03.27.08 Oscillate Wildly Playlist

I probably shouldn't tell people this, but today's show was not planned at all. I was consumed with midterm-cramming for the previous 24 hours and this set was done on the fly. I had a lot of fun, but flow definitely suffered a bit.






Oscillate Wildly
Playlist

Nouvelle Vague - Bela Lugosi's Dead
Billy Bragg - I Almost Killed You
Don Convalli - New Hollywood Babylon
Mobius Band - Hallie
Caribou - Yeti
Handsome Furs - Sing! Captain
The National - Mistaken for Strangers
Fire Engines - Jacqueline
Ruby Suns (by request) - Tane Mahuta
PWRFL Power - Tomato Song
Low - Belarus
John Vanderslice - June July
Destroyer - Dark Leaves From a Thread
Flat Duo Jets - Mary Ann
Ted Leo - Shake the Sheets


I don't usually care for Nouvelle Vague, but they definitely have some gems. Their best covers are ones you'd never expect (like Bela Lugosi's Dead, for example). So give 'em a chance.

Also, I've been really enjoying the new album from Billy Bragg called Mr. Love and Justice and this random album we received called Don Cavalli Cryland. I've been having trouble finding much of anything about Don Cavalli, so if you come across some more info please let me know.

Greatest Hits...From My Last Two Albums

Today I learned that KUPS will be receiving a copy of Morrissey's new greatest hits album. The collection has been out in the UK since February and is now being released in the US.

There was a contest in January for Moz enthusiasts to send pictures representing their devotion and have them placed in adverts for the release.
The questions included:

HOW DO YOU SHOW YOUR DEVOTION TO MORRISSEY?

HAVE YOU ANY MORRISSEY TATTOOS? HAVE YOU EVER GRAFFITI'D MORRISSEY'S NAME ON A WALL? DO YOU OWN AMAZING MORRISSEY MEMORABILIA?

WE'RE LOOKING FOR IMAGES OF YOUR DEVOTION FOR POSSIBLE INCLUSION IN THE NEW MORRISSEY GREATEST HITS ALBUM ADVERT.

PLEASE SEND HIGH-QUALITY JPG IMAGES TO: morrisseyadvert[at]googlemail.com

BE QUICK, WE MUST RECIEVE ALL ENTRIES BY 19 JANUARY 2008.


I was not too impressed with the Greatest Hits line-up:

01 First of the Gang to Die
02 In the Future When All's Well
03 I Just Want to See the Boy Happy
04 Irish Blood, English Heart
05 You Have Killed Me
06 That's How People Grow Up
07 Everyday Is Like Sunday
08 Redondo Beach
09 Suedehead
10 The Youngest Was the Most Loved
11 The Last of the Famous International Playboys
12 The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get
13 All You Need Is Me
14 Let Me Kiss You
15 I Have Forgiven Jesus

While I do agree that his version of "Redondo Beach" is the greatest thing since mp3 players, most of these tracks are from his last two albums. I think it's kind of lame, even for Mozzer, to make a collection out of two recent albums that have not been forgotten by anyone who would actually spend money for this.

If you'd like to read more, and who could resist, I got all my information from here.

03.25.08 Oscillate Wildly Playlist

After a brief hiatus for spring break, Oscillate Wildly is back. Today's show had an abundance of electronic-alternative music. The line between alternative and electronic music seems to be blurring more and more. Actually, I think all the alternative people just got jealous of the electronica folks' cool equipment and thought they'd try it out for themselves. And I love it.

Oscillate Wildly
Playlist


Xiu Xiu - Under Pressure
New Faces - She's Like the Snow
Why? - A Sky for Shoeing Horses Under
A.M. Architect - Upon
Air - Run
The Maps - So Low, So High
Fujiya & Miyagi - Collarbone
LCD Soundsystem - Get Innocuous!
Belle & Sebastian - Electronic Renaissance
Hot Chip - Ready for the Floor
Klaxons - Atlantis to Interzone
We Are Wolves - Vietnam
Patrick Wolf - Accident & Emergency
The Magnetic Fields - I Thought You Were My Boyfriend

Happy Easter!

I colored eggs on Wednesday. They have already been made into egg salad, but here are a few pictures.

