Impromptu Albany Circus Characters

Albany, CA, 2010.

whiteboard art history

toronto, 2010.  found on a whiteboard in my old office after the siggraph deadline had passed.

Music Switching

I go through music buying-and-listening phases.  I will suddenly stop listening to everything I currently listening to, start a new itunes playlist, and start buying new music.  It's refreshing and absurd and nostalgic, because with all the moving I have done in the last decade, I start to associate music with times and places.  Most playlists have names things such as "tronto09" or "eville05," meaning they have the music I bought while living in a particular place in a particular year. Here's a run-down of the current spree:

Lady Gaga is 80's Genesis.  Yeah, that seems kind of absurd, but in my head, they're the same.  Both are well written pop music.  Have have many things I don't much care for.  And each is written in a very different style, they're people who really get pop music and push its form around in interesting ways.  Oh yeah, my having this is Tom's fault.

LCD Soundsystem:  The only reason I started listening to LCD soundsystem has to do with mentions in print by both Trent Reznor and Stephen King (although they were made years apart).  I picked up Sound of Silver while reading Under the dome, since King uses it as a soundtrack in an early part of the book.  I once read a review that called LCD Soundsystem  "electropunk hipster nonsense," which is about the best description I've heard.  But it's fun.  "You wanted a hit" is my favorite.

Weezer:  They took off when I was in high school, and I was listening to them a lot during the blue album/Pinkerton era, so they're one of those bands whose music I buy without ever hearing it first.  And "Tired of Sex" was covered by Wild Willy and the Wonder Weevils.  Enough said about Wild Willy and the Wonder Weevils.  I just picked up Hurley, and while it's really irreverent in parts, I really like it.  It also has the obigatory "Viva la Vida" cover.  Every popular band should cover Viva la Vida.  Especially if they don't like it.

Aphex Twin:  I bought two Aphex Twin albums about 10 years ago, and they've come and gone, but been regularly played, since then.  I just picked up Selected Ambient Works 85-92, which is the best I've heard.  It sets a certain mood extremely well.  I think it's my new favorite music to have on while on public transit.

Brian Eno:  Music for Airports.  It's music for airports.  I've been playing with Bloom  and Trope, his iPod app collaborations.  

Tom Petty:  Feels very classic.  New Order Joe was visiting in town, and laughed when I told him it was Tom Petty's "new" album (Mojo).  It reminds me of David Bowie's Heathen, going back to what a particular musician does naturally, but in a fun way.

Also picked up:  Jack Dangers, Nusret Fateh Ali Khan, Orbital, more Aphex Twin, Gorillaz, and new music by Meat Beat Manifesto, Marcus Eaton, and Trent Reznor & his Happy Fun-Time Band of the week.  But I haven't listened to them enough to say anything meaningful yet.  

ghost waves

san francisco, 2010

marin headlands, 2010.