jeremydlarson

[jeremydlarson]

You know? They went ahead and laid me off

Today I was laid off at my job, along with almost the entire editorial staff of Radio.com. I was the editor of Radio.com, a part of CBS Local, which is part of a division of CBS called CBS Radio. CBS is a very large corporation. I don’t know where Les Moonves worked but if I did, trust me, I probably would have slipped several prog and mathcore mix CDs under his door.

We produced countless interviews with pop, country, and classic rock artists, we worked with major and indie labels on the promotion of new bands, and ran hundreds of reported stories and features that ranged from politically charged to bracingly personal to wholly irreverent. We worked with what we had and I couldn’t be prouder of what we accomplished.  

If you don’t know the work of Shannon Carlin, Courtney Smith, Annie Reuter, Kevin Rutherford, Scott Sterling and Kurt Wolff, please send me or them an email. These are some of the most wonderful people I have ever had the pleasure of working with. They are smart, inquisitive, well-read, emotionally honest and infinitely talented writers and producers. Hire them immediately.  

I asked why they were letting us all go, and was told that they were switching from “original content to aggregated content.” So, well, good luck with all that.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me, given me work, talked me down from the edge, suffered through my g-chat jeremiads, and fav’d my idiot tweets. 

I’m very excited for whatever is next. If you need me, I can be reached at [email protected]. 

Cheers,

-Jeremy

#large

[jeremydlarson]

What the hell is everyone doing? And more importantly, why is everyone doing what they’re doing?

It’s Wednesday evening and through the lens of the people I follow on Twitter–a collection of people I know well, kind of know, don’t know but what to know, and absolutely can’t stand–I’m convinced…

[jeremydlarson]

Sigur Ros - ( )

I’m on the tail end of a bad fever that has limited me to about one or two thoughts an hour for the last 48 hours, most of them have been this idea that Drake will, as is his destiny, one day be a little chubby like Ron Isley.

But now I’m sleepless and listening to Sigur Ros’ ( ), an album I wore like a veil for two weeks of lazy depression in college. The album that has no other meaning to me other than those sense memories from those two weeks: the temperature and speckled black on white of the tile of my dorm room, the limn of the street lamps outside, the corse metal screen in the window, the park bench and the maple tree three stories below. There’s smell of sweat and cigarettes and cheap lemon cleaning agent, low thread-count sheets, old iTunes visualizers. In those two weeks 11 years ago it was the first time in my life I felt unloved, just a desert of indifference as far as I could feel. It was short-lived, and at some point recognized this post-adolescent crisis for what it was: a freedom to feel anything I want now, to stop directing and controlling my emotions the way I did for many years before it. In those two weeks was the first time I felt what I would call absence. Not missing, not gone, but as if whoever cared for me was never there to begin with. It’s a shadowy and empty feeling when you feel as if everything’s erased, and it seems to bypass the the more emotional and bittersweet steps of disappearance and skips right to erasure. White space, a chilling kind of freedom that I don’t ever have the strength to exist in. This album isn’t melancholy, it isn’t so much emotional either, but it’s a kind of purgatory. Sometimes I put this on when I fall asleep, but usually the recall is so strong it keeps me up. Few other pieces of music have this strong, this specific, this odd feeling to them, and from all the way up here at 99.3 I’m really feeling that terrifying freedom of absence I felt 11 years ago alone in my dorm room.

#writings

[jeremydlarson]

An Elegy For Zayn Malik, Whoever You Are

The soft autumn rain will pelt The tones and rhythm of your name And I will miss you Zane [ed. Zayn] Malik. Though you remain among the living Doing what it is you do (singing, maybe) (or dancing) (or maybe you are an actor) I bury a heavy piece of you today But only to make you lighter And so that you may finally learn to play the piano And so that you may finally get your pilot's license And so that you may finally be in a band and become famous And so that you may finally know yourself And tell me who you are For I am unclear (in that regard). Let your past (which, to be sure, remains unknown to me) Illuminate your future Let it light your way 'round and 'round life's paddock Let it limn your former achievements (whatever they may be) (I'm not sure) So that you may shine anew. And we may know you Zane [ed. Zayn] Malik Not as the painter or biologist or tech blogger or large bearded soccer coach or guy who was biking through the park yesterday (in tight shorts blasting techno music out of a small speaker) that you were; But for who you truly are. I'd love to know.

#zayn malik #one direction #writings

[jeremydlarson]

foxcatcher (2014) | dir. bennet miller

[jeremydlarson]

#the internet

[jeremydlarson]

In conversation with Marion. These things do happen. 

