Eran Mukamel

the opposite of the 49ers game

2012-01-22T15:47:00.000-08:00

We saw Yo-Yo Ma, which is the opposite of watching the 49ers game.An Asian person playing a stringed instrument--yeah, that's real original. (Actually, it's kind of interesting that there are lots of Asian cello players and violin players--but very few Asian viola players. Also, Asian parents try to get their children to play these instruments, but probably get all mad when their children

random thoughts

2012-01-20T16:41:00.000-08:00

I find the phrase "performed by" weird in the context of a music video (Many record companies use this on YouTube, for example.), because that's not really how music videos work.Igudesman and Joo have, as part of their A Little Nightmare Music show, a joke about Sergei Rachmaninoff's having big hands. Rainer Hersch claims that this is ripped off from his "Piano Sticks" bit (which aired on

nerds

2012-01-17T01:22:00.000-08:00

Tickets for this sold out really quickly--I was out of town (sans computer)--and my friends weren't able to get tickets.I'd be willing to bet that nerds wrote scripts to snatch these tickets up.I don't really understand why when there's clearly going to be such high demand--they don't just jack up the price in the first place. I get the idea that there are certain reasons you don't want to do

random thoughts

2012-01-10T15:27:00.000-08:00

It's kind of weird when people are adults and listen to a lot of rock music--I guess I do to, but you'd think that after this many decades you'd get sick of it--because, let's be honest, not that many pop musicians are inventive. I guess the alternative is that you weren't cool enough to listen to that much music when you were a kid (sort of like how people who didn't drink in high school go way

i got die zauberflöte (i know if i can hit once, i can hit twice)

2011-12-27T20:30:00.000-08:00

Actually, the idea of a magic flute is a total rip-off of Super Mario Bros 3.There are a few sequels, like The Mystical Piccolo and The Kind of Special TS-808.I'd like to see a story in which someone goes to rescue a captive princess in hopes of marrying her, but when he finds her, he learns that she's super huge fat.It's weird that the Queen of the Night is able to give people magical objects

feeling cultured

2011-12-24T19:36:00.000-08:00

For some reason, watching the (replay of the) BET Awards makes me feel totally cultured.Busta Rhymes shouldn't have shaved off his dreads, because they drew attention away from the fact that he's now kind of a fat guy.When multiple people are nominated multiple times in a category, maybe you have fewer nominees--unless, I guess, you're doing it Oscars-style.In one category, Chris Brown won,

random thoughts

2011-12-24T16:04:00.001-08:00

The weird thing about Ace of Base (who apparently reunited, with two new chicks) is that, of the other other two, the guy named "Buddha" is not the fat one. He's Joker.I want to sample a song, but start in the middle of the measure, just to fuck with people.The main advance of EDM in the last ten years was they figured out to fiddle with the knobs on the subtractive synth while you are playing

nadia ali recap

2011-12-18T03:31:00.000-08:00

My friend was having trouble scalping his extra ticket at the Nadia Ali concert because it was a singleton. I thought he should buy another one off someone else, and then sell the pair.As it turns out, right in front of the bouncer is a bad place to scalp a ticket. But he was cool about it and said, "Dude, don't do that in front of me."I hate when they just take the whole ticket, because like

random thoughts

2011-12-17T14:20:00.000-08:00

I think it's particularly retarded that pop musicians will often take phrases that are the titles of (or from) other works (like "Einstein on the Beach") but use them in ways that don't actually address the original context of the phrase (i.e., the original work).I get the whole sampling thing, but just flat out singing/yelling over another song is kind of stupid.As much as I make fun of people,

random thoughts

2011-12-03T13:42:00.001-08:00

They should make a mash-up that goes, "In the ghetto, the mighty ghetto, the lion sleeps tonight."It's weird that earbuds are so popular, because so is hair that wouldn't be messed up by regular headphones.Whenever I hear Killing Me Softly wiht His Song (Atlantic), I have the urge to blurt out, "Two times!"I'd like to hear an artist get described as "like T-Pain but more cerebral."Um, isn't the

random thoughts

2011-11-08T17:01:00.000-08:00

They should make that song White Rabbit (RCA) the national anthem of San Francisco. Actually, White Rabbit (RCA) would have been even more eerily druggy if it turend out that they hadn't heard of Alice in Wonderland when they wrote it.It's kind of transparent when a band or artist covers a previously established song, but clearly arranges it compensate for someone's lack of talent.I want to

random thoughts

2011-10-22T11:02:00.001-07:00

I'm not sure how old is too old to still be trying to make it, but I think this girl I know may have passed it. (My suspicion is that if you're talking about, e.g., Pearl Jam as one of your favorite bands, you might be a little bit too old--but probably not so old that it's unreasonable to think you might not be.)I think her parents still encourage her, which I think is probably because they

