Abstract Saturday Compilation

I was utterly blown away by these paintings from Serbian abstract artist Zoran Palurovic..An artist with no formal education...

I survived a brutal storm while driving home this week, with this playing in the background....Quite appropriately named band, Austin-based Survive, shows some promise in the already exploding synth pop scene revival. I was just lucky I wasn't hit by any on-coming cars while struggling to get back on the right side of the median. Lousy rain.

The West was Won...

I know everyone is hoping for a Dallas/Miami rematch, and since that would be rather apropos given the only other time the Mavs reached the finals, they were defeated by the Heat....but right now I am just happy that the Mavs are finally getting the credit they deserve. The focus of the NBA finals all seem to be on the East Coast Conference, but it's about time that the Mavs be recognized...

I feel so cheesy tying this in...oh well. I'm a blogger now, it's my unofficial duty to be partly cheesy. Well, not exactly.

I Could Be Wrong....

I remember hearing a few months back about this, and only now have I had the courage to actually view it. John Lydon, the man once responsible for anarchy in the U.K., on a butter commercial. Oh mercy. It is rather laughable, and in a good way. The Sex Pistols were truly a revolutionary band, but short lived and rightly so, as that kind of energy can only survive for so long before it outlives it's own meaning. But along came John's later project, and in my opinion, the more influential and just better in general artistic terms, Public Image Ltd. PIL will always be known as the first real, true "post-punk" bands, exploring more experimental and dense material than the punk scene of that time seemed to be limited to. Don't get me wrong, I love what punk rock and the Sex Pistols stood for, and still appreciate it's energy and anti-everything-in-general attitude. But PIL seemed to speak to me in a different way, encouraging more creativity. But watching this now, I don't know what to think.....Perhaps he's in need of some extra cash flow. Or perhaps he secretly enjoys the obvious irony of this endeavor, recreating his own public image, and caring very little if his fans will see it with the same light air..



Two of my favorites:


And obviously...

There's an App for what?

This is a rather amazing finger painting done via a simple brush app on the iPhone. Credit to Jorge Columbo. Well done. There truly is an app for everything.

Caught Up in the Rapture

This postcard was posted recently via Laughing Squid, and apparently was the first artistic depiction of the Rapture just outside of downtown Dallas circa 1980. I have no opinion on the matter, I just found this piece to be actually kind of amazing.


Anika did a rather amazing cover of Skeeter Davis' "End of the World" for her self-titled debut back in October. But the original still holds true after all these years. So sweet, so melodic, and so heartfelt...



And I can't help but include the Anika version. She blew me away with this scathing version. But so does all of her unusual takes on classics such as this.

Italo Disco Thursdays

Polyrocks

Produced by legendary stylistic composer Phillip Glass, and exploring the same minimalist and experimental song writing techniques, Polyrock sounds very good today.

And Now For Something Completely Similar

While bustling away at work the other day, a song came on the overhead radio that took me by mild surprise. A reggae, yes, reggae, rendition of Radiohead's Karma Police that struck me like casual slap to the face. It was then that I had a sort of epiphany, which was nothing too surprising as it was something I've probably known and have only come to realize. There might just be a general lack of creativity in the pop culture proverbial repertoire that has generated a sort of rehash of pop hits and films saturating today's creative scene.

I would say on any given day, four out of ten songs played on the satellite radio station are adult contemporary renditions, or even reggae versions of hit songs from the days of yore. I must say that most of said versions are at least something different, but different isn't always good. And this doesn't just apply to music, but the film industry as well. Remakes of bad 80's comedies and the like are hitting theaters in larger quantities, and the failure rate of this films are almost inevitable. So what is wrong with our creative juices? There is certainly plenty of new ground being explored in the world of music and film, and I am no way discrediting the countless artistic breakthroughs that have come along these past few years. But it just seems that a cyclical rehashing syndrome has struck the general artistic community of today, and it's somewhat depressing. I like to think that I'm not the only one noticing these trends, and that someday people will realize that true art and photoshopped and updated revisions of art are truely separated and appreciated on completely different levels. I love being nostalgic the same as the next guy, but please, let's create new things to be nostalgic about for future generations as well..But I must admit: mixing Thom Yorke with steel drums is certainly entertaining anyway.

I've Got Nothing Today

I Still Kick Myself

I regret missing the Os Mutantes play their reunion show last year along with lo-fi rock wizard Ariel Pink. The Mutantes were at the forefront of Brazillian tropicalia, but were also influenced by The Beatles and the psychedelic rock of Jimi Hendrix, which made for interesting results as their infusion of styles stood in a class all it's own. And still influencing the music of today I might add.

Italo Disco Thursdays

Great Film. And great soundtrack...

