VAGUE SPACE

New Music Monday

Girl Talk is the #1 artist on Elbo.ws right now, mostly due to the Radiohead-style release of their new album, with a pay-what-you-want and download system.  I didn't know much about Greg Gillis's music -- except that I didn't particularly like it before now.  His songs are basically mashups or samples of various songs that we've all heard before, played together in relatively interesting fashion over dance tracks meant to be played at house parties or clubs or something.  I don't like club music, I'm a little old for any kind of club scene, and I think these songs are absolutely horrible.  Some reviewers are praising the way that he uses other people's music and creates a collage of wonderful sounds from them, but I just can't get into it.  In fact, I kind of think the fact that it's #1 on Elbo.ws is a pretty sad indictment of indie rock today.  I thought we were "better" than that.  I mean, the whole reason I like indie rock is that the mostly mainstream songs he samples are just so bad and boring and unoriginal that I never want to hear them outside of a dentist office's waiting room.  Sure, he throws Yo La Tengo and Radiohead and Nirvana and Of Montreal into the mix, but those songs were kind of wonderful on their own and didn't need to be mixed in with the Jackson 5 or The Cardigans or Avril fucking Lavigne.  I mean, seriously, some of these tracks are the novelty kind of crap you'd hear on "The Morning Zoo" on WPLG or something equally unlistenable.  There's just no need.  Admittedly, I haven't heard all the tracks, because I really couldn't get through it, so maybe there are some hidden gems.  But I don't get it.  So here's a bunch of new indie rock that you should check out.  Because even if they aren't allowing you to buy the music at whatever price you want, at least it's original, and you know, doesn't make you want to stab your eardrums with a pair of shears.  Enjoy!

• Download Oxford Collapse - "Birthday Wars".mp3
• Download Earlimart - "Song For".mp3
• Download The Broken West - "Perfect Games".mp3
• Download The Great Northwest - "Chief John".mp3
• Download My Brightest Diamond - "Inside a Boy".mp3
• Download The Watson Twins - "Bar Woman Blues".mp3
• Download Fleet Foxes - "White Winter Hymnal (Black Dominoes remix)".mp3

Further Adventures in Travel Part 2

Thanks to a storm that passed through here 4 hours ago and has now planted itself in the greater Cincinnati area, I am stuck blogging from the beautiful airport in Evansville, IN watching my life pass before my eyes as my chance to get home anytime this century seems to be slipping further and further away.  We were only on the plane for about 45 minutes before the pilot informed us that we would indeed have to go to back to the gate because of a ground stop in Cincinnati.  I'm here at one of the two gates at this airport, sipping on one of the refreshing drinks offered at their world class vending machine.  And that's not a mistake, the machine is not plural.  And I'm sharing space with a bunch of poor souls who came from St. Louis, but got diverted to this airport outpost in the middle of nowhere (or hell) due to the aforementioned ground stop in Cincy.  Anyway, no word on when (or if) we'll get to take off tonight.  And obviously, I'm not expecting at all to come close to Philly at any point this evening.  My best case scenario at this point is finding a hotel room in Cincy and flying back tomorrow morning.  Worst case is spending another night in Evansville and/or sleeping on the floor at the Cincy airport.  Fuck Cincy.  Fuck travel.  Fuck my fucking company.  There's no way I'm going to work tomorrow at least.  That's about the only bright spot in this whole fucked up week.

Further Adventures in Travel

Some people enjoy traveling for business, or at least tolerate it enough to get by in jobs that require extensive travel.  I am not one of those people.  I do not understand those people, and I may never understand why they would enjoy leaving their family and friends and homes for days or weeks at a time to travel to some crappy town in the middle of nowhere and perform their job duties with strangers in a strange land.  Of course, my job never takes me to Paris or London or Miami or even Chicago.  No, today, I am writing from a Panera Bread in downtown Evansville, IN, and this is by far the highlight of my first day out of town.

