Erni's 2008 Q1 Mix
One of my 2008 goals was to get out to 1 show a week—why live in Seattle if I don't take advantage of its rich musical offerings? Many of the performers I saw are on this mix. The rest of the stuff comes from friendly recommendations and hypem. I think this mix has an overall darker sound than some of my previous. I hope you enjoy!

01 - Black Lips – Step Right Up

I knew nothing about Black Lips when they came to play Neumos other than what I learned from a really interesting blog entry and some streaming tracks on the interwebs. I decided to go see them play. Unfortunately there was no stage pissing (I had strategically positioned myself on the balcony to avoid any spray), but on the bright side they played a great set. They've been around awhile and put out lots of music. This is one of the songs that stood out to me on their 2007 release Good Bad Not Evil.

02 – Pierced Arrows – Caroline

This band opened for the Black Lips. As they were setting up their equipment a girl near me asked who they were and what I knew, which was next to nothing. But judging by their weathered, aged faces, I told her I bet they are gonna fuckin rip. And they did. Also saw them play Funhouse and they rocked nonstop with no break between something like 20 songs, then came back out, played the place some more until after 2am. They're gooood live.

03 – The Republic Tigers – Made Concrete

This is just a track I found on hypem and flagged for future listening. It stood the test of time. The lead singer offers some advice: "Don't believe the scientists that tell you what to think." That really resonates with me. Anyway the track has a nice catchy arrangement of staccato guitar and what might be syncopation but I'm not a musician so not sure about that. This'll be on their first LP releasing May 2008: Keep Color.

04 – Atlas Sound – Recent Bedroom

I went to see Atlas Sound play the High Dive, mostly because metacritic rated their 2008 release very highly. The guy who fronts the band is kind of odd, and that oddness shone through in his banter with the crowd. They played a great set that pleasantly transported me into my own dreamy head, and the show went by far too fast.

05 – Super Furry Animals – Baby Ate My Eightball

"Frothing at the mouth, send him to heaven, see you on the other side, sorry to cut your life so short." I can't quite put my finger on what draws me to this one. Perhaps what hooks me is the sheer lack of emotion in the delivery of these lyrics. Maybe he's numb from all the eightball. Either way, babies will be babies—they love to put stuff in their mouths. So let this song be a lesson to us all, even though I know none of you eightball for realz.

06 – Air France – Beach Party

Yet another Swedish act makes one of my mixes—there must be something in the water over there. Other than that I know shit about Air France. But every once in awhile when it's drizzling and gray outside, and I wish I could be partying on the beach, this is the song I play for 3 minutes of fun in the sun daydreaming.

07 – Kutiman – Music is Ruling My World

This track is just tight. The jazzy drumbeat keeps everything moving right along, and the quick blast of trumpets, masterful trombone solo, sweet vocal improv, and a great buildup at the end all work really well together. And the theme of this one certainly fit my frame of mind over the past few months.

08 – Black Lips – Veni Vidi Vici

So I was a little bit disappointed these guys didn't piss on the stage. But it wasn't a total loss. They spit all over the place instead! This is another good song off last year's release.

09 – Sleater-Kinney – Pompeii

Oddly enough, I was instantly attracted to their chant that the person they're singing to is gonna find out, get low, grow old, and it'll darken their soul. Maybe like a tarnished penny after it has been in circulation for 50 years. The nervous energy in her voice when she wails "baby don't you dare give up on me now" just proves to me her belief that bluster can overcome all, and makes me want to believe it too.

10 – Glenn Hansard & Marketa Irglov – When Your Mind's Made Up

I haven't seen the movie, but I did see the trailer, and it featured this song. Yeah, it's a sad song about heartbreak, but that determined insistence of the futility of changing another's mind once they've made it up rings true to me. And not only for failed romances.

11 – O'death – Only Daughter

When Paul came to visit, we spent hours trading music. He kept asking me to play this band's stuff, but I never got around to it till after he left. I really enjoy O'death's twangy sound. This song has a great initial build and the subject matter extends that theme of loss and drowning which unexpectedly reared its ugly head in many of the songs on this mix.

