Blast from the [recent] past

Hey kids,

Tilly here. As we haven't posted in a bit, I thought I'd share with anyone who stopped by 2g1k a little of what I've been enjoying lately. Interestingly enough, the songs I've been enjoying lately are not so new, but not so old either.

I'm ashamed to admit it, but I have to indirectly thank the Twilight sequel New Moon for the discovery of this first song. Terrible movie, terrible acting, but with a fantastic soundtrack. One of the songs was a compilation between St. Vincent and Bon Iver, which I've posted in the past. If not for that song, I might never have discovered Bon Iver's music in general, and I'm so glad I have now. Here's a beautiful sample of the album released in '08, For Emma, Forever Ago.

"Skinny Love" - Bon Iver



Also, I've been simultaneously jamming to a very different flavor of music...the danceable wonder that is Of Montreal! I knew they'd released a new album in 2008 (called Skeletal Lamping), but I never got my shiz together and checked it out. A couple nights ago I heard the unmistakable bass line that could only mean Of Montreal, and realized what I'd been missing. Here ya go!

"Gallery Piece" - Of Montreal



Happy music hunting to one and all!

Love,
Tilly

Parties and the Bees

Today was my first day of officially working for SXSW. Before I began my assignments I had to get my badge and camera tagged at the Austin Convention Center.



This took an hour longer than I thought it would mainly because the convention center is gigantic and I got lost easily.

Since I will be volunteering about 70 hours during SXSW I got a Platinum Badge to use during the conference which allows me to get into just about every interactive, film and music event. I need these credentials in order to get the photographs they need for SXSW.



What I didn't realize until later was how much my badge was worth. If it didn't have my name or picture on it, well, I would definitely consider selling it.

My first assignment was to take pictures at a party for a company called Razorfish. I went to the club it was held at called The Madison and had to show my badge to bouncers in order to get in.





There was an interactive touch screen where the guests who had registered could place a card on it and it would bring up their facebook profile.



Besides the oddity of accessing someone's profile from a touchscreen, it was even weirder since all the guests were about 35 or over.

After taking pictures at the party I wandered around downtown and took pictures from the roof of the Austin Convention Center.



My last assignment for the night was a film premiere of 'The Last Beekeeper,' a documentary about bees pollinating almonds in California, and how the bee population is rapidly declining.



The director created buzz about the movie. Seriously however, by the year 2035 there may be no more bees in America causing serious problems for our economy and ecosystem. A very scary thought, a world with no bees.

"The Party's Crashing US" - Of Montreal

Top 10 bass lines

Hello! Tilly here. I just wanted to get the word out there about the awesomeness that is the bass. Have you ever heard a song with a rockin' bass line that wasn't also a rockin' song? No. Bass is like the super power of a band...if they use it well, it leads to wonderful results. If they use it badly or not at all, thousands upon thousands of kittens are stuck in trees and the old ladies who own them cry for days. Who wants that?



It's not that a song is automatically bad if the base just melds quietly into the background, keeping the song going. But a song with a creative, interesting base line has so much more depth and coolness. Thankfully, there are quite a few bands out there who truly value their bassist. For reference, I provide a few exemplary songs of bands like this. Take a listen, and when you do, really listen to the bass. Oh yes. Sweet sweet bass.

Just for fun, these are in order of what I consider top 10 base lines. Social experiment! Leave a comment re-ordering them or adding new songs with fab bass.

10."Gamma Ray" - Beck
9."Faberge Falls for Shuggie" - Of Montreal
8."Let's Make Love and Listen to Death from Above" - CSS
7."A Million Ways" - OK GO
6."Stalemate" - Nada Surf
5."Black History Month" - Death From Above 1979 (who consist of only a bassist and a drummer!! Rad.)
4."Evil" - Interpol
3."Saint John" - Cold War Kids
2."The Lovecats" - The Cure
1."Only In Dreams" - Weezer (this is the true seven minutes in heaven, kids.)