Return of The Top 5

1. The Return of Oscillate (Chop Suey, April 22nd)

I didn’t actually make it out to this event, but it’s return is quite welcome. The long running experimental electronic night is a much needed alternative to the prevalence of dance-oriented electronic music events in Seattle. I’ll definitely be paying attention to future line-ups at this monthly.

2. No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

The Coen Brothers movie was a fantastic, atypical thriller that helped expand the vocabulary of cinematic expense, while frustrating moviegoers expecting a straightforward resolution. It turns out the adaptation was incredibly faithful, thought there’s something about McCarthy’s sparse prose that accentuates the methodical amorality of Chigurgh. You never get inside his head, but you don’t need to, and you wouldn’t understand him any better if you did.

3. Korg DS-10 for Nintendo DS

What could possibly make the Nintendo DS, a portable video game system with innovative control elements like a touchscreen, microphone input, and dual displays, even better? How about a full-fledged modular synthesizer, drum machine, and step sequencer modeled on the Korg MS-10 hardware synth, all in one convenient cartridge? With plenty of memory for saving preset sounds and patterns, my Nintendo DS is now a secondary portable music studio.

4. Moth/Wolf Cub by Burial and Four Tet (Warp Records)

No artwork (well, black on black artwork, which might as well be no artwork). No previews online. No tracklisting. No advance copies. Two of the most unique producers around join forces for one super limited edition split vinyl release that sold out in no time at all. Yes, this is on my top 5 even though I haven;t seen or heard it. But I’m anxiously awaiting the appearance of the vinyl rip. Preferably in FLAC format…fingers crossed.

5. Food Lifeline

I spent a few hours here on Saturday, helping sort 2,500 pounds of frozen carrots into 3 pound baggies with a group of Virginia Tech alums. This non-profit turns 95% of it’s donations into food that it distributes to the needy and hungry of Western Washington on a daily basis, with the help of volunteer groups and donations from grocery stores and food producers. Last year they gave out 21 million pounds of food from a variety of sources. They have a letter carriers food drive coming up, and there are other ways individuals can help out.

The Top 5

1. My Tax Return

Bling bling, y’all.

2. Fell – Fermé Ferme

A new full length album from Seattle’s John McCaig (for these keeping track, he was the mastering engineer on the first two Miniature Airlines releases, and also hosted this site on PanicNow, back in the day). This album is filled with rich, unique sounds, including idiosyncratic processed drums and monophonic synthesis, and it’s soon to be available in lossless FLAC format, for the low low price of $8.99.

3. Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon

Thomas Pynchon’s next novel, the follow up to the sprawling 1,000+ page epic Against the Day, is a relatively sprightly 384 page detective novel. For those keeping track, that makes it his second shortest novel, just behind the brief Crying of Lot 49 and nowhere near the massive heft of Mason & Dixon or Gravity’s Rainbow. Of course, the brevity does not guarantee the new book will be straightforward; nothing Pynchon has ever written fits that description. Fans of literature both dense and delirious should note the date August 4th on their calendar, and be at their local bookstore for this release.

4. 214 live at Broken Disco (Chop Suey, April 17th)

At the latest installment of Seattle’s best electronic music night, the main dance floor was nearly empty early in the evening, with the sole exception being one young woman in flapper-esque clothing dancing in the center of the room as a handful of heads bobbed to the beat. How can this be you ask? The simple answer is that the real party was not on the main floor, but in the so-called make-out lounge, where Seattle-based prodcuer 214 was laying down some seriously intricate, yet still groove worthy music, somewhere in the no man’s land between IDM, electro, and minimal techno. And the kids who came out that night were eating it up, myself included.

5. Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban  by J.K. Rowling

Yes, I am only just now getting around to reading the Harry Potter books. And I have to say that this has been my favorite one so far. Maybe that has something to with the fact that I saw the first two movies before reading any of the books, or maybe it’s just that this book has the perfect balance of light whimsy and dark intrigue. I’m now on a deadline; I’m going to need to finish Books 4, 5 and 6 before the next movie hits theatres, as well a catch up on the other movies.

Junior Boys & Max Tundra @ Neumo’s

The first thing I noticed about Ben Jacobs, the man better known as Max Tundra, was how incredibly short he was.  I caught my first glimpse of him as he strolled across the main floor at Neumo’s last night, to go hang out at the merch table before his show started, short enough that he was barely noticed by the still-thin crowd. Maybe that has something to do with his larger than life, ADD stage show. For one man with a few keyboards and assorted toy instruments, he sure did command attention.

