Blog: Citizen Insane

As I mentioned a few posts ago, Comic-Con has long past and I may have forgotten to mention the round of interviews I did with some fabled creators. Thanks to my current gig at the Los Angeles Times , I was luck enough to get those pieces published on one of their media blogs. Here is the last of my three now-finished pieces that were published, a write-up of the current happenings of the ACT-I-VATE webcomic writers, Joe Infurnari and Molly Crabapple . [...]

As I mentioned a few posts ago, Comic-Con has long past and I may have forgotten to mention the round of interviews I did with some fabled creators. Thanks to my current gig at the Los Angeles Times , I was luck enough to get those pieces published on one of their media blogs. Here is the second of my three now-finished pieces to be published, a write-up of the current happenings of the amazing Paul Pope . Travel here to view to [...]

What happened to you guys ? When I finally picked up your debut album, Silent Alarm in late 2006, I couldn't believe it completely fell under my radar when it was originally released. From that point on, I ripped dozens of copies of that record for friends, added you to my favourite music list on all the hottest social networking sites, downloaded your earlier singles, and looked forward to the release of your follow-up, 2007's A Weekend in the City , which was then, right around [...]

Am I frowned upon or looked down on every time I mention my proclivity for Vampire Weekend ? I remember a time not even a year ago, where an aspiring media journalist like myself could talk about the band's debut bootlegs amongst friends and colleagues alike without an eye roll or a heavy sigh. This was a time where bloggers everywhere could host a Vampire Weekend MP3 with pride, impressing both his causal reader and college peer. Well as the hype/backlash cycle assuredly ensued, as it always does, those days are long gone. [...]

So last night I had the pleasure of attending the ridiculously crowded I Am 8-Bit art show in Hollywood and I thought I'd post some photos below. Ah, and there's a related- MP3 of the Day available for your download after the picture preview. [...]

Thanks to all the summer festivals and concerts that have come and gone, a few notable bands have played some new tunes that have thankfully been captured by the gloriously poor-quality video devices of fans in the crowd. Although the sound and/or picture isn't always the best, the songs are still there, they do exist, and in the cases below, are actually pretty good. For your benefit, I've collected 4 new tunes, plus of bonus fifth. Check 'em out, yo. 1. The National live [...]

This is a brief blog entry that I was lucky enough to have published on the Los Angeles Times music blog, Soundboard . To read the short piece in its original context, please visit here . 'Everything That Happens Will Happen Today' for Eno and Byrne By TJ Kosinski If you're anything like me, you've been waiting with bated breath [...]

Although Comic-Con has long past, I may have forgotten to mention the round of interviews I did with some fabled creators. Thanks to my current gig at the Los Angeles Times , I was luck enough to get my work published on one of their media blogs. Here is the first of my three now-finished pieces to be published, a write-up of the current happenings of Mr. Eddie Campbell . Travel here to view to story on the Times ' blog [...]

For those overjoyed by the recently reported news that Radiohead will be scoring and contributing an all new song to the upcoming film adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk's Choke , I'm sorry to say that I've got bad news. Not only has the band not scored anything, but reports of a brand new song are completely false. According to The Playlist : Just cause someone said it doesn't make it so (don't always believe [...]

So, I'm currently in the process of redirecting every person, place and thing to this new URL for my blog. For whatever reason, I was having tremendously difficult problems with my old Blogger space, so I just decided to make a new blog and transfer everything over. It's the exact same blog , just with a new URL. Hell, even the URL is pretty much the same, save the addition of one word. Anyways, now that everything is figured out and fully operational, I'm going to stop stressing and start posting again. Promise.

So, here are a few subjects worth noting... First, the new (fifth) season of Entourage starts up on September 7th, and the recent teaser trailer has severely heightened my anticipation. Check it out for yourselves below... Appartently, the synopsis of the first episode of the new seasons is as follows... 55 "Fantasy Island" Doug Ellin/Mark Mylod September 7, 2008 As Medellin gets slammed by the critics, Vince and Turtle resort to Mexico to avoid anything to do with [...]

A few quick things to note as I'm sitting at my computer in San Diego, waiting to take a shower... The Past Few Weeks: I got to see Ricky Gervais perform live at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood while (luckily) sitting front row center. Ricky was great, with his timing and anecdotes coming off than anything you can find in his YouTube clips. Let's also note that instead of sipping from a bottle or glass of water, like most comedians do during their sets, Ricky nursed a giant can of Foster's Beer. The show [...]

So here is something I found rather interesting that has been (or had been over 4th of July weekend) appearing on several blogs recently : "List your favorite record from every year you've been alive. You can do it based purely on hindsight, or you can do it by listing the answer you would've given in that year (assuming you were aware of pop music at the time)." Wikipedia helps . Of course, I decided to [...]

As you may have noticed, I skipped a mixtape for this week. I've been busier than expect with work and this past weekend, but no worries, new content will be arriving shortly. Here's today's MP3. It is what it is, a free, web-hosted MP3 of my choice awaiting your download. Click the link and enjoy. MSTRKRFT - Vuvuvu I posted a single of this tune's A-side in an April mixtape , [...]

It is what it is, a free, web-hosted MP3 of my choice awaiting your download. Click the link and enjoy. Today's a two-for-one. Jay Reatard - Nightmares An stellar example of Jay Reatard's lo-fi branded, punk influenced, guy next door garage rock, "Nightmares" is off his 2006 solo debut, Blood Visions . That being said, "Nightmares" is in the middle of the Reatard spectrum; his songs get harder and, at times, softer (see [...]

Here's your weekly update of videos I've flagged on YouTube . This week I've listed three clips: new, recent, and old. First is the new Ratatat video for "Mirando." The song is pretty solid, but the video, which samples from one of my favourite John McTiernan films , is very cool. Thanks to Megan for the heads up. Second is the "viral video" for the upcoming Tropic Thunder film, which aired during the most recent MTV Movie Awards . There's a [...]

This feature exists for three reasons: to give my fingers a break, to give your ears some homework, and to expose you to fantastic bands that you may or may not have heard of. Pavement A band as heavily accoladed as Pavement requires almost no introduction. They're staple members of the indie rock community, being one of the first bands ever to obtain significant success sans a major record label. To put [...]

In an effort to update the blog daily (or, at best, every other day), here's my newest feature - MP3 of the Day . It is what it is, a free, web-hosted MP3 of my choice awaiting your download. Click the link and enjoy. Girl Talk - Play Your Part (Pt. 1) The first track from Girl Talk 's stellar new album, Feed the Animals . The record was made available [...]