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Monday, January 28, 2008
go places...
Hello - I'm in Toronto fer a coupla days. If you're here, get in touch via the emails or facebooks or cell phones. Let's have a drink. You should buy the first 3. Or not. Which ever, either way, I'm grammatically relaxed.
PS: What's with the amateurish jet lag? What?!Labels: poops macgee
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Friday, January 25, 2008
help wanted...
One of the gifts I received for my birthday this year was a Safeway bag full of old, obscure rap cassettes circa 1989 - 1991. Those who know me know that this is treading in BEST GIFT EVAR territory... well, at least by my mistakenly nostalgic standards.
I listened to a bunch of the tapes last weekend, most - with 20/20 hindsight - were total crap, others I think still rule to this day. One of these tapes was Sway & King Tech's Concrete Jungle. According to Wikipedia, this album was a commercial failure and only me and two other guys actually bought the thing. The nice thing is that in the iTunes era I can actually find and download the album, but the mp3 album has some mixes different from the original.
I am now obsessively searching for the *Radio Mix* of the Sway & King track Follow 4 Now. This appeared as a b-side to the Time For Peace single, not the album. Is there anyone out there who can hook me up? Or point me in a direction where I might find it? I realize I can buy the cassette single on eBay for $0.99, but I'm looking for either a CD or an mp3.
Ok, I've now alienated 99.9% of team vanmega, but ferreals, I promise to name my first born after whoever hooks me up. GO!
elsewhere
death, taxes, and jay mohr being horrible
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Thursday, January 24, 2008
We Will Bend, We Will Break, etc...
JOY! Jason Anderson is offering his new album, On The Street, for free download (hat tip to the sufjan beat). You can download the thing here.
Some of you may recall Jason's track July 4, 2004 ended up on the vanmega best of 2007 almanac. A rework of that track is featured on the freebie disk. While the original version was long and drawn out, this new version is tight and succinct. The same can be said of the rest of the album, it still feels fun and jangly, but it's grounded by focus. I love how this is a studio album but there's a live feel to it. Lots of bands talk about recording like this, most never pull it off.
A sampling for those who can't commit to zip files:
elsewhere
i bet the Oscar people are really kicking themselves....Labels: jason anderson, mp3
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Monday, January 21, 2008
weekend recap...
Turns out all that dj mix for snowboarding stuff completely went to waste. While I slaved over creating the perfect set, I didn't consider the fact that the batteries in electronic devices tend to freeze and die 4 seconds after you get to the top of a mountain.
I guess that's one to grow on... although I doubt I'll learn from it. I'm going back up the mountain next weekend... mp3 player and all.
elsewhere
corey haim, fucking insane (circa 1990)Labels: weekend recap
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Tuesday, January 15, 2008
adventures in fake dj'ing: rocky mountain high edition...
My birthday is coming up in the next week or so and I've lucked out. I'm getting an ultra-fancy new snowboarding coat. You know, one of those light weight deals that can withstand the coldest of cold temperatures and remain water proof even if you're swimming in the thing.
Also, this coat has is a proper iPod holder pocket with embedded headphone wiring. Because of this, I'm torn... listening to music while riding is stupid and unsafe... BUT, my inner music nerd is tempted by the coat and wants to try the iPod while boarding thing, even if only for a couple of runs.
This begs the question, what's the best type of music to listen to while on the hill? If the clips of skate/snow videos I've seen are any indication, the music of choice is old school punk stuff like SNFU or NOFX. In two words: fuck that. To me the on-hill music should be energetic, but sublime... it shouldn't be the focus of my day, it should subtlety enhance things.
Based on all that, I've created a 30 minute DJ set for the mountains, featuring mostly instrumental, slightly downtempo electronic jams. In some cases I've even slowed down tracks. The whole idea being that you remain calm and cool while throwing yourself off the side of a jagged icy cliff.
This is the track list:
Justice - Valentine
Radiohead - Weird Fishes (Amplive Remix)
Junior Boys - So This Is Goodbye
Lil Mama - Lip Gloss (Kid Fresh Refix)
Goldrocc - 93 'Till B'more (Instrumental)
Hot Chip - Just Like We (Breakdown) (DFA Remix)
Daft Punk - Voyager (Dominique Torti's Wild Style Edit)
LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver
Thom Yorke - Eraser (xxxchange Mix)
Hot Chip - Ready For The Floor (Soulwax Dub)
LCD Soundsystem - Time to Get Away (Gucci Remix)
*Download the mp3 here* [37MB, right click & save-as]
Or better yet, subscribe to the fake dj set podcast here. (full details can be found here).
And on that note, I'm off to Whistler, bitches.
elsewhere
songs from the 1st world, to enjoy while you bask in the splendor of the 3rdLabels: fake dj'ing
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Monday, January 14, 2008
overheard last weekend...
