tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79705230196445714582024-03-13T13:20:08.514-07:00.crying in yr face.Niamhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09189425893699392067noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970523019644571458.post-56682212833859628412009-03-17T13:01:00.001-07:002009-03-18T10:52:25.037-07:00Explanation of Artist<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwUoATyhyphenhyphenqlJ5mwZaCiDAfNm8dsudC3P574FtGjRkU4mcGhFZAqHroEyr55IcYhFhZHDbsyNcxFb97GzfwD5KqM26fyCWpauGke6iR7KttNSrhLklSkfi4vd9eLdF7HHOlBLIV22QfIjfx/s320/Phonography+Front.jpg"></a><div style="text-align: left;">Sorry about the lack of updates folks, but I've been too busy hyperventilating in a corner since I found out <a href="http://www.myspace.com/arielpink">Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti</a> are playing Whelan's on May 15th. Ohhh mmyyyy goddd.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Also coming: Grouper and Mi Ami. They say missing out on an Animal Collective ticket will come back to you threefold, and it has.</div><div><br /></div><div>On my recent trek through the annals of DIY/lo-fi, I've been turned onto the mind-blowing R. Stevie Moore, bedsit recording extraordinaire. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Stevie_Moore">You couldn't write this guy if you tried.</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://wfmu.org/Playlists/RM/rsm.jpg"><img src="http://wfmu.org/Playlists/RM/rsm.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 450px; height: 359px; " /></a></div><br /><br><br /><div class=youtube_resizer style=text-align:center;><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/d_7Y504E7gQ" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="213" height="175"></embed><br></div><br>He released <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Phonography</span> in 1976, and it's the kind of album David Byrne couldn't have dreamed of writing at his peak. You'll notice some serious similarities between Moore and Ariel Pink (who've collaborated by mail), not only the obvious DIY roots, but a strong likeness between songs such as "Alecia" (former) and "Alisa" (latter). I like the idea of homage and constant exchange between the work of each throwing creative ownership into question. <div><br /></div><div><br /><div style="text-align:center;"><object width="213" height="175"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mJjEncIqHmI"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mJjEncIqHmI" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="213" height="175"></embed></object></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">[[Somewhat appropriately, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Phonography</span> will be the last full album I'll offer for download here. I don't feel great about doing so and to be honest I could do without being hunted down by KGB-esque industry 'bots.]]</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Do download this, though. It's a fucking epiphany. One of the best sounds I've ever heard.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.yousendit.com/download/UmNMeW42Zy9UWUEwTVE9PQ">R. Stevie Moore </a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><a href="https://www.yousendit.com/download/UmNMeW42Zy9UWUEwTVE9PQ">Phonography</a></span><a href="https://www.yousendit.com/download/UmNMeW42Zy9UWUEwTVE9PQ"> [1976]</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(85, 26, 139); "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwUoATyhyphenhyphenqlJ5mwZaCiDAfNm8dsudC3P574FtGjRkU4mcGhFZAqHroEyr55IcYhFhZHDbsyNcxFb97GzfwD5KqM26fyCWpauGke6iR7KttNSrhLklSkfi4vd9eLdF7HHOlBLIV22QfIjfx/s320/Phonography+Front.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px; " /></span></div></div>Niamhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09189425893699392067noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970523019644571458.post-51244941837759954692009-03-02T02:02:00.000-08:002009-03-03T16:49:14.487-08:00Your Talk Won't Walk No MoreIt took me a while to get into this E.P. It's been swimming 'round my ipod for a month or so and I'm not really sure when my opinion went from 'meh' to 'hmmmm'. Isn't it weird the way certain albums will totally pass you by as unremarkable until a certain moment when it all seems to fall together because of some shift in mood or atmosphere? My case in point: Black Dice. I have no idea what changed, but now I'm crazy about <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Repo </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="">[2009] </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="">where before I was using it as an excuse to reprimand myself for filling my hard drive with irrelevant, pretentious shite.</span><br /><br /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 361px;" src="http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/Images/coldcave.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.yousendit.com/download/U0d4WWVrdkdTSUNGa1E9PQ">COLD CAVE - </a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.yousendit.com/download/U0d4WWVrdkdTSUNGa1E9PQ">THE TREES GREW EMOTIONS & DIED</a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div></span>As you may have already guessed I am not a natural music journo, in fact I don't read the printed music press at all, so I will provide you with this tiny, vague amount of non-information about <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Cold Cave</span>:<br /><br />- his name is Wesley Eisloid, from Philadelphia.<br />- Xiu Xiu love him [I swear to god these XX favourites I tend to hit on are total coincidences -it's kind of flattering to the ego...]<br />- this E.P. sounds a lot like Gary Numan pursuing Ian Curtis down a sewer. <div><div>- the cover is so dreadful it's practically genius... the guy looks like he's battling his way through the most boring dinner date in history. Boasting a history of dating gamers, academics and Satanists, I can relate.