Let's have the first post of 2009 be about dance. Though I couldn't quite get it together on New Year's Eve to put my dancing shoes on, I did hear stories from friends, all of whom told tales of professional, semi-pro and amateur DJs whose one goal was to get people out onto the floor and make sure they stayed there. My history with impromptu dance parties -- in my opinion, the best kind -- goes back to Olympia, Wash. Usually, there was only one turntable and a small stack of records courtesy of whoever lived in [...]
Let's have the first post of 2009 be about dance. Though I couldn't quite get it together on New Year's Eve to put my dancing shoes on, I did hear stories from friends, all of whom told tales of professional, semi-pro and amateur DJs whose one goal was to get people out onto the floor and make sure they stayed there. My history with impromptu dance parties -- in my opinion, the best kind -- goes back to Olympia, Wash. Usually, there was only one turntable and a small stack of records courtesy of whoever lived in [...]
The comma key fell off of my MacBook Pro. Thus, my first resolution is to regain easy access to commas in 2009. Trust me that each comma in this post was a pain in the ass to type. Remember when people used to have to write out commas by hand? Not as laborious as the ampersand, but still. Rein in my love affair with Facebook. Yes, we're still in the honeymoon phase, but I'd rather do the preemptive break-up than end up hurt and rejected. A few months ago, Facebook membership among [...]
The comma key fell off of my MacBook Pro. Thus, my first resolution is to regain easy access to commas in 2009. Trust me that each comma in this post was a pain in the ass to type. Remember when people used to have to write out commas by hand? Not as laborious as the ampersand, but still. Rein in my love affair with Facebook. Yes, we're still in the honeymoon phase, but I'd rather do the preemptive break-up than end up hurt and rejected. A few months ago, Facebook membership among [...]
As some of you may know -- or perhaps you read about us in the national news! -- Portland recently went through Arctic Blast 2008. But if you watched even a few minutes of our gleeful local newscasts, you would realize that it should have been called Snowgasm. The newscasts interrupted everything short of Blazers games, snow-plowing over (someone's) daytime favorites with callous, foreboding comments like, "You'll be able to catch Days Of Our Lives at... 3:05 a.m." When someone on TV tossed in a Hurricane Katrina comparison, I felt doomed, but only in the karmic sense. [...]
As some of you may know -- or perhaps you read about us in the national news! -- Portland recently went through Arctic Blast 2008. But if you watched even a few minutes of our gleeful local newscasts, you would realize that it should have been called Snowgasm. The newscasts interrupted everything short of Blazers games, snow-plowing over (someone's) daytime favorites with callous, foreboding comments like, "You'll be able to catch Days Of Our Lives at... 3:05 a.m." When someone on TV tossed in a Hurricane Katrina comparison, I felt doomed, but only in the karmic sense. [...]
Jumping the shark is a colloquialism used by TV critics and fans to denote that point in a TV show or movie series' history where the plot veers off into absurd story lines or out-of-the-ordinary characterizations, particularly for a show with falling ratings apparently becoming more desperate to draw viewers in. In the process of undergoing these changes, the TV or movie series loses its original appeal. Shows that have "jumped the shark" are typically deemed to have passed their peak. The phrase refers to a scene in a three-part episode of the TV series, Happy Days, first broadcast on [...]
Jumping the shark is a colloquialism used by TV critics and fans to denote that point in a TV show or movie series' history where the plot veers off into absurd story lines or out-of-the-ordinary characterizations, particularly for a show with falling ratings apparently becoming more desperate to draw viewers in. In the process of undergoing these changes, the TV or movie series loses its original appeal. Shows that have "jumped the shark" are typically deemed to have passed their peak. The phrase refers to a scene in a three-part episode of the TV series, Happy Days, first broadcast on [...]
It's snowy here in Portland, and the power is out at my house. Thus, I've taken Monitor Mix HQ over to a friend's house (thanks, Corin) in order to post these Christmas videos. Usually, when I think about Christmas music, I think of the day after Halloween, when certain retail stores start piping the merriment through tiny, tinny speakers. I look down and my hand has formed a fist, and after a few minutes, I can taste the enamel in my mouth from all the teeth grinding. No wonder I haven't been grocery-shopping in weeks. Basically, [...]
It's snowy here in Portland, and the power is out at my house. Thus, I've taken Monitor Mix HQ over to a friend's house (thanks, Corin) in order to post these Christmas videos. Usually, when I think about Christmas music, I think of the day after Halloween, when certain retail stores start piping the merriment through tiny, tinny speakers. I look down and my hand has formed a fist, and after a few minutes, I can taste the enamel in my mouth from all the teeth grinding. No wonder I haven't been grocery-shopping in weeks. Basically, [...]
It's a party line with all of your NPR faves. We'll be talking about the listener's 25 top albums of 2008. Please join in. For more info, go here. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
It's a party line with all of your NPR faves. We'll be talking about the listener's 25 top albums of 2008. Please join in. For more info, go here. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
As discussed in the All Songs Considered year-end podcast , songs outshone albums in 2008. Call it a sign of the times -- the death of the album, a bad omen or just an off year -- but I found myself replaying single tunes over and over again. I'm not sure whether I like this abbreviated version of my usually completist musical affection; the stammering and stuttering of a collection of singles cohering around a playlist as opposed to the fluidity of an entire album. But I'm too busy enjoying the bits and pieces that I cobbled together from [...]
As discussed in the All Songs Considered year-end podcast , songs outshone albums in 2008. Call it a sign of the times -- the death of the album, a bad omen or just an off year -- but I found myself replaying single tunes over and over again. I'm not sure whether I like this abbreviated version of my usually completist musical affection; the stammering and stuttering of a collection of singles cohering around a playlist as opposed to the fluidity of an entire album. But I'm too busy enjoying the bits and pieces that I cobbled together from [...]
Are you worried about the future? The future of music, that is. Do you want to know what Neko Case will be doing next September or what kind of album Wilco might release? In these times of great uncertainty, I wanted to alleviate at least a little of the anxiety for you. So, I sat down with a friend and local astrologer/psychic to help shed some light on what we have to look forward to in music for 2009. A higher res version of the video is on the way, but in the meantime: [...]
Are you worried about the future? The future of music, that is. Do you want to know what Neko Case will be doing next September or what kind of album Wilco might release? In these times of great uncertainty, I wanted to alleviate at least a little of the anxiety for you. So, I sat down with a local astrologer/psychic to help shed some light on what we have to look forward to in music for 2009. » E-Mail This » Add [...]
As some of you may have heard, Twilight star Kristin Stewart is slated to play Joan Jett in an upcoming movie about The Runaways. As writer Gil Kaufman aptly put it in an MTV.com article , this raises the question, "Just who were the Runaways?" I assume, reader, that you know the answer to this query, but what about the Twilight fans? And will they care? If biopics are going to vacillate from better-known figures, like Harvey [...]
As some of you may have heard, Twilight star Kristin Stewart is slated to play Joan Jett in an upcoming movie about The Runaways. As writer Gil Kaufman aptly put it in an MTV.com article , this raises the question, "Just who were the Runaways?" I assume, reader, that you know the answer to this query, but what about the Twilight fans? And will they care? If biopics are going to vacillate from better-known figures, like Harvey [...]
To watch a new ThunderAnt video, click here. It happens to be music related. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
To watch a new ThunderAnt video, click here. It happens to be music related. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
NPR Music: Monitor Mix
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Azealia Banks – ’1991′ & ‘Van Vouge’
[LISTEN] Gotye (Passion Pit Remix)
Big Boi & Theophilus London (feat. TRE LUCE) - 'She Said OK'
