where the wild things are

not only does this trailer rock my sox, it also features awesome music from the arcade fire.  i’m drooling with anticipation.

grapefruit

these guys are unbelievable.  so fucking awesome i actually paid for their music.  i used my credit card and purchased music.  i got everything they offered on their site and i plan to continue buying them as they continuing releasing them.  they deserve every last penny.  unbelievable.  this is what it means to have talent, not just impeccable technique, not just rabid creativity, but to have both in just the right portions to make something absolutely scrumtralescent.  these are real musicians.  i am humbled.  check out the rest of their videosongs and buy their music.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=392573366

why don’t you just learn the guitar, hero?

despite my urgent warnings to proscribe guitar hero from my sister, my parents nevertheless decided to buy it for her and now the villainous game is in my house, decaying the creative potential of my family. i say family because i caught my dad playing it today. it was weird. i can appreciate the pure technical prowess required to faithfully replicate button sequences at high speeds, but it makes me wonder why someone who can perform the feat featured above, doesn’t just learn to play a real guitar. it’s clear that he has the mental focus and digital dexterity to coordinate a flurry of motions that undoubtedly resembles an epileptic spider. why not use that talent on the real deal? i think what people really want is to be graded on their performances. that’s what makes these guitar games so fun. they grade you so that you know there is always room for improvement. someone needs to create a program that listens to actual guitar playing and then grades the performance. maybe then more people will learn to play the actual instrument. i wouldn’t mind going around telling people how much they suck while they play their favorite rock songs on a real six-string but there’s only so much of me to go around. shame.

holy shit, i love faded paper figures

well, this was a surprise. if anyone has seen the recent lexus ad for the rx350 pebble beach edition, it features this gorgeous electronica track which i decided to search out. after a very brief search, i came across the band faded paper figures who supposedly wrote the song used in the commercial. i then looked up this indie electronica band and lo and behold, they were marvelous. it was like sensual love making in my ear, the kind that makes you tear with joy and not feel like you have to blame it on dust. they sound very much like the postal service which is a fantastic compliment. anyways, i just wanted to say how much i loved these guys. as soon as i find out how, i’m going to buy an album, even though they put all there songs out for free on myspace.com. these guys deserve money for their art and i am more than happy to deliver. fantastic. here’s the ad i first heard them in.

charity from music

few people realize this, but a guitar can double as a splint, a stretcher (for babies), or a fire axe, all of which can be used to save lives. however, if you prefer to keep your guitar for use as a chick magnet, you can also help save lives by clicking on the above link and donating to the music for relief program. check it out and feel good about yourselves. (also, chicks love charity)

elizabeth & the catapult

i’m in love with this indie group elizabeth & the catapult. i remember i was in new york at a club where they were playing but couldn’t get in ’cause they were carding. i no longer have that problem. hopefully i can go see them now. check it out, cuz they rock your face like islamic fundamentalists.

i would tell you to go buy their self-titled debut, but i know you won’t, so just go ahead and download it. as long as you hear them and spread the word, i’m happy. a real band makes its bread and butter from live shows.  you can stream most of their songs from here: http://cdbaby.com/cd/eatcatapult

jesse lacey & kevin devine

friday, i saw a low-key acoustic concert in albany featuring jesse lacey and kevin devine.  i don’t really listen to either of them very often, but i am indiscriminate when it comes to live shows, especially in small venues.  it’s always respectable to see musicians performing, particularly when they’re not getting paid that much.  also it was free.  anyways, it was fun, save the pain in my legs and feet after standing for so long.  to commemorate the event, i learned play crack the sky and recorded it.  this should be fun for any brand new fans, otherwise, it’ll be an unusual departure from my usual style, but it’s fun to branch out and try new things…in bed.

play crack the sky

holla, bread!

stryofoam – couches in alleys (feat. ben gibbard)

yesterday i posted about this song. today, i’m still obsessed with it, with the exception of the guilt that comes from keeping it on repeat while the rest of the nothing’s lost album gathers digital dust. also, perhaps it’s just my lack of sleep causing a chemical imbalance in my brain, but i feel like something’s wrong; like that feeling you get when you’re driving somewhere new, and you think you might have missed a turn a mile back, but you’re not sure ’cause you’ve never been to the destination before. anyways, i thought i’d post the lyrics, because they are so poignant and depressing, the perfect thing to help drag you down with me. enjoy!

