A beautiful and cleverly-shot HV20 video by music/video artist Arman Bohn for his song “Combat”. Arman’s first album is called “Bits“, and it’s inspired by classic video games.

The album can probably be classified as “easy listening indie pop with some electronic beats”, and it’s comprised by 13 songs. Its best songs are “Kaboom!” and “Combat” (toe-tapping, addictive hooks), followed (somewhat distantly) by “Warlords”, “Atlantis”, “No Escape!”, “Night Driver” and “Demons to Diamonds”. The music has a feel-good aura that should satisfy most indie (as in genre) listeners. The marriage of electro+rock in serene melodies make for one good calming listening session.

The lyrics are stellar. Smart, clear, and often epic. It’s obvious from the lyrics that Arman is one sharp guy.

On some tracks the keyboard is the main instrument, while on others the electric guitar, however both are usually are blanketed away by the constant vocals: not much of instrument solos/hooks are going on, which at the end makes the album sound a bit flat and repetitive. Only few tracks, like “Demons to Diamonds” have the music taking a front-row role compared to the vocals. For some of the songs to sound less flat, the tempo should have been upgraded to indie rock (rather than “pop”) with guitars taking over, while the vocals should have been a bit more aggressive. In other words, the album needed a bit more “nerve” in some places. One of the reasons why “Kaboom!” is so damn good, is because it takes that approach in its chorus.

Rating: 4/5

It’s a curious thing, really. Back in the ’80s I hated the Cure, or the Talking Heads, or any other progressive rock band. I also disliked heavy metal, although I didn’t mind the milder Bon Jovi. I also hated my native Greek music (and I still do). I was a yet another pop girl, in love with Michael Jackson and Madonna.

But in the ’90s, things changed. The time I became an adult was also the time we were able to acquire MTV signal from the local pirate re-broadcasters in my area. It made me more used to rock, alternative rock in particular, but that was also the time that Eurodance was big in Europe/Japan, which I also loved at the time.

This current decade has been all about rock though. JBQ is a heavy metal/alt/hard rock guy (big Iron Maiden fan), so I naturally got used to the sound even more. Franz Ferdinand, AFI, Green Day, Rise Against, Disturbed, Linkin Park, Metallica are all in our daily rotation.

However, I am changing again.

This time, my favorite music is actually the indie experimental sound, a sound that usually sits somewhere between pop, rock and folk — with a twist. Bands like Arcade Fire, Cloud Cult, British Sea Power, Blitzen Trapper, Feist, Orenda Fink, Portugal The Man, Ratatat, Scissors for Lefty, Midlake, Sea Wolf, Sin Fang Bous, We Are Wolves, and Wye Oak are what I like listening to. I don’t like all of their songs, but some of their stuff, I find amazing.

Now, you are probably thinking: “wait a fucking second. Aren’t you the same person who said just a few weeks ago that indie rock is not that epic, or that this is the kind of music you actually dislike?”.

I am. Or, maybe I am not.

I feel that I am changing again. During my vast research of free, legal mp3s on the internet last month I had to listen to this “new” sound a lot. Most of the new bands out there play such music. And I got used to it. I now “get it”.

For some of that music we have a specific word in Greek: “κουλτουριαρικη”. Means that it’s somewhat modern art, difficult to get into at first, and usually liked by specific kind of people, not your normal Joe & Jane. This doesn’t mean that it’s the music for snobs, but rather somewhat underground and unappreciated by the public at large. The funny thing here is that I always disliked that kind of music and I even opposed it all my life. I liked accessibility. But I think I now too get the endorphins associated with it. Update: I guess the international equivalent term to that Greek word is “avant-garde”.

I think one reason this music is not more popular (especially in Europe), it’s because is it’s uneven. I mentioned some bands above, and yet, I only like a fraction of their songs. For example, I bought the whole repertoire of Arcade Fire the other day, and I only find 10 songs that I like in there (and only 5 that I really like). As for my favorite indie band, the Cloud Cult, I *only* like their latest album! And while I love the current Blitzen Trapper, I can’t stand their first two albums. On the other hand, I can go through an AFI, Green Day, Muse, Franz Ferdinand, Madonna album without skipping songs! Some of these guys with a major’s contract might be history in terms of music genre, but their albums are overall better because they have more evenly good songs in them. The only indie bands that I like all their albums and all the songs, from start to finish, are the Malbec and the Drist (JBQ likes them too).

