Monthly Archives: February 2006

Wong Kar-Wai

2046 and the Oscars

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If you aren’t aware of my obsession with the film 2046, well, do a search for “2046” on my blog and you should get an idea of how much I love this movie.

That said, I was sad (though not surprised) that 2046 wasn’t mentioned anywhere when it came time for film award season. I understand that it’s a foreign movie and that it was technically released abroad (in Asia, at least) in 2004, but still, this movie deserved something at the Academy Awards or Golden Globes. (See the awards it did win over at IMDB.)

But what is maybe more saddening to me is that I haven’t read any critics really agreeing with me, that is until I read “Pushing the envelope” by Stephanie Zacharek over at Salon.com.

She mentioned that Tony Leung, Gong Li, and Zhang Zihi all deserved recognition for their work in 2046, and I love her for saying that.

I would probably award 2046 something in every category, but that’s just me.

DJ Mixes

Destroy Rock (And Roll)

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I’ve completed my first “DJ mix” project: “Destroy Rock (And Roll).” I’ve had the idea of doing a project like this for quite a few months now, but never had the software or confidence or whatever to finish it. So for about a month I’ve been playing around with MixMeister (thanks to Johan at Pop is Now King) and finally came up with something I like.

The mix starts with Mylo’s “Destroy Rock & Roll,” which I think is appropriate since it’s like me destroying my rock and roll past (like back when I wanted to be a bass player) and moving on to electronic music. The “VH1”/“In My Arms”/“Ready 2 Wear” segment goes together since “In My Arms” uses the same sample that “VH1” does and I’ve always thought the heavier beats in the Linus Loves remix of “In My Arms” were similar to those in Benny Benassi’s remix of “Ready 2 Wear.”

I just had to include “Hung Up” in the mix, though it took me a while to decide on which remix fit best. Then it was a matter of finding a song that you would never expect to find alongside Madonna, so “Destroy Everything You Touch” felt perfect… but that turned the whole project a little darker, so I followed it with “Silent Shout” (a rather creepy song, I think) and continued the “weird” theme with Bjork’s “Who Is It,” albeit a fast and heavy remix.

I knew I wanted to include Royksopp, but it was difficult finding a good song — especially one that would flow with the very heavy ending to “Who Is It.” In the end, the Headman remix of “Only This Moment” worked best, and provided a nice segue into “Electrobix.” Again, I had a tough time finding a good Scissor Sisters song to include. I know I wanted to put them in, but none of the songs were working out. Once I figured out that I could crop out the annoying intro/outro for “Electrobix,” it fit the mix pretty well.

“DARE” was another song I felt needed to be in the mix, but was a total pain in the ass to fit in. I would’ve preferred a more interesting remix than this Soulwax one, but it worked, so oh well. I love how at the end of it the pace really picks up as it matches the beats in “Monster Hospital.” I originally had a much faster song following “DARE” which made the ending go too fast, but I loved the idea, nonetheless, and it worked for “Monster Hospital” too since the Soulwax remix of “DARE” is fairly slow.

I’m not sure whether “Avalon” is a good fit for the mix, but I love the song and wanted to toss in a Jacques lu Cont/Thin White Duke remix (in addition to his SDP aliased remix of “Hung Up”). Then for the closing, like a good bookend, I used a remix of the song that started it all and inspired the mix: “Destroy Rock & Roll.”

Obviously, the mix isn’t perfect. The second time I listened to it I noticed a bunch of “flaws” that I didn’t hear the first time (imperfect beat matching, weird sound levels during transitions, etc.). I was going to go back and tweak it, but then I figured that this was my first stab at making a mix and I’d have plenty of chances to improve, so I left the flaws intact. They are a good way to track my progress.

What comes after this? Two things: First, another remix — probably more of a downtempo one. This one is pretty upbeat and more club-like, and I’d like to do something that incorporates slower music I like. Second, a real remix remix. That is, taking a song I love, and taking it apart, changing it around, and reassembling it. This is probably more like item 50, since I’m going to need to learn a lot, but it’s fun, so what the heck.

For those who want to follow along, here is the track list broken into times:

00:00 — “Destroy Rock & Roll” (radio edit) by Mylo
02:29 — “VH1” (radio edit) by Linus Loves
06:43 — “In My Arms” (Linus Loves remix) by Mylo
09:04 — “Ready 2 Wear” (Benny Benassi remix) by Felix da Housecat
13:50 — “Hung Up” (SDP extended vocal mix) by Madonna
21:21 — “Destroy Everything You Touch” by Ladytron
25:30 — “Silent Shout” by the Knife
29:34 — “Who Is It” (Vitalic remix) by Bjork
33:02 — “Only This Moment” (Headman remix) by Royksopp
39:20 — “Electrobix” (12″ mix) by Scissor Sisters
43:20 — “DARE” (Soulwax remix) by Gorillaz
48:24 — “Monster Hospital” (MSTRKRFT remix) by Metric
53:11 — “Avalon” (Jacques lu Cont Versus remix) by Juliet
59:46 — “Destroy Rock & Roll” (Riton Re-Rub) by Mylo

[save]  Download “Destroy Rock (And Roll)” (very low-quality)

If you want a CD version of the mix, let me know and I might go ahead and send you one. I will be designing a CD cover and everything (and will update this post once that has happened).

