Goodbye aughts: stuff to do tonight
December 31, 2009
So it’s New Year’s Eve. Inevitably everything in this post is somehow related to that fact. First of all, what to do tonight. Since I’m working the Generation Domination photobooth at Mercy Lounge’s “Happy Endings” party tonight, I must plug that first. But plugging is kinda pointless at this point, because if you haven’t already gotten tix, you’re pretty much SOL. According to a facebook message from 1:10am last night (this morning), there is only 1 VIP package left. The VIP package is for four people. Email drew@mercylounge.com for details. But honestly, it’s probably already gone by the time you read this. For a very visual representation of what else to do this NYE, check out the Nashville Scene’s official NYE flow chart:
Click through to see the bigger version at Nashville Cream
Nashville Is Dead has some details on a few select shows as well, most notably the (unofficial) Infinity Cat NYE show at the End.
Also of interest, i09 gives you ten reasons to live through the next decade. Among my favs: Ridley Scott’s return to sci-fi filmmaking, green development and progress toward 100% renewable energy, the LHC and possibility of finding the Higgs-Boson particle, and I totally agree with their #1 choice being the Mars Science Laboratory. I would, however, add to that the joint Mars program between NASA and ESA that I mentioned yesterday.
Now here’s the video to George Harrison’s “Got My Mind Set On You” just for kicks, via Yewknee’d.
Happy New Year, and we’ll see you next week!
Back with some science
December 30, 2009
The holidays obviously consumed my life to the point that I haven’t posted in over a week. Sorry ’bout that. I also haven’t shared any good sciencey tidbits in a while, so here you go:
I recently saw James Cameron’s latest epic Avatar. I won’t get too involved with reviewing the film as I’m no film critic by any means, but I will say this- it’s beautiful. The animation is astounding and most notably, the landscape is gorgeous. The dialogue and storyline is utterly pathetic. It’s basically the same story as Last of the Mohicans, Fern Gully, or Dances With Wolves, only this time it’s injected into a sci-fi mold. That being said, I always can enjoy that story to some degree no matter how many times it gets retold and rehashed. What is pretty cool about the movie is the science behind it. There will always be a big gap between “movie physics” and reality, but the over-arching idea of a habitable moon similar to Earth orbiting a gas giant similar to our own Jupiter in different star system is entirely plausible. The fact that the moon’s atmosphere is toxic to humans makes it slightly more realistic, along with the reduced gravity resulting in the native animal life being mostly large compared to that of Earth. Space.com has more on the science of Avatar’s Pandora.
Image via Universe Today
I’ve mentioned on here before that NASA and the European Space Agency have teamed up for the next decade or so of Mars exploration. The exact timeline and details of that effort are now beginning to come into focus, thanks to the recent discovery of a constantly replenished quantity of methane in Mars’ atmosphere The first step will be a new orbiting observatory launched in 2016 that is specifically equipped to further explore the possible sources of this methane, and map out exactly where it’s the strongest. Also on this first mission will be small lander designed to test the parachute/thruster landing system that will be used on the future missions involving the “real” landers/rovers. Those rover/lander missions will be launched in 2018, and will be specifically designed to search for signs of life. Recent developments in the theories about the possible source of the methane have started to lean more towards microbial life, probably living under the surface. That’s very exciting. More on this at Universe Today.
What kind of blogger would I be if I didn’t have some sort of “year-in-review” post? Unfortunately I haven’t had the time to come up with anything myself, but here are a couple of 2009 recap posts from other science blogs that you might find interesting:
Live Science: 9 stories we love, and hated, in 2009.
Space.com: The 9 top spaceflight stories of 2009.
Some of probably already know this, but I’m currently in the process of moving. Megan and I are renting a small house near Germantown, and though the house will be awesome once we get settled in, the timing really sucked. I can’t think of a worse possible time to be moving than during the holidays. So posting here will probably be limited until next week.
