| [The Motion Sick] The Work of Director Michel Gondry
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[Jan. 10th, 2009|02:36 am] |
I just finished watching the DVD
Director's Series, Vol. 3 - The Work of Director Michel Gondry and it
had some pretty awesome stuff on it. I'm a really big fan of "camera
tricks" especially those associated with confusing the perspective,
direction of the film, angle of the shot, or things of that
nature.
A lot of the work on the DVD (particularly the music videos, though the
interviews and some short films are quite interesting as well) really
focuses on these types of ideas. Sometimes, these videos explore a single
idea for too long for my tastes and my short attention span gets me, but
so much of it is so good. Here are a bunch of his videos (from Youtube so
they look absolutely terrible). Do yourself a huge favor and see them on
the DVD in decent quality:
Kylie Minogue - Come Into My World
Massive Attack - Protection
Chemical Brothers - Let Forever Be
The White Stripes - The Hardest Button to Button
Daft Punk - Around The World
There are a lot more awesome things on the DVD...
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| [The Motion Sick] An Interview with Dance Dance Revolution Step
Artist Joseph...
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[Jan. 9th, 2009|04:23 pm] |
As you've all heard by now (see our
previous posts if you haven't), our song "30 Lives
(Up-Up-Down-Dance Mix)" is included in several versions of the video
game Dance Dance Revolution (made by
Konami): DDR X (Playstation 2), DDR
Universe 3 (XBox 360), and DDR X Arcade (Japan currently, US and EU
releases later this year).
For the uninitiated, DDR (which originated in 1998) is a dance video game
in which players stand on a special dance pad or platform and hit colored
arrows with their feet to match musical and visual cues. Players are
judged by how well they time their steps to the patterns whizzing by on
the screen.
We were lucky enough to get in touch with Joseph Eder, who is responsible
for the creation of the step patterns that go along with "30
Lives" in the game. We love the steps in the game and we thought it
would be interesting to learn a bit more about creating steps for DDR.
Joseph was gracious enough to answer some questions for us all:
What is your official title?
Again, my name is Joseph Eder. You can find it in the (rapidly
scrolling) credits of the game listed under "DDR Step Artists"
if I remember correctly. For Universe 3, my official title is DDR Step
Data Creator.
What is your elevator-speech description of your job?
"Yea, Hi, my name is Joe. You know DDR? Yea, I'm the guy that
places the arrows. Yep, that's right, I decide where you step."
Which is usually followed up by "Ooooooooh!....Oh My God I hate you!
Those steps in *insert song name here* were SO HARD!"
How did you end up working in this position? Is there specific
training for it?
I got this position through a combination of luck and coincidence.
There was a listing for the position on a popular Bemani website
(http://www.bemanistyle.com/)
[Editors Note: Bemani is the name of Konami's music-based video game
division], I sent in my resume, a cover letter, called, did the
things you're suppose to do when you apply for any position, came in for
an interview, interviewed well, and got the job. There was training when
I got here, but to be fair, the bulk of the skill needed to be a DDR Step
Artist comes from playing the game for a long time. I've played the game
since January of 2001. That fact, along with having started a DDR club
during college, helped me get the job, and helped as far as skills needed
to write steps.
Do you generally choose from a pool or are you assigned songs?
I will say that when the team got 30 lives, I specifically requested
the song.
What is the process by which you create the steps? Do you first listen
many times? Do you just look for patterns and structure in the song?
I've listened to the songs I've made steps for maybe a hundred times
each, at least. Some songs have patterns and structure built in, and some
you need to create structure from scratch. It all depends on the song
given really.
Have you ever created steps for songs with a non-4/4 time
signature?
I've not done anything that wasn't in common time. However, I was
responsible for the charts for
Parade (Witchery
Skank) and Man
with a Hex (Atomic Fireballs) which are both done in 4/4
"Swing" time. Triplets are fun to work with, and challenging
:)
Do you ever create steps that are too difficult for you to ace?
See Midnight Blaze (SysF Mix) - Heavy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hsYNb8rx2Q
and Akibarrific - Oni
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsdZoQJ6tkg
What makes a song a good/bad choice for DDR?
The simply answer to this is songs that are easy to dance to are
songs that work well for DDR.
Do you have any recommendations for people trying to create songs for
DDR?
Give it a good strong dance beat, beyond that, anything unique is
good |
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| [The Motion Sick] The Daily Show laments...
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[Jan. 9th, 2009|04:23 pm] |
...about the loss of Alan Colmes from the Hannity & Colmes show on
Fox News.
(Plus, it features music legends Daryl Hall and John Oates!)
