Summer Mix ‘07
By CheapReveal | June 28, 2007
For the past 3 or 4 years, around this time, my friend Dave and I have been exchanging mix tapes (actually mix cd-rs) of songs that lend themselves to the warmer months out of the year. We have a few requirements, though they are not strictly enfocred, but rather serve as guidelines towards what sort of songs to include. There should be at least one song by a female vocalist, there should be a cover, there should be a song by a non-contemporary artist (I try not to use the term classic rock), there should be songs from the following genres - alternative, folk, electronic/ambient, hard-rock, experimental. As mentioned earlier these are not strict rules but instead ways of making sure our mixes are eclectic while maintaining an overall “summery” feel.
And now, without further adieu, I present you with You’ll Shine Like Gold In The Air Of Summer Summer Mix ‘07:
download the zipped file: You’ll Shine Like Gold In The Air Of Summer Summer Mix ‘07
or check out the tracks individually…
Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: music, playlist | 1 Comment »
Ben Kweller… ba ben ben kweller
By CheapReveal | June 27, 2007
As anyone of my friends can tell you (as I’ve told them a millions times), I put Ben Kweller’s 2002 debut, Sha Sha, back into heavy rotation. My friend Chris Dwyer (author ashinynewmachine), has been trying to convince me of this day in 2012 when the Mayans predict an apocalypitic type coming of one of their gods, but instead of the usual destruction story we are all used to he brings an understanding in such a way that humans will be able to communicate telepathically. Yeah I know this is a really abridged version and I probably got some of the facts wrong but you can read the rest here. Either way, I have finally come to the realization that all things are connected and that they do come full circle, now whether that’s due to the Mayans or not is out of the scope of this article (I have heard about some great things they’ve done so I wouldn’t doubt it).
OK, back to Ben Kweller. I don’t know why, but ever since I heard the beginning lines of Sha Sha (you know “When I was a movie star an asteroid had hit the earth…”) it seems everyone I’ve talked to recently has had some BK related news/story to tell me. And now to cap it all off… drum roll please… the man, the myth, the legend is playing 3 shows at South Paw in Brooklyn, New York in which he will play the entirety of each of his albums. **ok, scratch your head a little bit** YES, that means he will be playing Sha Sha all the way through. I feel bad for the group that sees him on the third night (self-titled album was far less than stellar if you ask me).
Yes, this is what greets you as you walk though the foyer of BenKweller.com. $50 for all three nights, lyrics at the front door, special party with the band, kinda seems a bit lavish, especially for a man who is unknown to the general population but whatevs, I hope they all sell out, I like BK, I really do, I just hope his next album is better than the last.
Now for your visual pleasure I’ve included a link to BK covering the Pumpkin’s classic “Today”. Thanks Spin!
Ben Kweller - Today (Smashing Pumpkins cover) [MP3]
Topics: music, videos | 2 Comments »
British comedians
By CheapReveal | June 22, 2007
For some reason these two words seem like an oxymoron to me. The Brits are supposed to be proper and stuck-up and righteous and royal. So how can there be British comedians? Well, no matter the logistics of it… they do exist and are hilarious. Yeah sure, they might use some words you don’t know, and talk about places you’ve never heard of and throw in some British pop culture references that never made it to the US but still, they’re funny… really.
Edward John “Eddie” Izzard (born February 7, 1962) is an English[1] stand-up comedian and actor, known for his cross-dressing. His comedic style is expressed in rambling, surreal monologue and self-referential pantomime. In addition to touring, he is also a television, stage and film actor, and is active in charity work. ~ Wikipedia
Apparently this guys is like a big deal across the pond? Anyway, I had never heard of him until recently when I stumbled across a routine of his that I thought was rather amusing. Take a listen and see what you think. “Everyone on film is so swish on computers”, I think this line is just perfect, HOW BRITISH DO YOU HAVE TO BE TO SAY SWISH???
Eddie Izzard - Armegeddon [MP3]
After laughing so much from the first character I started looking up more British comedians and came across John Maloney. His comedic style is a little different than the first. He seems to have more of Mitch Hedberg style; subtle, slow, depressed, lots of one-liners, but still very funny. I mean seriously he starts off with the line “I went to a dyslexic rave, brilliant, a lot of people taking F… a bloke in the corner trying to inject heron”. Check these two guys out, if you have any other not-so-well-known-british-comedic recommendations I’d love to hear them.
John Maloney - Stand Up [MP3]
Topics: comedy, UK | 3 Comments »
Flight of the Conchords
By CheapReveal | June 17, 2007
Sundays are depressing. The are depressing for many reasons. The most obvious being that one must eventually come to the realization that the weekend is finally over. For most of the world Sunday is a day of rest, a day of family, a day of faith or a day of hangover. For me (most recently at least) Sunday has been a day of television. When I was at school we used to watch new episodes of Family Guy every Sunday at my friend Chris’ dorm and now, I have been watching The Sopranos/Entourage on Sundays. Well, as we all know, The Sopranos is off the air and HBO has an open slot.
I have been looking forward to this show for quite a while since seeing Eagle vs. Shark at Boston’s independent film festival in May. Jemaine Clement and his “mate” Bret McKenzie make a hilarious tag team throwing out line after line of dry British humor into your eyeballs. I’m not sure if I can call it British humor because they are clearly from New Zealand but whatever, you wouldn’t know what I was talking about if I said dry New Zealand humor, would you?
Sphere: Related ContentTopics: videos, tv, comdey | 5 Comments »
Paprika!
By CheapReveal | June 14, 2007
Alright, first off, before you start reading this I urge you to please start playing the song above. It will give you a much better understanding of what I am about to write and an all around better experience.
