I Aught to Know: Music

OK, Albums!

Not based on what was technically the best, but instead what I probably listened to the most. Also, some favoritism was given to the second half of the decade because even though Weezer's Green Album got a ton of playtime on my CD player in 2002, I can't bring myself to add it to the list.

In alphabetical order...

Arcade Fire
"Funeral"

I actually might like Neon Bible better and (thanks to mine and Sarah's road trip across South Africa) might have listened to it more). But, this was the album where I "discovered" Arcade Fire, so it will always leave the bigger impression. Plus, if I was doing a list of favorite singles from the aughts, "Backseat" would probably be on that list.




Beirut
"Gulag Orkestar"

Who knew that a 23-year-old kid from New Mexico playing what sounds like Eastern European gypsy folk music in the streets of Paris would be one of my favorites. But, from the time it was release in, like 2006 till now, it's been a favorite. Funky and ecclectic, while also accessible and poppy. His follow up Flying Club Cup is also excellent.





Broken Social Scene
"You Forgot It In People"

Along with their later self-titled album, this was basically the soundtrack to Sarah and I planning our big trip. Like Arcade Fire, this band somehow manages to capture something that reminds me of growing up in the suburbs... I'm not sure why, or why that would appeal to me, but it does. The sing-songy "Athems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl" will be stuck in your head for days.




David Byrne & Brian Eno
"Everything That Happens Will Happen Today"

As much as I love Byrne, most of his solo work hasn't connected the way his Talking Heads stuff did. That said, this is probably the best thing he's done ever, in my opinion. Period. Eno's music elevates Byrne's songs to the rank of "secular gospel" that they aspire to. The album of 2008 for me.




Gorillaz
"Gorillaz"

I remember stumbling across the video for their first single, "Clint Eastwood" months before the CD was released in the US, and watching it probably 18-hundred-dozen times. Then, I went to a Canadian CD website, bought the album there, and had it shipped to me here in the US for way too much money. Then, I spent the next year or two listening to it non-stop. Their follow up, Demon Days was excellent too.



Postal Service
"Give Up"

I'm pretty sure I put this album in my CD player sometime in 2003, and didn't take it out until Sarah and I left on our Round the World trip in 2007. Probably, if backed into a corner, this would be the album I'd admit most defined this decade for me.

(On a side note, I remember, when this album came out, I wished there were more albums like it. But, recently, when I discovered the band, Owl City, it actually mad me a little angry to here someone so obviously aping Postal Service's shtick.)

Ryan Adams
"Demolition"

Ryan came out with something like 84 albums this decade. And most of them got a lot of play time at the Hill-Stach residence. But, Demolition is probably my long-term favorite. Entertainingly, his never-released "Destroyer" session was probably our second most listened to Ryan Adams CD, and also contains mine and Sarah's wedding song.



The Shins
"Oh, Inverted World"

The song "New Slang" might be a indie-music-hipster cliche, but I still remember hearing it for the first time. In the movie Garden State, Natalie Portman's character shares that song with Zach Braft saying "You gotta hear this one song, it'll change your life I swear." And while that sounds a little hyperbolic, it was one of those songs that stuck me the very second I heard it.



White Stripes
"White Blood Cells"

I might have listened to Elephant just as much (and "Seven Nation Army" might be the song that springs most imediately to mind), but White Blood Cells started it off. In fact, this album sort of kicked off several years of listening to a lot of retro-garage rock bands, but the Stripes are one of the few that still holds up today.




Wilco
"Yankee Hotel Foxtrot"

One of those rare albums that was a critical darling, that I loved and that I listened to a ton. In fact, the song "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" was easily on the Top 10 for my most listened to individual songs. And, has some of my favorite, borderline nonsense lyrics.

Oh, and here are some runners up: The Streets A Grand Don't Come For Free, New Pornographers Mass Romantic, Vampire Weekend's self-titled release, Decemberists Crane Wife, Neko Case Blacklisted, PJ Harvey Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea, Death Cab For Cuties' Transatlantism, Andrew Byrd Andrew Byrd & the Mysterious Production of Eggs, Blue Scholars Bayani, Outkast Skankonia and, of course, Weezer the Green Album.

Like my previous Best of the 2000s entry, if there are any of these albums you are considering buying, why not buy them through my General Store. Thanks!




(EDIT: D'oh! I can't beleive that I forgot Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! ...Bad, Tyler! Bad!)

