Sunday, May 18, 2008

Today's Reading

Annie Clark

Great article in the Sunday paper about the recent wave of "one man (and woman) bands" and the ways that technology has allowed them to develop some kind of movement in reaction to what the author calls the "conservatism" and "sparseness" of recent indie music. It features interviews with the guy from Final Fantasy, the guy from Panda Bear and the guy from St. Vincent, Annie Clark. These people seem like they're having a lot of fun, all obsessed with their cables and software and whatnot.

Maybe a lot of the appeal of the article is seeing bands like Ariel Pink and Animal Collective mentioned in a newspaper. It's also cool because I just had a student hand in a research paper/ profile about this exact same phenomenon, but on a local level.


It is a dangerous thing to read stuff like this on a sunny Sunday morning while you are inebriate with Sunday breakfast and the first good pot of coffee you have made in a month. You think of new hobbies. You want to buy a MacBook Pro, whatever that is, and plug a guitar into it and then start surfing the web for samples you can loop and then put it all together into your own private soundtrack for summer. I would put funny stickers on the laptop and sit on my bed as I fiddle knobs, all with a furrowed brow signaling to my wife "I am busy defining a new genre of pop at the intersection of dance-hall reggae, George Jones, bicycles, and YouTube."

But that will probably not happen. Whatever I do this summer, it will probably involve mowing. Maybe I will spend the summer mowing and looking for a new, indie-approved, MacBook-enabled method of gardening worthy of Readymade or Make.

9 comments:

R. said...

Is it Ariel Pink OR Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti? Because I can't risk having my Last.FM all mixed up.

Mr. Hill said...

No, you don't want to mess with da scrobblin'.

It's the longer one.

Unknown said...

I'm going to buy a keyboard that plugs into my imac so I can throw down my own tunes in our dorm.

Just wait for it. Soon the NYTimes will be asking Owen Pallet Noah Lennox who?

R. said...

Well...darn it.

Have you gotten tired of that Burial album yet or do I need to give you a random M.I.A. CD-R for you to listen to any time you are driving?

Mr. Hill said...

I think the newest Burial is better designed for repeated listens than either of the MIA records. I mean, she's great, but after about 3/4 of her albums are through, I need to turn it down a notch. Almost too hyper or something.

mbh said...

This is cool. What a coincidence! Im really stoked to see that those artists and bands are getting some of the recognition they deserve.

Oh, and thanks for the comment on my big journal post. I think i'll use the title you suggested.

Lindsay Wesner said...

that photo is pretty much amazing, and i'm jealous of her guitar...reminds me of the Trussart Deluxe Steelcaster that i've been consumed by lately...like i will ever be able to afford one though

Mr. Hill said...

Oh, I think affording a guitar you love, or loving a guitar you can afford, never works out.

You can't afford it, but you get it anyway, and that's what the universe wants you to do, and you never regret it.

Lindsay Wesner said...

at least i'm supporting the economy if i shell out the cash to get a gibson...i'd love my guitar more if it was bright red, but those are like 6 grand...not a starter for sure. it's still pretty awesome though.

that seems to be the deal with the world though...but i'm trying to get my friend to sell me her acoustic for $25, which is awesome, but we'll see if she goes through with it