~KC MO

I'm off to Knob Noster State Park southeast of Kansas City for a national MVS retreat. Apparently it's right next to an Air Force base.

Completely Capitol Hill

Walking back from the Harvard Exit theater today, I saw this billboard for some condos with a picture of this twentysomething guy reclining in an Eames lounge chair, with a magazine or coffee table book on his lap, listening to something on Grado SR80's, with long rows of either records or books behind him (the background was kind of blurred), and the tagline, "Completely Capitol Hill." It may or may not be the first time I've noticed such blatant crossbranding in a display for condos and other such things, but it's certainly the first by which I've felt so directly and narrowly targeted.

May Minimix

I put this together last Saturday (after I wandered around Pike & Pink for awhile, ultimately deciding not to go to any of the clubs, and then running into Lucas Koski) and kept waiting for inspiration to add more. It never came, so we're stuck at 22:38.

Delia & Gavin "Relevee (Carl Craig Remix)"
The Rapture "Olio"
Out Hud "The Zillionth Watt"
Who Made Who "Happy Girl (Alternate Version)"
LCD Soundsystem "Tribulations"

May Minimix

Recent Acquisitions

Thanks to Dean at work, the library, and Soulseek, which finally works now that our house has a paid, full-time internet connection.

ABBA Gold
The Carter Family Sunshine in the Shadows
Devendra Banhart Cripple Crow
The Divorce There Will Be Blood Tonight
Elvis The Sun Sessions
Galaxie 500 Copenhagen
Galaxie 500 Uncollected
Guided by Voices Alien Lanes
Guided by Voices Mag Earwhig!
Richard Hell & The Voidoids Blank Generations
Hot Chip Coming on Strong
Hot Chip The Warning
King Sunny Ade Juju Music
Konono No. 1 Congotronics
The Knife Silent Shout
Lady Sovereign Vertically Challenged EP
Meat Puppets Meat Puppets II
Ennio Morricone A Fistful of Film Music
Ravi Shankar The Sounds of India
Sigur Ros Takk...
The Soft Boys Underwater Moonlight
Richard Thomspon Hand of Kindness
Richard Thomspon Rumor and Sigh
Tosca J.A.C.
Velvet Underground Peel Slowly & See (Demos)
Neil Young Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Yo La Tengo Painful
VA No Thanks: The 70's Punk Rebellion

2046

I don't really have anything to say other than I've grouped a lot movies this year in the *** category, but for me 2046 and Slacker stand head and shoulders above the rest.

I've seen two other Wong Kar-Wai films, but the DVDs looked awful, so I'll have to see Chungking Express and Ashes of Time again, along with his other stuff.

Manohla Dargis's review

Top 10

Today Brendon brought home the Velvet Underground's first album, and I mentioned that "Heroin" was almost certainly one of my top five favorite songs of all time. Upon further reflection, I couldn't narrow any list to five.

Velvet Underground "Heroin"
The Clash "White Riot"
Wire "12XU"
Joy Division "Atmosphere"
Galaxie 500 "Listen, the Snow Is Falling"
*Richard Thompson "1952 Vincent Black Lightning"
*The Cure "Friday I'm in Love"
Belle & Sebastian "If You're Feeling Sinister"
Interpol "NYC"
My Morning Jacket "Mahgeetah"
Futureheads "Hounds of Love"

* Tied for 10th place

---

See also: 10.0 and ten songs on repeat.

Asides

I went to the Mariners-Indians game last night and kept score. Except for the $18 ticket I had to buy (I got my $7 ticket for Sunday's game in advance) everything went very nicely. We had leftover sandwiches from work so I didn't have to buy dinner. I walked around Safeco to see if there were any good vantage points for pictures but didn't really find any. I stopped by Elliott Bay Book Co. to read The Wire and then walked around listening to Carl Craig's remix of Delia & Gavin's "Relevee," which I finally got around to really liking. I was inspired to mix it with The Rapture's "Olio," so if I can think of more music to go along with that, maybe I'll put it together into a set.

I started reading Disco-Not-Disco recently and it's currently my favorite MP3 blog, though my loyalties tend to change pretty quickly. I've been getting a ton of CDs from the library recently (eg. the full Nuggets box, Kraftwerk's Minimum-Maximum, X's Los Angeles & Wild Gift, ...) and put together a new list of records, but can't seem to upload it today.

While checking on Grist's blogad at Informed Comment yesterday, I noticed this bit of information:

Worrying about [Iranian president] Ahmadinejad's antics is like worrying that the US military will act on the orders of the secretary of the interior. Ahmadinejad cannot declare war on anyone, or mobilize a military.

Of course, as a preeminent scholar (and blogger) on the Middle East, Cole has a lot more to say on Iran, etc., but I just found that bit to be particularly interesting.

May Tracks

Shit Robot "Triumph" 2006
Turner "After Work (Carsten Jost Dial-Remix)" 2004
Ricardo Villalobos "Mormax" 2005
Ellen Allien & Apparat "Do Not Break" 2006
Giorgio Moroder "Utopia (Todd Terje Edit)" 2006
Dominik Eulberg "Potzblitz & Donnerwetter" 2005
Ghislain Poirier "Pampa Pimp" 2006
The Pipettes "Judy" 2006

May Tracks 51:39

• Shit Robot's on DFA.
• The Carsten Jost Remix is ambient/New Age fluff atop just enough of a beat to keep it moving, and it's totally awesome.
• "Mormax" is freaked out minimal techno based on "The Grid" from Philip Glass's Koyaanisqatsi; also, Ricardo Villalobos is about tops in my book right now.
• Track four: German techno
• Track five: A recent disco re-edit
• Track six: More German techno
• Track seven: Dubstep from Montreal
• And finally, a lovely little girl-group indie pop number