The Spread

Action Shot

Final Product

03.13.08 Oscillate Wildly Playlist

Oscillate Wildly
Playlist


Violent Femmes - Blister In the Sun
Compass - Stick Pots and the Bloody Beats
Klaxons - Two Receivers
We Are Wolves - Vamos A La Playa
Beck - Devil's Haircut
Cass McCombs - Lionkiller
Rocco Deluca and the Burden - Dope
T Bone Burnett - Zombieland
Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombone
Luke Doucet and the White Falcon - The Comandante
WHY? - The Hollows
New Faces - My Alarm
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Walking to Do
Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #2 (Laika)

UPS Flea Market

I'm really excited to attend this annual flea market in the Field House.

I had to help set it up one year and it looked like the kind of place where you can get bags and bags of fun junk for a little cash.

There were also a lot of cheap bicycles.

Mark Your Calendars:

Saturday, March 22, 2008
10.00 AM - 5.00 PM

Admission: $1

The event is a fund raiser for The Women's League.

03.11.08 Oscillate Wildly Playlist

Oscillate Wildly
Playlist: March 11, 2008

Deerhoof - Desaparecere
The Magnetic Fields - Drive On, Driver
The Magnetic Fields - I Wish I Had An Evil Twin
The Gothic Archies - We Are the Gothic Archies
Stephin Merritt - At Madam Plum's
The Future Bible Heroes - Blond Adonis
The 6ths - The Sailor in Love with the Sea
Fujiya & Miyagi - Reeboks in Heaven
Belle & Sebastian - A Space Boy Dream
Asobi Seksu - Strawberries
PWRFL Power - Tomato Song
Mumlers - Shake That Medication
Dodos - Walking
Je Suis France - That Don't Work That Well For Us
Junior Private Detective - Aftermath
Field Music - Sit Tight
Women and Children - Your Honor

On Tuesday I focused the first 20 minutes of my show on Stephin Merritt, most famous for his band The Magnetic Fields (I've already written, like, 8 billion posts about him and this blog is only a week old). I played tracks from his other projects: The 6ths, The Future Bible Heroes, The Gothic Archies, and a track from the album Showtunes which is recorded under his own name.

I gave the listeners plenty of relative, and possibly life-affirming, information like "Merritt plays the Greek bouzouki live," and "Daniel Handler (Lemony Snicket) plays the accordion on The Gothic Archies album, Tragic Treasury, and on The Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs."

I really enjoy doing shows with a theme or on a specific artist. If you have any suggestions, please leave them in the comments.

Lastly, I'd like to share with you the lyrics to PWRFL Power's "Tomato Song." Kazutaka Nomura is a classically trained guitarist, but he writes ridiculous songs. Here is one example.


"Tomato Song"
If I smoke too much pot you'll call me a stoner
If hit too many lines you'll call me a cokehead
If I like you too much you'll call me a mental
I'll throw a tomato at you
I want to throw a tomato at you
Tomato juice all over your face
Juice dripping on the ground
When you are mean to me
I wish it was an apple not a tomato
And then it would hurt you
You would cry cause the apple is harder
But it's okay for now
Cause I like you
Cause I like you
If I smoke too much pot you will call me a stoner
If I hit too many lines you'll call me a cokehead
If I like you too much you'll call me a mental
But it's okay for now
Because I like you

Creating Synthetic Life or What Am I Doing With My College Education?

I like to watch these short videos on TED.com and pretend I know what's going on in the world. Here is one where Craig Venter speaks on the possibility of creating synthetic life in the near future. It had some interesting implications on what our world will look like when this technology is possible and whether the research is worth the danger this technology might cause someday. It got me wondering about what exactly I'm spending my time on at school.

I've come to the conclusion that the science and math kids beat my social science major 10:1 when it comes to intelligence needed. Sure, my chemistry major friends can't write their way out of a paper bag, but so what? They're learning things that could potentially change the world. I'm learning how to write long papers about government subsystems and other crap nobody cares about.

RE: Future employers- I am a very good typist.

Nation's First Men's Roller Derby Tournament

On Saturday I DJed with KUPS The Sound at Throwdown in the Sound - the "nation's first men's roller derby tournament."

It was an interesting experience. I witnessed a bizarre subculture that's alive and well in Tacoma. As I searched for team names and pictures I came across some information I could have done without. Apparently one of the event's announcers, who goes by the name Deevious Silvertongue, does "roller derby technical play-by-play" on a regular basis - and he is a "semi-pro wrestler" to boot.

