Friday, October 31
The absolute best "official" web site for any artist is sonicyouth.com. It's fantastic. You can listen to everything they've ever created; you can watch videos and concert footage from their entire career. You can chat with fans and with the band. You can find just about every single image from their albums and hundreds of photos from concerts and other settings. AND you can buy albums and t-shirts and other fun items. If you are a fan of Sonic Youth, then this sight is an essential visit.
Now, the question is: am I a fan of Sonic Youth. I was digging through my back catalogue recently and I noticed that the most recent SY album I owned was Washing Machine, which came out (I believe) in 1995. Now, you should also know that I own every other SY album ever made--all the way back to Confusion is Sex, and I started listening to SY back in the 80s, so the fact that I own their 1995 album but not their more recent albums would lead you (and I) to think that my interest in the band ended right around there. And what happened to me in 1995 (or, probably 1996)? That's when I bought my first copy of Cubase, a sampler, a drum machine, and a synth. Yes, that's when I started paying attention to and creating electronic music. At the time, I was primarily interested in this music because I was writing a dissertation on sound and technology, and I wanted to have a working knowledge of how sound is created and processed through these instruments (though I still haven't written on these instruments--that's coming, though).
So my focus on guitar-based music came to an abrupt hault. I never rejected this music out of hand, but I did stop paying close attention to the music--and to Sonic Youth. So imagine my surprise when I revisited Sonic Youth's music in 2003 and discovered...well, I discovered that their music had drifted towards the electronic universe as well. A Thousand Leaves and NYC Ghosts and Flowers (which I bought at Apple's iTunes Music Store, by the way) are both filled with aberrant, weird electronic noises in the same tradition as Coh and Fennesz and all the other fun folk in the electronic world. Yes, there's still plenty of guitar--the guitars dominate--but these are different guitar sounds than on Daydream Nation: more atmospheric, less grinding. So they're not really an experimental electronic band, but they certainly are experimental--and that, by itself, is something impressive, considering the band's long history.
In short, I'm happy to see the band I grew to love in the 90s is still a relevant force today. Keep it up!
Now, the question is: am I a fan of Sonic Youth. I was digging through my back catalogue recently and I noticed that the most recent SY album I owned was Washing Machine, which came out (I believe) in 1995. Now, you should also know that I own every other SY album ever made--all the way back to Confusion is Sex, and I started listening to SY back in the 80s, so the fact that I own their 1995 album but not their more recent albums would lead you (and I) to think that my interest in the band ended right around there. And what happened to me in 1995 (or, probably 1996)? That's when I bought my first copy of Cubase, a sampler, a drum machine, and a synth. Yes, that's when I started paying attention to and creating electronic music. At the time, I was primarily interested in this music because I was writing a dissertation on sound and technology, and I wanted to have a working knowledge of how sound is created and processed through these instruments (though I still haven't written on these instruments--that's coming, though).
So my focus on guitar-based music came to an abrupt hault. I never rejected this music out of hand, but I did stop paying close attention to the music--and to Sonic Youth. So imagine my surprise when I revisited Sonic Youth's music in 2003 and discovered...well, I discovered that their music had drifted towards the electronic universe as well. A Thousand Leaves and NYC Ghosts and Flowers (which I bought at Apple's iTunes Music Store, by the way) are both filled with aberrant, weird electronic noises in the same tradition as Coh and Fennesz and all the other fun folk in the electronic world. Yes, there's still plenty of guitar--the guitars dominate--but these are different guitar sounds than on Daydream Nation: more atmospheric, less grinding. So they're not really an experimental electronic band, but they certainly are experimental--and that, by itself, is something impressive, considering the band's long history.
In short, I'm happy to see the band I grew to love in the 90s is still a relevant force today. Keep it up!
Monday, October 27
Online music stores are in the news a lot lately, due to the launch of iTunes for Windows and the rebirth of Napster, but there's one store that is highly underrated: Emusic. Have you visited this site? Well, you should, especially all of you out there who are railing against corporate music. Emusic is a subscription music service ($10 US per month) that features thousands--THOUSANDS--of albums from independent record labels. Once you pay your $10, you can download as many albums as you'd like and use them in any manner you might like.
Now, there are rarely any new albums available at Emusic, but if it's a year or so old, you're more than likely to find it at Emusic, especially if your taste in music falls in the indie spectrum.
What kinds of artists are available? How about this: everything by Belle and Sebastian (except Dear Catastrophe Waitress, which was released a week or so ago); the bulk of the Mille Plateaux and Ritornell catalogues; Sonic Youth; Pavement's entire catalogue; Tom Waits; The Fall; Big Star's #1 Record/Radio City; Creedence Clearwater Revival; Little Richard; The Kinks; Augustus Pablo's East of the River Nile and King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown (in fact, the entire Shananchie catalogue); and on and on and on and on. It's wonderful. True, there's plenty of crap here--like any record store--but the gems make this service very worthwhile.