random thoughts

2011-10-05T00:56:00.000-07:00

That song Harper Valley PTA (Plantation) is actually pretty catty (It's also kind of funny and apt that the label is called that.)--actually, a lot of songs that girls sing are.It does seem that a lot of people become (indie) music nerds to compensate for lack in other areas. That's probably why indie music nerd girls are fewer and further between.It's weird that Chris Robinson used to fuck Kate

lovevolution afterparty

2011-09-25T04:13:00.000-07:00

I feel that "LovEvolution" should do away with one of the 'v's, e.g., "Lovolution".Is it okay to go to the afterparty if you didn't attend the party?That Laidback Luke character is actually not that laid-back. It's false advertising and/or someone needs to slip him an Ambien.I actually just realized: the popularity of trance in San Francisco probably is not unrelated to the density of Asian

random thoughts

2011-09-18T15:56:00.000-07:00

In retrospect, I would describe that band Extreme as extremely Bostonian in the sense of trying to be too cerebral for their own good. Also, I can't believe they had a hit song about a patent foramen ovale (A&M).Metallica is a famously "angry" band, but they're from San Francisco, so it's not clear to me about what they're angry. Usually when people in San Francisco are angry, it's because of

random thoughts

2011-09-05T17:39:00.000-07:00

I think pop songs become popular based on catchiness and, in most cases, the actually lyrical content of the song is incidental. In fact, that's precisely the point of propaganda music, like patriotic songs and jingle.Historically, people have stopped acquiring new music as they pass the age of ~twenty-six or so. The rate at which people slow their interest in new music does appaer to be

random thoughts

2011-08-22T19:06:00.000-07:00

It's not that Bell Biv DeVoe still exist; it's more like they exist again due to the market for nostalgia. The problem with music magazines--the kind targeted at musicians--is that they make it seem like a lot of successful popular music is made by trial-and-error; it's combinatorial. I appreciate that editing--deciding which of the things you create are good--is a big part of the process, but

random thoughts

2011-08-11T10:03:00.000-07:00

If people riot in protest of their not showing EDC The Movie, the won't know what to do! A couple of my friends went to Jay-Z's retirement concert (at the time, I had just driven three hours in the other direction across Los Angeles, so when they called me, I was like, um, I don't really feel like driving back); I wonder how their (memory of the) experience was marred by Jay-Z coming back out of

random thoughts

2011-08-02T21:36:00.000-07:00

I don't see why indie bands insist on making music that sounds exactly alike. If I had to identify a sound as the sound of menstruation, I'd guess it was Kate Bush. If you have a band, the demographics of your audience have more to do with the demographics of the members of the band, not history of the band itself. I.e., even though people generally stop trying to find new music after a

i heard amy winehouse died-- was it you?

2011-07-30T10:49:00.000-07:00

It's probably too soon to comment on this, so I forward-dated this entry a week. (I.e., it will appear a week after I've written it.)But if you had Amy Winehouse in your dead pool, then you won.Currently, her cause of death is "as yet unexplained," but I don't think it's going to be that much of a surprise. (Of course she was an alcoholic; it says so in her name.) Actually, I think Amanda Knox

random thoughts

2011-07-28T11:10:00.000-07:00

I'm very fascinated by how unabashedly exurban Dev is.It's also interesting to me that the frontperson for this kind of music, it's not clear what exactly the skill is--these are people who are not particularly good singers, rappers, dancers or lyricists, nor do they actually write or produce the music or are they that hot. (I would probably argue that, e.g., MIA also fits into that category,

random thoughts

2011-07-24T01:04:00.000-07:00

I'm assuming they were watching American Beauty right before they wrote Katy Perry's Firework (Capitol)? It's sort of like a serious version of Lonely Island's Jack Sparrow (Universal).I'm scared to download rap music, because I'm afraid the rapper might come and kill me.There's a cover band called "Led Zeppelin 2," which strikes me as really lazy.You might think of rap collabos as an easy way

random thoughts

2011-07-20T15:39:00.001-07:00

Technology has advanced (and the field of electric guitar has matured) the point where sounding interesting as a guitarist is by buying lots of gear, rather than by actually learning to play well.I don't feel guilty about pirating music from Chinese artists.I think the reason I dislike punk rock so much is that these snotty kids are actually proud of the fact that they don't know how to play

on audiophiles

2011-07-20T00:28:00.001-07:00

Apparently, according to Wikipedia there's a debate about whether Bose's audio equipment is high-end, or whether their pricing is held up largely by marketing and hype. I was always under the assumption that Bose wasn't for audiophiles--that was never the point--it's conspicuous consumption. You buy it because it's expensive, and you can show off how much you spent--sort of like buying a Rolex.

