I should start by noting that theater has never much been my thing. I’ve seen Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, Avenue Q etc. etc. and I enjoyed them to be sure, but not enough to pay the exorbitant price tag that inevitably goes with them. Here, in New York, I have discovered the masterpiece of theater for those of us whose goal is to drink and have a good time; Flanagan’s Wake. Continue reading »
I have been watching “The Florida Outpouring” for the past two weeks. This self-titled Christian movement has been meeting in Lakeland, Florida, every night for the past 60 days. The meetings are led by Pastor Todd Bentley, a short overweight young man of 32 who is covered in tattoos and piercings. Pastor Todd Bentley and his associates claim healings have been occurring in these meetings and, nightly, bring as many as 40 people up on stage to ‘testify’ concerning their healings. Their meetings are attended by as many as 13,000 people and have garnered enough attention to appear on MSNBC. Among the healings claimed; a man able to see out of his glass eye, visible tumors shrinking and disappearing, the deaf hearing, the blind seeing, people confined to wheelchairs getting up and walking, as well as (are you ready for this???) 18 resurrections from the dead. A Christian channel available on the Direct TV network (Godtv) began broadcasting the meetings over a month ago free of charge to Todd Bentley and his associates.
So… what is going on? Is this a gigantic hoax? An incredible scam for money and fame? Are these 13,000 people a night so desperate to believe that they can be healed that they are blind to facts? What ARE the facts? What do YOU think?
The nightly meetings stream online here at the ministry website (low quality) beginning at 7PM ET (4PM PST) The healing portion generally follows the worship, falling around 8:30 ET (5:30 PST) Also here at the God.tv website (Short sign-up procedure, painless, high quality) beginning at 8PM ET (5PM PST) healing portion 9:30 ET (6:30 PST). Replay begins around 1AM ET (10PM PST).
Two of my mother’s friends are going to visit the ‘revival’, one in hopes of being healed of terminal cancer, as the preachers claim others have been cured of terminal diseases. I will get back to you after I talk to them upon their return.
Hello again! Hope the electronica suggestions I’ve provided have kept you satisfied between posts. Now we get to dive into the FuN genres!
PSY-TRANCE: This is electronica on drugs…Isn’t most trance on drugs you ask? Yes, I agree with you, but I am referring to trance on a DIFFERENT sort of drugs.. An example would be the artist Hallucinogen, or my personal favorite, the Israeli “Infected Mushroom”. Also I would include the UK’s “Shpongle” (he also does solo work as “Simon Posford”) as well as “Astral Projection” and “Juno Reactor. Dark Soho is less popular, though their song “The Fusion” provides a wonderful soundtrack for driving 100mph on the freeway. This music is… intense. There is a lot of bass and a lot of sound waves that are manipulated in such a way as to give the sensation of aliens drilling at your brain. A whole new concept of ‘expanding your mind’ perhaps?
IDM: This stands for Intelligent Dance Music, though it is arguable how ‘danceable’ these tunes really are. Purely synthetic and claiming a range between electronic elevator music and someone’s twisted joke of an emergency alarm system, one of the best examples can be found in the artist “Autechre”. IDM is a strange genre, not really inclusive but for a few exceptions, it mainly names a specific sound, but few artists limit themselves solely to that sound. For example, the popular Death Cab For Cutie is occasionally slotted under IDM. Autechre is quite an experience as the IDM sound is bent to include jazzy riffs and hip hop beats. Anyone who is familiar with the workings of a synthesizer will recognize this genre as the most ‘raw’. That is, the effects a synthesizer can produce, such as the arpeggiator, which turns a single note into a “flurry of sounds” is easily recognizable within the music itself. Honestly, I find IDM the most difficult to describe, I recommend checking out the sound sample on Amazon.com.
DOWNTEMPO: Also accused at times of being elevator music, this genre is also known as CHILLOUT. It is more focused on atmosphere creation than on the music itself, though some downtempo can be quite involved and conducive to heavy introspection. Zero 7 provides a general example. Try Mum for a more complex experience. Boards of Canada is a good choice as well. If you are looking for the soundtrack for sweeping landscapes and powerful aspects of nature, try the Icelandic group Sigur Ros. Sigur Ros is more often slotted as AMBIENT, though, truthfully, they are a genre all their own, somehow combining NEW ROCK, AMBIENT, and massive orchestral arrangements.
INDUSTRIAL (DANCE): Grinding, depressing, with often apocalypse style motifs, this is not stuff for the faint of heart… or those with little patience for emo. Apoptygma Berzerk is my personal favorite, though VA nation is generally more popular. If you are familiar with the chain store “Hot Topic”, this is the sort of electronica that you might find playing on their stereo system. For those of you unfamiliar, Hot Topic is a goth/emo/fairy/bondage/gamer store popular here in California.
I do not have an official title for this genre, I would refer to it as HOUSEFUNK, specially created for such artists as DAFT PUNK and BASEMENT JAXX. Daft Punk in particular can have a DISCO flavor at times.
