CHECKOUT The Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns are manic danceable indietronic with a high-energy interactive live show. Sincere, layered vocals skip over low-fi beats arranged with a mature pop sensibility. Their website boasts, "If prince was wearing a tracksuit at a bar, THE CLEVELAND BROWNS would be on his iPod." So if you find yourself on a bar stool next to the unpronounceable , you'll want to be prepared to communicate non-verbally via the international art of playlist-swapping.

Cleveland Browns - Searches (mp3)
...and who hasn't belted a "duet" with a Kylie Minogue song in the car?
Cleveland Browns - I (Heart) Kylie (mp3) [*one of my favourite remixes]

My life is a joke EVENT OF THE DAY: Some girl shot me the dirtiest death glance for interacting with my own interactive art installation at the art show. I'm quite interested in the hilarity of her perception of me as a stranger "ruining" the art. In this situation she took on the role of the artist away from me, herself creating what the art should be. In fact, I was the artist and she was "ruining" the interaction quality of the installation's intention. Weird.
Gratitude of the Day: Beth Wick and Jenny Adam.

DarkSide of the Moon CELEBRATION

If you find yourself in Madison on the evening of Friday, December 30th 2006...

The Dark Side of the Moon exhibit is assembled approximately every three years in observance of the Dark Moon. When two New Moons occur in a one month period, it is called a Dark Moon. The Wiccans refer to it as a Black Moon, and believe any magic worked during this period to be especially powerful.

FRIDAY DECEMBER 30th ALL NIGHT STARTING AT 6PM on the 3rd Floor of the warehouse gallery at 100 S Baldwin Street. (The gallery is also open for viewing on Fri and Sat from noon-6pm)

WITH:
1) Art and Installation by Steve Agee, Amandagaze, Anastasiya Chepil, Eric Hagstrom, Timothy Hughes, Kevin Kelly, Derek O'Brien, Kyle Pfister, Donald J. Swadley, Karin Wrzesinski
2) Film by Alex Andre and Jeffers Egan
3) Musical guests ALAN!, F.A.R.O.U.T! Ahrt Heawyre, MC Miracle, and DJ Psy-Phi
4) Performance Art and Installation by Graydancer, Marina Kelly, and Christine Olson

Luganda, Kalimba, and Litungu

J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere - Onile gogoro (1975) [Nigeria]

The independent music landscape has characteristically been a supercontinent for musicians of "difference", historically supporting unique sounds from from Britian and increasingly inclusive of integral bands from such places as Iceland, Canada, and Sweden. If you're lucky, you may be able to hear the Icelandic language in a drunken crooning of Sigur Ros-ian "asy eeaahhh, o". However, African music has somehow remained distant and foreign, classified with a vague "World" tag and piled in undifferentiated stacks as far away from the casual listener as the physical continent itself. Without advocating asimilation to America's corporate pangea, try hiking the following land bridges - each beautifully accesible while still retaining their integrity.

Salif Keita - Ananaming (mp3) [Born in Mali]

Samite - Tunula Eno (mp3) [Born in Uganda, now lives in Ithica NY] (http://www.samite.com)
"I am convinced that we are all moved by the same desires, needs and emotions, regardless of the language in which those feelings are expressed."

It's a large continent to cover in one post and within lies one of the largest problems... refering to Africa as a single entity and denying complexity out of simple ignorance. But if you're interested... here's news on the new Chad-Sudan conflict.

CHECK OUT and support my friend Abby and the Village Health Project's important and action-oriented work in Uganda. Donate here.

My life is a joke EVENT OF THE DAY: Managed to ignorantly portray a homogenous Africa, encourage assimilation by linking to the African songs that sound the most like American pop, and maintain an air of pseudo-pretentiousness. I rule.
Gratitude of the day: My dad's unbelieveably cool (and personally synonymous) musical taste .

Kelly Clarkson's White Privilege Anthem

Jeff Koons - John the Baptist (1988)

DJ Earworm - Since U Been Gone (mp3)

A nice remix of Kelly Clarkson's white privilege anthem (/I Get What I Want/) with Depeche Mode, though theTed Leo remix (mp3: A Whole Lotta Nothing) still wins for sincerity and the YeahYeahYeahs breakdown. C'mon if Earworm can remix her vocals, I can remix her intention.

My DJ Earworm favourites are still The Night of Miss Kittin's Messy Dream and We Need a Filthy War (George don't get any ideas).

More here.

Jesus' Donkey Left Me in the Dust

Cady Noland - Stockade (1984)

Boy Least Likely To - Be Gentle With Me (mp3)
I'll most likely yarf if confused, so be gentle with me.

This beautiful pop band from the UK made you a Christmas present called Little Donkey (mp3). Yes, the Christian faith is dependent on an underappreciated donkey.

My life is a joke EVENT OF THE DAY: Violent illness kept me awake, but floored, from 5am to noon instead of celebrating Christmas with my Mom's family and ailing Grandfather. I concede: Jesus is alive and well.

Gratitude of the day: Tivo and Boppa.

Cheers!

Cheers to the realigning of the holidays. To the first day of Hanukkah on Christmas day. To discussing Jewish mysticism over a glass of Spanish wine and Catholicism over AIM. To McDonalds taking a break from peddling low-grade, facotory-grown beef and economic bulldozing to join in the selling of superficial happiness during December. To dead minivans and live family. To lentil soup reminding of Jacob's birth rite and email. To wet socks, empty bank accounts, and being misunderstood. To sisters and indie rock. To melted chocolate, missed phone calls, and iPods. Hope you have a REAL holiday.

I got another plan. One that requires me to stand.

Been inspired by Saul for some activism lately...

Saul Williams - List of Demmands (mp3)
(image from Coachella 2004)

An EPA Environmental Health Excellence Award was announced for some Legacy programs I'm involved in. Pretty proud. Check out the second bullet.

Tonight I thought the "terrorists" had finally mistaken Madison's capitol for our country's. Turns out the bombing was just an American plow dropping snow like democracy all over the savage pavement from the top of an eight floor parking garage. I hope using the word terrorist doesn't already put this blog on the government's watch list after only the first post... Following last week's drunken white house visit I'm starting to become a formidable critic.

My life is a joke EVENT OF THE DAY: Van died for the second day in a row and is sitting in a parking garage right now accumulating fines.
Gratitude of the Day: Heat.

This is a test.

This is a test of the automated blogging alert system. If this is a real emergeny this blog entry will be followed by more specific instructions.