All Muxed Up

Since the Internet at large is going all ga-ga over this Muxtape business today, I figured I’d try it out. It’s pretty awesome. A little quirky and slim on features for the moment, but definitely useful, and if it improves as promised, I can see it becoming an internet fixture. Assuming it doesn’t become too big for it’s own good first.

Anyways, I threw together a muxtape featuring music I’ve made, in bands or on my own, over the last 8 years or so. I don’t have any music available from my first band from high school, Leviathan, or I would have a track from each of our releases (So What? and Alarmingly Stylish) up. I don’t have any tracks from my old (possibly resurrected) electronic duo Car Stereo Destroys Michael Bolton Tape either. But other than that, there’s something from pretty much all my musical projects represented here. The post-Leviathan indie rock band Superficial Hero, the solo 4-track project The Sigmund Fraud, my electronic project Miniature Airlines, and even a (thankfully) unreleased rehearsal track from the short-lived three piece The One Two Three Foes. It’s roughly chronological, and it’s a wide range of stuff, from tape-hissy demos, to full band recordings and all-digital creations.

Maybe someday I’ll get ambitious and track down some Leviathan material, rip some cassette recordings, and make it truly representative of my musical “career”. Until then, enjoy what’s there.

Welcome to the Apocalypse

IMG_5172, originally uploaded by successless.

This photo doesn’t really do it justice, but the end of the world took place on Saturday night.

My house was overrun with fallout refugees, zombie killers, and plague victims. The only recourse was to drink copious amounts of alcohol and hone our survival skills through minigames.

When it was determined that we were skilled enough to survive, we left the comfort of our temporary shelter and descended upon the nearby Buckaroo Tavern for more supplies and reinforcements, paying no mind to the curious stares of the poor unfortunate souls who didn’t realize it was all over.

Armageddon ended with yellow cake (the edible kind, not the radioactive kind), cartoons, and much needed sleep. Then we woke up, and everything was back to normal. Mostly.

A Week In The Dark

I just finished my first week of work at my new job. It was hectic and stressful, but not because of the job itself. More so because my key broke off in my ignition on what was supposed to be my third day. What seemed like a simple matter for a locksmith to deal with turned into an ongoing ordeal involving a new ignition, a $1000 bill, a bus trip from Redmond on Friday night, and a lost day of work. Things start looking up, and something has to come along and rain on the parade, I suppose. Hopefully I’ll get my car back today.

On a more positive note, I’m really enjoying the new Hot Chip album. Almost as much as the new Why? album. And I’m still wrapping my head around the new Autechre. Every time one of their albums comes out, it takes repeated listening over several weeks to really get inside it and understand what’s happening, musically and technically. By the time my copy of the limited edition version arrives, I should be ready to take on the bonus disc…just in time to go see them in April.

As for now though, I’m gonna watch some participatory democracy in action at the Central Library, then do some relaxing and try to forget the whole car ordeal. Music will probably help. So will red wine.

End of an Error

I’m a free man. I walked out of my workplace for the last time this afternoon. The job that I took essentially out of desperation, three months into a brutal streak of unemployment, is done. Over. No more. The mismanagement, lack of work, poorly thought out assignments, and gopher work? All done. I made it out just short of my one year anniversary, which is still longer than I would have liked.

And so, I gave myself a five day weekend before starting my new job.

About that: it’s a $5 and hour raise. But there is a commute. I’ll be working in the Belly of The Beast. Well, maybe not the belly, but something close to the belly. More like the Pancreas of The Beast, really.

All in all, things are looking up.

*Headdesk*

Oh man, this is probably the most astute takedown of Sony’s plan to renounce DRM you could possibly read. I mean, you see a headline that reads something like “Last Major Label Holdout Ditches DRM” and think it must be a good thing, right? Then you read their actual plan, and it’s like your forehead is involuntarily drawn towards your desk at an excessive velocity. Thud! Idiots! Is it even physically possible to have a lesser understanding of your market?

Ich Sein Nicht Ein Berliner

I shouldn’t be here right now.

I should be approximately 5,050 miles away, in Berlin. I should be staying at the Backpax hostel, preparing for a completely debauched and raucous celebration of the New Year. I should finally have a stamp in my new passport, the one that was supposed to be stamped in France earlier this year, on the trip I never ended up taking. I should be visiting the Bauhaus Design Archives, Checkpoint Charlie, the Gainsbourg Lounge, The Holocaust Museum, Karl Marx Allee, Potsdammer Platz. I should be taking notes on cool records shops, cafes, bars, and clubs in my Moleskine City Notebook that I got for Christmas. I should be buying a train ticket to Poland, for a trip through the Polish countryside into Krakov.

