Tag: #Import 2025-04-25 15:23

the district sleeps alone tonight

‘From an artist’s perspective, the beauty of EPs and singles are that they provide limitless possibilities for remixes and other such toying around with pre-established songs. Pan vocals left, raise some ambient noise to a forefront level, add interesting harmonies to the chorus.

This process may be a bit more tedious for the listener. It can be hard to listen to a variety of versions of the same song. It depends on how much you enjoy the band or on how deep a level you listen to music. The avid fan can dissect the song into parts and enjoy it from a sheerly novel point of view. It gives a different insight into the creative mind at work. To the somewhat obsessive or overly analytical fans, this is an opportunity to deconstruct songs. It may even serve as an impetus to boot up your computer’s music software and to attempt your own remix.

To the casual listener, though, this is a completely different ballgame. Hearing the same song played two or more times in a row is nothing but a mistake. It’s as if the record’s skipping. It does not move forward until an entirely different song begins.

This makes remix records a hit-or-miss trap. It’s not the easiest way to hear a band for the first time. If you are a true fan of the band, though, the record becomes a playful rendition of your favorite tunes, just waiting to be split into cross sections.

That being said, the first three tracks on “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight” are definitely the brightest of highlights from The Postal Service’s full length, “Give Up.” The remixes are slower and, yes, the beat is persistent. The beats have a dance feel to them but the tempo tells you not to bother getting out of your seat.

Add a fourth new track and some amazing artwork to the single and you’ve got a high-quality companion piece to “Give Up.” While “The District” shows a different side to The Postal Service, this does not stand on its own so much as it is an addendum to the full-length.

The only thing you need to decide before buying this is how big of a Postal Service fan and what kind of a music listener you are.

Don’t forget the face

‘Isaac Asimov once said, “Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It’s the transition in between that’s troublesome.”

The members of the Dismemberment Plan intend to prove him wrong.

As the Plan heads across the country on their last tour, after making the decision to break up in 2002, they are finding a release from pressure. Everything is going smoothly, and if it isn’t, there has been no mention otherwise.

“I think an element of creativity and focus that wasn’t there before is back now,” began lead singer Travis Morrison. “We were in a bit of a holding pattern, which is not why anyone joins a band. It’s been great to get the creative juices flowing again.”

The expectations have been washed away. From the way Morrison speaks, on this tour, the Dismemberment Plan is no longer a band but a collaboration of creative and amiable minds.

“We are not obsessed with a grand final statement, but as a band we reached a cogent decision to part ways,” said Morrison.

From beyond the grave, the Plan already has intentions to make their voices heard. In September, DeSoto Records will be releasing “A People’s History of the Dismemberment Plan.” This record will consist of sound files of previously released Plan songs. It is not a straight-up best-of compilation, though. These mp3 files have been downloaded from the Internet and remixed by both established musicians and fans interested in the idea of remixing songs. The Plan is an apparition, the fans the curious mediums, and the CD is the Ouija board.

The concept of posting files and having people interpret their songs started as a joke to the band. Once the files started pouring back in, though, Morrison admitted that the band was thoroughly blown away by how good some of the songs were. The covers were done in ways that they never could have anticipated and it reassured the band that the art of song covers was still alive.

“The history of covers has really taken a beating in the rock era. Once upon a time you didn’t get mocked for singing other people’s songs. There were interpretive artists and they were very creative. Then something happened and those people started getting viewed as idiots. It’s really melancholy because it takes away some of the magic of putting a spin on pre-established works. Most of the world’s most interesting art was created like that.”

This is not the only plan in the work either. Morrison refuses to become stagnant. In addition to “A People’s History,” he is working on a solo album, which is being produced by Death Cab for Cutie guitar guru Chris Walla. Walla was originally slated to produce the fifth Dismemberment Plan record, when it was still in the works. The solo album will also feature a few songs by Morrison that would’ve otherwise been Dismemberment Plan songs.

