Fast Five Music Reviews

The Acorn – Glory Hope Mountain
Glory Hope Mountain is a quasi concept album about the lead singer’s mother and her tumultuous journey from South America. It’s a tender mix of shambling acoustics and subtle African rhythms where the heart is mapped over the geography of continents and psychography of hardship in a wide-eyed tribute. Highlights: The Flood pt. 2, Crooked Legs

Burial – Untrue
A year-end favorite, and deservedly so, Burial’s second album is the warmest cold record I’ve heard in a long time. Distant, yet edging over with latent emotion, it’s the perfect synopsis of unreconcilable love. Not a sunny day record, but one that soundtracks great saying hello to the night. Highlights: Arcangel, In McDonalds, Ghost Hardware

Ladyhawk – Shots
Ladyhawk are proving to be more consistent than small town transit with a second release of solid, squalling guitar workouts. This release gets a little darker, moving away from no luck resignation into alcohol-fueled mortal contemplation. The abyss stares back and it sounds great. Highlights: Fear, Corpse Paint, Faces of Death

Miracle Fortress – Five Roses
So Panda Bear gets all the credit for reviving the Beach Boys with Person Pitch, but I prefer Miracle Fortress’ Five Roses. Rather than play to the postmodern crowd, Five Roses revels in oldschool melody and the sweet interplay of double-tracked falsetto vocals. It’s forward-thinking, but still saves the baby from the bathwater. Highlights: Maybe Lately, Beach Bay, Hold Your Secrets to Your Heart.

Ungdomskulen – Cry Baby
The band name means “middle school” but sounds more like something a middle-schooler would draw on their binder. It’s a pretty fair representation of the band – a buzzing amalgamation of sung-scremed vocals, high-wire guitars, galloping drums and punch your lights out bass. The rhythm section is worth the admission alone. Highlights: Glory Hole, Modern Drummer, Ordinary Son.

Our robot overlords are coming

An Atlanta bar owner has discovered a new way to solve crime and homelessness. With robots of course! It's funny but also kind of sad.

We all get that crime and homelessness are problems, but a robot that rolls around shooting water at people is sort of an absurd solution. Especially when a recent newscast points out in detail who is controlling the robot, what he looks like and where he works.

Another problem of course is that these robot overlords look suspiciously like the evil robot overlords from Doctor Who.

FREE Article about Getting Things Free

The latest issue of Wired has an excellent article by Chris Anderson on how the Internet is changing that game of business.

The demonetization of business is a fascinating concept, particularly because it resets the framework of what business actually is – no longer about products, it’s now about relationships.

Even when you give something away for free – somewhere there is value in the relationship of one person giving another person something that they value, even if they didn’t have to pay for it. Think about how TV and radio work - you watch or listen for free from the station, who in turn makes money by being paid by people who want you to watch or listen to their ads.

Seth Godin touches on some of these ideas, and the new importance of relationships in a recent speech to the music industry, one business in particular, who is having trouble adjusting to this new economy.

And, the article by Anderson is, of course, totally free to read.