The Daily Show With Jon
StewartM - Th 11p / 10c
Hall & Oates Pay Tribute to Alan Colmes
Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview
Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video
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| [The Motion Sick] The Motion Sick wishes you a happy new year,
performs some ...
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[Jan. 8th, 2009|02:33 pm] |
First, we want to let you know about an awesome show we've got coming up.
The show theme is "Influenza," but we promise that there is no
illness involved. Instead, we'll be performing an hour-long set comprised
of half original songs and half covers by artists that have influenced
our songwriting. As most of you know, we play relatively few covers (with
the exception of our
Halloween Poison set in 2007). This is therefore a rare opportunity
to see us do a set like this. In addition, these performances will
include each member of the band taking lead vocal duties.
01/29/09 Influenza: Artists playing the songs they deem most influential
alongside their own material
This night is presented by Aloud, Northeastern Performer and Powderfinger
Promotions.
Great Scott
1222 Commonwealth Ave
Allston, MA
w/ Thick as Thieves and Aloud
18+ / $10
We also want to throw out a big thank you for your tremendous support in
2008:
-We began the year with the release of our second album
The truth
will catch you, just wait... released on Naked Ear Records, produced
primarily by Barry Marshall and
Jordan Tishler.
-The album received outstanding
reviews and occupied the
CMJ College Radio charts for 8 weeks!
-Our music video for "30
Lives" (directed by Neil
Forman) aired on major television networks around the world
including MTV Latin America, Fuse, and MuchMusic
-We undertook our biggest tour yet,
traveling down to Austin, TX and back, video and text blogging the whole
way around!
-Soon after we returned from tour, we learned that we had won Konami's
contest seeking new music to include in their
Dance Dance Revolution Video Game Series. "30 Lives
(Up-Up-Down-Dance Mix)"
(Produced by Anthony Resta
with Rich Curtis and
Matthew Girard) is now out on the Playstation 2 (DDR X), XBox 360 (DDR
Universe 3), Arcades in Japan (DDR X), and will be released later this
year in Arcades in Europe and North America (DDR X)
-A few short weeks later, we turned 100! Many of you attended our
sold
out 100th show with Shawn Fogel of Golden Bloom, Static of the Gods,
and Pela
-We almost got to
open for Coldplay
-We played the (possibly insane) Ash Wednesdays residency at Church,
which saw us (and a lot of you) dressing up as Beachgoers (Splash
Wednesday), Tennis Stars (Arthur Ashe Wednesday), Superheroes (The Flash
Wednesday), and Mustachioed gents ('Stache Wednesday). We also recorded 4
novelty theme songs for this purpose.
See and hear it all
here.
-We were finalists in the
SPIN Magazine Hot Pursuit Contest to find the best unsigned band in
the U.S. to award a contract with Epic. Sadly, we forfeited because we
didn't feel comfortable with the Epic contract. Still, we got reviewed by
their awesome judges: BUTCH WALKER, PETER MOREN, AMANDA PALMER, and DOUG
BROD.
-We released our latest single, "Winged Bicycle" as part of a
compilation celebrating Consequence of Sound's first
anniversary.
-We had a couple of songs on the PBS TV show
"Roadtrip Nation"
-We were finalists in the Pick the Band contest and almost got to
open for Black Kids and Vampire Weekend
-We performed outside at
Patriot Place at Gillette Stadium
-We
told you to vote and to not vote
-We showed up on a bunch of
Best of 2008 lists
-We also got to perform this year opening for some of our favorite bands:
Dead Confederate, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Ha Ha Tonka,
Dear Leader, Margot and the Nuclear So and So's (Dec. 2007), and Le Loup
(Dec. 2007)
We thank you all once again for making 2008 an excellent year for The
Motion Sick. We enter 2009 with great excitement about another tour and
new songs. We look forward to seeing you all and hope your year is off to
a great start.
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| [The Motion Sick] iTunes to remove DRM and set variable pricing
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[Jan. 7th, 2009|02:01 pm] |
An article in the New York Times today notes that Apple is set to
drop DRM (digital rights management) on music purchased through the
iTunes music store from (initially, via the story) 3 of the 4 major
record labels, Sony, Universal and Warner (EMI has already been selling
DRM-free music). Apple will also remove the set price of $.99 for
singles, varying pricing anywhere from $.69 up to $1.29.
I see this as a positive step for a few reasons... One; the arcane DRM
used makes it quite difficult to move one's music around to different
machines, or to be used on non-Apple music players (that's you, Mr.