BFF tonight/weekend stuff/Battle Pod 4
December 18, 2009
Obviously the big story today is that the 4th BFF (featuring myself and Fan Fiction DJing) is happening tonight at Mad Donna’s! This month we’ve decided to add beer specials to the mix, but the bar hasn’t told me what they’ll be yet. But get there before midnight to take advantage of that. Oh, and this time we have a fog machine to enhance your dancing experience. Mad Donna’s is on the east side, just a blog past 5-points on Woodland. It’s at the corner of Woodland & 14th St. across from Lipstick Lounge. In case you missed my last post, be sure to download my latest mix- the Burgers Winter 09 MIXXXX. For a tracklisting see my last post. And for a sampling of Fan Fiction’s style, just check his awesome music blog Nashville Nights. For even more info on this and more BFF’s in the future, join our Facebook group!
If you’re not feeling the east side, or not feeling the dancing vibe, my band Powerbrrrd is also playing Matt Friction’s Christmas on the Block show at Exit/In tonight. We’ll be on 2nd in a pretty awesome lineup of your favorite local bands playing Christmas tunes. But obviously I’ll be speeding over to Mad Donna’s right after we play to do BFF.
It should also be noted that Jeremy Ferguson, who runs the Battletapes recording studio, has posted his 4th “Battle Pod” podcast. It features some lovely Christmas covers by Lylas, Tristen, Jonas Stein (from Turbo Fruits), and others. Go grab it now.
Other weekend stuff:
Saturday: Holly House Winter Formal @ Mercy Lounge. This show will feature Tristen, Caitlin Rose, Eureka Gold, Shoot the Mountain, Non-Commissioned Officers, and more, all playing in each other’s bands covering various Christmas songs and whatnot. I’ll be doing a photobooth, and it’s part of Mercy’s 2nd annual “Winter of Dreamz” sponsored by Sweetwater. Oh, and there’s an indoor snow machine…
By then I’ll be so tired I won’t care anymore, so that’s it for this weekend.
Burgers winter 09 mixxxx/Morning Benders album due in 2010
December 16, 2009
The official DJ Burgers Winter 09 Mixxxx is here! Download it now and get ready to party down with Fan Fiction & Me this Friday at the 4th installment of BFF at Mad Donna’s! (Mad Donna’s is at 1313 Woodland St. in East Nashville, just a block past 5 points and across from Lipstick Lounge.) There will FOG MACHINES. There will be CRAZY LIGHTS. And most importantly, there will be BEER SPECIALS UNTIL MIDNIGHT! (More on the beer specials soon…)
Tracklisting:
Bag Raiders- Shooting Stars (Shazam Dub mix)
Lindstrom & Christabelle- Baby Can’t Stop (Aeroplane RMX)
Yolanda Be Cool- Afro Nuts (DCUP RMX)
Little Boots- Earthquake (Treasure Fingers RMX)
Ke$ha- Tik Tok (Fred Falke Radio RMX)
A-Trak & Arman Van Helden present Duck Sauce- Anyway
Busta Rhymes Ft. T-Pain- Hustler’s Anthem (Bit Funk RMX)
Fukkk Offf- More Than Friends (Markus Lange & Stereofunk RMX)
The Cataracs- Club Love (Nick Catchdubs & Proper Villains RMX)
Dan the Automator-Rapper’s Delight (TEPR Remix)
Golden Bug- Assassin
Bloody Beetroots ft. Cool Kids- Awesome
Some other random tidbits for today:
Ridley Scott directed a remake of Robin Hood that’s due to hit theaters sometime next year. It stars Russel Crowe and Cate Blanchett…. and judging from the trailer I think I’ll end up preferring the Kevin Costner version… See it at Apple movie trailers. (Via Kottke)
One of the few “new” bands that I’ve been head-over-heels for is the Morning Benders. I LOVED their 2008 album Talking Through Tin Cans, and I just found via You Ain’t No Picasso that they’re prepping their next LP Big Echo for release on March 9, 2010 through Rough Trade. Next year is going to be FULL of good releases….
R.I.P. Flight of the Conchords/Private Dancer
December 14, 2009
Credit: John Behm via Private Dancer's myspace
Last friday night at the 5 Spot was the first Apollo Up! show in many years, and I showed up ready for some serious mid-aughts nostalgia. My enthusiasm was somewhat stifled by the first band which had a name too long to remember and sounded like Warped Tour circa 1999. Thank goodness Minneapolis’ Private Dancer was up next. As I enthusiastically told the band after their show, it’s been a LONG-ASS time since I’ve seen a band that I knew nothing about and was totally amazed. Try as I might, I find it very hard to describe exactly why I liked them so much… I just did. It’s true, their overall sound is pretty similar to a lot of garage-y 60’s and 70’s revivalists currently flooding the market, but something about them just really clicked with me. I strongly suggest checking them out. No, seriously… CHECK THESE GUYS OUT. To whet your appetite, here’s She’s A Company Man from their debut album Trouble Eyes.
