When the Olympic Games come to town, often the sounds of patriotic anthems, fanfare and athletic competition are overshadowed by the louder calls for peace, equality and social justice. History has shown that where the International Olympic Committee treads, exploitation, repression and controversy are not far behind. While mainstream media outlets in each host city might not have the freedom to cover these issues, an emerging independent media force consisting of citizen journalists utilizing new media technology is laying the groundwork for an alternative source of Olympic coverage featuring alternative narratives, greater transparency and a more inclusive ethos of community participation in the Games.
Each new era brings fresh offerings to the creative marketplace in the form of cultural goods, be it through the medium of music, film, art, the written word or cross-disciplinary genres. Likewise, technology is constantly evolving, not only changing the way we create art, but also the means by which cultural goods are promoted and disseminated. Two interesting phenomena that bisect in this arena are the emergence of the “mash-up,” and its fundamental ties to the Internet and file-sharing technologies. This has resulted in a truly global cultural movement marked by creative significance, legal controversy and innovation in the means by which music makes business.
So back in the 60’s my mom and various other flower-children/acid-freaks/deadheads came up with a
fashion aesthetic that is now considered pretty damn cool. Tie Dye and acid dying is back in a
big way, and not only the DIY’ers and American Apparel hipsters are jumping on board – you can
see examples of tie dye’s rebirth on the runway as well – designers such as Emma Cook, Jesse Hill and Karen Walker
have utilized this technique to jazz up everything from sundresses to jeans to vests.
This funky and easy dye style can bring your everyday apparel from boring to BOILING and revive
those yawn-worthy pieces of your wardrobe you might have forgotten.
It was to my dismay that upon recently discovering this quartet from Muncie, Indiana, I learned that they infact had already broken up!
Alas, the sweet sweet sounds of Arrah and the Ferns are no more, but rather than dwell on the negative, I prefer to look at the glass as half-full.
They released a gem of an album, which it is my pleasure to now share with you.
AATF span the pop spectrum from the Beatles to Burt Bacharach to the B-52’s with their campy combination of cheerfully up-beat keyboards, crisp electric guitars and 50’s style swing rhythms.
The perfect blend of ear-pleasing pop hooks and kitschy lounge lizard throwbacks are offset by grunge-tastic guitar solos and a distinct sound that ranges from organic folk to post-studio pop.
Evan is a Vegan mixes immaculate pop compositions with skillful low-fi production values to affect an authentic indie garage sound. Arrah’s pitch perfect vocal takes keep it from sounding amateurish or low quality and the discriminating instrument selection avoids a sound that is overdone or contrived.
Their catchy sing-along chorus hooks are paired with unpretentiously ironic and tongue-in-cheek lyrics, resulting in a guilt-free pop listening experience equally suited to chilling out solo or cutting a rug with some chums.
The lyrics of Arrah are a pleasant mix of bittersweet girlish confessions paired with mature insights into love, work, death and the nature of human relationships.
A commentary on the trials of everyday life, the album brings to mind moments spent wandering down sunlight-dappled paths through birch woods, complete with birds singing and cute furry animals.
Far from being saccharine sweet or annoyingly optimistic, Arrah drops the odd strangely macabre line of poetry that leaves the suggestion of a slight edge and self-awareness missing from most lyrical pop compositions.
“Bernadette“
“If I’m alive this time tomorrow, then I’ll have more time to kill. maybe we could rearrange the furniture?”
A stand-out track for me from the album is “Bernadette,” featuring a distinctly bluegrass good-time feel (care of Arrah’s “banjolin,” a hybrid combination of banjo & mandolin!) reminiscent of sunday front-porch jams, home-brewed moonshine and charmingly rural square dances.
Also of note is their (now-defunct) website, prominently featuring unicorns and rainbows… two supremely cool aesthetic motifs.
Unfortunate as their dis-banding is, I feel their defunct status strangely adds to their indie credibility, placing this group well within the undefinable and highly elusive “cache of exclusiveness.”
Posted in drama, journal on February 10, 2009 by bex0r
im dying to call out someone on their totally patronizing pretentious hypocritical wackness right now, but i cant. that would be hypocritical of me.because, try as i might-im no saint.I dont always treat people like I want to be treated. it’s easy to point the finger at someone else and tell them how to treat people. but turn that around and aim it back at yourself- you’re not so perfect either. so where do we get off trying to tell each other how to act, how to treat other people when we can’t even get that shit together for ourselves?
its like pointing two mirrors at each other, we get into that argument and we just keep battling our own projected fears and insecurities. I wish he could see how he’s only hurting himself by perpetuating this self-created fantasy world, but he’s too wrapped up in the bullshit to see what he’s doing is hurtful. It’s hurtful to me and to himself. I wish I could continue on but I can’t keep hoping he’ll turn back into the person he was when we met.
