Hey, remember when I used to post here like multiple times a day? Those were different times. Anyways, I wanted to record a song which Griffin performed extemporaneously the other day. I'm not sure I have all the words in the exact order they were sung, and some were repeated many more times than below, but it's pretty close.
Super Griffin Go go Griffin
Go Griff
You can do it
Super Griffin
Griffin Genzano
Go Go Go
You can beat all the robots
He's the man
He can do anything
Go Griffin
Super Griffin, go go
Go Super Griffin, and that's me!
He's so crazy and so strong
Go Griffin
Go go go go go go go go go go go!
When I was younger, I feel like my default unit of music was the album. My brother's, too. When we heard a song we liked, we didn't buy the single. (Well, maybe once or twice we bought some cassingles. Remember those??) We went out and bought the whole album. If we liked the album, we went back and bought all the other albums that band had made. Or, as many as we could find at the record store. Remember when you had to just keep going back to every record store you knew of to find albums you wanted? And if those stores didn't have those albums, you were just out of luck? Crazy.
Anyway, not long after I embraced MP3s and moved my entire music collection onto my iPod, my default unit of music changed to the song. I stopped listening to whole albums and I started listening to playlists on shuffle. It was kind of a seismic shift. It felt freeing. I love the weird juxtapositions a random shuffle can create. And there's no commitment or continuity in a random shuffle; you can break off and start again whenever or wherever.
But for whatever reason, I'm starting to embrace the album again. I'm buying albums of music, and I'm listening to whole albums with my son, instead of playlists on shuffle. And I'm seeing again what you can do with an album, how it can be a deeply meaningful grouping, how putting a bunch of songs together like that can give them more power and meaning than when they're just ripped out and played alone, out of context.
All of which is to say, I'm playing albums when I give my son a bath at night, and here are some of the classics I'm revisiting and new stuff I'm discovering:
Abacab - Genesis
Abbey Road - The Beatles
Achtung Baby - U2
Act II: The Father of Death - The Protomen
The Suburbs - Arcade Fire
Band on the Run - The Wings
Beaster - Sugar
Genesis - Genesis
Sheer Heart Attack - Queen
So - Peter Gabriel
Specter at the Feast - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
My friends, in the spirit of the season, I present to you a Christmas carol. The lyrics are Not Safe For Work. If you sing it, which I recommend against, please do so to the tune of "O Christmas Tree," which is the song upon which it is based. And, even before you begin, I apologize.
It's Christmas, Bro It's Christmas, bro! It's Christmas, bro!
Don't ice me now. Fuck. Yolo.
It's Christmas, bro! It's Christmas, bro!
Don't ice me now. Fuck. Yolo.
I'm spending Christmas at my Mom's.
Quit texting me pics of your dong.
It's Christmas, bro! It's Christmas, bro!
Don't ice me now. Fuck. Yolo.
It's Christmas, bro! It's Christmas, bro!
Sheila left me, she's a ho.
It's Christmas, bro! It's Christmas, bro!
Sheila left me, she's a ho.
With mistletoe belt buckles on
Let's go hang out on Derek's lawn.
It's Christmas, bro! It's Christmas, bro!
Sheila left me, she's a ho.
It's Christmas, bro! It's Christmas, bro!
You know I love you, no homo.
It's Christmas, bro! It's Christmas, bro!
You know I love you, no homo.
My family is a bunch of dicks.
Let's drink eggnog until we're sick.
It's Christmas, bro! It's Christmas, bro!
You know I love you, no homo.
It's Christmas, bro! It's Christmas, bro!
Turn your ball cap frontwards, yo.
It's Christmas, bro! It's Christmas, bro!
Turn your ball cap frontwards, yo.
What the fuck's your problem, bitch?
Show some respect for Santa! Shit.
It's Christmas, bro! It's Christmas, bro!
Turn your ball cap frontwards, yo.
I'm a little embarrassed to include this on my list, because to be honest this album is just a bunch of cheesy hipster music. But it is really catchy, well done, emotionally effective, cheesy hipster music, so what can I do?
9. Neck of the Woods by Silversun Pickups
Although I like their previous stuff a bit more, the new record from Silversun Pickups is solid indie rock.
8. Blunderbuss - Jack White
Jack White finally strikes out on his own and... it sounds a lot like Jack White when he plays with other folks! Which means when it rocks, it really, really rocks (see embedded video). And when it doesn't rock... it's kinda dull. But mostly it rocks!
7. King Animal - Soundgarden
Dude, Soundgarden is back!!! No real surprises here - this is just another Soundgarden record - but I'll take another Soundgarden record any day. Steady, reliable rock.