Zune). I for one have
several computers and I'm currently down to 1 remaining authorization to
play music I legally bought from the store. As a result; I actually have
stopped buying all music from the iTunes music store, and I imagine, that
there are people out there like me who have stopped buying music online
for the exact same reason. Yes, I'm aware of the fact that there are
other online options (Amazon, to name one) but honestly; I (like a lot of
people) use iTunes to manage my music library since frankly; its a pretty
damn good program. Plus, the store is organized very well and the search
feature is great. I'm also excited that Apple is offering to strip music
already purchased of its embedded DRM.
Secondly, I see a variable pricing structure to work in everyone's favor,
and hopefully; that might give smaller/independent artists the ability to
create worth from the music, but still have it inexpensive enough that
(maybe??) more fans and casual listeners would be interested in
purchasing it. (Seriously, $.69 for a song that you can bring everywhere?
You could buy half a record for less than the cost of a medium soy
latte!).
I'll be curious to see how/if this impacts the industry.
Comments?
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| [The Motion Sick] Third-Hand Smoke!!!
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[Jan. 5th, 2009|03:17 pm] |
Okay, it has nothing to do with The Motion Sick, but smoking just gets
worse and worse for everyone it seems...
I used to tell people that I had quit second hand smoking if they lit up
around me, now we all have to chase away people that smoke elsewhere, but
bring the residuals with them...third-hand smoke! It seems kind of
ridiculous, but then when you think about your hands being covered in
cyanide and then going and playing with kids, I guess it gets a little
more frightening.
A public service announcement from me to you...
The residue includes heavy metals, carcinogens and even radioactive
materials that young children can get on their hands and ingest,
especially if they=E2=80=99re crawling or playing on the floor.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/03/health/research/03smoke.html?_r=3D1&em=
I am looking forward to fourth- and fifth-hand smoking. That's when
someone who smoked recently shook hands with someone who hands you a file
folder.
We have laws prohibiting smoking at bars (or really anywhere) in
Massachusetts, but sometimes, when we're on tour, I am reminded of the
experience of performing in a smoke-filled room, and I will say with
great enthusiasm...it is terrible.
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| [The Motion Sick] "30 Lives" in HD on Dance Dance Revolution
Universe 3
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[Jan. 4th, 2009|10:01 pm] |
I finally got a chance to play DDR Universe 3 on the XBox 360 this past
weekend. I have had a copy of the game since its release, but no XBox
360. Anyway, the game is quite impressive in terms of options and
graphics. Our video is included with the song and it plays in HD. It's
actually the highest quality version of our video I've ever viewed. I
will say, it's kind of terrifying to see yourself in HD. Right after
playing, we flipped the TV on and saw Amy Winehouse in HD and then I felt
better about how I looked. Regardless, seeing the "30 Lives"
video in such high quality was a real treat.
Anyway, if you have an XBox 360, the game is definitely pretty awesome
and has a pretty extensive song list including The Jackson 5, Devo, and
Jamiroquai.
Incidentally, the sales of the XBox and PS2 games with our song on it are
very close to reaching 500,000! That's pretty amazing to us. We just
officially found out that we are included in the DDR X Arcade game as
well. It came out in Japan a few weeks ago and is scheduled for release
in Europe and the US sometime this year. Hopefully, we'll be able to get
some video of arcade and 360 play soon.
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| [The Motion Sick] Biggest Earning Tours of 2008
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[Jan. 4th, 2009|03:44 pm] |
I came across this list of the top earning tours of 2008. I noticed
something interesting. All of these artists either have been around for
ever and ever or (usually and) they have target audiences comprised of
older folks (the only ones who can afford expensive concerts?). One might
be inclined to assume that this makes sense as these are the people with
the types of longstanding careers that are necessary to amass this
quantity of fans. I wish I had lists of the top-grossing tours of days
past, but I can say that my experience conflicts with this. When I was in
high school, it was very common for me to go to places like Nassau
Colliseum or Madison Square Garden to see a wider range of bands. I
suspect there are now fewer concerts at venues in this category.
What happens when all of these people are gone? Will anyone step up to
fill stadiums? Very few newer bands can fill 10,000+ venues. I can't
think of any bands newer than about 10 years who can do that (maybe The
Killers?). I wonder what this will mean for larger music venues. I
personally hate going to festival-style shows. My attention span is too
short and it amounts to me seeing bands I like in an environment I
dislike. So, I typically stick to the smaller venues anyway. I will also
admit that any show I went to in high school, even the most expensive
Pink Floyd show was under $50 (Floyd was $40. Lollapalooza 2 was under
$25. I saw Nirvana for $15, Nine Inch Nails for $15, The Ramones were
$12, etc.). These shows all hovered around the years of 1990-1994.
