The Take-Away Shows

This is another one of those websites in which all I could think about when I stumbled upon it was, "how did I not know about this before?!" Similar to the Black Cab Sessions but in any impromptu location. Please enjoy as much as I do:
The Take-Away Shows

In trying to decide which to post here I was torn. There are so many incredible performances on here but it came down to two. I ultimately went with Beirut's "Nantes" because it was the video that lead me to this site. Bloc Party's "This Modern Love" was a close second, not only because it's my favorite song of theirs but also because they performed so honestly that it sent chills through my body...

Triumph

Ever since I was a little kid I've always wanted a motorcycle. I think every kid wants one at some point. I'm at that point where moving to a major city is looking ever closer and losing the car for public transport is going to be part of that move. But if you've got a motorcycle you don't need to be entirely dependent on the subway, buses, etc. Ah, sweet freedom...

So it's time to pick one up and get that license. What kind is the question? I've always liked the older sportster types; you'd never catch me owning a crotchrocket. If you know me you know that I also have an affinity for most things British. Never had a strong desire to live there but they always have all the cool stuff: cars, motorcycles, clothes, music... Triumph and Norton bikes have always been what I imagined myself ending up with.

When I was in junior high school like many boys I was addicted to martial arts movies. I watched them all, no matter how awful they were. And none were more awful than the Jean-Claude Van Damme movies, but I watched them all. In one particular Van Damme movie that came out around that time, "Nowhere to Run", he finds an old Triumph in a barn and fixes it up. I was sold, that was what a motorcycle was supposed to look like. That was the motorcycle for me. I wanted to go in old barns searching for such a treasure and fix it myself; after which I would run around and fight off my imaginary attackers I'm sure.

If you can make it halfway through this unbearably exciting trailer you are rewarded with a few quick glimpses of said motorcycle.


The Triumph Tiger. A simple and yet exciting bike. Perhaps this could be the one.

Never too late

So I realize I'm a little behind in posting this but hey, I've been busy. I'm incredibly pleased with the turn our nation is taking politically. We may not understand our economy but things are looking up for us open-minded folks.

I'm happy that someone I voted was actually elected this time, I don't think I could have dealt with another four years of disappointment. We're all ready for that magic word of 'change' that is being thrown around so loosely. I don't expect it to happen overnight; I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't happen during Obama's presidency. The man has a great deal of cleaning house to do and I'll stand behind him as he makes what I expect to be good decisions, as well as when he'll make the inevitable bad decisions.

Part of his allure is his charisma and charm. Now I understand why parent's generation talked about Jack Kennedy they way they did. Who couldn't be intrigued by a guy that looked like this in college:
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1866765_1815160,00.html

Music Sites...

One of my favorite distractions within the wonderful internet are the many music sites out there. There are so many great resources and I'm constantly finding new ones and wondering how I didn't know about them before. Today was no exception. I found two fantastic sites:

http://www.blackcabsessions.com/sessions.php
Videos of artists performing in a Black Cab in London. And you should know by now how I feel about videos, but more importantly I love live acoustic performances. Something about the music being stripped down to its core really appeals to me.

http://stereogum.com/
Full of MP3, streams, videos and just general info gathered conveniently in one place.

And here are some old standbys:
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/
Similar to Stereogum but much more well known. Great for reviews.

If I want to find out background info about a band, it's members and how everyone is related I'll go to http://www.allmusic.com/

http://www.nme.com/home
The Brits always find good stuff first it seems.

And I leave with a song that can't get out of my head at the moment,even if I wanted to:

Michel Gondry

You may have heard his name in relation to the few movies he's put out - Eternal Sunshine, The Science of Sleep or more recently, Be Kind Rewind; or the fact that he directed Dave Chappelle's Block Party. But Michel Gondry should be known first and foremost for his music videos; that dying artform that I loved so much through my formative years and is now slipping away. At this point he has made more than 60 videos. His childlike imagination seeps into all of his projects, showing a creativity that I find often lacking lately.

Bjork has had Gondry direct nearly all of her videos, which explains why they're so damn good.

"Hyper Ballad"


"Declare Independence"


You've got to love the transforming cardboard in Beck's "Cell Phones Dead". Reminds me of The Science of Sleep:


Remember Cody Chestnutt? He almost had a single several years ago with "Look Good in Leather" but received my recognition for the Roots covering his song, "The Seed", which he sang on. There is much more to him than that and here is "King of the Game", a simple song beautifully sang:

Optimism?

This is a new venture for me, the whole blog thing. I know I'm way behind the times on this one. This is more for me than for you but if you get something out of it as well, then great. I've been influenced by a certain someone's blogging; thinking that perhaps it could be cathartic for me...

By nature I consider myself equally two things: a realist and an optimist. This year has given me quite a difficult time with the latter. So many things didn't go as planned in 2008 and more things went horribly wrong. As such I find myself in an interesting state of limbo, in so many ways, with so many paths set out before me at the moment. On the up side I've met some truly incredible people and still managed to do some interesting things this last year. So instead of continuing down a pessimistic course I'm officially going back to being an optimist. You can hold me to that...

But this isn't going to be all sappy and self-pitying so enough of that.

In large part I want this to be a dumping grounds for all of the internet bits that I find intriguing and want to return to. In the spirit of that:

These guys are the next Jam. Fantastic.


In finding this I also found that FR were on Grey's Anatomy and One Tree Hill. That really pisses me off. I love them unconditionally at this point, but it still pisses me off.



Banksy: