THFNS # 3: Lament for the Cassette

Oh, the cassette tape; teacher of trust, professor of failure, creator of confusion, lover of bubble baths. Oh, holy proprietor of youth, where art thou?
If you, like me, miss the days of bathing in the gentle hiss and splutter of cassette tapes, you may be asking your self, maybe in a less eloquent manner, the very same question. So, what happened to those days? What happened to the period of time where you could spend hours spread across the tiles, dubbing a carefully selected group of tracks for that current object of your affection? (Whether it be a man, woman, dog, cat, or mustache). In our culture of convenience, the once mighty and majestic cassette has been reduced to dollar bin thrift store material, like so many of us will be. Why did a tragic end have to come to this once heavy hitter in the music medium scene? The truth? It didn't. Cassette tapes are still alive and well today, not only snuggling the bottom of bargain bins around the world, but residing in the hearts, minds, souls and desks of people all around the world who refuse to let go of a piece of their youth.

So, how can I attempt to convince you that cassette tapes even stand a fighting chance against your "holier-than-thou" iPods? I don't have to because No Name No Slogan decided to do it for me.

http://homepage.mac.com/danielturek/PhotoAlbum50.html
Name No Slogan
So, after that convincing article, how could one STILL be against cassette tapes? (Please don't answer that question in the comment box, because I know you'll find a way to argue it)

The Importance of the Cassette

If the above subheading were to be asked in a question format, it would be a stupid fucking question. What ISN'T the importance of the cassette!? Besides being the ONLY legitimate form of mixtaping technology, the cassette tape has carved a culture onto its own in almost every country around the world.

When you take a step back and examine why cassettes have been/remain prominent in music, it's really not a difficult task. Not only are cassette tapes incredibly personal, but are a perfect way to showcase one's artistic capabilities. If you don't believe me, consider this question; how much time/effort/love does it take to drag 14 songs into an iTunes playlist, compared to the countless hours and preparation put into dubbing a cassette? Perhaps now you see what I mean.
I'm also rather convinced that the feeling one garners when dressing up their mixtape and attaching it to a snappy title is just short of ethereal.

But, you may be asking yourself, why can't I just make a mixtape and draw a cover for it? I'm certainly not stating that the cassette is superior to the CD overall, but I think it must be recogized for the indent that it left on our ability to mix our own music, and for leading the way for CD's and MP3's as well.

Therefore, I think a couple songs that have nothing at all to do with cassette tape are in order, to celebrate the tape in all it's spasmodical glory!

Swimming in Hiss, Drowning in Fidelity;
A Looks Like Coffee, Tastes Like Juice Celebration/Lament for the Cassette!

Bein' Green (en francais) - Andrew Bird

Starting Over - The Black Lips

All The Weird Kids Know - Built By Snow

So, in conclusion, what's the best part about cassettes?!

Never knowing which side is side A.

Love,
Norman J. Nehmetallah

A Girl in Port?

Home.
So tired.
Post tomorrow.
Love.
Grapefruit.
I'm sorry everyone, but this has been quite a horrendous week for me,
therefore, I will do these posts sometime at the end of the week,
but they will be immediately following each other,
and there will most likely be 3 in one evening.
Thank you for your understanding.

Remember,
it's only a little dignity.

THFNS # 2: The Inevitable 90's Post

Happy Easter, to those of you who celebrate Easter, and Happy Sunday, to those of you who do not. Good evening (to those of you who celebrate the evening) and welcome to the second post in THFNS! I know that this post was supposed to be published in the middle of last week, but when I took a step back and actually reviewed the 90's, as a decade of music and film, in my mind, I realized it was far to vast to finish in an hour or so after school. Alas, now it is Sunday eve' though, and I am fully prepared to take on this enormous task. Enjoy it.

The 90's:

What do I think of when my restless mind flashes over the 90's!? Despite being born right in the middle of the decade, being too late to actually enjoy the luxuries of the 90's, the decade that I'm currently absorbed in is teeming with 90's nostalgia. So, let's take a peak at what exactly made the 90s become so nostalgic so quickly.

As well as being a fantastic (which really just depends on how you look at it) decade for music, the 90's also marked the beginning/ending of a whole slew of ... shit. Confused? Yeah, well, I made a little list.

An Unreasonably Lengthy List Of Things That "Went Down" In The 90s:

• The wonderful poison that is the Internet became widespread, and the unholy blessing that is personal computers became common (I'm willing to bet that the pornography business skyrocketed).
• The U.S, Canada, Europe and Asia became filthy fucking rich. Look to the previous post for one of the many reasons why.
  
