Conference Realignment Doomsday

Thanks for nothing, Larry Scott

Well... this sucks. A week after everyone on the West coast was watering at the mouth over the prospect of Texas joining the Pac-10, our hopes and dreams were squashed by the Big 12 arranging a sweetheart deal to the Longhorns to keep the conference together. It's pathetic how much of a stranglehold on the conference the other Big 12 schools were willing to give Texas. I would be embarrassed if I was a fan of any Big 12 school other than Texas, as they all were basically admitting that they were willing to do anything to be associated with Texas. They're like the guy at the party who screams "That's my best friend!" from across the room as Texas performs a killer keg stand.

So now we're left with the deplorable situation of inviting in Colorado and Utah into the conference. Yeah, those two athletic powerhouses. Colorado's athletics have done nothing in our lifetimes, and Utah is only known for their perennial complain-fest at the end of each football season lamenting the fact that they aren't in a bigger conference. Well, now they've finally made it, and we get to see them leach off the revenue shares of the more successful programs in the conference.

Northwest fans are also now faced with unbearable situation of being put in a different conference than the LA schools, which puts a significant dent in our marketability to recruits. If we are cut off from LA, expect more idiots like Terrence Jones to do the hat trick routine at press conferences and think that they need to go to other conferences with bigger markets. If Colorado ends up in the same division as USC then that's a travesty, because they bring a laughable program to the table and have none of the tradition of schools like U-Dub, U of O, or Cal.

Even worse- the Pac-10 basketball schedule, which used to be the ideal "round robin" (each team plays each other home and away), will no longer exist. I was willing to put up with this if programs like Texas and Oklahoma were added to the mix, but now we have to stomach the loss of a round robin schedule so that storied basketball programs like Colorado join the conference. This is literally a worst-case scenario. The only positive is that overall, the Pac-10 will probably get more money, but adding Colorado and Utah does nothing in terms of our ambitions to be looked at on the same level as the SEC in football (note: SEC basketball is a joke, still).

BDC

Neon Indian is the illness. I'm surprised he hasn't really become a household name yet, because his songs are straight bangers. His whole album is great, but this one is required listening:

Neon Indian- Mind, Drips

Top 25 Best Songs Ever- pt. 5

Sorry for the long delay. I had some shit to do over the past week, but now I plan on putting up posts on an almost daily basis again. A painful post on the M's is in the works, as well as a happy one about NCAA conference realignment. But now, without much further ado, here are the last set of the 25 best songs ever:

Elton John- Bennie and the Jets

I meant to put this in the first post of the countdown, but I somehow left it out. This song contains what I believe is the most breathtaking display of piano wizardry known to man. Elton John's long piano section features unbelievable rhythmic complexity and eventually reaches the best musical climax since Ravel's Bolero (at about 4:44 mark). Best enjoyed in social settings, and make sure to watch out for the roll up.

Fleet Foxes- White Winter Hymnal

Yet another certified jam from a Seattle band. What's awesome about this song is it's simplicity. It's just a bunch of great voices harmonizing on a clever melody that swirls excitedly upwards. That's basically it. But holy shit is it amazing.

Grizzly Bear- Two Weeks

Grizzly Bear owes alot of their newfound fame to this song, which made it all the way to superbowl ad stardom this year. And for good reason- "Two Weeks" showcases Grizzly Bear's great vocal harmony and unconventional instumentals. The haunting "oh" melody that sweeps through the song is what really propels this jam. Great music video, to boot.

Animal Collective- My Girls

Definitely Animal Collective's most "accessible" song, but I've never seen that as a bad thing. "My Girls" I think is the best song to come out within the past five years. I believe Animal Collective is the band that shows everyone the direction music is headed in. In 30 years, our kids will be so jealous that we were in college when this song came out. Also, the line "I don't mean to seem like I care about material things, like a social status/ I just want four walls and adobe slabs for my girls" is the by far the best hook on this list. Aside from being great musically, Panda Bear is actually referencing ADOBE SLABS in his argument for living the simple life. Simply stunning.

The Dirty Projectors- Stillness is the Move

While they may have better songs, "Stillness is the Move" is the kind of song that will stop you dead in your tracks the first time you hear it. The bizarre sounding guitar riff is backed up by an amazingly outside-of-the-box baseline that makes my head spin. As always, the female vocalists in the DPs infuse their backup harmonies with surgical precision. There aren't many Dirty Projectors songs you can dance to, but if this one doesn't get you moving I don't know what will.

