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are you baffled by the mysteries of mad scrambled electro-funk cooking? ease in with this pleasant how-to.
used to be that "indie" meant unsigned artists, or artists signed to small independent labels without access to a big-time PR apparatus. you could have indie hip-hop, indie metal, indie country, if you could find it. now years later, "indie" means "indie rock" and evokes floppy haired kids banging on guitars and staring at their Chucks - what happened? it's "alternative" all over again, with an even deeper pigeonholing.
even worse, bands make it big and retain their indie label: indie rock bands playing corporate tours, making expensive videos, and getting prime distribution. you can't blame the labels and distributors entirely, as fans hungering to "break out of the mainstream" will enjoy easy radio, television, and Wal-Mart access to their "indie" music, and continue to label it as so. a lot of niche scenes and cultures have been raided by the "mainstream machine", but this time around it seems like the fans are much more complicit in getting their anti-establishment fix from the majors.
you can't be indie if...
- you're signed to Sony.
- you've upgraded from a band van to a tour bus.
- you appear live on Total Request Live, or anything involving Mountain Dew.
- you're on a compilation sold at the Gap, Old Navy, or Banana Republic.
...?
- emilio
even worse, bands make it big and retain their indie label: indie rock bands playing corporate tours, making expensive videos, and getting prime distribution. you can't blame the labels and distributors entirely, as fans hungering to "break out of the mainstream" will enjoy easy radio, television, and Wal-Mart access to their "indie" music, and continue to label it as so. a lot of niche scenes and cultures have been raided by the "mainstream machine", but this time around it seems like the fans are much more complicit in getting their anti-establishment fix from the majors.
you can't be indie if...
- you're signed to Sony.
- you've upgraded from a band van to a tour bus.
- you appear live on Total Request Live, or anything involving Mountain Dew.
- you're on a compilation sold at the Gap, Old Navy, or Banana Republic.
...?
- emilio
so, the Warriors won last night, eliminating the Dallas Mavericks 111-86 in the first round of the playoffs. i'll spare you the fan rant, except that WOW, THEY FUCKING BURIED THE MAVS.
it was, as Marv Albert said "destruction" and "the biggest upset in NBA playoff history." Marv Albert has been calling basketball games for a long time.
so, you might not be in to basketball; even if you're from the Bay, you might be wondering what all the hoopla is about. hell, they didn't even win the championship, or the finals; this was just the first round! i've never played much by way of organized sports, though i enjoy being a sports spectator and occasionally catch televised games of preferred sports. i couldn't name the court positions for basketball players.
so, again, what's the big deal? it boils down to the victory of the underdog, with a sprinkle of drama. if you're curious, and maybe want to be a sports poseur, the keep going.
love the underdog:
= the #8 playoff seed beat the #1 seed, only the 3rd time in the history of the league.
= they had a very poor start to the season, turned it around, and barely made the playoffs for the last spot, #8.
= Dallas had an incredible season, 67 wins, which is something like tied for 3rd best of all time. they have several relatively big-name players that can be organized in to a very dominating force.
= the Warriors have been a mediocre team for many years - not terrible, but not terribly good. they had a slight reputation as a "farm team," where players would get experience and then move on to other teams to shine.
= the Warriors made late trades, as late as January, to get players that have meshed with the team and become key players very quickly.
= the Warriors' key player, Baron Davis, mildly pulled a hamstring in the first quarter and went on to play most of the rest of the game with 20 points by adapting his game style.
= they beat the Mavericks with superior motivation, teamwork, and coaching, and managed to throw in some fucking wicked slam dunks, alley-oops, one-legged side-hopping three-point shots, etc.
= they did all this in front of a sold out home crowd at the Oakland Colosseum.
love the drama:
= there were games with tension, ejected players, fines, players flying in to the stands, half-court baskets, and other action.
= the Dallas coach, Avery Johnson, played for the Warriors under their current coach, Don Nelson, and was certainly out-coached by his former boss.
= Don Nelson coached Dallas a couple of years ago.
= Don Nelson's son is the general manager of the Dallas team.
= Don Nelson is suing the Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban for around $7 million in a contract dispute.
so now you, too, can join in on Golden State Warrior fever! if you live in the Oakland, the greater Bay Area, Northern California, California, the West coast, etc. you can even spout factoids and gloat with local pride. heck, even hot celebs are grabbing ringside seats for playoff games in Oakland! yeah!
