Ben Stark - 'Creature'

About halfway into Ben Stark's latest album, Creature, the song "CAH" provides a strong litmus test for the listener. Over top of skittering, programmed drums and very processed, crunching guitar chords, Stark sings lyrics that seem, to the unitiated, to be a series of random phrases designed to cause at least mild offense (e.g "Cumming on your enemies", "Locking doors with your erection"). But in actuality, they are from the card game Cards Against Humanity–hence the acronymous title–and rather than random, offensive phrases, they are ... uh, random offensive phrases from a card game.* Ok so maybe the song doesn't make a whole lot of lyrical sense in any context. That said, the song and album as a whole seem likely to appeal to listeners whose sensibilities are aligned with enthusiasts of the game.

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2014 Music: Year In Review

In my estimation, it hasn't been a great year for new music. Rather than give a numbered list of my favorite songs or albums, I'm going to break it down to a few categories.

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Songs of the Year 2013

Because nobody asked for it, here is my list of the top 20 songs of 2013. I didn't hear enough new albums this year to make a best of list for albums, but there were enough good songs for this list. Onward!

First off, honorable mentions: Free Salamander Exhibit - "Oxen of the Sun" (R.I.P. Sleepytime Gorilla Music, I will always miss you); Pusha T ft. Kendrick Lamar - "Nosetalgia" (just missed my list); and The Flaming Lips, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, E-40, and Beyoncé (favorites of mine who put out albums this year that I haven't really listened to much yet).

20. Arcade Fire - "Here Comes The Night Time"

Mostly I just love this Seinfeld themed video by @Seinfeld2000 (my favorite overall anything of 2013). But it is worth noting that this is the first Arcade Fire album that I've ever liked. Interestingly enough, most Arcade Fire fans I know kind of don't like it. It reminds a little of Remain In Light. I still find the Arcade Fire to be irredeemably pretentious, but at least I don't hate all of their music now.

ARCADE FIRE - HERE COMES THE NIGHT TIME from Seinfeld2000 on Vimeo.

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Does Facebook Make Us More Narcissistic?

Of course it does. Don't ask stupid questions.

Is Phish a Great Band?

No.

Study Suggests that Running is Stupid

A new study published by the Chris Alarie Correspondence School for Motherfuckers finds that participating in recreational running can make the runner significantly more uncool. In fact, researchers went as far as to say that the study supports the conclusion that "running is stupid." Though the research on this topic is in its preliminary stages, experts in the field have hailed this study as an important development in determining the just how stupid certain types of exercise seem.

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Jose Canseco's Twitter Account and the Decreasing Tenability of Meaning in Post-Modern Culture

Jose Canseco is one of the more entertaining celebrities/athletes (in loosest sense of either term) on Twitter. While the majority of his tweets fall into the usual c-list celebrity categories of self-promotion, shout outs to other celebrities, and mundane statements, occasionally his posts are notably unusual. This is not a new observation; Canseco's unusual Twitter posts occasionally gain him the attention he so desperately seeks. However, it has been posited that Canseco's posts are not authentically his own. I have no reason to doubt that hypothesis, as celebrity brands are often run as businesses and Twitter is as much a vehicle for branding and advertising as it is anything else (This may be my personal favorite Verified Account). Does this lack of authenticity detract from the enjoyment of Canseco's weirdness? Should it?

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