Dancing my way to Miami

Since I've been to Miami, I'm ready to embrace the warmth, the festivities, and the plethora of hip hop, rap, and electronica that pervades the club scene in Miami.  (As well as the stilettos-I packed 6 pairs of heels this afternoon!)  This has resulted in some interesting music discoveries-I bought a few albums last week at Amoeba in Hollywood, mostly pop, and I've been dancing around to house to these tracks.
Discovery-Carby (featuring Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend)


Robyn: "Dancing On My Own."  Heard it in the summer, but never committed to liking it until last week.


The Hood Internet-Mashup of Grizzly Bear/Dead Prez
The Hood Internet - Two Weeks Of Hip Hop (Dead Prez x Grizzly Bear) by hoodinternet

The Hood Internet: Jay-Z +LCD Soundsystem
The Hood Internet - Just Wanna Dance Yrself Clean (Jay-Z x LCD Soundsystem) by hoodinternet

I don't know what this all means, but I'm totally drawn to the danceable jams these days.  When I was in Miami, I had a solo dance party in my new minidress to LCD Soundsystem and Lady Gaga.  So...I'm going mainstream?  I don't know, but it's fun.

The Concert Lineup for fall 2010!

I know that most of my friends that occasionally read this are not Bostonian in nature, but I'm posting my confirmed and possible concerts for the fall, since I'm planning ahead, and would like people to go with me to shows!  So here's what's coming to Boston in the early fall of 2010:

(Rochester 8/28-My Morning Jacket is coming, and I haven't decided whether or not I'm interested in going.  Food for thought.  Also, Lady Gaga is already booked to come to Boston in March of 2011.  That's so far in the future, I can't handle it, just like her futuristic clothing?)

9/7-Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin and Telekinesis.  Two underappreciated indie bands, and Telekinesis had that awesome song last year and a decent album.  Even though it's a Tuesday, could be worth investigating?

9/11-School of Seven Bells: I really like their new album. They have a nice female voice texture.

9/11-Jamie Lidell.  Soulful white people singing.  Love it.  And he's British?

9/12-Vampire Weekend, with Beach House opening, at the Bank of America pavilion on the waterfront.  *I'm definitely going to this.  I've purchased two tickets.

9/13-Dirty Projectors with Owen Pallett (aka. final fantasy) opening.  *Definitely going.  Tickets purchased, even though it will be back to back tunes.

9/16: Janelle Morae with Of Montreal.  That's a hot duo-there will be glitter, spandex, and lots of eyeliner and dancing.  I saw Of Montreal three years ago, and it was terrific, and Morae has got some serious style.  She makes me want to go to a vintage store immediately and embrace androgyny.  Who knew women could look so awesome in tuxes???

9/17: Broken Social Scene and The Sea and Cake.  BSS dropped a really solid album this year "Forgiveness Rock Record" which has turned out to be a surprise success.  

9/18: Pavement-ultimate 90's alternative band, making a comeback tour.  and Cake! on the same night, just not together.  I will probably be out of town for this, as I accidentally bought tickets to see Vampire Weekend at Radio City Music Hall for 9/17...

9/22: Field Music. I don't know them super well-I've heard a few tracks, and they just dropped a new album, but it's cheap and could be worth investigating.

9/23: Stars. This Montreal based pop group tends to have overly dramatic ballads, a la "Your ex-boyfriend is dead" from the O.C.  I'm kind of over them, but many people are turned to silly putty with their swirling harmonies.  I definitely listened to this song a gazillion times when I bought this album.

9/25: Teenage Fanclub.  Nick Hornby's favorite softy British band has some lovely songs.  They're super  under the radar, but quite nice actually.

9/30: Menomena.  I used to be into them, but I haven't listened to them lately.

10/1: Young at Heart Chorus.  This is the group that was featured in a documentary a few years ago-old folks singing hip contemporary tunes, a la Glee for old folks!

