despite the fact that they aren't on television anymore ever, and most people don't have the patience to sit through any kind of slow build on the internet, music videos are still resolutely awesome every now and then, and the best ones are often made by amateurs and first timers. This one is my favourite song off the new Radiohead album, mashed up to clips from the film Microcosmos.
This is right up there with my all time favourite amatuer video, for the song "the Funeral" by Band of Horses
The new Radiohead album is awesome. Not that I didn't like parts of their recent experimental work, but it seemed to me like they were writing deliberately inefficient songs. When listening to Kid A or Amnesiac, I didn't feel anything as hard or as deep as when I listened to their previous albums. They seemed to need entire songs to evoke the same disquieted self-reflective emotional state as "Lucky" induced in it's first line, and frankly it seemed like that was the only emotion they were interested in exploring across their last three albums . There are parts of Kid A, and songs on Amnesiac and Hail that I do really love, but I find I rarely listen to them because they just don't "work" on me fast enough. Or rather, that the energy it takes to listen to them greatly outstrips the extent to which I feel enriched or changed because of them. The new album, I am happy to say, is somewhat of a return to efficiency. They are still far from conventional, but they are no longer afraid to write songs that make you feel something directly and instantly.
Also, I think it's worth that noting that what they seem to make you want to do is have sex. There are at least 3 songs on this album that are, I think, designed to be slow jamz. The first time I head Reckoner I couldn't help but picture grainy footage of pasty indie kids with just a touch too much red wine in them awkwardly making out then stumbling towards the bed, tearing off each others scarf's and black rim glasses as they do. Seriously, the second half of in Rainbows is totally for fucking to, and maybe for being depressed as you do. That being said, I love doing it to My Bloody Valentine, and no one else seems to, so clearly I don't understand sexy.
Here's a difficult listen but a remarkably efficient song: New Buildings by Parts and Labour
an even harder listen by Xiu Xiu thanks to the initially abominable but then strangely hypnotic vocals. Both of these songs are highly efficient to me, they say what they want to say and make you feel the way they want you to feel within a few seconds.
and then play Parts and Labour again because it's just such an awesome song.
and then play this because it is the easiest most efficient song to listen to ever. It makes me so pumped for life, even if life that day is just making a sandwich and watching a movie, doesn't matter, with this song I am so happy to be doing it.
low art
It doesn't matter how you find it
so long as you appreciate it once you do.
New bands are constant, music journalism is a joke, all that matters is that you like what you like. Trying to find new music lately it seems that so many sites and blogs are so concerned with being of the moment, of being the newest and the freshest and being over everything before it begins anywhere else that no one seems to actually care about the music they write about.
Sometimes I find bands after they have broken up, or a year or four after they were hip. They are no less worthwhile, just no longer of the moment. It begs the question, are the Rolling Stones or Elliott Smith or Radiohead any less exciting or worthwhile as discovered by a 16 year old today as they were when they were the new, when you found them and they meant the world to you. Certainly the music is still great, but does it mean as much without context?
Here, no context, no reason to play this other than I just found them and this is what's interesting to me right now.
I'm not always there when you call, but I'm always on time
oh wait I'm not that either. here's pictures from halloween. I was a last minute cowboy
This girl gave us whiskey and dr. pepper outside and instantly vanished into myth and myst and self made legend.
Jennie and Alexis were dead cheerleaders, which is so confusing for your penis. halloween is such a mixed blessing.
I don't totally know why, but Kerry practically had the furniture trying to fuck him that night. Knives and knives and knives but my kingdom for a spoon kinda night.
Some how there where 4 count em 4 paper bag princesses that night. Each claimed it just came to them, and the odds of that , of all of them deciding to do that independently are cosmic. The universe is subverted. For a moment I was an mighty oak tree, and you were dew upon the lillies in the field, and then I was a fractal and you were orange juice, and then things were normal again.
Kat was the best and had fun anyway.
Look it's Jackie! She was in one of my one afternoon rock collectives, and then i didn't see her for a year.
not sure how some people didn't pass out, she had a sheep costume.
also not sure why no one else was freaked out that these guy sat there taping for pretty much the whole night and never danced or smiled at all.
