"The Hurt Locker"

I loved how the onscreen intensity of disarming bombs was transferred to the viewer. I learned quickly not to hold a drink during most of the scenes in this film.

10 billionth iTunes song dowloaded

Georgia native Louie Sulcer downloaded the 10 billionth iTunes song recently, making him the winner of Apple's 10 Billion Songs Sold contest:

Sulcer’s winning purchase was, ironically, Johnny Cash’s “Guess Things Happen That Way,” which Sulcer downloaded for a mix of Cash songs he was making for his son. Having never heard the song, Sulcer listened to iTunes’ 30-second preview and bought the track, unaware that Apple was even having a contest celebrating their 10 billionth purchase. “I really liked it. It had some really good pickin’ in it. So that’s how I got to that song,” Sulcer says. Sulcer, a father of three and a grandfather of nine, was introduced to iTunes three years ago by an old friend at a high school reunion who taught him how to use the digital music service to load up on his favorite country songs of the 1960s.

Also included on the Apple web page announcing the winner was a list of the top 25 most dowloaded songs ever on iTunes. It is truly a list of shit, and an unfortunate barometer of where music tastes are aligned in the world today. Thankfully the landmark download was from a respectable artist.

Talking "Zaireeka"

Matthew Perpetua recently sat down with Pitchfork's Mark Richardson to discuss his book on The Flaming Lips' Zaireeka for the 33 1/3 Series--I especially like this exchange:

Matthew Perpetua: One of the things I really liked in the book is how you write about how we listen to recordings, and how that’s transformed over the years with technological advances. But one thing never really changes — we tend to listen to music alone. Listen, as in focused listening, not just being in a room while music is on in the background. Do you think Wayne et al were thinking about this when they were making Zaireeka, since the record is something that can’t be heard alone?

Mark Richardson: Yes, I think the social aspect of it was there from the beginning, as it grew out of the Parking Lot Experiments. That was always to be a “happening” of a kind with multiple people there. The genesis of Zaireeka was, “How could we make a recorded version of this?” Had the technology existed then to make it 8 channels that you could listen to yourself, I am not sure they would have gone that way, because the idea of getting together with friends was really important.

I find it interesting that Richardson implies that "getting together with friends" may not be as important anymore. Not necessarily in the sense that you don't want to hang out with your peeps, but because a drastic overhaul in technology now makes music an instant gratification process that locks you in the dome of your iPod earbuds, alone. Zaireeka was a bulky, time-consuming experiment (I tried it once and it was work), and I think music listeners in general today would be less likely to have the motivation to purchase a CD, much less attempt to listen to four at once on four different stereos. Yet another example of technology driving social interaction, only this time, it's in a direction opposite to all the sharing and Facebooking and tweeting.

(Perpetua and Richardson also discuss briefly how Embryonic is fitting into the band's current creative narrative, something I looking forward to as their April 21st Riverside appearance draws near.)

Avatar and mascots

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Eugene Kane finds connections between Avatar and the issue of using Indian mascot names at schools. I'm all for critical thinking and applying media to the world around us, but I think the whole Avatar-impacting-real-life thing has gone way too far.

Holidaying Horrors

From a series on Anthony Hibbert's photostream...he also has a cool blog.

"Shutter Island"

Rarely can a movie that is based on a book stay true to said book without adding some stupid Hollywood element or storyline that ruins key narrative and text-based flow. Shutter Island, however, succeeded in staying true to Dennis Lehane's literary vision word for word. Cawley was a little more pleasant in person than on page (I finished the book about 24 hours before seeing the film, so the characters were fresh for comparison; unfortunately, though, seeing trailers ruined some of the visual development that constitutes one of the joys of reading), but otherwise, every line, every scene, and every dark asylum corner resonated well between the two often-in-conflict mediums of entertainment.

Also, good use of foreboding piano notes, Scorcese.