6. Port of Morrow - The Shins
The Shins are probably one of my favorite contemporary bands. Unexpected, heart-piercing lyrics, beautiful music that just embeds itself in your soul. The song I've included here is probably my favorite on this record, but they're pretty much all fantastic.
5. Silver Age - Bob Mould
Gotta love Bob. Dude just keeps churning out the noisy rock year after year. He's doing it again here, louder than ever. Long may he reign.
4. Channel Orange - Frank Ocean
I didn't expect to like this record as much as I did, mostly because it's classified as R&B, a genre I generally don't take to. But it's really more an expert melding of pop, R&B, and hip-hop, and it's clever and wry and personal and heartfelt.
3. Sun - Cat Power
I wasn't nearly as big a fan of The Greatest as everybody else seemed to be, but this record really impressed me - especially the track I've embedded, "Ruin." Catchy and powerful.
2. The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do - Fiona Apple
Another raw, beautiful, poetic, bruised record from Fiona Apple. "Hot Knife" is probably my favorite track, but there are many stand-outs, including "Every Single Night" and "Daredevil."
1. Theatre Is Evil - Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra
Warning: the video above, like pretty much all of Amanda's videos, is NSFW! I'm perhaps biased towards this record a bit because I contributed to its production, by funding Palmer's slightly controversial, but wildly successful, Kickstarter. But setting all that aside, I think if you give it an impartial listen you'll agree it's a pretty powerful piece of work, just as raw and brutal and personal as Apple's release, but with a New Wave spin. This record will tear your heart out of your chest and dance on it. (UPDATE: I feel it necessary to note that one of the B-sides for this record, "Ukulele Anthem," is easily one of my favorite songs of all time - a silly, angry, defiant, insightful, passionate, screaming, loving manifesto on art and life.)
Honorable Mentions
Sounds from Nowheresville - The Ting Tings
A Blessed Unrest - The Parlour Trick (listen to the whole thing here, and then purchase if you like)
Another top ten list of movies from io9, this time dealing with time travel. Some great picks here! My only real quarrel is with Time Cop. That movie is just terrible, dude.
Fëanor pours the entire internet into the Recyclotron, and only the best links come out the other end for you to enjoy.
Hey, so this is cool. It doesn't really seem to signal any major change in policy, and it is coming a bit late, but still: the President said he thinks gay marriage should be legal. It's a step. A nice, big, symbolic step.
That comedy special that Louis C.K. sold on the internet for five bucks, thus altering the universe, is airing this weekend on FX - in an edited form, of course.
Argo looks/sounds like a pretty amazing movie. Here's the trailer. It's based on a true story about a CIA plot to sneak some Americans out of Iran disguised as the film crew for a movie that didn't exist. They even brought in Jack Kirby to do some concept art.
I didn't have time to do my usual thorough examination of the entire internet for this entry, but I figure I'll post what I have now and maybe add more later, we'll see.
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Fëanor pours the entire internet into the Recyclotron, and only the best links come out the other end for you to enjoy.
Artist Noelle Stevenson loves Tom Hiddleston as Loki and does lots of great drawings of him. Somebody gave him one or two of her drawings. He liked them.
Some other great posts from Noelle: dancing, and the Avengers (the latter is Scott Campbell's work, not hers, but still).
Fringe will have a fifth and final season that will wrap up the story. I haven't had a chance to watch this show at all for a while, but I'm glad it's going to get to have an ending. I'll definitely have to catch up one of these days.
When I heard they were re-releasing the universally reviled Phantom Menace in theaters in 3D, I was really curious what kind of audience it would have. I mean, everybody says they hate this movie! Why would anyone pay extra to see it again in one more dimension than before? Then again, it's Star Wars. Star Wars has a certain cache. And nerds are famous for paying for things so they can then complain about them endlessly. Plus, there's the kid factor. Kids don't know they're supposed to hate The Phantom Menace. Well, looks like the nerd and kid factors won out, because the 3D version made $73.4 million in less than two weeks and pushed the movie's overall box office total over the billion dollar mark to make it the 11th highest grossing film of all time. Wow.
Fëanor pours the entire internet into the Recyclotron, and only the best links come out the other end for you to enjoy.
You can stream Sinead O'Connor's new album, How About I Be Me (And You Be You)? (which is a great title, btw), in its entirety on NPR. I'm not really too familiar with her work, but I enjoyed large portions of this one. Although the last track is crazy overdone and melodramatic. (Via)
My blue-haired pal is a trusted source for importantGIFs.
A great piece celebrating the messy end of one of the major villains in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
About
Welcome to the blog of Jim Genzano, writer, web developer, husband, father, and enjoyer of things like the internet, movies, music, games, and books.
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