Friday, December 07, 2007
Friday Critter Nonrandom Fourteen
by Tom Bozzo
2. Air Miami, Dolphin Expressway, Me Me Me
3. Julee Cruise, The Nightingale, Twin Peaks soundtrack
4. The Bats, Drive Me Some Boars, Silverbeet
5. Big Dipper, Loch Ness Monster, Heavens (plus 'Boo Boo' EP)
6. A Certain Ratio, The Fox, The Old & The New
7. The Clean, Slug Song, Compilation
8. Colourbox, Hot Doggie, Lonely Is An Eyesore
9. Damon & Naomi, Laika, More Sad Hits
10. Heavenly, And The Birds Aren't Singing, Le Jardin de Heavenly
11. The Higsons, I Don't Wanna Live With Monkeys, Attack of the Cannibal Zombie Businessmen
12. The Field Mice, Sensitive, Snowball + Singles
13. The Family Cat (w/ PJ Harvey), River of Diamonds, Furthest From The Sun
14. The Jazz Butcher, Love Kittens, Cake City
Dedicated to Milo — have fun chasing mice on the farm, old beast!
(Disclaimer: Actual feline computer skills middling at best.)
...and here's the LOLCat version; thanks to Dean for the caption.
moar funny pictures
1. A.R. Kane, Sperm Whale Trip Over, Sixty-Nine
2. Air Miami, Dolphin Expressway, Me Me Me
3. Julee Cruise, The Nightingale, Twin Peaks soundtrack
4. The Bats, Drive Me Some Boars, Silverbeet
5. Big Dipper, Loch Ness Monster, Heavens (plus 'Boo Boo' EP)
6. A Certain Ratio, The Fox, The Old & The New
7. The Clean, Slug Song, Compilation
8. Colourbox, Hot Doggie, Lonely Is An Eyesore
9. Damon & Naomi, Laika, More Sad Hits
10. Heavenly, And The Birds Aren't Singing, Le Jardin de Heavenly
11. The Higsons, I Don't Wanna Live With Monkeys, Attack of the Cannibal Zombie Businessmen
12. The Field Mice, Sensitive, Snowball + Singles
13. The Family Cat (w/ PJ Harvey), River of Diamonds, Furthest From The Sun
14. The Jazz Butcher, Love Kittens, Cake City
Dedicated to Milo — have fun chasing mice on the farm, old beast!
(Disclaimer: Actual feline computer skills middling at best.)
...and here's the LOLCat version; thanks to Dean for the caption.
moar funny pictures
Labels: just life, Random Ten
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Saturday Random Ten
by Tom Bozzo
(Above: Reproduction of 1982 show flyer, from letterpress ephemera included in Bruce Licher's Independent Projects, 1989.)
1. Wire, Mr. Suit, Pink Flag
2. Heidi Berry, Firefly, Creation Purple Compilation
3. Sebadoh, Rebound, Bakesale
4. Manifesto, Pattern 26, Manifesto
5. Savage Republic, The Ivory Coast, Tragic Figures
6. Biff Bang Pow!, She Shivers Inside, The Girl Who Runs The Beat Hotel / Pass The Paintbrush, Honey
7. Eric Matthews, Fanfare (Reprise), It's Heavy In Here
8. Robyn Hitchcock, Brenda's Iron Sledge, Black Snake Dîamond Röle
9. The Lightning Seeds, Pure, Cloudcuckooland
10. The Pooh Sticks, Radio Ready, Formula One Generation
It's a tough week for the U.S. iTMS and eMusic, as rights-related difficulties or something puts the Esoterica Index at a solid 0.6. "Pure" was a top-20 single in the UK, and can be had from the UK iTMS, along with "Mr. Suit" on a collection of '77-'79 Wire classics. Remarkably, "Pure" is not included in a Lightning Seeds "collection" on iTMS Canada. This is where economists would tend to say, "stupid lawyers [and/or agents]," since making these items available in the U.S. would be all but gravy for someone given that they've already been processed for sale in the UK; Apple, no doubt, also has the technology to remit proceeds from U.S. sales to UK rights-holders. A legal download of a good Biff Bang Pow! greatest hits set is available for £7.99 direct from Rev-Ola Records, but it doesn't include the above track and I don't count stuff you actually have to go searching the open intertubes for.
(Above: Reproduction of 1982 show flyer, from letterpress ephemera included in Bruce Licher's Independent Projects, 1989.)
