Embiggen Your Mind

I love your guts, The Weepies.

2006-11-15T14:18:00.000-05:00

I think it takes guts to name a band The Weepies. Admit it, you're talking to someone and they tell you they have a band and it's called The Weepies, and the first thing you think is, "Great, maybe someday I'll come watch you trot out a whole show of your maudlin, dirge-like whateverkindofmusic, and then afterward my friends and I will commit ritual mass suicide."

Okay maybe you don't think that exactly, but you get my point.

But The Weepies don't make depressing music. At least it doesn't slap you in the face with the cold, lifeless hand of your inadequacies and failures. I don't know, actually I wouldn't describe their music as depressing at all. Sorry I'm spending so much time talking about this, but I'm just trying to clear their name. Pardon the pun. Let's move on.

I love The Weepies. I would classify them as folk music. BUT WAIT! I have played folk music and have participated in what is described as the New Folk music scene, the music scene that barely audibly emanates from the coffeehouses and Unitarian Churches of this country (USA). The Weepies started out as two solo acts from that scene, Deb Talan and Steve Tannen.

As solo acts Talan and Tannen were great, really really great. (You can find the solo releases from both Talan and Tannen on The Weepies website.) But there's a greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts quality to The Weepies that is a common magic of any number of the great duos in history, Lennon/McCartney, Hall/Oates, Saliers/Ray, Timberlake/Chasez (kidding on that last one).

I have to admit I think Deb Talan is hot. She has maybe like the best smile ever. She looks like a girl I've known since we were 6 and whom I was in love with for most of the years of our lives before she married a total douchebag. But that's another story.

Talan and Tannen formed The Weepies and escaped what would most certainly have been death by obscurity in--and pardon my crass editorializing here--the cauldron of mediocrity that is the New Folk scene. I'm so glad they did.

The Weepies' newest record is called Say I Am You. I dare you to listen to it. You probably won't be able to stop once you start. Okay so I have to admit that the first time I heard Say I am You I wasn't hooked. But I have issues. It often takes me a while to catch on to something that later seems so obviously genius. That's my problem, though.

Say I Am You is full of subtly produced, understated acoustic gems. Standout songs on the record are "Take It From Me," "I've Gotta Have You," and the two most addictive songs on earth right now "World Spins Madly On," and "Riga Girls." I can't say enough good about the Talan/Tannen songwriting team. The songs are emotionally bare, intellectual without being obtuse, and catchy as hell. It seems like the duo's singing voices were meant for each other, harmonic soulmates, and I love the way the production on the record is simple so that the wonderful qualities of both voices, individually and together, really stay out in front and command most of the listener's attention.

Well, I really could go on and on about The Weepies. You just gotta buy Say I Am You, and when you love it you should also buy their EP Happiness too. Go...do it. Now. Go on....

Fridays Are For New Finds, Gridlock

2006-10-20T11:53:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm off to sit in the fifty year-old parking lot that is the Georgia Interstate System, slowly inching my way down to Sunny Florida to see the family, and hopefully soak up the last few days of warmth before the colder, darker days finally take root here in Atlanta. But before I go, I'll share with you a couple of new finds that hopefully you'll take a minute to check out:

Cataldo
Cataldo - Wedding Cake

Cataldo is Eric Anderson, an indie/folk music maker originally out of Moscow, Idaho, who now resides in Portland, or Minneapolis, depending on how you interpret his myspace page (let's just split the difference and say he's from somewhere on the border of Montana and Wyoming).

I happened upon this guy by random perusal of EYM's oft-neglected inbox of myspace friend requests, which is usually teeming with shameless, unsolicited invites from marginal up-and-coming bands of various degrees of self-delusion. But every so often, I stumble on a shameless, unsolicited invite from a promising up-and-coming band that I actually enjoy and want to learn more about. This morning, Cataldo was one of those bands.

"Wedding Cake" is a bittersweet heart-wrencher about a guy psyching himself up to go the wedding of an ex-girlfriend that you can tell he's not completely over yet. You can tell, because he comes right out and says it, nay declares it: "selfish regret beneath First Methodist I declare to Jesus Christ, and both of His associates." The one that got away, huh, buddy? Ouch. I suggest you take full advantage of the open bar.

I highly recommend checking out Cataldo's website and/or myspace page and listening to the other songs he's put up there. You may just like it. And if you do, why not consider going and buying his self-titled CD from cdbaby or itunes.

Flunk
Flunk - On My Balcony

I just now found out about these guys (thanks to Radio Paradise), but I can already tell you that Flunk is "YANEBIFILW." That's a mnemonic device I just created for Yet Another Norwegian Electronic Band I'm Falling In Love With. Or you could also use "YANEBWWIFIL," if you prefer handling your prepositions in a more gramatically responsible way. "On My Balcony" is a single off their 2004 sophomore album, Morning Star, which I intend to pick up the next time I'm in a record store. If you're lucky, maybe I'll share. [Update: Finally got the album. Check out "On My Balcony" linked above.]

Check out Flunk's myspace page.

Hem

2006-10-05T11:54:00.000-05:00

Hem played Smith's Olde Bar last night and man it was something else. I counted ten musicians on stage, including a quite pregnant Sally Ellyson on lead vocals, co-founder and songwriter Dan Messe on keys and backup vocals, Steve Curtis on guitar, mandolin, and harmony vocals, and producer Gary Maurer on guitar, harmonica, and additional harmonies. Add a drummer, a bass player, a pedal steel guitar and dobro player, and a three-piece mini-orchestra of harp, clarinet, and violin, and you get a picture of how crowded the stage was.

I've been listening to Hem's first two albums, Rabbit Songs and Eveningland while driving my car on long road trips to Jacksonville for so long now that I've come to associate them with home. Maybe it helps that many of the songs reflect on growing up, or leaving home, or going back. Or maybe it's Sally Ellyson's lulling voice, reminiscent of a present-day Karen Carpenter, as backed by well-orchestrated, movie-score-ready instrumentation that seems to carry the lyrics along as if they were floating. It's comfort music.

Local husband and wife slash singer-songwriter duo Arlington Priest opened, accompanied by Will Robertson on upright bass and acoustic guitar. I commented to AJ that they seemed the appropriate choice to set the tone for the indie-folk, "countrypolitan" stylings to follow. I realized I may have spoken too soon though, once the second band, Sue Wilkinson, took the stage. These guys threw me for a loop. I'm not really sure how to describe their sound. Imagine a Fleetwood Mac cover band that sustains itself by playing weddings and Bar Mitzvahs in hopes that they will one day be discovered by a music director to write a hit song for some cheesy 80's chick flick (the song would be played during the credits, but not the one that comes on at the end of the movie - the one after that one, you know, when you're reading about the gaffer and the best boy and the special thanks to Mrs. Pilkington for bringing coffee and watercrest sandwiches to the set every day). Imagine that, but twenty years later.

Maybe it was due in part to the AC they had blasting upstairs at Smith's, but I had chills for the majority of the time Hem played. They played a bunch from their brand new album, Funnel Cloud, including one that Dan Messe said he wrote about his wife's TV watching habits. He explained that he was annoyed by her infatuation with those West coast pretty-folk shows like The OC and Laguna Beach, and decided to write an anti-anthem of sorts. "We're sticking our flag in Brooklyn," Messe quipped, "... or Atlanta, or wherever. Anywhere but California."

Hem - Not California

"and I'm not strong / and you're not rich / and we're not lost / where we don't live ... and it's not California here"

As a side note, AJ later lamented not being home in time to watch the new LB episode. I'm sure they'll have re-runs, buddy, but I looked up the re-cap just for you:

It's Valentines Day in Laguna Beach, which means love -- and drama -- is in the air. Kyndra and Tyler have a dinner party planned for the day of romance, but with Kyndra's latest hookup, Cameron, on the guest list, it looks like disaster is on the menu.

Sounds hawt.

Here's a video I took at the show. There's another one here as well.

"The Beautiful Sea"

Karl, Good To See You!