According to an inflation calculator I just found (that I have no way of
knowing whether it is trustworthy -
http://www.westegg.com/inflation/infl.cgi ), $50 in 1992 would cost
$73.03 in 2007. I point this out because concert tickets have increased
in price at a far greater rate than inflation. Perhaps this has something
to do with it?
http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b75128_madonna_rules_road_in_08.html
1. Madonna ($105 million)
2. Celine Dion ($94 million)
3. The Eagles ($73.4 million)
4. Kenny Chesney ($72.2 million)
5. Bon Jovi ($70.4 million)
6. Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band ($69.3 million)
7. Neil Diamond ($59.8 million)
8. Rascal Flatts ($55.8 million)
9. The Police ($48 million)
10. Tina Turner ($47.7 million)
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| [The Motion Sick] Pop Culture Will Eat Itself Best of 2008 Awards
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[Jan. 3rd, 2009|04:54 am] |
A big thanks to PCWEI! We're not quite in the top 10, but we're in the
honorable mentions, which is quite an impressive list. Awesome!
Honorable Mention - AC/DC, Ben Folds, Born Ruffians, Dr. Dog, Plants
and Animals, The Motion Sick, The Felice Brothers, I=E2=80=99m From Barcelon=
a,
Kings of Leon, Miniature Tigers, The Rosebuds, The Tom Fun Orchestra, and
Bon Iver (For Emma Forever Ago is on a lot of people=E2=80=99s lists this ye=
ar,
but it was on our 2007 list).
http://popculturewilleatitself.com/2008/the-pcwei-best-of-2008-awards/
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| [The Motion Sick] Love Will Tear Us Apart (Part 2) - Tuvan
Throat Singing
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[Dec. 26th, 2008|02:35 am] |
I've gone and listened to a bunch of the LWTUA covers (primarily on
Youtube) and realized Squarepusher was not the cover I liked. So, I
actually can't remember what band did the one I did like. Either way,
this version, which I had heard before, but had forgotten, also deserves
recognition. It is a Tuvan-throat-singing version and it's pretty
awesome. I think I will be ready to retire happy when there is a
Tuvan-throat-singing cover of a song by The Motion Sick...
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| [The Motion Sick] Love Will Tear Us Apart
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[Dec. 25th, 2008|05:48 pm] |
The blog
"
Don't Judge Song by the Cover (sic)" has included our version of
"Love Will Tear Us Apart" in its collection of said song.
Normally, we'd file lawsuits and have our lawyers call theirs and yell at
them in a threatening voice and send a paratrooper squad in to shut down
their servers and sue kids who download from them and sue kids who upload
to them and complain that our revenue stream has been destroyed by
piracy, but since it's the holiday season, we'll let it go.
We've actually also admitted in the past (see
http://strangeglue.com/interviews/showcase-the-motion-sick-interview-and-music-/1761
) that we're pretty unhappy with our recording of the song, so please
don't hold it against us. I personally am a fan of the original by Joy
Division (of course) and the Squarepusher version...and maybe that is it
(at least that I am aware of). We chose to record the song because it
went over well live, but the recording didn't really capture what we
hoped it would. I blame myself on that one. Oh well.
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| [The Motion Sick] Merry Christmas!!!
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[Dec. 25th, 2008|12:09 pm] |
I'll be celebrating Christmas in my usual non-Christian tradition, eating
Indian food and watching movies. In the old days of high school, I was
involved in the tradition of having a Christmas Bah Humbug party, where
we all got together and rented as many movies as we could sit through in
a single day.
Just so you all know my Christmas spirit is great, I provide you with
this moving video:
If you liked that, go hunt down The Star Wars Holiday Special, it's
almost as good.
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| [The Motion Sick] Joe Consolmagno, POW and Theater Enthusiast
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[Dec. 24th, 2008|09:06 pm] |
This is a pretty crazy article about this guy who was shot down during
WWII and his experience putting on theater productions in a POW
camp.
"Four miles above the earth, Joe dived out head first. The jolt
of his parachute ripped off one of his boots. As he slowly descended, a
German fighter plane wandered by. =E2=80=9CI braced to feel the shock of
gunfire,=E2=80=9D Joe later wrote in an article. =E2=80=9CBut the enemy didn=
=E2=80=99t
fire. He circled me so closely that I could see his oxygen-masked face,
and he waved. I waved back. It didn=E2=80=99t seem appropriate to be
impolite.=E2=80=9D"
http://www.tufts.edu/alumni/magazine/winter2009/features/audience.html
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