People kept joking about gender equality because roller derby has traditionally (I use the term here loosely) been a female sport. I think women would be way more exciting to watch because they'd probably be a lot more ruthless. In my opinion, there were too many rules and not enough violence at this men's derby. I was looking forward to pain and the possibility of blood. False advertising.

I was also expecting WWE-style bodies ready to slam other skaters into the ground. Instead, I saw large, soft bodies mounted on freakishly strong legs.

In addition to not being brutal enough, the men skaters also looked a little femmy. I mean, you're on quad roller skates. The only people who can make that look butch are female roller-derby skaters.

Here are some pictures I took of the event, but there are way better pictures from the Tacoma News Tribune.

Setting up the equipment.

The track set up in the Tacoma Soccer Center.





The penalty box - er, folding chairs in front of this sign.





A skater from the Twin City Terrors. This team was very angry the entire time claiming that the refs were making too many calls in favor of the Puget Sound Outcast.

Who Watches the Watchmen?

I will!
The movie version of The Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons won't come out until next year, but you can look at the costumes planned for some of the characters here from the Time blog NerdWorld.

Stephin Merritt Interview

Short interview and a couple songs with Stephin Merritt on PRI's "Fair Game with Faith Salie."

Apparently, he's playing the Greek bouzouki in concert and not the mandolin like I thought. He describes it as a type of "lower mandolin."

He is so condescending, but certainly lovable.

McSweeney's Knows My Friends

I feel like I know a version of each of the people described in McSweeney's "Selected Entries from the Encyclopedia of the 21st-Century American" by Chuck Adams.

Dynamic Duo

Oh my. Hillary and Obama on the same ticket? The Clintons went there.

Tom Daschle said it best: "It may be the first time in history that the person who is running number two would offer the person running number one the number two position."

I think she's pushing her luck.

Theremin

This is the most boring instrument to watch being played live, but it's so impressive when you realize how sensitive the theremin is how talented Pamelia Kurstin is.

Daylight Savings

I looked at the bottom right hand of the screen for the time and it was suddenly 3.00 AM. Could I have really just wasted an hour trying to figure out exactly where each of the links to The Bygone Bureau came from in order to give it "Authority: 85" on Technorati?

No, thank God. It had only been 15 minutes and I was duped by Daylight Savings. What the hell? Why didn't I overhear that we would lose an hour this Sunday? The New York Times sends me an email update about a skateboard movie, but it can't send me alerts about useful information like my schedule adjusting? What RSS do I have to subscribe to for that kind of service?

The Terrordactyls!

The Terrordactyls are my new favorite thing to gush over. I have a crush on the band as a unit.

Michael Cadiz and Tyrel Stendahl make up The Terrordactyls, but they seem to grow in numbers each time I've seen them. Their friend and former Dactyl, Kellen, from Yes, Oh Yes joined them in studio at KUPS last Thursday to play drums. An additional anonymous member played toy piano with them at The Vera Project this evening.

The Terrordactyls opened for Shane Tutmarc and the Traveling Mercies and the headliner PWRFL Power. I didn't stay to see Tutmarc or PWRFL because 1) I didn't feel like sticking around all night and 2) I honestly felt a little out of place.

This was my first time at The Vera Project and I didn't know it was a non-profit venue touting all-ages shows. It was a very neat place, but I'm at a rather awkward age to try to fit in here. I couldn't very well blend in with the small crowd of sitting 14 year olds (hopefully they'll realize that this is incredibly annoying "show behavior") or the crowd of 40-something parents who had brought them.

There's a venue similar to this in my hometown called Howie and Son's Pizza Parlor, except Howie's cover charge was only $2 and beer was easily accessible to minors...

I took a few pictures from the evening. I'm a terrible photographer, but you can sort of make out shapes of things and get the general idea of what's going on in these photos. Part of the poor quality is due to my point-and-shoot camera, but I can't blame my equipment entirely. I must have shaky hands.

The Vera Project



My hand stamp. I document this only because I feel like it embodies the spirit of this venue.

This is the new PWRFL Power album I purchased. Kazutaka Nomura sold it to me and he awkwardly thanked me for buying it about six times for the one hour I was there.