opera man, bye-bye

2011-07-13T20:44:00.001-07:00

I watched a screening of a performance at The Met of Donizetti's La fille du régiment (which, by the way, was a total rip-off of Annie). The funny thing is that, at the beginning, the French army was actually pretty ethnically diverse, which bothered me a little bit. And then I realized, wait a second, I'm watching a military regiment do a choreographed dance number, so surely I can suspend my

random thoughts

2011-07-12T12:59:00.000-07:00

If they haven't already, they should print T-shirts that read "I [Prince symbol] PRINCE."I think I've figured out the appeal of progressive rock: for a while now, it's been the only pop music that hasn't been damaged by irony.Chingy is actually named after the I Ching.Nellie McKay's music is sort of like a combination of Regina Spektor (who is herself weirdly a simultaneously more serious and

random thoughts

2011-07-04T16:15:00.000-07:00

I imagine that somewhere there's an opposite of Munchkin Country, where there are bigger versions of people, and there are rap stars like Kim, Wayne, Jon, Bow-Wow, Mama, Cease, Romeo, &c.I noticed that Jack Sparrow (Universal) didn't Michael Bolton's Gems: The Duets Collection (Sony).You automatically get to be a serious singer if you categorize your vocal range.Jonathan Coulton is like a nerdier

electric daisy carnival recap

2011-06-27T09:17:00.000-07:00

We joked about playing EDC music on the plane (via my friend's Jambox), but that's pretty much what it was: the plane was full of douchebags getting ready to party--the flight attendants had to spend a lot of energy shushing them--really, Snoop Dogg should have been our pilot. I was actually worried that their stupidity might actually somehow bring down the plane--I kind of wish they were more

random thoughts

2011-06-20T18:09:00.000-07:00

In the In the Navy (Casablanca), they're forcing the lead singer in to a submarine as though they're going to gay-gangrape him. It's the dreaded subotnik.Gin Blossoms sound like high school, even if you weren't in high school at the time.If Michael Jackson had written his love songs to be explicitly about six-year-old boys, I don't think they would have sold as well. Or maybe it would have made

getting older

2011-06-19T23:44:00.000-07:00

It does seem that many people's taste in music freezes in their late twenties--and consequently so does the lens through which they view pop culture; for example, if the music of your youth was rebellion (e.g., rock music), then you have a harder time dealing with pure bubblegum pop and vice versa--this is why oldies radio stations exist.Part of the reason for this is that keeping up with music

girls, girls, girls, but also, many guys

2011-06-16T00:08:00.000-07:00

It's actually been quite a while since I've been back from a concert this early; here are a few thoughts on it:I think the sound guy was, no shit, the guy who fixes my audio equipmetn.I think I actually had posters of some of the guys in Poison and Mötley Crüe once upon a time--not because I was particularly into them, but because they were ads for guitars.If one of the members of your hair-metal

the woody has rizzy-risen

2011-06-15T19:36:00.000-07:00

I was watching the music video for Methods of Mayhem's Get Naked (MCA) in preparation for tonight's Mötley Crüe, Poison and New York Dolls concert--yeah, I don't know why either.It's kind of funny that the Methods of Mayhem's debut was on MCA, presumably just on the strength of Tommy Lee's having been in the band; I guess since then MCA actually heard the music and now they'rve been relegated to

random thoughts

2011-06-11T13:48:00.000-07:00

Ideally, freestyling is not quite the same thing as free-associating.Satellite radio is sort of like VH1: a place where talent-free ex-celebrities seem to be able to find gainful employment. Which weird, because I don't think I know anyone who pays for satellite radio; I don't understand how it can be so lucrative. Maybe they sell a lot of subscriptions in Japan.Matisyahu's parents are probably

random thoughts

2011-05-13T10:12:00.000-07:00

I saw that Tony Bennett will be/was playing in San Francisco--that'd be funny if he adamantly refused to play I Left My Heart in San Francisco.I bought some Rachmaninoff sheet music. I feel the store clerk should have seen my small hands and discouraged me from doing so (or laughed at me).I was at a music store and a bunch of black dudes were jamming in the keyboard room, so of course, I joined

pop songs are like hot dogs

2011-05-11T12:28:00.000-07:00

When an artist covers a song, the artist will usually refer to the song as being "by" the performer who originally populraized the song, and not necessarily by whoever actually wrote the song. Which is actually kind of incorrect, because when you cover a song, your performance of the song references what the original songwiter did more so than what the said performer did. (The exception is if

random thoughts

2011-05-01T11:53:00.000-07:00

Lady Gaga sounds sufficiently like MIA on Chillin (Allido) that if you do a Google search for the lyrics and "MIA," then you'll pull up the song. (Also, the word "MIA" is contained in the lyrics.)Maybe this is what keeps me from being a prominent rapper, but I would probably shy away from calling out a 6'5"-251 dudes in my songs.Man, Wale really likes sports.Wale's name "Wale."It's kind of

