well, it's been a while since i've posted about music. what's kind of funny is that since i've been over in korea, i've been exposed to a much greater number of new bands and new albums than i ever had in canada. perhaps because i'm meeting a greater number of people with different origins, and different music tastes. or perhaps it's got something to do with the fact i have so much more time on my hands, i can listen to more music, and check out more bands. so i thought i'd spend some time talking and demonstrating some of the more bands i've recently been listening to.

mother mother

this is the band i've probably listened to the most in the last year. I thank my friend matt kincaide for introducing me to them. they are a smaller indie band out of vancouver that's fairly new, with two albums under their belt. they've played numerous shows around saskatchewan, for all of which i've been absent. i really dig the layered vocals, with three part harmonies for much of the time. two female vocalists and a male vocalist make for a really rounded out sound. i also really dig the lyrics, good imagery and metaphor.




silversun pickups

A newer band, don't know much about it. Reminds me a bit of the old mid-90s post-grungers, although many people will accuse it of being indie :). Their one single has over two bazillion hits on youtube.com so it has to be pretty popular somewhere anyway. Though I like the song 3 seed better. Decent band, mediocre album with some real gems in the rough. The album I'm referring to is Carnavas from 2006.





muse - the resistance

wicked new album. buy it, love it. this track is groovy as hell, catches you right from the outset. kinda like crossing queen with rage against the machine. yes, as blasphemous as it is, i said it.



the bull north

some home-grown talent. these guys have been around since linger's early days and released their first album only shortly after we did. hard to pin the genre on this one, definitely rock, and maybe some country influence. i don't have anything that i can stream, so i'll point you over to their Myspace to have a listen. I'd suggest listening to When I Come Down or The Pines.


them crooked vultures

the bombshell of 2009. josh homme, dave grohl, john paul jones, and some other guy. the first single is awesome, and you can get a free track off of itunes. it's not even out yet, and i'm pumped for it.



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other notables are old timers, the new pearl jam album's pretty good, as is the new alice in chains. however, weezer's new album raditude is just...nothing special. i love the band, but the formulaic and cheesy hooks have lost me entirely.

anyhow, i didn't really have swine flu, that was my Halloween costume, although there were still some people that night who wouldn't get too close to me because of katherine's convincing make-up. it was a blast, our friend Simon rented a condo at O2 resort in Taebaek, and we ripped it up.

counting down the days and months now otherwise. we have less than four months left of our contract, less than two months left of teaching (realistically only about 40 teaching days), and five months to the day that we'll be back in canada. i'm working my ass off getting my masters' application finished, even though i'm not totally decided that it will be my path.

until next time
keep fit and have fun.

i know that this has been posted on this blog once before, but i recompressed it with some of the modern technology i now have access to, and the more efficient streaming capabilities.

i still look at this as a student project. it is, however, i highly enjoyed making it, and may yet again in the future expand it into something feature length, as this version i shortened considerably from the original screenplay in order to be able to film it.

many of my friends were involved making it, and there are a lot of pleasant memories attached to it. so enjoy, even if the content itself is pretty heavy, you're welcome to not take it too seriously.

peace

When I tell my friends who haven't heard about this guy's story, the reaction is very often the same. It's unbelievable, straight out. Not-of-this-plane-of-existence surreal. An Edmonton, AB filmmaker who lured a person to his garage, duct taped him to a chair, then proceeded to torture and kill him...all seemingly directly from his movie script. He was best known for his doomed Star Wars fan video, one that he is reputed to have spent in the tens of thousands of dollars on, which in the end, went bankrupt and was never finished.



Of course, something like this doesn't always reek of mental disorder. People often have grandiose ideas that are impossible or imprudent, and usually are let down with a harsh tug off their cloud. However, it became apparent on his next project, with the working title of "House of Cards", that his passion for filmmaking was more of an obsession. He set up a film set in his garage, had a real crew, with actors, shooting the eight-minute long horror short. Actor Chris Heward described his ordeal. He was strapped to a metal chair, duct taped, and played the victim. The other actors were using real samurai swords, understandably, Heward "was nervous". Shortly after, he was contacted by the police asking if he knew anything about the snuff film industry, and if he knew a man by the name of John Atlinger.