All right, thank you all for your interest, that will be all for now. Please feel free to comment and suggest music (I am always fiending for more), or if you find a new artist you like from these articles, please tell me! I would love nothing more.
Hello again, it is time to continue through the veritable jungle of artists and genres that lend themselves to the “Electronica” theme!
Oldies “electronica” hits that you may have heard of include Donna Summer’s I FEEL LOVE (70’s) and Soft Cell’s TAINTED LOVE (80’s). In my opinion, one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) electronic band coming out of the 70’s is Kraftwerk. A quadruplet of fellows from Germany using synthesizers almost exclusively, they revolutionized the way in which the electronic genre was perceived. Their music has been covered and remixed by everyone from Coldplay (Kraftwerk song “Computer love”) to a hard rock band out of Slovenia named Siddharta.
Another electronic hit of the 70’s was the single POPCORN by Kingsley, yet another surprise U.S. hit out of Europe. Both of these artists are classified, strangely, as DANCEPOP. The difference in sound from 70’s to 2000’s dancepop is incredible. Kraftwerk is also classified as ALTERNATIVE. Alternative is the genre that happens when the individual listening to the music throws their hands up in the air and exclaims, “what IS that????” It seems to happen frequently in less mainstream electronica as my favorite band growing up, Joy Electric (A single fellow from the San Francisco area who uses no instruments, no straight vocals, not even a drum machine, only a synthesizer) is also classified as ALTERNATIVE.
One of the aspects of electronic club music that even I cannot stand is what I refer to as “RAVE MUSIC”, or HARD TRANCE. I cannot even provide you with a sample artist because I find this genre so hideous. If you take a normal trance song and crank up the speed dial until it sounds like the chipmunks, congratulations! You now have a soundtrack that thousands of 15 year olds wearing glowsticks and not much else will gyrate to until the wee hours of the morning! How do I know this? Uh… personal experience? I admit that I too am a lover and wearer of glowsticks.
An interesting and less popular type of “hard” electronica is HARD HOUSE. Try DJ Icey, he has a more INDUSTRIAL flavor without the whiney emo (Stay tuned for Electronica part 3 where I discuss industrial electronica).
All right, we’ve covered the basics, now it is time to branch off into more interesting types of electronica! Stay tuned, next week I’ll deal with INDUSTRIAL, IDM, PSYTRANCE, HOUSEFUNK and DOWNTEMPO.
Until then, here is some bleeping and blooping to keep you happy.
Zero 7 – moody lite rock grooves, the have an unbelievable remix of Radiohead’s “Climbing up the Walls”
Scooter – As close to “rave” music as I can listen to, uptembo bouncy and repetative.
Sasha (& John Digweed) – I mentioned Sasha last time in regards to his single “Xpander”, but “Wavy Gravy” and “Clubbing Seals” (haha) are also worth mentioning. He often works in tandem with John Digweed and when he does the sound is less electronica and more funk.
Ratatat – Rock electronica. This is one of those crossover artists who I feed to individuals who are against the electric sounds on principle. They create a very interesting fusion.
Massive Attack – One of the few artists that seems to sit well with the general public. They are best known for their collaborations with Portishead.
I have a particular… shall we say, “obsession” with the sounds that emanate from synthesizers. Whether you are a lover or a hater (there seems to be very few individuals in-between) I wish to expand your knowledge of the genres contained within. If you hate electronica, it is quite possible that the extent of your contact with it has been in conjunction with RADIO AIRWAVES. I wish to assure you that those songs are NOT all sweet sweet synthesizers have to offer you. I will be doing a succession of posts on this topic, at the end of each I will list a few less-than-mainstream electronic acts worth checking out. Alrighty! Here we go!
Most of the bubblegum bleeping songs that have hit the radio are classified as EUROPOP. Conveniently, as much of this sound comes from Europe! Examples include BLUE by Eiffel 65 and the ever popular BARBIE GIRL by Aqua. Or if it is not from Europe it tends to go by DANCEPOP, such as Alice Deejay’s BETTER OFF ALONE. Also included in this list would be most of the infinite Madonna ditties and remixes that have proliferated themselves on the airwaves over time. If you hate this genre… believe me, I understand. I can’t say that I haven’t sung along at the top of my lungs to BARBIE GIRL… I have. But that is not to say that I don’t have a deep seated appreciation for the awfulness of what I am singing along with. If you are willing to give the more modern Euro-Electronica a chance, try Royksopp’s “The Understanding” (Norway) or The Notwist’s “Neon Golden” (Germany).
The most popular Electronica of this decade is found in the clubs. Trance, House, Drum and Bass, etc. DJ Tiesto, Paul Oakenfold, Paul Van Dyk, these are a sampling of the most popular DJ’s on the globe at this moment. It gets more confusing as, different songs by an individual artist may go from Trace, to Progressive Trance, to Progressive House. If you have ever been confused by the differentiation between a genre and a “progressive” version of that same genre… join the club. I personally favor PROGRESSIVE TRANCE out of all of these genres, I find it the most complex and melodically interesting. Though, those that claim that every single song has the same drum and snare sounds… YOU ARE NOT WRONG!!! A classic Trance song any electronica lover must own is DJ Sasha’s “Xpander”.