Private Dancer-She’s A Company Man
Of course, Apollo Up! was awesome and Jay Leo Phillips’ guitar tone peeled my scalp as always. For a better review of the show, check out the Cream.
Some sad news came from Stereogum and Pitchfork today. Flight of the Conchords is officially dead. There will be no 3rd season. I’m quite sure we haven’t seen the last of Jemaine and Brett, however, and I look forward to seeing what they do next.
Lilith Fair is making a comeback next year and the lineup is rather interesting. It includes a few names that seem a little out-of-place at first glance: the Submarines, Metric, Janell Monae, Chairlift and Ke$ha…. yes, Ke$ha- the Nashville-L.A. transplant who has our own Justin Kase as her DJ. (Via Music Photographers forum)
Weekend stuff/DAAS/Turbo Fruits get p-forked/beer
December 11, 2009
The A.V. Club takes a look at some of 2009’s strangest/craziest/most ridiculous band names. Some of my favs- Bitches With Instruments, the Whore Moans, Pabst Smear, Gay for Johnny Depp, the Christopher Walk-Ins, OMG! Check it out.
Turbo Fruits’ latest album Echo Kid got a 6.4 on Pitchfork today. I’m a little surprised at how late they reviewed this record considering that it’s a Be Your Own Pet-related project, and that Pitchfork lost their shit over both BYOP and the first Turbo Fruits record… (Echo Kid has been out for at least a few months now…) It’s a damn good record though, and I suggest it.
One of my favorite electronic music artists is actually from right here in Nashville- Makeup & Vanity Set, aka Matt Pusti. He’s recently started a side project called DAAS, and the debut album RASLP is available on Bandcamp for free. Go grab it for a blippy, experimental, atmospheric good time. My bandmate and friend Seth Graves has been doing some fantastic video production work recently, and since the two share some influences Pusti asked Seth to do a video for a song from RASLP. The result is a 4 1/2 miutes of data-moshing AWESOMENESS:
That holiday porter I was telling you about a few posts back is now officially ready for consumption. I tried it for the first time last night and while the spices didn’t come through quite as much as I wanted, it’s still by far the best batch of beer I’ve made thus far. You can buy a 6-pack for 6 bucks, just email/facebook/call/come up to me at a show and I’ll hook you up.
As for this weekend, I’m really stoked to be seeing Apollo Up! tonight at the 5 Spot for the first time in several years. They took a hiatus back around 2007 and I’ve missed their awesome live shows ever since. So that’s where we’ll be tonight.
Saturday we’ll be in Murfreesboro to check out the big YEAH benefit show featuring Those Darlins, Six Gun Lullaby, and special VIP storyteller performance from Caitlin Rose. YEAH is pretty much the best thing to happen to youth in middle TN. EVER. So they are more than worth your monetary support, therefore I highly suggest going.
Sunday night I’ll be taking pics and having a total nerd-gasm at the Star Wars interactive/orchestral event Star Wars: In Concert, which is at the Sommet Center (soon-to-be-Nashville Arena).
Other shows of interest:
Friday- La Paz Late Night w/ DJs Potamus and Hippo @ La Paz. Shoot the Mountain, Hands Down Eugene, & Hammertorch @ The End.
Saturday- Brendan Benson & Cory Chisel @ Exit/In (I wish this were on a different night so I could go!).
Have a great weekend!