</div></div>Niamhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09189425893699392067noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970523019644571458.post-15021543031662429072009-02-19T09:03:00.000-08:002009-02-21T03:42:12.550-08:00Doo bee doo<div style="text-align: left;">Darling Blogspot, I am *this* close to moving to Wordpress.<br /></div><br />If you know anything about me, you also know that I poo my pants at anything that sounds vaguely like Boards of Canada. Early, mid, late period, it doesn't matter. I know a few of you are also BOC fans, so this post is bringing two BOC-like or inspired acts to your attention. While the first, Casino Vs. Japan is quite derivative of later BOC, I would suggest that this doesn't necessarily mean that his work is bad. What's more, <span style="font-style:italic;">Whole Numbers Play the Basics</span> (2002) sounds more like Trans-Canada Highway (2006), so perhaps BOC 'derived' from CVJ? Who knows... whatever the case, let it be known that Pitchfork is (surprise surprise) <a href="http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/16050-casino-versus-japan-whole-numbers-play-the-basics">wrong</a> about this artist.<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(85, 26, 139); "><img src="http://www.kuci.org/feature_images/01.gif" border="0" alt="" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 288px; height: 288px; " /></span><div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.yousendit.com/download/U0d4cHBIQVNYSHpIRGc9PQ">Casino Vs Japan - </a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.yousendit.com/download/U0d4cHBIQVNYSHpIRGc9PQ">Whole Numbers Play the Basics</a></span><a href="http://www.yousendit.com/download/U0d4cHBIQVNYSHpIRGc9PQ"> (2002)</a><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I like that sometimes we stumble upon something really brilliant, totally by accident. This is true in the case of <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Bibio</span>, or producer Stephen Wilkinson from Mush Records (Thavius Beck, Busdriver, Daedelus). I believe I read this described as 'folktronica' once. Think of early lofi BOC with acoustic guitars and old pianos thrown in. This is a truly elegant, overlooked album which I play pretty much every day:</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y148/onecaseman/handcranked.jpg"><img src="http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y148/onecaseman/handcranked.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 288px; height: 288px; " /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.yousendit.com/download/U0d4cHBIcVhOQnlGa1E9PQ">Bibio, </a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.yousendit.com/download/U0d4cHBIcVhOQnlGa1E9PQ">Hand Cranked</a></span><a href="http://www.yousendit.com/download/U0d4cHBIcVhOQnlGa1E9PQ"> (2006)</a></div></div>Niamhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09189425893699392067noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970523019644571458.post-4052234383887001042009-02-19T06:52:00.000-08:002009-02-20T09:37:35.120-08:00Bang Boong<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyS2kzejCQtqMNt37WMa9CEWpYjSO2e41ZXEWC_SLicUKDFPmOCmiknr7ZHKnpIcvlaW18VCDa0yo_1I0VQA0mWspg5qP2QysNePzdLeIwS5tm10H96vfj9r3CZhgINf_07RDT6rrURBI/s1600/R-1399763-1216415037.jpg"></a>Apologies for the delay in updating kids, I've been too busy with a shitload of other, unfortunately more pressing things. <div><br /></div><div>My society at college is hosting a Rape Awareness week, so naturally I'm bursting at the seams with righteous feminism. What better time, then, to introduce yet another White Denim labelmate, and "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Australia's most confusing act</span>", <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Menstruation Sisters</span>. They are a project of the noise legend <a href="http://www.furious.com/perfect/orenambarchi.html">Oren Ambarchi's</a>, proof to me that not all Australians deserve my total disdain. I've been listening to <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Dead at Slug's</span> on a loop. This year I think I finally 'got' what noise rock is about. Not that I could tell you in so many words... that ain't the point of noise, babygirl. </div><div><br /></div><div>Click below and download the album, or I will cry.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><a href="http://rcpt.yousendit.com/655046092/4227d32fb1e8e1245dacd65493a5e108"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyS2kzejCQtqMNt37WMa9CEWpYjSO2e41ZXEWC_SLicUKDFPmOCmiknr7ZHKnpIcvlaW18VCDa0yo_1I0VQA0mWspg5qP2QysNePzdLeIwS5tm10H96vfj9r3CZhgINf_07RDT6rrURBI/s1600/R-1399763-1216415037.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 369px; height: 368px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">Menstruation Sisters, </a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://rcpt.yousendit.com/655046092/4227d32fb1e8e1245dacd65493a5e108">Dead at Slug's</a></span><a href="http://rcpt.yousendit.com/655046092/4227d32fb1e8e1245dacd65493a5e108"> (2002)</a></div><div><br /></div>Niamhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09189425893699392067noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970523019644571458.post-11021133792582998992009-02-05T13:45:00.000-08:002009-02-20T09:37:55.209-08:00Aphex Twin vs. StockhausenFrom Aphex Twin's Wiki page:<br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">In November 1995, The Wire published an article titled "Advice to Clever Children." In the process of producing the interview, a package of tapes containing music from several artists, including Aphex Twin, was sent to Karlheinz Stockhausen.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br />He commented:<br />“ <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">I heard the piece Aphex Twin of Richard James carefully: I think it would be very helpful if he listens to my work "Song of the Youth," which is electronic music, and a young boy's voice singing with himself. Because he would then immediately stop with all these post-African repetitions, and he would look for changing tempi and changing rhythms, and he would not allow to repeat any rhythm if it [was] varied to some extent and if it did not have a direction in its sequence of variations.