2006-09-29T03:45:00.000-05:00

The Karl Denson Trio
Smith's Olde Bar
Sunday, September 24th, 2006

Karl Denson. The man with the band. Okay it was a trio. If you haven't seen Denson's usual band The Tiny Universe, I really don't understand how you've made it through life this far, but anyway. This show was KD3. Karl funked the jazz trio thing out as much as could possibly have been done. It was ridiculous. And also, due to an unnamed source's creepy connection on the "inside", the gang got to go back stage and cavort with the band. Rock...er...I mean funkin' awesome.

The guy in the middle of the picture on the right is the drummer, Brett Sanders, older brother of John Staten, the drummer for Tiny Universe. Brett was super nice and especially cool to us. He can also play the skins like a nobodysbidness.

Embiggen Your Mix: NordicTracks

2006-09-11T20:11:00.000-05:00

One year ago today I was on a plane to Oslo, headphones on, listening to a lot of Kings of Convenience, Sondre Lerche and other random music I had carefully selected to be my soundtrack for the two-and-a-half-week sojourn in Norway. I was travelling with my mom, who was an only-child, born in the US to Norwegian immigrants, making me 50% Norske by blood. This was Mom's second trip ever to the country of her parents' birth, and my first. In fact, this was the first and only time I've ever been out of the country. On our itinerary was to visit dozens of relatives on my Grandmother's side, spread out in towns and villages across the country, travelling by plane, train, automobile, boat, and foot from Oslo, to Trondheim, to Mosjøen, to Bodø in the Arctic Circle, and finally Fagerli, a little strawberry farm in the mountains where my Grandmother was born and raised with her eleven younger sisters and brothers (ten girls, two boys in all... thanks Mom, for correcting me here).

At each stop along the way we were eagerly greeted by family, some of whom I'd met on their occasional visit to Florida, but most of whom I'd never seen or spoken to in my life. Nevertheless, they'd consistently smother us with hugs, shower us with pleasantries, and then immediately sit us down and demand us to, "Spise! Spise! You must eat." We'd then share family stories over coffee and cake, or "middag" (lunch/supper), or strawberries and cream, or some combination thereof. We'd eat and eat and eat, and then we'd eat some more.

As I'm writing this I'm realizing that I sound like I'm Will Ferrell telling a tale of when I passed through the seven layers of the candy cane forest, through the sea of twirly, swirly gumdrops (and then presumably walked through the Lincoln Tunnel). Up until a year ago, I guess that's sort of the image I had of Norway: the far-away land of my maternal ancestry, from which many Christmas traditions and family lore had been passed down through the years. A place whose mental projection in my mind had been based mostly on oil paintings that hung in the walls of our house. But it was never a real place before. It was Neverland, or Wonderland. It was Santa's Workshop.

But now it's real. Now I've been there. Now I can claim it as home. Just as Honolulu, or Jacksonville, or Tallahassee, or Atlanta, or Conyers is my home, Norway is my home.

* * *

So maybe I've just been on some kind of subconscious kick to get in touch with the motherland or something, but I'm finding that a lot of the new music I've been getting into lately is from Scandinavian bands. Maybe it's a newfound pride in my heritage, or maybe it's just that all the good music these days is coming from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland. Anyway, my latest mix is dedicated to the Scandahoovians. It's about 50% Norske, just like me. I present you, NordicTracks...

Listen to the playlist [M3U]. Click on image above for printable track list and album art.

Track Listing:

The Knife - Heartbeats
Swedish twee singer Karin Dreijer Andersson and her little brother Olof Dreijer form this electronic indie duo, who are apparently notorious for big-leaguing the media all the time, and rarely making any public appearances or playing live shows. Fans of The Knife might also want to check out Karin's old band, Honey Is Cool.
Blind Stereo - Go!!!
Blind Stereo is an electronica trio from Norway, composed of Jan Tore Smith, Nils Jakob Farestvedt, and Trygve Hjermann Berg. According to their myspace page, "[they] aim to make music that challenges the listeners, both on the dance floor and in more laid back environments. The music is all about groove, noise, beats and beatiful melodies." Okay sirs, challenge accepted!
Datarock - FaFaFa
Another duo. Wikipedia describes them as a Norwegian "new rave" band and I have no idea what that means. You can find some more stuff on their myspace page, including a very, very geeky song about finding love at computer camp.
Figurines - The Wonder
Representing the alt. rock scene from Copenhagen, Denmark. From what I've heard, I'd describe them as The Strokes meets Built To Spill meets... I don't know, you decide. Not to be confused with Jimmy Tamborello's band, Figurine.
Hanne Hukkelberg - Ease
This is one of the last tracks I found for this mix, and currently one of my favorites. It's got a lot of little syncopated rhythms and melodies going on at the same time, as if six musicians sat down in one room, swapped instruments, and decided to all just start playing the first thing that came to their heads, but it works.
The Whitest Boy Alive - Burning
Erlend Øye of Kings of Convenience recently joined up with a couple of German dudes to form The Whitest Boy Alive. Mix-tape purists might point out that since the band is actually 2/3 German they don't neccessarily belong on an all-Scandinavian mix, but I couldn't leave these guys off. In fact, I put them on here twice. Anyway, Erlend Øye is Norwegian enough to carry the whole band, and he kicks fucking ass.
doublePark - I Don't Want To Party
Pure, unadulterated, indie pop. Sweden's answer to Fountain's of Wayne?
Sondre Lerche - The Curse Of Being In Love
Off Sondre Lerche's contemporary jazz album with the Faces Down Quartet, Duper Sessions, which came out earlier this year.
Ane Brun - Rubber & Soul
Born and raised in Molde, Norway on a steady diet of Ani DiFranco, Joni Mitchell, Ben Harper, Nick Drake, and lutefisk, Ane finally picked up a guitar at age 21 and began playing to anyone who would listen. She spent a brief stint in Spain in the late 90's, playing as a street musician and honing her chops. Now, at age 30, she's tearing up the music scene all over Norway and Sweden, and even getting some well-deserved attention on this side of the pond.
Tobias Fröberg - God's Highway
You may think you're hearing Paul & Art, but nay, it's just Tobias. Here's what Fröberg has to say about this one:

"I wrote that song in a guitar store, trying an old guitar. Immediately I heard two lead-vocals, the vocal arrangements came to me in that store. It's very much a tribute to Paul Simon."
Kings of Convenience - Love Is No Big Truth
I'm convinced that everything Erlend Øye touches turns to gold. He's like the Nordic Ben Gibbard. Eirik Glambek Bøe, the other half of Kings of Convenience, is not to be overlooked either. He's the Garfunkel to Øye's Simon; the Oates to Øye's Hall. Together, they compose subtle, yet poigniant indie-pop ballads that are sure to have you tapping your feet and reaching for the volume knob every time.
Peter Bjorn and John - Young Folks
I challenge you to listen to this in your car without whistling along to the melody. It's infectious. The video is also great.
a-ha - Fine Blue Line
The latest from the pioneers of Norwegian pop.
Acid House Kings - That's Because You Drive Me
Really, really good twee pop band from Stockholm, Sweden. For fans of Belle & Sebastian and Ambulance LTD.
Emiliana Torrini - Sunny Road
The sweetest thing to come out of Iceland since, well, Björk I suppose. A lot of her stuff, this song in particular, reminds me a lot of Canadian singer-songwriter Leslie Feist (that girl who did that "Mushaboom" song).
Björk - Jóga
This song is nothing new, but I felt like this mix wouldn't be complete without some good old Björk. This version of "Jóga" has a cool string arrangement running through it that I really dig.
Röyksopp - Sparks
I almost put this one on the Blips, Beeps & Farts mix I made a while back, but decided to save it for this one instead. These guys are often classified as "electronica" or "trip hop", but may be more well known for their collaborations with other musicians, such as fellow Bergen natives, Kings of Convenience.
The Whitest Boy Alive - Don't Give Up
Okay I'll shut up about Erlend Øye now. But how awesome is this guy?
José González - Heartbeats
You may recognize this one from such songs as Track 1 of this very same mix. Born in Sweden to Argentine parents, González has been getting a lot of indie/folk cred these days with his cover of The Knife's "Heartbeats," following the same slow-it-down-so-the-lyrics-can-sink-in approach that Ryan Adams did so successfully with Oasis's "Wonderwall" and Iron & Wine with The Postal Service's "Such Great Heights". The song has since made its way to the digital appliance commercial circuit, with the obligatory cameo on The O.C.. Many thanks to Radio Paradise for turning me onto this guy.

