Headlights: Your Old Street (Daytrotter Session)

Heroic Spectactularrrrr

Heroes is wonderful. The comic writing genius that is Stan Lee made an appearance as a bus driver (other noted film appearances include X-Men: The Last Stand and a cameo in Mallrats). I missed it before, but former Star Trek cast member and gay advocate George Takei joins the cast as Hiro's father, Kaito Nakamora.

Break time. Check out what Takei had to say about the Tim Hardaway fiasco:



That Takei is one funny guy! So, who can we expect to be the "leader" of Mr. Bennet's company? I'm banking for the individual to have strong ties to comics and/or sci-fi, but also for them not to be well known outside the deep inner depths of hardcore comic/sci-fi fans. Needless, I am still absolutely hooked.

Post Heroes was the pilot for The Black Donnellys. Not too shabby. And I was also quite impressed with the scoring of the show. I may just have to expand my Monday night television schedule.

The following song was my favorite from Kill Them With Kindness. I loved the opening string arrangements that led to the entrance of the band and accompanied the group once they came in. Here is the Daytrotter Session of the "Your Old Street," stripped down with just the band members and no orchestra. Download the entire Headlights Daytrotter Session and other sessions via the above Daytrotter link.

Headlights: Your Old Street (Daytrotter Session) mp3

Pelle Carlberg: I Love You, You Imbecile

The Big Move: Day 1

Yesterday was the longest day of my life. Who though moving up two floors would ever be so much work? The overall move will span 3 weeks. And that does not include unpacking. I sense an explanation in the future...

So I've been living in a small, furnished studio two floors below my parents. I bought the unit in which they currently reside back in '04, right before I returned to WSU to get my masters. The rents had just sold their house in Lynnwood, WA and were looking to rent an apartment at the time of my trek back to Pullman, so, instead of renting, they moved into my brand new condo and took over the mortgage. Well, now that my masters is complete and I have a paying job, I'm taking it back!

On Friday my mom and I drove to the SeaTac airport to pick up my dad, who flew in from a business trip in the Mid West. Then we drove to my childhood home in Vancouver, WA, where my parents still own the house. The previous weekend was spent in Vancouver, packing all my belongings for the move. Now was time to bring them all to Seattle.

Seattle and Vancouver are approximately 3 hours apart, depending on traffic. Luckily traffic was pretty decent. We made it in 2 hours 45 minutes, meaning we arrived at 10pm. The next morning at 8am we were on the road. Due to hauling a trailer, we could only do 60. After rolling into Seattle at 1pm, we spend the next 6 hours unloading the truck and moving furniture between the two places (my parents are now renting a one + den in the neighboring condo building).

The time read 7pm when my dad and I finally hit the road to take his truck/trailer back to Vancouver and pick up my car. We arrived at 10:45, stayed an hour, then drove back to Seattle with my Volvo wagon, also loaded with belongings. With minimal sleep and a constant sipping of coffee, I have made it through the day. Now it's about time to head home and pack the studio.

Thanks to my insane move, FensePost will not be updated this week with new reviews or features. Instead, I hope to post a new mp3 each day to tide over all you readers our there.

Today's mp3 is off the upcoming album by former Edson frontman Pelle Carlberg. The album is In A Nutshell and will be released Wednesday in Sweden on Labrador Records.

Pelle Carlberg: I Love You, You Imbecile (mp3)

The Radio Dept: Against The Tide

I'm watching Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette. While its more modern soundtrack did not surprise me, the inclusion of The Radio Dept did.

I spent the weekend in Vancouver, WA where I packed boxes and loaded them into a trailer. Next weekend I will return to Vancouver and bring all my belongings to Seattle. Yes, I am finally moving to the rainy city after four months living here.

Radio Dept: Against The Tide (mp3)

Oneida: Run Through My Hair

The Conundrum

It is inadvisable to wear headphones when you hope to meet someone. Yet I often find the music selection at cafes tasteless. So, how do you choose between the two? I'm back at Cafe Verite, sitting at the mini bar they have at the window and listening to Kaada's Music For Moviebikers on my Zune. It's an album that should have crept into my top 20 last year, but failed to.