12 – Lesbian – Black Forest Hamm

This song has a sort of epic quality for me. I saw Lesbian when they played after Bloodhag at Funhouse. I had heard Bloodhag was great live, so I went to see them but wasn't all that impressed to be honest. Lesbian on the other hand played an awesome set—this band understands the power of dynamics. The music in this ~9-minute song brings to my mind the war for middleearth in the lord of the rings, where the forces of good and evil are in a furious exchange for every advantage, and blows are dealt back and forth to both sides until the war's abrupt conclusion.

13 – The Illuminoids – Heart Shaped Titties

This struck me as a really well done mashup. And I wonder whether the sassy singer would be willing to critique my style and let me know if I need any lessons.

14 – Jose Gonzales – Abram

Simple, short, casual, and satisfying. "Either wake up or go to bed." My recent bout with a 104 fever and delirium reminded me how easy it is to end up in that state between sleep and consciousness. "Oh, go to sleep."

15 – Super Furry Animals – Carbon Dating

I don't know what instrument opens this song, but it sets the stage for the keyboard and chords that remind me of a 50s-esque pop song. But the vocal effects are sure to show the listener that this music is in fact very new. The lyric, "Who's the fool who suffers fools? Is it me or you?" makes me think that at a certain level, we're all fools.

16 – Atlas Sound – River Card

The lead singer told a long-winded story about how he used to play with yarn all the time when he was a kid. And he dedicated this song to people that played with yarn as children. I never played much with yarn, so at the time I was nonplussed by his intro. Regardless, I was impressed by his music and particularly this song, which touches upon that repeating theme of river drowning.

17 – Blonde Redhead – Heroine

Chris told me that Blonde Redhead was on the top 10 of most of the employees at a local music store. I also liked their track on Arends' mix, decided to give their recent album a listen, and really enjoyed it. This song just stood out as a little bit different from the rest, and her voice just seeps with heartbreak.

18 – Valet – Kehaar

Honey Owens is Valet, and she plays bass for Atlas Sound. Valet opened for Atlas Sound, and I even talked to her for a little while at the bar. I asked what she thought of the night's first performer (it was a guy who stood with his back to the crowd and sounded like he was doing soundcheck for 30 minutes). She said she thought he was great—his music put her to sleep for 20 minutes. Hopefully that gives you an idea of her musical pedigree.

19 – Sleater-Kinney – The Swimmer

Arends once told me that Sleater-Kinney's guitarist is, in his humble opinion, the best ever. Not knowing much Sleater-Kinney, but having seen the exit sign driving to and from Portland many times, I decided it was time to give them some listening time. The first time I listened to "All Hands on the Bad One" was on the way to and from the Pierced Arrows concert. The walk home from Funhouse was pretty long and chilly, but the driving rhythm and energy of that album kept me going strong. I kept replaying the last two songs not wanting to stop listening, so for it made sense to place this one at the end of the mix, in the hopes that other listeners might have the same reaction.

Pacman pizza sighted at Nectar!


Yesterday we took a break at the end of the day to enjoy the company of friends and happy hour deals at Nectar in Fremont.

I was excited to try out their pies, because I am a pizza fanatic, and my belly was empty by the time we arrived. These 10" thin crust offerings are very tasty.

Crust: It is crispy, thin, and has cornmeal on the bottom. The result is a coarsely textured crust that is easy on the palate.

Sauce: A thin layer of thick marinara sauce covers most of these pizzas, and doesn't interfere very much with the flavor of the toppings, cheese, or crust.

Cheese: The cheese is laid on thick on these pies and I like it that way.

Toppings: Toppings were tasty, but I thought they needed more to really make these pizzas sing.

Price: I recommend going to happy hour if you plan to give Nectar's pizza a try. The price ranges from $5-7 or so for each pie, but is $2-3 more during normal hours... way too much for a 10" thin pizza, in my mind.

Overall Score:

3.5 out of 5 Pepperoni Slices

These pizzas are pretty damn good. Not bad for happy hour fare, but still far from the transporting me to pizza heaven. These are inoffensively cheesy, crunchy pies--and at a good price (during happy hour).

