Allan Hsu's blog on imeem

And the world, it really is on fire.

Allan Hsu — Sat, 15 Jul 2006 01:10:36 -0000

I can't stop listening to the new Tilly and the Wall album, Bottoms of Barrels. My last.fm profile agrees. Go get it; it's awesome. Other than that, I've been having a personal British Invasion:

Sol Seppy - The Bells of 1 2: Discovered via SYR. Sol Seppy is Sophie Michalitsianos. She plays most of the instruments, sings, and wrote/produced most of this album at her home studio. Reminds me of Devin Davis in that aspect, though the music isn't similar at all. Samples available.

The Pipettes - Various Singles: I think John Allison (of Scary Go Round fame) linked this band a while back. I've been collecting their 7" and CD singles ever since. They have an album coming out on July 17th. A modern take on the 60's Phil Spector girl group sound. Very British (their names are Gwenno (Gwenno!), Rose, and Becki). Very infectious.

Gang of Four - Entertainment!: I mentioned this a while back. I thought it was good when I first heard it, and it only seems to get better.

The Jesus and Mary Chain - 21 Singles: This has always been a band that I've had an interest in, but never looked into. This singles collection seemed like a good place to start (just like the Teenage Fanclub compilation) I didn't realize that they were as controversial as they were. Great noisy music.

Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out of This Country: This band is actually Scottish, not English. I didn't like this that much when I first heard it, but eventually I got over the weird production. I've got tickets to their show in SF on the 20th.

A Tour of RTI Vinyl

Allan Hsu — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 20:02:51 -0000

SonicFlare just finished up a five-part story on their tour of RTI Vinyl, one of the few remaining record pressing facilities in the world. It's really interesting to see how vinyl is pressed. Here are the five parts: 1 2 3 4 5.

A sad day for rock and roll.

Allan Hsu — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 20:22:46 -0000

Sleater-Kinney just announced plans to go on "indefinite hiatus." I'm pretty bummed out; they're the only band that I'm unapologetically fanboyish about. I had been pretty excited to see what they were going to do after The Woods.

Thanks for the rock and roll. sk1bt.

The store will be closing. YFLMD.

Allan Hsu — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 01:27:14 -0000

Last time I was at Home Depot, I was there around closing time. The woman who made the "Home Depot will be closing.... please check out soon" announcement over the PA sounded exactly like Annie Hardy from Giant Drag.

Er, what?

Allan Hsu — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 23:31:37 -0000

Ever wondered what it would be like if you got models to line dance to Camera Obscura's "Happy New Year" in front of giant candy bar wrappers? Well, wonder no more.

Look how happy they are!

Allan Hsu — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 17:40:26 -0000

I'm avoiding the unpacking of boxes involved with moving-in tonight, so I've decided to listen to everything I bought at Tower after work today and record my initial impressions, as I listen:

Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out of This Country

Hmm. I don't know. Doesn't seem as good as previous albums. I'm definitely not a fan of the production. Sounds like it was recorded in an echo chamber.

Jamie Lidell - Multiply Additions

As much as I like Multiply, I might like this remix/live album more. Some of these remixes are very good, but the live tracks are really great. For some reason, the instrumental mix of Multiply reminds me of the Astro Chicken mini-game from Space Quest III. Could do without the Four Tet mix. Could probably do without Four Tet.

The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers

I'm a sucker for the modern retro-blues rock guitar sound, so I was curious when I saw that Jack White was in this band. It seems the band is holding him in check, to good effect. I'm curious to hear what Brendan Benson's solo work sounds like. Wikipedia tells me that he's worked with Jason Falkner. Curious. I really like track 6 ("Level"). The whole album seems to be wrapped in a dull, warm haze. Jack should back off the compressor.

Minutemen - Double Nickels on the Dime

This is part of my ongoing attempt to educate myself in modern rock canon (previously visited: Marquee Moon... next stop: Daydream Nation!). This album was originally a 2xLP. It consists of 43 90-second songs. I'm really sure how to describe the sound. Jazzy art-punk? It's (a lot) more listenable than it sounds. At moments, D. Boon's singing reminds me a little of Craig Finn from The Hold Steady. Starts to get a little too long around track 33.

Gang of Four - Entertainment!

This is good. This sounds like the pure source from which Radio 4, Futureheads, and Bloc Party all seem to borrow. Lively, angular, political. I really enjoy Hugo Burnham's drumming. I can see how Janet Weiss lists these guys as an influence.

