David Byrne
 So it's been a while... again. Yet I will be brief. Because I have too much to do. But last Wednesday, Brian convinced me that we should go see David Byrne at Oven's Auditorium. (It didn't take much convincing) We were decently close enough but way the hell off to the side, which sucked. Especially since the guy selling the tickets sold them as "DEAD CENTER." And more especially b/c it made it hard as hell for the camera to pick up anything on stage w/o being blinded by the reflected light. But whatever. Shit happens. And it was still an awesome awesome show, regardless.
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I don't think I ever got around to posting, but I went to see Of Montreal in Asheville a few weeks ago. It was... fine.
 Although the production was awesome in that it obviously took a lot of work and a lot of skill to pull off, I found it distracting. From the music. Which is the reason I went to the show. Way too much going on on stage, and the music suffered. It wasn't culturally shocking or anything either. Just a bunch of clever look-at-me-I'm-artsy kind of stuff. The point is that there were dancers at this show too, but I thought it was pulled off in a much much better way. Everything that the dancers did on stage added to the song, and I didn't find it distracting at all. Even though I found myself not focusing on the song sometimes, my focus on the dancers increased my enjoyment of the song since it became something that I felt more than something that I heard. It was a really great fusion of aural and visual stimulation.
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 As for the music... The only reason I didn't jump on this is b/c I'm rarely a fan of any complete Talking Heads record. Although I liked Byrne's Uh-Oh for its clever goofiness, I never really got into his solo career either. Before we went, I checked out the new record (with Brian Eno). As with most TH records, there were a few songs I dug, and the rest was completely mediocre. I'm sure the structure of the songs was fantastic and the vocal something or other was brilliant, but I don't really care. I just want to listen to something that, when I listen to it, I think, "I like this." To hell with thinking too hard.
 None of the songs that I liked off the new record got played, but almost (if not fully) half of the set were Talking Heads staples. Being the casual and uneducated fan that I am, that was awesome. His voice is still spot-on, and the musicians he assembled were absolutely phenomenal. For the most part, the crowd was pretty great too. Even tho it was in Oven's (a fully seated theater), I got to stand up the whole time. I hate sitting at good shows. Much to the chagrin of the people behind me. But fuck them. Lots of people were standing up including most of the people in front of me. Everyone stood up during a few songs, and I was happy to hear the everyone go really nuts at, you know, the appropriate times. Maybe Charlotte isn't so bad after all...
We ran into Don and Lori too. Talked to Don and saw Lori, but I don't think she ever saw us. I kind of expected to run into more people there that I knew, but we didn't. Then again, we got there not long before the show started... downed four beers in the car and then went straight to our seats. That worked.
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Labels: Charlotte, concerts, music
Young and Foolish Then...
Old and Foolish Now...
trying to clean up my life means trying to clean up all of my digital media. In doing so, I ran across these few pictures that I'd forgotten about... I think they're so shitty b/c they are screen-caps. But they are now where they are supposed to be and, if pictures are where they are supposed to be, they also require a blog entry. So. Here's this. And then some God-awful thing we did... the kind of thing you should do in middle school or, maybe, high school. Probably not what you are supposed to do as a college graduate. *sigh*
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Labels: concerts, filboyd studge, music, Scott
the alphabet and iTunes
I was listening to The National's show from a couple of days ago in Copenhagen in my iTunes. It ends with "About Today," which is a pretty slow song. Performed well. Nice clapping. Good end to the show.
After The National, my iTunes goes like this:
- Nelly - Country Grammar
- Nelly - Ride Wit Me
- Nelly - E.I.
- Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
- New Order - Regret
- Nice & Smooth - Sometimes I Rhyme Quick
- Nick Drake - Pink Moon
- Nikki French - Total Eclipse of the Heart
And then, like, a million NIN songs.
And yes, I have that many songs by Nelly.
He owns the Bobcats, kind of! Labels: music
Jew(s) and Catholic(s), The Airborne Toxic Event, Dustin Edge, Toadies...
You know that song, "Time in a Bottle?"
Well I want to smash that girl in the face every time that commercial comes on when she says that. Other than that, I would totally buy some time. Couldn't care less if it comes in a bottle.
So, anyway, here's a bunch of music crap mashed all into one post b/c I'm too lazy to actually keep up with anything anymore.
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 First, I suppose, is this album. It's been a long long time since I've actually purchased a new CD from a store. I went to Best Buy the other day for some blanks to burn off the zillions of (mostly Radiohead) bootlegs I've been getting lately and decided I'd take the long shot and see if they had TATE's new (and only) record. Much much to my surprise, nestled b/t Air Supply and Akon was a lone copy of "The Airborne Toxic Event." There was no price on it, and I was fully prepared to pay $15+ for it. $11.99? Yes, please.
Despite paying less than I would have, it was actually still a pretty annoying purchase given that I'd been purchasing their singles off of iTunes as they came out. And since the first 3 came out as an "EP," you'd think that they'd not include those songs on the "album." But they did and so I had 40% of the record already. Sadly, those songs are the best songs, but the rest of the record is still pretty damn good to me. There's some Franz Ferdinand sound in there every now and then, ("This Is Nowhere") and there was one song I just didn't really care for at all. ("Something New")
The lyrics throughout are, however, fantastic. It's strange to open the booklet and see just how much ink is spilled across the page. And it's not wasted words. Words that make me happy and words that make me sad. But very few words that make me feel nothing.
And I guess it turns out I actually have very little to say about this. But I like it. Not like I liked them when it was just the four songs out, but I like it. And I'm afraid I'm going to regret this later with all of the MTV talk for Sometime Around Midnight. But for now, I'm happy with this record, and I think it's worth a listen. Or at least worth watching the videos for free on youtube...
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When it rains it pours, I guess. After staying out of music stores for a long time, I ended up with 2 new records in a week. Which may or may not have anything to do with having a new job that pays much better than the old one. Regardless, the Toadies actually finally released a new album after... what, like 10 years? I followed Vaden over to the Burden Brothers, but wasn't overly impressed. But No Deliverance (Click to listen for free) is classic Toadies. Even with the lineup change.
It's under 40 minutes long, so I was a bit miffed at paying as much as I did, (pre-order from Newbury Comics) but I did get it on the release date... and I did get an extra CD booklet thing signed by the band. Which is kind of neat since I geek out about crap like that. There's nothing really groundbreaking here that I can tell. And if you didn't like Toadies before, I can't imagine you'll like this. But I did and I do. And it's cool that they're touring again. Maybe they'll even come to Charlotte!
(that was a joke)
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The first time I saw Jew(s) and Catholic(s) was at Snug Harbor as they opened for Silent Weapons. I thought they were freaking amazing. The next time I saw them was right after the Inside EP was released at SKNet again with Silent Weapons. They were great, but it's really too bad that it was at SKNet. b/c that place sucks for shows.
This time was at The Milestone, and The Milestone kicks much ass.
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So. When I'm left to my own devices I'm rather punctual. Doors at 8:00, show at 9:30-ish. I'm there at 7:45. The bands aren't even there yet. LOSER. But I wanted to film it, and I knew where I wanted to stand. So... whatever.  I was definitely the only person there when I went in. Sat at the bar for a minute where Neil (the soundguy) said he'd get me a drink. Double tall Captain and Sprite, please. He pulls out these enormous "shot" glasses. Fills one up and into my cup... fills it up again and there's maybe an inch left for some Sprite. (turns out that the shot glasses were 3 ounces each) So I get my spray of Sprite, hand over SEVEN DOLLARS, (wow! :)) and go sit around and wait.
Eventually people started coming in and I saw Eddie and Alanna and caught Eddie long enough to make sure it was cool if I recorded. So for everything that happened from this point on, I blame myself. He was cool about it, so I got my stuff setup and then saw him frantically running around with the drum machine... the AC adapter was fucked. I guess he had a spare, which was good, but that was a rather foreboding sign.
The first band that played (The Have and Have Nots) were... fine. Energetic and pretty interesting. But I was tired of it after 2 songs. So, you know, I was pretty happy when Jew(s) and Catholic(s) were second.
 Everything started off well enough but quickly went downhill as my evil camera eye cursed every guitar that Eddie picked up. Alanna sounded great, and she was right there on time the whole time. But those damn guitars... I guess you can just watch and see if you want to. It was frustrating (and I'm sure FAR more frustrating to them), but I still liked what I heard and it was a fun and entertaining show for certain. Obviously "New Song" is not the name of #5... Hopefully they'll myspace me back with the proper title, and I can fix that.
And I need a new camera. I don't know why mine makes movies that are so grainy. I'm pretty sure it used to not do that. I played with the settings a LOT before the show, but I couldn't figure it out. I almost bought a new camera, but Allison needed a camera too, and her birthday was on Tuesday, so I got her one instead. Pretty sure I'm still happier about that. But it doesn't make me less annoyed with the shitty quality of my videos.
And I don't feel bad about the quality of the snapshots... I was, after all, videotaping at the same time..............
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The band to play after Jew(s) and Catholic(s) was Red Collar out of Durham. Never heard of them before, and I was a little worried when I saw one of the guys with cowboy boots and spurs. But they were actually a lot of fun. Having a girl bass player also never hurts anything. They reminded me of a slightly softer version of Throw Rag. I bought their EP, which is good... but, as with most bands, nowhere near the live show. I wouldn't necessarily make a special trip out to see them again, but I'd be happy to hear if they were going to be playing with some other band that I already knew I liked. They might be able to win me over just due to the awesome energy on stage.
They are going to be at Snug Harbor on Oct. 3, sooo... We shall see, perhaps.
The song I recorded is called "Fade Into the Night" (thank you, Jonathan!) It was totally random that I ended up getting this particular song on film, but I was listening to the EP on the way home, and this is definitely better than a lot of the record. Except for, of course, the shitty sound quality...
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I also got to see The Lights, Fluorescent for the 2nd time. I'd heard their name around town, but I only ended up seeing them because they played the "Celebrate Women in Music Awards" or something like that. Very poorly run award show that happened at The Milestone a few months ago. I was only there, again, b/c of Silent Weapons. And there were some crappy bands there, for sure. But I really liked this one. So when I saw that they were playing with Jew(s) and Catholic(s), I was pretty damn happy. I'm not plugged in enough to get to go to too many local shows where I actually am familiar with more than one band. So that was nice.
They played last and played well. I'm assuming that most people were there for this band as opposed to the others... or everyone was drunk. But definitely everyone was bouncier when they started. And the band absolutely fed off of it too. They played for about an hour, which was nice. But after the set, I got in a "Two More Songs!" scream, and then everyone said it, and the band happily obliged. I reckon I'll be heading out to The Milestone to see them again in a few weeks. Good times.
Oh yeah... I bought their CD the last time I saw them... shortly thereafter I got a new CD player for my car, but I left my copy of their disc in the old CD player. So it's still in there. Which sucks. But thank goodness for iTunes.
The first song below is, *I think*, called "Cubicle"
The second one is "So Sweet (Without a Care)"
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And, lastly, Dustin Edge swung back through town a month ago and played a solo acoustic show up at Summit Coffee.  I've had these mp3's up for a while, so I imagine that, if you want them, you already got them... but it deserved to be on the front page too. I really had no idea what to expect at all. I knew Cast Iron Filter, and I'd listened to Forest Through the Trees more than most people in the world. But it was beyond me to even hazard a guess as to what this stuff would sound like alone and with nothing but a guitar and a harmonica. Certainly most of the songs bore little resemblance to the multi-layered Forest Through the Trees... at least to an untrained ear such as mine. But it game them all a new life, and it made it doubly fun to hear all the songs stripped back down like that. The handful of CIF songs that were played were definitely recognizable, but definitely also quite different. Harlan County was excellent.
oh! And I guess this makes me way out of order, but I can't believe Hot Hot Hot was the opener. One of my favorite Cure songs, and one that I was stoked to get to see at the Cure show a couple of months ago.  I guess there were a rather large number of covers, come to think of it. I don't really know anything about "folk" music, so "Long Black Veil" wasn't any sort of touchstone or anything, but it was awesome. "Too Late To Die Young" was not, I believe, in the plan of things to be played... nor was the Untitled song. (Hurray for Encores!) Both of them worked well, and I hope the Untitled one continues to find its life. Bryan took about 9 million pictures... the light is bad out there, so he used the extended shutter thing. Which, I think, made a lot of these come out looking really really cool. Here are a few more... And I'm jealous of all you people in New York. Can't wait to see where all this stuff goes when/if Dustin actually starts getting a band together.
I know what I'm gonna do, by God.
Oh no, Dustin, don't...
I'm callin' 'em up.
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GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
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Loyal fan base...
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This is what The Flash would look like if you took a picture of him playing guitar.
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Listen as I pontificate as to why this is good...
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Even the moon was rocking out...
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But, eventually, it's goodnight, Moon.
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And lastly lastly, Dustin came back through town again and stooped down to come do open mic night at Jeff's Bucket Shop. I have no photos b/c I just sat my camera over near the stage and let it record the audio. So the sound quality on this is a town worse than the other one, but I actually thought the performance was better. But that may not mean anything other than that I had more to drink. Or maybe that Dustin had more to drink.
The phrasing on "Aeroplane Over the Sea..." good lord. Awesome.
Except for the bookend covers, these songs were all played at Summit. "No One Will" is a very cool song, I think.
Oh. After this was over, I bought a couple of carbombs. Dustin tried to cheat. But he lost anyway. Slut.
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Labels: Brooke, Cast Iron Filter, concerts, Dustin, music
big bands in Charlotte!!
I was watching the news this morning before I left for work, and Tera said something about "the concert tonight." I didn't know what she was talking about, so I checked out Verizon to see what was coming up. Almost every one of my favorite bands is coming through!
- Widespread Panic (Climb to Safety is the best song released in the last 8 years.)
- Widespread Panic (that's right. Twice.)
- Maroon 5 w/ The Counting Crows (oh, Adam, you are so full of heartbreak; I just want to squeeze you.)
- Jonas Brothers w/ Avril Lavigne (Is this show going to be full of soccer moms and their kids? yum.)
- Linkin Park (DJ's + guitars... why didn't someone else think of this earlier??)
- Journey (That little Philippino guy is just so... so Steve.)
- Rascal Flatts (Actually... I can't even think of anything mildly clever. This band just fucking sucks.)
- Stone Temple Pilots (parking lot? drugs? Scott, you'd better still be crazy... Velvet Revolver was terrible.)
- John Mayer (what's not to love? I think his head's as big as his ex-girlfriend's boobs and TMZ loves him!)
- Kenny Chesney (Admittedly, I don't know anything about him, but you have GOT to be cool if you're a dude and both of your names end in "y.")
- Brooks and Dunn (My booty hasn't been scooted in far too long. C'mon, Kicks, let's see how it's done! ahhh... what would high school have been like w/o these guys? Terrible, I tell you. Terrible.)
- 3 Doors Down (poor Jimmy Olsen. This is the band the Spin Doctors only wished they could be.)
- Martina McBride (ok... so, again... I have no idea what this person does. But you just know she's hot. Southern-country hot. Like Dolly Parton.)
And in real news, I got tickets to see Of Montreal in October.
No, they're not coming to Charlotte. Don't be silly. Labels: music
hm... right.
And as I was thinking about that b/c of a song Dustin played for me...
I Don't Want to Get Over You
The Magnetic Fields
I don't want to get over you.
I guess I could take a sleeping pill and sleep at will and not have to
go through what I go through.
I guess I should take Prozac, right, and just smile all night at somebody new.
Somebody not too bright but sweet and kind who would
try to get you off my mind.
I could leave this agony behind
which is just what I'd do if I wanted to
But I don't want to get over you
Cause I don't want to get over love.
I could listen to my therapist, pretend you don't exist
and not have to dream of what I dream of;
I could listen to all my friends and go out again and pretend it's enough,
Or I could make a career of being blue--I could dress
in black and read Camus,
Smoke clove cigarettes and drink vermouth
Like I was 17 that would be a scream
But I don't want to get over you.
As an aside... I love Camus. Labels: _self, music
evocation
The words are good at evoking things, I think.
Sometime Around Midnight
The Airborne Toxic Event
And it starts...
Sometime around midnight.
Or at least that's when you lose yourself for a minute or two.
As you stand...
Under the bar lights.
And the band plays some song about forgetting yourself for a while.
And the piano's this melancholy soundcheck to her smile.
And that white dress she's wearing, you haven't seen her for a while
But you know...
That she's watching.
She's laughing she's turning she's holding her tonic like a crux.
The room suddenly spinning she walks up and asks how you are.
So you can smell her perfume you can see her lying naked in your arms.
And so there's a change...
In your emotions.
And all these memories come rushing like feral waves to your mind.
Of the curl of your bodies like two perfect circles entwined.
And you feel hopeless and homeless and lost in the haze of the wine.
Then she leaves...
With someone you don't know.
But she makes sure you saw her she looks right at you and bolts.
As she walks out the door your blood boiling your stomach in ropes.
And when your friends say what is it you look like you've seen a ghost.
Then you walk...
Under the street lights.
And you're too drunk to notice that everyone is staring at you.
You just don't care what you look like the world is falling around you.
You just have to see her.
You just have to see her.
You just have to see her.
You just have to see her.
You just have to see her.
You know that she'll break you in two.
Labels: _self, music
The Cure
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Yep. Went to see The Cure last night at Bobcats Arena (fuck Time Warner) for the first time ever. I managed to get tickets in row 3 just slightly stage right, and I was really really excited about getting to see them live. The reschedule really fucked up my plans since I bought the tickets like a year ago for Allison's birthday and she's now in China... But it definitely raised my anticipation level. I didn't buy a Cure album until 1995; (or... actually I think it was 1996) I've liked them ever since, but I wasn't ever really totally ga-ga or anything. I like some Cure albums, I like more singles than albums, and "Pictures of You" is one of those songs with, you know, meaning. Now they, like any good band, have raised my opinion of them exponentially following their live show.
I'm not usually a fan of slow moody concerts, and I wasn't really sure what to expect. The one thing I definitely did not expect was to be surrounded by so much frantic energy at a Cure concert. The opening band, 65 Days of Static hit hard and loud... they only played for about a half hour (no vocals)... they were a really good choice for the opening act. 
I totally forgot what I was going to say.
So I'll say, again, how much it sucked that Pearl Jam scheduled their closest date to me since 2003 on the same day as the Cure show. Honestly, if I didn't already have the tickets, I might have gone to see them again instead. But I'm really really glad I didn't.
Wow. I really can't think or type at all right now.
I think I'm going to stop trying and just say that I was truly truly amazed by what happened on stage last night. I really did not think I was going to just absolutely love this show as much as I did.
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Oh! I will say that, although I wasn't really holding any particular I-Want-To-Hear-X songs in my head, I was secretly hoping to hear Hot Hot Hot. There was a quote from that song on a Jyhad card from back in the day... I think it was "I left that basement burning and I never went back." Plus it was on the cassette version of Mixed Up, which I listened to until it broke. That game also had a quote from Ministry's Stigmata on one of the cards... "My favorite weapon is the look in your eyes." (I think)
What the hell am I talking about? Pictures...
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I also actually wanted to hear Lullaby since we had the audacity to try and play that live once. Or... good lord... maybe more than once. I'm sorry, Robert. But I got to hear that too. And, if I was really honest, Pictures of You was on the list too. See? I like the songs that everyone knows...
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 During one of the (I think the first) encore break I saw this guy waving around this little puppet. I thought it was cute...
Speaking of people around me tho... wow. I met and talked to several people; everyone was totally awesome and really nice. The guy who was sitting next to me actually did his residency with Allison's old boss...
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 *whew*... and that's only like half of the photos that I took and didn't actually delete at the show. Even though I ended up spending a lot of money for a single ticket, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Very well worth it. I can't believe Robert still has his voice... he and Porl were looking old, but they were amazing performers. Fantastic fantastic concert. :)
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Labels: Charlotte, concerts, music
Radiohead (and Liars)
EDIT: Direct downloads of 192kbs mp3's of this show are over here
Saw Radiohead last night at the Verizon Ampitheater in Charlotte. Managed to get there about 2 hours early but had to walk around the parking lot and drink Captain and Sprite by myself b/c Allison was stuck at work...  Tried to wait, but it wasn't going to work, so I went in to catch the opening band. Knew they were opening, but I never looked them up... I suppose that, since Deerhoof opened in Amsterdam, that I was going to dig whoever it was. And that worked out. I had a video, but I deleted it to save room for another Radiohead song instead. I still have a shitty 1GB memory card in my camera... But they were cool. Except that they finished, and Allison was still sitting in the car.........................