Link-O-Rama: 12/16

A run down of the sites and videos that have caught my attention in the last week or so:

You know how to make boring photos entertaining? Replace all the beer, wine and liqour bottles with cats using Photoshop. World, meet Boozecats.

This little animated video is a thing of a hilarious thing of beauty. As Drawn describes it:

The TV Show, animated by Sugimoto Kousuke and featuring the music of Takayuki Manabe, features a creative use of colour as a variety of narratives, nested within each other, soon begin to meld together. And what a fun video it is.

If anyone wants to buy me a Christmas present two months after Christmas actually happens, feel free to by me this: "Here Lies Love." It's David Byrne and Fat Boy Slims long anticipated 2 CD, 1 book & 1 DVD set exploring the life of Imelda Marcos. A soundtrack of club music, featuring singing by a host of (primarily) female vocalists ranging from Sia and Santigold to Nelly McKay and Natalie Merchant. In Byrne's own words:

“The story I am interested in is about asking what drives a powerful person—what makes them tick? How do they make and then remake themselves? I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be great if—as this piece would be principally composed of clubby dance music—one could experience it in a club setting? Could one bring a ‘story’ and a kind of theater to the disco? Was that possible? If so, wouldn’t that be amazing!”

Apparently, BBCs Channel 4 is airing a pilot for a new TV show featuring Will Arnett and David Cross. As a huge fan of Arrested Development I hope that we'll get to watch it over on this side of the pond someday. Until then, we can bask in the glory of the first scene of "The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret" in this clip:

(Not Suitable for Work, by the way. Unless, of course, they like swearing in the workplace as much as Will's character apparently does.)

Get Byrned!

"Wait! What's this?!" You ask yourself, "Tyler's actually posting on General Admission?! I thought he'd completely forgotten about this relic of a blog. What could have brought him out of quasi-retirement-slash-limbo?"

Well, to answer your question: My favorite 80's music-icon turned mid-life man-crush David Byrne has released a new album. Reuniting with Brain Eno (who worked with Byrne on both a number of Talking Heads albums, and the critically acclaimed My Life in the Bush with Ghosts...which I've never listen to because I'm the Worst Fan Ever™), Byrne's new album, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, is being released in the same manner as Radiohead's In Rainbows, with the online, downloadable release available now (for a fixed price, though), and a more conventional release available later this year.

...sheesh that sentence was a tangled mess but, y'know, I'm excited.

But, what's even more exiting is that they've made the entire album available for online streaming, so that you can listen to it before deciding whether or not to drop the dough. Let's take a listen now, shall we?



(If that embedded player doesn't work, just go to the official site.)

I've already listened to it a couple times today that think it's excellent! With each listen only compounding me infatuation with it. It's got a lot more sonic depth than some of Byrne's more recent offerings, thanks to Mr. Eno's contribution. And, it's got a lot more electronic influence, but with the usual warm organic tones that mark some of Byrnes best post-Heads work. If you just have time to check out one song, I'd recommend skipping straight to Strange Overtones, which is a good litmus test to determine whether or not you have a soul. If that song doesn't make you at least bob your head or tap your toe; then you are soul-free.

The album itself is available both as a digital download, or physical CD (with the downloads to keep you company until it arrives). In addition, there is a special limited edition version which includes a ton of extras... in case anyone wants to buy me an early Birthday present!

*Hint, hint. Wink, wink.*

Once in a lifetime, twice in a week

When Sarah and I went to Texas for Christmas, the presents that her dad and step mom had ordered for me hadn't arrived yet. So, rather humorously, I ended up opening a bunch of boxes filled with printed out pictures of the presents I was supposed to be receiving. One of the upswings of this ended up manifesting itself earlier this week when my presents finally arrived at our place in Seattle.

Christmas 2.0!

So, a lot of this week ended up being dedicated to watching some of the many movies I they got me. First up, and as part of our Bond-A-Thon (still kinky!), we watched Casino Royale. Now, months and months ago, I rambled about Casino Royale, so I wont spend too much time on it now. But, I will mention that it's been interesting revisiting this movie, after having watched the better portion of the Bond library over the last year. The movie stands out almost more for its differences than its similarities to previous Bond films.

It really makes me interested in what the next film will be like. Especially since it been rumored to be a direct sequel spinning out of the events at the end of Casino Royale. Oh, and as a side note, they've announced the title of the new Bond film: Quantum of Solace. (Source)

The title apparently has people grousing because it's "too wordy" or something. But, I'm all for it, since it's apparently the title of a James Bond short written by Ian Flemming.