1. Wire, Mr. Suit, Pink Flag
2. Heidi Berry, Firefly, Creation Purple Compilation
3. Sebadoh, Rebound, Bakesale
4. Manifesto, Pattern 26, Manifesto
5. Savage Republic, The Ivory Coast, Tragic Figures
6. Biff Bang Pow!, She Shivers Inside, The Girl Who Runs The Beat Hotel / Pass The Paintbrush, Honey
7. Eric Matthews, Fanfare (Reprise), It's Heavy In Here
8. Robyn Hitchcock, Brenda's Iron Sledge, Black Snake Dîamond Röle
9. The Lightning Seeds, Pure, Cloudcuckooland
10. The Pooh Sticks, Radio Ready, Formula One Generation
It's a tough week for the U.S. iTMS and eMusic, as rights-related difficulties or something puts the Esoterica Index at a solid 0.6. "Pure" was a top-20 single in the UK, and can be had from the UK iTMS, along with "Mr. Suit" on a collection of '77-'79 Wire classics. Remarkably, "Pure" is not included in a Lightning Seeds "collection" on iTMS Canada. This is where economists would tend to say, "stupid lawyers [and/or agents]," since making these items available in the U.S. would be all but gravy for someone given that they've already been processed for sale in the UK; Apple, no doubt, also has the technology to remit proceeds from U.S. sales to UK rights-holders. A legal download of a good Biff Bang Pow! greatest hits set is available for £7.99 direct from Rev-Ola Records, but it doesn't include the above track and I don't count stuff you actually have to go searching the open intertubes for.
Labels: Intellectual Property, Music, Random Ten
Friday, October 26, 2007
"She doesn't think so, but she's dressed for the H-bomb"
by Tom Bozzo
1. The Fall, Cruisers Creek, This Nation's Saving Grace (iTMS, eMusic)
2. The Jazz Butcher, Looking For Lot 49, Fishcotheque
3. Wire, Too Late, Chairs Missing
4. Naked Raygun, Home of the Brave, All Rise (iTMS, eMusic)
5. Gang of Four, I Found That Essence Rare, Entertainment! (iTMS)
6. Modern English, After the Snow, After the Snow (iTMS, eMusic)
7. Love and Rockets, All in My Mind, Express (iTMS, eMusic)
8. Matthew Sweet, Girlfriend, Girlfriend (iTMS)
9. The Family Cat, Goldenbook, Magic Happens
10. Blur, There's No Other Way, Leisure (iTMS)
11. Echo & the Bunnymen, Never Stop, Porcupine (iTMS)
12. Mojave 3, Ghost Ship Waiting, Puzzles Like You (iTMS, eMusic)
While the LDSEI [*] for the list is a low 0.25 for my mellow (early?) middle age, it's interesting that two of the three tracks in that quarter were major label releases. EMI released Wire's first three albums in the UK, and the Family Cat album was released on Arista in the U.S. If I can d/l the Higsons' "Attack of the Cannibal Zombie Businessmen," I can only assume there's some rights nightmare going on.
[*] Legal Download Service Esoterica Index.
The week's excitement has put me in the unusual positions of not only driving my car but schlepping Julia around in it. Opportunity to indoctrinate child to avoid "High School Musical" noted! The current playlist...
1. The Fall, Cruisers Creek, This Nation's Saving Grace (iTMS, eMusic)
2. The Jazz Butcher, Looking For Lot 49, Fishcotheque
3. Wire, Too Late, Chairs Missing
4. Naked Raygun, Home of the Brave, All Rise (iTMS, eMusic)
5. Gang of Four, I Found That Essence Rare, Entertainment! (iTMS)
6. Modern English, After the Snow, After the Snow (iTMS, eMusic)
7. Love and Rockets, All in My Mind, Express (iTMS, eMusic)
8. Matthew Sweet, Girlfriend, Girlfriend (iTMS)
9. The Family Cat, Goldenbook, Magic Happens
10. Blur, There's No Other Way, Leisure (iTMS)
11. Echo & the Bunnymen, Never Stop, Porcupine (iTMS)
12. Mojave 3, Ghost Ship Waiting, Puzzles Like You (iTMS, eMusic)
While the LDSEI [*] for the list is a low 0.25 for my mellow (early?) middle age, it's interesting that two of the three tracks in that quarter were major label releases. EMI released Wire's first three albums in the UK, and the Family Cat album was released on Arista in the U.S. If I can d/l the Higsons' "Attack of the Cannibal Zombie Businessmen," I can only assume there's some rights nightmare going on.
[*] Legal Download Service Esoterica Index.
Labels: just life, Random Ten
Friday, July 27, 2007
Friday Nonrandom 43
by Tom Bozzo
The first-ranked track is available as a free-as-in-beer MP3 download from the good folks at Teen Beat Records. What it means that on winter drives to work (*), I have some weird Japan/Roxy Music/Duran Duran thing going on, is left as an exercise for the reader.
For the whole library, the distribution of plays-vs-rank (**) doesn't quite follow a single-exponent power law, but there is a long tail:
(*) During the biking season, the iPod gets much less operating time. While it's easy to see the telltale white wires on campus-area cyclists — not to mention cellphone-talking, latte-drinking, etc. — my preference is to hear the bus before it hits me.
(**) Was I a little bored today? Why yes, I was, thanks for asking!
My iTunes library contains 3,423 songs, of which 1,828 have been played at least once. Of those, only these 43 have seen 10 (or more) spins on the computer or the 'Pod:
The first-ranked track is available as a free-as-in-beer MP3 download from the good folks at Teen Beat Records. What it means that on winter drives to work (*), I have some weird Japan/Roxy Music/Duran Duran thing going on, is left as an exercise for the reader.