I had planned on a trip to Vancouver this weekend to pack for my move into a larger place on March 1st, but I put it off. I used the excuse that I have three proposals due early next week, when in reality, I've submitted the first draft of one for review, the second one is nearly finished (I just need to read the first draft through one more time) and the third I can do Monday. In truth, I just felt like relaxing this weekend. So I am.

Now I'm on Ivy League. Their cover of Arcade Fire's "Crown of Love" is surprising in that they've taken the song and removed the orchestration for a very catchy, stripped down, finger-picked acoustic version with outstanding vocal harmonies that, while recognizable as the Arcade Fire song, sounds completely different in a very refreshing and quite original way. The song can be found on London Bridges, their debut EP on TwentySeven Records. Read my review here.

And, as a treat, here's their music video for the currently unreleased (and hopefully to be released soon) song "Modern World":



Back to the conundrum. Last time I was at Verite, they were playing the first Block Party album, which I like (haven't listened to the new one yet, but I've heard mixed results). They are now playing what sounds like a bad 80s album with a too-heavy drum mix and vocals that are more a mumbled, garbled hum than vocals. Pure crap.

Finally, we're on Oneida's The Wedding.

The problem with headphones is that they cut you off from the rest of the world. It's like truly being alone while in public. You're in your own world when the headphones are on. Other people are around but they're merely scenery. And you can't meet scenery.

Oneida: Run Through My Hair (mp3)

Explosions In The Sky: Welcome, Ghosts

Mix Tape Edition #1: A Kick That Can Wreck A Skyscraper

LOST is back. It starts in 10 minutes, after the conclusion of the series recap which I could care less about. So I'm working to finalize a mix tape I made back in November. I came up with an idea for a sweet book, which I then found was already on the verge of existence in Rob Sheffield's Love Is A Mix Tape. But I can still enjoy this mix tape.

This mix tape is a special one, blending numerous post-rock and psychedelic experimental groups together. It has been my goal to make it seamlessly flow from one song to the next, which is difficult in a mix tape. There will be places where a song ends quietly and, in turn, the following must begin in a similar subtle manner.

In High Fidelity, Nick Hornby discusses through his Rob character how to start a mix tape:

The making of a great compilation tape... (He calls it a "compilation" tape, which is essentially the same as a "mix" tape, as a compilation album is merely a collection of songs by different bands--often with a given theme behind them or some other similar relationship.) ...like breaking up, is hard to do and takes ages longer than it might seem. You gotta kick off with a killer, to grab attention. Then you got to take it up a notch, but you don't wanna blow your wad, so then you got to cool it off a notch. There are a lot of rules. Anyway... I've started to make a tape... in my head... for Laura. Full of stuff she likes. Full of stuff that make her happy. For the first time I can sort of see how that is done.

I used to scour the net for these rules, searching for the perfect cocktail recipe in which to create endless compilations of "proper" mix tapes. It got to the point where the creation of such a tape became a chore rather than a recreation.

I never paid much attention to the rules in creating this tape. Or what rules were left unsaid. Rather, I looked for songs that fit the genre. I looked for songs that made a theme, centered around one particular event if possible. The name came into play as well, and like so many band do, I named it after one of the songs.

I now present to you my mix tape for A Kick That Can Wreck A Skyscraper. The story accompanying the song, which I wrote last November, will come soon...

A Kick That Can Wreck A Skyscraper

1. "I Know You Are But What Am I?" by Mogwai from Wicker Park Soundtrack
2. "Fade" by APSE from Little Darla Has A Treat For You, Vol. 24
3. "We Don't Live Here Anymore" by AristeiA from A Light That Plugs Into The Sun
4. "The Only Moment We Were Alone" by Explosions In The Sky from The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place
5. "Water Door Yellow Gate" by Ghost from In Stormy Nights
6. "A Million Years" by Wolf Eyes from Human Animal
7. "Gareki No Toshi" by Ghost from In Stormy Nights
8. "Track Nine [Featuring Melodica]" by Mu Meson from Mu Meson
9. "Paw Paw Paw Paw Paw Paw" by XXL from Ciaütistico!
10. "God Bless Our Dead Marines" by The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra La La Band from Horses In The Sky
11. "Have You Passed Through This Night?" by Explosions In The Sky from Those Who Tell The Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell THe Truth Shall Live Forever
12. "A Kick That Can Wreck A Skyscraper" by AristeiA from You Give Me Strength, You Give Me Patience

Now for a glorious mp3 off the upcoming album by Explosions in the Sky called All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone.

