Updates

Man some stuff has happened. And I want to talk about it all, I really do, but I can't motivate myself to gather pictures and songs and things that really make reading a blog fun, so that I can actually put them up here and make this thing even slightly entertaining for a Monday afternoon. One thing I really do want to gloss over because it's oh so sad and depressing, is that film composer Maurice Jarre has passed away.

It's sad because this man has created some of the most epic and beautiful film score work you've ever heard or will ever hear. The list is filled with greatness but one stands out for me and makes his passing so odd for me. Lawrence of Arabia is a godsend of a film. Long, gorgeous and still pertinent today as far as middle east relations go, it has been a favorite of mine for some years now and has been the source of multiple points of inspiration for me as well. Jarre's score for the film is a character, an aesthetic, a plot unto itself and it is something that I've recently been obsessing over, let's say for the past couple of weeks. This is why Jarre's passing is so odd for me and why it hurts just a little bit more than something like this normally would. The man was a true artist and the week, nay month should be spent listening to his vast catalogue of work.

Maurice Jarre - 84 years old.

SXSW

I did a whole lot of stuff at SxSW this year, and it will shortly come out at this space [photos and stuff].

In the meantime, go watch the two videos my friend Quinn has on his space... Quinnstorm.com.

I love this man.

Stepping Back Into The Modern Age

I've just found the appropriate equipment to rig my record player up to my computer and thus share some of my favorite music with you!

My record collection is no where near vast, but it holds a large sentimental value with me. I love films just as much as I love music, and when you combine the two you get great music from great films. And when I buy vinyl, I don't often buy new stuff, obviously, you go for the old cheap used vinyl. But rather than pick through the legions of records stacked in the A-Z's, I've found it much more rewarding to pick through the used vinyl soundtrack sections. There's something very loving about the fuzzy warmth that exudes from my moderately sized speakers when they are playing an old score from a classic film from the 60's or 70's in the evening as the sun goes down.. or even better in the morning when the sun comes up. All is usually quiet and the gorgeous Texas sky offers up a blissfully clear sunrise/set that oftentimes feels can't be topped, yet is so by the the following day's offer.

This is why music is integral to daily life.

For my first foray into evolution by way of vinyl comes from two absolutely f**king brilliant films, that have two of the best soundtracks around...

Stepping Back Into The Modern Age, Vol. 1

1. Via Veneto e i nobili - Nino Rota -- La Dolce Vita. Loveliness.
2. Blues/La dolce vita dei nobili - Nino Rota -- La Dolce Vita. Godliness.
3. The Singleman Party Foxtrot - David Grusin -- The Graduate. Cleanliness?

Both of these films are exsquisite in their own way and their soundtracks/scores deserve a place in the annuls of art history. Hope you enjoy. More choice transitions from vinyl to digital will come once a week [or more if I'm feeling frisky].

Maximo Park can do a podcast

I feel so inferior to this podcast that the UK band, Maxïmo Park put out back in December. I absolutely adored their first album, A Certain Trigger. It was like The Smiths on speed and energy drinks. Really lovely stuff. Their 2nd album, Our Earthly Pleasures was a disappointment for me, to say the least. That is probably because I loved the first one so much. Anyways, I had kind of pushed them to the wayside until today when I got an email from them about a new album. I followed it to their site to catch up and found a podcast they'd put together for a 5 day drive through the West of the USA. It is so good. Hit me right where I needed it today.

Here's the page.

Here's the direct link to the podcast on itunes

You can listen at either link.

I'll have some more personal stuff up later sometime. In the meantime, this'll do just nice.

PS - their album artwork is so damned good.

Awesome New Band

Hehehe... well let's not go so far as to say awesome, but...

Way back when I mentioned that my friend Dan and I were in a band of sorts and that we'd been working on material. Well that's sort of steadily been going on for about a year or so and we're finally feeling happy about some of the songs we've got, and we're slowly recording them on our own. We finished one last night called "There's A Light" and here it is! Hopefully you'll at least find it entertaining, and if not well, you know what they say... those who can't play, critique.

We call ourselves Chris & Doug [there is a story there, but trust me, it ain't that intriguing].