random thoughts

2011-04-26T00:45:00.000-07:00

Chubby Checker was more popular than his friend, the fat-admiring Chubby Chaser. I think Chubby Chaser was dating Fats Domino.There are definitely songs that make you wonder if the guy who wrote the lyrics actually knows what words mean.Maybe Nell was Liberian. She's at the beginning of the song Liberian Girl (Epic).Auto-Tune is dangerous because it makes people think that they can be musicians

random thoughts

2011-04-17T10:13:00.001-07:00

I think my favorite thing about Rebecca Black's Friday (Ark Factory) is that she's thirteen, yet the guy who does the rap in it kind of looks a little bit like Michael Strahan.She should next do a collabo with Lawrence Taylor or Mark Chmura.Maybe this is the Tiger Mom in me, but the idea of helping your child become a pop singer--I don't know, I just don't think that counts as a

if they haven't done this already

2011-03-24T14:18:00.000-07:00

In honor of Nate Dogg, they should define a rapper's Nate Dogg number analogously to the way actors have a Kevin Bacon number or mathematicians have a Paul Erdõs number.

random thoughts

2011-03-21T20:34:00.001-07:00

I'm not sure why so many computer audio interfaces are n×m where m is a large number (larger than, really, 2), because I imagine that most people who do DAW recording at this point are mixing in the computer, especially at the low end.Do they serve alcohol at Justin Bieber concerts? I can see good arguments both pro and con.I generally don't read music reviews, but it sometimes seems like a lot

being sent on one's way

2011-03-20T00:39:00.000-07:00

I heard Send Me on My Way (Mercury) again; now it's being used a commercial for Enterprise Rent-a-Car. I was really hoping that by now we'd be trying to help each other forget this song.

random thoughts

2011-03-06T23:53:00.001-08:00

It's hard to read people write about Radiohead without thinking that they're (the writers) are full of shit, but defiantly so.Also, don't use the word "polyrhythms"; that doesn't mean anything anymore. People basically use it to mean anything other than four-on-the-floor.I understand that song lyrics are often difficult to interpret; often times people mishear lyrics. But it's kind of weird

random thoughts

2011-02-18T01:34:00.000-08:00

People, like me, complain about the vapidity of recent pop music, like Hold It Against Me (Jive), but people have been writing pop songs with retarded lyrics for a long time. For example, what the fuck is the "Duke of Earl" (Vee-Jay) supposed to be?So Akon is basically just a slightly classier T-Pain?It's totally cheap when songs celebrate some culty thing so that people will like the song just

san francisco loves trance and folk, but little else in between

2011-02-13T18:14:00.001-08:00

San Francisco has roving farmer's markets (or some approximation thereof). The problem is that they allow (Really, they shouldn't.) musicians to play at them, for tips and exposure for the musicians. The problem is that music--even if it's bad--will draw attention to the farmer's market, so the organizers have an incentive to invite loud musicians rather than actually good musicians.You know

music and mood

2011-02-07T23:07:00.000-08:00

I was at a fine dining establishment--a place with a Michelin star--and, weirdly, Rusted Root's Send Me on My Way (PolyGram) was playing over the house stereo system.Ordinarily, this would have been a massive put off and, while I wouldn't say it was effective, it turns out that a Moroccan restaurant is one of the few scenarios in which Rusted Root would not totally kill the that kind of ambience.

random thoughts

2011-01-30T10:45:00.000-08:00

Rapping is easier than singing, but rapping while playing an instrument is harder than singing while playing an instrument.When I was a kid, those dancing bear stickers seemed rather innocuous. Now I realize that it means that that person likes marijuana!It's weird that The Black Crowes have been considered a popular band, because I can only recall them doing one thing of note--and it was a

random thoughts

2011-01-02T16:24:00.001-08:00

Now we know that Radiohead's Creep (Parlophone) has won. I was pretty sure at the time that it wouldn't be Stone Temple Pilots's (Atlantic) (That shit was fucking dumb.) but I don't know--it might have been TLC's (LaFace).I like that Stone Temple Pilots' cover of Dancing Days (Atlantic) was really a cover of their own Pretty Penny (Atlantic).You know how they say that some pop musicians are

country music should be called "county music" because it's provincial

2010-12-29T16:50:00.000-08:00

I've been driving around in the Midwest the last week or so. Out here, there are basically two radio stations, and they each get multiple frequencies. If you ever go back to a place you haven't been in a while, it seems like the radio stations are still playing the same music as when you left. This is partly because younger people aren't really in the habit of listening to FM radio per se, but

