tankt

I was hooked from the moment I first heard FlyLo’s sound, and everything that’s followed only confirms that Steven Ellison is a highly imaginative and intuitive talent. His stuff just works on the most fundamental level, and even with his increasingly complex constructions, he never loses sight of each track’s heart.

I have always felt that his music had a cinematic quality to it, a vastness encapsulated into such endlessly satisfying bite-size vignettes. Perhaps it’s no surprise that Ellison studied film in school, or that his aunt is Alice Coltrane, married to the great John Coltrane. Oh, and, he’s signed to Warp Records, home of Squarepusher, Autechre, Aphex, Plaid, and more. The man has pedigree in spades!

I could point you to any one of the 17 tracks on his new album Los Angeles, but for me the one that truly stands above and beyond all others is “RobertaFlack (feat. Dolly).” The sparsely spaced rhythm track shines on its own, but that gives Ellison plenty of room to add Dolly’s beautiful voice for color and depth. And then he tops it off with the most unexpected breakdown at the end, so ridiculously sultry and seductive I could listen to those last 52 seconds on repeat for the rest of my life and die a very happy man:

And if you like that, you won’t want to miss the exquisite video for “Parisian Goldfish” — Dance Floor Dale — co-directed by none other than one of my old favorites Eric Fensler. Be warned, it’s not for the faint of heart.

I have listened to Squarepusher’s new album, Just a Souvenir, almost daily ever since its early release last month, but another one of Tom Jenkinson’s songs is front and center tonight due to a wonderful combination of recent events.

I can’t recall how or when I discovered Design Supremo, but I was instantly sold on the limited edition “Love Will Tear Us Apart” poster by Peter Crnokrak. Since there were only 30 available, and given my now notorious issues with currency conversions, I had to buy one. The idea is brilliant: map over 85 versions and covers of the classic Joy Division song by time and artist. The artwork is visually stunning from afar, and so intricately detailed up close, it’s no wonder that even the second version is now sold out too!

At any rate, mine sat safely in its tube for quite some time until Abby had it beautifully framed for my 35th birthday last month. Now it occupies a prime spot in our living room, just outside of Sawyer’s room. I find it difficult to pass without catching the melody in my head, and I realized the other day that it’s Squarepusher’s version, not the original:

I don’t know that this is a fair representation of the Squarepusher sound, but many of his signature elements are present if a bit subdued. I have much more to share from him in the coming days, including my favorite track from his new album, “A Real Woman.” It’s epic, absolutely epic.

Actually, this particular track is much more like the song of the week, as I have listened to it non-stop since first hearing it on Monday.

I subscribed to Flavorpill’s Earplug many years ago, and even though its relevance and timeliness is negligible, I keep it around for the random gem every now and then. Last week’s issue of Earplug is a perfect example as it had a link to three micromixes from the members of Animal Collective.

I owe a debt of gratitude to my brother Kevin for exposing me to AC, then insisting that I continue to listen to them in spite of not connecting at first. He is the reason I saw and loved them in concert (my pics and video). Needless to say, I saw the link and devoted the next few hours to pouring over their mixes.

For better or worse, I couldn’t get past the second song on Panda’s mix, and a little digging confirmed it was Davy Graham’s “Both Sides Now” from 1969:

I played it for Abby the next morning and she immediately pegged it as a remix of Joni Mitchell’s song by the same name, and one of her all-time favorites too. Mitchell’s lyrics are sublime, a taste:

Tears and fears and feeling proud
To say I love you right out loud
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds
I’ve looked at life that way

But now old friends are acting strange
They shake their heads, and say I’ve changed
Well somethings lost, but somethings gained
From living evry day

Graham’s version is decidedly more up-tempo, of course, and though I know so little about him I have yet to come across anything as spirited in his catalog. I am surprised Wes Anderson hasn’t put it in one of his soundtracks, it is a perfect match for his sound and the story fits with his fondness for life’s, and love’s, mysteries. Perhaps that’s just another reason it resonated so fully with me.

As an aside, I hope to do many more of these SOTD posts, perhaps even daily if all goes well. I don’t expect all of them to be so long-winded, but music has a way of touching so many parts of my life, and to ignore any single one of them paints a much less complete picture.

Not only is “Figured me out” my favorite song on the new Jamie Lidell album, it’s also my favorite memory from his live show. I have searched high and low (YouTube, natch) for a clip of decent quality, but I haven’t been able to find anything. Luckily this clip from the Jimmy Kimmel show came my way this morning:

Unfortunately the bit with Andre Vida, and the inspiration for the title of this post, is much shorter than I remember but it’s still more than worth sharing. Truthfully, Andre deserves a post of his own since he not only plays two saxophones at once, he also invented the Vidatone that he plays with his voice in the clip above. Amazing.

Even after seeing him perform on four separate occasions, I still can’t wait to see Jamie again. If you ever get a chance to see him too, please make sure you do!

…let alone the “Arcadia” song itself, and it’s been out for well over half a year now. This is the older Morr Music sound I so dearly love, with a dash of Thom Yorke gone solo too. It’s both organic and mechanic.

