Unbecoming Levity

Music Review - Madonna - Hard Candy

Abacquer — Sun, 18 May 2008 13:59:00 -0400

I picked this CD up last night with much anticipation and listened to it today on a long drive.

It started strong, quickly soared to awesome, and then made a meteoric descent to absolutely awful and only recovered marginally after that point. *sigh* Too bad. I admit, that by track 3 I was beginning to wonder if we had another Ray of Light on our hands. Things stumbled a little in the fourth track but came back strong for tracks five and six.

Then came track 7--the inexplicably named song Incredible. The only incredible thing about this song is that it came from Madonna. I'm sorry to say it is the worst song she's ever created. Dischordant, screwy pacing, strange change-ups, and just an all around mess. This one song utterly destroyed the mood and made it hard for the album to come back, which wasn't helped by the fact that the next 3 songs were mediocre at best. I have no interest in hearing any of them again. Madge, you can do better.

The mixing on tracks 9 and 10 was also pretty poor. Madonna's voice was often drowned out or subdued against the music. I understand it's supposed to be dance music but her voice is way too strong to be so downplayed.

Track 10 was the best of the mediocre songs, but Spanish Lesson is no La Isla Bonita... far more cheesy and contrived. I may listen to Spanish Lesson again... I have a feeling it might grow on me.

Thankfully, the tail end of the album was saved by track 11 The Devil Wouldn't Recognize You, definitely an awesome number that I'll be putting on my new MP3 player whenever I can afford to buy one.

Track 12 Voices had a good sound but pretty silly lyrics. I got the impression Madonna was trying to do a sort of "haunting" piece, like perhaps Frozen--but the lyrics were too weak for me to enjoy it.

Obviously I hold Madonna to a pretty high standard, let's face it--7 good songs on a 12-song album makes it a good album. And this really is a good album--in fact if it had been an 11-song album minus Incredible, I probably would have enjoyed the later tracks more.

So here's what I recommend to people who buy this album and who loved Ray of Light and Confessions on a Dance Floor. Listen to the tracks in this order:

2. 4 Minutes
3. Give It 2 Me
6. She's Not Me
5. Miles Away
1. Candy Shop
4. Heartbeat
11. Devil Wouldn't Recognize You

After that, stop and leave the other tracks until your next listen. And I recommend just skipping Incredible forever.

Hard Candy is an awesome album. It is almost another Ray of Light, and once again Madonna rocked my world. Get the album and dance your ass off.

EDIT: After several more listens I have to say this album seems increasingly more kickass. There's no hope for track 7, and track 10 doesn't stand up to a second listen, but track 8 Beat Goes On was much better than I originally thought. On a second listen I enjoyed it much more and I think the first time through I was just so disappointed by Incredible that when the next song came on I was already soured on the experience. So add track 8 to my list of good tracks above. I'm going to be listening to this album constantly for awhile... and "4 Minutes" is frigging huge.

Madonna - 4 Minutes

Abacquer — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 19:26:00 -0400

Kicks ass.

Weird video though.

Another Indie Music Dump

Abacquer — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 10:57:00 -0400

So it's been awhile since I've posted a summary of the indie music I am listening to. As you know I follow 3Hive, GigaTracks, and also Obscure Sound to find out about new small independent bands and get some of their music. I check these sources every few months and backtrack through the posts to see if there is anything good. Usually, I like very little of what I hear, and that which I do like is merely "passable".

Well this time I waited over six months, and let me tell you my favorite source (3Hive) has been positively dry... dry dry dry. But even when it's dry you can usually find a few things, and some of these are quite fun. There's been a dearth of kickass dance music lately though, and I would say only one song in this list (Duality by The Martial Arts) qualifies as a song you could dance to.

Anyway, I've got most of this stuff on a mix disc and I'm listening to it in the car these days to get a feel for which bands I might want to purchase a CD from. There's definitely a couple I would like to hear more from. Anyway, throw on your headphones and have a listen... I don't think anything here will knock your socks off (there's no Afroganics or Aviatics in this bunch) but you may find something you like here.