For the whole library, the distribution of plays-vs-rank (**) doesn't quite follow a single-exponent power law, but there is a long tail:
(*) During the biking season, the iPod gets much less operating time. While it's easy to see the telltale white wires on campus-area cyclists — not to mention cellphone-talking, latte-drinking, etc. — my preference is to hear the bus before it hits me.
(**) Was I a little bored today? Why yes, I was, thanks for asking!
Labels: Music, Random Ten
Friday, May 18, 2007
Friday Nonrandom But Totally Downloadable Ten
by Tom Bozzo
1. Benny Profane, Skateboard to Oblivion, Trapdoor Swing
We heart the LTM label, which specializes in "definitive editions of classic post-punk catalogue," not least the Not New Order end of the Factory Records catalogue.
2. Edwyn Collins, Don't Shilly Shally (Demo), "Expressly"/"A Girl Like You" E.P.
3. The March Violets, Walk Into The Sun, Botanic Verses
If you take a bit of light commercial goth (à la The Cult, The Sisters Of Mercy) as an occasional guilty pleasure, this is a useful addition to your collection. Plus, it has saxophone! Fun if not important fact: my brother and I named our mid-eighties "sister" cats Siouxsie and Cleo.
4. Quando Quango, Tingle, Pigs and Battleships
This second-tier Factory Records band has a two-sax attack, plus the funky bass typical of second-tier Factory bands in the early eighties. Another LTM goodie.
5. The Cassandra Complex, Defcon 1, Theomania
European technopunks got (and maybe still get) lots of mileage out of American apocalyptic tendencies — nuclear weapons deployment, theocracy, survivalism, and combinations and/or mutations thereof. This late-Reagan-era item may have the breeziest chorus of "we're going to die" you'll hear. For a counterpoint, try Tortoise's "Millions Now Living Will Never Die."
6. Naked Raygun, Suspect Device, Jettison
This live Stiff Little Fingers cover nicely captures Naked Raygun's big Chicagoland post-hardcore sound. Old punk themes ("Don't believe them — don't be bitten twice") are also strangely topical now.
7. Blow Up, Own World Waiting, In Watermelon Sugar
8. The Soft Boys, Underwater Moonlight, Underwater Moonlight
I highly recommend Rhino's "Children of Nuggets" collection for a solid review of mostly eighties neo-psychedelia, but their programming of the Boys' "Wading Through A Ventilator" disrupts the flow of Disc 1. They should have included this.
9. Pop Will Eat Itself, Like An Angel, The Subway Organization 1986-1989
10. Scrawl, Gutterball, Plus, Also, Too
A while back, a little bird told me (in effect) that I could dramatically reduce my vinyl digitizing problem with the DRM-free eMusic service. A number of these are available via iTMS, too.
1. Benny Profane, Skateboard to Oblivion, Trapdoor Swing
We heart the LTM label, which specializes in "definitive editions of classic post-punk catalogue," not least the Not New Order end of the Factory Records catalogue.
2. Edwyn Collins, Don't Shilly Shally (Demo), "Expressly"/"A Girl Like You" E.P.
3. The March Violets, Walk Into The Sun, Botanic Verses
If you take a bit of light commercial goth (à la The Cult, The Sisters Of Mercy) as an occasional guilty pleasure, this is a useful addition to your collection. Plus, it has saxophone! Fun if not important fact: my brother and I named our mid-eighties "sister" cats Siouxsie and Cleo.
4. Quando Quango, Tingle, Pigs and Battleships
This second-tier Factory Records band has a two-sax attack, plus the funky bass typical of second-tier Factory bands in the early eighties. Another LTM goodie.
5. The Cassandra Complex, Defcon 1, Theomania
European technopunks got (and maybe still get) lots of mileage out of American apocalyptic tendencies — nuclear weapons deployment, theocracy, survivalism, and combinations and/or mutations thereof. This late-Reagan-era item may have the breeziest chorus of "we're going to die" you'll hear. For a counterpoint, try Tortoise's "Millions Now Living Will Never Die."
6. Naked Raygun, Suspect Device, Jettison
This live Stiff Little Fingers cover nicely captures Naked Raygun's big Chicagoland post-hardcore sound. Old punk themes ("Don't believe them — don't be bitten twice") are also strangely topical now.
7. Blow Up, Own World Waiting, In Watermelon Sugar
8. The Soft Boys, Underwater Moonlight, Underwater Moonlight
I highly recommend Rhino's "Children of Nuggets" collection for a solid review of mostly eighties neo-psychedelia, but their programming of the Boys' "Wading Through A Ventilator" disrupts the flow of Disc 1. They should have included this.
9. Pop Will Eat Itself, Like An Angel, The Subway Organization 1986-1989
10. Scrawl, Gutterball, Plus, Also, Too
Labels: Random Ten