kenny g has a surprisingly nonzero number of christmas albums for a jew

2010-12-22T17:21:00.000-08:00

People need to write some more Christmas music.I say this because certain songs apparently count as Christmas music, even though they're not actually about Christmas, such as My Favorite Things (RCA Victor). Does this count as a Christmas song simply because it's about materialism and so is Christmas?Also in the category of music that's not explicitly Christmas-related becoming Christmasy is,

random thoughts

2010-12-20T04:42:00.000-08:00

The piano is considered a very "serious" instrument. So is the violin. But the guitar should be considered more serious than the violin, because you can play more notes on it at a time.It must be weird to be a piano teacher, because you have to be well-versed in a subcanon of classical music that is easy to play on the piano. I don't think Für Elise is that big a deal to anyone who's never

random thoughts

2010-11-30T14:58:00.001-08:00

People tend to stop listening to music in their twenties or so, listening to the music of their adolescence for the rest of their lives. What makes this generation different is that the stuff that's starting to pass into "classic" rock was stuff that was explicitly created to play on adolescent emotions. So now you have people in their thirties listening to songs about having low

random thoughts

2010-11-17T00:58:00.000-08:00

I know the hipsters love Animal Collective as of late, but I was prejudiced against their breakthrough album because they had made far too many shitty albums before that, and I (unlike many) actually heard them. It's hard to see their success as anything but a fluke given that it took so many tries for them to make a nonshitty album. Statistically, it had to happen eventually.I think it's kind

beats and shit

2010-11-16T00:49:00.000-08:00

Apparently, Monster is moving something like 300,000 units of their Beats headphones per month at $300 each. There are a lot of amazing things about this fact, one of my favorite being that this actually makes them more expensive than a lot of high-end audiophile headphones or professional-quality headphones you might find in a high-end music recording studio. And we're talking about headphones

better than they should be

2010-11-01T16:04:00.000-07:00

I have a friend who once said that, all things considered, the Red Hot Chili Peppers had no right being as good as musicians as they ended up being. This of course refers to the slacker junkie flunkie personas of the members of the band and, more generically, the fact that nowadays, most pop musicians are recruited more for image than musical talent. (Typically, you only need one or two decent

random thoughts

2010-10-26T21:36:00.000-07:00

People often accuse bands of selling out when their style evolves, but there's also something kind of pathetic of a band that keeps making the same album over and over.What the fuck is up with hardcore music? It's just a bunch insufferable brats acting like they're awesome.I liked that the lead singer of Extreme was Gerardo.So do we take Avril Lavigne seriously as a "bad girl" of rock, or are we

random thoughts

2010-10-12T06:22:00.000-07:00

Kate McAlpine should make a YouTube rap response to Insane Clown Posse that explains how magnets work.Les Claypool wins at being weird.I like the idea of Primus more than the actual thing. Nobody makes music like them, and I respect that, but I have a hard time enjoying listening to it. Also, it seems hard to get behind songs about what they make their songs about.Somehow a song named My Name

random thoughts

2010-10-05T17:06:00.000-07:00

Somehow Modest Mussorgsky doesn't have quite the indie cred as Modest Mouse.It's kind of weird that, on commercial radio, they still use the word "alternative." Which is probably only because market research shows that people still respond to it.An .mp3 player is like sunglasses for your ears.When famous musicians speak out on behalf of the RIAA against file sharing, you should download all

random thoughts

2010-09-13T21:29:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when I hear Rihanna, I want the music to stop, but that's contrary to her wishes.I think it's weird that she sampled Wanna Be Startin' Something (Epic), because I don't think Don't Stop the Music (Def Jam) would be that different a song without that sample. I'm afraid that she's not getting her money's worth.Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine (King) is about James Brown's

random thoughts

2010-09-04T23:40:00.000-07:00

Man, black people really like rap music.These days, I end all my mixtapes with Don't Stop the Music (Def Jam), and stop it in the middle of the song.I hate when there's a song that's a catchy anthem or something with which I don't identify. Because I'm not sure if I'm allowed to like Armada Latina (EMI). (I am not Hispanic.)When I'm listening to my .mp3 player anywhere other the gym (which is

random thoughts

2010-07-25T20:46:00.001-07:00

If I knew John Vanderslice, I'd probably call him "Vandersloot" all the time.Tegan and Sara playing Lilith Fair is kind of redundant.Tegan and Sara are a total rip-off of tATu.I think that Nine Inch Nails song Closer (Interscope) is about Mariano Rivera.Is Richie Spice one of the Spice Girls?I bet E-40 is going to rap about Oscar Grant and/or Johannes Mehserle.So it turns out that The Breeders

boyz ii men 1 cup

2010-07-11T23:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I fist-bumped all three remaining members of Boyz II Men, which I consider to be something of an accomplishment. (They, however, would not give my male friend or I roses during their performance of I'll Make Love to You (Motown).) Also, I totally guessed correctly that they would start the set with Motownphilly (Motown), which is, in retrospect, kind of a weird thing to name song,

