Rocktober

Tonight is the (likely) last show of my Rocktober 2008 experience.  I’m going to see Shiny Toy Guns play in Minneapolis.  It’s been a pretty good month, and the only regret I have is missing My Morning Jacket one evening when I had to work.  Seeing The Magnetic Fields could’ve been cool too.  So by way of tribute to the bands of Rocktober, here are some music videos ___

First, tonight is Shiny Toy Guns, who are releasing a new album next week.  I’m a big fan of their first album We Are Pilots, particularly this song, “Rainy Monday”.  It was the first song of theirs that caught me attention and left me wanting more:

Earlier this week I saw TV On The Radio.  Great, great set though I wish they would’ve played the ballad “Family Tree” off their new album.  Whatev, here’s “Staring at the Sun” off their first LP Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes:

A bit of an impromptu show on my part, I saw Broken Social Scene a couple Mondays ago.  They put a lot of musicians on stage and pulled it off beautifully.  Here’s “Ibi Dreams of Pavement (A Better Day)” from their 2005 self-titled release.  It rocked!

OK, I’m cheating here a little bit by including some acts I saw in September.  But I don’t care because really, it’s all just part of my reintroduction to the Minneapolis music scene. So, this is Ratatat with their popular single “Loud Pipes” off their second album, 2006’s Classics:

And to start it off there was They Might Be Giants.  Here’s “The Mesopotamians,” last song on last year’s The Else.

I also want to give a shout out to Pete and Mike, my main co-conspirators in these extravaganzas.  Good times!

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Starting Back Up

It’s been a very long time since I have written a post here and it’s time I get back to work.  The move back to Minnesota eroded some of my creative energies, as has my job search in this economy.  So, by way of easing back into the swing of things I want to bring over a few posts from other blogs I had held.  It’ll also be a good way for me to hang on to posts which I like, while consolidating my work into this archive.

I used to maintain a blog on MOG.com, a music-focused blogging platform.  Similar to Last.fm they track the music you played as well, rank it by popularity and put you in touch with people with similar tastes.  Additionally you can attach a song to each post, and that’s where I would often post my musically-inspired muses.

But I was frustrated with the way I perceived they tracked my music.  As opposed to Last.fm, they would document all the music in your library, not just the songs you played.  I felt this left me less control over who knew what music I had and in this tricky day in age, I wasn’t comfortable with that.  So I deleted their software of my computer and canceled my account, but not before copying down some of my favorite posts.

Favorite Post #1 – A Music Lover’s Song – On Dobie Gray’s version of “Drift Away”

“I just absolutely love this song.  The bluesy lead, the orchestral background, the bridge with only the bass line and hand clapping … and it’s about how medicinal rock and roll can be.  A classic.

“‘Thanks for the joy that you’ve given me.'”

Favorite Post #2

I Thought I Was Supposed To Be Special!

“I was just talking to my roommates about how concert promoters have a way of hyping a show/band that can make you feel duped afterward.

“Back in 1997 I saw the first OzzFest tour. It was billed as the last time Black Sabbath (w/ Mike Bordin filling in for original drummer Bill Ward) would play. The lineup included Pantera and Marilyn Manson. But then the next year they did it again, complete with the full original Black Sabbath lineup. WTF?

“Flash forward to the spring of 2005. Coachella features Daft Punk closing the first night. The duo hadn’t performed in the States in around 10 years and the vibe beforehand definitely told people to see them while they could. Now Daft Punk seems to perform all over the US.

“Not that they weren’t both great shows, and I’m glad to have seen both bands. But in retrospect the hype just wasn’t real.”

Favorite Post #3 – Do Over: Would Madonna Still Be Famous?

“In an article in Fast Company last month, a Columbia researcher disputed a popular sociology/marketing concept known as the Tipping Point. The tipping point says that a social trend becomes popular only if it’s supported by a group of socially plugged-in individuals called Influencers. These influencers connect to a new product or idea or band early and tell other people about it, influencing their interest, and ultimately, the general popularity of the trend. Seems natural enough, right? Everyone has that one friend that’s just a little more plugged in to new bands or sounds than others.

“Using network simulation software (which in another life is used for predicting the spread of diseases) the guy showed that trends gain critical masses with or without the presence of an Influencer. So this got him thinking, would a past hot trend repeat itself? Rewind back to pre-Madonna 1982, would she rise to the popularity and stardom that she did?

“Collecting 48 songs from unsigned bands, he recruited 14,000 people to listen to and rate them. Some of the participants operated independently, and their top choices were spread pretty evenly among all the choices. But another subset was split into 8 groups where everyone could see everyone else’s choices; where a social influence could influence the rankings. “Word of Mouth” would have its stage.

“And sure enough, differences emerged. In the social groups a small set of songs saw great popularity while others sank to obscurity. But the popular songs weren’t the same among the groups. The most popular for one group would be ranked near the bottom for another. If a song got some early nods, it was going to get a good rank from the group. If not, it could easily sink to obscurity.

“So what does this mean to us, music lovers? How do we operate in a world where song popularity is gained randomly and through blatant groupthink?

“Dunno. Listen to those smart, plugged in friends, I guess. Or don’t!”

what’s been going on

Hello world, here’s a little update as to what’s happening in my life.
I am fully enamored with this online world of ours. I spend a fair bit of time perusing the blogosphere, Twitter, Digg and my fav podcasts. I am also building up my website-building chops. I’ve opened Peder-with-a-D.com and transferred this very blog over there. But this morning I read this article talking about online branding (admittedly a goal of mine). Seems like the value of a non-personalized brand is better than that of a personalized one, so I recently purchased PheaturedPhuture.com. I’m gonna apply one of my fav little taglines “The future is now; I wish it would come faster,” and I’ll play up the PH part of the name. (Hey, can’t completely remove ourselves from the process!)

On the job front there has been some activity, but it’s still a generally-discouraging process. Fortunately I will not be discouraged and my move northward is inevitable. Just need that job … I was contacted a couple weeks ago by a Silicon Valley industry leader and had an interview. Having not heard much on that recently I’m taking the clue that I might not be their ideal candidate. But in the process I got a copy of the job description they were trying to fill. It really would be a great spot for me, so at least I can take the language they used and apply it to my job search criteria. Silver linings, baby. In the meantime, my current employers have asked me to further develop their online business plan. They and I both agree I’d be a great person to project manage the development of that portal, but I remain dubious. I want to move out of Monterey, and they’ve made these sorts of promises before. Pull the trigger boys! Alas, same old same old: Hurry up and wait.

Been playing some new music lately as well. Made some mixed CDs for some friends and have been playing a lot on Muxtape. I’m listening to Hellogoodbye as I write now, and have rediscovered my love for Boards of Canada over the last couple weeks.