Tuesday, November 13, 2007

apple's love is rotten to the core.

(Joshua Masayoshi Huff)

Fine, the link is old--but that doesn't make it any less brutal.


Seriously, though--is this girl stupid? Does she not know what she can put lyrics in for each song under "notes"

(I kid, I kid--she's not stupid.)

It's just kind of a messed up thing to pull on a little girl. Fine, you don't want unsolicited ideas--but you don't send cease-and-desist letters to children.

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Slate has an interesting article on Disney World as well

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And, since I'm on an ambient kick (not ambien), I've posted some tracks. I know ambient isn't most people's cup of tea--but try it out. I don't really know what it is about ambient that's so captivating--it's like synthetic noise that actually sounds like we imagine nature sounds like...even though nature never really sounds like it at all.


M83 "Run Into Flowers"

M83's "Dead Cities, Red Seas and Lost Ghosts" redefined what could be done with cheap keyboards. No longer are they just for bad dance music--M83 really pushed the boundaries and made an album based heavily on My Bloody Valentine's seminal "Loveless" while using no guitars. The irony that one of the warmest albums ever created was done entirely with keyboards isn't lost on me.

Fennesz "Shiseido"

Fennesz (ne Christian Fennesz) is an Austrian based musician who has worked with Ryuichi Sakamoto and Mike Patton (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle) and is really pushing the boundaries of glitch by layering his glitch on top of songs with rhythmic pop sensibilities. Most of the stuff by Fennesz on youtube is either fan-done or live stuff--so I went with "Shiseido". And, yes, though he is heavily influenced by Sonic Youth, the title of his most famous album, "Endless Summer", is an homage to the Beach Boys.

Boards of Canada "Dayvan Cowboy"/"Roygbiv"




"Dayvan Cowboy" is the band's first official video and was released in 2005, though they've been around since the late '90s. They are indeed named after the Film Board of Canada (whose work they sample heavily) though they hail from the UK. I couldn't find the links, but their music is heavily steeped in symbolism--Waco, Scientology--you name it and it's all there subliminally.


Mogwai "Helicon 1"


Fine, Mogwai isn't ambient, they're post-rock. Just the same, though--many people are unfortunately bored by both genres. They were, at one point, in the Guinness Book of World Records as the World's Loudest Band--and they lived up to that moniker when I saw them live.

This song is absolutely beautiful. Not to sound cheesy, but Mogwai is one of those band's that just don't sound as good on record as they do live--the records can't contain the volume and complexity that are vital to the band's mission.


I also looked for videos by Tim Hecker and Manual but could not find anything. Regardless, give them a look if you liked what you've seen/heard here.

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For those dead set against ambient, don't fret--bsto and I are debating the significance of Jay-Z's newest album, so we'll get back to the rap soon.

And our thoughts go out to Kanye West--his mother, a noted academic and author, passed away Saturday night at the age of 58.