Music Monday: Rave-Up Edition

This past Holiday weekend brought me back to the good ol' days, of which I actually wasn't a part of no matter the frequency with which I wish I were born into. Needless to say I often pine for another time, musically speaking, and this week is going to capitalize on that. An old girlfriend of mine once told me that I was an "old soul." I wasn't sure how to take this because it was immediately preceded by a day's worth of breaking up over the phone, but I've come to take it as a compliment -- and I think its led to my tasteful pleasure in all things mod.


Music Monday: The Rave-Up

1 - The Strange Boys - Drugs Iggy Drugs -- A Strange Boys concert is an amazing thing. The aforementioned feeling of music nostalgia was brought about this past weekend from their show. The Strange Boys are a four piece from Dallas that now live in Austin. Since their move south, they've received nothing but more and more great press and I'm thoroughly excited to keep listening to them. Comprised of two brothers and two more friends, they're just a shade past the legal drinking age yet make music like they were born in the 60's. Yet another group of "old souls" to hang around.

2 - The Sonics - Have Love Will Travel -- I don't know too much about these guys, other than they fit the mold of everything I like about a good time. Kinks-inspired, and inspirational in their own right, this WA group made nothing but raunchy rock during their days together. They've inspired everyone from the above to new hipster faves The Black Lips. Off the album Here Are The Sonics !!!

3 - The Kinks - Sittin' On My Sofa -- Off the troubled Kink Kontroversy, this is mod rock at it's best. It sort of makes you want to shake your hips while a technicolour strobe spins you 'round the polka-dotted room. The Kinks, an influence of The Sonics, and The Strange Boys were pretty much the hippest thing around at this point of the 60's.

4 - The Yardbirds - Honey In Your Hips -- Good evening, now it is time for Birdmerizing, Yardmerizing, in fact, most Blueswelling... Yardbirds. The Yardbirds are one of my all-time favorites. They are what you should be listening to when you go out on the weekends, when you ride your bike, when you want to enjoy life. The history behind this band is quite amazing... Eric Clapton started with them, when he left Jeff Beck joined, then came along Jimmy Page. They made an appearance in Michelangelo Antonioni's Blow-Up, and when everything was said and done with, Page took the group and formed The New Yardbirds... which eventually became Led Zeppelin. They're amazing and its really a tragedy that their catalogue has been butchered over time with release after re release, never giving fans any sort of comprehensive compilation. This track I got off of an mp3 CD I bought in St. Petersburg, Russia a year and a half ago. It says its off of For Your Love, but who really knows.

5 - The Strange Boys - Be Careful With That You Read -- One more from the Boys that kicked off this nostalgia. Again, if you get the chance to catch The Strange Boys live, do it. You'll love yourself for it afterwards. To the best of my knowledge, you can contact them at their MySpace in an effort to pick up an official release - if you're in Dallas you might try Good Records, in Austin, End of An Ear might have something.

This concludes our broadcast day.

Black Friday

Alright, is it not strange that "they" call the day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday? What a negative connotation. Then again, I'm sure if you were to head to the mall or any other store on the day after Thanksgiving you would want to call it Black Friday as well. What a strange time we've been born into.

A few things here, since I've managed to not post since Music Monday.


Wednesday saw the embarassingly disappointing loss of the England National Football team to Croatia. With this loss the lions have managed a first nonqualification of a European Championship since 1984. That is awful. England invented the modern game as we know it, and the talent they have should have proven better. Since they don't have anything to really play for until qualification for the 2010 World Cup starts next summer, there's no rush to find a new coach to replace the much hated Steve McClaren (who was fired Thanksgiving morning). Oh the disappointment. All they needed was a draw. They were so close. Dammit.

Thursday - happy Slapsgiving. Hope everyone enjoyed a magnificent feast.

And now today -- Since the initial feast is behind us and we are now officially in the thick, of the Holiday Season, I'd like to share something with you that just makes me smile... Christmas Videos. I was perusing the net last night in between segments of VH1's Dylan Marathon (Don't Look Back and No Direction Home back to back, a lot of TV) and I found this page of Christmas Links. You can find everything from Mickey's Christmas Carol to Justice League's Xmas special. It's really awesome. Personally that Christmas Carol has always held a place in my heart, not to mention the amazing Chip and Dale episodes with Donald Duck & Pluto. It just makes me smile.

