Of Balvarines and 'Snowstorms'

So in my now 2 weeks of official non-student, unemployment-ness I have become pretty familiar with the various jobsites (Craigslist, Monster, WWeekly, some biotech specific ones, etc...), but only really one job that I've applied to really sounds like something I'd love to do/learn. There is an art glass foundry in SE Portland hiring people to work in their foundry making all of the amazing raw materials for artists that use such glass. Having had about 6 years of not much art (except for one drawing class), I find the possibility of being able to work in an environment with creative people, actually making a product and being able to see the end result just seems very appealing to me right now. Now I know I'm idealizing it, but I wouldn't complain if I could look back in twenty years and be able to say that I worked in a place like that and learned cool artisan skills. Kinda makes me wish that I'd apprenticed something like working with a silversmith (Johnny Tremain?) back in the day.

Oh so I've finally gotten to play a little Fable 3, since I've been waiting to since Christmas, both eagerly and with dread, knowing how much I loved the previous two and not wanting to be disappointed/not wanting to be sucked in too much. The co-op is finally a viable option in the game, and has actually been quite a blast playing with Becca, to see both of our characters go through the story together. My one gripe about that system though, is that there should be some way of transferring quests over to the other persons account. Like, they can go all the way through the game with you, but then play on their own and they're back to square one, just with a bunch more gold in hand. ANYWAYS, thats enough on video games. Also, balvarines are still the most annoying enemies in the game so far.

Yes, I feel like sepia tone better captures the 'tone' of our mini snow 'storm'. More dramatic that way.

Also, I know everyone on the west coast has been having the 'snow' warnings from the last couple days. In Portland, this has been one of the most frustrating things. Of the last 6 times the weather reports have said there was a snow storm coming, it snowed twice. For about 15 minutes. As a Bay Area native, the thought of snow is always exciting, so basically I just want the Portland meteorologists to stop teasing me. Stop teasing the 24 year old that gets giddy about snow falling around his apartment and being able to go out and play in it. Jerks.

I know you all know I'm obsessed with my cat, but I love this picture.

But I did get a couple fun pictures out of our 15 minutes of heavenly snow, because Sam was attacking and chirping at the window. It seemed like he thought that the apartment was being swarmed with some sort of fluffy white insects and that he must kill them all.

Ketchup

So a few things have happened since my last post...

About a week ago I finished my final class for my Biology BA, so now I just have to deal with waiting for UCSC to get all the paperwork and documents in order so that I can really apply for graduation and finally get that diploma. Finally. But what that leads into is the more pressing need to look for a job. While I'd love to find something that fits in better with my interests/schooling background, I have a feeling that its going to probably end up being the lines of temping at an office. Hopefully somewhere within walking distance of our apartment here in downtown PDX.

Something affecting the job choice involving time constraints is that it looks I'll finally take my first big step out of the country this summer. Yes, my international travel virginity looks like its going to be taken by Spain this summer, when Becca and I get to spend a few weeks with her family there getting to know Madrid and exploring the country. I could try to express my excitement through words here, or a link to some ridiculous video (N64 kid anyone?) but I'll just let you assume with this: (:D)

Also, I turned 24 last Friday. I know there's 'no big deal' to one year older and such, but its proximity to my finishing class and looking for a job seems a bit symbolic and intimidating. Each year since turning 20 has been progressively scarier, feeling like I have less and less of my crap figured out basically. So here's to hoping 25 doesn't feel like that next year. AHHHHH.

On the music front, which has actually felt like I've been progressing a little, with a couple songs written out (just not associated with music yet) and a bank of riffs in my head, I feel ready to finally work with people and try to start a band. In addition to my job search this week, I was going to write up an ad and put it on the local Craigslist, Willamette Weekly, and Portland Mercury. I figure if I put up exactly what kind of work that I'm interested in doing, I'm less likely to try to end up playing with music with some people who decide later that what they really want to do is be the next Linkin Park... Bleh. I will keep a lookout for anyone that looks like we could be a match musically though.

