January 23rd, 2010 by jason
As promised, a chart on time:
- Fan Death – Veronica’s Veil (Erol Alkan extended rework) [YouTube music]
- Maxïmo Park – Let’s Get Clinical (Clark remix) [YouTube music]
- Classixx – I’ll Get You (Cassian’s I’ll Get Yeww! Remix) [YouTube music]
- Ocelot – Our Time [YouTube music]
- Depeche Mode – Hole To Feed (Popof Vocal Mix) [YouTube music]
- Ali Love – Love Harder (Tronik Youth Got the Love Mix Fix) [YouTube music]
- Empire of the Sun – Standing On The Shore (Hey Today! Remix) [YouTube music]
- MEN – Off Our Backs (Jeppe’s Money Is A Major Issue Remix)
- Tape to Tape – I (radio edit)
- Annie – My Love Is Better (Sukh Knight Remix) [YouTube music]
- Róisín Murphy – Momma’s Place [YouTube music]
January 9th, 2010 by jason
I know I’m about 2 weeks late on this (I promise January 2010’s chart will be posted on January 22 as it should be), but I got all caught-up/stressed out in the end-of-the-year/end-of-the-decade stuff and have been ruminating on too much lately. This is the first of three music-related posts. Coming soon: Music 2009 and Music 2000s.
Some notes:
I recently watched Mama Mia! so that’s why Lay All Your Love On Me was included. Who knew I was a huge Abba fan?! I started loving Memories when Kid Cudi performed it live when I saw him in early December. I heard Fascination in the Ugly Betty episode “The Bahamas Triangle.” Finally, I find it odd/disturbing the remixes of both (Don’t Fear) The Reaper and No Time come from compilations that were created so that Bacardi (for Reaper) and Scion automobiles (No Time) could connect with the “young, cool” kids…
November 22nd, 2009 by jason
More than ten again but there has just been so much good music out there lately! This time I added links to YouTube if the song was on there (usually not an official video but just the music).
Some notes:
Agneta is a re-edit of Agnetha Fältskog’s “Wrap Your Arms Around Me”. I have a few good remixes of Fixin To Thrill and When The Sirens Sound but for now the originals are my favorite oddly enough. I’ve always loved In The City, but it’s recent appearance in a Nip/Tuck epsiode reminded me of how great it is.
October 22nd, 2009 by jason
- Madonna – What It Feels Like For A Girl (Tracy Young club mix)
- Miss Kittin & The Hacker – Suspicious Minds (Elvis Presley cover)
- L-Vis 1990 – Compass (Christian Martin remix)
- Gui Boratto – No Turning Back
- NightWaves – She’s Electric (House of Nada remix)
- Cadgedbaby – Medicine (Radio Slave reprise)
- Raw Man + Blance – United (club mix)>
- Toecutter – Best Party Ever (Flight Facilities remix)
- Röyksopp – Tricky Tricky (Volatile Tidy Tidy remix)
- The Phenomenal Handclap Band – You’ll Disappear
September 22nd, 2009 by jason
I ended up having twelve songs this month. Worth noting, I think, that not all of these songs are remixes — some of them are album tracks!
- Metronomy – Not Made For Love (Joakim remix)
- Shinichi Osawa – EEAA
- Mumdance & Brodinski – Eurostarr
- Bag Raiders – Shooting Stars (Siriusmo remix)
- Boys Noize – Jeffer (Para One remix)
- Lovelock – Don’t Turn Away (From My Love)
- Basement Jaxx – Feelings Gone (feat. Sam Sparro)
- Daft Punk – Technologic (Death to the Throne remix)
- Felix da Housecat – Machine
- Lily Allen – Not Fair (Style of Eye remix)
- Doves – Kingdom of Rust (Prins Thomas Diskomiks)
- Tiga – Shoes (A Bang Gang Hot Shoe Re-shuffle)
September 2nd, 2009 by jason
Here is my latest mix. Originally I planned to use this mix to practice using a capellas ontop of different songs (I have a capellas for both “Music Sounds Better With You” by Stardust and “The Sound of Violence” by Cassius). Once the mix was done, though, the random a acapellas just didn’t seem to work as well as I hoped so I removed them. I did keep the intro to Vincent Price introduction to “Thriller,” though, and a bit from Annie’s “Anthonio” makes a little appearance toward the end of the mix.
