The Phenomena of the .gif
Have you noticed something? There's been a proliferation of animated gifs on the internet lately, and I love it. Here are my faves:
Jeremy Shockey sums up his career thus far in a capture from yesterday's surprising overtime loss. You Feely Me?
This one inspired my roommates and I to shoot an impromptu video of two dolls yelling "that's racist" at each other. I found it from
Gorilla vs. Bear.
This guy's pretty cool too.
Gifs have become the artform of the common people of the internet. Use them well, and you can be an internet winner. Here's to you, common people.
Pulp - Common People
This Isn't A Real Post, but...
Check out my MyspaceHow do you say that? "My Myspace" sounds weird. Should I just say, "Check out MySpace"? Or Maybe, "Check out My Space"? Or maybe you'd like something in a "My, my! My MySpace is Spacey McMyspace."
It's a sick world.
Here's some tunes:
You can download a new Cheyenne song at
Cheyenne's Myspace. I like it. It's called 'As Long As I Can' and it's good.
Also, here's
Jose Gonzales - Crosses
Mining or Digging, You be the Judge!
In keeping with the theme of cover songs this week, I figured I'd include some covers of some popular songs done by Ian Nelson. During college at
UT-Austin, Ian garnered modest notoriety writing clever songs and pulling off rousing interpretations of the most ubiquitous pop songs of the day.
Well, he's up to his old tricks again, this time with an extremely catchy reinterpretation of Kanye West's Gold Digger. Which do you like better?
Ian Nelson - Gold Miner [Save File - Follow Link]
Kanye's OriginalBonus!Ian does 'Toxic' by Britney Spears [Follow Link]
One of his originals: the frank, rousing,
Ian Nelson - You Are Crazy [Follow Link]
p.s. I fixed the links
Cover-rama
So, when the interwebs blow up about some music, they usually blow up about cover songs. What is it about a cover tune, you might ask? Well, I'll try to take a stab at it.
The genius of the cover song lies in its familiarity and its novelty. A song generally gets covered because it has struck a chord in the life of the artist reinterpereting it, so the artist serves as a tourguide to the great songs of the past. Hearing an old song in a new way is a win for the artists and the listeners. The artists get their names out, the listeners hear a "new" song with an old comfort to it.
Here are some of my favorites circulating the world wide nets right now.
Sun Kil Moon - Ocean Breathes Salty [Modest Mouse Cover] Sun Kil Moon has put out two albums of all cover songs, a 2001 album of AC/DC covers,
'What's Next to the Moon,' and now comes the Modest Mouse cover album,
'Tiny Cities.'
Jose Gonzales - Heartbeats [The Knife cover]
Jose Gonzales - Love Will Tear Us Apart [Joy Division cover]
[links via
Pimps of Gore]
And here's one of my favorites from last year:
The Arcade Fire - Born on a Train [magnetic fields cover, link via
purevolume]
Previously...What's your favorite cover song of all time?
The Ultimate Punk Rock Cover Song Project
Amanda Leggett @ Gypsy Tea Room
A few weeks ago, I mentioned
Amanda Leggett and her
album, 'Home.' Well now the lovely singer-songwriter has a number of shows forthcoming in the Dallas/Ft. Worth/Denton Golden Triangle Metroplex, and you ought to know about them.
Firstly, this Saturday [11/12/05], she's playing a set at the Gypsy Tea Room. She'll be doing an instore at the Borders in Lewisville, TX on Nov. 26th, and then she'll be doing a CD release in Denton at Dan's Silverleaf on Thursday, Dec 8.
Amanda's sound is both hopeful and haunting at the same time, her rich voice gliding smoothly through the solid backing laid down by her band. Her name fits nicely next to names such as Neko Case and Laura Cantrell, but her soul sounds much older and more comfortable with the likes of Patsy Cline or Emmylou Harris. Her music hits at that deeper longing within ourselves which longs for rest, home, and acceptance we cannot always find in the people and places around us.
Amanda Leggett - My Love [
YouSendit Link]
Beard Week, Day 4: DJ Crown
Ok, so I know this guy doesn't have much of a beard, but he's one of the best up and coming Hip Hop DJs on the Central Texas scene, so we'll cut him a break. He's been tearing up a weekly set at Lucy's in San Marcos on Wednesday nights for the last few years as a part of Electric Mayhem, and he's got a regular set going at the Firehouse Lounge in Austin too now.
He has a full-length album coming out soon, so be on the lookout, but until then you can catch him live in Austin or San Marcos with the Word Assosciation, Electric Mayhem, or simply as DJ Crown. Also check out his
Myspace page which has some of his original stuff on it.
DJ Crown is a good friend of mine back from my Denton, TX days. We started DJing at the same time in college, then he started taking it seriously and I started taking my turntables to eBay. He's an amazing DJ with a real taste for classic tracks, both old and new, so check him out.
Beard Week, Day 3: Akron/Family
Last Spring, my friend John David's band
Pilotdrift was playing at Emo's, opening for some bands I had just read about, Akron/Family and Angels of Light. Now I know this is crazy to some people, but Angels of Light just didn't do it for me, but Akron/Family really won me over. Their sound is really stripped down, the songwriting has a flair for the antique, yet surreal. Deep down, I think the guys are just hippies making freak folk, but it works.
Over the summer, I really got into their
self-titled album, and I couldn't get the song
"I'll be on the Water" out of my head.
Looks like they're working on some new material which you can find at their
myspace.
Here's a track off their album with Michael Gira's Angels of Light:
Akron/Family w/ Angels of Light - Dylan pt. 2
Beard Week, Installment 2 - Hasidic Homeboy
So, this guy's been around for a little while, but whatever. If you don't know, now you know.
Matisyahu is a Hasidic Jewish Dancehall Reggae singer making the rounds nowadays.
What's fascinating about him is that he isn't just a kitchy guy, trying to hock bad music with a good gimmick. The Hasidic Jew thing isn't for show. This guy [ne Matthew Miller] is doing it out of a deep desire to follow God.
He has an interesting story. He 'found God' in Colorado, traveled to Israel and rediscovered the heart of his Jewish heritage, and then decided to pursue God and music more deeply while, of all things, traveling around while following a Phish tour.
Hippie.
Beneath it all lies a deep faith and a deep desire for others to encounter God. He became a Hasidic Jew after studying at the New School, and now, according to his website "[splits] his time between the stage and his yeshiva."
What do you think?
Matisyahu - King Without a CrownBuy 'Matisyahu - Live @ Stubb's' [yeah, it was recorded live in Austin].
Must Be the Clouds in My Eyes!
I'm a sucker for a good cover song, and wouldn't you know it, but Will Oldham [aka Bonnie "Prince" Billy] has teamed up with indie electro-heads Tortoise to put together an album chocked full 'o covertunes. It's slated for release in January on
Domino Records, and I think it sounds pretty good.
Bonnie "Prince" Billy w/Tortoise - Daniel [Elton John Cover]Bonnie "Prince" Billy w/Tortoise - Thunder Road [Springsteen Cover, follow link][links via
Dreams of Horses]
Fake Siblings or Real Siblings?
So, yesterday,
stereogum linked a streaming version of
The White Stripes covering Tegan and Sara's 'Walking with the Ghost'.
The question I have to ask you is not which version is better [although feel free to comment about that too]. What I want to know is which of these is it better to be:
Fake Siblings [a la Jack and Meg White]
or
Real Siblings [a la Tegan and Sara]
Original Tegan and Sara version of 'Walking with the Ghost'