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But she did manage to show up with, really, just seconds left before Radiohead came on. Frightening... but everything worked out in the end. She's funny looking in this photo.
Oh yeah... and just before Liars went on, I finished Memories of My Melancholy Whores, and it was awesome and really at all the kind of thing I thought I'd like. Like the ending isn't typically a kind of ending I'd appreciate, usually...
Not now...
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 I think this is probably my favorite photo... He was crazy dancing all night. I tried to do that too, but now I just hurt and no one much thought I was very cool. Which is best. We were row 12 behind the pit, far stage right. I think we were maybe slightly closer than the last time, but I think I would have preferred to sit a few rows further back and to be closer to the center. Wonder how those seats are allotted, actually... all the way down the middle and then to the sides? hm... regardless. It was still awesome, and we were still plenty close. :)
I don't really have anything insightful or interesting to say... there is very little I would have changed... setlist was fantastic, sound was great, light show was great, Allison made it in time... So I'm going to not say anything and just post the photos and videos.
(Oh... I would definitely pay another $75 to see that again.)
((And there was some stupid review about Radiohead/In Rainbows/Previewing the Show in Creative Loafing this past week. It was dumb. It sounded like "Radiohead are so past their prime." or "In Rainbows is a weak effort from a formerly great band." Something like that. It sucked.))
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 Tried to grab one more picture as they were leaving the stage, but I was still all shaky from the sound or the movements or something, so everything was blurry. This is still kind of... cute, I guess.
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I start to film pretty much every song that gets played... and then stop if I don't like it or something... so it's always pretty random or luck-of-the-draw as to what I end up actually getting and keeping. There There showed up pretty early... I guess it's not "cool," but I still really like this song, and I kept the video of that. Got Myxomatosis the same way, and it's badass enough for me as well, so I kept that and, given the size of my tiny memory card, I was done with the filming. The sound kind of sucks, which is too bad, b/c it was actually just about perfect when we were there... So it goes...
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Labels: Allison, Charlotte, concerts, music
Ministry
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I've been slack. Because that's what I do. But a couple of weeks ago, one of my best friends from high school drove down so we could go to the Ministry show over at Tremont. It was forty freaking dollars to get in the door, and I was definitely not going to go except for that Will was coming. I talked to a guy at the last KMFDM show who said that the last Ministry show he saw featured only the new songs being played. I picked up the 2nd to last album, and it was cool... but there was a lot samples of george bush talking, and it was very overtly political. I hate george bush at least as much as the next guy, but even though I liked most of the sounds on the record, it did get a little heavy-handed. Al hates george. I got it. Regardless, I just didn't want to drop a lot of cash to see a band that I liked purposefully skipping over all of the songs that initially made them great. I didn't need to hear the "hits" necessarily, but ... I'm rambling. You get the point, I'm sure.
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I'd never heard of either the opening band, Hemlock, or the "special guest" Meshuggah, but Brian Burton liked the drummer for that second band, so he actually went with us as well. We were too busy pre-drinking and missed the opening act which, frankly, was fine by me. We did, however, get there just in time for the Meshuggah set. Which, in my opinion, was pretty brutally awful. The sound in the building was terrible... sure it's industrial metal, and it's often going to sound pretty mushy, but this just was not good. I didn't like the lead "singer" at all either. He did a lot of posturing and putting his hands up like he was Jesus. Then yelled and mumbled some into the mic. I dunno, but I was glad when it was over and pretty stoked to finally see Ministry. Between sets, I was talking to people around me... met a few nice people and took photos b/c I was bored...
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I got both of these dudes to put their email addresses in my cellphone... I tried sending the photos over, but my emails got bounced back. Oh well... I tried.
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So, anyway... Ministry was headed out soon. So, good. But the bouncer guys started putting up fences. wtf. Divas? It was definitely packed in there, and there was a little moshpit, but no one was going totally apeshit or throwing stuff on stage or anything. Very strange. And annoying. But, whatever. So they came out, and it was all dark, and everyone was screaming, and they tore into a newer song that I may or may not have heard before. In fact, throughout the entire first set, there was only one song I heard that I was absolutely positive I had heard before. I don't know the name of it, but I could pick out all of the soundbites of george bush saying something stupid, and Al was like, "This is for our goddamn stupid fucking President" or something.
A lot of it sounded the same, because I, not being a die-hard post-Filthpig Ministry fan, didn't have my ear trained to listen for any particular riffs. I was mostly waiting to listen for the intro to "Just One Fix" so I could tape it, but it never came. So I watched with a feeling of removed bemusement and tried to snap a photo or two when I thought something would look sweet. After I took that one to the left, (the first photo I took since Ministry came on) some bouncer guy came up and told me that he wasn't trying to kick me out, but I wasn't allowed to take pictures.
 Despite the sea of cameras being held aloft all around me. I was all, "wtf, really? Just photos?" "Yep, camera phones only; nothing with a zoom on it." Does that statement sound contradictory to anyone else? So, whatever. I quit taking pictures for a while. Then I thought I had a good chance to take one of Al, (it's only even mediocre b/c I touched it up in Photoshop) so I gave it a shot. I know I shouldn't have done it, but I figured I definitely wouldn't get bitched at the only two times I took a picture.. Within 2 seconds, dude was tapping me on the shoulder and took me out for a stern talking-to. "If I see you with that camera again, I'm kicking you out." Fine. Whatever. So I got another drink and went out back to the side entrance to watch from outside. It was way too hot and loud and annoying in there anyway. And still yet, not a single song off anything older than 2 records ago. (maybe 3...)
Which, I should clarify... is cool if you're touring on a new record or something. But if you're on your "farewell" tour, why wouldn't you try to mix it up a lot? *baffled*
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Right. Enough complaining about that. So I went to watch the show from outside. Usually I'm not allowed to get up on the little staircase there, but I started talking to this guy named Craig, and he let me come up and watch from the band doorway.
So I ended up hanging out with Craig, the guitar tech from Meshuggah (whose name I have sadly forgotten), Chelsea, and Chelsea's two friends. I couldn't quite understand who Craig was, but he seemed like a really nice guy and was happy to talk about stuff including and not including Ministry. He was down from Greensboro just hanging out, so he said. Chelsea, as best I could tell, was somewhat of a band-aid. She had 5 or 6 kids back in California, and I found out that one of the little girls is, supposedly, a really great ice skater. I don't think she was an industrial-dance ice skater tho. I kind of watched the show out of the corner of my eye, but mostly talked to Craig and watched the guitar tech guy hit on that girl. At some point, Craig was like, "hey, you want to meet someone interesting?" I really had no idea what to expect, but sure, I like interesting people. So he pulls this guy back from inside, and "hey man, this is Burton; Burton, this is jim." It took me a minute, but then I asked, "wait... Burton C. Bell?" And, sure enough, it was the lead singer from Fear Factory. Well, shit, that was pretty cool. So I tried to get from him what he was doing there; the closest I could get for a while was that he was going to be singing some old stuff with Ministry. Eventually I finally got him to tell me just what he'd be singing. And, sure as hell, "Just One Fix." Bad. Ass.
I tried, for a little while to seem like I was sort of cool by mentioning that I'd bought the Remanufactured Fear Factory disc but that I'd bought it around the same time I got the first Gravity Kills record. I think that pretty much killed any chance I had of seeming cool. Oh well. Burton was nice enough to let me have a picture with him. Why do I do that tho?? I look like such a complete tool. Blah blah. So there was a short break in the set inside, and Burton took off. I took my post on the side of the door to try and get Just One Fix taped. I managed to get it although my position sucked, and I was drunk, so I kept shaking and zooming in and out WAY too much.
But it was cool... they were finally doing some older stuff... Stuff that I recognized. They played Just One Fix, N.W.O., and Thieves... all with Burton on lead vocals. He was definitely awesome, but isn't that super strange too? Farewell tour. Finally playing old stuff. And the one guy whose band this really was stops singing. It was all such an incredibly strange experience.
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When the show ended, I was standing just outside the door still watching things inside... Within seconds of the show being over a cadre of yellow-shirted strong guys started running through escorting Al into the waiting tour bus outside. They weren't overly rude, but they certainly weren't saying, "excuse me" or "please." So they rushed Al out to the bus, a few curious onlookers wandered over to stand around the bus, and I went inside to find Will. We were definitely too drunk to drive, so I was glad to be walking home... plus I walked out enough of the alcohol to drive us over to Jeff's Bucket Shop for the after party. Which was, perhaps, more fun than the concert itself. I'm definitely glad that I went, but I'm also definitely sure that I wouldn't ever pay $40 to do all that stuff again.
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Labels: concerts, music
possibilities
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Although I haven't read Fyodor in a while, he still manages to work his way into the things I try to do. Not that it was a complete surprise or anything. I definitely became aware of it as soon as this "crime" idea came up, and I became some kind of amalgamation of Raskolnikov and Dmitri. (Crime & Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov, respectively) And then I totally lifted the "wax pathetically" line straight out of Notes From Underground. (at least I'm 90% sure it was that one. Definitely Dostoevsky again tho) Which isn't to say this is about Russians. I also stole "I'm already dead" from deadboy and the Elephantmen and "Love will tear us apart" from... well... you know. But that's also not to say that this is all about other people either.
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Allison made me think about some pretty difficult stuff the other day. Stuff that, I suppose, I couldn't really wrap my head around. So now there's this. I'd already ripped off the drum idea from Jew(s) and Catholic(s), and I'm pretty sure the little guitar thing was stolen from somewhere too. Or maybe it's just one of things that everyone with minimal guitar skills plays. The song structure was stolen from just about everything that Scott and I have ever done. Or at least just about everything that I've ever done. And the vocal melody was an attempt to copy what Chris Randall (of Sister Machine Gun) did on the "Rock Radio Mix" of L.A. Style's "James Brown Is Dead." |
And I think that's all I tried to steal.
"I'd rather be a killer than a victim of circumstance."
After I fenced all of the stolen goods, this exercise in possibilities was the result: Thieves and Murderers
Oh... And it turns out that "languidity" isn't a word. But it should be.
| Labels: _self, Dostoevsky, filboyd studge, music
new songs...
Couple of things...
Went to see Silent Weapons play at "Charlotte's Underground" tonight. Some place that used to be, obviously once you're inside, a strip club. It was huge, and the stage was enormous, and the sound was really good, but it was one of the crappiest places I've been for a show. The door guy totally grabbed my ass and gave me a pseudo-wedgie. The bar is cash only. They only let you get one drink at a time. I ordered a "Guiness Draft" (as advertised above the bar) and received a Guiness from a can poured into a glass. Eliza used the plastic gun that she always uses, and some dude pulled her off-stage immediately after the show to bitch and moan about how they could send her to jail for having the gun or something. Got a 6 oz vodka & red bull... six dollars. Ugh. It had potential, but ended up just sucking. Definitely don't plan to ever go back there again. Just brutal.
Aside from that... Scott was here last week, and we managed to cobble together a few songs.
The first song is, as I understand it, a sort of love song to Raven...
The second song is, as I understand it, nothing.
I was working on something else last night and today. Allison came over later and agreed to sing someting on it. We came up with this.
Also, after Eston told me to fix the vocals, I played with the production on this "song" I did a long time ago.
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Labels: Allison, concerts, filboyd studge, music, Scott
The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead
 I ordered the new Helio Sequence on vinyl when the pre-sale started the other day. While I waited I remembered thinking about how annoying it is to get a vinyl and not be able to easily transfer it to other media. And how, really, can't I just get a free mp3 download when I buy the record? Then, sure enough, Keep Your Eyes Ahead shows up on my doorstep with a sticker on front announcing the inclusion of a coupon for a free mp3 download. How about that?
Plus I got all that other cool stuff... SubPop sticker (as always), KYEA sticker, KYEA ahead button, and a CD with some outtakes. I dunno, but that's a package for which I'm more than happy to shell out a few dollars.
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I am, when trying to write about music, loathe to attempt a track-by-track review of any sort. I tried it once, and it was awful. I realized that and then realized that the only thing about which I am qualified to write is that which I feel. That often turns into a huge mish-mash of run-on sentences and inside jokes that only I get. Which is fine since I'm only writing for myself. Now, as I attempt to think what I feel, it's impossible for me to get away from the opening cut without saying something.
 There's really nothing original about the subject matter of Lately, and the song itself is pretty straight forward. If, however, there was a *type* of song that makes me cry, it's this. It's an easy idea to butcher, but this was done beautifully. The production and playing were both crystal clear and razor sharp (as they were throughout the album), and Brandon's voice soared and every word was placed perfectly. Easily one of the most beautifully painful things I've allowed myself to experience in quite some time. There's never an admission that every word of the song is a lie, but you can feel it. It's heavy and, at the same time, promises freedom. If you just put it down on paper. Put it in a song. Making it concrete makes it real, right?
But no... no it doesn't.
I didn't come away from their show in Charlotte feeling like this song is as amazing as I think it is now. But, really... just fantastic.
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So... there's that.
I tried to stay with Brandon's vocals, but the words quickly desolved halfway through the 2nd song, and his voice really became another instrument playing its part in a well choreographed tete-a-tete between space and sound. Now I purposefully did not listen to the record on myspace before I had it in hand... there's something about sitting in a room listening to music for the first time; I didn't want to ruin it. But they must have really been proud of these songs b/c they played most of them at the aforementioned show.  I'm sure that had some effect on me as the next songs melded together, and I let them wash over me with a mild sense of comfort and familiarity. I'm spastic and fidgety enough that perhaps the highest compliment I can give to anything is that I was able to sit, unmoving, doing nothing else and not wondering what I would be doing next. It was soothing in such a strange way. I could feel the music slowly trying to pull some sort of low-level sadness out of me as it went by. And then Shed Your Love came on.
A pretty atypical song for me to enjoy. No drums. Just Brandon picking a guitar and channeling shades of Bob Dylan with some neat production stuff going on in the background. Its placement on the record definitely helped the long, and it really pulls you out of the electronic beep-boops that are so often prevalent in Helio Sequence songs. Highly highly unexpected... both its presence on the record and that I'd actually like it.
End Side 1.
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I'll try to make this quick...
I was lucky enough to have been around real musicians a few times during the all-important final step of making an album. Figuring out the tracklist. I may have mentioned this before, but KYEA was done so perfectly that I just had to mention it again. A record has 2 first songs and 2 last songs. What those songs are is important. What if I Want You wasn't the last song on Abbey Road? That's all I'm really going to say about that except that the experience of listening to this album is greatly enhanced by the pause after Shed Your Love. (oh, and there was a big pause in the middle of the theatrical release of Lawrence of Arabia too...)
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And there's a pause in the middle of this blog post...
So, Side 2.
Side 1 got you all good and depressed but not really sure why b/c it mostly sounds poppy and happy, and then they kick you with that last track and follow it up with the title track to open Side 2.  The power of the pause. The effect is very mildly jarring as I listen to it now on iTunes... But Keep Your Eyes Ahead is a fantasticly hopeful and forward looking (duh) song. Red All-Stars. That's what it makes me think of. Sadly, it ends in a fade-out. One of those that seems to start fast and then just last a little longer than it should. So there's my one initial complaint about this record.
The remaining four songs were all new to me, which was nice. I couldn't help but feeling Beck mixed with Primative Radio Gods on Back to This, which was strange... But both of which are good things. Side 2 kind of did this sin curve thing. Keep Your Eyes Ahead was definitely the highest peak, then we dipped a little for Back to This and then back up just a little for Hallelujah, and it was a great ride. I like Hallelujah a little bit more each time I hear it. There's a lot of noise, and the lyrics got lost very easily. Pretty sure I got the general idea tho. And Brandon's really got a fantastic voice.
And then Broken Afternoon. I wasn't completely sure what to make of this. Initially b/c I just knew it was signalling, all too soon, the end of the record. Then b/c, well, where is Benjamin?? And then, why do I keep hearing Bob Dylan and Dan Bern? And, lastly, wtf is this? Dog Faced Boy? (No ophphense)
I know it's a sign of weakness to fall into making comparisons, but it's all I've got at this point. The record ends with such an odd little ditty that it leaves me rather confused... As a whole, Keep Your Eyes Ahead holds up better as an album than Love and Distance. Largely b/c L&D played like Cooleyhighharmony with it's divided sides, and KYEA flowed in and out and played much smoother overall. Also the overall production quality is amazing with nothing seeming out of place and everything feeling as though it was meticulously planned and very carefully put together. Aside from that fade-out.
My only other complaint? 37 minutes long.
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How sad it was that we could not believe
And everyone who believes
And everyone who believes
And they said,
"We all said hallelujah"
"We all said hallelujah"
And everyone moves around with ease
And everyone fell right to their knees and then,
"We all said hallelujah"
"We all said hallelujah"
"We don't want answers anyway"
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Labels: music
Radiohead vinyl
Holy fucking shit.
Hands down, the most amazing packaging I've ever seen for a record. The weight, the size, the presentation, what is included... the artwork, the slipcase. Just absolutely fucking brilliant. Well worth the $80 or whatever I paid. Wow.
And I haven't even listened to the bonus CD yet. Labels: music
Silent Weapons & Bang! Bang! @ The Milestone
I was planning to write about this long ago. Really, I was. Sarah bitched at me last night for slacking off on my quickness tho, so I'm trying to make up for lost time. Now it's one month later, and I hardly remember what happened. I do recall being pretty psyched to be at The Milestone again. And pretty ashamed for not being there more often. But I was also pretty psyched to see The Silent Weapons play in a place with good sound. Sadly I've got no audio/video from that night... I tried, but the lighting was so freaking low that making videos was just silly. And yeah, so I really don't remember any details past what I just said. Dammit. It must be the drugs. So, I guess mostly, here are some photos from their set.
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The one in the middle is my favorite. But it only beats out the one above b/c Jason is standing in front of Josh.
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Uhm... and I just poured the Rum & Sprite I was drinking into a clear class. I think I forgot the Sprite.
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Allison also had recently dyed her hair purple. This photo got me kind of famous. myspace default photo famous. And, dammit, I hope that I actually took it and not Sarah and that I'm not just forgetting yet another thing. Regardless. The purple was sweet. Then this other thing happened... later...
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 As is often the case with shows in Charlotte, the crowd was, sadly, rather sparse. I suppose it's slightly understandable this time as it was a Tuesday night. With a new band from Charlotte and a band from Chicago. I really wish I'd had some recording of the show, cuz this was absolutely the best the actual sound has been.  I like being able to hear Eliza sing. I think she looks great, but, ugh, I ALWAYS just want to hear her better. It was much much much better at The Milestone than I've heard it before. Given, of course, I've only heard them at SK Net and the Bucket Shop (which is now NOTORIOUS for shitty mics...), but still. I do recall being glad that the levels sounded better and that I could hear Eliza. Dammit, I wish I could remember more better. I do know that I often feel that I'm just waiting for a wall to come down when I get to see TSW play. I really like what I hear, but I just have this feeling that it could *sound* so much better. It'll get there. The songs are really fucking good, and everything happening on stage is pretty sweet. (and, damn, Josh knows his way around the equipment on stage.) Anyway. It's good. But totally has a lot of room to get better. A lot of very fillable room. It'll get there. And it's great fun to watch it progress. Also, I'm eating Cheetos. mmm. But the other reason that the lack of bodies on the floor was sad was b/c this random band from Chicago called Bang! Bang! was actually really fucking cool.
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But before I get that, here's the last photo. Of Eston. Because he's completely a diva and would be pissed if I didn't post. Well... not pissed. I've seen Eston pissed. I don't think I've quite gotten that far on his bad side yet. <3 Eston.
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 From what I've heard since, Bang! Bang! is actually quite the popular band up Chicago way. They've certainly got more friends than filboyd studge... The lighting came on for this show, and I probably should have recorded something, but I had no idea what to expect, so I just listened and watched instead. What a novel idea. It was this kind of punk/pop thing that leaned more towards the whole punk thing instead. And I thought it was really badass. If I wasn't so poor, I definitely would have bought a CD. (speaking of which, why the hell aren't Silent Weapons CD's for sale at shows??)  Anyway. I kind of think this is the kind of thing that I might get tired of if I were to try to listen to it for an extended period of time. Not that that makes it less good... just not exactly what I'm looking for long term. For a random discovery as a band that happens to be playing with another band that I like? Wow. Maybe one of the best one of THOSE bands I've heard in a long long time. They had a really good stage presence too. Cuz it completely seemed like they were just having a great time. I don't think I've ever heard a cymbol solo before either... And the guitar string broke, so we got the Flying V. And it all happened like everyone there were just friends having fun. the fact that I recall that may or may not have anything to do with something I find missing in day-to-day life. Hm. Although I'm getting old and boring and bald and rarely venture outside the safe confines of my apartment to discover anything unknown, I'll keep my eye on this band... maybe they'll play somewhere near a stop of the new light rail. Or, hell, maybe they'll come back and play with The Silent Weapons again. I really liked it.
