Whiffle Ball

i've moved

2009-12-31T17:19:00.001-08:00

Hey all! I know it's been forever since I posted here, but seeing how its the 31st and seeing how each year I always make a new year's resolution to be a better blogger, I thought I'd let you know that I've moved my blog over to WordPress and that I hope the new set up will inspire me to be more garrulous. Or would that be blogulous? Anyhoo, click here to see the new blog, and bookmark it or blogroll it, if you feel so inclined. There's not much there that's new right now, but I have created pages to house my playlists, which should keep the clutter down, and I'm looking forward to seeing what else I can do with WordPress. Eventually I'd love to get my own domain, but, first: baby steps. Baby blogging steps.

Happy New Year, folks, and I look forward to reading your blogs and/or reading your comments on mine in 2010!

playlist, jun. 16, 2009

2009-06-19T14:39:00.000-07:00

Elvis Costello & The Attractions - "Radio Radio"
Viva Voce - "Die a Little"
Crystal Stilts - "Love Is a Wave"
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - "Young Adult Friction
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Zero"
Otis Redding - "Respect"
Hidden Cameras - "Lollipop"
Cut Off Your Hands - "Happy as Can Be"
Comet Gain - "Love Without Lies"
Metric - "Sick Muse"
Leonard Cohen - "So Long, Marianne"
Grizzly Bear - "Two Weeks"
St. Vincent - "The Party"
My Brightest Diamond - "Tainted Love"
Sonic Youth - "Sacred Trickster"
Pavement - "Stereo"
The Beatles - "For You Blue"
Akron/Family - ""Everyone Is Guilty"
Rademacher - "They Are Always Into That"
Blake Jones - "Music to Change Clothes By"
Poplord - "Change in Time for Monday"
The Sleepover Disaster - "Friend"
Wheels of Fortune - "A Firefly Never Forgets"
Y La Bamba - "Fasting in S.F."
Ian McGlynn - "Mistaken for Strangers"
Breathe Owl Breathe - "Boat"
Papercuts - "Future Primitive"
The Breeders - "Do You Love Me Now?"
Fever Ray - "I'm not Done"
Moderat - "Sick with It"
NASA - "Watchadoin?"
Bola Johnson & His Easy Life Top Beats - "Ezuku Buzo"
Animal Collective - "Lion in a Coma"
The Lettermen - "Love"
The Raconteurs - "Salute Your Solution" [Live]
Crooked Fingers - "New Drink for the Old Drunk"
Peter Murphy - "Deep Ocean Vast Sea"
Interpol - "Obstacle 1"
The Go! Team - "Bottle Rocket"
Dirty Projectors & David Byrne - "Knotty Pine
Circlesquare - "Stop Taking (So Many)"
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - "Traveling Salesman's Young Wife Home Alone on Christmas in Montpelier, VT"

selling my seeds for free

2009-05-29T12:32:00.001-07:00

Rachid - “Sweet Charity”

If you’re like me, you just love songs about sperm donation. And I think you’ll agree with me that Rachid’s “Sweet Charity,” from 1998’s Prototype, is the best of the bunch. The song features flawlessly produced R&B grooves replete with vocoder, achey falsetto and just the right amount of melisma. But it’s the lyrics that really stand out here. The singer is in a waiting room preparing to…give freely of himself, but he thrills at being able to do so without the aid of “girly magazines.” All he has to do is think of his beloved, and—presto!

“I really must admit

It’s so lovely when you spit

When I think about it

I can make my deposit.”

Now who wouldn’t melt at having that whispered in your ear? “You’ve always inspired me,” Rachid croons, “to give to strangers in need.”

Consider this my gift to you. Enjoy.

♬

4 yr ears and 4 yr eyes

2009-04-27T11:55:00.001-07:00

Rainbow Arabia - "Omar K"

Breathe Owl Breathe - "Boat"

i be in it like a preacher in a pulpit

2009-04-24T16:57:00.000-07:00

The-Dream - “Mr. Yeah”

I’m a sucker for art that parodies itself, whether it does so wittingly or not. The-Dream’s “Yeah” is a syrupy bit of horny braggadocio that owes a lot to the up-in-da-club bravado of Usher’s “Yeah” and to Kanye West vocoderized come-ons. The lyrics may be silly when they’re going for sexy (“Cupid ain’t got shit on me / I’m harder than Superman, / I bounce back like a rubber band”), but there’s a really lovely melodic line here, and I love how the staccato synthesized chords counterpoint with a noise that sounds like a contented baby alien after a satisfying breastfeeding.

♫

oh, but we go out at night!

2009-04-22T10:14:00.000-07:00

Born Ruffians - "I Need a Life" (Four Tet Remix)

After listening to this remix umpteen times, I’ve decided that Four Tet should remix every song I like—or every song I don’t like, for that matter. The remix minces and reassembles the rough-hewn singing in Born Ruffians’ “I Need a Life,” creating an achey-breakey assemblage of boy vocals that swirl over pools of blips and bleeps. By the time the chorus breaks in and we hear the Ruffians chanting “Oh, but we go out at night!” the track has built up to such a crescendo that the otherwise forgettable phrase becomes a sublime assertion. At 6:50 the moving plea

I need a life
I’ve never had
I need so much more good, Lord
And much less bad

closes the track and turns what might otherwise have sounded like a frat-boy chant into a heartfelt prayer.

♪

st albans

2009-04-20T21:09:00.000-07:00

Shane and Joyce and I took a short day trip to the market town of St Albans on Saturday, Jan. 24. At one end of the market is a clock tower, which also marks the site at which the funeral procession of Queen Eleanor, wife of Edward I, rested on its sojourn to London in 1290. At each spot where the funeral procession rested, Edward raised a cross (one of these is the site of Charing Cross in London). The cross at St Albans no longer exists, but the clock tower is handsome in its own right, no?

A group of American Indians were dancing and singing at its base. Why not?

Word has it that St Albans boasts one of the highest concentrations of pubs of any village in England. That was enough motivation for Shane and Joyce and I to find ourselves in one. I ordered sausages and mash, and the pub people misforgot my order. So they gave me my lunch for free. Score!

After our lunch and ales, we sought out St Albans Cathedral. Here are Shane and Joyce playing "find the cathedral."

The cathedral is an interesting blend of styles dating from before the eleventh century to the late nineteenth.

See?

The interior was particularly beautiful, and, while inside, we joined a guided tour which informed us about various of the cathedral's features.

I can't quite remember what the tour guide said, but these pictures should give you some sense of what's in there.

After enjoying another beer, we headed back to London. That night, I took this picture from the window of my room in Vincent House.

westminster abbey & barnes to putney

2009-04-19T13:06:00.000-07:00

On Jan. 23, I took the students to Westminster Abbey. No photography is allowed inside the church, so I don't have pictures, but Westminster is a fascinating and beautiful place. Some of the students found all the tombs to be creepy (it must have been all the tombs), and a couple chose to cut out early (their loss, I say). It was also difficult keeping everyone together: Westminster allows groups only if all the members stay keep together and if the leader refrains from making any comments that a hired tour-guide might make. Thus, between herding students of varied levels of interest and not being able to say much while inside, the experience was less than ideal. Still, some of the students really enjoyed Westminster. One of them remarked, "Wow. You really have to want something badly to build this." I concurred.

That afternoon, Shane and I followed Robert Wright's walk from Barnes bridge to Putney. Early on in the walk, we stumbled across a house Henry Fielding lived in. So, to celebrate, I cut a little caper.

The walk took us past a Wetlands Centre, and then to a boat-racing section of the Thames.

It was dusk at the end of the walk, which made for some lovely views of the river and the bridges that cross it in Putney.

behind on london and bread

2009-04-19T12:51:00.001-07:00

My goal had been to blog regularly about my London Semester adventures, and I didn't even get through the first month of three! Still, through photos, I have a pretty good record of the walks and excursions, so I'll keep posting about them every so often, if only so I have a record of the experience.

Meanwhile, feast your eyes on this loaf of bread:

I made this a couple of days ago using the Cook's Illustrated Almost No-Knead Bread recipe that appeared in their January/February 2008 issue. It's a simple recipe, and it's nearly perfect. I still have to figure out why my loaves come out with a slightly over-browned bottom crust, but I have some ideas about how to address that problem.

Almost No-Knead Bread

An enameled cast-iron Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid yields best results, but the recipe also works in a regular cast-iron Dutch oven or heavy stockpot. Use a mild-flavored lager, such as Budweiser (mild non-alcoholic lager also works). The bread is best eaten the day it is baked but can be wrapped in aluminum foil and stored in a cool, dry place for up to 2 days.

3cups unbleached all-purpose flour (15 ounces), plus additional for dusting work surface
1/4teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 1/2teaspoons table salt
3/4cup plus 2 tablespoons water (7 ounces), at room temperature
1/4cup plus 2 tablespoons mild-flavored lager (3 ounces)
1tablespoon white vinegar

Makes 1 large round loaf

1. Whisk flour, yeast, and salt in large bowl. Add water, beer, and vinegar. Using rubber spatula, fold mixture, scraping up dry flour from bottom of bowl until shaggy ball forms. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 8 to 18 hours.

2. Lay 12- by 18-inch sheet of parchment paper inside 10-inch skillet and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface and knead 10 to 15 times. Shape dough into ball by pulling edges into middle. Transfer dough, seam-side down, to parchment-lined skillet and spray surface of dough with nonstick cooking spray. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until dough has doubled in size and does not readily spring back when poked with finger, about 2 hours.

3. About 30 minutes before baking, adjust oven rack to lowest position, place 6- to 8-quart heavy-bottomed Dutch oven (with lid) on rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees. Lightly flour top of dough and, using razor blade or sharp knife, make one 6-inch-long, 1/2-inch-deep slit along top of dough. Carefully remove pot from oven and remove lid. Pick up dough by lifting parchment overhang and lower into pot (let any excess parchment hang over pot edge). Cover pot and place in oven. Reduce oven temperature to 425 degrees and bake covered for 30 minutes. Remove lid and continue to bake until loaf is deep brown and instant-read thermometer inserted into center registers 210 degrees, 20 to 30 minutes longer. Carefully remove bread from pot; transfer to wire rack and cool to room temperature, about 2 hours.

from Cook's Illustrated, Number 90, January & February 2008

inns of court & dinner with the students

2009-03-16T10:25:00.000-07:00

On Jan. 23, Shane and I walked through the Inns of Court, which has been London's legal district for centuries. The various Temples that comprise the area feature a variety of architectural styles. We wandered back up to Fleet Street, and then ducked down to the Temple Church, which played a prominent role in The Da Vinci Code. Here are some of the Knights of the Templar, enjoying their eternal repose:

At the end of the walk, we came across this colorfully-named wine bar:

You can read about or download Robert Wright's Legal London walk here.

That evening, the students organized a group dinner at a favorite neighborhood Italian restaurant. The food was very good, and the service was even better. The evening concluded with some of the students dancing with the owner and one of the servers. Here we are, happily sated on pasta and pizza.

mayfair and piccadilly

2009-03-09T10:10:00.000-07:00

Slumming it in Mayfair is how Shane and I spent the afternoon of Jan. 21. We began our walk at Piccadilly Circus and then made our way up to Burlington House, the Royal Academy of Art. The courtyard features a statue of Joshua Reynolds trying to paint air.

We popped into a couple Victorian and Georgian arcades. Well felt like true flâneurs. Here's the interior of the Royal Arcade:

We passed by the Ritz Hotel (see above), through Berkeley Square (immortalized in "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square"), and walked through the gardens of The Church of the Immaculate Conception (the headquarters of the Jesuits in Britain) in Farm Street:

I was particularly thrilled to stumble across the house where Beau Brummell--dandy extraordinaire--lived.

After passing through Grosvenor Square, we made our way to Savile Row, which is where you'll find several tailors who produce snazzy and 'spensive men's clothing. It's also home to Apple Records, where the Beatles produced some of their last recordings and atop which they performed their final concert. (See this post for an account of my visit there on the 40th anniversary of the Let It Be concert.)

We ended the walk at St. James's on Piccadilly, which is the only Christopher Wren church outside the city of London, I believe.

You can read about and download Robert Wright's Mayfair walk here.

complicit

2009-03-09T09:37:00.000-07:00

On the evening of Jan. 20, our British Theater class met at the Old Vic to see a new production: Joe Sutton's Complicit. I'd had high hopes for this one, as it stars Richard Dreyfuss and David Suchet and is directed by Kevin Spacey. Last summer I'd gone to see a near-perfect production of Pygmalion at the Old Vic, and I figured that, even though I knew next to nothing about Complicit, this venerable playhouse wouldn't let us down.

I couldn't have been more wrong. Sutton's script is a heavy-handed, unimaginative effort to engage in the ethical debates that journalists face when pressured by the state to reveal confidential sources. (The obvious inspiration is "Plamegate.") Sutton clearly wants to be this generation's Arthur Miller, but Complicit suggests that he sorely lacks the talent and the nuanced approach to complicated social issues to fill such a role.

While Suchet delivered a compelling performance as an attorney representing a journalist during a hearing designed to compel the his client to reveal a confidential source, Dreyfuss, who plays Ben, the journalist, was histrionic and unconvincing as someone supposedly beleaguered by a range of ethical issues related to his reportage on and opinions about state-sponsored torture of alleged terrorists in secret prisons around the world. Dreyfuss clearly hadn't learned his lines, and he performed with an earpiece, delivering his lines a beat or two late. He was clearly being fed lines during the performance. As Ben's wife, Elizabeth McGovern was lackluster, but to her credit, the part simply required McGovern to fail to grasp the issues surrounding her husband's dilemma and to harp on him about his responsibilities as a husband and father.

The set was fairly interesting--a glass-surfaced, round stage with television monitors both embedded within the stage and hanging above it. The best parts of the play were the moments in which the televisions came alive with footage of a CNN-style interview with Ben, but this footage also reveals Ben's inconsistencies in his thinking through the U.S. government's response to terror: at one moment he provides evidence that covert U.S. operatives are killing some prisoners to motivate others to reveal information; in the next, he's suggesting that the U.S. is "squeamish" in failing to use strong tactics in interrogating alleged terrorists.

Thus, as heavy-handed as the play is in tone ("this is about civil rights and torture, people! take this seriously!" Sutton whines), it's message is ultimately confused, as Ben fails to work through the most basic elements of his position on torture and the ethical repercussions of a journalist revealing his confidential sources.

Fortunately, the play was on the shorter side, and the torture the audience suffered was less than it might have othewise have been. Small mercies.

little venice to camden lock

2009-03-09T08:31:00.000-07:00

On Jan. 20, Shane and I walked from Little Venice to Camden Town along the Regents Canal. I knew nothing about this part of London, and the walk along the water was beautiful. We started where the Grand Union Canal meets the Regents Canal, which was an important commercial waterway between Birmingham and London in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Later, the railways made the canals less important venues for commerce and transportation.

Along the canal are many narrow houseboats along Regents Canal; many of these are functional residences with little gardens either atop the boats or opposite them, across the walkway.

The canal forms much of the northern the border of Regent's Park, and I was surprised to see hyenas on the opposite side of the canal. Then I realized we were walking just opposite the London Zoo.

We crossed under several attractive bridges. There's Shane walking ahead of me in this first picture.

At the Cumberland Basin, the canal veers northward toward Camden Lock, where our walk ended. There we visited a pub and watched some of the live televised presidential inauguration.

Read about and download Robert Wright's Regents Canal walk here.

chelsea and the british museum

2009-03-07T17:32:00.001-08:00

On. Jan. I took Robert Wright's walk through Chelsea. I arrived at the the Royal Hospital Chelsea--designed by Christopher Wren and established for the Chelsea pensioners in 1692--at noon, but it was closed to visitors until 2:00 pm. Since I had some time to kill, I wandered over to the Saatchi Gallery, but it was hosting a private event that day. Instead I meandered up and down the King's Road in the rain and found myself a tasty pasty for lunch. Once the hospital opened to visitors, I was able to see the Figure Court, the Chapel, and the Great Hall; then I headed out toward the embankment of the Thames.

Walking through historic Chelsea, I found Thomas Carlyle's home, Henry VIII's Chelsea Manor House, and a the place where Tobias Smollett lived.

The next day, Joyce and I went to the British Museum to catch an exhibition of six contemporary sculptors that was closing soon. Here are a couple of my favorites. Notice the shadows cast by the sculptures--comprised of dead animals--in the second photo:

kensal green

2009-03-06T15:00:00.000-08:00

On January 18th, Shane and I traveled up to Kensal Green cemetery, and there we wandered amongst Victorian gravestones and monuments.

Some of the monuments are bizarre and overwrought; many are collapsing. This only made them more interesting, however.

The day was gray, the ground was cold and wet, so it made for a perfect day to go sloshing about in a cemetery. Nevertheless, we lingered a little too long and were locked in, but we found a gap in a chain-link fence and escaped. A couple of years ago, I was nearly trapped in Paris's Père Lachaise cemetery. It seems to be a thing with me.

Find out more about Robert Wright's walk through Kensal Green here.

Grandma Helen, 1924-2009

2009-03-06T14:43:00.000-08:00

My grandmother, Helen Shuman Heaton, passed away on Feb. 6. She had been in a car accident last summer and had struggled to recover, so it wasn't wholly unexpected. Still, it has been sad to lose someone who has been such a an important figure in my life. I have a seemingly endless supply of entertaining Grandma Helen stories, and I love sharing them with people.

I flew to Salt Lake City for the funeral, and I'm very glad I did. It was a wonderful celebration of her life, and all her grandchildren were there. Each of the grandchildren composed a tribute, and these were displayed at the funeral. Here is what I wrote:

Right up to the sad day when I learned of her death, I was telling stories about my wonderful Grandma Helen. I was in London that day, and I was staying in a boarding house with other professors who were with me directing and teaching a London study abroad program. I had told the stories of how, in order to keep me from leaving her side, Grandma would warn me about a witch who lurked in supermarkets and department stores, ready to snatch little children who had wandered off alone. I told them about the baboon who lived outside her house that only Grandma could see, no matter how many times her grandchildren ran from window to window, desperate to catch a glimpse of it. I told them about her beauty secret—a face-mask made of mashed overripe bananas and honey. I told them about how, while visiting us in Arizona, she dressed as a Mammy figure from a long-gone South that she could still remember and burst into my high school Spanish class to ask my date to the prom for me.

All who knew her cherish their own stories about Helen Heaton, and sometimes I wonder if Grandma didn’t live her life in such a way so that those who loved her would have unique and amusing tales to remember her by.

But even more than the vivid and funny stories I fondly recall about her, I treasure memories of her equally unique and charming personality. Grandma seemed afraid of no one, and she was eager to make friends of everyone she met. She even made friends of entire strangers within the time it took them to travel the length of the escalators at ZCMI with her! Her sunny disposition was infectious, and when she was happy (“tickeled,” she called it), she would burst into a hearty laughter that always betrayed her still-girlish charm and her young, fresh, and optimistic outlook on life. She chose to pass her time with those she loved most; I spent a great deal of my growing up years in the company of my grandmother as she doted on me, played games with me, invented and sang silly songs to me, and took me on shopping adventures.

Grandma Helen always shared with others that which was most important and precious to her—her life. I know she passed from this world sharing her life and her sunny, warmhearted self with others.

I miss you now and always, Grandma.