[37]</span> ”</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br />Aphex Twin responded: "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">I thought he should listen to a couple of tracks of mine: 'Didgeridoo,' then he'd stop making abstract, random patterns you can't dance to</span>".</span></div></div></blockquote><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div>Mehehe.</div></div>Niamhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09189425893699392067noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970523019644571458.post-75553129890142121342009-01-30T15:09:00.001-08:002009-02-20T09:38:14.234-08:00This is the jam session you wish you'd had<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.20jazzfunkgreats.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/mi_ami.jpg"></a>Thee More Shallow's first verse for "Freshman Thesis" goes:<div><br /><br /></div><div><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Before I spoke in riddles, I was worried someone would hear me<br />Now I know that no one really listens so I will just speak clearly<br />I don't have private thoughts, just a lyrical worksheet<br />For mangling my observations on the meter and the beat<br />And in the process of it, on every line<br />Sooner or later I'll have to change the meaning to fit the rhyme.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div>I am writing an undergraduate thesis and similarly struggling with having to dilute my opinions on a topic into chapters and paragraphs. Form: something I've never been good at. I'm toying with the idea of submitting a 12,000 word tape-recorded thesis of nothing but stream-of-consciousness, in-character wailing. Yeah, so it would fail, but then at least the next four months wouldn't signal nothing but an endless pit of futureless gloom. All this, for a grade that doesn't guarantee me a job. January's fun, isn't it kids?</div><div><br /></div><div>Speaking of stream-of-consciousness wailing, here are MP3s from <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.myspace.com/miamiamiami">Mi Ami</a></span>, my favourite experimental/noise rock band from the excellent <a href="http://www.whitedenim.com/bands3.html">White Denim</a> label. This is their best work by far, the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">African Rhythms</span> 12'' [2008] which has promptly sold out. One of those albums I downloaded and forgot about, only for itunes to cough it up months later as I'm lying in bed, causing me to wonder what the fuck it is and why I haven't been listening to it on a loop until now...</div><div><br /></div><div>MP3: Mi Ami - "<a href="https://www.yousendit.com/download/WnBTSkhldzg5RlpMWEE9PQ">African Rhythms</a>"</div><div>MP3: Mi Ami - "<a href="https://www.yousendit.com/download/WnBTSkhkNmNrYUJMWEE9PQ">Feel You</a>"</div><div>MP3: Mi Ami - "<a href="https://www.yousendit.com/download/WnBTSkhkNmNkMnRMWEE9PQ">Clear Light</a>"</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(85, 26, 139); "><img src="http://www.20jazzfunkgreats.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/mi_ami.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 296px; height: 296px; " /></span></div>Niamhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09189425893699392067noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970523019644571458.post-7499321322043558732009-01-29T08:36:00.001-08:002009-02-20T09:38:35.333-08:00How long can you hold you breath?I am not doing well. This post will be an example of how music can help express these things going on in your head, or how it can bring you out of a mindset. Really good music can. Ten years ago, my cd player wasn't so much a cd player as an IV drip I hauled everywhere with me. There had to be something else, some meaningful soundtrack to every journey. It would block out the noise of my family, my friends, my life. These days, music is more of an indulgence than a necessity. I suppose my life is much stronger and fuller than when I lived up North in an unhappy situation; nothing needs to be a religion any more as I am enough, for the most part. <div><br /><div>I say for the most part, because today I am not enough. At times like this I hang on to certain noises, the most basic sensory pleasures. My faith in making music is alive because I know that a lot of people value their albums on a personal level. A certain album or song reminds you of a certain time: that bad breakup, that essay you were writing, that little room with the busted sofa and fairy lights where you lost your virginity.</div><div><br /></div><div>When my mum was pregnant with me, she would sit close to a radio. She had read that Mozart was soothing for the baby. I still listen to Mozart and other music as a kind of therapy, essential to my alone time when I need to think or regroup. Years ago, when I was obsessed enough, I knew albums as intimately as if they were close friends or lovers. They echoed anger or sadness back to me in a way that no relative or friend was capable of doing for me at that time. In a lonely environment, certain albums were essential to me. You could read this as slightly pathetic I suppose, but my problems aren't the point. The point is that music is often more important than one wants to let on. Why is there an entire culture (and sub-cultures within those cultures) dedicated to the worship of one intonated note played in front of another? Why, if music doesn't affect world politics or social problems, do we think, talk, blog about it daily? It is a spiritual, soothing experience. We are not robots yet. </div><div><br /></div><div>My hands shake as I type this. I have had experiences through music that haven't been equalled in my personal relationships. When I was eighteen, I played pieces like <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">The Rite of Spring</span> and <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">Ein Heldenleben</span> in large youth orchestras. There is nothing quite like that feeling of a hundred people playing something beautiful in unison, each person contributing his or her different but equally essential role. In between concerts, we stumbled our sentences, had clumsy romantic encounters, but for a 40 minute piece we were there in the moment, for once our bodies working in sync with our minds. (It's never the same being in audience; even now I get restless watching a performance.) The aftermath of the concert was saturated in the unused adrenaline - a lot of musicians will tell you that they drink to get rid of it as quickly as possible. </div><div><br /></div><div>I need music. It bridges the gap between the personal and the collective, expressing something I am untrained to articulate in a stark everyday reality. Maybe, just maybe, you know what I mean.