Christine Fellows

3Hive describes Fellows as "Experimental Pop"--but I'd simply describe this as thoughtful acoustic music. The only song available via 3Hive is "Advice" which is a beautiful piece advising young people not to be in a great hurry to find love, or at least to "give themselves away". I find it quite pleasant.
- Advice
Club 8

I have a soft spot for Swedish bands, but I would love this duo even if they weren't Swedes. Lovely soft-pop with lots of acoustics and simple vocals that you can sing along with. It isn't dance music… in fact, it's Christian music. Strange that an atheist would enjoy Christian music? It's just words folks, and I can sing them and enjoy them without believing them. Maybe you can too.
- Jesus, Walk With Me
- Heaven -- I particularly like this one… very happy.
- Spring Came, Rain Fell
- What Shall We Do Next? -- Less acoustic, more poppy.
Colour Revolt

This band from the deep American south makes a good attempt at wailing guitar rock with "Naked and Red". It's also a bit of a refresher after the happy spirituality of Club 8. The song opens with a line about God swinging from the "licker tree" and it only gets weirder from there but ties up its interesting message with the idea that "Eden is a hell of a place." I'm glad somebody noticed!
- Naked and Red
Elk City

I seem to be on a spiritual kick lately, because Elk City also serves up a religious offering with "Los Cruzados" (The Crusaders) -- I'm a sucker for a good hallelujah chorus, and Los Cruzados delivers. 3Hive has another song by them available which I didn't enjoy but you may. Check them out.
- Los Cruzados -- Hallelujah… hallelujah… my wife heard me singing some of these Christian/spritual songs and asked "Are you having second thoughts?" Hee hee hee.
Empty Rooms

Sombre and haunting, I'm not sure how to characterize this rock band. In some ways they remind me of Duran Duran, and in some ways they remind me of The Fixx, but their sound is definitely their own. I'm linking two songs here, there's a third on 3Hive that I didn't particularly enjoy.
- Off with His Head
- Try Again
Hasch'm'Méneum

Is it electronica or jazz? It makes me tap my toes and rock my head whatever it is. Unfortunately some of the available tracks seem to cut a little short… probably because the band wants you to buy their CD… well I'm considering doing just that. If you like chirpy electronica with a comical side to it, this may be the blurps and bleeps for you. There are no vocals, or at least no lyrics... it's all instrumental.
- Christerium -- This song is a little funny. Something about it makes me smile. Sadly it is cut short.
- Heliotrope -- This piece is more meandering and contemplative… it would make great background music to read to or engage in some other mental activity.
- Red Sniper -- Stronger rhythm track and a hint of some sort of illicit activity going on in the mood of the music. This would make a good movie soundtrack for a montage where a character is putting his evil plan into action.
- Slide -- Probably my favorite song by Hasch'm'Méneum, this one is goofy and fun. It's another one that makes me tap my toes. Alas it is also cut short. :-(
The Heavy Circles

I have to see if I can find some more music by the Heavy Circles. This pop piece definitely sticks in my head and includes some great whirling sound.
- Henri
The Hermit

Some songs are background music, some songs are dance music, some songs you sing along with, and some you just want to close your eyes and slowly rock from side to side. "Wonderment" is onesuch with its sweeping poppy electronic sound and gently echoing vocals.
- Wonderment (Affekt remix)
- Flutterbye (Sputnichek remix) -- Faster paced than wonderment.
The High Water Marks

Squelchy retro guitar beach music... at least that's what it feels like to me. 3Hive has three of their songs up. The only one I've included here is "The Leaves" although I felt that "Queen of Verlaine" was passable.
- The Leaves
The Martial Arts

Okay, this is another group I need to find more music by. This is great summer music--even beach music perhaps. Music you can sing along with and even dance to, which makes it a little unusual because this latest 3Hive dump doesn't include much in the way of dance music.
- Duality -- Probably my favorite song of all the songs listed here today.
Oslo

This is darker stuff. Sometimes when you are disgusted with the state of the world, it's cathartic to listen to something dark--or at least therapeutic. Rise and Fall of Love and Hate is about divisiveness and how we are taught to be divisive. Sure touches a nerve with me, because I am fed up with all the demonizing I see going on these days.
- The Rise and Fall of Love and Hate
Sittser

If 3Hive has been dry, GigaTracks has been postively barren, but this one piece makes up for all that. It sounds like of a great 80's guitar ballad.
- Losing My Fear of Heights
Sneaky

So if you took Indian music and set it to a funk track and built in a solid driving whorling drone and a lot of repetition you would probably get a hypnotic piece just like this one. Excellent driving music this. I dig it. Purely instrumental.
- Beduija
Spitzer

Okay, I was iffy on including this piece by the French group "Spitzer". This is definitely electronic, like Trash80-style electronic. No vocals and very very synthy, but it has a good beat and it gets the head bobbing and the fingers tapping. Give it a listen... come on... you know you can't pass up a song called DISCO BISCUITS.
- Disco Biscuits
Wojtek Godzisz

I'm not sure what to make of this artist. 3Hive refers to this as "theatrical pop" which as good a way as any to describe it. They listed three songs but this was the only one I enjoyed.
- Light Over Dark Earth

Hope you enjoyed at least some of these... I'll keep trolling the intertubes for good indie music... check back in 3 months!! :-P

Various

Abacquer — Fri, 11 May 2007 15:34:00 -0400

Okay, here's a bunch of little things I want to talk about. None of them really deserves its own article but I want to share it anyway. I suppose I should caution you that I am on percoset right now, so I am a little loopy... I apologize if this is a scatterbrained.