Chris & Doug - There's A Light [mp3]

Enjoyment on the Brazos

I feel like I'm starting to become a fanboy here but, I saw these guys again last night and they're really great. I hope their album comes out REALLY soon.

Here's a track off a compilation I got from a magazine called Esopus. Not very evocative of the band's current incarnation, but it's hard not to be wooed by the obvious talent of the stripped down track.

Brazos - Passenger

I'm On A Soccer Team

For the past 5 or so years I've been infatuated with International Football (soccer). This comes as a result of becoming bored with all the American sports I grew up playing. Now I'm finally on a team... even if it is in the MGD 64 [miller genuine draft] sponsored Super Social League here in Austin.

I give you...

Happy V-Day from The Tripwire

Last night the editor for The Tripwire sent out an email asking us contributors if we wanted to put together a little something for Valentine's Day for the site. I went along with it and chose a couple songs.... Black Joe Lewis's "Bitch, I Love You" and one of my top five favorite songs of all time, James Brown's "It's a Man's Man's Man's World"

Check it out... it's pretty cool.

Favorite Record At The Moment

So these are some of my records,

And this is my record player,

And this is my favorite record at the moment,

The lovely resurgence of vinyl as a mass produced and bought product again has blessed me with a soft, classy and used album from a quirky musician. Unfortunately this same resurgence has disallowed me to find a track to offer up to you, as I don't want to spend the money on purchasing an electronic copy for myself. Love lost. However you can now search it out if you want to... A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night.

Taking Cues

In July of 2008 I spent 2 unbelievably comfortable weeks in Oahu, Hawaii. I was with my family in a house we rented on the North Shore, and in the 14 days we were residents we learned to live the lifestyle. There were a few days of tourist activity at the start - Pearl Harbor, the flea market, surf lessons, etc - but then remarkably, we just did nothing. It was as if we really were from there. One night, my brother and I even drove into the city to catch a Vampire Weekend show with the locals. All in all, great experience. If you've ever got the chance to live in Hawaii, I'm sure I don't have to tell you to take it.

Anyways, the point here is that I took a cue from my great friend, Anton, and filmed as much as I could while I was there. Unfortunately, when you assimilate to the island life, you don't want to pick up the camera and film. I tried though, and here is the minute-long intro to the whole affair. Now I know what Anton is talking about when he refers to the difficulty in getting projects done. Here we are, nearly 6 and a half months later and this is finally done. I'm not even thinking about when the actual content will be done with. Let's not. Let's just enjoy this for a little bit...

I don't know that much about the export/sharing process
so this could probably be clearer and work better.

New Ears: JAWS

New Ears for the New Year.

Even though it's February.

For the new year I'd like to broaden the scope of New Ears toward the medium of film. An HBO showing of Steven Spielberg's 1975 classic JAWS being the catalyst for this latest urge to write, I figured that over the next few weeks I'd take the time to have my own little Spielberg Retrospective. This is as a result of a) having the time in the evenings to do such a thing, b) having not seen his classics in quite some time begs the question of how they've withstood the test of time, and c) I recently acquired a brand new Sony 46'' HDTV and really want to watch the hell out of it. [and d) I just moved into a new place, and the debt acquired from new house purchases is sure to curb my weekend spending.]

So here it is...

JAWS was Spielberg's big breakout onto the film scene and as such has been probably one of, if not the, highest grossing films of his career. It's a tight and suspenseful flick and one that has struck so many people where it hurts... with a fear of water. I, to this day, cannot swim comfortably in the ocean. I spent two weeks in Hawaii this past summer and while I enjoyed myself in the water playing about in the clearest of seas with crustaceans and fish and squid, there was not 5 minutes that went by where I wasn't checking my back.

We all know that Spielberg was a wunderkind of filmmaking. We all know he had technical prowess, we all know that the man knew how to work with kids. What I love about JAWS is that now, at 25 years old, after more than 100 viewings of this thing [I'm sure], there are still things I catch in it that make me more frightened than ever, that make me laugh harder, and that make me still wonder like a little boy.

