I Am A DJ; I Am What I Play

Beat City

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:03:26 GMT

Does anyone have a decent rip of Beat City by The Flowerpot Men? I've found a couple of versions online but they aren't listenable - one is terribly distorted, the sounds like it was recorded at the wrong speed.

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:36:14 GMT

We are watching The Apple for the first time, and thoroughly appalled. :)

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:28:00 GMT

In the office I usually stream AOL radio, and tend to put it on the 80's Alternative or New Wave channels.

This afternoon the 80's Alternative channel has been playing most of the songs that appear in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, but listed from their original albums and not the soundtrack.

They have not played Oh Yeah.

Bad Lieutenant

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:12:17 GMT

Bad Lieutenant
L'Olympia, Paris, 4th November 2009
Opening act for Bat For Lashes
France Inter radio broadcast
Download (53 MB, seamless)

1. Ceremony (Joy Division)
2. Sink Or Swim
3. Shine Like The Sun
4. Poisonous Intent
5. Crystal (New Order)
6. Twist Of Fate
7. Tighten Up (Electronic)
8. Out Of Control (Chemical Brothers)
9. Temptation (New Order)

Bernard Sumner, Phil Cunningham, Jake Evans, Thom Chapman, and Stephen Morris.

Some radio announcers (en Français) and a few glitches throughout. The Bad Lieutenant songs sound better live than their recorded versions. Crystal has a new intro, and Tighten Up is fast - almost punk. Out Of Control segues seamlessly into Temptation and the transition is fantastic.

I really wish I could catch one of the NYC or Chicago shows later this month, but they're doing a US tour next Spring. I'm hoping for Coachella.

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:04:11 GMT

Is it just me, or does it seem like the Civil Defense System in San Francisco gets tested a lot more than once a month?

I swear I'm hearing it once a week - at least.

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:47:44 GMT

This is amazing. Be sure to watch the video!

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:54:25 GMT

There are four posts on my F-list today from people returning to LiveJournal because Facebook is becoming unmanageable.

This makes me happy.

OMG Y'all!

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:32:02 GMT

see more Lol Celebs

KISS Solo/Melvins Solo

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:09:04 GMT

All 4 of the KISS solo album posters from 1978, joined.

The 3 Melvins solo EP posters from 1992, kinda joined.

Synth Brittania

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:06:11 GMT

The BBC have recently put together a documentary about the rise of synthesizers in Britain in the 70's/early 80's, along with a special documenting some of the early pioneers like Human League, Depeche Mode, Roxy Music, etc., playing at the BBC.

Because these can't be streamed outside the UK, the folks over at Coincidence Vs Fate have posted both shows as .mov files, broken into 5 parts and 3 parts respectively.

Here's the running order for the second special, Synth Brittania at The BBC:

1. BBC Intro
2. Roxy Music - Do The Strand 1973
3. Tubeway Army - Are Friends Electric 1979
5. The Human League - The Path Of Least Resistance 1979
6. O.M.D. - Messages 1980
7. Ultravox - Vienna 1981
8. Depeche Mode - New Life 1981
9. New Order - Temptation 1982
10. Soft Cell - Say Hello Wave Goodbye 1982
11. Japan - Ghosts 1982
12. Yazoo - Don't Go 1982
13. Tears For Fears - Mad World 1982
14. Eurythmics - Love Is A Stranger 1983
15. Heaven 17 - Temptation 1983
16. Howard Jones - What Is Love 1984
17. Pet Shop Boys - Opportunities 1986

I also found a great set of phauxlaroids on Flickr by Stuart Jones to go along with the 2nd special.

Poster

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:55:37 GMT

This sort of design just thrills me.

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:41:01 GMT

Looking back over my first page of journal entries I'm struck by, well, how negative most of it is. That's not really me.

So many things that have happened lately - positive things - I haven't bothered to write about. Here are two: later this morning Thomas and I will be heading to Tahoe for the annual "family" vacation with John, Matthew, Scott, Richard, Christian, Bill, Corey, Joel, and Randy, and Saturday is mine and Thomas' one year wedding anniversary.

Next Tuesday this journal will have it's 6th birthday. Although I don't post as often as I used to, LiveJournal remains an important daily part of my life. In January I'll be in my 8th year as a blogger - that's almost a quarter of my life.

I will strive to write more about the good things.

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 19:07:46 GMT

How long do you think it'll be before the novelty of Facebook wears off and people realize they aren't getting any sort of quality interaction with 500 "friends"? Also, once they've exchanged pleasantries with people they haven't talked to in 20 years, they'll realize those people have no bearing whatsoever in their current day-to-day lives?

Will they return to LiveJournal, or will something different pop up?

Kylie Bears

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:38:49 GMT

Thomas, myself, Scott, Bundy, and Martin are dead center.

Disappointed

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 22:04:53 GMT

I didn't mention anything about this at the time because I didn't want to jinx it, but I can talk now.

Three weeks ago my friend Jon told me that he'd recommended me to be the opening DJ for both nights of Pet Shop Boys at The Warfield. He's friends with some of the folks who work for Goldenvoice, and they asked for his input.

