Posts tagged “music”

A web standards cover of "Hands to Heaven" called "Hands to Boag" is a delightful piece of web history, made even better by the fact that one of the podcast hosts was actually in the original band. I rescued it from bit-rot so you can still enjoy it.

Lily Allen covering Britney Spears' "Womanizer." Genius.

Taste in art isn't about refinement or pretension. It's evolutionary signaling: we're attracted to skill and novelty because talented people make good mates. So stop being proud or embarrassed about your cultural preferences. You're just a monkey reading other monkeys' signals.

Found my go-to SF club: DNA Lounge, run by a retired Netscape programmer who does it for love, not money. Perfect venue, great crowd dressed like extras from Hackers. Someone stole a tiny flashlight off my keyring but left my iPod. Small price for a brilliant night.

Moving across the Atlantic in days, toggling between panic and glee. Mika's *Life in Cartoon Motion* is the perfect soundtrack. Also: Barney Google was a comic strip before it was a search engine. Someone should look into that.

Tonight is my last Popstarz before I leave the country. Come join me as I go out dancing one final time, claiming what's mine.

Got Bose in-ear headphones for Christmas and they've completely transformed my music library. Everything sounds richer and fuller than before. I've had to re-evaluate my entire iTunes rating system because suddenly everything sounds amazing.

My Last.FM top 20 artists of 2006, with some surprises: Snow Patrol topped the list, Alanis was a one-day back-catalog binge, and Goldfrapp would rank higher if they'd released more. Late discoveries Larrikin Love and We Are Scientists missed the cut entirely.

Sharing some funny lyrics from Orson's "Already Over" -- not directed at anyone, just genuinely hilarious. The delivery makes it even better. Recommend the album.

Google Music Trends has the same problem as LaunchCast: it's all aggregate stats with nothing personal for the user. Last.fm succeeds because it gives people personalized charts and recommendations. Without a personal hook, why would anyone sign up, other than to give Google more of their data?

The water company warns of a drought while I sit here listening to rain pour down outside. Laughable.

Loving the new Snow Patrol album: depressing lyrics set to upbeat music, Sufjan Stevens name-checks, communal singing, and clapping. Also, Muse's "Supermassive Black Hole" sounds surprisingly Goldfrapp-esque, which the world needs more of. Good albums are overdue.

A memorial night for Simon Hobart at Popstarz drew hundreds of people, celebrity DJs (Brett Anderson, Brian Molko, Siouxsie Sioux, Kele Okereke), walls of written tributes, free drinks, and nearly £10k raised for charity. Exactly how he would have wanted it.

I review the Sugababes' "Taller in More Ways," predicting six potential singles, and praise the band's effortless cool. Then I break down my iTunes star-rating system, from one-star duds auto-deleted from my iPod to the rare five-star classics I'll defend to the death, Britney included.

My housemates T&J are DJing at Popstarz this Friday, 2-4am. Get there, bring everyone you know!

Tagged with a song meme! My five current favorites span Goldfrapp to Art of Noise. My iPod is broken again, curse Apple, but I'm eyeing the new flash-memory minis in NYC. Also tagging five friends and welcoming Bob to the blogosphere.

Small crowd, loud music, 10 feet from the band. Perfect gig.

Rough week has left me wanting to destroy things, so Friday night I'm putting on all my spiky black gear and moshing at the Mean Fiddler. Anyone in?

I've been exploring my 3,000+ unplayed iTunes songs since 2004. Here are 10 I didn't skip, from JC Chasez to No Doubt. Tagging Dan and Dom to keep the meme going.

Went to Miss-Shapes. Decent night — Sandra played Push It again (why?), but redeemed herself with Goldfrapp. Cute guy in a white shirt who could dance. Left by 1.30, before last tube. Not sure why I'm even writing this down.

I'm sick of Bob Geldof's self-congratulatory crusade. Live 8 is just guilty liberals convincing themselves that watching Keane in a field somehow saves African lives. It doesn't. If you actually care, do something real. The wristbands and the concert are just ego and nonsense.

My housemates T&J are DJing at Miss-Shapes tonight, my boss just left, and I'm going clubbing on a Thursday. Currently reading Stephenson's System of the World and drinking Yazoo.

Tried buying physical CDs for the first time in ages. Total disaster: wrong section, missing albums, no recommendations, one lonely listening station. How did people ever shop for music this way? I am deeply grateful to live in the age of the internet.