Then there's this... Sure its in the Christmas Spirit, and it sounds really nice... but Ziggy Stardust singing a duet with the man that is pretty much the Father of modern Christmas (Bing Crosby folks) is actually one of the weirdest, creepiest, most enjoyable video I've seen in a long time.

What an oddball that Bowie is. But you gotta enjoy it.

Music Monday #2

Hope all two of you who grabbed last week's playlist enjoyed it, I'm actually interested to know what you thought...

This week's playlist isn't so much for daylight as it is for your nighttime. Maybe you like to take a walk around your neighborhood once the sun has set, giving yourself a Kafka-like stroll about the vicinity, taking a chance to collect your thoughts. Or maybe you like to sit in your lamp-lit room with the stereo on while you brainstorm ideas for tomorrow. This playlist will hopefully be a welcome companion to this time of the day. It might also be helpful during the (hopefully) upcoming colder days. So without further ado...

Night Walking ...

1 - Spiritualized - Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space -- this is the title track to one of the most amazing albums ever. Spiritualized is almost like a spiritual experience, God that's so cheesy in its redundancy but it's true. As one of my top 5 favorite bands of all time, it'd be easy to go on for a long time about J Spaceman (the mastermind behind it all), so to put it succinctly, you should grab everything by him you can get your hands on.

2 - AIR - Playground Love -- I'm sorry at the obviousness of this choice, from the soundtrack they composed for Sofia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides. AIR are from France and are comprised of just two men, Jean-Benoît Dunkel and Nicolas Godin. Another band from whom you should grab everything ever made by. I saw them live my Junior year of college and have been hopelessly devoted ever since. One of the best concerts I've ever attended.

3 - Belle and Sebastian - Sleep The Clock Around -- I hate to throw the drug culture into this, but this was the first album I listened to while under the influence of the good ol' hippie grass. And while I may not indulge anymore, the album, Boy With The Arab Strap, has not lost its value as a solid album of pure pleasure. B&S may have a rep as a "college indie rock" band, but it's hard to deny such clever craftsmanship.

4 - Gonzales - Overnight -- I'll admit I don't know too much about Gonzales. The first time I'd ever heard his name was in regards to his help on Feist's album Let It Die, a pretty fine work of art. Wikipedia tells me he's done lots of work with other quirky Canadian artists (he's one himself). This album, Solo Piano, is just as its name implies - him playing the piano by himself. The result is very nice, very moody and as a whole could be a playlist on its own. I found it in the used bin at Waterloo earlier this summer and consider it one of my better finds.

5 - Midnight Movies - Tide and Sun -- Off their debut, Midnight Movies. The bells and electro noise coincide perfectly here to form 4:22 of eerie sweetness. That great Nico-esque voice you hear is frontwoman/drummer Gena Olivier. She's tall, she's sexy, she can drum... I want to marry her. I met her once at SXSW and could hardly open my mouth.

6 - SOUND Team - Color of the Love You Have -- First, let's all take a second to mourn the passing of this band. ... Okay. It took a while for it to finally settle in that we'd never again receive anything new from this Austin band. They had a short, successful life and I loved ever second of it. This is one of the last tracks they released before it all ended. I'm not sure exactly in what capacity it was released, I got it off of an Adult Swim compilation called Warm & Scratchy. I think it's another sweet, mellow track and one that is near perfect to end on.


So that's it for this week's playlist. Hope you enjoy it whether you're walking around at night, driving during the cold, or sitting in your room before you go to sleep. If there is one thing I might suggest... the first time you listen to this, wear headphones. Again, this will be available until next Monday.

Wacky Wednesday

Kind of a busy day already, as was yesterday (resulting in the end of my experiment of posting everyday) so to make up for it I'm gonna share a video. I was lucky enough to get a glimpse of this man on the Charles Bridge in Prague a year and a half ago. He is a musical scientist.

It sort of speaks for itself doesn't it. By far and away one of the greatest things I saw while I was in Europe.

Two nights of concerts on the horizon, TOOL tonight (we'll see how that goes) and Swell Season tomorrow (a show that will also see Anton coming into town. ALRIGHT.)

