| another year approaching |
[Nov. 29th, 2005|09:47 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  happy | ] |
Lots of anniversaries this season. Just got back from the Big Bear area after thanksgiving with Kary and family, before which we spent the night in Laguna Beach! It was a fantastic long weekend. And this weekend is my birthday! |
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| we won! |
[Nov. 1st, 2005|11:29 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | happy | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Hakan Lidbo - Yellow Fingers | ] |
saturday went to a friend's party, we made our own costumes and did our own make up, and we won! actually we shared the win with a guy who showed up in only a 3-inch square g-string. Here's a good pic of our faces. |
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| recent iTMS purchases |
[Oct. 27th, 2005|01:04 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | thankful | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Landau - Steppen | ] |
i've been getting into using itunes music store, because it's REALLY easy and quick for me to buy albums/songs while i'm working. and they have a surprising amount of experimentally minded music... here's a list of what i've gotten recently from itms:
Landau - Thepicompromise
Savvas Ysatis - Highrise
Arovane - Lilies
Tomas Jirku - Just You and Me
Shpongle - Nothing Lasts... but Nothing is Lost
Hakan Lidbo - several EPs on Poker Flat
Bill Frisell - East / West
Safety Scissors - Fridgelife EP
Akufen - Mary Jane Kelley EP
Metamatics - Mind Mushing Git
Black Dice - Creature Comforts
Animal Collective - Prospect Hummer EP
Deru - Trying to Remember
Audiobulb Records - Intricate Maximals compilation
Audiobulb Records - Switches compilation
Senor Coconut - Fiesta Songs
Tosca - J.A.C.
Mossa - Slavery When Wet EP
Funkstorung - The Return to the Acid Planet
Ricardo Villalobos - Alcachofa
Jake Mandell - The Placekick EP
Mille Plateaux - Clicks & Cuts 3 compilation |
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| why i hate record labels |
[Oct. 27th, 2005|12:03 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  annoyed | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Gray Code - Rivets | ] |
i try to remain generally optimistic and un-jaded, but fuck it this is live journal, so haters can go to hell. i seem to have this chip on my shoulder about record labels, and i'm having a hard time removing it. they seem to be in this constant state of annoyance with me. i know it's related to the fact that no record label has ever expressed more than a passing interest in any of my work, but it's also connected to rampant nepotism and sheer mass of music being produced these days.
I am of the opinion that the recorded object has significantly affected the development of music, in both good and bad ways.
Some good ways:
1. Exposure to artists and music we would never be able to hear (disparate cultures, aboriginal, folk, etc).
2. Education about music itself, used as an example.
3. The ability to greatly diversify musical tastes and influences.
4. Accellerated expansion of musical ideas and theories cross pollenated between minds about ideas of what music can be.
Some bad ways:
1. The overabundance of music written 'by example'.
2. The dangers of imitation, both to the original artist and the imitator.
3. The idea that recordings cost money to make, which means only those who can afford it have their music available as a recording, which means those who write and learn strictly 'by example' are not necessarily following the footsteps of a great artist, only someone who has managed to get a recording to your ear.
4. The idea that recordings are somehow 'correct', and music created that doesn't have the same qualities of the recording is 'incorrect'.
now these points can probably be applied to recordings as well as the industry itself, and in many more ways than might seem immediately apparent. at the end of the day, however, a business is a business, and unless you're sinking all of your own money into it, you want shit that sells.
not the way to escort the development of music into the future, but maybe if we just ignore it they'll all go away. |
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| times a changin |
[Oct. 19th, 2005|10:59 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | amused | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Funckarma - Emplinx | ] |
wow. my boss just got laid off. this is actually a Good Thing.
i won't be laid off, i'm too involved and know too much, i know this. aol definitely plans to keep the engineers here.
there's a new craquecast too, a stream of a lot of downtempo tracks i've done over the past 5 years or so. |
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| flippin flop flooty |
[Oct. 10th, 2005|03:32 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  enthralled | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | The Bionaut - Student Bashing At The Seaside | ] |
had a great time DJ'ing for 3-4 hours this weekend at a friend's 30th bday party. played probably one of my most eclectic sets, including all kinds of cool dancey tunes as well as groovin remixes of some pop and simiar things mixed in. i even got kudos (and a request to play more) for playing Medeski Martin & Wood! and cheers for shpongle... now THAT's a party. |
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| wow, new music! |
[Oct. 6th, 2005|03:46 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | accomplished | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Senor Coconut & His Orchestra - Smooth Operator | ] |
So this is the first track I've done in a long time, ever since being swallowed by all the AOL migration bullshit.