Eating

I still can't chew, and won't be able to for another week at least. So I am exploring different things that I can eat without chewing. Stuff that has worked out well has been jello, applesauce, soup broth, rice in thick gravy, spagettios, small bits of bread soaked in broth, yogurt, pureed fruit mixed with yogurt and juice, and so forth. Pureed baked beans is really grainy, and I don't like it. Gonna try baked beans again sometime soon where I just try to swallow the beans whole, unchewed. I've found I can eat Italian Ices, but all the acid in fruit juice is making this bothersome.

All this nigh-liquid food combined with drugs that mess up my sleep schedule, and amoxicillin (to avoid infection) is making my stomach pretty upset. But I'll get through. (It's not like I have a choice!)

NPR Podcasts

When I go to bed I like to listen to music or speech on my MP3 player. I find that listening to the same stuff every night helps me sleep. But eventually I get tired of the same stuff. The NPR website has always been a great place to go to stream shows you've missed, but at some point they began offering these shows as podcasts. (The difference, from my perspective, is that you can download old shows as MP3 files, drop them on your MP3 player or your computer, and listen to them anytime.) You guys were probably aware of that, but to me it's big news... streaming is great, but it is much nicer to grab the last few episodes of my favorite NPR program and listen to it whenever (in my case, when I go to bed.) NPR has a huge podcast directory with shows from all their member stations. Here's a link to the directory... you can subscribe to these shows as feeds in Google Reader or just hit the URL directly and save the MP3 files.

The podcasts (shows) that I am most interested in are:

Stem Cells

So I was listening to one of those podcasts of NPR Science Friday where the topic matter was stem cell research. A guy called in who equated a 14-day-old blastocyst with a person. He was in the crowd that considers a fertilized human egg to be a human being, what he framed as "life begins at conception". Obviously holding that view, there was no way he could get behind stem cell research since it involved killing embryos.

Then one of the guest experts offered the caller a challenge which I committed to memory because I never wanted to forget it:

Imagine you are a fireman dealing fighting a fire in a fertility clinic. You enter a room and find in it a six year old girl, and a tray with 20 frozen embryos. You can either save the girl or the tray of embryos. Which one do you choose?

In my opinion, the caller chickened out. He said something like "that would be a call I would have to make as a fireman... it would depend on who was closest to the door and who was most likely to survive." I felt his answer betrayed that he couldn't really equate 20 embryos with 20 people... if he could, the decision should have been both straightforward, and patently ridiculous... as if anyone could ignore a 6 year old girl screaming for rescue from a fire and instead choose a rack of test tubes.

Although it isn't clear exactly when an embryo becomes a person, it seems downright obvious that a 14-day-old blastocyst is far less a person than a six year old girl. I'm going to remember this challenge. It really made me think.

Birdies

I've been feeding the birds in my yard again lately. I stopped many years ago, but started up again after my Dad passed away. It's funny, I sort of got him interested in birds and birdfeeding years ago, and now he has sort of gotten me back into it. Things haven't changed much. Regular wild bird food doesn't have enough millet in it, and has some other seeds that most of the birds don't eat. So I went back to one of my old recipes and it worked like a charm, but it involves buying parakeet food and mixing that into the seed, which is expensive. I have to find a place where I can get millet cheap. Anybody know a place?

Dawkins Discussions... on Amazon?

I've been following some discussions on Dawkins which are popping up on Amazon. Apparently any product for sale on Amazon gets its own discussion forum. So at the bottom of the amazon page for The God Delusion are the hot forum topics related to that book. It's amazing what lengths some people will go to in order to discredit Dawkins. Check it out, if you dare. This is where I found out about the "Dawkins Pause" video... this particular discussion links to the video (it's something of a relief to see that the theists seem to be in the minority on this forum.)

If you need more Dawkins, here's a feed for RichardDawkins.net which you can drop in your news aggregator.

I'm about halfway through The God Delusion myself. Having trouble reading it right now... mostly because of the percosets.

Topix.Net

Don't know if I've recommended this before, but topix.net is a nice source for regional newsfeeds for small towns. They incorporate feeds for local newspapers and blogs, and all you do is enter the zip code of the town you are interested in, and topix.net will generate a feed for that town that you can plonk into a feed reader like bloglines, Google reader, and so forth. (It's my understanding that IE7 has a feed aggregator built right in.)

My Shared Shite

I've been regularly flagging articles in the feeds I read as shared so that other people can enjoy them. You can access the GoogleReader page devoted to my shared articles here.

3Hive Decency

Some fairly decent stuff has cropped up on 3Hive since my last article about indie music. I recommend The Autumn Defense and Lymbyc Systym.

Cherry Picking from 3Hive -- More Indie Music

Abacquer — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 09:20:00 -0400

It's been awhile since I blogged about my latest finds at 3Hive (a great source for downloading tracks from terrific indie bands.) The pickings have been pretty slim over the last 4 months, and though I have grabbed some things I liked, I haven't found anything that blew my mind. This is what I've heard recently that I enjoyed (in chronological order)...

Tom Rothrock
Track: Darker Blues

Like the title says, this isn't just the blues, but has a darker bent to it. A piece like this would make fine theme music for the life of a criminal. Thanks Tom for this bit of darkness.
Kama Aina
Track: Hotaru

It's not clear where this piece of meditative slowcore by the Japanese artist Takuji Aoyagi is going, but as it draws me in with it's rhythms I slowly lose interest in the destination and simply enjoy the journey. It makes me think of water gardens and zen gardens as it works through its progressions.
L.A.O.S.
Track: Drowning Deep Inside Your Soul

And from Japanese acoustical meditative music, we move to Finnish electronica meditative music. L.A.O.S. (Large Amounts of Soul) may inspire you to move as much as Kama Aina inspires you to sit still, and yet I can't help feeling that there is something common between the two pieces. A word to those who are not broadbandy -- this is a "Large Amount Of Music"... it's approximately a 15Mb download. So if you aren't huge on funky electronica, you may want to give it a pass.
Missing Numbers
Track: The Real Realizer

Darker than Darker Blues, this piece will make you feel the power of the drone. It took all of a few seconds of the throaty saxophone at the beginning of this song to make me sit up and pay attention. The music runs thick with coarse gritty cynicism and the disturbing taste of exhaust fumes. When I close my eyes with this song playing, I can't help seeing a man in a dark trench coat, wearing a fedora, and walking through a dark alley in a city at night. Steam billows from the grates behind him as he stops to consider the bum sitting on the sidewalk and holding out a cup for change, and then just walks away.
Money Mark
Track: Pick Up the Pieces

Okay, I'll be honest and admit up front that this song is fairly mediocre in my opinion. I liked it enough to not throw it away while I was looking for something better to download. I don't think there's anything particularly wrong with the execution. It's decent filler in your background music... not necessarily something you would actually want to pay attention to. But, maybe you'll like it more than I do. It would make decent music for a video game like The Sims.
Reutschle
Tracks: (1) Can You Remember?, (2) Don't Turn Around

This pop band comes from Dayton, Ohio, and although I would hardly call these tracks "deep" I would definitely call them "fun". This summery stuff strikes me as both corny and goofy, but if I just let it play I find myself smiling and wanting to clap along. I am not a music afficionado by any standard, so I couldn't even begin to tell you what influences this group, but their music simultaneously reminds me of the Beach Boys and the Partridge Family. Have a listen and make your own determination. There are actually more tracks available for download than these, but I didn't check them out.
Bee and Flower
Tracks: (1) Don't Say Don't Worry, (2) Riding on Empty

Of the four tracks available for download, I only liked these two. The vocalist has a great voice and the music is moody and beautiful, but ultimately depressing. If you are in an angsty mood, this might be something you would enjoy. This is not happy music, but instead a wretched downward spiral... particularly Riding on Empty.
Buildings Breeding
Track: Emma Wood

I place this piece in the same bin as Pick Up the Pieces by Money Mark, which is to say "well... I didn't delete it." This is background music for sure. There were two other tracks by the same band available, but I actively disliked them.
The Expos
Track: Little Red Hook

Now this is a fun piece of music if you like ska. I hear a lot of stuff on 3Hive which is described as ska, but when I hear it I find myself saying "this is ska?" Not so this piece. This gets my head bobbing... the singer notes "I've got a little red hook" and he has caught me with it.
The Red Button
Track: She's Going Down

3Hive describes this piece as a "sleepy little pop song". I agree wholeheartedly--what a fun, pleasant little tune. This is music to listen to while you and someone you love cuddle in a hammock and laugh a sunny summer afternoon away.
Sister Vanilla
Tracks: (1) Jamcolas, (2) Can't Stop the Rock

Not my typical fare. It's still pop, but it's pop flirting with grunge and a little punk. Sister Vanilla wouldn't sound too out of place in a mix that included Billy Idol, Nirvana, and Garbage. I like both of these tracks. Jamcolas is more on the punky side, and Can't Stop the Rock is more on the grungy side.
The Bird and the Bee
Track: I Hate Camera

Here's an interesting song. I definitely want to hear more from The Bird and the Bee. I love eccentric lyrics and eccentric music. One thing is certain in this song, she hates that camera and doesn't want her picture taken. This piece has a retro element to it and also sounds like it incorporates music from old video games in spots.
Luz Mob
Tracks: (1) The Selector, (2) Ella Se Fue

What strange mix of styles! When Selector starts, I'm thinking, okay some kind of mellow electronica funk. But then the second layer of music kicks in and I'm listening to the sort of reggae I would expect from The Police. And as I wonder if I'm going to be Walking on the Moon the horns begin. Horns? Is that... jazz? I don't really care for jazz, and I suspect a hardcore jazz fan might not call this jazz, but it sounds like jazz to me... uh, set to a reggae beat with electronic undertones. So then I switch over to Ella Se Fue and I'm bathed in a distinctly latin tune being belted out in goofy synthetic cherps. And there go those horns again.

What the hell do you call this?

Luz Mob, apparently!
Vapnet
Tracks: (1) Färjemansleden, (2) Thoméegränd

I'm only 25% Swedish, but I have a soft spot for Swedish bands, and Vapnet actually sings in Swedish (an incredibly beautiful language which I have never been able to master.) This is the second time today I am going to mention the Partridge Family, except in this case it would really be the "Rapphöna Barn". It isn't awesome music, but it is very gentle, and if I allow it, Färjemansleden and Thoméegränd buoy my soul, swaddle me in melody, and carry me away.

Tack så mycket, Vapnet.

Sadly missing from today's lineup of songs is any really good driving music, except perhaps for Darker Blues or Real Realizer. Hope you enjoy at least some of this music, and BTW if you know any good sources for downloading free indie music (legally), please share them.

Holy Moly! It's C-C-C-Cold!

Abacquer — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 10:18:00 -0500

Stay indoors please, the coldmeister is on a rampage. Wind chill temps reported this morning were -17°F in Fitchburg, and -21°F in Worcester. ::everyone who uses Farenheit goes BRRR!:: For you Celsius types, that's -27°C and -29°C. ::everyone else goes BRRR!::

I'm sorry I didn't write anything all week. Work has been alternatively crazy and dead (my project is in it's final throes, where I am officially off the project, but as last-minute issues are found, I get pulled back in.) At present there is no new project to put me on so I am on the bench. Which is sometimes good and bad.

On Wednesday for example I had a whole bunch of things I wanted to write about. I had my downed trees removed, some politicial issues had me pissed off, I had some xbox games I wanted to post reviews for, some new Indie music to talk about, some movies to talk about, and some other random items. I was completely unassigned at work so I figured that I would write a bunch of things.

But I barely had my desk cleaned off when I got one of those emergency calls and I was sucked back in. When I was finally freed up again, I simply was in no mood to write. Everything I had wanted to talk about seemed unimportant and all I wanted to do was relax.

Blogging doesn't relax me, apparently.

Then on Thursday my kid woke up sick and so I've been looking after her between handling issues for work and working out of the house.

Anyway, I hope things will settle down soon, and I apologize to anyone who was disappointed that I hadn't added anything. My good friends have been busy on their blogs, so I invite you to peruse my blogroll at left and read examples of interesting content, rather than my rambling pointless blather.

Best thing I read all week was an article by an atheist mother on the wonderful blog Atheist in a Mini Van. Her daughter was annoyed by a teacher who gave her class a ten-minute "pop essay" assignment. The assignment was "What do you want for Christmas?"

Why would she be annoyed? Well duh, not everyone celebrates Christmas, and it's presumptuous of the teacher to just ask all the students in the class (including the Muslims, Jews, and atheists) to write about what they want for the teacher's religious holiday.

So that is what this young girl wrote about, that and her own atheist leanings, and the sad state of the poor. It was a wonderful essay, remarkable for the kid's age, and I encourage you to read it. Needless to say, a number of wacko fundies have commented on the article to communicate their Christian love for the atheist Mom and her daughter, by telling them they are going to Hell and whatnot. Assholes, the lot of them.

The teacher is definitely a mixed bag. She had the sensitivity at least to recognize that this young lady is observant and talented, and gave her an A+ on the essay. On the other hand, though, after class she told the girl that she couldn't possibly be an atheist because the ability to care for other people's feelings was not an atheist trait, but instead was a Christian attitude. So the teacher's both presumptuous and ignorant. Not an atheist trait... what a nitwit.

What Tunage Were You Into When You Were 18?

Abacquer — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 22:11:00 -0500

James posted a meme on his blog which he picked up from somewhere else (which is the nature of memes, innit?) So I've decided to participate. Here are the instructions for this meme:

Go to popculturemadness.com and select the year you became 18 [from the "Hits" list on the left]. Snip the top 50 songs from the list and paste it in your journal. Bold the ones you like and strike the ones you dislike, italic the ones you know but neither like nor dislike, and the ones you don't know will stay in normal text.

Since the list given on popculturemadness is 75 songs long, James decided to include all 75, so I've done the same here. Also, as he did, I've chosen to gray out the songs I can't remember. So the list will follow these conventions:

I like the songs in bold.
~~I dislike the songs with strike-through.~~
I'm neutral about the songs in italics.
The songs in gray text are the ones I don't know.

Hits of 1985

We Built This City - Jefferson Starship
Smooth Operator - Sade
The Boys of Summer - Don Henley
Sea Of Love - Honeydrippers
Summer of '69 - Bryan Adams
Walking On Sunshine - Katrina and the Waves
Into The Groove - Madonna
You Are My Lady - Freddie Jackson
Crazy For You - Madonna
The Bird - The Time
Relax - Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Everytime You Go Away - Paul Young
Glory Days - Bruce Springsteen
I Want To Know What Love Is - Foreignor
Careless Whisper - Wham!
Axel F - Harold Faltermeyer
Material Girl - Madonna
Roxanne, Roxanne - UTFO
All She Wants To Do Is Dance - Don Henley
Say You, Say Me - Lionel Richie
You're The Inspiration - Chicago
Through The Fire - Chaka Khan
Heaven - Bryan Adams
Freeway Of Love - Aretha Franklin
Jungle Love - The Time
All I Need - Jack Wagner
Born In The U.S.A. - Bruce Springsteen
Small Town - John Cougar Melloncamp
Meeting In The Ladies Room - Klymaxx
Take On Me - A-Ha
Dancing In The Street - Mick Jagger & David Bowie
The Old Man Down the Road - John Fogerty
Just A Gigilo - David Lee Roth
New Attitude - Patti LaBelle
Private Dancer - Tina Turner
Centerfield - John Fogerty
Lovin' Every Minute Of It - Loverboy
People Get Ready - Jeff Beck & Rod Stewart
Smalltown Boy - Bronski Beat
Rockin' At Midnight - The Honeydrippers
You Give Good Love - Whitney Houston
Dress You Up - Madonna
Cool It Now - New Edition
In My House - Mary Jane Girls
California Girls - David Lee Roth
Treat Her Like A Lady - Temptations
And We Danced - Hooters
Basketball - Kurtis Blow
Solid - Ashford and Simpson
Invincible - Pat Benatar
Wake Up (Next To You) - Graham Parker and the Shot
Your Love Is King - Sade
I Would Die 4 U - Prince
And She Was - Talking Heads
Running Up That Hill - Kate Bush
Everyday - James Taylor
Money For Nothing - Dire Straites
Jesse - Julian Lennon
You Spin Me - Dead Or Alive
All You Zombies - Hooters
(Don't You) Forget About Me - Simple Minds
Some Like It Hot - Power Station
The Heat Is On - Glenn Frey
The Oak Tree - Morris Day
Fresh - Kool and the Gang
Dancing In The Key Of Life - Steve Arrington
Can't Fight This Feeling - REO Speedwagon
Can You Feel The Beat - Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam With Full Force
Suddenly - Billy Ocean
Kayleigh - Marillion
Voices Carry - 'til Tuesday
Lover Come Back To Me - Dead Or Alive
Oo-Ee-Diddley-Bop! - Peter Wolf
One Night In Bangkok - Murray Head (or Robey)
We Are The World - USA for Africa

Going over the hits of that year was a pleasant trip down memory lane I suppose. The real interesting thing is seeing where your likes and dislikes match up with or deviate from your friends'. 1985 was a good year for me. I met James in 1985, as I recall, having graduated from high school that year and bumped into him my first week at UMass North Dartmouth that year (then known as Southeastern Massachusetts University.) We seem to agree on more than we disagree on, which I suppose makes sense. James was always very nice about putting up with my music later in life when we worked together. Obviously not everyone turned 18 in the same year, but you can still run down the list and compare their tastes to yours. Pretty fun! Thanks James!

If anyone else wants to try this meme but doesn't have a blog, feel free to post your list in a comments.

Gary's at it Again!

Abacquer — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 01:33:00 -0500

You remember Gary Brolsma, the "Numa Numa guy", yes? I wrote about him back in February of 2005. I really liked his silly dance and lipsync video, and so did like a billion another websurfers. I heard somewhere that the attention was a little overwhelming and for awhile Gary wasn't necessarily happy with his fame. But apparently he's gotten over it.

Two months ago Gary released "A New Numa Video" featuring him goofing about to a new song. The new song is a Russian piece which includes a lyric that says "nu numa ura hey". Unlike his previous effort this video clearly is more professional. Gary describes the music on his website www.newnuma.com:

...The second video was recorded and produced by Gary Voelker and Andrew Lee of Seattle-based Experience Studios. The idea of "New Numa", was just a reaction to fans to give them something new from me, and to let them know I'm still around and doing well, and just overall conveying the message of fun and laughter...

...New Numa's song was specially created for me by Variety Beats, with vocals performed by Chad Russell, under the BeLive Productions record label. The song is in Russian with lyrics about a children's song about a hunter and a bunny, again, not directly relevant to what's actually happening in the video...

In addition to Gary at his nutty best, the new video also includes his band. Yes, you read that right, Gary has a rock band now. They're called "The Nowadays" and you can listen to some of their music and find out about them on the band's MySpace page.

Needless to say, it's obvious the New Numa Song is a commerical enterprise. I say good for Gary, he saw an opportunity and is turning it into something that benefits him. Needless to say, many people who haven't done so are quick to label him a "sellout", an epithet most undeserved in my opinion. Onesuch person went so far as to create a parody video called "I will not pay for Numa".

Grazing for Music

Abacquer — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 12:24:00 -0500

So every couple months or so I go looking for new indie music (mostly at 3Hive, which is a wonderful blog which features a new independent band every day with free music you can download.) This is what I've heard recently that I enjoyed (from most liked to least)...

White & Nerdy

Abacquer — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 01:00:00 -0500

Okay, I recently picked up Weird Al's new album "Straight Outta Lynwood", and I have to say that by and in large I found the album disappointing, but that said there are some real gems in here, and if you haven't seen the video for "White & Nerdy" I insist you do so, I guarantee you will laugh your ass off...

Bri Feels Pretty

Abacquer — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 14:07:00 -0400

So my friend Bri is a very brave man. He recently took part in a fundraiser-walk for Breast Cancer Research (Making Strides Against Breast Cancer San Diego 2006). In order to drum up as many contributions as possible...

All Quiet on the ULev Front

Abacquer — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 06:08:00 -0400

Sorry friends, been busy these last few days. Here's a short recap of what's been going on in my life...

Name Those Movies -- Audio Only

Abacquer — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 01:10:00 -0400

So here's a little something I've wanted to do for a while. What follows is 9 audio clips from 9 different movies. They vary in length from 8 to 30 seconds, and each includes a piece of music from a movie. The music might be incidental, part of the theme for the film, or something else...

Quick Scan of Giga Tracks

Abacquer — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 04:43:00 -0400

Took a cruise through Giga Tracks featured artists last night and found a few songs that will be enjoying for some time. I really should check this site more frequently... it's a great source for good independent music. Here's what I found and liked...

Something Beautiful

Abacquer — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 20:12:00 -0400

Go and watch this movie, and keep in mind it's 100% real, and was shot entirely in 2006. There's an earlier film on the site that was put together in 2005 that follows the same format but both films amazed me...

Indie Music

Abacquer — Sun, 26 Mar 2006 12:11:00 -0500

You've heard me mention 3hive before, a great source for independent music. Every couple weeks or so I go there and work my way backward through the posts to see what new music they've found. I'd like to recommend Antennas... it's somewhat unpolished but I really liked Always on My Mind. For some reason I have this strange feeling that the song Went to a Dance will appeal to my friend James.

I'm also having a bit of fun listening to Victor Scott (some of it anyway).

Following Up

Abacquer — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 16:51:00 -0500

Since I've been so busy/sick lately, and recently started my Stone Rain Project blog, I've had little time for ULev. My bad, but it's not as if I haven't wanted to post. Sorry! As a way of warming up I'm going to follow up on some earlier posts...

Aviatic

Abacquer — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 23:59:00 -0500

I just purchased my first indie-band CD! The name of the band is "Aviatic" and they are based out of the Los Angeles area. I found one of their songs on GigaTracks (great source for indie music btw). The song was called "Goodbye Beautiful Day" and I was really blown away by how much I liked it...

Followup: My "Content-Protected" CD

Abacquer — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 17:22:00 -0500

Strawberries Records and Tapes was happy to take back the crippled CD and refund my money. The clerk was only too understanding. "Oh. Another wonderful copy-protected disk? Greeeeaaaaat."

A DRM or a Nightmare?

Abacquer — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 06:00:00 -0500

You know if the RIAA has its way, a tub of vaseline is going to be required equipment in order to listen to and use one's own music. This is the tale of one man's foray into the world of (legal) music downloading--it does not have a happy ending...

Pandora Rules!

Abacquer — Sun, 08 Jan 2006 14:37:00 -0500

I've been experimenting with Pandora recently. I'm very impressed with the service they offer free of charge. Basically Pandora is a way for you to hear new music you will probably like, simply by providing the name of an example song or artist whom you like...

Rain on My Parade

Abacquer — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 12:23:00 -0500

I'm watching the 2006 Tournament of Roses Parade on ABC right now. I was really happy to see Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was the grand marshall. Unfortunately, for the first time since 1955, it is raining on the Tournament of Roses Parade...

Of Music and Maturity

Abacquer — Wed, 07 Dec 2005 01:00:00 -0500

One day many months ago... perhaps years ago, I was driving to somewhere or other and in the car with me were my friends Matt and Sarah. I suppose I should preface this story by explaining that my friends are perhaps 15 years or so younger than I... about the age I was when I graduated college. Anyway we were tooling along and listening to some tunes and I was "in my thing" with the music when I noticed my companions were stifling laughter...

The Superficial

Abacquer — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 15:36:00 -0500

I've mentioned before that I collect digital pictures of celebrities. I'm always on the lookout for new sources of images, and one that I recently found is the blog The Superficial. It's definitely NSFW, and it is also very nasty...

Madonna: Confessions on a Dance Floor -- Review

Abacquer — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 02:59:00 -0500

I picked up Madonna's new CD "Confessions on a Dance Floor" the other day and I have to say I've been pleasantly surprised. With this latest offering Madonna still hasn't recaptured the energy of Ray of Light, but this album is definitely more fun than either Music or American Life in my opinion...

What Really Happened

Abacquer — Sun, 17 Jul 2005 23:17:00 -0400

In a recent article on Aces Full of Links, James poked fun at Unbecoming Levity's first ever audio content for being "not very exciting". The audio detailed my midnight run to the bookstore to get the new Harry Potter book, and James is right--it wasn't very exciting--on purpose. You see the government has been trying to surpress what happened at the Hearns & Berble bookstore on July 16'th, and they attempted to substitute bland and uninteresting material for all of the audio and video recorded there that night. I've just returned from there having recovered the flash memory chip that I hid under a trashbarrel, and can now bring you the real audio from the evening's events...

Beauty in the Bustle

Abacquer — Tue, 17 May 2005 10:10:00 -0400

Usually a trip to the grocery store is at best painfully mundane, and often annoying. There are always people getting in the way, you can't find what you are looking for, and the checkout is reminiscent of an abbatoir. Which is why when I was at the grocery store the other day, I was surpised when mellifluous music washed over me and left me feeling joyful...

Music Inspires -- Captive of Your Heart

Abacquer — Thu, 18 Nov 2004 00:30:00 -0500

Merrill Bainbridge is a wonderful singer from whom, sadly, the world has heard too little in my opinion. There are few singers whose lyrics inspire me apart from of course, Sting, the consumate lyricist. Sometimes a song will inspire me so much, that I'll write new lyrics for it, or poetry which tries to capture the vibe I get from the song. Tonight I have written new lyrics for Ms. Bainbridge's song "Garden in My Room" from her first album...

Madonna: American Life -- Review

Abacquer — Thu, 22 Apr 2004 11:11:00 -0400

This past weekend I picked up Madonna's new CD "American Life" (tracks and lyrics). I was surprised to note a parental advisory on the insert, I'm not sure Madonna's ever earned one of those before, even for the lyrics to Human Nature (i.e. "I'm not your bitch, don't hang your shit on me."). I've been listening to the CD for 4 days now and my opinion on it is mixed, though I do recommend it, especially if you are a Madonna fan like me...

What it Feels Like For a Girl

Abacquer — Mon, 22 Mar 2004 20:30:00 -0500

In 1993, Andrew Birkin directed a film called "The Cement Garden". The movie was about a strange love-hate relationship between a brother and sister. I've not actually seen the film but apparently it was dark and kinky and took an incestuous turn. Not exactly my kind of film...