The Loudness War

Here's an interesting (and depressing) Rolling Stone article on the sad state of modern music engineering in this age of the MP3.

I'm not one of those ardent vinyl-heads, but I do recognize the horrendous compression and "static" (as Dylan calls it) that's ruining so many recordings. Springsteen's "Magic" is a recent example that bugs me.

Fungi Growth on Ants

I'm not sure I can come up with the perfect adjective for this video. If you've got the slightest interest in seeing ants overcome by fungi, enjoy. The real fun begins at 1:05.

Mutant Sounds

The one blog that continually astounds me is Mutant Sounds. Day after day, the most incredibly obscure avant-garde, ambient, psychedelic and just plain odd recordings are offered up, ripped from vinyl, cassette and CD. There's almost always a small essay included, providing background for the artist and recording.

I can't imagine the work and money that went into this guy's collection. It's truly remarkable.

Music 2007

No "best of" roundup this year, but here's a list, in no particular order, of some old and new recordings that had my attention during 2007. The big surprise (to me anyway) was how much material from the 70's found its way to my ears.

Burial: Untrue
Radiohead: In Rainbows
The Church: Priest=Aura
Jethro Tull: Aqualung, Thick as a Brick, Heavy Horses
Boston
Stars of the Lid: And Their Refinement Of The Decline
Miles Davis: On the Corner
Boards of Canada: Everything
Jean Michel Jarre: Oxygene
Gordon Lightfoot: Sundown
Suzanne Vega: Beauty and Crime
Chick Corea: Return to Forever
Al Stewart: Time Passages, Year of the Cat
The Zombies: Odessey and Oracle
Yes: Close to the Edge, Relayer
Alan Parsons Project: I Robot
The Who: Quadrophenia
Bad Brains: I Against I
Nine Inch Nails: Year Zero
Hammock: Kenotic
Pink Floyd: Animals, Dark Side of the Moon
Oblong: Indicator
Taylor Dupree: Northern
Nine Horses: Snow Borne Sorrow
David Darling: Dark Wood
The Field: From Here We Go Sublime
Beach House
Klaus Schulze: Mirage
Rapoon: Time Frost
Steve Roach: Dreamtime Return, Immersion Series
Stevie Wonder: Songs in the Key of Life
Tom Waits: Orphans
Harold Budd/John Foxx: Translucence, Drift Music
Robert Rich: Echo of Small Things, Illumination
Nurse With Wound: Soliloquy for Lilith
Pete Namlook: Silence 1-5
Malcolm Mclaren: Duck Rock
Peter Tosh: Legalize It
August Stars: Midwinter
John Cooper Clarke: Snap, Crackle & Bop

Small Time

An excellent resource for small business owners - The New York Times Small Business Section. A great archive of information and ideas.

Looking for Mr. Giggio

Hardcore Seinfeld fans might be amused to know I'm currently developing a website for a villa in Tuscany, which is without question, available for rent. Maestro?

Commerical Storefronts of Tijuana

Great gallery of Tijuana storefronts from Polar Inertia, my absolute favourite photoblog. Crazy, but inspiring mix of colors and fonts.

Stewart and Letterman Coming Back

The Daily Show and Late Show will be back on the air in early January. This is good.

Toolbox

You wake up one morning to find a note taped to your mirror: "Don't worry, I took care of everything." Your clothes have been freshly laundered, the bathroom is spotless, and your garage has been organized. Even your faithful old toolbox has been replaced.

Later that week, there's another note on your mirror: "GET OUT OF TOWN." Paper-clipped to this message are several grainy photos of police in a taped-off section of a field. One of them is carrying your old toolbox in his latex-gloved hand.

One of many short, unnerving tales found at Creepypasta.

Merry Christmas.

Byrne

Boy, the music business is changing. David Byrne makes sense of it all in this excellent Wired article. Included - audio clips of him conversing with Brian Eno.

It's nice to see one of my high school era musical heroes still staying on top of things, not fading away, and generally remaining vital and active.

This ain't no party. This ain't no disco.

Radio Radio

Today is the 30th anniversary of Elvis Costello's infamous "I'm sorry ladies and gentlemen, there's no reason to do this song" performance of "Radio Radio" on SNL. I was watching and loving it.

Board Games

Fairly extensive and interesting collection of vintage board games, including SHA-EE, an obscure Egyptian-themed game from the early sixties that I'm suddenly quite curious about. Here's a good overview of the game.

Animated

A nice collection of animated gifs - antiquated, but still interesting in the right context.

Goodbye

Coping with the death of a friend. Bye, Bill. Rest in peace.

Clearly, I'm Stupid

OK, why did I only just discover Windows' Clear Type Tuner? I have no idea how this escaped me for so long, but man, what a difference. I feel like an idiot.

Selling to Kids

It's interesting to see religious organizations up in arms over the supposed atheistic sub-text of the new film "The Golden Compass". "Selling atheism to kids" is the phrase I keep reading. Of course, Christian-themed art is "wholesome family entertainment" with a "good message". "Selling God to kids" wouldn't be an issue worthy of debate, would it?