Daily Archives: February 11, 2011

40 posts

A Horrible Confession

37 comments

I like The New Radicals and Fall Out Boy.

I have a degree in sound design from CalArts (technically, I have a BFA in theater, but CalArts has a sound design program that I studied). I spent a lot of time in college hanging out with the music school students. Were I more talented, my days would be spent creating masterpieces on the guitar and synth (the big analogue ones with the patch cables and such. My work has an original Moog Modular that I restored and constantly play with). My music collection runs from Phoenix to Aphex Twin to Brian Eno to Penderecki to Mozart. I consider myself a music snob. I don’t listen to terrestrial radio because I can’t stand the repetitive playlist. I get my music from the underground station on Sirius, and blogs, and the What.CD staff picks, and Becomes Eclectic on KCRW (everyone who doesn’t know about this show, it’s run on Los Angeles’ NPR station every weekday morning, and is amazing. They stream it online.). I am the insufferable prick who points out that the Beatles’ “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” is a ripoff of “You Never Can Tell” by Chuck Berry.
Back in the nineties, when I was in college (class of 2000), I was watching MTV. The video for “You Get What You Give” came on. The video was fairly innocuous: a bunch of kids take over a mall and let the pets out and something and I think Robin Sparkles is there. I don’t know. I’ve had a lot to drink since then. The point is, the song was pretty good. I went out and bought the CD. There were songs about ODing, I think some stuff about suicide, altogether some pretty subversive material coated in catchy pop hooks. I love this album. I am the only one of my friends that does. Well, except for one, but he loves it in the way I love the Breakin’ movies and Snakes On A Plane – because they’re shit.
Fall Out Boy is a band with a great name. They also have some really fun songs. “Sugar, We’re Going Down” is on my playlist for when I shower in the morning. Altogether, these guys write solid songs, and divorce the Simpson girl without the boobs. The second part would usually make me not even want to try their music, but I didn’t know about that when I first heard them. I am the only one of my friends that likes this band as well.
I don’t want you to think that all of my friends are a bunch of hipster music snobs like me. My best friends, who I have known since I started high school, love Matchbox 20 and Blessid Union Of Souls. If that name isn’t enough to drive you away, they’re the guys responsible for that “Hey Leonardo (She Likes Me For Me)” piece of shit that was mildly popular back around 2000. These guys have horrible taste in music, and they don’t like either of these bands.
In college, a buddy of mine who was getting his Master’s in sound design went out and bought Blink 182’s big album. This guy was a music major at Oberlin, and a huge fan of Wendy Carlos’ work in “A Clockwork Orange.” Wendy Carlos is the one who made “Switched On Bach,” which, as a big analogue synth fan, I listen to pretty regularly. Anyway, this guy who had a degree in music from a pretty serious school, and could wax philosophical about classical music reworked on a Moog, loved Blink 182. He sat in the sound studio at school and listened to that album for three hours with headphones on. He heard a band that was tailor-made for that day’s youth. I heard a band that couldn’t play their instruments, and whose mastery of the English language paled in comparison to a third grader. I opened up to him about my love for The New Radicals, and he laughed at me.
These are my guilty pleasures. Now I only listen to them in my house, or through earphones so no one will laugh at me.
These are my guilty pleasures. I know I shouldn’t like them, but I do

BREAKING: Details Of Mubarak’s Resignation

12 comments

Reports are coming out that the CIA intercepted emails between former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and an unnamed 34 year-old middle-aged woman from suburban Maryland, purporting to show Mubarak shirtless and posing.  These yet-unreleased photos, described by one CIA analyst as “racy” show a topless dictator posing in the mirror, taking a self-portrait with smartphone of unknown manufacture.

The CIA has yet to confirm the exact nature of the emails but it is believed that Mubarak had been sending emails to the woman for some time.  Reports differ as to whether Mubarak and she connected via Craigslist or through the back pages of The Village Voice.

It is now believed that President Mubarak’s resignation was not caused by growing civil unrest but, rather, the impending release of the photos and emails.

Photo Phriday

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GOT JUNK??? Maybe it’s not junk, maybe it’s a cherished heirloom or a valuable antique. Or maybe it’s just a bunch of plastic necklaces and bracelets from your otherwise lost-in-a-closet Pretty Pretty Princess board game.
So take a picture of your favorite (or weirdest, most disturbing, etc.) tchotchkes and get ready to show ’em to us starting at 8pm EST.

Please do not post any pictures of your genitalia. Perv.

To our left is not one of my tchotchkes. That’ll come at 8. But this lil ‘guy gives you the general idea.

Ode to the Savior of Misbehavior

20 comments

Many, many years ago, when I was a young, impressionable girl, I fell into a ditch where I was ravaged by the music of the Afghan Whigs.

*ahem*

It only seems appropriate to start off a post/appreciation of Greg Dulli with a bit of drama.

