Yeasayer - Ambling Alp Video

Amazing song. Pretty cool video. Via Pitchfork. Looking forward to the new album!!

Experimental Animation: Fischinger, Whitney Brothers, Brothers Quay, David Lynch and more...

Oskar Fischinger

Ray Harryhausen

Jason and the Argonauts - Skeleton Battle

New Yeasayer - Ambling Alp

I've really enjoyed Yeasayer since I discovered their first album All Hours Cymbals. I've mentioned singer Chris Keating before on this blog. He is quickly becoming one of my favorite vocalists - especially after Yeasayer's newest single Ambling Alp. You can download the track for free from Yeasayer's Website. The song that really did it for me is Tightrope, on the excellent Dark Was the Night compilation. It allowed me to access the soulfulness that pervades all of their music. I was at first listen attracted the glistening beets and chanting, but it goes much farther than that. Ambling Alp has the unmistakably Yeasayer sound, full of driving jungle/industrial beat, layered under Keating's warbling calls. The chorus, though sentimental and poppy is heartfelt and genuine. Throw in a crazy bridge or two and BAM you've got something great. Hands down, I loves me some Yeasayer.

Grade: 3.6 of 4.0

Early Cinema

Lumiere Brothers - Samples 1895

Masters in Early Animation

Emile Cohl (1857 - 1938)

Fantasmagorie - 1908

Winsor McCay (1867-1934)

Little Nemo - 1910

Washed Out - Interesting new music from South Carolina.

I've been watching this new musician Washed Out or Ernest Greene, since he began appearing on Pitchfork this summer. I was particularly hooked on his song Belong, which you can listen to here.

He's also got a great very minimal photo blog full of nostalgic summery images like the one above..

I'm so intrigued. An artist to watch.

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Time Lapse of the fires near LA.

You could see these huge plumes rising from Echo park... quite true to LA's post-apocalyptic nature, it was quite dramatic. I had a thought to film these slow-moving formations and speeding up the footage. Someone else thought of it and actually did it. I don't know what the Grizzly Bear song is about (though I love that song), but the video is amazing...

Time Lapse Test: Station Fire from Eric Spiegelman on Vimeo.

80,000 year old bling...

Turns out North-Africans of eons ago were adorning themselves with shells - 80,000 years ago. That is so amazingly old, I just had to post...




http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090827101204.htm

PS - I love this science blog...

Los Angeles National Forest on Fire - Smoke hangs in the LA air.

I woke up to the distinct smell of smoke. The whole city is siting around the campfire, and the campfire is the mountains. Its hanging in the air, visible to the naked eye.

LATimes

Crews are continuing today to battle a 600-acre wildfire in the Angeles National Forest that is being fanned by bone-dry conditions and high temperatures and filling the skies above the L.A. Basin with thick, gray smoke.

LA is so post-apoco...

New Massive Attack - Splitting the Atom

82%

Its a welcome return for a renovated Massive Attack...

A spooky graveyard song, whispery narration...haunted synths.........spooky clap.........smooth hook...............rabble of ghostly boys....

Play it here

Great puppet video - Dan Deacon: Paddling Ghost.

This makes me want to make puppet videos.

Video Premiere: Dan Deacon: "Paddling Ghost"

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Atlas Sound + Panda Bear - Walkabout

87%

I know this song has been floating about for a while this summer. Walkabout, from Atlas Sound's upcoming album Logo, is totally my August Jam. Its got that perfect combination of nostalgic beach boy with robot from outer space to make a perfect summer song. Dreamy and warm but distant and vast. "To go ahead and change your life, without regard for what is said" is a lovely summer sentiment, waiting for the next stages in life and fantasizing about an optimistic sojourn to something different - something mysterious. Adventure awaits, in your mind, while you wait for the 2nd great depression to end...

Check out the Deer Hunter/Atlas Sound Blog... Its got tons of free music and interesting mixes!

Addeboy vs. Cliff - Beep My Beep

A pretty great song, with a pretty great style that reminds me of music videos from the 80s and 90s, but super slick HD. And who doesn't want their Beep Beeped? This song has one of those dance beats that sounds a little too much to believe, but is undeniably butt-shaking. It has a mentality true to its video's characters, a redbull-raver horny teenager. Ahh, too bad I was playing D&D instead of making out in a bathroom with a strobe light. I give this song 77%. Pretty bump'n.

