Born Under Punches

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:46:32 -0500

Just flipped over to Comedy Central in time for that wonderful...

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:02:31 -0500

Just flipped over to Comedy Central in time for that wonderful montage in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off where Ferris, Sloane, and Cameron are at the Art Institute of Chicago and that beautiful instrumental version of The Smiths’ “Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want” soundtracks it.

Such a wonderful sequence - both in framing (see galery) and in soundtracking.

tristn: Not funny. I thought I was the only one who thought...

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:56:00 -0500

tristn:

Not funny.

I thought I was the only one who thought so.

merlin: Pavement - “Carrot Rope” Mark Ibold is my fantasy of...

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:33:33 -0500

merlin:

Pavement - “Carrot Rope”

Mark Ibold is my fantasy of the ultimate freshman roommate lottery draw.

He seems like a guy who’d replace any Cokes he drank — and wouldn’t even make a big show of pointing out that he’d done it.

Yeah, sure, it’s a weird fantasy, but, y’know, you’re not the boss of me. No. You are not. College is a complicated time, and I won’t be judged about which musician from a band I liked 15 years ago would probably replace my Cokes without making a big deal of it.

That’s between me and my God.

"That’s a little lazy. Beach Boys is just kinda your go-to vocal harmony band—especially given the..."

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:43:03 -0500

“That’s a little lazy. Beach Boys is just kinda your go-to vocal harmony band—especially given the fact that there are so many bands right now with guys in them who do legitimately sing like the Beach Boys. I feel like Amber and Angel’s tones are very, very different. They’re much less about that “warm, round” thing than a very linear, angular thing. That’s a little lazy, dude.”

- Dirty Projectors’ David Longstreth reacts to comparisons of his music to a wide range of reference points in articles and reviews about Bitte Orca. He says some nice things about Beyoncé and of Montreal, so that’s cool. I guess he’s into insolent sex parties. (via perpetua)

Shared for calling out the limited vocabulary in music. I’ve fallen into this trap as well, but he’s right - too often, these “this sounds like that” comparisons are lazy.

"The whole premise was such a joke, and I think maybe I took it too seriously. I started to feel like..."

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:21:05 -0500

“The whole premise was such a joke, and I think maybe I took it too seriously. I started to feel like I was becoming a cliché of myself.”

- Pitchfork: Sufjan Stevens Calls the 50 States Album Project “Such a Joke”

This makes me sad. So sad I think this calls for a frowny emoticon.

:-(

(via jimmyjosh)

You know, the dude got famous on this idea. He writes awesome songs, don’t get me wrong, but how many articles were written on the premise that he was working on this insane project? Certainly, his record ended up in the hands of a few more DJs and a lot more consumers because of it, so perhaps he shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss the idea that’s given him the creative freedom to mess around with weird multimedia projects.

"My Bloody Valentine, Loveless “Absolutely the greatest rock album ever made that requires no..."

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:25:07 -0500

“

My Bloody Valentine, Loveless

“Absolutely the greatest rock album ever made that requires no concentration whatsoever. I can’t think of one lyric off this album, even though I listened to some of it today. Incredible sound. Guitars like witches. A thousand subsequent bands have copied it, but no one has ever gotten it right (including Kevin Shields). It makes me want to write about unscary monsters.”

”

- Flavorwire » Blog Archive » Chuck Klosterman Presents: Albums That Kick Writer’s Block

emmiline: christinefriar: [passthemike:tiffanyarei:willcrusta] ...

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:13:32 -0500

emmiline:

christinefriar:

[passthemike:tiffanyarei:willcrusta]

Cartman - Pokerface (FULL)

MUH MUH MUH MUH

can’t resist

At one point, I came across a convenient (and slightly oversimplified) definition of comedy - if you laugh out loud by yourself, you know it’s really funny. This made me squeal uncontrollably last Wednesday night.

merlin: SUGAR - “If I Can’t Change Your Mind” I very dearly...

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:08:51 -0500

merlin:

SUGAR - “If I Can’t Change Your Mind”

I very dearly love Copper Blue. And, how much do I love Bob in a cardigan? Yes. Very much, thanks.

That compressy acoustic guitar sound’s all Pixy Stix and unrequited crushes. Just perfect.

Agreed. This is one of those song I could listen to every day. See also: August 13th post

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-11-1)

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:14:25 -0500

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-11-1):

Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz

Truths about this song: 1. I went out for Halloween last night...