The plot of House of Cards details the life of a husband in a not-so-perfect marriage who connects with a woman on a dating website online. He agrees to meet her and goes to her house, only to be stunned by a masked man and tied up. He is then tortured and murdered, with the final twist revealing it to be a fantasy, all in the imagination of the writer, cast and performed by none other than Twitchell himself.

Twitchell apparently was a big fan of the serial killer TV show Dexter, and his short film has similarities as well. The show has taken quite a bit of flak for these similarities. The duct tape, the dismemberment, all reminiscent of the average episode. He even tried to sell the script online, claiming it was directly from the show. The final twist in this case was that he was going to do it for real.

He lured John Atlinger to his garage by posting on a dating website, posing as a beautiful woman who wanted to meet him. Atlinger went to the address to meet a man holding a stun-gun. He said he was shooting a movie and asked to come inside. He didn't and went home, and for reasons unknown, returned the next day. He hasn't been heard from since. His friends received a suspicious email from his account claiming he was running away to Costa Rica with a woman he had just met, and his boss received his letter of resignation through email, however, most people didn't buy it, and the police got involved. It was soon discovered that this wasn't Twitchell's first victim either, another man contacted police later to inform them that he went through the same ordeal. A couple witnessed this man escaping, being chased by a man in a hockey mask wielding a samurai sword. It seems a bit surprising that he didn't say anything earlier, and perhaps he could have prevented the death of Mr. Atlinger.

The police have said that the forensic evidence discovered in the garage is enough to charge Twitchell, however, there is no body, and it has led some to speculate that he is doing this as a publicity stunt, sending Atlinger away for a few weeks and taking in the free media coverage. However, you'd think that it might be a good idea to give up the stunt before you go to jail for the rest of your life. For now, we'll wait and see and maybe we'll finally find out the complete story. Really strange to hear about something like this so close to home.

This is a great, quick summary of the story shown on global.



Sleep tight kiddies.

And shame on you for liking it. This is what the criminal has to say for himself:

"The music video for my song 'Alice', an electronic piece composed using sounds recorded from the Disney film 'Alice In Wonderland'. www.myspace.com/pogotracks www.last.fm/music/Pogo"

well, the time is almost here...well, no it's not, but it's closer than ever! lucky kat is taking a rest at home (with the pneumonia, so i don't feel that envious), and i'm plugging away at school, time is passing ever so slowly, though faster than when i wasn't doing anything at all.



an update on the future:....i got nothing.

that's the trouble. things that seem so solid even a few weeks ago are starting to show fault. i wish i was rich and had about ten lives to live simultaneously. however, i don't on both counts, so the decisions have more weight than i'd like to admit. but let's suppose on the hypothetical reality that i can plan for more than a few months in advance. this could be what the future would look like:

now until the end of january: work like the slave dog i am. february: travel in SE Asia, provided that H1N1 doesn't kill everyone in the world, or at least not erode their better sensibilities. feb. 25: finish the contract, cast off these iron shackles and celebrate freedom. early march: travel china with the folks. early april: fly home to canada, a canada without anymore winter i hope. april: ? may-forever: ?...

just a few blanks left to fill in in that plan, and i'll be set.

anyone wanna help me out?

Nine Inch Nails are finishing up their American tour this month, the last show for what could be a long time. I had a chance to attend their last show in Asia in Seoul for a brief 90-minute set of some of their classic songs. It was an amazing show, and despite the fact that this time they weren't done up in the fancy light shows or the elaborate stage decor, it was still an absolutely mind-blowing show. In commemoration of the event, I decided to draw out a tribute, NIN in my life and memory.

I remember being in high school with Brent Keefe sitting behind me in Mr. Pegg's English class talking about the rarity of certain albums, Pretty Hate Machine being one and Soundgarden's first album, Badmotorfinger. I distinctly remember Brent (who had a propensity to exaggerate) saying, "Yeah, my friend located one copy of Pretty Hate Machine, it was like, in Belgium." These were the types of discussions we had throughout the high school years for which I look back very fondly. Our worldview was slowly starting to expand beyond the halls of the school, thanks largely to the rock magazines Spin and Rolling Stone and also from the music we listened to. It's funny how the bands we listened to as kids seemed to speak directly to us, even from the distances, and we would relate to the lyrics as though they directly channeled our own teenage (and sometimes pointless) angst. Nine Inch Nails was the band for me that represented that. Back then, they were only one band of many, but if I had need for emotional comfort, or discharge, that was what I would listen to. I had all of their albums by Grade 10, and had all of the "halos" before I was out of high school. After all, the only thing I had to spend money on was gas, coffee, and CDs. I remember that the money I earned from Eddies' was split up in almost an even third just such. My collection of CDs grew exponentially in those days, going from 10 to 300 in three years, since which I've probably only purchased 30 (even though my digital collection mysteriously doubles every six months). I remember remixing Nine Inch Nails tracks by rudimentary looping and editing on Cool Edit Pro, my first real musical foot forward, and a few steps behind my friends Jeremy and Mark who were doing the same thing with different bands.