Rainy Afternoon Fun

It's stormy, I'm all hopped up on allergy medicine, and feel too tired and lazy and goofy to write anything at least halfway decent this afternoon. Sorry blogosphere. Not that that matters really, my little world of music entries is about as groundbreaking as Not Another Teen Movie. If only the producers of that film were as hard on themselves as I am.

This song by one of my all time favorite experimental/pop/rock bands Deerhoof is a pleasant mixture of fun and noise. I enjoy watching them perform this number particularly as careless and all over the place as it seems, it is really precise and well written. And how much fun would it be to play this anyway? And on a side note, this is the most minimalist drum kit I've ever seen played this amazingly.



And one more just for the heck of it..

Gray Wave Tuesday

I remember this jam way back a few years when they were under the moniker Bubonic Plague. Geneva Jacuzzi is just plain weird. And that means a lot coming from someone who appreciates Captain Beefheart instrumentals and Daniel Johnston artwork. I do enjoy this song however. Released last year, Geneva Jacuzzi may get some comparisons to Ariel Pink and the like, but I just think she's on a artistic realm that exists all her own. Although I tend to over think these comparisons....



But she might also have the ability to laugh at her own silliness judging by this video...

Disco Jets

Okay, one more I swear. I have to give praise to the Mavs for sweeping the defending champions, the L.A. Lakers out of the Western Conference Semifinals. No more "what is wrong with the Lakers?" as it's obvious that it's more like "how unstoppable are the Mavs?". Give them the credit that is due. Nowitzki and Jason Terry especially....

Okay, as I got up this morning a faint song fluttered into my ears over the stereo and blew me away as much as the first time I heard it. Utopia's "Disco Jets", in all its instrumental fuzzed out glory. Todd Rundgren, perhaps best appreciated for his early singer-songwriter days, his later, more experimental. synthesized, and weirded out rock is what really solidified my Rundgren appreciation. And Utopia really shines in this manner. Lead by Rundgren, their music could easily be mistaken for the thousands of lo-fi prog-rock imitators today....not that that's a bad thing by any means.

B-Ball

I have to take a minute out of my ordinary schedule to personally congratulate the Mavericks for their outstanding game last night. Shutting down the Lakers not once, not twice, but three games consecutively in the semifinals goes to show that this team is definitely on the right track. Nowitziki outshined the Bryant dynasty and I just hope there's more to come...

Okay, that's enough nerd talk. Now to more nerd talk. Since I must tie this in with music somehow, this tune, by New Jersey's Javelin, will somehow fit into this Saturday morning basketball praise....I don't know why, but every time I hear this jam it magically whisks me away onto a basketball court somewhere in the Bronx in the 1970's....

It's Friday and I Feel Kinky

Whenever asked the age-old question, Beatles or Stones? I would invariably have to choose C. The Kinks. Sandwiched between albums like Beggar's Banquet and the Beatles' White Album, The Kinks' Village Green album went almost unnoticed. With hard rock songs the likes of Street Fighting Man, Voodoo Child, and Revolution burning up the scene, the Davies' soft spoken songs about strawberry jam and playing cricket were perhaps out of touch with the classic anthems of it's day. But looking back now, it seemed like the most progressive and masterful songwriting of it's time. Simple, sweet, and with just the right touch of melancholy, this album displays talent most independent artists today could only hope for. I think the problem with most indie bands today is the intense level of cuteness unnapologetically injected into every tune of what I like to call car commercial pop. You know, the songs with the overused ukeleles and whistling, yeesh. I cringe just thinking about it. The Kinks however easily display the same innocent yet soulful songwriting without really striving for it. And therein, I think, lies The Kinks' charm.



And if I had to, I would choose the Beatles..... obviously.

Italo Disco Thursdays

Obviously...I'm just being lazy today.

Happy International Star Wars Day

May the Fourth be with you..

My Old Days

I remember a time when Dr. Dog, the quintessential break out band of the 2000's (in my humble opinion), were at their peak, and their throwback style of 60's and 70's garage rock was all that mattered to me. Their debut album Easy Beat, was in constant every day rotation, for easily 6 or 7 months. Sure, I'm beating an old drum when I say their style harkened back to the heydays of the likes of the Beach Boys, The Band, and the always inevitable and undeniable comparison to the Beatles. But it was fresh, and almost instantly recognizable at the same time. But, now, ugh. Their last few efforts at recreating lightning in a bottle again and again are forever gone. It's sad, but such is the way of most pop music these days. You're lucky to squeeze out two or three unbelievable works of art, then, it tapers off in a sea of bland mediocrity. Maybe I'm being too hard on these Philly boys, but there's only so far I'll follow an artist (see also: Robert DeNiro, George Lucas, the Muppets, etc.) to the end of their career when they seem to be only producing work purely for the sheer enjoyment of it themselves (or perhaps more accurately the money.) I wish you would go back your old ways, Dr. Dog, I really do.