Our household has recently bought in to the Amazon cloud music library storage model. I’m not the primary account holder, and I don’t understand how it works very well, but it’s a nice way to get music that I actually own downloaded to my phone. We’ve begun the long, slow process of ripping our CD collection (somewhere around 500 CDs at last count, which was years ago) and uploading it to the cloud. Read More
ByGD
My Head in the Amazon Cloud
ByGD
Got Itchy Feet? Put Iceland On Them
For those unfamiliar with the expression, itchy feet is a traveler’s disease. It is the unquenchable desire to escape everyday life to explore someplace new. Like other viruses, once contracted, it remains in the body forever, flaring up at the most inconvenient times. The only treatment is hair of the dog. You’ve got to get the hell out of Dodge to find any relief. For me, treatment is only effective when airplanes and passport stamps are involved – long weekends and camping trips rarely make a difference – and generally, the destination must be someplace new. Unless it’s Iceland. Read More
ByGD
Pollyblog: Sudden Weather Change
Pollyblog: 1. When you don’t want to say too much, but 140 characters just won’t cover it. 2. Good ideas that haven’t got their legs yet.
My first experience with Sudden Weather Change was at the Reykjavík Calling show that KEXP put on at Neumo’s in October. The show featured Ásgeir Trausti, Sudden Weather Change, and Apparat Organ Quartet from Iceland; and Redwood Plan from Seattle. There was also this cool thing where the Icelandic bands worked with local writers and the Seattle band worked with an Icelandic writer to create new music for the show, but describing that would turn this into a proper post instead of a pollyblog.
I use this picture a lot.
Sudden Weather Change lived up to their name with music that shifted from abrasive punk to melodic indie so suddenly that sometimes they were actually doing both at once. It was angular and unexpected and awesome and I couldn’t wait to see them again at Airwaves a couple weeks later. Except somehow, I didn’t, and Sudden Weather Change became one of the ones who got away.
Eureka!
Recently, I discovered this gem on KEXP, and got a Eureka! moment when I heard that the band’s first album was straight up garage rock. They weren’t satisfied with it, so they started working to develop a new sound with a producer – Ben Frost at Greenhouse Studios.
Greenhouse Studios
I visited Greenhouse Studios to interview Bedroom Community co-founder Valgeir Sigurðsson when I was in Reykjavík. Preparing for the interview, I had listened to music from each of the label’s major members, which is how I became acquainted with Ben Frost. All of the Bedroom Community folks do experimental, primarily electronic music, but each has a different take on the fundamental concept. Frost has a more industrial aesthetic, which makes him more accessible to me than some of the other members of the community.
E = mc2
Garage band + Ben Frost = Sudden Weather Change
Simple equations that tell great stories.
{2018 Update: Sudden Weather Change, like most of the bands listed on this page, have since split up. You can hear some of their members in Oyama.}
ByGD
Blessed Be the Lamb of God
Lamb of God
To use Randy Blythe’s own words, “I guess some of you have heard that I had an interesting summer.” The show we originally bought tickets for was cancelled while Blythe sat in a Czech jail. When the tour was rescheduled, Seattle came at the end instead of the beginning. Our regular babysitter was out of town. So was our backup, and the highly recommended friend of a friend. I was starting to think it was a curse. Finally, two days before the show, we confirmed with a sitter from an online referral service. We would get to see Lamb of God play after all.
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ByGD
Unraveling The Great Weaver From Kashmir
As my trip to Iceland Airwaves grew imminent in October, I rushed to the library and asked what they had on the shelf by Halldór Laxness. After first telling me there was nothing, they tried again and found The Great Weaver from Kashmir (it was filed under Halldór).
Well. What an introduction to the author.