styrofoam… the good kind

Give Kraftwerk an upgrade for 2008. Then blend them with Belle and Sebastian’s pop feel and Postal Service’s production (and sometimes Ben Gibbard’s voice) and you’re left with Styrofoam.

Styrofoam is Arne Van Petegem, an accomplished electronic experimentician who’s been producing music since 2000. Over the years, he’s built relations and worked with a number of similar artists – most notably Notwist, Jimmy Eat World and American Analog Set.

In fact, when entering songs from any of those three in our search engine, unearthing Styrofoam is more than likely.

Here’s a video for “Couches in Alleys,” with Ben Gibbard on vocals. If you like this song, there’s a lot more where that came from. And Van Petegem’s remixes are also worth checking out.

“this is wisconsin, and we drink here”

This was the headline of yesterday’s Wausau Daily Herald, which I noticed on a rest stop back to Madison from Manitowish Waters.

The article resulted in nothing more than the annual self-loathing we go through in Wisconsin – in between drinks.

I guess what really strikes me about the headline is not that people in Wisconsin drink… it’s that while in most states, drinking is a component of a social activity, it IS the social activity in Wisconsin. I’ve just never really understood that.

The act of drinking always seemed so functional to me: If you’re thirsty, drink some water.

You’d think given the relationship between bars and music, we’d have more great local music to go with all that drinking. (To be clear, we do have some, but not nearly enough.)