William Wassermueller
of Wassermueller
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How do you guys feel? I just got a last.fm account and have been using it much more than mog. It seems to be more about music than people, as all of the recomendations come from computers observing what you play not from people observing what you play. I certainly like both, but I feel like last.fm has more options. What are your thoughts?
also: I can't stand using the word MOG in a conversation. I'm sorry, it's a dumb word.
If you aren't familiar with it, the 40 Watt is a historic club. Situated in Athens, GA, they hosted infamus Athens bands such as R.E.M., the B-52's, and-- more recently -- Nuetral Milk Hotel. Sonic Youth, and Nirvana-- amung others-- have also played there. Last month, I was in Athens visiting my aunt and uncle and went out one night to see a local band, Tincup Prophette. I was really excited to see them, I had heard a little bit about their approach (violin, glockenspiel, and drums with heavy live sampling) so it was right up my alley. But what I saw when I entered the club totally knocked the air out of me. On stage was a single musician, obscured by the enormous tuba in his lap and the mass of electronics sitting on a chair in front of him. He was doing live samples, creating beats by banging out syncopated rhythms on his tuba and looping them. Over that he would layer live vocal tracks he took by singing through his tuba, all the while mixing (MIXING!) the sounds as he played them live (that is the most unbelievable part), periodically shifting up vocal patterns a whole octave or panning them to the right or left speaker. All in all, It was an impressive one man show, he was one of the hardest working players I have ever seen live. (His name is Brian Wolff by the way, check him out. He also plays in a NYC band Drums and Tuba). I bought his cd Without Buzz, and recomend ALL of you do the same. Obviously, I could compare him to Squarepusher, as both jam live to homemade beats, but his originality is so intense and vivid that I want to avoid drawing too many comparisons to established artists. Honestly, you just have to listen to it. I recomend "The Empire" from Without Buzz.
Next was Tincup Prophette. One woman, one drumer. She balanced melodies on guitar, violin, acordian, and glockenspiel- sometimes holding both a violin bow and glockenspiel hammer in one hand, tapping out melodies on the glockenspiel and then switching to violin. She looped on multiple pedals to seperate different parts in each song. From what I could tell, very much of what she played she looped live, her timing was impecable.
I also bought her Liar and the Thief album and I honestly can't get the thing out of my record player. Her voice is soothing and soulful at times, anxious and heartfelt at others. I wish I could say more than listen, but, god damnit, listen.
wassermueller
My Music. Some of these lyrics are taken from a song by Skip James entitled "Bad Whiskey"
Last Songs Played
MOGs That Trust Me (8 of 11)
MOG Meter
Comments
I find last.fm to be boring, Mog is much more personal.
i think that they both offer different spins on similar concepts. then again arent there some updates for mog lurking around the corner or something?
also, in my opinion most words are dumb words, i mean really think about the etymology of most words. if you get far enough back all words are some how rooted to some cave man pointing and making a grunting noise.
I've posted about this before. MOG is definitely more personal and I dig that. There are certain features lacking here that I hope will show up whenever they get around to releasing MOG 2.0. Like some sort of "group" thing, where metalheads can hang out together, or where jazz fans can congregate. etc. MOG is blog-centric.
I have a last.fm account, but I use it primarily for the goofy charts (which I'm finding more and more to be fairly useless). But I also like the radio stations they have there. I think those kick ass. But last.fm doesn't have any kind of community vibe about it at all. Not one bit. MOG does.