MONTH IN PHOTOS

MIA'S BEST STORY EVER

CBS hosts an absolutely dada sub-series of The Hour called "Best Story Ever." MIA tells a (probably free-associated) tale of near-kidnapping by some psychotic, cliche-wielding artists. Pretty amusing.

Here's Freida Pinto, who I didn't really pay attention to, but looks great. Here's Jeff Goldbum, who talks about masturbation.

GOOGLE WAVE

This should change things. Tech Crunch gushes. There's more spontaneous applause in this thing than that Steve Jobs iPhone 3G keynote.

Basically Google is recreating web communication (since it considers email "old"). This includes the relationships between messaging/mail, and the way we publish things (like photos) across the web.

Great sentence: "While we’re not there yet, all the major browser players besides Microsoft are aligned and ready for the next phase, which will include such things as the ability to run 3D games and movies in the browser without additional plug-ins."

TOP THREE: TWITTER APPLICATIONS

1. tweetcc.com: makes it easy for you to offer your tweets under a Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication or other Creative Commons licenses.

2. filetwt.com: share up-to-20mb files through Twitter.

3. twibs.com: find and promote businesses on Twitter.

DRAWING ARCHIVE

This site is beautiful.

I WANT THIS

Corto Maltese Jacket. Seen on Kempt. Damn.

FOUR FRAMES

Great blog. Films in four frames. Via the Dish.

GOREY'S SCRIPT

Ed Park rediscovers Edward Gorey's unmade film script called "The Black Doll." Fascinating stuff:

This is the dream life: obsessive eyeball mileage, movies as long as a night’s sleep, scenes shuffled out of order, cause following effect, sustained silences in which mouths move and every title card seems to crystallize the swarming drama into koans.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF PITCHFORK

In the ten years since first discovering Pitchfork, here's how I now use the site: I open up the home page, and scan the "news" and "features" for names of artists that might be heading out on tour, premiering track lists, announcing collaborations, or debuting cover art. Any of these things usually means a record is already available somewhere on the internet. Eventually I mouse over the five reviews of the day to make sure I have any record I care about (or recognize something else I want; these records are obviously available for free download). I only read the reviews if I personally know the artist.

I've been thinking about the 'Fork more recently, partly because that's what you do when you finish an album, but mostly because I feel the utility of the site is nose-diving. This stems partly from the lumpy redesign with it's imbalanced column widths and annoying sub-links. It's also just a sign o' the times, another troubled bastion in need of overhaul and reform.

Today seemed notable in that the site reviewed three albums which, like any "critic" that received an "advance" copy, I have been listening to for two or three months. Of course, I didn't receive a promo. I downloaded a "leak." I was surprised at the convergence of three records that rocked my February, March and April (new Phoenix, Diamond Watch Wrists, and Dark Night of the Soul). I decided peak at the reviews just for the hell of it, or as an experiment in understanding the world we live in (versus the world I live in). The reviews proved useless, which was my hypothesis. One line, from the DNOTS review really summed up the fantasy-land Pitchfork has become:

"This is one particular circumstance where a leak--even at 160kbps--is a net positive."

Nearly aloud, I wondered: when is a leak NOT a net positive? First off, think of all the time I save avoiding reviews of records I developed opinions about months ago (not kidding, in the dial-up Internet days I would read reams of crit before committing to buying an album). Furthermore, not buying the Phoenix record (or any of the other 3 gigabytes of music I consume monthly, on average) will help me afford the incipient $25 Phoenix live concert (and it will be my third time supporting the band). The soft awesomeness of the Diamond Watch Wrists album encouraged me to finally reach deeper into the elaborate mythology of Guillermo Scott Herren records and sideprojects. This will pay off in word of mouth and I'll finally be vigilant for eventual DJ nights or live shows. DSOTN reminded me of a dozen awesome artists that I've already supported in the past, chief among them David Lynch, from whom I buy coffee, pay for films and DVD's, and receive daily weather reports.

Even if a few of those "positives" seem distantly relevant, subjective, or, I don't know, sarcastic, what's the negative to a leak? I'm going to parlay the "it affects the artist" discussion to some other essay; Pitchfork is about getting me, the consumer, interested in a product. I'm going to support a great artist somehow, so a good song is a critical currency (no matter how I obtain it). As for the bit rate of the sound quality, I don't know anyone who can notice the difference. I think most people want to hear music, not recognize frequencies. This is all indicative of the breadth of change that's coming.

