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Kordan, I’m still befuddled. When I finally sat down for a proper listen of Longing, my immediate thoughts were “where did I go?” and “how long am I staying for?” As I’m sure I mentioned in previous reviews, the power of Kordan lies in their ability to transport listeners to a strange, rich realm of multi-sensory experiences. Perhaps that’s an exaggeration; but for most of us, whose lives are defined by shopping malls, mid-size vehicles, Starbucks lattes, and the occasional wild night of domestic brews and bar darts, Longing feels like a vacation from the mundane. We will never be this hip, but for roughly half an hour we can pretend.
The Longing is essentially an elaboration of Fantasy Nation, Kordan’s first EP released July of last year. Same bag of tricks, that is. Dizzy, spacious sound layers over a steady beat—at the core, dance grooves with an experimentalist complex. Where Fantasy Nation tapped the club vein, Longing searches for the abstract quality of pop music. Listening to the album is like listening as a musician attempts to define city or love or life simply in audio. Of course, this reads pretentious, as does any creative adventure that involves conceptual thought. The reason I’m not harder on Kordan is simple: despite the possible pretense, I can’t imagine the band playing any other style of music than this ultra stylized pretty. There’s truth in purposeful cool, even if it’s easy to spot the GWBs (Girls With Bangs) and BWGs (Boys With Glasses) somewhere in the crowd.
Thanks to production magic or magic hands, “Fantasy Nation” and “Tokyo Tears” softened a bit from their EP debut: flavors steeped, mechanics fine tuned, less thrust more lust. Actually, compared to Longing, Fantasy Nation sounds decidedly reduced, as though Eisele and co. were practicing for grander occasions. Such is the occasion. Besides “Fantasy” and “Tokyo,” tracks like “Mirror” and the haunting “Shinjuku” stand out while in sum, the album remains fairly amorphous. Eisele’s distant vocals amidst the instrumental mixed bag keep Longing interesting, but I wonder what’s next for Kordan. Logically, the progression favors total ethereal bliss (as it is, the lyrics seem secondary), but I accept all bets.
For now, the band keeps busy with live shows in and around New York City. Visit their Website / Myspace / Facebook for more information. The Longing is set to officially release in February of 2010. You can preview the album here.
01/02/2010 21:38:20 ♥ lara (
/lara206.vox.com)
♥
kordan.tv ♥ myspace.com/kordantv
I'm sitting here trying to write down my new years resloutions and I'm about half way through but my mind keeps wondering. I keep asking myself in my head about the research I have been doing for my trip to the Pacific Northwest. The question that keeps entering my mind is What makes Portland Weird?
It is unofficially the weirdest city in the U.S. and if you don't agree you can aleast agree that it is extremely quirky. I get a long with weird, perhaps because I myself have been described as weird, and I also attract a lot of weirdos. In short I'm a weirdo magnent and it keeps things interesting.
True weirdness is like residue. It's a sludgy pot of people, culture, ideas, and inspiration that get mixed together and thrown on a wall, the residue from that it was sticks, it's the weird. It is also a state of being, you can be in the weird for a while, being in the weird is where I come up with my best ideas, okay well not all my best ideas come from being in the weird, sometimes they just sound good at the time.
Anyway what makes Portland weird, and more importantly how does it continue to stay weird? It's a lot of effort to stay weird, okay well if you are truely odd its not as difficult as it sounds its just that you have to get those who are not weird to catch on to the idea of weirdness and that can be a task.
I suppose a velevet painting museum, naked hippy cyclists, and a weird mystery hole are the kind of things that one could consider odd but they are more like seeds that have been carried a bit by the wind from the large tree of weird.
I guess it would really have to be the locals that keep the weirdness alive. Inspiring others to create and advance weirdness. Now I know about crazy locals, Key West has some really loopy ones, I was explained that it has to do with the alcohol and the sun. Something about the combination kinda fries their head a bit and twists reality like taffy. I mean where else would you see this in July in 90 plus degree weather but Duval Street in Key West or naked Kevin who is an awesome dancer but has to hide his money in an undisclosed potted plant because he birthday suits don't have pockets and he want to enjoy a few drinks.
I'm hoping to really enter the weird when I hit Portland. Is it possible to succeed in getting weird? Is this a goal that can be achieved and if it is, does anyone besides me want to?
I want to come back from Portland with a renewed sense of weirdness. Something to put a halt to my daytime 9-5 corporate zombie walk I do each week. Some thing that is really going to kick off some inspiration and creativiness.