Love, your grandson,
John

Here's a photo of me and Grandma and my Grandpa Bud at my sister's wedding:

camden market and soho

2009-02-07T00:33:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, Jan. 17, Joyce and I went to the Camden Market and wandered the stalls. Joyce was simply there to see the latest fashions of the subcultural fringe, while I was in search a bag--a murse (man purse), as I've decided to call it. There were plenty of murses about, but none really called my name--in fact, most had the manufacturer's names on them, and I really dislike wearing clothing (or sporting accessories) with prominent labels. We did, however, enjoy ourselves, and we had some good curry from one of the many take-away stalls.

After searching for the right bag in Portobello Road, I found my murse at an military surplus store just around the corner from Vincent House in Notting Hill, where I'm staying. Go figure.

The following day, Shane and I followed Robert Wright's tour of Soho. Sunday morning is good time to wander Soho, because no one else is there as most of the shops (and other places of trade) are closed. While on this walk I spotted King Charles II in Soho Square,

found William Blake's birthplace,

and ran into Janet Leigh.

While we did see some sex shops and peep shows around Soho, we found very little evidence of the area's red-light reputation. This sign, however, indicated that we were, indeed, in the land of the lascivious.

Shane had a little shopping to do.

We roamed through Chinatown, where the streets were festooned with lanterns in preparation for the Chinese New Year celebrations.

the big snow

2009-02-05T06:45:00.000-08:00

This past Monday, London awoke to find itself covered in snow. In fact, this was the heaviest snowfall in nearly 20 years, and the city still hasn't fully recovered from it. As of early Monday morning, none of the buses were running, and many of the Tube stops were also closed. All the Underground trains were experiencing either minor or severe delays, and one of the longtime residents of Vincent House told me that the Notting Hill Gate station was closed, which worried me a little bit, because I was scheduled to teach that day, starting at 9:00 am. Looking out the window, I didn't get the sense that the snow was too debilitating, so I decided to walk to the station and find out what the situation was. This is what Pembridge Garden--the road that leads the Underground station--looked like at 8 am:

The Notting Hill Gate station was open, so, after waiting for a couple of very packed trains to go by, I squeezed my way onto one, and headed to work. I arrived at Anglo-American Educational Services (this is where our classes are held) on Bloomsbury Square at a quarter to nine and waited for someone to arrive and open the building. Meanwhile I admired a very snowy Charles James Fox:

The first group of students arrived, and they were happy to be sliding around in the snow and throwing snowballs at one another and at me.

In all, eleven of eighteen students showed up to class, and eventually someone from Anglo arrived to open the doors. (Several of the other students got stuck at Super Bowl party out in zone who-knows-which. They made a valiant effort to get into London--in spite of a complete absence of public transportation in the area they had stayed.)

After class, I decided to visit the British Museum, where only the main floor exhibitions were open. Particularly impressive was the blanket of snow over the glass dome covering the Great Court:
I spent about an hour in the one room devoted to art from what is now Mexico, and then I wandered down to Lincoln Inn's Fields, where lots of folks were romping around in the snow. It occurred to me that all the trains in the Underground might shut down, and then I'd be stuck a good distance from Notting Hill, so I took a train back there, and had some tasty Thai food at the Churchill Arms. Out front was a strange snowman and a snow arm-chair:

Later, I discovered that less than a fifth of London's workforce made it to work that day, and about that number stayed home the next. I can't say I really understand this. While this kind of snow may not fall on London on a regular basis, I think you'll agree that this isn't a phenomenal amount of snow. Nevertheless, it practically shut the city down. Even now, there are areas of London where the trash won't be picked up and removed until sometime next week. It seems to me that if I--a resident of the decidedly non-snowy Central Valley of California--can make it to work fifteen minutes early, surely a larger number of the residents of this fair city can make it to work. I find it strange. Still, it made for a memorable day, and I'm glad I was here to witness the Big Snow.

the tower to kensington to greenwich

2009-01-31T10:38:00.000-08:00

On Friday, Jan. 16, I took the students to the Tower of London. The students were divided into small groups, and each gave a short presentation on some feature of the Tower. The Bloody Tower, the site of the scaffold, the White Tower, and the Ravens where all among the features they researched. One group even enacted the gruesome end of poor Margaret Pole. We then climbed the ramparts, admired the Crown Jewels, and checked out the graffiti in the Beauchamp Tower.

Here are some of the students enjoying the Tower:

One nifty feature of the Tower is its squeaky clean toilets. This is something they don't tell you in the guide books, but look:

Loo of the Year Awards in 2003 and 2005! How nifty is that?

After a tasty lunch at Grazing, Shane and I tubed it over to Kensington, where we pondered the Albert Memorial and walked around Royal Albert Hall. Here, fancy types who can afford overpriced tickets were emerging from cabs to see yet another new Cirque de Soleil show. We then walked down Exhibition Road to the Victoria and Albert and Natural History Museums. Here's Albert, gone but gilded:

Not satisfied with a nearly full day of walking, Shane and I then hopped on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR), and went to Greenwich. We got off the train at Island Gardens, and then crossed the river through a Victorian pedestrian tunnel that runs beneath the Thames. The Cutty Sark is getting a facelift, so we couldn't see it, but we did stop off at the nearby Trafalgar Tavern for ales and lovely views of the river before walking through the old naval College and up a hill to the Royal Observatory. The day had darkened, and from here we had great views of Canary Wharf and the Millennium Dome at night. I was happy with the night photos I took up here. This one is my favorite:

Notice the green laser projected from the Observatory that marks the Prime Meridian. East is East and West is West, and here is where they meet.

We ended the day with another ale at the King's Arms in Greenwich before boarding the DLR and heading back into London.

You'll Robert Wright's walking tour of Kensington here and his tour of Greenwich here.

all these years i've been wandering around

2009-01-30T09:17:00.000-08:00

Today is the 40th anniversary of The Beatles' Let It Be rooftop concert, so I made a pilgrimage to 3 Savile Row, where The Beatles performed their final concert. As soon as I emerged from the Oxford Circus Tube stop and started walking down Regent Street, I began playing Let It Be on my iPod. I turned off on Mill Street, which essentially becomes Savile Row, and made my way down to number 3. I was a little surprised that I was the only person hanging around outside the building, although two others stopped there. I walked up to them, and we exchanged a few words: "40 years ago today," "yeah, right up there." And then I walked up and down the street, listening to most of the album, and trying to get some worthwhile pictures.

You can check out the Rooftop concert on youtube here.

st paul's & the city

2009-01-27T08:25:00.000-08:00

After finishing up the walk to Kensington, Shane and I hopped a Tube across town to explore the area East of St Paul's Cathedral. As many times as I've walked around St Paul's, I've still never been inside, so I'm putting this high on my list of things to do while in London. We wandered over to Samuel Johnson's house, which I'd visited in 1997, when I was a graduate student doing some research at the British Library.

Our next few walks also took us around St Paul's. One of the most interesting was one that took us through some very small and out of the way alleyways and onto the properties of several of the old City Livery companies. We also got an up-close view of the Gherkin.

Here are a couple more photos of St Paul's.

a freudian nightmare

2009-01-25T08:16:00.000-08:00

As part of London Semester, I'm teaching a British Theatre course. On the evening of Jan. 13, I took the students to their first performance--a production of Joe Orton's Loot at the Tricycle Theatre. I'm glad we picked the students up from their flats to escort them to the theater, because the Tricycle is located in an area of town that may have put the students off had they made their way there on their own. I find Loot hilarious, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself, but I think it may have been too dark and cynical for the students. Still, I believe it was good for them. Many of them had all gone to see Avenue Q the evening before, and so they needed to see something a little less crowd-pleasing. In any case, we had a good discussion of it during the following morning's class, and if nothing else, they seemed to get what Orton was trying to accomplish.

Loot is a fast-paced farce steeped in black humor and satire. Orton takes middle-class British mores and turns them inside out, revealing them to be hollow and threadbare. Orton takes pot-shots at religious piety, reverence for the Royal family, squeamishness over sex, greed, and--most especially--law enforcement. Doon Mackichan was fabulous as Fay, a sexually voracious, avaricious black widow, who hides behind a façade of Catholic respectability, and who gets some of the best lines in the play. (At one point she quips, "I'm a woman. Only half the human race can say that without fear of contradiction.") And David Haig made for a very funny Truscott, a corrupt police inspector, who is by turns as brilliant as Sherlock Holmes and as ridiculous as a Keystone Cop. My favorite of his lines: "Policemen, like red squirrels, must be protected."

The other actors were not as adept. Matt Di Angelo and Javone Prince, who played the young bumbling crooks Hal and Dennis, seemed over their heads, while James McCleavy as the grieving widower delivered a performance that was often very good, but often only serviceable.

If you don't know much about Orton, here's a site devoted to him. Be sure you check out the images of the library books that he and his lover, Kenneth Halliwell, defaced and for which they served six month jail terms.

westminster to hyde park to kensington

2009-01-25T06:36:00.000-08:00

Even though it was getting late and dark, Shane and I decided to complete the second portion of "London's Greatest Walk," and so we made our way down Whitehall to the spot where Downing Street is blocked off and where guards stand vigil. We didn't see the Prime Minister (actually I don't know what he looks like, so perhaps we did, but I'm guessing no) and we walked down toward St James's Park, between the Foreign Office and the Treasury. We followed a maze of small streets and alleys, and found a frieze of Queen Anne along the street that bears her name. We then went back to St James's Park and admired the views of Buckingham Palace and the London Eye, before making our way through Green Park. This leg of the walk ended at Hyde Park Corner, just beyond the Wellington Arch. As it was dark, I didn't get any pictures during this stretch.

Rather than take the Tube back to Notting Hill, we decided to take the bus. There had just been many protests against the recent Israeli attacks on Gaza, so the streets were pretty jammed, and traffic was still fairly thick. It took ages to get to Notting Hill, but it was still cool to see all the fancy shops along Knightsbridge and Brompton Road.

The next day we joined our students for a bus tour around London. We'd arranged for our own coach and a guide named Abigail, who was entertaining and informative. That evening Joyce (who is teaching the Art course), Shane, and Carla (the program's administrative assistant) met at the Prince Edward, which is currently my favorite pub in the neighborhood. The fish and chips were great, and I liked both the Badger and the Tanglefoot ales.

Monday we began classes and, as we were busy with students and orientation and what not, Shane and I didn't complete "London's Greatest Walk" until Tuesday afternoon. It rained at the outset of the walk, but then the showers ceased, and Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens were beautiful in the clear, sunny skies, replete with rainbows. We followed the south and west banks of the Serpentine.

If you are into water fowl, The Serpentine is for you:

After wandering around the Serpentine Gallery for a little bit, we made our way to Kensington Palace, which was once the home of Princess Diana of Wales. We passed her memorial along the way:

We finished up at Kensington High Street.

south bank to big ben

2009-01-23T23:47:00.000-08:00

OK, let's see if I can get caught up here.

Over the next two days, Shane and I took a three-part walk that took us from the South Bank to Kensington Palace. Robert Wright calls this "London's Greatest Walk," and it is a good one with plenty of classic sights to see along the way. It's also a long walk, and as the weather was pretty grim during our first day of it, we were icy cold along the Thames.

We began on the south end of the London Bridge, and visited Southwark Cathedral, where we found a memorial to Shakespeare. We didn't spend a lot of time here, so this is yet another cathedral I'd like to revisit, perhaps for a musical performance. Just beyond the Cathedral, near the Thames, is a replication of Sir Francis Drake's The Golden Hind. I was surprised at how small the vessel was--it certainly didn't look large enough to circumnavigate the world with much comfort or reassurance. Here's a picture of me being very chilly in front of it:

The walk took us past The Globe Theatre, alongside the Tate modern, and past the various buildings that are part of the South Bank Arts Centre (The Royal National Theatre, the National Film Theatre, Queen Elizabeth Hall, and the Royal Festival Hall). Many people think these are amongst the ugliest examples of London architecture. I don't have a strong opinion one way or another, but I liked the way that graffiti artists and skateboarders had taken over the lower level of Queen Elizabeth Hall. I couldn't help but wonder what she thinks of this. Is she amused?

We went past the London Eye (which is always impressive to look up at from underneath its massive supports) and County Hall. At that point, we crossed the river over the Westminster Bridge. We concluded this portion of the walk at dusk, and I took some fairly good pictures of Big Ben all lit up, just after sunset:

i loved you, well, never mind...

2009-01-17T09:29:00.000-08:00

On a music forum that I visit regularly, a group of folks are discussing a great album each week during 2009. The first album that was selected was Big Star's Radio City (1974). Here's what I had to say about it:

When I saw this would be the first album for the first installment of the Listening Group discussion, I expected that most of the folks here would respond very favorably to it, since I remember being really taken with it when I first heard it about fifteen years ago. So I've been a little surprised to see that it isn't more well-received than it is, but I've been interested in reading why people do or don't love this album.

I fall on the side of loving it, even if I don't think it is a perfect album. I think it is a very strong album, although not as good as #1 Record. When I began listening to it again for this discussion, I also noticed the unfortunate mixing. It's an album that could be so very rich--with songs that might have had the thick lush sonics of Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. But because it doesn't, it often sounds much flatter than it should. That said, this jangle-pop sound doesn't necessarily lend itself to a richly textured quality--much in the way that R.E.M. and The Replacements (the obvious Big Star progeny) don't.

There are some great songs here--"O My Soul" is a great album opener, and the bass lines in "Life Is White" and "You Get What You Deserve" are really lovely. "September Gurls" is a contender for best Big Star song (although I guess I'd ultimately give "Thirteen" first place). The harmonica doesn't bother me as much as it does others. It seems to echo the aching, broken, at times desperate, vocals that are featured on many of the songs here. My least favorite are the swaggering rockers--"She's a Mover" (T. Rex nails this kind of thing much better) and "Mod Lang" (a clear nod to the Stones, but with less convincing vocals)--as I think Big Star more successfully and so beautifully conveys young male amorous heartbreak and frustration. Big Star just doesn't do cock-rock all that well.

"What's Going Ahn" is one my favorites here: even while the singer asserts that he's got a handle on how the world works and what love is, the "oh nooos" at the song's ending fly in the face of such self-assurance. And I'm in the minority in being moved by "Morpha Too" and "I'm in Love With a Girl." Along with "Thirteen," these strike me as charming, simple, wistful ballads that evoke that painful period between one's teens and adulthood when love seems at once so real and so impossible. As weird as "Morpha Too" is, it seems to look toward the more experimental masterpieces "Kangaroo" and "Holocaust" that show up on the third album.

"September Gurls" is just a lovely song that is both poppy and plaintive at the same time. "I loved you, well, never mind / I've been crying all the time" is a touching confession that works against the upbeat summertime quality (as do the references to fall and winter that work to position boys and girls differently and suggest that they can never really catch up with one another, nor can they revisit summer, which the song recalls, even as the lyrics suggest it has already passed). It begins to great effect, works a wonderful melody against a compelling bass counterpoint, and the simple guitar solo at about 1:18 is terrific. It's not as good a song as "God Only Knows," but it draws upon a similar sensibility that acknowledges reasons both to celebrate and complain about the complicated nature of love.

I'd give this four stars if I didn't still have such a nostalgic soft spot for it, but because I do, I can go as high as four and 1/2.

mp3: "September Gurls"

clerkenwell & spitalfields

2009-01-17T08:36:00.000-08:00

On Jan. 8, Shane and I meandered through Clerkenwell and Spitalfields, discovering Brick Lane along the way. We chose to do these walks because our students are staying in Clerkenwell, and we wanted to be able to tell them a little about the neighborhood they would living in for the next three months. We learned that the name Clerkenwell comes from the the words "Clerk's Well," and that, although the neighborhood has recently become a desirable place to live, it hasn't always been so. Dickens set much of Oliver Twist here, which is a fortunate coincidence, as my students will be reading that novel in a couple of weeks. Highlights of the walk included the Sadler's Wells Theatre, the area around Smithfield Meat Market, and the priory church of St Bartholomew the Great, which has recently been featured in many television shows and films. We didn't go into the church, as we were feeling cheap and didn't want to pay the admission charge. Nevertheless, I plan to go back, perhaps to check out a musical performance there. We did, however, visit the small museum at St John's Gate, an interesting early sixteenth-century structure that is the remains of a monastery that was on that site.

While walking through Clerkenwell, I found a house featuring a common misspelling of my surname:

That look on my face must be one of contempt for those who somehow feel "Benyon" is a viable appelation. Bah, humbug.

We then took the Spitalfields walk, which took us past Petticoat Lane, Brick Lane, and through Spitalfields Market. At the outset, we caught a pretty good view of the Gherkin (aka the Swiss RE building):

Brick Lane is fascinating, and I'm eager to try some curries when next I'm there. Brick Lane is the heart of "Bangla-City," where folks of Bangladeshi, Pakistani, and Indian descent live. It has historically been a place where outsiders of various kinds have found a home, including the Huguenots and Askenazy Jews. Along a small side street, we found some very hip clothing stores, hairdressers, bars, and Rough Trade East. The original Rough Trade shop is right in my neighborhood off Portobello Road. I don't know why I failed to take many pictures of Brick Lane, but here's a a bit of graffiti I found on one of the walls along the roads leading from Brick Lane to Spitalfields:

That night, Shane and I went back to Sadler's Wells to see Matthew Bourne's Edward Scissorheads. I loved Bourne's Swan Lake, which I saw a couple of times when it first showed in L.A., but his adaptation of Edward Scissorhands is downright dreadful. The production is cloyingly sentimental, and it relies on the most over-used stereotypes of American middle-class culture. The music is uninteresting, and the choreography is just plain corny. The dancers grimace and grin in the most obvious ways, and the movement is comprised of uninteresting pantomime and slapstick gimmicks. We got cheap tickets through the TKTS booth on Leicester Square, and our seats were good, but five minutes into the performance, I thought to myself, "Oh no. What have I gotten myself into?" I survived the ordeal, but the following photo records the evidence of the toll it took on me:

walk this way (holland park & notting hill)

2009-01-09T05:52:00.000-08:00

I've discovered a great way to see London by foot, and I've tromping all over town ever since I arrived. Shane told me about a series of free podcasts by a man named Robert Wright, available through iTunes. Each podcast is a roughly one hour walk through a part of London, which Wright conducts in real time, as he records his description of the walk as he wanders the area he visits. So, we've downloaded the various walks, and walk the tour as we listen to our iPods. We began with the first walk through Holland Park, an area not to far from where I am staying, and we've completed over a dozen since then. You can learn about the walks and download them from this website. You can also subscribe to the podcast through iTunes. Here are some photos of the walks we've done so far.

This is the Kyoto Japanese Garden in Holland Park, which is a favorite with locals. We found people walking their dogs, jogging, exercises, and otherwise enjoying the place. It's beautiful even in the winter, so I can only imagine what it's like in more temperate weather. The park is home to the Holland House, which is a seventeenth-century mansion that is now the location for one of the most popular youth hostels in London.

We then took the walk through Notting Hill, which is the neighborhood where I'm staying. We walked past an apartment building where Dusty Springfield lived for some time. It was being renovated and covered with scaffolding, so we couldn't see it very well. Still, it was a thrill to imagine her looking out the window with her blonde Dusty-in-Memphis 'do. Notting Hill is the place where the piggeries and the potteries once were. So swine once roamed the area, and potters created their wares here. This is one of the few bottle kilns left in the city:

(That would be Miss Shane admiring the kiln.)

