Virtual possession

This past summer I purchased V-Ray for Rhino directly from the programmers, and the software was delivered not through the mail, but through the internet. Not having any physical manifestation of the product seems a natural fit for such a small, easily downloadable program. This week, however, I took the plunge and purchased my first music download, and I remain far from convinced that music fits the model nearly so well.

Saul Williams's The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust! was released online on Thursday, and unlike Radiohead's In Rainbows, no CD release has been forecasted. The lowest quality MP3s are available for free, and higher quality MP3 and FLAC versions are available for $5. Ever the archivist and wannabe audiophile, I opted for the FLAC files, and made my own (LAME-encoded) MP3s for convenient listening.

The music is great, and I like having the liner notes as a PDF, but having to keep the massive FLAC files in a safe, easy-to-find place on one of my many hard drives is a nuisance that I'm having trouble getting past. I can always back up my CDs if I want, but I can't make a nice physical manifestation that will always be easy to find. (A pile of CD-Rs with labels in Sharpie is probably even worse than a folder in Windows.) At this point, I think I'd much rather have paid five more dollars and gotten an object that I could add to my library.

Platforms and packaging aside, I'm very impressed by the music. Like Rage Against The Machine's The Battle of Los Angeles, this is a work that feeds off of rap, rock, and hip-hop and uses each wisely. Williams and producer Trent Reznor know just how much thump to put into each track and how to shift between slam and song without losing the thread that keeps it together. All of rap's familiar profanities are here, but they seem purposeful. The recently buried n-word is featured prominently in many songs, but always as a reflection of a prejudiced world and never as a mere nickname as Lil' Jon and so many others are wont to do. It's all around quite good, and it's available for free. Give it a listen.

Iron and Wine

Our short visit to Dublin was specifically timed so that we could attend a show by Iron & Wine, a band in which Chris and Beth both had a specific interest. From what I can gather from texts about the band, their much like Nine Inch Nails in that the singer/songwriter is Iron & Wine, and the other musicians on stage are performers filling in the holes. From what I saw on stage, however, the band seemed like a much more integrated collaboration. Eight performers filled the stage, and much of the key instrumentation was in the hands of the steel guitarist. Additionally, the one woman on stage had the same last name as the lead, and both wore wedding bands, so I suspect it is a tighter-knit group. Overall I thought the music they performed was okay, but nothing obviously special. Beth told me after the show that setlist tended toward the groups mellowest songs, and their overall sound tended to have a little more energy.

I was much more interested in the opening band, a curious little group called Johnny Flynn and the Sussex Wit. Johnny rotated through a significant array of instruments, including guitars, a violin, and what I recall being a mandolin. A girl I suspect (and for Beth's sake hope) was Johnny's sister and not his wife, sang back up and played flute. The other two guys in the band shared duties on drums and guitars. I think I felt I got my money's worth out of the show from their brief performance, which was both lively and well tuned for a live setting.

Summer 2007 recap

So, what was I doing all this time?

I kept to a reading list of only female authors:

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
Rebecca by Daphene Daphne du Maurier
The Blind Assassin by Margeret Atwood
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Ms. du Maurier's and Ms. Rowling's books are the most recommendable. Other than the awkwardly extraneous epilogue, Deathly Hallows is a truly remarkable conclusion to the Harry Potter series. While much has been said about the book's look at mortality, I am increasingly impressed by it's politics. I can think of no other book that better illustrates the mechanisms that install tyrannical regimes to power. Parallels between the Death Eaters and the Nazi party are frighteningly elegant.

I also picked up a few new albums:

Sky Blue Sky by Wilco
Era Vulgaris by Queens of the Stone Age
Zeitgeist by [The] Smashing Pumpkins
Live at Radio City with Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds

Era Vulgaris is the probably the most interesting of the lot, and chasing down all the lovely B-Sides is worth it as well.

I saw a few movies in theater as well:

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Oceans Thirteen
Spider-Man 3
Paris, je t'aime
Ratatouille
Transformers
Rescue Dawn
The Simpsons Movie
Stardust
The Bourne Supremacy

World's End was the best surprise. Not only did I like it more than Dead Man's Chest, it made me like that installment better than I had. Ratatouille was easily the best of the lot.

