Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Aliens Of The Sea

I read this article about a month ago, and it made me think. Essentially, they're taking one bit of actual scientific news (octopi have a unique and entirely different genetic DNA composition) and went wild with it (so they're aliens).

But... what if?
The first whole cephalopod genome sequence shows a striking level of complexity with 33,000 protein-coding genes identified – more than in a human.
Not only that, the octopus DNA is highly rearranged – like cards shuffled and reshuffled in a pack – containing numerous so-called “jumping genes” that can leap around the genome.
It changes from most modern movies where aliens are depicted as close relatives to insects, instead being far more complicated creatures.

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Video Of The Week: Gulfer

Back to the underground with emo/math rock/indie band Gulfer, with their track from the split vinyl "F'Real For Real" (b/w Bob Abate) which also includes Del Paxton's  Paline and Bad Batch.

Gulfer's my type of indie band, having released stuff for a handful of different labels, being constantly on tour despite none of their members having a driver's license, and playing an honest, open type of soft-emo rock that is so much from the heart that it would only have been fashionable 10 years ago.

Guillaume Lebel shot the video in an apartment - a setting in which the band has often performed - and each band member brought their own dog to the shoot, which hits a soft spot for me.

Let me open myself up a bit and go full-confession: oftentimes, when I see a (local or mid-level American touring indie) band live and like them, I think to myself that one of their band members (usually a drummer, sometimes a bassist or singer, rarely a guitarist) would be amazing... in my group, playing my songs. (Not instead of their usual bands, but in addition to). Not these cats. They sound like this is the ideal setting for them, they sound like a unit. And there's nothing I could bring to the table to make any of them feel like this isn't the lone place where they can shine on their own.

F'real.


Saturday, September 5, 2015

Video Of The Week: The Dead Weather

At long last, The Dead Weather (Alison Mosshart of The Kills on vocals, Jack Lawrence of The Raconteurs and The Greenhornes on ass, Dean Fertita of Queens Of The Stone Age on guitar and a guy named Jack White on drums and vocals) are set to release their third record, Dodge And Burn, at the end of the month.

As with most things Jack White, it happened with one phone call and a couple of days to record two songs in late 2013, the same for two more mid-2014, and 8 more songs this Spring. Crash, bang, boom - 12 songs, one record.

I won't pretend that I Feel Love (Every Million Miles) is the most original track each of these four artists have ever created, but it certainly fits in all of their respective cannons as a groovy, listenable song, etched in blues and hard rock, with just the right amount of lyrics for the right amount of time it lasts.

And the Ian & Copper-directed video has just the right amount of budget to be considered serious and professional while not being over-the-top nor overshadowing Mosshart or the music. You can hear White's voice at times, particularly near the end, but it's all Mosshart walking up a street against a wind machine.