My Life in 7 Inches by Alex M.

March 9, 2006 10:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (17)

I have prepared a "Split 7 Inch" of 2 short songs about Alex for your listening pleasure. "Dust off the record player" and get to know me a little better. By "dusting off the record player," I obviously mean "click on the album cover to listen to the mp3."

Thanks be to Kevin (his acute knowledge of Enya's back catalog is astounding) and Jay (I am playing in Jay's band tonight at 10pm on CITR in Vancouver, y'all should listen to the stream) for helping me to record these. Also, my roommate Jason "Balls To The" Wall laid down that AXE solo in "Becoming Alex." No blogger is an island.

UPDATE:
There has been an unfortunate request in the comments for lyrics. Unfortunate because the lyrics are NOT GOOD. But in the interest of openness and for better or for worse, here they are:

BECOMING ALEX
i was born in 1980 in a test tube made of glass
in the windy south of england was the home for this young lass
can i encapsulate my essence in a song so short and mild
can i capture my life in a world so large and wild

will you sail away with me now
to a country cross the sea
in an unfamiliar city
was where i learned to be

moved to oregon in 90
with my parents and my bro
lost my accent in a summer
and weird hairs started to grow

will you sail away with me now
to a country cross the sea
in an unfamiliar city
was where i learned to see

BEING ALEX
before northeast was gentrified
and the fences were electrified
i spent years on the streets of pdx (portland)
with a skate below and the sky above
and a lack of grand ambition or great love

then i went north to canada
to the land of food and ice
where i learned of books and mics
and how to truly live my life

i'm alex! i'm alex! i'm alex! i'm alex!

now i drive all night and spin tall tales
i swim the lakes and walk the trails

nice to meet you, how do you do?
i play the bass and drum it's true
enya is my current crush
but you might have guessed as much

i'm alex! i'm alex! i'm alex! i'm alex!
i'm alex! i'm alex! i'm alex! i'm alex!

(refrain at the end over "i'm alex:"
i write, i sing, i play, i blog,
i drive, i fart, i read, i poo,
i stare, i eat, i need, i drink,
i ride, i run, i bleat, i sleep,
i code, i jump, i fall, i smell,
i yelp, i groan, i sprint, i ski,
i skate, i rate, i try, i cry,
i fight, i faint, i stab, i grab,
i bite, i'm dumb...)

By: Alex M. | Challenge 03 | March 9, 2006 | Comments (17)

TBW - My Musical Journey by Thom

March 9, 2006 9:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Music. Like love, a universal language. (Except Polish hiphop. No one understands Polish hiphop.) My musical journey has, like my life, been fraught with peril, dizzying highs and crashing lows, the cognescenti of the music world clucking their tongues and stroking their beards and saying, "Whatever is to be done with this Thomas Bartholomew Wong?"

But I digress.

The following is a brief history of my musical progression, from my tender formative years to the crochety, bitter old man you see before you today. Not interested in my musical journey? (You cold, heartless bastard.) Skip down to the video near the end for my ditty entry to this challenge.

1982

The Clash - Rock the Casbah
J. Geils Band - Centerfold
Thomas Bartholomew Wong - My Name Is Tom

I started writing songs when I was about six. The first song I remember writing was called My Name is Tom. (I didn't use the "H" then because I was without pretentiousness.) I think it went

My name is Tom
Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom
It doesn't rhyme with bum
Bum, bum, bum, bum

Unfortunately my musical talent was not appreciated by Mrs. Green, my first grade teacher, who immediately told me to stop singing it. This rejection sent me into a creative desert, from which I would not emerge for 12 years.

1994

All 4 Love - I swear
Lisa Loeb - Stay (I Missed You)
Ace of Base - All That She Wants

At 18 my dad bought me a guitar, and the proverbial light bulb turned on above my head. I started to associate with the type of people for whom bringing out an acoustic guitar at a party and playing "Brown-eyed Girl" was seriously uber-cool. In a short time, I became completely insufferable.

One of my favourite tricks of the time was to simply start strumming some chords and singing whatever popped into my head. In retrospect this is a little like demanding that people listen to a fusion jazz poetry slam, but at the time it seemed like a REALLY GOOD IDEA. Wisely any recorded material from that time was given away. (Yes, my wife has some. No, you cannot hear it. That shit is private.)

Fast forward to 2006

This past year has seen, for better or for worse, a return of the songwriting bug. Unfortunately, the intervening years since I first picked up a guitar have not lead to any advance in my guitar abilities. Like the wayward art student in Gordon Korman's "Son of Interflux," I show a lot of potential. I can still outplay anyone who has yet to pick up a guitar.

Currently I am very interested in the use of whistling. I think it's an under-utilized aspect of songwriting. I could be alone in this.

The Whole Pie

Banana Bread is a boy band I've started with people who are almost 30. Our first and currently only performance occurred in a restaurant downtown. Here's a demo of what I feel will be our first big hit single. (An Elton John/Chris Martin piano part is being added. That makes me feel tingly.)

Top 5 (In My Heart

I should have known that several people were going to rap. I should have, but didn't. On the other hand, I did enjoy wrestling with iMovie for six hours to create a three minute video. I don't understand how The Wonder Twins do it.

TBW - Thomas From the Blog (Youtube link)

Lyrics

Should you be so inclined, the songs featured in this post can be downloaded as a zip file, including the bonus Thomas From the Block (Instrumental Mix) so that you can drop your own lyrics on those mad beats.

