Update from Kevin
Beats by Bangladesh
Top Beats from 2009
These are just the ones I remember…there are definitely a few I missed. The sheer volume of great music this year has swept thru my head like a raging river. There are at least 100+ GBs of music that I own that I havent even listened to.
Which makes me wonder: will I ever really go back and listen to that music, when there is so much more out there for me to continue to hunt down and discover? Is it excessive to own music and possibly never listen to it? How will the way we listen to music change when we start having hundreds of terabytes of songs?
Which just makes it even more precious to be able to find new tunes that blow your mind. Here are some of mine from this year:
Simian Mobile Disco - Cruel Intentions (Joker Remix)
Guilty Pleasure Hit of the Year:
How can you not like this groove…
Koi
Probably surprising to many westerners is the large of amount of ancient myth that surrounds these beautiful fish in the Orient and their elevated status there. Generally known here as the brightly colored fish that are common in public ponds and fountains, carp (koi is Japanese for carp) can be found in colors that include white, yellow, gold, a deep orange, and some are even calico-colored. Particularly beautiful specimens have been known to fetch prices in excess of half-a-million dollars from private collectors who specialize in their breeding and showing.
However, the koi is more than just a colorful and collectible fish. It is also one of the most popular and beautiful of Japanese tattoo symbols – a beauty which belies its symbolic meaning. Although Chinese in origin, the carp is now widely celebrated in Japan, particularly for its manly qualities. It is said to climb waterfalls bravely, and, if caught, it lies upon the cutting board awaiting the knife without a quiver, not unlike a samurai (warrior) facing a sword. This theme dates back to ancient China, where a legend tells of how any koi that succeeded in climbing the falls at a point called Dragon Gate (on the Yellow River) would be transformed into a dragon.
Based on that legend, it became a symbol of worldly aspiration and advancement. Eventually, the stoic fish came to be associated with so many masculine and positive qualities that it was appropriated for the annual Boys’ Day Festival in Japan where even today colorful, streaming koi flags are traditionally displayed for each son in the family. In tattoo imagery, especially in combination with flowing water, it symbolizes much the same: courage, the ability to attain high goals, and overcoming life’s difficulties.
Erik Satie
For some people, Erik Satie is known as an eccentric who gave his works odd titles that seem almost derisive and ridicolous.
Many believe that this was not only a result of his bizarre wit but also a way of offending the music critics at the time. It was known that Satie didn’t like music critics and that the feelings were mutual.
Those performing his works are well aware of his weird instructions to the performer. The instructions are meant as a dialogue between the composer and the performer only.
Satie was also a collector. Once someone asked him what he wished for birthday present. He replied - I saw this beautiful handkerchief the other day…. After his death they found in his wardrobe 84 identical handkerchieves, besides 12 identical velvet costumes and dozens of umbrellas.
Satie was considered as an outsider, a lone wolf with projects of his own. For example he founded his own church. As a result he valued his privacy very highly and never let anyone see his apartment in Arceuil, where he lived for the last 27 years of his life. He only had one known relationship in his life - an intense love affair in 1893 with the model, painter and former trapeze artiste Suzanne Valadon.
Satie lived as a true artist, for his music and his ideals. He had no respect for money and lived a poor life for many years. He was never afraid of expressing his true opinion. If he found someone to be a jerk he made this perfectly clear (and took the consequence)
From furiousartisans.com/satie.html
“Gymnopedie No. 1″
“Vexations” - Satie’s instructions for this performing this piece was to play it 840 times.
