like – they play short, sharp, noisy, melodic songs with an explosive sense of energy and forward motion that I really dig. But I say ‘sound like’, because on the basis of the LP I have by them, it’s difficult to tell, such is the mess of muffled rehearsal room jams, incomprehensible, distorted vocals and aimless feedback that comprise the majority of it. Now this is an odd argument for me to make, in that I’ve spent the best part of my life listening to demos, bootlegs, home-recorded weirdness and all manner of other distinctly rough recordings and enjoying the hell out of them, but the key there is NECESSITY, as opposed to AFFECTATION, with TNV, Eat Skull and their peers firmly in the latter camp, given the ease with which just about anyone in the Western world can make a serviceable recording of a rock band these days.

I could rant long on the subject, but shall refrain for now. Because, despite the arrogance inherent in submitting an album that sounds about half as good as my band’s one-microphone-in-the-corner rehearsal tapes for mass international distribution, there’s still some kind of kick about Times New Viking’s music that makes me feel really kinda positive about them, even if there are only rare moments in their output where it really comes together. SO, on stage at Primavera: against the odds, Times New Viking seem to be working out a pretty good live approximation of their shitty recorded sound, thanks to a combination of slurred, off-mic vocal yelping, cheap, overdriven equipment, horrible amp settings and hyperactive drumbeats that seem to launch themselves into the fray at random, stopping and starting on a whim with little concern for whether or not anyone else can keep up. Admittedly, one gets the feeling this is far from the best gig they’ve ever played – the band, who’d no doubt kick up a storm playing for free to audience of happy drunks in a garage / house party scenario, seem completely out of their element on a European festival stage, and long gaps necessitated by the guitarist’s chronic string breakage, malfunctioning jack and subsequent inability to stay remotely in tune are pretty cringeworthy for all concerned (although, man, can I ever sympathise).

”

- Stereo Sanctity

The Stomach-Churning Battle of the Insect Queens!

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 09:43:46 -0400

The Stomach-Churning Battle of the Insect Queens!

Confused by Grant Morrison’s Batman R.I.P.? Did the...

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:42:09 -0400

Confused by Grant Morrison’s Batman R.I.P.? Did the “Batman of Zur-En-Arrh” make you go Zur-En-Whaaaa?

Here’s some back story, dating back to the 50s!

"loneliness + alienation + fear + despair + self-worth ÷ mockery ÷ condemnation ÷ misunderstanding x..."

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:25:51 -0400

“loneliness + alienation + fear + despair + self-worth ÷ mockery ÷ condemnation ÷ misunderstanding x guilt x shame x failure x judgment n=y where y=hope and n=folly, love=lies, life=death, self=dark side”

- Anti-Life Equation

"The Secret Life of Sofia have nothing too secretive about their sound, combining first-hand..."

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 19:14:00 -0400

“The Secret Life of Sofia have nothing too secretive about their sound, combining first-hand experience lyrics with a strong alternative/folk-experimental sound. Much like your favorite piece of chicken, this band has been around a little while with ample time to marinate their sound in the practice and growth of releasing EPs and playing live shows.”

- i guess i’m floating: [MP3] The Secret Life of Sofia: “Outside”

Can't Log in

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:48:00 -0400

For some reason, I can’t log in to comment on Idolator even though I have a log-in and password, etc. I wanted to respond to this thread about my post from earlier today, but I’ll just put the comment I wrote for the thread right here instead.

I know the beginning of that post is kinda whiny, but it’s venting a lot of very sincere frustration. I feel that I had to include that preamble, or I would not effectively explain what I was trying to do with the series. Basically, the idea is that I’m presenting older songs that ought to be considered as potential jumping-off points for contemporary musicians of whatever genre. As I said in the piece, I don’t want people to clone the songs, and I would prefer that people have their own identity. My modest goal is that maybe some people would read these posts and think about what I’m pointing at in these songs, and go “hey, maybe I can apply that to what I’m doing” instead of recycling the same old tired things. From this point onward, the posts will just be a way of spotlighting old songs and going “hey, what about this?”

I also know that the concept is kinda arrogant and obnoxious, and I actually put off doing it for a while because of that. But really, I just came to this conclusion: Why SHOULDN’T we be encouraging people to do better, and to make more distinctive and interesting art? Critics on and offline have spent the better part of this past decade patting people on the back for giving us pale imitations of a handful of canonized bands from the 80s, so is it any shock that we’ve got so many new acts who don’t seem particularly motivated to be at all interesting? No one is asking any of these people to try, so why not give that a shot?

In that thread, Al Shipley left a rather depressing comment:

Do you really think that if someone who’s playing in a mediocre shoegaze band puts away the delay pedal and tries their hand at bombastic synth pop, the results will be closer to “Miss You Much” than “we’re playing cheap Casios, lolz 80s!”?

