Here are a couple of those videos:
Comfy in Nautica
My Girls
What Would I Want Sky
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Animal Collective at the House of Blues
Nick convinced me to take him to another concert last Thursday. I was a little apprehensive about taking the train up to Boston then leading him around the city (which I am not at all familiar with) by subway. I gave in though, mostly because his birthday was coming up, and I'm pretty glad I did.
The place was packed. It was one of two sold out shows at the House of Blues in about a two month span. The dancefloor wasn't nearly big enough to hold everyone. People were packed in from wall to wall, from the bar to the merchandise stand. And there were even two upper balconies where a few people hung over the railing. This was all particularly surprising considering the fact that Animal Collective is a fairly obscure band. Or at least they were. Maybe it's because hipsters are becoming more prevalent - but it seems like the line between mainstream and independent lately is becoming increasingly blurry.
The opening musician was Grouper. Although most of the kids there didn't know her, I have been listening to her music for a while and her appearance with Animal Collective was a major draw for me. She plays a weird kind of music. It's somewhere between noise music, shoegaze, and melancholy acoustic folk. Unfortunately, she didn't seem all that "into it" that night. She didn't interact with the audience and they didn't like her all that much. She started to get a little monotonous after awhile and finally left the stage without saying goodbye.
Animal Collective was more than enthusiastic enough to make up for it though. They spent much of their set just improvising. It never really struck me how noisy of a band they are until that night - they spent a lot of time just making crazy noises on their samplers or yelping maniacly. The parts of the show I could recognize as actual premeditated songs though were mostly not taken from their last album. They played several brand new songs as well as some reworkings of older songs. The ones I did recognize though were some of my favorites: "Slippi," "Fireworks," "Summertime Clothes," and "Bros." As cramped in as we were, the audience found room to dance and jump around and there was even some crowd surfing. They played a twenty minute encore that almost everyone stayed for.
We got home at about 1:30 that night. I didn't hesitate to take the next day off. In the morning there were already videos up on YouTube (which I will post later). The ringing in my ears didn't wear off until at least 24 later.
The place was packed. It was one of two sold out shows at the House of Blues in about a two month span. The dancefloor wasn't nearly big enough to hold everyone. People were packed in from wall to wall, from the bar to the merchandise stand. And there were even two upper balconies where a few people hung over the railing. This was all particularly surprising considering the fact that Animal Collective is a fairly obscure band. Or at least they were. Maybe it's because hipsters are becoming more prevalent - but it seems like the line between mainstream and independent lately is becoming increasingly blurry.
The opening musician was Grouper. Although most of the kids there didn't know her, I have been listening to her music for a while and her appearance with Animal Collective was a major draw for me. She plays a weird kind of music. It's somewhere between noise music, shoegaze, and melancholy acoustic folk. Unfortunately, she didn't seem all that "into it" that night. She didn't interact with the audience and they didn't like her all that much. She started to get a little monotonous after awhile and finally left the stage without saying goodbye.
Animal Collective was more than enthusiastic enough to make up for it though. They spent much of their set just improvising. It never really struck me how noisy of a band they are until that night - they spent a lot of time just making crazy noises on their samplers or yelping maniacly. The parts of the show I could recognize as actual premeditated songs though were mostly not taken from their last album. They played several brand new songs as well as some reworkings of older songs. The ones I did recognize though were some of my favorites: "Slippi," "Fireworks," "Summertime Clothes," and "Bros." As cramped in as we were, the audience found room to dance and jump around and there was even some crowd surfing. They played a twenty minute encore that almost everyone stayed for.
We got home at about 1:30 that night. I didn't hesitate to take the next day off. In the morning there were already videos up on YouTube (which I will post later). The ringing in my ears didn't wear off until at least 24 later.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Pirates!
The Pirate Bay has been in the news a lot lately. A few weeks ago its founders were arrested for allowing illegal copyrighted material on their website. They were sentenced to a year in prison and ordered to pay 30 million kronor in damages. However, because the judge who sentenced them is a member of several copyright protection groups, these guys are up for a retrial.
This incident may be the biggest controversy over a file-sharing organization since Napster. Personally, I have mixed feelings about the website but I feel I have to stand up for it. I don’t like copyright laws. Sure, I believe in the rights of artists to benefit from the products of their creations but far too often copyright laws are abused by giant corporations. And I am all for denying profits to major record labels because that’s who these file-sharing websites and programs are hurting. People are downloading albums by major label bands – so what. It only opens the way for more diverse and independent bands.
