Since I have been meaning to punch out some quality posts for vdov I thought I would wrap up a couple odds and ends here. I have a couple mini reviews on the topics of music, religion, a book, movies, and some updates from the vdov crowd and those over to the right of the page in our blogroll. (more…)

I mentioned that Of Montreal has a brand new album that is just leaking all over the internet. The leak’s not a bad thing it’s a good thing. Everyone loves it! The name is Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? The so-called-single is “Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse” and it now officially has a music video. The only problem is that this video is the worst parts of the 60’s all rolled into one. It is everything awful in the protein hippie synthesis video. However, the song is quite good. The only problem is that the video cheapens the song by making the concept of the album completely explicit in the irony of the video, destroying the fragile layer of belief suspension that allows you to listen to the intensely personal ravings of Kevin Barnes and come out the other side seeing the beauty. The introversion of the album is painted with a silliness that is the hallmark [of] Of Montreal and the what strings it all together is the belief that underneath it all Barnes really means it and isn’t just taking us all for a ride. There is a small hope that artistically the album is not just glam-rock doused with feelings and that it is really feelings dusted with glam. The video would work with something more pat and disposable as an ironic statement but in the context of Hissing Fauna it falls far short of what it could be. That being said, it is still fun and maybe that is the weird beauty [of] Of Montreal. You can’t completely love or hate it and there is a certain art in that. Well, take a peek and enjoy the music even if it means blocking the visual. (more…)

Despite having one of the best given names of any artist Robert Crumb is also undoubtedly one of America’s best cartoonists. His work is whimsical, freakish, volatile, offensive, crude, off-base, and completely fantastic (in a certain sense). Crumb’s work is so undeniably strange that one is left to imagine what kind of person he is, what his family is like, what his childhood was like, and what kind of drugs he was on. “Crumb” is the painfully revealing documentary with all of those answers. It is part comedy, part tragedy, and much like Crumb’s work, revealing of all the pathos and pure weirdness rumbling under the surface of society. The movie delves deep into Crumb’s brain and pulls out a lot of what makes his art tick. If you aren’t familiar with R. Crumb there are plenty of websites that show off his work and he even runs his own personal/family site. There is a very good biography of Crumb at Salon.com. Do remember though that Crumb’s art can be pretty damn offensive, racist, and misogynistic. He is widely respected but has a distinct dark side that many find unacceptable. With all of the oddity involved in his work you might imagine he is some kind of vulgar weirdo and in a certain sense you would be exactly right, but he is not necessarily what you expect. The documentary is intensely personal and more than a little horrifying (or sad it is hard to tell sometimes). (more…)

Vdov.net has rarely waded into the turgid waters of politics. The political landscape made by the contributors here is non-canonical, defying normal political affiliations. We find ourselves in the “libertarian” position of wanting both social and economic freedom. The issues we value are strong on tech and science initiatives (rather obviously). Perhaps our biggest gripe is that there is a certain inherent lack of pragmatism that goes along with political life. Political life seems to easily become too dogmatic which is why we have shied away from political posts to keep this from becoming too blog-like and avoid the reactionary “BoingBoing” tech politics. (more…)

I wrote this incredibly long comment to shollen’s article when I woke up this morning but decided that instead I would publish it as its own entity. I like where this particular discussion is going, and if I could group them all together I would. Regardless, before you read this article you definitely need to read shollen’s below. (more…)

I started watching MTV when I was about 6 years old (whenever we first got cable TV). I can vividly remember old music videos from the likes of Ah-Ha, Dire Straits, and They Might Be Giants. I am not sure I really knew what was going on at that age but I really liked the music and movie matchup. However, somewhere along the line the whole thing hit a penny on the track derailing into a jumbled mess of butt tight spandex rump shaking, platinum grills, vapid blondes rehashing the same song that Madonna sang 20 years ago only with even less clothing. Although to my everlasting joy not all was lost and many years later (after abandoning MTV and the idea of music videos) I have rekindled my old romance. Now, a lot of my very favorite videos have found their way on to the Internet via web-2.0ey video sites such as YouTube. Pitchfork has an excellent collection of 100 of their staff’s favorite music videos. These range from truly interesting, artistic, and excellent to ironic, kitchy, and excellent. I have a sneaking suspicion that this is a prime target for an RIAA generated cease and desist order, so go check it out while its still standing and tell us what your favorites are.

Good Friday congregants. The Rt. Rev. Fischer is bringing you the latest sermon on the word of the Lord in indie rock form. Today we have a pretty wide range. We play some cuts from the Ghostly International compilation “Idol Tryouts II” as well as some music composed/influenced by Ennio Morricone who is the soundtrack wizard that wrote the theme for The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. That movie is the final episode in the “Man With No Name Trilogy” which is perhaps the defining film of the entire Joan Baez and Ennio Morricone for the movie Sacco e Vanzetti about those two famous Italian anarchists. I actually got the song from the soundtrack for The Life Aquatic which is an incredible movie done by Wes Anderson (it also has some great trivia). So we play a little movie music and some electronic stuff. So I end with some electronic movie music from the renowed film Hackers, pinnacle of cinema that it is. I seriously have no idea why I find myself watching Hackers every now and then, but it is a strange addiction… which has nothing to do with Angelina Jolie. Until Monday:

1) Ennio Morricone - Titoli (Title) - Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo (The Good, The Bad, The Ugly)
2) Band of Horses - The Funeral - Everything All The Time
3) Solvent - Introduction to Ghosts - Idol Tryouts II: Ghostly International
4) Mobius Band - Electric Piano - Idol Tryouts II: Ghostly International
5) Joan Baez - Here’s To You - The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissue OST
6) Underworld - Cowgirl - Dirty Epic (single)

The Rt. Rev. always honors requests and loves to get feedback. As always you can reach the Rev. @ rtrev -at- vdov -dot- net

As part of my growth as a “journalist” for the Pacifican, the editor and the student planning committee for MEIEA (Music and Entertainment Industry Educators Association) conference thought it would be appropriate for me to attend this two day event and report on it for the paper. MEIEA is a non-profit organization responsible for educating students in the changes that they will be facing once graduating and entering the music industry workforce. This two day conference, which I will report in entirety for the Pacifican and on vdov when it is finished, is the most important event for the organization. While most of the conference details will not be unexceedingly unpleasant to most of the vdov faithful, there was one presenter from Creative Commons non-profit organization who really did not fit in with the crowd there.

Creative Commons was started by Stanford professor Lawrence Lessig in response to the influx of open source programming and the copyright problems that followed. The company has since evolved into providing copyright services not only for programming, but also for media. This media includes music, movies, photography, etc. The copyright services are free and easy to use, have been upheld in court and provide varying levels of security that you choose for your work.

The varying levels of security to choose from opens the floodgates of creativity while upholding the personalized demands of the original creator. These levels of security include any combination of the following:

By: - The new author of the changed work must give credit to the creator of the original work.
Non-Commercial - The new author cannot use the changed work for commercial purposes.
No Derivatives - The user cannot change the work, but may redistribute it.
Share Alike - The new author can use the new work as long as they use the same copyright terms as was originally put on the object.

Using these four copyright options people can personalize their copyrights to best benefit them and the community as a whole. These types of copyright options encourage the use of open source in all contexts, not just programming.

The organization is doing some really cool things with this new open source data. Under their Creative Commons Mixter website there is a contest sponsored by Warner Brothers Records to remix an existing song that is under a “cc” copyright. The winner of this contest receives a record contract from Warner Brothers. Another interesting tidbit: artists such as Boards of Canada and DJ Danger Mouse and Jemini, have uploaded their songs to be remixed or mashed by anyone who wants to.

The organization has been growing exponentially since its inception and is now providing flexible copyright laws in over 20 countries. The company has also recently started providing copyrights for scientific research under their Science Commons website.The growing need for these innovative copyright licenses ensure the protection of artists and the flexibility for creative minds to improve on others work.

Despite the big, recent hit that Google has taken, I remain a huge fan. I am contemplating a personal and massive click through campaign on Google Adwords just to help them out. Perhaps the main reason that I love these guys (despite the fact they denied the DoJ where many others caved) is Google Analytics. Vdov.net runs Google Analytics and from the wealth of information compiled I can say that people get to us most often by one of two keyword serches: “Emily Wischow” and “Jash Pictures.” I cannot really speak on behalf of Emily so I will speak a little to Jash Pictures, which has already taken up some digital ink on this site. From this one short article about a guy I went to high school with we get anywhere from 30-80 hits a week and “Jash Pictures” is about a quarter of the total keyword hits that we get. This is probably because his website was down for several months and we happened to be the next highest hit for that phrase. However, the site is back up at http://jashpictures.com/.