The music on his three full-length albums is composed with the aid of Amiga computers, outdated samplers, and an assortment of musical oddities, from melodica to Moog, then topped with his voice (and once in a while, his sister Becky’s). It’s dense, spastic, ADD-inspired pop that can’t keep still, and doesn’t leave so much as a 16th note of rest, yet still retains a bewildering accessibility. It would be impossible to re-create these compositions live, without hiring a rather large band of rather talented musicians, ones who could keep up with his off-kilter rhythmic sense and non-traditional arrangements, so instead he relies on prerecorded backing tracks, and lot of personality.

As soon as the first note of his live set started, he was off, twitching his arms and bouncing around the stage uncontrollably, snapping back into position at the mic whenever it was time to deliver some lyrics. This sort of quirky, bouncy pop isn’t exactly what I would expect before Junior Boys, but it definitely works. Leaning heavily on his new album, Parallax Error Beheads You, but drawing on material from all three full lengths, he kept the crowd bouncing and laughing, despite some regrettable sound issues. Is Neumo’s trying to convert their bass bins into sonic weapons for military use? For the most part, it wasn’t too bad, just extra loud and fuzzy in the low end, but the bass-heavy track “The Entertainment” suffered the most from the sternum-rattling pulse of low end. He finished up with a cover of “Goodbye, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen Adieu”, and then departed for the merch table, to sell limited edition downloadable versions of his record packaged with a can of soup. Seriously.

Now normally, it would be tough to follow up an act like Max Tundra, but Junior Boys benefited from being 1) incredibly popular (the entire dancefloor and balcony were packed to capacity by the time their set started) and 2) extremely tight. Augmenting their synthpop with a live drummer, the band played through pristine renditions of some of their best material, bringing a huge cheer when they closed out their main set with “In The Morning”, and drove the dancers into a slow-burn frenzy during their encore with the long krautrock crescendo of “Under The Sun”. The only song I was hoping to hear that they skipped over was “Bits & Pieces” “Dull to Pause” [Thanks for the correction, Donna!] from the new album, Begone Dull Care. Even with this omission though, their set was satisfying and fun, if not as innovative a spectacle as Mr. Tundra’s opening set.

The Top 5

1. Doodle Jump (iPhone/iPod Touch game, Lima Sky)

The game industry is continually rushing forward, adding more pixels, more polygons, bigger levels, more interaction, higher framerates…But it’s addictive simplicity that makes the most classic games what they are. Doodle Jump has exactly two controls. Tilt your iPod to change the direction your character bounces, and tap the screen to shoot a pellet towards the top of the screen. It’s a continuous world of platforms and squiggly bacteria-like monsters drawn on lined paper that gets progressively more challenging, and constantly changes. Like Tetris, it takes seconds to understand, and stays challenging the longer you play. The cute, hand-drawn aesthetic adds to the charm, making it both accessible, and irresistible.

2. The Beatles Remasters (Capitol/EMI Records, 9/9/09)

This one has been coming a long time, and it’s interesting that it’s coming at the very end of the CD era, as many have noted. Will it sell? Will it matter? Will anyone still care, beyond the aging boomers and the first generation of post-60s kids who were raised on the legacy of the albums, at a distance? Is this a last minute cash-grab, rushed out so there was still a possibility of making some money by selling a physical artifact containing music? Will it be a victim of the loudness wars, overmastered into a brittle, bright, squarewave butcher job? News about the actual process is encouraging, but we shall see…

3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs: It’s Blitz (Interscope/DGC/Dress Up)

I’ve been lukewarm on this band for a while: some superb singles, and some lackluster filler. Their previous album, Show Your Bones, didn’t do much for me, so I sort of wrote them off. But It’s Blitz kicks off with a stunning dance-pop track, and doesn’t quit. Softshock in particular does it the right way, with driving electronics and a delicate synth line backing Karen O’s forceful delivery. It’s different than their previous, punkier material, with an added sheen that emphasizes their strengths.