I’m really happy with this mix since it manages to straddle the dark/poppy spectrum pretty well. Please leave comments and lemme know what you love/hate.
00:00 – Dallas Theme
00:08 – Basement Jaxx – Raindrops (Funkagenda & Paul Thomas re-dux)
04:12 – Cut Copy – Hearts On Fire (Joakim remix)
11:14 – Sebastian Ingrosso – Kidsos
15:00 – Michael Jackson – Thriller (Louis LaRoché remix)
18:37 – MGMT – Kids (Pet Shop Boys Synthpop remix)
22:39 – In Flagranti – Business Acumen
26:43 – Sally Shapiro – Love In July (Le Prix remix)
30:14 – Tiga & Zyntherius – Sunglasses At Night (Alter Ego remix)
36:49 – Fever Ray – Triangle Walks (Allez-Allez remix)
41:06 – MSTRKRFT – Heartbreaker (Joachim Garraud club vocal mix)
46:20 – Felix Cartal – Redheads
49:40 – Dre Skull – I Want You Back (Dre Skull remix)
52:56 – Tiga – What You Need (Zombie Nation remix)
57:48 – Stardust – Music Sounds Better With You (DiscoTech electro remix)
60:19 – Sia – The Girl You Lost To Cocaine (Sander Van Doorn remix)
65:55 – Simian Mobile Disco – Audacity of Huge (A Chicken Lips Malfunction)
68:27 – Annie – Two Of Hearts (Skatebård remix)
72:12 – Housse de Racket – Synthetiseur (Van She Tech remix)
75:01 – Cassius – The Sound of Violence (Deadmau5 remix)
![[save]](/jason/wp-content/themes/double-reading/images/icons/disk.gif)
Download “Music Sounds Better When The Sun Goes Down” by Who Shot JR?
Tags: annie, cappela, cassius, stardust, who shot jr?
August 22nd, 2009 by jason
I’m going to try to start a new thing where every 22nd of the month (my birthday is on the 22nd of February so it seems like a good day), I’m going to post a chart of 10 songs that I’ve really been into for the month. Sometimes this means they are new songs that just dropped, sometimes it means that they are songs I’ve had for a few months that I’m finally getting into, sometimes it means they are an “old gem” from the past that I forgot about or just found out about.
As some background, some charts that I always watch are:
How do I come up with the charts? A few ways:
- I start with an iTunes smart playlist that does: Rating > 2 stars; Dated Added in the last 5 weeks; sorted by rating
- I look at my last.fm charts for the last 3 months
- I think back to songs I’ve really loved (and maybe included in DJ mixes I’m working on or playlists/CDs I’ve made for people)
I don’t plan to post the tracks themselves. If you are looking to buy some of the music, I highly recommend eMusic or searching via Hype Machine.
So without further ado, in no specific order:
- Tiga – “What You Need” (Proxy remix)
- Sebastian Ingrosso – “Kidsos”
- A*Teens – “Floorfiller”
- So I’m Jo – “Everything’s Ahead”
- Housse de Racket – “Synthetiseur”
- Burns – “Heartbeats”
- The Gossip – “8th Wonder” (dAi vs. MMMatthias Remix)
- Thieves Like Us – “Your Heart Feels” (Designer Drugs Remix)
-
- G.L.O.V.E.S. – “PYX” (Strip Steve Paradise Dub)
- Bionic Boogie – “Chains” (Nitedog Anonstop Edit)
July 19th, 2009 by jason
One of the reasons I love the fact that I’ve kept this blog going for over 4 years now is that I can go back and read things I wrote before and see how my thoughts/perspective have changed.
A very recent example: I re-watched the movie A Hole In My Heart — which I still consider to be the most graphic, violent, sexual, and disturbing film I’ve ever watched. Although after I first saw it I never would’ve expected that I’d watch it again, there was something about the movie that has stuck with me all of these years. Now that I feel like I’m dealing with some of my own personal darkness, perhaps I wanted to see an example of utter darkness on film? I’m not sure.