- emilio
it was, as Marv Albert said "destruction" and "the biggest upset in NBA playoff history." Marv Albert has been calling basketball games for a long time.
so, you might not be in to basketball; even if you're from the Bay, you might be wondering what all the hoopla is about. hell, they didn't even win the championship, or the finals; this was just the first round! i've never played much by way of organized sports, though i enjoy being a sports spectator and occasionally catch televised games of preferred sports. i couldn't name the court positions for basketball players.
so, again, what's the big deal? it boils down to the victory of the underdog, with a sprinkle of drama. if you're curious, and maybe want to be a sports poseur, the keep going.
love the underdog:
= the #8 playoff seed beat the #1 seed, only the 3rd time in the history of the league.
= they had a very poor start to the season, turned it around, and barely made the playoffs for the last spot, #8.
= Dallas had an incredible season, 67 wins, which is something like tied for 3rd best of all time. they have several relatively big-name players that can be organized in to a very dominating force.
= the Warriors have been a mediocre team for many years - not terrible, but not terribly good. they had a slight reputation as a "farm team," where players would get experience and then move on to other teams to shine.
= the Warriors made late trades, as late as January, to get players that have meshed with the team and become key players very quickly.
= the Warriors' key player, Baron Davis, mildly pulled a hamstring in the first quarter and went on to play most of the rest of the game with 20 points by adapting his game style.
= they beat the Mavericks with superior motivation, teamwork, and coaching, and managed to throw in some fucking wicked slam dunks, alley-oops, one-legged side-hopping three-point shots, etc.
= they did all this in front of a sold out home crowd at the Oakland Colosseum.
love the drama:
= there were games with tension, ejected players, fines, players flying in to the stands, half-court baskets, and other action.
= the Dallas coach, Avery Johnson, played for the Warriors under their current coach, Don Nelson, and was certainly out-coached by his former boss.
= Don Nelson coached Dallas a couple of years ago.
= Don Nelson's son is the general manager of the Dallas team.
= Don Nelson is suing the Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban for around $7 million in a contract dispute.
so now you, too, can join in on Golden State Warrior fever! if you live in the Oakland, the greater Bay Area, Northern California, California, the West coast, etc. you can even spout factoids and gloat with local pride. heck, even hot celebs are grabbing ringside seats for playoff games in Oakland! yeah!
- emilio
i dropped a couple episodes of The Venture Bros. over the projector during lunch today, for the sake of the folks who haven't seen it (purely altruistic, of course). without spouting off too much in to fanboy land, it's a fucking good cartoon, much better than the cursory [adult swim] page makes it seem. (you can wiki it up, of course, but don't read too far.)
it's probably one of the best-produced cartoons that the Cartoon Network has ever backed. regardless of wether you like the characters, plot, etc., the quality of the visual design, vocal talent, and music is seriously top notch. artists work on this show (yes, even the Arin definition).
part of the show's instant draw is its score, almost a true score that's present in nearly every scene. if comic books came with speakers, they would sound like J.G. Thirlwell's Venture Bros. music - the score pretty much sounds like that picture up there looks. the aesthetic can range from light, campy, Mancini-esque 60's lounge pop to dark, simple, pulsating loops to gristly action industrial, like Lalo Schifrin played through a meat grinder. the industrial part might not be surprising; i hadn't a clue who J.G. Thirlwell was, and when i asked the ol' web it told me some stuff about 80's industrial and odd projects with odd people like Lydia Lunch and Nick Cave.
on from the 80's industrial work, over the last decade-and-a-half Thirlwell - usually known as some variation of "Foetus" - has been making some moody, rich instrumental cinematic music under the handles Manorexia and the above-mentioned Steroid Maximus. as Jim Foetus, he's ranged from sneering, oddly smart industrial to wild... cinedance? (can i say that?) Manorexia leans towards a seamless score with many ambient scenes, the kind of shit i'd play for a haunted house or stark Scandinavian horror-thriller. Steroid Maximus is more manic and, well, i wrote about the album "Ectopia" before:
ok, ok, you might label it "experimental" - and heaven knows i kinda did. Steroid Maximus and Manorexia helped compel a new genre in my music library, "Cinematic/Experimental". (a new genre is not to be taken lightly, by the way. sure, "experimental" is a bit of a cop-out, but at least i never go so far as to use bullshit like "world" or "indie" to describe a genre.)
so he's got a range of sounds, with this undercurrent of having a very intentional mood to communicate, but without too much transparency. it's almost always enjoyably unique, and so immersive and spatial that it feels more thrilling or scary than many movies, which just compounds the fun of The Venture Bros. if you're on board, or at least feeling adventurous, there are tracks and videos on his site, and especially for you Netflixers, both seasons of The Venture Bros. are available on DVD.