Here's a quick recap before I destroy this computer and/or blow up the world:

Monday night, softball game:  We lost.  We scored three runs in the first inning and a grand total of zero runs for the next 6 innings.  0 runs.  In softball.  Slow-pitch softball.  Regular arc slow-pitch softball.  I think the fact that we have only 3 wins on the season is not really a surprise.  Actually, the only surprise is that we've won 3 games.  Oh, and it was really fucking hot out and my left knee has been in really bad shape for about 3 weeks now, but we were short players so I had to flop around the field at 2nd base and damage my knee further for a team with only 3 wins.  Why?  Some things apparently have no answer.  Or at least none that I can think of right now.  Let's just move on.

Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust

Sigur Ros
Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust
Rating:  8.8 (out of 10)

The first five songs on the fifth full-length from Sigur Ros are an almost perfect expression of musical brilliance.  The album tails off a bit in the second half, but this swiftly written, recorded, and produced record (only started in January) turns out to be all kinds of wonderful.  It definitely will challenge Wolf Parade's At Mount Zoomer for album of the year, a rather impressive feat, and there is very little not to like about it.  Go buy the album and find out for yourself.

At Mount Zoomer

Wolf Parade
At Mount Zoomer
Rating:  8.8  (out 0f 10)

First things first.  If you only have the bootleg download of this album that was released a month or so ago, run out and get the album.  It sounds light years better.  I don't know what happened with the cut of the download that I'd been listening to (and loving) this past month, but to hear the album in its intended version is an entirely different (and much better) experience.  I probably would have given the album an 7.5 a week ago (which is a little disappointing after my expectations for the band have hit unprecedented levels) but now I feel this is exactly what I had hoped for all along.  Just an absolutely brilliant album for a band that can really do no wrong.  The variety of instrumentals, the layers of sound, and the way Spencer's voice cracks in hi-fi just need to be heard on a CD quality recording.  In fact, a very small part of me is looking forward to flying to Indiana tomorrow just so I have the chance to listen to the album on my headphones.  It's that good.

Buy At Mount Zoomer

Artie Lange on Letterman: Too Fat to Fish

Funny, funny stuff... thanks to Artie Lange, David Letterman, and Red Lasso - the best invention on the Internet since Vague Space itself.  The below is Howard Stern "sidekick" Artie Lange's appearance on Letterman from last Thursday, June 13th.  Artie talks about performing at a bachelor party, his Italian mother, and how he's "too fat to fish."  Enjoy.

New Music Wednesday

The Notwist have finally released their follow-up to 2002's Neon Golden and it's got a similarly wonderful sound, proving they aren't any worse for the extended layoff.  The Notwist have a really unique sound, with subdued vocals combining with electronic beats, understated guitar, and overdubbed percussion to make some really catchy music.  I am really liking the new album.  Take a listen.

• Buy The Devil, You + Me
• Download The Notwist - "Gloomy Planets".mp3
• Download The Notwist - "Good Lies".mp3

Fleet Foxes have been lighting up the blogs for the past few weeks, and I must admit that I absolutely love "White Winter Hymnal."  It's catchy and cool and so very Animal Collective-ish.  Unfortunately, I'm not really getting the fascination with the rest of the album yet.  I do really like the middle section, including "He Doesn't Know Why" and "Your Protector," which have a very Midlake-ish vibe.

• Buy Fleet Foxes
• Download Fleet Foxes - "White Winter Hymnal".mp3
• Download Fleet Foxes - "He Doesn't Know Why".mp3

A Glorious Day

So yesterday afternoon, I was greeted with a couple pieces of news that made my otherwise suck-ass work day much more enjoyable.  News #1:

The Seattle Mariners fired general manager Bill Bavasi on Monday, as the team lags with the worst record in baseball after starting the season with playoff hopes. Vice president/associate general manager Lee Pelekoudas will take over in his place.

"Change is in order," Mariners CEO Howard Lincoln said in a release. "We have determined new leadership is needed in the GM position. With a new leader will come a new plan and a new approach. A search will begin immediately for a permanent GM, and Lee will be a candidate for the position."