Anyway, when I watched the movie during SIFF in 2005, I found the film to be an exploration of taboos and highly sexual behavior. Now I see the film as an examination of broken people who all seemed to have traumatic things happen to them at a young age.
I still find the film very challenging and I’m still not sure it approaches either of the meanings in a clear and meaningful way (I also found the film much more exploitative this time)… but I do find it interesting that I saw it in a such a different way this time. (And I realize that this isn’t a new idea at all — the idea that the way you see films [or anything really] changes depending on time was expressed very well in a scene in 12 Monkeys [or at least that's when I was first really exposed/grasped the idea]).
…On a more upbeat note, while watching the film this time I managed to find the name of the crazy poppy song that plays early in the film. Turns out that it’s “Floorfiller” by the A*Teens.
July 18th, 2009 by jason
It seems that if we want to move to live on other planets, the surface is probably the worst place to live. On the surface you have to deal with weather, atmosphere (or lack of), possibly solar radiation, dangerous dust (which inspired me to write this), etc.
If we’re going to plan on building colonies on the moon, Mars, etc. why not just plan to build the colonies underground? I know a lot of people probably hate the idea of living in caves, but it just seems to me to be the best way to go about things.
I know this isn’t some new revolutionary idea, but I guess for my sake now, when I try to envision living somewhere in space, I’ll picture something underground rather than some fancy tent or glass dome on the surface.
Tags: colonies, dust, moon, space
July 11th, 2009 by jason
I’ve been meaning to do a post about iPhone apps ever since I got it (… which was back in September 2008 or so…). But recently my friend Jolie and my sister both got iPhones so that’s a bit of a recent incentive.
I sort of plan on updating this as I find new apps and get recommendations. So please recommend other apps for me to add to this list!
The secret about the iPhone that you don’t really realize until you have one is that it’s almost more of a mini-computer and less of a phone. I honestly don’t talk on the phone much (though I do text message all the time), but I’m constantly using my iPhone for non-phone functions — and I’d say 90% of those non-phone functions are due to apps.
Must-Have Apps
- Facebook — This one is pretty obvious. You can update your status from anywhere, see what your friends are up to, etc.
- Remote — Control your iTunes library from your phone! I’ve used this during parties and when I have people over and stashed my laptop somewhere but still want to control the music.
- Wikiamo — The best Wikipedia interface. I probably use this app more than anything else on my phone. If I’m sitting on the couch watching the TV and want to look up something about an actor or show to whatever, I use Wikiamo to do a quick lookup.
- Shazam — Recognizes songs you hear at a restaurant, on TV, on the radio, etc. Since I’m always on the lookout for new music anywhere, this app is essential and it’s a great way to impress people. Personal highlights for me: Identifying “White Horse” by Sarah McLeod (a song that my ex-bf and I always used to hear on c89.5 [not that we really liked it, but we frequently heard it], “Feel Alive” by the Benassi Bros [another c89.5 song that samples "Layla" by Eric Clapton], “Major Tom” by Shiny Toy Guns from that Lincoln MKZ ad, “Wizball” by Beatphreak from an episode of Entourage)
- Yelp — I mainly use this app as a phonebook that stores my bookmarked places so I don’t have to store tons of delivery places in my normal phonebook. It’s also good to get a quick review, of course.
- Tweetie — I’ve tried both Twitterific and Tweetie (Tweetie is 99 cents) and much prefer Tweetie. While I don’t update my Twitter as much as I want to, Tweetie makes it easier for when I am feeling inspired.
- Flixster — The best movie times app. It lets me bookmark my favorite theatres and then quickly see what is playing where. And like any good movie times internet app, it makes sure to put the matinee showings in ( ) so I can save some money.
- Skype — Free calls if you are on a WiFi network. You need a Skype account (which is like $30/year). Unfortunately this app has been working like shit for me for the past couple months, but when it first came out it was great. I work at home a lot and this app could ideally save me tons of minutes for when I do conference calls and whatnot.
