TRMW Archives

* FYI, this stuff is old. The current TRMW is here.

May 10, 2005

Infoverloaded

This doesn’t need me to point it out, but there are some pretty interesting thoughts buried in this James Murphy interview. Towards the end he gets right down to the deeply spooked soul of the Pitchfork / mp3 blog generation (and me), that being the unprecedented and ever-expanding pile of creative information available, and how to make/consume art in that context. Murphy barely gets past pointing at the problem, but he makes good points while doing so. Too much love, indeed.

Assuming you care, how do you all deal with this stuff? Do you focus on new music, and ignore the old? Or vice versa? Or do you tear your hair out trying to hear everything? Does checking mp3 blogs feel like staring at the void? And does that make you feel like a priveleged little fuck with no real problems?

I think about this stuff, probably too much. At one point I almost suggested the band I’m in adopt the name INFOVERLOAD in honor of this crisis/”crisis”, but decided it sounded too sci-fi. With that as our central premise we’d probably end up just sounding like LCD Soundsystem anyway. Which is not necesarily a diss.

Otherwise: I just got back from a deeply beautiful trip to San Francisco. I saw Gang of Four at the Filmore (AWESOME + my first time there), met all my girlfriend’s friends, hung out with Sonia, saw Shaun O’Dell’s amazing art up in SFMOMA (damn boy!), saw my dear old friend Emily Prince marry him while simultaneously turning 24 (my birthday was May 7th), and had mother’s day dinner with the fam. It was like this crazy this-is-your-life extended weekend, and I’m still catching my breath. More soon.

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November 9, 2004

Just realized I’ve been linked over at the wonderful 20 Jazz Funk Greats mp3 blog. Thanks guys/dude! Seriously 20JFG is possibly my favorite of these newfangled mp3 blogs (blogs where people post mp3s and write about them), because it is most in line with my tastes (weird shit with energy to it, roughly).

I’ve been reading too many blogs lately, kind of going out of my mind with all the excess information they present. The others I’m digging are Fluxblog, probably the most famous of the bunch, focussed generally on Euro pop and catchy stuff, and the new Sticker Shock, a sort of blog supergroup (like Genesis!) curated by some mighty high profile critics. I also enjoy lacunae, the project of Douglas Wolk, a very talented music writer and fellow Portland resident (also one of the nicest people you will ever meet). Douglas selects music originally released on 7-inch vinyl in the ’80s and ’90s, and adds some endearing this-is-what-I-did-today commentary.

TipOfIceberg

fig 3: new music

I love these things, because they help me sort through the constantly expanding mass that is new music, but sometimes they give me a kind of info vertigo. I realize I am struggling to keep up with what is actually just the tip of a very big iceberg, and I can’t keep up, and I’m the kind of obsessive person that gets upset about these things. Every now and then I’ll find something that completely blows my mind, and I’m like “YES! This is why I read these things!” But then I get to thinking about how for each of these obscure wonderful things I find, there are many more that I’ll never hear, not too mention the many mediocre things I will hear along the way. It’s too much.

Still, better this than porn, right?

I’d also like to post the flyer for the Halloween show, which I am so proud of.

halloween04flyer

fig 4: the REAL cum lazer

When Steve and I first came up with the name CUM LAZER, it was supposed to be our band, mostly because more than anything we wanted this wonderful name to infiltrate the local culture (remember, we are dorks). The band didn’t happen (yet) but we have managed to get these words into the consciousness. Seriously, here it is, CUM LAZER, next to two bona fide real bands, and good ones too! And we’re also DJing the Rogue Wave show this Friday, a truly amazing, VERY REAL, band. VIVA CUM LAZER!! Next up: MATT WRIGHT.

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Blast from the present!