I've been watching the Occupy Wall Street protests very closely. For some strange reason, I feel an incredible empathy for the movement, a strong sense of solidarity with the people who have taken to the streets. I say "strange" because I usually ride a line somewhere between apathy and cynicism when it comes to a protest or political movement. Even when I agree with the general idea behind them, I know better than to get my hopes up. This is because, at the end of the day, I'm a realist. I don't [...]
A couple of weeks ago there was a minor earthquake in New York. It didn't rate very high on the Richter scale, and most Californians scoffed at the fear and histrionics of their east coast counterparts. That's because here in California - and the Bay Area in particular - we live with the constant threat of a much bigger temblor. It's not a misplaced sense of pride that makes us laugh off an earthquake in the low four point range; it's simply a coping mechanism. When you know that at any moment, without any warning the earth might literally rise [...]
A couple of weeks ago there was a minor earthquake in New York. It didn't rate very high on the Richter scale, and most Californians scoffed at the fear and histrionics of their east coast counterparts. That's because here in California - and the Bay Area in particular - we live with the constant threat of a much bigger temblor. It's not a misplaced sense of pride that makes us laugh off an earthquake in the low four point range; it's simply a coping mechanism. When you know that at any moment, without any warning the earth might literally rise [...]
When I was in college I spent a year and a half living in Italy. Ostensibly I was there to study literature and Renaissance Art, as per the standard requirements of a junior year abroad, but mostly I spent my time cavorting with my new Italian friends and learning how to cook the perfect spaghetti carbonara. I drank a lot of wine, chased a lot of girls and spent countless late nights smoking serious looking cigarettes while I stared out my window at the Piazza St. Croce. It probably comes [...]
I just finished reading Sum by David Eagleman. For those who aren't familiar with his work (or are too lazy to Google him) Eagleman is a genius level neuroscientist who studies the perception of time and other brain-related mysteries at Baylor University. He has published a bunch of books that are fascinating and surprisingly readable, even though they deal with super heady concepts like subconscious neural networking and the existential side effects of the internet. Eagleman sometimes gets to a point in his studies where he is limited by the current extent [...]
Big cities are great for a lot of reasons. Compared with small towns and rural areas, they have better restaurants, more diversions and a wider variety of people with whom you can mingle. I may be a little biased because I grew up in a major metropolitan area, but I don't think it's too much of a stretch to say that city living offers a lot of things that living in the sticks does not. Ask anyone why they live in a big city and they will invariably talk about museums, night clubs, [...]
For the first time in forever my inbox is down to less than 100 unread messages. Getting it below 500 took the better part of three days. What's crazy is not that there is so much crap out there - anybody who has spent more than ten minutes looking at the internet knows that the world is full of dumb shit - but rather that out of 500+ promo emails that I've gotten over the past few months, there were less than 20 post-worthy submissions. I know I have some pretty [...]
I have mixed feelings about a lot of the musical genres that fall under the far-flung retro/derivative/throwback/cla ssic style banner. In some cases, I really like the original stuff (old school metal, golden era hip-hop) so when I hear a new artist aping that style, it's pretty easy for me to like them too - especially if they do a good job of it. On the other hand, there are a lot of genres that I never really liked the first time around - like disco or psych rock - so it's hard for me to get excited about [...]
I've always envied my easy-going friends. They seem to move through life without stress, regardless of looming responsibilities and the ever-present prospects of tragedy, failure and natural disasters. That is not me. I worry about everything. What if my work isn't good enough? What if I don't make the right choices? What if there's a huge earthquake and everything I know and love falls to pieces? In light of recent global events, this last one should be on everyone's mind - especially here in California. We sit atop a Jenga-like assembly of constantly shifting tectonic plates and we [...]
New York and LA are the entertainment capitals of the world. Regardless of what your personal feelings are for those two cities, there's no denying that they are responsible for the vast majority of blockbuster movies and successful rock bands. They also churn out a sizeable portion of the the country's rappers, visual artists and dancers. But this is a great big country, with a lot of people spread across a great big land mass. And while a lot of the cool kids flock to the coasts to start bands and chase the Hollywood dream, there are still [...]