Oh, and this appears to be a poster for it.

Next up on our little film-fest was the Irish romantic-musical Once. Once was one of the first films we saw after getting back from our trip, and it was the film that convinced me that I'm becoming a big blubbering goof in my old age. Even though it’s technically a musical, it's the type of film where the music actually makes sense in the context of the story, as it follows two young musician/songwriters as they meet, record an album together and flirt with the idea of falling in love.

And, I almost burst into tears in the movie theater when I first saw it.

Truth be told, if I heard the music out of the context of the film, I'd probably consider it to earnest for my tastes. I tend to recoil at singer-songwriter types. But, early in the film, there is a scene in a piano shop where the two lead characters sit down and try playing a song together. This scene, in my opinion, is one of the most pitch-perfect scenes I've seen in a while. It's deceptively simple, but is such a great layered scene that hits all the right notes (pun partially intended). Plus, the ending is pretty perfect too. It could have been botched in so many ways, but it’s simple and effective.

"Hmmmm," the lead characters of Once ponder with Irish accents, "How can we make Tyler cry in public?"

After that, I needed a testosterone-fix. And, for that we put in 300 for two solid hours of Spartans chopping Persians up.

...actually, thinking about it more, watching a bunch of well-oiled, nearly naked men might not be the BEST way to reassert my manliness.

Sarah and I both saw this originally in Hobart, Tasmania during our trip. And, while it didn’t surprise me that I liked it because of its comic book roots, stylized action scenes and painterly scenery; I was surprised how much Sarah liked it. Usually she has a limit to the number of arms and legs she can stand seeing chopped off in slow motion before she throws in the towel on a movie. But, somehow this movie managed to wallow in its violence, macho-posturing, almost deliberately anti-PC morality AND still get Sarah's seal of approval.

In addition to those movies (and another I'll save to talk about after we get around to watching it), I also got Talking Head's Once in a Lifetime box set. Now, I've been obsessed with David Byrne and Talking Heads for a number of years now, and as a result, I already have most of their CDs, as well as a good share of Byrnes's solo releases. But, this package (which also contains a DVD of a number of their videos) is just a little too nice to pass up.

Aw! A baby with puppies. Actually, this cover to the box set is deceptively innocent.

Plus, it's another excuse for me to revisit their songs for the umpteenth time.

It is actually really interesting to hear the better part of their catalogue in just a sitting or two. The three CDs are arranged in a rough chronological order, so it's also allowed me to start an internal debate with myself about whether I like their early stuff, middle of their career stuff or later songs better. Hmmmmm.

Oh, and it was fun to throw the CDs in and dance around our apartment when I came home in a hyperactive mood on Friday night.

"Dance, Tyler! I command it!"

The night before my Talking Heads dance party, Sarah and I went to Zeitoon. Now, I have to confess a sympathy for underdog restaurants. Y'know, those restaurants that you can just tell are going to go out of business. And, Zeitoon definitely appears to be an underdog of the highest caliber.

For weeks now, Sarah and I have walked passed it on our way home from work. And every time it has been nearly entirely empty. Occasionally, it might have a one of two patrons, but never enough to it could possibly be paying the bills on its downtown Belltown location. But, finally, on Thursday night, Sarah and I decided to take pity on it, and give it a try.

And, honestly, it’s quite good. If I were to complain, it would be that the prices might be a tad high. And by a "tad" I mean that if they knock a dollar off their entrees, I would probably consider their prices to be "reasonable." Also, their menu doesn't do their dishes any favors. What are casually described as "wraps" are actually expertly stuff, light and crispy pitas filled perfectly with delicious ingredients. Good stuff, and the owner was almost friendly to a fault.

If you're in our neighborhood, and want some Middle Eastern cuisine, I'd recommend them without hesitation. Do a good thing! Support the underdog*!

Oh, and I discovered a magazine this weeks that seems to live up to its title: Good. Actually, the full title of Good magazine is "Good: Media for people who give a damn." I initially discovered Good through a design site where it received an award from AIGA for its design and layout, but it's fascinating forward thinking angle on politics, the environment and culture has proven to be interesting reading for my daily streetcar rides to work.

Finally, my weekly comic rundown:

X-men #207 - This issue brings the massive Messah CompleX crossover event to a heady and dramatic close. And, now that the storyline is over, I will say that I think it was possibly the strongest X-title related crossover event in years, if not ever. Sure, at points it was uneven. And honestly, the entire storyline basically boiled down to mutants beating the tar out of each other for 13 issues... but really, that's pretty much all it takes to keep me entertained apparently.

