Beer

As a matter of fact, I do like beer.

As a kid, beer – alcohol in general – was a bit of a fear factor for me because alcoholism runs deep in my family. So other than getting a sip of my dad’s beer when I was just a wee lad, I avoided it until my last days of high school. I’ve always been mindful of what alcohol can do to you long-term, so I’m tried to be as responsible as possible when drinking.

The funny thing is, it used to be that drinking cheap beer and having to take a leak every 15 minutes was the biggest problem I’d have with beer drinking. These days, I have to eat antacid so I don’t get heartburn.

Ah, adulthood.

But this piece is about celebration. It is about beer. It also happens to be the birthday of Tom T. Hall, the gifted song-writer who wrote the wonderful ode to beer – “I Like Beer” – back in the early 1970’s.

In my early days of drinking – when I was beholden to someone else to supply the beer – I wasn’t too picky. I remember – not fondly – the days of drinking Red Dog beer or Busch or Natty Light. Ah, high school.

By the time I hit college, access was greater. My freshman-year roommates and I would get cases of cheap beer like Beast Lite – although Icehouse was also a favorite as it was also the name of our abode – and sit around doing stupid shit like filling the floors with water and play broom hockey or shoot fireworks under our doors (kids, don’t try that at home).

There were also keg parties galore. That meant more cheap beer. Although, from time-to-time, we’d hit the jackpot and run into a keg of Irish Red or Newcastle at some rich-person’s place; but mostly it was Beast or Natty and that horrible smell of sour, hot beer.

Once I got to the point where I could actually legally do my beer shopping, I became snooty. I’d drink imported beers or casually drink Mich Light while smoking a not-so-cheap cigar. That phase only lasted about a year – thank god. What a pretentious ass-hat I would be if I still drank way too expensive light beer and smoked tobacco that cost $10 a pop.

If I could go back 15 years, I’m beat that crap out of me 21-year-old me.

Once I became a working man, I re-found myself, beer-wise. The first beer I ever tasted was High Life out of a frozen mug. So for years during my early adulthood that was my beer of choice. Yeah, sometimes I’d get classy and drink an import – Harp was one that carried over from my phase of pretentiousness – but for the most part I like my beer cheap and my beer cold.

It’s a good combo when you are broke, the A/C doesn’t work and you live in Atlanta.

For a decade, if you saw me at home or out-and-about at a bar or a party, I probably have a High Life or a High Life Lite in my hand. I even loved the TV ads. Remember the one with guy making a hamburger and only eating with a buttered bun and a High Life? Yum.

From time-to-time, I’d drink PBR, but that clear bottle by the Miller Brewing company was my bestie. It really was the champagne of beers.

I found that I liked people who drank what I drank. Cheap beer drinkers were usually more agreeable to my personality. Yeah, we all drank a Guinness once-in-a-while, but in the days before Georgia allowed higher alcohol content beers, there wasn’t really a reason to pay more for the same about of buzz.

This is the point where I do want to talk about a few beers that I don’t like. I don’t like Bud. It gives me a headache. I don’t like Coors Light or Bud Light because they are indeed piss-water beers. If you are going cheap, go cheap. That is all.

In the last five years, my beer drinking has taken place at one place: my house. When you drink at home – and by yourself – your tastes and reasons for drinking change a bit. You aren’t drinking to be social. You’re not drinking to tie one on and dance like an idiot. You usually aren’t drinking for any other reason that to pass the time on a weekend day with a nice buzz or to relax during the week by trying to reduce some stress through a cold, delicious ale.

Or, at least that’s the case with me.

Now days, I drink PBR anytime I’m just wanting to just drink beer or when I am cooking. Grilling or making chili can only be done with a few ice-cold Pabst Blue Ribbons. On the flip site, I do enjoy a nice craft beer or three. Dogfish Head is a personal favorite. Their Indian Brown and 90 minute IPA are great, high alcohol content beers with good flavor.

