July 29, 2007
July 26, 2007
Chromeo - Tenderoni
July 24, 2007
Justice - D.A.N.C.E.
July 22, 2007
Taco Town on SNL
July 18, 2007
Depeche Mode - Behind The Wheel
Tears For Fears - Mad World
Depeche Mode - Enjoy The Silence (Reinterpreted)
July 17, 2007
dan le sac VS scroobius pip "Thou Shalt always Kill"
Charlie the Unicorn
Benjamin Owen's "Fanny Pack"
Japanese Tetris
July 16, 2007
This is how to mass produce terrible art that nobody cares about. This one was made for a dental office restroom.
Music and dance from Bollywood film "Devdas"
Why would you stand here?
This is footage of a 747 landing at St. Maarten. The 747 is so big it needs the whole airstrip for this landing. The crazy thing is this happens all the time and people stand there for thrills. No thanks.
JamesNintendoNerd is hilarious on youtube
Falling from Real Genius
July 03, 2007
David Blaine: Street Magic 1 & 2
May 10, 2007
Limahl - NeverEnding Story
May 09, 2007
Something For Rockets - Look Around
Check out their site. You can hear their entire album for free. Very good new music I heard from a new friend.
New Product: Glade - Plug Ups
May 08, 2007
Muse - Time Is Running Out
Muse - Starlight
Arcade Fire - My Body Is A Cage
Thom Yorke - Harrowdown Hill
May 02, 2007
Fita Commercial
May 01, 2007
Finally a name worse than Asstemborski
Did I Break It?
Contact Intro
Minilogue/hitchhikers choice - short version
Thom Yorke of Radiohead - Speed Painted
April 27, 2007
Look Around You - Computer Games
Mr. Mister - Kyrie
Steve Winwood - While You See A Chance (Live)
November 09, 2006
Alcazar - Crying at the Discotheque"
This is for Sam the Soundman.
November 08, 2006
Alphaville - Forever Young
Matisyahu: King Without A Crown
The Music Video
The same song live:
November 07, 2006
Lady Sovereign on Letterman
Chickity Check.
November 02, 2006
Hanging out with my friends
December 20, 2005
Frou Frou: New Music I Heard About Through Aaron Molho
A collaboration between musician/vocalist Imogen Heap and producer/arranger/songwriter/musician Guy Sigsworth, Frou Frou manufactured an impressive brand of vocal-driven, electronic pop formerly the exclusive territory of Björk. The British duo had been collaborating for years without a record deal, and after what must have been countless hours matching Sigsworth's studio finesse and trickery with Heap's breathy yodel, the group's debut, Details, was completed for American release on MCA Records in 2002. Heap and Sigsworth first worked together on "Getting Scared" from Heap's 1998 solo record iMEGAPHONE. After completing the promotion for that splendid debut, Heap was ready to begin work on a new project and the two hooked up again as Sigsworth had privately been compiling music specifically for Heap while producing other projects. The first track conceived by the new, more formal (but as yet unnamed) pairing eventually turned into "Flicks" from Details, perhaps Frou Frou's most Björk-reminiscent number. Sigsworth — who had in fact worked with Björk (Homogenic, Vespertine) and Madonna ("What It Feels Like for a Girl") among many other significant '90s pop and electronic artists — grew up listening to eclectic female artists like Kate Bush, and along with Heap, developed an appreciation for classical music. Far from being the kind of campy moniker one might expect from a more sugary pop outfit, the name Frou Frou was decided upon when Francophile Sigsworth noticed the phrase in a Baudelaire poem. Apparently, when uttered in French, the phrase is meant to approximate the swishing of skirts as they swirl about the legs of comely dancing women, as in a burlesque performance. Born composers, multi-instrumentalist Heap and studio/sound/ producer/musician Sigsworth are credited with many side appearances in support of other artists, especially Sigsworth, who was often used as a bit of a song-fixer. While those aren't bad jobs to have, artists of Frou Frou's caliber need to step out on their own, and while Heap worked as a solo artist for a majority of her career, Sigsworth had never been so strongly identified with any previous project. Instead of relegating the male producer/writer to a barely credited back seat, as often happens with a female-fronted team effort (for example, Glen Ballard's participation on Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill), Frou Frou was conceived and honestly portrayed as a true collaboration, making it significant for its marketing truthfulness if nothing else. Details has some relatively conventional pop moments like "It's Good to Be in Love," but more experimental cuts like "Only Got One" display a more definitive quality. The true accomplishment of Frou Frou — which is in evidence on just about every track the "band" created — is their uncanny ability to infuse highly manipulated, digitally crafted music with a warmth quite rare in pop and almost unheard of in music so technologically progressive. In the studio, Frou Frou achieved unique sounding beds for Heap's luscious voice via more-than-would-be-expected acoustic and natural instruments. These actual instrumental performances were recorded first, then heavily manipulated in an editing stage, giving the duo their own process and thus, their own sound. This approach made their music lush, dynamic, and more earthy when compared to typical electronic/dance and canned pop.
This band was introduced to me from my friend, Aaron Molho. You can find it on Amazon here.
Holiday Recipe: Magic Cookie Bars
Always a hit, these cookies are made with butter, graham cracker crumbs, chocolate chips, pecans, coconut, and sweetened condensed milk.
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1 pkg (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1 can (3 1/2 ounces) flaked coconut, or about 1 1/3 cups
1 cup chopped pecans
PREPARATION:
Preheat oven to 350°.
Melt butter in a 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Sprinkle crumbs evenly over melted butter; pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crumbs. Top evenly with remaining ingredients; press down firmly. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool magic cookie bars before cutting.
THANK YOU, COOKIE FRIEDMAN! Your son made me write that. I think your recipe is slightly different, but Brian feels you deserve some credit, even though I have had Magic Bars since I was in 2nd grade.
American Splendor: I give it 4 out of 4 White Russians
Harvey Pekar is file clerk at the local VA hospital. His interactions with his co-workers offer some relief from the monotony, and their discussions encompass everything from music to the decline of American culture to new flavors of jellybeans and life itself. At home, Harvey fills his days with reading, writing and listening to jazz. His apartment is filled with thousands of books and LPs, and he regularly scours Cleveland's thrift stores and garage sales for more, savoring the rare joy of a 25-cent find. It is at one of these junk sales that Harvey meets Robert Crumb, a greeting card artist and music enthusiast. When, years later, Crumb finds international success for his underground comics, the idea that comic books can be a valid art form for adults inspires Harvey to write his own brand of comic book. An admirer of naturalist writers like Theodore Dreiser, Harvey makes his American Splendor a truthful, unsentimental record of his working-class life, a warts-and-all self portrait. First published in 1976, the comic earns Harvey cult fame throughout the 1980s and eventually leads him to the sardonic Joyce Barber, a partner in a Delaware comic book store who end ups being Harvey's true soul mate as they experience the bizarre byproducts of Harvey's cult celebrity stature.
Paul Giamatti is excellent in this film as he has always been in the past. I suggest you buy the movie right now.
Trailer for American Splendor.
Amazon Listing for American Splendor.
December 16, 2005
Conventional and Jumbo Loans
Conventional loans are secured by government sponsored entities or GSEs such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Conventional loans can be made to purchase or refinance homes with first and second mortgages on single family to four family homes.
In general, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's single family, first mortgage loan limit is $359,650 in 2005. This limit is reviewed annually and, if needed, changed to reflect changes in the national average price for single family homes. The current loan limit applies to all conventional mortgages delivered after January 1, 2005.