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.yousendit.com/download/WnBRZHlzNDJTRTRLSkE9PQ">MP3: Grouper - 'Heavy Water/I'd rather be sleeping'</a></div><div><a href="https://www.yousendit.com/download/WnBRZHlzNDI3bUFLSkE9PQ">MP3: Grouper - 'Fishing Bird/Empty gutted in the evening breeze'</a></div><div><br /></div></div>Niamhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09189425893699392067noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970523019644571458.post-14567013899434759042009-01-22T02:00:00.000-08:002009-02-20T09:39:17.822-08:00GAY ANGELS<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">It's crazy the amount of hits I'm getting already. You'd think I'd have to actually write something good to get this kind of attention straight away. Thanks to all who are keeping up with the blog anyway.</span><div><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"></span><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I want to write about this guy, Seattle's one-man </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.myspace.com/kewlmagik"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Perfume Genius</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. I haven't posted a link to a download, precisely because </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I cannot find this album anywhere</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. His last.fm bio just says: "</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Might be dead. Cool guy</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">." What I can tell you about him is that he's likely going to get a lot bigger in 2009, because Xiu Xiu blogged about him, because he is insanely gifted and because he plays irresistably hard-to-get. If you like Chris Garneau, Patrick Wolf and the whole queer indie thing, you'll love this. The rest of his stuff is less intense than below, kind of stripped-down piano work.<br /><p><br /></p><div style="text-align:center;"><object width="213" height="175"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/---a4A0MqbI"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/---a4A0MqbI" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="213" height="175"></embed></object><br /><p><br /></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">He also has a fairly insane Youtube account on which he does some </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/kewlmagik"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">impressive cross-dressing</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">.</span><br /></div><p></p></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">p.s. if you track any of his tracks down, TELL ME. I curse the day Myspace abandoned its download option.</span></p></span></div></div>Niamhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09189425893699392067noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970523019644571458.post-14728033665696311312009-01-19T21:49:00.001-08:002009-02-20T09:39:42.201-08:00SOLID SLEEP<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I'm telling you something you probably already know: </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Mills"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Jeff Mills</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> is God. Few bad things come out of Detroit, if you forget Marshall Mathers, The Von Bondies and massive levels of gun crime. </span><br /><br /><p><br /></p><div style="text-align:center;"><object width="213" height="175"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7bLanIfR13A"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7bLanIfR13A" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="213" height="175"></embed></object><br /></div><br /></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"></span><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Some of you mighta caught his show at Tripod last April. I was too ridden with tonsilitis at the time, but luckily he seems to pop up in Ireland on what seems like a yearly basis, so it won't be too long 'til I get a chance to see him live and possibly jump on him.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">You won't regret downloading these tracks. They were released fifteen years ago and wouldn't have aged a day if only Mills didn't have a tendency to outdo himself with every release. If you're familiar with how difficult it is to create even the worst of techno (or even if you aren't), you'll get his genius.