Sir Francis Bacon once wrote scientia potentia est: “knowledge is power.” Undoubtedly a large part of our common knowledge today is broadcast and downloaded by users of the internet and the World Wide Web. When equipped with our computers and ever-expanding artillery of wireless devices, we have access to an uninterrupted stream of data 24/7; however, this relatively unrestricted path to digital enlightenment may soon be a repressed trickle, if anything at all.
This weekend was my 25th birthday celebration so I ventured to Vancouver on saturday to chill out, shop, eat and hang with friends new and old!
First on the agenda was a little Gastown shopping mish. I checked out Dream, which was really disappointing as they usually are my fave spot, but didn’t really have anything that caught my fancy. So I moved across the street to The Block, where they were having an awesome sale. I picked up this cute little black Michael Kors asymmetrical neck dress with a layered tulip skirt for 50% off. Fits like a glove, can’t wait to rock this for a hot date or dancing. (Will post pics soon!)
Grabbed a yummy green salad with bocconcini and cafe-au-lait from Brioche and chilled on their sidewalk in the warm afternoon sun, lovely. ;D
So I’m officially 25 years old today. That’s a quarter of a century if you’re keeping score. I feel an odd sense of achievement, like- Look at me Ma! I made it all the way to twenty-five! Growing up I could never imagine myself being older than fifteen, because that seemed so far away and time moved so slowly that I couldnt even fathom living into my twenties… then as I grew up I still couldnt imagine living past 25. i was so morbid and depressed I was convinced I was gonna bite the bullet in the style of James Dean or something equally as cool/tragic/romantic. the natural poet and dramatist in me wishes for something horrible like that- dying some horrible death, but really, i think the motivation and agenda behind that is the plain fact that we all want to be remembered, every one of us. We want to leave a legacy, some kind of palpable image or feeling that will stick around after we’ve moved on from this earth. Being twenty-five and having taken stock of my life so far I like to think I’ve already achieved something that will last. My music will live on past my time, hopefully inspiring new generations of songwriters and young women. My writing and academic works will be preserved in my university’s archive for future students. The beauty and love I’ve brought into the world will continue when I’m gone and it’s nice to feel that I’ve accomplished a lot, even though I’ve only been around for a relatively short time.
it’s sunday so I washed my hair. I tend to do all my best thinking in the shower, because that of course, is the one place where i cannot record any of my thoughts. I’m working on a prototype water-proofing method for my flip mino (who I’ve named Lloyd,) so he can join me in there.
sock map to the soul
I’ve yet to see anyone do a shower vlog, although I’m sure it’s out there. That’s not something that I’m going to actively seek out. I’d just rather not know and claim it to be an original thought of my own. i prefer the blissful waft of ignorance like so much french fry grease past an open window…
I’m really into 12seconds lately, taking microblogging into video format. tres cool. and not as easy as it sounds. I wonder if 12 seconds might be the new indicator of modern attention spans? Can you condense your message into 140 characters or less? No? well I guess you’re screwed.
I havent written here for awhile because I was feeling a little down on the whole blogging thing. Sometimes the internet can be too small a universe for two people. it can get slightly claustrophobic. I’ve always had a problem with anxiety and claustrophobia. my fear of small confined spaces has led me into many a strange circumstance (like having perpetually miss-matched socks and once getting busted trying to pee into an empty Orange Crush can on a trans-Atlantic flight.) I never want to crawl into the back of my closet to find those one-of socks. I have to wonder- do they just kind of disappear into the abyss when no one is looking for them? or is it only a longed-for sock that is elusive? if a lone sock falls in the forest does it make a sound?
Each new era brings fresh offerings to the creative marketplace in the form of cultural goods, be it through the medium of music, film, art, the written word or cross-disciplinary genres. Likewise, technology is constantly evolving, not only changing the way we create art, but also the means by which cultural goods are promoted and disseminated. Two interesting phenomena that bisect in this arena are the emergence of the “mash-up,” and its fundamental ties to the Internet and file-sharing technologies. This has resulted in a truly global cultural movement marked by creative significance, legal controversy and innovation in the means by which music makes business.