As I alluded to earlier, beer drinking now includes avoiding acid reflux or heartburn. Getting older does that to a person (or at least to me).

In the movie High Fidelity, they make the point that it is what you like that’s important. We can’t have want we want but we can like what we like. I think the same goes with beer.

If I ask a person what kind of beer they like, I can pretty much tell if they are worth getting to know or if we’ll have anything in common, just by how they answer.

And what if a person answers, “Oh, I don’t drink beer. I only drink wine.”?

My advice? Runaway immediately.

Here’s to you, fellow beer drinkers. And here’s to beer.

Comments aren’t open because of spam. But feel free to Tweet me: @DeadJournalist To find out more about the current DeadJournalist hiatus, read this.

Windows to a more serene world

I spent Mother’s Day morning with my mom – sitting on the sun-room with several windows open – so we could both hear and smell the rain falling from a calm, grey Sunday morning sky. For several hours we chatted off-and-on keeping company with the squirrels, bluebirds, redbirds and thrashers who seemed to be enjoying the rain as much as we were. There was no TV; no satellite radio; no computer; not even a smart phone.

It was wonderfully amazing.

On my drive home later that day, I started thinking about how rare it is that I find myself totally removed from technology. The more I thought about it, the more disheartened I became. I decided to take an inventory of my typical day to see how many hours I am removed from technology.

Here’s what I discovered:

4:45AM/5:15AM: Wake-up time on a typical morning. If I’m up before the kid, the first thing I do is roll-over, pick-up my phone and check Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, email, news apps, etc. If the kid is up, the TV is on with the local news. On a typical morning, that means I’m on the grid before I have a chance to even hit the restroom.
6:15AM-6:25AM: I’m in the shower. This means, typically, the first 10 minutes of my day removed from anything electronic.
7:00AM-7:40AM: I’m in my car commuting to work. Satellite radio is on in my car but the drive makes it anything but relaxing.
7:40AM-5:20PM: I’m at work. And what am I doing for those 10-ish hours? Yup, I’m sitting in front of a computer. Unless I’m in a meeting that isn’t in my office, in front of my computer is where I’m stationed. Even if I’m in a meeting I still have my phone and blackberry with me. I even eat lunch at my desk, in front of my computer.
5:20PM-6:00PM: I’m commuting back home. Most days I’m on the phone from the time leave work until I pull into the garage. For the 11 hours I’m away from home, I’d be shocked if I was away from technology for more than a total of 10 minutes.
6:00PM-7:15PM: In from work means eating and trying to entertain the kid before he has his bath. This means the news or music is on the TV. Maybe, if I lay my phone down, there’s five minutes of outside time to water the plants. It is during his bath that I find the only time something electronic isn’t on … so let’s call it 20 minutes of non-tech time.
7:15PM-9:30PM: Before I took DeadJournalist on hiatus, this was time I spent working on the computer and maybe watching a little TV. Now, in an effort to take a break from working, I just watch TV. Sometimes I make it to 9:30PM. Sometime I fall asleep on the couch. Yeah, I’m continuing my evolution into my dad who’d fall asleep during just about every Braves game we watched together.
9:30PM-4:45PM: I’m sleeping or at least trying to sleep. If I can’t sleep, I’m looking at my phone.

And that’s a typical weekday for me. It’s probably about the same as most people. The sad thing is, that there’s a total of 40 minutes that I’m not in front of the computer or watching TV or listening to satellite radio or looking at my old iPhone. There’s never a disconnect time. Rarely is there time to watch the sunset or watch the rain fall or watch the wind blow.

As I’ve thought more about it, I’ve realized that this is a problem for me. There isn’t time to recharge or forget about what’s going on in the outside world. There isn’t time to relax in peace and quiet. I now get why people do yoga or meditate – scheduling time to do so – because of the need to find one’s center of balance.

