Anutha fohty

1) Was 2007 a good year for you?
Excellent, especially given how incredibly crappy last year was.

2) What was your favorite moment(s) of the year?
Night bounce dive in Curacao, Mid Summer's Night Swing, moving in with Susan... it's a long list

3) What was your least favorite moment of the year?
various Mom bullshit

4) Where were you when 2007 began?
At my house

5) Who were you with?
Susan

6) Where will you be when 2007 ends?
La Mancha

7) Who will you be with when 2007 ends?
Susan, Jose, Lorida and hundreds of drunk Germans (ok, maybe just a couple)

8) Did you keep your new years resolution of 2007?
Pretty much

9) Do you have a new years resolution for 2008?
Drop some more weight, drink less, exercise more, dance more, write more music

10) Did you fall in love in 2007?
Already was

11) If yes, with who?
Susan

12) If yes, do they know?
If she doesn't then she's pretty dumb, which she ain't

13) Are you still in love with them?
Last time I checked

14) Do you regret it?
Not a bit

15) Did you breakup with anyone in 2007?
No need

16) Did you make any new friends in 2007?
Yes

17) Who are your favorite new friends?
All of them

18) What was your favorite month of 2007?
All of them were pretty smashing

19) Did you travel outside of the US in 2007?
Yarp

20) How many different states did you travel to in 2007?
3

21) Did you lose anybody close to you in 2007?
No, thank God. Been awhile since I could say that.

22) Did you miss anybody in the past year?
Bianca, Derek and Mike

23) What was your favorite movie that you saw in 2007?
Eastern Promises

24) What was your favorite song from 2007?
Are you kidding? I own 2700 CDs. Hard to pick, no? Which genre?

25) What was your favorite record from 2007?
See #24

26) How many concerts did you see in 2007?
Not many

27) Did you have a favorite concert in 2007?
No

28) Did you drink a lot of alcohol in 2007?
Yup

29) Did you do a lot of drugs in 2007?
Nope. The booze is my only vice.

30) How many people did you sleep with in 2007?
Uno

31) Did you do anything you are ashamed of this year?
Nope

33) What was the worst lie someone told you in 2007?
Didn't catch anybody in a lie

34) Did you treat somebody badly in 2007?
Not that I'm aware of

35) Did somebody treat you badly in 2007?
Nope

36) How much money did you spend in 2007?
Quite a bit

37) What was your proudest moment of 2007?
Landing my new job at the salary I wanted

38) What was your most embarrassing moment of 2007?
Can't remember

39) If you could go back in time to any moment of 2007 and change something, what would it be?
Nothing. If I did, it might change how things are now.

40) What are your plans for 2008?
Taking Susan to London for Valentine's Day, wreck diving in North Carolina, maybe more diving somewhere warm, copious amounts of swing dancing, Christmas in Georgia with Mom, Lisa and Tom. I'm sure the redhead and I will figure out a bunch of other stuff, too. That's how we roll.

Ramblings in the ghosttown

There is a long list of places I'd like to be. Here is not very high on the list.

Yes, it's the last Friday in December, the last Friday of 2007 and I'm here at work at 7:40 in the morning. That's no surprise, really, as I'm always here between 7:30 and 8:00am. However, I'm here all by my lonesome with very little to do. I considered sleeping in, but Susan's life is crazy right now, work-wise, so she was up at the usual time and I tend to get up when she gets up.

One of the disadvantages of switching jobs in September is losing all one's vacation and having to work through the holidays. This is always a dead time in the banking industry as everybody and their mother takes off. I'll have enough work to last me a couple of hours, but beyond that it's just filling time.

The most frustrating thing is that I've got a lot of other stuff to do.

Our favorite local restaurant is having a big New Year's Eve bash and I've been elected to provide music. They've requested 70s and 80s tunes and while I've tons of the latter, I am sadly lacking much of the former. So I would love to be raiding iTunes for some tasty Bee Gees and such (no mockery, please; there would be no techno were it not for Barry, Maurice and Robin).

"Y'all 140bpm bitches wouldn't be shit if it weren't for us."


Anyway, I started making a mix in my head this morning at about 3am and I'd love to get it down.

But here I am. Argh.

I've also got more music in my head and would love to be working on it. I remixed a track by a great downtempo artist who goes by Enjae. I like my "Rainwept" remix (though it still needs mastering), but would like to do a few more. I've already entitled the next one "The Red Wine And Chocolate Mix" and envision tasty mellowness.

But here I am. Argh.

However, I will lightly apply my nose to the grindstone and try to drag out my tasks as long as possible so I don't end up sitting here all day with nada to do.