Nicole was a very sexy ringmaster.
this guy was astro boy. his costume was booty shorts and gel, and being really healthy. everyone was either aroused or jealous or both.
daft punk guys were pretty much the heroes of the night.
boat hat was also pretty popular
Such crushability. This girl actually talked to me, asking me for this site's address. time to get a domain and some business cards.
and i guess to make this site look cool or so something or stuff. I should probably do that first.
sick sick sick
I was sick starting on saturday, missed some work, was nonsensical to kat, felt like hell. monday I was feeling kinda better and I watched that march of the penguin movie, then i noted that my tonsils were still really really inflamed, and then i went to get a drink of water and i started spitting up blood. I did this for about 15 minutes, then went to the hospital. I got an iv and antibiotics and fluids and stuff and am fine now, but it was a really weird feeling to be feeling mostly ok, then spitting up a fairly alarming amount of blood. I was looking at it as it was happening and was not panicked, just curious as to how I did not feel in any way I should be bleeding like that, that I felt mostly not bad by that point and this wasn't coming from me at all. It was also really weird to be telling the admitting nurse why you are there. It's weird to me that you can say,
"my throat won't stop bleeding"
"anything else? other symptoms?"
"also a fever."
"and"
"that, it. It's mostly just the bleeding really."
and then in the waiting room it started again and I had no sink and it was really gross. The whole weekend was awful and the worst I've felt in years and I don't recommend being sick to anyone ever.
ripping it up like it's 1994, and we are at youth group.
Being unaware of the surprise birthday plan, I made my own birthday party. Throwing a truly surprising surprise party is hard, people always arouse suspicion with their heightened level of excitement, and the act of transporting the surprisee to the party location invariably is littered with clues, or simply contrived enough to tip your hand. In fact, there's really only one way to do it without telegraphing your plans, and it's still not a perfect solution.
Really, if you really really want to surprise someone, you have to go to their house to watch tv or a movie late ish on the afternoon of the party, and while you are there you have to spike their drink with Dimethyltryptamine or a ton of cough syrup, let them trip wildly then drift off to sleep. Then you dress their unconscious body in their party finest (be sure to put lot's of makeupon them, for boys or for girls) and lay them in comfortably lined casket, like the kind people die in. The dimethyltryptamine and the casket may be hard to source but are available if you look hard enough , and that's totally part of the fun. So anyway, load the casket into your stations wagon (you will also need a station wagon or a van for this) and then wheel it and them into the living room at who evers house the party is at and gather everyone around it. Set a small homebrew time released aerator in the coffin to breathe wake up juice onto your friend, then start playing some music and wait for them to stir and throw back the lid of the coffin. Everyone will be shout surprise and you should probably have a banner made as well, or some balloons or something. When they wake up and shake off the sleepy clouds they will be so happy they aren't dead that they will be sort of dazed anyway, that when they realize that everyone has gathered to celebrate their birthday they will not be able to regulate their emotions and will let themselves be overwhelmed with happiness. Ideally this is all done at least 4 months and one year after the actual birthday you are celebrating, so they really don't see it coming.
Plus after cake everyone can ride the coffin down the stairs like a bobsled team. Cool Runnings!
The next best option is just to gather everyone somewhere, park them all down the steet and hide their shoes away from the vestibule, and then have me drive them there, because I am cool as as cucumber, and frankly, I'm very likely to forget as we drive that their is a surprise party waiting at the other end. Or just don't tell me at all. yeah, that's probably easier than the dimethyltryptamine, just don't tell the driver about the party. That's how the CIA would do it.
ok, so my party here was supposed to be board games and pizza and a low key night, and it was. I was amazed at how many people came, we watched friends forever and ate candy and then we played a few games.
Greg and Rayme and Josh had all seen Melt Banana the
night before and all bought Melt Banana shirts, seen here.
Rayme was quite taken with Friends Forever. The way
people react to Friends Forever tells you a lot about that
person. Not necessarily good or bad or useful information,
but a lot of information nonetheless. I can't believe spell
check lets nonetheless pass as a word.
Gord came! He brought Settlers of Catan! He's an a guy
we need to hang out with more before he goes to Uvic.
I challenged Josh to the African stone game, but I kind of
forgot how it worked so he kicked my ass.
You can't see it, but he has a Melt Banana t shirt on
underneath. I didn't go to Melt Banana because it's just
too far out there for me.
Oh yeah, I'm fat and have a beard now. Happy birthday
me, farewell to boyish charm.
Kat took this picture of Kerry, it's kind of adorable. I was
worried that's too gay to say, but Rodrigo gave me a oil
massage and some chamomille and I felt better, then we
talked about how much we love vaginas.
Rita also loves vagina, but just hers.
I'm sure Nicole loves hers too, but I don't think we'd
ever hear her say anything so unmannered. Cool as a
cucumber,that girl.
Thanks to everyone who came, we'll play Catan more now that we understand the mechanics.