random thoughts

2010-07-05T23:51:00.000-07:00

Sometimes pop musicians try to be deep, but if you want to be deep, write an essay.On these reality talent shows, the audience and judges have to feign excitement for stuff like opera, so that they don't seem unsophisticated.It's so cute how the media buys into MIA's whole "political message" thing but I really don't know that I agree that her music is "violent." Most music that would be

random thoughts

2010-06-21T11:14:00.000-07:00

Some random thoughts, mostly about the institution of rap music and/or your 2010 World Champion Los Angeles Lakers (I hope people are destroying Los Angeles right now):You could probably make a decent rap career by systematically sampling every of James Brown's songs.Someone should make a rap song Why Bitches Be All Crazy and Shit?There's a part of me that suspects that the Beastie Boys have been

random thoughts

2010-06-05T12:20:00.000-07:00

The only way a girl as ugly as Joan Osborne gets a career is if she sings about God.I'm not real thrilled with myself for having a Lady Gaga song stuck in my head.I promised my friend I'd wear my "NO MA'AM" T-shirt (from Married with Children) the next time I saw her, but I didn't anticipate that the next time I'd see her would be at a concert that would likely be widely attended by feminists and

p fiddy

2010-06-03T23:29:00.000-07:00

I went to see 50 Cent with a few of my wealthy Silicon Valley friends (I am neither wealthy nor Silicon Valley). I'm not sure that smart nerds was his intended demographic, but he does still apparently have some street cred. (Either that or he bussed in all those blacks to enhance the experiencefor the non-blacks there.)I actually jogged from my residence to the Warfield Theatre because I

all hope is gone, indeed

2010-05-24T16:31:00.001-07:00

Oh no! The bass player for Slipknot was found dead. There are going to be a lot of sad fat suburban kids.Right now would be a good time to purchase stock in YUM.

random thoughts

2010-05-16T21:13:00.000-07:00

I find MIA's visual æsthetic somewhat fugly, which is funny, because didn't she start as a visual artist?As a musician, you get credit for having dancing in your music video, even if you're not the one who's dancing--you just hired people to do it.Sometimes a one-hit wonder will release a retrospective album and you think, you know, maybe you should have called this Greatest Hit.Basically, any

deconstructing the deconstruction

2010-05-09T08:34:00.000-07:00

The great thing about jazz is that any arbitrary combination of notes becomes a legitimate chord with a harmonic meaning.It would be interesting to see how people two-hundred years ago would respond to compositions of more recent vintage with a more contemporary sense of harmony. I don't think they would find it hugely futuristic, so much as just sort of weird.I respect the idea of

i'll kill that bitch

2010-04-29T00:15:00.000-07:00

I've always loved the line in The Girl Is Mine (Epic) at the end, when Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney are talking and Michael Jackson says, "Well, after loving me me, she said she couldn't love another," to which Paul McCartney responds,"Is that what she said?!"Because for just a moment, Paul McCartney sounds genuinely pissed--and not even so much at Michael Jackson as in angry disbelief that

random thoughts

2010-04-27T23:33:00.000-07:00

I heard the Queen song We Are the Champions (EMI) on the radio, but they didn't play the last line "...of the world." That's like telling a joke but omitting the punchline.More generically, you could be a radio DJ that tortures people by not playing the last, resolving chords of songs.I like songs that hold a mirror up to society, but songs that actually have the word "society" in the lyrics are

not very good

2010-04-14T18:52:00.000-07:00

I just walked by a guy--it was on Haight Street, so it was one of these grungy (in the literal sense, not the music genre sense) homeless street performers (Actually, it's largely possible that it was just some young adult from Atherton living off his parents but pretending to be homeless during the day.)--playing what must have been the worst version of Wonderwall (Epic) I've ever heard. It was

random thoughts

2010-04-06T12:44:00.001-07:00

It's hard for me to rock out to Weezer, because at the end of the day, there's still some of that self-aware poking-fun-of-the-genre tongue-in-cheekiness going on there, so it would be making fun of oneself.Much of the Spice Girls' promotional art took advantage of the bijection between girls and the letters in "Spice." Unfortunately, when Ginger Spice left, they couldn't change their name to "

disingenuousness layered upon disingenuousness

2010-03-24T10:15:00.000-07:00

The problem with the indie ethos is that, now that it's a movement complete with its own herd mentality, those who embrace it tend to invite scorn from others. (The scorn, of course, is just backlash for the scorn going in the other direction.) For example, people with mainstream tastes often think that "indie" people dislike things just because those things are mainstream, i.e., to be