It's beyond time for critics and artists alike to take a cue from Jack White's Raconteurs project, which switched out the word "leaked" with the old fashioned-sounding "released." The Raconteurs' futuristic program involved writing great songs and sharing them as soon as they were mastered. Think about it: labels and artists (let's just call them "marketers") would have to create new systems of promotion that worked to propel music that is available into the loving arms of people that want it. Since most music becomes available as soon as it's mastered anyway, this would seem a logical adaptation. Release it when it's ready; sell it as you go. This will immediately bring lazier downloaders back into the "pay-for-it" tent, just because you'll eradicate the downloading-equals-having-it-first mind-set.

More important to Pitchfork's Crisis Of Utility, immediate releases would force critics to be more glib, saving thousand-word adjective-festivals for music that really transcends. Not every record needs to be subjectively (or objectively) mined. Excuse my French, but I didn't learn a single fucking thing from the 3,653 words Pitchfork excreted into five record reviews today. Well, I suppose I learned that someone named Jess Harvell thinks that "'pastoral' is the easy-reach adjective that will likely crop up if/when [Diamond Watch Wrists] is discussed," which is stultifyingly self-fulfilling. Oh, and some dude called Ryan Dombal thinks that "there's beauty in a sunset" and that "Phoenix are wringing it out." I'm sure I'll take that with me as I listen to those songs for the 15th time.

This wordy futility reminds me of a great bit of recent music crit: Paul Ford's 753 six-word reviews of MP3s from each 2008 SXSW performer. Sure "barely 741 songs to go now" might not do much justice to any particular sound, but it makes a useful statement about the state of the musical/critical union. Accessing music is only as complicated as knowing of it, so we don't really need some "professional" to tell us what he thinks. It's a song, not life insurance. Like the artists and managers and price points and (even) labels, critics need to adapt to the changing atmosphere, too. Millions of acute, poignant, indie-tastic, spazzy, scudding, goopy, militaristic, glitchy, plasticine, blistering, glycemic, skidding, elegiac, twee-as-fuck words from Pitchfork won't change that.

KANYE WEST

This is probably my favorite track off 808's and Heartbreak. Real singing! Crazy drum sounds! Epic vibe.

WORDS OF THE WEEK

1. Fillips
2. Oneiric
3. Flip (as verb)

NEW YORKER

This New Yorker cover was "drawn" on a $4.99 iPhone app called Brushes. Via Gizmodo.

IMAGINARIUM OF DR. PARNASSUS

Comme Au Cinema

Footage of Heath Ledger's final film, Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, screened at Cannes. I can't find any critical positivity about the project, so I'm just going to bask in the pleasing oddness of the above clip. Let's not forget, Tom Waits plays The Devil.

PHOENIX

A recent favorite album, officially out now. For 24 hours you can get a multitrack version of "Liztomania," too. I'm going to smelt that song into the shape of Daryl Hall and feed it to John Oates.

WEEK IN PHOTOS

I WANT THIS

Kanye's been way off his shoe game lately, probably because his Nike's just dropped and he wants to contextualize them. Whatever, though. They are boring.

Redemption came a few days ago via these awesome wingtips. I want two pairs of these so I can wear one while ogling the other.

ZAPPA

In 1983, Frank Zappa copyrighted "A Proposal for a System to Replace Ordinary Record Merchandising." Great sentence:

"Every major record company has vaults full of (and perpetual rights to) great recording by major artists in many categories which might still provide enjoyment to music consumers if they were made available in the right way."

I was made aware of this by @hellatightshit, who was made aware of this by @carlmayer, who is the brother of @johncmayer.

AWESOME

This morning, I find this, from a coworker.

I WANT THIS

I'd like a few of these 40th Anniversary 692 Cobra lamps. Very versatile. From Kanye because of Suite New York and the 1968 design by Elio Martinelli.

ONE SENTENCE REVIEW

Tropic Thunder, starring Kenny Powers, the Jew-y Tenenbaum, and Maverick.

Not quite the Zoolander II: Rise of the Machines I dreamed in my dreams, but the deep-in-the-shit reprisal of the dreaded, Mugatu-employed Evil DJ made me smile.

Casually Recommended.

I WANT THIS

Cosby Stripes Tee Shirt, $9.99 at Urban.

TCHO CHOCOLATE

I bought a well-designed package of ritzy chocolate today. That's a true story. TCHO Chocolate is made in SF at Pier 17. The Chronicle proves how awesome this company is in four consecutive great sentences:

A former NASA technologist and the high priest of the digital revolution have spent three years and millions of dollars on a stealth operation in an old pier on San Francisco's waterfront.

Machines were imported from a castle in Germany. Common kitchen gadgets like turkey roasters and curry mixers were tricked out for unconventional use. Automation software was written to allow for 3-D monitoring of the labs from an iPhone.

Exclamation point! Also, one of the owners started Wired Magazine. Sweet. Whoa, pun alert!