EITS: Welcome, Ghosts (mp3)

Voxtrot

The Book Worm

I started college in 1999, which I've often referred to as last century. I finished my undergraduate degree in December of 2003. Between those years I probably read one book from cover to cover. This day an age people go to college to learn, but it seems that learning involves less and less reading.

When I returned to the university in January 2005 to study business at the graduate level, I found myself reading a lot more. In the first few months, I read as much as I did during the entirety of my undergraduate days. Even then, there were classes where reading was not an integral part of my studies. (I found finance to be especially cumbersome and dull, causing me to doze off or daydream of my future life as an "enter obscure job title here" before hitting the first punctuation mark.)

I earned a Masters in Business Administration in May of 2006, a mere seventeen months after beginning. And since that time, I have read a number of books. It started with Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris. Sedaris's writing is fun and often carries a heavy dose of humor. Each chapter is a short story about a moment of his life. Each chapter is distinctly its own. Once you finish it, that's the end of the story. But in the next chapter you still recognize the characters; it's just a different time and place.

Now, before Dress Your Family, I was never one to read multiple books at once; but now it's almost a given. I've got the hipster book I take with me when I leave the house. This book is generally one with ties to pop culture bonus points. It could be High Fidelity or another book by Nick Hornby (my friend Jeanine got me How To Be Good for Christmas, so that will soon find its way into the fray). Sedaris definitely falls into this category.

After reading Dress Your Family, I proceeded on to Rob Sheffield, a contributing writer for Rolling Stone. Early in 2007 he released Love Is A Mix Tape, a book about life and loss and how music can help one cope in times of complete hopelessness.

I place Love Is A Mix Tape on a pedestal with High Fidelity as one of my all-time, top five books about music. It's funny and heartbreaking and you just can't put it down. I unfortunately made the mistake of reading it at a restaurant during the saddest part. Fighting back tears is not something you want to do when eating sushi.

I also read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. Pure brilliance, that one.

I am now reading Me Talk Pretty One Day, another by David Sedaris. It follows the same format as Dress Your Family and the rest of the Sedaris library.

Other books on the hipster list include the aforementioned How To Be Good, Sedaris' Barrel Fever, Belle & Sebastian: Just A Modern Rock Story... the list continues.

The next is the book I read before bedtime. This is generally some dorky sci-fi fantasy novel in line with Lord of the Rings. I'm one chapter from finishing The Eye Of The World by Robert Jordan. This is the first book in The Wheel of Time series, a series I've been reading on and off since Justin Ross introduced me to it in seventh grade. There are a few books I've read multiple times. This is one of them. I'd say this may be my fifth or sixth reading.

As the books in The Wheel of Time series are quite lengthy, this category changes infrequently. I've got book two in the little entertainment cabinet that came with my rental condo (one more month until I move into mine... finally... but that's a story for another time). It's called The Great Hunt.

The third category is moot. Unlucky number three is filled with the dullest book of all. This may be a hipster book I've read before, like High Fidelity, which is currently sitting in the back seat of my Volvo. It'll soon be filled with whichever book in the Wheel of Time series I'm on, due to the arrival of the final Harry Potter book.

In the future this category may be filled with a more intellectual book. The term intellectual can be widespread with a non-fiction book about marketing or branding on one side and an in-depth philosophical story, like Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig, on the other. (Hey now, it's got a lengthy discussion of philosophy and metaphysics. I'd call that intellectual!)

Sometimes I feel like a dork, reading so many books. Isn't reading supposed to be for the boring types? But when it comes down to it, I enjoy reading. It is calming and books are typically better than the movie that sometimes follows.

Whenever I read, I listen to music. If I'm in a public place, I'll listen to my Zune. If I'm at home, it'll be on iTunes so the tracks will be scrobbled on last.fm.