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Jack Flash
Jason, dude! You're always in the way!
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Gretta Fine
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Nick Kraska
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Although Holster was actually headlining the show I, yet again, missed their set. Allison had to work early, so we took off after Bang! Bang! had finished up. But the end of their set certainly worked out for the end of the show. I know there's a video of this whole thing floating around somewhere b/c the guy next to me was holding his phone up recording it all. I don't really remember exactly how it happened but they, somehow, managed to get all the prettiest people in the crowd up on the stage for a nice little dance party to send things out. Of course I didn't join, cuz I didn't want to make anyone feel bad. With my skillz. But that's good for everyone else who is a dude b/c it means that I have a couple of photos. So there's that. And there's my awful awful words that are simply here to fill space b/c I have these pictures, and I didn't want to do nothing with them.
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Labels: Allison, concerts, Eston, music
sixwire
holy God... that band fucking SUCKS.
And tho I feel like a little middle-schooler or something, I will also say that Dot Dot Dot should not be off. Especially in favor of Denver and blah blah... Labels: music
Silent Weapons @ sk Net
Finally made it out to see Eston's newly acquired musical home in concert the other day. Biased tho I may be, I was pleasantly surprised. I got there kind of late and missed most of the first set by Holster... I'd never heard them before either, so I wasn't overly worried. But I kind of liked them as well. The lead singer was fun to watch and, for some reason, reminded me of David Byrne. I have no basis for that... it's just what I thought of when I was watching. I only had a couple of photos... neither were that great... but they're here for the taking or viewing or whatever. They're playing again next Tuesday at the Milestone, and I'm not at all unhappy about seeing them again. Perhaps I'll have more of a real opinion then.
The only thing that I had time about which to be annoyed was the muddiness of the sound. At first I thought it was just the lead singer either not really belting it out or just being low in the mix... When Silent Weapons played, I felt like I was losing Eliza in the songs sometimes too. So I'm chalking that up to either sound problems or venue acoustics. Or lack thereof.
Actually... you can't really have a lack of acoustics, can you? It's really a matter of quality as opposed to quantity.
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But the only reason I went was to see Silent Weapons... I did catch that whole show. And, like I said, I was pleasantly surprised. I'd really only heard songs on myspace, and I don't really pay attention. I dunno why. I guess it's that stupid player with all it's controls locked down or the poor buffering... whatever... it's not talk-about-why-myspace-sucks time. Right... music.
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From stage-right... Eston looking very pleased with himself.
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Eliza trying to figure out just what, exactly, to do with that gun...
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And Josh looking like he's doing that AC/DC kick-step across the stage thing.
(he wasn't)
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(perhaps I should say that I, obviously, used a lot of Photoshop lighting and red-eye effects to try and make these photos better...)
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Well... it didn't take her long to figure out what to do with it. Eston busted a string on, like, song 2. Idiot.
His playing must be completely superfluous tho, as it didn't seem to affect the rest of the show. Hopefully he's learned his lesson now...
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So. I like drums.
There is, as you can see, no drummer in Silent Weapons. Which, is you watch the videos, you'll hear does not mean that there are no drums in Silent Weapons. Josh, as I understand it, programs the bass beats, and all the songs are played to backing tracks. On the one hand, it's really cool to be able to execute your songs basically the same way night-after-night. (I didn't hold it against The Helio Sequence) And I am kind of a sucker for the fusion of talent and technology. But, on the other hand, a drum track... Something about a real-live drumbeat is so much more comforting and emotional and raw than digital tracks. Not that I'm trying to get stuck on one minor thing. The tempos and beats that were there were groovy and entertaining. I just missed the sound of someone actually banging on something.
 And the sound issues... there was definitely some muddiness that pulled away from the show, but nothing I couldn't get over. Sometimes I just wanted to hear Eliza better, and I couldn't. I do think that both bands were just suffering from the acoustics of the venue. sk Net is a low-ceilinged, narrow, and long coffee bar. Not really the best place for big crisp sounds. The band itself seemed to be pretty tight and on with the backing tracks. At the very least, there weren't any major issues, and they sounded good. And like they were having fun. Well... Josh looked like he really wanted it to sound good. As Eston said, "Everyone listens to Josh but watches me." Makes sense.
I'm going to steer away from making any sort of comparissions. At this point, I'd end up saying they sounded a bit like the Rockfords, but I think I'd take that back in an hour. The song-writing was pretty catchy and hooky tho, and I don't recall being bored. I didn't record the whole show this time, and it's actually been a while since I've tried to write about something I didn't have recorded. Strange that it matters. But my memory sucks. The two videos I got were decent and, I think, a pretty good representation of the show.  There are definitely two distinct moods in the songs... the slower spacey kind of thing and then the more punk/pop kind of song to which I am more partial. Except for if I'm home alone lost in a project. Or really sad. Or on tons of drugs, perhaps.
But I digress.
What else? ...The lighting was actually really neat. Especially for such a small place. Basically, it was just cool that the lights were doing something other than shine. (cuz I'm pretty sure there wasn't anyone actually running lights.) Silent Weapons are playing with Holster at this next show too, and I'm looking forward to it. It'll be nice to go in having some kind of previous knowledge.
Uhmmm... and, to be completely honest, I wasn't really struck by the uniqueness of either band at the time, so it'll be cool to get to listen a bit closer this time without everything just being "new."
Dispite my earlier complaints... there are some good sounding songs on myspace...
Silent Weapons on myspace
Holster on myspace
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To be fair about the uniqueness statement... and, really, everything I said... I definitely wasn't giving 100% of my attention to the stage cuz there were other people there with whom I could interact. These people. So that was mostly nice. Except for the universal annoyance of ever trying to interact with anyone ever at a concert.
Or maybe that's just me.
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Sarah
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Judith
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Shirin (and Sarah again)
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And, dammit, I almost forgot this one. I jumped up on stage and took this from behind the band looking out. (obviously) I think it turned out to be pretty cool.
That's Jason - Holster's bass player - standing in the middle. Isn't it sweet when bands stay to watch bands who perform later? Yes. Yes, it is.
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ugh. I forgot this one too. Definitely the last photo this time...
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And, lastly, the couple of videos I have from the show.
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Labels: concerts, Eston, Judith, music, Sarah
hyperactive emo leprechaun
famous by association
I got a message on youtube from an intern at Paste Magazine...
He was writing an article about the upcoming Helio Sequence album and found my videos of the concert from a few weeks ago on youtube. At the bottom of the article are links to my videos. Cool!
Paste article
Labels: concerts, music
The Helio Sequence
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The Helio Sequence, somewhat amazingly, showed up in Charlotte this past weekend. They played between two bands I'd never heard of: Tiny Vipers and Minus the Bear. I didn't dig the Minus the Bear stuff on their myspace page, but I didn't care. $17.00 for The Helio Sequence right down the street... I couldn't pass that up.
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| Uhm... Tiny Vipers consisted of a pretty cute indie-looking girl with a Dolores O'Riordan voice and soft stepping fingers and a kinda geekycute guy playing backup accousitc and accent bass. They had some technical problems, but regardless, I just didn't get it. Maybe it was just wrong for this soft flowing duet to be playing the big stage at Tremont. Or maybe it just wasn't right for me. Or maybe they just weren't very good. I dunno, but it seemed pretty painful for everyone - performers included. They definitely left the stage before finishing their set. I felt bad for them, but something just wasn't there. The bass was superfluous, the guitar was too soft... it was just background music to showcase her voice. It almost had a Velvet Underground feel, but I asked the guy later, and he was just like, "Yeah, I know who they are..."
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So, enough of that...
I haven't seen The Helio Sequence since they opened for The Secret Machines and Kings of Leon in Asheville a couple of years ago. One of those bands that I remembered fondly but didn't think I'd ever get the chance to see again.
I remembered Benjamin's flailing arms, a bunch of groovy electronic beep-boops, and this really clean voice that I oddly enjoyed. When I bought the record (the, at the time, new Love and Distance), I really liked the upbeat first half but could rarely get into the more mellow second half. Luckily, for me, the show stuck to the live / first-half-of-the-record sound that I remembered...
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I went alone... there were lots of people younger than me. Also, I didn't really take any pictures b/c I was video-taping the whole thing. I tried taking this one photo with my left hand while a I taped with the right hand. It didn't work out so well.
I should say that I can see some people thinking that it's a waste to go to a live concert and focus more on taping the thing than living in the moment or whatever.
Fuck you.
Anyway. I don't think I could have been happier with the set. Yeah, longer would have been nicer, but the battery on my camera was dying and I didn't want to try to swap to my other camera. OK... there's a reason that taping a show might not be cool... Ugh.
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They played 4 out of the 5 songs from Love and Distance that I really like and none of the slower stuff that I didn't feel like hearing at a concert. I hadn't heard anything off their new album (Jan. 29th on SubPop), so I was also really really happy that they played a lot of new stuff. I can't figure out the name of the 3rd song they played, but they either played 4 or 5 from the new album, and I really liked all of them. Honestly, not too "new" when compared to the last album, but I still think it's good. (Am I changing tense improperly?)
You know, it's actually probably good that I was filming. If I had been free, I would have wanted to be moving much much more than the crowd in front of me. I guess that most everyone was there for Minus the Bear although I did hear some people calling out "Harmonica Song," so at least some people knew who The Helio Sequence were. Still. A bouncier crowd would have been nice.
And the lighting... There was one moment towards the beginning of the show where it looked like they might have had someone doing lights, but no one really was. I think I remember liking the light show from Asheville, but nothing was really going on here. But it was fine. It was bright enough for me to see the band, and that's what I really wanted. Benjamin is a freakin' machine on the drumkit. I suppose the both are, really, but watching him play the drums is so much fun. And he looks like he's having a blast too. Fantastic. :)
Plus Brandon and Benjamin were both really nice when I asked them to sign my record. For some reason, Brandon thanked me...
Then Minus the Bear came on... I listened for a minute while I waited to get the 2nd signature and left after I did. They were fine, but I didn't think they were very special. And I had things to do.
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So... watch the show or download the mp3's... they only played about 47 minutes, and I think I did an ok job of recording and cutting, so hopefully it will be entertaining. There is a little bit too much bass, so maybe turn that down a bit.
I probably would have not really cared that much when their new record came out in January had I not seen them again. But now I'll be pre-ordering for sure.
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Labels: concerts, music
The new Radiohead...
Radiohead suckno, Wait, they don't. Labels: music
Femme Fatale
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They did this well... figured I might as well toss it up here too... enjoy...
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Labels: Allison, Eston, music
sap
This annoys me. I had wanted to make something much more personal and transparent. But I can't sing. And what I could do just didn't match with anything. And the words sucked... there was only an idea. And then the guitar thing didn't work at all, so I just stuck at the very end. And read that stupid poem over top what I had. I wonder what it's like to be good at this shit.
Oh. I also am pretty sure that each piece of this should be taken out and worked with separately. Perhaps one of my more musically inclined friends can do something about that.
sapLabels: filboyd studge, music
Trarth
chickity check it... Just when you think everything sucks...
Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood show up on the Oprah Winfrey show.
See? There is a God. Labels: music
The Fiery Furnaces
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Despite a plethora of cool releases in the recent past, (read: NIN, Spoon, White Stripes, Interpol.....), I've not really done a very good job of following music lately. We'll chalk it up to a lack of funds. But now Continental Airlines and Chase Bank USA have joined forces and given me the ability to earn my way back to Amsterdam by buying a bunch of crap I don't need. Or crap I do need like food and tires on my car.
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Regardless, my most recent frequent-flyer-miles purchase involved a pair of tickets for the triumphant return of The Fiery Furnaces to my musically shallow city. Last time I got to see this band was a few months prior to the release of 2006's Bitter Tea. I went in a Fiery Furnaces virgin and came out struck more by the opening band (deadboy and the Elephantmen) than by FF. This time, however, I'd let Bitter Tea sit in the car stereo for a few days, I had my recording stuff, and I was prepared. Hell, I got there almost an hour before doors opened b/c I forgot this was Charlotte, and I thought that people might be lined up for the show...
but that's neither here nor there. dios. The Fiery Furnaces. I will now talk about them both.
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Opening band was a pleasant surprise. While it wasn't my thing as much as deadboy was, dios was a lot of fun and turned out to be a fantastic choice as an opener for The Fiery Furnaces.
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Their website, however, is fucking terrible... The lead singer reminded me (quite a lot, actually) of a South Carolina band called A Decent Animal, but that's about all I can do for comparisons. Everything was super-tight with a fantastic amount of ambient noise, and the drummer was a fucking BLAST to watch. It was just the right mix of painful groove and groove rock that neither put me in a mosh pit nor put me to sleep.
While not a jam band by really any stretch of the imagination, it almost could have been. I had a hell of a time noticing when most songs ended and the next began. I even recorded the thing, and I've been struggling fruitlessly listening and re-listening trying to find where to chop the 40-odd minute set up into individual tracks. It's not that everything sounded exactly the same, but everything fused together so well that pinpointing that moment where things changed is just proving to be impossible for me. Not that it really matters. I really enjoyed the set, and I would definitely go see them again. If anyone who reads this knows this band and would like to help me track the show, I'd be grateful... I'm here.
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<-------------
dios breakdown takes next to no time at all... the stage crew gets everything ready for the main act, and Allison checks my equipment for me. (that is not a euphemism)
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While waiting we meet new friend and fellow Orange Peel/Arcade Fire/Sonic Youth/Pearl Jam fan Darryl... but what's up with everyone and the earplugs?
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And, so then... The Fiery Furnaces
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Caveat: **If you want a really good review of The Fiery Furnaces, I implore you to check out Scott Shupe's review here on CrazyTalk.**
I'm just going to end up rambling and not really saying anything meaningful.
So here we go... As I mentioned, I'd been spinning Bitter Tea in the car for a while, and so I thought I was totally prepared. I was going to know the songs and the words and the beats, and I was going to be soooooooooooo cool. Then they actually started playing... "Little Thatched Hut"... a song I definitely know... kicked off the first half of the show, which ended up being entirely devoted to songs off the new record. And I hardly recognized it. Bitter Tea clocks in right at 80 minutes, and they played a pretty healthy number of tracks off the record... plus another equally long "set" devoted to older stuff (and one brand new song). The entire show was almost exactly as long as the record. Everything was blisteringly fast. Combined with Eleanor's voice often being submerged under the sonic wave sent forth by the rest of the band (I had no idea Jason Loewenstein was playing with them!!), I found myself completely lost.
But that was great. And hopefully part of their plan. Very little stage banter... No breaks between songs. Just continuous sound after sound after sound. Although I was trying to pay attention to my computer and searching for familiarity in the music, I couldn't help but getting lost in everything they were throwing out to the crowd. Every single song raced off the stage like the damn place was on fire... lyrics were left out, but not Eddie-Vedder-I'm-Trying-But-I'm-Too-Drunk-To-Remember-All-My-Words style... it was all very calculated.
Also not a lot of stage antics or really much movement at all. The whole show was 100% about the sound. You really just couldn't get away from it - there was nothing to really distract you from just being there and listening... actually... I guess I take that back a little bit. I have no idea what in the world the point of this was, but Eleanor and the lead singer from dios did end up tossing a softball back-and-forth near the end of the show. Dustin (comic-book guy) Harbin was there begging for the softball but was met with a simple yet firm shake of the head that said simply, "I don't think so." She's smart.
So, yeah. I liked it. Not that I've become a huge Fiery Furnaces fan now or anything, but I'm very very glad that I got to see them again with a little bit of knowledge in my head. I'll be picking up Blueberry Boat the next time I see it at Manifest, and the next time they're at The Visulite (God, please don't go to the Neighborhood Theater...), I'm totally there.
And now I have to completely rethink my stance on hating bands that tour with two drummers.
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I really did not intend for this to be so long... I did record the full audio of the show as well as some video. I was standing next to this girl when Eleanor handed her a copy of the setlist, and she was nice enough to let me copy it down. That turned out to be a Godsend as I desperately needed that when I was tracking out this show.
Anyway. For the media-minded of us... (If I'm wrong about the names, let me know, and I'll fix it)
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Labels: Allison, concerts, music
This really is kind of getting out of hand. I think I used to have a life, but I might be wrong... Regardless... here are these things...
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I was thinking about that girl from the Cosby Show singing this song in High Fidelity... I think they pulled it off quite nicely... although I'm really baffled how I, as the suggester, did not receive a dedication.
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The light's kind of shitty in that one... sadly... naturally other people are more thoughtful than myself... so when I got up to torture people on stage, the lights got turned on... which is also sad... kind of. I think everything would have been a lot better if the only thing you could see was the light bouncing off my head onto the mirror ball.
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I'm available for parties. But only ones where I get to jump out of a cake.
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So... there's that... but, more importantly, there's this. I've never had anyone beat in number-of-times-doing-karaoke, but I think it's actually statistically more rare to see Brooke Moody on stage... I think Charlie intentionally fucked this up the first time just to make the moment last... Much to the chagrin of the guy at the bar...
What's sad is that there's a mild chance that I actually have interesting things to say... But, fuck that... I have karaoke videos. Labels: Allison, Brooke, Judith, music
The Arcade Fire
Last week, I didn't go to work past Tuesday. I, instead, hung out exclusively with people I like. Partially in a town I like. Partially at a concert I liked. Doing all that liking was scary. Here are some photos. I'm saying everything that I type right now in the back of my head as though I were Hank Hill. That is also scary. I do a terrible Hank Hill.
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These are pictures of me getting destroyed in the new expansion for Apples to Apples.
By Kennedy.
And Allison.
Also... the comic book store that's on Biltmore (or Broadway? I can't ever remember which side of the street is called which thing unless I'm there) sucked. Except that they had Apples to Apples. You shouldn't work in a comic book store if you aren't well-acquainted with Bone.
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And this... dammit... seems like there's always a picture of Bryan's ass whenever we take pictures of anything. And not to compare Brooke to Bryan's ass in any way whatsoever... but the picture of a person taking a picture of the person taking the picture of... Gay. Like Bryan's ass.
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Not that I have anything against gay people...
Of course. |
We kind of pushed it a little too close with the eating and missed half of the first song by The National. Which was annoying for me. But not as annoying as for other people. As far as I know. I had gotten the new album prior to the show, which made things much much better since they mostly played new stuff. Musically or whatever, they weren't extremely deep or cutting-edge, so knowing the songs helped a ton and made it a lot of fun. The dude can scream. I was surprised. Especially since I described the new record (multiple times) as perfect sitting-at-home-alone-on-the-couch-in-the-dark music.
The lighting, however, was really really low... While I have a few photos, I couldn't even get the lighting up enough in Photoshop to make them worthwhile, so I will spare you.
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And then the Arcade Fire... The setlist was really really good. Lots of new stuff, some old stuff... and very few slow sad-bastard songs.
We were sitting right in the middle in the 2nd balcony row, which was ok for me, but not for those who require glasses.
Nor, apparently, was it ok for my camera and my stupid shakey hands. Nothing really came out that great at all, but some of them at least weren't completely terrible...
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I can play a C-Major scale on all of the above instruments... Yes, I'm that amazing.
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I like how the screaming guy is pretty much in focus. If everyone on stage would have just stayed still the entire time, all of my pictures would have been as amazing as my C-scales.
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<-- Ahhhh... young love...
(Is that really two gay jokes in one post? Maybe I do have something against gay people, and I just don't know it.)
hmmm... -->
And why does everyone else look happy, and I look like a retard? There. I made fun of retarted people instead of gay people that time.
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And, lastly, here's the first encore song that Arcade Fire did. The girl sitting in front of me left for some reason, so I was able to jump down a row and use the balcony rail to hold the camera still.
Well... kind of still... Labels: Allison, Brooke, concerts, Jen, Kennedy, music, Thomas
here's a thing that I may have posted before when I was working on it alone... but I don't remember. This is me making it happen (albeit poorly) with two of my best friends. I really feel like playing it again now, but such is not possible.
Labels: filboyd studge, music, Scott, Thomas
The Ministry of Love
Originally posted over at CrazyTalk.
 Those guys over there in that photo. They're The Ministry of Love. And, perhaps, the only good thing for which I've used myspace that hasn't landed me in trouble with my girlfriend or the cops. Or Homeland Security.
