Future of the Left Travels With Myself and Another [4AD; 2009]
Travels With Myself and Another might be the finest soundtrack for slam dancing, fast driving, heavy drinking, or whatever poor decision you make this year. But in addition finding new ways to snarl in their music, the lyrics go beyond mere cleverness into sharp, thoughtful introspection, making Travels a document of a creatively restless band out to prove something to themselves, and not just the fans they’ve picked up along the way.[READ MORE]
We’re a visually driven culture, relying heavily on what we see to understand the world. Maybe what we should be doing instead is listening. And I don't mean hearing. I hear just fine, but I'm not listening. Maybe I’m overstimulated and easily distracted—or maybe I never learned how to listen in kindergarten.
“Sensory rejuvenation chamber?” What kind of bullshit is that? What copywriting genius came up with that gem? Which agency suit presented it, and which style-less, Bananarama-loving client approved it? Has this been a car for old farts all along? I feel used. And not in a good way. [READ MORE]
It began, as so many perverted things do, with the Japanese. Alamo Drafthouse owner Tim League came across a viral video from the game show Japanorama of some men making sweet love to invisible partners. Inspiration took hold, and shortly thereafter Air Sex—Air Guitar’s dirty, smutty cousin—was born. [READ MORE]
"The Rubber Bandit: the rubber band gun for the lady or gentleman that knows better than to grow up. Handcrafted out of curly maple and bloodwood, The Rubber Bandit comes complete with interchangeable barrels, allowing the bearer to fine tune the amount of damage he or she inflicts." SOURCE: AndyMangold.com (via @mattmansfield)
The music that Hypnotic Brass Ensemble plays might best be described as highly composed instrumental hip-hop. If it is jazz, it’s closer in spirit to jazz from a hundred years ago: accomplished and energetic music parceled-out in short songs designed for dancing. It stays in key for long stretches, and moves in easy-to-follow periods. In a typical Hypnotic song, the shifts in key and the emergence of themes happen against a sound of massed horn parts that provide a sense of solidity. The music stays rooted to the cycle of the beat and the riff, and the players don’t leave the center behind to leap around as they might in hard bop or free jazz. Unlike the musicians in the avant-garde community that Hypnotic grew up in, these players have no interest in dissonance or “out” passages of squeaking and skronking. They keep their compositions lean and their harmonies broad and varied. [READ MORE]
Jay Bennett, a singer and songwriter who was a former member of the rock band Wilco, died on Sunday in Urbana, Ill. He was 45 and lived in Urbana. [READ MORE]
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