Then we graduated, and everything changed. The discussions of music became more passionate, more final, and often more confrontational. The worldview then expanded beyond Weyburn's bubble, as most of us moved away to another city for school, or just to get away. The Fragile was released on 9-9-99, in my first year of university. I remember my first listen to the album was while I was writing my first Psychology paper (or should I say NOT writing it). The Fragile was the first thing Kat and I talked about when we got to know each other at a party, and what was playing when we hooked up. I drove around in the cougar with a tape that was starting to become so thin you could quietly hear the backwards music from the opposite side. I don't think I ever played an album as much before or since as I did that one. I was tortured by the fact that they never came through even remotely near Saskatchewan during the Fragility tour which lasted over two years and toured to even the most remote reaches of the globe. However, when they finally released the live DVD, we had a taste. Justin, Dave, Nathan, Victor and myself would all sit down before nearly every Linger band practice in front of his massive surround sound stereo system and get blown away by that DVD. This was what we wanted to do and how we wanted to do it.



Even though University seemed like an eternity while we were there, I'm sad to say that I've been out of it longer than I was in it. Maybe when I am old I will look back at that time period as being the best of my life, but maybe that's only because I was much more optimistic and excited during those years, because at first sight, the world is a beautiful and open place with opportunity and potential. However, now, I look back at that time as the life under the umbrella, and not at all in the real world, and thus illegitimate in a way. However perception is a strong thing, and at that point perception was blissfully naive. With Teeth came out when I was experiencing the tidal flood of the real world. The direction that Trent went on that album was perhaps not as epic as the Fragile, but I thought and still think it was concise and less introspective about the world then the previous albums, and thus having greater relevance lyrically. He was making a lot of the same observations as me, so it hit hard, and I listened to that album as much as any other. This was the tour where Kat and I had a chance to finally see the live show, and it was beyond anything I ever dreamed of. The marriage of visual performance and musical performance was astounding. It was an experience unto itself.



It was at this juncture that I finally had a chance to meet the man who'd influenced everything musical in my life. He's short, has striking blue eyes, and he's got a really strong grip. Beyond that, the meeting was really anti-climactic, and although it was a great experience, it was not the life-changing moment of glorious connection I guess I secretly hoped it would be. This is fine, I don't believe it's a good thing to idolize somebody too much, as you create a bubble of who you believe the person is, and very often what they really are like is nothing of the sort. Really, it's all that I really could desire for such a happening, a chance to thank the man who makes the music. But really, it's the gift of music and memory that I will always keep.

Year Zero, Ghosts, and The Slip have all come out swiftly, over the course of only two years. I enjoy all of this music just as much as I have the early stuff, and all in different ways, but really it will be in the future before I can truly realize the impact and it's relation to the events and memories that happen in my life.



Although this blog post seems that NIN was the only band that I ever listened to, that's not true, but it is the band I've listened to the longest and still like as much as the first day I experienced it. So here's to NIN, you'll be missed, though, I have 20 hours of music to listen to until I'm old and gray. Thanks again.

updated some links on the side...there are still some more i have to remember to change...there are many defunct blogs or practically defunct blogs out there that i wanted to purge and replace them with some blogs i actually check, and always seem to forget to check. more to come, and soon.

peace

I'm in the pleasant and care-free time of summer time in korea. It's raining constantly, but that should break in the next week or so, and after that, it's time again for sweet sweet vacation. Until then, i will plod along; attending classes, but not teaching; attending school, but not working. I am over my hump of depression that hit mid to late semester. A feeling of distance that was very great and anxiety related to the future plagued my mind for a while, exacerbated by the rainy days.

