December 2008 Archives
[Moozik: Haujobb - Rising Sun]
Listening to music is somewhat of an addiction I've had since the cassette version of Adam & The Ants' Prince Charming started this whole thing rolling on my 8th birthday.
Every year I try to expand my music collection whenever possible and last year I found it extremely easy to come up with at least 10 albums that warranted a quick mention. Not this year though, I found it actually quite difficult to come up with the 7 that I did. So, in no particular order of preference, albums released this year that are worth a quick nod.
The Killers - Day & Age
Their first album Hot Fuss was really good. I think they got an unfair bashing in the press for growing beards and getting all serious with their second album Sam's Town. Day & Age is a return to a lighter, poppier Killers in the vain of Hot Fuss. And you know what, that's good, because that's what The Killers really are, a good pop band. Recommended track: Goodnight, Travel Well.
Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I-IV
The first of two albums that Trent Reznor would release this year. Ghosts I-IV is a 36 track instrumental extravaganza. Initially only available from the NIN website I eagerly parted with my $5 and downloaded it. In places it can be a little hit & miss but when it does hit, it's really quite something. It is an album that you have to be in the mood for though and it's best to not make any comparisons to any other "proper" NIN album. Recommended track: 24 Ghosts III.
The Cure - 4:13 Dream
Everything that I wrote about the album back in October still stands. A welcome return to form and some of the tracks that I labeled as misses have indeed grown on me in the couple of months since I bought it. It is indeed the best album of the post-Wish era and I was lucky enough to get to see them play some of the tracks live earlier in the year. Recommended track: Underneath The Stars.
ohGr - Devils In My Details
Of the many Skinny Puppy side projects ohGr is my favorite. Initially I was a little underwhelmed with this album and didn't think it held up that well to the first two releases. But, as with many albums, it has really grown on me over the past couple of weeks and I actually think it's now my second favorite after Welt. A really solid industrial album that any fan of Skinny Puppy should own. Hard to pick one track to recommend as there are a few that are certainly worth a mention. Oh, ok. Recommended track: Psychoreal.
Nine Inch Nails - The Slip
The second NIN album released this year. As with the previous release earlier in the year, The Slip was available under a creative commons license and only initially available as a download. Unlike Ghosts I-IV though, you could download it free of charge. I did pay $5 as a show of support. I think this is certainly the way the music industry should head and Trent is way ahead of the game. The Slip is a really solid Nine Inch Nails album. It hasn't held my interest as much as With Teeth or Year Zero but it has some really really good moments. Recommend track: Discipline.
Ladytron - Velocifero
I was a little late to the Ladytron party but since discovering them, they've grown into one of my favorite bands. They make really really good electronic pop music. Really good. 2005's Witching Hour is one of my favorite albums and a very good starting point if you've never heard anything by them before. Then once you've assimilated that, try Velocifero. I loved it from the very first play and it's one of those albums that doesn't have any off tracks. Extremely hard to pick a favorite song. But if pressed... Recommended track: Tomorrow.
Fixmer/McCarthy - Into The Night
Nitzer Ebb's Doug McCarthy provides vocals to Terrence Fixmer's electronic wizardry. Their second album together and this one blows Between The Devil... away. Industrial? Yes, hmm, but more than that. Electronic, futurepop perhaps? Hard to classify, it's one of those you really have to hear it to get what it is. One thing is for sure, you'll be turning the volume way up and like me, finding yourself nodding your head to the infectious noise from your speakers. Recommended track: Trans European.
[Moozik: The Cure - The Only One]
Had a nice break over Christmas, tried to ban myself from those intarweb thingies and for the most part succeeded handsomely. I hope anyone reading this had a nice time and hopefully Santa left you something nice under your tree.
So today I've been getting caught up on a week's worth of reading, and my goodness, snow much? Everyone it would seen, has had battles with that white powdery goodness for the past week or so.
Of course, living in the desert means that snow is not something that is immediately familiar to most Phoenicians and in fact yesterday was perfect hiking weather. So off to White Tank Mountain Park we went.
Shady.
Hairy.
Hilly.
An every once in a while, the cacti can make you laugh.
And in somewhat unrelated news, my goodness is The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button a long movie. Good. Sad. Long. We caught the last showing on Boxing Day and had people walk out of the movie before it finished. Don't know if they didn't like it or just couldn't handle being at the cinema after 1:00am.
[Moozik: ohGr - Shhh]
I've been a Skinny Puppy fan ever since I heard Assimilate many many moons ago. Over the years they've had many side projects and one that I've particularly liked and paid attention to is Nivek Ogre's ohGr. ohGr released their third album at the end of October and as luck would have it, came to my neck of the woods on the current leg of their North American tour last night.