Jash Pictures represents the work of Jaron Henrie-McCrea, who I was lucky enough to go to high school with. He is a very strange guy, but strange in all the right ways. I have not really had any contact with him since I went to a party at his house Thanskgiving weekend of 2003, so all I have is news clippings and hearsay from friends. From what I can tell Jaron basically was the Ball State University film scene (once again this is supposition at best and mythology at worst) and made quite a name for himself by winning…

Student Academy Awards
* Gold Medal winner, Alternative category, 2005: “Knock Knock”
* Regional finalist, Alternative category, 2004: “Marry This”

Regional Emmy Awards
* Directing - Tape/Film winner, 2004: “Rose”
* Magazine Format Programs producing winner, 2004: “Connections Live”
* Feature/Entertainment Segments winner, 2003: “Yak to Shaq”
* Feature/Entertainment Segments winner, 2002: “Welcome to JASH”
* Ten-time nominee

Heartland Film Festival
* Jimmy Stuart Memorial Crystal Heat Award winner, 2005: “Knock Knock”

Other Awards/Recognitions
* Ball State Senior Telecommunications Student of the Year, 2005
* Ball State Junior Telecommunications Student of the Year, 2004
* David Letterman Scholarship winner, 2003
* “Connections LIVE” Member of the Year, 2002
* Eagle Scout

…a whole ****ing lot of awards (yeah those are Emmy and Academy awards). He is now in Columbia for a Masters in Fine Arts (my mom actually knew this before I did). The most recent incarnation of Jash Pictures’ Website has very little new material and actually is missing some work from previous incarnation. However, it does contain Jaron’s most critically acclaimed work, “Knock Knock.” I have tried to get Jaron to agree to an interview, but have not gotten a reply as of yet. Hopefully, I will be able to wheedle one out of him (in a weird and internet stalkeriffic way). Until then, enjoy some good film.

I realized that I haven’t had much posted recently outside of the podcast so I decided I would dump a couple links on you (Evan Wheeler style) and do a little review (I think I used to do those at some time). I am also slowly turning out the final chapter in the musical autobiography but there never seemed to be much interest in that anyway so I am not rushing to publish.

Link the First:
Brian Eno is apparently selling off some of his long standing recording gear. If you find yourself with your hands on several thousand British Pounds Sterling then you can alternatively find yourself with some pretty legendary equipment. For those that don’t know (but should), Eno is a big mover and shaker in the indie music community, especially if you like more ambient music. He is noted as having a hand in developing several production strategies that are in heavy rotation in pop music nowadays. There is good info at the Wikipedia and at All Music.

Link the Second:
As you know I love my movies. Independent film is one of my favorite entertainment mediums and is rivaled only by independent music. I think it is actually harder to get independent film off the ground than it is music simply because of the primacy of the big studios and the fact that it is harder to sell and distribute film (for example via the web) than it is to do the same with music. Often the biggest problem from a viewers side is sifting through the staggering amount of truly bad indie films and culling out the gems. I also have a weakness for “Top #” lists whether it is to agree or disagree or simply satisfy my curiosity. This is a good list with plenty of info about each film and a nice interface. The overrated films in my opinion are “Sideways” (WAY overrated), “Memento”, and “Roger and Me.” The underrated ones in my opinion are “Nosferatu,” “Lost In Translation,” and “City of God.” But like I said it is a solid list.

Review:
Morningwood’s new album is the bands first and most self titled album. I was a pretty skeptical picking this one up even though it came with a stamp of approval from the WBOR indie cadre (podcast!). The band looks like a hit it and quit MTV2 pop rock attempt with a cute front woman, not exactly awe inspiring to a suave and oh so cultured indie conoussier such as myslef. However, it is a solid album. The name is lame but I think if “Clap Your Hands Say Yeah” has taught us anything it is that you can have a bad name and a self titled album and still rock. The sound from this quartet is grungy pop rock with more than a little Le Tigre and Veruca Salt thrown in… perhaps shades of Dressy Bessy on power pop tracks such as Nth Degree.