Prabir & the Substitutes breakup/WRVU sticks to its guns
December 9, 2009
Prabir & The Substitutes at Grand Palace in Murfreesboro, TN circa 2007
I’ve been a fan of most everything Prabir Mehta has done since his band the Rachel Nevadas were around in the early/mid aughts. Sometime in 06 they disbanded, and he subsequently formed Prabir & The Substitutes. I enjoyed them every bit as much as the Rachel Nevadas, but now I’m sad to say that the Substitutes are no more. When I found a Facebook invite to an event in their hometown of Richmond, VA titled something like “Ghost of Pop 5- Prabir & The Substitutes’ last show!” I decided to shoot him an email and get some clarification on exactly what was going down. Here’s what he had to say-
There are many reasons for the break up …many many but know were all good friends and are all looking forward to the break and will continue to work w. one another no matter what.
1- the record “We Are The Funeral” is going to be scrapped but also turned into a collection of songs we WERE tryin to finish and what not….will see the light of day in a few months
2- new project…yes… www.myspace.com/prabirgoldrush …i’m working w. classically trained musicians and working on this stuff for now. again, its sad to not have chris, charlie, robbie, and shawn backing up this project but it was just time for us to try playing w. other musicians. these two musicians (matthew and treesa gold) are fantastic and love the Beatles and Beethoven. They have a great set of ears and understand the places my songs come from. So, working with them has been fantastic. I hope the group will make its way to Nashville at some point but for now we’re still working on songs and getting our act together at home.
So there you have it. I have no doubt that I’ll enjoy his new project as much as I’ve enjoyed his other projects, and I’d almost be willing to bet there will be a Substitutes reunion somewhere down the road… eventually. Here’s “How Can We Make This Ghost Happy” from their first official EP Annabelle, I’m Coming Home Tonight, along with a song called “Easy” which was recorded live on my former radio show Fascination Street on 88.3 WMTS. To my knowledge “Easy” was never released or recorded, and for some odd reason I never even saw them play it live… *Easy will show up in iTunes with “Fascination Street” as the artist*
Prabir & The Substitutes- How Can We Make This Ghost Happy
Prabir & The Substitutes- Easy (recorded live on Fascination Street, 88.3 WMTS Murfreesboro)
WRVU’s board of directors stuck to their guns regarding the extremely controversial cap on the # of community/non-affiliated DJs. More on that can be found here. Yesterday they released the list of community DJs who would get to keep their shows, and those not on the list are SOL. That list can be found at the Nashville Cream. Though I didn’t get to see the details of the alternative proposal developed by a group of community, student, and staff DJs, from what I understand it would’ve been a lot better that a strict 25 community DJ limit. Ultimately I think (and hope) that the board will realize there needs to be some flexibility in regards to the summer (when most of the student DJs aren’t present) and that a limit on the number community DJ’ed shows makes much more sense than limiting the number of DJs themselves. Lets just wait till next fall and see what happens when they re-evaluate the policy.
Nashville band Paper Route has been getting some blog attention recently thanks to being on tour with Paramore, and also getting remixed by none other than Nick Catchdubs. Grab the remix at RCRD LBL.
And just for the hell of it, here’s a video of David Bowie and Bing Crosby singing Christmas songs together…. wait WHAT?
Via Clusterflock
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Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShip Two/Alt medicine takes a hit
December 8, 2009
Yesterday Virgin Galactic revealed their SpaceShip Two to the public. This is officially the first publicly accessible spacecraft ever. For a pretty penny (about $200,000) you can book yourself a ride on this thing, and it will take you to the edge of space. You’ll experience about 5 minutes of virtual weightlessness. Check out this video animation showing the flight from launch to landing: (pardon the cheesy sound effects…)
I suppose it’s reasonable to hope that one day, during my lifetime, it will become affordable for the average individual to take spaceflights like these and experience such a humbling and inspiring sight as the earth from space….
I’ve always been a logical and reasonable person who respects the efforts of science and thorough research, however I do keep my mind open and understand that there’s a lot we don’t yet understand about all aspects of science. Medicine is a part of the scientific field of study. While this LiveScience article points out that many fields of “alternative medicine” have taken a beating this year, it’s important to note that most of the “treatments” they mention have been thoroughly dis-proven many times before, yet some people still continue to push these methods as legitimate treatment. I have to admit that I laughed a little after reading the section on Reiki. Anyone who believes that someone standing over them holding their hands above their head is going to heal their cancer is absolutely insane. Do these people still believe in Santa Claus? Or the tooth fairy? There’s a little thing called reality. Reality is testable and provable. And reality is all there is. Period. Please read that article if you have ever considered one of those “alternative treatments.” My own father is currently undergoing what some would call “alternative treatment” for early stages of prostate cancer, but what he’s doing (very specific dietary guidelines combined with some herbal supplements) has at least some proven results. It’s more of what you would call an “experimental treatment” that hasn’t been studied thoroughly enough to be accepted in the mainstream. I have nothing against this and of course hope the treatment works, but I also hope it will get more thorough research. But the treatments mentioned in that article have been debunked. They are total bullshit. If you believe in them you might as well believe the moon is made of cheese.