I think it’s kinda missing the point — Shipley’s grasp of what I wrote seems a bit shaky, especially since he seems to be under the impression that I was in some way suggesting that people did not know Janet Jackson’s music — but he’s still right about that. Nevertheless, it doesn’t hurt to be optimistic, and I don’t think the sort of people he describes are necessarily who I’m reaching out to in the post.

Remember back in the late ’90s, and you had some critics and reissue labels going on about post-punk/punk-funk/leftfield disco, and then within a couple years, we suddenly had a wave of bands doing that sort of thing, and some of them were really quite good? There’s a lot of times when that sort of thing has happened. I definitely noticed a lot of indie types from around the world doing deliberately chart-pop type stuff after the whole “poptimist” thing set in around 2002/2003. I have no idea whether anything I’d put out there at this point in time would stick with people, but I think it’s definitely part of a critic’s job to influence working artists, and a lot of people have forgotten about that.

"The turning point of their would-be meet-cute romance occurs when both characters simultaneously..."

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:50:00 -0400

“

The turning point of their would-be meet-cute romance occurs when both characters simultaneously acquire bloody noses from separate acts of random violence and Jones devours an entire Roofieberry Pie, which causes her to fall unconscious, thus allowing Law to lick ice cream remnants from her face.

Waking up with no memory of her formerly a la mode face and how it came to be cream-free, Jones decides to run away from her life by heading on a bus to Memphis. Her Hero’s Journey from depressed ultra-naif to not-depressed ultra-naif is symbolized by the adoption of various versions of her first name (Lizzy, Betty, Beth, Zabby, E-Liz, etc.) during her stint as a cross-country waitress. Unfortunately, she doesn’t seem to acquire a personality in the process.

”

- The Face Knife » My Blueberry Nights (2007)
It took him fifteen forevers to finally fix his site, but Todd has at last posted his excellent review of Wong Kar-Wai’s hilariously awful My Blueberry Nights.

Janet Jackson “Miss You Much”I am very proud of my...

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:12:02 -0400

Janet Jackson “Miss You Much”

I am very proud of my post on Fluxblog today: Your New Influences #1: Janet Jackson/Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis.

The Rodney Jerkins Retirement Village

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:54:00 -0400

Chris: http://www.nme.com/news/britney-spears/37779
Britney, "aggressive" is not the sound you need right now
poor girl
nobody ever bothered to build more than one track for that train

Matthew:
this makes me wonder...
what is Rodney Jerkins like?
because he's always the guy who gets stuck working on comeback records wtih dangerously unstable pop stars
Michael Jackson, Whitney, Britney
TLC too

Chris:
it's just a function of his having had a few big, dumb, obvious hits
So big, dumb, obvious people gravitate towards him

Matthew:
well, I think there's probably something about him that makes him open to these projects.

Chris:
oh totally
it's an ego boost to save a falling star

Matthew:
cos I think a lot of other producers are like "no way, I want to get things done"

Chris:
of course, he hasn't managed to actually DO that yet

Matthew:
well, I think Jerkins is also kind of a falling star himself

Chris:
cf. Jacko, Whitney, et al still being in the dumper
Oh totally
He was eclipsed by Timbaland on every level
Timbaland's sound is now the mainstream in the way Jerkins' was

Matthew: I hope that my life is never so fucked that I get sent to Rodney Jerkins

Chris:
Put that in your living will now
(8.) In the event that at the time of my incapacity/senescence, I am in posession of a pop career, please do not allow Rodney Jerkins to construct a track out of my Alzheimery rantings

Against Inertia

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:19:00 -0400

I really miss going to work every day. I miss accomplishing things on a regular basis, being challenged by being ever so slightly out of my depth, and having to always be mindful of things to be done later in the week. I miss the forward momentum, and the way that energized my work on personal projects. I miss collaborating with people; I miss the camaraderie. I miss getting to meet new people on a regular basis. I hate the way I fall apart when I’m not busy.

Okay, that's it.

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:21:00 -0400

Hack indie bands of the world, pay close attention to me: We don’t need any more lame, unimaginative approximations of psychedelic, shoegazer, or “ambient” music. We have enough, and most of it is boring, lazy, and transparently dumb. This decade is almost over; it’s time to move on and ruin something else.

Tricky “Puppy Toy” (Live on Later with Jools...

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:40:33 -0400

Tricky “Puppy Toy” (Live on Later with Jools Holland)

I saw this image of Metron by Jack Kirby for the first time in...

