The Contrarian

Previews.

 

 

Criticism.

My review of Dead Meadow's Old Growth is in this week's issue of Washington City Paper. Another band I've historically been a fan of, another new album I didn't like so much.

The new one from The Apes (which I'm slated to write about for an another issue of WCP) is excellent, however. And I can't wait to sink my teeth into the upcoming Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds jam.

Matthew A. Stern has a thought-provoking notice of the latest Zs record in today's Dusted.

Thanks to everyone who I sent previews of my album to — your comments are much appreciated. The rest of you will be able to absorb its '70s guitar glory very soon, following a few minor mix/mastering tweaks.

Back later. . .

After a Long Wonky Day, I Like to Unwind With a Little Catblogging!

This guy is just too cute, even without testicles:

I'm pretty pooped after a full day of policy tech talk at the Congressional Net Caucus. Pretty awesome event, I must say. I'll write more about it later, but if I had to pick the best part right now, it'd be Gigi Sohn from Public Knowledge going toe-to-to with Cary Sherman from the RIAA about ISP filtering schemes to curtail (yeah, right) illegal file-sharing. There were a couple of other folks on the panel, too. . . too tired to get into it at the moment.

Oh, and the discussion about the real-world policy, legal (and social) implications of Second Life was hilarious. And kinda creepy.

Stay tuned. . .

Report From the Front.

Hey there.

The new cat, who we've taken to calling Cornelius, has had his male reproductive organs truncated. I assure you this was, in fact, on purpose. He's now convalescing on his beloved kitty jungle gym.

Tomorrow is the big "State of the Net" Caucus here in Washing-town. I can't wait to mingle with the eggheads and tech-policy wonks. A thorough digital debriefing will surely follow.

Bye-bye, Giuliani! I guess 911 isn't enough to hang a campaign on, particularly when you look like a cross between Nosferatu and Montgomery Burns and you're running against the Plastic Fantastic, Mit Romney. Oh, and that old dude from the 'Nam.

Back in McCain's day, vacuum tubes were the hot new technology. Now they've just invented a transistor radio smaller than a grain of sand. No shit — it's made out of nanotubes!

Wold you be interested in downloading a half-million (17GB) photos stolen from MySpace profiles? If you answered yes, you're not alone.

Longtime U2 manager Paul McGuinness hates broadband, and thinks tech pioneers are "hippies." That's essentially what he said in his speech at MIDEM, the world's largest music industry conference. I agree with a lot of his points, but he did kinda come across like a blowhard. Here's the full text. It's definitely worth reading, as is Bob Lefsetz' predictably cranky response.

Remember a while back when I posted a link to a page cataloging various Presidential candidates' stances on tech issues? Well, here's an even better one, that also analyzes their views on related issues like intellectual property and copyright reform.

All Google wants to do is sell ads to the candidates. Well, besides controlling the world, bwah-hah-hah.

OK, that's all for now. Gotta watch those Florida returns.

PS: Sean, if you're reading this — I'm sorry I haven't yet returned your call. I'm a tremendous ass.

Farce Volta.

I reviewed the new Mars Volta album, The Bedlam in Goliath, over at Dusted. I wanted to like it, honest. I saw 'em live back before their debut full-length came out, and they rocked pretty hard. But their subsequent records are all flash and little substance.

Here's my best paragraph:

. . .and by God, the lyrics are terrible. “It’s only a matter of folding time and space before I become your epidemic,” Cedric Bixler Zavala sings on “Cavelettas.” Although Goliath is the first TMV release not to have a central theme, it was informed by a “haunting” involving a cursed Ouija board that Omar Lopez Rodriguez picked up in Jerusalem. I’m not about to taunt the supernatural, but it sounds like they were communicating with the ghost of a 14-year-old Dungeon Master with a thing for bad adjectives.

I think I've got a review of Dead Meadow's latest running in this week's Washington City Paper. I'll post a link when it goes live.

Sunday Action.

I'd like to introduce you all to a nifty new blog called Liquid Sunshine, which is the online journal of Future of Music Coalition Events Organizer, Chhaya Kapadia. She quite plainly rules. Her writing is smart and funny, with a dose of old-fashioned sweetness. Much like Chhaya herself! Anyway, there are only a couple of posts up right now, but I'm sure we can expect more, considering she leads a pretty action-packed life. Well, compared to me, anyway.