Me and Tk and Nick met up for drinks a couple of Friday nights ago. We did an impromptu micro pub crawl. I'm not sure there were any actual DJ's playing at any of the locals on 4th, but there was one place which had a pretty solid playlist going. If I recall correctly it was a bunch of newish stuff with occasional old school throwback, you know, waaaay back to 2005 - 2006. This was one of the throwbacks played:
This song has haunted me since hearing it. I can't get it out of my head, and I don't want to. Despite being firmly rooted in an electric world, this track manages to sneak in harmonies, key changes, and bittersweet word play... yet, the entire time the thing sounds optimistic and uplifting. It's like an anti-banger... if there is such a thing.
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Hey, guess what... I don't like Bob Dylan. Or rather, I've never gotten into his stuff. Sorry. I've tried. It's just never clicked. With that said, I've got a copy of I'm Not There which I will watch. I have dug into the soundtrack though... not surprizingly, I'm not entirely feeling it. The exception however, is this:
It's hard to believe this is the same guy who put out Sky Blue Sky. Tweedy kills it, adding a more stated melody to the Dylan cover. The delivery feels more refined than the original, ultimately making it far more heart wrenching than the original. Perfect for lazy Saturdays or miserable messes. Or miserable messes having lazy Saturdays, I would guess.
elsewhere
mix: wake up, stay in bedLabels: mp3
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Sunday, January 13, 2008
the vanmega guide to better living (continued)...
For the next 5 minutes or so, this is my new favorite thing: infusing vodka. Sounds lame? Yes, completely. Concept's been around forever? Maybe, possibly. But the result is delicious and, let's face it, those flavored vodkas they sell at the liquor stores are basically aspartame and moonshine.
Do this:
- get a 26 of yer favorite vodka
- drain 1/4 - to 1/3rd of it (I'll let you choose how)
- peel and slice a huge chunk of ginger root into pieces that will fit into the neck of the bottle (should fill the bottom 3rd of the bottle (approx)
- put the bottle in the fridge, let sit for 2-3 days
- get bottle out of fridge, slice a granny smith apple into bottle neck size pieces. stuff into bottle
- put the bottle in the fridge, let sit for 2-3 days
- take bottle out of fridge, add one Thai pepper (sliced open)
- put the bottle in the fridge, let sit for 1-2 days
- serve vodka solo on the rocks, or with soda water... and swear up and down that this drink is top shelf #1 goodness
Seriously, so good. Best of all if you start this process on a Sunday and it's ready the following weekend.
elsewhere
the worst joke ever
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Friday, January 11, 2008
brainwasher...
Do you have a one of those deluxe copies of Alive 2007? If so, you're sitting on a gold mine. Really.
I stumbled across an eBay auction for the Alive 2007 disk... this morning it closed with a winning bid of $81. I wanted to write about how bonkers this this auction was, and contrast the outrageous auction price against the sane retail price you can find on places like Amazon.com. Turns out, you can now buy Alive 2007 on Amazon for $95. Ninety five dollars!
Keep in mind this disk was released 2.5 months ago, and retailed for about $30.
This leads me to ask two questions:
1. WTF?!
2. Would anyone like to buy my deluxe copy of the album for the low, low price of $100?
elsewhere
when hard was hard
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Wednesday, January 9, 2008
so much for your bold, new business model...
This morning I discovered that "In Rainbows" is now featured and sold at Starbucks.
elsewhere
losers wish for scarcity, winners leverage scale
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Sunday, January 6, 2008
january mixtape: pilfer away..
Welcome to 2008, blog-based pals.
We might as well get the year started off with new music and a new mix. Actually, since nothing new comes out in later half of December, and since there was no actual December mixtape, a lot of the content on this tape reaches back and features stuff I never got a chance to blog-gush about. It's a solid little mix though; it starts strong with the guitar focused stuff and then slips into some sublime synthesized electro stuff. Magically delicious.
As always, this is a limited time thing. Get it while you can.
elsewhere
sometimes i tape stuffLabels: mixtape, mp3
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Thursday, January 3, 2008
in my mind, I'm still on vacation...
things I learned on the first day of 2008...
- the Regal Beagal is the only open bar/restaurant/place that will sell you food in Kitsilano on new year's day/night
- on new year's day the Regal Beagal serves FREE ceazers until 4pm
too bad we showed up at 8pm.
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3 trivial observations from my holiday time in Calgary...- people love to drive side-by-side on 2 lane roads. people behind them be dammed!
- everyone has huge gorgeous homes, no one chooses to heat them
- lots of dudes are wearing shell toe Adidas again
This is the extent to which my brain has functioned over the last 2 weeks. This is not a complaint.
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3 hyperlinks well worth your time...
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