Miracle Fortress

Excellently rad band

Bookshelf

Aren't they pretty? Some of the books I've read this year, I'll put some more up when I remember what else I've read this year (anything beyond June is quite a struggle)

Zell#0utz

As featured on the Amazon/Kindle add. At least it wasn't Apple. And they still couldn't afford to put to gether and actual video.

A brief opinion share on Indie musicians selling their music for commercial purposes. It's increasingly common these days, the list is fairly endless - Los Campesinos, Herman Dune, Kurt Vile, Feist, The Walkmen, The Generationals, Modest Mouse, Interpol (if they still count), The Magnetic Fields, The Shins.... this list could probably drag on to cover 40% of the indie-sphere. Clearly there are a lot of musicians who either see nothing wrong with their music being used on an advertisement, or the benefits simply outweight any moral consternation they might be suffering from. It looks like it is becoming increasingly ubiquitous. I was most surprised when I heard the Generationals on an Amazon/Kindle ad. Mostly I was surprised because I feel fairly certain I'm the only person in the UK who has actually heard the Generationals. I thought about the fact that they probably don't (didn't) make much money from their music, and how timely a cash injection in the approach toe christmas would be. There is also something complimentary towards the genre as a whole in its frequent use for commercials. Mostly it is old 'classics' and contemporary indie music that are the favoured choices for sountracking adverts, there is a distinct absence of contemporary chart music. One could suggest that this would be too expensive to buy the rights to, however, it doesn't take that many sales to get into the charts, and chart songs will soon be shipped out to every complitation disc released for the next two years. Certainly they could afford to purchase the rights for at least some chart tunes. Why don't they? Well, I think it's testament to the fact that most chart music is essentially a-melodic and virtually unlistenable, cuased by the ridiculous attemps of superstar producers to create something that sounds 'contemporary' and combines 'all the genres'. So when an advertising exec actually wants to sell a product, they want to use a song that actually sounds nice - step in indie (especially the nu-folk scene). I'm dubious that selliing music to commercials stifles and artists creativity, in fact it probably lends them an increased sense of independence from their label (if they have one), I'm more than happy for them to get some extra cash in their pockets, and, frankly, I imagine I would do exactly the same thing in their shoes. I'm not anti-commercial, nor anti-capitalist, and  I don't think most people are. Certainly in the age of free downloads, the ways in which artists renumerate themselves are increasinly diverse, but not less legitimate because of that. Essentially they are still just making a living by producing art, it seems to me that any artist should be allowed to do that.

Submariner

The biggest mystery surrounding this film is not that the British film industry has finally produced a good film about youth, specifically middle-class youth (as opposed to working class pikey kids who joins gang/young Colin Firth-esque posh boy goes to Eton), but that Alex Turner made the nice music which accompanies it. Which begs the question, if he can make pleasant music, why are the Arctic Monkeys so abysmal? It's a great film, and I think I can finally begin to empathise with all those weird welsh kids now.

Isn't He Lovely

If you have nothing to do this christmas, spend it drinking and watching Woody Allen

Secret Cities

Wonderful

Twerps

The best thing to come from down under since... mm. The best thing to come from down under.

Santa Stevens

Towing the festive line

Party Wit Kim

If you are really going to miss the Great Leader (his son ain't got no game I agree), then you will be reassured to find you're not alone. The British Communist Party (Marxist/Leninist) - because there are genuinely two other British Communist parties (did anybody watch the news in the late 80's? Fall of the Iron Curtain etc) - are struggling to deal with it too. Not only did they say some beautiful words but they are also throwing a 'memorial meeting'/party today (I can see it going on all night) to celebrate his great achievements. Assuming they manage to find out exaclty what those were.

Fresh Re-United

Neither of the Vivians showed up and there's no Jeffrey the butler (I have a horrible feeling he might be dead and that's why) but still.absolutely.fresh.

What He Said

Fascinating film, it's always interesting to see Woody simply as an actor. In terms of the general cinematography and script it's no match for most of his own, but it is a compelling story about an interesting problem.

Getting There

Obligatory festive picture of Bill and a video for the one genuinely wonderful christmas song
It is very nearly christmas! It doesn't look like it's going to be a white one, but as I have to pick up my girlfriend (interestingly, I stopped writing this blog at almost the exact time we started going out - coincidence?) from the airport on Boxing Day that's not entirely a bad thing, although it does look so very pretty around here when it snows. I might just post some pictures of last year instead. Christmas is a wonderful time of year, undoubtedly the most significant day of the year. If not in fact being the only genuinely and popularly significant recurring and adhered to date in modern Western society. This is also my last christmas as a student, this time next year I should be unhappily employed/ surprisingly happily unemployed. Maybe I'll be a weather man, or an astronaut or a.....

Flavourwire

Bob Dylan doing something with somebody in the 70's (i probably found this via flavorwire)

Flavorwire, in spite of its infuriating lack of a 'u' (part of what constitutes the single most irritating abuse of English by the Americans), is a brilliant site. Updated regularly (something which is extremely important to me) and actually manages to offer a readable, digestible, pleasurable look at all of these topics; literature, art, music, film, tv and general media junk. All on the same page. I'm quite certain its like does not exist anywhere else on the internet and its quality can only be attributed to the overall coolness of its authors (except maybe their music 'guy', the one man that contributes frequently and is invariably rubbish). Its articles are almost entirely written by women, which is in fact unusual in this day and age, and they of course proceed to do a vastly superior job to pretty much any site aggregated by penis wearers. It's very good, so if you are reading this, and want to go somewhere else and read something interesting, do go there.