For a band that broke up nearly a year ago, they sure are being productive. You see, the Plan refuses to accept death as peaceful or the transition as troublesome. They intend on making both just as pleasant and active as life.

http://www.amiannoying.com

‘People are overly concerned with themselves and the Internet only enhances this obsession.

The purpose of the communication highway has quickly changed from a useful conduit of information to a narcissistic mirror where everyone can airbrush out their imperfections, spruce up their profiles, and show off these theoretical versions of themselves.

It’s sites like Hotornot.com that provide scraggly, shirtless teenagers with an excuse to photograph themselves with sucked-in guts and flexed muscles. Of course, every time I am in front of a camera, my ever-increasing guts gets sucked in as far as possible, too. It’s a natural human tendency. Everyone wants to look just a little bit better than they do at present, but there’s no reason to flaunt your photos all over them damn web.

For every action, there is a reaction, though. After Hotornot.com debuted, parody sites began popping up all over the place. Some of the more prominent but no longer in existence were sites like Gothornot.com and AmIageekornot.com. Other sites like www.fairvue.com/?feature=amiornot collect links to Hotornot.com parody sites.

There’s even a Monkey Hot or Not site. It can be located at www.modernhumorist.com/mh/0011/monkey.

The site that not only caught our attention but also held it was AmIAnnoying.com. Like the rest of the “Or Not” sites, it provides info, a photo, and a chance to rate how you feel about that person. It also tells you how the public at large has responded to the person in question.

The thing that sets this site apart from the rest is the fact that it is not only a bit cynical, but it is a good social critic. You don’t choose to have your profile up, they choose you.

The site picks on people currently in the spotlight and provides a slightly unbiased look at both sides of the issue before you choose whether you consider that person to be annoying or not.

Some of the recent additions to AmIAnnoying.com include Kobe Bryant, Lance Armstrong, and Goveg.com. It seems safe to say that anyone who has their name legally changed to a website address should be deemed annoying, no questions asked.

http://www.liquidgeneration.com

‘All right, there are a few things that need to be cleared up before this site can be enjoyed at its maximum potential.

First of all, Liquid Generation appears to be run by a few horny men who have a boob fetish. It’s as if the designers had a short attention span and occasionally veered oof from the main topic and into something either breast or sex related. Considering the statistics on how often straigh men think about sex, it’s not surprising…

Sorry, lost track of what I was saying.

Secondly, expect lots of long Flash introductions to anything you plan on doing at this site. There’s no obvious way to bypass the intros.

Now that these warnings are out in the open, we can say that Liquid Generation is a good way to kill time. And really, what is the purpose of the Internet if not to fill up the gaps between sleeping, sex and drinking?

LiquidGeneration.com is packed with games to play, movies to watch and pranks to pull. That’s right, pranks. Under the section titled “Sabotage,” there are different options that are most likely best viewed from home and then sent as links to friends at work. As an example, some of the “Sabotages” start off as normal games or movies and then the internet window expands, shouting out something porn related. What better way to seek revenge or prank someone is there? Just be careful not to also fall prey to this joke.

On their own, the different subsections of this site would not be able to stand alone. Grouped together, though, LG offers to help waste away entire afternoons at a time. You can watch their version of the news, read their blogs, take their quizzes, or even watch trailers to new movie releases.

One subsection of the site even asks the age-old adolescent question of “Who would you rather…?” You can pick from a variety of groups including, celebrity siblings, Hanna-Barbera cartoons or 80’s hair bands.

Axl Rose or Sebastian Bach? You make the call.

http://www.javanoid.com

‘It finally happened. I just flaked.

The crew of helper monkeys has been on vacation, leaving me fully in charge of doing my job. Seriously, did they accept that it would get done? That’s what assistants and interns are for: to do the job someone else is getting paid for.

Determined to find the most interesting site on the web, I sat at my computer with a pot of coffee and a pack of cigarettes. Now seemed like a good time to pick up smoking.

I worked more diligently than I ever have in my entire life. Fifteen minutes later, I needed to get some dinner.

