I saw the worst minds of my generation uplifted and upkept by commerce and goals and finance and booze and pbr-fueled late-night whatever-tv-showathons, spiritually starved for satisfaction in a world void of satisfying factions, stomping through playgrounds made up of scholarships and inadequate financial aid packages — Obama-led fiscal promises of a scholarly sort — surrounded by stale dorm food masquerading as environmentally sound nonsense, ethanol-fueled utensils that crumble and whimper into pebble crumbs when broken. I saw. . .

. . . I saw this, I saw that, I saw me…part of that and this mess alike. And I say nothing. Because there is no point. Only dull, numbing, monotonous, claustrophobically silent panic gnawing at the fringes of my moral and civic consciousness. Endlessly and ceaselessly. And mercilessly. And carelessly. With an eerily, scarily, frighteningly exacting, random precision that outpaces any of my postmodernly scattered, fucked up best intentions. And “So it goes…” a wise, grumpy, jaded old man once said when he wasn’t that old and grumpy but just enough jaded.

140 characters? Sorry…1,149 is all I have.

Oak and Gorski must raise $10,000 by this week (Oct. 1st).

They’re at around $9000. It’s pretty much an all or nothing deal. Please help them not fail. Thanks.

Oak and Gorski Album/Music Video/Press/Tour KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN.

After you make your “contribution,” watch Ed shave his luscious locks and donate it to a charity of your choice. And/or have Ken come to your place during their tour and give you a private cello lesson. (No innuendo. It’s an actual cello lesson.) Hell…BUY Ken’s cello off him if you can. These guys have. no. limits. Nor shame for that matter.

Help them out if you can. Please. It’s for a good cause. =)

____________________________________

Originally published in the Daily Trojan. (No longer archived on the DT website.) This is also the unedited version I originally submitted. I didn’t have any problems with the changes my editors made…except for them altering the entire perspective of the article by changing it from present tense to past tense. (Also, they asked for 1000 words. I gave them 1900…so yeah…cuts/edits obviously had to be made somewhere.) But yeah…this is how it originally felt.

Ken Oak, in a white long-sleeve shirt, jeans, and slightly messy hair that covers his face a bit, sits in a dimly lit, small, cozy Los Angeles cafe near Koreatown, nervously fidgeting just a bit. Ed Gorski, his bandmate, dressed in a moderately wrinkled grey button-down, cargo shorts, and a scruffy beard, leans back casually in his seat, one arm hanging loosely behind his chair. Both have faint but noticeable bags under their eyes — effects of the successful release of their new album at the Hotel Cafe in downtown Los Angeles earlier this month.

They are waiting for this interview, and this article, to get started as the cafe barista very slowly prepares the three mochas. The drinks arrive, Oak sits up, Gorski remains in his casual pose, and the interview gets underway.

Being in front of them, up close, forces one to really stand back and take in the juxtaposition of utter stereotypes that this duo comprises. In many ways, the two of them are a couple of personified stereotypes: Oak the soft-spoken, reserved, Asian who plays the classical, orchestral instrument and comes from a strict, demanding family, and Gorski, the outgoing, beard-sporting white guy and self-proclaimed “free spirit,” who plays the rock guitar. And both of their origins in music are not any less different.

Oak, 33, got started on the cello, and music, when a third grade music teacher hand-picked him for the instrument. Oak is quick to clarify the term “hand-picked.”

“It really wasn’t a very good school so it was easy to stand out. I was just doing good in spelling and math,” he says in a typical self-deprecating way.

Although he got hooked on music at an early age, perhaps reflective of the strict, ambitious Korean-American heritage that he comes from, his plan was never to become a full-time musician.

“That was never an option. My parents never said, “Hey, you can be a musician.” No one says that. I grew up thinking I was going to be a lawyer. That’s what my dad was, that’s what my sister was.”