Addeboy vs Cliff - Beep My Beep from Hannes Lindgren on Vimeo.

Empire of the Sun - Eclipse Broadcast

This $#!+ is Dope!

RIP Michael!

Michael Jackson was a really special human being.

I forgot I love this song.

RIP

Simian Mobile Disco - Audacity of Huge (ft Chris Keating)

This song is HOT! I love Chris Keating's voice (of Yeasayer) and he sounds awesome in something so downright danceable. Any song that mentions Mama Cass, Damien Hirst, and PM Dawn is cool in my book. The video is pretty great as well.

Amorphophallus Titanum

I went to see the "Corpse Flower" that bloomed at the Huntington Botanical Gardens near S. Pasadena CA outside of LA. This is that infamous plant you've heard of that smells like a corpse (though I think there may be more than one type). Its other defining feature is its large phallic shape. I'm talking like 6 feet of plant phallus. Whoa.

More amazing is the infrequency of this potent plant eroticism. These plants don't bloom for up to 80 years!!! The blooms only live a couple days, so this was truly a rare opportunity. This plant bloomed in 1999, which was reportedly the first bloom in CA. It bloomed again in 2002, and now in 2009.

There was quite a line in the conservatory, so my pictures are from above which distorts the scale. Trust me that sucker is big! But I was disappointed that there was very little rotting corpse smell. Damn!

I also wandered around the Desert Gardens and Japanese Garden, which was lovely. There are so many great things to do near LA!

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Blue for blue sky!

Patrick Wolf - Damaris

I haven't had the opportunity to listen to The Bachelor, Patrick Wolf's follow-up to the exuberant The Magic Position. However, I have had the pleasure to to listen to one amazing track, Damaris. This song is beyond melodramatic, but something about the way Wolf does it, makes it work. Its at the same time sincere and camp. In my mind I see an epic story, with Patrick in all his regalia, and its great, and it moves me.

The orchestral arrangements of this song are really what make it stand out. They are supremely cinematic but at the same time catchy and almost fun. Wolf sings of a lover lost, while he waits by his grave. The song crescendos with a choral voodoo chant - rise up, rise up, rise up... Magic at its best.

Howard Dean Tells it Like It Is about the Obama DOMA Brief

I've always liked Dean, and Rachel. Thank god they've got our backs, unlike Obama apparently. I understand the argument that Gay issues need to be put on the back burner before we get through this crucial healthcare battle, but to outright diss the gay community is beyond the pale. I'm not sure what Obama was thinking, and unfortunately there's political capital to be paid. I think its a safe bet to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell. Its not a popular policy. Our Military needs everyone they can get, especially all the specialists and linguists they've fired. And it is discrimination! Its time for it to go!

AmericaBlog has been doing amazing reporting on this story!

While You Were Sleeping - Elvis Perkins

Elvis Perkins' song While You Were Sleeping has been haunting my psyche for weeks, though it came out in 2007. It is the soundtrack to new relationships in my life, and blast-from-my-past characters visiting LA. While I don't care for the video, the song is amazing. Its changes in scope, loops and progressions are pure ear-joy. Lyrically, who could ask more from a song than mentions of mermaids, witches, vampires mixed with night-time domesticity...

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Street Composites

Amazing Street photography by Peter Funch. This was pointed out to me by my brilliant student Greg Ruben. See the rest here

I'm a terrible blogger

I have been doing pretty poorly at updating my bloggy here. I apologize to all you non-existent readers out there. Its a busy world, and I'm easily distracted...

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Can't hear this one, but its a nice color!

Bjork - Nattura (switch remix)

Amazing remix of Bjork's noisy collaboration Nattura, an activist song for the environment of Iceland. You can download the song here. And you can get more info about Nattura the project here.

Photography - Koreatown at Night

I love this image, taken in December with my crappy iPhone camera.

Vermont REALLY Embraces Equality: First Legislature to do so

Wow, two states in one week! Vermont's legislature passed a full gay marriage bill, which was vetoed by their governor. This morning they voted to override the veto, making Vermont the first state to allow gay marriage thanks to its elected law-writing body.

Here's a link to a local paper.

Fundies will explode because this contradicts their "activists judges" meme. They'll have to come up with something else I guess!

Now if only CA would follow suit like it should have done years ago!!