I am half way through watching Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations - Pacific Northwest Episode, but I don't want to retrace his steps, I just want to use it as a guide to give me ideas advance or enhance my trip. I want my own unique experience.
The other thing I do is write list that I never abide by. I love doing this, the list are for research purpose only, its no fun to get wrapped up in a list you feel you must do in numberical order and finish. It's more of a guide to say, "hey see that place, I wrote it on my list and I know what it's about and since we are here you wanna check it out?"
I'm a feeler, I feel things, I don't do things because I feel I have to or because somebody else thinks it's the "right way" to do things. If I'm leaving for 7 days I pack atleast 12 changes of clothes because I really don't know what I'm going to feel like wearing that day, and what I think I may feel like and what I do, usually don't match up. I don't like to tie myself down, fun to me is about doing things naturally as they come and not forcing them to happen so why would I write an itenirary and stick to it? I noticed sometimes it stresses people out when time is not on their side. "We must do this and in this exact order!" Ummmm why can't you just go with the flow and enjoy and not get your panties in a wad.
I also write travel list iteniraries differently than most, mine sound more like a scavenger hunt than a travel itenerary and everything is open ended because I also like to give some wiggle room.
... but there is one thing I know for certain, I fully intend on helping Portland stay weird.
If you missed it, here's a view of the moon from my part of the sky (SoCal).
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In 1999, the doomsayers predicted the end of the world as we know it - in the form of computers all over the world crashing because of the so-called millennium bug. It never made sense to me, I mean if it were a problem, couldn't you just change the date ?
I spent the New Year's eve in Vietnam, away from civilization. The next day, nothing changed. Not even an incident. All that scare were for thing. But it wasn't all for nothing, the Y2K bug inspired quite a few things - among them, music, televisions, and books.
WHO'S AFRAID OF Y2K?
geometrid.co.uk ♥ myspace.com
There was a period when I tracked down all the projects that were related to Belle & Sebastian, including The Gentle Waves/Isobel Campbell and Looper. Looper was was basically B&S's Stuart David and his wife, Karn, who actually met via penpalism (as told by their song, Impossible Things).
They did garner a bit of fame through "Mondo '77", a really great catchy "binary"-video gamey song (it's been featured in Vanilla Sky, video games, and anti-drugs commercials). But unfortunately, their third (and final?) album, The Snare did not have any really catchy songs. The ruder and darker themed album was due to David's book The Peacock Manifesto (whos character also appears on the cover and songs of The Snare).
Anyway, in 1999, Looper released a double A-Side called Who's Afraid of Y2K? and Up A Tree Again, which I picked up, among other singles, at a Flaming Lips show (Looper was opening up for the band).
Both are excellent songs, although there were two remixes of "Up A Tree Again". I normally don't like remixes, but these were pretty different from the original album (which actually sounds pretty stale compared to these upbeat mixes). The "singles mix" of "Up a Tree Again" was interesting to say the least, focusing mostly on the "la-na-na-na" section and DJ-scratches, while the Chocolate Layers remix was pretty much only the "la-na-na-na" section.
Looking back, I suppose "Who's Afraid of Y2K?" song was a bit of novelty. Ironically enough, the song was awashed in electronic quirks and beats - all the things that Y2K would've destroyed supposedly.
Currently, Looper's on hiatus. I haven't heard much in terms of a new David novel or Looper release. Most of the recent releases were made free on their website, geometrid.co.uk.
BRAVE OLD WORLD
dccomics.com/vertigo
I thought the concept behind this William Messner-Loebs-written Vertigo mini-series was interesting enough: a group of computer hackers working on a solution to the Y2K bug at the end of 1999 - only to find themselves in 1900.
The series explored some interesting concept, like what would you do, if you had all this computer/understanding of technology, only to be trapped in a world that still operated via candlelight? The women in the comics had it worst, let's face it, women didn't exactly have freedom back then. And if you were doing something strange, you're a witch and killed, etc.
So what's the group to do to try and back to 2000? They had to build a computer, by "inventing" their own technology.
Like I said, a very interesting concept. It sort of got a bit boring towards the end (by the last issue, I didn't really care for the characters so much).
Vertigo comics has yet to collect this in a trade, I suppose after the Y2K fiasco, it probably wouldn't be worth reading. I mean, we all know as fantastic as going back in 1900 would be, it didn't happen - just like the Y2K didn't happen. Still, if you want to re-live what it was like, or what Messner-Loebs was thinking back in 1999.
PREPARE YOURSELF FOR Y10K
Chances are, I'll be dead, so I wouldn't care so much what would happen. Wikipedia thinks it's a problem, but I suspect by the year 10,000, that our computing technology would be so advance, it wouldn't amount to anything.
Until then, have a great New Year. Take care of each other. I'll see you in 2010.
12/31/2009 22:29:36 ♥ vu (
) ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com
I've been posting and reading a lot on the chow site this year and have become a regular florida chowhound on the chowhound florida boards. There are some very knowledgable Foodies on the site. One such helpful and knowledgable person is Bob Mervine. I have used a lot of his reviews, advice and comments to guide my way around the florida food scene. He seems pretty elusive and I always wished he would reply to my post, but he never did.
I read a post today and in the post was something that shocked me. It read:
"A few years ago, Bob Mervine was kind enough to answer my post and gave some great suggestions. His lost is deeply felt, I know, by all foodies."
What?! I didn't know he had passed away so I dug around a bit and realized he passed away in 2007. I had been reading old post that are still relevent from back in 2007. Often times old post get dug up when others have new information or just to agree or disagree with the information provided so while it may be at the top of the list, his post were all from 2007 and past. No wonder he never replied to my post, and here I was thinking that perhaps my post were not interesting enough for him to comment on. lol.
It just made me realize that in this age everything we do here in social communities still exist after we pass on. Certainly interesting that I have been taking food advice from a dead man all year.
and no one said anything when I would rely to bob on the boards, they must have just thought I was putting in my two cents but I was actually replying to him. hah.
Rest in Peace Bob, I'll still continue to read you and take your advice.
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BRITPOPCAST #6: THE GIRLS OF BRITPOP (wave 2)
Second wave:
- Kenickie (Lauren Laverne - all girls band)
- Kenickie, believe it or not, was the only all-girls Britpop
band. There was another band called Fluffy around this era, but they
were more hard-rock than brit-pop. While Fluffy's ultimate was branded
with "eight tits no talent", Kenickie was more loved in general. While
their music is often more polished punk/pop early on, they shifted
their sound to more lounge for their second album. Obviously the band
was still in their infancy ... but eventually broke up shortly after
the second album.
- Lush (Miki Berenyi & Emma Anderson)
- In early Lush's history, they were two best friends, Miki
Berenyi & Emma Anderson. They were fanzine producers, and started
their own band based on their love of shoegazing music with their EPs
and debut album Spooky. You can hear their love of melodies as
they sing in and out. Of course, when you have two songwriters, they
often clash if they have other interests. In this case, at the time Split came out in 1994, some of the songs were clearly "britpop"esque. Even the naming of the album (Split)
was an indication, between aggressive pop songs like "Kiss Chase" and
"Hypocrite" - the britpop songs would later continue with "Ladykiller"
and their ultimate britpop moment with Jarvis Cocker on "Ciao!" While
I did tend to like the Miki songs, Emma did coin a few great pop gems
like "Shake Baby Shake" (which is about the love of her car).
- When we heard that drummer, Chris Acland committed suicide by
hanging himself, we all knew the band would be split up after this.
And it's true, they never quite recover. I was lucky enough to catch
them before the tragedy and continued to follow to see what the band's
been up to. The last I heard, Emma is in Sing-Sing, which had a great
pop song called "Feels Like Summer".
- Catatonia (Cerys Matthews)
- Since we previously talked about Catatonia in our previous Welsh Britpop bands, I'll only briefly mention them here. The thing with Catatonia for me was that each of their song was either a hit or miss... no inbetween feeling. I either hated or love it. But the songs I really love, I really love, so that makes up for them. I love the way Cerys sings, in fact, all Welsh people have a particularly weird accent to them and it's always a nice earful when you do hear them sing or talk. It's like they're speaking English, but learned it from another planet.
- Favorite songs: "Mulder & Scully", "I Am the Mob", "Karaokee Queen", "Road Rage", "Dead from the Waist Down"
- Theaudience (Sophie Ellis-Bextor)
- This was a very brief band from 97-99, fronted by Sophie
Ellis-Bextor - who went on to have a series of very successful
Eurodisco releases. I must admit, I never followed the band that much
- they arrived a little too late for me. I didn't buy their debut
album (it was never released in the US), but managed to get their debut
single, "I Got the Wherewithal". The song is quite good, and even
their b-side "Penis Size and Cars" is amusingly catchy.