The site I'm building for Professor Anne Munly is complete for most practical purposes. You can visit it at http://soa.syr.edu/dwelling.

And I got a tattoo! Oh, I guess it was just marker. I think Claire did an excellent job on it though, and I think behind the sniggers, the other lifeguards were secretly envious.

The 'the' in 'The Smashing Pumpkins'

I just saw the cover for the forthcoming album from The Smashing Pumpkins, and I noticed that the 'the' which first appeared on the epic Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness has disappeared once again.  I'm left puzzling its significance.  Is this a nod to the band's rebirth?  Will the less pretentious 'Smashing Pumpkins' stay in use until Billy feels that the new incarnation of the band has released its own magnum opus?

If you see anybody else's musings on the matter, please post a link to it here in the comments.

Year -0015/0026/0044 begins...now

Year Zero is on sale here in the U.S.A.!  Yay, Trent!
My parents have been married 25 years!  Yay, Mom and Dad!
The man behind Puscifer and Tool is 43!  Yay, Maynard!

Sitting on the dancefloor

Dad and I went to the Year Zero listening party at Varsity Theater in Dinkytown on Tuesday evening, where we got to hear the new Nine Inch Nails album a little over a month before its release.  We spotted the venue easily, since it was marked with a long cue of college-aged kids dressed predominantly in black.  Dad and I did not fit in at all, as I was wearing a tan shirt and (non-baggy) blue jeans and Dad was wearing a grey hoodie.  We found that the "theater" was more of a club, with a small stage, a bar in back, and seating around a sizable dance floor.  We sat down soon enough to snag an edge of the risers, but those after us were left with the dance floor.  The evening started with a video, and the rather subdued crowd quickly sat down on the floor to ensure those behind them a view, so the floor was soon filled with moody-looking college students sitting cross-legged for the whole event.

The album seemed good.  It definitely started fast and grew slower, almost with each song, and the slower songs were more difficult to judge since the sound system didn't deliver very good mid-range frequencies.  Songs that I've heard on the internet like "Me, I'm Not," didn't sound as good, so I can only expect that the unfamiliar songs were being given less than flattering treatment as well.  Dad and I both thought that "Vessel" and "God Given" have great potential.  We left just as "Zero-Sum" was finishing, so I didn't get a very good feeling for the general response, but I'm guessing that enthusiasm peaked before the series of consecutive quieter tracks finished the album.

The usual suspects

I have about as much respect for the Grammy Awards as the creators of the Simpson's do

(Homer: Mr. John, I'm your biggest fan. I tape-recorded all your songs off the radio.
Elton: Oh, that's very sweet. Have a Grammy. (produces one from nowhere)
Homer: Uh … (throws it in a garbage can)),

but somehow I think I'll find it in me to hate the Recording Academy just a little more if the sissy boys of Stone Sour beat Mastondon for Best Metal performance.

Good News Wasn't New By The Time I Realized It Was Good

I've had Modest Mouse's Good News for People Who Love Bad News on my computer for over a year now. I wasn't too sure about it at first, but that savagely delightful track "Satin in a Coffin" kept me coming back. Now the whole album is sounding good. I'm usually slow to warm to the albums I like the best and the longest, but this has been an unusually long thaw. Maybe my disdain for bad news stood in the way. Have you listened to this well crafted piece of music? Let me know. Maybe we can get a half dozen responses.

Spanish For 'Cacophony'

Working on the fifth-floor of the Warehouse I was listening to a new track from the Mars Volta when a raucous chorus of honking cars from outside overwhelmed the music in my headphones. I looked out to see the visible portion of Fayette Street filled with cars draped in Puerto Rican flags and dozens of go-carts weaving in and out down the line. A bit of Googling led me to the most probable source of the commotion. Let's hope that the noise I heard was not the end product of the one-hundred thousand dollar grant from the New York State Music Fund.