2005 Conventional Loan Limits
First mortgages
One-family loans: $359,650
Two-family loans: $460,400
Three-family loans: $556,500
Four-family loans: $691,600
Note: Maximum original loan amounts are 50 percent higher for first mortgages on properties in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Second Mortgages
$179,825 (in Alaska, Hawaii, and the US Virgin Islands: $269,725)
Loans which are larger than the limits set by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are called jumbo loans. Because jumbo loans are not funded by these government sponsored entities, they usually carry a higher interest rate and some additional underwriting requirements. A strategy to lower your overall interest payments if your purchase or refinance balance is above $359,650 is to use a combination of both first and second trust money, referred to as an 80/10/10, 80/15/5 or 80/20. Every situation is different, but it is one more option to consider.
In addition to common loan structures such as fixed rate, adjustable rate and balloon loans, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac also have loan programs for low to no down payments, community lending and affordable housing initiatives, construction to permanent, home improvement and reverse mortgages. If you have questions about mortgage loans, email me at mark@gotmark.com.
December 11, 2005
Should You Pay Points On A Mortgage Loan?
A point, which equals 1% of the total loan amount, is an upfront fee that reduces your monthly interest rate and total interest due over the life of a loan. This means that a one point loan will always have a lower interest rate than a no point loan. Paying points is in essence a trade off between paying money now versus paying money later.
Deciding whether to pay points depends on how long you are looking to keep the loan. I suggest paying points up front if you plan on keeping the loan for at least four years to ensure that you recoup the costs through lower monthly payments. If you think that you might move within the next four years or might want to refinance because the market rate is declining, then you probably would be better off with a no point loan.
Lenders allow you to choose amongst a variety of rate and point combinations for the same loan product. Therefore, when comparing rates from different lenders, make sure you compare the associated points and rate combinations of the offered program. The published Annual Percentage Rate (APR) is a tool used to compare different terms, offered rates, and points among different lenders and programs. For more information about loans, contact me at mark@gotmark.com.
December 03, 2005
Mortgage Advice: Several Factors Affect Your Mortgage Rate
| Increase | Decrease | |
| Amount of Loan | Rates Up | Rates Down |
| Length of Loan | Rates Up | Rates Down |
| Adjustable Rate | Rates Down | Rates Up |
| Down Payment | Rates Down | Rates Up |
| Discount Points | Rates Down | Rates Up |
| Closing Costs | Rates Down | Rates Up |
| Credit Quality | Rates Down | Rates Up |
| Income Level | Rates Down | Rates Up |
| Lock In Period | Rates Up | Rates Down |
The amount of your loan can increase your interest rate if the amount financed exceeds the conforming loan limits established by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The conforming loan limit changes at the beginning of each year.
Shorter loans, such as 20 year or 15 year note, can save you thousand of dollars in interest payments over the life of the loan, but your monthly payments will be higher. An adjustable rate mortgage may get you started with a lower interest rate than a fixed rate mortgage, but your payments could get higher when the interest rate changes.
A larger down payment – greater than 20% - will give you the best possible rate. Down payments of 5% or less should expect to pay a higher rate as you are starting with less equity as collateral. If you've got the cash now and want to lower your payments, you can pay on your loan to lower your mortgage rate. It's a simple concept, really: In exchange for more money upfront, lenders are willing to lower the interest rate they charge, cutting the borrower's payments. Closing costs are fees paid by the lender, if you don’t want to pay all of the closing costs, expect a higher rate which will pay the lender additional interest over the life of the loan.
Credit quality and debt-to-income-ratio affect the terms of your loan through FICO Score. If you have good credit and your monthly income far surpasses your monthly debt obligations, you will get approved at a lower interest rate. However, if your monthly income barely covers your minimum debt obligations, even if you have a credit report, you will not receive the lowest available interest rate.
If you want to position yourself appropriately for the years ahead and need advice on what loan is right for you, email me at mark@gotmark.com.
