Connected View: August 2012

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Made at same time as my previous post about Point Imperial. This is my first try at this. Came out ok, but could be better. 247 images @ 10 second intervals = 42 minutes in real time. Now that i know how to do this, i'll be attempting more. Song is "Remoteness:"

A couple of other sounds recently uploaded:

Thursday, August 23, 2012

An Afternoon at Point Imperial

Spent the afternoon at Point Imperial. We had some big storms move through the last few days. The advantage of this is that the storms clear the air, making for crystal clear skies. (click on images to enlarge)

Old Travel Guides & Stuff

Love to look through old southwest travel guides, maps, and magazines. Transportative. (that's not really a word but it should be)

Great site archive: Desert Magazine

Some favorite cover art and other junk:

The above is by Shonto Begay

Will post more another time (however i don't think anyone reads this page but me) :-)

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

OK Computer is 15

I couldn't let the date pass without acknowledging it. Well, the release date was June 16, 1997. So it's a little over 15 years, but what an impact it made on me at the time. The day it was released we had just moved into an apartment in Virginia Beach. It was my first time living away from home. Before moving our stuff in (the stereo was first of course) we listened to the whole album sitting in the barren living room. Nothing but white walls, which matched the whiteness of the album art. We hadn't intended to listen to the whole thing at that moment, but the sound of it was enthralling and engaging. We simply couldn't stop. It was like nothing we'd heard before and very different than their previous album "The Bends." The themes of the album resonated - railing against consumer culture, greed, affluenza, yuppy culture, and urban sprawl. The snarl of Thom Yorke's vocals became anthems of that summer and beyond. While I haven't played OK Computer much in recent years, I don't really feel the need to (I still have the songs well memorized,) I still enjoy their newer material. It seems a shame now that they've been sort of shunned by hipsters because they've been successful and have sold a shit ton of records. Whenever I do hear a song from OK Computer I think of that white living room and the summer of '97.

Seems like I'm reminiscing for these days a bunch lately. Well, I guess I am. So again, for old times, here's a few of my favorites from OK Computer:

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

early Blonde Redhead

Blonde Redhead are one of Portopia's favorite bands. Sometime in 1995 we were walking around a park in the suburbs of south Jersey and met a couple of girls there and started talking about music. Sonic Youth were our favorites at the time and they said "if you like Sonic Youth you will love Blonde Redhead." So the next time we went to the record store, i picked up a copy of "La Mia Vita Violenta" which had just been released. Those girls were right. However, our fascination with Sonic Youth waned in the coming years and Blonde Redhead would continue to hold our interest for the next 17 and beyond. Whenever i hear songs like "UFO" i am instantly transported back to 1995, and it still sounds fresh. Timeless music. i remember going to their shows in Philadelphia back in those days at venues like the TLA and the Trocadero. There was such an explosive energy. We would play nothing but Blonde Redhead for weeks ahead of the shows in anticipation. So for old times...here are a few of my favorites from "La Mia Vita Violenta"

One thing i admire about them is their ability to change through time. This one is from their last album in 2010 "Penny Sparkle." Quite different from the "Jewel" style, but still great.