“hey jack, it’s me, i don’t mean to bother you, but something’s been on my mind
that the end of this road, that climbs the horizon will be reached in a matter of miles
and when the wheels cease to spin, the walls and fences will grow higher than redwood trees
and i know your demise, and i fear what will happen when the road fails to flow under me, to flow under me

oh jack, you see, i felt like your mirror with the wind whipping through my hair
when the wheels ceased to spin, and i cased my surroundings, i realized i hadn’t gone anywhere
and the problems i’d left with couches in alleys that no one would ever claim
and the hardest part was sifting through the pieces of the rain soaked and rotten remains, when i got home
when i got home
when i got home

hey jack, it’s me, i don’t mean to bother you, but something’s been on my mind
(when i got home)
that the end of this road, that climbs the horizon will be reached in a matter of miles
(when i got home)
hey jack, it’s me, i don’t mean to bother you, but something’s been on my mind
(when i got home)
hey jack, it’s me, i don’t mean to bother you, but something’s been on my mind
(when i got home)
hey jack, it’s me, i don’t mean to bother you, but something’s been on my mind
(hey jack, it’s me, i don’t mean to bother you, but something’s been on my mind)
hey jack, it’s me, i don’t mean to bother you, but something’s been on my mind
(hey jack, it’s me, i don’t mean to bother you, but something’s been on my mind)”

clearly this song is about skipping out on child support and asking your deadbeat brother for advice; either that or confessing a fear of confronting problems that lie waiting at the end of an escapist journey with an imaginary friend named jack. either way, it makes you wanna curl up in a ball and retreat to a happier time, before you had 3 kids and a mounting credit bill.

i can dance all day, i can dance all day- boom! headshot!

i just found this bad boy on youtube. the last time i saw this video was 5 yrs ago back in high school. it was quite the nostalgic video clip. the smooth, soothing movements of liquid pop used to mesmerize me to no end. anyways, watching this video made me want to look up more wild dancing, so i did. and i’ve conveniently embedded them for your viewing pleasure. enjoy!

eric doin’ his liquid pop (the nostalgic video)

afroboy doing some sick liquid pop

robots dancing!!!

catharsis

do not read this unless you have an oddly strong interest in my personal life.

i was listening to some music today from some indie acts (elizabeth & the catapults, styrofoam). it made me think about the future. when i listen to music, i like to think about the environments which perfectly compliment the tone and atmosphere of the music. usually, with the music i like, it leads me to some nice fancy bar where the live act is the artist currently playing. the kind of place where you sit at circular tables in front of a stage and sip martinis with a significant other, enjoying an immersive set that few others have had the pleasure of experiencing. otherwise, it’ll be a dim apartment in manhattan, the kind with a red brick wall and high up so you can see the electric constellations of the city skyline. either way, it usually involves alcohol and a significant other.

there’s something about uncertainty and fear and loneliness that speaks to me. could it be that my early childhood development was somehow skewed by a dramatic shift in backdrop. maybe moving to a new country at the age of 3 and leaving the familiarity of home-life half way around the world to start anew has traumatized my sense of enjoyment. nowadays, i am stuck with a strangely romantic desire to live a solitary life in the heart of a city, riding subways and walking city blocks through crowds that could easily engulf you. something about being alone in a place where so many live is oddly comforting, almost sensual, as if everyone in that city were a lonely soul looking forward to something they can’t quite name. is there anything more romantic than two broken souls finding comfort in each other? aren’t our hearts most vulnerable when all hope is lost and we have nothing but each other to seek comfort in. if you’ve ever seen leaving las vegas, you’ll have a slight understanding of the kind of romance i refer to. however, it’s a lofty idealistic vision that lacks any real-world merit, as such depressing pairings can rarely last, though that fact too may lend to the romance of the situation. to know that something is fleeting and unsustainable, but to embrace it regardless for the strength of emotion it elicits, isn’t that the hollywood love story everyone wants? happy endings are overrated. life isn’t conducive to happy endings, as eventually one must leave the other, however far off into the future it might be. we are all fleeting creatures, and it is all we can do to eek out what pleasures we can before time runs out.

it’s quite a paradox i draw out. the desire to be alone, but constantly seeking someone to share that loneliness with. it sounds almost perverse, but i feel that there are many who share this vision of romance. it’s a tale of dark, brooding life in a city that doesn’t sleep. perhaps it’s knowing that there is always something more beyond the horizon that keeps us tied to an unfulfilling life spent constantly looking for something that we’re not sure of. it’s an uncertainty that draws from fear and hope. we expose ourselves to failure in hopes of success. we endure pain in search of pleasure. perhaps there is a point where the two start to blur and we begin to equate one with the other. it becomes a concoction of both which we begin to seek, not simply success and pleasure, but happiness tempered with sadness. we want to know and feel the comparable poles of emotion. so we seek loneliness and solitude first, because such feelings allow for a greater reprisal of love and companionship when finally we do find someone.

i’m starting to lose focus of the point i’m trying to make so i’ll stop now. however, i will give another quick plug. go listen to stryofoam feat. ben gibbard – couches in alleys. it’s kinda amazing.