DIY Solar Heater

Check this video I found on Lifehacker that explains how to build a cheap solar heater! Shouldn't cost me more than $20, and may end up saving me as much in one monthly energy bill. The time to build and the cost of materials may potentially count as an energy-efficient tax deductable.

I'm not sure how effective this would be in Seattle, but my guess is that any light (even filtered through clouds) would generate some heat. My new place cools down so quickly that I think this'll be be my next project!

Energy Victory!

During last night's Patriots game, my usual disdain for commercial breaks got me flipping channels. Luckily, I happened to stumble upon a compelling Book TV presentation by Robert Zubrin, a smart guy who recently published a book titled Energy Victory. As I listened to this man passionately share his interpretation of the current state of energy affairs, the fate of the Patriots paled in comparison. Here was someone using his creativity not to get into the playoffs, but to find Americans a way out of our energy bind.

Zubrin's description of the global oil economy was nuanced and complicated. At times, some of the journalists in the audience looked drowsy or confused. But the main thrust of his argument is that OPEC is in position to milk us for all we're worth, and we are helpless to stop them unless our government mandates that all vehicles sold in the US have "flex-fuel" capability.

Flex-fuel vehicles are able to operate on fuel that contains any mixture of ethanol and gasoline, and according to Robert, the technology for this exists today and would cost an extra couple hundred dollars per vehicle to install. He also disagrees with the Cornell study that found the energy cost to produce ethanol exceeds the amount energy it can provide.

He points out that global oil supply-demand is so inelastic that when OPEC reduced production by 5%, prices rose 50%... talk about power. So when we pay $3 per gallon, we can be damn sure that OPEC benefits. It's no coincidence that Abu Dhabi just had $7.5 billion laying around to buy a stake in Citi. Countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Russia each stand to benefit, and at the expense of America's pocketbook.

Or we could spend those dollars on ethanol. Farmers (yeah, multinationals like ADM, but they don't own all the farmland yet, so a lot of small farmers too) grow the feedstock for ethanol fuel. Most people in the third world are farmers. So what you find is that in an ethanol economy, money could go to the pockets of farmers around the world.

I think what's original about this guy was that he actually connects the dots from terrorism to oil to power to money to US policy. If we continue our current energy policy, we might as well send Osama Bin Laden a suitcase nuke for Christmas, and build a Wahabbi sect mosque in the rubble of the World Trade Center.

http://www.energyvictory.net/

Below is an anonymous voice, a faceless frustration. I didn't write these words, I simply copied them here from someone who wanted to remain anonymous. These words are dead on the page, so read them aloud and make them your own!

we must begin expanding
until understanding of the underhanded
who abandon their fellow man for a dollar is reached,
and the stonewalls of economic seclusion are breached
in these united we stand
for oppression states where we squash all debates,
and breed our children into hate.
we need an instrument to unload the excrement
that's contributing to the detriment of our society
so we can tap a song-and-dance around the government
and breathe, yeah breathe, breathe our love into each
other's need instead of breeding greed and feeding
on the demon seed of the evil empire
because the entirety of everything is love unconditional
not the habitual betrayal of our brothers or the
ritual appraisal of one another.
but it's that love, yeah that love, that licks the
wounds and teaches tombs are merely rooms we assume
when we escape the rape of mother earth
and take some universal shape where the stakes aren't
so high and to die is meaningless.
so like rage we must raise our fists and resist the
mediocrity and hypocrisy and race at high velocity,
to discover the truth and uncover the eyes of the youth.
but i taste the waste in the sweat on my lips,
and the nausea sets in and the pains begin again
to send shockwaves down my spine
from the line "I gotta get mine," a rhyme i find all
too unkind with no transcendence in mind of crossing
the threshhold of time that binds us, confines us
in isolation from the oneness in our destiny, 'cause the
past we see keeps arresting me in the soothing illusion
but mind numbing confusion that separation is absolution.
the pollution starts after a child is born, and love is scorned
and the television comes on, rotting our brains and keeping
us tame while they're producing the same nuclear devils
they've shoved down our throats since the war turned
cold and they sold the freedom of old to uphold the evil they
fold over our eyes disguising lies while the going
rate to assimilate to the hate they propagate is the divine state of ignorance.
I want my voice to ride the tide of resistance
floating on an insistence of omnipresence of unity.
I want my words to set the sun on apathy.
I want my rhyme to cut like a knife through the mediocrity in the American dream.
I want every line to lodge itself in the collective heart of the masses
so that they can't swallow another drop of hate.

