Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago
Why yes, I have been a shitty blogger lately, thank you for noticing! I’ve let this hypertext field lie fallow for months now, and for that I apologize. I will do my best to make amends, and coax this tender earth to bring forth new shoots of content for the nourishment and enjoyment of all.
But for the moemnt, I just wanted to mention that, in case you haven’t yet heard, I will be competing in the 6th annual Seattle Laptop Battle tonight at Chop Suey. I know, I know, that’s no notice at all, really. But it would be splendid if you could pry yourself away from your seasonal festivities and come out to cheer me on, or pick up on of my new (and free) CD-R promos.
That’s all for now…but expect more here in the New Year, if not before.
Posted 4 months, 1 week ago
Ever since I’ve moved to Seattle, there’s one event that is invariably one of the highlights of my year, and that’s Decibel Festival. The 4-day electronic music and media festival brings artists and fans from around the world to the city of Seattle, for a weekend filled with music that pushes boundaries, rewires brains, and shakes dancefloors, sometimes all at the same time. 2009 was my fourth year attending the festival, and my third year as a volunteer.
Volunteering for the Festival is always an interesting experience, and usually a great way to meet people (or at least people-watch). It’s also usually a little disorganized, despite the best efforts of the Festival staff. Last minute issues always pop up, signals get crossed, people don’t show up for their scheduled volunteer shifts, and so on. But everything ultimately works out, and I’ve never seen a major disaster arise from one of these situations.
For example, at the opening gala at the Seattle Art Museum (which also doubled as a 10th anniversary party for the Ghostly Internationallabel), the Decibel merchandise that Donna and I were supposed to be hawking didn’t show up, leaving us a little confused as to what we would be Read More...
Posted 5 months, 2 weeks ago
I’ve been watching a little bit of the first season of The West Wingon DVD recently, and while it’s an enjoyable show, there’s something about the idealism of it all that prevents me from really loving it. The show is witty, fast-paced, and compelling, but it’s run through with a streak of sunny moderate optimism that sometimes undercuts the drama. I guess that’s to be expected from a show that casts Martin Sheen as a Democratic president that somehow combines elements of Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter with the affable persona of Ronald Reagan. Crises arise that test the resolve and the ideals of the President and his staff, and idealism and savvy politics usually win out the day. When compromise rears its head, these seasoned DC veterans almost always find a way to worm around the thorny ethical questions with a bit of parlimentarian jiujitsu.
Which is why it was so refreshing to see In The Loop this weekend. Where The West Wing feels like a sunshiney promise that the good will triumph through strength of character, In The Loop paints a much more plausible picture of competing interests scrambling to subvert, undermine, intimidate, spin, counterspin, suppress, and expose each other Read More...
Posted 5 months, 4 weeks ago
IDM doesn’t have the clout it used to. Once a nexus a of innovation, it seems to have been eclipsed by newer styles in the hearts of many electronic music enthusiasts. The revival of disco-derived styles and their crossover into indie/pop consciousness, and the spread of UK bass music (dubstep, etc.) have left little room for the genre in recent years. But the chin-stroking, headphone-centric style still has plenty of blood in its veins, and some of its key progenitors are putting out work as vital as ever.
Jega can be counted among these progenitors, and his live set at Chop Suey last night served to demolish any doubts about the vitality of IDM, and serve as a reminder that the “D” in IDM is just as important as the “I”. the (admittedly sparse) crowd was happy to keep time to Jega’s erratic drum explorations using their bodies.
The set started off on a slower, mellower note, full of lush pads, rich melody, and drum patterns that skittered underneath it all. As the night progressed, the music became less melodic, pushing the synths to the background in favor of ever more intricately sliced breakbeats and noisy pulses, moving from the quiet, contemplative end Read More...
Posted 7 months, 3 weeks ago
Posting here just because I’ve been meaning to mention it: “Two Weeks”, from Grizzly Bear’s new album, Veckatimest (Warp Records 2009), which has been ruling my ears for at least two weeks so far. The video is intriguing and mildly creepy, but the song itself is a glorious, lush post-Pet Sounds gem. For some reason, there’s no Seattle or Portland stop on their current North American tour (grr!), though I did catch a couple songs when they opened for TV on The Radio a couple years back. Those of you fortunate enough to live in a city which they are favouring with their presence should check out the show, and let me know how amazing it was, so i can cry tears of jealousy.
(Note: You should really click through and watch the HD version of this instead).
Call it TMI times one thousand. Call it your one-stop cyber-stalking repository for the one and only Dylan Sean Abbott, yours truly. This site is basically just an automated aggregator for blog posts, photos, and other syndicated content I've created, found, or shared online. It's my entire online life, wrapped up in one easily navigable package for your browsing pleasure. The only thing it lacks is a 24/7 webcam (but don't hold your breath for that one to show up).
