What some see in art and music as obnoxious or "childish" (i.e. "my three-year-old could do that"), I sometimes see as "alchemical" (i.e. "passionately in love with what can be so simply done with what is so profoundly there").
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Posts by Spencer Owen
Status update
MY NEW WEBSITE
Hey folks, if you want to continue to check up on me, check it out right'ch'eah: http://rateyourmusic.com/~swimmo
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THE ROCK/POP SECTION OF MEMORY
A Certain RatioA Perfect CircleA-HaABBAAC/DCAcid Mothers TempleBryan AdamsRyan AdamsAerosmithAFIChristina AguileraAlan Parsons ProjectAlice in ChainsAlien Ant FarmAllman Brothers BandAlphavilleAmericaTori Amos...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of DeadLaurie AndersonAndrew W.K.Angels & AirwavesAnimal CollectiveAnimalsAnthraxFiona AppleArcade FireArctic MonkeysArt of NoiseAt the Drive-InAutoluxAve
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END OF THE PARTY
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In my harem of musical loves, occasionally a song's frighteningly meritorious nature is directly proportional to the complexity of the answer to the question: "Why does this song exist?""End of the Party" by English Beat. A middling rhythm -- too up for a ballad, too low for a dance -- sets the stage for a puzzle-like emotional dialogue. A pop group writes an anti-hit, a tune in that most confu...
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I write for MOG
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I don't post on this page much anymore; my MOG usage has shifted mostly to constantly using our kickass music service to stream albums I've never heard before. Luckily, a new editorial guard has been installed at MOG to provide me with a little inspiration. In February I began contributing to the News & Reviews section here, specifically the reviews section. Thanks to Andy, Adrian & Scott for putt
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BEST 45 OF 2000-2009 IN MUSIC
45 Liars They Were Wrong So We Drowned 0444 Modest Mouse The Moon and Antarctica 0043 Tim Hecker Haunt Me, Haunt Me, Do It Again 0142 Gary Wilson Mary Had Brown Hair 0441 Sparks Lil' Beethoven / Hello Young Lovers / Exotic Creatures of the Deep 02 / 06 / 0840 Of Montreal Satanic Panic in the Attic 0439 Sufjan Stevens Michigan 0438 Radiohead Kid A / Amnesiac 00 / 0137 Jonathan Richm
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BEST 15 IN FILM, BEST 15 IN MUSIC
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BEST 15 IN FILM: 15 Crazy Heart (director: Scott Cooper) - 14 Public Enemies (Michael Mann) - 13 My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done? (Werner Herzog) - 12 Gomorra (Matteo Garrone) - 11 Good Hair (Jeff Stilson) - 10 The Girlfriend Experience (Steven Soderbergh) - 09 Where the Wild Things Are (Spike Jonze) - 08 In the Loop (Armando Iannucci) - 07 Broken Embraces (Pedro Almodovar) - 06 The Informant! (
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David Sylvian's MANAFON
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"And when it appeared/ It was a flaming book of matches/ 125 spheres/ On a parquet floor." - David Sylvian, "125 Spheres"Sylvian has harnessed the powers of thinking minds and careful fingers across the land to create an extraordinary object.How do you beat this list of personnel? In a way it'd be difficult to top.On that wiki, he's quoted as saying that he would listen to the sessions, then he'd
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Some of What I Did and Thought (This Weekend): a Spill
Saturday:- I rarely do this; made a DVD purchase. Went to Barnes & Noble to buy the new Criterion release of Jeanne Dielman. Since I support Amoeba more than once a week, thought it would be "better" to buy this particular film at a mainstream establishment; give the Jeanne Dielman "point" to them, in other words. Not sure why, really. Jeanne Dielman is a film about 1970s European civilization,...
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What's going on
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An evening on Telegraph Ave. in Berkeley, CA, 6/25/09 |5:23 PM: Homeless guy on the corner of Dwight & Telegraph asking for "Michael Jackson memorial change."5:28 PM: In Peet's coffee. Noticing to self that they're just playing classical flute music in here. As if on cue, it's replaced with "Remember the Time." 5:31 PM: Old school MJ ("Rock with You," I think) playing out of Gypsy Trader.5:35 P...
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