And here is a photo of the meats you can purchase at Lidgates, one of the most famous butchers in London:

Just so these posts don't beome crazy long, I'll break them up into bite-size pieces. I'll try to get caught up with the walks we've done and keep current from then on out.

london journal

2009-01-06T09:39:00.000-08:00

It's a new year, and I'm starting a new role as co-director of CSU, Fresno's London Semester program. This seems as good a reason as any to get back into blogging--we'll just see how it goes.

I arrived in London yesterday, but not without much ado. My co-director, Shane, and I were scheduled to fly out of Fresno on the morning of Jan. 4, connect to a London flight at SFO, and arrive in London early in the morning on Jan. 5. When we arrived at the Fresno Airport, we learned that our Fresno-San Francisco flight was delayed because the plane hadn't arrived from Vegas. We were worried at hearing this news, because we had a quick layover in SF. We soon learned that the flight would be delayed indefinitely, and we realized we wouldn't make our connection to London. However, when we inquired at the ticketing desk, we also learned that there were no seats on any United flight to London--leaving any airport in North America--until Jan. 6. This would have put us in London only two days before our students were to arrive, and we had many tasks to accomplish in London before our students showed up. We found a sympathetic United ticketing agent who booked us on an already overbooked SF to London flight leaving later that evening. So, we awaited the plane that had been delayed in Vegas, and when it arrived, we boarded and readied to fly to San Francisco. But just as we settled into our seats, our pilot announced that the altimeter wasn't functioning, and that all passengers would have to disembark so that the plane could be taken to a hangar for repairs. When we asked at the desk when another plane would be flying to San Francisco, we learned that none were scheduled that would get us there in time to make our connection to London.

Panicked, we reviewed our alternatives and decided that we would have just enough time to take a rental car to San Francisco and make the overbooked flight--and then cross our fingers in hopes that we would be assigned seats. Shane rented the car, I hauled our luggage to the curb, and we sped off for San Francisco. And when I say "sped" I mean like the proverbial bat out of hell, as Shane, who is driver of maniacal proclivities, takes to highway driving like an intoxicated but determined cheetah. I spent the three plus hours of the trip shouting "80! You cannot exceed 80 miles an hour!" And "If you get pulled over, you won't be worrying about a citation, because I will have strangled you!" Careening into the Enterprise rental car center at SFO, we raced to the International terminal, and found our way to the United counter. I was certain we would be told that the flight is overbooked (we'd been told it was) and that we would have to settle with standby status; but Our Lady of Airline Travel must have had mercy upon us, as the kind fellow at the counter took our bags and handed us a couple of boarding passes with blessed seat assignments. What's more, we were both granted aisle seats! (Shane, of course, wrangled for an upgrade, but to no avail. I think it serves him right that he ended up in economy, while I luxuriated in Economy Plus.)

The flight to London was the most comfortable, relaxing international flight I've ever experienced. I sat next to a lad in his late teens with prideful locks, who preened himself the entire ten hour flight, but this was more amusing than it was annoying. I even slept that final five hours of the flight, and for me, that's unheard of. (I supposed I could go on about the singularly unappetizing meatloaf dinner, but I don't want to come across as unappreciative, so I won't.)

Upon landing, we gathered our bags, readily found a cab, and made our way to Vincent House, our lodgings for the next three months. Vincent House is a a residence for professionals working in London. Its founder was a woman who lived to see her dream of providing acceptable housing for London-based professionals come true. Some feed the poor, some rescue mistreated pets, others feel obliged to attend to the pressing needs of professionals who prefer to reside in lodgings replete with a "club like atmosphere."

And it is, in fact, a fine place to stay: on the ground floor is a dining facility (two meals daily come with price of lodging), a lounge, a bar, and a snooker table. (I don't know the first thing about snooker, but it sure is an amusing word to say aloud.) The rooms are small and spare, but comfortable, and they are cleaned daily. What's more, we have our own loos.

Here are a couple of pics of my room:

Here's the view from my window onto Pembridge Square in Notting Hill:

And here's a picture of some toilet paper that I very much dislike:

I'm beginning to learn the dos and don'ts of Vincent House: last night one choice for the main entree was leg of Guinea Hen. And when I placed two of these small morsels on my plate, a dining hall operative came to me and decreed, "Tonight I'll let you take two. But only tonight." I was a little taken aback, as the Guinea legs weren't what you'd call plentiful, and only two minutes later, the staff whisked them away, along with all the other bins of uneaten food on the buffet. I guess it's a matter of principle here: you shouldn't get accustomed to such extravagances. On the bright side, the enforcement of such policies just might have the effect of my losing some weight. More anon.

playlist, dec. 15, 2008

2008-12-15T20:56:00.000-08:00

Charlie Dore - "Pilot of the Airwaves"
Belle and Sebastian - "Sleep the Clock Around" [BBC Session]
Slow Dazzle - "Fleur de Lys"
Blake Jones & The Trike Shop - "Virginia Woolf"
David Bowie - "Future Island / Diamond Dogs"
Rachid Taha - "Rock El Casbah"
Radiohead - "Everything in Its Right Place"
Jonathan Coulton - "Sibling Rivalry"
K. McCarty - "Walking the Cow"
Sufjan Stevens - "That Was The Worst Christmas Ever"
Blitzen Trapper - "Furr"
Mother Mother - "Hayloft"
The Supersuckers - "Born with a Tail"
Junior Bloomsday - "My Perfect Gene"
Modest Mouse - "People As Places As People"
Kien Lim - "Silverstar"
Karen Marguth - "Marie Laveaux"
Ian McGlynn - "Mistaken for Strangers"
Anathallo - "Italo"
Ölaf Arnalds - "Klara"
MGMT - "Time to Pretend"
Hidden Cameras - "Lollipop"
Rademacher - "If U Got Some Magic"
Jürgen Paape - "So Weit Wie Noch Nie"
Harpers Bizarre - "Witchi Tai To"
The Smiths - "The Boy with a Thorn in His Side"
Marvin Gaye - "What's Going On?"
The Decemberists - "Summersong"
Petra Haden - "God Only Knows"
Barbara Morgenstern - "Alles Was Lebt Bewegt Sich"
The Submarines - "Brighter Discontent" (The Styrofoam Remix)
Nina Simone - "Sinnerman"
!!! - "Heart of Hearts"
Hot Chip - "Wrestlers"
Rufus Wainwright - "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk"
She & Him - "You Really Got a Hold on Me"
THe Velvet Underground - "I'm Sticking with You"

playlist, dec. 8, 2008

2008-12-08T21:01:00.001-08:00

The Tallest Man on Earth - "Pistol Dreams"
Architecture in Helsinki - "That Beep"
Los Campesinos! - "Miserabilia"
The Ruby Suns - "Tane Mahuta"
Animal Collective - "Water Curses"
The Blue Hawaiians - "We Four Kings"
King Khan and the Shrines - "Torture"
The Raconteurs - "Salute Your Solution" [Live]
Blitzen Trapper - "Furr"
Horse Feathers - "Cur in the Weeds"
Super Lucky Catz - "
Digitalism - "Pogo"
Squarepusher - "Star Time 2"
The BPA - "Toe Jam" [feat. David Byrne and Dizzee Rascal]
Crystal Castles - "Knights"
Liz Phair - "Winter Wonderland"
Thomas Tantrum - "Rage Against the Tantrum"
Ladyhawke - "Magic"
The Raveonettes - "Hallucinations"
Crystal Stilts - "The Sinking"
Kat Jones - "Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella"
Belle and Sebastian - "Slow Graffiti" [BBC Session]
Headlights - "Market Girl"
Final Fantasy - "Flare Gun"
Benoît Pioulard - "Ahn"
Beach House - "Home Again"
Low - "Just Like Christmas"
Common Market - "Slow Cure"
Amp Fiddler / Sly & Robbie - "I Fell on the Wagon"
Brett Dennen - "San Francisco"
Del the Funky Homosapien - "Hold Your Hand"
The YMD - "New Direction"
Easy Star All-Stars - "Paranoid Android" [feat. Kirsty Rock]
Leon Redbone & Zooey Deschanel - "Baby, It's Cold Outside"
The Last Shadow Puppets - "The Age of the Understatment"
The Futureheads - "The Beginning of the Twist"
Anathallo - "Italo"
British Sea Power - "All in It"
Snowden - "Christmas Time Is Here"
Rainbow Arabia - "Omar K"
The Bug - "Angry"
The Notwist - "Good Lies"

playlist, dec. 1, 2008

2008-12-01T20:47:00.000-08:00

The Decemberists - "Valerie Plame"
Vampire Weekend - "Walcott"
Mother Mother - "Hayloft"
The Gossip - "Standing in the Way of Control" (Soulway Nite Version)
Logistics - "Call Me Back"
Blondie - "Dreaming"
Jaguar Love - "Highways of Gold"
Shout Out Louds - "Impossible" (Possible Version by Studio)
Lou Reed - "Andy's Chest"
Fight Bite - "Swissex Lover"
Belle and Sebastian - "The State That I Am In" (BBC Session)
Fleet Foxes - "Sun It Rises"
Guggenheim Grotto - "Portmarnock Beach Boy Blue"
Sufjan Stevens - "That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!"
Anathallo - "
Death Cab for Cutie - "Pictures in an Exhibition"
The Delgados - "The Night Before We Land"
Jenny Lewis - "Acid Tongue"
Laurie Anderson - "The Fifth Plague (The Death of Livestock)"
Does It Offend You Yeah? - "With a Heavy Heart"
Heartsrevolution - "Switchblade"
Santgold - "Lights Out"
Yelle - Ce Jeu"
Hot Chip - "Hold On" (Switch LDN Remix)
Rivers Cuomo - "Don't Worry Baby"
O'Death - "Fire on Peshtigo"
The Dodos - "Jodi"
Basia Bulat - "Before I Knew"
Otis Redding - "Satisfaction"
Steinski - "The Payoff Mix"
Quiet Village - "Circus of Horror"
Reefer - "Crony Island" [feat. Busdriver]
Amp Fiddler - "I Fell on the Wagon"
Carl Bradley - "Slipping Into Darkness"
Coco Freeman - "The Dark of the Matinee" (Spanish Version) [feat. Franz Ferdinand]
Maus Haus - "We Used Technology (But Technology Let Us Down)"
Her Space Holiday - "The Truth Hurts So This Should Be Painless"
Wintersleep - "Archaeologists"
The Dears - "Money Babies"

playlist, nov. 24, 2008

2008-11-24T20:55:00.000-08:00

Vampire Weekend - "The Kids Don't Stand a Chance"
Lou Reed - "Intro / Berlin" [Live]
Circles & Circles - "I Can't Park This Car"
Fight Bite - "The Accident"
The Bug - "Angry"
El Guincho - "Kalise"
Neon Neon - "Steel Your Girl"
Rainbow Arabia - "Let Them Dance"
The Streets - "On the Edge of a Cliff"
Alias - "Well Water Black"
Matthew Dear - "Pom Pom"
Frank Sinatra - "Mood Indigo"
Department of Eagles - "No One Does It Like You"
Dale Watson & The Jordanaires - "In the Jailhouse Now"
Band of Horses - "Our Swords"
Kate Nash - "Mouthwash"
Asobis Seksu - "Taiyo"
Sons & Daughters - "Chains"
Rademacher - "If U Got Some Magic"
Crystal Stilts - "Graveyard Orbit"
Mother Mother - "Wrecking Ball"
The Dodos - "Red and Purple"
Okkervil River - "Calling and Not Calling My Ex"
Band Marino - "I Have a Dream"
Mobius Band - "Subterranean Homesick Alien"
Crystal Antlers - "Arcturus"
Black Mountain - "Queens Will Play"
Modest Mouse - "Invisible"
The Walkmen - "In the New Year"
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - "Cold Son"
Antony & The Johnsons - "Another World"
Passion Pit - "I've Got Your Number"
B. Fleischmann - "A Letter from Home"
Adem - "To Cure a Weakling Child + Boy/Girl Song"
Feist - "The Park"
Portishead - "Silence"
Of Montreal - "Mingusings"
Shogu Tokumaru - "Future Umbrella"
School of Seven Bells - "Face to Face on High Places"
Kaiser Chiefs - "Spanish Metal"

playlist, nov. 17, 2008

2008-11-17T20:53:00.000-08:00

Brett Dennen - "San Francisco"
The Beatles - "Dig a Pony"
Eels - "Jelly Dancers"
Tam - "No Cars Go"
Her Space Holiday - "The Heartbreak Moment"
Rademacher - "Arkansas"
Vampire Weekend - "The Kids Don't Stand a Chance"
Mother Mother - "Wrecking Ball"
The Decemberists - "Days of Elaine"
Thomas Tantrum - "Shake It Shake It"
Van She - "Kelly"
The Cure - "The Reasons Why"
Cut Off Your Hands - "Happy as Can Be"
Crystal Stilts - "Dazzled"
The Cool Kids - "What Up Man"
Atmosphere - "You"
BPA [feat. David Byrne and Dizzee Rascal] - "Toe Jam"
Flight of the Conchords - "Inner City Pressure"
Donna Summer - "Our Love"
**Patrick Contreras Live in the KFSR Studios**
Radiohead - "The National Anthem"
My Morning Jacket - "Touch I'm Going to Scream Pt. 1"
AK-MOMO - "Women to Control"
Blonde Redhead - "Top Ranking"
School of Seven Bells - "Iamunderdisguise"
Poplord - "Change in Time for Monday"
Rollo Treadway - "Kidnapped"
Luxury - "Green Hearts"
Lou Reed - "Vicious"
TV on the Radio - "Family Tree"
**Patrick Contreras - Two New Untitled Tracks**
pc muñoz - "Family Matters"
Drencko - "No More"
The Streets - "Everything Is Borrowed"
Chester French - "She Loves Everybody"

playlist, nov. 10, 2008

2008-11-10T20:55:00.000-08:00

Jesus and Mary Chain - "Rollercoaster"
Vampire Weekend - "The Kids Don't Stand a Chance" (Chromeo Mix)
Stereolab - "Three Women"
School of Seven Bells - "Half Asleep"
Bloc Party - "Mercury"
TV on the Radio - "Dancing Choose"
R.E.M. - "Supernatural Superserious"
The Decemberists - "I'm Sticking with You"
Women - "Upstairs"
Crystal Stilts - "Graveyard Orbit"
Deer Tick - "Art Isn't Real (City of Sin)"
Mother Mother - "Hayloft"
Thao with the Get Down Stay Down - "Beat (Health, Life, Fire)"
Cut Off Your Hands - "Happy as Can Be"
Arcade Fire - "(Antichrist Television Blues)"
Thomas Tantrum - "Shake It Shake It"
* The Wheels of Fortune - Live in the KFSR Studio *
Joy Division - "Disorder"
The Tough Alliance - "Something Special"
* Succulent - Live in the KFSR Studio *
Rainbow Arabia - "Omar K"
Donna Summer - "Lucky"
Dengue Fever - "Sober Driver"
Pixies - "Where Is My Mind" [Live]
Animal Collective - "Fireworks"
Blur - "Tender"
Nina Simone - "I Loves You Porgy" [Live]
Roxy Music - "To Turn You On"
Circles & Circles - "Daughters"
Samamidon - "Little Johnny Brown"
Carla Bruni - "Ta Tienne"
Beach House - "Holy Dances"
Shugo Tokumaru - "Clocca"
The Avett Brothers - "Tear Down the House"

Bounce, Bounce, Bounce, Bounce, Bounce

2008-11-08T13:24:00.000-08:00

Adult Swim is offering yet another quality free album's worth of material. It's called African Swim, and you can download it here. If you like M.I.A., Spank Rock, and Dizzee Rascal, you might like this. Start with "No More" (Track 5), which is rife with rump-shaking goodness. Be warned: the dirty word can be heard.

playlist, nov. 3, 2008

2008-11-03T20:47:00.000-08:00

Blake Jones & The Trike Shop - "Virginia Woolf"
Shogu Tokumaru - "Parachute"
El Guincho - "Kalise"
Of Montreal - "Id Engager"
Why? - "Rubber Traits"
Conor Oberst - "Sausalito"
The Guggenheim Grotto - "Pontmarnock Beach"
Yo La Tengo - "Stay Away from Heaven"
Adem - "Invisible Man"
Antony & The Johnsons - "Shake That Devil"
Gui Boratto - "Scene 1"
The Orb - "Little Fluffy Clouds" (Cumulonimbus Mix)
Alias - "Well Water Black"
Easy Star All-Stars - "Electioneering" [feat. Morgan Heritage]
Sunset Rubdown - "They Took a Vote and Said No"
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - "This Land Is Your Land"
Samamidon - "Wild Bill Jones"
pc Muñoz - "Disappear" [feat. Ingrid Chavez]
Carla Bruni - "You Belong to Me"
James Brittain-Gore - "Sing You to Sleep"
Lampbchop - "Slipped Dissolved and Loosed"
The Cure - The Only One"
Crystal Stilts - "Graveyard Orbit"
The Dears - "Disclaimer"
Kaiser Chiefs - "Spanish Metal"
Shoes - "Like I Told You"
Neon Neon - "I Told Her on Alderaan"
M.I.A. - "Paper Planes" (DFA Remix)
Electric Six - "Danger! High Voltage"
The Faint - "The Geeks Were Right"
The B-52's - "Hot Corner"
Animal Collective - "For Reverend Green"
Mercury Rev - "Senses on Fire"

playlist, oct. 27, 2008

2008-10-27T20:46:00.000-07:00

The Helio Sequence - '"Keep Your Eyes Ahead"
YACHT [feat. Bobby Birdman] - "Platinum"
I'm from Barcelona - "Paper Planes"
Mobius Band - "Starts Off with a Bang"
Bjork - "Pagan Poetry" [Live]
Beirut - "Cliquot"
Of Montreal - "An Eluardian Instance"
Yo La Tengo - "Little Eyes"
The Shaky Hands - "A New Parade"
The Kills - "Last Day of Magic"
Future Islands - "Follow You"
TV on the Radio - "Stork & Owl"
Blitzen Trapper - "Gold for Bread"
My Morning Jacket - "Heartbreakin Man"
Mavis Staples - "Eyes on the Prize"
Raphael Saadiq - "Big Easy"
B.B. King - "How Blue Can You Get?" [Live]
The Sleepover Disaster - "Over the Top"
The National - "Apartment Story"
Emiliana Torrini - "Me and Armini"
Takka Takka - "Everybody Say"
Juana Molina - "Rio Seco"
Deer Tick - "Art Isn't Real (City of Sin)"
Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins - "Rise Up with Fists!!!"
Steinski - "Lesson 3 (History of Hip Hop)"
GZA / Genius - "0% Finance"
Belle and Sebastian - "Expectations"
Joy Division - "Transmission"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Cheated Hearts"
Horse Feathers - "Curs in the Weeds"
Department of Eagles - "No One Does It Like You"
Death Vessel - "Jitterakadie"
Patsy Cline - "Lovesick Blues"
Rocky Votolato - White Daisy Passing"
Bishop Allen - "Middle Management"
Neon Neon - "Raquel"
Modest Mouse - "Ocean Breathes Salty"
Portugal. The Man - "Lay Me Back Down"
Deerhoof - "The Tears and Music of Love"
Tobacco - "Truck Sweat"

another mixplace

2008-10-24T11:06:00.000-07:00

Today I discovered the blog of Atlas Sound / Deerhunter / Lotus Plaza (aka Bradford Cox), and posts MANY, MANY free tracks there, so visit it. I'm currently listening to his October Micromix, which is verah naice. Check it out here.

