- 03:34 more like trapped in the karaoke closet,amirite? the groping! wat? #
- 04:16 seriously, whenever boner lost sight of math, he'd have a mini-panic attack. he kept trying to one-up me all night in front of math. What??? #
- 13:32 @dayoldwasabi is it? I have no idea! It was the most confusing evening EVER, and I shall blog about it presently - too long for twits. #
- 13:33 is experiencing the craziest thunderstorm he's ever experienced in Japan. #
- 19:26 has to get up early on Monday even though it's a day off work :< #
- 21:29 @dayoldwasabi Yeah, Boner is only around until end of month. I still have no idea wtf his problem was. Dunno how i'd make life hell for him. #
- 21:29 chilling at home, wishing there was something to entertaining him #
- 23:01 is off to bed so he can make it to his appointment in the morning. #
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Yesterday was sports day! I took too many pictures. Realized I had taken 650 by 10am, and was going to run out of space on my card. Did some in-camera purging of shittily composed and focused pics so I'd have enough, and then was more selective. In the end, I took about 840 pics, kept 430, and uploaded 88 to flickr. Here are the ones I decided were worth sharing with you~.
Then came 騎馬戦, or the cavalry battle game where boys (and only boys, because cavalry battles are men's work) are held aloft by four of their friends who carry them into glorious bandana battle.
Afterwards, when all the clean up was done and all the kids had gone home, it was time for the after-party. This led to the events of my previous post, the most bizarre evening of my life. -_-
)Here are a few non-indie rock album reviews for you. One of the nicest thing about W♥M is that we don't necessary serve a niche music genre, so we're often sent a huge variety of music genre. Below are some genre of music that I don't normally listen to - but all equally enjoyable: oldies, reggae, death metal, and Christian.
By the way, someone should do an article called "putting the pot in potpourri" and have a series of, er, grassy music.
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OPM
opmden.com ♥ myspace.com
California's OPM's Golden State of Mind was released in August, and features a diverse collaborations with Jim Perkins (acoustic folk), Pato Banton (reggae), Big B (rap/hip hop) and Jamie Allensworth (soul/funk). This album is mostly chill reggae, but with a small splash of rap - mostly through collaboration with Big B & Dirtball. This is also radio-reggae, so if you're looking for reggae dubs, you might want to look elsewhere - however fans of reggae should really enjoy the mix of rock, rap, reggae (and even punk!). This band first exploded on the reggae scene with their major label (Atlantic) debut 2000 album, Menace To Sobriety, mostly due to their popular skater song, "Heaven Is a Halfpipe". They left Atlantic and have been with Suburban Noize Records since 2004. The one clear song that I think is such a good song is "Family & Friends". There are two mixes on this album, the Saber mix seems to stress certain music riffs/beats, but the original mix I thought was just fine - if not better as is. I think mostly because you can hear the vocals more clearly on the original mix. It looks like they've been touring all summer long, and continuing:
15 Sep 2008 CROSSROADS Fresno, California 16 Sep 2008 FAT CAT Modesto, California 17 Sep 2008 FISHLIPS BAR AND GRILL Bakersfield, California 18 Sep 2008 JILLIANS Las Vegas, Nevada 20 Sep 2008 THE ROCK Tucson, Arizona 22 Sep 2008 HAILEY’S Denton, Texas 23 Sep 2008 EMO’S Austin, Texas 24 Sep 2008 THE ROCK BOTTOM San Antonio, Texas 26 Sep 2008 MERCY LOUNGE Nashville, Tennessee 27 Sep 2008 THE FIVE SPOT Atlanta, Georgia 28 Sep 2008 THE PARISH ROOM@ HOB New Orleans, Louisiana 29 Sep 2008 MARKET STREET PUB Gainesville, Florida 1 Oct 2008 JANNUS LANDING St. Petersburg, Florida 2 Oct 2008 CULTURE ROOM Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 3 Oct 2008 THE SOCIAL (TWO NIGHTS!) Orlando, Florida 4 Oct 2008 THE SOCIAL (TWO NIGHTS!) Orlando, Florida 5 Oct 2008 FREEBIRD’S Jacksonville, Florida 7 Oct 2008 THE MUSIC FARM Charleston, South Carolina 8 Oct 2008 THE NORVA Norfolk, Virginia 9 Oct 2008 RECHER THEATER Towson, Maryland 10 Oct 2008 JC DOBBS Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 11 Oct 2008 HARPER’S FERRY Allston, Massachusetts 12 Oct 2008 WEBSTER UNDERGROUND Hartford, Connecticut 13 Oct 2008 HIGHLINE BALLROOM New York City, New York 15 Oct 2008 MOD CLUB Toronto, Ontario 16 Oct 2008 THE SHELTER (downstairs St. Andrews) Detroit, Michigan 17 Oct 2008 THE BASEMENT Columbus, Ohio 18 Oct 2008 REGGIE’S ROCK CLUB Chicago, Illinois 19 Oct 2008 PEABODY’S Cleveland, Ohio 21 Oct 2008 THE ANNEX Madison, Wisconsin 23 Oct 2008 STATION 4 Saint Paul, Minnesota 24 Oct 2008 RECORD BAR Kansas City, Missouri 25 Oct 2008 GOTHIC THEATER Denver, Colorado 26 Oct 2008 THE BELLY UP Aspen, Colorado 27 Oct 2008 AVALON THEATER Salt Lake City, Utah 28 Oct 2008 THE BIG EASY Boise, Idaho 29 Oct 2008 HAWTHORNE THEATER Portland, Oregon 30 Oct 2008 MEDIA CLUB Vancouver, British Columbia 1 Nov 2008 EL CORAZON Seattle, Washington 5 Nov 2008 THE HOUSE OF BLUES West Hollywood, California 6 Nov 2008 THE HOUSE OF BLUES San Diego, California 7 Nov 2008 THE PHOENIX THEATER Petaluma, California 8 Nov 2008 SENATOR THEATER Chico, California 9 Nov 2008 SLO VETS HALL San Lius Obispo, California PS, I never found out what OPM stands for. Is it for "Other People's Money"? |