10/1: Ra Ra Riot-upstate New York's stringey band is one of my personal fav's, and they have a new album coming out stat.  I loved the first album, since I'm a sucker for a little ballad action sometimes.

10/5: Ratatat. We all remember Kid Cudi's collab with Ratatat and MGMT, right? "Pursuit of Happyness" is a tight song. Just checking

10/7: Cotton Jones featuring Pepper Rabbit.  I only know Pepper Rabbit-but Cotton Jones has a sort of soulful thing going on. (The opening to this Pepper Rabbit reminds me of the opening of an Elliottt Smith song.)

10/10-The Octopus Project.  Once again, curious, but not necessarily committed.

10/13-Casiotone for the Painfully Alone.  I'm curious, but not necessarily going. They have a fabulously depressing collection of music videos.

10/29-Frightened Rabbit and Plants and Animals.  I really liked the first Plants and Animals album.

11/1-Blonde Redhead.  I went through a dark depressing time where I listened to a lot of Blonde Redhead.

And last, but not least,

11/19-Boys II Men.  Ok, I'm not going, nor am I planning to.  I just thought it was excellent, and it made me want to slow dance at a middle school dance.

That's the preliminary concert calendar for popular music-more posted as I decide what to go to.

In other news, I'm embarrassed to say that I've been watching Glee, and that it sometimes makes me cry because it's so sappy.  

Amazing

I have so many things that I want to write about, now that I have functional internet, but for the time being, let me say that I am no longer in Banff anymore, and that it was a balmy 95 degrees when I stepped off the plane into Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon.  (After having gone to bed for an hour and a half, waking up, and having it be 45 degrees).  It was a pretty trippy Saturday, especially without the sleep, and since Friday night was pretty insane, just since people become so nice when it's the last day of a festival, and in the spirit of Banff, everyone had some lovely beers.  Many lovely beers.  I was also especially proud of myself for finally gathering the courage to talk to this person, whom I knew had just started their masters at NEC, and whom I had tried to talk to the whole time I was there, but since he was part of the McGill clique, I never succeeded.  I finally achieved a basic conversation win, by 2 AM, once everyone had had at least 2-3 drinks, and he was nice, even though he had sort of been a jerk for the whole festival.  It was pretty silly, actually, since he is living with one of my friends next year.  Silliness.  Anyway, more on Banff and the closure of the festival, but let's focus on the most current events.
     I went to see the bands She & Him, the Bird and the Bee, and the Swell Season last night, at the Hollywood Bowl, and it was awesome.  All three groups are boy-girl pairs, with backup musicians, and the female representation was Fierce.  (Here's the newest She/Him music video.)  It turns out that Zooey Deschanel can really sing!  She can truly belt it, and that was so awesome to witness.  Inara George of the Bird and the Bee was also good, if a little subdued, but I absolutely adore her covers of Hall and Oates songs.  The Swell Season was solid (They're the couple from the Movie "Once") if not a bit male dominated, in terms of presence, song writing, and vocal harmonies.  Glen Hansard took most of the lead vocals, and did most of the talking, although he has a wonderful voice and a very charismatic presence.  I just wish that Marketa would've been a bit more active, it was almost like she was watching him and observing his performance as much as we were.  But it was lovely to see women in music in such a powerful and significant role in each group.

 I've arrived in my new festival, The Montecito festival, in Santa Barbara, and let me tell you, it is no Banff.  No room service, no fancy food, no nightly bar trips.  But maybe that's for the best.  On that note, let me leave you with this video from Broken Social Scene-political, but a great song from their newest album.



listening to: She & Him

It has a hint of Dylan's Rare 1967 Release, with a tinge of this rare 1980's grunge band EP release...