Moribund Newspapers

Does anyone else think the LATimes sucks lately? Yes, actually... Stu Kreisman at Huffpo does, and LA Observed gets into the action as well.

While I'll admit that I read the paper itself very infrequently, I do consume a lot of news online. The LATimes website is also in a bad way, and its free for god's sake. I tried to make an effort to read it over NYTimes, but its just getting thinner and thinner.

Years ago, when the death of the newspaper industry started, I thought they were getting what they deserved for being so "out dated". After facing nearly a decade of bad news, corrupt government and now financial ruin, we need newspapers to be as strong and vibrant as ever. Bloggers cannot be expect to have the resources or time to do real investigative journalism. Not to mention that MANY people don't have computers, or read blogs.

Being from Seattle, I'm thankful that the Seattle Times still lives, but how long will it be before we have a major city in the US without a print paper? This is an increasingly scary thought.

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A nice happy blue!

Photo

Iowa Embraces Equality

The supreme court of Iowa ruled in favor of giving full and equal marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples today. From the state that brought us Obama's momentous run in the Democratic primary. A great analysis of the decision is here.

List of people who's head is likely to explode: Tony Perkins, James Dobson, powerful mormons, Rush, The Men at the Concerned Women for America, Fox News and most of all Peter LaBarbera.

Update: Iowa Rep Peter King thinks Iowa is going to become a gay marriage mecca, whatever that means. These jerks never seem to realize that gays are living their lives all around them ALREADY! Their failure to realize this can be attributed to their bigotry, or ignorance, or both. HT Pam's House Blend

Music Review: Grizzly Bear - Vekatimest

Score: 90 out of 100

To say that I have had high expectations for Grizzly Bear’s follow up to the hauntingly successful Yellow House, is an understatement. I became a convert to Grizzly Bear when I saw them perform, co-headlining with the Los Angeles Phil at Walt Disney Hall in 2008 (yeah, I was officially uncool until then). That night I couldn’t peal my eyes from their performance. They were a captivating construction of folksy choral arrangements and washes of experimental sounds and loops. Compelling at worst and absolutely moving at best. They revealed a few songs from their new LP Vekatimest. Some songs took a shape similar to songs like He Hit Me and the mix of Little Brother found on the Friend EP, with bursts of guitar, and plaintive lyrics.

Now hearing the new album,Vekatimest retains the haunted atmosphere that defined their breakthrough album, but in a much more controlled way. The sound is more transparent, and its psychology seems less clouded. Where the landscape is obscured in Yellow House, the horizon line is clear in Vekatimest. Songs like the opening Southern Point, Two Weeks, and Cheerleader certainly won’t disappoint fans and may even surprise them.

For me the highlight of the album is the track Ready, which begins with a thumping base rhythm which reminds me of something from PJ Harvey’s Rid of Me, (without the wailing angst, of course). This boiling is punctuated by washes of guitar and Ed Droste’s melancholic calls to a lover in transition. He sings “make a decision with a kiss” and about walking home alone through the snow (appropriately dramatic). About half way through the track, the song shifts to something new. Waves of harmonies, starry synths and downright soulful vocal effects cascade the emotional content to new heights, reinforced by roaring guitars at the song’s finish.

All We Ask, is another spooky tune, in which the dynamics of a relationship are described through the subtle details of domesticity, where tiny gestures are magnified sonically and emotionally. The ballad shares its slower pacing with a few other songs on the album. Where some of these songs tend to harmonize into oblivion, All We Ask is intimately toothy. Its sonically smooth surface does not obscure the desirous swells and aching romanticism that bites as much as soothes.

While You Wait for the Others is another high point, a great example of the wonderful confluence of the groups 4 vocalists. The song rocks through Daniel Rosen’s calm and collected verses to be broken by the energetic calls of the entire band. The nostalgia that pervades all of Grizzly Bear’s music weighs heavy upon this song, with its warbled retro synth notes, and its mid-century poppy structure. This sense of age and history, while at the same time feeling experimental, fresh and expansive is descriptive of the entire LP.

Vekatimest is a success for many reasons. It solidifies the type of work that Grizzly Bear does, but does not type cast; they managed to expand while still refining. The songs are familiar and alien at the same time. Vekatimest is an accessible collection of music that is relentless in its detail, and holds layers of surprise upon each listen.

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