It's been a while

It has indeed been a good long while since my last post, and even longer since my last post of any substance. Work has been tedious, and I haven't really felt the urge to write much. I refuse to just let this blog fade away into an even hazier realm of obscurity than the one in which it already resides.

More on the subject of music soon. In this area, at least, I have been very active. I think I've found more new music since I've been active on Last.Fm than I ever have at any other period in my life. It's insane. I think I'll stick to the showing-stuff-that-I-like schtick, be it newly found shiny bauble or old favorite, new band or ancient band. Stayed tuned.

AWOL

I've been very pre-occupied with other endeavors over the past month. Hopefully I'll have some time soon to post more here.

Not music related, but quite funny

Damn you, BOC

There's a plethora of pre-Twoism Boards of Canada stuff out there, but it's insanely rare-- In some cases, under-10-copies-in-existence rare. As a collector and obsessive, this scrapes over my brain like a cheese grater. On the bright side though, that being said, I guess I can be thankful I at least have vol. 2 of A few Old Tunes. It's actually really good...and just about impossible to find. Apparently BOC treats these works as non-works, and ignores them and keeps them out of the public eye. Why this is, I have no idea...but it makes me sad. Sad like this monkey.

The Ditty bops

Ok, aside from the fact that they're both really cute yet equally unattainable, I like their sound. Ditty Bops, you rock.

Omodaka

Omodaka is japanese electronic, and man, it sounds eccentric...but I like it. Here's the music video for Omodaka's version of Cantata no. 147



I really like the video, and it's rather blunt imagery.

Then there's this one:


It's ...strangely catchy...and so very very weird. I'm a sucker for this stuff, I really am.

Watch this. It's fun.

I do so love the music and grumpy strangeness of Tom Waits.

Upcoming NASA (North America South America) Project

Ok, this project sounds really friggin awesome. Read that article...the scope of musicians they're bringing in to work on that compilation is just incredible. I really hope they find a label to produce it for them, and soon. If anyone has more recent info on this please let me know. Also, you should check out Squeak E. Clean's site, as it is amusing.

Derail

Try as I might, I just can't keep to a schedule with this blog. Partly because I'm forcing myself to write about a particular subject, and partly because...I'm forcing myself to write about a particular subject. I think I'm more suited to op-ed type stuff, so screw it. Yeah, I'll write about music...just not right now...because I don't feel like it.

I'm not under the gun. Why torture myself. Also...it's not like people read this thing anyway. Well, aside from my imagined fanbase of course. To you, I apologize profusely, I do not intend to offend.

I will write more later today. In the meantime, please enjoy the happy cellphone camel picture I snagged from The Consumerist.

A digression...and then a few points of interest

NOTE: This first paragraph is just a journal-ish chunk, so please feel free to skip it if you want.

As this is my first semi-serious attempt at maintaining a blog, I'm still figuring out how to go about it, and I imagine this blog will always be perceived as amateurish (by me most of all). Having truly come to this realization (I'm looking at this whole project as practice and a way to hone my writing/thoughts), I'm not going to try and break into any truly serious articles here (although it will probably happen from time to time). I'm looking at this space more as a place to just shoot the shit, so to speak, with my gigantic imaginary fan base. The theme will always be music related in some way, though. Well, I'll try to keep it that way, at least.



Right, onto the points of interest. Here is a site elaborating on one of my favorite genres: trip-hop. I found it interesting, and I think it's a good starting point for anyone wishing to delve deeper into this quadrant of the musical universe. Tricky is, particularly in the album Maxinquaye, the quintessential trip-hop artist. If you're looking for a starting point in your explorations of this genre, Maxinquaye is it. Portishead's Dummy is a close second if you want more female vocals...but be careful: too much concentrated Portishead may lead to depression, and long sessions of staring out into the mist on dark and rainy afternoons.

I will say that I can't agree with that site that Morcheeba really belongs in this genre after their 4th-5th albums. They've just strayed a little too far into a more...dare-I-say...overproduced alley? I can't say I care too much for Fragments of Freedom (their third alb) either. Fragments just sounds too forced at times, although I admit Coming down gently is a guilty pleasure, even if it is trying a little too desperately to sound like a remixed 70's organ-grind jam with some Jethro Tull-ish flute tossed in for kicks. To me, at least, Morcheeba was at their finest with Big Calm, their second album--and if you want to sample some of Morcheeba's sound, this is the album I would suggest. Their first album, Who can you Trust?, is good too, but they shine brightest in Big Calm.

Air is an excellent group as well (despite the fact that they're French)...but they're in a more calm and breezy place than many of their contemporaries. 2004's Talkie Walkie is a good place to start with these guys, as the music is more accessible to new-comers than some of their earlier stuff. In particular, I point you to Cherry Blossom Girl, which is track two I believe. I'm not saying Air's early work is bad...it isn't, but I think you'll appreciate it more after you've gotten used to them in Talkie Walkie. Incidentally, if you like Cherry Blossom Girl, you'd probably like Mandalay as well...but more on them later.

Faithless...well, I've been listening to Faithless since the God is a DJ EP came out. I quickly backtracked a bit and snagged their first album Reverence as well, but yeah...I've been a fan for a while. While I can definitely see them belonging in trip-hop territory at times, they definitely have one foot firmly in the house music genre. I was a little disappointed with Outrospective, as it failed to do anything new with the group's sound, but No Roots was excellent. I haven't heard To all New Arrivals, but reviews of it are not very favorable on the whole.


I'll type more later. I need some sleep.