Andrew Brassell - Imposter Syndrome

posted April 10, 2020 #

Happy to announce a brand new single from Andrew Brassell is available today. Brassell, formerly performing as Slowmotions and member of And The Relatives, is absolutely fantastic at writing pop songs that are wrapped up in fuzzed out, psychedelic guitars. It's not fuzzed out in the way Thee Oh Sees is fuzzed out or psychedelic in the way Animal Collective is; it's more like Jon Brion tripping on mushrooms, accompanied by a pedal board of fuzz effects and a drum machine. Am I overselling it? Maybe! But I'm biased on my enjoyment of what Brassell does, so I'm willing to go that far.

It's streaming wherever you like to stream - Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play, etc. Of course, you can always buy the download from Bandcamp as well.

Enjoy!

posted April 9, 2020 #

I have now fulfilled my lifelong dream of profiling Weird Al Yankovic, great American genius. I slept on his tour bus & hung out at his house. He let me try on the "Eat It" jacket. I reported this in a different world but hope it still applies to this one: https://t.co/gYXCvdcSJq

posted April 8, 2020 #

Day XXX of quarantine and I made this and I don't know why. https://t.co/bqSpnj3ANP

posted April 7, 2020 #

I know billionaires are bad, but it is kinda nice to see one who's actually donating more than like .0000001% of their net worth

posted April 7, 2020 #

This is RAD. https://t.co/C7tPSQRbjt

posted April 7, 2020 #

we're a frozen meat brand posting ads inevitably made to misdirect people and generate sales, so this is peak irony, but hey we live in a society so please make informed decisions to the best of your ability and don't let anecdotes dictate your worldview ok steak-umm bless

posted April 6, 2020 #

Justin Bieber's house looks like if Amazon made a community college https://t.co/h7T4jo9Bg5

WTF with Marc Maron Podcast with Ben Sinclair

posted April 6, 2020 #

to listen

Into The Wormhole with Larissa and Lauren

posted April 6, 2020 #

Announced a brand new podcast over on the We Own This Town network called Into the Wormhole with Larissa and Lauren. It is, as you might have guessed, a Star Trek podcast. The hosts are devoted fans of the series. And by that I mean all of the series - OG Star Trek, Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise, Discovery, Picard, all the various movies and probably even the animated series that no one remembers.

The first episode is out and available on all the things - Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Google Play, etc etc.

I don't consider myself a diehard Trek fan but I do tend to prefer it over most other sci-fi series as it does the best job of functioning like true sci-fi should; reflecting actual societal issues within a fictional framework. Larissa and Lauren plan to keep the show fun and light but it won't skimp on the details. I'm excited for what they put out into the world.

And if you're NOT a Trek Fan at all, you should still do yourself a small favor and hit play on that episode to hear the theme song. It's absurdly great.

California King

posted April 6, 2020 #

Did you listen to the You Look Nice Today podcast? The one with Adam Lisagor, Scott Simpson and Merlin Mann? Well, it's back and rebranded as California King. It is the exact same show with a new name. So, if you liked it before, you'll like it again!

Quibi Released

posted April 6, 2020 #

If you're not familiar, Quibi is a new streaming service founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg and led by Meg Whitman. The name is a shortened version of "Quick Bites" as the service is filled with original content that is 10-minutes or less. The whole impetus behind the thing is to provide people with entertainment for the In Between Times - waiting for a train, sitting on a bus, in line, etc.

It's been in production for a couple years now with small previews at various trade shows and media events. Today, April 6th, it is officially available. There's a 90-day free trial and beyond that it's $4.99 a month with ads.

The Verge has a great article on the strange timing of the launch - during a pandemic when everyone has nothing but free time, as opposed to needing to fill small gaps. Will this impact the service negatively or will it create an onslaught of usage they wouldn't have had otherwise? Maybe both?

There's plenty to say about the actual content on the platform - Chrissy Tiegan doing a silly courtroom show, Will Forte and Kaitlin Olson in a absurd sitcom, Will Arnett doing.. some Will Arnett thing. I've heard it described as "fake 30 Rock shows come to life." That feels accurate.

This isn't an endorsement or paid ad for the service; I've no idea if it's any good or not yet. In a world of Twitter, TikTok and Instagram videos, leveraging small but produced content makes a lot of sense. I am intrigued.

posted April 4, 2020 #

Me waking up first thing in the morning: Today is gonna be great. I’m not gonna read or think about the news all damn day. Gonna connect with the fam. Write some music. Work on this Bud Powell transcription. Yeah! My subconscious: https://t.co/nuh0qmZTKY

Friday Videos - April 3rd, 2020

posted April 3, 2020 #

Let's not talk about COVID-19 or self-quarantine or any of that. Let's focus on what's important right now. My Apple laptop with a butterfly keyboard is really miserable and types three "L's" for every one time I press the key. It's insane! How did this happen? Is this where we've gotten in the technology space, we're just bad at keyboards now?!

Alright fine, that's not really important (though, I promise, it is annoying). I hope everyone is safe and following orders to stay inside as hard as it is. Scary and sad times out there, please do your best not to contribute to socializing.