It's called Applesauce
I also finally put another DJ mix up on CraqueCast. |
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| cute coffee curl |
[Oct. 4th, 2005|09:15 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  artistic | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | John Zorn - Sex Magick | ] |
i've started a last.fm page... pretty cool place to gather stats on what you listen to, and what others listen to - i love places like these that give you great avenues into discovering new music. |
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| weekend medicine |
[Oct. 3rd, 2005|11:56 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  energetic | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Aphex Twin - Funny Little Man | ] |
well i had a really great weekend spending time record shopping in long beach with my wife, doing a lot of music making and spinning records, and generally giving my liver a good workout.
feeling stress levels subsiding to normal balance... |
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| Commuting sucks my sexy white ass |
[Sep. 29th, 2005|06:33 pm] |
I now officially hate my commute.
As a result of the Xdrive purchase by AOL, we have been moved to a new office 20 odd blocks further into Santa Monica. May not sound like a lot, but it has expanded my commute time by at least 30 minutes.
This morning my train+bus ride took over 3 hours; on my way home now I'll be right around 3. Last night it took over 2 to drive home.
There is a good chance in a month or two I can work out of the AOL office in Irvine. That won't come soon enough, I hope I can hang. Just this first week of travelling to the new office has severely run me down and dragged my motivation into the ground. |
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| FOOD IS THE BEST |
[Sep. 15th, 2005|01:03 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | eating | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Plaid - New Bass Hippo | ] |
My wife and her friend made homemade vegetarian enchilladas last night that rocked the block at Lincoln! Topped it off with lemon merengue pie from Polly's, and MAN was it good.
But I also want to say how perfect the tastes of feta cheese and spaghetti go together, cause that's what I'm lunching on.
Useless post useless post yum yum chick peas! |
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| new shoes! |
[Sep. 13th, 2005|08:35 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | walkin strong | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Boom Bip - Morning and a Day | ] |
i have not one but TWO brand new pairs of doc martens. i am cushiony.
i'm too sexy for these shoes |
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| flowy hemp |
[Aug. 17th, 2005|01:36 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | nalf hude | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Craque - Minreal | ] |
i am wearing these awesome hemp pants that are really light and breathe well but don't make me feel gusty like i'm not wearing any clothes but i seriously feel like i'm not wearing pants they are so goddamn comfy. |
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| long islands |
[Aug. 16th, 2005|08:29 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | a little hung over | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Andreas Tilliander - Hastjobb | ] |
in my head
ringing like last night
whooooo tuaca!
(drinking more water) |
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| A Thursday Listening Journal |
[Aug. 11th, 2005|07:30 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | Attentive | ] |
Stop whatever you're doing right now and listen... what do you hear? How far can you hear, and how high? Could you write a score that would describe how to perform this sonic experience? |
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| First pix posted |
[Aug. 11th, 2005|07:01 am] |
Since we didn't have an official photographer for the wedding, we asked folks to bring their digitals and take as many pictures as possible.
The first weddingview is but the tip of the iceberg, believe me.
As you can see I got a .mac account and so far am digging its features, especially Sync. |
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| (no subject) |
[Aug. 11th, 2005|06:38 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | Softly Baked Breakfast | ] |
I'm really enjoying the new Shpongle, which is a step up (and in the right direction, IMO) from the second one. Much less of a "poppy" feel, more daring with sounds and structure, while still rich with world rhythms and voices. Another striking difference is the average track length, this being more a closely connected series of sprawling stylistic portraits than larger monolithic chunks, a technique which worked well in the first but is a bit incongruously worn in the second. The Hallucinogen in Dub release was more an interim Shpongle for me, a marvelous precursor to this excellent excution by Posford, who continues to walk the bleeding edge of world beat psychedelia. Bravo!
Now arriving... Commerce Station... |
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| AOL'd |
[Aug. 5th, 2005|02:07 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  jubilant | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Triosk - Goodnight | ] |
You know that joke about AOL CDs being great coasters? At our employee orientation, guess what we got: official AOL coasters. And they're real coasters, not CDs. We also got a pen that won't close and a laptop bag for laptops... well, I doubt that anyone is getting new laptops.
In case you have seen the news (more news) and international attention, AOL bought the company I work for, Xdrive, last week.
There are a lot of good things that come out of this, namely some cash and a raise, but I'm also disheartened that our office move to 4th street in Santa Monica will add a half hour to my already 2.5hr commute (metrolink and the big blue piece of crap). Hopefully the driving commute won't be as bad, but it will still add some time. I need to tune up the rapevan! |
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| Podcasting has come to a site near you... |
[Jul. 18th, 2005|03:13 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | happy as a clam | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Live at OOTS, Fullerton, CA - Sep 18, 2004 | ] |
So I've finally put up the first installment of the CraqueCast. Plug http://craque.net/craque.xml into your favorite podcast client (ipodder or itunes) and have a listen to a live show I did in 2004 at an OOTS gallery opening in Fullerton, CA.
This particular show was about an hour of improvisation, sampling and looping objects into layers of sound and texture. There's one studio track that I throw in there, but otherwise it's completely free improv. For about an hour on either side of this section of music I spun records ranging through downtempo and ambient varieties of electronic music. |
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