Neurosonics live

You've seen their studio work, now see them live (via):

Curling explained

The sport of curling explained via infographic (via).

Four Tet - "There is Love In You"

Clean beats and technicolor: they dominate There is Love In You like steady rain dominates a flat sidewalk while it's still sunny out. These components are delivered in a steady, unwavering supply that reveal a kaleidoscopic mist of rainbows after bouncing off your eardrums. The listening pleasure is all in the reflection. Electronic music of this ilk isn't impressive because of complex composition or avant garde manipulations; rather, it succeeds simply by being steady and colorful. And absorbing.

To be sure, Kieran Hebdan has gone mostly linear here. Compared to his past forays into progressive lo-fi or crumbling free jazz(tronica), There is Love In You (love the title) finds Hebdan scaling back in favor of a direct, straightforward vein to the heart of what electronic music is founded upon: a crossroads of repetition and addiction. In the week I've owned this album, I've probably listened to"Love Cry"--a track that is so perpetually pleasing, you mentally try to find ways to extend it long after its 9 minutes have finished up--18-20 times. The individual components of the track build together in simple ways that you would probably expect, but engage you in a much more critical listen. It just has a way of grabbing your attention in a crisp, clean way. Imagine the pastel spheres that dot the cover art starting to shift rhythmically--like bacteria in a dish--and you might understand what I mean.

"Running From the Cops"

Sloooow motion...

Dead academia

The Atlantic discusses The Grateful Dead as an early model for social networking theory:

As the band’s following grew, the notion that it might have something to offer scholars, particularly in the social sciences, became somewhat less far-fetched, though still not without professional risk. In the late 1980s, Rebecca G. Adams, a sociologist at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, who studies friendships formed across distances, noticed deep bonds between Deadheads. The bonds seemed to belie the idea, then popular among leading social thinkers, that communities based on common interest, whose members do not live near each other, lack emotional and moral depth—that Deadheads might belong to what sociologists call a “lifestyle enclave,” but couldn’t possibly form meaningful relationships. Adams brought a class on tour with the Dead—an opportunity, she thought, to teach classical theory while letting students study a cutting-edge contemporary community.

Trey Anastasio Band - 2/18/10 (Pabst Theater)

I: Shine, What's Done, Push On Til the Day, Let Me Lie, Sleep Again, Birdwatcher, Valentine, Cayman Review, Gotta Jiboo, Sultans of Swing, Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan, Water In the Sky, Back On the Train, Bathtub Gin, Backwards Down the Number Line

II: Curlew’s Call, Sand, Night Speaks to a Woman, Goodbye Head, Words to Wanda, Money Love & Change, Small Axe, All That Almost Was, Spin, Tuesday

Encore: Magilla, First Tube

Do Not Turn Off

"Do Not Turn Off" is an art installation by Pravdoliub Ivanov (via):

No band names left

According to the Wall Street Journal, there are no good band names left:

For the generations of musicians who have taken up guitars and drumsticks, picking a band name has been as crucial as teasing out a distinctive style—and usually the name comes first. For a lucky few, a word or phrase can become iconic. The Beatles, before they were legends, were briefly the Silver Beetles, a nod to Buddy Holly's Crickets. Jerry Garcia discovered the name Grateful Dead in a dictionary.

The last decade's digital revolution not only transformed the way people listen to music, it changed the way bands establish identities. In the past, identically named acts often carved out livings in separate regions, oblivious or indifferent to one another. Now, it takes only moments for a musician to create an online profile and upload songs, which can potentially reach listeners around the world.

Great article, but it's important to note that there are actually seven band names left, and they are going fast.

Yeasayer - "Odd Blood"

Odd Blood sounds like it crawled up from some leftover 1980s' concoction of big hair, synthesizers, and drum machines. That may sound horrid (if you find 80s music horrid, anyway), but it's important to actually make it through the first four songs, because they are quite good. Especially "Madder Red"--there's a certain epic ebb and flow to that one that makes it repeatedly listenable while driving or while running the final mile of a marathon. I'm not convinced that the final six tracks are really worth listening to, because they seem to adopt the framework of what the first four tracks set up, but then simply fail to deliver.

