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By which I mean music released in 2009. And [1] because I’m obviously not going to get them all in one post. It’s going to be lots of little ones. I’m giving myself a month for my memory to work properly. But I think it’s still worth making a note of what was good to my ears this year.
THE SPOILS, Zola Jesus: of which I’ve made much mention lately. Nika’s a beautiful ghost moaning from the shadows of a bombed-out cathedral, on this record. Possibly an aspect of my continuing fascination with The Haunted in early 21st Century music. But I’m returning to this record a lot.
GABON and INCAPULCO and a bunch of other releases, High Wolf: top of the whole glo-fi thing, for me, has been High Wolf and his wet lo-fi tropical dreamstates. GABON in particular was a glorious thing. Hypnogogic reverie when you’ve still got the drugged beat of a rainforest drone-rave beating in your ears.
MAN OF ARAN, British Sea Power: always a band I’ve almost-liked rather than love, but "The SOuth Sound" off this soundtrack they prepared for the re-release of the eponymous film is the best piece of classical building/soaring postrock I’ve heard since "Raise Yr Skinny Fists." I mean, flat fucking out. Coda to the whole subgenre.
HORRIBLES PARADE, Gary War: this thing continues to fascinate me. It’s melted music. Seriously. Like someone went at a wax master with a blowtorch and then struck the record with it. A gorgeous gurgling gargoyle of a thing. Partially dissolved rock.
FLORINE, Julianna Barwick: astonishing vocal music, multitracked and layered and processed until it became the sound that the trails of collapsing photons passing through the feathers of angels’ wings in a particle accelerator should make. Or something.
BROADCAST AND THE FOCUS GROUP INVESTIGATE WITCH CULTS OF THE RADIO AGE, Broadcast And The Focus Group: the title should tell you all you need to know. You’re either the sort of person who wants to own an album by that title, or you’re not. It is, as Moon Wiring Club would say, in the finest tradition of confusing English electronic music. It’s less a "proper" album than a collection of sounds that surround a certain set of timebound notions about Strangeness. As the title implies, it sometimes seems more like research (in the form of original music). It is really bloody good, yes.
(Automatically crossposted from warrenellis.com. Feel free to comment here or at my internet church at Whitechapel. If anything in this post looks weird, it's because LJ is run on steampipes and rubber bands -- please click through to the main site.) |
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(Automatically crossposted from warrenellis.com. Feel free to comment here or at my internet church at Whitechapel. If anything in this post looks weird, it's because LJ is run on steampipes and rubber bands -- please click through to the main site.) |
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 ShaunCon at the KC Game Fair is well underway, and the assembled include miniatures gamers with some really impressive "Battle for Mordor" props. They even have a Mount Doom. I will dutifully keep an eye out for vinegar and baking soda.
My "next door dealer" is a table selling some very spiffy stained-glass dice. They also make d12 tealight lamps, but they sold out of those already. The table's proprietor assures me a website for their wares will be up soon, and I assured him I'd keep an eye out. He also guaranteed that each die would produce at least one roll, though subsequent attempts may vary depending on the outcome of the first.
Someone has made the case that we nerds are spoiled. Compared to geek life a few decades ago, the article states, we nerds have got it easy. The internet is one big fanzine, where shows are argued about and saved or canceled based on the tides of the geekosphere. Several statements are made that I do have to take issue with:
1. "If we can’t watch a show online within a day after it’s broadcast, we dismiss the network it’s on as out of touch." While I agree that bittorrent has made insta-TV out of just about any show that's within reach of a DVR and an internet connection, the behavior is hardly limited to geekdom. Lots of sporting events, talk radio programs, and media of every entertainment stripe hits The Pirate Bay after someone edits out the commercials. The networks themselves are starting to put their content up on the web for viewing less than 24 hours after broadcast as well, so I'd say this is just a symptom of changing delivery methods than something unique to the geek.
2. Incredibly creative people who could be doing amazing original work are stuck trying to figure out how to make “GI Joe” into a movie that will appeal to 18- to 30-year-olds, when the toys themselves are intended for 6- to 12-year-olds. They're also remaking films that are less than 30 years old, re-adapting Shakespeare to new settings, or making sequels to movies that really didn't need one, and those are outside of the realm of nerditude. Right now, the money backing these projects wants sure-fire winners, and that usually leads to reworking proven formulas and properties across the board. I just wind up scratching my head when a property is purchased and bears no resemblance to the original beyond the name (I'm thinking of stuff like "Underdog").