Additionally, most of the mp3s on the site are formatted in high res: 180 kbps or higher, which is a hell of a lot better than the 128 available at places like mp3.com (though the AAC encoding used by Apple's store is superior).
So do yourself a favor. Before you go out and buy an album, check emusic.com first. If they have it, you can get it for free because they have a 50-song "trial subscription" thing. It'll be worth it--believe me.
Now, there are rarely any new albums available at Emusic, but if it's a year or so old, you're more than likely to find it at Emusic, especially if your taste in music falls in the indie spectrum.
What kinds of artists are available? How about this: everything by Belle and Sebastian (except Dear Catastrophe Waitress, which was released a week or so ago); the bulk of the Mille Plateaux and Ritornell catalogues; Sonic Youth; Pavement's entire catalogue; Tom Waits; The Fall; Big Star's #1 Record/Radio City; Creedence Clearwater Revival; Little Richard; The Kinks; Augustus Pablo's East of the River Nile and King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown (in fact, the entire Shananchie catalogue); and on and on and on and on. It's wonderful. True, there's plenty of crap here--like any record store--but the gems make this service very worthwhile.
Additionally, most of the mp3s on the site are formatted in high res: 180 kbps or higher, which is a hell of a lot better than the 128 available at places like mp3.com (though the AAC encoding used by Apple's store is superior).
So do yourself a favor. Before you go out and buy an album, check emusic.com first. If they have it, you can get it for free because they have a 50-song "trial subscription" thing. It'll be worth it--believe me.
I live in Redlands, California. It's a small town in Southern California's "Inland Empire," which includes Riverside and San Bernardino counties. For those following the news lately, San Bernardino is currently on fire--or, at least, most of the areas of San Bernardino that are adjacent to the San Bernardino mountains (which is a big chunk). Redlands, however, is just fine. We can SEE the fires in the distance, and the incredible smoke clouds that have been created from the fires has blown (to a certain extent) into our air (so we're breathing the fires). However, that's as close as we've come. I have friends who have been evacuated from their homes, however; amazingly, none of their homes were destroyed.
But check this out. Last Wednesday, October 22, George W. Bush and Ahhnold visited San Bernardino and Riverside (Bush actually stayed overnight in Riverside, my home town; I'm so ashamed). The very next day, the fires started. My theory is W. and Rumsfeld started the firest to divert attention away from, well, the entire rest of the world (which is also going up in smoke).
But conspiracies aside, these fires are absolutely horrible. They are especially horrible because they just make a bad year worse. Honestly, this year sucks. 2004 could suck, too, but right now I'm looking forward to it with open arms.
But check this out. Last Wednesday, October 22, George W. Bush and Ahhnold visited San Bernardino and Riverside (Bush actually stayed overnight in Riverside, my home town; I'm so ashamed). The very next day, the fires started. My theory is W. and Rumsfeld started the firest to divert attention away from, well, the entire rest of the world (which is also going up in smoke).
But conspiracies aside, these fires are absolutely horrible. They are especially horrible because they just make a bad year worse. Honestly, this year sucks. 2004 could suck, too, but right now I'm looking forward to it with open arms.
Sunday, October 19
I've changed my web site around a bit. Gone is the "Aboo" section of the site, and in its place is "Michael Heumann." The reason for the change? I'm making my latest work, The Island of Sleeping Chickens, available free of charge. So go to the new Michael Heumann music site, download some chicken tunes, and let me know what you think.
What can I say after the debacles/meltdowns by both Boston and Chicago in this week's championship series? For the Cubs, I'd say quit bitching about a fan and start bitching about your shortstop and your pitchers! As for the Red Sox--well, it's now clear: the only team in the American League who can beat the Yankees is the Angels.
What can I say after the debacles/meltdowns by both Boston and Chicago in this week's championship series? For the Cubs, I'd say quit bitching about a fan and start bitching about your shortstop and your pitchers! As for the Red Sox--well, it's now clear: the only team in the American League who can beat the Yankees is the Angels.
Friday, October 10
This is another one of those baseball-related notes, so if you're not a baseball fan, skip it.
As I mentioned last year, I'm a huge Anaheim Angels fan, and I have been since I was a kid growing up about 45 minutes from Anaheim. The Angels won the World Series last year, and it was probably the single greatest thing that's ever happend to me. Yes, I'm that insane!