Brown Recluse

lovely music

Kim's Gone

Perfect prick/The last of a golden generation

The death of international meme superstar Kim Jong Il will have devastating repercussions. Not, of course, in North Korea. The situation there will most likely remain exactly as it was, the security services look like they have got a pretty tight hold and Kim Jon-un  carries all the hallmarks of a perfect prick. But for the meme farmers of the internet, and those seven or eight people desperately waiting for a Team America sequel, it must have been a tragic announcement. WHO will they turn to now? Ahmadinejad?

Mikal Cronin

+ Ty Segall = the new Pavement? I think that's how the theorem works. Anyway, the Mikal Cronin half of that equation is my favourite.

Kurt Vile

So Kurt Vile is simply incredible. That's all I have to say. Bank of America ads and all. Angry Patrick Stickles and everything. All of his albums. Brilliant.

Left Isn't Always Right

This insensitive basically


I'm a lilly livered middle-class university going freeloading left wing socialist student just as much as anyone, but I have a problem with some of the journalistic articles which are produced by left wing media outlets. I think it probably stems from the fact that the majority of media outlets are right-wing, pro-government or nationalistic in outlook, so even when a leftie says something clearly moronic there's a tendency to over look it (Julian Assange, right there). My first example would be George Monbiot's wonderfully timed defence of nuclear power. There might be some validity in arguing that Fukushima should not effect the judgement of European nations as to the safety of nuclear plants, but he goes one further and claims that the disaster has, in fact, improved his view of nuclear energy. Not only is this simply stupid because it can't improve anybody's view of nuclear power, but it's also unnecessarily insensitive. It smacks of attention grabbing insecurity, and of course places him under the category of 'prick'.
 Now I can understand the Guardian letting that one slip by, George Monbiot has plenty of fans and is one of their most well known writers, who publishes articles for them all the time (perhaps too often). But the next one I would like to draw to the attention of my avid readers is harder to explain. Firstly, unlike Monbiot, Alice Miles isn't really making any sort of point, she's just complaining. Cue the 'time of the month' jokes, but this article really is absolute tripe. If tripe were indeible shit. It has all the incoherency of an enraged fourteen year old who hates her parents, got rejected by the captain of the football team, and has just watched her first episode of Newsnight, and the sheer insensitivity and poor choice of its timing is, as with Georgie's article, abysmal. The root of this article seems to be that she is enraged because a friend called to see if she was ok after the 7/11 bombings, clearly not a friend she likes vey much, and I can't understand what she hopes this article will achieve or what it will say about her. Why Newstatesman chose to print it and offer it as one of their choice articles of the day is beyond me. Essentially both of these articles are narcissistic rants shrieked by reactionary authors desperate for confirmation that everybody in the world excepting themselves is an idiot, and so sensitivity and social awareness have been cast aside in favour of the misplaced righteousness of an idiot.

Mutual Appreciation

I enjoyed Funny Ha Ha a lot, even more so after the second watch, so I watched another film of AB's, Mutual Appreciation. Andrew Bujalski's self invented 'mumblecore' style can be initially surprising, but is quite easy to get to grips with, and I found myself absorbed in the dialogue and characters in much the same way I would be in a good book. He certainly possesses a fine eye for talent, choosing a completely obscure lead in his first film, and the lead singer of a relatively obscure band as the main character in this one. I was surprised by the decision to shoot in black and white, but it works well and definitely lends the film a seperate air from that of Funny Ha Ha. Once again Bujalski casts himself in the role of a socially awkward and somewhat romantically unsuccessful character, which shows a continued strand of self-deprecation (a sort of Woody Allen antithesis). Anyway, it's well good and I'd recommend watching it.

Both Funny Ha Ha and Mutual Appreciation can be watched on this fantastic site that provides free and legal viewing of independent/old enough that the copyright holders don't care anymore movies. I'm not sure how easy they are to watch from the UK/Europe, I know some people have had problems but I'm sure a quick trawl of some forums can fix it.

Suspended In Gaffa

This is a really great KB cover

Peter Broderick

Waking Life

I'm a little late to the boat with this one (ten years to be exact), but that doesn't effect it's brilliance in the slightest. The animation is trippy, sublime and remarkable, while the dialogue is profound and funny. It's distinctive look makes it a pleasure just to look at, and the variety of characters not to mention the interesting over-arching plot left me completely enthralled. One of a very small number of films that can genuinely effect anybody who watches it, it makes you think about dreams, but even more so about how you lead your life and if you really are awake during it. A Richard Linklater classic that was so good I'm actually considering watching A Scanner Darkly despite the fact it contains 'worst actor in the world' Keanu Reeves.

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

Nodzzz

Phewww it's been a while

JR

Jonathan Richman, the 'modern equivalent of Bertolt Brecht' (according to Bob Dylan)

Bob Dylan's Radio Hour (Season 2)

 nice hat


Eps running from sixteen, seventeen, eighteen (1), eighteen (2), nineteen and twenty. Enjoy 'em folks

Wild Places, Sacred Spaces

I've made a new mixtape - Wild Places, Sacred Spaces

enjoy!

I forgot to attach the tracklisting so here it is:

1. Robin Pecknold - Derwentwater
2. Port O'Brien - High Without Hope
3. Dark Dark Dark - Daydreaming
4. Peasant - Fine Is Fine
5. Giant Sand - Yer Ropes
6. Sore Eros - Landslide Fear
7. Ben Frost - The Carpathians
8. A Sunny Day In Glasgow - Loudly
9. A Sunny Day In Glasgow - Blood White
10. Julianna Barwick - The Magic Place
11. Mountain Goats - Moon Over Goldsboro
12. Sleeping States - Breahtless Place
13. Sparrow and the Workshop - Mercenary
14. The Sleeping Years - Kerscavern  

Nedry

I'm calling this 'post-dub bjorkstep', catch it while it's hot

Tickley Feather

Who doesn't love trashy boys?

Pearl Harbor

Blind Drunk