3. "I think it’s time for us, as true nerds, to relinquish some of our power. To let bad shows get cancelled without complaint and to quit obsessively searching for details about movies in development." I'm perfectly happy when bad shows get canceled. He seems to miss that more often, good shows get canceled. "Firefly," even if you hate it, was one of the most critically acclaimed works from Joss Whedon (perhaps leading to the "Dollhouse" campaign he notes earlier in his article), and it was taken off the air. So, too, was the live-action "The Tick," "Witchblade," "Babylon-5: Crusade" (love or hate B5, Gary Cole was awesome, and speaking of him...), "American Gothic," etc. I don't know too many shows that were kept on the air by nerd-force that were bad (aside from, and this is only my opinion, "Jericho"). But even if a show isn't one's cup of tea, if enough fans can convince a network to keep their show on the air, I think that's not entirely negative, especially when one looks at the history of classic TV programs that were allowed more than a handful of episodes to find their legs. I would add, however, that if enough of these shows see a groundswell of "support" with no resulting support of viewership or ticket purchases, the powers what is are less likely to listen in the future.
More "Under the Dome" news, in that Steven Speilberg is already looking to develop a TV series based on the book. Unless they plan on giving it a definitive beginning, middle, and end, it could get old quite quickly, unless they plan on altering how the story ends (or goes on, as the case may be). If it's on HBO or another cable channel that allows pretty much anything to happen, I'll be more intrigued... but still wondering why nobody's developing a "Dark Tower" series. :)
Back to the KC Game Fair for me, but for you, we have:
- I may have to sneak some of these onto the wife's Kitchen Aid. I wonder if she'd notice?
- She has noticed when I've creatively used a lawnmower to... ah... "landscape." However, I've got nothing on these guys.
- Now it's time for irresponsibility with motor vehicles in I Hate Traffic. Check your goals for each level, and I hope you enjoy "curling" a semi as much as I did.
- The internet, or parts of it, as compared to other vices.
- Okay, forget going to Mars, we need our own ring system!
- I'm obliged by law to post this next clip (with a small language warning, in regards to a reference of female anatomy above the waistline): the ballad of the Monster Manual.
- I'm also required to post this gag reel from the latest 'Star Trek' movie.
- And we finish with Ninjaglove: Defeat these minigames as quickly as you can to demonstrate your mastery of martial (time wasting) arts.
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Today a guy complimented me on my outfit, saying I looked very nice today :)
Granted it was a gay guy, so he wasn't hitting on me (which is better! ...unless it was nate!;)), but it made it just as nice and made me feel great! (Yes guys, small compliments make all the world to the ladies!)I feel like sunshine and:  good Listening to: family guy |
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Because the internet is made out of people: this was The Friday Telescreen 2009. These are the readers of warrenellis.com.
Thanks to all who sent in photos, and especial thanks to the three hundred people whose photos I just couldn’t fit in. Sorry. Next year I’ll do a weeklong thing again, and get everybody in.
Have a good weekend.
(Automatically crossposted from warrenellis.com. Feel free to comment here or at my internet church at Whitechapel. If anything in this post looks weird, it's because LJ is run on steampipes and rubber bands -- please click through to the main site.) |
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Because it watches you while you look at it. For the next hour or so, I present a selection of the readers of this website:
(Automatically crossposted from warrenellis.com. Feel free to comment here or at my internet church at Whitechapel. If anything in this post looks weird, it's because LJ is run on steampipes and rubber bands -- please click through to the main site.) |
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Because it watches you while you look at it. For the next couple of hours, I present a selection of the readers of this website:
(Automatically crossposted from warrenellis.com. Feel free to comment here or at my internet church at Whitechapel. If anything in this post looks weird, it's because LJ is run on steampipes and rubber bands -- please click through to the main site.) |
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Because it watches you while you look at it. For the next few hours, I present a selection of the readers of this website:
(Join in by sending a self-portrait to warrenellis@gmail.com.)
(Automatically crossposted from warrenellis.com. Feel free to comment here or at my internet church at Whitechapel. If anything in this post looks weird, it's because LJ is run on steampipes and rubber bands -- please click through to the main site.) |
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Because it watches you while you look at it. For the next few hours, I present a selection of the readers of this website:
(Join in by sending a self-portrait to warrenellis@gmail.com.)
(Automatically crossposted from warrenellis.com. Feel free to comment here or at my internet church at Whitechapel. If anything in this post looks weird, it's because LJ is run on steampipes and rubber bands -- please click through to the main site.) |
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Because it watches you while you look at it. For the next 24 hours or so, I present a selection of the readers of this website:
(Join in by sending a self-portrait to warrenellis@gmail.com.)
(Automatically crossposted from warrenellis.com. Feel free to comment here or at my internet church at Whitechapel. If anything in this post looks weird, it's because LJ is run on steampipes and rubber bands -- please click through to the main site.) |
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Because it watches you while you look at it. For the next 24 hours or so, I present a selection of the readers of this website:
(Join in by sending a self-portrait to warrenellis@gmail.com.)