When You Travel People Lose Your Shit

2006-09-07T08:45:00.000-05:00

SNOW PATROL
Sept. 6th, 2006
The Tabernacle
Atlanta
special guest: Augustana

I feel kinda bad for Snow Patrol because the world, or at least the world of guitars, amps, and electrons, seemed to be against them last night at their show at The Tabernacle. "When you travel, people lose your shit," said Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody. Apparently the band was playing with a bunch of rented amps and stuff. It did not go well for them.

Right from the beginning of the show some kind of craziness was happening with lead singer/guitarist Gary Lightbody's (awesome name--had to say it again) guitar and the sound was wobbly and seemed to cut in and out a bit. Also the bass amp was freaking out. Like really freaking out. Low, spleen-rattling feedback. During the first or second song, bassist Paul Wilson actually started smashing his bass on the ground as if it was the end of a Who concert or something. By the end of the show Wilson had also karate kicked the bass amp several times. Honestly, the Snow Patrol guys seemed genuinely upset and nervous about the sound problems but never threw a rockstar tantrum or anything, and as a result the audience was 100% on their side the whole night. That actually made the show memorable and made me like these guys.

I hadn't heard a ton of Snow Patrol stuff before the show. I LOVELOVELOVE the song "Chocolate" and their song "Run" is pretty good and couldn't have been a cooler song in concert with the audience singing the last chorus by itself. Snow Patrol had such bad sound problems during the song "Chasing Cars" that they actually played it again during the encore (which they waited like five minutes to come out and play). The show overall was pretty solid considering I'm sure it was hard to get a groove going with the sound problems--they really were this bad, I'm not dwelling on it. Lightbody has a very cool charisma and charm and sort of does strange things with his arms and body during the show and seems like an indie-rock Joe Cocker at times.

My favorite thing about this show, though, was the opening band, Augustana. I think they're from San Diego. They were fantastic. Lead singer Dan Layus has an awesome voice, and their songs were great, melodic, catchy, very well put together. Listen to some of their songs on their myspace page. Tell me if you don't agree. I was looking forward to seeing Augustana actually because I had read their bio on their website and loved it. Their bio is really sincere, personal, and humble. Come to think of it, their music seemed the same. I really must check out more of these guys.

I wish we'd gotten to the show earlier so I could've caught more of Augustana, but we were held up trying to park. On the way in, however, my second favorite performer of the night did an impromptu show on the sidewalk. A homeless guy yelled very loudly, "My name is Mr. Hambone and I wanna party all the fuckin' time! God bless you boys--can I have a couple dollars."

The Weather Is Here...

2006-08-21T14:23:00.000-05:00

So Wednesday morning we're bagging the rest of the work week and headed for the beach to embiggen our tans. Maybe we'll return someday if we run out of sunscreen or feel the sudden urge to blog again, but in case you don't hear from us for awhile, that's where we is.

While we're gone, why don't you have a look at Michael Leviton's video for his song, "The Beach Gets Cold"? The video itself doesn't seem to be much about beaches as it turns out. Actually, it's just a bunch of footage of Michael Leviton playing mini-golf (badly) and plucking his ukulele, but it's still cool.

And if you liked that at all, then go listen to this:

Michael Leviton - Summer's The Worst

Now go outside and enjoy the rest of your Summer.

Sing Happy Things

2006-07-28T10:18:00.000-05:00

This is for AJ. My song recommendation for the day:

Greg Laswell - Sing, Theresa Says

We've both been hooked on this song since we listened to it in the car on the way to the Josh Ritter show Wednesday night.

If you like it too, you should check out the other stuff he's got up on his myspace page, or buy his new album, Through Toledo (released July 11th on Vanguard Records).

sing, theresa says

go to sleep while i gather all my things
and i will call you in a couple of days
i can hear the june bugs approaching
a god damn army of them in my brain

"sing," theresa says. "sing happy things"
"sing," theresa says if i do everything
one day a man will spring worth loving

all of my friends fall from the sky now
many more than i ever thought i had
everyone is sharpening up their angles
when all i really want is...

"sing," theresa says. "sing happy things"
"sing," theresa says if i do everything
one day a man will spring worth loving

ba-da-dum-da-dum-da-dum-dum
ba-da-dum-da-dum-da-dum-dum
ba-da-dum-da-dum-da-dum-dum
ba-da-dum-da-dum-da-dum-dum

"sing," theresa says. "sing happy things"
"sing," theresa says if i do everything
one day a man will spring worth loving

Slow Runner & Josh Ritter

2006-07-27T00:30:00.000-05:00

AJ and I saw Slow Runner open for Josh Ritter at Variety last night. I was surprised to see SR without their drummer or bass player, but it was cool to hear the stripped-down versions of their songs with just Michael Flynn (vox, keys) and Josh Kaler (guitar, backup vox). You may remember this band from such EYM posts as our first ever back in March.

Flynn opened the set solo with a new song "Long Division" (see video below). Later, Josh Kaler joined in on guitar and harmonies. Slow Runner played some familiar stuff off their first album ("Redneck Bar", "You're In Luck", "Break Your Mama's Back", "Everything Is Exactly What It Seems") as well as some new stuff, including a tongue-in-cheek piece Flynn wrote on the road called "1 of 3" about always playing second (or third) fiddle to the headlining bands on the tour.

I was disappointed they didn't play "Streamlined" but I'm not sure how it would have worked without the rest of the band.

I'd never seen Josh Ritter before but I'd heard some of his stuff. I liked it okay. He played the entire show with a huge goofy grin on his face. With his alt-country/rock/pop-ish style, he kinda reminded me of a poor man's Ryan Adams... you know, if Ryan Adams had never cheated on his homework, or been hungover, or had his heart broken.

Ritter's bass player, Colonel Sanders, was all dressed up in a white suit and a white Stetson hat, and was sporting a dark pointy beard and handle-bar moustache. He was hilarious.

I also took a couple of videos with my new digital camera. It's a tiny Casio Exilim, but the video quality is surprisingly decent. Apologies for the shakiness and poor cinematography in general. Still getting the hang of it!

Slow Runner - Long Division

Here's a link to another video from the show of another new song. Not sure on the name. This one got cut off when the memory card on my camera filled up. Also, you may notice about 32 seconds into this one that some a-hole forgot to silence his cell phone before the show started. Yah, so maybe that a-hole was me.

Embiggen Your Mix: Blips, Beeps & Farts

2006-07-17T08:00:00.000-05:00

A mix project for a mundane, muggy Monday morning. My mission: to have you tapping your feet along about 37 seconds into the first track, dancing in your chair by track 6, and somewhere along the way forgetting it's not a Friday afternoon.

Listen to entire playlist [M3U]. Click on image above for printable track list and album art.