First of these: probably the scariest scene in the film for me, when Brody's son Michael [played by Chris Rebello] is stuck in the water after the man in the red row boat is attacked [leg bitten off no-less]. The look on the kid's face is one of utter shock and terror. He is literally in awe of the massive beast as it swims past, undoubtedly with the lifeless body of the row boater hanging out. Also worthy of mention, this is the first time we see glimpses of the shark and it's nearly halfway through the film. This has long been considered the greatest tactic in creating suspenseful cinema... keep the audience waiting and play on their emotions, their imagination. Spielberg does it to perfection here. Plus, when we just barely see the jaws of the beast open under about a foot of water, it is absolutely frightening. It looks real. And it makes me want to cry.

Second: one of the funniest moments of the film that I haven't caught before. While the boys are all sharing war stories [literally sometimes], and Quint and Hooper are showcasing their wounds, laughing it up with drunken fervor and bravado, Brody [played perfectly by Roy Scheider] is come over with a look of yearning to be included, lifts his shirt and feels across a scar from what can be said is probably an appendix removal, then drops his shirt again in puny defeat. I had never caught this moment before, but this last time it got me giggling for a good few minutes.

Third: an effect I've wondered about ever since the beginning. When Brody decides not to fire at the beast as it swims away we're left with a close-up looking up from the decks into his face. In the background a shooting star is seen flying from right to left of the screen. I've always wondered if it was SFX or if the moment was just one of pure magical luck. That's what I want to believe. I've searched the internets all day and can honestly say that no one knows for sure. On HBO's version it looks animated. On my DVD it looks real. Spielberg has claimed it both ways, and fans across the net have noted it as a 'berg trait in many of his classic films.

I suppose we'll never know for sure, but I'll keep hoping that it was just happenstance. It's more enjoyable that way.

So that's it for JAWS. Next up on the agenda will be E.T. The Extraterrestrial. I've been wanting to watch that for weeks now.

Feel free to watch it sometime this weekend as well...
Next week we can all comment on it.

Funny Cartoon, Serious Commentary

I opened up the Life & Arts section today to find a great F-Minus. It's a great little piece of satire, yet also a great bit of commentary on what I'm sure is the state of much of these USA.

[click, it gets bigger]

p.s., getting off a treadmill is quite possibly the weirdest experience ever.
It feels like you're walking 3-4x faster than normal.

Inadvertent Forgetfulness

You ever think about something so hard you forget it in the process?

Been happening to me all morning, dammit.

Music Monday: More of a Hodgepodge

There is no rhyme or reason to this post, other than within the past month or two I've been slowly accumulating works from these artists. I wish I could put it all together with more of a theme than that, but it cannot be done at the moment. [no album art this time]

Music Monday: Hodgepodge

Rodriguez - Sugar Man -- off the album Cold Fact. Sixto Rodriguez's story is amazing and sad and uplifting all at once. I'll refer you this info page, and this All Things Considered story. The long and the short of it is this... Rodriguez put out Cold Fact back in 69/70 to mediocre reviews. Played only one showcase to industry folks (with his back to the audience no less, a big deal way before Maynard James Keenan started doing it with TOOL), put out one more album a year or so later to even more mediocre reviews and called it quits. Meanwhile, Cold Fact began receiving acclaim in Australia and South Africa, where to this day his name is synonymous with Elvis. He's that big there. You really should read that article and listen to the NPR audio clip. This album is finally getting a proper release as a result of it's comeback in the popular ear. Great stuff... Dylan/Cream, great folk/psychedelia.

Honey Claws - Shout Out -- off of the self-titled LP. This is so bizarre for me. Honey Claws are an experimental/electronic/hip-hop act from Austin. The lead vocalist, Jon Von Letscher, I've known since middle school. Well I should say, I knew in middle school. In seventh and eighth grade he and I (along with two other friends) would make comic books about ninja stick men wreaking havoc on the unsuspecting villains of imaginary cities, he would teach us how to draw manga, we would tower over him (he was a short chubby kid, now he's an average height marathon runner) and we would laugh day and night about the stupidest things and play RISK. So it blows my mind that after, jeez, twelve years I find out he's got a pretty amazing little band going. I ran into him about a year ago and he was telling me about it, but i never really followed up. Wish I had now. Keep an ear out.