Those fine chaps at the Marquee Theater wouldn't let me take my camera inside and of course my cell phone camera sucks donkey balls so I was a little disappointed to not be able to capture the show. It was really good gig and Ogre is a pretty good showman.
Highlights were amazing versions of luSid, miNUS, and Pepper. Somewhere around mid-show he sent copious amounts of feathers into the crowd via fans blowing at hurricane speeds. An entertaining idea as we were all playing keep the feathers out of the beer which didn't work. My car as a result is now a little feathery in the inside.
I was a little surprised at how empty the venue was though. It was absolutely hammering down with rain so that may have stopped some from coming out to buy tickets at the door. Still for the few hundred of us that were there, we had an absolute blast. Now, I can only keep my fingers crossed that if Skinny Puppy do release an album next year (which rumor has it they will), they decide to tour.
Moozik: Primal Scream - Higher Than The Sun
Doc is in ur files, reading ur email
[Moozik: Lords Of Acid - I Sit On Acid]
With only a few days to go until Christmas I figured now was as good a time as any to start thinking about those year in review type posts. 2008 proved to be a year of many firsts. A quick recap via photos.
First Time In New York
First Time Seeing The Cure
First Time I Realized I Grew Up In A Picturesque Village
First Time In Paris
First Time In Dublin
First Time Hiking
First Time Calling Ourselves A Couple
Did you have any firsts in 2008?
[Moozik: The March Violets - Slow Drip Lizard]
Quite frankly I'm a little shocked. I just upgraded MT from 4.01 to 4.23 and nothing appears to be broken. That can't be right. Every time I've upgraded MT ever, something broke as a result. I must have done the upgrade wrong ;-)
[Moozik: Edge Of Dawn - The Flight (Lux)]
Over the course of a career, a band will perhaps produce one album that really stands out among all their others. An album that signifies their defining moment; their masterpiece. U2 managed this with The Joshua Tree, The Cure with Disintegration. Depeche Mode's seventh studio album Violator is, without a doubt, their masterpiece.
The band were approaching the pinnacle of their career both creatively and in popularity. They had finally cracked America with their sixth album, Music For The Masses, and had finished up a hugely successful world tour culminating with a final concert at the Pasadena Rose Bowl on June 18th 1988 in front of 60,000 fans.
Released in early 1990, Violator instantly became my favorite album ever. It is, quite simply, stunning. The attention to detail to every single sound, noise, beep, melody, and rhythm by Alan Wilder is amazing. Anyone who has heard Martin Gore's original demo for Enjoy The Silence should really appreciate how much studio time Wilder and producer Flood must have put in to come up with the electronic masterpiece that Enjoy The Silence would ultimately become.
There aren't many albums that I can honestly say I love every single song, this album is one of them though. Enjoy The Silence is perhaps, the best song DM ever made. The other three singles, Personal Jesus, Policy Of Truth, and World In My Eyes are classics.
What makes the album stand out for me though is that you can take away the singles and still be left with some of the best songs DM have made. Halo, Blue Dress, and Clean really shine. Clean, with Alan Wilder on live drums would ultimately grow on me and I find myself playing this song more and more over time. The irony of Dave Gahan's impending drug use isn't lost on me as I listen to him sing 'now that I'm clean, you know what I mean, I've broken my fall, put an end to it all, I've changed my routine'.
If you only ever listen to one Depeche Mode album ever, you owe it to yourself to pick this one. You won't be disappointed. 10/10.
Track Listing:
World In My Eyes
Sweetest Perfection
Personal Jesus
Halo
Waiting For The Night
Enjoy The Silence
Policy Of Truth
Blue Dress
Clean
[Moozik: Nachtmahr - Katharsis]
So I'm all very surprised. For this appears to be an electric car that doesn't actually suck. No moving parts, no need for servicing, cool little colored ball feedback thingy. What's not to love?
As long as hyrdrogen stations are in abundance, I'd certainly buy one.
[Moozik: The Danse Society - Red Light (Shine)]
Growing up I remember looking forward to Thursday because that meant it was Top Of The Pops night. I was hopelessly addicted and watched every week. It was Top Of The Bloody Pops, a staple of any childhood music obsession and not to be missed.
The format of the programme was simple and consisted of a run down of that week's Top 40 with "live" performances in studio and the odd video thrown in. Of course "live" meant miming and it was so funny to see how many bands/artists couldn't actually do that do save their lives. There were exceptions though. New Order always played live and got 100 "actually a real band, not a studio creation" points every time they were on.