I've got a soft spot in what's left of my heart for a pair of fools getting together and trying to make music. read: The Helio Sequence, deadboy and the Elephantmen, and, I suppose, The White Stripes. One fine evening I found myself clicking a random comment from The Helio Sequence's entry into myspace land... (yes, I'm *that* lame, but at least I didn't do it because their myspace name was LilGirlie16XXX or something.) Despite their description, what graced my ears was anything but "a lawnmower running over a herd of dolphins." And I should know... that thing about the cops earlier had nothing to do with LilGirlie16XXX... Hailing from, where else, Seattle The Ministry of Love are TC Brownell and Aaron Roden - just a couple of guys trying to see what they can do with a room full of musical what-nots. From the opening riffs of "Your Master Plan" through the admittedly typical closure of "RAD" I was drawn into the experiment on myspace like... hmmm... butter dripping off a hot biscuit? No... like tears to spilt milk. Yeah. Like that. Shit. Just to prove how cool this is, I opened a Bass when I walked in the door, realized I had the MoL CD in my hand fresh from the FedUps guy, set the Bass down, came to my computer, listened twice, and starting writing this. Thank God Scott taught me to use a coozie. Now. What was I talking about? ... Right. These guys.  I know I started this mess out trying to be all googly over two-man bands cuz, like, we're connected, man, but the first thing I thought of while clicking through the myspace song links was a fantastic (although now defunct) band from Louisville called Reading. (Which I also highly recommend - introduced to me by Mr. Dustin Edge.) I'm sorry, but I can't really give another comparison as I find the sound of the two to be so very similar. There's this fantastic clarity of muddeledness (it's a word - look it up) in the sound of the plucked strings that rolls right into the yelly vocals. All backed by driving and groovy drumbeats. It speaks to me. It's music I can understand and the kind of music I'd like to make if I had any talent to go along with my desire. A little trippy, a little punk rock, a little rock-and-roll. I might prefer to be stoned if I saw them live, but I'm pretty damned sure it wouldn't be necessary in order to be thoroughly entertained. And I'd probably prefer to be stoned regardless. So... take it or leave it. I am now through listen #5 and Bass #2, and I continue to be drawn into the layers and tightly woven and yet oh so sovereign melodies. The more I drink, however, the louder iTunes becomes, and the more I expect the crazy lady who lives next to me to start banging on the wall even though it's not even midnight. wtf. Soon I'll have to depart from my new found vice. ("Hey you, get off my cloud. Get off my cloud, you crazy bitch!" poetry... pure poetry.) Before I retire my click-klack of the keys for the comforting simple click of the mouse, I should toss in a little more honesty. Scary. Yes, I know. As best I can tell, these couple of guys in their room with their musical what-nots aren't being produced by anybody. And, even though they're from Seattle, I'm pretty sure Isaac Brock actually had nothing to do with this. It's just them with, perhaps, a little help from their friends. I managed to bug them long enough about wanting the record since the myspace songs aren't downloadable that Aaron sent me a nice burned copy complete with hand labeling with a Sharpie whose days were numbered. But it was a trade. I got the record provided I told people that this band is rad. What I didn't tell him was that, if the record sucked, I'd be mailing it back to them mixed into a nice dolphin stew. It does not, however, suck. The record is rad. The Ministry of Love.
"Queens of the Stone age got drunk in a really shitty bar and later got into a fight with The White Stripes and then had a night cap at Pavement's house."
The Ministry of Love. It doesn't suck. It's rad. And it's free to try. Thirty day money back guarantee. Labels: music
ahhh... jambands...
for some reason, I get a newsletter from livedownloads.com
You can buy live Grateful Dead or Widespread Panic or Stringcheese... you get the idea.
on the left of the email is a list of the top 25 singles downloaded. What the hell is it with jambands and covers? And why do, apparently, so many people like covers more than the band's own songs? It's just strange. That's all I'm saying. Here's a selection of the top 25:
- Band on the Run - Umphrey's McGee
- Little Wing - Widespread Panic
- November Rain - The Disco Biscuits
- Baba O'Riley - Umphrey's McGee
- Saftey Dance - Umphrey's McGee
- Waste - Dave Matthews (this IS a Phish song, right?)
- Thin Air - Umphrey's McGee (I'm going out on a limb here and assuming this is the Pearl Jam song and not some other song with the same name.
- Wish You Were Here (what the hell is up with this band)
- Lithium - The Disco Biscuits (Nirvana?)
- You Can't Always Get What You Want - The Disco Biscuits (Stones)
- The Song Remains the Same - Umphrey's McGee
- Devil Went Down to Georgia - String Cheese Incident
- Don't Fear the Reaper - moe
- When the Levee Breaks - Galactic
That's damn near 3/5 of the list... Given I'm only pretty sure about a couple of those, there are some others that I've never heard of on there. That's just... strange. Their own songs must suck... Labels: music
from NIN.com
:):):)
Posted on [12_13_2006] by trentreznor
Is it possible I am actually finished writing and recording a new nine inch nails record? Apparently so. We begin mixing in January!
Juggling fifteen all-new tracks around. Testing sequences. No leftovers from "with teeth". Highly conceptual. Quite noisy. Fucking cool.
Labels: music
Dustin Edge - new record
My recent (unedited) post from CrazyTalk
So. CrazyTalk. It still exists. It's been a while, but now I feel "back." Seems like all I've done recently is follow Pearl Jam around the globe with a side of Radiohead and haven't had much of interest to say to CrazyTalkers. But now I do, and I'm really excited about it. No terrible youtube videos or dates with underaged rap singers tho... just a record.
Here I sit in RJ Gator's after having ordered one beer too many. Dollar pints are amazing... especially when it's Bass on draft, but having 4 during lunch is probably one too many. And I left my earphones at home, so I sit here writing this without the benefit of actually hearing this thing about which I'm so excited. But here goes...
It's been almost two years since I've seen Dustin Edge perform live. Two years and counting. But now, finally, some new shit has come to light, man. Just shy of three weeks until the two year anniversary of the break-up (*ahem* I mean "hiatus") of Cast Iron Filter, Dustin's first solo effort hit the virtual shelves... on CD AND limited edition Vinyl. :)
With 10 tracks clocking in at just under 27 minutes, this new record (A Forest Through the Trees) blows by in a flurry of electronica, punk rock and a touch of emo hanging around an opaque backdrop of alt-country or Americana or whatever the hell people are calling it these days. And hopefully that's as much as I'll sound like a real music review.
I'm trying to remain unbiased about this, but, to be honest, it's really really difficult. I was lucky enough to see this go from a few random tracks recorded in the living room to 18 nearly complete songs and finally pared back to the 10 that made the cut. So I'm not completely unbiased. But I like to think I can tell if something sucks. One thing that sucked is that there was one song that was pretty good... save for this little guitar lick that, when I heard it, ALWAYS caused me to start singing Shania Twain... "Whose bed have your boots been under?" That sucked. Aside from that, no sucking.
As for what actually made it on the record... The opening still confuses me a bit with the pseudo-tribal drums, but that soon passes, the song sucks me in, and I'm there to stay. It takes a quick look at the lyrics to realize that the album opens with a love song... The next two songs have the dubious rotating honor of being my favorite song on the album. "Videomotion" when I'm sober and "The Ideal Citizen" when I'm not. These two ramp up the energy and tempo of the record considerably and lead into the most raw of the ten tracks... Once you blast through "Shrieks of Apathy" (everything in its place!) you realize you're driving 25 over and your throat hurts from trying to sing along. Even though you don't know the words. All three songs make me want to turn the volume up... even tho I know it doesn't go any louder by the time I finish "Videomotion."
Almost as a response to my irresponsibility, the album segues into a trio of introspective mood songs giving you the chance to come back down and chill a bit. While the first of the three is definitely my third favorite song on the record and the instrumental is the perfect length for a nice break, the third of these three songs is the only song on the album that I don't particularly care for. It's not bad, but if there's one I was going to skip, it'd be this one. So we've got a 90 second instrumental that's bookended by this pair of take-it-easy songs and the whole thing together seems to serve as a bridge between two halves of the album. Like, remember Cooleyhighharmony and how it had Allegro and Allegretto or something? mmmm....
This time, instead of that heavy-handed division, A Forest... cranks back up with another 2.5 minute screamer. Screamer as in that's what I try to do in my car since I can't actually sing. Even though I don't really know the words. After the screaming, we're out with another "nice" song taking us into the album closer and the longest song on the record. With a Velvet Underground or Sonic Youth-ish outro, "Symmetry Pursuit X" lulls you out and lets you down easy. All-in-all, a very very satisfying trip and one that I'm very happy and even proud to have been a minor part of.
Oh. If you check out the May 16 entry on Dusin's journal page, there's an early version of a track that didn't quite make the cut... I like tagging that one on the end of the record in iTunes... (speaking of, I hear rumours that the album will soon be available on iTunes...)
So now that I've said my inaccurate words and tried to convey some of my excitement... albeit very poorly... I should say that I feel like I've been around this record for too long ton convery my real sense of exciement about it. There were several delays with artwork and other production issues, so it seems like forever since the thing was actually finished. I've had it in my hands for months, so I find myself fighting with myself to not sound like I'm writing an advertisement. This is just a really damned good [first] record, and I hope other people give it a list. I've missed the atmosphere surrounding Cast Iron Filter, and I've missed the music, but Dustin makes no attempt here to cash in on what he helped create during the CIF stint. Nor does he make any apologies for going his own direction. I don't think this is the best Dustin Edge record that will be released, but it's exciting to see someone who's really talented find their own footing and their own voice without, necessarily, being constrained by the "what do my bandmates/fans/potential fans think?" question.
While my excitement for the newness of this record has certainly faded, I still think it's really good music. And my excitement to see/hear what other people think is at its absolute peak.
I've littered this post with some links... mostly to some places where you can listen for free... here they are one more time if you'd like. Enjoy!
http://www.myspace.com/dustinedge
http://www.dustinedge.com/listen.htm
http://www.dustinedge.com/read.htm (find the May 16 entry) Labels: music
Pearl Jam in Hawaii
I saw this band last night... I may have already mentioned it. They're called "Pearl Jam." And they're fucking great. Met some amazing amazing people and managed to trade my Row 20 Stage Right tickets for Row 12 dead. fucking. center. Show was almost three hours... not including Kings of Leon opening. Last time I saw them, I left halfway into their show b/c The Helio Sequence and The Secret Machines were FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR better. This time, however, they nailed it. And Ed sang the last song with them. And the guy next to me gave me a little puff on his nice Hawaian... errm... doobie. Yes, doobie. Shared some beer rounds with the guys on my other side too. Very very excellent. That's all for now. Because I have to fly now. And hopefully eventually float back down for a smoke in a tree. Labels: concerts, music, Pearl Jam
A Forest
My friend's record is finally finished...
and still very much worth listening to...
www.dustinedge.com
Pre-Order now... only two more weeks... Labels: music
That song "Monday" by Wilco just came on my iTunes...
every time that happens, I just want to skip it and go listen to Jay singing with Uncle Tupelo instead.
(N.W.O. from Psalm 69 was next... strange back-to-back songs. Now I want to listen to Just One Fix.) Labels: music
hilarious.
I'd like to say I've had this idea in my head and that it's been trying to get out or some other artsy bullshit. The truth, however, is just that I tried really hard to make myself try to think/feel of something so that I could try to do this. I imagine myself making the same face that I make when I'm trying to take a shit and the shit is just a little too big for my asshole, so it kind of hurts but feels really good... and, when you're done, you're still just left with a piece of shit in a bowl. At the moment, this piece is still kind of dangling... half in the water and just waiting to fall. I have to be really careful when taking these auditory dumps b/c the lady who lives next to me has super hearing and bangs on the wall every time she hears the splash.
hmmm... redeeming qualities of this post... there's got to be something....
oh! That's a Modest Mouse poster over top of the computer. I feel bad for subjecting it to such torture... There's a Pearl Jam concert poster on the other wall tho, so I'm not being biased as to which bands get tortured. That issue of Time or whatever it was with Eddie on the cover when he got all pissed off is hanging in that room too. I'm such a fucking dweeb.
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Download the floating log in the bowl
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The Creative Process going horribly horribly wrong...
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Labels: filboyd studge, music
finally...
I got around to playing Charlotte's Web.
After I had to come into work on Saturday.
But, damn, it was a nice day. And I played it alone.
And I found a nice pair of sunglasses... tried to return them to the guys in front of me, but the glasses didn't belong to them.
But I learned some stuff.
- Playing with light orange discs whose color is that of the leaves on the ground sucks. And is kind of stupid.
- Sparks beer/energy drink things are TERRIBLE.
- Especially the ones with extra alcohol.
- But you can get very mildly buzzed if you have two in less than an hour.
- The wind might feel good, but it is not your friend.
- +11 actually isn't actually that awful. (the group in front of me were all hovering around that score as well)
That's all. I already knew everything else.
Oh. And, after about 4 hours dealing with travelocity's crashing website and their (extremely extremely nice and patient, yet) not very helpful customer service, I managed to book my flight to Hawaii. Somehow the final price managed to go up $40 during the time spent dealing with their technical bullshit. And my return flight is almost 3 hours later than I wanted.
But I can't REALLY complain. So I spend an extra $13/hour to stay in Hawaii a little longer. There are worse things.
Oh #2. This Friday there's a Nirvana cover band opening for a Pearl Jam cover band down the street from my house. Hilarious. I'm so there. Labels: Disc Golf, music, Pearl Jam
fun with iTunes
I stole this from here:
his was much cooler than mine, but I liked the idea, so here we go...
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool...
(I used Shuffle instead of Party Shuffle, cuz the Party thing takes the fun out of it)
Opening Credits
Walking to Do - Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
Waking Up
Wasting Time - Kid Rock (good lord... I'm a pimp; you can check my stats...)
First Day At School
The Walk (Everything Mix) - The Cure
Falling In Love
NYC - Interpol
Fight Song
Sweet Emotion - Aerosmith (really? I have that on my computer? At least it's old school I suppose)
Breaking Up
E.I. - Nelly (this is going so badly...)
Prom
Marmalade Maggie - The Merediths (that works)
Life Is Good
(New Wave) Polly - Nirvana (cool!)
Mental Breakdown
Die Eier Von Satan - Tool
Driving
To All the Girls - Beastie Boys
Flashback
Heart In A Cage - The Strokes
Getting Back Together
The People of the Secret - The Helio Sequence
Wedding
Private Hell (Live) - Misery Loves Company (wow. :))
Paying The Dues
Oh! Darling - The Beatles
The Night Before The War
I Think I Smell a Rat - The White Stripes
Final Battle
Cool Scene - The Dandy Warhols
Moment of Triumph
Gring - Alice in Chains
Death Scene
Hotwax - Beck
Funeral Song
Androgynous Mind - Sonic Youth
End Credits
Very Ape - Nirvana
Two Nirvana and no Pearl Jam? hmmmm...
all-in-all, not terrible... could have been better, could have been worse. Who would have thought that Misery Loves Company would 1) still be on my computer and 2) have the most perfect fit of any of the other songs? Labels: music
mix-tape
My most recent mix of songs that sound cool to me and may or may not put something that I think into words that are better than mine.
Interpol - The New
The French Kicks - Better Time
Joy Division - Isolation
Thom Yorke - And It Rained All Night
David Bowie - Breaking Glass
Sonic Youth - Kim Gordon & The Arthur Doyle Hand Cream
Death Cab For Cutie - The Sound of Settling
Nathan Asher & the Infantry - Turn Up the Faders
A Decent Animal - Don't Look Down
Okkervil River - No Key No Plan
The Cure - The End of the World
Scott Carney - Sweet Bloody Murder
Pearl Jam - In Hiding
Peter, Bjorn, and John - Young Folks
Talking Heads - Pulled Up
Dismemberment Plan - Ellen and Ben
Belaire - Through the Wire
Spoon - Stay Don't Go
Deadboy and the Elephantmen - Stop, I'm Already Dead
Eels - Everything's Gonna Be Cool Labels: music
well shit. Now it doesn't matter... It's sold out anyway. I should have figured... probably been sold out for a while, but I just found out it was happening yesterday. Kind of like how I missed the Ministry show... EVEN THOUGH I'M *supposedly* ON THE FREAKIN' MAILING LIST. Maybe I'll just go and see if anyone's selling tickets or if I can just get in regardless. Damn. Did not want the desicion to be made that way.
but, on the other hand, good for Charlotte for selling out a show that damned well SHOULD have sold out! :) Labels: music
Is it hypocritical of me to complain that good bands never come to Charlotte and then skip out on the Melvins show at the Milestone b/c I think I'd rather save that $16 to go towards the Hawaii trip? If I don't go to this show, I can't complain about Charlotte music for at least, like, a month. Labels: music
Pearl Jam in Amsterdam
It seemed to work last time... so I'll try again. These are the select few that didn't look like total complete shite from the Pearl Jam show day... at least the ones I haven't already posted.
I apologize now for the copious amounts of blur.
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These two were in front of the Neuwe Kirche (spelling?) before we left for the day... they're dumb, but also kind of funny. Kind of.
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And these... These are the golden tickets... and the pink wristband... which was SUPPOSED to get us way up front... but landed us in the middle/front instead. dammit.
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Everybody. In blue. I almost didn't put this cuz of how blurry it is, but it's the best one, sadly, that I got of the whole band.
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Eddie doing something weird... I think that's his signal for "Give me all of your money."
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And Ed and Jeff...
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Also was close to not making it, but there were so many of Mike that were almost good... I decided this one would go. Even though there's no "action." As it were.
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Lots of attempts to get something good of Matt. But, damn, drummers are difficult... This sucks but was the best I had. Matt and Stone's back.
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If this was a LITTLE less blurry, it would be really awesome. Pretty classic Jeff pose regardless.
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Another, shittier, full band shot. But Ed's wearing the george bush jacket and, if I recall, just took to stomping on the bushy mask that just got thrown on the floor. EXCELLENT. :)
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Eddie and Jeff again... mostly b/c Ed's actually kind of clear in this one.
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Mike finally decided to come hang out on our side (I'm sorry, but Stone is not as much fun to watch)... so this is Mike. Along with that guy who keeps making the band sound worse. grrr...
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Labels: Allison, Amsterdam, concerts, music, Pearl Jam
driving
Yellow Ledbetter is a great fall driving song with the windows down when you're not trying to speed along TOO quickly...
for that matter, almost all of Lost Dogs Disc 1 fits that criteria. Labels: music, Pearl Jam
KMFDM
Friday the 13th, and I've managed to secure a pair of tickets to some industrial music down the street in a nice dark dirty loud club. yeah. KMFDM. I remembered they was fun, but I'd forgotten how much fun. And not really any bad luck befell me. As far as I can recall anyway...
I wasn't too psyched to see CombiChrist as the opener as I'd never heard them and any band with an "Army" is kind of lame, but they put on a GREAT show. When's the last time you were at a show with two drummers, a DJ, and a lead screamer? Cool. Their lyrics mostly sucked... although some were trying to be poignant... I think there was one about how rape is bad. Duh. (Disclaimer: Schmakt Dot Com says, "Don't rape people.") They also came out wearing masks... which is also kind of lame... but they didn't totally gimick it (can I use "gimick" as a verb?). Masks were tossed into the crowd after the 1st song and weren't used again. I fear that the energy at the live show will not transfer to a recording well at all, but I still might pick up the record if I find it for cheap. Photos were kind of difficult, but here are a few...
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Drummer on the left (on the kit)
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The whole band... mostly
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Drummer on the right (on the stand-up djimbae (or something))
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Oh yeah... and here's us before we went...
Allison looked pretty hot.
I kind of look like a muppet.
And then there was KMFDM... I had a ton of cool picturs of Sascha K, but it was mostly because he looked like badass with his blonde mini-mohawk, so whatever I took looked kind of cool. Terrible time with Jules b/c he was behind the pole, Steve wouldn't stand still... and, well, there are always problems with drummers. Sorry. That was a waste of time.
The show was fucking fabulous tho. Sascha and Lucia both sounded great, and the mix was really really good too. With Allison in tow, I managed to stay out of the mosh pit. Which meant I could actually watch the show more. And hanging out with her drinking and watching the funny people was definitely awesome. But there's something about going to a concert and not coming home with at least one major bruise that doesn't sit right with me... They played a pretty damned long Set 1 with a 3-song encore and then another single-song 2nd encore. I was, first, surprised that it wasn't another full 2nd set as it wasn't THAT late and then, again, surprised with the 2nd encore. That was cool. Especially since people started leaving after the 1st set. Whatever.