playlist, oct. 20, 2008

2008-10-20T20:58:00.001-07:00

The Panics - "Get Us Home"
Department of Eagles - "No One Does It Like You"
Joan as Police Woman - "To Be Loved"
Flying Lotus - "Orbit Brazil"
Dead Can Dance - "Ullyses"
Stereolab - "Silver Sands"
Matthew Dear - "Don and Sherri"
Stars - "Set Yourself on Fire" (Final Fantasy Remix)
Vivian Girls - "Where Do You Run To"
Throw Me the Statue - "Young Sensualists"
Jenny Lewis - "Jack Killed Mom"
Samamidon - "Wedding Dress"
Thao with the Get Down Stay Down - "Geography"
Raine Maida - "Yellow Brick Road"
Elastica - "I Want You"
My Teenage Stride - "Theme from Teenage Suicide"
Future Islands - "Pretty Riffy"
The Kills - "Last Day of Magic"
Women - "Shaking Hand"
TV on the Radio - "Dancing Choose"
Common Market [feat. Funklove] - "Nina Sing"
Roots Manuva - "Kick Up Ya Foot"
Subtle - "The No"
Amp Fiddler / Sly & Robbie - "Crazy Day"
Augustus Pablo - "Keep on Dubbing"
Thievery Corporation - "33º"
Tobacco - "Street Trash"
Deastro - "Michael, the Lone Archer of the Shore"
Starfucker - "Florida"
Prints - "Easy Magic"
Hot Lava - "Apple + Option + Fire"
Stevie Wonder - "Higher Ground"
Caribou - "Melody Day"
The Knife - "Marble House"
Pixies - "Where Is My Mind?" [Live]
Marnie Stern - "Prime"
Crystal Antlers - "Vexation"
Battles - "Atlas"

playlist, oct. 13, 2008

2008-10-13T21:02:00.001-07:00

Black Keys - "All You Ever Wanted"
Jaguar Love - "Highways of Gold"
Jaguar Love - "Jaguar Pirates"
Sparklejet - "Emilio"
Portishead - "Silence"
Bjork - "The Dull Flame of Desire"
Samamidon - "Wedding Dress"
Marvin Gaye - "Inner City Blues" [Live]
Santogold - "L.E.S. Artistes"
Adem - "To Cure a Weakling Child / Boy/Girl Song"
Antony and the Johnsons - "Another World"
Elton John - "Daniel"
pc muñoz - "Family Matters"
Steinski - "Lesson 2 (James Brown Mix)
Feist - "So Sorry"
Department of Eagles - "In Ear Park"
Beck - "Chemtrails"
TV on the Radio - "Dancing Choose"
The Who - "5:15"
Elastica - "2:1"
Blake Jones & The Trike Shop - "Snapshots"
Brian Kenney Fresno - "Bobby Salazar"
The Neptunes - "Full Color Mojo"
Rademacher - "MAGIC MTN PKWY"
Okkervil River - "Lost Coastlines"
Why? - "A Sky for Shoeing"
Vivian Girls - All the Time"
Blondie - "Dreaming"
Future Islands - "Changing Your Life"
The Tough Alliance - "Miami"
Doveman - "Footloose"
Hercules and Love Affair- "Theme from Hercules"
Van She - "Kelly"
Sparks - "I Thought I Told You to Wait in the Car"
The High Decibels - "Miss Cindy"
M.I.A. - "Bucky Done Gun"
Stereolab - "One Finger Symphony"
Portugal. The Man - "And I"

playlist, oct. 6, 2008

2008-10-06T20:49:00.000-07:00

Okkervil River - "Lost Coastlines"
Rocky Votolato - "White Daisy Passing"
Jenny Lewis - "Bad Man's World"
Final Fantasy - "This Is the Dream of Win and Regine"
Noah and the Whale - "Atoms in a Molecule"
The Aluminum Group - "Chocolates"
Mercury Rev - "Senses on Fire"
Stereolab - Lo Boob Oscillator [BBC Session]
Belle & Sebastian - "Expectations"
TV on the Radio - "Dancing Choose"
Beck - "Gamma Ray"
M83 - "You, Disappearing"
Common Market - "40 Furrows"
The High Decibels - "Duke Gonna Get Em"
My Teenage Stride - "Theme from Teenage Suicide"
Vampire Weekend - "Campus"
Asobi Seksu - "I'm Happy But You Don't Like Me"
Jonquil - "Putting Names to Faces"
Deerhoof - "Offend Maggie"
The Orb - "The Truth Is..."
Neon Neon - "Dream Cars"
Alias - "I Heart Drum Machines"
Does It Offend You, Yeah? - "Dawn of the Dead"
40 Watt Hype - "Controversy"
Rademacher - "Today Is Different"
Bright Eyes - "First Day of My Life" [Live at KCRW]
Big Star - "Give Me Another Chance"
Mia Doi Todd - "Sleepless Nights"
Lambchop - "OH (Ohio)"
Joan as Police Woman - "To Be Loved"
Dungen - "Sätt Att Se"
Crystal Antlers - "Vexation"
Women - "Black Rice"
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - "Elmo Delmo"
The Walkmen - "In the New Year"
Kings of Leon - "Closer"
Ra Ra Riot - "Each Year"

playlist, sept. 29, 2008

2008-09-29T20:43:00.000-07:00

The Who - "Dancing in the Street"
Morrissey - "The Loop"
Luxury - "Green Hearts"
Future Islands - "Follow You"
Daedelus - "Get Off Your Hi-Hats"
DJ Bitman - "La Raza" [feat. Juan Sativo]
Terry Lynn - "Kingstonlogic"
Daft Punk - "Around the World / Harder Better Faster Stronger" [Live]
Sonic Youth - "Superstar"
The Cave Singers - "Seeds of the Night"
Fleet Foxes - "Blue Ridge Mountains"
Jenny Lewis - "Acid Tongue"
American Football - "Honestly?"
TV on the Radio - "Golden Age"
Prints - "Easy Magic"
The Tough Alliance - "Miami"
Ra Ra Riot - "Ghost Under Rocks"
The Faint - "The Geeks Were Right"
B.B. King - "How Blue Can You Get?" [Live]
Raphael Saadiq - "Sure Hope You Mean It"
pc muñoz - "Family Matters"
Cadence Weapon - "Unsuccessful Club Nights"
High Decibels - "Crash with No Cushion"
Bappi Lahiri, Usha Uthup - "Auva Auva Koi Yahan"
Of Montreal - "Jimmy"
Starfucker - "Florida"
Fujiya & Miyagi - "Uh"
Lali Puna - "Nin-Com-Pop"
Lambchop - "Ohio"
Rademacher - "Not My Home"
Tiger Lillies - "Roll Up"
Hot Chip - "Hold On"
Rafter - "Noise"
Why? - "Song of the Sad Assassin"
The Orb - "A Beautiful Day"

playlist, sept. 22, 2008

2008-09-22T20:51:00.000-07:00

Noah and the Whale - "Shape of My Heart"
Human Highway - "The Sound"
Rufus Wainwright - "Across the Universe"
Common Market - "Back Home (The Return)"
Céu - "Malemolência"
The Good, The Bad & The Queen - "Northern Whale"
Daedelus - "My Beau" (feat. Paperboy & Erika Rose)
The Monitors - "Greetings (This Is Uncle Sam)"
Ra Ra Riot - "Ghost Under Rocks"
The Walkmen - "The New Year"
Future Islands - "Changing Your Life"
The Smiths - "Rusholme Ruffians"
Vampire Weekend - "Oxford Comma"
The High Decibels - "Miss Cindy"
King Khan and the Shrines - "Torture"
Terry Lynn - "Kingstonlogic"
Chemical Brothers - "Block Rockin' Beats"
Moby - "Alice"
The London Suede - "New Generation"
The Dalloways - "Dirty Money and Filthy Love"
Lackthereof - "Choir Practice"
Parenthetical Girls - "Four Words"
Shugo Tokumaru - "Clocca"
Final Fantasy - "The Arctic Circle"
Stereolab - "Self Portrait with 'eclectric brain'"
Portugal. The Man - "Colors"
Conor Oberst - "Souled Out!!!"
The DIrty Projectors - "Hyperballad"
Beck - "Walls"
The Rumble Strips - "No Soul"
El Guincho - "Palmitos Park"
pc muñoz - "Chatter & Buzz" (feat. Micropixie)
Alias - "Well Water Black" (feat. Why?)
The Notwist - "Where in This World"
Sinead O'Connor - "Jerusalem"
Hot Chip - "Wrestlers"
Starfucker - "German Love"
Crystal Castles - "Courtship Dating"
Styrofoam - "No Happy Endings" (feat. Erica Driscoll)

playlist, sept. 15, 2008

2008-09-15T20:37:00.000-07:00

Okkervil River - "Singer Songwriter"
Fleet Foxes - "Oliver James"
Damien Jurado - "Caskets"
Glen Mansard & Markéta Irglová - "Lies"
She & Him - "You Really Got a Hold on Me"
Joan as Police Woman - "To America"
Subtle - "Hollow Hollered"
Deastro - "Michael, the Lone Archer of the Shore"
The Presets - "Kicking & Screaming"
The Faint - "The Geeks Were Right"
Black Kids - "I Wanna Be Your Limousine"
Patsy Cline - "She's Got You"
Gretchen Phillips - "Hello, Darling"
Jonquil - "Whistle Low"
Beck - "Gamma Ray"
Stereolab- "Chemical Chords"
Luciano Bahia - "Queda"
King Khan & The Shrines - "Took My Lady to Dinner"
Pink Floyd - "Pow R. Toc H."
Takka Takka - "Monkey Forest Road"
Spoon - "The Ghost of You Lingers"
The Helio Sequence - "Keep Your Eyes Ahead"
Hercules and Love Affair - "Time Will"
White Williams - "New Violence"
The Roots (feat. Jill Scott and Eve) - "You Got Me"
pc muñoz (feat. Micropixie) - "Chatter & Buzz"
Aesop Rock - "Gun for the Whole Family"
Lykke Li - "Melodies & Desires"
High Places - "The Modern Things"
Radiohead - "Everything in Its Right Place"
Fujiya & Miyagi - "Uh"
Passion Pit - "Sleepyhead"
The Chemical Brothers - "The Golden Path"
Dr. Dog - "Hang On"
Delta Spirit - "People C'mon"
Starfucker - "Florida"
The Walkmen - "In the New Year"

I ♥ fresno

2008-09-07T23:11:00.000-07:00

"Burglar victims wake to spice rub, sausage attack"

By Louis Galvan / The Fresno Bee

A burglar who broke into a home just east of Fresno rubbed spices over the body of one of two men as they slept in their rooms and then used an 8-inch sausage to whack the other man on the face and head before running out of the house, Fresno County sheriff's deputies said Saturday.

Lt. Ian Burrimond, describing the crime as one of the strangest he's ever heard of, said a suspect was found hiding in a nearby field a few minutes later and taken into custody on suspicion of residential robbery.

Deputies, he said, had no problem linking the suspect to the crime.

"It seems the guy ran out of the house wearing only a T-shirt, boxer shorts and socks, leaving behind his wallet with his ID," Burrimond said.

Arrested was Antonio Vasquez, 22, of Fresno.

Burrimond said deputies headed to the victims' home in the 300 block of South Thompson Avenue near Kings Canyon Road shortly after 8 a.m. Saturday regarding a burglary in progress.

The victims, both farmworkers, told deputies they were awakened by a stranger applying spices to one of them and striking the other with a sausage.

Both the spices and the sausage, Burrimond said, reportedly were obtained from the victims' kitchen.

After the man fled, the victims discovered the home had been ransacked and that some money was taken, Burrimond said.

Burrimond said the money was recovered, but that the piece of sausage used in the attack was discarded by the suspect and eaten by a dog.

"That's right, the dog ate the weapon," Burrimond said.

"I tell you, this was one weird case."

playlist, sept. 1, 2008

2008-09-01T20:57:00.000-07:00

Marching Band - "Gorgeous Behavior"
The Dutchess and the Duke - "Reservoir Park"
Delta Spirit - "Strange Vine"
Fujiya & Miyagi - "Knickerbocker"
Lykke Li - "Breaking It Up"
Matthew Dear - "Neighborhoods"
Neon Neon - "I Told Her on Alderaan"
The Tough Alliance - "Something Special"
Stereolab - "Three Women"
Luna - "Lovedust"
Jonquil - "Whistle Low"
Sunny Day Set Fire
Alias - "Well Water Black" [feat. Why?]
Modeselektor - "Let Your Love Grow"
Neneh Cherry - "I've Got U Under My Skin"
pc muñoz - "Disappear" [feat. Ingrid Chavez]
Bitter:Sweet - "Come Along with Me"
The Watson Twins - "How Am I to Be"
Amy Ray - "Bus Bus"
Holly Golightly - "I Hear You"
Dolly Parton - "Drives Me Crazy"
Laura Cantrell - "Trains and Boats and Planes"
Carla Bruni - "Ta Tienne"
Blake Jones & The Trike Shop - "Clever Things"
Rademacher - "What Yr Used to Back at Home"
Poplord - "What's Beneath"
James Brittain-Gore - "Rustle in the Leaves"
TV on the Radio - "Dancing Choose"
Sons & Daughters - "Chains"
The Dandy Warhols - "Wasp in the Lotus"
Takka Takka - "Silence"
Wolf Parade - "Soldier's Grin"
Hercules and Love Affair - "Athene"
King Khan & The Shrines - "Torture"
The Faint - "The Geeks Were Right"
Architecture in Helsinki - "Like It or Not" (El Guincho Remix)
Beck - "Gamma Ray"
M.I.A. - "Hombre"
Rafter - "Magic"
Ladytron - "Kletva"

cherry tomato salad

2008-09-01T16:46:00.001-07:00

I subscribe to Cook's Illustrated magazine, and even though there aren't many vegetarian repices featured in their publications, what few they include are usually very good. Last night I made the Greek Cherry Tomato Salad that was featured in the July/August 2008 issue. It turned out well, so I thought I'd share the goodness:

Greek Cherry Tomato Salad

2 pints ripe cherry tomatoes, quartered (about 4 cups)
Table salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 medium garlic cloves , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 medium shallot, minced (about 3 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Ground black pepper
1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch dice
1/2 cup chopped pitted kalamata olives
4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled (about 1 cup)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

1. Toss tomatoes, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and sugar in medium bowl; let stand for 30 minutes. Transfer tomatoes to salad spinner and spin until seeds and excess liquid have been removed, 45 to 60 seconds, stirring to redistribute tomatoes several times during spinning. Return tomatoes to bowl and set aside. Strain tomato liquid through fine-mesh strainer into liquid measuring cup, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible.
2. Bring 1/2 cup tomato liquid (discard any extra), garlic, oregano, shallot, and vinegar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Simmer until reduced to 3 tablespoons, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer mixture to small bowl and cool to room temperature, about 5 minutes. Whisk in oil and pepper to taste until combined. Taste and season with up to 1/8 teaspoon table salt.
3. Add cucumber, olives, feta, dressing, and parsley to bowl with tomatoes; toss gently and serve.

You can find the recipe with illustrations and a video here, although you may need to be a subscriber to the Cook's Illustrated site to access these.

The trick here is to salt and spin the tomatoes so as to get rid of the excess liquid, but then to use the strained liquid for the tomato vinaigrette. It may sound like extra work, but it's not really, and it's worth the effort to keep the salad from getting waterlogged.

The tomatoes I used were a mixture of green, red, and yellow heirlooms, which were both tasty and attractive.

here's another one

2008-08-30T23:23:00.001-07:00

I made another 8tracks mix yesterday. This one is comprised mainly of abstract/left-field/kinda hip-hop.

PR, episode 7

2008-08-30T16:11:00.000-07:00

1.) Keith is out. I can't say I'm wholly surprised, but I am a little sad to see him go, especially because he was so obviously sad to go. (His uncontrolled weeping at the end of the episode was, in my opinion, sincere and touching.) I liked Keith for a couple of reasons. One, he was obviously very easy on the eyes. But also, as a gay ex-Mormon who lived in Salt Lake City, I identified with Keith, and I wanted to see him succeed. I also don't think he was as nasty as the show made him out to be. There were moments when he was not only polite to his fellow contestants, but truly helpful. He even broke down when Daniel was aufed.
2.) All that said, Keith was just not making it as a PR contestant. His ego and his defensiveness got in the way of his ability to absorb criticism and improve his work, and at this stage in his career, he is simply was not as good a designer as he thinks he is. This last episode demonstrated his central problem: he hasn't demonstrated that he could step outside his world of fashion-as-conceptual-art and create a chic, well-tailored, wearable garment (although he went some way to doing this in the Brooke Shields challenge). He has been hiding behind all those strips and swatches and poofs, and when he finally decided to throw them to the wind, it became clear that he has a long way to go before he can claim to be a truly accomplished, versatile designer.
3.) The car parts challenge was good, and, for the most part, the contestants stepped right up to it. I did find it surprising that nearly everyone pulled what appeared to be bright yellow airbags from the cars, and yet there wasn't a sign of these on any of the outfits. What are airbags made of that they seem to be such limiting choices of material? Maybe it was the color.
4.) I'm glad Leanne won. I think she is turning out to be the dark horse of the season. Now that the other mousy girls have gone, it's easier to distinguish who she is, appreciate her personality, and zero in on her aesthetic. Her dress was interesting, clearly well made, and she was one of the few to manage some softness (the seat belt fringe) out of the largely unforgiving and rigid fabrics. I loved the seams, loved the shape, and it just looked flawlessly executed.
5.) Korto's was also good, but there were so many seat-belt dresses, and I quickly got tired of that color and that sheen. Still, she worked the seat-belts in an original manner, and she made a beautiful, well-made, and intriguing garment.
6.) Jerrell's was good, too, and I'm glad he finally got some love. He'd been making these ridiculous get-ups for too long, and this one was sophisticated, interesting, and innovative. If he can keep moving in this direction (and away from his Olympics monstrosity), he might have a chance.
7.) Blayne's car wash dress was a mess. Even though Keith's was ugly, poorly made, and falling to pieces, I kinda wanted Blayne to get the boot, because his designs are consistently bad, and he persists at being an annoying idiot. And Blayne's was only better than Keith's by a stitch.
8.) Kenley's meltdown over having to use a different model was ridiculous. I mean, look at those models--they're all basically the same height, and they pretty much all wear the same size. They're essentially interchangeable--that's why they're fashion models! Kenley was just trying to get the cameras on her, and it worked. Her dress was OK. It helps when she isn't allowed to choose ugly prints. (But notice how she was still determined to make one with her sharpie.) She should have dyed that frill or something.
9.) Suede made the same ballerina/cheerleader dress he's been making all along. It seems to me that he's making up for his lack of ideas by getting overklempt and weeping over his dead forebears (last week grandpa, this week dad). I find it pretty silly. Both "wackadoodle" Suede and "miss you so much, papa!" Suede are equally annoying. He's a bad designer, he looks terrible, and he makes bad clothes. He's pathetic. He needs to go.
10.) Mercifully, we saw little of Joe in action this time. Was that a brand name on his model's chest? He's such a brown-noser...
11.) I have to say that I'm warming up to Stella, but her outfit this time was pretty much garbage. At least from the waist down. She fell into the same trap Keith did: she tried too hard to give the judges what she felt they wanted. At least unlike Keith, she only did this from the waist down. Her top was OK, but it was dull. It looked a lot like Kenley's.
12.) Everybody better watch for Terri, and I don't mean because she's so great. She's good, but this last outfit was just fine, nothing more. No, they need to watch out for her claws. Still, she's entertaining. I liked watching her roll around giggling on the floor. She's talented, and it's just a matter of time before the judges finally acknowledge her. If I had to predict who's going to fashion week, I'd say Terri, Korto, and Leanne.

all mixed up

2008-08-26T19:21:00.000-07:00

I was kinda bummed to hear that muxtape got the axe from the rotten RIAA, but there's a new kid in town, and he's called 8tracks. The folks at 8tracks claim to be legal, and from what I've read, it sounds like they are. I hope they make it. You can create any number of mixes by uploading tracks, organizing your mix (it must include at least eight tracks), and sharing it with other 8tracksters. Here's my first. Tell me what you think:

Now go make your own mix.

playlist, aug. 25, 2008

2008-08-25T20:40:00.000-07:00

Horse Feathers - "Curs in the Weeds"
My Morning Jacket - "Evil Urges"
Jonquil - "Whistle Low"
Nimat Davis - "Number Two"
pc muñoz - "Disappear" (feat. Ingrid Chavez)
Duffy - "Mercy"
The Cool Kids - "Mikey Rocks"
Serge Gainsbourg & Brigitte Bardot - "Bonnie and Clyde"
Stereolab - "Valley Hi!"
The B-52's - "Hot Corner"
Marching Band - "Make No Plans"
Big Star - "September Gurls"
Beck - "Walls"
Baskervilles - "John Riley and the Housewives Who Love Him"
Astronautalis - "Something for the Kids"
Why? - "Fatalist Palmistry"
Nimat Davis - "Number Two"
Theresa Andersson - "Birds Fly Away"
Herbaliser - "On Your Knees" (feat. Jessica Darling)
Daedelus - "My Beau" (feat. Paperboy & Erika Rose)
Poplord - "Change in Time for Monday"
Pixies - "Wave of Mutilation" (UK Surf) [Live] (Indianapolis, IN - 6/7/2005)
Radiohead - "Just"
Dwight Yoakum - "I Want You to Want Me"
Frightened Rabbit - "The Twist"
The Ruby Suns - "Tane Mahuta"
El Guincho - "Palmitos Park"
Isaac Hayes - "Never Can Say Goodbye"
Basia Bulat - "Before I Knew"
Takka Takka - Monkey Forest Road"
Cat Power - "New York / Ramblin' Woman"
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - "Nobody's Baby"
Johnny Cash - "Legend in My Time"
The Mountain Goats - "Sax Rohmer, Pt. 1"
Bon Iver - "Creature Fear"
Johnny Cash - "If You Could Read My Mind"
Yo La Tengo - "I Feel Like Going Home"
This Mortal Coil - "You and Your Sister"
The Faint - "The Geeks Were Right"
Cornelius - "Gum"
Hercules and Love Affair - "Hercules Theme"
Santogold - "Creator"

piece of...