Music

Ooh La La!

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Everyone: Go and download the iTunes song of the week: “Ooh La La” by Goldfrapp. It’s from the upcoming album Supernature (out in the U.S. on March 7). I’ve heard a few of the songs from the album, and although “Ooh La La” isn’t my favorite, when it’s for free, how could you lose?

And if you love “Ooh La La” (or it piques your interest, at least) checkout other Goldfrapp songs like “Horse Tears” and “Strict Machine” and “Twist.”

Movies, Music

Triumph Of A Heart

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Bjork in Triumph of a Heart
I must admit that ever since Homogenic, I’ve felt that Bjork has gone a bit downhill. I know a lot of people think that Vespertine was her best work, but with songs like “Bachelorette” (one of my all-time fav songs) and “Joga,” how could you go wrong?

I thought that Medulla was a step-up from Vespertine, but her later albums have just felt too cold.

Additionally, her videos have gone even more downhill. The collaborations between her and Michel Gondry (“Human Behavior,” “Army of Me,” “Isobel,” “Hyperballad,” “Joga,” and “Bachelorette”) were true works of art. Even non-Gondry videos like “I Miss You” and “All Is Full of Love” were amazing.

That said, the video for “Triumph of the Heart” from Medulla reassures me that Bjork is an amazing artist.

The video starts out with her in bed with a cat — it appears that they are in a relationship or something. They possibly have a fight or something, and Bjork takes off. She meets up with some friends down at a local bar and ends up getting rather trashed. At one point she goes into the bathroom and the various people of the bar do the strange noises that occur throughout the song. Eventually Bjork stumbles out of the bar and tries to walk home. She passes out on the street, and the cat drives up to bring her home. They make up pretty quickly and Bjork kisses the cat, which causes it to grow Bjork-size. The two of them do a dance (pictured above) and then the song ends.

I love how strange and funny the video is. I mean, most of Bjork’s videos are strange, but this one at least has some sort of “plot” and you feel like you know what’s going on.

Spike Jonze, who I am normally not a huge fan of, directed the video. Him and Bjork had previously collaborated for “It’s Oh So Quiet” (which was critically-acclaimed and all), so they make a good artistic pair, as well.

Music

Who’s Sampling Who

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I’m always interested in finding out where a song gets its samples from. I remember when I first got into electronic music I would hunt down the original songs so I could hear what changes were made and what parts were taken, etc. I specifically remember going through the linear notes to Moby’s Play and The Sneaker Pimps’ Becoming X to find the sources.

Recently on Amazon.com (of all places), I found one of the more helpful (though often annoying) user-created lists/guides: So you’d like to… find out who’s sampling who?

While it’s far from a comprehensive list, I did learn about Brandy’s “Should I Go?” which samples Coldplay’s “Clocks” and Dannii Minogue’s “Perfection” which samples Miami Sound Machine/Gloria Estefan’s “Turn The Beat Around.”

The only really good samples database I’ve been able to find is Ishkur’s Great Samples Database, but the interface is less-than-to-be-desired and it doesn’t even include all the samples listed on that Amazon page.

Music

Let’s Talk, Let’s Talk About Gold Lions

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Now that I have revealed where I download free MP3s, I figure I should highlight some more cool MP3s I’ve found lately.

First up, thanks to The Prettiest Pony (and today Big Stereo) is “Caller” by Codebreaker. I loved this track so much that I purchased their album What Is This Earth Love? this weekend from CD Baby.

Also, I have to digress and say that CD Baby is probably the cutest place I’ve ever purchased music from, ever. Look at how they write their emails:

This is just a happy automated email to let you know a real person will email you as soon as your package is sent, and you will also receive a paper receipt with your order in the mail.

and

CD Baby loves jason
Your CD has been gently taken from our CD Baby shelves with sterilized contamination-free gloves and placed onto a satin pillow.

A team of 50 employees inspected your CD and polished it to make sure it was in the best possible condition before mailing.

Our packing specialist from Japan lit a candle and a hush fell over the crowd as he put your CD into the finest gold-lined box that money can buy.

We all had a wonderful celebration afterwards and the whole party marched down the street to the post office where the entire town of Portland waved ‘Bon Voyage!’ to your package, on its way to you, in our private CD Baby jet on this day, Sunday, February 12th.

I hope you had a wonderful time shopping at CD Baby. We sure did. Your picture is on our wall as ‘Customer of the Year’. We’re all exhausted but can’t wait for you to come back to CDBABY.COM!!

How cute is that?!?!?! Seriously, it makes me want to order from them again (if for no other reason than to give the fine folks over there another party and march to the post office!!).

Next up in the downloads department are remixes of Coldplay’s song “Talk.” This song was my instant favorite when I got X&Y last summer. I love the way it samples Kraftwerk’s “Computer Love.” I read a review once that called it X&Y‘s version of “Clocks” (my favorite from Coldplay’s A Rush of Blood to the Head), which is totally accurate. Anyway, last week they released an iTunes-only Talk EP, featuring remixes by Thin White Duke, Junkie XL, and François Kevorkian. So far I’ve only picked up the Thin White Duke and Junkie XL remixes, and they are awesome.

The Thin White Duke remix definitely speeds the song up and makes it more club-friendly, but doesn’t feel as predictable as his other remixes are getting to me (now that I have somewhere around 15 or so). The Junkie XL remix is a remix for people who love the song so much they just want to hear it longer. The album version of “Talk” is 5:11 — Junkie XL expands it to 11:45. As I said, “Talk” has always been my favorite from X&Y, but these remixes have only made me love the song more. For whatever reason, the lyrics stand out more and the song has more meaning to me. I highly recommend paying the $2 and getting at least these two remixes.

Finally (and I’m saving the best for last), Salon.com’s Audiofile directed me over to Diplo’s Optimo remix of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ new single “Gold Lion.” This song totally rocks. I don’t know too much about Diplo, but that should change shortly. He’s worked a lot with M.I.A., I know, but that’s about it. And he’s remixed Beck’s “Go It Alone,” Gwen Stefani’s “Hollerback Girl,” and Kanye West’s “Golddigger.” I’ve always been impressed with remixes of Yeah Yeah Yeahs songs (iTunes has “Y Control” remixes for sale), mostly because they seem like one of those bands that is just un-remixable — so when someone does a good remix, it’s like a big accomplishment. For comparison, iTunes is also selling the album version of “Gold Lion.”

I know some of these aren’t free, but they are all worth it. And don’t forget that when you download music you like, it’s really much better to go ahead and actually purchase the music (like I did with Codebreaker) than give the RIAA reasons to go around and sue people. Especially when it goes to an independent seller like CD Baby.

Computers

Podcasts Are (Maybe?) Dead To Me

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Although I still have yet to see why podcasts are “the next big thing,” within the past few months I have regularly listened to four podcasts:

  1. The Majority Report (on Air America Radio)
  2. Pop Is Now King (PINK)
  3. The Official Lost Podcast
  4. The Transmission Enhanced Podcast (an unofficial Lost podcast)

This morning, I learned that two of the four podcasts I listen to are either ceasing to exist or charging for content.

The Majority Report (and other Air America podcasts, I assume) are now requiring a premium subscription in order to listen to the show. This one really discourages me. I’ve started listening to The Majority Report on my iPod before the whole podcasting craze happened. A day or so after an episode aired, I downloaded the entire mp3 (for free) from a website, the imported it into my iTunes library. The Majority Report was great to listen to at the gym — it was entertaining, kept me up on politics, and kept my mind from wandering too much while doing my workout. Alas — no more. I typically only listen to the first 45 minutes of the show, and I can hardly justify paying for just that.

On a sadder note, Jen and Ryan over at The Transmission, which I fell in love with after I started watching Lost, decided that they were going to give up the whole podcasting thing due to personal reasons. I totally understand where they are coming from, but it’s still too bad.

Although that does leave two podcasts left (if PINK were to go away [which I do sometimes worry about since I don’t think the guy pays to license the music], I would be totally devastated, since it’s inspired me to start doing my own DJ mixes), I wonder if this is a sign of things to come? Podcasts take a lot of time and resources, and would predict that the smaller, DIY podcasters are going to fade away while the larger podcasts start requiring a subscription. As iTunes and various other websites have proven, users are starting to warm up to the idea of paying for content on the Internet, and I bet podcasts will go the same way.

Seattle

PI Article on Seattle Transportation

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The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has a pretty thorough article on “alternative” (i.e. not just one-passenger cars) transportation in the Seattle area: “A drive toward fewer cars.”

I wouldn’t say that the article has anything terribly profound, but it was an interesting read, nonetheless, especially for someone like me who uses only non-car methods of transportation.

Highlights:

The Pike-Pine neighborhood also is interested in turning one of its side streets into what is known as a “living street,” similar to Pike Place, where there are no curbs, and cars and people mingle in the street. The city has resisted the idea, Levinger says.

… personally, I would love this. The Pike/Pine neighborhood (where I live) is very up-and-coming (I once heard someone refer to “Pike as the new Melrose” [or something ridiculous like that]).

Since then, the news has only gotten worse, says Victor Obeso, who is in charge of service planning for Metro [bus transit]. The recession kicked in and projections for added service hours are even lower. Instead of the 165,000 additional service hours projected for the six-year period, Metro now projects 99,000 hours — about a half a percent per year growth. And Seattle is entitled to only 20 percent of that increase.

… this is a drag. I love the busses and it’s unfortunate that they can’t get all the funding/growth needed. Damn that Tim Eyman! (“Metro’s budget was clobbered by Tim Eyman’s Initiative 695, a $30 car-tab initiative passed by voters in 1999.”)

Music

Destroy Rock & Roll

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Mylos Destroy Rock & Roll
In October 2005, I was searching for remixes of songs by Annie and came across the Mylo remix of “Chewing Gum” (despite the fact I was really looking for remixes of “Heartbeat”). I was so impressed with Mylo, however, I ended up doing some searches for his stuff on LimeWire and was pleasantly surprised.

(For the record — I ended up buying the “Heartbeat” single which included the Mylo remix of “Chewing Gum,” so I now own it legitimately. It’s a great single, and includes remixes by Röyksopp, Alan Braxe, the Phones, and others. But this post is about Mylo, not Annie, so I’ll continue…)

The first song I managed to get was the Tom Neville remix of Mylo’s “Destroy Rock & Roll.” I was totally blown away, and ended up getting the original version and the Headman dub version, as well. Then I found a Mylo remix of the Killers’ “Somebody Told Me.” Again, I thought to myself, “This Mylo guy rocks!”

Next I stumbled upon the Felix Da Housecat remix of “Drop the Pressure” and followed that with the Rex the Dog remix of the same song.

At that point, I figured enough was enough, and I needed to own some Mylo. Unfortunately, the album where all of these songs were taken from, Destroy Rock & Roll, hadn’t yet been released in the U.S. So Instead, I could only stock up on the singles: “Destroy Rock & Roll,” “Drop the Pressure,” “In My Arms,” and “Muscle Cars.” In addition to the remixes I mentioned above, I also got remixes by artists like Linus Loves (a new recent favorite thanks to The Prettiest Pony), Tiga, and Riton, Sander Kleinenberg, and Justus Köhncke (!!!), among others.

The good news is that Mylo’s full-length album Destroy Rock & Roll finally comes out in the U.S. today. I’m still not sure whether it will include bonus/extra tracks (when an album is released overseas far in advance before it arrives in the U.S., it typically includes bonus tracks so that people will buy it again or wait until it comes out), but I’m still planning on getting it tomorrow after work.

The intro to “Destroy Rock & Roll” is great. It’s a speech or something that sounds like it comes from the Tydings Committee:

All perversions of the third eye through distorted and exaggerated images, perverted movements of the body and breakdancing,
and other forms of dancing, and we especially call for the judgment in this hour and the destroying of rock music directed specifically against children through the videos that were portrayed, and working specifically through these individuals, for whom we call for the judgment of the sacred fire of this hour, before the throne of almighty god

Then the speaker goes on to list a bunch of rock and roll bands that are “evil”:

Michael Jackson, Prince, Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner, David Bowie, Van Halen, Madonna, Huey Lewis & The News, The Cars, Herbie Hancock, Bonnie Tyler, Stevie Nicks, Men At Work, ZZ Top, Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson, Weird Al Yankovic, Cyndi Lauper, Pink Floyd, The Pretenders, Billy Joel, Billy Idol, Elton John, Neil Young, Sheena Easton, Patty Smith & Scandal, Fashion, Big Country, Morris Day & The Sign, John Lennon, REO Speed Wagon, David Gilhorn, The Rolling Stones, Pat Benatar, Hall & Oats,
Wham, Randy Jackson, Adam Ant, Bananarama, Christine Lavin, Queen, U2, Spheres, Fleetwood Mac, The Alan Parsons Project,
Bruce Springfield, The Thompson Twins, Missing Persons, Duran Duran, Breathe, Eurhythmics, Culture Club including Boy George, Band Aid, Relax …

I just love the who’s who of rock/pop bands that goes on and on until the song gets stuck in a loop of “Missing Persons, Duran Duran” for a while.

Despite the fact I haven’t listened to it, I think it’s safe to say that Destroy Rock & Roll is going to be a great album, and I’ll recommend it prematurely. If nothing else, checkout the remixes of Mylo’s songs and the remixes of other songs that Mylo has done (I’m still trying to get my hands on his remixes of Kylie Minogue’s “I Believe In You” and Scissor Sisters’ “Mary”).