They played Hau Ruck, which is the only thing I REALLY wanted to hear. Figured they'd play it and they did, so I was glad. Got versions of Light and A Drug Against War as well. Not on the top of the must-hear list, but still cool nonetheless. Oh. And we sang happy birthday to Jules. He seemed happy. I definitely would have gone back for a 2nd night show had there been one. Or even travelled somewhere if it was closer than Atlanta. And not Atlanta. Anyway. Photos. Here.
I was going to caption those, but I don't think it's necessary.
Enjoy. Labels: Allison, concerts, music
Last night I FINALLY watched Nirvana's Live Tonight Only or whatever it's called. It's been in my house for ages, and I just never got around to it. Mostly b/c it's on VHS, and VHS sucks. But it was pretty freakin' awesome. So sad to not find that kind of thing around here. At least as far as I know.
Also watched Live Unplugged again... *eh*
and The Phamily's (Family Force 5) little DVD thing... mostly sucks, but it gets a small number of points for humor
and watched Blind Melon's performance at Woodstock... awesome, but, damn, the drummer is kind of lame. (I can't remember his name)
And then I watched the DVD I made of filboyd studge performances. worst. dvd. ever. Labels: music
Pearl Jam vinyl
I finally got the Pearl Jam vinyl today.
and, holy shit... the booklet is enormous and looks amazing.
Well worth it just to see all the artwork really big.
I wish the sticker on the center of the record was different from the top of the CD tho...
regardless. Very cool. Even tho the package is a little bit banging up after being dealt with by the gentle hands of the USPS... Labels: music, Pearl Jam
clap your hands say george
I made up some new words to an old song this morning. It's awesome. I should join The Coup.
If you hate george w bush then clap your hands!
If you hate george w bush then clap your hands!
If you think that's he's a fuck-up
and he doesnt' know what to do...
If you really love your country
but george w says, "Fuck you!"
If you really hate george bush then clap your hands! Labels: george bush, music
dead
Syd Barrett.... dammit. :(
So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell,
blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?
And did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?
How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have we found? The same old fears.
Wish you were here. Labels: music
So I wasn't going to talk about this... at least not yet... but now I suppose that I am.
[Deleted crap that has to do with my personal "life" but isn't the point of this.] and so THEN, an hour later, she said, "But I LOVE CourtTV!" and everyone went back to sleep. I guess you would have had to have been there.
Then, on Friday, Thomas, Scott, and myself were invited to go check out the ending stages of Dustin's recording at Orphan Studios. We also might have been asked to scream on one track... we also might have been asked to sing on another track. I may or may not be the best singer in the house. Well. Actually, I am. Which is cool b/c I can't actually hit "notes" as it were. But I have charisma. Which, to some people, isn't an aural quality. Those people are wrong. In and around our "contributions" we got to hear bits and pieces of the near-final cuts of the tracks to make the record. And before we left, we were given a pre-mastered copy of the songs and, really, omfg. iirc irl w00t & wtf. I am very very. very. stoked for this thing to finally get finished and come out. Admittedly, I still haven't picked up the new Sonic Youth b/c I was poor, but I'm pretty sure this one will be in the Top 10 of 2006 list. And 2006 looks to be a VERY good year. Even though the Tool album disappointed me a little. And it might be too trendy to dig the new Muse record, but I do anyway.
And... God... that was terrible. The only thing I'm trying to say is, "This record is really fucking good."
www.dustinedge.comLabels: music
Pearl Jam in D.C.
Driving is fun, sometimes.
But expensive... damn.
I thought I'd have enough time to listen to all of the Pearl Jam studio albums before I actually got to Annapolis. But that didn't work out. Luckily, I got to skip the last few songs on Binaural and only play the ones I liked on Riot Act, thereby leaving the new S/T as the only record I didn't spin on the drive up. Awaiting me after the 390 minute drive were three nights of... well... debauchery...
Starting with what is, apparently, the best Mexican in Annapolis (i.e. Margaritas)... downed a pair of those and then downtown for some bar hopping and expensive beers. Unfortunately, I have very few stories to tell. There was one girl who kept eying everyone who walked in the door. I thought Kennedy had her nailed for sure. You know... so to speak. But it didn't work. She's a bitch. If I recall correctly, the cab ride home was uneventful but let to one member of our party redecorating the bathroom. After which, we went to the dock with some sweet sweet Coronas and talked about things that were wrong with the world and then yelled at Scott by way of this new fangled thing called a "telephone"......
While the first full day afforded Tyler and myself the opportunity to saunter around downtown Annapolis, eat at Ruth and Chic's Deli, and search for national secrets at the Naval Academy,
night two saw only Kennedy and myself heading back to downtown Annapolis. Dinner and drinks on the water. It was very romantic. Until I posed the question, "Dude, the Pearl Jam show is TOMORROW, right? Not tonight?" At which point stomachs sank and cellphones began ringing. And noone answered. I resorted to calling ticketmaster... "Uhhh... what time is the Pearl Jam show in DC? Cool. That's tomorrow, right? Thanks." So that was nice. And allowed us to go bar hopping again. And for me to play poorly at Cricket (Darts, not the British thing) yet still roar to victory. Twice. dum-dum-dum. And that was, pretty much that. For the first time in, like, 8 months or something, I actually watched a little late night TV and then took to bed. (Has anyone ever heard of some guy called Jon Stewart and the Daily Show? That shit's funny.)
....... Day Three. Tyco arrives with plenty of time to get ready, chill in DC, and get to the show. Yet we somehow manage to dick around Annapolis long enough going to McD's and the bank that we had to go back to the house to refill the beer cups. And get my phone. But this time we remembered to toss the bottles of Captain and Skyy into the trunk.  Finished the drinks on the way to the train station, refilled, and got onboard. Got to the MCI Center a couple hours ahead of time and decided to just wait in line... and take turns walking back and forth to McDonald's bathroom to refill the beer cups. Two Yuenglengs were casualties of war as we were forced to leave them behind to get inside quickly enough to snag some show posters. And thank God. These are seriously sweet. (and on ebay for $150?!?!?!?!? wtf.) From the show, all I can really recall is screaming. A lot. And I now have a bunch of bruises from something. Opening with Release was badass and exactly what I was hoping for. Despite the presence of Betterman, Small Town, Man of the Hour, and Come Back, it was a great show. Encore 1 was mildly disappointing (Man of the Hour, Masters of War, Small Town, Come Back, Alive), but the last encore more than made up for it with Comatose, Leash, Fuckin' Up, and Yellow Ledbetter. I haven't heard YL live before. Nice. I guess that's all I'm really saying.
Oh. Except that Wasted Reprise -> Life Wasted was frickin' beautiful.
oh yeah... also... that I really did not enjoy My Morning Jacket. I don't know if it was the fault of the sound guy, the beer, the band, or my aural preference. I thought they were decent on Austin City Limits, but I don't like "Z," and I didn't enjoy the live sound. Although it looked like they were probably doing cool stuff on stage. It may have also been due to the fact that I REALLY wanted Sonic Youth to be opening instead.
This has been an exercise in indulgence and I dearly hope noone wasted their time reading this far down. This isn't even interesting to me. I just felt like typing.
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Oct. 29, 2007:
Tyler sent me these photos a while ago, but I just scanned them in last weekend. I'm pretty sure they're from the night of the show...
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Labels: concerts, Kennedy, music, Pearl Jam, Tyler
so.
MC Hammer concert tonight.
It'll be sweet if he talks shit about nascar and how it's a stupid sport.
Radiohead tix? $400/pair. Thanks, but no thanks.
Pearl Jam tix? In my pocket. Tuesday. Sweet. Don't play "Come Back." Labels: music
If anyone happens to have a lead on Radiohead tickets for Aug. 28 in Amsterdam, I would be much obliged if you would tell me. Labels: Amsterdam, concerts, music
Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam.
I posted this over on CrazyTalk... figured I'd mash it here too.
So... May 2nd is long gone...
There's a new Tool album out. It's pretty good. With some amazing  artwork ideas. But, you know, it didn't really blow me away as being incredibly new and different and, well, amazing. It's good, but it's not my favorite album to come out this year. Or even on May 2.
Turns out that being a member of the Pearl Jam fan club is nice. My record showed up the Saturday prior to the release date. But I didn't get it until I got to work on Monday... still a day ahead of time. And the pre-order version has this sweet hardcover book format thing to it that the general release does not have. And I got a free copy of a show they did NYE '92. Neat.
oh. And first crack at concert tix... but that didn't work out so well... but I still scored some good seats for DC in a couple of weeks. Ah yes... but I did get my fan club tix for the GA show in, you know, Amsterdam. Also neat.
And now, it turns out, my boss is going to buy plane tickets for my girlfriend and me. Also neat.
Aren't I supposed to be talking about a record? Well, actually, there is no record as of yet. Even tho Letterman somehow had a copy of the sleeve. That wasn't the new record inside. So, CD, then. We'll talk about that. Perhaps.
I was, somewhat, hoping that someone more flowery than me might post about this, but it came to my attention that the Sufjan Stevens crowd just might find Pearl Jam... dare I say... "irrelevent." From some other blog whose link I have, unfortunately, lost: (and so I paraphrase) "Pearl Jam became irrelevent when Eddie Vedder became too old to climb stuff."
Well... that is pretty funny, actually. I wish I would have thought of it. But I wouldn't have meant it.
Another thing that has come to my attention is that damned near everything that has even a passing interest in music is reviewing this CD. Way to go, Clive. At first, all this promotion caught me off guard... I mean, really... Entertainment Weekly? C'mon, guys... but from that same article Ed was able to shed a little light on the subject for me: (EW article) This is all so subjective and in a way self-important, but when you have completely commercially produced acts and artists kind of taking up the space that you used to, then it's like, Do we want to allow ourselves to be pushed out in the mainstream again, to do our part to have it be a real experience? I'm not talking about the young bands that are good, I'm talking about the crap that is a insult to what I think of as good rock & roll. I feel like we have a lot to offer. And so in order to do that, it feels like we're being shot out of a cannon. And that brings those feelings of, Okay, are we going to that same place where we had to climb the barbed wire fence to get the fuck out of there? Being outside of all that is a much more comfortable place to create and to live. So we're searching for that balance.
I think I can dig that.
And, hey, the album is actually pretty damned good. But does the Net really need yet another review? I don't think so. Perhaps I can leave you with some feelings instead. (as an aside, the girl next to me just started playing the most goddamn awful song I've heard in quite a while... and I've been hearing it multiple times a day... every day. fuck you, James Blunt.)
Right. Feelings. The first four tracks give me that energetic angsty feeling with which I generally feel like driving. Have you heard World Wide Suicide? Is it possible to have not heard it? Life Wasted, Comatose, and Severed Hand are all right there with it. And, depending on my mood, I can like any one better than the other. Although Life Wasted might resonate most with me - lyrically, anyway. The fifth song, "Marker in the Sand," just might very well be the best song on the album. Despite the presence of Boom Gasper's B3. I am NOT a fan of organs in rock bands. The Gossard penned "Parachutes" brings the flow of the album down. Far down. And quickly. It's quirky and artsy but sounds way too much like his side band Brad for me. Skip button? Most of the time. Unless I'm, you know, "altered." Tracks 7-10, however, build for me. I didn't like Unemployable when it was first released as the "B-Side" to WWS. But it's growing on me. 8, musically, pulls me back to the place I was during the beginning of the album. The place I really enjoy being. I haven't spent a lot of time with the lyric sheet yet, but I'm afraid they might be kind of lame. But it still feels good. And then "Gone." When released on the Christmas single, I was more than a little unsure. But this is one of those songs that starts out slow and unassuming and, by the end, just soars. Gone makes me happy. Like "Given to Fly." Not quite there, but close. And Eddie likes The Who.
Now... tracks 10-13... If this CD WAS a record, I don't think I'm far off in saying that I'd wear Side A out REAL fast while the top of my turntable might see Side B long enough that I could listen to it by putting the record back in the sleeve. (Did anyone catch that? I suck at similes. Or metaphors. Or onomatopoeia. Or whatever.) It's not all the songs... don't get me wrong. On first listen, Wasted Reprise was a fitting break to what had come before. And "Army Reserve" really does feel heartfelt and meaningful... and, at this point in the record, I'm ready for this. (BANG! Buuzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz... Hah. I'm not so bad at that after all.) But then we get "Come Back." The song some people are likening to a cross between "Black" and "Yellow Ledbetter." Those people are wrong. It's 5 1/2 minutes of blah. I've heard some pretty good interpretations of the song... almost to the point where I can respect the song without liking it. (Those good interpretations don't include "You've obviously never been dumped.") I don't like it. I just. don't. like. it. I made my own version wherein I chopped out the entire first verse thereby bringing the length to about 3:30. That I can almost handle. As it is, this song kills the re-listenability of this album to me. Where Yield (still their masterpiece) pops in the always amazing "In Hiding", Vs. has "Leash", No Code has "Mankind", and even Riot Act has "Bushleaguer"... this album has a total mood killer. Yeah, I left out Ten, Vitalogy, and Binaural from that list. I had my reasons. I don't listen to Binaural anyway. Shit. I think I had a point. My point was this... "Inside Job" is a frickin' amazing song, and I think it's a great album closer. But "Come Back"... dammit. If it weren't for this song, Pearl Jam would pretty well hop right up there to 2nd favorite studio behind Yield. As it is, I think it's fighting it out with No Code and Vitalogy for number 3.
Since you asked, Vs. is number 2. If only for the opening of Go->Animal.
What else can I say... give the record a spin. Or, if you can't, at least try to find "Marker in the Sand" or "Gone." Most importantly, however, if you've never been to a show, this is the year to do it. The rumors abound that this will be the last big tour, and I don't find that completely unbelievable. Get thee to a show. Or a nunnery. Whatever.
Oh. And back on the Indy scene? www.dustinedge.com New album coming very soon. And no arena tours. And no EW articles. This is the shit. More later.
Oh. And Tool outsold Pearl Jam in week 1 by almost 300,000 copies. And I have no idea what the title of this post has to do with anything. |
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Labels: music, Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam in DC... Section 102 Row O... not great, but it could have definitely been worse.
And, holy shit, I just noticed that Nine Inch Nails actually scheduled a date in Charlotte!
I'm so there. Labels: concerts, music, Pearl Jam
I don't remember how I came upon this guy's website, but I grabbed the two available songs off Cellar Door, and I thought they were both pretty decent. Nothing amazing but pretty decent, and I made it a point to come download and listen to the rest of the songs he had uploaded.
Amazingly enough you can download three FULL albums from his site... and not at shitty 64kps or anything. High quality mp3's. Including a version of his song " Time Travel Is Lonely" performed with Spoon. The following song, " I Miss the War" is really good too. I certainly haven't been involved in a war per se, but the lyrics (number 3) to this song describe the way I often feel about the monotony of modern life.
"I miss the war-time life,
anything could happen then:
around a corner, behind a door."
Which turned out to be the problem with the first full album I listened to. MGM Endings is a remix album of Cellar Door, and I was pretty excited to hear it. Especially given that I already dug the two tracks I had heard off Cellar Door. About halfway through, however, it struck me that MGM was a total downer of a record, and I didn't really like it at all.
The whole point of this wasn't to "review" John Vanderslice or talk shit on the MGM Endings record at all. I really do like the Insound record, the Mass Suicide record, and most of the samples I was afforded by his site.
The point... as it were... was just a musing... As I was listening to MGM, each song was somewhat of a let down. But I kept hoping that I'd like the next track. At what point, when listening to a record, do you realize that all the tracks are going to be similar enough so that, if you don't like what you've heard so far, you're not going to like what's left? It's annoying.
God this is a terrible post.
Check out Vanderslice tho... start with the Insound record. Or maybe Mass Suicide... just not MGM. Unless you're really sad. Labels: music
Why is Live supporting nickelback?
that sucks.
New Pearl Jam: April 2006
New DeLeo bros + Patrick from Filter: early 2006
Those things make me happy. Labels: music
something I typed for Crazy Talk:
Although I was too poor to see Spoon, too out-of-time to see SNMNMNM, too I-have-to-teach-Sunday-School-tomorrow to see The Dandy Warhols, and too annoyed to even try to see U2 (is that tonight? The traffic is going to SUCK on the way home. Fuck you, Bono.), I did manage to catch the next evolution in the Cast Iron Filter pioneered genre "Irongrass." (What? It was free? shhhhhhhhhhhhh)
The first CIF show I attended was the final show for Mr. Cockrill and the first show for new bassist Mason Bissett. I had heard some live stuff before but didn't totally dig the albums, but the band live? I was hooked. Fast forward a few years through a few more lineup changes and the band has decided to part ways for, at least, the time-being. And for a while Michael Orlando focused his mando skills on creating some true bluegrass music with The Carter Brothers. This isn't exactly my scene, so when Mike began talking about getting together with Mason (of all people!) and a drummer(!!) I was, needless to say, stoked. Stoked. There should be a word that means "stoked but apprehensive."
Actually, it's fine that it just means "stoked." Mason and Mike were able to fuse back together brilliantly. It shone especially bright on older CIF tunes with which Mason was already familar - Tamarack being, for me, the prime example. Although the songs weren't perfect and there were flubs, I thought Mason had improved tremendously as a player who is a member of a band. Mason and Mike both always seemed to really like playing a lot of notes. A LOT of notes. But this was subdued - in a really great way. Apparently Frank and Mason had been playing together previously, and it showed. Mason really held back and nailed the song down with the necessary simple walking basslines that many of the songs required. And, when the time came, it was the old Mason again flying all over the fretboard, and I loved it.
Although Mike's gorgeous little electric mandolin didn't make an appearance, we were witness to the nimbleness of Mike's fingers across a range of stringed instruments from the acoustic mandolin to acoustic guitar to banjo to the electric guitar. Ah yes, and he sang. Mike's vocal rendition of Sheila & Jake was becoming a standard at CIF shows throughout the final tour, but I wasn't quite sure what to think of Mike as frontman. He's no Dustin as far as vocal ability goes, but as soon as I started thinking that, I realized that was my problem. This isn't Cast Iron Filter, and Mike isn't trying to be Dustin. He's being Mike. And thank God, b/c that's what he's best at. (whether I - or anyone else - like it *ahem... bluegrass...ahem* or not) There were only 8 unique songs with vocals and Mason (yes, Mason) sang one of those. "My Dear Nashville" was an extremely slow number not to my liking at all, but the other songs shocked me. Most of the subject matter seemed to be somehow involved with love... either you lost it, want it, got it, can't ever have it, or can't wait to get back to it, but even a pretentious ass like myself who prefers to write about why God's a dick found it enjoyable. Aside from the content, his actual vocal sound was clear and on key, plus I could actually understand most of the words he said. Which was nice. Mike definitely brought more of his bluegrass taste to these songs than to songs you would expect to hear from CIF, and I think he succeeded in creating a fun and exciting new sound with which he can continue to promote the Irongrass standard.
Oh, and the drummer... the drummer turned out to be Frank Bloom who somehow manages to pull off the duality of being an extremely nice and socialable dude AND a really damned good drummer. Weird. The other guys have their place in Irongrass history... as it were, and Frank's the relative newcomer to the scene. As far as I know. While I can compare Mike and Mason to previous incarnations of themselves, I have no such crutch with Frank. He's the new variable in this equation, and he filled it out very very nicely. The venue itself may have held him back somewhat, but Frank seemed sharp and precise yet very fluid at the same time. Former CIF drummer Brian Burton hit HARD and fast and precise and, for my money, fit the late model CIF very well, but Brian's style would not, however, fit with what Mike is trying to do. Mason and Frank worked well together and there were moments of pure coalescence with the two of them just sitting back and holding the songs together. It's nice when unknown situations turn out to be much better than I thought they could have been.
Oh. And the fanboy in me wants to say, "OMG! And he played with FOUR sticks at once!"
but I'm past that phase of my life and refuse to lower myself to actually finding something someone else is doing interesting and exciting.
I never would have imagined to see Mike and Mason on stage together again, but it was an extremely pleasant surprise. Having Frank Bloom round out the trio was an amazing stroke of luck and probably only the third good thing to have ever come out of Tryon, NC. (including the BBQ) Looking forward to the recording in January and hoping for more shows soon. I will only say one other thing about that. February 2, 2006 - Charlotte, NC. God that would be sweet.
I wouldn't say this is groundbreaking material nor is it REALLY pushing the boundaries of any common sensibilities, but it was good. And it was fun. And I enjoyed it for the sake of enjoying it. And the very last thing? I should reiterate: this is not Cast Iron Filter.
Now back to my Captain and Sprite. Labels: Cast Iron Filter, concerts, music
It's been hit-and-miss now for a while... but mostly miss.
Aeon Flux was not good.
Bewitched was pretty terrible... (I should have known...)