STEPHANIE
iamstephanie.net ♥ myspace.com
You probably
don't know this, but I often get interested potential writers with
interesting proposals for music angles. One of them included someone
who wanted to write about Christian music, so I requested some of this
genre of music from our PR people. When it came to actually producing
reviews, that person was never heard from again. I haven't gotten a Christian album in a while, but this one recently turned up: the self-titled album by the artist simply known as "Stephanie". Surely she must know that she's not the only musician called Stephanie? I had a heck of a hard time looking up her myspace/website. With the exception of the live recording of "Wake up Arise", all of these songs are studio-recorded and mixed. It sounds very clear and professional - including the live song. The closest "rock" song is the ironically named "Back to the Rock", featuring pianos and Céline Dion-style singing and wooing. I did enjoy her songs when it had more than a few instrument arrangement, like "The Rain", "Through Christ" (electric guitar!), and "Back to the Rock", as they seem to bring more of a full-music experience for me - at least for this album. I can understand the route to keep it simple (either with just pianos or acoustic guitar), because I felt they were trying to spotlight Stephanie's vocals. If you like vocals and minimal music, songs to check out are "Now I Know", "Bless Those Beside Me", and "Take Away". The overall feel of this album is that it's Christian pop music, at times inspirational. If you enjoy other Christian pop acts like Amy Grant, this should fit right in. After a few listen, you forget that it's even Christian, despite the obvious religious overtones. If you're in the Texas area and just generally like pop music, you should check her out:
14 Sep 2008 Word of Love Church Hurst, Texas |
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THE PONSONBY DC'S
myspace.com/ponsonbydcs
This band doesn't have anything to do with death, sans for their gloomy "Death Doom and Destruction". This song is actually pretty good, sampling some speech from George Bush. This band have been around since 1984 (WTF!) and currently based out of Canterbury, New Zealand, according to their myspace. By 1986, this band was in top form with their self-titled album featured in Spin Magazine and all over the college radio airwaves. Their sixth and latest album is called That's What All The Girls Say, released this year. Just look at their cover art, featuring what looks like a "serious" Cubism style - yet showing a pop-art style of a boat captain to the right. Maybe I'm over analyzing it, but this has a very serious and a not-so-serious tone to it. This also reflects in their songs, some songs have modern social commentaries to them, like the "Death" song mentioned above to "Pluto's Not A Planet Anymore". Other songs ("Son of a Street Fighting Man", "Girls!") are just fun. Other trends I notice from this band is that they have a late 50s "oldies but goodies" feel to them. Check out "Little Baby You're Mine" and "Ponsonby Waltz", both are well worth a look if you love classic oldies songs - done by a modern band. PS, Gavin Buxton's NZ accent definitely shows up on "Just Another Kick" and "Son of a Street Fighting Man". I love it! |
NETHERBIRD
netherbird.com ♥ myspace.com
Since we already mentioned the life-inspiration songs of Stephanie, I thought it would be fun to balance it with a little bit of the Dark Side. Usually I reserve this sort of music for Dr Soup, as this is a death (read: Satan) metal band from Sweden. I was actually pretty impressed with the production on The Bone Collector, it doesn't sound too "cookie monster" but it's clear that their inspiration lies in death metal. Even though I think some of their songs sounds like operatic metal (especially on "Carcess Symphony"). I thought "Forever Mournful" was the stand-out track on this album - and I'll tell you why. You have Nephente's demonic/agonizing vocals (I'm not even sure what he's saying!!) with a counterpoint of a sweet, angelic voice (no idea who's singing as the promo copy I have doesn't have any liner notes). The song lends itself to an epic feel as its theme seem to flow right into "Adrift Towards Eternity" (with its sweet violins and thunderstorm soundclip). Speaking of epic, check out "Boulevard Black" - the very first song that Netherbird recorded. This is a fourteen minute, utilizing lots of guitar, bird sounds (crows?), pianos, and includes a semi-cheesy voice over that seems to sound like an old 80s horror movie. Even the reprise song have a feel of Phantom of the Opera with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre! The most surprising thing I found out is that Target.com is carrying their CD. Wow, right? Apparently there is a standard release and a collector's edition - as usual, I always suggest getting the deluxe version if you can swing it. |