Cut Off Your Hands - Happy As Can Be -- off of You & I. I was listening to The Tripwire Podcast and came across this track from the New Zealand quartet, Cut Off Your Hands (nee Shaky Hands, but now COYH thanks to the Oregon band of the same name and a lawsuit. Clever retitled name). I immediately left for the record store and bought the album, which had luckily just come out that day. It is New Wave joy. I wrote a review for the album this past week, and in it you can read why I liked it... THE REVIEW. The Smiths, U2, Joy Division, The Beatles and all the best parts of the insane post-punk revival of about 3 years ago.

Empire Of The Sun - Walking On A Dream -- off of Walking On A Dream. This band makes me feel like a hypocrite, because I don't really like bands like this. But I can't help it. Don't know too much about these guys, but the band's name is EMPIRE OF THE SUN, as in the awesome 1984 novel by JG Ballard (and subsequent awesome 1987 film by Steven Spielberg with a young Christian Bale). Also LOOK at the album artwork. How can you not like that? There's a tiger. Just listen.

Coconot - Conservad El Rayo -- off of Cosa Astral. Also don't know too much about this band, but they're awesome in an experimental, islandy way. Also makes me feel a little bit of a hypocrite, as these guys have been referred to once or twice as a Spanish Animal Collective, and call me crazy but I ain't really that big a fan of Animal Collective. These guys however, sounds like boatloads of fun. Maybe it's because they're from Barcelona.

Cornelius - Toner -- off of Sensuous. I recently rediscovered this album. I reviewed it when it came out back in April of 2007. I love this guy Cornelius (Keigo Oyamada) and I'm on the search for a shirt to prove it. Read THIS REVIEW I wrote for everything I feel about it. This song is made from samples of a PRINTER. He's also got one of the coolest versions of Brazil I've ever heard (for another Music Monday).

Department of Eagles - Teenagers -- off of In Ear Park. I had heard about these guys once before but never paid attention to them. Then let's flashback to about a month and a half ago when I'm in Starbucks waiting for coffee on a cold day, there's a free download card there for a track from this album. I go home, dload it and it's great. About two weeks later I'm listening to KUT and John Aielli's, Aielli Unleashed (pronounced A-Lee), and he offers up another track from the album. I took it as a sign and bought the whole album, In Ear Park. It's great. There's a little bit of Midlake in there, which is what immediately drew me in I think, but there's more rock to it too. More weirdness. It's dark and eerie, and it's fun and light too. One of the more overlooked albums of 2008.

I refer to a post dated 31 January 2008

Because Shit Just Got Real, Again.

Season 5 has begun.

In other news, this blog has just reached 4,000 views

New PB&J

2009 is already starting to sound better than 2008. Peter Bjorn & John have a new album out in the spring and here's two songs for free!

A little different sounding than their last effort, but still reverb-tinged Swedish pop. That's why it's lovable. I feel like I'm back on the train to Malmo.

find it here through FADER . com

new stuff

i am going to post a new hodgepodge of a music monday sometime this week before i have to go to my cousin's wedding this weekend (i get to be a bartender. which is a weird thing to have a family member included as in your wedding, but hopefully i get to drink on the job).

point is, i want to post something and here it is... went and saw my favorite band in austin play this past weekend. Brazos started off the year musically for me in the exact fashion i wanted.

i even took some pictures. [click it for the link please]

Winter Beard

So I've been growing a Winter beard for no reason really. I've just sort of been alright with not shaving for the past month or so and it has resulted in what is probably the longest beard I've been able to grow.
I'm not usually a person that likes a lot of facial hair because it's so dang itchy. I like it if I'm travelling and I like it if it's cold outside. It makes me feel like a man. HA.

quick little Ming the Merciless

So since I've proven to myself that I can once again grow a certain amount of facial hair I am going to shave it into a celebratory New Year's Eve mustache. This will be a fun New Year's as a result.

voil-la

My girlfriend is going to hate me.

Berry Krimble To All

Hope yours is Happy

Merry Krimble

I'm probably going to regret this....

but I recorded a version of "Little Drummer Boy" for Christmas.

The Foggiest - "Little Drummer Boy"

Enjoy with laughter.

It's pretty mellow.

Oh boy.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE