Thursday, December 26, 2002

new years eve is played out.

i survived christmas in San Francisco, for the first time. barely.

this holiday thing has become so disingenuous. some may say i'm jaded. i say nay.
i am realistic.
i am woman.

Thursday, December 12, 2002

wow, this is crazy.

Stereolab singer killed in bicycle accident

Stereolab vocalist Mary Hansen died Monday (December 9) in London when she was hit by a car while riding her bicycle. She was 36. An official statement said: "The suddenness of her death has shocked the band. Mary was a special person. Our thoughts are with her family and friends who will miss her greatly."

Stereolab formed in 1990 and Australian native Hansen joined the London-based band in 1992. The group has recorded eight studio albums the most recent of which was 2001's Sound-Dust.

Hansen was born January 11, 1966 in Maryborough, Brisbane. The band says her funeral will take place next week in her hometown.

London police are investigating the accident.
current listening station for chud:

heavenly music corporation - lunar phases - 94 ambient album on former SF label Silent Records. HMC is basically Kim Cascone. i always liked this cd...so veeeerrrrry relaxing. where's my isolation tank when i need it?

metro area - really good NYC garage/techno/house, on the minimal yet funky disco tip. sparse arrangements. sounds old yet, not. still getting into it. but a nice change of pace.

boards of canada - twoism - reissue of old rare ep from 95. it's good but not great...you can see they were laying the groundwork for their "music is the right of children" album. more interesting than anything else.

royksopp - "melody a.m." - cool norwegian chill shit with vocals. still getting into. very atmospheric and pleasant. not groundbreaking.

about to play right now:
Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" - because it's a damn classic, dammit.
and dental dams for all.

bucko.

Thursday, December 05, 2002

I ain't gonna play Sun City

Mickey Finn - Drum n bass mix
solid bangers if you're in the mood. and i am.
you have to be a bit surly to listen to drum 'n bass, i've decided. because it's kind of complicated, a bit angry and confrontational at times for sure (whereas house music seems to appeal a much wider broadbase because it is relatively happy, upbeat and easy to relate to).

standout track thus far: Focus "The Crow" i've never heard a producer use a sample of a crow before but it totally works. More caws for the cause!

also, SKC's "Lobotomy" is a nice techstep track. spacey and dark.

the problem, of course, is that drum 'n bass gets old pretty quickly.
i mean, there are some high points here and there, but lots of medicore shit inbetween.

wile e coyote, musical genius
today's latest catchphrase

Smile, You're Not Dead Yet

thanks for playing.

enjoy skin
to whit, two wit and Joyce Dewitt

musique
non stop
techno pop

so what have i been listening to the last few days?
lemme tell ya:

Arkestra One - chill shit from ESL, thievery corp.'s label. atmospheric, cinematic, you know the drill. i'm so down with the song "a man from the audience" which is a weird, trippy kind of track that features cut-up vocal samples of a preacher disparaging the use of marijuana and other drugs..fave line "i wanna get stoned on jesus." indeed. the question isn't "what would jesus do?" but "what wouldn't jesus toke?"

False - Detroit's matthew dear kicking out the minimal techno shit. tis ok but definitely dancefloor mixing type stuff for uptight anal techno djs. i dig matt, but it doesn't stick out too much.

peter gabriel - "up" new album, much much darker and strange. not bad, but it seems a bit slight.

I Am Spoonbender - "shown actual size" SF's high-concept sorta electro/rock outfit. this 3-song ep is percursor to their upcoming album. good but makes you want more..which is good i guess.

Vikter Duplaix - "international affairs" - pretty good album from philly boy, best known for his vocal work on jazzanova tracks.

The Streets - "original pirate material" - probably my favorite album right now. of course, it took me a few months to get this but now i love it. the music is great, fucked up garage beats, the weirdest vocals you've ever heard and more...not really hip-hop like you think of it...but still hip-hop. bits of reggae, dub, breaks. the lyrics are so fucking unique. they're like conversational stories but with a certain sense of rhythm. "geezers need excitement" has a fucked up beat. plus i'm totally down with his points about the absurdity of drug laws yet alcoholism rages on with the consent of all.

Tipsy - "remix party!" tis just ok. SF kitschy sample heavy band remixed, some good, some not.

Gilles Peterson "Trust the dj mix" - just ok. only listened to once but a bit disappointing. his newest mix.

Red Snapper "it's all good" the last album from this jazzy techno uk trio is basically a cd of some of their favorite tracks. not bad, but doesn't stick with me.

Nicola Conte "jet sounds revisited" - i've had this album for a couple months but just realized these are remixes by thievery, nuspirit helsinki, koop, kyoto jazz massive and more. on ESL, it has that same sorta lounge-kitsch-middle eastern-ethnic trip-hoppy dub/reggae sound. get all that? except nicola is from italian. so there.

Mellowdrone - droning quirky indie sorta rock yet...the lyrics are a bit odd. interesting production...with electronic elements included. touring with johnny marr.

"45 seconds of" - various artists...this is a fucked up concept that, surprisingly, is a fairly rewarding listen. 99 different artists contribute exactly 45 seconds of music each. many of the contributions are abstract and forgettable yet there are enough standouts that have enough substance to make you go "hey, what the fuck is that all about?"
first one that comes to mind is track 60 by Simeon/silver apples (i only recognized about 10-15 names) called "shopping cart concerto" and contains random vocal samples from a Kmart store. a novel idea, if nothing else.

and finally...
currently listening to:
Groove distribution, CD Sampler 1.02 - as the cd says, "12 more tracks of jazzy trip-hop, breaks, drum and bass and house." yeah, that's pretty much it..though it's a bit heavy on the jazzy trip-hop type stuff, which is cool. This is actually fairly old (for electronic stuff, that is), i think given out as a promo in 2000. seems like i got this from xlr8r or something. artists on here include xploding plastix (who i dig), feature cast (nice track, this), sonar lodge, hertz, landslide, danny byrd, klute and bronx dogs.

make me happy and slip me a mickey.
mouse that is.
swimming in pills and groovy shards.

love your makeup.

basketboy timmmmmmmmmmmiiii

Monday, December 02, 2002

Theme Bath

Doesn't everybody need a theme bath?
i think so.
let everybody decide the answer.
no more questions. only questions.
and quests.
a quest for fire.
as long as rae dawn chong isn't a part of it.
does this mean that she was the daughter of legendary stoner Tommy Chong of Cheech & Chong fame?
huh#3$"*:+;~^}]{[``?/where is the goddamn (at) sign?
it's all screwy.
damn the icebergs.

now listening to:
Lali Puna - "Scary World Theory"
Very good, very good.
very mellow.
saw them at bottom of the hill recently.
a fine musical thing.
minimal type shit.
on Morr Music, which is all the rage with the kids.

ok. onto more important things.
like elephants.

this the kitty sure is a kitty.

jeffrey came up saturday evening for some drunken fun at casanova and zeigeist.
friday night was dj at odeon...which was pretty cool..a little frustrating but then again, what can you do but bite the bullet and hope for death.
or not.
buck went with tina to go see the coup at slim's.
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don't you love my new language?
better than elvis camp.

thursday was a sleepy evening here in the east bay. love the one you're with.
wednesday i think i just crashed.
saturday saturday saturday
sunday, hung out here, took jeff to breakfast in oaktown, then did little until we went over to nannette's and watched the sopranos last night.
and all is well with amerika.

sooth saying is for people.
not ants.

timmmiiiii