Ice Harvest was bad.
Simpsons/Family Guy/etc were reruns.
The Snmnmnm concert should be cool but is probably too expensive. (yes it's only $15)
and... boo on Christmas.
I did end up reading The Stranger again. And it's a zillion times better now than it was in the dumbest high school in America. Many great quotables.
"I might not be sure of what does interest me, but I am sure of what does not interest me, and you do not interest me."
Or however it went. Very hilarious.
-"Marriage is serious."
-"No."
hah.
hah.
And what else is good? Harvey Pekar's most recent. The Quitter.
I never really got into American Splendor, but this book works really well. Being self contained is nice. And now I'm starting into Tropic of Cancer b/c Scott said to read it and shortly thereafter, I saw it in a drawing in The Quitter. It was a sign.
As much as I dislike "jam bands," I really want to be on this year's jam cruise. Les Claypool and Digable Planets... sweet. Then again, I'd just as soon be in San Francisco for NYE. I don't think Filboyd Studge will be making a repeat performance this year.
But Southern Culture is playing, and they were fun last time. Although I might get outvoted and end up with The Avett Brothers. Which would be fine, but probably not as much fun.
It's really cold in here. No snow tho. Of course. I want snow.
I got Hate #1 at the comic sale when I went back late on Sunday. Score. Labels: Books, Comic Books, Movies, music
oh.
and the Dandy Warhols will be in North Carolina on Saturday.
and I probably can't go.
hell. Labels: concerts, music
I haven't written anything of consequence in a long time. Or maybe ever. I finally finished reading Notes From Underground this morning while I was driving to work. And, really, just Wow. I love it very much and, on Kurt's thoughts that the Brothers Karmazov contain all the answers to life, I think that will be my next read.
Except that I kind of want to pick up Anna Karinina too... or Catch-22... or The Stranger... and read it correctly this time. Not like a kid in a sub-par English class in a sub-par high school. Yes. I think that's what I shall do. It was recommended to me to read To Kill a Mockingbird (which I should do), Angels & Demons (ehh... probably not...), The Road Less Traveled (by Peck?? Again, probably not), and Still Life with Woodpecker. That last one seems quite interesting too.
But I'll still probably go with Camus.
Since last time, there has been a filboyd studge album recorded by myself and my friends. www.filboydstudge.com. You may go hear and listen. Fair warning: It is not "good," nor was it intended to be "good." Which is not a statement to ward off criticism. Just don't expect much. Berlioz, it's not.
Walk the Line was good.
Harry Potter was incredibly boring. Again.
I've also recently learned why people underline. While reading something I can't understand, the underline has become a tool of great worth. It draws my attention to the sentences I don't understand, which helps my ADD ass focus on it and actually comprehend without having to read the first three words 17 times over and over and over and over and...
I've also been told to checkout
Pinback
Sea and the Cake
bands. I'm telling myself that so I don't forget.
I'm glad noone ever taught the world to sing.
I know you've gone
on your own way
Noone should bear
these words I'm about to say
these words I'm about to say
I see you've climbed
up your own tree
the rope has been raised
so I wax pathetically
so I wax pathetically Labels: _self, Dostoevsky, music
So Friday was my girlfriend's birthday. A few months ago, however, I had noticed that Kings of Leon and the Secret Machines were playing Asheville's Orange Peel on the same day. (great club, btw) I was kind of grooving on KoL's newest album and Scott had recently picked up The Secret Machines, which I also dug. Sounded like a very sweet show to me. Being the very good girlfriend that she is, I was allowed to take her to the concert for her birthday. (and, in the process, miss a rehearsal dinner for a wedding. Score!)
Took the day off work, caught "The 40-Year Old Virgin" by way of an interesting sequence of events that might, at some point, be described elsewhere, and then headed over to the Orange Peel for the show. (If you haven't seen that movie, btw. Go see it.)
Back? Good. It was funny, wasn't it?
Onwards... The show. Sold out. Everytime I've been to the Orange Peel (www.theorangepeel.net) it has sold out. I'm either picking good shows, or that place is making a killing. 942 Max Cap. @ $25 each. Nice. But I digress. I didn't realize there would be an opening band, but my penchant for showing up early to places that aren't work paid off nicely. Ran into a guy named Scott (who I saw get a ticket for FREE before the show) while he was hitting on Allison, and he mentioned that he was there for the opening band - The Helio Sequence. The drummer, Benjamin Weikel, also tours with Modest Mouse, hence the excitement. Well. That's pretty damned cool. I guess. I'm kind of into them as well even though they also gave Charlotte the shaft. (The city, not my roommate's girlfriend... as far as I know.) Do I ramble too much? Does anyone care?
To make a short story long, the band (i.e. two guys, a drumkit, a guitar, a synth, and a harmonica) head up to stage and plunge right into the extremely infectious "Harmonica Song." And, holy crap, what was I hearing? I absolutely loved it from the beginning to end. They seemed to have a bit of technical difficulties with the vox being a bit too low, but it didn't matter. The musicality (is that a word) of the song was SO engaging that the missing lyrics were hardly noticeable to a novice such as I. I noticed the guy in front of me dancing like a fool during the first song, so I asked him afterwards what song that was... what album... you know... dumb but interested questions. He told me. Which was nice. Only later was I to realize that the guy dancing like a fool was, in fact, the guitarist for The Secret Machines - Ben Curtis. Stupid ignorance. I wish I could give a setlist or any kind of informed opinion about what I had witnessed on stage but, alas, I know little more than that I was amazed. Weikel, even if I was deaf, would have been a joy to watch. He is one of the most animated drummers I've ever seen. Having the drumkit at the front of the stage certainly helped, but he really seemed like he was having a great time and was completely absorbed by what he was doing. As for Brandon, I was hardly certain that the sounds coming out of his guitar half the time were actually coming out of his guitar. And I loved that too. Very tight band. Very very exciting to watch. And extremely aurrally engaging.
The Helio Sequence's ownership of the stage was far too short for my tastes. 20, maybe 30, minutes. And I really really wanted more. I sauntered (yes, sauntered) over to the merch table after the set and there sat lead singer/guitarist Brandon Summers pushing his musical drugs at the table while happily signing albums and talking to everyone who came by. So I waited in line only to have my fears confirmed that the presence of the little money bag in Brandon's hand did, in fact, mean that cash was the only accepted bartering tool at that table. Dammit to hell. So I gave the obligatory compliment about the music, signed up for the email list and shuffled back to the bar. Beer should make it ok.
Lest I forget, The Secret Machines and Kings of Leon did actually play at the concert as well. TSM were really amazing, and I'm kind of surprised they were able to pull of the sound from their album in a live setting. The feel of the first part of their set was really mellow, however, and I kind of wanted to be at home on the couch instead of standing in a club. Towards the end they REALLY shifted modes and ended with both "Nowhere Again" and "First Wave Intact" in the final three songs of the set. And THEN is when I wanted to hear more. Grrrr. Back to the bar.
Then outside for the set break where we ended up talking to a Scottish/Irish guy named Ewen (sp??) and his German-spawned friend, David. (I think) 'twas nice, but the only story I had was a memory of being in Scotland and following a group of guys singing a rousing rendition of "If you hate the fucking Germans, clap your hands." Yeah. So we went back in. And Kings of Leon started. And the lead singer reminded me of Evan Dando for some reason. Dispite two more trips to the bar, I still just couldn't get into their set. They were tight and relatively fun to watch on stage. Dude's voice is very original and interesting, but if you're going to play music like that, you just can't follow The Helio Sequence and The Secret Machines. I may have been tired b/c I'm getting old. Or just bored due to the contrast, but the KoL set just wasn't very exciting to me at all. We actually ended up heading out about half-way through their set. I never got to hear them ask if I was too good to tango with a poor poor boy, which is all I really wanted from them, but the night was, nevertheless, amazing. On the way out, I noticed that Helio's drummer was now sitting at their merch table as well. Got to shake his hand as well and impart my valuable opinion that The Helio Sequence was the best band of the night.
I had gone to a Kings of Leon concert and come away with a new appreciation for The Secret Machines and an incredible infatuation with The Helio Sequence. I've ordered the vinyl and the CD from Sub Pop. I can't wait. You can download two full tracks off the newest album (Love and Distance) as well as check out the video for "Harmonica Song" here:
The Helio Sequence
I highly suggest that you do so. Labels: concerts, music
Mildly interesting things... here's a crappy website that I started and never got around to finsihing... but hopefully will soon.
www.thetombofdracula.com
from there, you can get to a database of my personal collection... I have a LOT of scanning and data input to do...
Batman Begins was really good...
Fantastic Four was... ok
Willie Wonka was... fun
Star Wars was... better the 2nd time
Young Frankenstein was... hilarious
and Lawrence of Arabia is still one of my favorite movies ever.
The new Sleater-Kinney... I could have done without it.
The new(ish) Third Day... makes me happy.
Filboyd Studge... died, I guess.
Definitely going to Secret Machines/Kings of Leon on the 19th now.
and a wedding following. (not mine)
cockroaches piss me off.
Pearl Jam's not coming to see me this year.
I don't think we're getting a new album this year either.
The new 100 Bullets TPB is one of the best yet.
The new colored reissues of Bone in TPB are a great buy for anyone looking for light humor and entertainment. First two are out now. Get them.
Does anyone want to whitewash this fence? It's really fun. I'll let you do it if you'll give me an apple.
Still hate george bush. Labels: Comic Books, music
sweet...
NIN skips North Carolina... again.
maybe I'll actually drive to Atlanta this time. NIN + QotSA sounds pretty nice.
but, damn, I hate Atlanta.
Oh.
New White Stripes = good, but not great... yet
New Foo Fighters (electric) = above average Foos
New Foo Fighters (acoustic) = hit and miss. acoustic is... just not as cool.
Kings of Leon + Secret Machines in Asheville on Allison's birthday.
what to do... what to do... Labels: music
Hm.
Dear god,
Hope you got the letter,
And I pray you can make it better down here.
I don’t mean a big reduction in the price of beer,
But all the people that you made in your image,
See them starving on their feet,
’cause they don’t get enough to eat
From god,
I can’t believe in you.
Dear god,
Sorry to disturb you,
But I feel that I should be heard loud and clear.
We all need a big reduction in amount of tears,
And all the people that you made in your image,
See them fighting in the street,
’cause they can’t make opinions meet,
About god,
I can’t believe in you.
Did you make disease, and the diamond blue?
Did you make mankind after we made you?
And the devil too!
Dear god,
Don’t know if you noticed,
But your name is on a lot of quotes in this book.
Us crazy humans wrote it, you should take a look,
And all the people that you made in your image,
Still believing that junk is true.
Well I know it ain’t and so do you,
Dear god,
I can’t believe in,
I don’t believe in,
I won’t believe in heaven and hell.
No saints, no sinners,
No devil as well.
No pearly gates, no thorny crown.
You’re always letting us humans down.
The wars you bring, the babes you drown.
Those lost at sea and never found,
And it’s the same the whole world ’round.
The hurt I see helps to compound,
That the father, son and holy ghost,
Is just somebody’s unholy hoax,
And if you’re up there you’ll perceive,
That my heart’s here upon my sleeve.
If there’s one thing I don’t believe in...
It’s you,
Dear god.
-XTC Labels: music, Religion
If this is true...
I will soil myself straight away.
In anticipation of their upcoming studio release, and to follow up on their Canadian Tour, Pearl Jam along with the Ten Club are proud to announce a 25 city tour of the United States. The tour opens on September 29th in Charlotte, NC. and ends up in New York City on November 30th. The Ten Club pre-sale starts Monday May 23rd, 2005, at 10:00 am pacific time, and ends Tuesday, June 9th, 2005, at 5:00 pm pacific time.
Fri- Sep-30, Charlotte, NC Charlotte Coliseum
Sat- Oct-01, Winston-Salem, NC Joel Coliseum
Sun- Oct-02, Myrtle Beach, SC, Myrtle Beach House of Blues
I can't imagine they'd be so kind to NC... but wow... I couldn't possibly ask for more. Labels: music, Pearl Jam
sometimes, living in Charlotte really sucks
It's rare, but right now, I wish I lived in Atlanta...
Let's see... Midtown Music Fest vs. Charlotte Center City Fest
Midtown
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The White Stripes
Lou Reed
Devo
Public Enemy
The Pixies
Interpol
Tom Petty
City Fest
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cowboy Mouth
Jump, Little Children
Cracker
Loch Ness Johnny
Leftover Salmon
Jason Mraz
Hootie and the Blowfish
Sister Hazel
The Roots
Edwin McCain
Switchfoot
Howie Day
Jupiter Coyote
Pastor Troy
Yeah, the Charlotte side's longer... mostly b/c there was noone I could find who was really exciting at all. Cowboy Mouth puts on a fun show. I have emotional ties to Loch Ness Johnny and Jump, Little Children. Cracker's ok. And The Roots would be pretty sweet.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All the rest of those bands completely suck ass tho. I abohr them. fuck Hootie, fuck Sister Hazel, fuck Switchfoot, fuck Jason Mraz, fuck Edwin McCain, fuck Jupiter Coyote (I thought they broke up), fuck sissy pussy rock, and fuck Charlotte's terrible terrible music scene.
I'd easily make special plans to see any of the bands on the Atlanta side... except, perhaps, Public Enemy and Tom Petty... There's noone in Charlotte that I would really go out of my way to see. What a crock.
Oh. And Modest Mouse is playing Atlanta the day after Midtown.
And they're playing Charlotte... oh... right... never. Labels: music
wtf.
Pearl Jam has a new album and tour.
NIN has a new album and tour.
Audioslave has a new album and tour.
The Foo Fighters have a new album and tour.
The Strokes are working on a new album and tour.
Lou Reed is on tour.
Beck has a new album and tour.
The Digable Planets are working on a new album and tour.
Yet Tupac is still dead and 50 Cent isn't.
And Rob Thomas's new solo album debuts at number 1.
Who the hell is buying this crap???
There is so much good stuff going on right now, but I'm still sure the apocalypse is near. And that's without even knowing what ignorant mission G.W. is going to send us on to blow up some undeserving country next.
Rob Thomas.
yeah, last week was kind of weak... but... Rob Thomas??? Labels: music
new Foo
uhmm...
new Foo Fighters in June?
I haven't been paying attention.
New Foo Fighters tour after they get done with Europe?
They'd better come closer than Atlanta...
*drool* Labels: music
Halo 19
I think myspace is kind of lame.
But I had the best myspace email waiting for me in the box this morning. Full streaming of the new NIN album. Sweet.
With Teeth decidely starts out without any. The first track ("All the Love in the World") is almost sweet except for its angsty lyrics and a refrain of "Why do you get all the love in the world." I can't stop thinking about Fatboy Slim... But it does become more industrial Trent towards the end. Into the second track, ("You Know What You Are?") which is great NIN noise... hard and loud on the guitars and drums; yet still, the lyrics kind of suffer, I think. "Don't you fucking know what you are?" And "You'd better take a good look because you're full of shit."
Regardless, this is the sound I wanted from NIN. Moving on...
"The Collector" has got the dark and dredgy kind of feel of "March of the Pigs" or such. "I am the collector, I pick things up." Having a hard time understanding lyrics tho. Which, I suppose, is to be expected.
and then "The Hand That Feeds"... Once again, the lyrics just seem so obvious. And I'm back to feeling Fatboy Slim again. Where can I buy some glowsticks?
Then "Love is not Enough". Depressing enough just in the title. My least favorite kind of NIN song, really. Slow and repetitive, but dark. So, fine. It's NIN again... not Fatboy.
"Every Day is Exactly the Same" is a little frustrating again. NIN light or something. Which quite different from KMFDM Light. Come on, Trent. Punch me in the face! The next song is the title track... hopefully it lives up to its name.
But "With Teeth" stays in the realm of mellow NIN. If there is such a thing. He builds layer on layer up to a pretty unexpected break in the middle and lays the noise on afterward. Cool. But nothing overly exciting.
And "Only"... best lyrics I could understand so far. But, musically, it seems to be sticking in "Electronica/Dance" genre or something. If the bass drum thumped a little bit harder, I'd be liquid raving in no time. "Getting Smaller" rocks tho. Pulses and drives forward, and I like Trent's vox and the end is kind of rad too.
"Sunspots" is back to soft and kind of slow. Just Trent and a drum beat, but, again, adding more and more layers as the song progresses. I really like that song structure. As does NIN, apparently. "The Line Begins to Blur" is more distorted and darker than a lot of the other songs. But, dammit, I'm looking for something HARD as well as heavy. "Beside You in Time" is, yet again, a slow downer of a song. As is "Right Where it Belongs."
So... not exactly what I was prepared and/or looking for. But it's definitely NIN, and that definitely makes me happy. "The Hand That Feeds" kind of sticks out like a sore thumb, and I kind of wish it wasn't there. It kind of makes me think that it was designed solely to be a single. It just doesn't really fit with the rest of the album. Admittedly, I've only listened to it once, and I was interrupted multiple times... I probably won't listen again until I have the CD in my hand and am either at home listening on my DVD player or in the car. I'm sure some opinions will change once I REALLY get to listen to it. But, overall, this is more of a Further Down the Spiral kind of album than Broken or Pretty Hate Machine. I'll love this when I'm sitting alone somewhere reading or writing - perfect background music. Just not fitting my pre-conceived expectations.
This song-by-song review thing kind of sucks. But I mostly did it for myself so I wouldn't forget what I was thinking. These will probably change as well once I sit down and really listen to the album and think about each song... sounds like fun, but who knows when/if it will actually happen. Labels: music
wow. Great things in the email this morning...
www.audioslave.com/download
www.myspace.com/ninofficial
and, yesterday, Pearl Jam officially announced some tour dates. All in Canada, but that's better than nothing. Hopefully there will be some bootlegs I can buy. Or I can get myself shipped up to Winnipeg for "work". Labels: music
Radiohead: not so bad
There are fun things that can be done with a Radiohead soundtrack.
And so I broke down.
And finally bought OK Computer.
I liked Pablo Honey.
And I mostly liked The Bends.
but not OK Computer. Partially b/c I heard it far too often from other people playing it. And partially b/c I was in a weird place, musically, when it came out. Was digging on Seven Nations pretty hard... and Pearl Jam... and whatever strange stuff I could download via Audiogalaxy. (Anyone remember that?)
Fast Forward 5 years; press Play. No Surprises was played by the band at this church I went to once or twice... and played very very well at that. That was months ago, and I still haven't been able to get the melody out of my head.
Then I bought that DVD. Which was cool. But left me wanting more.
I knew I liked most of Hail to the Thief... Sit Down, Stand Up and There There are great great songs. So I bought that. But it sucked to buy my first Radiohead album since 1994 or whatever and not get the one song that's been in my mind for so freakin' long. So I bought OK Computer too.
And, for better or worse, I still think it's the worst Radiohead album. Sure it's interesting and "meaningful" (whatever the hell that means anymore) but I just don't really like listening to it. The gooviest thing until Let Down is the bass line from Paranoid Android. Exit Music (For a Film) would be really great exit music... you know... for a film. But I'm not watching a film. I'm 1/3 of the way into an album. I like the flowing melody of Let Down. Other than parts of Paranoid Android, this is really the first thing that catches me and makes me listen. Karma Police, I also like. Trendy tho it may be. Boo on the next track for listenability. Electioneering and No Surprises are the only two of the remaining tracks that I really care to listen to.
iTunes average rating for the album? 2.33 stars.
Hail to the Thief comes in with about a 15% higher score at 3.14.
Glad I got No Surprises, but would have been satisfied if Radiohead were actually available for purchase via iTunes. dammit. Unless I'm depressed, shit-faced, or curious again, OK will probably remain on the shelf right after Out of Time... although I think I gave that to manifest due to its extreme suckiness too. So maybe it'll hang out next to Monster, which is a much better album. Labels: music
Martin Sexton
After digging holes in the backyard for a couple of hours last night, I found out, around 9:00, that Martin Sexton was playing right around the corner at 9:30. Got my crap together, paid the $15 and got in during the middle of the 2nd song. Now I've only ever heard The American, so I figured I'd be kind of lost. And Martin isn't generally the kind of show I'd go too, but I like the album I have and Scott said he was good, so there I was.
Decent crowd for Charlotte. Especially on a Tuesday night. And, wow. Really. I never would have guessed so many cool sounds could have come from one dude, a guitar, and a loopback machine. It was half beatbox, half soul, half R&B, and half pop. I know that equals two. Guitar tone was amazing too... so clean and clear. And he really has an outstanding voice. It sounds great on the album, but being able to replicate that live is an amazing feat. If I could play an electric guitar solo with an electric guitar the way Martin plays an electric guitar solo with his mouth and a microphone, I'd never be nervous to play again.