Sasquatch 2010 Review

Last weekend I attended Sasquatch 2010, and out of the three I had been to, this one was by far the best. Here’s a rundown (with pictures) of the festivities.

After a late start on Saturday, I was able to make it in for The National, who performed a very good set. Their highlight was a great moment when lead singer Matt Berninger walked about 100 ft into the crowd in the middle of one of his solos. I was shocked that the cord stretched that far and didn't get tangled up on some drunk concertgoer.







Next up was Vampire Weekend, who didn’t sound too different from their albums, but were very precise and fun to watch.
Saturday was headlined by My Morning Jacket, who surprised me with a very hard-rocking set that borderlined on metal. Their drummer looks like he could be in a band like Drowning Pool, rather than one that is famous for songs like “Wordless Chorus”.


The day ended with a late night performance by Deadmau5, who provided his audience with a stunning light display and great beats. His set was also thoroughly enjoyed by the people camping in the next to us, and they discussed the merits of his performance at great length at 5 in the morning…










After moving our tent to a more peaceful corner of the campground, our group was rejuvenated and ready for the festival’s best day. We started off by seeing Local Natives, who lived up to the buzz surrounding their debut album by offering a very entertaining and enjoyable performance.

The biggest surprise of the weekend for me came next when The Tallest Man on Earth performed. I had never heard of him, but he had me hooked from the moment he started singing. His voice is incredible, and I would describe it as a more urgent-sounding Bob Dylan. His performance was captivating, and I found it hard to imagine that this one guy could offer a performance that was every bit as (if not more) compelling than the phantasmagoria of lights and sound created by Deadmau5 on the same stage just a few hours earlier. He also performed an unbelievable cover of Paul Simon’s “Graceland” (here’s the studio version).


Next up was Avi Buffalo on the tiny yeti stage. Avi Buffalo is a band comprised of 18 year olds, but they performed like they had been at it for years. Their leader is incredibly gifted at guitar, and it is amazing to see an 18 year old have enough confidence in his singing voice to sound that distinctive.









The next band was the XX, who were the major disappointment of the weekend. Their songs are just not made for daytime, outdoor performances at a music festival. They also inexplicably decided to slow down their already slow songs for this performance, and the result was pure boredom.

Luckily, the XX's poor performance gave us reason to cut out early and head down to the mainstage to get up close in anticipation of LCD Soundsystem. LCD lead singer James Murphy was captivating as he wandered around tweaking and tuning his band member’s instruments as they played them. Their set had the entire crowd of 60,000+ dancing in sync at one point, and they were definitely one of the best acts of the weekend. I was disappointed they didn’t play “Dance Yrself Clean”, but they made up for it with a stunning performance of “All My Friends”.



Finally, we capped off the day by seeing “The Dirty Projectors”. Now, this was the band I was probably most excited for coming into the weekend, so I may be biased, but I thought their performance was the best of the festival. Their vocal harmonies are so complex, at one point I was shocked that what I was witnessing was not aided by a computer. They performed a great set with all of their best songs mixed in with some good tracks from their back catalogue.




On Monday, we started our day off by seeing Passion Pit on the mainstage. Everyone I had talked to who had seen them before said they were terrible live, and I’d seen some atrocious videos to corroborate their testimonies, but I was pleasantly surprised by their performance. Their lead singer Michael Angelakos was not playing an instrument at any point, which is unlike any videos of concerts I had seen of them coming into the show. I think it allowed him to focus on hitting the high notes that he had been known to struggle on. He delivered a flawless vocal performance that had the entire crowd jumping.





Next up were Seattle-born Band of Horses, who were very good, but I was disappointed that their vocal harmonies don’t come through during their live performances as well as they do in their albums. They opened with a stirring rendition of “The First Song” that was definitely one of the highlights of the weekend.








After seeing BoH, we scurried up to the Romper Room tent to finish off our weekend with Neon Indian. They let loose a rocking performance that was a treat to watch, that is until the MGMT concert finished and the tent became flooded with latecomers who were shoving to get to the front. I was happy to see that Neon Indian has a full band with a drummer, guitarist, and keyboard player, and not just one dude sitting in front of a computer. Neon Indian gave a great performance that was a fitting end to an amazing weekend.