Greetings again, squares and midwesterners.

Let me clear the air and the 800 lb gorilla in the room... Yes, it's been nearly five months.
When I last updated the iPad was just a rumor to speculate about and I was a fresh-faced college grad.

Though various endeavors have kept me from bringing you the kind of blog I would be proud of, I plan to return with new and fresh content (while also playing catch-up) and continue doing so from here on out.

Part of my absence can also be blamed on resisting running this blog as a tumblr-style content recycling aggregator. While I still prefer original content and writing, I have changed this attitude and will be bringing you Midwest Square(d) across both site platforms soon.

I leave you with a sharp quote from a Gawker post by Joe Coscarelli, and a pleasant piece of music and video by electronic artist Impactist.

"Aspiring to write on the internet is like aspiring to shred on Guitar Hero. The best part of both is wearing your pajamas. The worst part is the tense shoulders."

Hello Neighbor Sampler from impactist on Vimeo.

The sweet sound of starting over.

Apple's "iPad" tablet device

This morning Apple CEO Steve Jobs will be kicking off the unveiling of his company's newest breakthrough product. There's been alot of speculation that it will be a tablet device beyond a simple reader like the Amazon kindle, and more like a larger iPhone, or the hypothetical interactive magazine reader device I posted about on this blog some time ago.

Below is a visualization of which rumored features are likely to be included, via The Green Room blog.


French blog Nowhere Else has posted what may or may not be a leaked video of an ad for the device, below:



The Huffington Post will be live-blogging the event at 10am PST here.

Taken By Trees

Yes it's 2010 and you've had enough of Animal Collective's "My Girls," and the very last thing you want to hear is a cover of it by anybody. But this may change your mind. Taken By Trees is Victoria Bergsman, formerly of Swedish band the Concretes. She also sang back-up vocals on "Young Folks" by fellow swedes Peter Bjorn and John.



The cover can be found on her latest album, East of Eden, released this fall and recorded entirely in Pakistan. Noah Lennox (Panda Bear of Animal Collective) also lends guest vocals on the track "Anna".

Another music video by Taken By Trees: "Lost and Found" off her first album Open Field. Disclaimer: Will make you long for warmer climates.

WORK HARD + BE KIND

Photographer/designer Clay Larson created the image below to celebrate part of Conan O'Brien's farewell speech from his final episode hosting The Tonight Show.


The design references a seldom-seen motivational poster produced by the British government in 1939 at the start of World War II, reading "Keep Calm and Carry On." Rediscovered in 2000, the image has become popular in the public domain, appearing on walls and merchandise in the UK and beyond, finding new relevance in this global economic recession.

Conan's final thoughts, and some wise words of advice, below:

"To all the people watching, I can never thank you enough for your kindness to me and I’ll think about it for the rest of my life. All I ask is one thing, and I’m asking this particularly of young people: please don’t be cynical. I hate cynicism — for the record, it’s my least favorite quality and it doesn’t lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen." - Conan O'Brien

James Murphy on recording + "Greenberg"

In the video below, Grammy-nominated electronic musician James Murphy (of LCD Soundsystem) guides us through the creative space he occupied during the recording sessions for his next album, supposedly the last under the well-known moniker. Murphy spent much of the summer writing and recording the as-of-yet untitled album in the Hollywood Hills mansion where The Red Hot Chili Peppers recorded their album Blood Sugar Sex Magik with production guru Rick Rubin, who owns the estate. (via Urb.com)

clip 1 from lcd soundsystem on Vimeo.

Murphy has also been busy providing the musical score to director Noah Baumbach's (The Squid and the Whale) new film Greenberg, starring Ben Stiller. The film also co-stars mumble-core standout Greta Gerwig (often seen in films by Joe Swanberg and the Duplass brothers) and Jennifer Jason Leigh, who shared writing duties with Baumbach. Greenberg looks to be the director's take on aging thirty-somethings, much akin to his debut Kicking and Screaming, which examined the lives of recent college grads cynical beyond their years. The trailer makes good use of the LCD Soundsystem song "All My Friends," itself a bleakly nostalgic take on aging past your party years.

Upcoming Sultan Sea show

I currently play bass in a band called the Sultan Sea.
We're playing The Granada in our hometown of Lawrence, KS tomorrow night.
Full line-up and info below:



JOE-COLLEGE JAMFEST
8PM THURSDAY JANUARY 21ST

Sobriquet
Rusty Scott
HOLY Mountain
The Sultan Sea
Auburn Skies
Black Oxygen
thePhantom*

Neurosis in Space

Seinfeld Wars-- Best trading card, ever.

Coachella + Gorillaz return

I just returned from a weekend trip to visit friends in Austin. I was planning on returning for SXSW in March, but I gotta say I haven't been too excited by any of the acts slated to play.

Then I saw the line-up for this year's Coachella, released today.
Sorry Austin, but I think if I have to choose, I'm saving up my money for this:



Obviously those are some pretty big-name headliners, but lets focus on that third night. While i'm excited as the next skinny shaggy-haired guy to see Pavement reunited on stage, as well as solo sets by Thom Yorke and Julian Casablancas, its the inclusion of Gorillaz as headliner that really has me stoked.

As a cartoon-hybrid "virtual" band with plenty of famous collaborators, Gorillaz live show is always guaranteed to be an incredible visual experience. Talk at me about Avatar all you want, I've been dreaming of this since I first saw the (highly recommended) DVD release Demon Days Live, filmed at the Manchester Opera House. clip below:



In other Gorillaz-related news, you can now hear the first single off the cartoon rockers upcoming third full-length, Plastic Beach, over at URB. The song is a Miami Vice style throwback titled "Stylo", featuring vocals from soul legend Bobby Womack. You can also check the album's tracklist, which features guests such as Lou Reed, Snoop Dogg, and Mos Def, among others.

New Gorillaz “Stylo” feat. Bobby Womack & Mos Def

Music Video: St. Vincent

Director Terri Timely's video for singer/songstress Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent)... This could easily place alongside much of the "Directors series" music video compilations of work by Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, Chris Cunnigham, Mark Romanek, Stephane Sednaoui, etc. A great addition to St. Vincent's already impressive videography.


Also reminds me of the video "Daniel" by Bats For Lashes. References Donnie Darko a bit much but still carried out well as a visual concept.

Song: Bat for Lashes - Whats a Girl to Do

Another video by St. Vincent, for the album's first single "Actor Out of Work"


Song: St. Vincent - Actor Out of Work