November 25, 2005
Tahiti 80: Parisian Pop
Singer Xavier Boyer and bassist Pedro Resende formed Parisian pop combo Tahiti 80 in 1993 as students at the University of Rouen, bonding on the strength of their shared affinity for the music of the British Invasion era. A handful of demos
followed before the duo recruited guitarist Mederic Gontier in 1994, and with the addition of drummer Sylvain Marchand a year later, the lineup was complete. Adopting their name from a souvenir t-shirt given go Boyer's father during a 1980 vacation to the Polynesian islands, Tahiti 80 issued their debut EP 20 Minutes in 1996. The I.S.A.A.C. EP followed, and in mid-2000 Minty Fresh issued the band's first full-length effort, Puzzle. The Heartbeat Remixes was issued that fall with Extra Pieces following in early 2001. The abstract and artistical sound of Wallpaper for the Soul appeared in 2002.
November 19, 2005
Covenant - Swedish Electronic Music
Covenant
is a Swedish electronic band signed to San Francisco's 21st Circuitry Records.
Their music is built around deep, droning tones and thundering rhythms that
support dark songs focusing on science fictional and cyberpunk themes, such as "Replicant"
and "Painamplifier" from
Dreams of a Cryotank. The third recorded band to use the name Covenant,
they issued
The United States of Mind in early 2000.
Add to My Profile | More Videos
November 03, 2005
Kraftwerk: German Techno from the 70s Comes to Life
 Kraftwerk is considered one of the most influential bands in pop history. In a career spanning more than 35 years, the German electro pioneers have been endlessly saluted and mimicked by each new generation of innovators. In the 1970s, the post-punk futurists professed their devotion. In the 1980s & 90s, the leading lights of Chicago house along with Detroit and Euro-techno paid homage. Possibly the most sampled band on the planet, their music continues to inspire. Over the last decade, Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider, Fritz Hilpert and Henning Schmitz have toured the world, and in 2003, as rare and splendid as a returning comet in the night sky, Kraftwerk released Tour De France Soundtracks. Now in 2005, having already electrified the band's global army of disciples and following an unforgettable appearance at Coachella 2004, Kraftwerk are returning to perform a short series of shows in DC, New York, Detroit, Chicago and LA, their first since 1998. Astralwerks will release a 2-CD live set entitled Minimum-Maximum on June 7th containing 22 tracks recorded throughout Europe, Japan and the US during the band's 2004 world tour. Recorded and mixed with Kraftwerk's legendary precision, Minimum-Maximum features all of the band's classic compositions alongside their most recent 2004 Billboard Club chart hit "Aerodynamik". | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
|
Chromeo: Chrome and Romeo Finally Combined
|
Chromeo is Dave 1 and P-Thugg, also known as David Macklovitch and Patrick Gemayel. Two best friends that have been doing music together since they were kids and now live in the same crib like The Monkees. | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
|
Website -> 
November 02, 2005
Phoenix: I see London, I see France, I see Phoenix making me dance
The French band Phoenix draws elements from an eclectic '80s upbringing to arrive at their rock-synth sound. Thomas Mars (vocals), Deck D'Arcy (bass), and Christian Mazzalai (guitars) were a garage band based out of Mars' house in the suburbs of Paris. Mazzalai's older brother Branco joined the band on guitar when his band Darlin' disbanded in 1995. The group got their touring start on the French bar circuit doing Hank Williams and Prince covers to drunk audiences. Two years later the band took on the name Phoenix and pressed 500 copies of a single on their own label, Ghettoblaster. The A-side was a punk rock song and the other a chugging Krautrocker, hinting at their eclectic tastes. Shortly after, they were signed to the Paris-based Source records. Phoenix became well aquainted with labelmates Air when they acted as their backing band on several U.K. TV appearances. The result of the electronic exposure was a single called "Heatwave," which was very similar to an old '70s disco tune. United, the group's debut album, appeared in 2000 on Astralwerks and was recorded over two months. The album featured guest appearances from friends and family, including Thomas Bangalter (Daft Punk), Phillipe Zdar (Cassius), and D'Arcy's mother's choral society on the track "Funky Squaredance." Alphabetical followed in 2004. | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