But i look forward to the summer holidays. For the last six years, i've taken vacation in the same set of days, the last week or two in july and the first week or two in august. It feels like that time of year again, and i embrace that. The plans are pretty exciting, we're going to kick off vacation with a concert in Seoul, called the Jisan Valley Rock Festival. Some notable acts are Weezer, Basement Jaxx, Patti Smith and Oasis, as well as a couple dozen Korean rock bands. For three days, the cost isn't too expensive. We picked up a tent to camp out over night, and i expect the event will be pretty awesome. Ryan Hillstead and Lisa Styles are also attending, so it'll be a Weyburn infused event.

After that, we will rent a car (i'm scared already) and drive down the west coast. We haven't explored that side of Korea at all and i'm excited at the opportunity to see a part of Korea that may offer a different view of the country...or may not. Either way, if we're not having fun, we can drive the entire length of the country in less than six hours. Our final destination of this leg will be Jeju-do, an island province only a few hours by ferry off of the southern coast. This place has been called the Hawaii of Korea, although having been to jeju one time before, i will say it's more like the florida of korea. We'll spend the largest part of our vacation here, I think, camping, snorkeling, and climbing the volcanic mountain, Hallasan, which happens to be the biggest mountain in South Korea.

If we are lucky, and the weather holds, we'll take a ferry over to Busan for a few days, and then into Japan. Last summer, we weren't able to do the southern part of the island, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, etc, so even just a few days will be enough time to pick up some of the spots we missed last year.

Then, all too soon, we'll be back at work, for another two to three weeks of not really working before the second and final semester begins. The time to return is coming down, though we have two more major excursions planned before we come back.

OH, and hard to believe i almost forgot. NINE INCH NAILS!!! YEAH!!! AUGUST 15th!!! ETP Festival!!! i'm thrilled to have this opportunity to see the band i love most play one last time. we were disappointed that we couldn't go to summersonic festival in japan because of financial reasons, but trent heard my wish (i'm sure), and has scheduled the last asian tour date in seoul, just for me...SWEET! oh, and limp bizkit is the other headliner...yay...

that's all for now, i swear i'll post more often this summer, i swear!

begin part one.
i was a spy sent in to rescue prisoners which were held in small boxes surrounded by laser beams that didn't kill you but alerted the bad guys to my presence. i was together with a friend who i can't remember at this point, and we snuck closer to our targets. we were in the mountains in korea, whereas this is irrelevant militarily, the area was just wilderness and roads as most places in the south are. the lasers were multi-coloured and surrounding several posts in the middle with three-beams in a gate like fashion. thin enough to get through, and that's what we did, and soon we were examining the posts closely. however, the boxes were impossibly small for people, and the realization i made in the non-linear fashion, was that these were bodies, cremated and stuffed into these small boxes on the posts. why so were they protected i wondered? well, there was no way we could carry them, let alone rescue them, so we decided to make a break for it. however, my partner accidentally stepped too far back and tripped the lazer. so we ran, however, the lazers had a slowing side effect. and as a result even though we were running away as fast as we could, we still weren't moving fast enough to get away. or so i thought. as we were running up a mountain road trying desperately to escape our captors, i passed by an idling truck, and realized it was my getaway truck. except the girl who was in the driver's seat (i didn't recognize her) said that i had taken many hours for what felt like a few minutes. i stopped by the driver's side window to find out more about my missing time, when she looked at me and said i wasn't who she remembered me to be. i was someone else. it was then i realized that it was i who had been in the boxes, and somehow my rescuer (which i had been in the consciousness of earlier in the dream) had switched places with me as he/i ran through the lazer beams.

end part one

begin part two.
i was at a jam session with all the usual suspects, i think it was in scott's basement, or something similar, and there were stacks and stacks of amps and gear everywhere. i was very excited because there was a musician who i admire that was playing there. so after a while of watching the bands jam it out, i went up to this musician (who also is a guitar player) and asked her if i could play guitar with her. she said yes, and we tried to jam, unfortunately no matter how hard we tried, we couldn't find that groove together, and i couldn't tell if it was her or me that was making it sound so bad. consequently, after a few tries, she explodes on me and yells that i'm terrible, and we clash so bad because i'm so bad. at this point, i'm very embarassed, and i try to show her some work i did on the computer as reconciliation, however, cubase wouldn't work, and i couldn't play her any music.

end part two

of course, these are edited versions of it, and some parts i don't remember as clearly as others, and other feelings don't translate at all in to words, but it was a very lucid dream, the clearest i've had in a while.

don't think i'd post this to my portfolio site :)