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:26:00 -0400

I saw this image of Metron by Jack Kirby for the first time in Mark Evanier’s Kirby: King Of Comics coffee table book yesterday, and it kinda blew me away. (It gains a lot being quite large and reproduced on very nice paper.) The image includes collage elements, and is colored by Kirby himself. The biggest revelation for me when going through that book was seeing how brilliant he was with color. The book also includes a LOT of amazing un-inked images, including a complete short story from 1983 with a one of the most incredible two-page spreads I’ve ever seen.

I want these pins very, very much. Especially the one that reads...

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:29:36 -0400

I want these pins very, very much. Especially the one that reads “Be Mine Kim Pine.”

village voice > blogs > Status Ain't Hood > Status Ain't Hood Says Goodbye

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:47:14 -0400

village voice > blogs > Status Ain't Hood > Status Ain't Hood Says Goodbye: Much respect to Tom Breihan, one of the best music critics in the biz. (Also, the tallest.) He’s moving on to some other gig, and bless him. I’m really glad that he’s getting paid for what he does, and I hope that he’s got a better home now.

As Gas Prices Rise, Teenagers’ Cruising Declines - NYTimes.com

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:50:44 -0400

As Gas Prices Rise, Teenagers’ Cruising Declines - NYTimes.com:

therichgirlsareweeping:

FYI, everyone — this is why there is no definitive summer jam. You can quote me on this.

Yes, suddenly it all makes sense.

jeffbaum:Chris Matthews runs an Anti Baby-Boomer George Carlin...

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:54:00 -0400

jeffbaum:

Chris Matthews runs an Anti Baby-Boomer George Carlin bit, followed by a “Just for Men” ad that is, too perfectly, EXACTLY what he was bitching about.

Ha, this is so perfect that I’m convinced that the entire reason Matthews aired that particular Carlin bit was because he hated that sponsor/ad.

"Animation isn’t a genre — it’s a medium, just another way of telling stories. Of course..."

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:43:04 -0400

“Animation isn’t a genre — it’s a medium, just another way of telling stories. Of course Wall-E is “an exception to the animation realm”; in animation, as in live-action, most movies are crappy and don’t deserve Best Picture nominations. But when a movie comes out that is great, one of the best of the year, it ought to be considered for Best Picture regardless of the medium it’s created in. And if the Oscars want to become relevant to the average moviegoer again, they could do worse than to nominate a movie like Wall-E — a movie the average moviegoer loves.”

- Jeffrey Wells Argues Against an Oscar for ‘Wall-E’: ‘Animation, Stay On Your Side of the Fence’ — Vulture — Entertainment & Culture Blog — New York Magazine
It’s never made much sense, but while I absolutely love drawings, cartooning, and comic books, I’ve never been a fan of animation. I recognize that I have this bias, and that it’s kinda arbitrary. However, this doesn’t keep me from thinking that Wells’ argument against animated films being nominated for Best Picture is hateful and moronic, or from acknowledging that Wall-E is a full-on masterpiece and deserves not only the nomination, but the award as well.

16. Reign In Blood

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 08:28:00 -0400

tomewing:

There was some interview where Morrison said that Final Crisis is the “death metal” version of the DC Universe - given his interest in making comics ‘feel like’ pop (cf Marvel Boy) I wonder if this explains some of the pacing decisions: grand uber-symphonic sweeps expressed using complex and technical and deceptively crude means.

That makes a lot of sense, especially given the major themes of the story thus far.

I haven’t read any of it, but I read somewhere that Matt Fraction was deliberately being very metal about his recent Thor work. Which would be smart, you know, because if any comic should be overtly metal, it ought to be Thor.

"What I don’t get–and I don’t want to be a dick here (NOTE: THIS IS A LIE)–are the people who say..."

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 19:21:00 -0400

“

What I don’t get–and I don’t want to be a dick here (NOTE: THIS IS A LIE)–are the people who say that it’s hard to follow or understand, because the Final Crisis that I’m reading is pretty straightforward. And I don’t mean that it’s straightforward by Grant Morrison standards, I mean that it’s straightforward by comic book standards. I’ll be the first to admit that there are a lot of references thrown in there that are rewarding for people who do get them, but in the issues we’ve seen, a meticulous knowledge of the characters isn’t all that necessary. Comics characters, after all, are based around visual shorthand to begin with, and even without a footnote pointing you to his earlier adventures (which you oughtta read anyway), it’s not hard to figure out all you need to know about Sonny Sumo from his actions within the story.

To be fair, there’s stuff going on that hasn’t been explained, but I’m pretty sure that’s because a story is not an article, and occasionally creators like to hold some information back to build tension. Just a thought.

”

- Chris’s Invincible Super-Blog » Blog Archive » The Week In Ink: June 25, 2008
Right on.