I love Buttoned Down Disco, where we celebrated M's birthday. Thanks to Housemate T for the tip.

11,832 songs on my iPod. Most-played artist: Kasabian, so dominant they took the entire top ten. Also apparently I listen to a lot of Kelly Clarkson.

Went clubbing in Shoreditch: survived a bongo-playing sadist, a skip fire, and a venue that was essentially a drug den with a dancefloor. The music made it worth it. Barely.

My new favourite band, Gabi and the Whoremoans, gave me permission to host two of their demo tracks. Download them here, completely legally.

The Scissor Sisters' debut tracklist maps the lifecycle of The Gay Pop Artist, from innocent twink with fag-hag to scene queen to bitter, dried-out wreck. Laura doesn't fit, but the rest holds up. Too tired to analyze further. Run with it.

Two old website designs I never used, but kind of wish I had. The yin yang one was totally impractical at over 1000 pixels wide, but I still have a soft spot for it.

Missed yesterday's post because I got lost building a feed manager for Planet Seldo. Redesign coming tonight. Also, "Virgins in the Valley" by Gabi and the Whoremoans is incredible; ask me for a copy.

2004 in quizmeme format: I rediscovered hard work, got an iPod, started a job I actually like, and remained broke despite secret long-term investments. Bush got re-elected, Kerry didn't win, and I had almost no sex. Much happier than last year, slightly thinner.

Gwen Stefani's debut solo album is out. Go get it immediately. Review coming soon.

I love my iPod because it transforms dead commuting time into music-listening and blog-reading time, boosting both my mood and productivity. The massive storage means no pre-planning what to listen to, and the interface is the best available. It has meaningfully improved my quality of life.

William Shatner covers Pulp's "Common People," produced by Ben Folds, on his new album *Has Been*. It's fucking amazing.

A countdown meme borrowed from Matt. My live music history is embarrassing (Steps, Vengaboys, Geri Halliwell) so I'm motivated to do better. New job tomorrow, summer plans looking good, still haven't finished my personal projects, and Mr. Right remains at large.

Been using AudioScrobbler to track my listening habits. Jellyfish dominates everything, all ten of my top songs are theirs. Also loving JC Chasez's underrated album and Alanis's return to form. I'm getting more into music than ever, and I'm not sure why.

A grab-bag of links: Jellyfish's albums deserve your attention, interview prep resources for the newly employed, BBC's useless press release rewrites, Bush's bald-head fetish and his trophy gun, American atrocities in Iraq, quiet planes, and inevitably, a clown named Spanky facing porn charges.

Soulwax's 2 Many DJs have a new album out and it's already sounding great four songs in. Go grab it before the link disappears.

A grab-bag of links: Jellyfish are a great band, Abu Ghraib reflects routine US prison abuse, Jon Stewart gave a funny commencement speech, and Smallville is getting good now that it's ditching freak-of-the-week for real Lex-vs-Clark conflict.

Currently loving Jellyfish's Spilt Milk (get it now), Scissor Sisters, Outkast's double album, Dido's surprisingly strong ballads, George Michael's Patience, and Maroon 5's bitter, Jamiroquai-ish sound. Albums worth your time, not just catchy singles.

Rik made a killer Kelis vs. 2Unlimited mix. Grab it before Kiss FM ruins it.

Posting 20 random songs from my MP3 collection to dilute the embarrassing ones. Highlights include Kelis, Queen, and Fiona Apple. Lowlights? Phil Collins, Bon Jovi, and Gareth Gates. At least Magnetic Fields saved some credibility. Britney? Totally unapologetic.

Polaroid says don't shake your photos like Outkast told you to. Also, I'm rating my blog on Hot or Not because yes, that's a thing now.

I spent all weekend (Friday 8pm to Sunday 10pm, 10 hours sleep total) building a site full of circles I had to cut and paste manually. Never again. Also: Britney's new album is elevator music, Madonna showed her up, and my love life is exactly as empty as this post suggests.

Random thoughts: the Church of England being non-bigoted about sexuality deserves grudging credit; Lemon Jelly's Pushy is worth downloading; cops can't say "what can I do you for?"; and I keep failing at my one-day streak of self-improvement.

