I am still in mourning over
The Tube.
Les Garland’s independent project, The Tube, was a sight to behold, and one of my favorite things about LA (for some reason I never found it in NYC, although I’m told it was here). I can’t tell you how many nights Ray and I sat glued to The Tube, watching old B-side videos and live performances. Straight-up great music programming, 24/7. I’ll never forget the excitement of Ani DiFranco’s live version of “Shameless” rotating in -
i never avert my eyes
i never compromise
so never never mind
the poetry
RIP TUBE. Sucks that you are gone!
I stay up late and like low light. The insulation between the door and the body of our GE fridge is thin - therefore it glows. I can tell you unequivocally, yes. The refrigerator light is on when the door isn’t open.
The Police phase is a rite of passage*, so be sure to peep Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out in rotation this month on Showtime Next. The roc-doc got two stars - hmm, is that one for Sting, one for Stewart, none for Andy? It’s a flat film no doubt, but I have a fetish for voyeuristic old home movies and slideshows in general, so I really enjoyed the static lo-fi quality of Copeland’s Super-8 tape. I also enjoy a good band implosion and the in-fighting and brotherhood trapped inside the Police always delivers deconstruction.
At the core, the music was and still is magic, but even more interesting to me is the example of people thrown together all day long under extreme circumstance, working it out the best they can. If you bother to look, you’ll see that particular sociological phenomenon is right in front of you everyday.
Vintage Cut: here is the band in 1983 being heavy about not being heavy as they talk seriously about music.
*Not to be confused with the Steve Miller or Queen phase
Hypeful has a MP3 for you of Kate Nash covering Arctic Monkey’s “Fluorescent Adolescent.”
Editors cover my beloved Cure - “Lullaby” @kewlmuzik. Ian Curtis thinks, Grr. Suzy thinks, does Tom Smith know what this song is about? Also @kewlmuzik the completely underrated Aimee Mann covers Coldplay’s “The Scientist.”
Sia makes Radiohead’s Paranoid Android even more sinister with her voice + the speed + the strings. @iguessimfloating.
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Why are people violently knocking on my door at 10:45am?
Why can’t technology keep up with me? Flipping the bird to IE7.
Why is it so hot in October? The leaves are still green.
Note to self: DVR Nicole Atkins 10/30 on Letterman.
We bought way too many cupcakes for the mini-party.
Much like the Über-packed restaurant downstairs that just opened three weeks ago, Terminal 5 is on fire.
The video for LCD Soundsystem’s ‘Someone Great’ gives good metaphor and intoxicating visuals against a poem bouncing on a terrific beat.
Kings of A&R has really blossomed into an awesome blog. It has always been interesting, but lately I love. Industry news and hot new music acts - check it out, grab the RSS.
My avenue is littered with gig vans and band aids this week as CMJ hits a fever pitch. Each vehicle is bustling and bursting with smoke, beat up gear, and pizza eating, emo-hair hopefuls - everyone is looking for the big break. I could blab on from the local perspective, but Andrew W.K. really kinda sums it all up in this video from the LES. CMJ is a great opportunity, even if the buzz is getting weird. Counting Crows came into town for a Friday set (interesting as they pushed their album release to join the indies in Q1 ‘08). The cat jumped out of the bag, Band of Horses was the secret headliner for the Blender Sessions at CMJ; the Sessions had an interesting and eclectic lineup across the week - HIM, The 1990s (love, pissed I missed the Maxwells show), Spoon, tonight is prog-rock darlings Coheed and Cambria.
Speaking of tonight, The Cool Kids are at the Fader mag party, check it:
A post for Alfred because of the intergalactic robot creatures and the synth, but really, who doesn’t love a new Bloc Party video? I’m doing the goth dance as I watch “Flux.”
I think my luck pendulum is swinging back; lots of strange coincidences in the last 12 hours. Strange coincidences are my favorite. Finally ate the second fortune cookie from Sunday’s Plump Dumpling order last night:
Birds are entangled by their feet and men by their tongues.
An animator faces his own animation in deadly combat. The battlefield? The Flash interface itself.
Animator vs. Animation by *alanbecker on deviantART