First set, everything was great... If it wasn't for the, like, 40 minute set break, everything would have been MUCH better. Was able to get most of the way to the front for the 2nd set tho, so that was nice. Especially when he opened with "The Beast in Me." Good second set, but also kind of short. I think the whole show couldn't have been more than an hour and a half. Was hoping for another half hour or so. But even that would have been ok if it wasn't for the encore. I was REALLY liking everything he was doing up until then. And, for the encore, he came out and did "American the Beautiful." wtf. Not that I have a problem with the song, per se. Or people singing it. I didn't care to hear it, personally, but whatever. It still SUCKED that the very last thing we got was a short rendition of that crap. Even him playing that song would have been fine if we'd gotten another Sexton tune afterward. But, no. America the Beautiful and then done. Even CIF shows ending with "Who Are We..." have never been that disappointing. Was kind of pissed that I spent the extra money to get the CD's of the show after that. Que sera sera.
And, dammit. There was more, but I got sidetracked, so I'm done for now. Labels: concerts, music
Carowinds is far far cooler when you never have to wait in line. Don't think we waited longer than, like, 15 minutes for anything other than the Borg on Sunday. And the Borg kind of sucked. Especially compared to Top Gun. Or even Thunder Road. But not as much as Vortex. Boring. Top Gun is the best. In the front seat. The best.
Have I even mentioned Sin City? I don't think so.
But it was great. Being, as it was, a film adaptation of a comic, it couldn't be beat. I think everything I would say has been said before, so I won't say much. As a movie on its own it would have been, perhaps, a little disappointing. But since it wasn't that, it was phenomenal. Acting, dialog, visuals... everything was fantastic. Seen it twice, and I might have to go again. Maybe. But I *am* trying to save money... we'll see.
And Muse. Muse were awesome. Occasionally, Matt's voice faded a bit, but it didn't bother me too much. 2nd/3rd row center. I can't complain. Dispite the mtv cameras in my face most of the night. So I, therefore, spent most of the night with my middle finger expressing my opinion of mtv to the camera for me. I'm still not sure if that's going to make it more or less likely that they'll actually put me in some ridiculous montage. Tried my best to look like I was bored. Dammit. I would have gladly paid twice the ticket price to not have mtv there. Razorlight was...fine, I guess. I thought I liked them at first when their Mic Ronson lookalike opened the set, but I don't think I liked the lead singer. At least not after he stripped for the last song for no discernable reason and brought his smelly ass down into the crowd and stayed about two feet in front of me. Annoying. But I think I was supposed to dig it. Oops. But I did get to yell "Pearl Jam" when some dude came out to talk about mtv and had on the red pj shirt with the apeguy and the gun. Circa Yield, right? I dunno. But good for him.
Audioslave tour = another reason the Charlotte music "scene" sucks.
Just listened to the Garden State soundtrack for the first time since actually watching the movie. Very underwhelmed. And very very disappointed with the Iron & Wine cover of "Such Great Heights." It was terrible compared to the original. But, I suppose, I&W is more depressed than the Postal Service and, therefore, fit the soundtrack better. Boo. Not for me. Not for you. If you hate something, don't you do it too.
It turns out that I kind of dig the Strokes tho. So now I'm kind of excited for their almost complete new album and summer tour. No Green Day on Wednesday either, I guess. Too expensive to buy sold out tickets. Besides, there's a new South Park.
Picked up an old CD the other day... a band called Sticklaw out of Raleigh. Met them through a friend who took me to the Brewery to see them once. And then to Johnson City. Where he got to scream backup during one song. We almost fell off of Iron Mt. during on ice storm on the way there, but we made it. And it was cool. And I still like the CD. The lead singer and guitar player took off years ago, and it was hell trying to find info about them online. Finally found the bass player on ncscene.com and found out that the remaining members have formed a new band called Down Cycle. Kind of fun finding people from years ago. Wish I could find out what their old lead singer is doing these days tho. But I'll take what I can get. Labels: Movies, music
Today was a Good Day
Or, at least, it will be.
Got the new Fiona album in its entirety last night. Finished listening this morning. 'tis very very good, and Sony sucks. At least let her out of her contract so she can release it independently... I guess. I don't know anything about "the business," but I imagine that I'd be pissed if I were her.
And I picked up the new Garbage album this morning on the way to work. And yes, I kind of sold out and went to Target. But it was only $9.98! And I paid my car insurance yesterday and currently have $0.69. So I'm sucking up to corporate America. And Target is a "Republican company" too. I suck.
"Target executives contributed solely to Republican candidates and Target's Chariman and CEO contributed fairly heavily. Target also has a Political Action Committee which contributed very heavily in the 2003-2004 election cycle weighing in at $173,240 (21% D 78% R)"
buyblue.org
uhh... but back to music...
I hadn't heard the single(s) yet, so no expectations.
Very very heavy album. At least starting off. And Shirley still sounds great. About halfway through now, and there's nothing I really feel like skipping at all. And the CD includes the video for the single... which I've yet to watch. They've got such a great sound... almost industrial guitars with a definite techo/electronica twist... and Shirley's voice just comes out of nowhere to make something pretty damned unique.
"
No Evolution
Sometimes it depresses me
The same old same
Oh we keep repeating history
The Institution curses curiosity
"
and
"Find out who you are before you regret it"
very sexual... somewhat angry... abused lyrics. I like it.
and am, once again, pissed to live in the God forsaken South East.
Closest show is in Atlanta. On a freakin' Thursday...
But it's still gonna be a good day.
In stark contrast to my last statement, Muse is playing about 15 minutes from my house. Can NOT wait. My sister said the front was a huge mosh pit at the Atlanta show. Definitely going to get there as early as possible. Am already comparing it to the Primus show from last year...
so there's another reason I'll be quoting Ice Cube tonight.
and there was another good trip to Manifest recently...
Wellwater Conspiracy - The Brotherhood of the Electric
Tommy James and the Chondels - Anthology
Mike Watt - Ball-Hog or Tugboat
Pearl Jam - Last Kiss single (I know, I know... but I'm somewhat of a completist... somewhat)
Helmet - Meantime
NIN - The Hand That Feeds prerelease single
The Strokes - Is This It?
and the Radiohead DVD "The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time"... weird stuff, but mostly very cool. Especially if it's dark, and the volume is cranked. Labels: Capitalism, music
I haven't done anything lately. Except occasionaly post dumb stuff here: www.filboydstudge.com
but I got a few CD's recently that I should have gotten ages ago...
Foo Fighters: The Colour & the Shape... Seems a lot of people really really like this album. Obviously, it's got some great great songs (e.g. Everlong - thanks, Stephanie), but I wasn't completely enthralled with it at first or second listen. Still glad to own and to have heard it, but my expectations were too high. I was looking for something that would go into immediate semi-permanent rotation.
Concrete Blonde: Live in Brazil... Yeah, they've had some misses, but also some really really great freakin' albums. This was recorded in '03, and I had a chance to see them this tour, but I didn't feel like driving to Chapel Hill. I hate Chapel Hill. Go Illinois. Regardless, I should have gone. Johnette sounds AMAZING, and the whole band is on. Joey is probably the worst of the two-disc set. Love her voice. Love their sound. I also liked their last album, Mojave. Pretty classic Blonde. (But "Group Therapy" didn't quite do it for me)
Roxy Music: Viva! Roxy Music... Just never paid attention before. But, speaking of Concrete Blonde... was listening to Roses Grow from Still in Hollywood, and Johnette mentions Paul Thompson... the drummer... "formerly of Roxy Music, now he's the Blonde, yes?" So. Got the Roxy live disc... it's kind of... artsy as opposed to "rock" perhaps. But I likes. A lot.
Trent Reznor is still the Man.
Especially the last response from 03/22.
I'm excited.
Buzzcocks: Singles Going Steady... again... Stephanie... thank you. Pearl Jam... thank you. Suppose I should get an actual album, but I found a used US version of this for cheap. I likes very much. And I wish the Buzzcocks had opened for PJ the entire tour instead of Sleater-Kinney... (who, btw, were fine, but not good enough to make me want to buy an album, and I thought they totally wrecked the encores of both shows I went to.)
KMFDM: Nihil... should have bought this long, long ago. Got all the singles from the album but never the album. Dumb. Definitely one of their best. If not the best. So I got it on vinyl too. Kind of lucky, I guess, since both are out of print. And yes, it's trendy, but Juke Joint Jezebel still rocks. And KMFDM puts on a really really awesome show.
Minor Threat: Out of Step... and, once again, just dumb that I didn't have this before. Was listening to 13 Songs before I went to the record store, and they had this new on vinyl. Really really really good. This, I think, would be the apex of anything I could hope to accomplish with music.
And I think that's all of the stuff I've come into recently.
I'm going to see Muse in one week.
and the Shins 2 1/2 weeks after that.
with a girl that actually likes me.
Very cool. Labels: music
Thanks, Lou
This is no time for celebration
This is no time for shaking heads
This is no time for backslapping
This is no time for marching bands
This is no time for optimism
This is no time for endless thought
This is not time for my country right or wrong
Remember what that brought
There is no time
There is no time
There is no time
There is no time
This is no time for congratulations
This is no time to turn your back
This is no time for circumlocution
This is no time for learned speech
This is no time to count your blessings
This is no time for private gain
This is a time to put up or shut up
It won't come back this way again
There is no time
There is no time
There is no time
There is no time
This is no time to swallow anger
This is no time to ignore hate
This is no time to be acting frivolous
Because the time is getting late
This is no time for private vendettas
This is no time to not know who you are
Self knowledge is a dangerous thing
The freedom of who you are
This is no time to ignore warnings
This is no time to clear the plate
Let’s not be sorry after the fact
And let the past become out fate
There is no time
There is no time
There is no time
There is no time
This is no time to turn away and drink
Or smoke some vials of crack
This is a time to gather force
And take dead aim and attack
This is no time for celebration
This is no time for saluting flags
This is no time for inner searchings
The future is at hand
This is no time for phony rhetoric
This is no time for political speech
This is a time for action
Because the future’s within reach
This is the time
This is the time
This is the time
Because there is no time
There is no time
There is no time
There is no time
There is no time Labels: george bush, music
Rediscovering an old friend
I watched this PBS special on Lou Reed the other day. ( HERE at Amazon if you want) It was really good and really really taught me a lot more about Lou and the Velvets, which was nice. They had, among other people, David Bowie giving interviews, and, eventually, got to talking about Lou's Transformer album. David and Mick Ronson produced the album, so it was pretty neat to hear him talk about it. (And extremely said that Mick is no longer around :( They didn't even mention him!)
That crappy little paragraph does not do that video justice, but it should provide what I need at the moment... just go watch it if you can. If I could be anytime/anywhere right now, it would be in Warhol's New York. So... after watching that video and becoming completely enthralled by the situations and surroundings from which the VU came and created their music, I really wanted to listen again. Stupidly, the only real VU album I owned was the first one with Nico. So I hit ebay looking for the rest of them. Tried to win the four studio albums on colored vinyl, but I lost out at the end. I did, however, get a Mint copy of the '72 pressing of Transformer and, even better, I got a stack of 11 original Bowie records for TEN DOLLARS. The sleeves are a little beat up but, so far, all the records play just fine...
Now for the point of all this.
I, wrongly, considered myself a pretty big Bowie fan. Even though I had never listened to Space Oddity all the way through. I listened to this album and recognized some of the songs from Live at the Beeb, but getting to hear this album for the first time was a GREAT feeling. I'd forgotten what it was like to hear Ziggy Stardust for the first time, and this was, perhaps, even better. Space Oddity itself is, obviously, a great song, and I'd never heard the studio version... Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed is another song that I had only heard live (from the Beeb), and it really blew me away as well. The rest of Side 1 was, for all intents and purposes, completely new, and it was amazing to listen to. Side 2 starts out with Janine... I really liked this song before, but, again, I had never heard the studio version. Very pleasant surprise. The way he says "Janine" is SOOO cool. :) But, really, the stand-out on this side is, far and away, Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud. I wasn't a huge fan of this on the Beeb, but now I'm in love with this song. And, now, I'm in love with this album too. I'm stupid for not having owned it before, but I'm glad, cuz I got this awesome experience of hearing it for the first time just recently. (and the most recent reviewer on Amazon is an idiot... "Far From a classic---but important for its title track." Dumbass.
And to continue my musical sojourns, I next popped in Stage. I hadn't ever heard this before either and, seeing as how I like live music and I like Bowie, it was exciting... The first half was mostly stuff i had heard before just played a little differently... including the most awesome version of Soul Love ever. (This is the only track I listened to more than once) The second half of the show was stuff that was completely new to me and pretty far out. Lots of instrumental runs that were just really spacey. But I was cleaning the kitchen, and it was fantastic music for that, and I liked every bit of it. Little different feeling with the second half b/c I really wasn't familiar with those songs at all. They were all good, but I missed that I-sort-of-know-this-but-damn-it-really-kicks-ass feeling. It was more of just wow-this-is-awesome-why-haven't-I-heard-this-before? Stage is good. I had never heard or heard of it before, and I really can't believe I got it for, like, a dollar. Even weirder? I just checked amazon, and they don't carry the CD. You can, however, buy it used from anywhere between $65 and $100. Wow. Unfortunate b/c it's awesome, and everyone should be able to hear, at least, that version of Soul Love...
On to the next record: Low. I've been wanting to get the Berlin albums for a while now, but I just haven't gotten to it. It was kind of lucky that Low was in the mix. (and, btw, Ziggy and Aladdin were there too, but I skipped them b/c I've heard them 8 million times each) So, after cleaning the kitchen, I sat down to waste away in front of NBA2K4 whilst increasing my value as a human by listening to unheard Bowie. I'm not going to be able to point out much about specific tracks except for Sound and Vision. I had heard that before, and it was actually really funky on this album. Great song, and I just didn't realize it. Most of the rest of the album, however, was actually on Stage. So I, again, got the feeling that I got from Space Oddity. I vaguely knew these songs... I had heard them live, but not in the studio. And, wow, I really love this album too. Brian Eno is, apparently, also a genius. I need to listen to this one again and again... which I will do. And, I suppose, this also catapults Lodger near the top of my CD want list.
I still have multiple more to go through including Young Americans and Scary Monsters. (and Let's Dance, but I'm kind of scared of that one) Anyway, thanks, David... it's been a GREAT couple of days getting to hear this new (but not-so-new) music. And, if you've got a favorite artist with an album stuck out there that you haven't heard, I implore you to listen to it. It'll be new to you. What a great feeling.
Oh. And I did finally find the rest of the VU albums... they should be here on Friday, so, perhaps next week, I can run through Nico, White Light/White Heat, VU, Loaded, Lou Reed, Transformer, and Berlin. (although it might be nice to end with Rock 'n' Roll Animal...)
The late sixties were great...
e.g. 1967: Bowie's Deram releases, Velvet Underground - VU & Nico, The Doors - The Doors, Beatles - Sgt. Peppar's, Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced, Pink Floyd - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, Chuck Berry - Live at the Fillmore
1968: Velvet Underground - White Light, White Heat, The Beatles - White Album, Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland, Pink Floyd - A Saucerful of Secrets
1969: David Bowie - Space Oddity, Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II, The Beatles - Abbey Road, The Who - Tommy, The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground
ok, so I may have some of those dates off, and I've definitely missed some stuff, but, good lord... there was really some amazing stuff going on then. I need to make myself a timeline of my favorite albums and listen to them in order at some point... of course, I also need to actually buy all of those... ugh... at least I can fill my Christmas list easily. :) Labels: music
oh yeah...
add Velvet Revolver to the list of bands that are completely ignoring the South East. At least Bowie and the Cure did an Atlanta stop... VR's got nothing. Labels: music
Uploads!
and, crap, I forgot...
there are lots of new CIF uploads.
Most importantly, I think, is the June 2 Charotte show. It was a GREAT show. And, even though I screwed up the recording for the last half-hour, you should still get it. (I'm an apologist) More good covers of Jerusalem and Lowlands, but Dustin also did "The Aeroplane Over the Sea" by Neutral Milk Hotel, and I was blown away. And I was reminded that Power of My Hands is a really good song. And I still think that Redemption is better than Men Who Die Young. Even with the weird harmonies at the beginning. Labels: music
I don't care what people say. I really like The Division Bell. David Gilmour is an amazing amazing musician. I have Jamaica pictures... I keep meaning to scan them but never get around to it... I'll do it soon... or later... maybe. I'm so lazy.
I thought I had something more important to say, but maybe not...
oh well.
I'm heading straight into the shining sun.
oh. Pearl Jam's Mexico 2 show is up in .shn... Encore = Hunger Strike, Leaving Here, Baba O'Riley, Yellow Ledbetter. How awesome is that? Labels: music
Stayed up late again last night...
stupid internet chat programs...
but STILL made it to work way early again today. :)
Something is very very wrong with me.
but CIF at Ziggy's tomorrow!!!
another late night. Probably fewer bruises than last time tho...
god, I love music!
(speaking of which, the CIF show from the Visulite last weekend is over on the CIF page here for download... and it's on the new fast server too. Enjoy!) Labels: music
I made it...
and I got some good work done too, I think.
now it's time to crash and burn.
and burn.
What would they say?
If we all stood up... and just walked away. Labels: music
Oh man.
I am going to hurt so much tomorrow...
my eye's swelling a little too... someone's head + my eye would do that...
Primus still rocks ass.
No Harold tho... and no new stuff... I wanted to hear Electric Uncle Sam too! It played like a "best of" set. Which, really, was fine, but... well, whatever. It was awesome. And everyone in the pit kicked ass too. no elbows, and no one was ever down for long. Good stuff!
So now I'm all energied-out, so maybe I can really get some work done tomorrow. Been kind of unhappy about it lately and pretty unmotivated, but I'm going to try to go early tomorrow and get into it. Starbucks is going to have to help me through...
Oh man.
I am going to hurt so much tomorrow...
SWEET :) Labels: concerts, music
oh!
and I watched the 08 April 1994 PJ concert... when they found out that Kurt had died. It's eerie...
Ed is so emotional... Porch was RIDICULOUS, and, at the end, Ed smashed a hole in the stage floor with the mic stand. Manages to break the stand along the way, and just ended up with a big hole in the floor. Crazy Crazy. Labels: music, Pearl Jam
Tool is awesome...
The people upstairs got this little border collie that's fuzzy and it's going to stay small, and it's really friendly, and now I want a dog, but I'm not allowed to have one... You know how some people say that Dark Side and The Wizard of Oz match up if you watch them at the same time? No one says that about Lateralus and A Bug's Life, but if they did, more people would try it out, and even tho it doesn't match up at all, it's still kind of cool.
I heard the Grey Album today. It didn't do too much for me, so I deleted it pretty quickly. Way too much Jay-Z and not enough Beatles... Labels: music
Cold wind blows on the soles of my feet
Heaven knows nothing of me
I'm lost nowhere to go
Oh when I was a kid oh how magic it seemed
Oh please let me sleep it's Christmas time
Flowered winds was where I lived
Thought you burned not froze for your sins
Oh I'm so tired and cold
Oh when I was a kid oh how magic it seemed
Oh please let me sleep it's Christmas time
Oh oh when I was a kid oh how magic it seemed
Oh please let me sleep it's Christmas time
Oh oh when I if I was a kid oh how magic it seemed
Oh please let me dream it's Christmas time
yeah.
So, it's Christmas time. What an annoying, yet cool, time of year. One day I'll get my family to agree to have Christmas in January so we can avoid all the stupid lines and rushes and traffic... I have no idea what I'm getting... There's nothing I really want. Mostly, however, because, if I want something, I'll buy it myself. A la Lost Dogs. How am I supposed to wait and NOT buy the new PJ CD the day it comes out?!? It's good, btw. Not a big Sweet Lew fan and Gremmie Out of Control gets on my nerves every now and then. But it's good. Especially Sad. and Down. and UNDONE. Damn, I love that song. Decided to buy Yield on vinyl the other day... just b/c it looks cool. I don't have a record player, but it looks great on my wall...
**REALLY COOL STUFF ALERT**
that was fun...
uhm... Neil Finn and Friends: 7 Worlds Collide. The DVD is SWEET. "Friends" includes Eddie (which is how I knew to look for the DVD) and Johnny Marr. As well as some other folk whose names I didn't recognize. It's really chill for the most part, but it's got some rockers too. I see red, I see red, I see red!!! I think there's an audio-only version of it as well, but the DVD is just really really good. (And I'm pretty sure it'd be a great "date" movie... I'll have to try it out sometime...)