2008-08-24T13:10:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my friend Donald for drawing my attention to this blog dedicated to cake catastrophes in all their myriad manifestations. Cakeypal? Are you paying attention?

PR, episodes 5 & 6

2008-08-23T15:09:00.001-07:00

I missed episode 5, so I got caught up this past week and watched 5 and 6 back to back.

Observations:

1.) I'm surprised to be saying this, but Kenley and Joe have trumped Suede and Blayne at being the most annoying contestants.
2.) Brooke Shields looked great, and she was a good client and a good judge. I liked that she was by turns sweet and bitchy. Still, she never did quite articulate what she wanted.
3.) Even though she headed the team that produced the losing outfit, Kelli shouldn't have gotten the boot. It should have been that lazy whiner, Daniel. Kelli was fun, and she wasn't a terrible designer. But she sure made some bad choices with that leopard-print eyes-for-tits dress.
4.) Boy did Terri turn out to have claws. I don't think Suede deserved all that abuse. I mean, why on earth did she make him responsible for that blouse to begin with? He seemed absolutely sincere when he expressed reservations about being able to do it properly, and Terri just kept ripping into him. And what was she doing while Suede was working? Those slacks could not have been that hard to do. Notice how once Tim thought the top was good, Terri fell in love with it. Quote of the evening: "I don't know what he's packing, balls or vajayjay, but he needs to work that out 'cause I ain't got no babies, ain't nobody sucking on my titties. So please, man up."
5.) Kenley's giggling at Daniel was just outright mean. Yes, he's laughable, but pointing and laughing is the audience's job. And in the following episode and in his exit interview, he still seemed to consider her a friend. With friends like those...
6.) I'm really glad that Keith was able to quash Kenley's slew of bad ideas. I loved the look on Tim's face when he picked up Kenley's floral print. I'm not convinced theirs was the best dress, however. In fact, none of those dresses impressed me.
7.) I'm absolutely sick of Joe. I'm tired of him parading his heteronormalcy, his paternity, and his discomfort with queens at every opportunity. His open-mouthed fake perma-smile is nearly as irritating as Kenley's cackle. And he should not have thrown Korto under the bus in front of Tim. I have two words for you, Joe: Wendy. Pepper.
8.) That said, I can see why he won the drag queen challenge. He produced a very appropriate outfit for Varla Jean Merman, and he made her ass look great. I hope this is the only challenge he wins, however. He wins the award for most-annoying-straight-guy contestant on PR.
9.) The guys over at Project RunGay are right: Varla Jean Merman-as-a-man is really hot.
10.) Terri's drag queen outfit was also good--I mean, you have to pull out all the stops for a drag queen whose name is Betty Acid. But Korto's was my favorite. It had glitz, flames, volume, and it was a completely appropriate and flattering look for a big girl like Sweetie.
11.) Blayne's number was boring and poorly constructed. Did the judges not see that broken airplane wing--or whatever it was? It's just a matter of time before Blayne gets the boot. His designs are consistently bad, and he has exhausted his two-note shtick.
12.) It was great to see Chris March again. His feedback in the sewing room was spot on. I still feel he was robbed last season, as I think his outfits were much more interesting than Rami's. I just about laughed myself off the sofa when he and Heidi marched off the runway for German food, and she said, "Pretzels and Be-ah" in a dead-on Schwarzenegger imitation.

playlist, aug. 18, 2008

2008-08-18T20:48:00.000-07:00

Mirah - "Lone Star"
The Avett Brothers - "Souls Like Wheels"
Margot & the Nuclear So and So's - "Bookworm"
Fleet Foxes - "Blue Ridge Mountains"
Yo La Tengo - "Sometimes I Don't Get You"
The Notwist - "Good Lies"
Duffy - "Stepping Stone"
She & Him - "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?"
Black Kids - "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You"
Hercules & Love Affair - "Hercules Theme"
Flight of the Conchords - "Hiphopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros (feat. Rhymenocerous and the Hiphopotamus)
Barry Louis Polar - "All I Want Is You"
The Raconteurs - "Five on the Five"
The Go! Team - "Ladyflash"
LCD Soundsystem - "North American Scum"
Sereolab - "Three Women"
The Kills - "M.E.X.I.C.O."
The Cure - "Close to Me"
No Kids - "For Halloween"
pc muñoz - "Disappear" (feat. Ingrid Chavez)
Billie Holliday - "Glad to Be Unhappy" (DJ Logic Remix)
Bitter:Sweet - "Come Along with Me"
Daedelus - "Make It So" (feat. Michael Johnson)
Beck - "Walls"
David Dondero - "Mighty Mississippi!"
Poplord - "Rent One from Jane"
James Brittain-Gore - "Rustle in the Leaves"
The Who - Odorono"
Dr. Dog - "The Breeze"
Karen Marguth - "The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing"
The Octopus Project - "Bay vs. Leonard"
Black Mountain - "Queens Will Pay"
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - "Cold Son"
Marching Band - "Gorgeous Behavior"
Theresa Andersson - "Birds Fly Away"
Man Man - "The Ballad of Butter Beans"
The Black Keys - "The Wicked Messenger"
Delta Spirit - "People C'mon"
Beach House - "Gila"
Horse Feathers - "Albina"
HEALTH//DISCO - "Crimewave" (Crystal Castles vs. HEALTH)

playlist, aug. 11, 2008

2008-08-11T20:32:00.000-07:00

The Avett Brothers - "St. Joseph's"
Cat Power - "Lord, Help the Poor & Needy"
James Brittain-Gore - "I Know a Soul"
Takka Takka - "The Takers"
Kelley Stoltz - "Everything Begins"
Dr. Dog - "The Breeze"
Thao with the Get Down Stay Down - "Bag of Hammers"
Dengue Fever - "Sober Driver"
Architecture in Helsinki - "Like It or Not" (El Guincho Remix)
Beck - "Gamma Ray"
DJ Bitman - "El Diablo" (feat. Jimmy Fernandez)
El Lele de Los Van Van - "High and Dry" (feat. Radiohead)
Jens Lekman - "A Postcard to Nina"
The Cool Kids - "A Little Bit Cooler"
Why? - "Fatalist Palmistry"
Presto - "What's What" (feat. Fatlip & Kim Hill)
CSS - "Rat Is Dead (Rage)"
The Rolling Stones - "You Can't Always Get What You Want ) (Remixed and Re-edited by Soulwax)
Brian Eno / David Byrne - "Help Me Somebody"
Hercules and Love Affair - "Blind"
The Orb - "DDD (Dirty Disco Dub)"
Mylo - "In My Arms"
Calvin Harris - "Acceptable in the 80s"
Carla Bruni - "Ta Tienne"
Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 - "Daytripper"
Patti Smith - "Redondo Beach"
Cocteau Twins - "Carolyn's Fingers"
Essie Jain - "You"
Lavender Diamond - "Open Your Heart"
The Octopus Project - "An Evening with Rthrha"
Sparklejet - "Emilio"
Mudhoney - "I'm Now"
The Raconteurs - "Five on the Five"
Albert Hammond, Jr. - "Gfc"
Fiery Furnaces - "Sweet Spot"
Fleet Foxes - "White Winter Hymnal"
Subtle - "Hollow Hollered"
Ratatat - "Flynn"
Dosh - "Don't Wait for the Needle to Drop"
Radiohead - "How to Disappear Completely"
Portishead - "Machine Gun"

PR, episode 4

2008-08-11T13:52:00.000-07:00

Observations about last week's show:

1.) Suede and Blayne weren't as annoying as they've been, but I still haven't warmed up to them. The best thing that could happen to Blayne would be his being prevented from entering another tanning salon. Ever. Again.
2.) Daniel probably should have gone home for that sad cocktail dress, but it was only a matter of time before Jennifer got the boot. And she still keeps yammering on about her "surrealism"!?!? Someone needs to sit her down for a little Art History 101. Cutsey-wootsey is not surreal, Jennifer. And your insisting upon that point will never make it so.
3.) Joe revealed himself to be a real manbitch: first he got strangely territorial about the sewing machines, and then he complained about all the "queens" he had to work with. Joe, on this show, homophobia is the quickest way to alienate the judges, your fellow contestants and your viewers, so if that's what you're after, keep it up.
4.) However, Joe's skort was OK. It's true that it had a length problem as Michael Kors noted, and I thought writing "USA" on the front was overkill. Plus the lettering was in an ugly font. I'm glad he didn't win because all of his "Oh, I do sportswear," and "Only I understand sportswear," and "Sportswear is my middle name," and "Bring it on!" was getting really irritating.
5.) Jerrell: wtf???
6.) Kelli: wtf???
7.) Bettie Page: she's going to work every last nerve with that loathsome giggle.
8.) Korto's outfit was good, but not stunning. It was fine, and it probably deserved to win. Then again, nobody produced a stunning number for this challenge. I'm glad she won because I like her: I think she's both entertaining and talented.
9.) There was a tantalizing flare up between Terry and Keith, but it went nowhere. I have a feeling that much of this season's "drama" is going to work along those lines.
10.) It's really time the contestants stop saying "I have no idea where we're going!" at the outset of each challenge. It's like that person at the movie theater who sits behind you and observes, "Oh look! Now he's got a gun!" Stating the obvious makes you look stupid. Then again, I'll bet the show's producers insist on that, asking the contestants, "So, where do you think you're going?"
11.) Nina was right on last night. I love it when the camera first catches her and she has this look on her face that says, "You're all going down."
12.) Apolo Ohno was cute.

did someone say drag queen cow print jacket?

2008-08-10T23:09:00.000-07:00

Recently we were in London, and we were staying not too far from a gay bar called The Stag. One evening we dropped by, and a drag queen named Bette Rinse (I don't get it either) was hosting a country-western variety show. I was happily watching the show and drinking my Hoegaarden, when Miss Rinse pulled out a black-and-white cow print leather-and-suede woman's jacket. She explained that this was from her own collection, and that she would be auctioning it off that evening for charity. I've never participated in an auction before, and I was a little sad that no one was stepping up to make an initial bid, so I started things off. Well, I got the bug, and my hand just kept flying up, as I suddenly and inexplicably became determined to win this thing. And--£45 later--I did win this thing. So there you have it: my first auction, and I win a London drag queen's leather cow print jacket, which I then get to haul around with me to Cambridge, Paris, and then back home. Here I am trying to work it like Bono might. My only consolation is that either I've supported a cancer research in London or a drag queen's speed habit; either way, I feel it amounts to a good cause.

And, no, that's not a sweater. I really am that hairy. Feast your eyes now, for I vow not to reveal any more of my bear-rug chest on this blog.

PR5, episodes 1-3

2008-08-07T14:34:00.000-07:00

OK, so last Saturday I finally got caught up on the fifth season of Project Runway. Here were the observations I made following the show. Don't read ahead if you are behind in your PR viewing and you don't want spoilers:

1) Heidi still looks fabulous. I wish I had her pelvic thrust.
2) Sandra Bernhard (whom I love) wasn't looking so good, but I'm glad to hear that she's touring Without You I'm Nothing again. I saw I'm Still Here ... Damn It! on Broadway. That was where Meg Ryan kicked my friend's butt, and I don't mean figuratively--she really did.
3) I continue to have utter faith in Nina Garcia and Michael Kors as judges, and I love Heidi's bluntness, as well. With most reality shows, I don't at all respect the judges (So You Think You Can Dance? is a good example) but these are the real deal. Even when I disagree with them, I respect them.
4) I despise tan-guy (I guess his name is Blayne). He's trying to be Christian (of season four) with the -licious thing, but it's so obviously derivative of Christian's shtick. Christian could be annoying, but he was also talented and entertaining. Tan-dude is neither, as far as I can tell. That diaper outfit was hideous.
5) Suede has got to stop talking about himself in third person. It is going to get real old, real fast. His striped cocktail dress was good, but I wanted tree-grate-woman to win.
6) I was impressed with that dress of coffee filters and vacuum cleaner bags. I'm glad she won.
7) Emily shouldn't have lost the third challenge. Her dress was better than that matronly black number.
8) Holly Golightly goes to a Dali exhibit my ass.
9) I'm fascinated with the gay guy from SLC. His wet magazine dress needed more color, but it was a daring choice. He's going to need to watch his ego, though. He's not as good a designer as he thinks. He is, however, very easy on the eyes. We definitely need some shots of him brushing his teeth in his underwear.
10) Tim Gunn seems a little meaner this time, which is good. He's often too supportive and vague, but I still love and want to be him.
11) Is rocker chick going to be this season's Sweet Pea? The other contestants had no business being annoyed because she was pounding rivets. If you need to pound rivets, you need to pound rivets. Get a set of earplugs if you don't like it. That said, I'm surprised she survived the first challenge. I think it can only be because shower-curtain guy had no evident personality.
12) Champagne makes for a terrific accompaniment to Project Runway. I think I'm going to make this a tradition.

Meanwhile I discovered this wickedly funny and astute blog devoted to Project Runway. Do yourself a favor and spend a few hours reading through it.

playlist, aug. 4, 2008

2008-08-04T20:53:00.001-07:00

Radiohead - "The National Anthem"
The Notwist - "Gloomy Planets"
M83 - "You,0 Appearing"
The Orb - "DDD (Dirty Disco Dub)"
The Orb - "The Truth Is..."
Ozomatli - "La Temperatura"
Beck - "Gamma Ray"
Santogold - "L.E.S. Artistes"
The Tough Alliance - "Miami"
Modeselektor - "Let Your Love Grow"
Neon Neon - "Dream Cars"
Sexton Blake - "Making Love Out of Nothing At All"
Sufjan Stevens - "Come on! Feel the Illinoise!"
Dolly Parton - "The Tracks of My Tears"
The Avett Brothers - "Murder in the City"
The Geraldine Fibbers - "You Doo Right"
N.E.R.D. - "Spaz"
Cornelius - "Gum"
Subtle - "Sick Soft Perfection"
Atmosphere - "You"
Del the Funky Homosapien - "Situations"
Suede - "Animal Lover"
The Breeders - "German Studies"
The Loveseats - "Best Friend Forever"
The National - "Squalor Victoria"
Wolf Parade - "Soldier's Grin"
The Crystal Castles - "Courtship Dating"
Gorillaz - "Dirty Harry"
Crystal Castles - "Untrust Us"
Of Montreal - "Jimmy"
Hercules and Love Affair - "Raise Me Up"
Cibo Matto - "Spoon"
Duffy - "Mercy"
Ike & Tina Turner - "River Deep - Mountain High"
Flight of the Conchords - "Ladies of the World"

same as it never was

2008-08-03T18:19:00.000-07:00

playlist, jul. 28, 2008

2008-07-28T21:08:00.000-07:00

The Avett Brothers - "Tear Down the House"
Fleet Foxes - "Blue Ridge Mountains"
My Morning Jacket - "Evil Urges"
Duffy - "Rockferry"
Hortense Ellis - "Secretly"
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - "Tell Me"
Hercules and Love Affair - "Raise Me Up"
Beck - "Modern Guilt"
Spiritualized - "Soul on Fire"
The Futureheads - "Think Tonight"
Bloc Party - "Hunting for Witches"
Rademacher - "Arkansas"
Flight of the Conchords - "Foux da Fafa"
N.E.R.D. - "Spaz"
Atmosphere - "You"
Portishead - "Silence"
Burial - "Archangel"
Wolf Parade - "California Dreamer"
Bonnie "Prince" Billy - "You Remind Me of Something (The Glory Goes)"
Mates of State - "The Re-arranger"
The Silver Jews - "Strange Victory, Strange Defeat"
Grant Lee Phillips - "The Killing Moon"
Why? - "Fatalist Palmistry"
Hot Chip - "Wrestlers"
The Black Ghosts - "Some Way Through This"
Cadence Weapon - "House Music"
Novalima Regresa - "Con La Capilla"
The Watson Twins - "Just Like Heaven"
Blake Jones and the Trike Shop - "I Roped the Moon Out of the Sky"
Mirah - "Lone Star"
Kien Lim - "T Baby"
Architecture in Helsinki - "Hold Music" (Max Tundra Remix)
HEALTH - "Heaven" (Pink Skull RMX)
The Notwist - "On Planet Off"
Eurythmics - "Who's That Girl?"
The Orb - "DDD (Dirty Disco Dub)"
Black Kids - "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You"
The Hold Steady - "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?"
The Republic Tigers - "Buildings & Mountains"

fluxcast!