The album is rock solid especially considering my low expectations. Expect to hear it on the podcast tomorrow. The front woman is Chantal Claret who is backed up by ex-Wallflowers drummer Pedro Yanowitz who actually plays base this time around, John Paul Keenan O on drums, and former Space Hog member Richard Steel on guitar. The album is produced by none other than Gil Norton who has produced such gems as Doolittle by the Pixies and the self titled Echo & The Bunnymen. This album probably doesn’t meet those noble predecessors but still if you can get over a little bit of the camp there is some good stuff. You have a pretty wide range in here despite the pop label I have applied. Nu Rock is an all out ,full meter grunge track, while you have the the ever campy Nth Degree on the other side with poppy reverb guitar and lyrics consisting of self referential description and spelling the band’s name. This reminds me of an indie and earnest New York City version of the Monkees famous cut Hey We’re The Monkees. That is definitely in full contrast to the gritty, full bore sections of Jetsetter. The truth is that these guys swing from one side to another almost instantly and even within songs. I am not truly convinced that these guys will keep up. I have the feeling they will hit the MTV2 rotation and then fade away but I will horde away a small kernel of hope.

This ‘cast focuses on the strange, unique, weird, and most interesting sounds that indie music has to offer. This Friday the songs range from The Fiery Furnaces to Brian Eno. In honor of weirdness I do play two songs by The Fiery Furnaces, but only because they are troubadours of strange. Hopefully everyone will enjoy. I am also looking for feedback and requests. You can email either one of these or anything else to the Rt. Rev. Fischer at the email rtrev -@- vdov.net. I will give fair warning for the week of Nov. 5th because the Monday podcast will most likely be delayed because I will be attending the wedding of two friends in Colorado. Not only will I be shell shocked by the travel, the wedding itself might leave me dazed because these are the first friends close to my age to get married. Before I begin to ramble I will lay it on you in tracklist form.

1) Architecture In Helsinki - The Owls Go - Fingers Crossed
2) The Fiery Furnaces - Inca Rag/Name Game - Gallowsbird Bark
3) The Avalanches - Frontier Psychiatrist - Since I Left You
4) Brian Eno - Blank Frank - Here Come The Warm Jets
5) Dr. Octagon - Halfsharkalligatorhalfman - Dr. Octagonecologyst
6) The Fiery Furnaces - The Garfield El - Rehearsing My Choir

Ever since I moved in across the street from a family with strong southern ties I have began to appreciate that culture more and more. I feel like the deep south is one of the few “old time” cultures that we have left. Of course the recent tragedy in Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi has brought the “magic” of southern culture to the forefront. However, I think it is not something that many people will easily understand. I have only the most basic appreciation for it and I know that a lot of my firends in the far north and east have only the vaguest recollection that anything exists south of Washington DC. So when you see a German writer/director (Michael Schorr) making a movie about the deepest of the deep south it makes one wonder (as well as conjuring up immense Red/Blue, Old World/New World, etc. etc. conflict). This is a movie that I have been meaning to see for quite some time, just to see how they portray the American South.

The movie starts off with almost excruciating slowness. There are a lot of obvious visual metaphors floating around. For instance, make sure to watch the wind turbines (slow to fast) as the movie gets going. There are some excellent scenes that play off the old “gents,” such as the new waitress at the bar and Schultze discovering Zydeco on the radio. The whole first half basically lays out the boring routine of life in rural Germany for pensioners. It shows the mundane routine but never demeans the life, which is certainly a fine line to walk. It would be easy to clumsily portray the life of these three pensioners making them seem like old losers, but Schorr does an excellent job of making the characters interesting and lively, but merely trapped in the routine.

The movie really starts picking up when Schultze hits the American South. The culture “clash” is great. Schorr does a superb job of showing how Americans pose as Europeans and vice-versa. Basically what Schorr creates is a German “Blues Brothers” combined with the mythologic questing through and old time land that you see in “O’ Brother Where Art Thou.” The movie definitely is as much a series of cultural vingettes as anything else (German and American). In the way that Alexis de Tocqueville provides us with one of the best looks at early American democracy it is often the unjaded eyes of a foreigner that point out best the strange differences of a new land, but notice the indelible mark left on our culture by our cousins across the sea.

I won’t give away any more. “Schultze Gets The Blues” is not a quick movie. It definitely takes some patience and the end is frustrating as hell, but it is a monster of a movie.