Track Listing:

Radiohead - Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box
The intro track to Amnesiac. Full of crunchy electronic tip-taps that set the tone for one of Radiohead's most consistent (and underrated) albums.
Zero 7 - Today
Fun track from Zero 7's latest release, The Garden.
Faithless (feat. Dido) - One Step Too Far
One of several songs by this trip-hop/dance trio to which Dido contributes her vocals.
Frou Frou - Shh
Short-lived duo comprised of singer-songwriter Imogen Heap and producer Guy Sigsworth.
Kings of Convenience - I Don't Know What I Can Save You From (Röyksopp Mix)
Hands down, KoC are easily my favorite indie folk-pop Norwegian duo. Okay, not exactly going out on a limb there, but I'd also put them amongst the top ranks of any listing for which they'd qualify. They can do no wrong in my book. My only gripe is that they haven't played a gig in Atlanta in years (the last was at Smith's Olde Bar, about 2 months before I'd heard of them, tragically). This track, mixed by fellow Bergen hometowners Röyksopp, is more upbeat than you'd normally expect from these guys, but I'm not complaining.
Phoenix - If I Ever Feel Better
I bought their second album, Alphabetical on a whim a couple years ago and found it to be choc-full of guilty pleasures. Then I went back and listened to stuff off their debut album (from which this track was taken) and their newest release, It's Never Been Like That and I haven't felt guilty about it ever since.
Lily Allen - Oh My God (Kaiser Chiefs Cover)
21 year-old MySpace phenom, Lily Allen has been taking the Blogosphere by storm since earlier this year. Her debut studio album, Alright, Still was released in Europe just this week and has already berthed a #1 hit on the UK pop charts.
Gorillaz (feat. MF Doom) - November Has Come
So as best I can piece it together, Blur's Damon Albarn created Gorillaz, which sometimes featured MF Doom, of Danger Doom, which included DJ Danger Mouse, co-creator of Gnarls Barkley, fronted by Cee Lo, of the Goodie Mob, which is a member of the Dungeon Family, along with OutKast, led by André Benjamin, who starred in Be Cool with John Travolta, who was in Look Who's Talking with Kirstie Alley, who was in She's Having a Baby with Kevin Bacon! Wait, what were we talking about?
Thom Yorke - Black Swan
Yay, Thom Yorke's solo project is finally available in a legal capacity, and it's fantastic. And I own it. And you should too.
Lenny Kravitz - If You Can't Say No
It's not so heavy on the blips & farts, but this track has got beeps coming out the blankity-bleep. See if you can count how many. I won't.
James Figurine - All The Way To China
He's digging a hole for his dad, in the yard. What? What's it for? Don't worry about it. Ever heard of minding your own business? Next song.
Air - Universal Traveler
If these guys are ever looking to replace their beer-bottle player or whatever instrument that is I hear in this song, I'm willing to quit my day job.
The Postal Service - Against All Odds (Phil Collins Cover)
A quiet fist-pumper.
Slow Runner - Streamlined
I highly recommend buying their debut album, No Disassemble. They're on tour now supporting Josh Ritter, catch them in Atlanta at the Variety Playhouse on the 26th or elsewhere.
Portishead - Glory Box
If a film student were to somehow collect scenes from your most vivid dreams and splice them into their senior film project, this haunting classic by the nineties lo-fi trip-hop outfit from Bristol, UK would probably play during the credits.
Dntel - Last Songs
Instrumental outro provided by Dntel, aka James Figurine, aka Jimmy Tamborello, aka half of The Postal Service collaborative with Ben Gibbard. Get the EP.

iTunes Is A Bastard

2006-07-02T15:57:00.000-05:00

iTunes, while convenient and amazing, is a bastard. iTunes is a bastard computer program. iTunes is the most selfish, passive-agressive computer program maybe of all time. I know there's not really a lot of "all time" from which to select selfish and passive-agressive computer programs, but I defy you name a program that is more of a bastard.

Let me elaborate.

Itunes is selfish. It hogs your computer when you're running it. Sure, iTunes plays tasty songs for you. It fills your ears with milk-chocolatey goodness, or gooey gooey gumdrops of goodness if you're insane and don't like chocolate. Right now my iTunes is playing "Dark State Of Mind" by Tuatara. Earlier I was listening to Luigi's Found On The Forest Floor album and fantasizing about what it would be like to make out with Luigi lead singer Michelle Dubois. Next, I plan to listen to "Canned Heat" by Jamiroquai and do my best Napoleon Dynamite dance moves. I enjoyed/am enjoying/will enjoy all of these musical experiences. The only thing is that iTunes just WILL NOT let you run any other program while you are running iTunes. When you are running iTunes all of the other programs you are attempting to run act like they just ate a huge meal of Mexican food and then took a bunch of Mescaline. They lag, they freeze up, they snore, they hallucinate.

iTunes is also passive-agressive. There's something about iTunes' volume control that makes you have to turn your computer's volume up to absurd levels in order to rock out to "Anti-Anti" by Snowden. So you're rocking out and maybe, I don't know, you're trying to surf the internet(s) at the same time. Maybe you're looking at the message board for the worst show in the entire world, Last Comic Standing, and here's the passive-agressive bullcrap iTunes pulls on you. Because iTunes made you turn your computer up so loud, every time you click a link and a new page opens that little clicking sound, that little clave sound, that satisfying Kabuki clack sound crashes out of your speakers like someone just smart bombed your neighbor's house. See, that's iTunes being pissy and jealous. It's like the computer program equivalent of getting mad and slamming the kitchen cabinets.

iTunes is a bastard. I think you know what I'm talking about now.

Everybody Wants A Good Time

2006-06-23T10:24:00.000-05:00

My friend Taylor just sent me a link to this Gomez NPR Webcast recorded live at the 9:30 Club in Washington D.C. last night. Sounds like it was a great show, with lots of familiar shenanigans from when they were here in Atlanta. Here's a link to the NPR piece.

They've still got a few stops left on their summer tour, including a couple of gigs with Slow Runner opening, so check them out if you have a chance.

Setlist:

bring it on
shot shot
all too much
love is better than a warm trombone
see the world
nothing is wrong
ping one down
notice
silence
how we operate
ruff stuff
hamoa beach
girlshapedlovedrug
free to run
fill my cup
devil will ride
chasing ghosts with alcohol (encore)
make no sound (encore)
detroit swing 66 (encore)
whippin' piccadilly (encore)

That's all I got. Happy Friday, ya'll.

D-Mac

COMING SOON: Lamkini & D-Mac review the East Atlanta Corndogorama? Stay tuned...

Our Heroes In Their Natural Habitat

2006-06-20T23:51:00.000-05:00

Here we catch a rare glimpse of Lamkini and Dmac doing what they do best: drinking and talking about stuff. They sometimes talk so much they turn into lamps.

That's what happened on this particular night. It was a strange night anyway. Everyone else at this party was dressed like a ninja. There were some geishas. Mostly ninjas. We didn't actually see the ninjas, but we heard they were there. Ninjas are a wiley sort. Personally, I don't trust 'em.

Right now you're asking yourself, "Isn't this blog supposed to be about the arts, music, film and the like?" Yes. Yes it is.

Apocalypse Shmapocalypse

2006-06-07T11:08:00.000-05:00

So apparently the end of days finally came yesterday, and frankly, I feel fine. I don't see what all the hoopla was about. I didn't hear any trumpets sounding, nor did I catch any of the Four Horsemen parading around. I wasn't bothered by any swarming locusts or really even any more mosquitos than usual for that matter. I honestly thought the big A-Day would be much more ceremonious than this. Now I find myself questioning whether the whole ordeal was just overhyped for all these years, or if maybe the aftermath is all being downplayed by the Liberal Media. Maybe I should be watching Fox News instead.

Side note: Why do people keep referring to yesterday's date, 6-6-06 as a "numerological oddity" anyway? Personally, I think it'd be more of an oddity if the day after June 5th, 2006 were any other date.

Okay, so yesterday's news was hardly Apocalyptic by any stretch of the imagination, but a few things happened worth noting: The Braves ended their five-game losing streak at home, the startup company I used to work for finally got bought out (for peanuts) after five years and a couple dozen rounds of venture funding, and Alexi Murdoch quietly released his long-anticipated first full-length studio album.

It's about time. No, literally, it's about time. The album, titled Time Without Consequence, is an effort almost four years in the making, following his debut Four Songs EP.

Before you say it, yes, Alexi Murdoch is that Scottish-born singer/songwriter guy who sounds kinda like Nick Drake and sings that "Orange Sky" song that you heard in Garden State, or on that episode of Dawson's Creek, or on The OC, or on that Honda commercial, or wherever you heard it first. He's the worst kept secret in today's indie/folk music scene, whose self-released Four Songs EP quickly became the all-time top selling record on CD Baby with little promotion shortly after its release in November 2002. Without the backing of a major record label, Murdoch has managed to become the definitive go-to guy for any television producer, filmmaker, or advertising executive looking for a fresh new balladeer to help market another SUV or digital appliance to the lovesick twenty-something demographic. But that doesn't mean he's not still a freaking great musician.

Time Without Consequence contains three of the four songs off the original EP ("Song For You", "Blue Mind", and "Orange Sky") along with eight new tracks. The album as a whole is refreshingly consistent, and can and should be listened to from beginning to end. No skipping to your favorite song, A.D.D. boy. Be patient with this one. I picked up my copy this morning and have already listened to it four times. Here are a couple of tracks to whet your appettite until you can get yourself to a record store:

Alexi Murdoch - All My Days
Alexi Murdoch - Love You More

You can also preview some other tracks from the album here.

Alexi will be in Atlanta for an in-store appearance at Criminal Records on Saturday, June 17th at 3pm.

A Hard Day's Night

2006-06-02T15:42:00.000-05:00

Last night we saw A Hard Day's Night. It was playing at an outdoor movie series at Piedmont Park in Atlanta. Before the movie a Beatles tribute band called The Return played. They dressed like the Beatles, moved like them, and even faked the Liverpool accents fairly successfully. It's was kitschy but cool. Why, though, do Beatles tribute bands never dress like all psychodelic or geek chic? Wouldn't it be cool to be like, "Oh there's a band. I wonder what it is." Then they start playing and you're like all surprised because maybe you thought they were going to be a Country Joe And The Fish cover band or whatever. That'd be cool I think.

Anyway, A Hard Day's Night was awesome. It's easily one of my favorite movies, so funny, so happy. One time I watched A Hard Day's Night at a brew-n-view type movie theater in Asheville, NC, where you can eat pizza and drink beer while you watch the movie. They call your name out when your pizza is ready, and I convinced the guy to yell out, instead of my name, "Hey Mister, can we have our ball back!?" He did it really loud and that part had just passed in the movie. It was like the coolest thing that ever happened to me in Asheville.

I noticed this time watching the movie, and was a little surprised, that George gets so many of the best lines: [Looking at a weird piece of modern art] "You don't see many of these any more." And the songs are just perfect. Standout songs in the movie are "Should Have Known Better" "Tell Me Why" "Can't Buy Me Love" and "If I Fell." God I love those songs.

It's just impossible to feel anything other than almost giddy while watching A Hard Day's Night and the vibe in the audience totally reflected that. People were super cool to each other. Everyone laughed at all the cheeky British humor. And best of all, everyone clapped and cheered after every song. That was awesome.

It was even supposed to rain, and dark clouds seemed to surround us all night with lightening flashing so close that sometimes it made the speakers crackle. But it never rained until right when the movie ended. A Hard Day's Night is magic. I'm convinced.

The Dmacsbirth Address

2006-05-29T13:30:00.000-05:00

May 29th, 2006

One score and seven years ago, my mother and father brought forth on this continent, a new boy, conceived in the regular way, and dedicated to the proposition that most blogs are kind of boring.

Now we are engaged in writing a great blog, testing whether that boy, or any person so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great post of that blog. We have come to dedicate a portion of that post, as a daily loafing place for those who here give precious moments of their lives that that blog might be read. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this blog. The brave men and women, public and anonymous, who visit here and read our posts, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember most of the crap Lamkini and D-Mac write here, but it can never forget who commented on that crap. It is for us the bloggers, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who commented here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored readers we take increased devotion to that cause for which they give their continued time and devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these readers shall not have read in vain -- that this blog, under Blogger, shall have a new birth of interesting posts -- and that a blog of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the Blogosphere.

So in honor of my 27th, I have decided to put together a little EP dedicated to ME -- a "MeP" if you will. Please join me in celebrating me, on this anniversary of my birth, by listening to this mix I have so thoughtfully created for... well, me.

Los de Grupo

2006-05-16T11:25:00.000-05:00

Hello boys and girls. Do you want to know a secret? 'Cause I know one and it is soooooo good to hear it. You want to know what it schwas? Alright, I'll tell you what it shwas...

I know how to make all the indie-rocker boys dance with all the little hipster girls.

How's that? Come again? D-Mac, surely you jest. I mean, some of us have our indie-cred to keep intact here. You seriously can't expect us to just go around DANCING willy nilly.

Oh but I assure you, it's quite simple. All you have to do is follow my simple instructions, and you too can make all the indie-rocker boys dance with all the little hipster girls. Check it...

First you pick a venue, preferably in their natural habitat. A place where you're likely to find a multifarious lot of young urbanites on a Friday night, out to socialize in an appropriately antisocial environment. A place like The EARL, for example. Done. Next.

Now book an amazingly fun, upbeat latin band to play into the wee hours of the night. But wait, it can't be just any low rent mariachi band that you hired for Cinco de Mayo party last year. It's gotta have at least two sick percussionists, a couple of saxophones, a trumpet, a trombone, a few hombres on lead and backup vocals, a pair of guitars and a funky bass. Oh, and throw some tamborines, kazoos, washboards, water jugs, and a cowbell up on the stage for good measure. I don't know what all they'll use, but just in case. The band should preferably be a conglomeration of at least ten insanely talented musicians hailing from different parts of Texas, New York, and Nicaragua. Have them spend several years playing together in a hotbed of musical talent like Austin, TX, where they can craft their own hybrid of musical styles incorporating afro-latin funk, cumbia, salsa, and merengue.

Then serve $2.50 PBRs all night and watch all the indie kids get their schiggity schiggity swerve on.

But D-Mac, where can I find such a band? I don't even know what "afro-latin funk" means.

No te preocupes, mi amigo. I know of just the band: Grupo Fantasma and they happen to be playing The EARL this Friday, May 19th.

Mmkay, but why are you talking in broken Spanish and answering your own rhetorical questions?

Shut up.

Grupo Fantasma
This Friday, May 19th
The EARL, 11pm

Have a listen for yourself, then imagine it like 18 times better in person and you'll have an idea of what to expect...

From Grupo Fantasma:
Grupo Fantasma - "Cumbia del Coyote"
Grupo Fantasma - "La Boa"

From Movimiento Popular:
Grupo Fantasma - "Chocolate"
Grupo Fantasma - "Rico Tumbao"

Flashback Fridays: Colatown / Motown

2006-05-12T11:13:00.000-05:00

Columbia, South Carolina. My hometown. Hmmm....

I can't say I'm particularly proud to be from Columbia. I'm not ashamed either. It's just one of those places to be from that you can't really say much about, ya know? There's not like a perennially kickass sports team, or famous theatre group, or superb music scene, or unusually large ball of twine that would keep people talking about Columbia and coming back every year. I mean, it's the state capital so the capitol building is there, but that's not that special--every state has a capitol.

I'm going to Columbia tomorrow so I guess I'm thinking about it a lot today. Also, I was listening to The Four Tops all this morning, and there's something about old Motown stuff that makes me think of Columbia.

My parents listened to old Motown records all the time when I was little. I remember running around the house as a little kid singing "You're more than a number in my little red book / You're more than a one night stand...." (All six-year-olds know the words to that song, right?) When we went to football games or on picnics we opened up all the doors to our crappy little Toyota and played The Four Tops, The Drifters, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, Marvin Gaye and all that kind of stuff while everyone else around us was listening to Skynyrd or whatever. I guess I'm lucky my parents had such good taste in music, or I could be in a Southern Rock band right now--not that there's anything wrong with that.

When I was in high school I found my parents' record collection hidden away somewhere and went and bought a needle for the record player that they never used anymore and listened to all those records again. I used to sit around for hours and lie on the floor listening to all those old records, just spacing out with the warm crackle of "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" coming out of the speakers. I hadn't listened to them in so long. It was great.

I think I was bored a lot growing up. Columbia kind of bores me, you know, in the way only your hometown can bore you in that been-there-done-that kind of way. My brothers and sister always wonder why I don't come back home more. I guess that's why. But I guess if there's nothing else to say about my hometown of Columbia, SC, at least it's got a cool soundtrack.

