posted by admin on Aug 28
Archive for the ‘Music’ Category
posted by admin on Jul 16
New podcast available!
Jay and I discuss the soundtrack to Mortal Kombat. The video game, not that movie because that would be crazy.
Available on iTunes but get the direct feed here.
posted by admin on Jun 26
The media’s reaction to Michael Jackson’s death has largely glossed over the past ten to twelve years of his life where his musical output was minimal and his legal troubles redefined him as a man-child living in a fantasy world. All this leads me to an interesting, or at the very least tactless, question: Are we better off with Michael Jackson dead?
For years he’s existed as a punch-line the media occasionally wheels out for the public to judge. Did he sustain our interest because we like to see others fail? Did his immense talent and artistic output keep us hoping that maybe, even after all these years, he had one more hit in him? Or were we witnessing a life so unusual it’s never been seen before and will likely never be seen again?
With his death Jackson enters an unusual arena of celebrity mythology where flaws only enrich your legacy. Never again will he appear in the tabloids the subject of some bizarre scandal that seems too crazy to not be true. We are free to use his legacy for our own selfish ends and spin him into whatever image we desire without worrying what he might do tomorrow.
His death allows the world to remember him as a musical genius and to listen to his music without thinking of the baggage recent years piled upon it. For his friends and family the death will be tragic. His fans will mourn him but when I see the same people holding a vigil after his death who turned out to offer support during his numerous trials I no longer see them as blindly devoted, insane people but as someone like me, mourning the loss of a flawed artist who brought happiness to millions.
There will always be the jokes and no one should forget the later part of his life whether as legal precedent or cautionary tale but this morning I listened to Michael Jackson and without a hint of guilt or irony I thought, “God damn, he was talented.” Now that’s not too bad a legacy.
So are we better off now that Michael Jackson has passed away? Apparently, I am.
posted by admin on Jun 25
And thus concludes one of the most bizarre lives in the modern world. Should be an interesting media reaction.
posted by admin on Mar 2
Make your own at Obamiconme.
posted by admin on Oct 6
The new “TV On The Radio” album will rock your socks off. Literally. I am sitting here with no socks on due to rocking. I also have no shirt and no pants on but that is unrelated to “TV On The Radio’s” level of rocking.
You probably didn’t need to know that.
Anyway, here is a weird, low-quality video from the first single.
Also, The Red Hot Chillipepper’s song “Higher Ground” is a cover of a Stevie Wonder song. Why the hell didn’t you tell me this? I’ve been walking around like a jackass for years thinking some dude with a sock on his wang wrote that song. That’s just great.
Where were you on that one, dipshit?
posted by admin on Sep 24
I really, really want it to be good but looking at the cast and crew I can’t see it being anything but a flashy, poorly constructed love-fest for Biggie totally devoid of any meaning. Maybe I’m wrong, maybe it’s a very personal piece for the people involved but seeing as the screenwriters primary movie credit is Biker Boyz I think you can forgive my skepticism.
That being said if they do it right, it’ll be amazing. His life, death and music overflow with thematic richness. It’ll be interesting how they handle his relationships with 2Pac and P. Diddy, or whatever he calls himself. Seriously, does Sean Combs go into business meetings and insist people call him Diddy? That’s gotta be weird doing business with a guy you have to call Puff Daddy. Do you call him Mr. Daddy? Puff? I don’t think our relationship is quite there yet. I’m going to assume the old white guy who hasn’t listened to music since The Big Bopper died calls him Mr. Combs. Please tell me that’s how the world works.
People call us renegades cause we like living crazy
posted by Mike on Sep 17
The new iTunes update (8.0, I think) adds some useless aesthetic features but also adds a brilliant new killer app.
First the bad. Your library now has a couple new views. One allowing you to scroll through artists/albums by album cover. If you have any quantity of music on your computer this is largely useless as the cumbersome interface shows minimal information and forces multiple clicks to play a song. The other new view is an iPod-esque screen added to the top complete with scroll bar. Essentially, you see album artwork and can scroll and select by album artwork. The bottom half features the standard library view. In your library this is horrible but for a mix, while pointless, it does look pretty cool. It also gives you the option to expand album artwork to full screen which would be pretty kick ass at a party or a club to have that info featured so prominently.
The awesome. Genius. A new function that has already changed how I listen to music. I love making mixes but if I have work to do I don’t always have enough time to pick out the perfect songs. Genius generates mixes using one song from your library and extrapolating what other music in your library matches that song. It’s not perfect but it’s pretty damn good. A few times I’ve found myself jealous because Genius made a better mix then I would have. You can even save the mix to a new Playlist if you really like it. There are a few ways they can improve it. Namely, allowing you to build a mix from multiple songs. Choosing a rock song shouldn’t eliminate hip-hop and vice versa. Hopefully, they’ll keep improving this great new feature.
I was slow updating my iTunes so people might already be on top of this but if not I highly recommend it.
It also requires you to send Apple all the information regarding your library and I guess some people might not like that but if you’re on a computer connected to the internet less consumer privacy is a given.
posted by admin on Sep 15
This video is sublimely fucked up. Nothing I can write will prepare you for it.
The picture of Jim Henson was a nice touch.
posted by Mike on Sep 2
I love the song but was having a tough time enjoying the video until a freakin’ Country Bear Jambaroo broke out for no reason around 1:30! Also, they explode the moon by crashing motorcycles through it, that’s some Michael Bay shit right there! For some reason it reminds me of the old Wu-Tang “Gravel Pit” video. Must be all the dancing:
