Sunday, May 29, 2005
white walls
Friday, May 27, 2005
las vegas is not dead
I've been here in Las Vegas all week and the swirling pink lights and talking electric people haven't eaten me yet. Thats why we combat weirdness with chubby R & B. Alicia Keys will be singing to me tonight. We'll see if homegirl brought her chops.
p.s. Happy Birthday to me (it was Wednesday, for you smart kids).
Sunday, May 22, 2005
electricidad
-DAT Politics in Austin
(photos by the ladyfriend)
and there's no one up there
"...because listening is the most dangerous of acts and cannot be avoided, and its only then that things really happen, when we don't talk about them, because if you talk about them you scare them off, you frighten away the facts; couples tell each other everything about other people, but not about themselves, unless they think that the information belongs to the both of them..."
-Javier Marias, A Heart So White
(ruido, señores)
Friday, May 20, 2005
invisible galaxies
Who knew the dialogically challenged new Star Wars was secretly directed by Miguel Moore? For all the cynical brouhaha out there (including the expected snooty New Yorker review) this film was a tiny protest for the teenagers who chew on Howard Zinn books and watch old episodes of Batman. It's not going to change much, but in this age of post-rational art, it was a sensory double-dip and it felt bubbly. On a more French note, DAT Politics is playing at my house. And by my house, I mean here. There will be French people pasted to the walls for us to look at. Red lights dripping. Out there, where beats look like bold letters.
bleeeeeep.
Thursday, May 19, 2005
turn off that drum machine, pops
Thin black frames.
Half-open notebook with wide-eyes and unending lines.
Sneakers stomping the floor.
Music critics and ssssseeeex.
quoteendquote.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
mexico is a machine
Cafe Tacuba- Esa Noche
Cafe Tacuba- La 2
I am writing a book on these guys: thats how real they are. Cafe Tacuba makes me feel like being postmodern and having a heart are both possible. Live, they play the big-chested U2 game and please thousands of folks in a huge theater. On record, they're intimate--you can hear Ruben Albarran's microbreathing on numerous songs from their five excellent albums. These two songs are meant to be listened to in Valparaiso, Chile with a beautiful woman reciting experimental poetry to you in French.
or, in your bedroom. its whatever.
Monday, May 16, 2005
eyes open
Holy mustard bananas, Ruben! Ellen Allien's new record is, like, eye-popping. Fields of blips. On another note, French producer Chok Rock is like stepping into a room full of thick, blue light and bumping into members of Kraftwerk and when you say "oh, I'm sorry...", they go "hay...it'z okay, Martin. You are vun of us".
Then, I look at the walls and run away.
Sunday, May 15, 2005
purple raindrops
I saw this film tonight. It was hard to walk out of the theater after it was over. Harvard-educated crooks and my hometown: I smell a sitcom. A company that slept with the administrations of both Clinton and the non-Clinton that's currently in the White House (dude won't leave the neighborhood, I tell you) is something we should pay attention to like Ricardo Villalobos does hi-hats. Serious, folks.
the other way.
Saturday, May 14, 2005
quiet architecture
Prefuse 73 vs. The Books- Pagina Cinco
What I like about both Prefuse 73 and the Books is that their beats come with couches. Loafing is complicated these days but both these producers shape space as much as sound to where you feel warm and lumpy. Though Prefuse's MPC goes vanilla sometimes and churns out snare taps that are all related to each other, it's still worth the bump. The Books are just cute--in an MC Ren way. This cut is off their EP where they never actually met but linked up through email. In the future, we will only know people through text and not through touch.
more coffee.
Friday, May 13, 2005
(espacio)
Colleen- floating in the clearest night
I wish rappers would do more LSD. You should put down that dog-eared copy of Reader's Digest and pick up the new issue of XLR8R. My face is hidden somewhere in the back.
lookup.
Thursday, May 12, 2005
ghetto futurism
One of the many things that make me think these guys are not from here:
Saul Williams: I write for many reasons. I write with the audience in mind, but then I’m a member of my audience. So, part of me writes to fill the void of what I’m hearing and what I’d like to hear. And instead of being a music critic, I’m an artist, so, yeah, I write something like that. I also write because I believe there’s a power in saying a prayer or a mantra out loud—so, I write because I think there’s power in saying it and power in writing it. And also, because I believe in magical spells and shit like that and incantations and shit like that so I write for those reasons. Also, I’m kind of like that guy that creates the New York Times crossword puzzles—I write because I like the idea of delivering the mindfuck. So, it’s kind of like the tease element, you know? Sometimes, writing a rhyme is like some Victoria Secret type shit—like I’m putting these words in negligee, like, they’re going to tease the fuck out of you—you wish you could see these words naked! You wish you could get catch the meaning. But I’m the first to trip out on it as an audience member, so, yeah. So, it’s a little for myself and for others too.
Busdriver: I think there’s a real cathartic element in writing rhymes that unfortunately doesn’t get addressed in hiphop cause hiphop is seen as such an aggressive, kind of alpha-male, hands-on contact sport. But in writing a rhyme and really examining the rhyme structures and gathering words and terms is really…I don’t know, it really soothes you. I write cause I’ve fallen in love with the whole process, the whole experience. I’ll write a rhyme in day or an hour then I’ll have this other rhyme that I’ll take a month on, just playing with it, going back to it. So, yeah. It’s good.
Rob Sonic: In that sense, the writing aspect is probably more for us than anything else. Even if cats get in for the wrong reasons, you can’t do that much writing and not gain a deeper sense of purpose.
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
there's lipstick on the statue of liberty
Nice Nice- Uh Oh
Portland's Nice Nice are like breathing glitchy Faulkner novels: magical, yet profoundly possible. They rock synthesizers for belt buckles and are like white experimental r&b with a side of Throbbing Gristle. They're Yesss! EP is what Brooklyn third-graders Black Dice wish would happen when they press play on their SK-1's. With remixes from Caural and dj /rupture, internationalism never sounded so sexual. Listen to it with a glass of milk.
Saturday, May 07, 2005
shoo shoo
Xiu Xiu-Bog People
There is no reason why I shouldn't like this: thats why I do. La Foret is all of Jamie's previous records kissing each other like they lived the in the South of France. It's not wearing pop sweaters like Fabulous Muscles and is way noisier--which makes me smile. Let's cut the bullshit: he's Morrissey's younger brother and you know it and you like it. These two tracks are for you.
Xiu Xiu- Mousy Toy
(eyes and eyes and eyes and eyes)
those aren't adidas, Run--they're new balance!
Run-D.M.C.-King of Rock
Talking to Saul Williams a few months back made me remember how hardcore Run-D.M.C. actually were. I remember listening to them as a kid and thinking they were off the wall and heavy, but as the years go by and everyone from ODB to NWA has run laps in my ears you forget how heavy some of the originals were. Sometimes, its good to take a look back.
Friday, May 06, 2005
amor futuro
(the synths climb up the stairs, look out the window and remember the first time they breathed)
Four Tet- Smile Around the Face
I am completely surrounded by trees. but, more importantly, Four Tet has come from the future--by that I mean England--to save America from simplicity. Everything ecstatic is waiting for you.
lightnin' hopkins in the clouds
so, two days ago I went to go see Ozomatli for the 200.0001th time. they, as usual, were soliiiid. before I went in, I happened to see Nomar and Mia (not that one) walk in like they normal people and shit. the nerve.
Things That Will Not Let Me See the Light of Day:
- a piece on Saul Williams, Busdriver and Rob Sonic that I started at SXSW for Signal to Noise.
- reviewing Lightnin' Hopkins and some local godspeed-esque band called My Education for The Austin Chronicle
- an essay-ish review thing on Xiu Xiu's new album for Jessica Hopper's reputable Hit it or Quit it zine.
- my next "After Silence" column for XLR8R
- a 13 & god review for Stop Smiling
and a job trying to be real.
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
while you were outside
Yesterday, the friendly people at Stop Smiling magazine posted my review of Quasimoto's new record. You should read it.