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:03:18 -0400

Truths about this song:

1. I went out for Halloween last night as a different Tracy Morgan character.

2. I once (2007) put this on a ~~Christmas~~ Festivus party mix. Nobody seemed to mind.

3. I just reblogged this a little while ago, but I don’t mind.

somesongsconsidered:

“Werewolf Bar Mitzvah” – Tracy Jordan
(Words/music: Jeff Richmond, available via NBC.com, 2007)

One of the more charming parts of “Werewolf Bar Mitzvah,” is the dialogue between Tracy Jordan (alter ego of comedian Tracy Morgan) and his producer. In the world of the sitcom 30 Rock, Tracy Jordan is akin to Martin Lawrence, complete with ubiquitous semi-fame and an IMDB page full of stinkers. It’s believable that Jordan would make a novelty cash-in record, but the premise of this one – somewhere between a Hebrew rite of passage and Halloween – even baffles the man cashing the paycheck. Before the third verse, the producer warns Jordan that the song is losing steam and becoming “sweaty,” prompting Jordan to declare that “this whole premise is sweaty!” (Let’s be honest - it’s less than three minutes long and feels like it’s twice that length). Still, he soldiers on through another plot-driven verse and another spin through the chorus before ultimately declaring that it’s no “Dick in a Box.”

Like 30 Rock itself, “Werewold Bar Mitzvah” approaches comedy with the right blend of absurdity and self-awareness. Jordan’s narrative delves deeper into bizarre details as he tosses aside every horror movie fact and Hebrew vocabulary word he can remember. It’s the way a novelty song works – the hook is the only substantial part, yet it has to go away for a while before we can welcome it back. So Jordan starts telling his ridiculous story and we’re generally ignoring it, waiting for the “spooky, scary” line to come back. Meanwhile, Jordan and producer wink at us the entire way.

Happy Halloween. Mazel tov!

More on Tracy Jordan: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm

Venturing out into public as Astronaut Jones tonight. Jenny is...

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:09:17 -0400

Venturing out into public as Astronaut Jones tonight. Jenny is a Jupitarian.

benworcester:

In case you forgot about him, here he is again:

Astronaut Jones

Written by Tracy Morgan. Directed by Tracy Morgan. Hair and Make-up by Tracy Morgan. Produced by Tracy Morgan and Melvin Goldfarb. This has been a Morgan/Goldfarb Production.

Writing and Rejection.

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:43:00 -0400

This whole thing is terrific. I was going to excerpt just the 4th and 5th paragraphs of his post, but decided the context is important as well. I’m still not sure if I am adequately equipped to handle rejection the way I should, but his point of being (at least metaphorically) in the same room as his writing heroes makes complete sense to me.

In other words: reblogged as a personal reminder.

merlin:

[First. Second. Then…]

steampoweredmedia:

Also, you want a great high? Get a great rejection letter from a place like Esquire. I did and do and I save them all.

Somewhere, deep in our garage, I think I still have my first rejection from The Atlantic (ca. 1990). Blue embossed type on heavy card stock, if memory serves. Classy. Distinguished. Albeit, not signed.

And, I can’t begin to explain the emotional complexity of finding that modest little piece of cardboard in the mailbox of my $275/month garage apartment in Sarasota, Florida. To be dead honest?

Sure, I was superficially bummed that the joyless purple knob to which I’d subjected my favorite magazine had not been greeted with an offer for a regular column. What talentless 22-year-old with a Cultural Studies degree from a public college wouldn’t be?

But, that disappointment was quickly displaced by a more pure awe and terror at what the card had really meant; it meant that an adult human at The Atlantic had read something I’d written. Read it. Seen my name. Seen the Palatino 12 letters from my ImageWriter at “High Quality.” Felt each page’s rough edges where I’d torn off the tractor feed guides. Noticed my overuse of semicolons, suffered through my superfluous adverbs, and rolled their eyes at my fondness for hypothetical questions.

This was scary to me then. But, it’s horrifying to me now. Because, it’s one thing to sit around thinking you’re clever and gifted, and quite another to realize your dreck is sitting around in the same office as the manuscripts of your heroes. That’s some grown-up stuff.

I realize I sounded harsh yesterday in talking about rejection slips, but I stand by what I said (or maybe should have said more clearly):

Readers and editors are not your Mom. And they’re not your Junior Comp. teacher. And they’re not your fairy godmother.

They’re ruthless curators with a thankless and exhausting job. They get paid (or intern for free) to sift through garbage bins looking for diamonds. It’s a crappy job where you say “no” to thousands of strangers who’ll hate you and “yes” to a handful of people who (after their own multiple years of hearing “no”) don’t have any particular feeling about you one way or the other.

Those writers don’t lack emotion because they’re mean, callous, or dead inside; it’s because they’re pros. And they know it’s just part of the game.

So, pro writers don’t over-sweat rejection any more than a good salesman yells at you for not buying the ill-fitting and out-of-style shoes he’s got to sell. It’s just business. You evolve.

