One of the most stunning aspects that Akron/Family brings to the album and the live show is the fact that they are completely engaged in their own sound. This comes through most noticeably in their completely unabashed devotional Raise the Sparks (definitely watch this video… it is the band at their finest… only problem is the vocal recording is not mixed quite right). They have no problem wandering into gospel territory with a kind of tribalistic sound because they are so sure (or at least nonchalant) in their own sound. This was especially pointed in Chicago where their gospel blues influence stood out as a historical thread (something they explicitly mentioned). This made it that much harder to switch gears into a different kind of scene and sound for acosta and my second night of music. We somehow stumbled on a South by Southwest (the world’s premier indie music festival in Austin, TX) pre-game show at the Hideout. The show rampaged from noon until midnight miming the style of SxSW. Bands played 30 minute sets, back to back to back. Acosta and I were there a little late (say 7:00 to 11:00) to see The M’s and Maritime specifically. The music was fine and the venue was great but there was a palpable difference in the two nights of music. (more…)

Like anybody who has, in their haste, accidentally issued a command like …

find . -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d | xargs -I {} mv {} `echo {} | sed -e 's/1uFilm/3uFilm/g'`

Then, immediately realizing they are ridiculously stupid since (a) that doesn’t work and (b) the same goal can be accomplished simply and easily, they issue something like …

rename s/1uFilm/3uFilm/g *

… I hate Microsoft. (Yes, I actually did this today … you can make fun of me later). This is by no means news to almost anyone who knows me. However, I read some comments made by Bill Gates today on the topic of “rich user-end experiences” both on the desktop and in web-apps that I thought warranted my opinion and perhaps might generate some interesting discussion here at vdov. So, I’ll quote Gates and then ask a few questions. (more…)

Living in the City By The Lake has many perks and a vibrant, independent music and art scene is one of them. Hardly a week goes by without new contemporary music of all stripes played in every place from concert halls to seedy bars. Last weekend was especially fine since acosta and myself were able to take in some culture and finally get a chance to see the much loved vdov favorites Akron/Family. We also stumbled into the official Chicago SxSW pre-game send-off for the Midwest bands that are now hitting the stages at the country’s most venerable independent music festival. Both shows were quite interesting but quite different. The venues are seemingly similar but it belies their differences. It gave a good insight into the strange topology of the independent music scene in Chicago and elsewhere. (more…)

Its not often that I get a chance to flex my Religious Studies major but I thought it would be a good time for a bit of a rant and a bit of a book review. The book is about media manipulation, hype, and how they butt up against scholarly research. By way of opening remember the Da Vinci Code, the book by Dan Brown and movie. Remember all the hype and hoopla associated with it. The book and movie’s main character, a symbologist (although he is clearly a semiotitician but that is a much harder word isn’t it?), is drawn into a web of danger, intrigue, and crafty thousand year old puzzles surrounding the ultimate secret of Christianity… that Jesus had a wife! Now that has sunk in and you are back in your chair don’t worry. For advertising purposes you were probably made to think that this is new, unheard of previously, and a shocking idea. However, this particular “heresy” is almost as old as the canonical gospels themselves and has long been known to scholars of ancient Christianity and early Gnostic sects of Christianity. Not exactly ideas that will crumble modern Christianity. I thought the vdov readership might like a book that unmasks this kind of sensationalism for what it is. (more…)