At the time, Vinny sohipithurts was doing a remix for their next single, and he put in a good word with the Boys' management for me. I was also in direct contact with Goldenvoice and can confirm that I was indeed being considered, but they went with someone else.

I was thrilled to be considered and crushed to not get it. I thanked Goldenvoice for the attention and asked them to please keep me in mind for any future gigs.

Man, that would have been an amazing opportunity.

Oh well, Thomas and I are going to the show tonight anyway.

Incoming

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:32:23 GMT

Duran Duran - Live Hammersmith '82 (CD + DVD) - today!
Kraftwerk - The Catalogue (8 CDs, German language version) - October 2
Duran Duran - Rio (2 CDs, remastered, North American version of the album!) - October 6
Erasure - Phantom Bride EP (new remixes) - October 12
Erasure - The Innocents (2 CDs + DVD, remastered with tons of bonus material) - October 26
Nirvana - Bleach (2 CDs, remastered) - November 3
Kraftwerk - The Catalogue (8 CDs, English language version) - November 16
Devo - Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! (deluxe remaster) - TBD, fall 2009
Devo - Freedom Of Choice (deluxe remaster) - TBD, fall 2009
Devo - Fresh (first new studio LP in 20 years) - TBD, 2010

Pet Shop Boys - The Warfield, San Francisco - tonight!
Blowoff - Slim's, San Francisco - September 26
Kylie - Fox Theater, Oakland - September 30
The Raincoats/Section 25/Gang Of Four - Mezzanine, San Francisco - October 9
La Roux - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco - October 18
Devo - The Grand, San Francisco (Q: Are We Not Men? played front-to-back) - November 6
Devo - The Grand, San Francisco (Freedom Of Choice played front-to-back) - November 7
Blowoff - Highline Ballroom, Manhattan - November 20
Blowoff - 9:30 Club, Washington DC - November 21

Grooming

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 16:12:40 GMT

Buster likes to groom Thomas.

It

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 20:39:49 GMT

When the made for TV adaptation of Stephen King's It was broadcast in 1990 I thought it was fantastic. It's my favorite novel, and even at 1100+ pages I read it in three days when it first came out. I knew there would be problems adapting it for the screen (it's a very dense, involved story), but I thought they did pretty well - especially the first half of the story that centers on the kids.

I had a VHS copy for years that I eventually wore out. The last time I watched it was probably close to ten years ago, and I'd been itching to watch it again, so this morning I bought a used copy of the DVD at Amoeba for $7.

Wow, it's not nearly as good as I remembered. :(

Of course filmmaking has come a long way in 20 years, and if it were done today I think a lot of things would be done differently. I know the effects would be a lot better.

I'd also completely forgotten that one of the child actors is Seth Green at age 16, and Tim Curry is too hammy.

EDIT: looks like Warner Brothers has announced a reboot, to appear in theaters in 2011.

Uncontrollable Urge

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:32:36 GMT

Friday, 6 November
Regency Ballroom, San Francisco
Devo performs Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! front-to-back

Saturday, 7 November
Regency Ballroom, San Francisco
Devo performs Freedom Of Choice front-to-back

Despite them being one of my major musical influences, I've never seen Devo live. I'll be attending both of these shows.

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 12:11:23 GMT

Wow, this is only the third time in 11 years I can recall a thunderstorm in the bay area.

Scissor Sisters

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:25:25 GMT

Scissor Sisters' 3rd album will be released March 2010.

The bulk of it was inspired by Jake living in Germany for three months and partying his ass off. As they've already collaborated with Carlos Alomar, does this mark their "Bowie in Berlin" period? I hope so.

Predicted: Coachella (via Scott).

Public Image Ltd.

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 15:10:04 GMT

Public Image Ltd.
Originally uploaded by 50PoundNote

The return of PiL!

To mark the 30th anniversary of Metal Box, John Lydon has reunited the later incarnation of Public Image Limited for a tour. The live shows will feature them playing songs from their entire career ('78-'92).

Wish I could go to this. I also wish it was the early lineup of Keith Levene, Jah Wobble, and Martin Atkins.

Boston

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 23:33:28 GMT

Clicky for full set

A couple of weekends ago I made a quick trip to Boston to hang out with Ian bear_left and see Dirigible Ego (Pete quirkstreet and Eric eric_mathgeek's band) play. It wasn't the first time I'd seen Pete play live, but it was the first time I'd met both Ian and Eric. I also got to see Matt badfaggot and Larry urbear at the show.

On Friday before the gig Ian and I did some tooling around ~~Harvard~~ Hogwarts' campus where I saw Pete and Ian's offices. I hadn't told Pete I was coming to town so he and Eric were totally surprised. On Saturday Ian and I mostly hung out, but we did meet up with Pete and Larry to go see District 9.

It was a great 48-hour trip. I love flight benefits. :)

Coffee Cake

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 20:53:26 GMT

Thomas made a coffee cake last night.

Rooftop

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 20:51:33 GMT

Out on the roof trying to get a current photo of myself.