80s videos Posting Youtube videos isn't really content. When other blogs do it, I don't usually watch. These are both pretty good. The first is a tale of a young englishman coming out, leaving home, going swimming, and getting beaten up by london tuffs. It's very well done, and puts other 'serious' music videos to shame.

Bronski Beat-Smalltown Boy


Dominatrtix-Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight


Things to come: rip-hop, James Jarvis, the electronic aesthetic of Jose Gonzales, and the return of grunge.  ¶ 1:02 PM 0 comments

  what it clap!
Found over at gorilla vs. bear. Aaron Brink from Chi-city based May or May Not remixed the latest Clipse leak, taking an indie rock keyboard riff to the chop shop. That makes this piece of music obscure three times over, but it has equal parts joy and skill. Isn't that a recipe for staying power? Perhaps I'll just tuck this away in my secret(imaginary?) mp3 dj crate.

Clap Your Hands Say Wamp Wamp!

I thought about using the same sample from "Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth," but the idea only showed up in the drawing to the left.  ¶ 6:40 PM 1 comments

  socrates eats hemlock
Intro: It's been a long time since I wrote anything here. That has statistical implications. Something good or something bad is happening outside of the internet. I'm feeling pro-privacy and pro-fessional today, so I won't clue you in.

ITEM: Work at left by Peter Callsen. Skulls and skeletons are beginning to reach a design saturation point, but this is gentle, wry, and not the product of a photoshop half hour.

ITEM: I read most of a New Yorker today, and the writing reminds me of a beautiful hardwood floor. Polished, sturdy sentences built for the ages, lined up end to end and side by side, ready to support as much or as little intellectual weight as you choose. The Shouts and Murmurs are the latest trends in throw rugs. Shag is in, shag is out, but the floor staaaays.

ITEM: The NME vis-a-vis the bee elle oh gee-osphere has invented a new genre of music, creatively titled "neu rave." It's clever, but I hate it. I think the name only refers to the Klaxons at this point, and some vague impression of electronic artic monkeys or something. Call it the Bride of Electroclash, or merely recognize it as a made for glossy print media phenom and call it a day.

Pop-culture revivals usually plunder from the period precisely twenty years beforehand (what dusted-out historians used to call a "generation"). Witness the obssesion with seventies glam and "funk" throughout the middle nineties, and the contemporary revival of eighties fashion trends and new wave pop posturing. Cough, Lenny Kravitz and the Killers. As we lean into the second decade of the twenty-first, early British rave culture is due for a revival, and has begun making threats. Glowsticks, rainbows, baggy pants, synthetic fibers, lazers, etc. The neo hippie combination of utopian drugs and youth entitlement doesn't do much for me, but there might some good music lurking somewhere. Let's see, shall we? These are two acid tracks from the hood-famous hollerboard.

VIM-Maggie's Last Party

Maurice- This is Acid

I'll keep poking around.

ITEM: I have recently been involuntarily exposed to large doses of both emo and metal. They're both hugely popular, and suck in pretty much the same ways. I'm told there are good songs in both categories, but I've only heard evidence for metal. Bad metal is preferable to bad emo.

CONCLUSION: Mo betta blogging to come.  ¶ 6:11 PM 0 comments

  everyone has their price Item: Geoff McFetridge is a visual artist/graphic designer, and he seems pretty awesome. His work is meticulous, smart and funny. He's done a series of figurines that reference his own t-shirt work, rendering both the depicted object and the t-shirt object. The clevering is delicious.

Item: For those of you long on time, here's a seventy-five minute mix from optimo, kindred spirits of the mighty dfa and the best dj team in scotland.

Optimo- Banging in Belgium

It sounds like it's been put together with abelton live five, a loop-based production software application that's been co-opted as a dj tool. The passage around 12 minutes is especially good, with the 'hung up' acapella floating over three or more instrumentals. Optimo is rumored to have a new comercial mix out before the end of the year, which is 'ace,' which means good (i think). Their previous efforts, How to Kill the DJ Part 2 and Psyche Out, are highly recommended.  ¶ 12:15 PM 0 comments

  under my thumb
Doug Barker and Carrboro native Ron Liberti have a show at Wootini right now. Designer art vinyl toys, rock posters, and the rich tradition of underground comics are all on display, so stop by if you're in the area.

While I'm still learning the basics of all of this and checking out the treasure trove at gigposters.com, I think i understand the basics. Vinyl toys are close cousins of limited edition sneakers. This sort of rock/comic art lives in the same neighborhood as the beautiful losers/alleged gallery stuff. Points of contact seem to include skateboarding, childhood, monsters, ninties alternative rock, playtime, and giant robot magazine. Sorry if I'm not getting all of this right. Learning is forever.  ¶ 11:55 AM 0 comments

  wandering satellites of soul Let's take a little break from internet music. I'm going to resist the temptation to post any white label remixes, super exclusive european mp3s or anything like that this week. As I'm trying to remind myself, music was still pretty good in the times before computers and cable tv. Let's see how long this (my attention span) lasts.

Irma Thomas- Don't Mess With My Man

A track from the official Soul Queen of New Orleans. There is an exquisite universe of sixties and seventies funk and soul, and I'm only familiar with the brightest stars. I've there are galaxies labeled "Chess" and "Stax" I'd like to have an honest understanding and appreciation for this stuff without fetishizing rare records or turning the lives of singers and session players into so much music nerd trivia. Maybe I can make some soul friends (shout out to Andy in Mississippi).

Clarence Reid- Master Piece

I could also make soul friends on the internet. This is from O-Dub's excellent Soul-Sides Vol. 1, a compilation of the best hits from his blog/living record collection. These songs are better than words like 'beautiful' can capture. I feel 'true' comes closer. These songs are true, and they are good. Bring truth and goodness into your life.  ¶ 10:57 PM 1 comments

  bump bump buh-bump Bump (Switch remix)- Spank rock

Switch incorporates some thinly sliced funk into his britbeat voodoo soup, and the results are more delicious than I could have imagined. He also stirs in some whole grain raps and some chopped vocals in there too. Severed hot (duh).

List of people officially not fucking around
1. Switch
2. Spank Rock
3. Amanda Blank

The song came from discobelle, whom I thank profusely. The picture came from wooster collective, whom I praise similarly.  ¶ 11:25 AM 0 comments

  goings on about town
"The New Yorker Dance Party
hosted by New Yorker pop music critic Sasha Frere-Jones

Time: 10pm – 2am
Place: T New York, 240 West 52nd Street (must be 21+ to enter)
Tickets: $20, available through Ticketmaster."

Lindstrom and Prins Thomas- Mighty Girl

Call Me Mr. Telephone- Answering Machine (Lindstrom and Prins Thomas Remix)  ¶ 12:15 AM 0 comments