Links:
www.weheartmusic.com
news.weheartmusic.com
wp.weheartmusic.com
podcast.weheartmusic.com
- 11:17 is at sports day. already taken 650 pics D: #
- 14:23 caught under a tent in a thunderstorm at sports day:( #
- 15:48 hiding in the staffroom to organize pictures while people clean up from sports day. I was in the way, they said! #
- 22:32 is at karaoke with hot math teacher,boner-sensei,young music teacher,and ambiguous-sensei. #
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)
Ok I'm just going to start off by saying this sort of noisy, ambient, sample ridden cluster fuck of sound is so up my alley it's actually IN my alley. And to quote a famous new wave band, I just can't get enough. Remote Control Frequencies latest album Tempus is about 45 minutes of some of the coolest stuff I've heard in a while. It's all fuzzy guitar, echoplex madness, swirling drones, manic organs and vocals that are just buried under all that sound. Throw in a healthy serving of what sound like samples from late night infomercials and you've got yourself one hell of a party. I would really be hard pressed to narrow this down to one genre so I'll go ahead and describe this best as ambient post shoe gaze hip-hop.
Remote Control Frequencies is a two man wrecking crew of awesomeness consisting of R-Rock handling the vocals, keyboards, guitar, bass, noise, digital signal treatments and other effects with long time collaborator LG handling the drums. there are a few guest appearances on the album by Player 1, PJ Sumroc, and Sharkula. Despite all the sonic madness there is still an underlying pop sensibility here that is very keen. The hushed vocals do a great job of not overpowering the true artistry of the music, and overall R-Rock and LG have done a splendid job of taking elements from a diverse selection of genres and creating an pastiche of musical styles. I would definitely suggest this album for fans of psychedelic music and pretty much everyone with an open mind about music.
You can find out more about Remote Control Frequencies by visiting their myspace page at www.myspace.com/rcf (although they claim to have lost the password so it might not be updated), or by going to their label's web site at www.tslos.com, and as always be sure to stay tuned to W♥M for the latest in independent music. Next week I'll be dusting off the old phonograph to bring you a few gems from my vinyl collection. Yay records!
Stay classy internettes,Appples
Links:
myspace.com/rcf
My new favorite blog:
Check the goodness 'cause it's full of it.
- 08:30 @bain2 needs more civet cat coffee D: #
- 08:31 gets told to "do a game or two" with the first graders. This means the teacher is too fucking lazy to bother coming to class. #
- 09:41 slipped in a puddle of water on the way to class, banged up my hip and knee. WTG dangerous little shits not mopping up your spills. #
- 10:41 @dayoldwasabi i did that last year, but instead of study, i worked out the orbital mechanics for a fictional planetary system. math funtime! #
- 10:43 wonders why the 3rd grade teachers are writing in hieroglyphs on the whiteboard. There's a seated figure, water, reeds, horned viper... wat? #
- 11:40 @dayoldwasabi hahaha excellent #
- 18:37 is waiting for his laundry to finish drying. Godfuck,i hate laundry! #
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Tour Dates
09/10/08 Boston Music Festival - Ned Devine’s Boston, Massachusetts
Discography
09/20/08 Atlantis Music Festival @ Smith’s Olde Bar (Atlanta Room) Atlanta, Georgia 10/02/08 Spike Hill Brooklyn, New York 10/05/08 Rockwood Music Hall NYC
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 Set List ♥ Arcadia, Minneapolis (09/04/08) |
The Acadia sits across the 400 Bar, but you wouldn't know it was called the Acadia as the signage reads "RIVERSIDE". I've seen this place from the outside through its numerous large windows and looking in at the band on stage.
I don't know how often these "Diverse Emerging Music Organization" (DEMO) shows goes on, but they seem to operate on donations and benefits local artists. I caught the last few songs of Backstories, a full band and all nicely dressed. I don't really know the band's back stories (haha), I'll bet they get that a lot. They have some songs available for download on their myspace.
Eli Ratner said it was his first time playing (I thought he meant his first gig ever), but I guess he meant at the Acadia. He seems really comfortable on stage with his acoustic guitar. It would seem, according to his myspace, that he's normally a duo with Peter VonDeLinde.
It's clear that the real star is Leerone, who earlier in the day appeared in St Paul's Station 4. The report I got was that her keyboard "got messed up" and she ended up renting a full Yamaha keyboard.
Her set was understandably short, lasting no more than 45 minutes, and included a "made up" a cappella song that's not written on the set list.
Highlight of the show seems to be the announcer calling her "Leeroni" and "Leerona".
PS, more details later, including pictures and art.