On my walk to BoLoDo (Boulder’s Lower Downtown), I ran into a friend whom I have not seen since my move to Colorado. He told me that he was going to show me the secret of being a true Boulderite. He told me he was going to “smoke me out.”

Unsure of exactly what he meant, and never wanting to be the outsider, I willingly obliged. Since then, I’ve been too distracted to work because I have been trying to convince the 7-11 guy to deliver – and playing Javanoid.

Javanoid is a free Java version of the video game classic, Arkanoid. It is Web-based and does not need to be downloaded. The Javanoid site also has Radial Pong, Tetris, and Javanoid 2. The original game has been too addictive to leave for long, though. So, the rest of the games have been barely tested. From the looks of it, though, Tetris was pretty standard but Radial Pong was also an addictive game.

For those of you who don’t remember Arkanoid, the concept is simple. You control the tube-shaped paddle at the bottom of the screen by moving it left and right towards the ball. You hit the ball into the bricks. Once all the bricks have disappeared, you go to the next level. It must have taken years for the gaming industry to perfect that concept.

It’s a simple game that is fun to play. There are no intense challenges to be expected, only fun games to play at work that are easy to hide when your boss comes up behind you. Javanoid is a good way to pass the time and use up those lazy hours of slow-moving summer days.

It’s what I’m doing instead of work, anyway.

r.i.p.

‘A live album: either a fitting final farewell/tribute to a great band or a self-serving final shot from self-important people.

Murder City Devils have blurred these lines of distinction with the release of “R.I.P.,” a live recording from their final show as a band at Seattle’s Showbox Theater.

Singer Spencer Moody howls, maybe with the intent of sounding like an animal, like a devil even, but it comes off more like Steve Buscemi in “The Wedding Singer.” That’s all that needs to be said about that matter.

Okay, that’s a low blow. MCD was a good band with an incredible stage presence that lives on through a dark and disparaging legacy reincarnated in the form of Derek Fudesco’s bass work in Pretty Girls Make Graves, the band that is said to have put the final nail in the coffin. As a sidebar, PGMG’s lead singer Andrea Zollo was originally in a short-lived band with Fudesco and Moody, and other MCD members called The Hookers.

After the breakup of the Devils, Moody and Co. went on to form Dead Low Tide. Less than a year later, the plug was pulled on that venture. The pleasant aesthetic themes and imagery just keep reoccurring, don’t they?

That’s enough of a history lesson for now, though. Gather around boys and girls, it’s personal story time.

I was fortunate enough to see the Murder City Devils on what would be one of their last tours. They played with At the Drive-In, who was also on the verge of breakup. Not knowing both of these seminal bands were soon to meet their demise, I showed up late to Philadelphia’s Theater of the Living Arts. As I walked up to the door, a fight was being broken up that involved an indistinguishable and Afroed member of At the Drive-In (either Cedric or Omar) and a bouncer. Apparently, the bouncer refused to let the puffy-haired musician through the door and he called him a derogative term in reference to what the bouncer believed to be this person’s sexual preference. Then he nailed him square in the face. Intense, to say the least.

About twenty minutes later, MCD took the stage and Mr. Moody spent most of the time on stage lecturing against stereotyping, homophobia, and hate speech. While this was well intentioned, every word that came out of his mouth, both spoken and sung, was slurred beyond recognition. It was hard to distinguish one syllable from the next, let alone what was being said.

The point of this is that Spencer Moody slurs. He doesn’t sing necessarily. Rather, he drones listlessly from song to song, repeating melody upon melody. Granted, on the recording of the final MCD show, he is noticeably more sober and the words are distinguishable, but the vocal parts at points seem downright lazy.

The band is artsy, they are gory, they are talented and show off their skills. It might as well be the “Rocky Horror Picture Show” live and without Meatloaf. It’s good and, despite any personal reservations about the Devils, it holds its own.