(Automatically crossposted from warrenellis.com. Feel free to comment here or at my internet church at Whitechapel. If anything in this post looks weird, it's because LJ is run on steampipes and rubber bands -- please click through to the main site.) |
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Because it watches you while you look at it. For the next 24 hours or so, I present a selection of the readers of this website:
(Join in by sending a self-portrait to warrenellis@gmail.com.)
(Automatically crossposted from warrenellis.com. Feel free to comment here or at my internet church at Whitechapel. If anything in this post looks weird, it's because LJ is run on steampipes and rubber bands -- please click through to the main site.) |
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Because it watches you while you look at it. For the next 24 hours or so, I present a selection of the readers of this website:
(Join in by sending a self-portrait to warrenellis@gmail.com.)
(Automatically crossposted from warrenellis.com. Feel free to comment here or at my internet church at Whitechapel. If anything in this post looks weird, it's because LJ is run on steampipes and rubber bands -- please click through to the main site.) |
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Ariana got the shouting out of her system in re: whining about how making stuff and showing it to people is too hard.
Now she’s moved on to: how to start thinking about making a project.
…if the feedback I’m getting is any indication (and I’ve got comments disabled here because they don’t suit me, but I do pay attention to Twitter and I read everything on Whitechapel) — there are a LOT of you right. on. that. cusp. of taking the first step. So look, I know I’ve been giving you lot a hard time about “just getting it done,” but before I get into my list of Stuff What I Learned Working With POD sometime tomorrow, I wanna back up a step and talk to you.
Here’s what you need to do, right now, tonight. No, NOT tomorrow morning, or this weekend, or once your work rush has let off a little, or after the holidays, or sometime in the New Year: Right. Fucking. Now….
And from there to book-specific notes and observations about working with a POD system:
…how you go about putting your book together is completely up to you, and what you’re comfortable with. The Lulu templates will give you a bit less control over what the finished product looks like, but it’s a really good place for the people that are just starting out. Do you already understand why your inside margins need to be a titch wider than your outside? If that question just kinda terrified you: that’s all right, but you probably want to start with the templates. Trust me, your book is still going to be lovely, the important thing for you is just getting your content into a pretty and readable format.
And, today, the begininngs of how we run FREAKANGELS the way we do.
Wil’s been all over Ariana’s THIS IS HOW WE FIX SHIT WITH WRENCHES posts during this week, and has a distillation of what he’s taken from them at this link here:
This is incredibly inspiring to me, and I hope that it’s just as inspiring to indie artists everywhere. Why not take a creative risk and see if it works out? Unlike the old days, when we had to purchase a lot of stock ahead of time and hope we could sell it, we can just Get Excited and Make Things, knowing that the very worst that can happen is that nobody likes that thing we made as much as we thought they would…
(Automatically crossposted from warrenellis.com. Feel free to comment here or at my internet church at Whitechapel. If anything in this post looks weird, it's because LJ is run on steampipes and rubber bands -- please click through to the main site.) |
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Because it watches you while you look at it. For the next 24 hours or so, I present a selection of the readers of this website:
(Join in by sending a self-portrait to warrenellis@gmail.com.)
(Automatically crossposted from warrenellis.com. Feel free to comment here or at my internet church at Whitechapel. If anything in this post looks weird, it's because LJ is run on steampipes and rubber bands -- please click through to the main site.) |
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Because it watches you while you look at it. For the next 24 hours or so, I present a selection of the readers of this website:
(Join in by sending a self-portrait to warrenellis@gmail.com.)
(Automatically crossposted from warrenellis.com. Feel free to comment here or at my internet church at Whitechapel. If anything in this post looks weird, it's because LJ is run on steampipes and rubber bands -- please click through to the main site.) |
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Because it watches you while you look at it. For the next 24 hours or so, I present a selection of the readers of this website:
(Join in by sending a self-portrait to warrenellis@gmail.com.)
(Automatically crossposted from warrenellis.com. Feel free to comment here or at my internet church at Whitechapel. If anything in this post looks weird, it's because LJ is run on steampipes and rubber bands -- please click through to the main site.) |
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In which things start to break apart.
(Automatically crossposted from warrenellis.com. Feel free to comment here or at my internet church at Whitechapel. If anything in this post looks weird, it's because LJ is run on steampipes and rubber bands -- please click through to the main site.) |
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Because it watches you while you look at it. For the next 24 hours or so, I present a selection of the readers of this website:
(Join in by sending a self-portrait to warrenellis@gmail.com.)
(Automatically crossposted from warrenellis.com. Feel free to comment here or at my internet church at Whitechapel. If anything in this post looks weird, it's because LJ is run on steampipes and rubber bands -- please click through to the main site.) |
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