|
Röyksopp: Time To Liven Up Your Norwegian Music Collection
Norwegian duo Röyksopp compensated for the cold climes of their native Tromsø by making some of the warmest, most inviting downbeat electronica of the new millennium, exemplified by early singles like "Eple" and "Poor Leno." The pair, Torbjørn Brundtland and Svein Berge, both grew up in Tromsø and began recording in the early '90s. Local-made-good Geir Jenssen (aka Biosphere) provided tutelage and almost convinced the duo to record for R&S sublabel Apollo. After a few years apart, Brundtland and Berge met up again in Bergen and re-formed Röyksopp in 1998. The group released a few singles on Tellé, then signed up to the big beat label Wall of Sound. The Röyksopp debut was 2001's "Eple" single; both "Eple" and another track ("Poor Leno") earned slots on over a dozen chill-out compilations that year or the next. Their first full-length, Melody A.M., appeared in late 2001. After spending a few years performing live and remixing artists including Beck and Annie, Royksopp returned with new material in 2005: the single "Only This Moment" heralded the summer release of the duo's second album The Understanding, which featured more traditionally structured songs than their earlier work. | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
|
Frank Zappa: Censorship in 1986 and 1987
|
The second video link is CNN revisited by Frank in 1987. | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
|
In 1986, Frank Zappa appeared on Crossfire to discuss rock lyrics and censorship. 
K-Os: Hip Hop with Heart
 Raised by Jehovah's Witness parents in locales as disparate as Toronto and Trinidad, it was no surprise that Kheaven Brereton, aka K-Os (pronounced: chaos) was a bit different than your average MC. A singer as well as a rhymer, and a producer to boot, K-Os proved on his debut album Exit (Astralwerks, 2002) that being preachy didn't have to mean being boring. The LP stood out dramatically with lush, instrument-driven arrangements to go with the traditional hip-hop elements of drum programming, samples, and the like. Acoustic guitar and piano marked the single "Heaven Only Knows"; dub and reggae influences tinged "Freeze." Many of the tracks found the rapper singing, so much so that an argument could be raised about the genre to which K-Os in fact belonged. And that was just the way he liked it. A tour to support Exit stretched from late 2002 through summer 2003; the dates saw K-Os performing with such hip-hop luminaries as India.Irie and Floetry. Exit went on to pick up International Album of the Year at the 2003 Source Awards. K-Os returned in September '04 with the equally ambitious Joyful Rebellion. | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
|
rock minus guitars = KEANE
 Tom Chaplin (vocals), Richard Hughes (drums), and Tim Rice-Oxley (piano) are childhood friends from Battle, East Sussex, England who make up the pop sounds of Keane. Formed in 1997 while each were attending college, Keane initially started out as a cover band. They played Oasis, U2 and Beatles songs in and around Sussex with guitarist Dominic Scott. Keane got tired of playing everyone else's songs and yearned to do things on their own. When Chaplin left his Art History studies at Edinburgh University behind in 1999 and moved to London to join the rest of his bandmates, Keane had a chance to really do it. They began writing and recording almost immediately. Call Me What You Like marked their self-released debut single in early 2000 and Wolf At The Door followed a year later, however things were slow to develop. Scott left the band in July 2001 and labels weren't really biting at Keane's rich, piano-driven kind of rock & roll because Coldplay was supposedly doing it. In December 2002, Keane got the break that they'd be waiting for. Fierce Panda's Simon Williams was summoned by a friend to attend a Keane gig in London. He was so impressed by the band's performance, Williams offered to issue the band's next single, Everything's Changing, on the spot. The limited-edition release was such a success on radio, several labels soon swarmed around the indie rock trio, eager to offer them a recording contract. Keane signed to Island UK in fall 2003 and released their fourth single, This Is The Last Time. The band's full-length debut, Hopes and Fears, appeared the following spring. | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
|
VHS or BETA: Definitely VHS