But as any hopelessly addicted music child of the 80s will tell you, seeing your fave bands once a week just wasn't good enough. Enter Satellite TV and the beginning of something special. MTV. Music videos. All. Day. Long. For the win, I feel. Looking back on it, I can't help but wonder how much better I would have done at school if it weren't for MTV. Homework or 120 Minutes? Hmmm...
So, swiftly fast forwarding to the year 2008. MTV has decided to place some videos on the interwebs. MTVmusic.com. Of course, they're a little late to the party and YouTube has quite the headstart. Still, it's another source of video nostalgia. And I'm all for that. So, without further ado, lets see what vids from my yooof MTV has online.
New Order - True Faith
Depeche Mode - Shake The Disease
Adam & The Ants - Stand & Deliver
Alphaville - Big In Japan
Ah, that trip down nostalgia avenue. Good times indeed.
[Moozik: Children On Stun - Cats Or Devils Eyes]
While I was getting ready for work this morning I watched President Bush having shoes thrown at him. You know, like you do. I must say, like him or loathe him, you've got to be at least a little impressed at his reactions. That man can duck.
Of course, being impressed with reaction times is something you can't really say about the Secret Service. Where were they after the bloke threw the first shoe? He was wrestled to the ground by fellow journalists, and only then some guys that looked kind of secrety and a little servicey walked half arsed onto the stage.
[Moozik: Die! Die! Die! - Whitehorses]
When I got home tonight the moon looked very inviting. If only I had a better zoom lens as this was on max zoom.
[Moozik: Killing Joke - Requiem]
Doc Gets An Introduction
Three years ago I posted a photo to Flickr of my then 13 year old trusty pair of Doc Martens.
At the time I was considering throwing them away. I didn't of course. Now they're 16 years old, practically antiques and I still wear them. Taken yesterday...
I'll be honest, at this point I'm literally going to keep them until they fall apart. They're not my only pair of DMs of course, but they're the elder statesmen and my faves.
[Moozik: Sonic Youth - On The Strip]
I really like Talk of the Nation and think you are a good host. But please sir, I beg of you, when mentioning the npr.org website, don't say 'npr dot oh arrr gee'. We do understand the concept of the three letter word 'org' without you holding our hand. It's ok to just say 'org'. Really.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to shopping on 'amazon dot see oh em'.
[Moozik: Rammstein - Du Riechst So Gut]
I've been to Venice quite a few times over the years and got to see a mini flood once. Nothing at all like this though which is apparently the deepest flood the city has seen in 22 years.
As always, the Boston Globe has some amazing photos.
[Moozik: Killing Joke - Follow The Leaders]
With the election finally over, I thought a little souvenir was in order.
Kottke mentioned that the New York Times brings out the 96pt font very rarely, so I decided that a brand new copy of the November 5th edition was as good a souvenir as any.
Yeah, I bought one.
$14.95 is certainly cheaper and less hassle than trying to get one from eBay. Getting it brand new from the source means...
Price includes the full newspaper inside resealable plastic envelope. Newspapers are shipped FLAT in corrugated cardboard shippers to protect issue during transit.
I completely forgot that I ordered it until I got the ship confirmation email today. I haven't got any idea what I'm actually going to do with the newspaper once I have it though.
Ok, maybe that's not entirely true. I can always cut out the front page and frame it. I'm thinking I can probably do it somewhat cheaper than the NY Times at least.
[Moozik: Killing Joke - The Feast Of Blaze]
Do you find that there are just some things that amused you growing up that still entertain you to this day? I know I do. One of which happens to be popping bubble wrap. I mean come on, how could you not be entertained doing that?
And thanks to the wonders of technology you don't even have to have bubble wrap these days. No, and let this be reason I need to get an iPhone #48877, the iPhone bubble wrap popping app.
Of course, part of the fun of bubble wrap popping is the tactile feedback you get when actually popping. So I'm not entirely convinced that this would be as entertaining. Still, I'd be willing to give it a try.
What things still entertain you now that you're all growed up?
[Moozik: Film School - Compare]
I appreciate a good deal as much as the next person. Who doesn't right? But trampling a bloke to death in your haste to get into the shop? I do sometimes fear for the human race. Really I do.
I've only ventured out on "black friday" once ever in my life. And it was an experience I'll never ever repeat. EVER. No deal is worth that amount of arsewipery I can assure you.A Wal-Mart worker died early Friday after an "out-of-control" mob of frenzied shoppers smashed through the Long Island store's front doors and trampled him, police said.
The Black Friday stampede plunged the Valley Stream outlet into chaos, knocking several employees to the ground and sending others scurrying atop vending machines to avoid the horde.
When the madness ended, 34-year-old Jdimytai Damour was dead and four shoppers, including a woman eight months pregnant, were injured.