Remi's Bloglet - Thursday 10 November 2005

I feel like I've been whining all day, so here's something I think is awesome. The video for Jason Forrest's 'War Photographer'. Best described as: Vikings vs. Demons in the arena of ROCK! It doesn't hurt that the song itself kicks ass. _
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06:50:17 PM, Thursday 10 November 2005

So Serenity is coming out on DVD December 20th, and it's getting the worst DVD cover this side of a Walmart bin of Kung Fu Klassics. Is it just me or has no one really figured out how to design DVD covers in general (with a general exception for Criterion Collection)? _
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03:32:19 PM, Thursday 10 November 2005

I am baffled by the adulation this new Neil Diamond album (produced by Rick Rubin) is getting from the, for lack of a better term, 'hip kidz'. I mean, Johnny Cash's rebirth in the hands of Rick Rubin played heavily off Cash's legend as a creator of Americana, and all that implied. Part of the brilliance of the 'American' records is that they neatly turn Cash's 'symbol of White America' status (don't believe me? Go listen to 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised', "The revolution will not be brought to you by Englebert Humperdink or Johnny Cash") on its head and uses the danger of that reputation as a starting point for the resonance of the records as a whole. It's like the reverse of the rock story of drugs and sex that Cash originally rode to stardom. It also doesn't hurt that Cash is probably the most gifted intepreter American pop music has ever seen.

Which brings us back to Neil. He's not an interpreter, he's a songwriter. He's boring, he's always been boring. He's middle class, lacks the stature of Johnny Cash, and is not, and has never been, remotely dangerous. The record has the same voice-forward, everything's dry production as the 'American' recordings, and all it does is highlight Diamond's utter lack of vocal character. Even the energetic 'Hell Yeah' comes off as foppish and ironic where it should be jubilant and powerful.

Anyway, you can stream the whole album (if you dare) from Neil Diamond's MySpace Page. Oh, and for extra weakness, they won't let you skip songs. Enjoy, suckers! _
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01:01:19 AM, Thursday 10 November 2005

::post deleted for stupidity:: _
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11:18:27 AM, Wednesday 9 November 2005

Bishop Allen - Psycho Killer

A pretty straight cover that still encompasses everything I love about Bishop Allen.

For more, run over to You Ain't No Picasso for more tracks from this astoundingly good band. _
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10:49:44 AM, Tuesday 8 November 2005

The Mystical Beast has a great Men Without Hats concert from 1985. They really do have songs other than 'Safety Dance'!

Has anyone else heard the Jarvis Cocker-as-the-Weird-Sisters song for the new Harry Potter movie, 'This is the Night'? It's pretty good. Not Potteresque at all, but a good song on its own merits. _
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01:29:19 PM, Friday 28 October 2005

Tim Hulsizer, one of my friends in the Daily Grind, is doing a week of Robyn Hitchcock song interpretations in comic form. NSFW, but the first is pretty amusing, and makes the rest of the week look a little brighter. _
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09:43:45 AM, Tuesday 25 October 2005

I don't know why I didn't announce it, but I've got a new job. I'm working for American Rivers and the National River Restoration Science Sythesis to redesign their website as well as do work on their database. It's a six month contract with good pay, and a good chance of extension to a year. Essentially, I'll be working for Liz's boss, Emily, who has been a wonderful administrator so far. Anyway, just thought folks would like to know. _
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02:53:09 PM, Sunday 23 October 2005

Looking for roleplayers in your area? Find Play to the rescue! Seems heavy on the indie games right now, but that's good with me! _
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08:43:18 AM, Wednesday 19 October 2005

Did a band picture meme thing over on my usually-only-for-comics livejournal. Go guess! _
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08:08:02 PM, Saturday 8 October 2005

For those who haven't seen Serenity, and are on the fence, Mark Kermode, BBC Radio Five Live's film reviewer, gives it an excellent, non-Firefly-fan, review. Review starts about 26:25, but you should listen to the whole thing. Kermode is very entertaining and plays well off the host of the show (whose name I don't honestly know). _
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01:00:39 AM, Saturday 8 October 2005

When a gator fights a python, no one wins. _
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11:40:07 AM, Thursday 6 October 2005

A minor quibble with Serenity (which, I am disappointed to see, looks like a bit of a bomb, despite good word of mouth and great reviews. Go see it! It's great). Some spoilers Rot13ed for your protection.