Music Monday #1

I feel like I'd like to start a sort of "Music Day" here on the ol' blog, and what better day to do that on than Monday, right? Basically what'll happen is every Monday (hopefully) I'll throw up a link to a playlist of about 5 or 6 songs I'd like to share with you. It'll only be available for the week it's been posted during and you can enjoy it for as long as you like if you feel so inclined to download it. Don't worry, I won't send you a virus, I'm clean.

Monday Playlist 101 is...

1. Brazos - Feeding Frenzy -- This is probably my favorite band in Austin right now, and I am waiting for something big to happen with them. Off their first EP, Feeding Frenzy.

2. Alamo Race Track - Happy Accidents -- A Dutch band I recently spent a summer becoming infatuated with. I wrote a review of their newest album Black Cat John Brown for The Tripwire. This is off their first LP, Birds At Home.

3. Antelope - Flower -- Okay, not trying to make this a plugging session but, I also reviewed this album, Reflector. Antelope is a band out of DC I've loved since I found their debut self-titled EP in the dumpster bin at my college radio station. They're repeatedly cited as one of the main influences of my band, Plaid Saturdays (more to come on that much later).

4. Ferraby Lionheart - Under the Texas Sky -- This man has made a near perfect album on his DEBUT! Find another review by me (sorry) here about Catch The Brass Ring. Way too good for a debut album.

5. Charlotte Gainsbourg - Night-Time Intermission -- Anton and I have spent some serious time talking about how much we are in love with Ms. Gainsbourg (the daughter of super-smooth Serge Gainsbourg and über-hottie Jane Birkin). She's also the co-star of Michel Gondry's The Science of Sleep. This is off the album 5:55 (produced by and with music written by AIR, the coolest French band on the planet).

6. Pete and the Pirates - Not A Friend -- I saw these guys when I worked SXSW this past year. They will be the next big thing. I am actually amazed they have no deal in the UK (where they're from). If you are a religious person, I emplore you to include a record deal for P&tP in your prayers at night. This is a free track I got through their MySpace page. So good.

Alright, so that's it for today. This playlist will be there at the available link until next Monday, so get to it if you're interested in the stuff. Enjoy the week!

Recovery of the Totem of My Fictional Existence

Day 2 of full-on blogging and boy, what an emotional couple of days I've had. First the ever-present tucking in of my shirt-tails (which by the way, day 2 of is going smashingly well), and then today, the find of a long lost souvenir so dear to my heart that I have been crushed since its initial loss. The souvenir I speak of is the regulation hat issued to the three founding member of the Océanographique Exploratory Society.

There's the hat being modeled by the three founders... Capt. Thatch Harrington, Ernst Winterburry and Dr. Christopher McCandless, PhD (respectively). The Society was founded on my 23rd birthday (May 26, 2006) in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Their travels have been somewhat chronicled in the massively entertaining, yet critically destroyed blog The Liverpool Wanderers.

My alter ego, Ernst Winterburry was the species cartographer, because I enjoy drawing and writing and the like. For the two months I was abroad last year, this alter ego was a great escape and a huge source of fun, especially during those times of awkwardness when Jonathan, Pat (the two on the side of me there) and I were forced to interact with people we didn't really care about either way. Like in München (or Munich for the lay folk), when we participated in a Pub Crawl. The few people we met were pretty cool at first, but it became apparent as they got way more drunk way faster than us that they might not have been so in the end. I mean really, they were a bunch of kids going into their first year of college back in the States, spending a few weeks in Europe and using it as their toilet. So we just started screwing with them, telling them our story, how we individually met while in our Undergraduate years prepping for the eventual Society, where we would go on to study Aquatology among many other of the Maritime Sciences. Trust me, we could throw out some incredible bullshit.

Most of the people totally believed us, which was really funny. Those that were a little suspicious at first were totally won over when we busted out the red hats.