One of the things I have thought about doing with my life is writing about music. Preferably not classical music. I have thought about this for many years, even looking into getting a journalism degree instead of a music masters. But at the end of this whole 'writing about music,' whether popular or classical, I end up dissatisfied. Why? Because writing and describing any form of art is a way of making it something other than it is. When I write about what Scarlett Johanssen's voice, I'm saying what I think it sounds like, what it's been influenced by (whether or not it has) and what it lacks. And that's great, but I almost feel like the better advice is to tell someone else to listen to a piece of music or see a painting, and judge for themselves. With classical music, I can very clearly articulate what I like and don't like. (impressionism, tone color, minor seconds, sevenths, irregular ostinati, sweet viola/saxophone/bassoon/bass/trombone soli in orchestral pieces, minimalism, occasional tonality, extended techniques.) But I can't always apply these ideas to popular music writing. The things that I like about Grizzly Bear are not always what the popular music critics make note of. They might talk about their influences, their forward and backward looking inspirations, etc. But the things I hear are:

1) Diversity of texture: irregular drum lines, especially as reinforced by the bass line and kick drum

2) Awesome 2-4 part harmony: duh. 2 lead singers

3) Beatles' like diversity of singers: 2 lead singers, sometimes alternating

4) A wide range of song styles, from the folksy, acoustic and intimate style to a more extroverted and raw sound.

5) Creepiness: sometimes the songs are creepy as hell, because of harmonies, slow build ups, distortion, etc.

What I hear in Lady Gaga is:

1) The speak-song style of Gwen Stefani, Black Eyed Peas (see, I'm alluding to previous groups! Yikes) or a husky Cher (from the late 90's) which yields a fairly limited vocal range and volume, not belting, but not ethereal

2) Really good basic beat structure usually complimented by a synthesized pitch pattern, which may be irregular

3) The songs are usually in 2 or 4, layered with a series of electronic repetitive textures. The melodic lines stay in limited tonal areas (I-iv-V-vi). (Just dance repeats the minor third interval a gazillion times!!!)

4) Her most successful songs are the ones in which the combination of beats, simple catchy melody and texture are diverse. Her worst songs (and there are quite a few that drift towards Fergie of Black Eyed Peas bad.) are lopsided, and lack one of the basic ingredients for success.

Suggestions: varied tempi, more irregular beats rather than a repetitive track, and more diverse chords/melodic lines. She clearly has a limited vocal range, and it comes through in her songs.

But really, does it matter? Does my opinion on why or why these songs are not good make a difference in whether or not people like it? Nope. Not at all. You could just as easily criticize it for being commercial in its production values and musical aesthetic, which juxtaposes with the style, video, and performance aesthetic, creating a hyperbole of sorts. Quantifying art is really hard to do, even if you think it's clearly "bad." One of the main premises of art is exploring territory which is difficult to explain in words, and that must be experienced, seen, witnessed, etc. I don't usually read reviews very closely, whether of music, movies, or books. I usually read a paragraph or two, get an idea for what the reviewer thinks, and then decide if it's flaws and strengths interest me. That's it. I rarely read the whole thing. I usually look at Pitchfork's reviews, look at the number score, listen to a track or two, read a paragraph and move on. In the end, I want to make my own decisions about music and art and whatnot, and while I'd like to think that my opinion is worthwhile, everyone has a right to evaluate music, art, and creative mediums. Thus, I will probably never be a professional music critic.

listening to: The Morning Benders

You can hear the album version here: (their recent album, "Big Echo" was produced by own of the members of Grizzly Bear.)