This year was apparently not my year to visit Europe though.

I’m disappointed for sure, especially since the reasons I couldn’t make it are so banal and stupid. But it just gives me extra reason to make my way over there during 2008. Look out…

Best News I’ve Heard This Week

I really hope this story is true. I saw the stage production of C.D. Payne’s Youth In Revolt back in Santa Rosa, after reading the book (multiple times). It was a tiny little show that only touched on the first chunk of the rather large and engrossing story, and the no-budget production with age-inappropriate actors didn’t exactly leave me thrilled. But  Michael Cera would be perfect for the part of Nick Twisp, so as long as there’s a decent director involved, this should be good. Hopefully Hollywood doesn’t fuck this one up.

Fear of a Black MacBook

IMG_4956, originally uploaded by successless.

I think that my first foray into the realm of Consumer Credit has been fruitful indeed. Merry Xmas to me.

Daedelus @ Nectar

When Daedelus came through town last year, on tour with Caural, he ended up playing a pretty sparsely attended show on a Sunday night at Chop Suey, and despite the lack of bodies in the room, he turned out an excellent, high energy set. I wasn’t sure how this show would turn out; the day before Thanksgiving, one of the worst travel days of the year, bitterly cold. There were plenty of reasons for people to skip out on this show, and it would’ve been pretty shitty for an artist as talented as Daedelus to play two consecutively undersold shows in Seattle.

I was pleasantly surprised when the main floor at Nectar started to fill up during the opening DJ set. I didn’t catch the name of the DJ, but his set of quirky hip-hop and electro was a nice intro to the evening. By the time AntiMC took the stage, the venue was getting to be well filled out. Sadly, AntiMC didn’t really keep the momentum of the evening going, with an uninspiring but mercifully short set of aimless hip-hop instrumentals

But the room was packed when Daedelus took the stage, armed with a  laptop, a controller keyboard, and his famous Monome prototype, a “machine that runs on good will, so make some noise, as the hip-hop kids say.”

Noise was certainly made. He kicked his set of with a reinterpretation of “Pure Imagination,” from the Charlie & the Chocolate Factory soundtrack, and then proceeded to burn through 45 minutes of loopy hip-hop built around samples from old movie scores, samba beats, acid bass, and assorted sonic detritus. It was a similar set to the one he played last year, but way more refined and confident. He’s got his Monome set-up down cold, and plays it like an old familiar instrument. It’s great seeing live electronic music performed with such gusto, and in a way that’s somewhat accessible, exposing some degree of the inner workings to the audience. Definitely cuts down on the “he’s just checking his e-mail up there” jeering from the rock kids.

We didn’t even bother sticking around for Busdriver. He’s good, but I don’t think he could have topped Daedelus that night (as one audience member yelled, before Daedelus’ encore: “I came for Busdriver, but I was wrong!”). And I wasn’t looking forward to hearing AntiMC doing the backing beats. Oh well, it was definitely a worthwhile show, even without seeing the supposed headliner.

The People’s Republic

I’m finally getting settled in (and leeching some wireless from the nearby Cafe Vitta) to my new home in the People’s Republic of Fremont…

Oh wait. I suppose I should back up and tell my loyal audience I’ve moved. That’s right. I actually signed the lease the night before the Maui trip, and finally moved in my bed and other possessions last weekend. It was the easiest move ever in terms of physical labor, in case you were wondering. And yet it was rather difficult in other ways.

You may have noticed I didn’t say “we” moved, or “our” new place. That’s because Serene is still living in our old place in Capitol Hill, with the erstwhile Freckles to keep her company.

Now don’t get your hopes up, potential suitors. Nobody broke up with anybody, and nobody’s planning to. Though the most common reaction is skepticism, we’ve embarked upon this experiment as a way to fix the parts of our relationship that are in need of a little fixing. It’s the “catastrophe keeps us together” school of problem solving, I suppose. And yes, it’s working quite well so far. Thanks for asking.

Not that it’s necessarily any of y’alls business. But there you go.

The new place though, is coming along great. It’s in a perfect location, with all amenities within walking distance. Neighborhood dive bar? Check! Coffee shop? Check! Indie grocery? Roger that! Eclectic video store? Loud and clear! All that, and my roommate and I are both an amazingly short distance from our respective places of employment. You couldn’t ask for a lot more from a home.

Anyhow. That’s the current events. Stay tuned.