Album with depth

UPS delivered Tool's new album, 10,000 Days, to me yesterday afternoon, and I'm quite impressed. The 11-track disc has—I'd argue—seven complete songs, and the sequencing seems perfect. The title track is actually the second half of the 17-minute "Wings for Marie," a song to vocalist Maynard James Keenan's departed mother, and not only does it feature the band in top form, it includes the most poignant use of a weather soundtrack that I've heard in any piece of music.

The packaging almost lives up the the contents. Unlike anything I've seen, the case folds open to form a stereoscope, which allows the enclosed booklet to be viewed in 3d. I think the lenses would have been better placed inside, so as not to dominate the closed cover, but this is a small detail, and I'm generally appreciative the exquisite—if tiny—artwork.

Drawing Field Trip

Our drawing class trekked across the quad last night to the John Crauss Memorial College building to see the Syracuse University Symphony Orchestra give one of their three free Tuesday night classes of the semester. The three pieces played were:
Camille Saint Saëns (1835-1921): "Danse Bacchanale" from Samson and Delilah
Samuel Barber (1910-1981): Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 38
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897): Symphony No 1 in c minor
I enjoyed the trip, and managed one or two decent sketches. Most of my classmates have a far stronger drawing background, so there were some pretty impressive drawings in the books when we got back to the classroom.

Later in the evening Michael, another student in my class, decided he didn't like the snack he had purchased, so I got to finish his bag of Fritos® brand Flavor Twists® brand Honey BBQ flavored Corn Snacks. I thought they were tasty but was lukewarm to their overly functional name and the presence of MSG in the ingredients.

Wine Instead Of Bourbon

I'm home, and although I don't have all my grades yet I suspect I've graduated from college. In 16-18 weeks my parents should find in their mail a diploma that proclaims that I hold a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics.

I know that bourbon is the drink for a college graduate (when he's not being seduced by Mrs. Robinson or scuba diving in the backyard pool), wine is more to my liking. Breaking from our pleasant trip home, my dad and I took a tour of Wollersheim Winery, a vineyard not far outside of Madison which was founded by the same man who founded the first vineyard in the Sonoma Valley in California. The tour concluded with a wine tasting, and I tried five wines starting with a chardonnay and ending with a port. I helped my dad with the shopping, and he was kind enough to buy a bottle of the port at my request. I was rather tired from a very short night of sleep (90 minutes), so we kept the music going to stay awake during the drive back. We played Nine Inch Nails, Dave Matthew Band, The Smashing Pumpkins, and CAKE, so I was happy despite my drowsiness.

I'm not sure how often I'll be posting this summer, but I suspect it will be somewhat less frequent than I do during the school year.

[I didn't mention the tasting in the first draft of this post since I wasn't sure if I should have been carded, but it seems that Wisconsin state law allows minors to consume alcohol in the presence of their parents independent of location, a somewhat looser exception to the drinking age than that to which I'm accustomed here in Minnesota. Thanks to Claire with her unsettling extensive knowledge of drinking laws for the tip.]

Broken/Fixed

I saw Nine Inch Nails at the Congress Theater in Chicago on this evening. The venue was quite nice; although it needed to be repainted, it was good enough shape that it seemed "historic" rather than just "old." The audience of about twenty-six hundred felt just right. This was my first concert with general admission seating, and I was apprehensive about ending up in the back corner, but it turned out to be just fine. Actually, there were definite advantages to the approach. The head-banging, fist-pumping fans settled to the main floor, and the less active, lets-watch-and-listen fans drifted to the balcony. I was quite pleased with my seat in the second row, which allowed me to watch the show and the fans below. I was close enough to distinguish band members, but not see facial expressions.

The Dresden Dolls opened, and I found them to be as enjoyable live as in their studio release. I knew that vocalist/pianist Amanda Palmer put on quite the dramatic act, but I was surprised by the showmanship of percussionist Brian Viglione. An entire ballet was performed between his shoulders and the tips of his drumsticks. It was a joy to watch him (whenever I wasn't being distracted by Amanda's gymnastic, striped-stockinged legs, that is). I was quite pleased to hear "Coin Operated Boy" and "Half Jack," and I enjoyed both covers they performed.