I find myself daydreaming about having hours a day away from the constant barrage of emails. Although I’ve never gone on a real vacation, it bothers me to no end how people are basically forced to work during a time that even ten years ago they would be able to have completely removed from their work. What are we doing to ourselves?

Putting words to reality doesn’t change anything. It has made me think about my life and what I could change – if I was willing to. Me, I like the outside. I like watching trees and birds. When I was growing up people would call it, “watching the weeds grow.”

Yeah, I’d like to do that. But I sure as hell don’t want to Tweet about it … actually, I’m so addicted to technology I would want to take a photo and Tweet it, post it and Instagram it.

I’m Chuck N., and I’m a technology addict.

Comments aren’t open because of spam. But feel free to Tweet me: @DeadJournalist

Must all good things come to an end?

I am truly torn.

Unlike a lot of blogs or Web sites that are just a passing hobby or a project for a college class, DeadJournalist has been an identity for me for almost a decade. For me, it isn’t just about the music or the site traffic or trying to break news or an artist before anyone else. For me, it’s been the primarily (if not only) way that I, personally, have been able to justify who I am outside of my day job from a professional (and personal) standpoint for the last six years.

I’m sure there are some of you who can relate to that impact. Others of you may find yourself able to relate to it in another 10 or 15 years. But I know many of the people who know of this site – and maybe know a little about me – don’t understand. For that, be grateful.

I have been at my current day job for 11 years. It has nothing to do with music or journalism or Web development (for the most part). When someone asks me what I do, I have to conditionally answer, because I consider DeadJournalist a big part of what I do. I’m proud of it. It’s the identity that I wish I had. It’s the way I wish I could make a living.

But the reality is … it isn’t.

I can’t continue to write, manage and publish DeadJournalist single-handedly as a hobby that takes so much of my free-time and costs me what it does. I just can’t justify it any longer.

I believe, whole-heartedly, that there is worth in this site and worth in what I (and those who have contributed) have done. Providing a place where people can be exposed to good music, artists and editorial content is worthwhile.

More than that, it’s sorely needed. There are so many conflict-of-interests out there its appalling.

But, with absolute certainty, I know that something will have to happen in the near future:

1) The site will go on hiatus;
2) I will have to find a committed, long-term person(s) willing to dedicate time and energy to the site;
3) I will have to ask for donations/optional subscriptions to off-set expenses; or
4) The site will have to come to an end.

I ask for you – the reader, the friend, the colleague, the industry professional, the artist – for your feedback.

I want to know your feedback. I need to have your feedback. Because, in the end, if you don’t care … then I have no reason to do so either.

Tweet me: @DeadJournalist

Or, if you want to expand more, email me directly. My email is on the Contact|Connect page.

(I have had to disable comments on the site because of spam. The site needs an infrastructure up-grade, but again, that’s not something I can or will do at this time.)

I’m not sure when I will make a final decision. But it will likely be in the coming weeks.

Finally, I have alluded to this issue in the past. Getting to this point has been a difficult. The final decision will likely be gut-wrenching. But the reality is, something has to change.

Chuck

Cass McCombs (Photo: Paul Valencia PI)

Cass McCombs has released a new video for “Bradley Manning” which was directed by Bradley Beesley. Watch the video in this post.

Tour Dates
Fri. May 25 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall ^
Mon. May 28 – George, WA @ Sasquatch Music Festival ^
Wed. May 30 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
Sat. June 2 – Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre *
^ w/ Michael Hurley
* The Entrance Band and special guests

Metric (Photo: Justin Broadbent)

From their fifth studio album, Synthetica, Metric has released “Youth Without Youth” which can be streamed in this post. The album, out June 12, 2012, will be followed by a Fall 2012 tour. Dates below.

