Yesterday was one of those bad days that rolls over into the next. I've been working on some designs for a NASCAR car at work, and it's been incredibly frustrating because I've never done anything like that before. As much as I want my redneck counterparts to be proud of my over-the-top design, I can't seem to make myself care about it right now.

As soon as work was over, I went to the beach last night to only to discover that the swell that was supposed to arrive was totally over-hyped and late.

So, I went to CompUSA to upgrade the memory on my laptop. Two visits later, I finally got the correct part. Thanks, Mr Dungeons And Dragons Loving CompUSA Geek Who's Supposed To Know Everything.

When I got home, I had the intention of doing something productive by configuring the security settings on my wireless router. That turned into a waking nightmare that kept me up until 12:30.

I assumed happiness would come hand-in-hand with payday today, but my entire check went to the bills that magically all piled up at the same time. Doesn't even look like I'll be able to go see The Cramps, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Hank Williams III this weekend at Sunset Junction.

And I can't get to My Album on the T-Mobile site so I can put up a bitchen picture that the two of you who read this will be able to see.

Fuck.

But, it looks like the swell has finally arrived. The yellow flags are up, standout breaks are seeing slightly overhead sets, and my frown is slowly turning upside-down. And, I just found out that my favorite board just got back from the shop.

Emergency room, here I come.

Please help. First it was this blogging thing...then the Odeo thing....now I'm completely sucked in to YouTube. I just can't help myself. But while you're planning the intervention, check out my playlist...

 

Bob Dylan has gotten a lot of press this morning for a quote that initially comes across as quite harsh. "Modern recordings are atrocious," so says the legend in a new Rolling Stone interview.

A few bloggers, at the expense of only reading headlines, took offense and blasted Dylan for insulting the musicianship of modern performers. What Mr. Zimmerman is referring to though is actually the sound quality of modern recordings. And I can't say that I disagree.

I can't claim to be an audiophile, but having DJ'd for over 10 years in the past and being in a position where I had to care about sound quality, I can say that I do understand what Dylan is saying. There are plenty of technical reasons why this is true, but there are also plenty of non-technical ones. The main one being that the a vast majority of people just don't really care about the quality of the music that they hear on their iPod.

When the MP3 craze initially hit, I - being the music snob that I am - simply  refused to squander my scruples and my collection of over 500 CDs and 1200 pieces of vinyl to listen to a DATA FILE of immeasurable poor quality. Yes - the quality of an MP3 is that bad. Just go ask you favorite DJ to play  the MP3 of the latest Paris Hilton atrocity over his sound system at your favorite club, and you'll understand what I'm saying. I guarantee that the response probably won't even be verbal. It will come in the form of a who-in-tha-fuck-do-you-think-you-are glance ... or a massive coronary.

But the DJing stopped and I sold my turntables and my entire collection of vinyl. I got a real job, a nice car, a white picket fence, lost a few piercings, covered up the tattoos and started shaving. And to conserve space, I even put my entire CD collection into those hateful binder-things. Can you believe it?

Just last year though, I reduced myself to the level of  the musically uneducated majority and surrendered to the sexy bitch that is convenience and portability. I bought an iPod. Lord have mercy on us all.

But I won't put anything on it except the highest quality .acc files. I still have dignity, you know.

My iPod has brought me some unexpected advantages though. I can put dozens of full albums on the thing, giving me an incredible selection of music at work, at the gym, or in the car. I can make incredibly fun playlists, much like all the mixtapes I used to create in high school. Most importantly, the iPod has allowed me to once again enjoy all the cool Headphone Albums that are out there like 'Dark Side of the Moon' (or anything by Pink Floyd for that matter), The White Album, 'The Yes Album', 'Houses of the Holy', and 'Infrared Roses'.

Contrary to what Dylan says, there actually have been quite a few exceptional recordings released over the past 20 years or so, most of which I would classify as Headphone Albums. Here are a few of my favorites:

The KLF: Chill Out
This album arguably forged the way for the entire ambient house movement which inhabited chill out rooms at raves all over the world. In between all kinds of trippy soundscapes are hints of KLF favorites that keep the record moving. If you can actually find a copy these days, you won't be disapointed.


The Orb: The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld & U. F. Orb
Actually, anything by The Orb is good headphone music, but these just happen to be my two favorites. Jimmy Cauty from The KLF teamed up with Alex Paterson to form The Orb and have put out well over 15 full albums of work - not including several live recordings and singles. The Ultraworld album is an amazing debut with a more danceable vibe, but U.F.Orb is pure headphone indulgence. Additionally, if you're ever presented with the opportunity to see them live, do not pass it by.

