Tops of My Pops for 9/3/06

A weekly look at what I'm listening to, from my Last.fm user stats:

Top Artists for the week ending Sept. 3, 2006
1. OutKast
2. J Dilla
3. Shriekback
4. David Bowie
4. Public Enemy
4. Meat Beat Manifesto
4. Pop Will Eat Itself
4. Spoon
9. Foo Fighters
9. Burial

I'm going to try to start posting these weekly again (here for the first time). I used to do this on my old LiveJournal blog, but I haven't for more than a year.

This week was about checking out new/old discs I've picked up from la la. Haven't heard the new Outkast but I'm doing my best to catch up on ATLiens, Aquemini and Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, all older albums I hadn't really heard before. I've also been checking out J Dilla with some encouragement from mrkvm. Donuts has been fun so far, but no individual track really seems to stand out for me. Also just snagged a copy of Public Enemy's New Whirl Odor and have been enjoying it, but not as much as the first album of their “indie era”, There's A Poison Goin' On.... Needless to say, they're never gonna release another one as good as It Takes A Nation Of Millions....

Burial is another one mrkvm turned me onto, and he's completely obsessed. They represent my first knowing foray into dubstep, and so far I'm liking it despite the minimal presence of anything I'd think of as dub technique. I wonder, is all dubstep dark or is that just Burial's particular take on it?

See also:
The 'Tops of My Pops' archives

BKV in NYT

Nice little feature in the New York Times today on Brian K. Vaughan, writer/creator of Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina, Runaways and many more.

The piece focuses on the imminent release of Pride of Baghdad, his new original graphic novel beautifully illustrated by Niko Henrichon. In addition to Pride, it turns out he's just finished the screenplay adaptation of Y, and is about to begin working on the same for Ex Machina.

I suspect it's an interesting time to be BKV.

The new tv season is upon us...

I remember growing up (back when there were three networks plus public television, and we had to walk barefoot 10 miles uphill in a snowstorm – each way! – to get to school) that the new season started on the same September day on every channel, and by the end of that one week you had all the new series you were going to get until January at the earliest. Nowadays the new fall lineup takes at least two months to roll out, and you need a scorecard and the power of the internet just to keep track. Luckily, TiVo has been kind enough to put it all together for us in one comprehensive list. Behold!

Of course I'm fired up for the season premiere of Lost (October 4th?!?) and the return of My Name Is Earl and The Office. This might even be the season that I finally start watching Grey's Anatomy (I know, I know). But there are two new shows that I really have my eye on: Heroes and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

Heroes is constructed as an ensemble serial drama seemingly not unlike Lost meets M. Night Shyamalan's brilliant and underrated Unbreakable. There's an “official/unofficial” website for the series with a well done comic book feel to it, which is a nice counterpoint to the hyper-realistic feel of the series. Writer Jeph Loeb and artist Tim Sale are both directly involved in the show, so I'm expecting good things.

Studio 60 is Aaron Sorkin's first new show since leaving a magnificent four year run on The West Wing back in 2003. The man has had some well-publicized personal weaknesses, but he's a titan when it comes to writing. Combine that with the show's top-flight ensemble cast (Matthew Perry, Amanda Peet, Bradley Whitford, Steven Weber, and Timothy Busfield to name just a few) and you've got a strong formula for success. Personally I don't care much about the backstage happenings at Saturday Night Live, but if Sorkin's interested then it's gonna be the smartest show on television.

“Good evening godless Sodomites!”

Watch John Stewart and Stephen Cobert bring the funny at the 2006 Emmy Awards.

Who wants to be a Rockstar (Supernova)?

“I could make a transformation as a rock & roll star”
– David Bowie, “Star”

There's no explanation for my fascination with Rockstar: Supernova:

• I don't like reality shows (yet my wife's got me into watching several with her now).
• I don't like any of the bands that Tommy Lee, Gilby Clarke or Jason Newsted have been associated with (okay, I did used to have a thing for Voivod pre-Jason).
• I don't think the band is going to be any good once they actually find a lead singer (because Tommy, Gilby and Jason have already written all the songs for the first album ahead of time).

See? Here I am rationalizing about it. The truth is:

• I watch every episode.
• I have a favorite “rocker” (Lukas Rossi).
• I log onto MSN and vote for him every week.
• I laugh at Dave Navarro.
• I shudder at Brooke Burke's fashion sense.
• I marvel at Tommy's celebrity (I'm convinced he's the Jack Nicholson of Rock).

Sick, sick, sick. It's a sickness.

What's your power move?

Tired of the news? God knows I am -- I've even burned out on the fake news (as seen on The Daily Show and The Cobert Report). What to do?

Fear not, sports racers! Ze Frank is here to do the thinking for us! Every weekday, Ze posts a new episode of The Show, his video podcast (or “vodcast” or “vlog” or “whatever”) wherein you might get a smattering of news or politics. For certain you're gonna get some one-of-a-kind funky weirdness that may well make your cereal milk shoot out your nose.

Ze's been doing his unique flavor of humor/performance art online for some time now via his website and elsewhere, but luckily he decided to start giving us this regularly scheduled dose. Heck, you can even subscribe to The Show now via the iTunes Music Store -- what could be easier!

Give him a week, and he'll give you a reason to live.

Long Live Thee Infinite Beat

Q. What is music?

A. Any sound.

Q. What is beat?

A. A measurement between two points in SPACE.

Q. What is Infinite Beat?

A. Absolutely any pattern ov sounds that takes plane between two points in SPACE.

Genesis P-Orridge on BUZZ for MTV, February 1990.