Friday, October 30, 2009

MICROMIX NO. 002: HALLOWEEN

MICROMIX NO. 002

Happy Halloween ghosts and ghouls! I put together this latest micromix in honor of the hallowed holiday, crafting it with a pocketful of creepy whispers and hardcore cries. I've also just discovered the haunting City Center, so I made sure to include multiple tracks by the lo-fi Brooklyn solo project.

Tracklist:
1 Walls - Burnt Sienna
2 City Center - Unfinished Hex
3 Animal Collective - Loch Raven
4 Pure Ecstasy - You're In It Now (7" Version)
5 No Age - You're A Target
6 Ten Kens - The Alternate Biker
7 Art Brut - Bad Weekend
8 City Center - Open/House
9 Silk Flowers - Fragmented Mirror

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

TRICK OR TREAT

*pic*

Here it is. This is your last chance to watch "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," carve that round, orange squash you bought at the beginning of the month, and buy a bag of Hershey's. 

In a matter of days you will have a bowl of candy by your door, and wait as the smallest ghouls and goblins you've ever laid eyes on hold out their pumpkin-shaped pales and plead "Trick or treat!" in unison. Hopefully you do this, but if not, that is alright too. 

On Saturday morning I'll post a new Halloween-themed micromix in celebration of the holiday. Until then, here's a cute tune by The Evangelicals.

The Evangelicals - The Halloween Song

Thursday, October 22, 2009

DANCING

When I was very young I remember dancing in the kitchen with my mother while The Beatles played on our stereo. I didn't care what I looked like when I danced, whether it was around the kitchen table or at a sweet sixteen. 

To this very day, though I have grown more reserved, I will occasionally break out into a groove that cannot be stopped for a good five minutes. First, it starts with my foot tapping. I'll lift up my arms and form fists with my hands, slowly shaking them in front of my torso to the beat of the music. Then, my whole body will begin to twist and turn, and soon, my hands are waving themselves in front of my face with my legs spread out further then my height. If it is gangsta rap, I will often act like I am from "da hood" and in the end embarrass myself and friends. 

Sometimes however, acting like a clown serves me well. To be frank, girls are more inclined to notice someone having a seizure on the dance floor then a more controled gentleman. 

One move that I actually consider myself relatively decent at is the classic "Robot." When I was in the eighth grade I would often go to parties with my friends, and the second a techno song came on, the crowd of dancers would part as I turned into a mechanical slave to the beat. I must say though, I was nowhere near as good as MJ

Recommended listening that relates to the subject matter of this post:

Sunday, October 18, 2009

MICROMIX NO. 001

MICROMIX NO. 001

I've put down my first Micromix for free download with some of the songs that have dictated my repeat button for the past month. It features music from Atlas Sound, Coconut Records, and an exclusive R.E.M. cover by Dr. Dog. Just click on the link above to download, I think you'll really like this one.

Tracklist:
1 Freelance Whales - Generator ^ Second Floor
2 Harlem Shakes - Niagara Falls
3 Hospital Ships - The Shots I Drank
4 Atlas Sound - Springtime Instrumental
5 Born Ruffians - Foxes Mate For Life
6 Coconut Records - Any Fun
7 Dr. Dog - Find The River
8 Banjo Or Freakout - (Upside Down)
9 Fredrik - Black Fur

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

MANHATTAN AS AN ISLAND

It's easy to forget that Manhattan is an island. Just a couple of minutes under ground and a few dozen ears popped per subway car leads you to a metropolis so totally different, it is in its own state of being. Some will look at it and grasp it by the horns while others will be overwhelmed, yet often in awe and fascination. 

As I said before it is easy to forget that New York is an island, for it is so serene in its constant bustle, and yet manages to stay stable and forever present.

Some will walk past its less prominent treasures without a second glance, while others will stand back and experience. What makes New York what it is is not the island itself, but the people and hot canteen of soup that is its culture; a pocket full of odds and ends accumulated on the east end of a massive country. Five burrows connected by bridges, land masses, and character, not available any where else in the world

It is often easy to forget that Manhattan is an island - because it is not the island that makes New York what it is, but the presence, the feeling, the people, the endless bustle and the self serenity that at times to the common New Yorker will often seem nonexistent. 

I love Manhattan.

Recommended listening that relates to the subject matter of this post:



Saturday, October 10, 2009

WHERE THE CUTE THINGS ARE

Every time I see the trailer for Where The Wild Things Are I cry. Every time, guaranteed. And I am not the cry-whenever-I-see-a-remotely-sad-and/or-touching-scene-in-a-movie-type. The only other movie I'm ever really guaranteed to cry whilst watching is Cast Away. Every time Tom Hanks loses Wilson in the ocean I start to tear up. 

But that being said, by the time the little kid is announcing "Starts October 16th" at the end of the WTWTA trailer I am blindly reaching for a tissue. I think it's the sentimental mixture of childhood memories and Arcade Fire that sends my heart in a whirl, and because of this mind-numbing effect I am now desperate to go see said movie. Desperate. 

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

LA FRATERNELLE

Saint-Claude is the capital of the pipe. Magon is happy to visit it.

One century ago, a lot of factories of pipes were running the city (now only 2 remain), also the polishing of diamonds. Facing hard life of work and strong winters, the workers were meeting in this "House of the People", La Fraternelle (name that I can roughly translate by "The Fraternal"), to make their life better : common food, reunions, art, brotherhood...

Their heads were on coal

Grandaddy Jean-Jaurès still looking after the people in the court

The gig was really nice, in this beautiful grand room with the mountains as a background.

We felt at home, and the people there received us like close friends, linked by this belief in music and art (and good food) as true ways of upgrading humanity. Winters stay hard, so does the feeling of fraternity.

We believe in signs. This time in this factory mountainous city is totally connected with our new ideas and themes of the songs we are composing nowadays. As I often say, making Magon laugh a lot, everything is connected...

Charlotte

*****

Charlotte & Magon sent me this today, and I'm glad they had fun.

Friday, October 2, 2009

WRITER'S BLOCK

Every week I come up with a new story. A new idea. A new movie plot. The theme to a tale I've been mulling over in my head for weeks on end. An ending scene to a movie I remember first imagining a year ago. Characters are often loosely based on actors I enjoy like Jason Schwartzman or Joel McHale. The plots range from alienated families to Jewish violinists. 

A nerdy but incredibly smart boy who becomes student council president at his local high school. Eventually he becomes corrupt with power and is expelled, while subplots carry on throughout the story until its end, where the boy reflects on all of his mistakes. A man who's nightmares intertwine with reality, to the point where the line is blurred beyond belief. He is eventually restrained at a mental hospital, which serves to only worsen his nightmares, and completely wash away the imaginary line between reality, and dream. These are just a few.

Nonetheless, there is still the every present Writer's Block. I will capitalize it because I believe it is an illness that can be treated. By treatment I mean a walk, a shower, a vacation, a nap. Something that will help the mind stray out of the hole it fell into. I often get Writer's Block when I've toasted two slices of theoretical bread, possibly spread on some mayonaisse, but can't find the tuna. By tuna I mean the theoretical meat of the story: dialogues, meeting places, filler-uppers. What would the main character do in this situation? What would the love interest say to comfort him or make him feel like crap? What would the Mexican sidekick do when shot in the arm at a bodega? Let's think.

Recommended listening that relates to the subject matter of this post: