who is mix tape?
mix tape is just some guy. you know, that guy that's a little nerdy, but in an almost intriguing way. he has concert posters on his wall. his dresser drawers are full of t-shirts of bands with ridiculous names. the best friends with wolves club? margot and the nuclear so & so's? sunny day real estate? huh?
one day, out of the blue, he gave you a mix. "keep the change," he said. damn, he's weird. despite the fact that you've never heard of any of the bands on the mix you figure, "what the hell, i'll give it a try." it's then that you figure out that this guy is on to something...
yeah, there's plenty of places that tell you about pearl jam or the killers. you don't need any help finding someone to play you any of the billboard top 200 bands. you know that there's more than 200 bands in the world, so what about everyone else?
that's where mix tape comes in. every week, or so, i'll post a cassingle or mix of the week. it's typically new, and there's often some hair-brain story that accompanies the song or mix.
mix tape always welcomes your questions, comments, requests, and coy suggestive whispers, heh, heh.
and for the really adventurous, sign up for my song of the week!! yeah, rolling out new tunes every so often here is just not enough musica! so, send me a message with your e-mail addy , and i will share the love from my bank of live tracks, promos, and buried treasures!
here's what i've sent so far in 2009:
1.1 harlem - south of france
1.10 m83 - highway of endless dreams
1.17 animal collective - my girls
1.25 andrew bird - anonanimal
2.1 the lisps - documents
2.8 the do - stay (just a little bit more)
2.14 beck - debra
2.22 winter gloves - let me drive
3.1 the like young - inner fantasies
3.8 matt & kim - daylight
3.15 blind pilot - paint or pollen
3.22 spinto band - brown boxes
3.30 ida maria - i like you so much better when you're naked
4.6 explosions in the sky - the birth and death of the day
4.12 camera obscura - forest and sands
4.19 little joy - evaporar
thanks for listening!
+mt
now, on with the music!
4.12 cassingle of the week - "forest and sands" by camera obscura
ha, i can't tell if the cassingle of the week just falls into my lap all the time, or if i'm just reading into it like one would do with a horoscope. well, whether it be fate or coincidence, it doesn't really matter, because i find both equally satisfying... so, yah, about that...i started off the weekend with "brush up" lesson on how to use a digital SLR over at the chicago photography center , which just so happens to be a block from my new place. see, the new place is already paying dividends! i haven't had a photo class since *gasp* 1999, when i had photojourn. but now with spring on our doorstep (for that last month now! we must have a long sidewalk up to the doorstep, or something), it's time to gear up for all the outdoor activities--road trips, street festivals, tooling by the lake. and what better way to relive these moments then by capturing them on film!
actually, of course, a mix tape is the best way, heh, but, i have to say that a photo album is a close second and, hey, it's pretty much just like a mix tape, non? i thought about this when i was at my 'rents place in the 'burbs this aft. my cousins pointed out the pictures on the wall, then grinned and chuckled at their "uncle steaker steaker." first of all, im actually their cousin, not their uncle. i just happen to be the kin of the oldest of the six siblings, and these cousins are the kin of the youngest. second of all, i really don't know where this "steaker steaker" thing came from. kids...: )
anyway...the point is that the mixed bag of snapshots on the the wall is really something akin to a mix tape. each picture could be a song. there's um, crap, i can't think of a song about a chubby white baby. maybe they don't translate so easily, but there's a picture from my trip to colonial williamsburg (in the stockade, of course), some shots from hanging out in colorado springs, colorado, a picture of me during my off-broadway (in sheridan, arkansas to be exact, heh) performance as a priest in some junior high rendition of a westward ho era production. so, yah, a veritable mix tape of different things that happened during the days of yore.
just like a particular song can take me back to a moment, those snapshots take me right back to the exact moment. it's kinda sad, but i don't do that anymore. i don't really like my picture being taken, and i rarely take pictures of people (save my niece, nephew, and cousins). heh, i guess i *just* use mix tapes to take me back now. i am trying to change that, though, and this class was the beginning. i want to improve my ability to *visually* capture the moment, too. maybe get a nice shot to complement a mix, heh. yah, that works. i have taken some pics that i like:
+ black rebel motorcycle club @ metro
+ a building at chelsea piers taken whilst tooling around nyc before the good, the bad, and the queen show @ webster hall + my friend liz on a swing killing time before the old canes show @ the gaslight in lawrence, kansas
+ sunflower at garfield conservatory. surprisingly not related to a show in any way : ) + kite festival in long beach, washington. i love kites!
yup, and i remember each moment when those pictures were shot.
just like im always trying to build a better mix tape, i want to try and build a better, uh, photo album. and just like i want to share with you what ive learned about music, here are some basics from this week's "brush up" SLR class. none of these comments speak to the importance of understanding depth or composition, but without an appreciation for these tidbits, even the most basic subjects could be challenging.
1) your pictures are affected by mostly four things--ambient light, amount of light you are letting in through your aperature (f stop settings), the amount of light you let due to your shutter speed, film speed you are using (even digital SLRs have ISO limits that can be set).
2) see how light plays a big role? the more light you can let in, the better. f stop 1.4 lets in more light, f stop 29 lets in less. some standard cameras give you lower f stop settings than fancy lenses. pay attention to this.
3) want to eliminate "shake" from your pictures? always shoot one speed faster than the mm of your lens. example. shooting with a 50mm lens? okay, then shoot no slower than 60 shutter speed.
4) you can usually compensate for one element by adjusting one of the other three elements up or down.
all that being said, hey, this week's cassingle of the week by camera obscura, not too bad, eh? well, the album doesn't come out until next week, but click here and you can pre-order it now! also, if you're lucky enough to live in chicago, you can see them live at metro may 29th ( tix ).
otherwise, brush up on their new ditties and try and catch them in one of their other stops on the tour:
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Apr 16 2009