Good Day
Gravity
War Pigs (Black Sabbath)
Missed Me
Coin-Operated Boy
Port Of Amsterdam (Jacques Brel)
Half Jack
Girl Anachronism

The NIN set was marred by technical difficulties. Reznor's microphone was the only thing properly miked, so the "The Frail" was all but completely lost, and "The Wretched" was pretty much drumming and vocals. I was disappointed that the songs were not repeated properly. I wouldn't be surprised if Trent Reznor had been screaming at people backstage, but to the audience he was humble and apologetic regarding the technical difficulties. I was also disappointed that the set included so few tracks from With Teeth, especially since I so enjoyed what few songs did make it into the show. Highlights of the show included the performance of "Home," the vinyl-only b-side for "The Hand That Feeds," and "With Teeth," during which Reznor actually played tambourine. "Piggy" had an enjoyable extended outro, and "Closer" included an instrumental which I believe may have been borrowed from "The Only Time."

The Frail
The Wretched
[remedial sound check]
Wish
March Of The Pigs
The Line Begins To Blur
Piggy
Terrible Lie
Burn
With Teeth
Closer
Home
Reptile
The Big Come Down
Gave Up
The Day The World Went Away
Suck
Hurt
The Hand That Feeds
Head Like A Hole

The was no encore, but I understand this is normal for NIN.

Halo Иineteen

I received an email this morning telling me that Nine Inch Nails' newest album, With Teeth, which is to be released on 3 May is now available in its entirety online. The album is indeed up at NIN's page at Myspace, a website which is pretty interesting in itself. Many tracks on the album remind me in some manner of "The Perfect Drug," which NIN released on The Lost Highway soundtrack. Sometimes the connection is in the sound; sometimes it's in the lyrics. I kind of think of it as an explosion of that one song, and the result is quite good. The album is tightly constructed and impressively organized. It's not as beautiful as The Fragile, but beauty is not the goal of this album. It's an album of energy, and it succeeds. It packs the power of NIN's inconsistent debut album Pretty Hate Machine into a work that is a cohesive as The Downward Spiral. Trent Reznor's falsetto on "All the Love in the World" and "Sunspots" is particularly exciting. It's not strong enough to be used for long durations, but it's highly effective used as is. Reznor is a talented musician, no doubt, and his stuff still has so much edge that it seems strange that he'll be turning forty in May. I feel like he should be exempt from aging.

Nat and I took two of the art history professors to lunch today. Prof. Menocal, who prefers to go by Narciso, and Prof. Buenger both wrote letters of recommendation for me during my (successful) bid to gain admission to an architecture school. Prof. Buenger wrote a letter for Nat as well. We ate at the Great Dane Pub, where my mother took me one Saturday during my first semester here. I had a "Full Monte Christo" and I enjoyed it greatly. I wish I could take my favorite professors with me to the next school. I'd gladly take both Narciso and Prof. Buenger along with Prof. McDonald (from whom I learned Russian History) and Prof. Begam (with whom I currently have James Joyce).

Masterful Production

Fatboy Slim's newest album, Palookaville, came out a week ago today, and I've been listening to it a couple times a day since Thursday. It is a truly impressive piece of music, an equal to its critically acclaimed predecessor Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars. The album has a lighter feel, as if Norman Cook (a.k.a. Fatboy Slim) was imagining a party on a secluded beach instead of one in a jam-packed dance club. Palookaville takes another step away from Slim's first two more purely techo/remix albums Better Living Through Chemistry and You've Come Along Way, Baby. As it turns out, the general absence of big beat grooves like "The Rockefeller Skank" or "Ya Mama" isn't at all problematic. The first single, "Slash Dot Dash," fills this position somewhat, but the other 11 tracks support themselves just fine with catchy lyrics and a variety of talented vocalists. With Palookaville Cook has shown he his a multi-faceted artist, and I can only hope that his next album is not another four years away.

The Name Is Yoshimi

Claire and I went to the Mall of America today. We were planning to go bowling, but the prices were ridiculously high, so we decided to play a little air-hockey and wander around a bit. We popped into Sam Goody, and I picked up the most recent release from The Flaming Lips, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. Actually I got the DVD Version, but it has the original CD too. The packaging doesn't include the lyrics, which is disappointing, but the 5.1 mix of the album is quite an experience. It's my first new music of what looks to be an exciting summer. Wilco's A Ghost is Born and Dave Matthews Band's The Gorge are both due out in late June, and CAKE's Pressure Chief is in the pipeline. Hooray!