The Terrordactyls!
(note the heads of the kids sitting down)

The venue was perfectly suited for the cutesy pop of The Terrordacyls. Their set was only a half-hour, but they were all smiles as they played their kazoos, toy piano, and self-made instrument consisting of jingle bells, a horn, and a large rubber band whacking a pie pan all mounted on a large stick. This actually sounds better than it would seem through this description.

I chatted with Kellen briefly before their set and he said their show at the Fusion Cafe Thursday night did not go over so well. I have not been to this cafe, but he said it was small and the acoustics were terrible. In addition, the attendance was not so hot due to an abundance of other great shows (*cough* The Magnetic Fields) that evening. The Terrordactyls were well received at Vera with quite a few kids even singing along.



*The Terrordactyls have a new EP out called the Mike Bowers EP which cover Seattle's The Pharmacy on five tracks.
*Michael and Tyrel also made a video for their song, "Devices," which has become quite popular on YouTube. The song features Kimya Dawson of the Moldy Peaches.

03.06.08 Oscillate Wildly Playlist

The Terrordactyls were in studio with me on Thursday. After some initial volume issues their set sounded quite good. They played my favorite, "Fall," which is a cute song about committing dual suicide - or a double murder, I suppose, depending on how you look at it. Hopefully, I'll figure out how to make some audio available from the set and short interview. You can look forward to a more detailed review of The Terrordactyls in a subsequent post.

The rest of the show was unremarkable. I have only just regained the use of my computer after a couple weeks without it, and planning shows has been a trial without my iTunes. Excuses, excuses.

Anyway, that's why it's a little all over the place. I was also moderately distracted by the cuteness emanating from the Terrordactyls.

Oscillate Wildly
Playlist

The Terrordactyls (live)
- Decoration Daniel
- Fall
- Shipping
- Overcast Summer
Yes, Oh Yes - This is your Last Adventure
Ruckus Roboticus - Here We Go
Giraffes? Giraffes! - When Catholic Girls Go Camping, the Nicotine Vampires Rule Supreme
The Epochs - Opposite Sides
The White Rabbits - Kid On My Shoulders
The Gutter Twins - All Misery/Flowers
MGMT (by request) - Kids
Hot Chip - Shake A Fist

You should listen to Oscillate Wildly this Tuesday at 4.00 PM on KUPS The Sound - or switch your radio dial to 90.1 FM if you're in the Tacoma, WA area. Expect a solid block of music from various Stephin Merritt projects.

The Magnetic Fields

I saw The Magnetic Fields at the Town Hall in Seattle this evening. The show was so wonderful I could have died.

The set list included quite a few songs from their new album, Distortion, but their entire canon was pretty much covered. Some tracks from Stephin Merritt's other projects,the 6ths and The Gothic Archies, were also included.

The show was all acoustic with Merritt on the mandolin, John Woo on guitar, Sam Davol on cello, and Claudia Gonson on the piano. Shirley Simms sang the lead vocals on most songs from Distortion. I heard recently that all their shows have been acoustic on this tour because Merritt has significant hearing damage (I'm guessing the left ear - he would cover it every time there was applause).

Whether that's the reason or not, I actually preferred hearing acoustic versions at the live show. It provided a unique experience. The best acoustic versions turned out to be "Three-Way" and "Nun's Litany" from Distortion. It was a treat to see the band play the catchy, surfer melody, "Three-Way," with a cello and mandolin. Everyone chimed in, even the stone-silent Woo and Davol, when it came time to shout out the chorus. "Nun's Litany" was special just because it was sung by Merritt, whose voice reaches the level of baritone at its highest, instead of the expected female vocalist.

It was a great show, but I always find that seeing one of my favorite bands leads to mixed emotions. I've played Magnetic Fields albums again and again in many different settings. I feel a sense of ownership over Holiday. Each song is perfect and it can't be as special to other people as it is to me. In fact, probably no one else has ever heard the album the same way I have. These claims are preposterous, but it's a common feeling to have about favorite albums or bands. The Magnetic Fields are mine and they can do no wrong.

Then I go to see them and realize that the band members are just people. Middle-aged and pudgy people at that. Shockingly, they don't all live together in an alternate universe (Sam Davol does have an awesome apartment, though). The rational part of my brain already knew and understood this, but it still felt like a bit of a letdown.

The fact that my only problem with their live performance was that the band members were not some sort of mystical creatures proves that it was an amazing show.

Oh, and Stephin Merritt ran off the stage at one point to yell at a person filming. I bet that guy felt like an ass.