 VHS or Beta formed in 1997 in Louisville, KY, when bassist Mark Palgy and guitarists Zeke Buck and Craig Pfunder met after high school. After a brief stint with noise punk and the addition of drummer Mark Guidry, they reformed in response to their love of house music, soul, and disco. The new sound, enhanced by keyboards, vocoder, samples, and electronic drums, eventually brought in hundreds of dancing people at their shows. Soon, the band released the vinyl-only EP ON & ON. After playing the 2000 South by Southwest music festival and negotiating with record labels, they released Le Funk on their own label, ON! Records, in June 2002. In summer 2002, VHS or Beta toured with I Am the World Trade Center. Chea Beckley was added for the band's performances to handle vocoder, samples, and keyboards. By the time the band's Astralwerks debut, Night on Fire, arrived in 2004, their sound owed more to dance-punk than Daft Punk. | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
|
November 01, 2005
LCD Soundsystem: My new Favorite
LCD Soundsystem debuted with Losing My Edge, a single that became one of the most talked-about indie releases of 2002. A self-effacing spoof of the outrageous pissing contests that often occur whenever music geeks cross paths ("I was there at the first Can show in Cologne," etc.) laid over a puttering electronic beat with the occasional bursts of discoid clatter, the track was also one of the first released on the DFA label. Several magazines and newspapers would eventually declare James Murphy, the man behind both LCD Soundsystem and DFA, to be one of the coolest people on the planet. Years of obscurity and the occasional poor decision preceded this. Just before Murphy began to cut his teeth throughout the '90s, first as a member of Pony (an average post-hardcore band with heavy debts to their inspirations) and then with Speedking (a much stronger, more unique band), he passed up the opportunity to write for the popular sitcom Seinfeld. All the time spent toiling in indie rock took a toll on Murphy, but he built his own studio and became increasingly adept at engineering and producing other bands.While working on David Holmes' Bow Down to the Exit Sign, he struck up a relationship with programmer/producer Tim Goldsworthy that developed into a partnership. By the end of 2002, there were several releases on Murphy and Goldsworthy's DFA label, most of which involved the duo in some capacity. LCD's "Losing My Edge," backed with an excellent neo-post-punk dance track called "Beat Connection," was one of them. Murphy scattered three other LCD singles through the end of 2004 and released a self-titled full-length in January of 2005. At the time of its release, the DFA label was more popular than ever; Murphy and Goldsworthy had remixes for Metro Area, N.E.R.D., Le Tigre, and Junior Senior behind them, as well as failed sessions with Britney Spears that might've benefited from an interpreter. Janet Jackson was another unlikely admirer seeking the duo's assistance, but Murphy didn't bother to follow up on her request. | |||||||||
| |||||||||
|
August 05, 2005
Fischerspooner: This Salsas from New York City
|
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
|
The new wave/electro-pop troupe Fischerspooner was formed in New York City in 1998 and has come to incorporate multimedia, strange handmade costumes, dancing, and performance art. Originally a duo formed by classically trained musician Warren Fischer and video-artist and experimental theater performer Casey Spooner for an impromptu rendition of their makeshift track "Indian Cab Fever" at the Astor Place Starbucks, the group grew to over 20 performers, mostly dancers and guest vocalists. These singers have included Cindy Greene, Lizzy Yoder (also of Sweet Thunder), and Korean pop recording artist Mona Trona. The group uses the stage antics of David Bowie and traditional mainstream pop vocalists, along with the campy electronics of Giorgio Moroder or Depeche Mode and vocoders of Trans Am. By the time of their 2000 eponymous debut, Fischerspooner was a certifiable sensation in downtown New York City art galleries and clubs. The single "Emerge" topped European charts, invited a six-song remix EP, and won Fischer and Spooner invitations to international fashion, art, and society happenings. The 2002 album #1 was a re-envisioning of their debut with yet another mix of "Emerge," this time more sedate and electro, following the trend of the times. The duo returned in 2005 with their second album, Odyssey. Hitmaker Linda Perry, intellectual Susan Sontag, and Madonna producer Mirwais all made appearances.
