I know a lot of madly talented people. Seriously, I'm not talking about no "proud mom" syndrome, where every crappy thing that little Timmy makes in school is an automatic masterpiece, I mean that Im drawn to smart, creative, madly talented people (... as people who do not possess such mad talent are prone to be, I guess- oh dis!)
Which brings me to a certain pair of peeps back home. I met insideamind while putting together a gig for the worldwide short film fest in 2006. I'd seen these guys do scratch magic to a reel of old school kung fu films, and I invited them to do a live score for some films I put together. They killed it. Like they actually outdid any expectations I had, they were that good. I had an amazing line up that night, some really incredible musicians, and of all of them, Cheldon and Eric came the closest to delivering what I had wanted- musicians who would intereact with the images, play with them, confront them, defy them, all of that. These guys have a visual consciousness about the way they make music- not just beats n breaks, but images and moods... and for a filmy music geek like myself, well it just makes me as giddy as a seal in heat.
Ok, so having said that, I never thought much of insideamind outside the context of performance. I'd listened to bits of Fragmental and thought "yeah cool, but not entirely listenable, unless youre watching them play, or play to something". Well, I've changed my mind. They're new album, Scatterpopia (at least the bits Ive heard) is awesome. If i found Fragmental too bare bones, in Scatterpopia, the boys have put on the pounds the Atkins diet way or some shit. They've filled out, and it sounds complete to me for the first time. They're getting tighter and more melodic and... just better. Which makes me want to say "Chia you!!" (it means "add oil!" in chinese, and kinda has the connotation of "you go girl!") and so forth. Check it.
I'm writing all this as the remnants of Typhoon Fengshen spin across Taiwan, and the sound of the rain outside is drowning out my tunes. I'm feeling reflective (what else is new??) and I have to say, I miss the cool scene. Don't get me wrong- I was NEVER a scenester, and I do not in any way miss having to play nice with people I hate, or the shmoozing, I definitely don't miss the schmoozing... but, in t-dot, I knew a lot of cool bands; was exposed to good music, good films, cool things to do... I knew where to find the good shit- always. Taipei's got good films and some wickedly cool things to keep me busy, but I have yet to find the cool music. So for now, I'm still getting my fix virtually.
Which brings me to a certain pair of peeps back home. I met insideamind while putting together a gig for the worldwide short film fest in 2006. I'd seen these guys do scratch magic to a reel of old school kung fu films, and I invited them to do a live score for some films I put together. They killed it. Like they actually outdid any expectations I had, they were that good. I had an amazing line up that night, some really incredible musicians, and of all of them, Cheldon and Eric came the closest to delivering what I had wanted- musicians who would intereact with the images, play with them, confront them, defy them, all of that. These guys have a visual consciousness about the way they make music- not just beats n breaks, but images and moods... and for a filmy music geek like myself, well it just makes me as giddy as a seal in heat.Ok, so having said that, I never thought much of insideamind outside the context of performance. I'd listened to bits of Fragmental and thought "yeah cool, but not entirely listenable, unless youre watching them play, or play to something". Well, I've changed my mind. They're new album, Scatterpopia (at least the bits Ive heard) is awesome. If i found Fragmental too bare bones, in Scatterpopia, the boys have put on the pounds the Atkins diet way or some shit. They've filled out, and it sounds complete to me for the first time. They're getting tighter and more melodic and... just better. Which makes me want to say "Chia you!!" (it means "add oil!" in chinese, and kinda has the connotation of "you go girl!") and so forth. Check it.
I'm writing all this as the remnants of Typhoon Fengshen spin across Taiwan, and the sound of the rain outside is drowning out my tunes. I'm feeling reflective (what else is new??) and I have to say, I miss the cool scene. Don't get me wrong- I was NEVER a scenester, and I do not in any way miss having to play nice with people I hate, or the shmoozing, I definitely don't miss the schmoozing... but, in t-dot, I knew a lot of cool bands; was exposed to good music, good films, cool things to do... I knew where to find the good shit- always. Taipei's got good films and some wickedly cool things to keep me busy, but I have yet to find the cool music. So for now, I'm still getting my fix virtually.