• The Soviet Union FINALLY fell.
• Berlin Wall fell in Germany, leading to a reuniting of the country.
• The enactment of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on January 1, 1994, creating a North American free trade zone consisting of Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
• The Rwandan Genocide which began on April 6, 1994 until mid-July 1994 results in serious criticism of the United Nations and major countries for failing to stop the genocide.
• Human Genome Project began.
• Discovery of dark matter, dark energy, brown dwarfs, and first confirmation of black holes.
• Apple introduces the iMac computer, initiating a trend in computer design towards translucent plastics and multicolor case design, discontinuing many legacy technologies like serial ports, and beginning a resurgence in the company's fortunes that continues unabated to this day.
• The console wars, primarily between Sega (Sega Mega Drive (marketed as the Sega Genesis in North America, introduced in 1988) and Nintendo (Super NES, introduced in 1990), sees the entrance of Sony with the PlayStation in 1994, which becomes the first successful CD-based console (as opposed to cartridges). By the end of the decade, Sega's hold on the market becomes tenuous after the end of the Saturn in 1998 and the Dreamcast in 2001.
• Pokémon entered the world scene with the release of the original Game Boy Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green games in Japan in 1996, later changed to Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue for worldwide release in 1998. It soon becomes popular in the U.S. and is adapted into a popular children's anime series and trading card game, among other media forms. Its popularity remains well into the 2000s with several new games and spin-offs.
• In 1990, the World Health Organization removed homosexuality from its list of diseases. Increasing acceptance of homosexuality occurs in the western world throughout the 1990s.
• Development of the free Linux kernel is started by Linus Torvalds in Finland.
• The U.S. animated television comedy series The Simpsons becomes a huge domestic and international success in the 1990s as well as the longest-running American animated series.
• US president Bill Clinton was caught in a media-frenzied sex scandal over his intern Monica Lewinsky, first announced on January 21, 1998. After the U.S. House of Representatives impeached Clinton on December 19, 1998 for perjury under oath, following an investigation by federal prosecutor Kenneth Starr, the Senate acquitted Clinton of the charges on February 12, 1999 and he finished his second term.
• The Columbine High School massacre occurred on April 20, 1999, in Littleton, Colorado when two student gunmen killed 12 students, a teacher and then committed suicide, making it the deadliest high school shooting in United States history.
• Freddie Mercury, Kurt Cobain, Tupac Shakur, and Notorious B.I.G. are the most publicized music-related deaths of the decade, in 1991, 1994, 1996, and 1997 respectively.
• Seinfeld becomes highly popular.

The 90s in Music!:

When one thinks of the music of the 90s, one genre may come to mind quicker than others. That genre, of course, is grunge. Have you just slipped out of your mothers womb, or do you have another valid reason for not knowing what grunge is? We're here to help.

Grunge, which stemmed from "alternative" rock, emerged in the mid-80s around the D.C area, especially in Seattle. The basic themes and influence of grunge were the DIY ethics of the punk scene, metal scene and indie scene. The grunge scene formed itself around the independent Seattle label Sub Pop (for Subterranean Pop), but later became commercially successful with the release of Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten. In case you're wondering, the word grunge means "dirty" or "filthy". This term stemmed from the sound of the music, and from the unkempt hair, flannel shirts, and generally unwashed appearance of the scenesters. Grunge's most prominent bands were Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, and Pearl Jam.

Another genre of music that rose to popularity in this decade was Gangsta Rap and Hip hop. One of the main differences between Hip hop and Grunge is the fact that Hip hop has managed to stay relevant and incredibly popular today. At the beginning of the 90s, MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice make hip hop popular to the pop audience, and mark the beginning of hip hop's so far permanent place in pop music. Cliques start to form within the Hip hop industry, with feuds starting, and ending, between artists such as Notorious B.I.G and Tupac Shakur.

The last prominent genre of music that rose to popularity in the 90s was Indie Rock and it's many subgenres. One of the most prominent subgenre of indie (which stands for independent) music was the lo-fi genre. This included artists such as Elliott Smith, Guided By Voices, Pavement, and Neutral Milk Hotel, who recorded low fidelity music.

What was that? Do you vaguely recall a genre of music from the 90's that I haven't mentioned?
Well, it's called Boy Bands/Girl Bands, and I think it's closer to bat shit than music.

An Official Looks Like Coffee, Tastes Like Juice Mixtape: The 90s, or How I Learned To Stop Worrying & Love The Internet

01 American Music - Violent Femmes
02 Lucifer Rising - The Flaming Lips
03 Gold Star for Robot Boy - Guided By Voices
04 Tundra/Desert - Modest Mouse
05 Box Elder - Pavement
06 Life Goes On - 2Pac
07 Without a Face - Rage Against The Machine
08 Between The Bars - Elliott Smith
09 Common People - Pulp
10 N.Y State of Mind - NAS
11 El Scorcho - Weezer
12 The Long Cut - Uncle Tupelo
13 Holland, 1945 - Neutral Milk Hotel
14 Bleach - Nirvana (Reissued in 1992)

Enjoy!

Don't worry; everybody poops.

Spike Jonze is going to make my year extraordinary.

Don't be afraid to poop.