So he set his eyes on law school — while keeping his love for music close by. He even convinced his father to allow him to study music at the University of Southern California, under the condition that he promise to apply to law school upon graduation. During his time at USC, he was actively involved in the music department for local church programs, where he cultivated and explored his love for music even more. By the time he heard back from schools like Michigan and New York University, offering acceptance into their law programs, he found music had formed too strong a hold on him.

“I remember a point where I felt I had to make a choice,” Oak relays while staring down into the coffee table. “I had to decide that I’m going to do music and not consider other options. It sounded really stupid to a lot of people but I think that’s what really got me going.”

That was Oak. Then you have Gorski, 27, who got his start in music in a more straight-forward, smooth fashion. When asked to recall what got him onto music, he immediately breaks out with a huge smile.

“I started playing guitar at 13 or 14. I was in a band in high school. We played crappy Nirvana and Metallica covers and whatnot. You know, the usual,” he relates in a tone that’s both non-chalant and humorous.

After college, he moved out to Los Angeles and delivered groceries, eventually miraculously getting a job at an independent record label. He and Oak met through mutual friends as Oak was looking into potential labels to sign with. Their meeting didn’t lead to a big record deal but it did lead to, according to Gorski, “quitting all jobs and then just driving around and playing music.”

Unlike Oak, Gorski’s family did not push him to become a lawyer.

“When I told them, ‘You know, I’m gonna start working as an artist,’ they said, ‘Okay, cool! Hope it goes well!’” And that was that.

But as stereotypical as they may be individually, the two of them working together as a duo make their act unique and they are somehow able to mesh with each other.

Fast-forwarding to the present, that chemistry has them preparing to go on tour to promote their latest release, Good Advice, Bad Advice, which is a record that significantly departs from the bare, stripped-down acoustic sound they’ve been playing for years.

“I guess we feel like we had explored the acoustic thing enough because if you listen to our three records you’ll see a progression,” Oak explains while taking the first sip of his coffee.

The pop-rock sound of the new record is still recognizable and is very much within their established identity; the duo is simply looking to branch out a bit more. But don’t get them wrong, both acknowledge and still embrace the relevance of their earlier work.

“It was cool,” Oak continues. “I think those albums were true to how we sounded but I feel that with this one, we wanted to go more commercial, more radio-friendly, more pop.”

Ed quickly adds, “While, of course, keeping the same string-based sound.”

But neither of them will ever hide the fact that they had doubts and some hesitancy when Will Golden and Al Sagro, who served as both producers and musicians on their latest album, approached them with the suggestion of adding more instruments and a bigger sound to their music.

“We were kind of still humming and hawing about it and weren’t really sure if we wanted to take that step,” Gorski says in between sips. “And we were just like ‘Yeah sure, we’ll see how it works, we’ll try it.’”

Both pause and glance at each other, both seeming like they each want to rush to the next point in the conversation.

“And then we did like three songs…and we were like ‘Whoa…okay, let’s do this!’” Gorski says with a chuckle.

In a previous conversation from a year ago, before their current album was even on the radar, both artists were asked, as they were loading equipment into their mini-van after a show, what their motivation for making music was.

At the time, their reply was something along the lines of: “We just want to make music for as long as we can.”

This question seems relevant enough to be asked again but Gorski sees it coming before it even has a chance to fully form.

He puts his cup down mid-sip to blurt out, with an utterly dead-pan expression and tone, “No it’s totally different. We just want to make money now. Screw music.”

Both let out a loud, extended laugh before Oak continues.

“Well at that time, we probably said something more like ‘We would like to make a living making music.’” He pauses to straighten up in his seat. “And at this point, I think we’ve realized that in order to make a living making music, we’ve got to change the sound like we have with this album.”

Ed puts both feet on the ground and moves up closer to the table to elaborate.

“It’s trying to keep the old with this new thing that’s going to help us move in different directions and maybe get into more film and TV placements.”

He sits up even closer as he explains, “Okay so there are certain groups of people who like a lot of just the acoustic sounds — like the guitar and that ‘singer-songwriter’ type of stuff. And that’s a small set of people. Most people would be like ‘Oh that’s a little boring, I can’t really listen to a full record of this.’

Gorski picks up his speech even more, with Oak sitting back and nodding in agreement. “And at the same time, there’s this whole group of people who simply like music that’s good to listen to and that’s what I think we were already doing,” Gorski continues.

“But I think what we’re trying to do now is make music that’s –” He pauses to take a breath before going on. “Music that’s — more people.”

With a final nod, Oak consents to the assessment. Both of them put their cups down and sit back in their chairs during a short break in the conversation.

Amidst all this talk of “progressing” in sound and opening up to “wider audiences” there has always been one dominating constant in their music that neither of them has addressed yet — and that’s the cello.

The band’s first album, Symposium, was a very somber, moody, and relatively dark album that had a sort of brooding tone to it, which the cello seems suited for and did indeed match well with. But as they shifted in sound with brighter elements on their second album, Vienna to Venice, and with the more or less straightforward pop-rock on Good Advice, Bad Advice, the cello has surprisingly maintained its spot at front and center, never at once feeling out of place or forced.

The versatility of the cello is something that neither of the musicians ever expected. In fact, they were just as surprised as anyone else at how well the instrument has gelled with everything they’ve thrown at it.

Oak pauses to think for a moment before recounting, “When I first got plugged into the singer-songwriter/acoustic scene after college, that’s when I first broke out the cello — when I was backing up people — and I realized that it worked well in that folk kind of scene. But I didn’t realize it would have so many different applications, like in this rock setting for example.”

Provided certain keys to the matchup be kept by Popovich and crew:

.
1. Exploit Jason Kidd’s Defense

There is no better facilitator in the NBA outside of Steve Nash than this man right here. You can’t give him the open three anymore, you can’t afford to let him post up your smaller guard, and you can’t forget to box him out, always.

But (Steve Nash comparison still relevant), there is no slower, poorer defender at the guard position (outside of Aaron Brooks. Shout-out to my boy, George Hill! M.I.P., baby!) uhh anyway, yeah, Kidd sucks at defense now. He never was Payton-level in his prime anyway. (Gary Payton was the best point guard of the past 20 years. Hands down. No competition. Payton was Chris Paul, Jason Kidd, Tyreke Evans, and George Hill’s defense all rolled into one super point guard. Ridonkulous.)

Exploit. Exploit. Exploit. Make Kidd not want to play offense ‘cos of how badly he’s getting straight-up BURNED on defense.

2. Contain Caron Butler/Shawn Marion

Bruce Bowen made Shawn Marion comparable stat-wise to Matt Bonner for the years that the Spurs dominated the Suns in the past. Those Suns should have made it to at least one Finals. But they didn’t. Why? Because Bruce Bowen contained Shawn Marion. That’s why. And this time, neither Caron Butler nor Shawn Marion can be allowed to dominate.

This job will go to committee, largely led by Richard Jefferson. (The real committee defense will be reserved solely for Mr. Dirk Nowitzki.) Dick best play his ass off here. It’s our best shot at stealing this series. (Yes, over-confident Spurs fans, I said “steal.”)

Help me, Richard Jefferson Kenobi. You’re my only hope.

3. Tim Duncan…uhh…yeah…sorry to ask you to do this again…at your age…but hey…man…dude, can you like…ummm…dominate the other teams this playoffs? One more time? For old time’s sake?? Pleeeeeassse?

Yes.

4. Manu…uhhh…yeah… (ditto)

Si.

5. Popovich…uhh…yeahhhh….can you use more common sense and…yeah, we can forget about your mental-block you’ve shown against Dallas in the past. But this is a new time, man. You can do this. Say it with me now…COACH TO WIN. Not, not to lose. We’re the San Antonio Muthafuckin’ Spurs. You are a Badass. Duncan is a badass. Tony, too. And Manu is the epitome and the alpha and the omega of Baddassery.

Do it.