The Mariners are 322-395 under Bavasi, the third worst record in the American League. In the five previous seasons, Seattle was 472-338, the third best record in the AL.   I was not impressed with his hiring, was underwhelmed at the start of his "regime", have been shocked at any burst of contention for the team since Pat Gillick left, and have been waiting for this firing much, much longer than I imagined. He did an absolutely dreadful job as GM, turning a perennial contender into an also-ran despite one of the highest payrolls in baseball.  Below the jump, I rank the top 5 disasters of the Bavasi regime, so that we can take a stroll down memory lane for the last time Bill Bavasi will ever be entrusted to run a major league, minor league, or little league franchise.

And then came News #2:

Chien-Ming Wang could miss the rest of the season after suffering a mid-foot sprain of the Lisfranc ligament of the right foot and a partial tear of the peroneal longus tendon of the right foot.

He won't need surgery, but he'll be on crutches and wearing a protective boot for at least six weeks. The Journal News speculates that even if he's fully healthy at that point, it would take four weeks for him to return to pitching shape, making a late August return the best case scenario. Get ready for even more C.C. Sabathia to New York rumors.

Oh, and that last note by Rotoworld about the Sabathia rumors is why I hate the Yankees and their fans and their media so very much that I can take joy in a player's injury.  I should feel bad for Wang, who by all accounts seems like a decent fellow, but fuck it, when all the immediate talk isn't "damn, this is a tough loss, how can we overcome it?" like it would be for any other ML or sports franchise in general; instead, it's "how can we get the reigning Cy Young award winner onto the team?"  If that doesn't completely disgust you as a baseball fan (moreso than Wang's unfortunate injury), I don't know what to tell you.

The Happiest Place on Earth

According to a 2006 study published in the UK Guardian, the happiest people on Earth live in a country that is known primarily for cold, ice, and cold, the somewhat misnamed Iceland.  Iceland, the block of sub-Arctic lava that uses no oil to run their economy, tops the 2008 table of the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) Human Development Index rankings, meaning that as a society and as an economy - in terms of wealth, health and education - they are champions of the world.  It is the country with the sixth highest GDP per capita in the world; where people buy the most books; where life expectancy for men is the highest in the world, and not far behind for women; it's the only country in NATO with no armed forces (they were banned 700 years ago); the highest ratio of mobile telephones to population; the fastest-expanding banking system in the world; rocketing export business; crystal-pure air; hot water delivered to all Icelandic households straight from the earth's volcanic bowels; and so on and so forth.

I recently viewed the 2005 movie about the music of Iceland, titled Screaming Masterpiece, showcasing the beautiful history of its culture and the way the music has united its people in a universal sound.  I've also seen the Sigur Ros 2007 movie Heima, which means "home" and features a bunch of concerts given all over their country that year, including some intimate shows in front of a handful of friends in small towns on lava rocks and in open fields.  The movie was absolutely stunning on my 50" HDTV, with vistas of the countryside so beautiful it makes you feel like you're there.  I've never been to Iceland, of course, but I can't help but be intrigued by a place that produces such beautiful music and is also considered the happiest place on Earth.

Viva Zapata

Wow.  More making fun of how out of touch John McCain is below.  But this one is actually really, really scary.  Like really scary.  The video is from the primary season - pre-Super Tuesday, at least from the questions, so it's kind of completely and utterly shocking that it hasn't made the news (oh wait, that's right, the media freakin' loves McCain no matter how wrong he is on every issue or how many times he flip-flops).  But yeah, the guy says outright: "I'm a [computer] illiterate."  In 2008, he wants to run the most powerful country in the world and the guy can't even operate a computer.  Seriously.  And people are going to vote for him?  Really?  Really? 

Oh yeah, and in response to a question about his favorite movie from this year, he named a film from 1952.  1952.  That's 56 years ago if you're counting.  Or more years than Obama has been alive.  Or about 25 years before Bill Gates was working on a little thing called a "personal computer."  Wow.