Gripe

Where is The Central Park Concert? I want my DMB!

Complex

I took my RA, Ilene Gold, to see Blue Man Group at the Kohl Center last night. The show was part of The Complex Rock Tour, and it was spectacular. The opening acts were Tracy Bonham and Venus Hum, both of which were quite impressive, although Venus Hum's lead singer Annette Strean was so visually distracting that the best method to appreciating the music involved closing ones eyes.

There was an intermission, and then Blue Man Group performed. It was a spectacular show, that blended unique music with humor and thoughtful messages. Both of the opening acts appeared as guests during the show, although (thankfully) Bonham was present through much more than was Venus Hum. Ilene and I had seats 9 & 10 in Row 4 of section 002—practically the best seats in the house, and well worth $52.05 a seat (not that I don't resent the $8.05 "convenience charge"). We both got covered with streamers and sprinkled with water toward the end of the show. Thankfully, neither of us came into contact with any of the flying paint. I think they were especially careful to keep it on the stage for the Rock Tour. Good show!

Rocking Out on the Net

I'm listening to The AOL Concert for Schools live from the Great Lawn in Central Park (which I know to be designed by Fredrick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux). The performer? None other than DAVE MATTHEWS BAND! The show is rocking, and I wish very much to be there to see it (as well as to spend time with a special someone I know in that area). Here is the setlist:

Onstage 7:19 pm EDT
(intro jam)
Don't Drink The Water
So Much To Say
-->Anyone Seen The Bridge
-->Too Much
Granny
Crush
When The World Ends
Dancing Nancies (rambling intro)
-->Warehouse (Stop Time intro)
Ants Marching
Rhyme & Reason
Two Step
Help Myself
Cortez the Killer (duet with Warren Haynes)
Jimi Thing (NYC scat/Stop Children version)
What Would You Say
Where Are You Going
All Along The Watchtower
encore
Grey Street
What You Are (passion intro)
Stay (Wasting Time)

I rebuffered durring "Granny," but I can say it was a very solid show until "Crush" when 'solid' fell far short. Then Dave did this great 5 second vocal solo during "World" that was truly new and very impressive. "Nancies" had reasonably good introductory Ramble and impressive use of back-up vocals. Warehouse, the classic Nancy-chaser (so to speak) was equally impressive, if not more so; almost to the end of the song, the band kicked it into overdrive and did an unusally fast (salsa?) tempo during LeRoi's solo. The next two songs were well exexuted, although unremarkable. "Two Step" was well done, although the final moments were a little on the tame side. I'm not quite sure what to think of the Dave/Warren duet; I'll know better after getting this show on CD. Warren's presence was much appreciated, however, on the MOST TOTALLY tricked-out version of "Jimi Thing" ever! "WWYS" popped up, I felt sure that the main set had reached its end, but behold! "Where Are You Going." It couldn't be the closer...so what next? The classic. The Bob Dylan masterpiece "All Along The Watchtower," performed with precision and grace starting with Stefan's fabulous steel guitar intro (with the national anthem thrown in for good measure). This is undoubtedly the song which most greatly showcased Boyd's mastery of the electic violin. It wasn't really able to get any better, but the encore sealed the deal. "Grey Street" was spot-on, and "What You Are" (my favorite Everyday song) is perhaps the perfect closer, but this time it was just one more stop along the way. Dave and all stuck around and turned in a killer performance of "Stay" making us all wish we could do just that. In review: The band produced a jaw-dropping show that was the perfect balance between boldness and refinement. The show earns four stars.

That's it for me. If you want more review (from people actually at the show, perhaps) head on over to the show's page at nancies.org by clicking here.

The big day

Today, the first day of Autumn, is the first day this Blog is in opperation. Dave Matthews' debut solo album Some Devil was also released today. I was most pleasantly to find it waiting for me in my mailbox after breakfast.