How To Like Bring It...And Stuff....

2006-05-08T15:00:00.000-05:00

Ways to make your show kick complete and total ass
THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS
Variety Playhouse
May 3rd, 2006
Atlanta

Little-Known-President Songs - Sing a song about James K. Polk. People will be like, "Hmmm...James K. Polk, huh? My interest is piqued. I need a beer."

Confetti - Use it. Not many bands do it, and it works great in songs about James K. Polk.

Puppets - If you aren't good with puppets, get good with them. The crowd will love it. Or you can get your close personal friends who run the Homestar Runner website to come and have Strong Bad sing with you and make comments during songs and completely steal the show.

Accordion - Much like cowbell, you can never really have too much.

Great Opener - If possible, have an opener with a great sense of humor who plays ukulele, has a hot (so hot) chick playing glockenspiel with him, and is named Michael Leviton.

Venue Song - Sing a song about the venue you're currently playing in. Make it up immediately before you go on stage. Make it poetic, perhaps a metaphor of "a hospital for the well where music is hostpital bill, and you pay for it with your applause." Make up a song about every venue you've played in for the last year. Share. Repeat.

Encores - Don't be stingy. Two encores will be just fine. Start out the first encore with a classic like "Birdhouse In Your Soul"...you know, if that's one of your songs...or whatever.

This show was so amazing. I've been a fan of They Might Be Giants since high school, but I'd never seen a show until last week. They've been playing together for over 20 years, and they still seem to be as happy to be playing music as they probably were when they started. This show was easily one of the best concerts I've ever seen. And as you would imagine, the fans of TMBG were the most laid-back, friendly people ever. Go see TMBG!!!

How They Operate

2006-05-05T15:18:00.000-05:00

Since last year's unfortunate closing of Corner CD in the Highlands, Criminal Records in L5P is fast becoming my new favorite local record store. Despite the relatively small size of the shop itself, you can usually find whatever it is you're looking for there, and I've found I can almost always count on them to have new releases in stock on their actual release date, which is clutch. With this in mind, this past Tuesday I decided to skip the shenanigans and go straight to Moreland Avenue to pick up my copy of the spanking new Gomez record, How We Operate, along with the new Built to Spill album I'd been meaning to buy for a couple weeks. When I got back to my car I took inventory of my newly acquired spoils and tried to decide which would be removed from its cellophane packaging and listened to first on my way home. As I opened the bag, I noticed the guy at the store had stuffed in some extra goodies along with the Gomez disc, including: TWO extra album sleeves SIGNED by the entire band AND a voucher to get into an in-studio rap-session thing with the band and about 50 fans, being recorded on the afternoon of their show in Atlanta (yesterday). Score! So, with only a few days to prepare for Thursday's show(s) I decided to give How We Operate first listen and let it start to soak in. It's now Friday and I haven't been able to listen to much of anything else. Sorry, Built to Spill. We'll hang soon, I promise.

For those uninitiated, I'm not talking about this Gomez, rather the brit-rock outfit from Southport, England who made a splash in the US soon after their aptly-named debut Bring It On was released by Virgin subsidiary Hut Records in 1998. Still maintaining their original lineup since their inception over a decade ago, the band is co-fronted thricewise by brooding crooner Ian Ball, congenial cut-up Tom Gray, and ruminative rocker Ben Ottewell, whose gravely voice some might recognize from his cover of the Beatles' "Getting Better" used in the old Phillips TV commercials. As the story goes, the origin of the band's name is somewhat of a fluke. At one of their first gigs, someone in the band left a note out for a friend named Gomez who was coming to see them, saying where they'd be playing. People read this and assumed that Gomez was the name of the band and the rest is history, as they say.

I was first turned on to these guys by one of my college roommates, Taylor, who owned (and presumably still owns) every record or movie ever made since about 1973, except for maybe Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the Movie, and the Entire Michael Bolton Catalogue box set, which for all I know might both be on back-order. I remember hearing the stuff that he'd play off the first couple albums and liking it, but it wasn't until some years later, when I got the opportunity to see them live, that I really fully appreciated what was going on.

That opportunity came about two years ago, when Matt, AJ, and I saw them play the Variety Playhouse here in Atlanta. If I remember correctly, Matt had just recently moved up here and AJ was in town visiting from Tallahassee. Rachael Yamagata opened, who I would have described at the time as the bastard love child of Tori Amos and Andrew Dice Clay. Despite her foul-mouthed banter and complete lack of the stage etiquette one might expect from a young budding piano balladeer, she put on a surprisingly captivating performance that went with the headliners like shrimp and grits. Gomez were the definitive rockers on that tour, destined, it seemed, to burn out before they could fade away. Ottewell seemed to be positioning himself as the belligerent, fuck-you front man, bringing a healthy dose of angst to the stage, while Tom Gray kept things in check by cracking jokes and engaging the crowd in singalongs and handclaps.

This is the dynamic I expected of the band on their spring tour, which kicked off this Wednesday in Asheville, NC and passed through Atlanta last night, again at the Variety, but something has changed. They don't seem to be following the rock cliché handbook so closely anymore. I don't know whether the band went through some sort of internal shakeup or had a come-to-Jesus or what, but they seemed a lot more cohesive this time around. Ben Ottewell still stood center stage last night, but he was probably the most humble presence among them. He actually looked like a kid who'd just been awakened from his nap for snack time (maybe that's the secret behind the gravely voice). Ian Ball seems to be taking up more of a lead roll on stage on this tour, and Tom Gray is still his gregarious self. Whatever is happening, it's working. The performance was loose, energetic, and fun. You could really tell they were enjoying themselves up there, and the audience responded in kind. They played a lot from the new record, and some old classics. I have only a few criticisms. The crowd turnout wasn't bad, but it left something to be desired. I don't know if this was the ticket price or the fact that the album was only just released this week or what, but I was expecting more people. There were also a few points in the show when I thought the sound mix was a little off; once when Ball's backing vocals drowned out Ottewell's lead, and then again during "Shot Shot" when you could barely hear the dirty sax that AJ and I think sounds very Morphine. They came back out for two separate encores, leaving us thoroughly rocked and, frankly, exhausted.

Gomez plays Tipatina's Uptown in New Orleans tonight, and then continues on their U.S. Spring Tour through the end of May. They'll be back in mid-June after a quick stop in the U.K. for some gigs back home.

If you haven't already done so, go and buy How We Operate this weekend. You will thank me later. I'm going to go ahead and say this is probably the best album I'll buy all year.

Tuesday, Social Mariposa...

2006-05-02T13:15:00.000-05:00

Heaps going on this week in the ATL...

Tuesday, May 2nd
Clem Snide @ The EARL

Don't know if I'm going to be able to make this one tonight, but I've heard good things about this alt-country indie rock band out of Brooklyn and I'm curious.

Wednesday, May 3rd
They Might Be Giants @ Variety Playhouse

Way stoked about this one. This will be my first time seeing TMBG. From what everyone and their mother has told me, they put on a show that's so good even Lamkini would have to give a good review.

Check out this video that Strong Sad and The Cheat from homestarrunner.com made for TMBG's "Experimental Film" (I already know the ending, it's the part that makes your face implode).

Thursday, May 4th
Gomez @ Variety Playhouse
(supporting their new album, How We Operate which "drops" today!!)

I got to see these guys at Variety a couple years back and it was an amazing show. Love what I've heard from the new album so far and looking forward to checking out the rest.

Friday, May 5th
Luigi @ The EARL
Benefit show for Twinhead Theatre w/ My Siamese Self & The Partisan

Very rocking local band, fronted by Michelle DuBois, formerly of Ultrababyfat. Have a listen to these songs from their website:

Luigi - Mariposa
Luigi - Wash it Down
Luigi - Squeeze
Luigi - Today

Now go buy their album immediately, if not sooner.

Saturday, May 6th
Vienna Teng @ Smith's Olde Bar

When we saw her open for Marc Cohn last year, she told a story about how she quit her job as a software engineer to pursue her music career. She said something how it was getting difficult to draw musical inspiration from use case diagrams and code reviews and the like, so she eventually had to bail. I think I was one of two people in the audience who could relate.

Listen to the mp3s on her website.
Buy her latest album, Warm Strangers.

This post isn't all that funny? Yeah, well YOU'RE not all that funny!

P.S.

2006-04-28T14:35:00.000-05:00

Dan Beirne at Said the Gramophone just posted his own 'visual accompaniment' for this song by Canadian indie band Sunset Rubdown.

Download this video and play it in QuickTime or your iPod or wherever you tend to do such things:
Sunset Rubdown - "Us Ones In Between"

The video itself is basically about 48 seconds of unexplained gloomy imagery and slow motion footage of cars driving backwards in the rain, followed by credits. But the credits are where the real genius lies here. Beirne implies an entire dramatic backstory in simple, suggestive, centered text. The cast of characters include GIRL (herself), HER FATHER (himself), HER CAB DRIVER, HER PAINTING TEACHER, HER ACCOUNTANT, and dozens of others who never make actual appearances in the film proper. The rest is a laundry list of line items, chronicaling where she was, who she talked to, who she made love to, her favorite story, what she drank, what she wore, who she met, what she looked like, who she told off, what she said to him, how long it took her to make big decisions, her best dream, where she worked, how she broke up with people, how she grew up, and ultimately, how she died.

Beirne simply gives us the soundtrack and a random collection of whos, whats, and wheres, and leaves it to us to imagine the context. I love it.

P.S.

Funny enough, as I was watching the aformentioned masterpiece of credits, Lamkini and I were in the middle of a conversation about how people often write emails and put all the stuff they really wanted to say in the first place in the postscript. This is apparently a very effective way deliver bad news or mention things that you're not quite comfortable with being forthright about.

We came up with a few examples:

Dear Lamkini,

It's such a nice day out. What's going on later? Beers?

D-Mac

P.S. I need your rent check ASAP.

Dear D-Mac,

I really love Italian food.

Lamkini

P.S. I accidentally slept with your ex-girlfriend. Talk later?

Lamkini,

What's UP man? How's it hanging?? This is Dr. Patel just writing to say hey. Did you catch that Hawks game last night by any chance? Whoah, I mean... I don't know if you're a big basketball fan, but that was a nail-biter if I ever saw one. You never really know how those games will turn out until the very last second, you know? Anyway, just saying a quick hello. Don't be a stranger, okay?

Regards,
Dr. Patel, MD

P.S. Your test results came back from the lab. You have a very rare debilitating disease called chronic lamkosis and you probably only have approximately five minutes to live. Later!

D-Mac,

Bank of America here. The old B-of-A. Hey you!! Man, this week has been so long. I can't wait for the weekend--we're closed you know. Aaaaaanyway, just wanted to shout atcha. Holla back when you can.

Sincerely,
Bank of America, Credit Card Services

P.S. Someone apparently stole your credit card and bought a giraffe. It was $400,000. You need to fix that. Soon.

The Greatest Mixtape Ever Made

2006-04-26T09:37:00.000-05:00

My senior year of high school Melissa Metts gave me the best mixtape I had, and still have, ever heard. I was in love with Melissa Metts all year long and I never told her. She still doesn't know. We were in the same AP Calculus class, and she sat two rows over from me. The person who sat between us was my friend Kevin.

I mean I guess Kevin was my friend. We both played on the varsity soccer team and always cracked each other up in Calculus by doing impressions of our teacher, Dr. Krueger, and I helped Kevin study for the AP Exam (I don't think he passed). But Kevin and I weren't like "real" friends. We didn't hang out much outside of school, or call each other, or tell each other we were in love with Melissa Metts. So Kevin's sitting there was definitely an inconvenience for me.

Melissa was about 5'3" with brown, sort of wavy, short-ish hair. She was undeniably "cute," which I don't think was necessarily something you tried to cultivate if you hung out with the people she hung out with. She was a total smart-ass and had the best smile ever. Something happened over the summer before my senior year and that whole Grunge/Seattle-Glorification thing started happening. It seemed like when we got back to school half the girls had gone out and bought striped knee-socks and mini-skirts and dyed their hair so it was darker--and less innocent-looking maybe. Melissa hung with that group of people. They all tried to act hardcore and hardly any of them really were.

Melissa's best friend was Lindsay. Lindsay really was hardcore. She had black hair, wore big "I will totally fuck you up" boots and ripped jeans, drew fake tattoos on her arms with ballpoint pens, had a pierced nose, and made her own t-shirts by taking white undershirts and a Sharpie marker and writing something on the front like "think for yr self." Lindsay did not approve of my soccer-playing, cornfed whiteboy ass. She sat behind Melissa, which was also hugely inconvenient for me.

Somehow during the school year Melissa and I started passing notes across the room. We inevitably got on the subject of music, which led her to realize I didn't know any of the bands she liked. She offered to make me a mixtape. Having this girl that I was obsessed with make me a mixtape was obviously a huge coup and a great sign, and if I'd had any skills or any clue about how to act with girls I would've immediately made her my little grunge lovergirl. But no. All I got was a mixtape. But it was, as I have said, the best mixtape I've ever heard.

I'm going to list the songs and let that be the end of this blog (by the way, it might be obvioius, but I still have this mixtape after all this time). The songs are great, and this tape was how I got interested to a bunch of great bands (most prominently The Pixies, which changed my life...seriously) that were totally different than anything I listened to at time, but the best thing about the tape was that in between every other song or so Melissa had recorded herself talking and making little jokes and being just about as cute as a person can stand to listen to. I know, I know...now it seems obvious how into me she was, but if you can believe it, I had absolutely no clue then. You can slap me the next time we meet.

SIDE A:
Here Comes Your Man - Pixies
Broken Face - Pixies
Time For Livin' - Beastie Boys
Allison's Starting To Happen - Lemonheads
I'm Waiting For The Man - Velvet Underground
Head On - Pixies
Suggestion - Fugazi
Jane Says (Live in Japan) - Jane's Addiction
Sunday Morning - Velvet Underground

SIDE B:
Lightening - Ultra Vivid Scene
Caribou - Pixies
I Been Tired - Pixies
Dollar Bill - Screaming Trees
We Are Each Other - Beautiful South
Bone Machine - Pixies
Waiting Room - Fugazi
Sweet Misery Blues - Violent Femmes
Black Girls - Violent Femmes

Galactic @ The Roxy - Point / Counterpoint

2006-04-23T12:40:00.000-05:00

POINT: By Lamkini

I can't speak for Dmac, but I'm not a big jam band music fan. I don't dig the music unless it's like the top one percent of the top one percent of skill level, and I don't generally dig glow sticks, or trippy pseudo-hippy bellydancing. I will say that I do love how much jam band fans love jam band music. They fucking LOVE being at jam band shows, and that's definitely not the case with like the disaffected Emo cutter crowd that you find at...well, a lot of shows I like. So basically what I'm saying is that I went to this Galactic show already not liking the brand of music they play so take everything I'm about to say with a grain of salt.

I hated the Galactic show. I hated the skunky smell that filled the air while people furtively hit joints deep in the crowd. I hated the mediocre musicianship. I hated the run-down venue. I hated the overpriced drinks. I hated the overpriced ticket (thank you Ticketmaster). I hated the opening bands. I hated it.

I did like a few things, and to prove it I will now tell you what they were. Everyone I saw at this show was in a good mood. That was awesome. Good vibe in there. The drummer for Galactic, Stanton Moore, was fantastic, just fantastic. Stanton Moore was basically the only thing I liked about Galactic, and luckily he had a drum solo in every single song (ok that did get old, but whatever, work it if you got it, right?). Galactic's second set was much better than their first set. Starting with the first song, which was apparently a Tower Of Power cover, and continuing into the second song, which was sort of an old-school, James Brownesque soul/funk groove, the grooves were much more accessible and easily identifiable. Also, one of the opening bands, Stooges Music Group, joined Galactic on a good portion of the songs for the evening, and the extra horns added a lot to the overall band sound.