Don't it just make you wanna cry?

Keeping me from becoming comatose:

Sub Level - The Mechanics Of Coping
(broad-spectrum sonic assault weapon)

Coleman Hawkins - Picasso
(shoo ba do bebop)

Tom Waits - Nighthawks At The Diner
(guided tours of inebriation)

God - Appeal To Human Greed
(KMart and JKFlesh sittin' in a tree, K-I-L-L-I-N-G)

Howlin' Wolf - His Best
(and that's pretty freakin' good)

Bring the sick PS

Nuff said.

Let him rot

Varg Vikernes. Motherfucker.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this waste of skin, Varg Vikernes (born Kristian Vikernes), aka Count Grishnackh, is a black metal musician currently in prison for the murder of Oystein Aarseth, aka Euronymous. Euronymous was the guitarist for Mayhem as well as the owner of Helvete, a record shop in Oslo specializing in underground metal. He also was the head of the Deathlike Silence label which similarly specialized in extreme music. Now Euronymous was no great shakes himself, but few people deserve to get stabbed in the head on purpose. I can think of a couple, but that is neither here nor there.

(BTW, the history of Mayhem is screwed up enough to begin with, but that's another blog entirely; suicide, cannibalism, etc. Look it up.)

Anyway, back to Varg. He has also been connected to several church burnings in Norway and apparently has "inspired" other acts of vandalism and arson not only in his country, but around the world. While I'm not a big fan of religion in general, I definitely stop short at condoning the destruction of centuries old buildings that hold not only historical but spiritual significance. Say what you will about ritual and all that, but if enough people gather in a place for long enough with the intent of worshipping something, it does imbue that place with a certain "otherness" that should be preserved.

So I delved into this fuckwad a great deal when I started getting deeply into black metal. I read a lot of his writings from his website, histories and opinions from other sources, etc.

Wow. Not only is this guy an arrogant SOB, he's nowhere near as intelligent (or interesting) as he thinks he is. Then again, that's par for the course for a psychopathic personality, no? What a douche.

I mention all this because the Might Derek Rush has brought to my attention that Vikernes may be released from prison in April 2008. I can't believe he might get sprung. It's not like he's even attempted to portray himself as reformed. In fact, he's gotten worse while in prison.

Prior to the slamma he was all "I'm a naughty Pagan". Burn churches, rant against Judeo-Christian everything, purport to be a child of Odin, etc. Then I guess he gets too much of a buttfucking in jail and all of a sudden he's the Aryan poster boy. Odalism is out the door in favor of CYA rightwing Nazi stupidity. Way to stick to your guns, big guy. Still, it will be interesting to see how the press covers him once he's out. When he was first sent up, the papers portrayed him as the Essence of Evil. Now let's hope they see that he's just another schmuck.

Smile if you've changed your mind due to a nasty cornholing.


All this being said, remember this post after I get murdered in the street by rabid Burzum fans...

Varg, from His Towering Throne of Irrelevance, resents:

Mingus Big Band - Gunslinging Birds
(boom bip bebop)

James Brown - Sex Machine
(cashing in on a great tune)

Miles David - Cookin' With The Miles Davis Quintet
(mucho miles on this Miles)

Fat Jon The Ample Soul Physician - Wave Motion
(another mellow fellow)

Sunn O))) - The Grimm Robe Demos
(deep into the blank and black)

Stuck in past

CNN's entertainment section has been drooling over the brief return of Led Zeppelin. Part of the drool, of course, was an appeal to their readers to comment on this illustrious return. And lo, the crustaceans came out in force. One of the respondents said, "Loud and proud, there has NEVER been a music act with such ferocity and likely there NEVER will be".

You must be kidding.

While there is no denying that Zep played an incredibly important part in musical history and that they influenced innumerable artists that came after them, it's also undeniable that music has progressed since then. Led Zeppelin can't hold a candle in terms of "ferocity" to even an average black metal band. Grindcore similarly obliterates them in the "ferocious" category. Punk, hardcore and even speed metal likewise. And that's just addressing guitar music. Bring in drum and bass, breakcore and other electronic forms? Again, Zeppelin falls far behind. I'm sure there are many who will say, "Well, that's not really music." Then you're not listening.

Zeppelin were unquestionably part of the cream of the crop in their day, but music has expanded so much further in the last 25 years. Plant and company are fantastic, but why limit your sonic palette to stuff that stopped progressing 20 years ago? Hang onto the old, sure, but move on to something new as well. I'd rather see something new and experimental for $10 in some dingy club in Williamsburg than plop down $250 for an arena show where I can hear songs I've been listening to for 20 years.