This year's playoffs, however, are pretty damn incredible, even though the Angels came nowhere near them (ah, but that's because of injuries--just wait until next year!). Back in July, I told my friend Ben that I was rooting for a Cubs-Red Sox series, and he just laughed, adding, "Sure, it'll go seven games, and the seventh game will go 87 innings before they just call it a tie." [by the way, if that makes no sense to you, then you didn't read the note at the bottom--this is for baseball fans! Go away now! If you're a fan, then you know what I'm talking about.] We just laughed about that scenario. Ah, but just today on ESPN I heard someone mention that exact scenario. I guess Ben and I weren't the only ones to envision this. In fact, judging from the TV ratings, a hell of a lot of people are gearing up for a Cubs-Red Sox situation.
And, let me just add that if either or both of those teams actually make it to the Series, then they have the Angels to thank them. You see, the Angels' history though not as long or as well known as the histories of the Cubs or Sox was (until last year) just as painful. The Angels, you might remember, lost to the Red Sox in the 1986 AL Championship series, after they were only one strike away from finishing the Sox off (in game 5). Donnie Moore gave up a home run, and the Angels went on to lose that game and the series. A few years later, Moore killed himself--due largely to his blown save that October afternoon. Now, check this out: I was 18 at the time, living up in Stockton, CA (about 80 miles from San Francisco). I was watching the game, my arms held high in the air, waiting for the final out so I could celebrate--and then the home run (to the truly evil Dave Henderson). I was in shock. All those asshole Sox fans who bitched that their team blew game 6 of the World Series that year (Buckner's error)--just remember that the Angels lost to YOUR TEAM. How could the Sox be more pathetic than the Angels in loserdom if the Sox could beat the Angels?
So the Angels winning last year was truly a wonderful, incredible achievement, destroying 42 years of abject failure and putting to rest all of the "curse" talk surrounding my team. And now, here we have the two bigger, more popular "cursed" teams in baseball, the Cubs and Sox, on the verge of reaching the World Series--just one year after the Angels, the lowly, pathetic Angels, managed to burn their curse into the ground once and for all. Coincidence? No way. In destroying their curse, the Angels left the "curse-be-gone" door wide open. Now it's up to Boston and Chicago to take their respective curses and kick them through that door. Will they do it? I hope so. It's now or never, guys. Either those two teams meet up for what will be the greatest single event in American sports history, or we'll all have to suffer through another, stupid Yankees parade.
As I mentioned last year, I'm a huge Anaheim Angels fan, and I have been since I was a kid growing up about 45 minutes from Anaheim. The Angels won the World Series last year, and it was probably the single greatest thing that's ever happend to me. Yes, I'm that insane!
This year's playoffs, however, are pretty damn incredible, even though the Angels came nowhere near them (ah, but that's because of injuries--just wait until next year!). Back in July, I told my friend Ben that I was rooting for a Cubs-Red Sox series, and he just laughed, adding, "Sure, it'll go seven games, and the seventh game will go 87 innings before they just call it a tie." [by the way, if that makes no sense to you, then you didn't read the note at the bottom--this is for baseball fans! Go away now! If you're a fan, then you know what I'm talking about.] We just laughed about that scenario. Ah, but just today on ESPN I heard someone mention that exact scenario. I guess Ben and I weren't the only ones to envision this. In fact, judging from the TV ratings, a hell of a lot of people are gearing up for a Cubs-Red Sox situation.
And, let me just add that if either or both of those teams actually make it to the Series, then they have the Angels to thank them. You see, the Angels' history though not as long or as well known as the histories of the Cubs or Sox was (until last year) just as painful. The Angels, you might remember, lost to the Red Sox in the 1986 AL Championship series, after they were only one strike away from finishing the Sox off (in game 5). Donnie Moore gave up a home run, and the Angels went on to lose that game and the series. A few years later, Moore killed himself--due largely to his blown save that October afternoon. Now, check this out: I was 18 at the time, living up in Stockton, CA (about 80 miles from San Francisco). I was watching the game, my arms held high in the air, waiting for the final out so I could celebrate--and then the home run (to the truly evil Dave Henderson). I was in shock. All those asshole Sox fans who bitched that their team blew game 6 of the World Series that year (Buckner's error)--just remember that the Angels lost to YOUR TEAM. How could the Sox be more pathetic than the Angels in loserdom if the Sox could beat the Angels?
So the Angels winning last year was truly a wonderful, incredible achievement, destroying 42 years of abject failure and putting to rest all of the "curse" talk surrounding my team. And now, here we have the two bigger, more popular "cursed" teams in baseball, the Cubs and Sox, on the verge of reaching the World Series--just one year after the Angels, the lowly, pathetic Angels, managed to burn their curse into the ground once and for all. Coincidence? No way. In destroying their curse, the Angels left the "curse-be-gone" door wide open. Now it's up to Boston and Chicago to take their respective curses and kick them through that door. Will they do it? I hope so. It's now or never, guys. Either those two teams meet up for what will be the greatest single event in American sports history, or we'll all have to suffer through another, stupid Yankees parade.