4. La Jetée (Chris Marker, 1962)

This French short film, constructed almost entirely from still photographs and voiceover, was the inspiration for Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys, one of my favorite sci-fi films. Gilliam grabbed most of the plot, fleshed it out an various ways, and changed some of the details, but kept the sense of doomed romance that makes this so compelling. La Jetée provides the thematic core of one of the smartest time travel movies around.

5. Rachel Maddow & Ana Marie Cox on Tea Bagging (The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC)

The only thing I laughed at while sick on Friday. Just watch it.

The Top 5

1. Gui Boratto: “Take My Breath Away” from Take My Breath Away (Kompakt, 2009)

http://www.kompakt.fm/releases/take_my_breath_away

As I mentioned in my year-end music list , I’m not a big fan of straight-ahead dance music (see the entry for Deadmau5: Random Album Title) . But sometimes, I hear something that grabs my ear, and this track is one of those occasions. The lead sound is lovely, just slightly dirty and drifting in and out of tune; the whole track rises and falls in a very human way. You can listen to this album on Kompakt’s website (linked above), in the player on the right hand side.

2. The Limits of Control trailer (Jim Jarmusch, Focus Features 2009)

http://www.apple.com/trailers/focus_features/thelimitsofcontrol/

I have heard absolutely nothing about this film, but just ran across the trailer, and I think it’s my most anticipated movie of the year. Nothing Jim Jarmusch does s straight-forward, and this assassination thriller looks like no exception. This looks like it will be just as languid, deliberate, and perplexing as his other work, and I can’t help but see the parallels between the protagonist and the filmmaker, both exploring the limits of (self?) control and restraint.

3. Wasabi Grilled Cheese at Bleu Bistro: 202 Broadway E, Seattle WA

http://www.bleubistro.com/

I don’t think I can even count the number of times I’ve been told I should experience this. The reputation of the Wasabi Grilled Cheese sandwich is legendary, and yet, even though I’d been to the semi-secret offshoot of Bleu known as Chez Gaudy, I had never tried this until Tuesday. This sandwich certainly lives up to expectations. I paired mine with a Kentucky Handjob (Bourbon, Amaretto, and Sprite).

4. Volcano Coffee (Trader Joe’s)

This is what’s getting me out of bed in the morning. A Super Dark roast coffee from Trader Joe’s, grown on a mountain in Nicaragua. It comes as whole beans in a can, and when you open the foil seal, you can see the oil glistening on the beans. This stuff is rocket fuel coffee, but it’s also not overly bitter. My favorite!

5. Wil Wheaton

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wil_Wheaton

I saw him read for the second time this year at Emerald City ComiCon, and I have to say, I have a lot of respect for him. I don’t read his blog, or follow him on Twitter. I haven’t read any of his books, and I’m not a Star Trek obsessive. But every time I’ve seen him speak, he’s riveting, and totally engages his audience. He’s absolutely adored by his fans, but he never lets it seem like he’s above them. It’s a rare thing for a celebrity (even a relatively minor celebrity) to connect with their fans on their level, without condescending or pandering, and he pulls it off with aplomb. He’s smart and funny, and totally not a dick, which is good since his number one rule is, apparently, Don’t Be A Dick.

Upcoming: The Top 5

I’ve been a bad blogger lately. Update frequency has dropped to a trickle, and it’s not for lack of anything to write about. It’s more like lack of time and motivation, or lack of purpose. But I’m going to do something about that.

On an old iteration of this site design, i had a short list in the sidebar titled “The Top 5″. It was a periodically updated list of 5 things, not necessarily related in anyway, that I was currently liking, experiencing, thinking about, consuming, or whatever. No commentary, no context, just 5 things. I’m going to revive that feature, but expand it.

The new Top 5 will be a weekly blog post, with 5 short thoughts about 5 somethings. They may be links to interesting articles I’ve read, videos I’ve viewed, or songs I’ve listened to. They may be short anecdotes or reviews of places and events. Whenever possible, I will be embedding or linking something in the post, to help you share the experience that prompted the items inclusion on the current list. sometimes, the items will be thematically linked, or will all relate to some particular concept. sometimes they’ll be completely random.

I haven’t decided on a schedule for this post yet, but I’ll probably be drafting it throughout the week, and posting it sometime during the weekend. Cubicle dwellers should check the site on Monday mornings to see the new list, the impatient and Internet-addicted should subscribe to my RSS feed to see it post immediately.

Now I’m off to start drafting my first Top 5. Hopefully you’ll be seeing it soon.