random thoughts

2010-03-23T23:28:00.000-07:00

Music critics/taxonomists try to make everything sound so complicated. Did they need, for example, the phrase "post-grunge"? All that is is bad grunge.As a parent, I probably wouldn't want my kids to all be in a band together, because you're supposed to diversify your investment portfolio.More generally, it's endearing/annoying how much music critics--especially those dealing with heavier rock

no stairway

2010-03-09T07:21:00.000-08:00

I was in a Guitar Center this past weekend helping my friend buy a bass guitar. I'm surprised that they don't have mirrors in Guitar Center, because everybody knows that the most important feature of a guitar or bass guitar in rock music is how good it looks on you. There was a really fat teenage kid in flannel shorts playing a bunch fo Rage Against the Machine riffs, but really he should have

random thoughts

2010-03-08T01:43:00.000-08:00

Wyclef is a terrible singer--probably on purpose, which makes it even worse. Miley Cyrus is also not a good singer--she really just screams like a bratty kid.Comparing the new We Are the World to the old one (Columbia) makes you appreciate that pop stars back then could actually sing, cf. the ones now. Also, young Bruce Springsteen looked somewhat like Adam Sandler, and Kenny Loggins grew up to

i guess it's women's history month

2010-03-07T21:54:00.001-08:00

I was driving around today and heard girl being interviewed on the radio about a show that is apparently taking place tonight in the city. She's apparently on a tour that's sponsored by Lululemon Athletica (and she will be playing in their various store locations), as well as a raw food company and a yerba maté tea company. I just sat there thinking, wow, this sounds like it would be a horrible

it's like noise pop for adults

2010-02-28T00:51:00.000-08:00

During the shows of Kronos's series I caught, they were all wearing the same thing--it's not even like it was formal dress; they were just wearing the same casual street clothes.I like to play a game where I try to guess which one is the newest member.I'd be curious to see the sheet music for 4 Fences.The interesting thing is that the Saturday crowd seemed, demographically, the most laic; a lot

i haven't gone to as much noise pop this year as i probably should

2010-02-26T03:00:00.000-08:00

I saw Zee Avi. It was like watching YouTube in person. The problem with shows like this--as much as I would like music to be just about the music per se--is that they make you appreciate that many people who make their names via these "alternate" channels (versus the traditional path of touring a lot) lack stage presence. Maybe stage presence doesn't make you a better musician, but it makes

random thoughts

2010-02-15T12:46:00.000-08:00

The quality of popular music was irreparably damaged when they stopped letting ugly (fat) chicks do it, because those are the best singers.I nominate "Flo Rida" for the GRAMMY Award for Dumbest Name for a Solo Rap Artist.I saw a girl wearing a T-shirt for a band that hasn't released an album in eight years; I had trouble deciding whether this was cool or not. (I decided it was, because she was

random thoughts

2010-02-04T19:22:00.000-08:00

White people think it's hilarious that they know the lyrics to a handful of rap songs.When I meet people, because of my background in college radio, people will often ask about bands I like, or for music recommendations. For a while, I would respond with bands so obscure that I just made them up, like "Skink" and "Blarf." But now I'm going to say stuff like "Destiny's Child."Has Rihanna played

unpaved road cred

2010-02-01T22:32:00.000-08:00

I wonder if there is, in country music, an analogous concept to "street cred." (I wouldn't know, because I'm not white.)On one hand, I think a big part of the pop culture mythos is the rags-to-riches story, and people live vicariously through stars who have come from humble beginnings to achieve massive success, in many cases in without any discernible talent. And, like in rap music, there are

south of... ?

2010-01-17T13:54:00.001-08:00

Last night (or, really, this morning), I ended up in the music rehearsal space (By the way, in the context of guitar and bass amplifiers, the word "Peavey" is synonymous for "practice.") of a random Ethiopian dude, jamming with him and others on some rudimentary soca grooves that he had taught me. (When he kept saying "soca," I assumed it was some African word; only when I got home and searched

random thoughts

2010-01-13T21:26:00.000-08:00

The genre of "rap" music is so called because most of the participants therein have criminal records.A person like Diana Krall must be pissed about Norah Jones's success. But it's her fault for not being ethnic enough.Jonathan Davis kind of has a wussy speaking voice. He's like a white Mike Tyson.I often feel like the premise of punk rock is to target the demographic that doesn't yet know

random thoughts

2010-01-04T16:57:00.000-08:00

Adam Sandler claims he wrote The Chanukah Song (Warner) because of a lack of Hanukkah carols in the face of a whole canon of Christmas songs. But didn't everyone learn I Have a Little Dreidel (-) in grade school? (Also, there aren't that many Hanukkah songs, because Hanukkah is a relatively minor holiday on the Jewish calendar.)What differentiates "nerd rock" from other kinds of rock is that in

what'd i get up to?