Worried about the future? Maybe it won't be so bad if Ray Kurzweil is correct. Check out his theory: The Law of Accelerating Returns

A battle for energy, democracy, international accountability, and freedom has already begun. Just look at any satellite photo of the Middle-East and accept it. Bastions of power and influence now clash behind closed doors and spin their decisions for public consumption. A growing uneasiness in the economy is well-justified... our global market is now vulnerable to recession on a global scale--local economy is inconsequential to the powers that be. Many examples are available: today's $40+ oil prices now strain any hopes for economic growth in the near term. Our current recession originated in the jarring recoils of Japan and Southeast Asia's economies. Corruption in Turkey, and South America has led to currency devaluation and economic destitution. Market-dominant minorities are being contested in Africa and Venezuela. All of this injures the global trade system and can be linked to current economic woes.

Clearly the U.S. has a sort of strategy for dealing with the economic issue... Take a look at the federal government's simultaneous refusal to alleviate state deficits while committing to spend billions on market reform in countries like Turkey, Israel, Iraq--these countries are potential powerhouses for a world economy now that developed countries are lagging in growth. There are individuals in the United States who are global economic powerhouses by themselves--a nice chunky tax cut will help to maintain their place in the economic order. Note that places of little economic note recieve little attention from the U.S. media and government. Our "international community" really only includes nations with military and economic might (USA, Russia, China) or U.N. veto power (Great Britain and France). While our president claims the tax cut will help those who are hurting most from the recession, it is in fact only solidifying the wealth of a few extremely affluent citizens.

What does this have to do with war in Iraq/Afghanistan/Israel/Chechnya/North Korea/China/Cuba/E.U.? There are pockets of humanity that simply haven't bought into our system. It's not enough for them that our system lets us sit in traffic jams each day on our way to work. It's not enough for them that we get all our information from a talking glass box. Or maybe it's the fact that while i sip my latte at an air-conditioned Starbucks, the coffee harvesters are stuck with the honorable duty of serfdom at the hands of the global economy--oh yes.. it is serfdom. These people are bound to the land where they have been born, and as long as wages are kept low enough, their options and alternatives for life are dished out to them by the businesses of the "international community." I digress.

What does this have to do with war, you ask? Basically, the U.S. is arguing that the international community needs to have a strong military if it's going to maintain the current order. This is entirely logical--if the global economy changes in the wrong way, it would be disastrous for American lives. The only reason we're in power today is because of the system that we have developed--if that system is challenged, then our power, wealth, and way of life is endangered. These pockets of dissent are a threat to the global order as it now stands. One argument is that a strong and active military will serve to deter most in the world from engaging in globally revolutionary activities. Anyone developing WMD is a prime candidate for either (a) diplomatic assimilation (anti-proliferation treaties, economic trade, UN membership, military alliance) or (b) if that is not possible--as in the case of Saddam--military annihilation. The threat of countries like North Korea, Iran, Pakistan, and even China is palpable to countries like the U.S. These countries have foreign cultures, religious or communist governments, and WMD. Thus, they are able to pose a front of opposition to the current world order if they so decide. The E.U. has a more leftist stance, but it full well understands that its power and lifestyle depends on maintaining the current world order.

The U.S. has taken a gamble that the "international community" would support it in this battle for global control--after all, the "international community" only stands to lose if WMD and dissent grows amongst the developing world. But U.S. strategy has been and continues to be poorly communicated and strongly overshadowed by a string of acts of self-interest. Many disagree that our current strategy of taking out Iraq would even work to our advantage. The great unknowns involved in this endeavor boggle the mind. The U.S. is taking a big gamble now that it is losing support from many of its traditional allies. Where will this policy take us?

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