Tour Dates
09.06.12 – Water Street Music Hall – Rochester, NY
09.08.12 – The Fillmore – Detroit, MI
09.09.12 – Madison Theatre – Covington, KY
09.11.12 – State Theatre – Minneapolis, MN
09.14.12 – Ryman Auditorium – Nashville, TN
09.17.12 – The Fillmore – Charlotte, NC
09.18.12 – Stage AE – Pittsburgh, PA
09.20.12 – Orpheum Theatre – Boston, MA
09.21.12 – The Strathmore – Washington, DC
09.22.12 – Tower Theater – Philadelphia, PA
09.23.12 – Radio City Music Hall – New York, NY
09.27.12 – Hard Rock – Orlando, FL
09.28.12 – The Fillmore – Miami, FL
09.29.12 – The Ritz – Tampa, FL
10.01.12 – Tabernacle – Atlanta, GA
10.02.12 – The Pageant – St. Louis, MO
10.04.12 – Ogden Theatre – Denver, CO
10.05.12 – The Depot – Salt Lake City, UT
10.06.12 – House of Blues – Las Vegas, NV
10.09.12 – The Greek Theatre – Los Angeles, CA
10.10.12 – Marquee Theatre – Tempe, AZ

Anna Ternheim (Photo: Julia Hetta)

From her album, The Night Visitor, out on June 5, 2012, Anna Ternheim has released “Walking Aimlessly” which features Will Oldham. Listen to the track in this post.

Also, watch the video for, “The Longer The Waiting, The Sweeter The Kiss” which features the Dave Ferguson.

VHS of Beta - Diamonds And Dub

VHS or Beta have released “Diamonds And Dub” as the title track from their new album, Diamonds And Dub, out May 8, 2012. The album features dub versions of tracks from the band’s 2011 album, Diamonds and Death.

The duo of Mark Palgy and Craig Pfunder worked with DJ/producer Jacques Renault (Holy Ghost, YACHT, Midnight Magic) and engineer/remixer Mark Verbos on the album. VHS or Beta will be on tour in May 2012.

Tour Dates
5/3: Cambridge, MA @ T.T. The Bears
5/5: Durham, NH @ University Of New Hampshire
5/10: Columbus, OH @ The Basement
5/11: Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
5/12: Lexington, KY @ Buster’s Billiards & Backroom
5/17: New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom

Kirby Krackle (Photo: Joshua Sterns)

Mixtape: Superhero Mixtape ’12!
by Jon Wolf

Not a hoax! Not an imaginary story! In honor of Hollywood pulling off a minor miracle and actually making a superhero team movie with The Avengers (Watchmen being the former “white whale” of superhero properties), I have compiled a short-but-sweet oddball collection of fun and listenable superhero-themed songs, sparing listeners from The Spin Doctors and Three Doors Down, but not Crash Test Dummies for some reason.

There are plenty of omissions, such as Jim Croce tugging on Superman’s cape, Remy Zero’s surprisingly tolerable Smallville theme, possibly Queen’s Flash Gordon theme (which I can easily rock out to), as well as Prince’s so-awesome-I-can’t-believe-it-even-exists 1989 Batman soundtrack.

Superman takes up several of the slots mainly because he’s, um, Superman, he’s kind of famous. But on the upside you may get your first exposure to Cincinnati band How I Became The Bomb, a Beatle singing about obscure Marvel characters (the crazy true story revealed!), nerd-rockers Kirby Krackle, a Thai dude killing a subway station Black Sabbath cover (yes, nerds, I realize the song has nothing to do with Tony Stark, I grew up in a comic book store, and I can trump any and all of your self-serving nerdy replies), and R.E.M., of course (Animal Man #2, anybody?), enjoy!

Superhero Mix ’12!
1. The Pixies – “Tony’s Theme”
2. Kirby Krackle – “Great Lakes Avengers”
3. How I Became The Bomb – “Secret Identity”
4. Pohgoh – “Superlife”
5. Alien Ant Farm – “Bug Bytes”
6. The Ramones – “Spider-Man”
7. Soreng Santi – “Iron Man” (Black Sabbath cover)
8. Paul McCartney & Wings – “Magneto And Titanium Man”
9. Donovan – “Sunshine Superman”
10. R.E.M. – “Superman”
11. Lucy Wainwright Roche – “Superman’s Song” (Crash Test Dummies cover)
12. Iron & Wine – “Waitin’ For A Superman” (Flaming Lips cover)

Superhero Mixtape!