Also, my Christmas gift from my parents has finally made its way to PDX via Fed Ex. Its a Jay Turser JT-Res:

Its pretty, and definitely an interesting sound to play with. Maybe I'll put together a little track by the end of the week.

In the meantime, here are some Soundcloud's I posted over the last few weeks. They're just as noisy and lofi as before, so prepare your headphones/speakers accordingly and understand that in person, it sounds much better.

Shoegeiser by nerfherderhan

Droney tremolo reverb testing by nerfherderhan

Fuzzy riff bits by nerfherderhan

First Practice Recording

Last week I recorded this little practice riff by just setting my laptop on my amp and pressing record. I added some tambourine today and was thinking about adding possibly some bass and a little lead guitar. This is all through the laptop mic, so fidelity is lacking. And yes its supposed to be loud, spacey and psychedelic. If you have an opinion on it let me know as this has only been a recent musical direction for me. Most of college I focused more on acoustic sounds and playing my 6 and 12 string acoustics, and while I have no shortage of riffs and guitar parts I've written with them, I have been having a hard time writing lyrics to go with the mood of the acoustic parts.

If this piece seems to be working, I'll possibly work the main riff around and see what kind of feelings and lyrics that might come of it.

Edit: Incidentally, it sounds much better with headphones on and the bass up.

A Beginning (Rough) by nerfherderhan

Favorite Albums of 2010

This took way too long to complete considering that it was started in early December of '10. Well here you are:

Originally I had titled it the "Best 10 Albums" but then I really wanted to make a list of the albums that I know are most likely to stay in my rotation of more consistent listening. Hope you all had a great new years and I'm looking forward to a new year of new music and possibly even some of my own recordings?! We'll see.

10: Broken Bells - Broken Bells -> Now for those who know me, they probably have heard me whine about The Shins after the whole Garden State Soundtrack being the go to 'indie' mix. But, after hearing the simple enjoyability of 'The High Road' and recognizing Brian Burton's (Danger Mouse) crisp and simplistic production, I realized I do enjoy James Mercer's voice and I had to give the Portlander a fair shake. I love this album and will probably still be enjoying it in a few decades. Also the Chistina Hendricks starring video for 'The Ghost Inside' is pretty darn cool (and the song sounds like Danger Mouse modeled it after his work with Damon Albarn on Demon Days)

9: Yeasayer - Odd Blood -> If this album is an indicator of where music is going, I'm pretty excited. I know it can feel a bit like the trite dance indie-electronica that makes PF (not as much as Kanye does), but there are just so many interesting sounds and juxtapositions of sounds here that at loud volumes, you can't help but be interested. His voice can be a bit whiny at times, but I quickly forget as the songs really draw you in. Other than the number 1 on this year's list, this actually probably my most listened to album of the year. Also, the bridge of 'Ambling Alp' makes my ears do somersaults of happiness.

8: Karen Elson - The Ghost Who Walks -> Jack White's wife Karen Elson's debut album was not one of those 'I know the right people so I got an album made' kind of deal. While the album was produced by her husband, this is not a Jack White derivative album. It is a thoughtful, beautiful sounding collection of well written songs by Elson. While some songs do 'rock out' a bit more, like 'The Garden' the majority play the album covers' slightly spooky tone. Its a haunting collection of singer songwriter songs that will continue to be enjoyed by myself for years.

7: Big Light - Animals in Bloom -> The last time I saw the Mother Hips in Santa Cruz, I had the privilege of seeing Big Light open for them at Moe's Alley. Coming in and not doing my research beforehand, I was surprised to be greeted with a great new band out of San Francisco. 'Heavy', a highlight song from the concert as well as their EP and Animals in Bloom gives you an idea of where they come from in concert.