- Amazon.com — Because I’m obsessed with Amazon. I don’t do the one-click checkout shopping too often. Mostly I use the app to look things up and then add them to my wishlist for later.
- Zenbe — This is my favorite “list” app/web site. You can enter things on the site http://lists.zenbe.com/ and it synchs to your phone. This was really useful when my friend Katrina came to visit and we had a list of stuff we wanted to do and before she came up she could add things via the web site then when she got here they’d already be on my phone.
- NPR Mobile — If you want to listen to tons of NPR stuff. I haven’t used this app much, but the design and concept is really cool.
- myWireless — tracks your AT&T Wireless account. It shows your used/remaining minutes, which is very helpful.
- i.TV — The only program I’ve found that synchs up with my TiVo so I can tell it to record shows when I’m not home. It’s got tons of other features so it’s kind of bloated.
- Chase — Since Washington Mutual turned into Chase I now have an app to check in with my bank. And it does find nearby ATMs, which is cool.
- Shopper — It costs 99 cents and is supposedly a great shopping list app. I still can’t tear myself away from post-it notes for shopping lists, though. Someday I hope to finally use this app.
Seattle Apps
- SeattleBus — Yea, this app costs like $5 or $10 but for me it’s been totally worth it! While this isn’t the be-all-end-all bus app (you can’t, for example, say “get me from A to B”), it does show when buses are going to arrive at a particular bus stop. I use this at work so I don’t have to wait too long at the bus stop. It also shows when buses are running late, which is nice.
- Seattle Metro — Another bus app. I don’t like this one as much, though. But I want to support both and sometimes use this one as a backup when SeattleBus isn’t working.
- Seattle Cocktail Compass — Shows happy hours near you and how much time you have to get to them before happy hour ends. Unfortunately I don’t do happy hours too often, but the concept is cool and if nothing else you can use it to find bars.
Games
- Sol Free — The solitaire app I like. For some reason I still love playing soliatire. I’d be open to a new/better version, but haven’t found one yet. This app also includes some other versions of soliatire (Demon, Baker’s Game, etc. — I always play Klondike Deal 3)
- Scramble — Boggle — my ex’s favorite game so I sort of got into it, too.
- Tangram Pro — I used to love these when i was younger so imagine my excitement when I found an app for it. A great “brain exercise”-type game. I think there is a free version, too, with less puzzles.
Cool Stuff To Show Off With
- Seadragon — One of the only Microsoft-written apps. Seadragon is meant for touchscreen and this app shows how cool it is/what potential there is for when more PCs are touch-screen.
- Lightsaber — How cool is it to have a lightsaber?!?! It totally sounds like the Star Wars lightsabers when you move your phone around.
- Urbanspoon — This is that famous app from the commercials where you shake your phone and it shows you a random restaurant. I’ve never found it useful (it always seems to show restaurants that I for sure don’t want to go to), but still neat to play around with. If you use it for real, be prepared to veto its choices often.
- TonePad — A Tenori-On for your iPhone!!! Recently popularized (to me, at least) by the amazing video of Little Boots playing with her “new toy.”
- Zillow — Connects in with the Zillow site to see how much nearby houses/condos/etc. cost.
- Kitsuné — Hooks you into my favorite French record label: Kitsuné Music. I haven’t found much use for this since I don’t use iTunes to buy music… but still cool.
Some other iPhone tips and tricks:
- I text message way more than use the phone, so I put the Messages app in the “bottom four” so I can easily access it. I never use Safari, either, so I might move Wikiamo down there, too.
- To make my own ring tones I use the export as an AAC then rename to m4r method.
- If you use the iPhone headphones, you can click once on the speaker to pause a song, double-click to skip to the next song, and triple-click to go back to the beginning of a track.
- When synching my iPhone with my computer, I have it set up so that I select which playlists I want to copy over to the iPhone. I have one playlist called “iPhone” that has my favorite albums so I’ll always have them if I need them.
Tags: apps, iphone
Permalink![[comments]](http://thecompany.net/jason/wp-content/themes/double-reading/images/icons/comment.gif){kind=icon}
No Comments »