However, JBQ hates that vast majority of that indie folk-y music (he can’t stand Cloud Cult for example, to my surprise). He in fact finds it “painful”, he said, on at best “nothing special”. But I think it’s just that: getting used to it and “get” the serene melody with complex layers these songs offer compared to a hard rock shouting match that probably we heard it all before. To me, indie music is like rock married pop and had babies. However, I did notice that for some songs that JBQ hated originally, when I replayed them days later he was more susceptible to them (e.g. Feist’s “One Evening”).

These days iTunes is playing for me alternative rock, that new crop of indie rock, and some hard rock and trance songs. Very rarely I listen to pop anymore. Regardless of what kind of music I will be listening to in the new decade, one thing is for sure though: it won’t be Greek.

One of the best music videos I have seen in a long time, hands down. And the song is amazing too, of course. If this combination doesn’t make the Blitzen Trapper super stars, I don’t know what will. These guys deserve to be big.

Update: A word from the director, via email:
“We shot on an HVX-200 at 720p resolution. No 35mm adapter. We did most of the shoot at 36fps to give it a slightly slow-motion dreamy feel. The post was all done in Adobe After Effects.”

Another great music video shot with the HV20 by Rich Savage. There are now about 300 *official* music videos shot with the HV series. Mighty impressive for a $500 camera. This is the camera that has put great quality and features to the hands of people who wanted to play with video seriously, but didn’t have the big bucks. The HV series has really turned the tide for filmmaking helping new filmmakers out.

Everyone is busy with eulogies these days about this guy. What a true artist he was, how popular, what a glorious career, what an icon.

My ass.

I don’t give a monkey if this guy released Thriller, or popularized the moonwalk. And yes, I am super-familiar with his career, since I was a huge fan of his in the ’80s and early ’90s. Everyone who knew me during high school can attest to that. Even saw him live once, at a concert in Germany (and made a big fuss about it to my then-fiance to go see MJ live). Many times I had fought with my father for the TV’s remote control for me wanting to watch.

What concerns me instead is his reported $200-$400 million debt he leaves behind. That’s what’s bugging me. His current estate and future sales will pay for part of this debt, but it won’t be enough to pay it all back. Naturally, his children — and their children — will have to work all their life to payback their father’s careless overspending. Unless MJ’s girlfriend, Tinkerbell, allows for a miracle to happen, these children will never be free. Update: Reader Steve says in the comments that in the US the kids won’t be held responsible paying off that debt. Let’s hope that’s how it’s going to play out.

Some will say “separate the man from his art”, but in this case, the man has more impact to me than his art. I am sorry to say, but this debt is the only “legacy” I see Jackson leaving behind. Its effects on his children are so powerful in my mind, that overshadows everything else he accomplished in his life and career. I can’t stand listening to his music anymore because of the person he became (and no, I don’t even count the pederasty allegations). He let himself to get hooked on drugs, became careless about his spending, and on top of all that, he wanted children! What for? As new puppies?

The usual argument against all this is “but he had a hard star-child life”. Well, that’s all bullshit. He had TWENTY+ years to SORT OUT his psychological problems. Thank God, during the ’80s he had enough money to employ top-shrinks to help him out. So putting that “child star” argument over and over, is weak after a few years. He has absolutely no excuse. Neither he, or his close family for not reporting his addiction/psycho problems to the police to not allow him to take custody of his children (that’s what responsible people should do, even if they end up alienating themselves). Then again, after watching this, I don’t believe that anyone in his “family” ever gave a shit about MJ.

So let him rot in hell. Spare me the eulogies that the internet and TV is full of (I can’t even escape iTunes/Amazon’s top-10 lists). My only hope is for a way out, for his children.

My new favorite band, The Rosebuds (a married couple from Raleigh, NC). I bought most of their music last night. If you like what you hear, support the band too!

Legal mp3 downloads from the band, to taste more of their great music:
- Life Like (my rating: 5/5)
- Leaves Do Fall (5/5)
- Get Up Get Out (5/5)
- Blue Bird (4.5/5)
- Kicks in the Schoolyard (4/5)

I watched “Babel” tonight. All I can say is “wow”.

This is one of the best movies I have ever watched in my life. It kept me on the edge of my seat — and it’s one of the very few movies that are able to put me in that mode. The cinematography was amazing, the performances, direction, and storyline too. I found the depiction of the various places extremely authentic — and that was the key for me.

If there was one thing that should have been done better, was the Japanese story and its loose connection to the other stories (while a great story in itself, it felt a bit out of place in conjunction to the others). But other than that, the movie is thrilling! Rent it!