Terrible Analogies

In case you haven’t seen this amazing video yet, feast your eyes on Ok Go’s latest video for their song “This Too Shall Pass”.  Check ‘em out as they interact with an amazingly complex Rube Goldberg machine.

This from a band who initially gained widespread attention by dancing on treadmills.  The machine in this video took over six weeks to construct, and over 60 takes over a period of two days to wind up with this single-shot music video.  You have to admire the talent and patience it took to create this.

I initially became aware of Ok Go when they toured with They Might Be Giants in support of their first (self-titled) album.  It’s great to see a band stay true to their roots and in touch with their fan base.

Music, video Music, video

With my car in the shop (blown radiator & cracked head gasket), I’ve been driving a loaner for the better part of a week.  When I first started up my loaner POS I discovered that all of the stereo channels had been programmed to various spanish-language stations.  Ugh.

When I got home I grabbed the closest CD I had on hand and threw it into the car, not paying too much mind to which CD I picked up.  Turns out I snagged Soft-Core by My Robot Friend.  This happened to be an album that I hadn’t paid much attention to, but after listening to it on repeat for the past five days it’s become of my favorite albums as of late.

Once you get beyond the whole “I’m a robot and I sing about robots” schtick, the album is amazingly solid.  This is the perfect album to listen to while on a long drive to nowhere in particular.  As for their sound, imagine putting Depeche Mode, LaTour, The Postal Service, and Kraftwerk into a blender and pressing the puree button.  Add a pinch of Datarock and a dash of The Shins and you’ll wind up with a valid facsimile of MRF.  Though classified as an electronica band, there’s enough keyboard and guitar to keep the mellow sound well congealed and defined, so don’t let the “electronica” tag dissuade you.  I think it’s a case of a record exec trying to pigeonhole this album into a category for connivence sake, and getting the category completely wrong.

MRF’s most easily digestible track would unquestionably be “Robot High School”, but I tend to enjoy the vibe of the track “Failure”. 

As the week wore on this album continued to grow on me.  As a whole, I found there’s really not one klunker track in the bunch.  Rare is the album that’s thought out enough that lets you press ‘play’ and simply walk away.

At first glance this album might seem a bit tame and redundant, but repeated plays really brings out its subtle, quirky brilliance.  Plunk down some cash, download the album, throw it into your car, press “play” and take a ride to anywhere but here.  I’m confident that you’ll enjoy the trip.

Oh, and in case you were wondering what the ultimate driving song is…”Twilight Zone” by Golden Earring.  You can disagree, but you’d be wrong

Music Music

Being the last.fm junkie that I am, I find it humorous how many people tend to pick up on the latest soulless musical trends, only to obediently drop them on command when corporate America shoves something else bright and shiny in their collective faces.

As a prime example, let’s take a look at the latest list of songs most frequently removed from last.fm users playlists:

Now, I’m not the musical fashion plate that your kids should look up to, and I don’t pretend to believe that my musical tastes are inherently superior to most everyone else (even if they are), but at least I’m not listening to pre-packaged “artists” such as Lady Gaga, or insiped noise such as the Black Eyed Peas. This sort of music is targeted at the lowest common denominator who is either incapable of tracking down music worth listening to, or doesn’t have the desire to do so. This is music that can conveniently be swapped out with whatever MTV or Billboard says is the “hottest ticket in town”, and by definition is complete trash.

But hey, if you’re big on Britney Spears, and think that Lady Gaga really has something important to say, then by all means stick with your corporate concoctions. I admire your loyalty, even if there is a sort of sick sadness to it.

As for this chart, I’m not quite sure how to interpret it; either people are waking up to the fact that these cash cows are nothing more than fictitious talent posing as the real deal, or they’re simply following the normal cycle of disposable music and are ready for the next wave of plastic tripe to spill out of the agitated, enflamed bowels of the music industry machine.

But then again, I could be wrong about this whole thing. It could be that I’m tragically mistaken about the entire concept of art, and that folks such as myself should just shut up and listen to what we’re supposed to.  Perhaps I should just keep my vapid opinions to myself?

Rah-rah-ah-ah-ah, ga-ga-ooh-la-la indeed.

Music Music

Looking back on a year filled with enough fear, uncertainty and doubt to last me multiple lifetimes, I’m amazed at what took place on the periphery when I wasn’t paying attention. Putting the housing crisis, political tensions, and financial hardships aside, 2009 (and the decade) shaped up to be a rather interesting time.

And with that mindset, let me introduce to you a collection of links highlighting the good, bad, and downright ugly of 2009 and beyond. If there are any that I missed, please let me know.

Top 10 Archaeology Finds of 2009
9 Astronomy Milestones Of 2009
Top Ten Space Pictures of 2009
Life’s 2009 Photos Of The Year
LA Times Best Photos Of 2009
Reuters Best Photos Of 2009
100 Best Sports Photos Of 2009
The Top Ten Google Earth Finds
The Decade In News Photographs
Top Scientific Breakthroughs Of 2009
Ten Gadgets That Defined The Decade
40 Things That Were Popular At The Beginning Of The Decade That Aren’t Anymore
50 Things We Know Now That We Didn’t Know This Time Last Year
Wired.com Readers’ Favorite iPhone Apps Of 2009
Sports Illustrated Notable Pop Culture Moments Of The Decade
Sports Illustrated Top Ten MLB Games Of The Decade
Top Ten Tech Failures Of 2009
Great And Disappointing Operating Systems Of The Decade
The 87 Lamest Moments In Tech 2000-2009
The Best Free Software Of 2009
The Best Free Fonts Of 2009
The Best Of CSS Design 2009
50 Best Websites Of 2009
Fortune Magazine’s 100 Best Companies To Work For
Joystiq’s Top 20 Video Games Of 2009
Board Game Gift Guide Of 2009
NME’s 50 Best Albums Of 2009
Billboard’s One-Hit Wonders Of The Decade
50 Best Albums Of The Decade
Top 10 Vinyl Albums From The Past Decade
The Strokes’ ‘Is This It’ Top NME Albums Of The Decade List
Wired’s Favorite Sci-Fi Movies Of The Decade
New York Time’s 10 Best Books Of 2009
Amazon’s Best Books Of 2009
The Smoking Gun’s Mug Shots Of The Decade
11 Greatest Mug Shots Of The 2000s
‘You lie!’ On Yale List Of Year’s Memorable Quotes
Time’s The Top Ten Of Everything 2009
YouTube’s Viral Video Legends Of The Decade Compilation

Books, Computer, Movies, Music, Politics, Random, holiday Books, Computer, Movies, Politics, Random

Forgive me if I cut this entry short.   After twelve hours at work today I have naught the willpower nor the energy to focus on any one topic.  It was, to put it mildly, “one of those days”.  I blame the developers for this rotten day.  Seems we have some new people who can’t QA their code worth a darn.

I think I’ll toss back a beer tonight and give a listen to Mewithoutyou‘s album It’s All Crazy! It’s All False! It’s All A Dream! It’s Alright. If you dig The Decemberists, give Mewithoutyou a shot.

Music, Random Music, Random