The Clarke & Ware Experiment: Pretentious
Martyn Ware of Heaven 17 and Vince Clarke of Depeche Mode, Yaz and Erasure fame teamed up to create what I can only describe as ambient trip-hop.



Radiohead: Kid A
This album alienated a lot of Radiohead's rock groupies who still to this day scream "betrayal" when given the opportunity. I saw it as an amazing progression with all sorts of subtleties that can only be enjoyed in a huge set of headphones. Thom Yorke's new debut solo album "The Eraser" is seen by many as the sequel to Kid A and definitely has it's quality moments.

Richie Hawtin: DE9 - Transitions
In my opinion, Richie Hawtin IS techno. For years, he's been at the forefront of the DJ scene throwing massive experimental parties like 'Kompress' where the plan was to slowly lower the ceiling of the dancefloor throughout the life of the party. Hawtin's history is filled with innovation and exploration and the Canadian's former U.S. Immigration ban only adds to the mystique. This latest effort, the first mix CD recorded in Dolby Pro Logic 5.0, only solidifies his reputation because it's truly ahead of it's time.

The Flaming Lips: Zaireeka
This album consists of 4 CDs that are supposed to played simultaneously. I'm sure the effect is amazing, but I wouldn't know because I don't currently possess (or have ever possessed) 4 sound systems. Regardless, it's a really cool album.

I can't remember where I stumbled across this site - I think it was through k10k - but that doesn't really matter right now. My point is that Odeo is frikkin awesome. I'm completely addicted. Need something to listen to work? Odeo is your answer. Bored at home? Odeo will keep you occupied. Are you a music junkie like me who needs a source for all things new and exciting? ODEO!!

The site offers everything from news to NPR and all sorts of free MP3s from bands like To Rococo Rot and Silversun Pickups ("Lazy Eye" is an amazing song). Odeo is all things audio, and it's really been keeping me occupied at work...and....um....increasing my productivity. Yeah.

Have a gander at what I've been listening to.

One of the reasons I always wanted to move to a large city like Los Angeles was to have the opportunity to immerse myself in the local art and music scene. Well, that hasn't exactly happened even though I've lived in the LA metropolitan area for 2 years, 1 month and 5 days.

But I have all sorts of reasons why I haven't gotten more involved. My career, for example, has been my main focus since the move. I've discovered that job hunting can be an extrememly time-consuming process. But three jobs and countless days of pavement pounding have payed off and I think that I'm doing pretty well right now. Then there is the acclimation process, getting used to the locals and their (bad) driving habits, the hateful LA and OC freeway system, learning the ins and outs of beach culture and the gruelling exploration of Disneyland. I'm not even mentioning how much effort is required to learn the art and skill of driving back and forth to Big Bear every other weekend in the winter. And hey - it takes a lot of time and energy to learn how to surf.

But this past weekend, in an effort to get back to my art school roots, Larry and I hopped in Eric's Jaguar (I'm so California now) to go see the Robert Rauschenberg exhibit at MOCA. I absolutely love Pop Art, and since Rauschenberg is generally considered a huge influence to that movement (among many others), I knew I couldn't pass up the opportunity. The exhibit consisted entirely of his influential and intricate 'combine' pieces, and it was by far the largest collection of his work that I have ever seen.

I'm a post-Rennaisance man, so the rest of MOCA's collection of modern and contemporary was just as incredible. After seeing numerous other works by Rothko, Oldenburg, Warhol and Lichtenstein, my mental hard-on needed some satisfaction. What I wanted to do was grow a goatee, find some horn-rimmed glasses, buy some reefer, purchase an entirely black outfit and go to a coffee house.

But we went to The Grove instead. Oh well - maybe next time after I see the David Hockney exhibit...or the Damien Hirst exhibit...or...

Another source of my recent need of all-things-artsy was an Adobe seminar that I attended last week.

When I quit DJing a few years ago, I had done a lot of work with audio software. I also did a lot of video production as I worked on my first degree in Communications. As I watched the demos on all of Adobe's video and audio editing software, I was completely amazed at how many advances had been made - especially in the audio category - in just the past few years. As I wiped the drool from my chin at the end, I immediately wanted to go purchase the new Mac that I've been eyeing over the past month.

So my problem now - as it has been all my life -  is too figure out which interest to tackle first. This problem is a good one to have, and I know that as soon as a solid idea surfaces, i'll be off and running. But I just really want to create something that I can be proud of, and have some fun with the process. And for me, the hard part has always been getting started.

But I think I need to get some surfing in first to....uh....gather my thoughts.