I heard Galactic used to have a guy who was lead singer and was amazing but he's left the band and the rest of the band decided to keep on truckin' without him. I really would have liked to have seen Galactic in that formation, but I doubt it would've helped me like them more. I found myself the entire evening wishing I was at a Karl Denson's Tiny Universe show (find out where KDTU is playing and buy a ticket NOW if you haven't seen them). The level of musicianship in Galactic, excluding the drummer, was just not up to the level it needed to be at to be an all instrumental band. The grooves didn't have that thing that makes me (not a dancer) wanna dance, nor did they have that thing that makes me hum the melodies or keep bobbing my head long after I've left the show.

In the end, I left the show humming the theme song to Late Night With Conan O'Brien, and Galactic didn't even play that. Max Weinberg and the Max Weinberg 7--now that's a kickass band.

COUNTERPOINT: By D-Mac

I actually can speak for D-Mac, so I will. I would not consider myself a "big jam band music fan" either, by anyone's standards, but I do appreciate good music, whichever unfortunate moniker happens to be attached to it. Some of the bands I really like happen to be lumped in with the "jam band" scene, which I have no problem with. If this means I have to sit through a five-piece electric kazoo ensemble doing their best reproduction of the 33-minute "Mountain Jam" off the Allman Brothers Band's Eat A Peach record in its entirety while saving my spot on the lawn for the funk/soul band that I came to see then so be it. I'm a trooper. I won't promise to like it but I'll keep an open mind.

Now admittedly, my musical palate is quite selective, however my concert-going standards are probably not as high as Lamkini's are. Being more of a perfectionist (in a good way) with his own music, Lamkini also demands the most out of the musicians he pays his hard-earned Lincolns (or Jacksons in this case, thanks Ticketmaster) to see. I totally respect that. I don't always agree with it, but I respect it.

After reading Lamkini's review of last Friday's Galactic show, I must say that even when applying the prescribed amount of salt, I still find some of his points a little hard to swallow. Allow me to expound.

If you don't know what you're getting yourself into before going to a "jam band" show, then I have a nice piece of real estate I'd like to show you under a large rock in The Middle Of Nowhere, USA. Overpriced tickets, glow sticks, pseudo-hippy dancing, and crappy opening bands are all pretty much par for the course at a show like this, but you won't find more a more loyal fan than a jam-band fan. Why is this? Is it the stellar musicianship? Not typically. Is it the radio play these bands are getting? Absolutely not. These are not just fans, but a community - nay, a family - of like-minded individuals who have all set out to do one thing: enjoy themselves. I'd argue that this genre of music, moreso than almost any other I can think of, thrives on the precept that the listener is responsible for his or her own good time. You can only get out what you put into it. If you want to see flawless musicians flaunting their pristine instrumentatal prowess, this probably isn't the show for you. If you want to stare at your shoes and feel sorry for yourself for a couple of hours, I know of several other shows around town that you can go see (I'll probably be at some of them). But going to a Galactic show and complaining about the psuedo-hippie kids is like vacationing in Dubai and complaining about all the "furinners".

My point is that I had a good time at the Galactic show. No, it wasn't the best show I've ever been to. It wasn't even the best Galactic show I've ever been to. But it was a good time nonetheless. I wasn't blown away (except by the drummer who was indeed fantastic) but I wasn't disappointed either.

COUNTER-COUNTERPOINT: By Lamkini

Dmac, you ignorant slut. No seriously, there was nothing absolutely sucktastic about this show for you??

COUNTER-COUNTER-COUNTERPOINT: By D-Mac

Okay, okay fine. The one hilarious nod to the awfulness Lamkini depicts that I'll offer is about the second opener, Papa Mali. By the time we got to the venue and paid for our overpriced White Russians (which I had promised Lamkini I'd splurge for if he came to the show), Mali was just finishing up one of the last songs of his solo set. We noticed he was using digital looping with effects pedals and had already built up his own virtual wall-of-sound against which he could just sit back and attempt to engage the crowd in a semi-intelligable dialogue, sort of like a poor man's Keller Williams. "Drink a little beer. Have a little wine. Smoke a little kind. Everybody keep happy," he repeated until he could elicit some sort of response from anybody in the crowd. After recieving some small level of participation, he continued, "Chicken fly high, chicken fly low, chicken fly high, chicken fly low...," and continued rambling in this fashion until the end of the song. I have no idea what this song was about, but Mali assured us afterwords in his thick New Orleans accent that "That was a true story."

THE LAST WORD: By Lamkini

So in the end, we all survived it, I with my snobby-bitch attitude and Dmac with his open-mindedness and glorious promises of White Russians. The End.

Make Right With You

2006-04-21T13:09:00.000-05:00

Okay here's what we did. Dmac and I both like this song by Luke Temple called "Make Right With You." We thought it totally sounded like a song that would be in a movie. For all we know it is in a movie. So Dmac gave us both an assignment: to write a movie scene in which this song appears and specify which director would direct. We both wrote our respective scenes without discussing with each other. Here they are. Listen to the song while you read the scene descriptions. Read slowly. It's better that way. Trust us. Okay here goes.

Luke Temple - Make Right With You

Lamkini:
DIRECTOR: Cameron Crowe
SCENE DESCRIPTION: Montage. Boy messed up. It is raining. Boy walks in rain to Girl's house. He's wearing jeans, a grey t-shirt, a denim jacket with a black Ramones button on the left pocket, black Chuck Taylors. Boy walks in gutter not on sidewalk. Cars pass. Rain. Boy knocks on Girl's door. Girl doesn't answer. Boy knocks again. Girl stands on other side of door quiet, leans against door, no tears, no expression, cat walks in and out of her legs. Boy puts head against door. Their heads would be touching if it weren't for the door. Boy leaves. Boy at home. Boy cutting and pasting pictures making a collage. Flowers, sunshine, construction paper hearts. Boy looks over finished collage. The rain runs down the window. Song ends. Fade out.

Dmac:
DIRECTOR: Wes Anderson
SCENE DESCRIPTION: This scene appears about 2/3 of the way through the movie, and takes place some time after the protagonist, played by Luke Wilson, gets in a huge quarrel with his love interest (some up-and-coming girl-next-door type, like Scarlett Johansson pre "Lost In Translation" or Natalie Portman pre "Garden State") about socks or something. Some time has passed where we see both characters upset, but getting on with their lives. They're not on speaking terms. As this scene begins, it's late evening in the Spring, and the sun is still out. Luke Wilson's character is at a company softball game with all of his co-horts. Everyone except him seems to be having a good time. He's on the bench, sitting next to Vince Vaughn, spitting sunflower seeds and shooting bull. Vaughn tosses Wilson a can of beer and opens up one for himself. "What's with the pity party, man," he says, "We're only down two runs, and I'm about to tie this thing up." Vaughn's next up to bat, so he steps up to the plate, beer in hand. You can hear cheering from a little girl's voice behind the fence. Vaughn looks back, and smiles at his young daughter and lovely wife, who is something like 12 months pregnant. The wife smiles back, and Wilson notices how happy they are. Vaughn puts his beer down on home plate and says, "Daddy's gonna hit a homerun for you baby." He takes a swing at the first pitch and cracks one out, it looks like it's going all the way. He starts to run the bases and looks back to say something to Wilson, but sees there's just an empty spot on the bench where he was sitting.

[cue music: "When all goes sideways and all goes blue..."]

Cut to Luke Wilson running as fast as he can down the street. He's flashing back to various moments he and his girlfriend had shared, and he's remembering how happy he was. We cut back and forth between him, running down the street, Vince Vaughn rounding the bases, and old memories of he and his girlfriend. By the time the song is over, Wilson at the girl's doorstep, she opens the door and he starts to apologize. She doesn't let him finish, and plants a big mushy wet kiss on him, and we realize that it's okay now. They're back together.

[end scene]