Vixen's Mixens: I Was Running

First of all, let me just say - thank goodness Spotify finally arrived in the States! I have been using the Spanish version for a couple years now under my husband's username but now I can finally have my very own. The social aspect of Spotify (aka Spotty) makes it the clear winner IMO for streaming music services - not to mention the killer library. Sharing your favorite new tunes on the social media service of your choice could not be easier, but even better is the sharing of playlists.

I was a kid who slaved over making mixtapes, ala Rob Fleming from High Fidelity. The opening and closing tracks were crucial, as well as the overall flow from song to song. You had to get the timing just right on each side of the cassette (yes I am old) to avoid - god forbid - cutting off the closing song. When .mp3s and burning cds became commonplace it was nothing short of revolutionary. Dragging and dropping was just too easy! Then when ipods and itunes playlists came into fashion it was even more mind blowing. You were no longer limited to 80 minutes worth of music! I have a party playlist on my ipod right now that has 643 songs and counting.

So Spotty is the next step in the evolution of making mixes. No need to press record, burn a disc or hook up your friend's ipod to your itunes. You only need to share your playlist with other Spotty members. Simple. Fun. Fantastic.

I will not let this technology go to waste! I will periodically (weekly, in theory) post playlists with different themes (my fave types of mixes). If I am in a sharing mood, I'll give you some insight as to why I chose what I chose and what not. Hope you enjoy.

This week's theme: I Was Running. I am by no means a fitness enthusiast, however if I do work out - upbeat tunes are a must. This is a 2 hour mix filled with pop, hipster shizz and even a Stereo MCs classic from the good 'ol 90s. Speaking of the 90s - that will be the theme of next weeks list;-) Have fun my peeps!

The invisible influence

A few years ago, when I was young(er) and dumb(er), I remember asking my mother what was the big deal about the Beatles. They had a ton of famous songs, but they really did not sound all that much better than other bands. Catchy, yes, but nothing that no one else was doing. My poor mother might be not a pop culture junkie, but gave me the perfect answer: "you don´t know how dull music was before the Beatles came around".

The Beatles is only one example of band, movie, game or TV show that does not look all that impressive for the untrained eye, mainly because they have been so massively influential that they don´t look all that exceptional anymore.

For someone that did not had to slog across the dreadful movies of the eighties, "Pulp Fiction" is just another clever post modern artifact. Yeah, wicked script, clever writing, tons of witty quotes and cute time line gimmicks. As artifacts go, it is a very shinny one, but it is not that different. Of course, that misses the point that movies got a whole lot better after/because "Pulp Fiction", basically because they were shamelessly ripping it off. The movie was such a change of direction that it is easy to forget what it spawned.

We have this kind of movies across the decades, hidden in plain sight. "North by Northwest" is just another clever action thriller; of course, it just invented the whole idea. "Jaws" it is just another summer blockbuster - just the one that invented the concept. "Night of the Hunter" basically invented the psychokiller movie. Even "Citizen Kane" is only obviously great if you have watched some of the stilted wrecks that were typical of the era - movies that no one watches anymore.

The same goes for TV shows (and that´s why "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" is awesome, kids), videogames ("Ocarina of Time", "Half Life", or even "Super Mario Bros"), music (Joy Division, for instance), comics (Watchmen) or even novels (Don Quixote, if I have to be a snob). Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but sometimes it has the side effect that it makes your work invisible - what you added to the art gets such a widespread use that it is easy to forget that you are the one that brought it to life.

And yes, "Buffy" is that kind of show. One hour drama with long arch plots, character focused episodes (no, Lost did not come up with that), irony, pop culture references galore and smarty-pants self awareness looks common now, but it wasn´t used all that often a few years ago. But that´s a discussion for another post, where we workship the Whedon as he deserves.

Tinted Windows Acoustic Performance

I love radio contests. My friends always tell me that I am so lucky because I tend to win a good amount of radio contests, but I just tell them that it is just a matter of taking the time to enter everything. For example, last week I saw that kc101 was giving away chances to see Tinted Windows perform in the studio. I thought, "What the hell? I'll sign up for that" and guess what - I went to see them perform three acoustic songs on Wednesday. And it was awesome. You can't win if you don't play people.

By the way, in case you are wondering who Tinted Windows are: Singer - Taylor Hanson of Hanson, Guitarist - James Iha of Smashing Pumpkins, Bassist - Adam Schlessinger of Fountains of Wayne, Drummer - Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick.

My New Obsession - Musically Speaking

Why have I not heard of Florence & the Machines until now? Her voice is ridiculously amazing. This is a live video of Dog Days Are Over. Here is a link to the official (very creepy raggedy ann on crack) video. They do an awesome cover of the Cold War Kids' Hospital Beds. Check em out loves.