#the swag #unlock

[jeremydlarson]

Tell me about it

[jeremydlarson]

Brief Thought on Kanye/Grammys

A shortcoming of people who write about music and critique culture is not realizing that most people don't view The Grammys, E! News, things that happen on television as a political space. Probably because of a survival instinct, most of the world won't defend someone who is mean and disrespectful, so most of the world will be intractable in that regard. Of course pop culture critics will take Kanye's speech as political text, but the majority of the world doesn't see it through that lens, and rightfully so because the obvious read of the situation is a plutocrat millionaire being so rude on a global entertainment platform. For better or for worse, I write and consume articles that politicize every last corner of pop culture (a niche concern!) but then I wonder and snark among my peers why "people on facebook" can't see what we see? Maybe instead of trying to convince your aunt or friend from high school that Kanye is not an asshole or an egomaniac, start with a conversation about political spaces in pop culture. Maybe if we admit this view is niche, but ultimately important, it can be a way to start a conversation.

[jeremydlarson]

On a sailing ship to nowhere, we look for prog, its fans, and bring back the best of its present and past.

I went on a prog rock cruise to Cozumel and wrote this story about capes, Tevas, millions of notes, and living forever. I'm no prog apologist, but I try to meet the music at eye level. These were my thoughts after being surrounded by it for 6 days in the middle of the sea. 

#prog rock #cruise #writings

[jeremydlarson]

Get it together, Peter

[jeremydlarson]

[jeremydlarson]

Using an impossibly complicated equation with variables such as personal connection, critical appraisal, historical context, how fun it is to sing, how often I like to get lost in it, these are a large collection of what I strongly beleive to be perfect songs (that are on Spotify)

#music #spotify

[jeremydlarson]

Matthew's favorite sounds is consistently and without a doubt my favorite year-end list.

2014: Roundup • Albums • Songs • Sounds

This is the fourth annual collection of my favorite sounds of the year. It’s my favorite list to do by a long shot.

As in years past, I’ve pulled out the sounds from their songs and lined them up in the audio file above. The full list with descriptions is below so you can follow along.

(Previously: 2011 and 2012 and 2013)

I have more than twice the number of sounds from 2014 than in previous years, and the attendant audio collage is more than thirteen minutes long. Enjoy!

Oh, and I’d love to hear what you think about this collection or if there are moments that stood out in songs for you this year. You can find me on Twitter at @matthewmcvickar or email me or drop a note in my Ask box.

The list:

Andy Stott — Violence Chorus-ending snare fill. Low-frequency near-silence before the drop.

Anenon — Lithograph Pitched-down pad with corresponding pitched-down vinyl crackle.

Angel Olsen — Windows Snare buildup to finale.

Aphex Twin — Xmas_eve10 (thanaton3 Mix) Rubbery vocal sample. Bongo triplet.

Aphex Twin — produk 29 Mid-measure song start with surprise snare.

Ases Falsos — Symmetry Bursting into the chorus.

Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks — A Sender “OHHHHhhhhh-h-h-h-h!” pitch-decay delay.

Baths — Fade White Echoing clicks and pitched-up-and-panned guitar artifacts.

Beck — Heart Is a Drum Reversed vocals.

Bing & Ruth — We Are on the Side of Angels Echoing rumbles.

Bombay Bicycle Club — So Long, See You Tomorrow Bombastic ending.

Call Super — Hoax Eye Digital thunder.

Caribou — Second Chance Repeating high-pitched vocal “ooh-ooh” on the three.

Caribou — Silver Drum fill. Reversed vocal sample. Rising synth brass embellishment.

Charli XCX f. Simon Le Bon — Kingdom Held note cut-up.

Clark — Snowbird Tick-tock of white noise and kicks.

D’Angelo & The Vanguard — The Charade Reverse-reverb to clap.

EMA — Satellites Back-and-forth of white-noise drone and analog bass drone.

Grouper — Labyrinth Microwave beep.

Gunnar Haslam — Incidental Magnetics “—between—an organism—”

Hundred Waters — Show Me Love Multi-tracked velar stops in break and awake.

Hundred Waters — Innocent Muffled snare duplet. Rising vocal run with boomeranging whoosh.

Ian William Craig — Before Meaning Comes Heavily degraded, crackling vocal loops.

Interpol — Anywhere Weird high-pitched voice doubling “be kind to the bass.”

James Blake — 200 Press Bell knocks. Three 6 Mafia sample + minor-key arpeggio + “latenight— latenight— latenight.”

Jamie xx — Sleep Sound Drum fill and “come on.”

Javiera Mena — Otra Etra “Aohh.” And you can hear it again later, heavily reverbed in the background.

John Roberts — Indigo Pitched-down sword-clash sample? (Sounds like it’s saying “Look-look at me.”)

Koen Holtcamp — Between Visible Things Guitar-string shriek.

Lee Bannon — NW/WB False ending and distorted reverb outro.

