Winter Wooskie

White and Brown has always been a dulling color scheme for me. Fortunately, it's winter break. Unfortunately, it's winter, and we must draw in our duller sadder more depressing parts of our times to garner some inspiration. Fall, being the last stretch of the year, also slows down time for us to reminisce and smell the dead flowers.

Let's see, times have changed, but our songs haven't. Work being our own mortality in which responsibility divides from our dreams. Taking time off to continue this nasty business of music, when we should be taking time off to this nasty business of exams and finals. In a strange change, there is no song in particular that is filling inspiration; it's the gap we're going to fill with recordings that calls our hands.

Oh my... where's the duster?

I'm amazed that I'm survived/An airbag saved my life

Yeah, I am back in this little Radiohead phase. 2 + 2 = 5. Airbag, Fake Plastic Trees. It's all good. Exploring my classic interests... listening to Blackbird Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles. Still some Smashing Pumpkins left in there, Muzzle, Beautiful, Lily (My One and Only), 1979. I don't think I've gotten more interest into new bands recently. Let's hope the future doesn't hang.


Oh, some Jurassic 5 and Gorillaz too.








Looking in on that Drumtech school. Sounds interesting, keep in mind for the future.

Don't You Just Hate it When

You're driving to school, and you've worked out a great sounding melody part to a song that's been needing it for months now, and you sing it to yourself over and over again so you don't forget it, but then when you park, you forget to sing it into your cell phone just in case, and then you go to class and by the time you get out you can't for the life of you remember how that melody went?

Maybe it's just me.

EDIT: Nevermind, got it. Dum dum DUM dum ba dah! dum dum

Power Supply

So like any good video game fanatic, I have been looking into 8bit music, blipcore. I tried, with vain, to learn the Gameboy - I just need to pick up again. I'm looking into the electronic chip tune side of things and well, it's nostalgic and bright. There's this Blip Festival in NY that I'm strangely attracted to. The catalyst band is Anamanaguchi, power pop which I need right now. You could find their album here; a wonderful site that has all other 8bit goodies.

Like the Clouds in my Heart

It's been a wonderful few cloudy days this week in Southern California, and I'm perfectly content to be underneath them. Seriously, go take a walk outside. I can name them all, cumulus, cirrus, and stratus, sometimes all three in the same sky!
Hmm. Tomorrow's Valentine's Day, say what you will. (Blah blah blah it's just a hallmark holiday, blah blah blah makes single people jealous, blah blah blah.) Honestly, it's just another day for me. Silly Americans. We've got plenty of love songs, so take your pick. Might I recommend some alternative choices?

Asleep on a Sunbeam - Belle and Sebastian
Commuter Love - The Divine Comedy
Popular Mechanics for Lovers - Beulah
Here, There, and Everywhere - The Beatles
A Cruise - Maybe and the What Ifs

And for the skeptics, hit next on your CD player for Shipwreck.

Bit Variation in B-flat

I've made a new mix cd with new albums from bands like Decemberists, The SHins, Cloud Cult, Beck, and The Arcade Fire. I've been listening to some old music for awhile, so I figure I needed some new sounds. I also like to read the wiki articles of said bands...I couldn't help but notice that for the liner notes section in THe Information, Beck and Nigel are credited to play the "Gameboy."

I remembered Beck's awesome 8bit rendition LP of his Guero tracks, and wondered if he really used a Gameboy. Turns out, it wasn't really him - they were remixes by other groups. BUT, he does play the gameboy, through the games Little Sound DJ or Nanoloop.

So, I'm going to learn how to play the Gameboy. I've been digging the banjo and a fake mandolin for awhile now, keeping up my fingers busy and my repoitoire expanding. In addition, I also plan to use the Ocarina from - yes, Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time. I'll record a melody and have jon add some drums to it later. I recreated Victim of Scent countless times in other formats - it's really easy riff, and it's a joy to hear in Mario Paint. The process should be easy, since I'll be using a emulator to play my backed-up ROM and just record the sound off the card.

But this little Gameboy program here, it's difficult. I think I'm indirectly learning tracking, since it features i think melody and drum kits layers...I'm not sure. I did recreate the Office theme in it, and it was frankly, giggle-stifling. The range the gameboy allows is pretty extensive - about 7 octaves. All in chiptune glory, too.

Some Loud Thunder

So me and jon recently acquired the new Clap Your Hands Say Yeah album, Some Loud Thunder. We've been giddying for this ever since we've been demoing their new material at hype-machine, listening to tracks Some Loud Thunder, Underwater (You and Me), and You and Me Watson. At first, it was a sudden new change that almost glamored our eyes - a guitar solo, flaming lipsesque orchestration, and a rauncy guitar riff. It was rougher, more sophisticated, and to top it off, the lyrics seem to be more distinct and clear. 

I wondered if the new album was going to be like that, better guitar and stronger melodies. For awhile, I had nothing but those 3 tracks on repeat. Then Some Loud Thunder, the album, finally came out, and we got busy to it. It starts off with the titular Some Loud Thunder. Then the next two tracks are even better, bringing some great back up harmonies and beautiful synthesizers. The pace is even then becomes lovely in the third track. It was satisfying...didn't seem too full because maybe a lack of lower instrumentation, but man, was it a treat to listen to.

Then the album reaches into Clap Your Hands Say Yeah territory and reminds us that they're them, and that means reaching into melodies that jar. However, they retain their crystal clear bells and chimes...and that pace. It's a really good a pace in their softer songs. Listening to songs like Underwater (You and Me), Emily Jean Stock, Mama...Burning Castles in the Air, listening to that pace is like watching the ocean tides.

Their album is lovely, not as mature i thought they would develop, but became rich anyway. Rich, distince, clear. 

And no, the vocals didn't get "better" in that aspect. But we get the message the same, don't we?