2011.11.20
Posted in Music, Music Spotlight at 11:04 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
It’s unfortunate that many people think of Fatboy Slim’s remix of “I See You Baby” when they think of Groove Armada. I’ve never been much of a fan of Fatboy Slim, and this song got way more radio / MTV / MuchMusic exposure than it deserved. It’s easily the worst song on the album it comes from.
If you’re willing to move beyond this and give Groove Armada’s discography a browse, you’ll find quite a bit worth listening to. Their albums generally include a fair number of downtempo and triphop tracks and at least a few that will get your ass(ets) shaking.
My first Groove Armada experience was with Goodbye Country (Hello Nightclub), and while I still really enjoy it, I prefer the sounds of their previous album (Vertigo) and subsequent album (Love Box) on the whole.
Soundboy Rock took things in a bit of a different direction with more pop influence, and while the result is good, it seems to have lost some the sound I associate with Groove Armada and so it doesn’t get as much love from me as their older stuff. I haven’t given Black Light much of a listen yet, so I can’t really comment on it. I don’t own it yet, if that means anything.
Favorite up-tempo tracks (albums):
Superstylin’ (Goodbye Country (Hello Nightclub))
The Final Shakedown (Love Box)
In My Bones (Vertigo)
Love Sweet Sound (Soundboy Rock)
Favorite down-tempo tracks (albums):
Edge Hill (Goodbye Country (Hello Nightclub))
Think Twice… (Love Box)
Tuning In (Rewritten) (Love Box)
Pre 63 (Vertigo)
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2011.11.20
Posted in Board Games at 10:53 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
On Thursday it was game night as usual. We decided to pull out Acquire, followed by Rheinlander.
Even though I have seldom won Acquire in the past, everything went my way this game, and I won very handily, with a nearly $20,000 differential with Craig who took second place. The group generally seemed to be preferring to hold stock rather than liquidate, which worked in my favor (I think Tower got acquired 4 times, with a nice payout to me each time). I also managed to maneuver things such that Continental was re-founded well out of harms way in the corner of the board, giving me time to focus on my long-term buy and hold hotel (Festival). I got a lot of dirty looks when I founded Continental where I did, but it’s probably the one move I made that most directly led to me emerging victorious.
I didn’t win at Rheinlander, but did manage a second-place finish, by far the best I’ve ever done in that game. I feel like I’m finally beginning to understand the strategy in that game, something I never really felt I had a grip on at all previously. My score was about double my previous personal best score (41 points this game, I think my previous best was 22 or 23 points). We don’t play this one that often, but it’s nice to finally feel like I can play it competitively.
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2011.11.20
Posted in Music, Theatre at 10:46 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
I’ve been out to a couple of plays and also some electronic music shows recently, and generally things have been a bit of a mixed bag.
First up, an electronic music show at Flames Central: Steve Aoki and Datsik.
I bought the ticket more to see Datsik than Aoki, as I’m not really an Aoki fan, but I knew I was in trouble when the venue switched to Flames Central from the Big 4 where it was originally scheduled. Flames Central is a much smaller venue, and it was packed to capacity.
The line-up to get in was the first sign of trouble. I still don’t understand why a line about 100 people long took over an hour to get through. It’s not that difficult to put wristbands on people after checking their tickets.
That mess negotiated, I thankfully didn’t need to head to coat check where it sounds like another hour long line awaited. I did manage to get a reasonable spot on the dance floor, but I was forced to abandon it after I got tired of people shoving and pushing their way past me (where they were going I have no idea, the dance floor was pretty dense).
Which led to another problem. As a result of the venue change, Flames Central was so close to capacity they ticketed the balcony separately from the main floor. My usual escape plan (to the balcony) wasn’t available. I stuck it out for Datsik’s set, which I enjoyed (but most of the crowd seemed to dislike), and left 1/2 hour into Aoki’s set (which was as much of his music as I could stand).