Damn... I haven't talked in a long time...
Cast Iron Filter. Really good weekend a week ago... check out their message board for what I thought of it. Got introduced to Scott Miller, and I like his stuff now too. He's a fun guy to watch on stage; now I really want to see him with his band. CIF were kind enough to let me hang out at the studio for a little while last week when they were recording the new demo. The new songs are all sounding great. "Men Who Die Young" kicks ass, and the addition of some studio instruments (vibrophone, keys, electric guitar) really helps on some of the songs. I'm going to try to run around with them in January to Charleston, Greensboro, and Raleigh, so come find me then, and we can talk about it. :) Wellwater Conspiracy was on Letterman the other night... I was kind of disappointed. I like their albums, and the performance was energetic, but something was up with Matt's vocals... oh well... Oh yeah... damn near forgot about the MSG video. I think I need to watch it again... I really liked it... it's Pearl Jam... I mean, come on. But it wasn't the best concert I've seen as far as I can remember. Maybe b/c I really wanted to try to play along with Corduroy, but they never played it... I dunno. Definitely need to watch it again, and maybe I'll have a better review. Right now, it's just really good. ;)
That's about all I've got for now. I should have the CIF Visulite show up soon. (I hope) Just wanted to sign off for the year to anyone who reads this. Parting thought? Simple... watch 7 Worlds Collide. Oh. And go to bluegrassjam.net and vote for Mikey in the poll.
Please let me sleep, it's Christmas time. Labels: music
I've done a LOT of work on the bootleg section here for all of you who care. Finally finished adding all the 2003 PJ shows and am in the process of now adding some from '92 - '94. And by "work", I just mean entering the shows in the database - functionality hasn't really changed. Hm. 02 March 1992 Show Track 8 (Saying No - formerly called Suggestion) is a great great song. Funky, groovy... and it means something... cool.
Enough of that tho. Pearl Jam is already famously kick-ass. Cast Iron Filter... made it to the Raleigh and Flat Rock shows this weekend. Met Paco, Nick, Karen, and Chris. Which was good. Nick should have the Raleigh show posted on his site shortly. When he does, I'll definitely post a link here. It was an amazing set including Model-T, Morgantown, Wiregrass, and Murder, but also some 100% NEW songs - Men Who Die Young, Redemption, and Falls of Rough. I'd never heard Redemption before (apparently built off of one of Brian's drumbeats), but it's amazing. From what I could decipher, the lyrics are just as good as the music too. We might have a new forerunner for the album's single. Oh, and I got to run lights in Raleigh... had no clue what I was doing, but it was fun. Probably moved them too much and not enough at the same time, but I was sort of getting the hang of it towards the end. There were definitely a couple of places where I timed it just right, and that was pretty awesome. And, naturally, afterwards, I thought of a zillion things that I would have liked to have done better/differently. Maybe some other time. And maybe I'll get a light that'll just shine on Phil some other time too. We'll see...
Got to Hickory at about 7am on Saturday morning, slept 'til noon, then drove to Flat Rock. On the way to Raleigh, David Bowie kept me company with the Remastered Ziggy Stardust soundtrack, and on the way to Flat Rock, Yield cemented itself as one of my top-five favorite albums ever. EVER. I do this thing where I turn the radio up whenever a good song comes on, then I'll turn it back down a little when a not-as-good song comes on. Problem was that I NEVER got to a point where I would want to turn Yield down. Listened to it at least four times in a row b/t Friday night and Saturday. If you don't have this album, I'm BEGGING you to go get it. But I'm off topic again... (Go get Yield)
Flat Rock was a shorter set, but still sweet. No Redemption, but Men Who Die Young blazed by with Dustin having a great scream at the end. I really desperately hope they get a good producer on this album. The songs have so much potential... I don't want another Ugly Town... But yes, Flat Rock was good. Sold a lot of stuff, and everyone was very complimentary of the band. It's odd when people tell me "I love you guys so much" or some variation thereof. I mean, come on, all I do is stand around and try to make you buy CD's b/c I think you'll like them. You don't love me, you love THEM. Or, rather, their music. Nevertheless, I say "thank you" and continue to hock my wares... "No, no... you don't want that one... well, actually none of those songs are any of these albums yet... no, the bassist and drummer aren't on any of these albums either... uhm... this is the only one that is similiar to what you're hearing tonight... but it IS 2 for $20, so why not get their first album as well?" You get the idea... The crowd was older... kind of Neighborhood Theater-ish from a couple of weekends ago... but the response was entirely different. While some (SOME) of the N. Theater crowd found CIF somewhat grating, it seemed like everyone at Flat Rock loved them. Sometimes it's nice to have conversations with older people who like the same thing as you as opposed to super super drunk dudes who just want to hear "Like a Prayer." Anyway... good times all around. Both nights. Super tired by the time I got back, but it was worth it. (And if I didn't have to work next weekend, I'd do it again - but I'll still be at Zigggy's on Friday, so come there and say hi, but come early, cuz CIF opens.) Labels: Cast Iron Filter, concerts, music
migraines suck.
If you're here looking for the new CIF show, I'm sorry. I've got nothing. Well, that's not totally true. I have a cassette of the show a couple of weeks ago. A cassette! I don't even own anything that plays tapes anymore. So... As soon as I can get a walkman, record the tape to my computer, then track the single .wav file, I should be able to get that show up. Or maybe I'll just have to wait 'til the Pour House show. :-/ Anyway, sorry for the delay - I'm working on it.
I've also been doing a LOT of work on that bootleg thing in the upper-left corner. Probably 85% done with getting everything entered. And I've been writing some new pages. Check out this page if you're bored. Currently, you have to select at least two tracks, and you can't select anything that includes and apostrophe or a comma. I'm working on that too, but not there yet.
Tried watching Ziggy Stardust DVD last night. But my DVD is old, and I have the remastered CDs. So I tried to match the CD to the DVD and watch it that way. Apparently, the DVD is missing quite a bit of the show. Disappointing... Needless to say, I wasn't able to get it to work for very long. There are too many differences in the two for it to work. Had to listen to the crappy DVD soundtrack. Oh well. Still an amazing show. And he does cover a few songs...
So that's got me thinking about covers. Bowie covers the Stones and the Velvet Underground; Cast Iron covers Madonna, Dan Bern, the Who, Steve Earl, the Box Tops, and a bunch that I'm sure I'd never recognize; Pearl Jam covers anything and everything under the sun... And I was thinking, last night, why isn't there a Ziggy Stardust cover band? If crappy-ass Dave Matthews gets his own cover band, then Ziggy should DEFINITELY have one. But why would a band want to get on stage to play other people's music? Three of my all-time favorite bands seem to enjoy the covers, and I'll not deny that it's fun to hear them. But how come? Unless a band can actually add something to the song with their interpretation, it's nothing more than karoke, (however you spell it) right? And is that ok? Take CIF's version of "Like a Prayer" for example. Sure, it's a crowd pleaser b/c everyone knows it, and the girls flip-out, and it's fun to sing along too, and blah blah blah... but it's got to be disappointing for a band to get the biggest response from a crowd for a cover song. But they do it well. It's a crowd-pleaser (or, at least, a me-pleaser) not just because it's some cheesy song from the 80's but also b/c CIF completely reinterprets the song, and they're able to make it their own. Same for "The Letter" and "Soky Fair." I don't know if there are tons of people who remember the originals, but the CIF versions can really stand on their own, and I think that's really important. (And their version of Soky just destroys John's version too...) Other examples of this would be Bowie's version of "Let's Spend the Night Together," as well as his "White Light, White Heat" and "Waiting For the Man" covers. To hear Bowie play the songs, you'd think they were his, and the experience is vastly different from hearing the original versions. Nirvana also did the same thing with songs like "Turnaround" and "Molly's Lips" from the Vaselines.
Then there are the covers that sound more like the original than not. For Cast Iron, I think that would include things like "Baba O'Riley," "Jeruselum," "Moonshiner," and "The Weight." Pearl Jam's covers fall mostly into this category too... "Rockin' In the Free World," "Fortunate Son," "Know Your RIghts," "Throw Your Arms Around Me," and countless others often sound very similiar to the original. You can tell it's Pearl Jam, but the point of playing the covers doesn't usually seem to be to add something to the song. What's the point then? Are two of my favorite bands partially just karoke bands? maybe... Why play these songs? Well, partially, to get a crowd reaction. I think this might be more important for a smaller band like CIF than Pearl Jam, but I still don't think it's a great reason to do a cover. So, in searching for an answer that doesn't include talking smack on them, I think I've found something that makes sense. You cover a song because it MEANS something or stands for something... an ideal or a feeling or timeperiod... Some songs can evoke emotion (and possibly even action) so well that it's pointless to use one of your own songs to evoke this same emotion. As Scott pointed out to me, CCR was very anit-war (Vietnam), and that made Pearl Jam's choice of covering "Fortunate Son" as plain as day. Why would they perform their own song in an effort to move people when playing a well-known song with a meaningful history behind it would give them a head-start on getting the idea across? (except, of course, to dumb people who think that it's a "patriotic" song...) Instead of trying to get an idea across, perhaps a band also just wants its fans to take notice of another artist. That's the reason that I like to talk about things, (to get other people to take notice of them) so maybe it can carry over to music too. Maybe Pearl Jam and CIF just really like The Who and don't want people to forget. And perhaps other people should figure out who Dan Bern is the same way I did. (Thanks guys)
And finally? Maybe it's just really fun to play "Baba O'Riley" and "Last Kiss" and "Moonshiner." I know, like one power chord, so I'm not really sure, but as far as I can tell, it would be an absolute blast to get up on stage and play the hell out of a song that you love. No need for deeper meaning or artistic expression here. Fun for the sake of fun, and I don't suppose there's anything wrong with that at all. And if the band is having fun, most likely, the crowd is having fun too.
All-in-all, I think I've convinced myself that covers are really awesome things as long as the band isn't just trying to prove something. (oooo... look at what WE can play...) I've just got to think a little harder when I hear them these days, but that's never a bad thing either.
P.S. - wouldn't it be neat if I cared about something this much that I could actually make money with?
maybe next time I'll write about the importance of ESN-tracking in the wireless retail market, the proper dimensions of a logo for a Sales Receipt, and why it's imperative to follow the directions given to you by your software provider if you actually want the software to work.
but probably not. Labels: music
So. I made it to the Pearl Jam shows and back. In one piece. Raleigh was great night with a good setlist. A decent number of new songs (which are what I wanted to hear), and a few nostalgic ones as well. (read: Alive) True to form, Evenflow showed up, and I got a good Corduroy and Given to Fly. Eddie's funny in GtF. Also, he says practically nothing during the whole show... mighty strange. I didn't get to see the opening band, but they came out for Fortunate Son and Rockin' In the Free World for the encore. It was alright. Growing tired of RitFW tho.
Charlotte was a really weird show too... not in that Eddie didn't talk, but that they played pretty much every single off Ten (Black, Jeremy, Evenflow, and Alive) and very few Riot Act tracks (Save You, Green Disease, Love Boat Captain). We did get another Corduroy, so that was cool. Not to mention getting to hear Breath. No State of Love and Trust either night tho... disappointing. I did see Sleater-Kinney this time, however, and I liked them. They played hard and their voices were really interesting. Nice to have fun with the opening band. Oh, and we heard Eddie at the pre-set singing Driftin' by himself. I REALLY like that song and wish we would have seen him, but hearing it was pretty cool too.
Didn't go to Nashville and Atlanta. Should have. They FINALLY played Bush Leaguer in Nashville for the first time since those 24 people walked out in Denver, Know Your Rights made another appearance, and Steve Earle sang Fortunate Son in the encore. Other than that, tho, I don't suppose I was THAT thrilled with Nashville. I really really would have liked to have gone to Atlanta tho. Baba O'Riley AND Yellow Ledbetter in the second encore. Plus Crazy Mary with Boom's amazing keyboard solo. The rare You've Got to Hide Your Love Away, State of Love and Trust, Glorified G, Porch, 5 new songs, AND Crown of freaking Thorns. I can't believe I didn't go to that show... Live and learn... I guess... but I'm not too sure what I was supposed to learn...
Enough about Pearl Jam I suppose... CIF played a really good show at the Visulite here in Charlotte the Saturday before. Dustin's voice was back on track, which was GREAT. I know Mike, Mason, and Brian are all really really great musicians, but, really, I have the most fun when Dustin's voice is %100 and he really makes the show his. He can do the rhythmic singing thing very well. But anyway, all-in-all, the band was tight, and I thought the show went really well. A kick-ass Soky was the encore and the energetic crowd got them out for a second encore and a rockin' rendition of Baba O'Riley. (So take THAT, Pearl Jam. Bitches.) I was pretty stoked about this show and was hoping to post a more in depth review thing that really would just make me feel good about writing even if noone ever read it. And I wanted to post it so everyone else could hear it. Unfortunately, the CD was over in the middle of Soky Fair. Sucked, but I figured the Baba encore was a cool thing to have saved just for the crowd. Sucked even more to find out that the recording of the whole show got screwed, so we ended up with nothing. Hope that everyone who went enjoyed it. If you didn't go... Shame on you. It was well worth the ten bucks.
CityFest is this weekend... Live was supposed to play on Saturday. I'm a big Live fan. If you ever looked at my cd database, you know this. I was excitied. Bought my tickets way in advance. Foo Fighters'll be there on Saturday too. Sounds awesome. Then I hear that Collective Soul (?!?!?) is going to show up on Friday. I thought they were heading out due to some lineup changes... guess I was wrong. So, I was super-psyched, cuz I like Collective Soul too. They're a GREAT radio band and I like most of the CD's as well as the singles. But then I found out that Collective Soul was REPLACING Live instead of supporting them. Last time I saw them, I had to sit through Counting Crows as the main act. Then, they skipped this area all together for the V tour, and now they cancel the show?? NOT happy with Ed and the boys right now. I don't think I have anything else to whine about or criticize right now. If something comes to me, it'll probably be here. I'll do my best to get another good CIF show uploaded by the end of next week.
Today was Shakespeare's birthday, btw. RIP
And my dad's birthday too. RIP
life and transience and whatnot... Labels: Cast Iron Filter, concerts, music, Pearl Jam
Primative Radio Gods were an awesome band, btw. Rocket is one of my favorite albums, and White Hot Peach is up there as well. I can only imagine that releasing Standing Beside a Broken... as their first single killed them. That song is WAY "poppier" than anything else. The people that liked the song wouldn't have liked the album, and the people that would have liked the album wouldn't have bought it b/c of the single. If you're wondering why I bought it, I hadn't heard the single... it was just the cheapest CD in the new releases section, and I was almost broke. Very serendipitous.
I've still got a lot of catching up to do with the bootleg database. I should have this weekend to myself tho, so hopefully I'll get a chance to get everything updated. Saw the Making the Video for Avril last night. I think I'd like her a lot more if MTV didn't like her so much. She certainly came across as... well... an 18 year-old girl. :-/ (No offense to all the 18 year-old girls, of course.)
Finally bought and watched Lawrence of Arabia. Hence the new quote at the top. AMAZING movie, and he was an amazing man. I have a copy of his Seven Pillars of Wisdom on the way. If I'm ever able to actually slog through damn-near 700 pages, it'll be a miracle. But anyway, if you haven't seen the movie, you should. They definitely diefy Lawrence, which seems a little strange, but it really is a great movie, and Peter O'Toole really was amazing. Not to mention Alec Guiness doing a FANTASTIC job as Prince Feisal. All in all, it just pissed me off that the Arabs weren't ever able to unite and that they're still in the same situation today. The Arabs, as a people, really were a great people. It's so sad that the Middle East has become such a political hotbed. Not to say that a lot of it isn't our (Britain, France, US...) fault, but still.
Now. CIF. I have a really good show that I'm dying to upload, but it hasn't been a month for the Potbelly's show yet. The number of hits I've been getting lately is declining, so I'm assuming that most everyone who wanted Potbelly's has already gotten it. I'm going to try and get this new show (Charlottesville, VA - March 7th) uploaded sooner rather than later. It's soundboard, and they even got Howie to come down and play a few songs with them. Overall, I think it's one of the better shows I've heard. Except that I really wish they'd quit playing Moonshiner live. It's such a downer... Labels: Cast Iron Filter, Movies, music
journals
So I finished reading Kurt's journals. Very disappointing that the suicide note wasn't at the end. Still, there was a lot of really great stuff in there. Also a lot of teenage punk bitch stupid stuff, but that part was cool too. "I no longer need to be inspired, just supported." GREAT line, and I really need to get to that point in my life. Right now, I still need to be inspired.
There are three types of music. Music for the Money, Music for the Music, and Music for the Emotion.
Most of the crap on the radio today falls squarely into the first category. Producers and executives find a band that has some musical talent and maybe some ideas of their own. The band is then pressed into servitude with the allure of money, fame, cars, drugs, girls... whatever. All at the low low price of their integrity. No integrity? No problem. Hell, that's even better, because the labels can then avoid the cost of brainwashing. Backstreet Boys? No integrity. Talent? Sure. I'd love to be able to sing like that. Would I sell out? Probably. There's a market for the music, and someone's going to fill the niche, so it might as well be me. Our Lady Peace. Talent? Sure. Integrity? well, I feel like they used to have it. But this new stuff is just garbage. There's a rock formula out there, and OLP was duped into following it. For the money and the fame. Just ask Nickelback. Or Creed. Or any other number of neuvo-alternative acts running around the country these days. They all know the formula, and they all stick to it. The music doesn't mean anything anymore because, while they may have great ideas and the songs may be bursting with emotion, the emotion is being expressed using someone else's formula. This isn't inherently a bad thing. Not everyone has the talent to express themselves uniquely, and having an outlet pioneered by others is something we should all be thankful for. But I don't think that expressing one's self through that same outlet is worthy of the adoration and wallets of millions of fans. These bands are short-lived. They will always be short-lived because they are contrived to fit a niche in the market. A niche that won't always be the same, and a niche that demands fresh blood with each successive generation. Ride the wave while you can, but expect to crash.
Currently, I feel like Cast Iron Filter fits into the second group. All the guys are very talented musically, and the music is highly original, but sometimes I'm not sure what drives them to play. Stories about made-up truck drivers, fake shoot-outs, and imaginary street races are all very well and good, but I've had a hard time figuring out what drives these kinds of songs. But now I think it's the music. The simple drive to make the best most original music they can. And it's working. I've heard the songs a zillion times, but I can still get fired up for the heartfelt closing verse of Soky Fair (yes, even tho it's a cover), the When You Don't solos are always insane, and Running Free always makes me feel like that's exactly what I should be doing. Overall, however, it seems like Cast Iron Filter is focused on making good music rather than evoking emotion. This shouldn't be taken as a slight by any means. I think it's very admirable, and maybe reaching this conclusion will help me take the next step towards understanding their growth as a band. While this path is certainly one worth taking, I think it's much more difficult to gather fans and supporters. It's sometimes difficult to identify good music. You have to care about it enough to actually LISTEN to what's going on instead of just trying to feel it. Good music should evoke emotion, but music whose primary goal is to be good music requires the listener to put forth some effort before the emotion will come through. Nothing lasts longer than good music. People's emotions fade and immaturity gives way thoughtfulness, but music is mathematical, and solid musical composition can be as everlasting as any theorem or postulate.
Now, Nirvana made music for the sake of emotion. Kurt NEEDED this outlet for his feelings and emotions to slow his downward spiral. Early Nirvana is not necessarily a musically adept band. But they were extremely emotionally charged. Every song meant something. Even if it was just a cheap stab at the recording industry (Radio Friendly Unit Shifter) or attempting to show men the evils of rape (Polly), each and every song had personal meaning and the point of these songs was to get the emotion across to the listener. Everyone knows what unrequieted love feels like, ("Hurts me so much, it makes me sick.") and Aneurysm can make you feel that pain. This stuff is accessible because everyone has emotion, and you're going to like music that you can relate to. The problem with these kinds of bands is that they can lack longevity. Unless they can change and adapt. Eventually your fans will grow tired of feeling those same emotions, and you'll be left behind. For some bands, it's fine to make a mark, then fade away to reunion concerts and benefits in the park. This wasn't what Kurt wanted tho. He wanted to change the system and change the country. Falling into relative obscurity was not an option.
ugh... I've hit a block and don't know what I'm talking about anymore. I'll probably edit this later, cuz I'm sure some of this is just dumb and doesn't make any sense. I need a THESIS STATEMENT. Stupid high school english. Hope I didn't waste too much of anyone's time. La, la.
-jim Labels: Books, Cast Iron Filter, music
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