2009-12-29T23:20:00.000-08:00

Was it me, or did it seem like all of the performers paying tribute to Bruce Springsteen during Kennedy Center Honors were each doing a bad Bruce Springsteen impression--with the exceptions of Eddie Vedder and possibly Melissa Etheridge, who kind of sings like that (i.e., somewhat constipated) by default?

random thoughts

2009-12-15T22:08:00.000-08:00

Having a bunch of alter egos, giving yourself nicknames, referring to yourself in the third person, &c., these only work if you are a really popular rapper or professional athlete. They're not as becoming if you're just starting out, or not in these fields at all--my friend does shit like this and people think he's weird.You know what would be a nerdy rap name? "802.11 G." He could tour with

i liked neither that she kissed a girl, that she liked it nor that she had a #1 single about it

2009-12-10T21:32:00.001-08:00

Given the circumstances of her ascent to stardom, it's surprising that Katy Perry has as much credibility as she seems to--or, really, any at all. Many people--even other famous (and, I would argue, somewhat legitimate) musicians--don't seem to realize or remember that she is famous on the strength of one gimmicky, kind of stupid song. And that that song was written by, among others, Dr. Luke

random thoughts

2009-12-10T00:24:00.000-08:00

The Beatles' song Help! (Parlophone) doesn't quite work when translated into other languages. For example, "¡Ayúdame!" doesn't have the same catchy ring.I finally, this late in my life, heard Rock and Roll Part 1 (Bell) for the first time ever.I kind of had a minor crush on Jenny Lewis closer to the turn of the millenium, but by the time she attained (vaguely) mainstream success, it wasn't the

random thoughts

2009-12-01T19:38:00.000-08:00

I hope he doesn't murder me for saying this, but Lil Wayne is one of the fuglier individuals in existence. A Milli (Universal) sounds like it's about a tenth of a cent.Rappers curse so much not because they are uncouth, but because every time you drop an f-bomb, that's one fewer syllable you have to write.Chris Brown is supposed to do community service, but doesn't beating up Rihanna count?Black

but i don't like like the song

2009-11-17T19:26:00.000-08:00

Earlier this year, I overheard a friend tell another friend, as Boom Boom Pow (Interscope) came on, "Oh my god! I love this song!"This stuck with me, because the idea of loving this song is really funny to me. I can imagine liking it--maybe you think it has a good beat, or it's fun, or it makes you want to move your ass--but there isn't really enough to it to warrant love. You love a song that

random thoughts

2009-11-12T17:04:00.000-08:00

Much pop music from the last twenty years has lyrics so bad and pretentiously cryptic that it's impossible to tell what many songs are about without seeing the music video.I'd like to see a multiple CD set (like a double album or a box set) in which the last disc contains just one or two songs.The problem with the iPod is that now everyone's an asshole about their taste in music.It's kind of

a concert quandary

2009-10-27T09:09:00.000-07:00

If you have the motivation to go out and see Dinosaur Jr perform, does that mean you're happening--because you go out and see live rock music--or does it in fact mean the opposite--because you have somehow managed to avoid learning about any of numerous better bands that have since established themselves?

random thoughts

2009-10-25T12:00:00.001-07:00

Andrew Lloyd Webber has cancer. He should write a musical about it.Strippers, it seems, don't particularly like jazz music. You never see a girl sliding down a pole to Take the 'A' Train (-).I don't completely agree with the idea, as posited by a Pepsi commercial, of Derek Jeter being the modern Babe Ruth, but I suppose you can argue that, despite being very different players (and Jeter far

random thoughts

2009-10-13T21:49:00.001-07:00

Roy Orbison's Oh, Pretty Woman (Monument 851) (I used to assume he was British just because he is talented.) has something for everyone: personally, I love the chord changes over the bridge, but I think it's largely known for the weird growl that he does. It's simultaneously high brow and low brow.I recently discovered the Bollywood version they did of this song (SO) for the movie Kal Ho Naa Ho.

come into my [expletive]

2009-10-07T10:08:00.000-07:00

Going to the Kylie Minogue show ended up being a game-time decision--tickets were sufficiently expensive that people aren't going to go on a lark or because they're open-minded; to spend that much money on a concert you have really want to go (and have the means to afford a ticket). (Or, I suppose, you can have a lot of discretionary income, or be particularly irresponsible with it.) So I had

i was one of only two straight dudes

2009-10-01T23:40:00.000-07:00

...at tonight's Kylie concert, the other being my friend who I dragged with me. On one hand, that might have increased our odds as potential groupies, but on the other, gay dudes like Kylie enough that they might sleep with her anyway.The show was fantastic (Seeing Kylie has long been a dream of mine.)--although I would have loved if they brought out four additional Kylies for her performance of