A couple of photo links:
1. A collection of sea forts. Fascinating
shit, honestly. I promise I'm not lying.
2. Photos of a mid-seventies New York street gang - The Reapers.
Hey free music! Centro-Matic put up a 24 song
sampler of all of their records on bandcamp. A good place to start
discovering this great act. Click on the band's name to get there.
And then there is this...apparently
since they've basically been at war for over half a century, Pakistan
& India have
some really eleaborate border ceremonies. It's like a real-life
version of the Monty Python "Ministry of Silly Walks"
sketch..
Photo
journal involves three pages from our weekend trip to the
Outer Banks (I'm almost impressed I stretched that
nonsense to three pages) and band photos (big surprise).
Music reviews
this go around - Wood Ear, Pop 1280, Superchunk, Aesop Rock, Fergus
& Geronimo, Father John
Misty, and more.
And finally, for shits and giggles, a few search terms that have led
folks to this site:
"pulling pud"
"fake kim kardashian"
"ball fondler"
"llama humping"
and my personal favorite..."and then she shat on a turtle"
Superchunk with Gross Ghost
Cat's Cradle
7/12/2012
I went to see Superchunk play at the Cat's
Cradle again, and for those keeping score at home this was the 4,603rd
time. And every single one of those times was super damn
enjoyable what with the awesome songs and bouncing
around and singing along and staring at Laura. This time out the
band took requests via twitter on what they should
play, and being a local crowd they got asked for a handful of rarities
and plenty of crowd favorites. They hit three of my
top five Chunk songs - "Why Do You Have to Put a Date on Everything,"
"Cast Iron," and Skip Steps 1 & 3." No
"Animated Airplanes Over Germany," which they only play occasionally,
but surprisingly no "Detroit Has a Skyline" and
I couldn't tell you the last time they didn't play that gem.
Other highlights included "On the Mouth," "Driveway to Drive-
way," "Cool," "Precision Auto," and their classic cover of the Sebadoh
song "Brand New Love"...haven't heard them
play that one in a dog's life. I'm not sure what else you can say
about Superchunk at this point, they're a goddamned
institution and seeing them is like going to church for me.
Local up-and-comers Gross
Ghost opened the gig, and put on a great job as
always. I finally bought myself a copy
of the record so I can finally get to know the songs in a setting other
than a live show. They played a few new tracks,
some I'd heard before, all of it quite good. For those not aware,
they sound very much influenced by the punk-pop
sound of locals like Superchunk, without actually sounding like
them. Catchy songs, easy to sing along with. I'm glad
I get to see them so often.
Hiss Golden Messenger
with Michael Chapman
The Pinhook
6/12/2012
Early Show! Any time I can go see two different performers, get a
tasty burger afterwards, and still get home before the
Daily Show...that's a good night out. The opener was Michael Chapman, who I honestly
knew nothing about before
this show was announced. Turns out Chapman is a British folkie
who recorded his first album in 1969, and is known for
is fantastic guitar wizardry. And after seeing him in person, I
can verify that such adulation of his skills is well warranted.
There was some singing but by in large it was just this older gentleman
and his guitar, and he had the whole crowd
eating out of his hands. I will now go back and research the back
catalog of this fine musician, and I'd guess I'm not the
only one from this Pinhook show who will be doing that. Unless of
course I was the only one not completely aware of
him, which is certainly possible.
I had seen Hiss Golden Messenger once
before but it was just Michael Taylor playing by himself...and it was
fantastic.
This time out it was a five piece band, a band that included the Cook
brothers - best known for their work as 2/3rds of Megafaun. And while the same
songs might have gotten played at both performances, they sounded
drastically dif-
ferent. Still, despite the change in instrumentation and
obviously much fuller sound, the whole affair was still anchored
by Taylor's stellar voice, a constant no matter how many instruments
are being played behind it. Word on the street is
this full band version of HGM isn't just a one-off thing, and will be
continuing with live shows as well as recordings. I
would imagine there will also still be some gigs that are Taylor only,
and that will be great too. Getting multiple versions
of Hiss Golden Messenger songs is like coming up with multiple uses for
ice cream - it's enjoyable regardless.
"Yeah I
called her up. She gave me a bunch of crap about me not listening to
her, or something. I don't know, I wasn't
really paying attention."
Black Tusk - Embrace
The Madness. Metal up your ass, Georgia style.
Mind Controls - Take
A Message. One of Mark Sultan's myriad of bands.
Took me a bunch of years to discover this.
O.V. Wright - I'd
Rather Be (Blind,
Crippled And Crazy). Been feelin' these sort of jams
that sorta walk a fine line
between soul and blues.
Bonus: Motherless
Child.
Shout
Out Louds - Oh,
Sweetheart.
Such an underrated pop band.
Spiritualized - Life
Is A Problem.
The new record "Sweet Heart, Sweet Light" is definitely one of the best
of the year.
Bonus: So
Long You Pretty Thing.
Superchunk - 100,000
Fireflies (Magnetic Fields cover) (Live). All live
versions (obviously) of some of my very
favorite Superchunk songs. And my favorite Superchunk cover.
Bonus: Cast
Iron (Live).
Bonus: Nu
Bruises (Live).
Telekinesis - 50
Ways. Despite knowing I'd love this record I somehow
managed to put off really listening to
Telekinesis' "12 Desperate Straight Lines" until just recently.
Bonus: Car
Crash.
Bonus: Dirty
Thing.
The Strange Boys - Heard
You Want to
Beat Me Up. Even though their music jumps around
genre-wise, I dig it.
And who says you gotta pick one direction and stick to it?
Bonus: Most
Things.