Good stuff, with long term ramifications for the series involved. And, while Sarah will no longer have to listen to me babble about "Messiah CompleX Messiah CompleX Messiah CompleX," she's now stuck listening to me speculate about what will happen in the various X-titles going forward.

Astonising X-men #24 - And, while X-men #207 proves how little it takes to keep me excited about the X-men, Astonishing proves how little it takes to loose my interest. At one point, Buffy creator Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-men seemed like the most exciting title in the line up. But, fast forward over three years, and less than two dozen issues, and this title has basically sidelined itself. I'm not one to generally complain about delays in a title's shipping schedule, but this is seriously struggling to seem relevant when it's so obviously lost all relationship to the rest of the titles. Taken on its own, the issue isn't bad, but I still find myself unable to truly care, and just looking forward to Ellis taking over the title.

The Umbrella Aademy #5 - If someone told me, before I left on my trip, that one of the best title's I would be reading when I came back would be written by the lead singer of My Chemical Romance, I wouldn't have believed it. But, honestly, he's Dark Horse miniseries about a dysfunctional family of superheroes is one of the most interesting and unique things I've read in a monthly format in some time now. It doesn't hurt that he's ably backed up by artist Gabriel Ba (of Casanova fame), and cover artist/mastermind James Jean. Consistently interesting and entertaining stuff.

A private academy of disfunctional superhero children! A man with a gorilla body and human head! The Eiffel Tower! Sing me up!

Finally, today Sarah and I made a run to the CD shop and ended up picking up a bunch of CDs. But, since I've barely given them more than one listen, and because this entry has turned into a rambling mammoth, I'll call it a night.

Talk to you in a couple of days, when I hopefully put up the results of my Commuter Cam Project.

*Side Note: Speaking of underdogs, Sarah and I went to Olympia on Saturday to visit a couple of friends. While we were down there, we caught the Evergreen College women’s Basketball team play. And while they sadly lost to Southern Oregon, and while I didn’t attend Evergreen, I still feel like I should say “Go Geoducks!”

And the winner of the phallic mascot award goes too....

Don't Let's Talk About Art Tonight

Right before Christmas, I managed to finish Alexandra Fuller's first novel Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight.



The story recalls her childhood growing up in Africa, the daughter of two tough living, alcoholic, down on their luck white farmers in war-torn Rhodesia. It's an amazing, visceral tale which is at turns both horrific and humorous. Alexandra writing captures her childhood experience amazingly, while never becoming precious or affected. She writes the way I wished I could have during NaNoWriMo several years ago.

I'm pretty sure this will be my favorite book of the year, in a year where I've read several exceptional books.

But, at the same time, I'm glad that I was able to finish it before I began opening my Christmas presents, because I got quite a few books this year, including (un)Fashion (which I was pining about a few entries back) and David Byrne's newest book Arboretum.



Arboretum is Byrne's attempt to create organic graphs, forms and charts to show the connection of various words and concepts. The resulting forms and charts are interesting enough, but the real meat-and-potatoes can be found in the four foot long fold out section at the back of the book. In it, he discusses a number of the charts, their meaning and his process in creating them. It reads like the Director Commentary on the Musings of David Byrne's Brain.

It's the sort of high-minded silliness that he's known for. Which is fine by me, because Byrne could write about planting potatoes and I'd still find it interesting. In fact, his latest blog entry pretty much proves it.

In it, he begins by talking about his theories (and those of an author who's book he’d just read) on the role of art in society. Particularly its role in attracting members of the opposite sex, and how that was all inverted and had to be redefined after the industrial revolution and the invention of the camera. This then segues into him recounting his recent trip to Miami for a gallery show, and the work he saw there. Which, in turn, segues into his discussing Miami, its evolving culture and architecture*. And I find the whole thing captivating.

In fact, after being under whelmed and frustrated at Seattle's last First Thursday (the monthly gallery walk), I actually found that reading his thoughts on art got me interested and excited about fine art again. Just in time to stumble across this today...

With few wolves scattered in the front gallery, all ninety-nine 99 life-sized replicas of wolves run, gallop, and jump toward the far end of the exhibition hall, where a wall stands. The bravery of the wolves is met head on by the unyielding wall. As the leading wolves go down, many more follow with force and determination. As those in the front fall and pile up, those behind take up their positions.