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">MP3: "</span><a href="https://www.yousendit.com/download/WnBTRm81YUlCSnJIRGc9PQ"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Life Cycle</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">" </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">MP3: "</span><a href="https://www.yousendit.com/download/WnBTRm81YUlvQUtGa1E9PQ"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Wrath of the Punisher</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">This is probably my favourite Mills track:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">MP3: "</span><a href="https://www.yousendit.com/download/WnBTRm8zcHYwZ25IRGc9PQ"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Hypnotist</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">" [2002]</span></div><div><br /></div></div>Niamhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09189425893699392067noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970523019644571458.post-33394893144520790952009-01-18T19:04:00.000-08:002009-02-02T22:19:10.776-08:00SHOW HER THAT YOU LOVE HER<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /><br /><div style=text-align:center;><object width="213" height="175"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZaaO7dpzodM"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZaaO7dpzodM" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="213" height="175"></embed></object></div><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"></span><center style="text-align: left;"><br /></center><center><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I love to hear something really unusual.<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The Oh Sees [also known as Thee Oh Sees, OCS and Orange County Sound] were set up by John Dwyer of Coachwire/Pink and Brown/The Hospitals as an experimental project. It happened to develop into something pretty great; a fully-formed band, capable of everything from yelping psychedelics, to the most elegant of love songs (see above). Brigid Dawson's vocals are what make this song special; the sisterly advice of a Louisiana housewife piped through a long-distance phonecall.<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I don't know how interested I am in doing some hackjob here, dredging up any number of tired equations of bands they only vaguely sound like. I always had a problem with that tendency in music journalism; to dilute the experience of an album through listing who or what it sounds like. [At best, it turns Rufus fans onto Parenthetical Girls. At worst, it shows how mainstream music journalism is caught up in the very kind of industry bullshit it initially set out to expose.] I know it's essentially to make the process of choosing albums easier for music fans on lower incomes, but internet freedom renders this null and void. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">When it comes down to it, I acknowledge that Animal Collective take influence from Syd Barrett and Brian Wilson, but that's not </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">why</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> I like Animal Collective. Maybe it's just me, but I've always approached music as a physical experience rather than as a cerebral exercise. A lot of the time, I don't want a literal explanation for what I'm hearing. I don't need to know the lead singer's name. I don't care where they recorded the thing. Sometimes I'm not bothered about seeing a band live, although I might have loved their work. This possibly makes me a thrifty little fart, but I no longer see any correlation between truly loving an album and the drive to consume, consume, consume everything related to the artist.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">And by GOD do I know what the flipside looks like. I was a rabid Spice Girls fan and used to buy these 5-packs of unbelievably overpriced photographs of the band. They were sold in foil packaging so that myself and my 10 year old friends couldn't distinguish the quality of the what we were buying with our meagre £3 a week. Or later, when I was 14 and married to the lead singer of KoRn in my head, it took me six months to track down/ship over their VHS tape which contained all their promo vids. No Youtube back then, kids. Hell, I didn't have dial-up until 2002. It took three days to download one song [a live recording of KoRn singing 'happy birthday' to Fred Durst] from Napster. That's right, NAPSTER. Before Lars Ulrich ruined our nu-metal fun.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Christ, I'm getting old.</span></div><div><br /></div></center>Niamhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09189425893699392067noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970523019644571458.post-53056171481945716242009-01-17T11:21:00.000-08:002009-01-18T21:29:07.530-08:00YOU WHO NEVER ARRIVED<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">You who never arrived </span><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">in my arms, Beloved, who were lost </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">from the start, I don't even know what songs </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">would please you. I have given up trying </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">to recognize you in the surging wave of the next </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">moment. All the immense </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">images in me- the far-off, deeply-felt landscape, </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">cities, towers, and bridges, and </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">unsuspected turns in the path, </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">and those powerful lands that were once </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">pulsing with the life of the gods- </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">all rise within me to mean </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">you, who forever elude me. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">You, Beloved, who are all </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">the gardens I have ever gazed at, </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">longing. An open window </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">in a country house-, and you almost </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">stepped out, pensive, to meet me. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Streets that I chanced upon,- </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">you had just walked down them and vanished. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">And sometimes, in a shop, the mirrors </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">were still dizzy with your presence and, startled, </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">gave back my too-sudden image. Who knows? </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">perhaps the same bird echoed through both of us </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">yesterday, seperate, in the evening...</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-Rainier Maria Rilke</span></div></div>Niamhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09189425893699392067noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970523019644571458.post-37825655858865132212009-01-13T12:40:00.001-08:002009-02-20T09:40:24.975-08:00DON'T CHOOSE THE WRONG SONG<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMzZisxCHUXSxbXvwNJoqasfX4AfQzkBadKEcovZVwmRXSm0Xm6clXK96_FLXWvImx4paEO2z1SMjL7ST-q3L5-RMCRAnnaRzJ5tHb2LoKgyPcpOF5NotGs2w942DrRUizQSBUdzTw-CkM/s1600-h/blurflyer80.gif"></a><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Luckily for you I'm taking half an hour out of being a boring library-going fuckhead to introduce you to a band with whom I'm conducting a torrid after-hours affair.<br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMzZisxCHUXSxbXvwNJoqasfX4AfQzkBadKEcovZVwmRXSm0Xm6clXK96_FLXWvImx4paEO2z1SMjL7ST-q3L5-RMCRAnnaRzJ5tHb2LoKgyPcpOF5NotGs2w942DrRUizQSBUdzTw-CkM/s400/blurflyer80.gif" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290890825994175650" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 244px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">They were The Embarrassment, purveyers of a specific genre they called "Blister Pop", and they existed between 1979 and 1983. The first thing I thought when I heard the song "Sex Drive" was that Kurt Cobain had basically lifted that razor-sharp overdrive straight from this band, magpie that he was. Shonen Knife did cover "Faith Healer" on </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">712</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> [1991], so it's quite possible. (Not that it isn't obvious that The Embarrassment were listening to Joy Division at the time).</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Whatever about Cobain though (snore), what I'm trying to convey is the apparently invisible influence of The Embarrassment, not to mention how ridiculous it is that they never really got recognition outside of indie circles. Essentially, they were a little too ahead of their time - musically as well as lyrically - their subjects (art college, talking to girls, having sex, being a boy) delivered with a kind of ironic knowing-ness that would have been difficult for the mainstream to digest. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">MP3: The Embarrassment - "</span><a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8GN1J3Z2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(I'm a) Don Juan</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">MP3: The Embarrassment - "</span><a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=9OVPKN2O"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Patio Set</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Extra points awarded for rhyming "lawn chair" with "mon chere" in the latter. How much do you LOVE post-punk, seriously?</span></div><div><br /></div></div>Niamhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09189425893699392067noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970523019644571458.post-46975290418109397782009-01-12T14:21:00.000-08:002009-01-18T21:29:45.071-08:00WE ARE CAPSULES OF ENERGY<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Three more Fever Ray album tracks have surfaced. I'd have had to wait until March 19th if it weren't for a randomer's generosity and lack of moral fibre. Being a bit of a shit myself, I've posted the tracks below. This is the album art! Hot.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 399px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicdrE0G0UVxU8hzwZdiPI53l9EXXO7Fogir8VtoXS9jiAVkjcEIPFUMc8rZCGOxErfrAvUpVtGf9oxHdZWRrBHZ-La94-WAoOSgw2iXvOvTWZTTa5ZR5AA5IT7DfDVMpDssn0t84K4v_Rp/s400/6t0c39.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290540433616879074" /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I'd been ambivalent so far about what I'd heard, wondering why Karin Dreijer was releasing tracks which sounded as if they might as well come from The Knife, only under a different name. I'd have gone as far as to question what Olof Dreijer's role in The Knife actually is, if she can churn out something this Knife-y on her own. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Then I realised I was being an idiot: this is new material, from possibly my all-time favourite artists, nay, PEOPLE. Everything a Knife fan wants is here: the disjointed rhythms, the clipped velvet vocals, the oriental influences, the thick harmonies, the esoteric lyrics. Masterful subtlety beyond what the fans could ever have expected (and we expected a lot). Perhaps the Fever Ray project is just the artist's way of distancing herself from those expectations. Is that a cliche? Do I care?</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Anyway, I didn't think much of "If I Had A Heart" when it leaked, but having heard three more album tracks, I can finally see where she's going with this. It's lower-key than </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Silent Shout</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> (not that that would be difficult), the kind of crystal clear production that would inspire me to buy those insanely expensive headphones I've been drooling over for six months.