Decade Under the Influence.

What better way to leave the Noughties than with a song by a band that's one of the biggest representatives in a genre I used to like a lot, then grew tired of; used to be full of emotion and excitement, and then turned big and ... shit. Just like the Noughties. To hell with you and all your friends, 2009.

Iconic Noughties.

Phillip Niemayer did a graphic review of the past decade for the New York Times.
Very cool.
(Via Pascal and The Junction.)

Or We Could Move On.

One of the most beautiful songs I discovered in the past, say, half year is Or We Could Move On by Happiness. I discovered it as a download on Karo's blog. And now, Karo herself did a wonderful version of it. Do check it out.

Your Idols are Dead.

A recent survey conducted by the British-American Tobacco funded Stiftung für Zukunftsfragen asked 14 - 29 year olds, who they would name as a role model/idol (Vorbild):

Mother Teresa (24%), Martin Luther King (20%), Mahatma Gandhi (15%), Anne Frank (14%), Hans and Sophie Scholl (11%) and Graf von Stauffenberg (7%).

Yes, they're all dead.
Doesn't really surprise me, though. I, too, would have a hard time to come up with a lively answer for that question, especially among "public figures". If pressed, I at the moment would feel least uncomfortable with Michele Obama (seriously).

What does surprise me, though, is that no athlete or popstar pops up in this top 6 list. Maybe (hopefully) my/the next generation did* finally understand that stars aren't role models**. Yet most people probably might still have "famous" people in mind when talking about role models/idols. Unfortunately, I'd say, since in my opinion, family members and everyday heroes are the best role models - maybe the only role models one should have, if one doesn't want to reject the concept "role model" entirely.

I found this survey in a post on Mädchenmannschaft, which describes hard time the participants in a recent discussion had to find a female role model. One interesting example that cought my eye was that somebody mentioned Lena Odental - but the participant wouldn't specify whether he meant the Tatort character or the actress portraying her, Ulrike Folkerts.
Maybe today's idols are dead - or fictional.

*Or the survey is just flawed. The list is way too conventional - and neat.
** Rockstars are either "just like us... or dicks"

Young Rebel Set.

Young Rebel Set, the new band on the wonderful Grand Hotel van Cleef label, fit right into the musical scope of this blog. Folk. Indie. Alleged Springsteen & Dylan references. Beards. Hailing from Stockton-on-Tees, they're also something for people who listen to Artic Monkeys, Maximo Park etc. 'because of the accent'. Here's the video for a charming litte ditty called "If I Was":

And! - they're coming to Freiburg on 29.01.10
Young Rebel Set might just blow up or fade away - haven't quite made up my mind. But for now, you can believe the hype.

Drain the Blood.

The Rural Alberta Advantage, probably my best discovery this year, released a video to Drain the Blood today. Apparently it's their first official video. Nice!

Evolution of Storage

An amazing graphic documenting the evolution of storage devices:



Evolution of Storage by Curtiss Spontelli

via.

“I’ve always wondered something. Why is it called a ‘revolver’?”

I can't even begin to express the condescending creepiness of this 80s video teaching women - mothers - how to use - and accessorize - guns. For fun and protection, ye know?

Isn't the internet amazing, how it keeps bringing (hilarious?)crap like this up? In this case, everythingisterrible.com dug it up. And you're never going to unknow this. Sorry.

Edward stalks Buffy.

An mash-up of Twighlight and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, adding a interesting perspective to the Edward craze:

“In this re-imagined narrative, Edward Cullen from the Twilight Series meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It’s an example of transformative storytelling serving as a pro-feminist visual critique of Edward’s character and generally creepy behavior. Seen through Buffy’s eyes, some of the more sexist gender roles and patriarchal Hollywood themes embedded in the Twilight saga are exposed - in hilarious ways. Ultimately this remix is about more than a decisive showdown between the slayer and the sparkly vampire. It also doubles as a metaphor for the ongoing battle between two opposing visions of gender roles in the 21ist century.”

(Via.)

Top Ten iSongs.

Today is the first day of the last month of the first decade of the new century. So, of course, everyone is doing Top XY of the Noughties lists.
I want(ed) to do that as well. Of course. But since I'm 'working' on it for a month now and still haven't made up my mind how to sort, include, publish the list, or if I want to do it at all, I'll start with a Top 10 of songs that have been scrobbled onto my last.fm profile. I changed the list a bit to include only 1 song/artist. The list is by no means representative, as I only started last.fm in 2006, only started to include songs listend to on my iPod last week and still listen to a lot of music not on my computer. But anyhow, here it is:

1 Bon Iver – Flume
2 Portugal. The Man – AKA M80 the Wolf
3 The Rural Alberta Advantage - In the Summertime
4 Port O'Brien - I Woke Up Today
5 Karo - Schweinfurt
6 Muff Potter - Das Frozen Man Syndrom
7 Why? - The Hollows
8 Jimmy Eat World - Table for Glasses
9 The Joy Formidable - The Greatest Light is the Greatest Shade
10 Popup - Lucy, What You Trying to Say?