- Bis (Amanda MacKinnon)
- I love this Scottish band. Although they were far too
"kiddish" in their cute unreadable spellings and anime-influence, they
were pretty damn cute and catchy. Songs like "Kandy Pop" topped many
playlist around this time, although in retrospect, looking back, it was
a pretty mindless dum (dumb as in DUM) song. Unfortunately, many
people, including myself, didn't regard Bis as a Britpop band, but
they're often grouped in. My favorite song: "Action & Drama"!
Honorable mentions:
- Black Box Recorder (Sarah Nixey)
- Very catchy/dancey, but not Britpop. Their bassist is Luke Haines, formerly of the Britpop band The Auteurs.
- Dubstar (Sarah Blackwood)
- This British act came out during the birth of Britpop, but they
were far too alternative-dance/electronica to be considered Britpop.
The singer is Sarah Blackwood, who, I reckon the band ditched toward
their later music releases.
- Sneaker Pimps (Kelli Dayton)
- Fluffy
- Republica (Saffron)
- Fat Les (Lily Allen sings on their last single???)
12/30/2009 03:45:48 ♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com
I wanted to include a resolution for 2010 which is:
Do something for somebody else
Basically it could be pay it forward, a random act of kindness, volunteer work, whatever you so desire as long as you do something for somebody else.
I thought this could be a community thing. If everyone did it for twenty ten. we could post our stories. For those who would like to join in, post this, Also I don't know all of the people on vox, so for those who like this, post it to your vox blog.
Maybe we can get something going, maybe if this catches on we can get it posted to the TIG this time next year.
Perhaps we can create a group for this?
EDIT: I created a group Do Something for somebody else please join
Bad Things on Tuesday
- Still sniffling with a cold
- It's too cold for Florida right now, It was in the 40's this morning when I was walking my dog
- My toes are frozen. Really they are ice cubes now.
- So cold out this morning I didn't want to get out of bed.
- Realizing that I didn't book my hotel room in time for the totally awesome hotel special for our trip to Seattle
Good Things on Tuesday
- Finding out that the Hotel has another totally awesome special that saves me just as much money,
- Finally feeling like my cold is going away.
- Getting my music play list for our Seattle/Portland trip ready
- My dog snuggling with me under the blanket this morning
- Getting up in time to take out the trash, with the holidays there was a lot of trash.
- Work being low key and drama free today - (so far)
- Nick coming home tonight from London at around 6:30pm
Have you ever eaten something so good it gave you a tongue-gasm?
Do you tend to prefer breakfasts that come with a syrup decanter or three?
Aren’t waffles a serious pain in the dumper to prepare?
And really, don't you think pancakes are more exciting as headwear for small to medium sized mammals*?
Right. Well, here’s what you’re gonna do…
Turn your oven on to 350° F (175° C), then go about getting all this stuff together: 5 cups bread cubes, 4 eggs, 1 1/2 cups milk, 2 tablespoons white sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 tablespoon softened butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
Next, mix the eggs, milk, salt, and vanilla all together. Works best if you do this in a large bowl or something similar. Milk and eggs need boundaries or they’ll just run roughshod right over you (figuratively speaking, of course).
Anyway, liberally slather the inside of an 8x8 baking dish with whatever edible lubricant you like – I recommend butter – and then evenly fill the bottom of the dish with bread cubes. Dump the egg/milk mixture all over it, pat the whole mess with butter in random spots, and then let it sit there for a few minutes while you mix the sugar and cinnamon together and whip up a can of frozen orange juice. Some people don’t like coffee, you know.
After you’ve sprinkled the cinna-sugar all over the top of your casserole, stick it in the oven for around 45 minutes. Might take longer. Might not. Just let it get nice and golden brown and try not to freak out when you look in the oven and see it has expanded to forty times its original size. That’s totally normal (and completely humane).
Finally, scoop a big ol’ wad out onto a plate, douche it with your favorite syrup, and push it in your pie-hole. Don’t just gulp it down like a starving Rottweiler, though. Let your tongue take a run at it a few times first; have its fun for a bit. It works hard everyday; helping you talk, picking your teeth, gesturing provocatively to persons of the opposite gender.
C'mon. Go make your tongue some funky French Toast Casserole. You know it’s the right thing to do.
*Yes, I know it’s a dorayaki, not a pancake, and that Oolong has gone on to bunny nirvana. I am also fairly certain they have plenty of syrup there.
