Victim Number One

Wow, week one in the blog world and I am already setting 'em up and putting them down. I’ve given the Blogmaster his comeuppance. Who is Blogmaster? Well I’ve already dropped his name in the first post ever, so it should be easy to figure out. He has about 200,000 readers, he was in People magazine, he generally is a d-list blog celebrity in this here village we call Manhattan.
This puts me in a tricky spot. While Chimpy enjoys mocking people, it becomes a different story altogether when the mocked find out about it. There, now you know what I’m talking about. While Blogmaster protects the innocent by changing everybody’s name…he doesn’t change mine?!?! Strange. Of course in sharing his, ummm "reputation" with others I've given him fodder that will probably be one of the funnier posts he writes this year. Blogs warp the rules of life I guess; normally a guy would want to punch me out for sharing stories of his bedroom (in)abilities. In this case, I think he owes me a beer. Odd.

I think this little episode bodes well for the old blog. Bring the Noise!

So the main theme on Wednesdays at chimponadavenport shall be music. I will dissect whether an emerging band has what it takes to break it big. You know - get into Spin, have teenage kids start listing them as an interest on Myspace, that type of "breaking it big". Here's how we'll work it. I'll give you a link to a great song by a band you may/may not have heard from yet. Go get the song if you know how to do that, and download it. Play it. Listen intently. Then I want you to critique the tune on a 6 point scale for lyrics, melody, composition, originality, and overall point of view. One for hate, six for love. Half points are allowed in the overall category. And then I want you to free associate 5-10 words of what the song makes you think of, just off the top of your head. Then come read the rest of this.

JUST KIDDING! While the above exercise is something my friend the The Chauffeur likes to do while killing work hours, I just want you to listen to something cool and different. This week, the Monkey Cage (my cube at work) is still stuck on one of last year's indie darlings. Asobi Seksu. Go check out their song Thursday. It's a beauty. I can't get over how the song is composed with constant tension between the pleading voice of the singer and the ever building tempo of the guitar/bass line. Just when you expect a release into pop bliss at the end of the chorus, they break into silent pause. Tension reestablished. It's fairly simple, accessible pop-rock with a touch of that "wall of noise" towards the end that makes me think they doth know exactly what they're doing. And it never hurts to listen to a half-japanese chick sing all high pitched and sexy.

I'm not sure if Asobi Seksu has what it takes to break out of the blogosphere and slay the mainstream. It doesn't have much appeal to most dudes - I know what that says about me, we all know Chimpy is 49% gay, OKKKKKK? - and I think it's only going to appeal to people old enough to remember Belinda Carlisle and other rockin' 80's chickpop. I really hope they don't go the route other NYC bands have gone...get Rick Ocasek to produce your next album and try to dull yourself onto the radio waves. No offense Mr. Ocasek, but you were truly on your game when Mutt Lange was producing you. But that's for another day and another post...