Editor’s Note: Jon Wolf couldn’t stay away from the Mixtape game. He provides mixtapes that rock your socks off on a semi-regular basis.

Purity Ring - Shrines

Purity Ring, the duo of Corin Roddick and Megan James, have announced the release of their debut LP, Shrines, on July 24, 2012 via 4AD. Listen to “Obedear” in this post.

The Canadian band is on tour in North America and Europe this Spring. They will join Dirty Projectors for dates in July.

Tour Dates
April
27th – Nocturnal Wonderland Texas, Rockdale, TX
May
22nd – Casa Del Popolo, Montreal
23rd – Cafe Dekcuf, Ottawa
26th – Sasquatch Festival, George
31st – Primavera, Barcelona
June
3rd – Forbidden Fruit Festival, Dublin
5th – Vondelkirk, Amsterdam
8th – Berghain Kanteen, Berlin
11th – Chez Moune, Paris
12th – White Heat@Madame Jojo’s, London
14th – NXNE@Wrong Bar, Toronto
July
6th – Danforth Music Hall, Toronto*
7th – Club Soda, Montreal*
8th – Paradise Rock Club, Boston*
11th – Mr. Small’s Theater, Millvale*
13th – Pitchfork Festival, Chicago
14th – Pabst Theater, Milwaukee*
15th – First Avenue, Minneapolis*
* = with Dirty Projectors

School of Seven Bells - "Kiss Them For Me"

I posted this yesterday on Twitter, but here’s the formal post for School of Seven Bells cover of the Siouxsie and the Banshees classic, “Kiss Them For Me.” Listen to the track in this post.

The track was released as a Records Store Day 7″ and is now available via iTunes.

Sharon Van Etten (second from right)

Sharon Van Etten has announced additional tour dates this Spring in support of her much lauded album, Tramps. Watch the video to “Leonard” in this post.

“Leonard” by Sharon Van Etten from Secretly Jag on Vimeo.

Complete tour dates below.

Tour Dates
Wed. Apr. 25 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl ^
Thu. Apr. 26 – Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge ^
Fri. Apr. 27 – Cincinnati, OH @ Mayday Northside ^
Sat. Apr. 28 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Carnegie Lecture Hall ^
Thu. May 3 – Brooklyn, NY @ BAM Howard Gilman Opera House (Crossing Brooklyn Ferry)
Wed. May 16 – London, UK @ Scala *
Thu. May 17 – Manchester, UK @ The Deaf Institute *
Fri. May 18 – Dublin, IE @ Whelan’s *
Sun. May 20 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
Mon. May 21 – Brighton, UK @ Komedia
Wed. May 23 – Brussels, BE @ The AB Club
Thu. May 24 – Paris, FR @ La Maroquinerie
Sat. May 26 – Utrecht, NE @ Le Guess Who Festival
Mon. May 28 – Barbican, UK @ Big Star Show
Tue. May 29 – Hamburg, DE @ Prinzenberg
Wed. May 30 – Cologne, DE @ Studio 672
Thu. May 31 – Cologne, DE @ Studio 672
Fri. June 1 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Festival
Thu. June 21 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
Tue. July 10 – Bristol, UK @ Thekla
Wed. July 11 – Birmingham, UK @ Glee Club
Thu. July 12 – Glasgow, UK @ Oran Mor
Sat. July 14 – Southwold, UK @ Latitude Festival
Tue. July 17 – Kristiansand, NO @ Kilden Supersonic
Sat. July 28 – Newport, RI @ Fort Adams State Park (Newport Folk Festival)
Sun. July 29 – Hudson, NY @ Helsinki Hudson
Mon. July 30 – Ottawa, ON @ TBD
Tue. July 31 – Toronto, ON @ The Phoenix %
Thu. Aug. 2 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall %
Fri. Aug. 3 – Chicago, IL @ Grant Park (Lollapalooza)
Sat. Aug. 4 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue %
Tue. Aug. 7 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre
Wed. Aug. 8 – Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater
Fri. Aug. 10 – San Francisco, CA @ Golden Gate Park (Outside Lands)
Sun. Aug. 12 – Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre #
Tue. Aug. 14 – Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up Tavern
Wed. Aug. 15 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
Fri. Aug. 17 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
Sat. Aug. 18 – Jackson, WY @ Caldera Festival #
Sun. Aug. 19 – Boulder, CO @ Fox Theater
Mon. Aug. 20 – Kansas City, MO @ Riot Room
Sat. Sept. 22 – Asbury Park, NJ @ Paramount Theater (ATP’s I’ll Be Your Mirror)