Dreams, the subconscious, architecture, japan, art, experimental music, nature and technology, the future. These are things that I will be (and have been) obsessed with for the rest of my life. Paprika fulfilled about 7 of the 9. Architecture and nature made brief appearances but nothing worth sticking in my brain (besides a brief Tarzan scene). If you can get some kind of idea of what this movie is about based on that, then I would like to congratulate you and tell you that whatever you are thinking, this film is 100 times more.
Sphere: Related ContentTopics: movies, art | 3 Comments »
Mozart vs. Led Zeppelin
By CheapReveal | June 12, 2007
Well I stumbled across an article this morning in a blog called howardwho. I had dismissed the article when I initially read it but sometime later (maybe and hour or two) while I was dazing off in my cubicle I began thinking about the article again.
This aforementioned article was titled Classical Music is the Best Music. After reading the article for the first time I began to agree with it. There was one paragraph in particular that caught my eye.
For you see, the reason why classical music is the best is that decades and centuries have all but eliminated the crap, the mediocre artists, the trendy one-hit wonders, the fakers, and the wannabes. It is best by default because if we’re listening to it that means it stuck around and struck a nerve.
After a first read I had agreed with this portion of the article but later, as the day went on, I began to debate this with myself. You see in classical music we are only familiarized with the best of the best and I do not think that is what makes a genre stand out as the cream of the crop. Of course it has stood the test of time, but this is just due to the fact that the people in charge at the times (kings, queens, dukes, duchesses etc.) were keen to the sound. I for one would much rather listen to a rock opera than an actual opera.
See for me I think what this all boils down to is the age old debate of whether contemporary art can be compared to classical art. I would say that they both stand equal ground. It’s like comparing a Michelangelo to a Picasso. Sure the Michelangelo is breathtaking and remarkably detailed, but the Picasso is unique and extremely innovative. After seeing a Picasso you might ask yourself ‘how did he come up with that?’ while after staring at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel for an hour you might be asking yourself, ‘how did he ever finish that?’.
To me it’s a matter of opinion.
Topics: art | 2 Comments »
An essay of malcontent
By CheapReveal | June 11, 2007
Have you ever been at a point in your life where you realize that you are absolutely fully concentrated on one thing, and that all other things no matter how important or vital take a back seat. Exercise enthusiasts refer to it as a runner high, lovers refer to it as being in the heat of passion but call it being in the “zone”. Well, this morning I was in the zone.
For the most part this world can be divided up into two types of drivers - those that know how to drive in traffic and those who do not. Well this morning let me tell you, I was on the fortunate side of this fence. Every morning I hit traffic going to work and it is usually a complete gamble on what time I will actually get there. Las Vegas bookies could try as hard as they may to set up odds on when I will arrive at work but really, they would only be guessing. Sometimes I think about what life would be like if gamblers and betters were constantly scrutinizing my life for odds. I’m sure I could learn a lot from them…
Sphere: Related ContentSIDEBAR -
Think about it, if someone told you everyday what the odds of your acting a particular way, would you change the way you act? If random-fact-guy came up to you every morning and said things like “5 to 1 odds you skip your afternoon class today” or “2 to 1 odds you talk to a girl all night at some lame party and she doesn’t go home with you” your perspective on life would change… I guarantee it.
Topics: rant | 2 Comments »
Culture shock
By CheapReveal | June 10, 2007
Usually when Americans travel abroad the first thing they talk about when mentioning their recent trip to others is the differences in social norms, customs, ways of life etc. A normal conversation might be something like “Did you know their biggest meal of the day is eaten for lunch instead of dinner?” or “You wouldn’t believe it, EVERYTHING is closed on Sunday” or (although less likely) “Instead of petting their dogs, they pet their fish!”. Well, the first two you might have already known, but I’m guessing the last is news. So here I am in Germany shedding some light on your American way of life.
Are They Really Touching Them? from CheapReveal
Sphere: Related ContentTopics: videos, germany, europe | 1 Comment »
Missed my flight
By CheapReveal | June 5, 2007
As some of you might know, I am in Europe right now. Traveling to different Countries in Europe is supposed to be like traveling to different states in the US. Well, I´m here to tell you it is not. Although all these different countries are packed into an area the size of Texas they all have a different language barrier (not to mention the keyboards are all different). Not being able to communicate might be one the worst feelings in the world, worse then embarrassment, worse then jealousy worse even then shame.
So, on our way to Barcelona Spain from Frankfurt we missed our flight. Yeah, it sucked. We could either pay an extra 75 euro and go the next day (paying again for the bus to and from the airport, which was about an hour and a half outside the city) or pay the 75 euro that day and go to valencia, which is… 50 miles? 100 miles? a couple hours? from Barcelona. To tell you the truth I don´t know yet, because we´re still in Valencia. But for now I must go (my 1 euro per half hour is running out) I will tell you all more once I get to another internet ready computer. ciao now.
Sphere: Related ContentTopics: travel | 2 Comments »
Props to the Red River
By CheapReveal | June 1, 2007
Alright so my last post was a little angry, I realize that, but sometimes it just needs to be done. This post will be about nice things and nice people. See people are nice, and almost always put smiles on my face, corporations are mean and ugly and smelly so sometimes I have to complain about them.
First on the list of nice things is Bill Roberts from Long Beach California. I stumbled acrosss his band’s myspace, however you stumble across people’s myspace pages… some crazy tangled web I’m sure. But I couldn’t find anything about this homie on the internet anywhere I looked, it’s like he didn’t exist. So, I e-mailed him asking where I could buy a cd and/or hear more of his delightful indie-folk-quirk tunes. To my surprise he e-mailed me almost immediately asking for my address and said that he would send over some of his music.
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Topics: Things that I like, music | No Comments »