It’s a shame that the shelf life of bands is so short and the attention spans of fans constantly dwindling. After five years and two albums, the band was finally able to swim with ease and not just tread water. Drowned and gone, the only thing they have that’s new to prove they existed and left their mark is a tape of their last shows.

“R.I.P.” is a good novelty item to keep around, just like the countless other final live show record releases from various bands. Although on the edge of having self-indulgent motives, this album is still a good tribute to another band gone but not forgotten.

who will survive, and what will be left of them?

‘So, the devil comes to a Midwestern town where he gets drunk in a local bar and talks a good deal of shit. Upon exiting the bar, an area man shoots him in the back. Being Beelzebub, he doesn’t die but he does get kind of pissed.

“Damn, I’m the devil,” he thinks. “I don’t have to put up with this.”

He seeks his revenge in stereotypical devil fashion: apocalypse, plagues and murders. That bastard. Needless to say, the people try to fight back and fend off their extinction. The tension mounts as the story progresses. Will man defeat evil incarnate? Or will they survive? And, if they do, what will be left of them?

Don’t worry, the surprise won’t be ruined for you, but I will tell you that those who remain, in a non-traditional move when faced with the imminent possibility of death, turn to whiskey before God. Awesome.

It’s captivating and entrancing, a story built upon the ancient theme of good versus evil. That’s what helps to define this band’s sophomore album – but the first under the name Murder By Death – as a successful concept album. Add on top of that the fact that there is a cellist in the band and the comparisons to Cursive will be unending.

The fact of the matter is that they don’t sound anything like Cursive. What they sound like is hard to pin down. The easiest thing to find parallels for is frontman Adam Turla’s voice. It is very versatile and runs the gamut of stylistic comparisons from Eddie Vedder to Neil Young to David Dondero. These rough-edged vocalists are great musicians to emulate for the music that Murder By Death produces. The piano and cello fills out the already huge sound and gives it a haunting, chilling edge – the perfect score for a tale of apocalypse.

so much staying alive and lovelessness

‘Critiquing a Kinsella is a daunting task. It is hard to gauge any project Tim or Mike may be working on without putting it up against the countless other bands that they have been involved in. There is so much history there that is impossible to ignore.

The brothers? roots in the seminal yet underappreciated band Cap?n Jazz could take volumes of writing just to be put in the correct perspective; not to mention the fact that the offshoots of this band are so far widespread that the Kinsella?s musical lineage makes Kevin Bacon look like a cloistered monk.

This Joan of Arc album alone was worked on by a collapsed outline of numerous different side projects.

Yes, writing about indie rock icons the Kinsellas to a general audience is comparable to describe Elvis and his impact on. The mere attempt to encapsulate the whole history is impossible.

So, here is the briefest version necessary to appreciate this album: The Chicago based noise/art rock band Cap?n Jazz was light years ahead of its time. Each member of the group grew so quickly that the interests diversified in such clashing fashions, that it made sense to dissolve the group and pursue other musical ventures. The most popular of the bands birthed from Cap?n Jazz was The Promise Ring. The longest lasting is Joan of Arc.

A few years ago, the members of Cap?n Jazz reformed as The Owls. The Owls were clean cut and more refined. They took the raw talent of their adolescent project and manifested it into something so complex and intricate that, regardless of personal musical tastes, it garnered immense respect from the underground scene.

Joan of Arc is that missing link between the youthful and boisterous Cap?n Jazz and the mature and sophisticated The Owls. Since Joan of Arc is more active, it has surpassed those levels of maturity and sophistication which it only seemed to link before ?So Much Staying Alive??

Like The Owls, the amount of talent, thought, and intricacy that has gone into the song-writing process for JOA can only be respected. Think of the album as Miles Davis?s ?Bitches Brew? or ?Birth of the Cool? may be thought. It may be over your head, but you learn to trust artists like the Kinsellas, as Miles Davis. They know what they are doing, long before anyone else gets it.

long knives drawn

‘With the fourth full-length Rainer Maria release on hand, the band continues to trudge forward in an ever-evolving sound that continues to show all of the ingenuities and poignancies of all of their previous releases.