Leon Vynehall — Time Cut-up and panned piano notes.

Little Dragon — Only One Three-note synth-tom pattern, then the ‘Icct Hedral’ sound-alike background synth.

Lone — Jaded Rolling claps.

Loscil — Ahull Rhythmic cut-panning.

Loscil — Sea Island Murders Reverse-reverb piano notes.

Loscil — Sturgeon Bank Auto-panned synth speeding up in time to catch up with the beat.

Marissa Nadler — Drive “…behind the cellular lights.”

Millie & Andrea — Corrosive Insane drum-break drop.

Mono/Poly — Alpha & Omega Noisy hi-hat.

Moonface — Daughter of a Dove Weird distant-yelling noise low in the mix in the right channel. And the crescendo into chord change. (And a lot more.)

The New Pornographers — Born with a Sound When it switches to Amber Webber’s voice and you can’t tell for a second because her vocal tone is so close to Bejar’s.

Nicki Minaj — Pills N Potions Slight quaver at the end of “overdosin.’”

Notwist — Kong Drum fill.

Objekt — Dogma Snare drum accents.

Orcas — Filament Time-stretched loop with rhythmically repeating sections.

Owen Pallett — The Riverbed “Hurtle into the breach” echo. “You might have it wrooONG!” rising vocals.

Panda Bear — Boys Latin Bass loop out of phase.

Perfect Pussy — Interference Fits Feedback outro.

Perfume Genius - Fool Interlude rising vocal solo.

Perfume Genius - Too Bright Pitched-up synth embellishment.

Phantogram — Fall in Love Snare duplet with a different snare sample.

Plaid — Hawkmoth Bouncing synth, slighty behind the beat.

+/- — The Bitterest Pill Lyrical/melodical callback to ‘All I Do’, the first song on +/-’s 2002 debut album.

Popcaan — Ghetto (Tired of Crying) Dissonant steel drum.

Popcaan — Waiting So Long High-pitched yelping cadence.

S. Carey — Creaking Two-note (A to B) guitar and piano figure.

Sevendeaths — All Night Graves Arpeggios.

Shabazz Palaces — They Come In Gold Time-stretched four-note melody in right channel.

Shamir — On The Regular Pitched-down “obviously absurd” and that eagle sample.

A Sunny Day in Glasgow — In Love With Useless (The Timeless Geometry in the Tradition of Passing) Crowd-noise chorus.

A Sunny Day in Glasgow — The Things They Do to Me Guitar delay into 4-4 kick and echoing guitar strings.

Sisyphus — Take Me That beat, especially the feedback-y snares and snare-less feedback hits.

Super Flu — Jo Gurt (DJ Koze Remix) “Okay.”

Suzanne Kraft — 8:13 Layered and reversed vocals and tongue-clucks.

Tame Impala — Endors Toi (from Live Versions) Live sidechained synths.

Tame Impala — Be Above It (from Live Versions) Extended interlude with synth arpeggio and guitar delays.

Taylor Swift — Blank Space Bouncy slapback kick drums. “I’ll write your name” pen click.

Teebs — Shoouss Lullaby Surprise live drums.

Trust — Joyland “Rest assured I sleep alo-o-o-one.” And the voice switch for “…and the parts unknown.”

tUnE-yArDs — Wait for a Minute Repeating clicky loop in left channel.

The War on Drugs — Red Eyes Droney breakdown.

St. Vincent — Prince Johnny Flanged hi-hat and squelchy snare.

Vic Mensa — Down on My Luck Syncopated cowbell.

Viet Cong — Continental Shelf Descending two-note guitar motif.

Weyes Blood — Hang On Time signature change. The rising melody of “Oh you can tell…”

Wild Beasts — Wanderlust Synth pad.

Wild Beasts — Daughters Ping-ponging power-synth.

Woods — Only the Lonely Delay feedback intro.

Wye Oak — I Know the Law Breathy titular chorus and background-vocal “I knowww.”

Yemi Alade — Johnny “Ques—tion.”

Zammuto — Good Graces Panned and flanged drum kit.

Zammuto — Great Equator Analog synth tangle plus reversed feedback squall.

Zammuto — Henry Lee Echoing flourish.

[jeremydlarson]

Hi! I saw fifty-two movies in 2014. Here they are, ordered from my least fave to fave. Happy New Year ☺ 52. Birdman. One might note that movies are of & like movies: every part of them is a movie in some fantasy. You know the dream where you stand up in class only to look down &...

[jeremydlarson]

Disclaimer: These are some words about the writing process as they relate to the catacombs of internet behavior and social media. This rightfully may not interest you at all.

Wrote about me and tweeting, and doing more me and doing less tweeting

#twitter #writings

[jeremydlarson]