TECHNO: The broadest term for electronic music available today. If you aren’t sure what it is, heck! Call it techno! Crystal Method, or if you are interested in extremely complex techno or ‘hard’ techno, try Aphex Twin.
Alright! I am signing off for now. Until next time, cut your aural sensors on these…
BLUETECH: Downtempo electronica reggae?
ULRICH SCHNAUSS: atmospheric. His album “Train’s Passing By” well defines the mood of his music.
SOUNDS FROM THE GROUND: Ethnic chillout grooves
DIRTY VEGAS: You may know them from their single “Days go By” or “One more Time”. The rest of the album is spectacular
1. 4 people, 1 bottle Captain Morgan, west San Francisco, 8pm
2. Best long island ever, Amber, Castro 8:30pm
3. Gay Bar, “officially drunk” thank you for the free drinks “Chad”! 9pm
4. Gay Bar, dancing, more drinks, french man, french kiss.
5. Burrito at the expense of gay booty call 11pm
6. 10 minutes of hell in friend’s 4 inch heels
7. Gay Bar, dancing, drinking…. Bars close… “WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!?!?!?!?!?”
8. Flirting with cab driver gets me to The Tranni Shack.
9. Drinks, dancing.
10. Too drunk to notice drive by… busy. (making out in middle of street)
11. Leave friend with police…
12. Pass out in hallway
13. Breathalizer, 10am… .15
*No persons were harmed in the making of this glorious, glorious evening*
In Bristow, Virginia a seventy five year old woman named Mona Shaw ’stuck it to the man’… with a hammer.
Mona Shaw was attempting to have Comcast’s new “Triple play” (Phone, internet and cable) service installed in her home, to no avail. She waited several days only to recieve incomplete service which eventually left her without phone, internet or cable of any kind.
After waiting in an office for a manger for two hours before being informed that he had left for the day, Mona went home. She returned the next day, entered the comcast office and smashed the keyboard, monitor and a phone with the hammer she had brought before being restrained and indicted for “disorderly conduct”, or what comcast calls “innapropriate action”.
Shaw is being hailed as a hero by many in the area, but she claims not to perceive her behavior in this way. She says, “I just had a hissy fit…I figured, ‘Hey, my telephone is screwed up, (now) so is yours.”
Apparently lawsuits against those who download pirated music aren’t the only thing we have to worry about, a fire extinguisher could also come in handy.
Radiohead, one of the world’s most popular and critically acclaimed groups, finished their contract with EMI with their 6th release, “Hail to the Thief”, in 2003. The band has just announced that their 7th recording “In rainbows” will be available for download only from their website inrainbows.com on October 10th, for any price you choose, really. The band has refused all offers from record labels and has chosen to release the album on their own with the help of their PR company Nasty Little Men. Live performances of several of the new songs are available on YouTube and can be accessed through this TimesOnline article, which also provides interesting commentary on Radiohead’s “honesty box” album sales. This is yet another blow to the music and recording industry who have been steadily loosing profits to the filesharing programs Limewire , Kazaa (the most downloaded program file on the web… ever), Bearshare or the newer and more complex Bittorrent and it’s affiliated Pirate sites. Warner Music Group reported a record 74% loss in profits last year, while EMI (Radiohead’s old label) managed a 13% increase by harnessing digital download sales of such bands as Coldplay, Gorillaz and Robbie Williams. The future of music is online, but with bands as massive as Radiohead taking on the world of digital downloading without the help of a record company, one wonders if these record companies, as we have known them, have any future at all.
Oh, and go get the album, it sounds amazing.
Early morning on the 4th of July at the Kenwood Footrace, a winding hilly course that eventually curved through a private vineyard, I made my running debut at 59:18 for the 10k (6.2 miles).
I was strongly encouraged by my roommate, otherwise I probably would not have signed up. I have been running for years now, but never before in a race setting, and with no real intent of doing so, until this race. My first invented goal 2 miles in was simply not to walk. My second invented goal, somewhere around mile 3.5 was to look around enough to have some memory of the run other than my feet on pavement. Then, at mile 5, I knew I was in love and that I was going to pick up the pace to the finish line. As I neared the last stretch I heard the announcers voice encouraging me to make it under the fabled hour mark. My stoned runners brain thrilled to the idea of being part of a fabled anything and I out-sprinted the 15 year old heavy kid to my right to come in #20 in my age group. Except someone had fouled up my entry and I would have come in #7 in my age group if I had been registered as female instead of male.
All in all it was a pleasantly hellish experience, one that I intend to repeat in a few weeks with an 11k 1000ft+ climb along the coastline at Salt Point.
