Grammys, Writing, and Comparisons

Seems like forever since I posted anything, but there's not much going on. It is the Grammys tonight though, and I am slightly interested in that. Only slightly because I'm not at all impressed by celebrity and I don't think the people/groups that win awards in general (music or otherwise) necessarily deserve them--sometimes it seems clear that popularity or politics are more involved than any real talent or quality--but I find it interesting none-the-less and am always happy when my bands and musicians win!

This year I'm rooting (in general-whatever they're up for) for Foo Fighters, Foster the People, the Black Keys, and Radiohead. If I can find a decent livestream to watch I may, otherwise I guess I'll find out tomorrow (feel free to fill me in!)

The writing is going well, but I don't plan on giving a play-by-play on what I'm doing, tempting though it is. I will probably let you know of major 'checkpoints,' etc. For now, suffice it to say that I'm writing every day and Dave has started bugging me again. A lot. That's always a good sign.

Apart from that, there's nothing much to add; nothing new. I'm not the kind of person who likes to describe the minutiae of their day, and I'm not famous enough for anyone to be interested anyway. That leaves ranting (of which there's been plenty lately, especially the $@#%* drivers I manoeuver around everyday!) and though many of the blogs I follow have very entertaining rants which I enjoy reading--in moderation--I promised myself I would NOT use my blog for that or subject my readers to it. But I do make observations at times and here is one of them.

Lately I've been hearing very familiar sounds coming from my radio. Two songs in particular (and I just heard a third recently) have elements that I first heard in music by Hirasawa Susumu years ago. And he may not be the first to use these elements, but it's the first time that I was aware of it. You may not be familiar with him, but if you are into anime at all, you've probably heard his work. So I thought it would be interesting to do a little comparison.

The first of his works is from an anime called Paranoia Agent, a rather disturbing, mind-messing show with adult themes (2004).



I'm refering to the little voice at the beginning and end. A small thing, perhaps, but distinctive. Then there's Don't Stop (Color on the Walls) from Foster the People (Don't look to me to explain the video; I don't even...):



And I recently heard this from Coldplay:



The second element is the electronic voice (Vocaloid) employed in some of Hirasawa's music for the full-length Paprika (again, very weird, disturbing, and adult in themes--just so you know)



I'm hearing very similar sounds here in Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites from Skrillex:



My point? I don't have one...it's just a comparison and old habits die hard :P

Reviews for The Glister Journals: Bronze


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