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White Bread, Black Beer

Scritti Politti

Here's what I'm saying tonight [1]: Scritti Politti's White Bread Black Beer is the best album thus far of 2006, and is the album that hundreds (thousands?) of indie pop bands have tried (more or less unsuccessfully, compared to this) to make for years.

It's a low-but-hi-fi, a one-man-but-many show, an album made in the back room of a London flat & sounding like it should be heard on movie soundtracks & dancefloors & backyard stereo systems all alike. The album that, if there were justice in the world, would finally give the twee indie-popsters of the world some much-needed sense--this, this, is how you make a pop record.

[1] And for the last three months, but only in my head.

Saying Yes!

I have amazed myself by reading yet more books. I just can't stop reading books!

These are those books, read largely in July and early August:

A Long Way Down isn't Hornby's best, but it's a good & fast read; Cryptonomicon was completely fucking mind-bending & brilliant & just a totally engrossing story; Count Down was interesting material, but felt like a really, really long prologue to an actual story; Yes Man was another fast read and is both very funny and oddly moving in places [1].

All of the above recommended, but in particular Yes Man & Cryptonomicon [2].

[1] "Oddly" particularly for a book that feels a bit gimmicky, at first glance and/or read of the flap. The premise is that the author decides to say "yes" to every opportunity offered to him over the course of a year, and the book documents that year.

[2] Yes, I'm quite late on reading Cryptonomicon. I started on the Baroque Trilogy and finished that last December, and was so, so happy to find Cryptonomicon just as amazing a story.

QotD: Key words

I really enjoy dominoes. Not "domino", the singular, but "dominoes" plural (& I like the "oes" more than the "os", though I admit I don't actually know which one is really correct).

I also quite like: cull; absolve; avocado; and crumple.

I dislike: lite; overnite; and other words that shouldn't, but in many cases do, end in "ite".

This is re:

What are your favorite and least favorite words?  Any reasons why?
Question submitted by Byrne.

"Moped in your face!"

So this probably isn't actually my favorite cover track of all time, but it's pretty incredible all the same, and so I just have to share it: Moped's [1] "Clocks Remix", which is a cover/remix of Coldplay's "Clocks", done all Europop style with house beats & brilliantly poor Eurorap. I downlaoded it sometime in 2003, if I remember correctly.

Clocks Remix

Moped

Reasons why I love this include:

Coldplay are insufferable because they're just so serious about everything, so I just love the idea of Chris Martin hearing this & getting all offended that they've taken his extremely earnest piano line and turned it into a disco rave-up.

The KLF

Moped are so-named as a tribute to Scooter, an actual Europop band with some brilliant dancefloor-filling singles, and who've taken several pages from the KLF's Manual for writing #1 pop hits: huge beats, dramatic keyboard breakdowns, EuroMCs shouting over the din, "live" sounds of crowds roaring their approval, &c. [2]

I love the KLF, hence I love Scooter, hence I love Moped. Q.E.D.

[1] I don't know exactly who Moped are/were, though as best I can tell it's one of the people in this group (Emmet).

[2] Though the helium-voiced vocals are Scooter's addition to the basic KLF sound.

QotD: Can you hear me now?

What's your cell phone's ringtone? What made you pick it?

My ringtone is so seriously sad that this is really embarrassing, but for the last two years, it's been Usher's "Yeah". And the thing is, in the last year and 11 months, I've probably heard it five times, because I always have my phone on vibrate. But even admitting this makes me sad, in the sense that it was kind of lame in mid-2004, but now it's just full-on pathetic in mid-2006.

Even worse may be that over the past month or so I've been watching Lionel Richie's video for "Hello" [1] (creepiest video EVAR!) somewhat obsessively. Here it is, for your viewing pleasure:

Lionel Richie - Hello

And so, today, I downloaded a polyphonic ringtone of "Hello". It has a good build, where it's sort of just smooth & jazzy up front, and it takes a little while for you (the listener of my new ringtone) to recognize it--and then it's kind of like like an old creepy teacher stalking his blind student (spoiler!), "Helloooooo".

[1] Probably after seeing it again on Pitchfork's list of 100 Awesome Music Videos, complete with this brilliant line:

Every time Richie mimes "hello" like it's the most sincere hello ever offered in the history of hellos.

So true!

Wild OSCON Fruit

There was a carton of (semi-frozen) bite-size fruit (melons, pineapple, grapes), but no forks or spears or toothpicks with which to eat said fruit.

So Anil and I created these lovely artistic glasses of fruit:

Glasses of Fruit

"That sounds like truth to me."

The Project Runway website has a fun new toy to play with: a video mashup tool where you can splice together some of the best video clips from seasons 2 and 3--including contestants, judges, and of course Tim Gunn--with music and some special effects.

Most brilliant idea ever!

Here's mine.

QotD: Shaken not stirred

What's your favorite drink or cocktail? What's in it?
Question submitted by charm.vox.com

Sazerac Cocktail

A Sazerac! It's my latest cocktail obsession.

This is the recipe I use. Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon of simple syrup (I actually use 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar, because I'm too lazy to make simple syrup)
• 3 - 4 dashes Peychaud's bitters
• 2 ounces Old Overholt (rye whiskey)
  
• 1/4 teaspoon Herbsaint (anise liqueur)
• Strip of lemon peel

Going to dinner at Mondavi

Going to dinner at Mondavi Winery on a bus.

Image_87.jpg

QotD: Art over Music

What are your three favorite album covers of all-time? Any honorable mentions?

Question submitted by Tamara

Roxy Music, For Your Pleasure
I'd feel quite justified in filling up my list with only Roxy Music covers, because they're so wonderfully sleazy & glamorous at the same time.

For Your Pleasure

Roxy Music

The Afghan Whigs, Gentlemen

The perfect cover for the perfect "I love you fuck you" album.

Gentlemen

The Afghan Whigs

Serge Gainsbourg, Histoire de Melody Nelson

I love this album, and the cover is just brilliant: Melody (well, Jane Birkin) all innocent and sexual at the same time. Just as Serge preferred, I suppose.

Histoire de Melody Nelson

Serge Gainsbourg