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Calendar
Movie Reviews
Links
***December
Twenty Seventh Two Thousand and Four***
On December 19th
I put on an SF Indie
List show at the 12 Galaxies...here
are a few snaps I took
with my trusty SX-70 Polaroid.
This is Jason Lakis
of The Red Thread. They have
been local favorites of mine for some time now
and headlined the event. They were great as always and dressed up
all spiffy for the show.
Citizens Here & Abroad
held down the middle spot, and "rocked it something proper" as my grandma
might say. Or maybe she wouldn't...either way, they were great as
always. From left to right we have
Adrienne, then Dan, and finally our mutual friend Heather Choy posing for
a portrait with Adrienne.
The opener on the
night was Fojimoto, and it was my first
time seeing them (although I had been enjoying
the MP3s on their site for some time...check'em out). They were even
better live than what I expected,
which was largely because they had added a pedal steel player to their trio
that really rounds out their sound
in a fantaqstic way. These
pics are of their singer/guitarist Marwan.
Some other miscellaneous
types, from left to right:
+ Annie, who helped out with the show and bartended for the night. Hopefully
all of the Indie List lushes tipped
well.
+ Brian Way, formerly of Len Brown Society
and current charter member of the Petaluma Postrock Posse,
with Dave of The Hut Dwellers
(who played our spring list shindig).
+ Colin of Ex-Boyfriends (who played
our BBQ show back in September). He loves the Archers of Loaf
almost as much as me, therefore making him automatically awesome.
+ Erika in the shadow created
by her hand, with Sharon digging for gold.
+ The lovely couple, Skip of Estereo and long
time listee Olivia.
+ Tack, filmer of shows and the
guy that always answers my assinine computer questions.
***December
Fourteenth Two Thousand and Four***
Good christ on a
horny toad, have I been busy lately and totally being lame on the updates...so
here
are some quick songs with photos to be posted later in the week hopefully
(should have some more
free time then...).
4 Great Soul
Songs
Sam Cooke - A
Change Is Gonna Come - To quote Allmusic: "Sam Cooke was the most important
soul singer in history -- he was also the inventor of soul music, and
its most popular and beloved per-
former in both the black and white communities." I think the man
even transcends that label, as I would
proposition that he is one of the most important singers in history regardless
of genre. When it hits me
at the right moment, this song can bring a tear to my eye...it's not just
my favorite soul song, but one of
my top three favorite songs ever. He died at a very young age yet
accomplished more than most artists
ever will in their entire life.
Eddie Bo - From
This Day On - I know very little of this man, and was turned onto this
song through the
DJ Shadow//Cut Chemist collaboration Brainfreeze
(which is totally amazing if you've never heard it, and
played a large role in my renewed interest in soul music a couple of years
back). This was one of the
standout tracks from that mix, constantly getting stuck in my head, presented
here in it's entirety. This man
is a New Orleans R&B legend, and he's still doing it to this day.
Etta James - I'd
Rather Go Blind - Etta, in many ways, is nearly the female version of
Sam Cooke in terms
of her importance ot the genre. When she sings it, you feel as if
she's right there telling you a story - as far
as I'm concerned, the only female soul voice to even approach hers is
that of Aretha Franklin, and I still think
I'd take Etta as my desert island choice. She too is still going
strong, and both my mother and my girlfriend
can attest to the fact that she still sounds as great as ever.
William Bell - I
forgot To Be Your Lover - This song has one of the strongest choruses
I've ever heard...that
combination of his doubled vocals and the strings send shivers down my
spine nearly every time. Bell is yet
another in a long line of under-appreciated soul singers whom I know ver
little about, but I'm working on it.
ALSO: go over to
Honey, Where You Been So Long
and scroll down to read up/download the tracks that
cat has posted on the Gee's
Bend singers. That is some of the best and most moving music I
have ever
heard, and the quilts are absolutely stunning. Yeah, I know, I'm
praising quilts, which seems wierd on the
surface, but just go check them out - I'd rather have one of those hanging
on my wall than most any work of
art.
***December Fifth Two
Thousand and Four***
Random Pictures and Music
There's no real rhyme or reason
to this set of pics, just some randoms I came across and decided to post.
#1 - Just some random telephone
pole in the mission, obviously the home of many flyers over the years.
#2 - This is my "glamour shot" of my cat. Black couch + cross processed
film = sultry feline.
#3 - this is the interior of an old abandoned house near my dad's house.
I've taken a number of photos
there and it's always held a great fascination
for me.
#4 - This is from a community center near my house in Raleigh during
college - they were having a scare-
crow contest of some sort. This was
my favorite.
#5 - Pier 39 seals...this is pretty much the only reason I ever go to
this part of town, I love those smelly things.
#6 - Found this behind Gumby's Pizza in Raleigh during college. Fittingly,
I have a print of this hanging in
my bathroom.
Here are three tracks of some
of my favorite chamber/baroque/twee/whatever pop.
The Czars - Killjoy.
The music is great, the song is great, yada yada yada, but what makes
the Czars so
special is that voice of John Grant. My god, it gives me goosebumps
everytime I hear it. I don't even know
what to compare it to, you'll just have to listen and see for yourself.
Their album "The
Ugly People vs. the
Beautiful People" was easily my favorite record I heard last year,
even if it did come out in 2001. If you like
what you hear there are more MP3s on their website.
Jeremy Enigk
- Shade
and the Black Hat. Enigk's only solo outing from Sunny Day Real
Estate is probably
my favorite work of his to date. After the group's second album
they split and went their seperate ways - the
rhythm section of Nate Mendel and William Goldsmith went on to join the
Foo Fighters while Jeremy found
God and decided to record the best material he's ever written. The
music has a huge, orchestral sound -
which he replicated live by touring with a 10 member band soon after
the album came out. It was one of my
favorite shows of my college days.
Belle & Sebastian - The
Lonliness of A Middle Distance Runner. This track is a B-side
from their "Jonathan
David" single, and remains one of my favorite songs from their post-"If
You're Feeling Sinister" career. Dunno
what to really say about these Scottish popsters that hasn't been said
before...just a fine song that some less
excitable B&S fans might have missed.
Archive - November 2004
October 2004
September 2004