Now that the band is moving quickly from amateur to master?s status, especially after the highly acclaimed ?A Better Version of Me? release, they are redefining the sound of the band. The instrumental sect of the album is still the noticeable Rainer Maria sound. It is the vocal division that continues to refine itself. The most noticeable change is the minimal existence of Kyle Fischer?s voice. To some it has always been grating and caused track skipping on previous releases. To those who have become accustomed to it, it is a sonic pleasure worthy of that particular track?s repetition.

Kyle has taken two steps back for this album, though. His guitar playing peaked in ?A Better Version of Me? and remains constant for this record. His presence is there, as a place holder, represented but without noticeable worth.

Caithlin De Marrais? voice has fully claimed the aural forefront as her own and Kyle has left the claim unchallenged. Caithlin has reached a level of comfort unprecedented in earlier attempts which allows her to belt out melodies that add to the band?s vitality. Like her bass playing, her vocal stylings continue to soar to new heights.

Being a female-lead band still keeps Rainer Maria in the minority of the indie rock scene. Although, sound-alikes such as Mates of State and the pop explosion of ?edgier? bands such as the Donnas creates more common ground for them  to walk upon. This has never been an issue for RM, who has always found stability in forging their own path and the improvement in De Marrais? voice best exemplifies the band?s innovative attitude.

So, what has changed within Rainer Maria to provide a new edge for the band?s most recent release? Plain and simple, the lyrics are now in the dxefxbfxbdnouement stage of their soap-operatic fashioned intensity. Clearly, one of the most appealing factors of RM is the oh so lofty love relationship between Kyle and Caithlin. The album?s title alone foreshadows the post-breakup stages their relationship seems to be going through.

The opening track, ?Mystery and Misery? opens up with the lines ?Misrepresented, initially you looked like you?d looked like you?d been sainted but now I?m acquainted with your dark eyes and dirty mind.?  That?s about as optimistic as their love story gets. Lines like the title track?s ?Let?s get over each other so that we can fall in love again,? and ?If indeed this was like our first marriage than you and I together can be like divorcees,? from ?Situation: Relation,? the album?s closer, only put the nail in the coffin for any more new uplifting songs you can hope to hold your significant other?s hand to during a live concert.

http://www.defendkobe.com

‘Every week I find myself saying, “This is the most ludicrous site I’ve ever seen in my life,” but, every week, I prove myself wrong.

DefendKobe.com is beyond description. Who are we defending Kobe against? Maybe, it’s his bad judgement. But better yet, shouldn’t we be fending him off other women?

Okay, so the site is not legally affiliated with Kobe, the Lakers, or the NBA but it does claim that they are “the only site sending money to Kobe’s legal team.”

If you support this cause, you’re a damned fool. He’s got more money than any one man whose highest level of education is high school ever should. What does he need our money for?

Because “we’re fans and we want to do something!” according to the site.

I want him to roast in hell if he’s guilty of the crime of which he’s accused. Where can I buy a T-shirt that will go towards that cause?

Even if he didn’t rape that woman, he’s got a wife and a baby at home. I don’t care how famous you are, being intimate with another woman while your wife is nurturing your child is about the most immoral thing you can do, next to sticking your dude in the kid.

The purpose of the site is to sell shirts. There are three shirts that come in an unnamed style or in “girly stuff” style, whatever that means. The shirts vaguely resemble a jersey and they prominently display Kobe’s number on them. The three slogans you have to choose from are “In O Cent,” “Not Guilty,” or “Kobe Libre” which means “Free Kobe.” This last one is a little premature to say the least, as Kobe hasn’t been convicted of anything yet much less taken into permanent custody. These shirts wouldn’t be worth buying even if one said “Infidel.”

People will attempt to make money off of anything and the fact that someone considered making this webpage for sucker diehard fans that don’t want to see poor little helpless Kobe Bryant be victimized by the justice system.

At this point, it’s hard to tell who the sucker is anymore.