2008-07-24T11:49:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite music blogs for some years now has been Matthew Perpetua's Fluxblog. Perpetua has perpetually good taste in music, and he's a good writer to boot. Now he has begun a podcast called fluxcast. I'm listening to fluxcast #1, and it's very good. Get your copy here, and flux along. (There are two more so far.) I know I will be.

playlist, jun. 30, 2008

2008-06-30T20:59:00.000-07:00

Joan as Police Woman - "Honor Wishes"
Mates of State - "Get Better"
The Watson Twins - "Bar Woman Blues"
Vampire Weekend - "Oxford Comma"
The Raconteurs - "Top Yourself"
Aesop Rock - "39 Thieves"
Odd Nosdam - "Untitled Three" (JB's OG Mix)
Why? - "By Torpedos or Crohn's"
Booka Shade - "Dusty Boots"
Kompis & Erlend Øye - "All Ears"
Pixies - "Where Is My Mind" [Live]
The Futureheads - "The Beginning of the Twist"
Cake - "Wheels"
TV on the Radio - "Staring at the Sun"
Anna Ternheim - "China Girl"
The Breeders - "Overglazed"
The Orb - "Lost & Found"
The Jay Tees - "Buck Town Corner"
Willie Nelson - "Sitting in Limbo"
Thao with the Get Down Stay Down - "Beat (Health, Life and Fire)"
The Notwist - "Good Lies"
The Loveseats - "I Could Be Something"
Cat Power - "Song to Bobby"
Bonnie "Prince" Billy - "For Every Field There's a Mole"
Shearwater - "Leviathan, Bound"
Earlimart - "Face Down in the Right Town"
Jimmy Reed - "Honest I Do"
The Same Shape - "Obvious Solutions"
Coldplay - "Lost!"
Wolf Parade - "Call It a Ritual"
Spiritualized - "Yeah yeah"
No Age - "Ripped Knees"
Styrofoam - "After Sunset"
Serge Gainsbourg - "Mickey Maousse"
Sister Carol - "Black Cinderella"
Easy Star All-Stars [feat. Toots and the Maytals] - "Let Down"
Sugar Minott - "The Dang Dang Song"
HEALTH//DISCO - "Crimewave" (Crystal Castles vs. HEALTH)
Portishead - "Machine Gun"
Cut Copy - "Out There on the Ice"
N.E.R.D. - "Spaz"

playlist, jun. 16, 2008

2008-06-16T20:59:00.000-07:00

Stars - "Ageless Beauty" (Most Serene Repubic Remix)
Datarock - "I Used to Dance with My Daddy"
Ladytron - "Ghosts"
Enon - "Colette"
Subtle - "Day Dangerous"
Dalek - "Stagnant Waters"
Mylo - "In My Arms"
!!! - Heart of Hearts"
The Who - "Baba O'Reilly"
The Kills - "Cheap and Cheerful"
Hot Chip - "Shake a Fist"
Xiu Xiu - "I Do What I Want, When I Want"
Animal Collective - "Water Curses"
Fiery Furnaces - "Ex-Guru"
Ike & Tina Turner - "River Deep, Mountain High"
Santogold - "Creator"
Black Mountain - "Stormy High"
Asobi Seksu - "New Years" [Live]
Mark Ronson [feat. Maximo Park] - "Apply Some Pressure"
The Staple Singers - "Everyday People"
Vampire Weekend - "M79"
Spiritualized - "Sweet Talk"
Portishead - "We Carry On"
Norman Palm - "Girls Just Want to Have Fun"
The Avett Brothers - "Shame"
Sun Kil Moon - "Moorestown"
Flight of the Conchords - "Foux da Fafa"
Duffy - "Warwick Avenue"
The Cool Kids - "Mikey Rocks"
Atmosphere - "Guarantees"
Eli "Paperboy" Reed & The True Loves - "(Am I Just) Fooling Myself"
The Loveseats - "I Could Be Something"
Radiohead - "2+2=5"
DeVotchKa - "Transliterator"
Radmacher - "Argument"
Talking Heads - "I Wish You Wouldn't Say That"
Death Cab for Cutie - "Cath..."
The Herbaliser [feat. Jessica Darling] - "You're Not All That"

playlist, jun. 2, 2008

2008-06-02T20:59:00.000-07:00

Radiohead - "Fake Plastic Trees"
Death Cab for Cutie - "Long Division"
Super Furry Animals - "Pan Ddaw'r Wawr"
M83 - "Kim & Jessie"
Lali Puna - "Micronomic"
Radiohead - "Idioteque"
LCD Soundsystem - "All My Friends"
Tiefschwarz - "Warning Sign"
Bo Diddley - "Diddley Daddy"
Maureen Tucker - "Bo Diddley"
The Clash - "Janie Jones"
Bo Diddley - "Who Do You Love?"
Cornelius - "Gum"
Atmosphere - "Shoulda Known"
The Cure - "A Forest"
The Flaming Lips - "Free Radicals"
Malcolm Middleton - "A Happy Medium"
Morrissey - "The Closer You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get"
My Morning Jacket - "It Beats 4 U" [Live]
Tam - "No Cars Go"
Eagle and Talon - "Dropped Down"
Radmacher - "Today Is Different"
Thao with the Get Down Stay Down - "Fear and Convenience"
This Mortal Coil - "Song to the Siren"
Hölderlin - "Peter"
The Fiery Furnaces - "Sweet Spots"
Asobi Seksu - "New Years" [Live]
The Breeders - "Bang On"
Colourbox - "Just Give 'Em Whiskey"
Elbow - "Mirrorball"
Why? - "The Hollows"
Subtle - "Exiting Arm"
Portishead - "Silence"
The Roots - "Don't Say Nuthin'" (Remix)
Busdriver - "Casting Agents and Cowgirls"
P.O.S. - "Living Slightly Larger"
Herbaliser [feat. Jessica Darling] - "On Your Knees"
Flight of the Conchords - "Inner City Pressure"

playlist, may 26, 2008

2008-05-26T20:56:00.000-07:00

Kate Nash - "We Get On"
Jim Noir - "Look Around You"
The Kinks - "Do You Remember Walter?"
Spoon - "Don't You Evah"
The Dalloways - "Dirty Money and Filthy Love"
The Fiery Furnaces - "Ex-Guru"
Port O'Brien - "I Woke Up Today"
Mavis Staples - "99 1/2"
Eli "Paperboy" Reed & The True Loves - "It's Easier"
Mark Ronson [feat. Kasabian] - "L.S.F."
Neon Neon - "Raquel"
Hercules and Love Affair - "Hercules Theme"
The Presets - "My People"
MGMT - "Time to Pretend"
Super Furry Animals - "Lazer Beam" (Dangermouse Remix)
Ibid - "Pesticides"
Atmosphere - "Puppets"
Subtle - "Exiting Arm"
Dizzee Rascal [feat.UGK] - "Where's Da G's"
pc muñoz and the amen corner - "Skin City"
Patti Smith - "Redondo Beach"
Electrelane - "Bells"
Les Savy Fav - "What Would Wolves Do?"
The Hold Steady - "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?"
The Mountain Goats - "Get Lonely"
M83 - "Up!"
Final Fantasy & Ed Droste - "Possibly Maybe"
Why? - "Song of the Sad Assassin"
Portishead - "We Carry On"
No Age - "Things I Did When I Was Dead"
This Mortal Coil - "Kangaroo"
The Submarines - "Brighter Discontent" (Styrofoam Remix)
Kudu - "Playing House"
Santogold - "Unstoppable"
Cut Copy - "So Haunted"
Stellastarr* - "Sweet Troubled Soul"
James Pants [feat. Deon Davis] - "Crystal Lite"

playlist, may 19, 2008

2008-05-19T21:05:00.001-07:00

James Pants - "Dragonslayer"
Death Cab for Cutie - "Long Division"
Vampire Weekend - "A-Punk"
Port O'Brien - "I Woke Up Today"
Animal Collective - "Water Curses"
Kirsty MacColl - "Innocence"
Portishead - "Silence"
Billie Holiday - "I'm a Fool to Love You"
Mia Doi Todd - "In the End"
Bon Iver - "Re:Stacks"
Lady & Bird - "Suicide Is Painless"
Sonic Youth - "Superstar"
Eli "Paperboy" Reed & The True Loves - "Take My Love with You"
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - "Let Them Knock"
Gnarls Barkley - "Run (I'm a Natural Disaster)"
James Lidell - "Hurricane"
The Kingston Trio - "The Tijuana Jail"
Dizzee Rascal - "Hard Back (Industry)"
Santogold - "Creator"
Atmosphere - "Shoulda Known"
Flight of the Conchords - "Inner City Pressure"
Subtle - "The No"
The Ramones - "Beat on the Brat"
The Who - "Tattoo"
Sexton Blake - "Making Love Out of Nothing at All"
She & Him - "Take It Back"
Elvis Costello & The Imposters - "American Gangster Time"
Poplord - "Celia Somewhere"
M83 - "Couleurs"
Moby - "Alice"
Beck - "Strange Apparition"
T. Rex - "Mambo Sun"
No Age - "Miner"
The Afghan Whigs - "Debonair"
Yo La Tengo - "Shaker"
The Devil Makes Three - "Shades"
The Ruby Suns - "Oh, Mojave"
Elbow - "Grounds for Divorce"
Liars - "Army of Me"
Mudhoney - "The Lucky Ones"
The Flaming Lips - "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song"
My Morning Jacket - "Wordless Chorus"
Sun Kil Moon - "Heron Blue"
Spoon - "The Ghost of You Lingers"

playlist, may 12, 2008

2008-05-12T20:59:00.000-07:00

Bush Chemists - "Rubber Dub"
Atmosphere - "Puppets"
Portishead - "We Carry On"
Subtle - "Day Dangerous"
M83 - "You, Appearing"
Animal Collective - "Water Curses"
Xiu Xiu - "I Do What I Want, When I Want"
Islands - "J'aime Vous Voir Quitter"
Belle and Sebastian - "Expectations"
Elvis Costello and The Imposters - "No Hiding Place"
The Black Keys - "I Got Mine"
Eli "Paperboy" Reed & The True Loves - "The Satisfier"
Scarlett Johansson - "Anywhere I Lay My Head"
The Spinners - "The Rubberband Man"
Mark Ronson [feat. Amy Winehouse] - "Valerie"
Dizzee Rascal - "Bubbles"
The Kills - "Cheap and Cheerful"
Yo La Tengo - "A House Is Not a Motel"
No Age - "Sleeper Hold"
Mudhoney - "I'm Now"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Phenomena"
Santogold - "Unstoppable"
M.I.A. - "Hombre"
Sally Shapiro - "Find My Soul" (Holy Fuck Remix)
The Go! Team [feat. Chuck D] - "Flashlight Fight"
Gorillaz - "Dare" (Soulwax Remix)
Shelby Lynne - "The Look of Love"
Jim Noir - "Day by Day by Day"
Elbow - "Grounds for Divorce"
Iron and Wine - "White Tooth Man"
The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir - "Aspidistra"
The Libertines - "Don't Look Back into the Sun"
Wye Oak - "Please Concrete"
Tickley Feather - "Sorry Party"
Nat Baldwin - "Lake Erie"
Radiohead - "Bodysnatchers"
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - "Baltimore"
The Dalloways - "Thomas Hardy and Me"
Sparklejet - "Emilio"
Son Lux - "Wither"
Flight of the Conchords - "Think about It"

playlist, may 5, 2008

2008-05-05T20:53:00.000-07:00

Peter Bjorn and John - "Young Folks"
Portishead - "Silence"
Son Lux - "Break"
St. Vincent - "Jesus Saves, I Spend"
Battles - "Leyendecker"
Santogold - "Shove It"
Neon Neon - "Dream Cars"
The Danielson Famille - "We Don't Say Shut Up"
The Kinks - "Phenomenal Cat"
Supersuckers - "Hey Ya!" [Live]
The Who - "Armenia City in the Sky"
Jim Noir - "Ships and Clouds"
Shelby Lynne - "Anyone Who Had a Heart"
Sun Kil Moon - "Lost Verses"
New Buffalo - "Cheer Me Up Thank You"
Blake Jones and the Trike Shop - "Sun Up"
Islands - "Creeper"
Nicole Atkins - "The Way It Is"
Bis - "The Powerpuff Girls (End Theme)"
The B-52s - "Funplex" (CSS Remix)
Vampire Weekend - "M79"
No Age - "Miner"
Pixies - "Wild Honey Pie"
The Black Keys - "So He Won't Break"
Blake Jones and the Trike Shop - "Song for KFSR's Evening Eclectic"
David Bowie - "1984 / Dodo"
El "Paperboy" Reed & the True Loves - "It's Easier"
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - "100 Days, 100 Nights"
Cat Power - "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again"
Mexican Institute of Sound - "Dub-A El Tiempo Es Muy Largo"
Calexico - "Roka"
Nortec Collective - "Olvidela Compa"
Ozomatli - "La Temperatura"
R.E.M. - "Supernatural Superserious"
The Breeders - "Overglazed"
The Raconteurs - "The Switch and the Spur"
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - "Today's Lesson"

playlist, apr. 28, 2007

2008-04-28T20:57:00.000-07:00

Nancy Sinatra - "Day Tripper"
Colin Meloy - "Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect" [Live]
Thao with the Get Down Stay Down - "Swimming Pools"
Sexton Blake - "Bette Davis Eyes"
M83 - "Kim & Jessie"
Neon Neon - "Raquel"
Hot Chip - "We're Looking for a Lot of Love"
Rademacher - "Machines"
El Olio Wolof - "The Tedious Task - A Fire Breathing Dragon"
The Dalloways - "Dirty Money and Filthy Love"
MGMT - "Time to Pretend"
Simian Mobile Disco - "Hot Dog"
The Rolling Stones - "You Can't Always Get What You Want" (Re-mixed and Re-edited by Soulwax)
Dengue Fever - "Tiger Phone Card"
Karen Marguth - "Marie Laveaux"
Dolly Parton - "Drive Me Crazy"
Cat Power - "New York / Ramblin' Woman"
Basia Bulat - "The Pilgriming Vine"
Nik Freitas - "Sun Down"
Akron / Family - "Ed Is a Portal"
The Bad Plus - "Tom Sawyer"
Sonic Youth - "Incinerate"
The Breeders - "Regalame Esta Noche"
The Kills - "U.R.A. Fever"
The Gossip - "Standing in the Way of Control"
Dizzee Rascal - "Wanna Be" [feat. Lily Allen]
!!! - "Heart of Hearts"
Yelle - "Jogging"
Jamie Lidell - "Another Day"
Flight of the Conchords - "Inner City Pressure"

2008-04-21T20:59:00.000-07:00

Dizzee Rascal - "Sirens"
The Black Keys - "Strange Times"
The Kills - "Cheap and Cheerful"
The Gossip - "Yr Mangled Heart"
The Raveonettes - "Aly, Walk with Me"
Bats for Lashes - "Horse and I"
Islands - "Pieces of You"
Animal Collective - "Water Curses"
No Kids - "The Beaches All Closed"
Jim Noir - "All Right"
John Lee Hooker - "Chillen' Boogie"
Aretha Franklin - "Do Right Woman - Do Right Man"
Andre Williams - "Bacon Fat"
Parliament - "Chocolate City"
Marshall Crenshaw - "Someday, Someway"
The Detroit Cobras - "As Long As I Have You"
Shelby Lynne - "I Only Want to Be with You"
Colin Meloy - "We Both Go Down Together" (Evoking a Campfire Singalong) [Live]
The Breeders - "Bang On"
R.E.M. - "Man-Sized Wreath"
Editors - "French Disko"
Ladyhawk - "Night You're Beautiful"
Rademacher - "If U Got Some Magic"
Moby - "I Love to Move in"
Cut Copy - "Out There on the Ice"
The B-52's - "Funplex"
Edwin Starr - "War"
MC5 - "Motor City Burning"
The Stooges - "T.V. Eye"
Claude Young - "Detroit by Night"
DJ Axel - "Without Billie Jean" (Michael Jackson vs Eminem)
The White Stripes - "Hotel Yoruba"
Yelle - "Ce Jeu"
Neon Neon - "I Told Her on Alderaan"
Hot Chip - "Ready for the Floor"
MGMT - "Time to Pretend"
Fuck Buttons - "Bright Tomorrow"
El Olio Wolof - "Apathetic Apple"

apr. 17, 2008

2008-04-17T20:55:00.000-07:00

The Cloud Room - "Hey Now Now"
Gorillaz - "Hongkongaton"
Th Gossip - "Are You That Somebody?" [Live]
R.E.M. - "Horse to Water"
Pixies - "Head On"
The Black Keys - "Strange Times"
Andrew W.K. - "Party Party Party"
Flight of the Conchords - "Inner City Pressure"
Hercules and Love Affair - "Hercules Theme"
Cut Copy - "Feel the Love"
The Rolling Stones - "You Can't Always Get What You Want" (Soulwax Remix)
Sunny Day Set Fire - "Stranger" (CSS "Wilderness" Mix)
Robert Plant & Allison Krauss - "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)"
Kelley Stoltz - "Everything Begins"
Sleater-Kinney - "Oh!"
Trollyvox - "Our Love Was"
El Olio Wolof - "The Tedious Task: A Fire Breathing Dragon"
The Ruby Suns - "Kenya Dig It?"
Rings - "Mom Dance"
The Kingston Trio - "Greenback Dollar"
Peter Bjorn and John - "Me and Julio Down by the School Yard" [Live]
She & Him - "Take It Back"
Belle and Sebastian - "The Blues Are Still Blue"
Nouvelle Vague - "Ever Fallen in Love"
ESG - "Six Pack" (Original Version)
The Orb - "S.A.L.T."
Stereolab - "Motoroller Scalatron"
Saint Etienne - "Avenue" (Gordon King Mix)
Bon Iver - "The Wolves (Act I and II)"
The Avett Brothers - "Paranoia in B-Flat Major"
Neko Case - "Fox Confessor Brings the Flood"
Thao with the Get Down Stay Down - "Geography"
Aretha Franklin - "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)"
Jamie LIdell - "Figured Me Out"
The Kills - "Goodnight Bad Morning"
Colin Meloy - "On the Bus Mall" [Live]
Elliott Smith - "Thirteen"
Malcolm McLaren - "Love Will..."
DeVotchKa - "Transliterator"

playlist, apr. 14, 2008

2008-04-14T21:00:00.000-07:00

Apr. 14, 2008

Colin Meloy - "Barbara Allen"
The Black Keys - "So He Won't Break"
Cadence Weapon - "In Search of the Youth Crew"
Thom Yorke - "Skip Divided" (Modeselektor Remix)
White Hinterland - "I Miss You"
DeVotchKa - "The Clockwise Witness"
New Buffalo - "Stay with Us"
Bats for Lashes - "What's a Girl to Do?"
She & Him - "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?"
The Mountain Goats - "Sax Rohmer, Pt. 1"
Why? - "Song of the Sad Assassin"
Lyrics Born - "Differences"
Blackalicious - "My Pen and Pad"
Macromantics - "Scorch"
The Argyle Pimps - "Handsome"
The Streets - "Two Nations"
Kimya Dawson - "Anyone Else But You"
Spoon - "Don't You Evah"
R.E.M. - "Horse to Water"
Black Mountain - "Queens Will Play"
The Raveonettes - "Dead Sound"
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - "Today's Lesson"
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - "Cold Son"
Crystals Castles - "Courtship Dating"
Foals Antidotes - "Cassius"
The Kills - "Cheap and Cheerful"
Kelley Stoltz - "Your Reverie"
Tubeway Army - "Me! I Disconnect from You"
Clinic - "Memories"
Xiu Xiu - "You Are Pregnant You, You Are Dead!"
The Fiery Furnaces - "The Philadelphia Grand Jury"
Shout Out Louds - "Impossible"
Vampire Weekend - "M79"
Billy Bragg - "O Freedom"
The Raconteurs - "Five on the Five"
The Ruby Suns - "Tane Mahuta"
3 Na Massa [feat. Thalma De Freitas] - "Enladeirada"
Maps - "So Low, So High"
Justice - "Stress"
Matthew Dear - "Neighborhoods"
The Knife - "Na Na Na"