Indie Rock Shopping

Allan Hsu — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 04:52:58 -0000

I went to the mall (ugh) to buy a suit (ugh again) today. Express Men was playing Yeah Yeah Yeahs ("Phenomena" from Show Your Bones) mixed among assorted soul-crushing pop music. Not really surprising, considering the Express demographic.

Everything at Express fit terribly (remember the kid at the end of Big?), so I ended up getting my suit from Nordstrom. Unexpectedly, Nordstrom was rockin' it old-school with some older GBV ("Twilight Campfighter" from Isolation Drills) and Fruit Bats ("When U Love Somebody" from Mouthfuls).

Leave it to Nordstrom to show some real cred by playing choice tracks from older albums. Oh, wait. This is Nordstrom we're talking about. What the hell is going on?

P.S. Suits are damn expensive.

the old hottness.

Allan Hsu — Tue, 23 May 2006 19:28:45 -0000

Vinyl is making a comeback in the UK.

I like how the article slips in the mention that Pete Doherty is "rock music's latest human disaster area." You mean squirting your own blood at cameramen isn't cool?

The Needle Has Landed

Allan Hsu — Tue, 09 May 2006 02:08:13 -0000

Some things I've been listening to recently, but only the good things (otherwise this entry would take me all week), in no particular order:

The Fiery Furnaces - Bitter Tea

I like this. It's more accessible than Blueberry Boat, but rocks less than than EP. I wasn't sure what to expect after Rehearsing My Choir, which I can't listen to at all, but I think this album strikes a good balance between experimental pop and, you know, listenability.

The Gossip - Standing in the Way of Control

Before I was disappointed by the phrase "dance-punk," I thought it was going to sound like this. I think they refer to themselves as "punk-soul-clash." Whatever it is, it sounds good. I like the Le Tigre remix of the title cut.

Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

Probably the best Neko Case album to date. I think this is the first Neko album with 100% original material, and what great material it is. The lyrics are often cryptic and the song structures are a little unconventional, but it only seems to make the album a more compelling and satisfying listen. I particularly like how she sings the last line of the title track and the chorus of John Saw that Number.

Bishop Allen - January, February, March EPs

This band's last album was really good. They have a sort of stripped-down retro/rock/pop vibe going on. Sometimes I hear a Kinks influence. They've been releasing EPs one-per-month this year and they're working on a second full-length. There are some great songs on the EPs, but I think I may like the album more. They have samples on their website. As a side note, Bishop Allen's lead singer is Christian Rudder, the guy from thespark.com's science articles. You might remember him as the guy who sealed his feet in plastic bags or set his sister up on dates in the name of science. Unfortunately, the links to the web pages for those projects are no longer available on thespark.com's website.

Goldfrapp - Supernature

I guess this album completes Goldfrapp's switchover from the noirish Portishead channeling seen in Felt Mountain to glam-rock Gary Glitter channeling. Fun to listen to, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of content.

Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit

I like the sound Belle and Sebastian have had since Dear Catastrophe Waitress, though I miss the old Tigermilk/If You're Feeling Sinister days when the band seemed operate under more of a Stuart Murdoch totalitarian regime. To like the new material is to like a totally different band, but a good band nonetheless. My favorite tracks are probably Dressed Up In You and Sukie in the Graveyard.

The Apples In Stereo - The Discovery of a World Inside the Moone

I don't understand why it's so hard to find albums by this band in record shops. This album is full of great pop songs with warm, fuzzy guitar distortion, handclaps, and the occasional horn section. Who doesn't like that? The opening track, Go, must be the best example of the you're-hott-and-this-place-sucks-so-let's-you-and-me-get-out-of-here song genre that I've ever heard. The Apples' guitarist, John Hill, also plays in Dressy Bessy.

Beth Orton - The Comfort of Strangers

A Beth Orton album produced by Jim O'Rourke, the producer of Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost Is Born. What else could you want? After I saw Beth play San Francisco just before the release of her last album, Daybreaker, I was excited to get a hold of the new songs I had heard. When the album actually came out, however, it seemed like the magic had been over-produced right out of the album. I'm glad that O'Rourke's production works out so much better on The Comfort of Strangers. My favorite part of this album may be the fervent snare drum hits in Heart of Soul.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - s/t EP, Fever to Tell, Show Your Bones

During the whole Yeah Yeah Yeahs hype a few years ago, this band didn't really show up on my radar because nobody I actually knew was talking about them. Eventually, a week ago, Jay convinced me to give them a try. Within 4 measures of the opening to Bang, I found Jay online and berated him for not telling me about this band earlier. Yes. I like this band.