First and foremost, for my Nashville readers, I must plug my DJ gig tonight at the new La Paz location on Elliston. It’s where Ombi Bar used to be. My friend DJ Potamus is going to be hosting a weekly friday night dance party there, and he’ll be having different guest DJ’s each week. This debut week, it’s me (Burgers). So come out and DANCE BETCHES! Seriously, if not for the hot jamz, come for the drink specials! (FYI- the next BFF is going to be Friday Dec. 18th in case you were wondering…)
It’s been a minute since I mentioned Hipster Runoff. In case you don’t follow Carles on a regular basis, he recently “retired” (aka wrote under the faux names of mike and becca and inevitably made some gullible people think he’d actually retired). But he’s back. Because he was ‘born 2 blog‘.
This has already circulated widely by now but it’s worth mentioning because it’s kinda cute and endearing… David Bowie’s giddy response to his first American fan-letter in 1967. (Via Flux-Rad)
Pitchfork has a pretty interesting reader’s poll going on right now. My favorite part is the “trend you wish would go away” category:
- 90s revivalism (No Age, Japandroids, Cymbals Eat Guitars)
- Afropop indie (Dirty Projectors, Fool’s Gold, Abe Vigoda)
- Animal Collective acolytes (Blind Man’s Colour, Our Brother the Native, USF)
- Balearic (jj, John Talabot, Windsurf/Hatchback)
- Chillwave/glo-fi (Washed Out, Neon Indian, Nite Jewel)
- Dubstep and its offshoots (wonky, funky, bassline)
- Post-Lily Allen UK pop (La Roux, Little Boots, Florence and the Machine)
- Prim, buttoned-up indie (Grizzly Bear, Andrew Bird, St. Vincent)
- Shitgaze/lo-fi aesthetics (Times New Viking, Wavves, Vivian Girls)
I had a pretty hard time with that one… as most of them are actually trends I wish would go away. Except for the 90’s revivalism one… but that’s mostly just me being a) nostalgic and b) in a band doing just that… kinda. (List via Brooklyn Vegan)
Speaking of 90’s nostalgia… My So-Called Band returns to the stage this Saturday at the Exit/In. I may or may not be DJing some 90’s jock jams in between/after sets…
See you tonight at La Paz!
Life on Mars developments/H1N1 vaccine process
December 2, 2009
Remember that meteorite from Mars that caused a huge stir back in 1996 when NASA announced that it thought it had found remnants of fossilized bacteria in it? If you don’t, just know that this meteorite, named the “Alan Hills meteorite,” had what we initially thought was a fossilized remnant of ancient Martian bacteria. But then some other scientists came forth with an equally plausible hypothesis for a non-microbial origin of the microscopic formation. So ever since then, the scientific community has been at odds, with one camp saying “Yes, it’s an ancient Martian microbe! There really was life on Mars!” and another camp saying “Nope. That formation wasn’t biological in origin.” But new technology has shed some light on the subject that wasn’t possible back then. Researchers at the Johnson Space Center have used more sophisticated High Resolution Electron Microscopy than was available in 1996 to study the meteorite, and their findings contradict the nay-sayers. So, if no new nay-saying hypotheses come out, then we can be pretty damn certain that microbial life once existed on Mars. AND it may even still exist there, under the surface! (Via Universe Today)
Kottke.org is one of longest-running blogs in existence, and it’s almost always full of random awesomeness. In this case, it’s all about the H1N1 vaccine, and how it and other vaccines are made. I had no idea it took soooo many chicken eggs. Do yourself a favor and read all about it.
Now here’s yet another hilarious comic from xkcd:
steve cross loves music and science 