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03:07:30 PM, Sunday 2 October 2005

Saw Serenity. It did verily rule. Some surprises that were quite heartbreaking. I will say no more, except YAY!!! I'm hoping it's a huge, unexpected opening, and locks down the sequels, 'cause I want more more more more. _
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12:38:53 AM, Saturday 1 October 2005

These Tits Are Way More Indie Than You. Birds making obscure music jokes.
[via A Whole Lotta Nothing] _
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02:04:59 AM, Thursday 29 September 2005

I like Hollywood business stories, especially humorous ones. I think Fortune and Glory is one of the best things Brian Michael Bendis has done. The Player is one of my favorite movies. I loved the screenwriting stuff in Adaptation. I like how the politics and comptetitiveness are so high-level, but the products are, ultimately, absurd and unimportant. Sure, there's a lot of money involved, but in the end, the Hollywood machine doesn't end up affecting as many people as, say, the same machinations in Congress do. I think this allows the absurdity to flow more freely, and, as a result, the situation strikes me as extremely funny.

I bring this up because I spent an hour laughing myself sick reading screenwriter Josh Friedman's war stories. Start from the beginning, and enjoy. _
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01:43:22 PM, Wednesday 14 September 2005

This recording of The Arcade Fire covering Yeah Yeah Yeahs 'Maps' is quite fantastic. _
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04:18:31 PM, Monday 12 September 2005

Also, the weekend I'll be in DC is the weekend of the National Book Festival. Neil Gaiman and George RR Martin are the two I'd be interested in seeing, but there are several other huge, huge names on the list. Seems like it could be fun. _
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02:38:11 AM, Saturday 10 September 2005

Hey folks! I'm going to be wandering around the floor and whatnot for SPX 2005 in Bethesda, MD, September 23 & 24th. Come on out and meet crazy comics dudes (most of the Dumbrella folks will be there), and then we can party down in the evening. I'm volunteering 4-8pm on Friday, but I am footloose and carefree for the rest of the time. _
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09:03:02 PM, Thursday 8 September 2005

I'm going to New York to visit my dad (and I'm seeing Mirabai, too! Yay!). Does anybody have any suggestions on what to do, or should I just follow my nose? I'm planning on going to the Frick collection, the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art, checking out a couple comic stores, and finally seeing The Strand (which Hala Letieri told me about back at St. John's and has attained a mythical presence in my mind), but that would barely fill up half a day, really, so what else should I do? _
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02:08:19 AM, Thursday 1 September 2005

MIrabai! Will you be in NY and perhaps available for a visit next weekend? _
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08:54:22 AM, Saturday 27 August 2005

I hadn't noticed it before, but in the new Serenity trailer, there's sound in space. I really hope this is just a case of overzealous soundwork on the part of the folks who put together the trailer, because the silence of the exterior space shots was one of my favorite touches in Firefly. It made space seem empty, a bit hostile, and a bit serene. _
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04:54:37 AM, Thursday 25 August 2005

Copy, Right does an excellent post collecting Magnetic Fields covers. Now, I'm not super-familiar with Magnetic Fields and Stephen Merritt outside 69 Love Songs and i, but I have a soft spot for Mike Doughty's cover of 'Book of Love'. I could only find one decent recording of it, and he's having an error-prone night on the mic, so he goes off-key during the first extended 'Iiiii-eeee-iiiii', but it's still a good rendition of the song, and demonstrates what I like about him as a performer. If this whets your appetite, the whole show is pretty good and low key, and available at the Live Music Archive. _
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04:21:22 PM, Tuesday 23 August 2005

I am a huge jerk. Happy Birthday, dad! _
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01:15:47 AM, Friday 19 August 2005

A great little short movie, dealing in musical magic. Very, very cool. _
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11:53:26 AM, Thursday 18 August 2005

Super Tibetan Racer is an excellent animated short. _
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11:49:09 PM, Monday 15 August 2005

You eighties music geeks out there might like the 88 Lines About 44 Women Jam. I did Zilla, the voodoo queen. [NSFW] _
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03:23:57 AM, Friday 12 August 2005

Mantis vs. Hummingbird? Mantis . . . wins. _
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10:01:21 PM, Thursday 11 August 2005

For Liz, and others, Women Folk an mp3 blog devoted to singer-songwriters of the womanly persuasion. Might be a good place to ask about Cyndi Craven. _
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08:13:37 PM, Thursday 11 August 2005

Go watch the video for Bonnie 'Prince' Billiy's I Gave You. Watch 'til the end, it's a showstopper. Great stuff. _
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10:49:28 PM, Monday 8 August 2005

I've put together a couple songs I've enjoyed from the live music I've been listening to. Some are in m4a/unprotected AAC format, so I apologize to the non-iTunes folk. Other than that, enjoy! Ah well, I've removed the tracks. Read the descriptions so you can tear your hair at the great songs you missed out on.

1. Man or Astroman - Within One Universe There Are Millions: Macintalk and surf guitar! Totally rock-out-able.

2. Bonnie 'Prince' Billie - I Just Want Something to Do: He puts a really interesting spin on this Ramones song. It's a surprisingly good fit.

