Loci’s Neighborhood

okay, so first let me say that my music collection is pretty diverse. i have over 5000 mp3's on my computer, and it grows constantly. i know most of you have more than that (damn nerds), but i still feel i have a substantial collection. granted, a large portion of that is every nine inch nails song ever, every elliott smith song ever (including EVERY b-side and rarity, and live performances), etc.

a lot of the music i listen to, other than the above mentioned, is female vocalist stuff. this consists of 98% indie music, and some trip hop. i love female vocalists. not the poppy stuff, but the COOL stuff, you know? especially le tigre. i guess this comes from my past in choir through junior high and part of high school.

so here's some stuff i've been listening to lately, with lyrics.

jenny owen youngs - "fuck was i"

Love grows in me like a tumor,
parasites bent on devouring its host.
I'm developing my sense of humor,
till I can laugh at my heart between your teeth,
till I can laugh at my face beneath your feet.

Skillet on the stove is such a temptation,
maybe I'll be the lucky one that doesnt get burned.
What the fuck was I thinking?

Love plows through me like a dozer,
I've got more give than a bale of hay,
and there's always a big mess left over.
What did you do?
What did you say?

Skillet on the stove is such a temptation,
maybe I'll be the special one that doesnt get burned.
What the fuck was I thinking?

Love tears me up like a demon.
Opens the wounds and fills them with lead,
and I'm having some trouble just breathing.
If we werent such good friends I think that I'd hate you.
If we weren't such good friends I'd wish you were dead

Oh it's so embarrasing
I'm this awkward and uncomprable thing,
and I'm running out of places to hide

regina spektor - "hotel song"

Come in, come in
Come into my world I've got to show
Show show you
Come into my bed
I've got to know
Know know you

I have dreams of orca whales and owls
But I wake up in fear
You will never be my
You will never be my fool
Will never be my fool

Floaters in my eyes
Wake up in an hotel room
Cigarettes and lies
I am a child, it's too soon

I have dreams of orca whales and owls
But I wake up in fear
You will never be my
You will never be my fool
Will never be my fool

A little bag of cocaine
A little bag of cocaine
So who's the girl wearing my dress
I figured out her number
Inside a paper napkin
But I don't know her address I wade downstairs

The porter smiles to me a smile
I've bought
With a couple of gold coins
A sign that I've been caught

I have dreams of orca whales and owls
But I wake up in fear
You will never be my
You will never be my dear
Will never be my dear, dear friend
Dear dear friend, dear dear friend...

A little bag of cocaine
A little bag of cocaine
So who's the girl wearing my dress
I figured out her number
Inside a paper napkin
But I don't know her address

Come in, come in
Come into my world I've got to show
Show show you
Come into my bed
I've got to know
Know know you

I have dreams of orca whales and owls
But I wake up in fear
You will never be my
You will never be my dear
Will never be my dear, dear friend
Dear dear friend, dear dear friend...

regina spektor - "that time"

Hey remember the time when I found a human tooth down on Delancey
Hey remember that time we decided to kiss anywhere except the mouth
Hey remember that time when my favorite colors were pink and green
Hey remember that month when I only ate boxes of tangerines
So cheap and juicy, tangerines

Hey remember that time when I would only read Shakespeare
Hey remember that other time when I would only read the backs of cereal boxes
Hey remember that time I tried to save a pigeon with a broken wing
A street cat got him by morning and I had to bury pieces of his body in my building's playground
I thought I was going to be sick, I thought I was going to be sick

Hey remember that time when I would only smoke Parliaments
Hey remember that time when I would only smoke Marlboros
Hey remember that time when I would only smoke Camels
Hey remember that time when I was broke
I didn't care I just bummed from my friends
Bum, bum, bum, bum, bum...

Hey remember that time when you od'ed
Hey remember that other time when you od'ed for the second time
Well in the waiting room while waiting for news of you I hallucinated I could read your mind
And I was on a lot of shit too but what I saw, man, I tell you it was freaky, freaky

regina spektor - "your honor"

I kissed your lips and I tasted blood
I asked you what happened and you said, There'd been a fight.
You said I've been fighting for your honor but you wouldn't understand
I said hold on your honor I'll get ice for your hand

Oh you been fighting for my honor and I don't understand
But hold on your honor I'll get ice for your hand.