Question: But how does it taste?

Answer: quite good. There's an Apple-(computer)-like thrill to the packaging, which I can't say I've experienced with a candy. Between the flavor wheel sticker, the golden-ticket wrapping, and the incredible detail etched right onto the bar by retired Elvin metallurgists, I was brimming with glee long before the actual chocolate melted all over my tongue and filled me with a happy willingness to forge onward, with smile and into the heavy mist of life. Etc.

Oh, and I'm just kidding about the Elvin metallurgists. They aren't all retired.

WET HOT

Here's a map of Camp Towanda, marked with all the actual shooting locations of the film Wet Hot American Summer, which you can totally enjoy in its entirety on YouTube! Courtesy of WHAS writer David Wain.

If I were to write a one-sentence-review of this movie, it would be something like: "Someday, when surly alien species' plant spores in our eyes and use our central nervous systems to enjoy strange new alien prop-comedy, they will first know sadness upon discovering none of said humor surpasses the obscene greatness of Wet Hot American Summer."

I WANT THIS

Shofolk Armstrongs, but really all these shoes are great. Via Swipelife.

GREAT SENTENCE

"The rules, which will begin to take effect in 2012, will put in place a federal standard for fuel efficiency that is as tough as the California program, while imposing the first-ever limits on climate-altering gases from cars and trucks."

From the Times story Obama to Toughen Rules on Emissions and Mileage.

CELEB CRUSH

Esperanza Spalding! She rips at bass and sings like there's fourteen Alicia Keys in her heart. Stick around until Tony Bennett comes out. Whoa.

AUTOLUX POSTER

Not sure if this means there's new Autolux music, but I received an email regarding a $30 poster. It's nice. Art by Kill Pixie.

MS VS. FB

MySpace unique views is the orange-ish line. Thousands of impressions, or something. A year from now Facebook will be trending similarly. Will Twitter?

HOBNOX AUDIOTOOL

This site is incredible. You can create songs in your browser for free. Via Kanye from Fabrik because of Hobnox.

AD REPORT CARD

Seth Stevenson, progenitor of Slate's Ad Report Card column, reports on the Clio's (the Oscars for commercials). He's always enjoyable, more so as advertising allows for more creativity.

Responding to Clio-winner seen above, Stevenson assembles this great sentence: "You have to admire any company willing to juxtapose its product with both graphic adultery and violent accidental death."

SCRIBD

In the burgeoning industry of e-writing, this is a good idea:

"In the new Scribd store, authors or publishers will be able to set their own price for their work and keep 80 percent of the revenue. They can also decide whether to encode their documents with security software that will prevent their texts from being downloaded or freely copied."

Meanwhile, Amazon will be regulating prices and keeping 70 percent of ebook revenue.

MINDY KALING

Did you notice that Office-writer/actor Mindy Kaling started blogging again? Seriously, you guys! Her blog, Things I Bought That I Love, meticulously documents why we'll eventually make great friends.

Sample great sentence: "This one has a faux Houndstooth thing going on which makes you look like Gwen Stefani, my favorite person these days."

SMITHSONIAN

The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, on Flickr.

DANGERMOUSE

EMI will not release the new Danger Mouse compilation "Dark Night Of The Soul," which features music from Iggy Pop, Wayne Coyne, Julian Casablancas as well as 100 original photographs from David Lynch, according to BBC via Boing Boing. In response to the label's actions, the producer and his team concocted a hilarious remedy, described with this great sentence: "Music producer Danger Mouse is to release a blank CD, after record label EMI reportedly canceled his new album."

You can hear the album here, or download the leak here. More info here.

ONE SENTENCE REVIEW

Juliet Of The Spirits, Federico Fellini's first color film. Also my first Netflix rental.

Like birth, Fellini actualizes life as a sudden myth, a land of strange hats and social systems (canopy tanning?), all startling, mysterious, and deeply susceptible to the idiosyncrasies of the self.

Highly recommended.

GREAT SENTENCE

From Ayn Rand's 1964 Playboy interview: "Sadism, dictatorship, any form of evil, is the consequence of a man's evasion of reality."

WEEK IN PHOTOS

OH MAN

Just when you've watched $30 million worth of season finales, you log online and see something like this, where the most beautiful woman in the world floats through Rome in 4,500 photos. Thanks to shape+colour because of Daniele Napolitano. Wow.

REDEFINING THE MUSIC BUSINESS

Is downloading music wrong? I've refused making this judgment for two reasons: one, I can't afford music the way it's currently priced, and two, I'd like to understand how and why music costs as much as it does before deciding if free music, which isn't going away, is wrong at all.

