Favorite10 & The Gray Area

Boards Of Canada, Geogaddi

Some friends of mine have started a new community bath house for music called Favorite 10. As with most people, I like making lists, reading other people's lists, comparing lists, crossing things off of lists, basically anything to do with lists. On this site, you can make your favorite lists to compare and contrast with some other die-hard music fan that thinks they know what they are talking about. Discuss the merits of Steve Perry's solo career away from Journey, or make fun of people's lists because each item happens to be a current Pitchfork darling (cough,cough). Anywho, check it out. It's a site that can be helpful to find new music, as long as music lovers, like you, add your lists. My lists are under the foeweel name, if you couldn't guess already. Click HERE to a list of my favorite10 at this moment.

Also, I reconnected with an old co-worker of mine from when I worked at Discovery Discs in Philly and she happens to also live in what she so amazingly coined as the Gray Area. That needs to be made into a t-shirt. I've heard the Yay Area, Specific Whites (Pacific Heights), sNob Hill, and others, but the Gray Area has to be the best. It just describes on so many levels, specifically the weather of what it is like to live in the city by the Bay. Bodymore Murderland is another good one, but that's back east near where I grew up.

Now onto the magical jelly bean flavors of the day :

Susanna & The Magical Orchestra - Love Will Tear Us Apart (Singer Songwriter) - a cover of the Joy Division classic. a great interpretation that brings out more of the desperation from the slow and minimal reconstruction.

Petracovich - Paper Cup (Singer Songwriter) - local musician, Jessica Peters. it's real. it's not memorex.

Nina Simone - Just In Time (Live) - this version is from the out of print Tomato Collection which is the version used at the end of Richard Linklater's Before Sunset. she has such a unique way of phrasing especially in the later part of her career. one of a kind.

Moderat (Apparat + Modeselektor) - Mode2 (Abstract Beats) - from the EP of BPitchControl labelmates, take the skattered beats of MDSLKTR and the warm tones of Apparat and you get more wholesome fun for the extended family than playing Candyland in your PJ's.

Boards Of Canada - The Devil Is In The Details (IDM) - from the classic Geogaddi. this song may give you nightmares, or it may just wakeup your inner child. for those people who cannot understand bubble talk, here are some of the lyrics:

"Just relax, and enjoy this pleasant adventure. Here you are, secure and protected, in this, your special place, letting my voice flow into your mind. There's no need to concentrate. Just gently as you go. Suggestions are going into your unconscious mind. Open yourself up to the greater wisdom and understanding. So, now, letting the sound of my voice reach the inner, healthy, receptive centre of yourself. See yourself now in your imagination; and you are being tranformed in a positive healthy way, so you are programming your unconscious mind, gaining new insight into your directions, in the future. Allow yourself to be more aware of your pathway through this life. [Enjoy all that you can.(?)] As the days go by, you are programming your mind, and you are allowing this to happen. These things are happening day by day, just as I tell you they are happening, wherever you are. See this happening. Allow it to become part of you; more and more happily, more and more surely, more and more powerfully, each day. When it is necessary, you can program yourself, be able to dream the information you require. This awareness will come back to you at your own rate. It will never be more than you can cope with. This guidance will help show you the way. This will only happen if you choose it will be so. Ready, now ..."

Homeroom Teacher

art by jaut, photo by tena

"you're about as useful as a homeroom teacher". i don't know why i thought about that line, or what it's supposed to mean, but i thought i would share it with you.


since my workload has been barely a simmer as of late, i've had a chance to catchup on the 100's of movies and books that are taking up space on my walls and on countless lists. some highlights are pedro almodovar's talk to her which plays with gender roles as well as the inherent imbalance that exists in relationships, whether it be imagined or real. almodovar paints a beautiful picture in his movies and brings in completely random characters to share his ideas. everything was great except the ending which didn't seem to fit with the rest of the movie's unpredictable nature , but i guess the allusion was setup earlier in the movie.

ingmar bergman's scenes from a marriage seems like a companion piece to richard linklater's before sunset/sunrise, but since i'm only through the first 3 episodes out of 6, i 'll have to share my complete thoughts at a later time, but so far, it's an interesting take on people relating to each other in a marital form and what people struggle with in this supposed life long commitment. like before sunset/sunrise, it's pure dialogue driven.

as far as books, i've read jonathan lethem's as she climbed across the table which, now thinking about it, is similar to bergman's scenes from a marriage in that it explores in the inner workings of a marriage, but this book brings in physics and opens up thought as to what makes people devote, what leads them to stray and what overall, brings about hope in realistic and unrealistic forms. although it's not on par with his excellent motherless brooklyn, it's a good novel.

murakami's sputnik sweetheart was a good look into the japanese culture of relationships which is quite similar, it seems, to western ideas. maybe it's the same all over the world, but i'd like to think that approach and perspective change with the culture. as far as the book, it was a nice read and it didn't have that sci-fi murakami trademark until the end. it's your basic boy loves girl who loves another girl story. easy.

the last book was chang-rae lee's native speaker. an amazing book. i could relate to it on many different levels for obvious, and not so obvious reasons. it conveys the korean culture perfectly, but what also what resonated with me about this work, was the quality of writing. i haven't read anything this convincing and perfectly layed out since jefferey eugenides' middlesex. it's pretty disheartening to read because i know i will never be able to write like that. read it.

here's a collection of singer-songwriters
some old, some new
some, not even released as of yet.
checkitout.....

Fink - If Only - finian greenhall is on ninja tune records. home of hip-hop, downtempo greatness. how did an acoustic driven artist get on the label ? well, he used to be a downtempo artist, and on the last 2 releases, he has gone back to his roots. no, that would be electronic based. he's changed, or sorta gone back. this album distance and time was produced by andy barlow who was one half of lamb.

Adele - Hometown Glory (Live) - she's 19 with a jazzier whinehouse type of voice. soulful, bluesy and powerful. her debut release comes out in january on XL which is home to radiohead and m.i.a. not disney made.

Sia - Lentil - vocal gymnastics aside, probably the most bluesy, soulful voice in pop music today. this track has minimal musical backing which shows off her greatest asset. this tracks is from her new album which should be out in january.

Petracovich - Telephone - jessica peters based out of san francisco has that sunday afternoon voice. not the, let's go hang out with the drum circle in golden gate park type of sunday, but the let's hang out on bernal hill type. support local musicians.

Chris Garneau - Black & Blue - off of berkeley's absolutley kosher label, home of pinack, xiu xiu and others. garneau's voice seems like it's always on the brink of cracking and then it soars into conviction. "catch my difficult" - a great line.