David Correll Studio, Brooklyn, NY

Congrats go out to my good friend Clint Fisher on the launch of Aenon Fire, a labor of love long in the making. Clint has been working on this for a long time, and has come out of it with a fantastic initial launch. Go check it out — and watch out for my cameo in Psychedelic Renaissance.

Way to go, Clint!

Robert Moog, inventor of the synthesizer, died this weekend at age 71 of an inoperable brain tumor.

Thank you for the music. Rest in peace.

New York Times story
Moog Music

Well, I’ve been served a musical baton by Clint. So let’s get it on:

Total volume of music files on my computer:
A lot. Too much. Time to clean.

The last cd I bought was:
Linval Thompson’s, Ride on Dreadlocks: 1975-77 and King Tubby’s In Fine Style

Song playing right now:
Live stream of Morning Edition on WNYC

Five songs I listen to alot, or that mean alot to me:
(listening to a lot at the moment)
1. Peace of Mind – Boston
2. Star 6 & 7 8 9 – The Orb
3. Some Things – Rob Crow
4. Safe from Harm – Massive Attack
5. Rock Your Body – Justin Timberlake

Five people to whom I’m passing the baton:
1. Jeremy
2. mudpub
3. Khoi
4. …
5. why don’t I know more people with blogs?

Just when you thought it was only for playing Boston’s Gratest Hits, Jason Kottke has put together a list of 50 Things To Do With Your iPod. It’s a pretty fun list, covering everything from watching movies to getting mugged.

Yes, it was a good show. Yes, Bernard’s vocals were too low. Yes, I loved hearing True Faith (they didn’t play it at Coachella). Yes I screamed like a little girl when they played Temptation. (dear god, that awesome to see.) Yes, I liked hearing the older stuff better (overall, the new stuff held up pretty well to the classics — well, they held up as well as could be expected; I like the new record a lot, but it just can’t compare to something like “True Faith” or “Temptation.”) Yes, I can die happy now. Yes, I’m proud to wear a tour shirt with only four dates, two of which I got to see.

The sound was weird (problematic mostly with Bernard’s vocals), but the band was into it — more so than they were at Coachella.

Setlist
- Love Vigilantes
- Crystal
- Regret
- Hey Now What You Doing
- Krafty
- Transmission
- True Faith
- Run Wild
- Jetstream
- Waiting For the Sirens’ Call
- Bizarre Love Triangle
- Love Will Tear Us Apart
- Temptation
————————
- She’s Lost Control (yes, i freaked out when they played this)
- Atmosphere
- Blue Monday

Yeah, I loved it. I can die happy now. New Order and Coil were the last two bands left that I absolutely had to see and wasn’t sure if i ever would. Well, now that I won’t be seeing Coil (Johnn Balance 1962-2004), New Order was it.

Well, I’m back, and had a great time. One night with friends in Denver, then off to CA for Coachella. We had a great time.

The weather was perfect. We really couldn’t have asked for better weather. Mid-80’s during the day, and perfect at night. We spent our nights drinking beer by the hot tub. It was beautiful.

Highlights from the show:
Saturday:
Saturday was kind of slow. They put most of the bands I was most excited to see on Sunday. Started out the day with M83. Traffic was awful getting in, so I unfortunately missed most of their set, but what I saw was great.

Checked out MF Doom, and went on to the highlights of the day, Four Tet and Sage Francis. Four Tet was great, just ’cause I love him. He was much more experimental than on the records, mixing recognizable songs with what appeared to be just live jamming. Sage Francis was my big surprise for the weekend, as I had never heard him before, and he was absolutely incredible. Only caught the second half of his set, but it was amazing.

Ended the day with Bauhaus and Fantômas. Bauhaus played “Rose Garden Funeral of Sores.” Wait, let me say that again: Bauhaus played “Rose Garden Funeral of Sores.” Wow. Peter Murphy ended the show by saying “Now you can all say you were there”… A hint that this may be their last show? Possibly… Fantômas was great, entertaining, and painful, as they should be.

Sunday:
This was the busy day, spent running from one set the the next, sometimes missing beginnings or endings. Those of you who know me I’m sure are wondering what I thought of New Order: They were great. They opened with “Atmosphere,” which just about made my heart stop. As far as Joy Division songs, they played “Atmosphere,” “Transmission” and “Love Will Tear Us Apart.” “Blue Monday” was played pretty straight forward (read: traditional style, not dance remix style), with the addition of a Kylie Minogue sample. Barney Sumner looked like he was in a miserable mood the whole set (he had apparently injured his foot a few days prior), but his expression noticeably changed during “Blue Monday,” a song about Ian. All my friends and I read his expression as one of depression, hurt and anger. It seemed pretty clear that he’s still not over Ian, and understandably so. This May 18 is the 25th anniversary of Ian’s suicide, and with them in the press with a new album and tour, this has been brought up a lot — so I’m sure it’s on his mind. But from my perspective as a long-time Joy Division worshiper, that was very interesting to see. It made the whole thing very real.

Without question, though, the highlight of the whole weekend was The Arcade Fire. They stole the show, and upstaged every other band there. (Their scheduling, however, caused me to miss Gang of Four.) They were so into it - just having fun on stage, messing around with each other. I can’t even really describe it. Just imagine a big group of friends having a great time together, but playing incredible music. They crowd was into it as well, so that was great. If you haven’t seen them, you must. They were incredible — one of the best shows I’ve ever seen.

Nine Inch Nails was, well, still Nine Inch Nails.

So I had a great weekend. Made some new friends from Canada, and had a great time with them. (Hope you made it home allright, Michelle!) Met some 19-year-olds at the hotel who in their drunken haze stole my friend’s shoes and shirt and my cigarettes and lighter, but later gave them back.

Overall, had a great weekend!

The Wire Is my favorite magazine in the whole world. It is the most amazing resource for experimental, avant-garde, and generally obscure and obsessively creative music. I read it religiously.

For the past four years, it has been designed by the incredibly talented UK duo Non-Format. The format has been a sans-serif, Swiss-inspired base layout, accented by some of the most stunning experimental typography for all major features in the magazine — and cover layouts that are nothing short of spectacular.

I was sad to read this morning that the next issue will be their last as art directors. Their design for The Wire has not only made the magazine an even better read, but it has been a source of inspiration for me. It has been a long time since I’ve seen experimental typography this good, and backed up with structure and standard typography so well. The design is clean, simple and strong, and reflects the content well.

If you’re not familiar with their work for The Wire, stop by their site. They have a lot of images from the magazine on the site, along with the rest of their work.