3. Bonnie 'Prince' Billie - Madeleine Mary: My favorite BPB song. This version is different, but no less powerful.

4. Belle & Sebastian - Step Into My Office, Baby: I love this song. I love this performance. Glorious!

5. Beck - Nobody's Fault But My Own (Harmonium Version): This is just so plaintive. My ears always perk up when it comes on.

6. Beck - Sexx Laws: This song is so goofy, yet so good. This messy live version doesn't have the best sound quality, but it's very listenable.

7. Indigo Girls - Tried to Be True: This recording is wonderful, even if it is a bit heavy on the left channel and has some audience chatter. Some gorgeous vocal interplay, and a spirited song. _
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01:12:58 AM, Thursday 28 July 2005

Urban Dead, a cool massively multiplayer, browser-based game. Very simple, seems pretty fun. If you see Jack Riparian out there, give him a hand!
[via Invisible City] _
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01:09:02 AM, Thursday 28 July 2005

Addendum to Previous Post (read the Bootlegs post first): There was another thing I've learned. It's sort of common sense, but it took me a couple wasted downloads before I learned it.

5. If you're hunting for live shows by pop bands, you want a small collection of shows from different eras, instead of a large collection of shows from dates right around each other. So once you've found, for example, a great New Pornographers show from their Electric Version days, stop there. You probably won't listen to another one. If you find a great show from their Mass Romantic tour, grab it, but once you've got those two, you're good. The original trading culture values volume, because it was based around jam bands, and you never when you're finally going to get that 10 minute solo that makes it worth collecting all those shows. Throw that ethos out with regard to pop bands, keep one great show per era, be it album era, or performance era for bands that are no longer producing new work. Anyway, that's my rule of thumb. _
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10:24:54 PM, Monday 25 July 2005

I've been downloading a lot of bootlegs recently. I thought I'd share some of the things I've learned, and a couple links. Bear in mind that my musical taste figures heavily into the equation, but this a good starting place.

1. Recording technology took a huge jump in the early part of 2000. Audio quality for shows in the new century are usually twice as good as recordings from the '90's, which aren't much better than previous decades. The exception are live-in-studio radio shows and television and such, which are usually excellent.

2. If you want good shows in a complete and timely manner, a login at EZ Torrent is essential. Check every few days for chances to sign up. Once you've done that, Largehearted Boy should be a daily stop. His BitTorrent Brunches are a great cull of the shows of the day. Shows go down quickly, so grab them while they're hot.

3. Arhive.org's Live Music Archive has some good shows, once you dig through all the hippie shit. If you like hippie shit, then you're in for a good dig. Only download 4.5-5 star shows, though, unless you like tape hiss and overwhelming crowd noise.

4. Beck has apparently never played a bad show.

Here's two shows from Archive.org that have great sound quality and excellent performances.
Man or Astroman, Maida Vale BBC Studios 11/1/00. MoAM at the height of their surf-rock powers. Even the weak EEVIAC album material can't slow them down. They play my favorite song of theirs, Within One Universe There Are Millions, complete with Mac voice singing.

Soul Coughing at the Chameleon Club 3/12/97. A great show, with great quality from this amazing band. The material from Irresistable Bliss comes to life. The rhythm section is so tight, yet so fluid. It's really amazing. Even though they're playing the same songs, it's a whole different animal live.

These are EZ Torrent shows, but I'll be happy to send copies to anyone interested.
Bonnie 'Prince' Billie. Three Special Nights, Brussels, Belgium on 9/26/01 and 9/27/01 (I haven't seen the third night out there). These are gorgeous solo acoustic sets. Very long, he apparently played 92 songs in total over the three nights, with only a handful of repeats (79 titles), including the bulk of my favorite BPB album 'I See a Darkness'. The performance is achingly raw and honest. Truly a special recording. There are a few tracks with an unpracticed local band that Will Oldham (Bonnie) leads through sheer charisma, voice, and other aural nose rings, but the real meat is the solo performance. Gorgeous and heartbreaking. _
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10:13:09 PM, Monday 25 July 2005

An excellent, barn-burning story by The Comics Journal's Dirk Deppey on the conceit of American comic companies, their fans, and the total cluelessness as to why manga is popular. Even has a nice segue into the importance of a single guiding hand in comics. It would be amazing if more comic companies adopted the Japanese-style "communal assembly line", because it acts as both a training ground for new talent, and allows the guiding creator the ability to not worry about shading a bunch of trees or ink an entire pages of talking heads. It also focuses and increases production, so you can get 15-30 pages out a week. Food for thought. _
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03:37:31 AM, Sunday 24 July 2005

RIAA's (Really Interesting Audio Adventures) album 'Sounds for the Sunset' is pretty amusing. It mashes surf with various hard rock, rap, and other songs. Not quite the Kleptones or the Grey Album, but pretty good, anyway. _
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01:42:33 PM, Thursday 21 July 2005

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