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">MP3: Fever Ray - '</span><a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=FRG9TDLE"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">When I Grow Up</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">'</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">MP3: Fever Ray - '</span><a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=XJLGRNIB"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Dry and Dusty</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">'</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">MP3: Fever Ray - '</span><a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=R3SK2HEZ"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I'm Not Done</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">'</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The entire tracklisting will be as follows:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">1. If I Had A Heart<br />2. When I Grow Up<br />3. Dry & Dusty<br />4. Seven<br />5. Triangle Walks<br />6. Concrete Walls<br />7. Now’s The Only Time I Know<br />8. I’m Not Done<br />9. Keep The Streets Empty For Me<br />10. Coconut</span><br /></div></div>Niamhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09189425893699392067noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970523019644571458.post-88268440083096239472009-01-05T17:21:00.000-08:002009-01-19T01:29:11.299-08:00MUSIC 2008<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">ALBUMS:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">atlas sound -</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> let the blind lead those who can see but cannot feel, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">vivian girls - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">vivian girls, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">sebastien tellier - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">sexuality, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">wavves - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">wavves, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">parenthetical girls -</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> entanglements, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">mahjonng -</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> kontpab, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">deerhunter </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">- </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">microcastle, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">kathleen edwards - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">asking for flowers, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">women - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">women, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">abe vigoda -</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> skeleton, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">cut copy - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">in ghost colours, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">crystal stilts - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">alight of night, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">m83 - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">saturdays = youth, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">crystal castles - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">crystal castles</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div></span><div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">BELATED DISCOVERIES:</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">boredoms, ekkehard ehlers, david bowie (berlin), the embarrassment, busy p, afx, john cale, grandaddy, the ohsees, grandmaster flash, dopplereffekt, glass candy, the clientele, casino versus japan, smog/bill callahan, run dmc, the presets, holy fuck, grizzly bear, lou reed, pavement/steve malkmus, ricardo villalobos</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div></div>Niamhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09189425893699392067noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970523019644571458.post-66835336846979826972009-01-03T21:57:00.001-08:002009-02-20T09:42:24.523-08:002008 [WEIRD ERA CONT]<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx0DNYeQ5F_3QowCCOgu8-pskYiRwXlURPOWxwMIujszaJ5_K1mK2j2VsY2m2VD1IZjpw6XoyAuzTd802wRM80GYaIQyjhXnqTUtTblhBiEqo2yczu4zkNDCWwnVYxkEovptWCCV-IFEPK/s1600-h/DSCN2780.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx0DNYeQ5F_3QowCCOgu8-pskYiRwXlURPOWxwMIujszaJ5_K1mK2j2VsY2m2VD1IZjpw6XoyAuzTd802wRM80GYaIQyjhXnqTUtTblhBiEqo2yczu4zkNDCWwnVYxkEovptWCCV-IFEPK/s400/DSCN2780.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290525151185369714" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">THINGS I DID:</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-ended a long-termer.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-was mental, then mental no more.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-sat on the left bank in paris, smoking, guzzling coffee and accepting the greatest reward known -to man (hipsters): being repeatedly mistaken for a parisian. love it. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-offered calvin johnson a fag. he frowned. i sniggered.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-contracted acute tonsilitis.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-wrote a dissertation.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-played croquet.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-watched fireworks from the top of primrose hill.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-continued to snog andy.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-received my first chanel products. (i really am this shallow).</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-wrote songs.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-saw a black american president elected, live.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-dated an 'alpha male'.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-was flashed on stephen's green.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-played at d.e.a.f.