I found the song first, after buying two tickets to see Akron/Family in San Francisco a few weeks ago. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Ticketmaster now rewards you for paying double for your ticket with a free download from iTunes. I had long since given up on the iTMS, since I detest the terms of engagement and poor sound quality (always puffed up to sound ‘better’ on those flimsy white headphones), but two free songs were enough to get me interested, so off I went to find something new.

Obviously, I was hooked in an instant, and I listened to this song over and over again (along with the other one I downloaded at the same time, which is good, but not nearly as memorable). And then I found the video:

I don’t know that I’ve ever seen anything as haunting, nor initially as off-putting, but I sat transfixed as I watched it. I am in awe of what people can do with illustration and animation, but rarely see both done so well at once. Organic and mechanic, again, and the results are stunning.

I’m not convinced this particular imagery is the perfect fit for the song, but since I’m genetically incapable of deciphering lyrics on my own, I can only point to what I feel in the song. And in that regard, there’s a certain soaring quality held back with a muted melancholy, and it’s this dichotomy that gives the song its tension and suspense.

There’s a beauty in both the song and the video, even if it remains unfulfilled in the end. But that’s what kept me listening to the song again and again, and now keeps me watching the video just as often. And I suppose that fact alone makes the video a worthy companion to the song.

That’s how I feel about tankt right now.
Too many other more enticing ideas on my mind:

• I wanna see who. (Not really sure how.)
• Building and simultaneously demolishing grids.
• User vs. Designer vs. Developer. And the astonishing difference in my expectations depending on my current position.
• Apathy, decency, and subtlety. Fuck ‘em.
• The future. It’s about time.
• Too many tees. (They’re a walking banner ad.)
• You say you want a revolution. Get up. Stand up. Save your own damn self. Take the time to think.
• Is it feathers on a bird or lotsa different chickens?
• Machines for living.
• Embrace the glitch.
• Fragments. Bridges. Limited editions. 10” wax presses. Social mixes. Unconventional remixes. Oh, and a Truitt / Brown collaboration known as TruBro. Is that offensive?
• Outside.in in Brooklyn. Warp Records in London. Family in Ohio. Three in San Francisco.

And,

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

- Steve Jobs

What was once and always ‘all in my head’ is now ready to see the light of day. Like branches on a tree, some will thrive, while others whither and die. It matters not which is which, merely that they exist.

The rich tapestry of life seems especially so these days. After several years of deep and difficult introspection, I feel whole again, and stronger than ever. I am loved and loving more than I ever thought possible. I (really, we) feed and sustain me.

I am grateful for my lot in life, truly blessed, and finally prepared to share it with the world, not for gain or glory, but for the chance to make new connections, gain new experiences, and maybe just get a little closer to a deeper understanding of the world.

As always, more soon.

Today is the very last day of March, as I realized earlier this morning, which means that today is my very last chance to sustain my streak of posting at least once each month since May of 2007. Of course, I began 2008 as ambitiously as ever, with even loftier goals for myself, hoping to post to either one of my blogs at least once each day, but that quickly faded. So what happened? In a word, life. In another, love.

After so many years of living almost exclusively in my head — long and lonely commutes, brutal brain-draining work, and little time in between to barely breathe let alone heal — my wife and I gave birth to Sawyer, our bouncing baby boy. Abby was so in tune with her body and our baby during the pregnancy that even I was able to move into my own. It was a time to be, not think, and it worked wonders for me. I have never felt so alive.

Naturally, blogging has taken a backseat here — those first two months are killer — while I do occasionally post on Sawyer’s blog, I have hardly been standing still. I continue to work with this notion of doing from the being place, not the thinking place, and have begun to see an incredible shift in my life. Surprisingly, my dreams and aspirations haven’t changed, but my approach to them has, and now the idea of dwelling in and writing more about a “world of me” now seems wholly uninteresting, even to me!

Long story short, this post marks a turning point, not the first and certainly not the last, but definitely a sea change. What was once a blog all about me will soon become less declarative and more inclusive. I may be the beginning, but the story will no longer end with me — I want to open doors not shut them with my old “here’s how I see it and you should too” attitude.

In that spirit, I would like to close with an excellent new track from Beckett and Taylor, one of whom I have written about before, called “World of Me” — it truly is the perfect bridge between these two worlds:

Come play with me. The more I think about it, that might just be my new tagline…

Hot damn!! Both the song itself and its video are even better than I could have possibly imagined, or wished. Here’s an easy prediction: Jamie Lidell will be everywhere in 2008. I bet my parents will be listening to him before long (likely if I buy them his new album) and I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends on up Letterman too. This is huge.

btw, a comment on the YouTube page says that he’s backed by Beck’s band here. Anyone know for sure?

From here on out, if and when something so momentous comes to pass and I haven’t mentioned it on this blog, please send me an email or reach me through the contact page.

Joy Division too?!!

I don’t know that I have ever seen a band have so much fun making music. Amazing. Simply amazing.

So says Hannah, just nine years old, when asked why she uses LimeWire to download free music to her mp3 player. Which, of course, reminds me of my all-time favorite Homer Simpson quote: “If God didn’t want us to eat animals, why did he make them out of meat?”

Honestly, how can you argue with either one?

(via kottke)