(Side note: Album art is an integral part of the music experience for me, and I've always enjoyed paying attention to the "little things" a casing or liner can do to enhance attention or interest. In the case of Odd Blood, it was the liner notes; they were the glossiest, most colorfully mesmerizing I have ever seen, and the smell of them reminded me of some brand-new childhood toy.)

Noteput

This is neat, but doesn't need the O.K. Computer-esque narration to go along with it (via):

Amazon giving away Kindles?

Amazon is toying with the idea of giving away free Kindles to Amazon Prime subscribers. Fearful, knee-jerk reaction to the approaching iPad release? Or generous means of rewarding faithful customers?

"Zombieland"

Bill Murray's cameo has to be up there with best-on-screen-comedy-cameos-that-centralize-laughter-around-an-entire-movie (also see Will Ferrell in Wedding Crashers). It was like Zombieland suddenly stopped being Zombieland and instead turned into 5 minute comedy relief (not that the movie needed comedy-relieving; pretty entertaining as it was). He doesn't even say that much, but when Bill Murray is dressed like a zombie, it is just funny.

Google Buzz

I hate it. And others agree:

It violates the prime directive of new software. It starts turned on, and the way to turn it off is all-but invisible. And it invades a space that heretofore Google helped to protect. One of the big values of Gmail is its spam filter. Now all of a sudden it's as if the exhaust was reversed, and it was spraying dirt into my message stream, instead of filtering it out.

Talk about social network localization going in the wrong direction. What social networks like Twitter do is bring the user to the masses through a public, localized space (i.e., anywhere you bring your phone or laptop); you are in control, and you define the parameters of use. Google Buzz brings the masses to you through a private, localized space without your permission, and without any initial say about boundaries. There are probably ways to set those boundaries, but I would still feel uncomfortable sharing that space with emails. Funny how Google Buzz has already made the Inbox sacred.

Twitter Code Swarm

The icons and particles represent the growth of Twitter over the last three years, showing Twitter's "explosive growth mirrored in engineering" (via):

You have anymore?

Miles Fisher has a particularly stellar abstract photo post up today.

How to shovel snow

In honor of all the snow we've been getting lately all around the country, The Awl offers tips on how to shovel snow:

First, chug a fucking glass of red wine.

Put on a hat and gloves. Next, throw on a light jacket. Not too heavy moron; you're going to get sweaty. Also, it's gotta be loose so nothing you bought at H&M. Armani? ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME? Next slam your feet into your boots. No, WITH PURPOSE. What, you don't have boots?! (Rolls eyes). Okay, put on your Aldo dress shoes and put each foot into a few tall plastic bags, doubling or tripling up. Duct tape those fuckers on around your calves. You do have calves, don't you? Yell to nobody in the house in particular, "I'm going out to shovel!"

Highly worth reading if you're frustrated with the weather.

"Blood into Wine"

Maynard James Keenan is releasing a documentary about his wine vineyard. As a fan of both wine and Tool, I will probably have to watch:

Stayathomia

An analysis of 210 million Facebook profiles reveals that our country is divided into specific regions. Although I don't use Facebook, I still have to live in Stayathomia:

Stretching from New York to Minnesota, this belt's defining feature is how near most people are to their friends, implying they don't move far. In most cases outside the largest cities, the most common connections are with immediately neighboring cities, and even New York only has one really long-range link in its top 10. Apart from Los Angeles, all of its strong ties are comparatively local.

In contrast to further south, God tends to be low down the top 10 fan pages if she shows up at all, with a lot more sports and beer-related pages instead.