6: Hot Chip - One Life Stand -> While I know there have been many great electronic releases this past year, Hot Chip's newest album is the only one I think that will really end up remain in my musical consciousness. There are great dance songs, and beats that just lead to introspection when coupled with the satirical and honest lyrics. Also, 'I Feel Better', while one of the standout tracks, has one of the best/funniest music videos I've seen in a long time.

5: LCD Soundsystem - This is Happening -> Critics love James Murphy. PF loves him too. And. Well. Yah, I love this album too. From the obvious Bowie nods to the just genuine flow of thoughts within his lyrics. 'Pow Pow' is my favorite track with its whole 'from this position' mantra. Something I find relatable, and enjoy hearing the thoughts move from one thought to the next.

4: Electric Six - Zodiac -> This band is pretty darn prolific. Other than the two year gap between Fire and Señor Smoke, they've been releasing an album a year since 2005. Not only do they now have an almost overwhelming catalog of songs, but they're good. Their smarm and musicality has been honed over the years with their disco-punk-glam satire rock just getting better and better. Zodiac was no exception to this and with a cover of The Spinners' 'Rubberband Man' and such strong songs like 'Jam it in the Hole' and 'Love Song for Myself' make me feel like next years outing will probably also make the top 10.

3: Blitzen Trapper - Destroyers of the Void -> Having been one of my favorite bands since Furr, and cementing that with their Black River Killer EP, Blitzen Trapper's new album was one of the most anticipated of the albums for me. It did not disappoint with the strong songwriting skills of Eric Earley and meandering folk-prog-rock that ensues (exemplified by the first track). But the strongest moment on the album would have to be the story telling of 'The Man Who Would Speak True'.

2: Apples in Stereo - Travellers in Space and Time-> As I said in my first review, this is one happy, good vibe spouting album. It is going to stay in my album rotation for quite some time into the future.

1: Gorillaz - Plastic Beach-> Definitely the highest anticipated album of the year for myself (if you know me, you know my obsession with the Gorillaz, ESPECIALLY 2005's Demon Days) and it did not leave me wanting. Albarn's amalgam of all forms of modern pop musical styles and artists with selected eclectic tastes are exemplified in the title and concept of the album. A beach so far from civilization where all of the remnants of trash and culture mix together to form something creative, emotional, thoughtful and at times, beautiful.

In the meantime...

The holidays produced an unintended dearth of blog posts so this is what happens.

I have a bunch of ideas and things in the works, not to mention my weekly reviews to catch up on:

-10 Favorite Albums of 2010

-A personal update

-CAKE and Decemberists reviews

And various other ideas to just stay 'drafts' for now. Most likely music related. However, there is one thing I think that is exciting about one of these ideas.

I will now be recording every time I practice guitar.

PROS:

-Constant review of riffs and no more losing ideas instantly

-Plenty of space on my computer, so no worry about this being too much to handle

-I can make lots of demos.

CONS:

-My laptop mic is garbage. I need a usb device like a MBox to connect a real mic to.

-No backing band.

-Too many 'rough cut' demos. (All of them)

I'm also going to be posting the cream of the crop every couple days to here via Soundcloud. I figure that I need to get more comfortable with possible scrutiny if I'm ever going to have the personal strength to try to play with other random people, let alone in front of any size crowd.

I'll be back soon, but until then watch the first episode of Portlandia while its still up. It keeps making me crack up.

No NMT today, but...

I am working on a Top 15 albums of 2010 list to post as soon as I'm finished deciding and writing. Also I'm in the midst of preparing for another physiology exam so thats another reason for it getting left out this week. However, here are some links/topics that might be interesting to people as something to either waste your time with or judge me for wasting my time on them!

-I recently found Audacity after I realized that I don't need to use any fancy mic's just to record simple ideas. With this realization I figured there has to be some sort of free audio editing software out there and Audacity is what I found. Pretty easy to use, and as long as you don't care that the sound quality from your computer's internal mic is awful, really easy to record and export as an mp3 for reviewing.

