Review: The Wild EP

The Wild EP SleeveThe Wild is the new EP (and his third release overall) from Lewis Watson.  His previous EPs were called  It’s Got Four Sad Songs On It BTW and Another Four Sad Songs; despite the naming convention change, The Wild isn’t necessarily a change of theme.  The first track, “Into the Wild” has a bit of an uplifting feel, but the next track “It Could Be Better” dashes the narrator’s hopes. “Little Darling” isn’t much happier (despite the refrain of “Little Darling/You’re mine”), nor is “Hold On”.  Presumably the EP is called The Wild because Three More Sad Songs and One That’s Not Really That Sad doesn’t really have a good ring to it.  Of course, that’s not a bad thing for the listener — it’s really quite enjoyable. Continue reading →

Review: The Point (Definitive Collector’s Edition DVD)

the_pointThe album version of The Point, Harry Nilsson‘s children’s fable, was an integral part of my childhood. I have many fond memories of listening to that record with my dad, thrilling to the story of Oblio, born pointless in a world where everything is pointed, and his adventures in the Pointless Forest. But I did not see the film version until I was older, and that one time was quite awhile ago. So it was with fresh eyes that I watched the new “Definitive Collector’s Edition” DVD, but I am very happy to report it lived up to all my expectations. Continue reading →

sanity check: idea for a video game

Paperclip-01 (xndr)
Paperclip-01 (xndr) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We got this letter from the Internet Browsing Club:

[tell me if this is sane and interesting]

game based on the “paperclip maximizer” thought experiment, as featured in My Little Pony: Friendship is Optimal. I have no idea what it looks like. It could easily be a roguelike, for all I care. Or it could have cutesy bright graphics. Whatever.

At the start, you play as a paperclip maximizer. You’re in a world with resources of various types floating around, and other maximizer robots that try to eat you and turn you into some other resource, something other than a paperclip.  We can add whatever fun little floating things we think of. maybe super-special resources you can use for upgrades to your maximizer, I dunno.. Everything, though, can eventually be turned into a paperclip. Provided you can get your mitts on it and provided it doesn’t eat you or blow you up while you’re working.  Continue reading →

Crush on Zappativland

andrew
andrew (Photo credit: Ben McLeod)

Crush On Radio is back!  I think it’s only been three weeks instead of the normal two?  But it feels a little longer.  It’s kind of funny how that works.  ANYWAY, not only are we back, but Andrew is back with us, making it a full on three-by-three episode that makes things great!  AND apparently the iTunes feed is working again!  (I guess it was busted before.  I believe Rich has some opinions on FeedBurner.)  SO HOORAY!

Anyway, the picks this week were:  Magazine!  Frank Zappa by way of Larry LaLonde! and Negativland!  Check it out!

Subscribe on iTunes!  Or follow us at CrushOnRadio.com!  Or on Facebook!  Or Twitter?  Continue reading →

Review: Blackfish

Blackfish PosterI remember visiting SeaWorld as a kid. I grew up only a few hours north of San Diego, so that’s the park where we would go. SeaWorld was never quite as much fun as a trip to DisneyLand or Knotts Berry Farm or Magic Mountain or even the San Diego Zoo or Wild Animal Park. But it was always a big event. And the entire trip would always center on the orca show – usually ending with a big fight over whether we would be allowed to sit in the splash zone or not (I believe that the kids only won this battle once). The last time I went to SeaWorld in San Diego, I was probably around ten to twelve years old. Continue reading →

Review: The River of Crime!

The River of Crime!So, we’re stealin’ the idea from the Sparks Project and doing one with probably even more records out there — The Residents!  And this time we’re changing it up a little bit — we’ve got two hardcore Residents fans in me and Rich, but Aila is, at best, a casual fan, who will be hearing about 99% of these records for the first time.  DANGEROUS!  So, enjoy, THE RESIDENTS PROJECT! Continue reading →

Interview: Joshua Fried/RADIO WONDERLAND

Photo of Joshua Fried by Stafford Smith
Photo of Joshua Fried by Stafford Smith

Joshua Fried is a composer known for doing innovative work that’s still very danceable.  He’s also done remixes including songs by They Might Be Giants and Chaka Khan.  In the 1980s, he was signed to Atlantic, which resulted in the 12” single “Jimmy Because (My Name Is)”.  Fried often has a technical element to his work too, including tape machines and headphones.  His current project is RADIO WONDERLAND, where Fried remixes live radio coming off a boombox using software he’s written plus the steering wheel of a Buick and drum pads made from shoes to control the samples.  If you’d like to see him explain his setup and the RADIO WONDERLAND process, this is a fascinating 10 minute video.  Joshua Fried is currently crowdfunding the debut RADIO WONDERLAND album — you can donate via his USA Projects page, and not only support a great artist, but get some cool stuff out of the deal yourself!  Likewise, you can hear many examples of Fried’s work, RADIO WONDERLAND and not, via his Soundcloud.

Continue reading →

Review: Nanobots

Nanobots coverI am willing to make this declaration about Nanobots, They Might Be Giants’ newly-released 16th album: It is the one of the absolute best things they have done in the last 18 years. As someone who builds my life around this band, even I admit that a fair amount of their output in recent years has been underwhelming. But Nanobots can take its place alongside some of their best work. Continue reading →

The Fluffy Virus

English: My LCD clock with LED backlight. My o...Every so often you realize that you’re more or less living in the future, and that the future is pretty neat. In fact, most times it’s pretty great, except for two things:

a) In the future, everything is – for whatever reason – online
and
b) Some people are still assholes.

In fact, A wouldn’t even be a problem if it weren’t for B. But B has been a problem for all of history, and will likely continue to remain a problem until humanity dies out… probably due to some people being assholes.  Continue reading →

The Residents Project Supplemental Edition: Bad Day on the Midway: The Book

Bad Day On The Midway ReconsideredIn case you don’t remember, we didn’t really care much for Have A Bad Day, the soundtrack CD to the Residents‘ CD-ROM game Bad Day on the Midway.  And it didn’t help that of the three of us, none had actually played the game the music came from.  In fact, I’m not sure if we COULD play the game even if we had a copy of it, given how computers advanced and whatnot.  The Bad Day project couldn’t die, however.  After at least three attempts to turn it into a TV series (including one attempt by David Lynch of all people), the Residents — or rather the singing Resident, Randy Rose — turned the storyline of the game into a short novel. Continue reading →