What I’m listening to. Right now.

Atlas from the Battles album Mirrored. I knew nothing about these guys until driving one day I flipped over to Left of Center (Gotta love LoC on Sirius!) and I almost had to stop the car. I was mesmerized by the FutureSexyRobotRock I issuing from the speakers and absolutely had to make sure I got the track and group before it ended. I did. And as soon as I got home I DLed Mirrored. Fantastic (In every sense of the word.), trippy, electro-organic art-math-exprimental-rock, Battles is a group pushing the boundaries of what exactly ‘Rock’ is.

Check out this live performance of Leyendecker too – good stuff.
[On second thought – don’t. The quality is shite. Sorry. – Ed.]

Slicing Up Eyeballs (and Eardrums): 05.01.07

A weekly (Tuesdays) list of what I'm doing with my eyes and ears (and thumbs?). It is by no means a comprehensive list – just of the moment. If something strikes me between Tuesdays I'll update here – so check back throughout the week.

And be sure to check the Tuesday Track Player over there on the right left for the week's featured cut.

Magazines:
Finally found time to devour the lastest iss (May 2007, 15.05) of Wired. Pick up a copy to check the annual Rave Awards honorees – 22 “innovators, instigators, and inventors” – it's an interesting group covering the spectrum, from pop-culture to politics, and technology to design.

Books:
Still in the midst of re-reading Snow Crash. Every page reveals a different piece of very prescient visionary thinking from Mr. Stephenson. [See also SUEB(AED) 04.17.07. – Ed.]

I've got a backlog of stuff I'm looking forward to though. Here's what's on top of the stack:

• After Dark, the latest from prolific Japanese author Haruki Murakami. I haven't read any of his previous work but am looking forward to seeing what the hype is all about. [Technically not ‘on top of the stack’ as it's pub date is 05.08. But I have pre-ordered it. – Ed.]
• A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, Ishmael Beah. Saw him on The Daily Show and the soft-spoken, exceedingly polite gentleman talking with Jon Stewart was hard to reconcile with the drug-fueled, AK-47 toting child that is said to inhabit this memoir.
• Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die..., Chip & Dan Heath. Gotta stay on top of my game. So, occasionally you gotta read one of the ‘hot’ books-of-the-moment. Though by the time I get to it, the moment may have passed. We'll see.

If anyone's read any of these and has some thoughts, let me know.

Movies:
I got nothin'.

Music:
Another album I've come late to. A Weekend in the City, Bloc Party's latest. Their first, Silent Alarm, is right up there with Arctic Monkey's debut as one of my favorites of the past couple of years. But, for some reason, I wasn't ready to dive in on this one. Anyway, my brother, Diego, gave it the ‘go ahead’ about a month ago and so I finally picked it up – but I didn't start spinning it. Then, on Monday I'm driving in to work and Hunting for Witches comes on Left of Center (Sirius) – but I don't realize what I'm hearing – and I think to myself, “This sh*t is fookin' hot!” and I look at the display to find – it's BP. And that's why Hunting for Witches is this week's Tuesday Track.

TV:
Heroes, Sopranos, Entourage, The Office, 30 Rock. That's all I can tell you.

Video Games:
Again, I got nothin'. I'm as disappointed as you are. You can still game after you're married, right? Right?

Slicing Up Eyeballs (and Eardrums): 04.24.07

UPDATED! 04.27.07
UPDATED! 04.26.07

A weekly (Tuesdays) list of what I'm doing with my eyes and ears (and thumbs?). It is by no means a comprehensive list – just of the moment. If something strikes me between Tuesdays I'll update here – so check back.

Also, I've added a music player (top right) from blogmusik.net that I'll use to feature one track metioned in each week's Music section of SUEB(AED). [Now played in Snap Shots from link. – Ed.]

I'll try to make this quick:

Magazines:
• So, I finish reading an article on the 'New Doucheoisie' (who knew?) in the latest Details (May, 07), Have You Become "That Guy"? (the short answer – probably), and I flip back to the front to see who authored it and... Surprise! It's Simon Dumenco! (See previous post: Everybody has one.) Apparently he's 'The Media Guy' and 'the douchy guy'. In the article he proposes the unfortunately titled theory of "trickle down douchenomics".

"When you think about it, douchey entitlement has surely been aided and abetted by economic forces bigger than all of us–the real-estate bubble and the latest dot-com boom–creating grassroots-level douchebags everywhere."

Worth reading if only to confirm what you already know – that you may in fact be a douchebag.

And on a related note.

• Also trying to find time to devour the latest iss of Fast Company. I'll update if something strikes me.

Books:
• Wanted to get this off my chest. Then We Came To The End is not as good as the reviews would have you believe. Not even close. It sounded like it was going to be right in my wheelhouse, right up the middle, get in bed with DFWallace, Franzen, Eggers, et al. I even work in the damn industry that provides the setting. But unless I really missed something – somebody sold the King Emperor some new clothes.

Movies:
• Hope this gets wider release before we leave for Paris.

Music:
• ADDED: Last year's Best British Band Ever!, The Arctic Monkeys have come back strong with a new long-player, Favourite Worst Nightmare, that only strengthens their case. I wore out my MP3s of WPSIA,TWIN and I'm certain I will destroy this album as well. I love these guys!

• ADDED: Bassnectar – Underground Communications [Album]: A long player of sticky, breaky, bassy, electric production goodness executed consistently and damn well. If you want just a taste, get the Yo Remix EP first. Avail at the iTS. Watch the Bomb The Blocks vid.

• Sirius Radio. I don't know much about the merger/no merger but I'm lovin' my Sirius more everyday. I came for Howard (I know, I know), but stayed for the awesome channel variety. First Wave takes me back to the late 80's/early 90's, Chill rocks a great mix of downtempo electronic and alt cuts. And my new favorite Left of Center has been turning me on to some great new/slightly used alt/college stuff. Like:

• SUEB(AED) Player Pick: Wolf Parade – You Are a Runner and I Am My Father's Son. I realize I slept on this for 2 years. Whatever. If you dig Pixies/Modest Mouse/with just a hint of Bauhaus. You'll dig this cut. Check it out.

• CocoRosie – Rainbowwarrior. Just heard this on the way to work this morning and haven't been able to get it out of my head. DL it for free (and I'm pretty sure legally) here. Then let me know if you can get it out of yours.

• Mux Mool – Lost and Found. This is one that I'm not sure I heard on Sirius – I don't know where I heard this cut first. But I do know that the moment I heard it I fell in love with. (And I would marry it – if I were a fundamentalist Mormon) It's an elegant little piece of vaguely melacholy electronica – bittersweet. It's available from the iTS on a nice compilation of similar works, The Rorschach Suite.

TV:
• Sanjaya's gone.

• Heroes is back. Great episode. If this is a guilty pleasure, so be it. It's like a cheesy old school '70s comic book come to life.

• The new seasons of the Sopranos and Entourage are everything I'd expected and hoped they would be. I'm surprised to find that I don't think I'll miss Sopranos when it's gone and I hope Entourage sticks around for a while.

Video Games:
• Still haven't gotten around to DLing the new/old Halo Blastacular maps. Can't wait to check 'em out.