The Pirate Bay is a symbol of outright rebellion against copyright law. Whereas other websites may eek out their survival by bending and manipulating the laws, The Pirate Bay flatly rejects and disobeys them. On one page of their website they post the legal threats they’ve gotten from record labels and entertainment companies (http://thepiratebay.org/legal). Here is just a sample of one of their responses: “It is the opinion of us and our lawyers that you are ....... morons, and that you should please go sodomize yourself with retractable batons.” Way to stick it to the man!
Our society is moving into the realm of free content. I seriously doubt that the entertainment companies will win in this struggle. No, I can clearly see a future in which entertainment is free, or nearly free. Of course this will inevitably create some problems. Artists and companies will struggle to figure out how to make a profit in this post-modern world dominated by a lawless internet. Some people will suffer. But how can we possibly stop this trend? You can try to police the internet but it will never work. Lawsuits like this are merely delaying the inevitable evolution of our society. Things will have to change surely, but eventually the internet will win as a free, unregulated mode of communication. Imagine how great it would be to have access to any piece of information or entertainment for free at any moment?
But here’s my conciliation: while there is still time, I think you should buy CDs. You might be able to get some music for free on the internet but all the best stuff still costs money unfortunately. The stuff that is available to download off the internet is only a tiny cross-section of today’s popular music. Chances are, if you want something really interesting that you wouldn’t hear for free on the radio anyway, you may have to buy it. Plus, you can always still feel good that you are actually supporting the bands that you love.
http://thepiratebay.org/
http://pitchfork.com/news/35166-pirate-bay-lawyer-demands-retrial/
Monday, May 4, 2009
An Explanation
What can I say? This blog is an assignment. Sure, I haven’t written anything in almost a month, but when does anyone actually find time to keep a blog? Who can take an hour out of their day, every day, just to spill their inane ranting all over the internet? Losers, that’s who. Losers with beer bellies who don’t work and would rather spend their days playing video games on dirty old beanbag chairs covered in Cheetos. What do you want from me?! I will not be one of those guys.
I’m not going to talk about music right now. Because I am a productive, refined, normal member of society, I haven’t found the time to listen to many new bands. I haven’t had the disposable income to spend on a CD in quite a while. No, as a productive, hard-working member of society I would prefer to spend my money on expensive ripped jeans from Abercrombie and Fitch and organic foods from Trader Joe's. If I do listen to music I prefer to keep it low-key. I listen to my eighties soft rock on the radio as I drive to and from school every morning. And that is enough. I will not strain myself for anything else.
So what have I been up to? Studying. As a productive member of society I realize that I must work my ass off regardless of the benefit it might afford me. I study because I have an obligation, not because I still need the grades. I’m in college, school is almost over, everyone else has come to realize that grades right now don’t matter. But will that stop me? No. Like all productive members of society I am obsessive compulsive to an extreme. I do things out of habit. And to all you seniors who have come to enjoy the freedom that you have worked so hard for twelve years for – shame on you. You are all immoral slackers doomed to live the rest of your lives in the dark of a windowless apartment kept just barely alive by the sickly light of your computer screens.
I have enrolled at Colby College. As a productive, proactive member of society I am excited, but only within strictly-defined cultural limits. As momentous an occasion as this is, I must keep my cool, displaying only a minimum of emotional response. No, I do not see my enrollment as an achievement or a privilege. It is merely an extension of my obligations as a productive member of society. But I must show some form of reaction, because to show none would also be abnormal. So here it is: I am excited to go to college.
That is all.
I’m not going to talk about music right now. Because I am a productive, refined, normal member of society, I haven’t found the time to listen to many new bands. I haven’t had the disposable income to spend on a CD in quite a while. No, as a productive, hard-working member of society I would prefer to spend my money on expensive ripped jeans from Abercrombie and Fitch and organic foods from Trader Joe's. If I do listen to music I prefer to keep it low-key. I listen to my eighties soft rock on the radio as I drive to and from school every morning. And that is enough. I will not strain myself for anything else.