Next up was Ronnie Burkett’s play Penny Plain. I have seen many of his plays in the past, but this one was my least favorite. It wasn’t bad by any stretch, but it seemed like he kind of lost his mojo with this one. It was an interesting premise, but the characters were just too bizarre and the ending a little too predictable in some ways, and way too weird in others.
I still maintain that everyone should see a Ronnie Burkett play once in their life, as he is a true master of the art of marionettes, but this play isn’t the one.
On a more positive note, Bassnectar’s show at the Big 4 last night was pretty good. The crowd was less college-bro-ish than a lot of other shows I’ve been to lately, and generally a lot more respectful. The music was loud as expected (PK provided the setup), and it was fun to dance for the evening. Earplugs were a requirement, and I handed out a number of them to nearby revelers who didn’t bring their own. Lorin has also stepped up his light show since I saw him at Sasquatch, and that was pretty neat to see. Really the only negative was a long line at coat check, but that was predictable given the weather.
As a bonus, one of the opening acts for Bassnectar was Bonobo, who I missed seeing at Sasquatch back in May, so I was glad to get the chance to see him DJ. His set was refreshing, something a little different than what I usually listen to. And the dance floor hadn’t yet packed in so I had lots of room to dance.
I don’t have tickets to any other plays or concerts coming up, although there are a few which are tempting. I think I may start to see more smaller shows / smaller venues and skip out on the bigger acts playing places like Flames Central as I tend to not enjoy those as much.
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2011.10.16
Posted in Family, Music at 6:44 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
This weekend I finished cataloging, sleeving, and shelving the 224 records that my parents gave me from their (mostly dad’s) collection. They now occupy four feet of shelf space in my living room, and weigh a lot more than I expected.
Some of what’s in there I could have easily guessed:
- Bob Seger
- The Rolling Stones
- Rod Stewart
- The Guess Who
- The Who
- Bachman Turner Overdrive
- Bob Dylan
- Dr. Hook
- Janis Joplin
- Led Zeppelin
- Supertramp
- Steppenwolf
- CCR
And some of it, quite frankly, I wouldn’t have guessed at first
- Tina Turner (and lots of Ike & Tina era albums)
- Dire Straits (I don’t remember dad ever listening to this)
- Beatles (Must have been mom’s)
- Bee Gees (!?)
- Suzi Quatro
- Charlie Daniels Band
- Peter Paul & Mary (Mom?)
- The Temptations
- Juice Newton (I should have figured, but somehow this still surprised me)
- Fleetwood Mac
- Santana
- Michael Jackson (apparently they were still buying records after I was born, but I have no recollection)
Since the vast majority of it was recorded before I was born it’s been fun to listen to it so far, although I’ve only just scratched the surface to date.
The next step is to start exploring the collection more, cleaning some of the records that need it (like Let It Bleed), and ripping a few to digital form. I’m also going to get a copy of the MusicBrainz database and write an application to query it in the hopes of automating the process of obtaining track listings, at least for the majority of the records.
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2011.09.25
Posted in Music, Music Spotlight at 11:41 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
The Crystal Method aren’t the most prolific duo in the world of electronic music, but they were an early love of mine, and I find myself going back to their debut album, Vegas, quite often to this day. When I first heard their music, I had never heard anything that sounded like it before. The best way I could describe it was a trippier version of The Chemical Brothers.
Fast forward several years… Having loved Vegas for a couple of years, I picked up Tweekend within a month of its release, unlistened, and was surprised to discover a very different sound than on Vegas, and which I enjoyed but in a completely different way. It’s much heavier, and incorporates a fair bit of electric guitar and other rock/metal elements, which were absent from Vegas.
I also did enjoy their first “mix” album, Community Service, although it’s not nearly as enjoyable as their first two studio albums.