- emilio
Thirlwell's site, foetus.org for tracks, CDs, the usual
definitely check out some music videos. i suggest the second on the top row, where he performs the Manorexia pieces "Ice On The Equator" and "Zithromax Jitters" with a small orchestra, and the unexpectedly rockin' and danceable "Time Marches On" (at the bottom center).
J.G. Thirlwell in Wikipedia
it's probably one of the best-produced cartoons that the Cartoon Network has ever backed. regardless of wether you like the characters, plot, etc., the quality of the visual design, vocal talent, and music is seriously top notch. artists work on this show (yes, even the Arin definition).
part of the show's instant draw is its score, almost a true score that's present in nearly every scene. if comic books came with speakers, they would sound like J.G. Thirlwell's Venture Bros. music - the score pretty much sounds like that picture up there looks. the aesthetic can range from light, campy, Mancini-esque 60's lounge pop to dark, simple, pulsating loops to gristly action industrial, like Lalo Schifrin played through a meat grinder. the industrial part might not be surprising; i hadn't a clue who J.G. Thirlwell was, and when i asked the ol' web it told me some stuff about 80's industrial and odd projects with odd people like Lydia Lunch and Nick Cave.
on from the 80's industrial work, over the last decade-and-a-half Thirlwell - usually known as some variation of "Foetus" - has been making some moody, rich instrumental cinematic music under the handles Manorexia and the above-mentioned Steroid Maximus. as Jim Foetus, he's ranged from sneering, oddly smart industrial to wild... cinedance? (can i say that?) Manorexia leans towards a seamless score with many ambient scenes, the kind of shit i'd play for a haunted house or stark Scandinavian horror-thriller. Steroid Maximus is more manic and, well, i wrote about the album "Ectopia" before:
quote: some time ago...(Ectopia, incidentally, has a number of tracks later used for early episodes of The Venture Bros. the theme to the show is also a rework of the song "Fighteous" from the album "Quilombo".)Steroid Maximus's Ectopia is the soundtrack to a film you've never seen, a film that probably kicks unholy ass with manic car chases and two-fisted handgun leadfests. the first time i listened to this album i was suddenly struck with the heart-pounding desire to drive a flaming hellwagon of a muscle car off of a gasoline-covered pier while emptying a machine pistol through the ninja-covered roof. it's that good.
ok, ok, you might label it "experimental" - and heaven knows i kinda did. Steroid Maximus and Manorexia helped compel a new genre in my music library, "Cinematic/Experimental". (a new genre is not to be taken lightly, by the way. sure, "experimental" is a bit of a cop-out, but at least i never go so far as to use bullshit like "world" or "indie" to describe a genre.)
so he's got a range of sounds, with this undercurrent of having a very intentional mood to communicate, but without too much transparency. it's almost always enjoyably unique, and so immersive and spatial that it feels more thrilling or scary than many movies, which just compounds the fun of The Venture Bros. if you're on board, or at least feeling adventurous, there are tracks and videos on his site, and especially for you Netflixers, both seasons of The Venture Bros. are available on DVD.
- emilio
Thirlwell's site, foetus.org for tracks, CDs, the usual
definitely check out some music videos. i suggest the second on the top row, where he performs the Manorexia pieces "Ice On The Equator" and "Zithromax Jitters" with a small orchestra, and the unexpectedly rockin' and danceable "Time Marches On" (at the bottom center).
J.G. Thirlwell in Wikipedia
priscilla posted the infamous 70's "Apache" video... and i just can't let bad videos lie. i love them. i collect them. i love to subject people to them.
yeah, just reeks of a "round up some dancers and head to the Hollywood hills" one-day video shoot. one whole day might even be generous.
it's apparently from a late 60's variety show targeting Southern California. for those of you that don't know, there's some bizzare, occasional tendency for Star Trek actors to release solo singing albums: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Brent Spiner... maybe even DeForest Kelley.
if you're feeling especially masochistic today, check out the longer version in black & white, with the intro and outro.
- emilio
yeah, just reeks of a "round up some dancers and head to the Hollywood hills" one-day video shoot. one whole day might even be generous.
it's apparently from a late 60's variety show targeting Southern California. for those of you that don't know, there's some bizzare, occasional tendency for Star Trek actors to release solo singing albums: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Brent Spiner... maybe even DeForest Kelley.
if you're feeling especially masochistic today, check out the longer version in black & white, with the intro and outro.
- emilio