^ w/ Flock of Dimes (Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak)
* w/ Exitmusic
% w/ Tennis
# w/ Andrew Bird

Eternal Summers

Good news for music lovers today with the announcement that Eternal Summers will be releasing their sophomore album, Correct Behavior, on July 24, 2012 via Kanine Records. Album tracklisting below.

Eternal Summers - Correct Behavior

Tracklisting
1. Millions
2. Wonder
3. You Kill
4. I Love You
5. It’s Easy
6. Girls in the City
7. Heaven and Hell
8. Good As You
9. Disappear
10. Summerset

Test House - Bitemark

Test House has released an Extended Mix for their track “Love Is Not Enough” from their debut EP, Bitemarks, which is out today. Listen to it exclusively at DeadJournalist.com

Test House is the Brooklyn-based duo of James Elliott (formerly of Bear In Heaven, School of Seven Bells) and Peter Schuette (formerly of Silk Flowers, Psychobuildings). Their LP is available now on iTunes.

Death Grips - The Money Store

Death Grips has released a video for “I’ve Seen Footage” from their album, The Money Store which is out today. Watch the video and stream the album in this post.

Death Grips will be on tour through North America and Europe throughout Spring 2012. Complete dates below.

Tour Dates
5/5 Sacramento Electronic Music Festival – Sacramento, CA
5/18 The Academy – Dublin, Ireland
5/19 Stag & Dagger – Glasgow, UK
5/20 The Roadhouse – Manchester, UK
5/21 The Bodega – Nottingham, UK
5/22 Norwich Arts Center – Norfolk, UK
5/23 Green Store Door – Brighton, UK
5/25 All Tomorrow’s Parties – London, UK
5/26 Grande Halle de La Villette – Paris, France
5/27 Worm – Rotterdam, The Netherlands
5/28 OT301 – Amsterdam, The Netherlands
5/29 Merleyn – Nijmegen, The Netherlands
6/1 Primavera Sound Festival – Barcelona, Spain
6/2 Field Day Festival – Barcelona, Spain
6/4 Magasin – Brussels, Belgium
6/5 Charlatan – Gent, Belgium
6/6 Mtc – Cologne, Germany
6/7 Gretchen – Berlin, Germany
6/8 Hafenklang – Hamburg, Germany
6/9 Primavera Sound Porto – Porto, Portugal
6/12 The Barbery – Philadelphia, PA
6/13 Music Hall of Williamsburg – New York, NY
6/14 TT The Bear’s – Boston, MA
6/15 Club Lambri – Montreal, QC
6/16 Wrong Bar – Toronto, ON
6/18 Magic Stick – Detroit, MI
6/19 The Pyramid Scheme – Grand Rapids, MI
6/20 Bottom Lounge – Chicago, IL
6/21 Triple Rock – Minneapolis, MN

PUJOL

PUJOL, AKA Daniel Pujol, released “Reverse Vampire” last week from his forthcoming album, United States of Being, out June 5, 2012. Listen to the track in this post.