The Whigs (fuck that other band who are attempting to use that name) were on Subpop with other late 80s/90s grunge mainstays, but they clearly were not cut from the same cloth. The band was heavily influenced by old soul and R&B records as much as The Replacements and Hüsker Dü. Plain and simple, these guys had swagger to spare.

The band’s live shows were epic. I was fortunate to see the band in all their live glory where they took performing a cover song to a new level. Lead singer Greg Dulli was part-master of ceremonies, part-preacher with a lot of sin in his past.

“Gentlemen” by the Afghan Whigs

Following the split of the Afghan Whigs back in February, 2001, Dulli’s Twilight Singers project emerged, featuring a variety of musicians, including Mark Lanegan, Joseph Arthur, Petra Haden, and Ani DiFranco, over the years. Their newest release, Dynamite Steps, is dark, sweeping, and feels like a soundtrack to a film yet to be made.  In short, it’s absolutely beautiful. I highly recommend picking up the album on February 15.

“On the Corner” by the Twilight Singers

You’d think one band would keep Dulli busy considering he also owns a few bars in L.A. and New Orleans. Oh no. Dulli’s vocals can be heard all over the place from DJ Muggs to Lo Fidelity Allstars.

Then there’s the Gutter Twins, a group in which Dulli shares vocals with the amazing Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees, collaborator with Isobel Campbell as well as his own solo career). Saturnalia, the Twins’ debut album, feels like you’re in a broken handbasket on the way to Hell. Even if you don’t drink, you may pick up a whiskey habit after listening to the album.

“All Misery/Flowers” by the Gutter Twins

Oh, and since it’s Friday, I’ll end this appreciation with a rumpshaker and possibly a song that I may or may not have used in a poledance routine.

“Southside Lowdown” by Lo Fidelity AllStars featuring Greg Dulli.

Ronit Baranga

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Ronit Baranga is an Israeli artist whose sculptures and tableware range from creepy to whimsical and hit every rung in between.  Her creations give inanimate objects life, with mouths, fingers and faces.  All strange and nameless.

Baranga studied Psychology and Hebrew Literature, but realized art was where her love lay.  After graduating Haifa University, and Tel Aviv University with her degrees, she migrated to Bet Berl College to begin her studies of Practical Art. Ever since, she has been shooting out impressive works of art. Unfortunately Baranga has only shown in Israel and Italy so seeing these works up close is not yet a possibility for most of us.  I’m sure the photos of these pieces are nothing compared to viewing them in person.

Around the web: weird and wonderful news

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Servicey
The little bastards have done nothing but piss you off all day anyway.

  • Wired reports a study that found that the combined computational power of every computer on Earth is equal to one human brain’s processing power. In terms of storage, our total storage capacity is equal to the amount of data in one adult’s DNA.
  • The Pentagon has issued a DADT repeal plan. Hallelujah! The full document is available at the previous link, the PowerPoint presentation put together by the Marine Corps command is here, courtesy of OutServe.
  • Officials in Fort Wayne, IN are inexplicably reluctant to name a new government center after former four-term mayor Harry Baals.
  • Police arrested a man in South Pasadena after he climbed a tree to, he claimed, escape a pack of pumas. Yes, he was drunk. No, there are not roaming packs of pumas in South Pasadena, to the best of my knowledge at least.

Enjoy your Friday, Crasstalkers! Just not quite that much.

You can’t go back UPDATED

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The new Gawker will not brook dissent.  Nor will it tell you who took your star away.

This is a sign of maturity and respect, and not petty at all.

UPDATE: Remy Stern was behind my unstarring.  Here’s our brief back-and-forth:

Dear Remy,

I just lost my star, and I don’t know why. I also can’t see who unstarred me.

Here’s the offending comment: http://gawker.com/#!5757998/a-day-in-the-life-of-gawker-media?comment=36955123:36955123

I’d like an explanation, if it’s not too much trouble.

Thanks,

[redacted], aka Thunderclees

*****

I did.

Listen, we’re all frustrated with the new design and its gazillion tech issues. No one is more frustrated than us, since we have to use the system all day to post stories (and the back-end has just as many issues as the front) and we’ve been inundated with emails telling us how much we suck. We didn’t design it. We didn’t build it. But we’re gritting our teeth, trying to get through it, and looking forward to all the fixes that the tech team has promised us. Complain all you want in the comments of that post. But if you’re going to suggest people leave the site and go elsewhere, you’re not keeping your star. (If you’re abandoning the site, you won’t need it any longer anyway!) We’ve been through enough.

Remy Stern  |  Gawker.com
[email protected] |  (646) 912-8984

*****

Hi Remy,

Thanks for your reply and your candor. I didn’t realize that saying I was leaving was tantamount to encouraging others to do the same, but thanks for letting me know.

Best,

[redacted]