-After this find, I wanted to find a digital synthesizer for putting together some beats and rhythms to practice with. While I've found a program, I am awful with it. I found the FLStudio demo, which seems to be pretty in depth, but I am pretty much garbage when it comes to actually trying to come up with something that doesn't immediately give me a headache. Though, through all of this its made me think that taking an electronic music, and music production class at some point would probably allow me to really grow a bit and give me more confidence with what I do write. And I AM writing now. So watch out world. I'm not just talking about maybe-possibly-somehow doing it at some point in the near future anymore.

-Found a link from VGCats to this free game called Octodad the other day. Just watch the trailer and if you laughed as much as I did, you should go download it and try it out. Wacky and weird game.

-Oh and I saw the Dandy Warhols this past Sunday with Becca. It was pretty cool seeing live, but they were definitely visibly tired with this being the last show of their tour and Courtney just looking completely wiped. Zia kept up the energy though and it was nice to go to a rock concert that had people actually dancing and moving to the music, as opposed to the cool indie 'stand and look like you are above everyone' look. (And yes, I know everyone is dancing at the electronica and more dance oriented band shows).

Thats it for now, back to the books.

Oh yah, and if you haven't seen the stop motion Community, you need to.

NMT: Daft Punk's 'Tron: Legacy' Soundtrack

Now usually I start one of these reviews with a bit of my own personal background with the band and how I 'found' them and so on. But this is Daft Punk. Everyone and their mom knows them (including mine). My first album I owned of theirs was Discovery and I've been hooked since I was given it for Christmas of '01. That album has led to so many things ranging from arguments, dancing sessions, an inordinate amount of nostalgic conversations and good feelings.

Their other releases (Homework, Human After All, Alive 1997 & 2007) have similar good feelings and thousands of plays from my various audio devices. So needless to say, hearing word that Daft Punk would be involved with the score/soundtrack of the new Tron left me frothing at the mouth.

Now being familiar with their film work with Interstella 5555 and Electroma, I was fairly sure that this was not going to be a 'typical' Daft Punk album. Not that any of them have been typical when compared to their antecedent, its just that this was not going to be as much of an electronic pop album. Its the score to a film with appropriate drama and instrumentation to fit the epic visuals and feeling of a large scale sci-fi film.

Starting out with the overture, the album sets an appropriate tone for the rest of the album, with a somber and dark classical music styled progression with crashing symbols and a hint of digital distortion; coming off as a less bombastic 'Zarathustra' as seen through the eyes of the French electronic duo. This track sets the tone for the score which follows with amalgam's of digital effects and full outright orchestration, providing strong and moving soundscapes that I am sure will more than back up the film when it is released on December 17th.

The album works well as a mood setter and has particularly energetic 'stand-out' tracks such as 'Derezzed' (which has just received a new music video release), 'End of the Line', and 'Arena' which gives you a taste of what the albums most electronic and energetic tracks will be built upon.

My only criticisms come as a Daft Punk fan looking for individual tracks to pick out and play for friends and in the car, but I won't let those mar how I view this album. As the track 'The Game has Changed' is named, the album and music must be viewed differently. Daft Punk have always been something different in the pop music, dance and electronic scene. They are artists and this project is just further evidence that this duo can keep changing, and keep making memorable and forward thinking music. While I can't personally say its as enjoyable as Discovery (which is in my Island 5), it is of the par to keep it in the same league as the rest of their body of work and should not be dismissed like some music fans would discount Queen's 'Flash Gordon' soundtrack (though the theme song is SO catchy).

Daft Punk's 'Tron: Legacy' Soundtrack - > 4.5/5

Also an interesting fact; I saw an interview with Joseph Kosinski where he discussed how he asked Daft Punk to work with them, and they came to him with a full set of songs before even seeing any of the material. From the way he described it, the demos did not change very much and even ended up effecting the movie's production. These projects were developed in coordination with one another and I look forward to seeing how the music affects the pacing of the film in two weeks!

Is it just me or does the little Disney symbol kinda ruin the simple design of the cover?