Now, regardless of meaning, I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone who wouldn't find that impressive to see.OK, and a little grisly too. But, I know I'd love to see it in person. I don't really know anything about the artist, Cao Guoqiang but that piece (as well as some others in his collection, like these arrow-filled tigers) are amazing.

Or at least more interesting that anything I saw a couple weeks ago.


* The architecture was particularly interesting to me since he talked about some of the hotels seen in the James Bond movie, Goldfinger. I just watched the movie last night, as part of my recent obsession with James Bond… something I’ll most likely bore you all with later.

Music in May

Wow, its been a long time since I posted anything here. I blame most of that on the fact that work has been busy for me for the last couple weeks. But, the upside of actually working at work is that I spend a lot of time, while working, listening to new music and discovering new CDs. And there are two that have been on near perpetual rotation over the last couple weeks: Gnarls Barkley's "St. Elsewhere," and Beirut's "Gulag Orkestar."



The two CDs actually couldn't be farther from each other sonically, but I think both epitomize what makes good summer music. But, while "St. Elsewhere" provides track after track of danceable R&B laced with space-age techno; "Gulag Orkestar" is the type of music you want playig while sitting at a sidewalk cafe, just watching life go by.

Gnarls Barkley is the brainchild of DJ/producer Danger Mouse, and rapper/soul singer Cee-Lo. And it's at its strongest when the tempo is up and the chorus is catchy. But, upon repeat listens, it holds up as a result of surprisingly personal (and often dark) lyrics from Cee-Lo and quirky and varied production by Danger Mouse.

Beirut is an entirely different beast all together. Somehow, a 19 year old from Albuquerque is managing to channel a European-raised David Byrne, and found an Eastern European gypsy band to back him. All ballads and marches, with only the occasional Casio-style synth thrown in, Beirut manages to sound both completely timeless and while being the current It Band™ (I'm definitely not the only one waxing poetic about them on their blog).

Beyond that, its also worth mentioning that if you like Wolf Parade, you should also check out the new album by Sunset Rubdown which -beyond featuing the dumbest band name since "Wolf Parade"- also features one of their two singers.

Oh, and just as FYI, Beware of Pizzly Bears. (Thanks Thaddeus)

First Semi-Annual Follow Up Entry

Actually, I'm not entirely sure what that headline means. But, then again, the topic of this post is a little vague too. Basically, since my Blog has been going for about six months now, I've decided to go back and follow up on some of the topic I have posted on so far:

The Great Grand Everyone Map Project has effectively stalled out at 50 people. Which, on one hand isn't quite the epic project I'd envisioned; but, on the other hand, is a decent number of people.

I'm still fixated on Arthurian Legend. The next movie in my Netflix Queue is Camalot, and the subject of my NaNoWriMo novel was a modern day update of the Arthurian Legend... taking place in Seattle.

Speaking a NaNoWriMo, I tried it again, but stalled out at around 20,000 words. I was competing with a group of a half dozen friends. One of which completed her novel: Go Christine!

Delta Mike Charlie = Still crazy.

Still married! Yay!

I read V For Vendetta, and while I enjoyed it overall, I didn't think it was Moore's strongest work. The art was a huge struggling point for me, as was the quality of the paper the copy I read was printed on. Still, I have some interest in seeing the movie.

On his journal David Byrne recently wrote a very interesting entry talking about the link between artistic ability and schizophrenia that's worth checking out. Apparently the two appear to be genetically linked... explaining why so many artist types are also crazy types.

I haven't seen too many concerts lately. Only Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, and the Long Winters. I might catch MF Doom on Monday though.

I took the Belief-O-Matic Quiz again and got these results this time for my Top Ten religions:

1. Unitarian Universalism (100%) ...was #1 at 100%
2. Liberal Quakers (92%) ...was #2 at 94%
3. Mahayana Buddhism (91%) ...was #3 at 92%
4. Theravada Buddhism (88%) ...was #5 at 84%
5. Neo-Pagan (84%) ...was #4 at 92%
6. New Age (80%) ...was #6 at 83%
7. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (79%) ...was #7 at 76%
8. Taoism (77%) ...was #10 at 68%
9. Secular Humanism (71%) ...was #12 at 64%
10. New Thought (67%) ...was #15 at 63%

Anyhow, so that's my wrap up of... well... whatever. Maybe I'll do anothe rof these in 6 months. Cheers!