You said come on baby let's just make love it's the only thing to make me better
You said come on let's just get you out of that sweater
I said I don't kiss losers and I don't kiss winners
And I don't fight for honor cause we all are born sinners

Gargle with peroxide a steak for your eye
But I'm a vegetarian so it's a frozen pizza pie
You tell me that you care and you never do lie
And you fight for my honor but I just don't know why

Mary had a little lamb with fleece as white as snow
You've got me and I'm just a common ho
But I know what I am and I know what I ain't
So don't get cut cause I still won't be no saint

Gargle with peroxide a steak for your eye
but I'm a pizzatarian so it's a frozen pizza pie
You tell me that you love me and you never do lie
and you fight for my honor but I just don't know why
You fight for my honor and I don't understand
but hold on your honor I'll get ice for your hand

1. even though the ass-rapers of childhood, platinum dunes, are "re-imagining", or whatever fucking word you want to use for it, friday the 13th and a nightmare on elm street-- i can take comfort in this: the director of both is marcus nispel. did anyone see the texas chainsaw massacre remake? yeah, it was bad. someone from team michael bay still needs to explain to me how it is humanly possible for jessica fucking biel to cut off leatherface's arm when he's holding a chainsaw....but did you see texas chainsaw massacre: the beginning????

it was good. it was pretty damn good. it had the good parts of the bay remake (of which there were few), but it was well written, had better actors, and the best part was: NO JESSICA BIEL. score! so you like tcm: the beginning? the director of that film was first time movie director marcus nispel (previously famous for music video work). he nailed that shit, nukka.

well, he's directing both the nightmare and friday the 13th reboots. and the writers? the same guys that did freddy vs. jason (that goalie was fucking pissed!). i think they are probably the most suited for this work, to be honest. jason x was wayyyy too corny (srsly. enough with sending jason around the world. is he carmen fucking sandiego? jason in space! jason takes manhattan!--manhattan would've rocked had they gotten the muppets involved. no?)....freddy vs. jason was a perfect blend of the old school cheese we loved in the movies back in the 80's, and the scare and gore factor was definitely satisfactory.

so platinum dunes isn't totally ruining my life, i guess, but we'll see.

2. SAW V! fuck yes. that's all i need to say. oh, and the fact that the trap at the end of the film was based on a drawing by the director's 7 year old son. that's pretty sweet. and the video game is coming out soon. charlie clouser did the music for it, and the original writers came back and wrote the script for it.

3. the best news of the day:

Poster

Hello,

A while back I was investigating Secondlife for what it had on offer in the way of music. Crap was what I found with very little success in the way of live performances. Everytime I attended an arranged performance it was always dogged with technical problems and never a good musical experience.

After attending a couple of lame concerts and witnessing bedroom songwriting at it's worst I gave up for a while.

Now I've come accross Chouchou. This is pretty much exactly what I was hoping to come accross in the SL community. An act which exists only within SL and the entire product, promo etc exists only in this user generated world. Take a look at one of their videos, 'shot' in secondlife (wonder what camera they used? :-)

I find some of the piano work on there a bit reminscent of Stan Tracey's Under Milk Wood in it's very minimalist yet quite progressive nature. Generally a quite emmersive sound, epic in scale but not overpowering with the various layers of reverbarating piano and processed digital hisses. (What?!?!?! I'll settle down in a min, bear with me)

I guess rather than seeing this as involving records/albums/units/whatever you want to call them, I think Chouchou's approach is more focused on how people consume and interact with their music. For me I find their videos and music all part and parcel of the same thing, like an AV art installation. I will get back onto the whole SL thing just to get a look at what they are doing on line.

Be sure to take a look at their blog and have a listen to their stuff. Possibly lacking a place in today's commercial music market but definitely good to listen to at the right moment. I'll be sticking some of this on my MP3 for those quiet moments when I need some musical mescaline.

Grab your helmet, check the air in your tires, and hop on your bike because in many U.S. cities, May 12 - 16 is Bike to Work Week! Six Apart has a lot of biking enthusiasts, so we're very excited to support this event by encouraging all of our employees to bike to work this week. San Francisco's Bike to Work Day is tomorrow, Thursday, May 15th, and New York's is Friday, May 16th.

Bike to Work Week

2 comments

Six Apart is helping out its employees by providing maps (shaded according to steepness - a must in SF!) to help everyone plan out his/her route, as well as finding first-time riders buddies to commute with. We're also supporting ALL SF riders who pass the front of our office by handing out coffee, juice and snacks from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. tomorrow morning. If you're in our neighborhood, look for the sign that says "Six Apart Supports Bike to Work Day" and stop by to say hi and get energized!

Improve your health, financial status, productivity, and happiness by joining thousands - maybe even millions - of commuters around the country who are hopping on their bikes to get to work. Visit the Bike to Work Week website to find out more about events in your area.

Support the two-wheeled way of life with the "Passing Left" theme found in "Photo-Based" in the Design Area. Planning on cycling to work this week? Let us know in the comments!

Passing Left

2 comments

i got my money back from the bank! SCORE!

life is good.

Too many gigs last night, made it to two in the end. Was a little ambitious in my planning of my evening of gigs n such.

The plan was to see Mumford and Sons at the Wilmington, then Freerun at Dingwalls and the Chap at Hoxton B&G. I've realised that without a car, more than two gigs in an evening is probably a but much and you end up running around a bit. Anyone remember Treasure Hunt?