According to my own very unscientific studies, there are hundreds of thousands of music-related websites online. Possibly millions. Some of them have big budget advertising accounts and site traffic that rivals The New York Times . Others provide hourly coverage of popular bands and employ a dedicated staff of contributors. Most of them are run by one or two devoted individuals who put a lot of time and effort into daily reviews and updates. But no matter which music site you're talking about, it's safe to say that almost all of them are more popular than this one. [...]
People these days. They don't ever think of the future. Or maybe they just stopped dreaming about it. Perhaps it's because there's too much bullshit going on in the present to be concerned with the future. Or it could be that technology is now so advanced that our predictions about the future are too accurate. We already know that computers will get faster, phones will get smaller and eventually everything will have a camera on it, so what's left to ponder? The 21st Century is barely a decade old, so it seems unfair of me to offer up [...]
I am not at all a superstitious person. Just the other day I walked under a ladder, broke a mirror and kicked a black cat while it was crossing my path - all before breakfast. So you have to understand that when I say there has been a curse hanging over my head for the last 12 years, I am talking about something very real. It may sound harmless to some, but to a crotchety music snob like myself, it was torture. I'm talking, of course, about bad techno music. Starting in the late 90s it followed me [...]
As the holidays descend upon us, I feel like I might as well chime in with my thoughts. Everybody else with a blog does it, so why not me? I won't bore you with the details of my extended family and all of their charming quirks. Rather, I will give you a rough outline of just how extended my family is. I'm the product of two baby boomers who came together and found love at the end of the 70s. Of course, like almost every other married couple from this mixed up generation, they quickly got divorced. This [...]
As you've no doubt heard by now, the record industry is dying. You can blame the internet, iPods, or mainstream radio. It doesn't really matter. Either way you get a story about plummeting revenue and the end of the glory days for the music industry. The thing is, I mostly associate these tales with a bunch of whiney record execs who are distraught because they can no longer afford a yacht and a private jet. The fact is, times are tough all over, but in the case of the music industry, I think that's actually a [...]
I recently watched the movie The Invention of Lying . While it wasn't a very good movie, I have to admit that it's an interesting conceit. So much of how our world operates is based on some kind of lie. In the movie the joke is that romantic love and Hollywood movies don't work without at least a little stretching of the truth. Sadly, in the real world, the deception is much more deeply entrenched. My reasons for this train of thought are twofold. First, it is election day here in [...]
Bowery Girls by The Preservation from mermade film on Vimeo . I just got back from Mexico. It was one the best vacations I have ever taken. I spent a week in the town of Tulum (on the east coast of the Yucatan peninsula) doing nothing but reading, eating, sleeping and drinking beer. After about the third day there, my mind finally slowed down and I felt myself becoming acclimated to the pace of my temporary tropical lifestyle. I found myself watching clouds drift from one end of the horizon to the [...]
There are a lot of great things about being a rock star. First and foremost is the fact that your only real responsibility is playing music for thousands of adoring fans. Other than that, you pretty much get to spend all of your time getting drunk, banging groupies and throwing TVs out of hotel room windows. Even if you end up a penniless burnout before you hit 40, you can always count on a second career doing the circuit of lucrative casino gigs and VH1 reality shows. In fact, just [...]
One of my favorite day dreams revolves around time travel. Not the kind of time travel where you are magically transported 100 years into the future so you can finally get that jet pack you've always wanted. And not the kind of time travel where you go back to the 16th century and blow everyone's mind with your intermediate understanding of high school physics. Instead, in my imagination I am the chaperon for someone else who has travelled through time - specifically someone who has come from the past. Maybe it's because I love playing teacher, but I [...]
I've been in a strangely contemplative mood lately. All of a sudden it seems like everything is more important than it used to be. Or maybe it's not. Either way, I find myself taking more time than usual trying to figure it out. The world seems to be speeding up while I do this which causes me to worry that the time spent thinking is wasted; I should be spending more time doing. This kind of thinking turns my mind into a neurotic eternal return where I end up spending all my time [...]
Tough Customer // Wire
Check Out: Chairlift and Kool A.D. cover Beyoncé
[Listen/Watch] – Chairlift – “Party” (Beyoncé Cover, ft. Kool A.D. From Das Racist)
French Graffiti Artists Videojack “N*ggas In Paris”