One of my favorite bands of all time is Voxtrot. They're so upbeat and peppy and their new songs are reported to have a heavy dose of strings. Voxtrot is good music to listen to at any time of the day, reading or not. I've rocked out to the Raised by Wolves EP in the morning and evening alike. I listen to the B-Side of rare OOP single The Start of Something when I want to listen to something only a handful of people have in this particular format. I listen to my recent Voxtrot favorite, "Sway," when I want a song romantic and sad, but so beautiful and moving you could float away.

They are an all-around fun group:

Voxtrot: Trouble (mp3)
Voxtrot: Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives (mp3)
Voxtrot: The Start Of Something (mp3)

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: Love Song No. 7

The Big Boston Bomb Scare of 2006

Once again I'm sitting in Cafe Verite. I'm becoming quite the regular here. Tonight I had the Red Menace again (greatest cupcake on earth) and a tall double-shot Americano of which I'm becoming quite fond.

This week was quite exciting from a marketing perspective. We're in week two since the Vista launch and there's not much going on there except for Microsoft employees popping balloons with prizes inside. *Change Channel* Over here we have... oh! Global Warming exists, so says a new study. How is that related to marketing? It isn't; at least, not directly. It's a bit of a PR problem for some companies that pollute, but Exxon is attempting to position itself as Green (huh?) to precede a potential price fixing in 2006 (stay tuned...) and the biggest of all: Adult Swim grinds Boston to a halt!



At the arraignment of the two individuals accused of terrorizing Boston, Assistant Attorney General John Grossman stated that it was “clear that the intent was to get attention by causing fear and unrest that there was a bomb in that location” Now, I understand that Mr. Assistant Attorney General, emphasis on the first three letters of his title (ass), is likely not in the target demographic of those who watch Adult Swim. I also understand that the individuals in question caused a substantial and costly uproar. However, what I do not understand is the statement he made. As I read it over and over, I think How Ridiculous!

A few notes:

1: I work in marketing.
2: I enjoy grassroots and guerrilla marketing campaigns
3: I am part of the target demographic

I found this particular guerrilla campaign quite fascinating. Understanding and being part of the demographic, I speculate that the intent was not to create this level of frenzy (duh), but rather to build awareness and create buzz. That's the basis behind guerrilla campaigns. Buzz.

Here's how I see it: The target audience hones in on the recognizable figures, a demand develops for the rare items, awareness of Adult Swim is boosted. In those respects it succeeded. (I’m sure you’ll see some pop up on eBay in the coming weeks as souvenirs and pop culture trinkets. They'll likely be in higher demand now due to an elevated pop culture status, thanks to The Big Bad Boston Marketing Scare of 2006.)

Pop culture in an interesting animal those standing outside will never understand. Authorities are correct in correlating Orson Wells’ 1938 radio broadcast of “War of the Worlds” with the 2006 “Adult Swim” guerrilla campaign solely through the panic it caused. But was the radio broadcast intended to create panic? No, it just happened unexpectedly. In retrospect, it is easy to see why it created that panic, just as it is easy to see how the Adult Swim fiasco could create panic—but all in retrospect. It was not foreseen and it was not intended. Period.

States Grossman (again referencing the MSNBC article): “The appearance of this device and its location are crucial. This device looks like a bomb.” Again, this statement is misconstrued.

First, let us tackle the location. As a marketer and advertiser, the intent is to reach as many people as possible. The strategic placement of these so called “devices” was in locations where commuter traffic would be heavy specifically for the purpose of reach. This is a visual item, so they placed it in locations where it would be seen. Why place an advert where no one will see it? Now, would bombs be placed in a location for all to see? I think not. People who do that are going for the surprise factor.

Now, let’s discuss the appearance. I, for one, find it difficult to believe that a boxy shape giving someone the middle finger can be mistaken for a bomb rather than a slightly more advanced Lite Brite. Yeah, I haven’t seen a Lite Brite in a number of years… say, two decades; but that doesn’t mean I will automatically believe a more advanced one is sinister. I mean, it’s a milkshake flipping you off! What’s sinister about that? No wonder some “snickered” when Grossman made that statement. He obviously doesn’t understand this target demographic, which is necessary in this case.

Because this is a post about love, here’s the latest by a little band that took themselves out of the corporate foray, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah:

CYHSY: Love Song No. 7 (mp3)