Basement Jaxx's *Kish Kash* is an absolute must-buy. Drop everything, grab your wallet, sprint to the record store. Seven songs that make you want to dance immediately, all on one album. I'm putting it on permanent repeat until I know every word and breakbeat by heart.

Caught a Robbie Williams lyric on my way out that perfectly captures how I've been feeling lately. Also, it's International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Arrr.

Stealth Disco has consumed my office and, inevitably, me. Also: Jason Mraz is great, the RIAA is suing Share Bear, Angle Grinder Man is our sad answer to the Naked Cowboy, and Teen Girl Squad is getting weird.

Shamelessly noting Madonna's kiss with Britney and Christina for the publicity stunt it is, while admitting the Google traffic won't hurt either.

TheFunny.Org is hit or miss, but this TATU parody ("I'm a lesbian, she's a lesbian...") is worth a listen despite the terrible singing. Also check out the Super Mario theme on classical piano, complete with underground music and the frantic speed-up at the end.

Jewel's back with "Intuition," a catchy, danceable pop song that's a welcome change from her meandering hippy phase. The video cleverly plays commercial sellout for laughs, contrasting "real" camcorder footage with glossy video world. She wimps out a little, but it's fun and self-aware. Go download it.

Crash was a three-hour musical orgasm that more than made up for Rainbows' disappointment. Perfect crowd density, great music, great company, and someone actually dragged me onto the dancefloor. School-dayz sounds terrible though. I'd rather drill through my eye and fill it with chilli powder than relive school.

Heading to Trinidad and thrilled about it. Cold, grey, and dark at 3pm here, so burning MP3 CDs instead of catching my train. Priorities.

I hate winter. I'm distracted by Trinidad's warm webcam, wondering what sufferin' succotash actually means, and questioning why Clinton is still everywhere. The web answers everything except why Bush Sr. and Reagan got more peace and quiet.

Massive link dump covering Tim Berners-Lee's first browser, Jurassic 5, Ben Folds Five, Al-Qaeda golf course sniper panic, Dawson's Creek gay sex, Google Zeitgeist, brain cancer breakthroughs, Apple's OS X giveaway, and Tomato Nation. My topic-hopping is probably breaking Google's brain.

I rediscovered a press release about the band Anthrax dealing with post-9/11 fallout from their name, plus CNN's absurdly overdone anniversary programming schedule. Also, a pretty brutal comic.

Sharing a grab-bag of links: Sanskrit lyrics to Duel of the Fates, Ken Perlin's cool HCI Java applets, Edgar Rice Burroughs' Martian Tales, and updates on Charlie Hunnam post-Queer as Folk. Undeclared is awful but he's cute, and the US QAF is enjoyably Americanized fluff.

A song skewering pop music clichés, structured as a duet between a "serious artist" narrator and exaggerated prefab popsters. I collected actual radio lyrics over 24 hours to prove the point. Spoiler: I caught myself using a cliché at the end.

A poem about soul music's raw power to take over completely, leaving no room for thought or resistance. It's primal, untamed, and all-consuming. Music isn't something I simply hear; it's everything, and there was nothing before it.

I'm furious at people who completely miss the point of art. Fifteen people on VH1 thought Alanis was being a slut in "Thank U" -- it's obviously about honesty and vulnerability. If meaning lives in the observer rather than the artist, what's even the point of creating anything?

I turned off Madonna to listen to rain on the roof, and it sparked an insight: rain is the ultimate sound experience. It surrounds you completely, it's perfectly random, it carries no message or agenda, and every rainfall is utterly unique. No recording can ever replicate that.

Found the "Do the Evolution" video by Pearl Jam. The lyrics are great, but the video is stunning. Track it down and watch it.

Alanis is back with *Under Rug Swept*, a fantastic return to form. Also: America's treatment of Camp X-ray prisoners violates the Geneva Convention, the USA PATRIOT Act is being abused to silence dissent, and the "land of the free" is looking pretty hypocritical right now.

I'm totally addicted to bass.

Garbage's Beautiful Garbage is their best yet. "Androgyny" is perfectly me, and I'm manifesting a live performance while wearing my "Nobody Knows I'm a Lesbian" shirt. "Cherry Lips" makes me wish I'd written the lyrics myself.

Complaining about cold buildings and bad internet access, but at least no Monday lectures. Here's a Gilbert and Sullivan parody link to make it worthwhile.