We're less than 3 months away from the biggest blogger get together since high school was in session. What blogging luminaries will be in New York for the Blogger Social? Mark Goren put together a video compilation answering that very question.You've got until February 15 to register. Do it here. Do it now. Can't wait, guys...
This week we've got LA by way of Seattle band, the Moonrats, led by Nathan Thelen, the former guitarist for Pretty Girls Make Graves. The band sounds somewhat how you'd expect, a very Seattle-y, tightly-crafted emo-ish, poppy-ish, grungy-ish fun band to listen to. I know, I know, lot's of ishes, but that's how it goes, I guess.
From their management's website:
"Featuring vocal performances by all three members, this early document reveals a multi-layered sonic depth that, for all its murky haze, reveals a vastness and breadth of vision emerging over a horizon much broader than what most bands will see in a lifetime. In this light it becomes clear that unlike many of their peers who sound like they’ve been spending every waking hour shopping for tight pants and grooming their ironic hipster moustaches, Moon Rats have been staying up late crafting music with substance."
How's that for a bout of puffery? Good stuff, though.
Moonrats - FLM (mp3)
Moonrats - Sweet Thing (mp3)
Well, friggin' great. Super. Way to steal my tagline FX. I stole that fair and square, thus it should be mine and mine alone. Since FX is stealing my taglines, I have decided to strike along with the rest of the writers. From now on, I will only be writing for reality programming. That is all. (And thanks to Fred for the find)
Somewhere around February, I smell a new little crunchy indie-pop revival coming. It'll be sort of like the whole Strokes/Vines/Franz Ferdinand thing, but better, and led by NY's Vampire Weekend.
From PreFix:
Current New York City darlings Vampire Weekend are indeed worthy of note. Their starched collar, Paul Simon on safari routine is a sip of cool lemonade in the city'''s muggy ''"serious indie''" air. But why does the initial pace of this song make me deathly afraid of a blog-fueled ska revival? Probably because these guys are so smooth. I could see Ezra Koenig'''s Britt Daniel croon and infectious ''"Hey!''" shouting paving the way for a horrific relapse into wallet chains and dangerous elbow dances if this skanking impulse is left unchecked. You know people would fall for it.
Vampire Weekend are too consistently likable for this to be more than a passing concern. A cool organ breeze and a shifting drum beat save the day, prohibiting too much snark from being slung at their New York Times featured, digitally distributed exclusively by Other Music, Columbia University, golden boy asses. So a little snark, but the class warfare anti-Strokes kind that has very little to do with the music itself.
Vampire Weekend - Walcott (mp3)
Vampire Weekend - Mansard Roof (video)
Ah, the store re-branding. Now that's a sign of trouble if I've ever seen one. This store, formerly known as Blockbuster Video, is about a mile from my house. Driving by a couple days ago, I noticed the video had switched to Media, and the gold was gone in favor of gray. I'm not sure if this is a company or a franchise store, but I can solve the riddle for them pretty quick. Not gonna move your business.
Listen, I get that the blockbuster brand has become somewhat stale and some updates are needed, but the problems run much deeper than a logo, trust me. Since there wasn't anything online (past a reference to the store change on Wikipedia), I called the store to ask them about what media means. The exceptionally polite employee just said, "it just means we have more high end stuff." Like what? Ummm....yeah. I'm not sure how video gets high-end (or more high end than netflix or best buy). I guess it's time to take a trip by the store.
The lesson here, solve the tough problems first, not the easy ones. It's easy to change your logo, not so easy to fix your dying distribution model.
Mack has more on blockbuster.
There's a ton of talk about differences in the new "digital native" or the growing "digital divide," and the serious consequences that these may have from both a social and economic standpoint. And of course I agree, these monetary gaps leave certain segments of the world under-prepared and falling further behind. But as we're working towards closing these glaring gaps, it should be said that this is a state of normalcy for us. There always has been and always will be a gap between not just poor and rich, but old and new, and the old adapting to new as our renaissance of new technology continues.
But keep in mind that our digital natives of today will look like our parents checking email tomorrow when we gear up into interfaces or non-interfaces like those in Jeff Han's video. The digital divide will exist and will always exist because technology is simply moving faster than our culture is capable of keeping up with. And as it's a question of physiology more than adaptivity, the younger generations will continue to lapse the older at a faster and faster rate.
No conclusions on this one, but it should make all of us question what we're doing now and how we're preparing ourselves to be technologically inept. Because we all will be some day. I guess it's just like most things in that an understanding that there is a short coming is about 75% of the battle.
So when you watch this video, consider that this will probably be closer to the future interaction our babies will have with computers, and no doubt their incessantly text messaging older siblings will still have a tough time getting past the age of the double click.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPp9pEn62no&rel=1]
Merry Christmas, folks!
Like their predecessors, french fries, french toast, the eiffel tower, long cigarettes and the twisted mustache, we've got another reason to love france. Hey Hey My My, the Paris duo with an obvious affinity for Neil Young lyrics, is a totally infectious pop gem in the same folksy vain as Liam Finn. It's one of those bands that took about 30 seconds of listening before I punched the 'buy now' button.
From Other Music:
At times Hey Hey My My remind us of a band like Doves, with acoustic guitars bolstered by simple, powerful rhythm tracks that are so subtly assembled it's tough to tell what is live and what is looped, resulting in laidback, groove-oriented folk-rock that also draws on American indie influences.
Hey Hey My My - Merryland (mp3)
Hey Hey My My - I Need Some Time (video)
Okay thanks for all that friends stuff on the reader. Greatness. I love it. Matt Dickman is an awesome sharer. Plus you added the drag and drop feature. Now, take that, and put it in Gmail. Tagging and archiving is a ridiculous pain in the ass compared to Outlook. Fix please.
And thanks for the flip video...
Your Friend,
Paul
