Status · 372 days ago
Oh boy, long overdue status update, I guess. Here are the answers to your most immediate doubts and fears!
Q: oh yeesha, you haven’t posted ANYTHING in so long, why?
A: that’s simple! I haven’t shot a lot lately, but I do have a few GB of photos. Thing is, I have migrated my main machine to Windows7 and since then, never installed Photoshop/Picasa/Bridge/whatever. I have no software to work on the photos (which are all in NEF (RAW) format). For that same reason, I haven’t done and vector or manip work in almost 6 months. I don’t miss it much, though.
Q: and how about this blog? Why aren’t you updating more often?
A: I tweet. Long blog posts are often boring and as such I don’t really enjoy doing them. Follow me on twitter or on my lifestream while it’s still there :P
Q: why are you wasting my time with Q&A?
A: meh.
- y
— Black
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Dark Night Of The Soul · 468 days ago
Just finished my first pass through Sparklehorse and Danger Mouse’s new collaborative album ‘Dark Night Of The Soul’. Filled with guest musicians and surrounded by a legal dispute that might cause it to never see the light of day, this anticipated album joins master DJ Danger Mouse, who skyrocketed to fame with his The Grey Album a few years ago, and the brainchild of Mark Linkous, Sparklehorse frontman and main member. Also (very) worthy of noting that David Lynch has been collaborating with the album creation, providing a 100+ page booklet which serves as a visual narrative to the music, as well as providing vocals for two of the tracks.
Enough said about the album creation, lets go on to the music. The album shows both the distinctive marks of Danger Mouse’s music, as well as the subtle sound of Sparklehorse, being, on a whole, quite heterogeneous. From the calm, almost dream-like Star Eyes (with David Lynch on vocals) to a much harsher Pain (with Iggy Pop performing vocal duties), all tracks show traces of DM’s great dj work, but much less audible than in the great The Grey Album.
This work starts amazingly well, with ‘Revenge’ (with the Flaming Lips and my personal favorite so far), a very easygoing track, in which Wayne Coyne’s voice perfectly complements the dreamy soundscape playing in the background. Although the lyrics aren’t exactly sweet, this is a very feelgood track and one can easily enjoy it and let it be the starting point for this musical journey. I can’t wait to see what Lynch has put together to accompany this particular piece. From here on, the album picks up the pace, peaking around the 6th track. ‘Just War’ is still a nice quiet track and very enjoyable, but by ‘Jakub’, a very enjoyable track voiced by Jason Lytle of Grandaddy, we are well under way, dancing along the music. ‘Little Girl’ delivers, taking us into a Jack Rabbit Slim’s casual dance marathon (maybe not Mia Wallace style), and ends at “Angel’s Harp” with Black Francis of the Pixies fame, a heavily mixed rock-ish track, with Francis’ gritty voice delivering a harshness that matches the music perfectly. Next comes ‘Pain’, an Iggy Pop style track, so The Stooges crowd won’t be disappointed. This very short track ends this speedier part of the album, which now flows into ‘Star Eyes’.
‘Star Eyes’ is a very dreamy track that quickly captured my attention: it almost sounds like (old) Múm or early Sigur Rós mixed with Mogwai for a post-rock cocktail that doesn’t disappoint. Lynch’s voice is so heavily modulated that it’s barely recognizable, but falls beautifully in line with the ethereal tone of the track. Next we have “Everytime I’m With You”, again with Jason Lytle, his voice matching this slow-paced meditation better than it did Jakub. This was one of the tracks in which I was just nodding along without even noticing. The heavily mixed ‘Insane Lullaby’ voiced by James Mercer of The Shins sounds great, even with all the inserted noise not breaking the beauty of the xylophones and violins lost among the music. “Daddy’s Gone” and “The Man Who Played God” are very two nice pop tracks, that quietly lead us to the epilogue of the album, which arrives in the form of Grim Augury (with Vic Chesnutt). Now this is a great track, that clearly reminds me of Massive Attack, with Chesnutt’s voice bringing me memories of Massive’s Spying Glass. With ‘Dark Night Of The Soul’, again with David Lynch on vocal duties, we come to a close, a very dark lo-fi track that I’d expect to be produced by Geoff Barrow. The grainy sound, the slow pace of the piano and guitar, and the great modulation on Lynch’s voice puts us in a dark stasis from where we don’t seem to want to leave. It reminds me of a darker and richer ‘Deep Waters’ from Portishead’s Third. An amazing finish for a great, highly enjoyable album.
Legal issues aside, I do hope this album gets released with the respective Lynch booklet, as the limited 5000 copies of the booklet will, no doubt, disappear soon, and with having to order the album from the States, the cost is highly prohibitive for our european fellows. Still, Danger Mouse expressed his desire that, if the album is never released, people get the low quality (128kbps) mp3 leaked online, so if nothing else, get those and enjoy another great work from Sparklehorse and Danger Mouse.
— Black
Kind · 512 days ago
“My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness. “
- Dalai Lama
— Black
If I Had a Heart · 548 days ago
this will never end
cause i want more
more, give me more, give me more
this will never end
cause i want more
more, give me more, give me more
if i had a heart i could love you
if i had a voice i would sing
after the night when i wake up
i’ll see what tomorrow brings
if i had a voice i would sing
dangling feet from window frame
will i ever ever reach the floor?
more, give me more, give me more
crushed and filled with all i found underneath and inside
just to come around
more, give me more, give me more
if i had a voice i would sing
- Fever Ray
— Black
Black · 576 days ago
Had a severe electrical issue in the computer room, which caused about 18 hours of downtime. Still haven’t totally tracked down the issue, so things may be flaky for some time more.
“All who joy would win must share it. Happiness was born a Twin.“ – Lord Byron
— Black