So what have I been up to? Studying. As a productive member of society I realize that I must work my ass off regardless of the benefit it might afford me. I study because I have an obligation, not because I still need the grades. I’m in college, school is almost over, everyone else has come to realize that grades right now don’t matter. But will that stop me? No. Like all productive members of society I am obsessive compulsive to an extreme. I do things out of habit. And to all you seniors who have come to enjoy the freedom that you have worked so hard for twelve years for – shame on you. You are all immoral slackers doomed to live the rest of your lives in the dark of a windowless apartment kept just barely alive by the sickly light of your computer screens.
I have enrolled at Colby College. As a productive, proactive member of society I am excited, but only within strictly-defined cultural limits. As momentous an occasion as this is, I must keep my cool, displaying only a minimum of emotional response. No, I do not see my enrollment as an achievement or a privilege. It is merely an extension of my obligations as a productive member of society. But I must show some form of reaction, because to show none would also be abnormal. So here it is: I am excited to go to college.
That is all.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
No Age at Wellesley
No Age show at Wellesley College last Thursday with Nick. It was a school night and I felt lazy. I wanted mostly just to sit around and watch TV all night. But Nick finally convinced me to take him around 5:30. On our way down I started freaking out when I got confused about which exit we were supposed to take to get to the school. We ended up in Salem for a while and I almost turned around and went back home. The thing is, our directions from MapQuest told us to get off at exit 20B. I immediately recognized that this exist is nowhere near Wellesley – exit 20B goes to Beverly. Little did I know, route 128 eventually becomes route 95 and then the numbering for exits changes up completely. Essentially, there are two exits 20B on 128. FML.
We got there around 8:45. It was an all-girls campus so it felt especially awkward wandering around trying to find the show. No one seemed to even know it was going on. Finally one girl we met called up her friend and found out where this thing where it was.
It was the basement of some dorm. When we showed up there were literally two or three other people waiting in the audience. It was surreal. I felt severely confused. I first saw Dean from No Age hanging out in the bathroom. Later he came to set up his merchandise on the pool table on which Nick and I were sitting. We chatted for a good fifteen or twenty minutes about other bands and the music scene around Massachusetts. It was cool. He even gave me a free t-shirt and pin.
Other people showed up eventually. We sat through two other bands we had never heard of (Lemonade and The Beets) before No Age came on around 11:30. It was great just because of the intimacy of the setting. Everyone hung out right up next to the band. No Age was insanely loud and I got stuck right up next to their speakers while they were playing. I never really realized how noisy they were before. But there was plenty of feedback and strange random noises in their set.
We got home after one in the morning. I probably shouldn’t have even been driving that late at night but whatever. Needless to say, I slept in the next morning.
Here’s a pic of No Age setting up:
And this is their blog: http://noagela.blogspot.com/
PS – the original Beets (from the TV show Doug) are probably my all-time favorite fictional band. So I especially appreciated this reference at the concert. I think those original Beets deserve a mention on here though:
(This isn't actually from Doug or anything but it's still got the music at least.)
We got there around 8:45. It was an all-girls campus so it felt especially awkward wandering around trying to find the show. No one seemed to even know it was going on. Finally one girl we met called up her friend and found out where this thing where it was.
It was the basement of some dorm. When we showed up there were literally two or three other people waiting in the audience. It was surreal. I felt severely confused. I first saw Dean from No Age hanging out in the bathroom. Later he came to set up his merchandise on the pool table on which Nick and I were sitting. We chatted for a good fifteen or twenty minutes about other bands and the music scene around Massachusetts. It was cool. He even gave me a free t-shirt and pin.
Other people showed up eventually. We sat through two other bands we had never heard of (Lemonade and The Beets) before No Age came on around 11:30. It was great just because of the intimacy of the setting. Everyone hung out right up next to the band. No Age was insanely loud and I got stuck right up next to their speakers while they were playing. I never really realized how noisy they were before. But there was plenty of feedback and strange random noises in their set.
We got home after one in the morning. I probably shouldn’t have even been driving that late at night but whatever. Needless to say, I slept in the next morning.
Here’s a pic of No Age setting up:
And this is their blog: http://noagela.blogspot.com/
PS – the original Beets (from the TV show Doug) are probably my all-time favorite fictional band. So I especially appreciated this reference at the concert. I think those original Beets deserve a mention on here though:
(This isn't actually from Doug or anything but it's still got the music at least.)
Sunday, March 22, 2009
An Interview with a Real Music Listener
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interviewin', alex's, george!, then back home.
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