A Sunny Rainstorm for you

Sun filled rainstorm

Tactile Luminosity

Hand-drawn graphite border

(Lit from Within)

there was an amazing sunny rainstorm today on my way home from teaching (last three weeks here! no more teaching for a few months. yes!) I've begun the daunting and slightly overwhelming task of sorting through my apartment, selling stuff, and donating the rest of it. 800 square feet allows one to spread out one's stuff, and to live in the illusion that one will always have that space (false.) However, I'm trying to take a no prisoners approach to cleaning my apartment-I have a large pile of clothing amassed in the last 9 years, and it's time to get ride of some of those high school duds, even if they fit. I'm thinking a little photographic wake is the best way to send them on their way. Photos to follow, I suppose.

what's most exciting though, is that I have nowhere that I really need to be right now. i have to teach a few lessons here and there, but otherwise, I'm free to be my own agent, and that's rather exhilarating. I don't have too many friends here right now, so I'm really just vegging out, and appreciating the silence and the opportunity to stay in bed late, and nibble on peanut butter chips at night time while drinking white wine and watching the tele. Other points of business are things that I've been observing on the internet(s)-I've been indulging in the internet time now that it works again. Here are some of the finest things I've found lately:

Levi's Pioneer sessions: never did I think that a folksy cover of a disco song could be successful! The covers that have come out are Dirty Projectors, She & Him, and the Swell Season.

Shop Ruche- a great website, like modcloth, but cheaper and ecofriendly.

My boys, (not grizzly bear. my other boys.) Vampire Weekend, have a new video out, which is pretty 80's tastic, and it makes me laugh, because they look hysterical, and only one of them looks decent with the wig. Clearly, John Malkovich had to work harder in "Dangerous Liasions" than anyone else knew.

Urban Outfitters: duh, they sometimes have good stuff, but online, it's amazing! everything is organized, which is totally different from the stores, which are a clutterfuck if ever there was one. The best part though, is the shoes and the shoe sale. How else can I get ten dollar flats in awesome colors?

John Adams' (composer) blog: it's kinda like the Onion, for classical music. Few people I know can make fun of Elliott Carter so courageously.

on the more banal side of musical exploration, I have Kid Cudi's song "Make Her Say" stuck in my head, with Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" simultaneously stuck in there too. Catchy shit, those top 40 hits.

listening to: yacht, beach house, swell season, and more

The Grizzly Bear Video Catalogue

Due to a brief inquiry from McMillan as to the nature of music videos, I'm listing all of the Grizzly Bear music videos, because all I do in my spare time is read the newspaper and watch music videos. Let's go in reverse chronology:

While You Wait For the Others-from Veckatimest, also available sung by Michael McDonald of the Doobie Brothers.

Ready, Able-also from Veckatimest, and strangely creepy. The artist is Allison Schulnik, whose other work is also pretty disturbing and depressing.

Two Weeks-the original video, not the sweet fan video that I usually post. Love the bow ties, but somehow the cuteness factor and oversized anime eyeballs are a little creepy, although it makes the drummer look kinda adorable in a weird twisted way. It really is just a reinforcement of my unresolved love for Daniel Rossen (last on the right and half of Department of Eagles) since his cheeks are just so pinchable.

Two Weeks-awesome fan video. This just blows my mind for CG animation possibilities. Being a humble computer challenged person, I didn't realize it was all CG until I'd seen it 3 or 4 times.

Two Weeks - Grizzly Bear from Gabe Askew on Vimeo.

Granny Diner/Hobo Clown-Animated Short, also by Allison Schulnik. This made me cry the first time I watched it-nothing is really more pathetic than sad claymation creatures. The track is a bonus track from "Yellow House" and it's also on the "Friend" EP, which I highly recommend because of its amazing electric version of "Little Brother," one my favorite songs of theirs.

"Knife" from Yellow House. It's been covered by lots of bands, and it's a winner of a track. Just add some weird quicksand and a creature that looks like it's made out of stale pieces of bubblegum stuck together, and we're in business.

"Central and Remote" also from "Yellow House."

"Fix It" from that way early Grizzly Bear album "Horn of Plenty," when it was just an Ed Droste project, before Daniel Rossen tempered his wayward ways.

And because I wanted to end with an oldie, but goodie, here is one of my favorite videos ever from Department of Eagles, "No One Does It Like You."

that's enough videos to keep y'alls entertained for awhile, I think.