I Was Born (A Unicorn) - The Unicorns

THFNS # 1: 1960 - 1970

Bonjour mon amies! Welcome to very first post of the official Holy Fucking Nostalgia Series. On this very fine Monday evening we will be taking a trip through the terrace of time to see what it is that makes nostalgia so appealing. This very tedious secret will be revealed each week in short installments that will reveal the superb music of various decades. This week we will be taking a look at 1960 - 1970, as well as another little surprise (which isn't a surprise at all, seeing as you can just scroll down the page and view it immediately). Enjoy!

1960:

August 1 - The Beatles make their debut in Hamburg, Germany. The band at the time included John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stu Sutcliffe on bass and Pete Best on drums.

1961:

December 8 - Beach Boys release their debut 45rpm single: Surfin'/Luau on the small California label Candix Records.

Stand By Me - Ben E. King

1962:

The Rolling Stones form in London.
Isaac Hayes' recording career begins.

Please Please Me - The Beatles

Baby, Please Don't Go (Big Joe Williams) - Bob Dylan

1963:

The Kinks form. The Beatles record their first album, Please Please Me.

Masters of War - Bob Dylan

I Saw Her Standing There - The Beatles

1964:

February 9 - The Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show, which breaks television ratings records.
March 21 - For the first time in history, all Top Ten singles on the UK chart are by British acts.
October 19 - Simon and Garfunkel release Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., which is initially a total flop upon first release. After release of their second album, Sounds of Silence, in 1966, it hits #30 on the Billboard charts.
December 11 - Sam Cooke is killed under mysterious circumstances in Los Angeles, California. Shortly thereafter, "A Change Is Gonna Come," a song considered by many to be his best, is released. MC5 forms. The Who's musical career begins.

Homeward Bound (Live) - Simon & Garfunkel

1965:

March 6 - The Temptations has their first hit, "My Girl", written by Smokey Robinson and Ronald White, from Motown records.
March 18 - Rolling Stones Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Bill Wyman are fined five pounds for urinating on the wall of a London gas station. The band had asked to use the restroom, but it was out of order.
June 12- The Beatles are appointed Members of the British Empire (MBE) by the Queen. Since it was unusual for rock stars to be appointed as MBEs, a number of previous recipients complained and protested.
July 25 - Bob Dylan plays Newport Folk Festival, is booed for playing electric set with The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Joan Baez and Donovan also play sets.

In The Midnight Hour - Wilson Pickett

1966:

March 4 - The Beatles' John Lennon is quoted in the London newspaper, The Evening Standard as saying that the band was now more popular than Jesus. In August, following publication of this remark in Datebook, there are Beatles protests and record burnings in the Southern US's "Bible Belt".
July 29 - Bob Dylan is involved in a motorcycle accident. July - In this month, The Mothers of Invention release their debut album, Freak Out!, a pioneer concept album.
August 29 - The Beatles perform their last official concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California

You're Gonna Miss Me - 13th Floor Elevators

1967:

January 4 – The Doors release their début album of the same name. Jefferson Airplane's influential album Surrealistic Pillow is released.
March 12 – The Velvet Underground release their debut album, The Velvet Underground and Nico.
March 25 – The Who perform their first concert in the United States, in New York. Pink Floyd stage the first ever rock concert with quadraphonic sound at Queen Elizabeth Hall, England The debut album of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Are You Experienced is released in the UK.
November 9 – First issue of Rolling Stone magazine is published

SWLABR - Cream

White Rabbit - Jefferson Airplane

There She Goes Again - The Velvet Underground

1968:

January 13 - Johnny Cash performs his famous concert at Folsom Prison in California.
February 18 - David Gilmour joins Pink Floyd, replacing founder Syd Barrett, who checked himself into a psychiatric hospital.
July 7 - The Yardbirds perform for the last time before disbanding.
September 7 - Led Zeppelin performs for the first time; at their first show, they are billed as The Yardbirds (the Yardbirds had disbanded two months earlier, and guitarist Jimmy Page subsequently formed this new group).
November 26 - Cream plays their farewell concert at the Royal Albert Hall. It will be the last time Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, and Ginger Baker play together until their 1993 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Who Needs The Peace Corps? - Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention

Care of Cell 44 - The Zombies

1969:

The Stooges' eponymous debut, The Stooges, was also released this year to little critical or popular acceptance. The album, however, went on to become one of the most important recordings in the early development of punk rock.
January 12 - Led Zeppelin's eponymous debut album released.
January 30 - The Beatles perform for the last time in public, on the roof of the Apple building at 3 Savile Row, London. The performance, which was filmed for the Let It Be movie, is stopped early by police after neighbors complain about the noise.
March 20 - John Lennon marries Yoko Ono in Gibraltar.
July 3 - Brian Jones is found dead in the swimming pool at his home in Sussex, England almost a month after leaving The Rolling Stones.
October - Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band release Trout Mask Replica.
David Bowie's musical career begins with the single "Space Oddity", the unofficial anthem for the moon landing in July of this year

Sally Simpson - The Who

That's all for today's installment,
check back Wednesday for a radically different styled post
in THFNS.
Until Wednesday