playlist, mar. 31, 2008

2008-03-31T21:02:00.000-07:00

Joe Henry - "Civilians"
Yeasayer - "Sunrise"
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - "Am I Demon?"
Thao with the Get Down Stay Down - "Beat (Health, Life and Fire)"
Son Volt - "The Picture"
White Hinterland - "Dreaming of the Plum Trees"
Magnetic Fields - "Drive on, Driver"
Stars - "The Ghost of Genova Heights"
Goldfrapp - "A & E"
The Kinks - "Picture Book"
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!"
Fosforo - "Esto Es Califas"
Supreme Beings of Leisure - "The Light"
Mia Doi Todd - "In the End"
The Black Keys - "Strange Times"
Joy Denalane - "Soweto '76-'06"
Cadence Weapon - "Real Estate"
Dj Bitman - "Blackbossa"
Santogold - "L.E.S. Artistes"
Invisible Conga People - "Cable Again"
Los Campesinos -
Super Furry Animals - "Suckers!"
British Sea Power - "Down on the Ground"
Kate Nash - "Mouthwash"
Poplord - "Your Favorite Weapon"
A Frames - "Black Forest I"
Black Mountain - "Wucan"
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - "Cold Son"
Beach House - "Wedding Bell"
The Raconteurs - "Salute Your Solution"
The Kills - "M.E.X.I.C.O."
The Rolling Stones - "You Can't Always Get What You Want" (Re-mixed and Re-edited by Soulwax)
Xiu Xiu - "I Do What I Want, When I Want"
Animal Collective - "Derek"
Foal Antidotes - "Olympic Airways"

mar. 24, 2008

2008-03-24T20:50:00.000-07:00

No Kids - "For Halloween"
R.E.M. - "Perfect Circle"
Destroyer - "Dark Leaves Form a Thread"
The Fiery Furnaces - "Ex-Guru"
The Rolling Stones - "You Can't Always Get What You Want" (Re-mixed and Re-Edited by Soulwax)
Hot Chip - "Shake a Fist"
Eric B. & Rakim - Paid in Full (Derek B's Urban Respray)
Basia Bulat - "Before I Knew"
Sonic Youth - "Incinerate"
Dungen - "Familij"
Mott the Hoople - "All the Young Dudes"
Bon Iver - "Creature Fear"
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - "Hopscotch Willie"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Rockers to Swallow"
My Morning Jacket - "Anytime" [Live]
No Age - "Every Artist Needs a Tragedy"
DJ Shadow - "The Number Song" [Live]
P.O.S. - "Bush League Psyche-Out Stuff"
Vampire Weekend - "M79"
Billy Bragg - "You Make Me Brave"
Cat Power - "Lost Someone"
Xiu Xiu [feat. Michael Gira] - "Under Pressure"
Why? - "The Vowels Pt. 2"
Kevin Drew - "Broke Me Up"
Big Star - "The India Song"
CSS - "Knife"
MGMT - "Time to Pretend"
The Kills - "U.R.A. Fever"
Neon Neon - "Raquel"
Quando Quango - "Love Tempo" (Remix)
LCD Soundsystem - "Big Ideas"
New Buffalo - "Cheer Me Up, Thank You"
Of Montreal - "Jimmy"
Gomez - "How We Operate"
Gorillaz- "We Are Happy Landfill"
The Raveonettes - "Blush"
Murder by Death - "Fuego!"

playlist, mar. 17, 2008

2008-03-17T20:52:00.000-07:00

Vampire Weekend - "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"
No Kids - "The Beaches All Closed"
Manu Chao - "Rainin in Paradize"
Neon Neon - "Trick for Treat"
Cadence Weapon - "Unsuccessful Club Nights"
Science for Girls - "You'll Never Know"
Thao - Swimming Pools"
The Good, The Bad & The Queen - "Herculean"
Gretchen Phillips - "Hello, Darling"
New Buffalo - "It's True"
The Mountain Goats - "Sax Rohmer #1"
DeVotchka - "The Clockwise Witness"
Basia Bulat - "The Pilgriming Vine"
Bon Iver - "Creature Fear"
Lou Reed - "Perfect Day"
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - "Elmo Delmo"
Eagle and Talon - "Dropped Down"
The Skatalites - "Freedom Sounds"
The Clash - "Janie Jones"
40 Watt Hype - "Strong Feet on the Concrete"
Dengue Fever - "Oceans of Venus"
40 Watt Hype - "Animated World"
The Aquabats - "Ska Boss (Ska Ba)"
Headlights - "Cherry Tulips"
Destroyer - "Foam Hands"
The Raveonettes - "Dead Hands"
The Grand Archives - "Miniature Birds"
DJ Axel - "Push It Fergasonic" (Salt 'N Pepa vs Fergie vs JJ Fad)
Rob Sonic - "Dyslexia"
Aesop Rock - "39 Thieves"
Amon Tobin [feat. MC Decimal] - "Verbal"
Why? - The Hollows"
Radiohead - "Bodysnatchers"
Burial - "Untitled / Archangel"
Del the Funky Homosapien - "Situations"
Hot Chip - "Shake a Fist"
Material - "Don't Lose Control"
Calvin Harris - "Certified"
Simian Mobile Disco - "I Got This Down"
M.I.A. - "Paper Planes" (DFA Remix)

check this out

2008-03-11T21:21:00.000-07:00

Invisible Conga People - "Cable Dazed"

playlist, mar. 10, 2008

2008-03-11T16:58:00.000-07:00

Del the Funky Homosapien - "Bubble Pop"
Billie Holiday - "Spreadin' Rhythm Around" (Lady Bug vs. Lady Day RR Remix)
Why? - "These Few Presidents"
Sleater-Kinney - "You're No Rock n' Roll Fun"
Vampire Weekend - "A-Punk"
Of Montreal - "Heimsdalgate Like a Promethean Curse"
Yeasayer - "Sunrise"
Jarvis Cocker - "Black Magic"
Mia Doi Todd - "Sleepless Nights"
DJ Axel - "Stand Up Fever" (Peggy Lee vs. Ludacris)
Nina Simone - "Sinner Man"
The Submarines - "Brighter Discontent" (Console of the Notwist Remix)
Mark Ronson [feat. Amy Winehouse] - "Valerie"
Subtle - "The Mercury Craze"
P.O.S. - "Living Slightly Larger"
St. VIncent - "Now Now"
The Go-Go's - "This Town"
Modeselektor - "Let Your Love Grow"
Burial - "Archangel"
Mylo - "Sunworshipper"
Björk - "Isobel"
Dump - "1999"
The Bee Gees - "Holiday"
Thom Yorke - "The Clock" (Surgeon Remix)
Matthew Dear - "Deserter"
Hot Chip - "The Warning"
diskJokke - "Some Signs Are Good"
David Bowie - "The Jean Genie"
Snowden - "Anti-Anti"
Tubeway Army - "Positive Thinking" [Live]
M.I.A. - "Paper Planes" (Scottie B. Remix)
Daft Punk - "Around the World / Harder Better Faster Stronger" [Live]
Super Lucky Catz - "Semi-Unconditional"
Bon Iver - "Skinny Love"
Beirut - "Nantes"
Destroyer - "Blue Flower / Blue Flame"

until i can muster up a real post...

2008-03-04T19:13:00.000-08:00

check out this blog:

stuffwhitepeoplelike

playlist, mar. 3, 2008

2008-03-03T20:52:00.000-08:00

New Buffalo - "Cheer Me Up Thank You"
Dusty Springfield - "Just a Little Lovin'"
Kien Lim - "If Only"
Kien Lim - "Moonshine Girl" [Live in the KFSR studio]
Kien Lim - "No Question of a Sin" [Live in the KFSR studio]
Kien Lim - "Savior of the Skies" [Live in the KFSR studio]
The Avett Brothers - "Paranoia in B-Flat Minor"
Xiu Xiu - "I Do What I Want, When I Want"
Beirut - "In the Mausoleum"
Modeselektor [feat. Thom Yorke] - "The White Flash"
Dolly Parton - "Drives Me Crazy"
DeVotchKa - "Along the Way"
Vampire Weekend - "M79"
Why? - "A Sky for Shoeing"
M.I.A. - "Paper Planes" (Scottie B. Remix)
Hot Chip - "Ready for the Floor"
Bon Iver - "Skinny Love"
Cat Power - "New York / Ramblin' Woman"
Beach House - "Wedding Bell"
The Roots - "Don't Say Nuthin'" (Remix)
Aesop Rock - "Getaway Car"
Akron/Family - "Ed Is a Portal"
The YMD - "New Direction"
Belle & Sebastian - "String Bean Jean"
Elf Power - "Paralyzed"
Earl J. Rivard - "Mercedes"
Blake Jones & the Trike Shop - "Snapshots"
Karen Marguth - "Marie Laveaux"
Annette Ash - "Brown Eyes and Blue Hair"
Diskjokke - "Som Signs Are Good"
Snowden - "Anti-Anti"
Glass Candy - "Rolling Down Hills"
LCD Soundsystem - "North American Scum"
DJ Bitman - "Blackbossa"

playlist, feb. 25, 2008

2008-02-25T20:38:00.000-08:00

Mia Doi Todd - "Sleepless Nights"
Bon Iver - "Skinny Love"
The Helio Sequence - "Shed Your Love"
Thao - "Beat (Health, Lie, and Fire)"
The National - "Mistaken for Strangers"
Cat Power - "Song to Bobby"
Grizzly Bear - "Shift" (Alternate Version)
M.I.A. - "Paper Planes" (DFA Remix)
Hot Chip - "Ready for the Floor"
Shriekback - "My Spine Is the Baseline" (1982 1212" Edit)
Cadence Weapon - "In Search of the Youth Crew"
Blake Jones & the Trike Shop - "Parade"
Kien Lim - "Theresa Baby"
Basia Bulat - "In the Night"
The Replacements - "Little Mascara"
The Raveonettes - "Aly, Walk with Me"
The Magnetic Fields - "Please Stop Dancing"
New Buffalo - "Cheer Me Up and Thank You"
Kelley Stoltz - "Everything Begins"
Vampire Weekend - "M79"
Jens Lekman - "Arms Around Me"
Ssion - "Clown"
Mahjongg - "Problems"
The YMD - "Drown Yr Hamster in Nail Polish Removal"
Mike Ladd - "Learn to Fall"
Karen Marguth - "I Can't Give You Anything But Love"
Abigail Nolte - "Take Me Home"
Andrew Bird - "Heretics"
Kate Nash - "Mouthwash"
Siouxsie & The Banshees - "Kiss Them for Me"
pc muñoz & the amen corner - "Skin City"
Kien Lim - "If Only"
Liam Finn - "Second Chance"
British Sea Power - "All in It"
Super Furry Animals - "Run-Away"
Modeselektor [feat. Thom Yorke] - "The White Flash"
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - "Dragonfly Pie"
Beach House - "Gila"

playlist, feb. 18, 2007

2008-02-18T21:04:00.000-08:00

The Velvet Underground - "I'm Sticking With You"
Spoon - "The Ghost of You Lingers"
Black Mountain - "Queens Will Play"
Was (Not Was) - "Wheel Me Out"
M.I.A. - "Paper Planes" (DFA Remix)
diskJokke - "Some Signs Are Good"
Blondie - "Heart of Glass"
Kien Lim - "Only If"
The Avett Brothers - "Paranoia in B-Flat Major"
Jnny Lewis with the Watson Twins - "Run Devil Run / The Big Guns"
Cat Power - "Lost Someone"
Kelley Stoltz - "Your Reverie"
Modeselektor - "Let Your Love Grow"
Beirut - "Nantes"
Jens Lekman - "Your Arms Around Me"
Belle & Sebastian - "Sleep the Clock Around"
The Smiths - "The Headmaster Ritual"
British Sea Power - "Down on the Ground"
Blake Jones & the Trike Shop - "Virginia Woolf"
David Byrne - "Ex-Guru"
Snowden - "Like Bullets"
Sunny Day Set Fire - "Stranger" (CSS "Wilderness" Remix)
Yellow Magic Orchestra - "Seoul Music"
Neneh Cherry - "I've Got U Under My Skin"
William Shatner - "Common People"
Vampire Weekend - "M79"
Born Ruffians - "Red Yellow & Blue"
Xiu Xiu [feat. Michael Gira] - "Under Pressure"
Helio Sequence - "Keep Your Eyes Ahead"
P.O.S. [feat. Craig Finn] - "Safety in Speed (Heavy Metal)"
Common - "Be"
Odd Nosdam - "The Kill Tone Two"
DJ Bitman [feat. Juan Sativo] - "La Raza"
The Raveonettes - "Lust"
Beach House - "Wedding Bell"

playlist, feb. 11, 2007

2008-02-11T21:46:00.000-08:00

Nancy Sinatra - "Day Tripper"
Chris Joss - "Magic Tubes"
Luxury - "Green Hearts"
Rancid - "Time Bomb"
Bonde do Rolê - "Geremia"
CSS - "Knife"
Justice - "Stress"
The Hold Steady - "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?"
Les Savy Fav - "Pots&Pans"
Sleater-Kinney - "Wilderness"
Xiu Xiu - "I Do What I Want, When I Want"
Magnetic Fields - "Three-Way"
Abigail Nolte - "Leftover Light"
Jason Collett - "Out of Time"
Cat Power - "New York" / "Ramblin' (Wo)man"
The Avett Brothers - "Paranoia in B-Flat Major"
Amy Winehouse - "Wake Up Alone"
James Brown - "I Lost Someone"
Big Star - "Feel"
Black Mountain - "Wucan"
Sonic Youth - "Superstar"
Supersuckers - "Sail On" [Live]
The Whigs - "Right Hand on My Heart"
Joanna Newsom - "Emily"
Panda Bear - "Bros."
Band of Horses - "Cigarettes, Wedding Bands"
Architecture in Helsinki - "Underwater"
The Dalloways - "Tiffy"
Beirut - "In the Mausoleum"
Feist - "Mushaboom" (Postal Service Remix)
Teddybears [feat. Neneh Cherry] - "Yours to Keep"
!!! - "Heart of Hearts"
Hot Chip - "Ready for the Floor"
Aesop Rock - "Bring Back Pluto"
Atmosphere - "YGM"
Cibo Matto - "Spoon"
Gary Numan - "Cars" (Flood Mix)
The Knife - "Neverland"
Battles - "Ddiamondd"
Daft Punk - "Da Funk / Daftendirekt" [Live]
White Williams - "New Violence"
Calvin Harris - "Colours"
Digitalism - "Home Zone"
Glass Candy - "Candy Castles"
The Raveonettes - "Aly, Walk with Me"
British Sea Power - "Waving Flags"
Kelley Stoltz - "Put My Troubles to Sleep"

playlist, jan. 28, 2007

2008-01-28T20:57:00.001-08:00

Kelley Stoltz - "Put My Troubles to Sleep"
Supersuckers - "Sail On" [Live]
Vampire Weekend - "A-Punk"
Dengue Fever - "Seeing Hands"
Xiu Xiu [feat. Michael Gira] - "Under Pressure"
The Beatles - "Tomorrow Never Knows"
Animal Collective - "Derek"
The Magnetic Fields - "Three-Way"
Black Mountain - "Angels"
Aesop Rock - "Bring Back Pluto"
Radiohead - "Bodysnatchers"
White Williams - "Headlines"
The B-52's - "Dance This Mess Around"
British Sea Power - "Down on the Ground"
Belle & Sebastian - "Expectations"
Bob Dylan - "I Want You"
The Fiery Furnaces - "Ex-Guru"
Public Enemy - "Shut Em Down" (100dBs Mix)
Busdriver - "Kill Your Employer (Recreational Paranoia Is the Sport of Now)"
Basement Jaxx - "Where's Your Head At?"
Mika - "Grace Kelly"
Nina Simone - "Sinnerman"
Sleater-Kinney - "Words and Guitar"
The Whigs - "Like a Vibration"
Pinback - "Barnes"
The Boggs - "Melanie in the White Coat"
Bee Gees - "New York Mining Disaster 1941"
Cat Power - "I Believe in You"
Bright Eyes - "Four Winds"
Mark Ronson [feat. Lily Allen] - "Oh My God"
Hot Chip - "Shake a Fist"
Mike Ladd - "Learn to Fall"
The Smiths - "How Soon Is Now?"
Supersuckers - "Hey Ya!"
Interpol - "Not Even Jail"
Delta 5 - "Mind Your Own Business"
Daft Punk - "Around the World / Harder Better Faster Stronger"
Say Hi - "Northwestern Girls"

playlist, jan. 21, 2007

2008-01-21T20:49:00.000-08:00

Wilco - "Sky Blue Sky"
King of Prussia - "Spain in the Summertime"
Jens Lekman - "A Postcard for Nina"
The Decemberists - "Yankee Baronet (I Will Be Home Then)"
The Beach Boys - "Hang on to Your Ego"
Iron & Wine - "Lovesong of the Buzzard"
Joan as Police Woman - "Eternal Flame"
Nino Moschella - "Better Off"
Gorillaz - "Hongkongaton"
Fiery Furnaces - "The Philadelphia Grand Jury"
Yeasayer - "2080"
Mike Ladd - "Housewives at Play"
Apparat - "Hailin from the Edge"
Una - "Fading in C# Minor"
40 Watt Hype - "On and On"
U2 - "Pride"
Mavis Staples - "Eyes on the Prize"
Common [feat.The Last Poets] - "The Corner"
Michael Franti - "Love'll Set Me Free" (Acoustic Version)
John Lennon - "Give Peace a Chance"
Bob Marley & the Wailers - "One Love" (Cordovan Remix)
The Moldy Peaches - "Anyone Else But You"
Dengue Fever - "Tiger Phone Card"
Burial - "Archangel"
Saint Etienne - "Avenue" (Gordon King Remix)
Glass Candy - "Rolling Down Hills"
Vivian Goldman - "Launderette"
The Cure - "The Walk"
White Blue Yellow & Clouds - "Seeing Stars"
The Crystals - "Uptown"
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - "Let Them Knock"
Tone-Loc - "Wild Thing" (Peaches RMX)
Radioactive Cauliflower - "Monster Pedals"
Black Mountain - "Stormy High"
Les Savy Fav - "Pots&Pans"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Isis"
Pinback - "Off by 50"
Jesus and the Mary Chain - "April Skies"
Tender Forever - "How Many"

googling sex

2008-01-20T11:38:00.000-08:00

So I'm teaching a graduate level seminar on Queer Theory (for the first time), and I'm beginning the course with Freud's Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality. Last night as I was reading through the first essay, on the "aberrations," I ran across a reference to the tertiary sexual characteristics. I'm familiar enough with the distinction between the primary (those features related to the genitals and to reproduction) and secondary sexual characteristics (those that are not directly related to reproduction--such as bodily hair and pitch of the voice), but I hadn't recalled reading about tertiary sexual characteristics.

So I did what I often tell my students not to do, and I googled the phrase. The second hit was a reference to a work by Albert Moll from 1909, called The Sexual Life of the Child. (Freud references this work in the Three Essays.)