In other exciting news, I've finished with my new record, which is called Northern Lights. It took me forever, mostly due to laziness. Perfectionism, however unrealized, also conspired against me. It's a little woofy on the low end in spots, but I don't feel like remastering it right now. If it turns out I can't live with it — which could easily happen — I might give it another go.

Next up, I send it to Jebson for comment, then to Jay, so he can get a sense of what the artwork should be like. After that, I plan to give away the whole record, in MP3 form, right here. It will also be up for sale at iTunes and eMusic, and you should eventually even be able to stream it at Rhapsody. Probably won't bother with a CD. Feel free to e-mail me (button at top left) for more info.

As I previously mentioned, Northern Lights is (loosely) inspired by Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials novels. Stylistically, it's a grab bag, but it has an overall rockin' feel. The last stuff I released was of the hushed, saddoe variety, with a few artsy/electronic flourishes. This thing owes more to classic rock, which, I must confess, is kind of embarrassing. I've basically outed myself big time. There's no way I can pretend to be an envoy of the avant-garde after this. Oh well. At least there's a few bitchin' solos.

What else is goin' on? We finally saw The Orphanage (El Orfanto) yesterday, which I can't recommend enough, especially if you're a Guillermo del Toro fan. (He produced it; Juan Antonio Bayona directed.) It's something of a companion piece to del Toro's The Devil's Backbone (El Espinazo del Diablo) — both have a thing for dead kids and eerie architecture.  I'm rarely affected by so-called  scary movies, but The Orphanage made me jump several times. Take that as a warning, if you're a fraidy-pants. 

I think we're gonna try to catch Persepolis today. 'Cause tomorrow it's back to the grind.

New Feature: Songs I Haven't Listened to in Forever.

Following a text exchange about nostalgia with my friend Ken, I decided to start a new blog feature. Songs I Haven't Listened to in Forever is just that: music that I swooned for once upon a shadowy time, but have since fallen out of touch with.

Today's entry, just for Ken, is a song from Sunny Day Real Estate's masterpiece, How it Feels to Be Something On. (If you disagree with my assessment, fuck you.) All the tracks on this record are awesome, but if I had to pick one, it'd have to be "Every Shining Time You Arrive." HIFTBSO isn't available from any digital retailers, but you can easily snag a used copy on Amazon.

MP3: Sunny Day Real Estate — "Every Shining Time You Arrive"

I'd love to tell you a long story about this record, like I did with Built to Spill, but I gotta go see The Orphanage. Finally.

Can't Stop With the Dumb Clips.

Today, I stumbled across a post at Washington City Paper's blog, Black Plastic Bag, featuring a long-lost commercial from 1986. Here's WCP scribe Michael J.West has to say about it:

The commercial I’ve posted below. . . was a commercial for Nestle’s chocolate, but it was far more like, say, an Enya video: mesmerizing, full of strange, surreal images and hypnotic, atmospheric music. As far as the imagery goes, I remember the idea of it more than specifics - but the jingle has actually sort of haunted me ever since I first heard it at age 7.

He also expressed surprise at the fact that the ad had something of a cult following:

So today when I looked it up on YouTube, I discovered to my astonishment that the page was loaded with comments by people who remembered the music, note-perfect. (”This must be some kinda friggin subliminal mind trap!” says one commenter.) So it’s not me in this case: it’s the ad. Even Faith No More was entranced by it: they apparently used to perform the jingle in concert.

Great. Now it's gonna be stuck in my head for another decade. Have a look (and listen) and tell me if you can't picture Angel Dust-era FNM covering this creepy-ass jingle.

More Stupid Videos.

Featuring everybody's favorite musclebound gothic goober, Danzig!

Danzig sings his shopping list:

Danzig duets with Shakira:

Danzig explains his songwriting process and why he prefers Les Paul guitars. While shirtless in his kitchen:

Dnazig gets punched the fuck out:

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

Presidential candidates "cover" David Bowie. [ via Wired.]