Mushrooms

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Album of the Week IV

I know it's been more than a week since i've done this, but i finally found another album worth talking about.

Modest Mouse - Autumn Beds 7"


Stream "Autumn Beds" here
and
Stream the B-side "Whale Song" here

The single "Autumn Beds" is kind of just a Modest Mouse attempt at making a folk song... it's nothing special and it's pretty repetitive. Personally, i'm not a fan of the song. It's definitely not one of Modest Mouse's better songs, but it gets stuck in my head now and then and it's a pretty chill song to throw on every now and then.

What makes this 7" good is the B-side, "Whale Song." I would simply describe it as Modest Mouse revisits Moon and Antarctica. The guitar is hectic and dissonant, but the bass line keeps it driving along for the entire 3 minute intro. The vocals are exactly what i've been hoping to hear our of newer Modest Mouse recordings: the megaphone vocals in the background with a catchy line or two that Issac repeats and drills into your head. It all builds up and then just lets loose at the end in a classic, old-school Modest Mouse style. Definitely worth a listen.

-Stephen
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More bikes, I suppose.

As you may know, I have a knack to finding free or cheap as free things. I found this old sunnbitch in my garage. It was my dad's when he was in college and on. It had the front tire taken off of it. I was able to put that back on and connect the brakes. It looks like some summer project outside of music. And yes, that is a potted plant of cilantro.

Well besides that, I was watching UFO hunter on the history channel. The guy who always wears sunglasses is hysterical. I think he fears that the government is watching him and he hides his eyes to protect his independent (but schizophrenic) mindset. They were talking about how in a mesa in arizona there is a secret alien/lizard people/government base designed for the artificial insemination of cows with genetically altered lizard/monkey/human/wallaby babies.

That needs to become a movie.

One guy almost cried he was so scared.

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My Childhood

These are some pictures I found around the house of parts of my family life. Enjoy.



These were my parents for the first three years of my life.



BEARS!



This is the cabin my father's family built in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada.



This uncle used to be a DJ.



My dad looks like Tom Cruise. Who does the guy next to him look like?



East Coast.



Klaus: He's got the crazy eyes. Get him out of the fucking water!



It was the 90's. I still wish I had those outfits.



Lloyd & Beverly- my father's parents.



Mary and Joseph MacKillop



This is when we lived in Somalia.



We were always ahead of the times. Look out Pitchfork!



I never believed in Santa, until he showed up with some black kid.



I pray that one day I find that shirt.



Our first car.

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Interview Project

I've only dabbled in the David Lynch realm, but as an aspiring journalist/writer, i've come to learn that people are at the heart of every article/story written. the idea of this project helped me to determine my purpose as a journalist, seeing as i didn't understand why i went in the field besides maybe having a job. there are interesting characters all around.

you've probably heard this story before, but i recently interviewed a private investigator here in muncie for an article in the Daily News (the Ball State student paper). it was a slow-moving interview, but after it he ended up buying me four beers at the Heorot - which dave, ashley, and i frequent often - and talked about The Big Lebowski for most of the time.

the bar experience could've made a far better article, but i think it stands alone just fine as a story. what Interview Project does it display people like that p.i. and displays them better than words ever could. this is the mild infatuation i have with film and film making, as i like to look at it from a writer's perspective. some things were just meant to be in certain mediums.

p.s. here is my article. it made the front page.

p.s.s episodes 78 & 79 of IP are from Indiana. continue reading...

Album of the Week III

So this may seem kind of boring, because i know pretty much everyone has this album by now and has been talking about it a good bit, but hey, it's what i've been listening to most this week.

Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca


This album came up out of no where for me. I had never heard a Dirty Projectors song in my life. I read some good things about this album, heard some friends say it was rad, and decided to get my hands on it. I threw it in iTunes and started off with "Cannibal Resource" and knew right away that i liked it. I don't know if it's folk or rock or pop, but whatever it is, it's good. Not only are the vocals intricate and hauntingly beautiful, the guitars sound so damn good! I don't know what they did, but someone was a genius when they recorded this band. I think my favorite examples of awesome guitar on this album are at the end of "Useful Chamber" (starting at 5:15) and throughout "No Intention." And "Temecula", my gosh, what is going on with the instrumentation in that song? Blowing my mind. It's sporadic but perfectly uniform at the same time. I know Austin was raving about the part in the song where he sings "There's a space for you in my basement. All you gotta do is help with the chores and do the dishes... and i know you will". Yup, i agree, that part rules.

What really keeps me coming back to this album pretty much every day is the unique way the voices of the three vocalist (one dude, two chicks) blend and harmonize. They seem to utilize the vocal talents they have just about perfectly. Some of the vocal patterns, harmonies, and octave jumps give me chills.

One word for this album. Beautiful.

-Stephen
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Suggested Summer Listening

So if you're like me you like music that gets you... PUMPED. So here's a mix of songs that well... get me pumped. These songs seem to hit me more in the summer for some reason. They're great to listen to while driving long distances, while thinking about that girl that got away, while admiring nature etc, etc.




here's the link. hope it works.
http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=42600337c3ff150a0f83d91f6dff7c3819fc5368dcb74efbce018c8114394287
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fixed infatuation part I

My dad got me into the world of bikes. Like any dad he goes on these kicks of having different hobbies (some notable ones include weightlifting and flying airplanes), and being the good son that i am i try to get involved. cycling, though, has been one of those kicks that stuck; not only that, he and i actually enjoy it together. so when aaron and i came into possession of a couple Huffy road bikes (thanks, Taylor University!) I showed them to my dad and he said,

"wanna make it a fixie?"

I had no idea what this meant, so he showed me some websites to start looking at and reading. I don't really need to explain what fixed gear bikes are - as i'm sure you've seen them/heard of them - but i'll give some basics. Usually the dudes riding them are cooler than you. Selected quotes are:

"Seat low enough for you?"
"It has how many gears?"
"Nice brakes."

(you'll catch on later, i promise)

Besides the scene/culture of fixies, the riding experience is unmatched. The one thing these bikes offer is total control.


If you know your history, you know that the first bikes built were fixed gear - one speed, no freewheel - thus making the bikes of today simply more badass. With a "fixed" gear, you have only one range of speed to go, and this of course is "fast". Single speed bikes, such as cruisers, are not the same as fixed gears in the sense that you can stop pedaling and the bike moves forward. You know that clicking sound you hear when you're coasting? That's the "freewheel" aspect of the cog.

Fixed gear bikes don't have a freewheel cog, and the only way to stop (granted you don't have a front brake, which you shouldn't) is to force the chain drive back. your legs are the brakes, controlling the motion of the bike. do it with style and you've got yourself a skid stop. but more on those things (skids, coasting, etc.) in part two.

I could go on and on about how thse bikes are better than multi/single speeds. And you'll hear a lot from either side of the spectrum. For instance, a ten speed bike offers a variety of gears for certain terrain, such as hills or flatland. People doing long treks find this useful. Fixies, however, only have gear, and with a 43/12 ratio the downhills are killer.

(this is the first of a series of posts on fixed gear bikes, in response to austin's post. Part II will consist of how to start building a fixed gear bike [don't buy a new one for your first time] and will provide tons of helpful spots to look at. as well as more hard to understand terminology.) continue reading...