Today, Dave passed along a piece titled "P2P Study: Music Crackdown Is Bad for Business" that suggests labels are missing out on potential income by condemning the P2P networks (like PirateBay). It makes a lot of sense and is a must read. Here's the hypothesis: "A study of P2P music exchanges to be revealed this week suggests that the ailing music business is shunning a lucrative lifeline by refusing to license the activity for money."

The study points out that in a week, a super-popular album (the example they use is Lady Gaga's new release) might be peer-to-peer downloaded 400,000 times. (Even when Radiohead offered In_Rainbows for free it was still downloaded 2.3 million times in the first three weeks on peer-to-peer networks, suggesting "the black market could potentially be even more concentrated.")

I've never used torrents to get music, and I still find any album I want (I consume around 1 gig of new music per month). So P2P downloads are a fraction of "illegal" downloads. What's the real number of unchecked downloads? More importantly, what's the real number of unchecked fans of an artist? Shouldn't real audience represent the real value of an artist? (Isn't real audience why Oprah can singlehandedly destroy the acai berry supply chain and double Twitter's sign-ups in a month?)

Gaga's album (to continue with the example offered in the story) is "merely" platinum, according to the dusty fossil that is the RIAA. That means the album Soundscanned a million copies. Guessing that another million people are downloading her album each week is conservative, but nonetheless spotlights how little of the real audience the "label" accounts for. Another big question: why does the industry only care about fans that will pay between $10 and $20 for a release? Where does that pricing model even come from, and why is it still relevant in the iTunes era (when the cost to upload and host a legal digital version of a song is miniscule)?

The article doesn't address that, but I'm going to make this blog a sort of living essay of discovery. The quest: to find the real cost of music, as well as the real value.

I'll hypothesize that there isn't a singular value, but a range that begins with "free." Likewise, I suspect that the cost to iTunes/labels/artists hardly justifies the $1 per song price tag, and that, in fact, the profit margin is criminally high to the consumer (especially for recouped catalogue releases). For iTunes, there's no physical product (eliminating materials, shipping, and storage) and fewer (or no) middlemen. Yet the prices haven't really dropped.

Above all else, I'd like to know at what price the most customers would pay for a song, and if the revenue/custumer base generated at a lower cost could outgross fewer customers at a higher cost. I occurs to me that Google generates a lot of revenue by keeping information free, and I can't help wondering what would happen if albums were offered on a custom web page composed of a pay-what-you-want box surrounded by ad space. That way, customers that don't pay for the album still add value to the advertising space, creating a net financial gain to the party holding the rights to the intellectual property (hopefully the artist). We already know that a free song can make money (see RCRDLBL).

To be continued.

DARK WAS THE NIGHT LIVE

Watch for at least 2:39, please.

ZACH HILL

Here's Zach and Carson (hopefully) rehearsing for their straight-to-the-web-er-net sitcom "Two of a Perfect Pair." I don't know what this project is really called, but affirmative shout-outs to Terror Eyes, nonetheless.

NIN

Explanation of the "interactive stage" created for Nine Inch Nails. Via Kanye.

I WANT THIS

The Mungle Coffee Table. Via Contemporist because of TDC.

PAPERHOUSE

Spike Jonze and friends have been blogging over here, the AV Club tells me. It's predictably excellent: amazing artists and musicians and films and things, all meant to chart the infinite inspirations for the upcoming film of Where The Wild Things Are.

Above is an entire 1988 film called Paperhouse (you'll see the other chapters are recommended by YouTube). It's described like this:

"Subtracting the obligatory elements of magical thinking, Paperhouse is simply a movie about a girl who draws a bunch and then falls asleep and has some weird dreams about her drawings. Which is awesome."

SOLAR IN THE SUNSET

Hopefully the fog reads the Times.

"San Francisco’s proposed system — which would produce roughly the amount of energy used by 1,000 households, the developers said — would bring the city’s total solar capacity to seven megawatts. It will be used to power municipal properties like schools and government offices."

From the NYT because of Recurrent Energy, which seems like a cool company.

I WANT THIS

Aimee Wilder wallpaper. Via Smarts & Crafts.

NEW TREEHOUSES

Great sentence: "This treehouse by Japanese builder Kobayahsi Takashi was constructed with the express purpose of communicating with outer space."

Via Kanye because of the LA Times.

BUSDRIVER

This is the best Busdriver song I've heard since anything on The Weather, which remains one of my top albums ever. Please do download "Me-Time" from the excellent Better Propaganda site.

DISTRICT 9 TRAILER

This movie looks easy to market. Here's the trailer without "blurring" and with "subtitles." Kitsune Noir pointed me in the right direction.

I WANT THIS

PF Flyer Cousy. Tried these on yesterday at Huf. They are nice.