The Samuel Jackson 5

"The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks"

Rebecca Skloot has a book out on Henritetta Lacks,

In 1951, an African-American woman named Henrietta Lacks was diagnosed with terminal cervical cancer. She was treated at Johns Hopkins University, where a doctor named George Gey snipped cells from her cervix without telling her. Gey discovered that Lacks' cells could not only be kept alive, but would also grow indefinitely.

For the past 60 years Lacks' cells have been cultured and used in experiments ranging from determining the long-term effects of radiation to testing the live polio vaccine. Her cells were commercialized and have generated millions of dollars in profit for the medical researchers who patented her tissue.

The big kicker here is that Lacks' family did not know of this until 20 years after her death, and I'm sure an ethical hailstorm ensued.

"Though I Have Wronged You"

Two pixels debating Internet identity...

Animal Collective - "Campfire Songs"

In 2003, Animal Collective were not the genial cohort they are today. They were more of a primordial soup of acoustic instrumentation and natural effects than they were a band that produced actual music. Attempting to find a bridge between their earlier work and Merriweather Post Pavilion is a futile exercise, one that ends in frustration (especially, I imagine, for those who began with MMP and worked backwards; this is, unfortunately, most people who like Animal Collective). Even finding the links to 2004s Sung Tongs--which probably comes closest to Campfire Songs in terms of phylum or species branching--requires a stretch of patience and open-mindedness that few could be prepared to take on. But with a meteoric rise to popularity comes a meteoric rise to re-issue and display roots, which is what makes Campfire Songs so interesting at this point in time. No one could hope to understand it or where it came from, but suddenly it's here, a brooding and thought-provoking mess. And everyone is compelled to listen.

Nicholas Cage Colorforms

When I was little, I played with Colorforms until my fingertips were raw. I might have to take up the habit again now that Nicholas Cage Colorforms have arrived.

Tree House

The Wilkinson Residence--located in Portland and designed by Robert Harvey Oshatz--is a house built into a tree canopy to "evoke the feeling of being in a tree house." Think I'll go sneak around the property when I'm out west later this spring for a closer look...

Can't breath when you wake up?

This article will bring you up to speed on all the latest sleep apnea treatments, including didgeridoo therapy:

If all else fails, there is always the didgeridoo, an indigenous Australian musical instrument. In a study published in the British Medical Journal, 25 patients with sleep apnea who practiced playing it for about 30 minutes a day, six days a week for four months, significantly reduced the number of apneas they had during sleep; daytime sleepiness also decreased. Scientist believe the breathing technique required to play the didgeridoo strengthens the upper airway and makes it less likely to collapse.

"Splitting the Atom"

It's like awesome opening movie credits:

Phish - St. Michael's College 11/19/92

"Howdy...there's not much more to be said, so let's get on with it." Those are the introductory words that Michael Luoma--a 1987 graduate of St. Michael's College--spoke before Phish incinerated this small campus arena in the fall of 1992. Pretty standard procedure back then to have some random dude introduce the band (in this case, as Fishman was tingling the opening to "Maze"). That's always just killed me for some reason.

Anyway, it's yet another archival release, one that coincidentally was scheduled for release during the week of the Haiti earthquake. So as a bonus kicker, 100% of the proceeds go there (see post below for more ways to donate). The other bonus kickers are of course the music itself: a flawlessly executed "Foam"; the first ever "Big Ball Jam"; "Big Black Furry Creature From Mars" with "I Walk the Line" lyrics; Rift, Rift, Rift. All the good stuff that was happening in 1992 is here in its most ferocious and quirky form.

Gullshrooms

One of many pieces of art you can buy here as part of a Haiti fundraiser (via):

"Pandorum"

Pandorum had everything that a great space sci-fi thriller needs to be entertaining: cavernous, city-sized spacecraft, paranoia, legions of God-awful things trying to kill you, and a unique twist that makes Pandorum not Alien, Event Horizon, or Eden Log. I was pleased until the final two minutes, when everything just got too sparkly and neat.

County Stadium switchboard