Forging ahead with:

The Sales Department - Accounts
(Beef Terminal lives on in the hearts of men and this record)

Johnny Cash - American IV: The Man Comes Around
(a man who knew exactly what I'm talking about above)

Apparat - Multifunktionsebene
(fuzz pop glitch stop)

New Kingdom - Paradise Don't Come Cheap
(bringing the noise from these boyz)

Nile - In Their Darkened Shrines
(again... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr)

Not my cat...

but I wouldn't put this past him.



Monster truck rally soundtrack:

Blue Stone - Breathe
(ripping off Enigma and Delerium)

DJ? Acucrack - Humanoids From The Deep
(wicked darkstep)

Mad Professor - Dub Me Crazy
(into de outa space, mon)

Nasum - Human 2.0
(grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr)

Thelonius Monk - Monk In Paris: Live At The Olympia
(jazz mad pianist)

Stagnation

Everyone who knows me will tell you that I have long suffered from a deep and abiding addiction to music. I rant about this every now and again right here on this blog (which I have admittedly ignored for over a month now). While my tunes jones is still in full bloom, I've been forced into a sort of musical 12 step program by two things.

First, my job.

For many years I've listened to music while at work. In fact, I find I'm much more efficient when I'm plugged in than when I'm not. Nothing like a little death metal, trance, or breakcore to get the blood pumping and the mind cranking. However, I've been encouraged by my new boss to cast aside the earphones and join the larger world. He feels it makes me more accessible to, and approachable by, people. I have to say I agree with him. I'm not wild about it, but I do agree. So from about 7:30 in the morning to sometime around 5 in the afternoon (at least on most days), I go cold turkey.

This hurts.

Previously, it was my morning ritual to pick four or five CDs to bring with me to work. Since my collection is fairly vast (2664 releases as of this writing), this usually proved to be a pleasant challenge. Susan also benefited because I would foist a CD or two on her as well, although this sometimes got tricky because the people she works with actually play music so that everybody can hear it, thus eliminating certain choices. Suffice to say that Amputated, Throbbing Gristle and the like would no doubt go over like a lead balloon in her office.

However, now that I don't tune in during the day, I do not tend to put as much effort into selecting tunes for my commute. And that's where the second evil comes into play.

The iPod.

I'd resisted acquiring one of the monstrous devices for a long time. Much like a classic DJ clutching his vinyl like grim death ("From my cold, dead hands, mother fucker!"), I stayed faithful to my own chosen media, the CD. There's something nice about being able to hold it in your hand. Also, as a DJ, I need to be able to pitch shift for the sake of beat matching. Until they come up with something that can do this well with MP3s, I'm not interested (I'm sure there is something out there, but I don't presently give a fuck; "From my cold, dead..." etc., etc.). Lastly, MP3s don't yet come with extensive liner notes, a commodity I've always used to expand my music horizons. Band A gives a shout out to Band B in their CD jacket. I like Band A, so I investigate Band B. They turn out to be as good as, maybe even better than, Band A, so I read into them. And they told two friends and they told two friends and so on and so on and so on. Ministry -> Pigface -> Neubauten.

Anyway, now that I'm picking less music in the mornings, it's easy to fall into the habit of just grabbing the ol' iPod. Admittedly I've got about 850 songs loaded right now, but it's such a pain to move stuff from CD onto the damn thing that I rarely add anything new. Therefore I end up listening to a lot of the same stuff day after day. Lately it's been Royksopp, Beef Terminal, and Panzerchrist; those and a couple of my DJ mixes.

So I'm stuck in a bit of a rut.

But I plan to fight.

I pulled a bunch of CDs this morning (but neglected to snag anything for my lady; sorry, Susan). I listened to one of them on the way to work and plan on trying to listen to the others OUT LOUD at low volume via my computer. Am I a daring dude or what? Either way, I hope this will force me out of my sonic funk.

Damn. Speaking of funk, I should have thought to bring some Funky President.

Not now, James, we're busy with:

Various - Don't Fuck With Us
(Digital Hardcore Recordings beats in your face)

Burial - Untrue
(best album of the year? best dubstep album... of the entire genre?)

Bitter:Sweet - The Mating Game
(makes me wanna...)

Black The Sky - Simplistic Mechanics Of Deformable Bodies
(best track title ever: "I Slept With A Member Of Black The Sky And All I Got Was Rope Burn And A Bloody Asshole")

Goldfrapp - Black Cherry
(completely beyond sexy)