By: Thom | Challenge 03 | March 9, 2006 | Comments (5)

Farrah's Lashes by Zoe

March 9, 2006 8:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Yo, yo, yo! Zoe's album drops this Friday, and homeys? She's gonna drop it like it's hot. (Ouch! She burned herself, muthafuckas!)

You're gonna have to wait for the final version, but rough cuts have been circulating around the flaming hot internet for days now. We've obtained not only a rough cut of the audio, but also three clips from the unedited video footage! Here, for your listening, viewing, and reading pleasure, is Zoe's latest soon to be mass hit explosion, Farrah's Lashes.

Word 'em up.

Farrah's Lashes (Rough Cut)(Yo.)

These exclusive! unedited! raw! really dark!video clips have been illegally pirated for you alone. Does one of them just stop in the middle of a verse? Yeah. That's 'cause it's underground. Bitches.

Click for First Verse Video!

Most people know this cutie
From a little blog called Real Girl Beauty.
Of all the hobbies I could take up,
I wound up famous for my makeup.
My make up.
My blusher.
My shiny lip gloss.

But any girl who puts on the mask,
Who takes the time to perform the task,
She still remembers the time not long ago
When she thought she only looked so-so.
So-so.
With no glow.
Not long ago.
She might have felt low.

Chorus:

2nd Clip! Click away!

She watches too much television,
Which don’t distract her from her mission
To find the perfect black mascara,
And be a sex symbol like Fawcett. As in Farrah.
With good mascara.
She’s got the hair-ah.

Who knew life could grow much finer
By discovering eye liner.
Some people love their shirts with Che Guevara,
But all I need is a good mascara.
For the lashes
That no one bashes.

Bridge:

What's this? A 3rd Clip!

‘Cause sometimes living in the City
Can pique your insecurity.
And why shouldn’t we feel pretty,
Instead of shitty?
Instead…Of shitty.

She watches too much television,
Which don’t distract her from her mission.
To find the perfect black mascara,
And be a sex symbol like Fawcett. As in Farrah.
With the hair-ah.
And the skin care-ah.

She’ll have the lashes
That no one bashes.

She’ll be like Farrah.

By: Zoe | Challenge 03 | March 9, 2006 | Comments (7)

Writer's Blog by Tim

March 9, 2006 1:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (15)

I really need to come up with an awesome idea, but I'm having some trouble figuring out what to do...

Audio-Spatial Sketchpad

By: Tim | Challenge 03 | March 9, 2006 | Comments (15)

Greatest Hits by Brittanie

March 8, 2006 11:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

By: Brittanie | Challenge 03 | March 8, 2006 | Comments (10)

Mike D: The Musical by Mike

March 8, 2006 7:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (22)

For those of you who prefer the WMV, click her here:

If you play the YouTube game. click her here:

YOU TUBE

I'd just like to throw out a quick thank you to JonAbad for his expert camera skills. There will likely be DDR dance mix released within the next few months. Keep an eye out for it. For now, Keep on rockin' in the free world.

Lyrics:

my name is mike d.
I'm a blogger at heart
I do it in wordpress
I do it in Dos.

I was born in the suburbs
on the right side of the tracks
I learned on an Osborn
and can use Devorak.

and I rock. as hard. as I can.
I rock. as hard. as I can.

I like Rock climbin'
and MSPaint stylin.
and kung fu-izing.
I like bloggertizin'

I enjoy music
prefer passion to pain
I drive about 60
in a plymouth acclaim.

and I rock. as hard. as I can.
I rock! as hard. as I can.

wooo!

SOLOS!

By: Mike | Challenge 03 | March 8, 2006 | Comments (22)

NERD! by waferbaby

March 8, 2006 6:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (19)

MIX-A-MATOSIS RECORDS
In association wit 242 Cuts Presents

"NERD" - A Doobie on Rails Thang.

Roll your bad self all over this fine honey smackdown!

DOWNLOAD! FREE: The video!
(Everyone is talking about this Hot Shit Right Here!)

DOWNLOAD! FREE: The audio!
(Rip that shit!)

GET THE OFFICAL LYRICS!
Straight from MIX!

---------------------------

10 GOTO 20 and it's on
From now until the break of dawn
Droppin' code that'll bust your face
Like a PHP can of mace
All my comments be illin, no fakin'
Your compiler be fried like bacon'!
Stop my fingers? NEVER SUCKA!
DISSASSEMBLE THIS, MOTHERFUCKER!

I'm a codin' machine, I can go all night
All the ladies wanna freak me cuz my code is TIGHT
Best you step off, sucka, my codin ain't free!
I be servin' you up via HTTP!

Codin' for life!

---------------------------

By: waferbaby | Challenge 03 | March 8, 2006 | Comments (19)

Midterm Week Blues by Lauren

March 8, 2006 6:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

View this clip on Vimeo

It's true. It's midterm week, and I really haven't slept in two days.

...

You can tell, can't you?

I'm going to go crawl into the corner and die cry sleep now.

UPDATE: Okay, it seems that my codecs are odd. I changed it to quicktime, and as a result, it looks even worse than it did before. But it should work.
Now it's been very nearly 3 days with no sleep. I'm seriously going to bed now.

By: Lauren | Challenge 03 | March 8, 2006 | Comments (10)

Challenge Three: TOP 50? MORE LIKE TOP 1!!! by Tim and Morgan

March 8, 2006 4:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (27)

YO! Carson here! Hanging out at the TRL studios in NYC BABEYYYYY! HELL YEAH.molotov

- carson

easter egg

By: Tim and Morgan | Challenge 03 | March 8, 2006 | Comments (27)