When I clicked on the link, I was taken to an facsimile image of a page from a 1912 English translation of Moll's book, and the relevant passage appeared before my eyes. (Click here to see what I mean.) Is that neat or what?

Apparently I'm a little late in discovering the magic that is Google Books, but I'm pretty stoked to some more exploring. I guess I'll need to rethink my mandate to my students that they not google topics that they are researching.

playlist, jan. 14, 2007

2008-01-14T21:02:00.000-08:00

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - "Tell Me"
Thom Yorke - "The Eraser"
Charlie Louvin [feat. Jeff Tweedy] - "That Great Atomic Power"
Joan Baez - "Silver Dagger"
Saint Etienne - "Like a Motorway"
Dengue Fever - "Seeing Hands"
Mexican Institute of Sound - "Hip Hop No Pares"
The Flaming Lips - "Free Radicals"
Gang of Four - "Damaged Goods"
The Go! Team - "The Power Is On"
Kid Creole and the Coconuts - "Annie, I'm Not Your Daddy"
CSS - "Let's Make Love to Death from Above"
The Avett Brothers - "Shame"
Nick Lowe - "Hope For Us All"
Mark Ronson [feat. Lily Allen] - "Oh My God"
Pulp - "Common People"
Rademacher - "If U Got Some Magic"
The Bad Plus - "Tom Sawyer"
Radiohead - "Bodysnatchers"
Karen O & the Million Dollar Bashers - "Highway 61 Revisited"
Blake Jones & the Trike Shop - "Snapshot"
Feist - "Sealion"
Beirut - "In the Mausoleum"
Bebel Gilberto - "Caçada"
Vampire Weekend - "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"
DJ Bitman [feat. Jimmy Fernandez] - "El Diablo"
Aesop Rock - "None Shall Pass"
Morcheeba - "Wonders Never Cease"
Glass Candy - "Rolling Down the Hills" (Spring Demo)
Matthew Dear - "Deserter"
Junior Bloomsday - "Nervous Habitats"
Yeasayer - "Sunrise"
Sonic Youth - "Reena"
Sparklejet - "The Heart Will Lift You"
Band of Horses - "No One's Gonna Love You"
Blonde Redhead - "Top Ranking"
LCD Soundsystem - "New York I Love You But..."
Burial - "Endorphin"
Daft Punk - "Da Funk / Daftendirekt"

oh wait, one more

2008-01-12T04:47:00.000-08:00

The videocast for Radiohead's "Jigsaw Falling into Place":

best music video of 2007?

2008-01-11T14:00:00.000-08:00

I think it's got to be this one for Animal Collective's "Peacebone":

Next best? My vote goes to the vid for Battles' "Atlas":

playlist, jan. 7, 2008

2008-01-07T20:57:00.000-08:00

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - "How Long Do I Have to Wait for You?" (Ticklah Remix)
Vampire Weekend - "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"
Yeasayer - "2080"
King Tubby & Friends - "Satta Dread Dub"
The Libertines - "Can't Stand Me Now"
The Dalloways - "Cotty's House"
Anna Ternheim - "China Girl"
Sara Valenzuela - "Ya No"
Rilo Kiley - "Give a Little Love"
Bas for Lashes - "What's a Girl to Do?"
Modeselektor - "2000007"
Material, Nona Hendryx - "Bustin' Out"
Chromatics - "Hands in the Dark"
Hot Chip - "Over and Over" [iTunes Session]
Man Man - [Live at The Cellar Door]
El Olio Wolof - "Earthworms Can't Dig This"
TV on the Radio - "Province"
Akron/Family - "Ed Is a Portal"
The Avett Brothers - "Paranoia in B-Flat Major"
Burial - "Ghost Hardware"
Neon Neon - "Raquel" (Radio)
CSS - "Knife"
Radmacher - "What Yr Used to Back at Home"
The Shins - "Sealegs"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Rockers to Swallow"
The Long Blondes - "Giddy Stratospheres"
The Hold Steady - "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?"
The National - "Squalor Victoria"
Aesop Rock - "None Shall Pass"
El-P - "Smithereens"
Busdriver - "Kill Your Employer (Recreational Paranoia Is the Sport of Today)"
DJ Bitman - "Shine"
Radiohead - "Nude"
Arcade Fire - "Keep the Car Running"

playlist, dec. 17, 2007

2007-12-17T20:51:00.000-08:00

Una - "Casa del Fuego"
Sally Shapiro - "Christmas Anorak"
The Spinners - "The Rubberband Man"
Spoon - "Don't You Evah"
Cookie Jar - "The Island"
Petra Haden - "God Only Knows"
Yo La Tengo - "Fourth Time Around"
The Walkmen - "The Christmas Song"
Common [feat. Lily Allen] - Drivin' Me Wild"
Gorillaz - "Dare" (Soulwax Remix)
CSS - "The Knife"
The Submarines - "Brighter Discontent" (Styrofoam Remix)
Supersuckers - "Hey Ya!"
Andrew W.K. - "Don't Call Me Andy"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Rockers to Swallow"
The Pretenders - "Tattooed Love Boys"
Sleater-Kinney - "Rollercoaster"
Sparklejet - "Emilio"
Darlene Love - "Winter Wonderland"
LCD Soundsystem - "North American Scum"
Junior Bloomsday - "Swans to Greet You"
Beirut - "Forks and Knives (La Fête)"
The Smiths - "The Headmaster Ritual"
The Mary Onettes - "Void"
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - "100 Days, 100 Nights"
The Staple Singers - "Uncloudy Day"
Julia Dawn - "Beautiful"
The Gossip - "Are U That Somebody"
DJ Bitman [feat. Julian Peña & Tea Time] - "Tropilove"
El-P - "EMG"
James Brown - "Go Power at Christmas Time"
Nicole Atkins - "Maybe Tonight"
Wilco - "Walken"
Okkervil River - "No Easy Way Down" [Live]
Andrea Echeverri - "Baby Blues"
The Avett Brothers - "Paranoia in B-Flat Major"
Patti Page - "Frosty the Snowman" (Rondo Brothers Remix)
Daft Punk - "Around the World / Harder Better Stronger Faster"
Chromeo - "Fancy Footwork"
Calvin Harris - "Acceptable in the 80s"

playlist, dec. 10, 2007

2007-12-10T20:51:00.000-08:00

Band of Horses - "Detlef Schrempf"
Gorillaz - "Feel Good Inc." (Stanton Warriors Remix)
Hot Chip - "And I Was a Boy from School"
Sally Shapiro - "Anorak Christmas"
Low - "Just Like Christmas"
The Sleepover Disaster - "Over the Top"
Dave Gahan - "Saw Something"
Burial - "Archangel"
Radiohead - "Nude"
Darlene Love - "Marshmallow World"
Mark Ronson [feat. Amy Winehouse] - "Valerie"
Junior Bloomsday - "Nervous Habits"
Rademacher - "If U Got Some Magic"
Jens Lekman - "I Remember Every Kiss"
Feist - "The Park"
Antony & the Johnsons - "Knockin' on Heaven's Door"
Matt Morgan / Sufjan Stevens - "We're Goin' to the Country!"
Beirut - "Cliquot"
Moby - "Everytime You Touch Me"
Daft Punk - "Da Funk / Daftendirekt" [Live]
DJ Bitman [feat. Juan Sativo] - "La Raza"
Common - "The People"
The Go! Team - "Doing It Right"
Blake Jones & the Trike Shop - "On Christmas Tree Lane"
Wilco - "Sky Blue Sky"
Devendra Banhart - "Seaside"
Okkervil River - "April Anne"
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - "Humble Me"
Akron / Family - "Ed Is a Portal"
Soulsavers - "Revival"
Animal Collective - "Fireworks"
Snowden - "White Christmas"
Division Day - "Tigers"
Les Savy Fav - "The Year Before the Year 2000"
Sigur Rós - "Í Gaer"

playlist, dec. 3, 2007

2007-12-03T21:02:00.000-08:00

Band of Horses - "Is There a Ghost"
Charlotte Gainsbourg & Calexico - "Just Like a Woman"
Okkervil River - "Plus Ones"
Liz Phair - "Winter Wonderland"
Big Star - "The India Song"
Beirut - "In the Mausoleum"
Ls Savy Fav - "The Equestrian"
Adam & the Ants - "Kings of the Wild Frontier"
Rilo Kiley - "Breakin' Up"
Rademacher - "Machines"
The Fiery Furnaces - "Japanese Slippers"
José González - "Down the Line"
Radiohead - "Jigsaw Falling into Place"
Anna Ternheim - "Lovers Dream" (Naked Version)
Bonnie "Prince" Billy - "I've Seen It All"
Snowden - "Christmas Time Is Here"
Akron / Family - "Ed Is a Portal"
Céu - "Malemolência"
Joan As Police Woman - "Real Life"
Amy Winehouse - "Love Is a Losing Game"
Saturday Looks Good to Me - "Apple"
Darlene Love - "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"
Daft Punk - "Around the World / Harder Better Stronger Faster" [Live]
Chromeo - "Tenderoni"
Feist - "My Moon, My Man" (Boys Noize Remix)
New Order - "Regret"
C.S.S. - "Knife"
Poplord - "Quigley Park"
Billy Bragg - "All Fall Down"
The Mary Onettes - "Lost"
Manu Chao - "Rainin' in Paradise"
Dennis Brown - "Oh Mother"
M.I.A. [feat. Afrikan Boy] - "Hussel"
James Brown - "Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto"
Dave Gahan - "Kingdom"
White Williams - "New Violence"
Junk Science - "Slojo / Pop Rocks" (Extended Disco Edit)
Prefuse 73 [feat. School of the Seven Bells] - "The Class of 73 Bells"
Federico Aubele - "En El Desierto"
The Kid Named Miles - "Ring of Fire"

'cause i got it going on

2007-11-29T15:04:00.000-08:00

I've been home with a cold I picked up from my nieces and nephews over Thanksgiving, and, now that my computer has come back from the Apple store with a brand-spanking-new hard drive (and, yes, I did have a pretty current backup, so I'm pretty stoked), I can catch up on blogging, email, and surfing the web.

Over at 17 dots, Bryan Robbins made a passing reference to some Aphex Twin/Hip-Hop mash-ups by someone calling himself 100dBs. There are some good ones, and all merit a listen. I was also happy to be reminded how good Aphex Twin is. You can download the bunch for free here. My favorite tracks are "Planet .215061," "Breathe, and Stop Using Home Made Polysinths," and Drop Alberto Like It's Hot."

playlist, nov. 19, 2007

2007-11-19T20:45:00.000-08:00

White Williams - "Headlines"
New Order - "Regret"
Sondre Lerche - "Let My Love Open the Door"
St. Vincent - "Marry Me"
Brady Earnhart - "Stephen Crane"
Iron & Wine - "White Tooth Man"
Yo La Tengo - "I Feel Like Going Home"
PJ Harvey - "The Devil"
Thom Yorke - "The Eraser"
White Rabbits - "Kid On My Shoulders"
Rademacher - "If U Got Some Magic"
Rilo Kiley - "Dreamworld"
The B-52's - "Downtown"
pc muñoz and the amen corner - "Skin City"
Junk Science [feat. Cool Calm Pete] - "Words from the Pedro"
Balkan Beat Box - "BBBeat"
M.I.A. - "Paper Planes"
TV on the Radio - "Dry Drunk Emperor" [Live]
Andrew Bird - "Darkmatter"
Beirut - "In the Mausoleum"
The Fiery Furnaces - "Navy Nurses"
Animal Collective - "Fireworks #1"
Battles - "Leyendecker"
Radiohead - "Jigsaw Falling into Place"
Stephen Malkmus & the Million Dollar Bashers - "Maggie's Farm"
Ryan Adams & the Cardinals - "Follow the Lights"
Hem - "Not California"
Neil Young - "Only Love Can Break Your Heart"
Mark Ronson [feat. Paul Smith] - "Apply Some Pressure"
Easy Star All-Stars [feat. Toots & the Maytals] - "Let Down"
Bonde do Rolê - "Office Boy" (Architecture in Helsinki Remix)
CSS - "The Knife"
LCD Soundsystem - "All My Friends"
Calvin Harris - "Merrymaking at My Place"
The Same Shape - "Laid Down"

are we not dell?

2007-11-15T22:25:00.000-08:00

Devo is back with a great new song called "Watch Us Work It." Dell is featuring the song in a television ad, but the music video by Jonas Åkerlund (from which the ad is excerpted) is much better. Watch out; both the song and the video are addictive.

now the neighbors can dance!

2007-11-14T11:07:00.000-08:00

Lately, Pitchfork has been spotlighting some fan-generated music videos, and today they've posted a video for the Arcade Fire's "Neighborhood #2 (Laika)" from the band's much ballyhooed 2004 debut, Funeral. You can read what Pitchfork's Mark Hogan has to say about it here.

The video was made as part of a film school project, and it features some charming kids preparing for their school talent show. My favorite scene is when the kids literally start bouncing off the walls in a stark white space (a racquetball court?) that somehow evokes the spooky hallway scenes from Kubrick's The Shining, but replacing fear with fun.

Here's the official (and much creepier, though still beautiful) video for the song:

you kill the joe, you make some mo'

2007-11-12T23:50:00.000-08:00

OK, maybe everyone else on the planet knows about these Terry Tate Office Linebacker vids, but I just learned about them thanks to my very cool brother.

Enjoy:

playlist, nov. 12, 2007

2007-11-12T22:20:00.000-08:00

Bettye LaVette - "Somebody Pick Up My Pieces"
Bebel Gilberto - "Caçada"
Neko Case - "Buckets of Rain" [Live]
CSS - "Knife"
Dump - "Pop Life"
The Shins - "Sealegs"
Poplord - "Poptimistic Pete"
Spoon - "Don't You Evah"
Rademacher - "If U Got Some Magic"
Radiohead - "15 Step"
Beirut - "Cliquot"
Antony & the Johnsons - "Knockin' on Heaven's Door"
The Clientele - "Here Comes the Phantom"
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - "100 Days, 100 Nights"
Massive Attack - "Be Thankful for What You've Got"
Cornershop - "Sleep on the Left Side"
The Shout Out Louds - "You Are Dreaming"
Tegan and Sara - "Relief Next to Me"
Karen Marguth - "Marie Laveaux"
Julia Dawn - "Falling"
Sally Shapiro - "Anorak Christmas"
Jens Lekman - "Maple Leaves" [7" Version]
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - "Is This Love?"
Big Country - "Harvest Home"
White Rabbits - "The Plot"
Dirty Projectors - "No More"
Of Montreal - "Voltaic Crusher / Undrun to Muted Da"
Iron & Wine - "White Tooth Man"
Mavis Staples - "99 1/2"
Bob Marley and the Wailers - "Soul Shake Down Party" (Afrodisiac Sound System Remix)
Ticklah [feat. Tamar-kali] - "Want Not"

montpellier (france, cont.)

2007-11-10T14:40:00.001-08:00

On the morning of July 8, I made my way to the Gare de Lyon via the metro (love the Paris metro) and boarded a speed train bound for Montpellier in the south of France. I sat with a very friendly mother and daughter pair from British Columbia, and we had a nice chat about Paris and the places they were going to visit next. The train ride took only about 3 1/2 hours--not a lot of time considering I was traveling from one end of the country to the other. I became an instant fan of speed trains, and I'm really looking forward to the day when I can zip from Fresno to the Bay Area or to LA on the speed trains we so desperately need in California.

I arrived in Montpellier a little too early to check into my dorm room, so I found a good bakery and ate a sandwich in a park near the train station. I then boarded the TAM, Montpellier's light rail system--which is probably the best public transportation system I've ever used--and headed over to the university dorms. After a few misadventures (I was sent to the wrong floor, given the wrong key, etc.) I checked into my little room, and was thrilled to see that I had my own itty bitty bathroom, complete with toilet, sink, and shower. (I'd been told I'd be sharing a bathroom in the dorms.)

Montpellier is basically a big college town; it is home to the oldest medical school in Europe, and it is a lovely place to visit, despite the fact that other coastal towns tend to get all the love from travel books. In fact, the 17th-century philosopher John Locke once wrote, "I find it much better to go twise [sic] to Montpellier than once to the other world." This, however, doesn't prevent the Lonely Planet guide to France from snidely observing, "Paradise it ain't."

While it may not be paradise, Montpellier is a lovely place to visit. Its history as a hub of trade in the Mediterranean shapes its architecture, its cuisine, and its population. The pace of life is decidedly andante, although it is still a vital and bustling city with its fair share of tourists. I spent my first afternoon wandering about the place de la Comédie and the esplanade Charles de Gaulle, which are pleasant places to meander, enjoy the trees and fountains, and have a coffee. There are lovely examples of Beaux-Arts architecture here, and it's easy enough to dodge the tourists by wandering off into one of Montpellier's many side roads or alleys.

In fact, Montpellier is great for wandering, as the city center is a maze of small roads and alleys and home to a number of 17th-century mansions (hôtels particuliers) that have been converted into living spaces, shops, or museums. Swallows continually circle above the city, often darting downward and swooping through the alleyways. In the early evening, I headed over to Le Corum--the ultra-modern complex where the Enlightenment Congress was being held--registered for the conference, and went to the wine and cheese reception.

In my previous post, I indicated that the French were not at all rude to me, but I will have to say that French eighteenth-century scholars (dixhuitemists) are not the friendliest bunch. I couldn't at all join any of their conversations, and a few practically pushed me to the ground in their mad grab for wine and nibbles. I couldn't find any of my Irish/US/Canadian/English colleagues, so, having had enough of being ignored and jostled by French enlightenment scholars, I wandered off to enjoy a delicious meal of salad with goat cheese crostini, chicken breast in mustard sauce, and crème brullée.

The food in Montpellier was fantastic. The main reason I chose to stay in student housing was that I wanted to spend my money on food, and I'm glad I did, because I didn't at all hold back when forking out for meals. That evening I had my first good night's rest in France, and, after a modest breakfast of bread and coffee in the student cafeteria (a week's worth of these was included in the price of the dorm room), I got ready for a full-day's worth of sessions on such exciting topics as 18th-century law and theories of science in the enlightenment!

Um, not really. It was far too beautiful a day to be stuck in a stuffy room listening academic presentations, so instead I wandered the city again. I came across the Cathédrale St-Pierre, which sports some very large 15th-century columns that create a sort of odd front porch. Inside were some cool paintings, including "The Fall of Simon the Magician" by the 17th-century Montpellier artist Sebastian Bourdon. At lunch I watched a couple of drunks nearly get into a fight, and then went back to my dorm where I had a refreshing nap.

During an outdoor evening concert in the place Royal du Peyrou, I finally found my friends--Sally, Nancy, Katherine, and Caroline, all of whom are bonafide speakers of English, even if they all evince their own peculiar accents. From that point on, we basically became a rogue gang of eighteenth-centuryists, avoiding the conference as much as we could possibly get away with. By the way, the place Royal du Peyrou is another beautiful promenade where you'll find a hexagonal water tower (the Château d'Eau) and the nearby 18th-century Aqueduc de St-Clément. A statue of Louis XIV presides over the place. The Arc de Triomphe, just to the west of the promenade, serves as a gateway to the city center (see above). We got tired of waiting for the post-concert wine reception, so we all went off to dine at Roule Ma Poule, a student hangout with good salads (I had the Roquefort) and festive lights on its patio.

Next: how Sally, Nancy, Katherine, and Caroline avoided attending the conference by taking excursions to the beach and to a fantastical walled fortress!