I understand that it’s really natural to be discouraged and a little sad by rejection, but that emotion is instructive. Learn from it. It either means you’re doing it wrong (sending to the wrong places, not sending to enough places, not doing your research on who’s buying what), or it means you’re simply not ready yet (your work’s not there yet, or you lack the distance to see it as a product people buy).

The part of you that creates and sweats and toils has to get really okay with the different part of you who manages the business and publishing stuff. Especially at first. Until you have relationships and a portfolio, get ready for lots of rejection and zero explanation. Like: lots. But try to learn from it where you can and then totally ignore it where you can’t. It’s. just. business.

Seriously, don’t let the part of you that reads rejection letters have too much negative influence on the part of you that wanted to write in the first place. If you concentrate on helping that original, more artistic person to learn, improve, and mature as a writer, you’ll notice that he and the business guy start getting along a lot better. And start thinking differently about where things should go, who might buy it, and how things might be tweaked for different audiences.

And, if you’re a talentless 22-year-old with a Cultural Studies degree, living in a garage apartment in Florida? Maybe don’t start with The Atlantic. Hit the batting cages and pick-up games for a couple years before trying to walk-on with the Majors.

Finally? Yes. Keep writing. No matter what.

Fuck the business side of it. Especially if it gets in your way or drags you down. Find a way to pay the bills that doesn’t hurt your Good Thing, and stop playing when the game’s not fun.

Writing is hard and it’s lonely and no one will feel an iota of sympathy for you one way or another. Keep it lively and fresh, and keep pouring glue on that chair. The offer for that column might be out there. Somewhere. But, it doesn’t matter one way or another.

Write for yourself, get good, and be a grownup. That’s step zero.

perpetua: R.E.M.“Mr. Richards” (snippet)Live in Dublin, 2007My...

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:57:05 -0400

perpetua:

R.E.M.
“Mr. Richards” (snippet)
Live in Dublin, 2007

My review of R.E.M.’s Live at the Olympia is up on Pitchfork today. I originally meant to include something about how great this song sounds on the record — it’s actually maybe the one track that makes a lie of my statement that the album contains no definitive takes on a song — but it got cut because it didn’t really fit into the arc of my argument.

I listened to the first half of this show the other night while making dinner and this song caught my attention in particular. I haven’t heard it in a while and kind of forgot about it, but I love how it cuts a little sharper on the Olympia rehearsal recording.

This is an excellent recording (well, the first half that I’ve listened to so far) that I’d recommend checking out.

perpetua: Lily Allen“The Fear” Vapid, cynical, hyper-consumerist neo-celebs of the...

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:17:48 -0400

perpetua:

Lily Allen
“The Fear”

Vapid, cynical, hyper-consumerist neo-celebs of the Paris Hilton/Heidi Montag variety are utterly loathsome, but when we tear into them in comedy and art, it can often seem too easy and overly mean-spirited in way that eclipses any righteousness we could hope to claim in calling out their grotesque antics. Yes, they are clearly villains in the context of our culture, but on scale, they’re more like the Goombas in the Super Marios Bros. games — cannon fodder along the path to the Big Bosses.

I love this paragraph.

Free Snuggie Blanket | Suzzly Market Research

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:57:31 -0400

Free Snuggie Blanket | Suzzly Market Research:

I’m trying to decide if having a Snuggie to give as a gag is worth giving away my contact information.

"On the song “Empire State of Mind”, Jay-Z raps, “Shit, I made the Yankees hat more..."

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:44:39 -0400

“On the song “Empire State of Mind”, Jay-Z raps, “Shit, I made the Yankees hat more famous than a Yankee can.” On Wednesday night, he’ll get the chance to prove that boast when he and Alicia Keys perform the Blueprint 3 track at Yankee Stadium before game one of the World Series, according to MTV. Beat that, Philly.”

- Pitchfork: Jay-Z to Perform at World Series

Somebody get ?uestlove on the phone…

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-10-25)

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:46:21 -0400

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-10-25):

Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz

Romance Is Boring

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:36:33 -0400

Romance Is Boring:

New Los Campesinos! album out on February 1!

andrewmcclain: somesongsconsidered: …and having a character who spends his entire time on...

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 13:58:19 -0400

andrewmcclain:

somesongsconsidered:

…and having a character who spends his entire time on screen singing Bowie songs without a single line of dialogue (it’s been a while since I’ve seen the movie, so correct me if I’m wrong) feels excessively odd.

Yeah, Seu Jorge has a few lines - “I like her hairdo” is the only one I can think of. Ordinarily I’d never nitpick like that, but you did extend an invitation to correct you, so I thought I might nerd out for a second.

Thanks for the correction - I appreciate it! I gave myself 20 minutes to write that post and haven’t seen The Life Aquatic since 2005 or so (when I saw it 3 - 4 times between theatre and DVD). No apology needed for nerding out!

Also - I updated the original post - thanks again!