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-saw eamon dunphy in superquinn, nell mccafferty in centra, and ann doyle on my street, thus adding to my impressive collection of irish 'celebrity' encounters. 2007's topper was ryan tubridy taking a bijou strollette on dun laoghaire pier (patch-denim double-breasted jacket and slacks, natch). 2006's was drunken gerry ryan handing a €20 tip to my then-hefty bosom. or maybe it was hosting a quiz with a very nice ray shah. see? impressive.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-chaired a society.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-befriended somebody born in the 1950s.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-befriended somebody born in the 1990s. deary me.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-met the editor of the herald tribune, a war crimes judge and an olympic athlete.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-bought a macbook.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-attended a masquerade ball.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-felt glad i was 23, not 19. erk.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-drank cosmopolitans.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-protested numerous times outside leinster house.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-hosted a reception, a pub quiz and a swapshop. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-weight:bold;"></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-got to grips with new music as opposed to the classics.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">LESSONS:</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-i'm possibly a wagon.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-life goes on whether or not you decide to get out of bed. hardly anybody cares (if you're lucky), so suck it up.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-i've become capable of sniffing out one nice person from a crowd of bastards, like a hog to a truffle. mmsnorksnrok.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-starbuck's is very, very bad, but also very, very good.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-it's gonna take a miracle to convince me out of singlehood from now until i'm 30. i only seem to attract boring men and mental women. this is a problem, as i am attracted to neither.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-new things make me happy. new people, music, places.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-platonic is goodtonic.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-what you want and what you need are often different things altogether. unfortunately. so what you're searching for may ultimately be bad for you. sigh. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">macbeth</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, anyone?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-basic daily comforts are important. a tidy room. a pretty hat. a good friend.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-things can change totally within a matter of months.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-i can't stay in dbln past graduation.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-appreciate a good economy while it exists.</span></span></span></div></div>Niamhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09189425893699392067noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7970523019644571458.post-78272535605506129942009-01-01T15:37:00.000-08:002009-01-12T13:37:57.641-08:00QUICK INTRO<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcV2LLQdcXWCZUWjZHs0HtZb6NJndOKhlQy8IHupFN6ENx5c3NahY5bK_5E1PBGqe8cCf22uuHS7Rwa-Qf_GN7Jx7b4tjW-5jdMs6pONzeo-g0OWYeg0tBE7a4y37ni8kNGJIEjHJ9xYtm/s1600-h/Photo+96.jpg"></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE4XgEaV20spEX0A2ktF1NYE80aGx6nf-FlR6BxlUGtc4DO8Xho7KpZHit5tQxNTUORoGhv8sVNZdcisZMIu_HTcqhta2QGG7xjgOZDv6fuu0F_yd_s8Q4lMRQP0zP4VdpRApVa-8su3k1/s1600-h/Photo+99.jpg"><img style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE4XgEaV20spEX0A2ktF1NYE80aGx6nf-FlR6BxlUGtc4DO8Xho7KpZHit5tQxNTUORoGhv8sVNZdcisZMIu_HTcqhta2QGG7xjgOZDv6fuu0F_yd_s8Q4lMRQP0zP4VdpRApVa-8su3k1/s400/Photo+99.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290524222309847330" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcV2LLQdcXWCZUWjZHs0HtZb6NJndOKhlQy8IHupFN6ENx5c3NahY5bK_5E1PBGqe8cCf22uuHS7Rwa-Qf_GN7Jx7b4tjW-5jdMs6pONzeo-g0OWYeg0tBE7a4y37ni8kNGJIEjHJ9xYtm/s400/Photo+96.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290524351414546242" style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3163/2953843278_f5b4cbae18_m.jpg" style="text-decoration: none;"><br /></a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-niamh</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-23<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-ranelagh, dublin, ire<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-"artistic temperament"<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-cannot leave house without mp3 player<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-can rarely eat without a book or magazine<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-softens with age<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-perhaps over-zealously honest<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-wordy<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-thinky<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">-making an attempt at a lot of things</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">this blog is meant as 2009's labour of love, apart from my thesis [on irish travellers, least depressing topic IN THE WORLD] and the rest of life in general which seems a bit confusing really.<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">this is also for opinions, of which i have lots. creating an outlet for them here is a step toward not ranting down the phone at my friends in one of my 4am rages.</span></div></div>Niamhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09189425893699392067noreply@blogger.com7