Here's some dumb stuff.

Drive to Work - sad but nice to see an Austin Power's meme make a comeback.
Watch Out! - see, told you it was making a comeback.
Cyberpunk is Now - speaking of stupid technology.
Bob Odenkirk Playing Stephen Colbert Playing Bob Odenkirk - this is 3 years old but completely new to me. Perfectly Odenkirk.
Beluga Whale Meets Penguin - look, I know times are tough out there but this is delightful.
I Miss You, Batman - I don't even get this joke but I still enjoyed it
Slider Make You Lose Control - oddly, I actually understand this one slightly more while still being completely confused and delighted. It's a real maelstrom of emotions.

Thank you /r/youtubehaiku for being a constant source of idiotic content. Oh, and if you have anyone in your life that is not convinced that COVID-19 and The Flu are different, please send them this VOX video; as it does a wonderful job of explaining things with science and not involving anything slightly political; so there's no room for argument. Unless you don't believe in science; which I understand is a problem some have.

Take care. Talk soon.

The Mute Group - AEIOU

posted April 2, 2020 #

Back in July of 2019 (a lifetime ago now it seems), The Mute Group performed a rather unique house show performance - they put together a choir of local talent, got some sax players together and performed "AEIOU" off their debut album, Sinister Hand.

It's a unique and novel performance; particularly now when it feels like gatherings of this size are going to be forbidden for awhile.* Aside from that aspect of it, it's a pretty wonderful gathering of musicians from the yk Records roster.

Megan McCoy - Nightblonde & Tipper Whore
Jill Townsend - Fetching Pails & Nightblonde
Ryan Breegle - Nightblonde, Tipper Whore & host of My Fantasy Funeral
Jay Leo Phillips - Solo work & Apollo Up
Mike Shepherd - Tower Defense & Apollo Up

Pretty sweet lineup if I do say so myself and a very cool performance. There's not many bands on the roster - or in Nashville at all - that could pull this off but The Mute Group does it wonderfully.

Go for the choir, stay for the saxophones and searing guitar solo at the end. * I support social distancing, this isn't meant as a complaint given the alternative

RIP Adam Schesinger

posted April 2, 2020 #

When the news came in on Tuesday that Adam Schlesinger, primary member of Fountains of Wayne and a helluva songwriter, had been hospitalized with COVID-19, I immediately started revisiting the 1996 debut FoW album. It had been years since I listened to it but it lived in heavy rotation when it was released (I was in high school). It was, and still is, the perfect blend of nerdy outsider pop songs mixed with big heavy guitars from time to time. When it came to light that Schlesinger also wrote the main song for That Thing You Do, I was smitten.

I fell out of favor with the band over the years - a combination of "Stacy's Mom" being a bridge too far and just discovering other music - but I never lost a single ounce of affection for that first record or Schlesinger's talent.

Hearing that he passed away on Wednesday was a total gut punch. Lots of people for Tom Hanks and John Prine - sentiments I empathize with - but Schlesinger hits closer to home for me. I'm sure this feeling will become more common over the coming months but this was the first real stinger for me.

Radiation Vibe (Official Video) - this is the song that initially pulled me in. I'm sure nostalgia clouds my feelings on it but I swear it's still perfect.
Sink to the Bottom (Official Video) - another one from the 1996 debut that I can't hear too often. Name a better slacker love song, you can't.
That Thing You Do - Schlesinger wrote this and as Rachell Wenitsky points out - what a "Herculean task it must have been to write a song that sounded like it could be the most famous song in the world." And he DID IT.
Radiation Vibe (Live on Conan)- just seeing this for the first time now and that drum head solidifies my good feelings.

RIP Schlesinger.

posted April 1, 2020 #

I spent a little time with Adam Schlesinger when we were tracking Teenage Graffiti in NY and he was always so kind despite my persistent, annoying fanboy gushing. The entire Fountains Of Wayne catalog is a clinic in how to write pop music. Rest easy rock n roller

posted April 1, 2020 #

It only took three ghosts to convince Scrooge to share his wealth so surely 4,500 dead Americans will convince billionaires like @JeffBezos to chip in more than .1 percent, right?

posted April 1, 2020 #

Not an April 1 joke! After severe downtime and a catastrophic database failure, Max Goldberg brought internet fixture https://t.co/V5mGAhJGmo back to life, rewritten to work with modern browsers, restoring new site creation and the complete archives. https://t.co/BNmt095Us0 https://t.co/HdtcvvUZMh

Help With COVID-19

posted March 31, 2020 #

The Help with COVID site is a repository of projects aimed at providing relief in one way or another in response to the COVID pandemic.

Projects like Gift Card Bank for donating unused Gift Cards to those in need or HelpLocalBiz for aggregating payments to local businesses are just a few examples of the kind of community organization and outreach being indexed over there.

There is a LOT to sort through but if you've got the time and resources, consider helping out. If you aren't much of a developer, maybe just consider donating where you can. All told, some serious positive vibes coming off this site.

TMNT 2 Child Deluxe Bebop Costume

posted March 31, 2020 #

be sure to view the BACK