"Oh, so like The Life Aquatic?" they'd come through with, to which we would immediately put on a heir of anguish. Frowns and furrows, shaking of heads and fingers.
"No, not at all. Nothing like The Life Aquatic," we'd clearly state, as if hurt by the likening. "That movie mocks everything we stand for. Did you know they stole actual documents from our research labs in the process of preproduction?"
"Oh my," they'd gasp. "I had no idea it was such a big deal, or that something like you existed at all." (in truth, obviously, the Océanographique Exploratory Society doesn't exist) "Where is your research lab?"
"Monaco, of course." Well, it was at least a little truthful, the Oceanographic Museum co-founded by Jacques Yves Cousteau was really in Monaco (it's where we got the idea). It only solidified our story more when they read the monogram on the little red hats -- "Musée Océanographique de Monaco"

Yes it was deceitful, yes it was mean, but man was it fun. We were artists of the Maritime Sciences, and no one knew it was all a sham. But I digress...

The point of this entry is that I lost that little red hat, and this sent me into a long depressed stupor. That is until this morning when I found it under a pile of old shirts at my parents' house. Oh the joy and unending praise to the heavens. My week was made infinitely better at this find. So in celebration I thought I might share a comic I made upon my return to the states, a comic about the Océanographique Exploratory Society (t.O.E.S.). And yes, before you get too ahead of yourself, there are striking similarities to The Life Aquatic, but I want you to know that the Society was not founded under the film's pretenses, in fact I am the only member of t.O.E.S. to have actually seen the thing, and while I found it enjoyable, the basis on which t.O.E.S. was founded is more about the bonding of friends during the insanity of travel than anything having to do with a film. So at last, here's episode one of the Océanographique Exploratory Society.

[yes it gets bigger, just click it]

Even An End Has A Start

Right, well that was all good and well. Funny bits here and there, but really nothing too spectacular. Promises were made then not kept and the space between correspondence was so vast that I don't even remember the last time I personally posted something on here... though I guess it's pretty apparent since the posts are dated. The point here is thus...

I woke up today and tucked my shirt in for the first time ever of my own free will.

Sure sure, I've tucked it in before, but they've been during instances of necessity -- weddings, funerals, nice dinners, high school dances, college formals, costume parties. This all sounds pretty immature and unimportant I'm sure, but it's the God's honest truth.

This marks a decidedly different turn for me.

So why "blog" about it?

Good question, glad I asked that of myself. The whole idea of blogging sort of confuses me. Yes, I have kept a blog before on a semi-regular basis (even if it was for just 2 months), and yes this is a blog I started about a year ago (which was hardly ever updated, probably for the better), but the whole thought of serious blogging doesn’t make any real sense to me. Why would I want to know what is going on in someone’s everyday life? Why not just simply converse with them and get to know them, where knowing what goes on during the course of their day is more an idea of friendship? Well the world nowadays doesn’t work like that I guess.

I realize that this is going to sound hypocritical given what I just wrote but who really cares, right? If you’re reading this, you’re probably a blogger yourself or you know me and know that even though the one trait I despise most in people is hypocrisy, I still am one of the most hypocritical people I know (that’s how those things work by the way. I just can’t help it. The thing you hate most in people turns out to be your biggest flaw). So in an effort to fit in, I’m going to attempt at a blog a day, for a couple weeks at first, then if it catches maybe I’ll keep going (but NO promises you).

What will your blog be about?

Another good question. The way I see it, much like any story, there are only a couple types of blogs that are at the root of everything. There’s the political blog, be it satirical (like the lame attempt at an Onion-style news page The Foggiest started out as) or the real deal politically minded blog, where people vent their frustrations and views on everything from the environment to the current state of affairs in Africa or in our own backyard. There’s also the music blog, which to be honest, is probably the most popular. Everyone thinks their taste in music is better than yours. Then there’s the daily journal blogs. Dear Diary as I like to call it, where updates on the day to day and sometimes hour to hour operations of a person’s life are chronicled on the cyber pages of the blogosphere. I find these pointless. Who really cares?

(I’m sorry for the overt cynicism of the preceding paragraph. It’s just that for the past week I’ve been reading random blogs and am struggling to find the purpose in a lot of them. That’s not to say that my will have a purpose, in fact, there will be absolutely no purpose whatsoever in anything I do on The Foggiest. There’s just no point.)

So now I just need to find my niche, and as much as I’d like to be one of those people who is “niche-less” I’m sure there is some place where the things I put on The Foggiest will fit in. So we’ll leave that area TBD. Just be prepared for witless phrases of complete nonsense, a deconstruction of my neurosis, and a few pictures sprinkled here and there. Also, a large absence of proofreading.

What do you say? Good enough for the first new post in a while?