For whatever reason, Legion of Boom didn’t really click with me, and I find Divided by Night to be hit and miss although I do enjoy some of it. Vegas is a total musical joyride, while their later stuff feels a little more chopped up to me.
if you can own one and only one Crystal Method album, it’s Vegas. Hands down. And if you’ve never heard Vegas, do yourself a favour and listen to it sometime soon.
Favorite Songs (Albums):
- Busy Child (Vegas)
- Keep Hope Alive (Vegas)
- Name of the Game (Tweekend)
- Ten Miles Back (Tweekend)
- Come Back Clean (Divided by Night) – Also, if you’re a Kaskade fan, his remix of this track is great.
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2011.09.19
Posted in Board Games at 8:11 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
This past weekend I tried out 7 Wonders for the first time. Although I would classify it as multi-player solitaire in a lot of ways, it’s an excellent game. It’s one of the most enjoyable games I’ve played recently to use a card-drafting mechanic, and it plays fast and furious even with a large compliment of players.
In the game, each player has a unique monument that grants them a slight special power. There’s nothing truly devastating, and they all seem pretty balanced, but they add a nice variety to the game and help to ensure that no two games play alike.
The interesting options and many paths to victory also make it a game that has some good replayability, and the simple, straightforward rules and quick play time make it a lot more accessible to casual gamers than a lot of games.
While it doesn’t have the depth of other multi-player solitaire games like Agricola, it’s one I can see hitting the table a lot more often, and it’s also a game I could see busting out with my family.
I don’t own a copy, but will likely track one down in the near future.
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2011.09.19
Posted in Music, Music Spotlight at 8:04 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
Nick Warren and Jody Wisternoff each have solo careers, and they collaborate together under the name Way Out West and produce progressive house music.
My first encounter with Way Out West was due to Tiesto’s inclusion of a remix of the song Mindcircus on In Search of Sunrise 3. I thoroughly enjoyed the remix (although I have to give more credit to the remixers, Gabriel & Dresden, than to Nick and Jody for that particular track). Although I didn’t much care for the orignal recorded version of Mindcircus, I bought Way Out West’s second album, Intensify, anyways.
Intensify as an album sounded different from what I would have expected from Nick Warren, and I really enjoyed it. Up to that point, I really wasn’t familiar with Jody’s work. In any event, I listened to Intensify at least once per week for the first few months I had it, usually while studying or doing homework in university.
Their next two albums, Don’t Look Now and We Love Machine, are also good, and somehow feel different than either of their solo efforts. I still listen to all 3 of these albums with some frequency.
I have yet to track down their original self-titled release, and I think I’ll skip the We Love Machine remixes to be honest.
My favorite Way out West tracks (albums):
- Everyday (Don’t Look Now)
- Pulse of Life (Don’t Look Now / B Side)
- The Fall (Intensify)
- Call Me (Intensify)
- Survival (We Love Machine)
- One Bright Night (We Love Machine)
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2011.09.11
Posted in Music, Music Spotlight at 4:56 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
Basement Jaxx is a house music act from the UK, and they exploded onto the North American scene in the late nineties. While I’m not really a fan of their newer stuff, I thoroughly enjoy their first 3 albums. Those are full of fun, dancey house music.
The reason I first checked out Basement Jaxx was that I read an interview back in 1998 of another EDM producer (I don’t even recall who it was now), and the response to the interview question of “so who are you listening to lately” included Basement Jaxx.
Thus I purchased Remedy, which is probably still my favorite Basement Jaxx album if I had to pick one.
Rooty had a bit more of an edge to it, but was still a lot of fun. There were a few duds on the album, and they went a bit too far with “Get Me Off” which could have been fun in the same way that Nine Inch Nails’ “Closer” is fun, had it been better executed.
Kish Kash was heading further into hit-or-miss territory for me, and subsequent Basement Jaxx albums haven’t interested me enough to actually justify the purchase cost.