July 29, 2005
Air: Sex, Drugs, and Talkie Walkie
 More apt to cite stately rock paragons Burt Bacharach and Brian Wilson as their inspirations than Derrick May or Aphex Twin, the French duo Air gained inclusion into the late-'90s electronica surge due chiefly to the labels their recordings appeared on, not the actual music they produced. Their sound, a variant of the classic disco sound coaxed into a relaxing Prozac vision of the late '70s, looked back to a variety of phenomena from the period — synthesizer maestros Tomita, Jean-Michel Jarre, and Vangelis, new wave music of the nonspiky variety, and obscure Italian film soundtracks. Despite gaining quick entrance into the dance community (through releases for Source and Mo' Wax), Air's 1998 debut album, Moon Safari, charted a light — well, airy — course along soundscapes composed with melody lines by Moog and Rhodes, not Roland and Yamaha. The presence of several female vocalists, an equipment list whose number of pieces stretched into the dozens, and a baroque tuba solo on one track — all of this conspired to make Air more of a happening in the living room than the dancefloor. Though Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel both grew up in Versailles, the two didn't meet until they began studying at the same college. Dunckel, who had studied at the Conservatoire in Paris, played in an alternative band named Orange. One of Dunckel's bandmates, Alex Gopher, introduced Godin into the lineup. While Gopher himself departed (later to record for the Solid label), Dunckel and Godin continued on, becoming Air by 1995. During 1996-1997, the duo released singles on Britain's Mo' Wax ("Modular") and the domestic Source label ("Casanova 70," "Le Soleil Est Prés de Moi"). Though Air often evinced the same '60s Continental charm as Dimitri From Paris — due no doubt to the influence of Serge Gainsbourg — the duo had little in common musically with other acts (Daft Punk) in the wave of French electronica lapping at the shores of Britain and America during 1997. That same year, Air remixed Depeche Mode and Neneh Cherry and joined French musique concrète popster Jean-Jacques Perrey for a track on the Source compilation Sourcelab, Vol. 3. Signed to Virgin, Air released their debut album, Moon Safari, in early 1998. The singles "Sexy Boy" and "Kelly Watch the Stars" became moderate hits in Britain and earned airplay on MTV. Later that year, Godin and Dunckel mounted an ambitious tour throughout Europe and America, though they had originally decided to forego live appearances. Their early singles were collected in 1999 under the title Premiers Symptomes; the duo's soundtrack to the Sofia Coppola film The Virgin Suicides followed in early 2000. Air's second studio effort, 10,000 Hz Legend, appeared in spring 2001 with a subsequent tour of the U.S., but critics and fans alike didn't appreciate the darker, more experimental direction. They bridged the gap between the pop of Moon Safari and the experimentalism of 10,000 Hz Legend with their 2004 release Talkie Walkie. | |||||||||
| |||||||||
|
July 28, 2005
homestarrunner.com: It's Crazy Go Nuts
If you have not heard, homestarrunner.com is one of the greatest flash comic sites around. Please take some time to explore it and get to know some of the characters. Word!
Everybody! Everybody!
"Badge of the CHP" by Cliff Bemis
The song, Badge of the CHP, means a lot to me. I think about it everytime I get pulled over.
Great Trivia: this song was written by Cliff from the IHOP commercials. You can buy a copy of it and play it in your car. I bet it will increase your chances of getting out of a ticket.
Cliff Bemis in uniform (probably listening to his masterpiece)
