Record Review: Ant Neely - Not Fit for Human ConsumptionIt takes serious cajones to base a jazz track around the sound of a telegraph machine and a drum n' bass beat, but Antony "Ant" Neely pulls it off in Not for Human Consumption. As the guitarist and synth whiz of subthunk, he's made a solo record that channels the free-form jams of his band's earlier work as well as the punchy, structured songs of 2005's You Should've Been Here Yesterday. "Lucky" mixes a playful pulse wave bassline with sinister strings and samples from a 50s movie, while "Might as Well Whistle" sounds like the soundtrack to a 70s game show. The record is alternately bleak, goofy, and heartbreaking, and Neely brings the jazz chops and studio wizardry to make it all work. If the Flaming Lips swore off rock and formed a jazz trio on the moon, this is what they would sound like.More info (and free, Creative Commons-licensed download): www.antneely.com Posted 11/10/2008. The top 5 things that've kept me from updating sooner5. Looking for a job4. Having a job 3. The possibility of bedbugs in my apartment 2. The definite existence of a bat in my apartment 1. Procrastination I'm still getting my life sorted out, but I want to get back to writing and making music and maybe programming, all of which I love but have put off in the interest of finishing school and getting my life in order. I want to make sure that those parts of me don't atrophy - my job in customer support at a small business intelligence software company doesn't involve much of those - and that just because I'm an adult and have to wear a dress shirt and slacks to work doesn't mean I have to stop doing things I love or just goofing off and having fun. And once I have a little more money, I still want to enjoy simple things. I'd rather spend time writing music with a wonderful but quirky free program like Buzz (which, amazingly, is being updated again!) than have a home studio filled with beautiful gear but no time to use it. Which is good, because I have a much better shot at doing the former than the latter. Nothing new to download just yet, but if you're hard up for new stuff to listen to and play, I recommend the new Trash80 EP (free!) and Space Invaders Extreme (not free but pretty cheap and well worth the $20). The record is full of moving, electro-ey chiptune, ans it's got a bit more of a pure Game Boy/NES sound than his last record. He still comes up with some great sounds and intricate, layered, and really fun tracks. Anyway, hopefully I'll have some time soon to cook up some new tracks and maybe finally get that new WordPress-based design up and running. (Yikes, it's been over a year since I first put that up.) Let's see what craziness the next few months bring. Posted 8/9/2008. Things that will make your brain hurt (but in a good way)I'm really, really busy right now, so I'm going to do the classic cop-out post and just stick up some links. Hopefully in a month or two, things will be a little bit saner.Thing one: my friend Tom Pinchuk's American Gladiators application. You might know him as the writer of the comics Hybrid Bastards and Ruin (and if you don't, well, you do now.) It starts off low key enough, but a few minutes in he's somersaulting and flipping people over and screaming at the camera about tentacles. My favorite line: "Just when you think you've got all the answers, I change all the questions!" Possibly NSFW if you work at a church, at home, or somewhere else where videos of screaming, flexing, shirtless men would be deemed inappropriate. Thing two: ROM Check Fail. It's basically a mash-up of about a dozen or so old video games from the eighties. Every five seconds or so, things switch up and you go from fighting Space Invaders as Link to eating breakout blocks as Pac Man. Highly recommended unless you're susceptible to seizures. (via Kotaku) Posted 3/31/2008. Norovirus'ed!A few days ago, I came down with the norovirus, which has been going around Boston this winter (and did the same thing in '06 and '07). The CDC has a really interesting fact sheet on it if you're curious (I'll spare you the gory details), but the bottom line was that it was a pretty miserable experience. I was lucky enough to have a wonderful girlfriend to take care of me during what was probably one of the lower points of my life. Without her, I probably would've wound up in the emergency room. Heck, if I were in the third world and didn't have clean water or medical information (to say nothing of sports drinks and ibuprofen), I might well be dead.The funny thing is that I'd heard about the virus about a month ago and had been really neurotic about washing my hands, but I still managed to get the virus. Maybe I wasn't through enough, or maybe a little bit of norovirus from someone else wound up on my toothbrush or in the salad bar or something. The bottom line is that you can't be too careful, and even with perfect hygiene you can't be sure that you'll never get sick with something that could really hurt you. Living is a dangerous business. Also: for crying out loud, wash. your. hands.. If I find out you're the jerk who got norovirus on my tomatoes, you're going down. Posted 2/9/2008. New music: Brisk, Like Space (ragingmime remix)In the summer of 2006, I did a remix of a song for the dance-punk band citation:obsolete. The track ended up on their limited-edition "Series One.5" CD, which was sold at shows (and for all I know, might still be). Sadly, I was never able to get my hands on an actual copy of the record, but from what the band's released for free online as "Series One", I assume it's good. Anyway, I think enough time's passed that I can put the track online for free.You can head onto the music page to stream it or just grab the MP3. The track starts off slow but gradually builds up to a mix of stuttering blips, fuzzy hi-hats, phased handclaps, and spacey guitar work courtesy of citation:obsolete. Enjoy! Posted 11/23/2007. |