Jacqueline Du Pré, Pierre Fournier - Elgar and Dvořàk cello concertos

I was never much of a fan of classical music; I think part of my disinterest has to do with my experiences with piano and viola lessons when I was younger (children of Asian parents: you may know what I'm talking about). Recently I've come to realize that I actually really liked the sound of the cello in my days as a violist, so I asked around (and by "asked around," I mean "asked Sharon") for any recommendations. She pointed me in the direction of Jacqueline Du Pré, which was probably exactly the right place for me to start; I really like lyrical, expressive cellists like Du Pré and Pierre Fournier.

Universal Truths and Cycles

Allan Hsu — Tue, 02 May 2006 03:01:25 -0000

Today's imeem OS X client release marks our first universal binary release, as well as our first Mac release to include external IM service support.

I think we may be the first people to ship a universal Mono, thanks to Bryan's work. I find it amazing that we were able to fit all the imeem client dependencies, including a universal build of Mono and most of the GAC, into a 10MB disk image.

Of course, with the new universal binary and inclusion of external IM support, the OS X client has more moving parts than ever. If you run into anything weird, please let us know.

Élan Vital

Allan Hsu — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 19:06:50 -0000

An idea created by French philosopher Henri Bergson, élan vital is usually translated as "vital force". It is a hypothetical force thought to cause the evolution and development of organisms. The British biologist Julian Huxley remarked that Bergson’s élan vital is no better an explanation of life than is explaining the operation of a railway engine by élan locomotif.

The French philosopher Gilles Deleuze attempted to recoup the novetly of Bergson's idea in his book Bergsonism, though the term itself underwent substantial changes by Deleuze. No longer considered a mystical, elusive force acting on brute matter, as it was in the vitalist debates of the late 19th Century, elan vital in Deleuze's hands denotes a substance in which the distinction between organic and inorganic matter is indiscernible, and the emergence of life undecidable. (Taken from Wikipedia).

Élan Vital is the name of the new Pretty Girls Make Graves album.

The Hazards of Living With Others

Allan Hsu — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 19:21:55 -0000

So... I may make an appearance on television today, wearing nothing but a towel.

There was an NBC11 camera crew at my house this morning, interviewing James about Northern Attack. I may or may not have walked into a shot on the way from the shower back to my room. Fun times.

Down the rabbit hole...

Allan Hsu — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 00:14:21 -0000

I'd just like to point out that I like to read everything Heather Havrilesky.

Links: rabbit blog, filler, Video Dog, I Like To Watch.

Disarming bombs and giving thanks?

Allan Hsu — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 20:14:13 -0000

Last night I had a dream that I can only describe as the Terminator Thanksgiving Special. That's right. Imagine what the Thanksgiving episode of a Terminator television series would be like. That was my dream.

PDC 2005

Allan Hsu — Tue, 27 Sep 2005 16:03:08 -0000

I know I'm late to this particular party, but here are some things that happened at PDC:

Sessions
We attended a few interesting sessions (mostly regarding the .NET CLR), but a lot of the coverage was on technology that isn't going to come out until Windows Vista is released (or even later). This was a little frustrating; it felt like somebody was constantly waving technology in our faces and saying "Look how much better this is than the crap you have to deal with!" and then quickly pulling it away, saying, "ha ha, suckers!" It's nice to see that Microsoft is working to improve the APIs that we have to deal with, but I wish there were more sessions on things that we could use, you know, now. I got a little tired of hearing things like "Don't use this code here; we'll have an API for you to do things when we ship." One of the coolest things about WWDC (the Apple equivalent of PDC) was that all of the technologies covered in the sessions were actually available for use in shipping applications. I wish there had been more of that at PDC. I just couldn't get too excited over things that we couldn't, say, ship in next week's imeem revision. That being said, Atlas and LINQ looked pretty promising, though I could see people abusing the new C# language features that come with LINQ in terrible ways.

Speaking to Developers
Probably the most satisfying time we spent was talking to the Microsoft developers that worked on Windows Forms and IE7. If IE7 includes support for CSS3 border-radius or multiple background support, it may be partially due to Dustin's prodding.

Mono
We showed Jackson and Miguel from Novell/Ximian/Mono the OS X client running on our Powerbooks using Mono. They seemed to like how we were using Mono and we talked a bit about Dumbarton. Hopefully this will lead to imeem being a little more involved with Mono development. I think we may try to contribute Dumbarton to Mono sooner than I had previously thought.