(Jason Terry is a loser, I heard. On the streets. Of Compton. Where Dre is from. AND South Central LA. Where Jurassic Five are from. AND the LBC. Where Snoop is from. Yeah. A LOSER. Terry. Jason Terry-cloth. HA!)

Song of the Day:

Jay-Z – “Roc Boys (Remix)”

This morning, after hanging up my Adidas Star Wars Stormtrooper Superskates on my bedroom wall, while slipping into and admiring my laser-etched Jordan V’s and glancing over at my Olympic-colorway Jordan VI’s, Space Jam “Hare” Jordan I’s, exclusive-colorway Kobe IV’s…I realized that I’m NOT a “sneakerhead” — even after scanning through all the ridiculous prices for each shoe on ebay. (I, of course, bought them for much cheaper…mostly at the store.)

Well…then I spent the better part of the hours between 5am and 9:30am browsing the Internets on stuff directly about or related to “sneakerheads” and their shoes. Partly to verify my conclusions…and…mostly just to check out cool shoes.

Wow…has it really been 3 years? Where’d all the time go?

Well…each year, this post has gotten less and less ambitious, but even with my blog being dead for a few months, I can’t resist doing this.

So here it is. The top 15 albums of 2009, along with single download links and links to where you can buy each record.

One thing that I’m adding this year is the “specialty” selections: Best Remix, Best Mash-Up, Best Sample, Best E.P., and Best Collaboration.

This should be an exciting one!

15. Regina Spektor – Far

Track 2 – “Eet”

14. God Help the Girl (Self-Titled)

Track 8 – “Musicians, Please Take Heed”

13. DDL Roundhouse – Connect

Track 10 – “Reach You”

12. Kid Cudi – Man on the Moon (link is for a deluxe 2-disc DVD edition that is cheaper than the regular album!)

Track 3 – “Simple As…”

11. Imogen Heap – Ellipse

Track 1 – “First Train Home”

10. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Track 1 – “Lisztomania”

9. Mos Def – The Ecstatic

Track 5 – “Priority”

8. Chiddy Bang – The Swelly Express (free release, download link on their myspace)

Track 18 – “All Things Go (ft. Sufjan Stevens)”

7. The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love

Track 17 – “The Hazards of Love 4″

6. La Roux (Self-Titled)

Track 10 – “Reflections Are Protection”

5. Wale – Attention Deficit

Track 3 – “Mirrors (ft. Bun B)

4. Green Day – 21st Century Breakdown

Track 10 – “Last of the American Girls”

3. The Antlers – Hospice

Track 5 – “Bear”

2. Quiet Company – Everyone You Love Will Be Happy Soon

Track 9 – “Golden (Like the State)”

1. Mutemath – Armistice

Track 4 – “Spotlight”

_______

Specialty Winners

Best Remix

La Roux – “I’m Not Your Toy” (DatA remix)

Wale – “Chillin’ (ft. Lady Gaga)” [Top Billin' UK remix]

Best Mash-Up

The Hood Internet – “Save Me Concubine” (Ghostface Killah vs. Beirut)

LBCK – “Rockets at Night” (Cicada vs. Just a Band vs. Kid Cudi)

Best Sampling

Chiddy Bang – “Never” (samples “The Perfect Nanny” from Mary Poppins)

Best EP/Non-LP Release

MAE – (m)orning ep
Track 6 – “A Melody, The Memory”

Best Collaboration

David Guetta/Kid Cudi – “Memories”

_________

Past Best Albums Countdowns:

HIP’s Best Albums of 2008
HIP’s Best Albums of 2007

Victoria sat in her room, staring out into the cold, winter day. She was very sad, but it was a different sort of sadness. She wanted to feel sadness, absorb every facet of it, use herself as a prism through which to reflect all of it through, to see and know the entire spectrum of it. She sat in the bed for a short while, her eyes wandering around her room and back out the window. She took in all the immense, blank, sad emptiness contained in the thin skeleton of trees scattered on the sea of frigid, unwelcoming grains of ice. But she kept noticing the drops of melting ice incessantly dripping from a branch of a tree. And within each individual drop she saw that they, for a brief moment, held the warmth of sunlight — everything that contrasted the bleak world around their tiny, coldly opaque bodies. Each drop flew through the air, splashing and spilling out their brilliant glory on the white, powdery canvas stretched out below them. And then she closed the window….

