Round Black Ghosts 2

a new review of Stefan Betke(Pole)'s new compilation on ~ Scape.

The Gentle Art of Commemoration

When I post on celebrity deaths, I don't selectively pick out ones that deserve commemoration. I merely comment on the ones which have had something of any impact on my life. At the smallest level, it might just be a song I enjoyed (such as Jim Carroll's "People Who Died"- see below- never read any of his poetry or books). Still, it seems odd to eulogize Carroll, who I know frankly nothing about, and leave out, say, Patrick Swayze, whose movies I'm at least familiar with- if more for camp purposes (Roadhouse, Red Dawn, MST3K References) than anything else. Yet, I worry that this will set a precedent that may require me to comment on the passing of every B-actor and every member of a hair metal group I was fond of when I was eight...

I guess this might be the most proper way to say goodbye to Swayze then

RE: Kanye West's Dickish Move

Doesn't it seem a little too last minute-staged? It's as if MTV approached him as the show lingered on and said "Hey Kanye, go do something crazy." It serves the purpose of doing some quality advertising for Beyonce, Kanye himself, Taylor, and, of course, MTV. I stopped watching the VMAs because every year it seems like a big advertisement for itself. They constantly need something for the commemorative clip show in the following year so they can look back on all the "wild" things that can happen at an MTV awards show, making it so much different than all those "other" award shows. In truth, it's just as yawn-inducing and celebratory of mediocrity as every other establishment award ceremony. Granted, Beyonce's song was one of her less mediocre entries in recent years (which is actually saying quite a bit), but the video was no great shakes. Blue screen + dancing= best video ever?

More air than I was expecting...

What's up with that weird lisp in the new Air song? I hate to be shallow, but it's quite distracting...

He's a Person Who Died and Died

RIP Jim Carroll

Fireside Storytime with Papa Timh

Kid606's Shout at the Döner reviewed



Roedelius's Jardin Au Fou remastered and reviewed



Stardeath & White Dwarves reviewed



A compilation to commemorate Brisbane's Fabrique nights (ft. Janek Schaeffer, KK Null, DJ Olive, Robert Henke, David Grubbs, etc.) reviewed



and a reqiuem for Rocksteady in the form of a review

RIP John Hughes

100 Essential Male Performances

Also, I almost forgot. Make sure you check out the 100 Essential Male Performances feature at PopMatters. Some fantastic stuff and I've also got a few entries.

A Host of Fun Crap

I've got a bunch of new stuff to check out. First and foremost, this is going to be hot:


Popmatters celebrates the 20th Anniversary of Warp



There's one here on the new greatest hits of Blur



The Soul Jazz compilation Fly Girls cover females in hip-hop.



Alva Noto's second in the Xerrox series



Sumsumu Yokota's latest album sounds like 4AD circa 1986 (not necessarilly a bad thing)

RIP Walter Cronkite

Disco All But Demolished

Over at PopMatters, I've got a brief entry on one of the blogs celebrating disco's vitality 30 years post Chicago's disco demolition night. I tried to stick to things that would mostly fit a technical definition of Disco (or House, as it is now known) rather than splintering off into the myriad deviations that have grown outward from disco.

Some great music there and it wouldn't be hard to add a ton more. Oh Hell, here's a few:

Obits, Ambivalence, mnmlsm, and Warehouses

After a long couple weeks of publishing silence, I've got a couple articles up at PopMatters. They're all things I was unsure about after I finished them, but it turns out they're all pretty good. Check them out


The Fawn in the Burning Forest: Our Beloved Monster
My encapsulation of the whole Michael Jackson affair, which appears as part of PopMatter's week long infatuation with his death.



A review of Bibio's Ambivalence Avenue, which is quite a departure.


A review of Studio 1 by Studio 1 (aka Wolfgang Voigt), which reads more like a treatise on hyper-minimalism.


And a more substantial form of minimalism, in the form of Claro Intelecto's Warehouse Sessions

Toyota Scion Presents...

Is dubstep now officially dead?

Also, MSTRKRFT is dubstep?

RIP

Robert McNamara

RiP! A Remix Manifesto

A review of the new DVD Rip! A Remix Manifesto and a discussion of remix/free culture.