A brief list of tracks that still make me want to get up and dance, even a decade later (albums in parentheses):
- Rendez-Vu (Remedy)
- Red Alert (Remedy)
- Romeo (Rooty)
- Where’s Your Head At (Rooty)
- Good Luck (Kish Kash)
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2011.09.07
Posted in Music, Music Spotlight at 6:51 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
I’ve been writing up electronic music artists on another web site for a while now, and thought I should start doing the same here. I’m going to take the posts from the other site, adapt them somewhat, and post them here.
So this is the first in what will probably become a series of posts about electronic music artists. I’ve been a fan of electronic music for a long time, and It seems the genre is neglected by many, and with the trend today of pop music edging into dance music edging into electronic music, many people are missing the depth that electronic music has to offer. Yes, there’s more to it than the latest LMFAO single or Lady Gaga remix.
BT (also known as Brian Transeau) is an American-born electronic artist, but his background might surprise you. He’s classically trained, and so has a very critical ear. He time-corrects samples with an uncompromising exactness, and he does things with sound on a near-genetic level that nobody else does, which gives his music a very distinctive signature sound.
He started out doing what we would call experimental trance and techno. So experimental that at the time, he couldn’t find an audience in North America and thus he moved to Europe where he was discovered (in a sense) by well-known DJ and producer Sasha. And the rest is history.
His more recent work still contains a lot of trance music, but his style often incorporates other non-electronic instruments as well, leading to a sound closer to rock or metal in some cases and classical in others. He has composed and performed movie soundtracks as well, which was always one of his career goals. Notably, his soundtrack for Monster is at once stark, depressing, beautiful, and delightful. Even in his diversions from his usual sound (notably This Binary Universe) he’s brilliant in a way that can’t be described unless you give him a listen.
My first introduction to BT was when I special-ordered ESCM in 1998 after hearing Flaming June on the Digital Empire compilation. The diversity of sounds on ESCM made me realize there was a lot more to him than just trance music, and I became a fan pretty quickly. I think my only real regret at this point is I have never seen BT perform live, something I hope to rectify in the future.
If you’ve never listened to BT, you should really check him out. As a “starter” album I would suggest either These Hopeful Machines or Emotional Technology.
My favorite BT tracks (albums), in no particular order aside from being grouped by album:
- Rose of Jericho (These Hopeful Machines)
- The Emergency (These Hopeful Machines)
- Paris (Emotional Technology)
- Force of Gravity (Emotional Technology)
- Mercury and Solace (Movement in Still Life)
- Fibonacci Sequence (Rare & Remixed)
- The Antikythera Mechanism (This Binary Universe)
- Flaming June (ESCM)
- Solar Plexus (ESCM)
- Firewater (ESCM)
- Quark (Ima)
- Blue Skies (Ima)
- Ferris Wheel (Monster Original Soundtrack)
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2011.08.18
Posted in Art, Museums, Galleries, Travel at 3:53 pm by Jeremiah Wittevrongel
Today I began my adventures by tying up some loose ends in the loop. I walked a route that took me past a number of the public art installations, then over to the Willis (formerly Sears) Tower. The line to get up the tower was a little under an hour long, and while the views were rewarding, overall I felt the John Hancock tower was a better value (and far less crowded).
From there I wandered past the library, which I had wanted to get some pictures of since I first saw it on Sunday. That accomplished, I grabbed a quick lunch, then headed out to Oak Park via the L.
In Oak park I more or less just walked around taking pictures of houses, most notably some of the ones designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It was a great day for a walk, and Oak Park was an interesting neighbourhood to explore.
On the way back to downtown, I intended to hit a store whose address was just a few blocks from the Ashland / Lake L station. It turns out this store only sells online, and the address was that of their warehouse. It was an interesting neighborhood full of run down older factories, car repair shops, and I presume a higher than average crime rate after the sun sets.
That brief misadventure concluded, I returned to the hotel via the L and am taking a brief break before supper.
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