Song of the Day:

Radiohead – “Fake Plastic Trees”

The “Best Job in the World” is a competition put on by Tourism Queensland in Australia. Winning means you get paid $150,000 to spend 6 months in a beachfront apartment on an island in Australia’s stunning Great Barrier Reef.

This “caretaker” will take pictures, video, and blog about all the cool aspects of the Great Barrier Reef islands. Food, housing, and utilities are all paid for of course.

As you can imagine, the applications flooded in. 34,000 of them, to be specific. And now it’s been whittled down to just 50. My brother is in that group.

Juweon Jonathan Kim. JJK. Double Just Kidding. (He’s a funny guy. Sort of. See for yourself at his blog.)

He’s currently sitting at 12th. Let’s get him in the top 10! The final cut is a group of 11 who will fly in for intensive up-close interviews from which only ONE will emerge to fulfill his/her duty as caretaker and winner of the “Best Job in the World.”

Please let it be my brother. For 3 (of many) reasons:

1. He’s more than qualified.

The man is a radio/tv news superstar in Korea. The Will Ferrell movie, Anchorman, was based on my brother’s charm, wit, humor, and poignant humanity.

He has all the tools necessary to communicate effectively to a global audience all the wonders and beauty of the world he will be surrounded by.

2. He’s paid his dues.

He’s a pastor’s kid. ‘Nuff said. He once got a Webster’s Dictionary for Christmas. (I got the Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary.)

3. He deserves it.

As much trash as I talk about him from time to time, the dude has worked his ass off ever since he could form words. Let alone the last 3 or so years, when he’s been a SLAVE to the monster known as the Korean professional work culture.

Please help give him the break he deserves.

If nothing else, help him do this again on a regular basis:

Please go to this link and vote for him as soon as you can!

Use any and all email addresses. Remember to confirm your votes by clicking on the link in the response email.

Thank you so much. My brother will give you all a high-five, high-ten, chest-bump, fist-tap, hand-shake, booty-bump, hug, or double-cheek kiss…your choice.

If you vote at least once every day for the next week, you get all of the above.

So…what the hell are you waiting for? Just do it.

Song of the Day:

Weezer – “Island in the Sun”

Man…being at yet another new school with yet another fresh start, I wanted to give this blog a fresh and thorough reboot.

I had plans to not only post at least a few times a week but also to expand my subject matter and go for more of the lengthy, in-depth posts that I used to write on here (e.g., Sigur Ros post, film reviews, posts on new and upcoming bands, ebook post, etc.).

But alas, I will be extremely busy this semester.

FORTUNATELY, it’ll be a different kind of busy from last semester at Berkeley (meaning: no coke addict roommates, no police, no safehouses, and no financial aid nightmares), but it’s the same sort of result for this poor blog.

I have 16 units of classes, a poetry workshop, AND I also just became a staff writer for 3 different sections of the Daily Trojan (school paper at USC…I plan on cutting down to only 1 or 2 sections.). Not to mention, I’m also pledging this semester for Gamma Epsilon Omega. (Basically the coolest fraternity ever invented in the history of the universe. Basically.)

On top of all that, I’m planning to hit on at least one USC Song Girl this semester.

Needless to say…I’ll be stretched to the MAX within the next few months. So I thought I’d give the 9 or so people subscribed to me in their Google feeds fair and advance warning…

I’ll try to drop by as much as possible. And Kristiane and Essaytch…I’m so sorry for being M.I.A. from your blogs…I PROMISE I’ll stop by more frequently, even if I won’t be updating much here.

Oh, and Albert, I don’t know which new Ting Tings song you were talking about, but I think this is their new single.

Song of the Day:

The Ting Tings – “That’s Not My Name”