Sushi Cat, from Armor Games, is a another great “Whaddo I do between Pointless Meeting A and Soul-Killing Meeting B?” solution. Feed the cat so he can fatten up enough to buy/win the plush-cat of his dreams. The kawaii is nigh-smothering, but it all works. Note the sushis’ cartoon distress the moment before they’re inhaled by Sushi Cat.
Wow, I really want one of these. This is the Crumpter, a physical predecessor of Auto-Tune. It’s a handmade matrix of metal mesh and tuning rods. When placed over a microphone, it corrects pitch and creates a chorus effect. I wonder how it would sound with cigar box instruments? I hope someone publishes the specs so I can make my own.
And just look at it. It’s a genuine objet d’art. Yet another find from Core 77.
Auteur, radio personality, accordionist, and friend of ERIWA Mike Anderson just sent me a link to the trailer for a documentary he’s co-produced. It’s a documentary about the band Vulgar Boatmen, scheduled for release this spring. He’s also working on another top-secret project for a Big Name Production Company whose identity I cannot divulge, but it’s exciting.
Here’s the trailer for Drive: The Story of the Vulgar Boatmen.
Here’s another post about new music that doesn’t suck. I’m ashamed to admit it, but I like Black Moth Super Rainbow. See my previous post on The xx for why I’ve been staying away from new music for a big chunk of my adult life and why I’m surprised to find myself genuinely liking some of the new stuff now. Again, the key appeal is originality. In the case of BMSR, though, I suspect the vocoder would eventually become pretty tedious and gimmicky. And don’t forget, this could be considered hipster music (shudder).
Here’s some new music I quite like, which is more than a little surprising. I’ve become extremely cynical about music over the past 1.5 decades or so, but it seems as though there may (at last) be some new stuff worth listening to. My biggest complaint about most recent music is that it’s so completely derivative of previous bands’ work that it’s really just a poor reproduction. Right now the trend is towards mining the bands of my adolescence and teen years, which I find particularly galling.
The xx deserve credit for creating a sound which seems genuinely inspired by their predecessors, rather than being just a simplistic rip-off. The following two songs show strong New Order/Joy Division and Jesus and Mary Chain influences, but don’t feel like talentless, hack-job reproductions. Very much the opposite.
I’m happy to announce that Simon of Still Lost Bird Music will be contributing to the TCLCA! Simon has elected to create songs for “Squid on the Mantlepiece” and “Space Western”. More info on the project is available at the following links:
I hadn’t really considered it before, but I’m happy I didn’t try to take on “Space Western”. When I think about it all I can hear is a mashup of Primus’ “Space Farm” and “Spaghetti Western”. I know I’d feel compelled to create some sort of Claypool-esque bass line as an homage, which would almost certainly end in tears.
Via Boing Boing. I’ve had a rotten time, recently, and I’m always on the lookout for a good pick-me-up. Nothing beats twenty women and their banjos, straight outta 1928, credited as “The Ingenues”. I recently wrote a review of The Call of Cthulu, a recent film designed to look like it was made in 1926, including an attempt at a period score. Watch this and imagine the (absurd, yet historically accurate) possibilities.
Also, please note the instruments not being played — drums, accordions, a tuba, a harp, etc. Something tells me there was an even more awesome number on that night’s playlist. I can’t help imagining what it would like to be in the audience — wearing a full suit, drinking gin and ripped to the tits on hash, watching twenty Molly Ringwalds wail on banjos.
I hadn’t really considered it before, but I’m happy I didn’t try to take on “Space Western”. When I think about it all I can hear is a mashup of Primus’ “Space Farm” and “Spaghetti Western”. I know I’d feel compelled to create some sort of Claypool-esque bass line as an homage, which would almost certainly end in tears.