Snakey Weirdness

I have a traumatizing amount of things that need to get done in the next 15 days. Good thing I have the new MGMT album to keep me crazy, in only the best possible way.

I can pretty much count on MGMT to consistently deliver weird ass videos that totally blow my mind. The new album is totally from the first one, but I rather like it. It's a weird pastiche of 60's pop music styles: surfing, weird instrumental interludes, cheesy drum and bass lines, subtle beach boys pyschedelia references...I couldn't be happier. This video is pretty much everything stranger than I could ever imagine. It is a strange allusion to the disease in the book "Black Hole" by Charles Burns, but also just weird things with old people, a strange machine, puppets, military figures with eye patches (malcolm in the middle?). Either way, I have no idea what the fuck is going on and I love it. It's just like my life, only with old people in it.

Favorite Pyschedelic Duds

Can I get some of these swirly neon clothes?

And this video by Of Montreal makes me chuckle.
I also enjoy this song by Yeasayer, but the video isn't quite as amazingly awesome.

This is one of the freakiest videos ever, featuring Joanna Newsom as a super creepy suburbanite mom and this poor baby is assaulted by freaky creatures.

I can always count on MGMT to have some weird ass videos- check out "electric feel" for more crazy duds.

Moral of the story: men who love dresses, pink, neon, long hair, eyeliner, and crazy ass clothing are attractive. Androgeny is in.

Watch out

If you watch this video too carefully, or more than once, you will lose it.

That being said, say to yourself that you're glad you don't do drugs.

Lady Gaga and why she amuses me

I can't explain it. I don't usually like mainstream pop female vocals- usually the songs are bad (there's only so much American Idol shit I can take) and Miley Cyrus type videos and it's just bad. But sometimes, what's proportedly bad is really really effing weird. Like Lady Gaga. It's like Of Montreal on crack, in terms of the music videos. And I love it. The tunes are like a cross between Cher, Madonna, and Gwen Stefani (all Italian NY woman who died their hair, just like Lady Gaga.) And the tunes aren't great. But the videos and the weird fashion and sci-fi details and Blade Runner stuff is freaking amazing!

Take Bad Romance, for example. What the hell??? So many weird and fabulous things- the opening with the weird glasses, the creepy tombs with plastic sheeted bodies (remind me of Pan's Labyrinth and that character with the eyeballs) So many amazingly odd effects: the vertebrae popping out of her back, the crazy 12-inch heels, the bearskin dress...it's just ridiculous all over the place. It's everything weird that popular music should be...only stranger and less predictable. If only her songs didn't remind me of Cher's "Do you Believe in Life after love." It's that autotune stuff that kills it everytime, and that gemstone ensemble. Overall, it's amazing.

I also really enjoy Paparazzi, because of the ridiculous yellow outfit she wears in the end with the Mickey Mouse shit. It's so eighties and I just want it, but I'd never wear it.

I mean, gosh, I wouldn't wear any of this shit to school...ruffles aren't really practical to play viola in, but sheesh! I always wondered who paid attention to high fashion, and now I know! It's great to see clothing as art, rather than as brand names and prices and "in" looks. Everything she wears is so out there it's not even wearable. So anyway, I'm intrigued. And I think she's spoken for gay rights, so ha! She knows her fan base well.

Listening to: the new ANIMAL COLLECTIVE EP

Other Sweet Music Videos

Here's one of my other video favorites that I think is just really interestingly done. I didn't want to put it on the "at seventeen" page, since it has no thematic correlation with that one.

It is a sort of side project of members of Grizzly Bear- "Band of Eagles."

I just like this one, Metronomy's "Radio Ladio" because they are all funny colored, and the way they play the piano is fabulous.

I really like the "cuteness" factor of this, since none of them look quite this adorable in real life. Although the drummer (second from right) is quite cute in real life. And I have had a dream about being Grizzly Bear's housekeeper.

And I just like St vincent- this isn't an amazing video. I think she also looks more gorgeous than normal here.