Where have I been?

Looks like the month I took off the internet really caught on. I’m a big fan of the real world, and I’m trying to use the  internet as little as is practical.

I’ve got all sorts of questions as to how the internet is affecting people’s relationship with music — it sure is an amazing promotional device and music-publishing platform. I can’t thank it enough for hurting the major labels.

It’s easier than ever to be exposed to all sorts of music, which is mostly a very good thing. But the ease with which music is discovered and acquired, combined with the internet’s need for endless novelty, favors a broad but shallow relationship. Looking for 5+ songs a week to post can do the same thing.

I like the way radio works. You can play a song once every show if you love it. You can’t really do that on a blog: “Hey, here’s that Joanna Newsom song I posted two days ago. Isn’t it great?”

Just some half-formed ruminations. If I waited until I had a coherent statement, it would be March. Baby Vegetables is very demanding of my time.

I hope that some of the 700+ songs I’ve posted have created new, deep relationships, and I hope to use this space in the future once I sort out my relationship to the 21st century.

Take care, and please don’t forget that a Facebook account is not mandatory.

Love,

Kevin

If I made this a mix of my actual very favorite songs of the year, it would be a triple-LP called Have One On Me. But since Joanna Newsom’s already released that mix, I went for a little more variety.

Download Hello Vegetables 2010

Joanna Newsom – Good Intentions Paving Company
The Strange Boys – Be Brave
Cate Le Bon – Shoeing The Bones
Sleepy Sun – Marina
The Taxpayers – Some Kind Of Disaster Relief
Gil Scott-Heron – New York Is Killing Me
Paleo – World’s Smallest Violin
Of Montreal – Our Riotous Defects
Salem – Trapdoor
The Henry Clay People – Keep Your Eyes Closed
Social Studies – We Choose Our Own Adventures
Brian Belknap – Money From The Accident
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Fright Night (Nevermore)
Sleigh Bells – Infinity Guitars
Javelin – Oh! Centra
Field Music – Them That Do Nothing
Sufjan Stevens – I Walked
Laura Veirs – Summer Is The Champion
Titus Andronicus – A More Perfect Union
Crystal Castles – Year Of Silence
Belle & Sebastian – I Want The World To Stop
Beach House – Silver Soul
Free Energy – Bang Pop
Die Antwoord – Evil Boy
Grinderman – Worm Tamer
Citay – Mirror Kisses

I’m taking December to disconnect from the internet as much as I possibly can, so it’s gonna be mighty quiet around here (meaning this bunch of pixels or neutrons or whatever they are or aren’t).

HERE, where I actually am, is going to be filled with the noises of me listening to less music more deeply, and with the noises of Baby Vegetables eating a Christmas tree. With any luck, I’ll have the chance to say to someone, “Hey, have you heard this great song?” and then listen alongside them.

I’ll be thinking about you, though, and compiling the Hello Vegetables 2010 mix, which will be up in January.

Have a great holiday!

Remember our previous meditation about how sometimes thing work out just like they should?

NEW TAXPAYERS RECORD, pepples.

You’ve heard me blowing Gabriel’s horn over them a time or two, and To Risk So Much For One Damn Meal is another blow-worthy, gorgeous slab of giving a shit.

They’re punk enough to play country songs at 924 Gilman, so you know they won’t shy away from harmonicas, horns, pianner, and whatever it takes to get the songs across. They’re hopping genres as much as on their previous album, with a bigger sound, and it sounds wonderful.

Here are a couple highlights:

The Taxpayers -The Windows Break

The Taxpayers – Some Kind Of Disaster Relief

To Risk So Much For One Damn Meal is being released as a CD/Zine (sliding-scale) through their own Useless State Records (due out Nov. 26), as a digipack CD and a real vinyl record through Plan-It X (soon), and as a cassette (because that’s how the kids roll these days) through Tiger Force Ultra.

Just so I’m clear: you want bands like this to survive and succeed. They’re doing this all on their own, with no “major indie” support, no PR guys, no booking agent. Supporting them by buying a record or going to a show really makes a difference in the world.

The Taxpayers kick off their “I Wish Lunch Could Last Forever” tour in Portland this Friday at Backspace. They’re still booking shows from PDX to FLA, so keep checking their site to see where they’ll be, or to see where you might be able to find them a spot to play.

They’re playing SF on 12/1 at the Depot, which is in the Cesar Chavez Student Center at SF State. All ages, FREE, and if the Depot’s previous shows are any indication, should be several bands and run from 6-9, so no excuses for old people. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE. See you there!

http://thetaxpayers.net

http://www.myspace.com/thetaxpayers

http://useless-state.com

Dig it. Two days away, and right around the corner from Vegetable HQ, we’ve got two local faves playing a fine establishment that’s got good food, wine, & beer.

Brian Belknap, AntonetteG, and Erma — 8:30-11PM. Free good music! Aren’t you glad you stayed in town?

The holidays are upon us, and as you might be aware, I like to skip the day about gluttony and mediocre football and get right to the good stuff. And what says “holiday time” like drinking with acquaintances while in a state of joyous confusion?

33% local music PR folks Terrorbird have thrown together a holiday bill that’s sure to make you turn to someone and go, “Huh?” with a smile on your face. Bottom of the Hill, December 4, ten bucks.

Headlining are local Vedge faves Maus Haus with their inscrutable blend of freeziness, warmth, and cutie-pies:

Then we gots Fol Chen, with their inscrutable blend of poppy R&B and what they hell are they talking about:

Fol Chen: “In Ruins”

Plus Brent Amaker & The Rodeo and their tastily inscrutable blend of outlaw country, silliness, and spaghetti:

Brent Amaker & The Rodeo: Man In Charge

And locals Exray’s with their inscrutable punctuation:

Exray’s: “Everything Goes”

In honor of the Giants’ ridiculously perfect season (and eternal lovability), ex-local label True Panther has, in a fit of wishing it had not left town, put together a celebrational compliational of SF bands, some of whom recorded tracks just for this comp.

Plus, it only costs a dollar! And that dollar goes straight to the Coalition on Homelessness to fight Prop L, which made it a crime to sit in a lawn chair on the sidewalk in front of one’s house. And for kids to have a sidewalk lemonade stand.

Buy it here, or using the link on the player below.

And what’s plus more, actual local awesome folks Yours Tru.ly have put together a mix of San Francisco songs, so we can all wallow in happiness all offseason. Or forever, really. Dancing, hugging, celebrating!

Giants Win!!! by yourstrulysf

All I’m saying is that if you’re 19 years old and your choices are:

1. Go to geology class

2. Smoke weed from a Mrs. Butterworth’s bong and listen to “The Payback” repeatedly

… right?

The 45 of  “The Payback” has an amazing DJ voiceover, so even if you’ve heard the song a million times, jamm on it. This is for everybody.

My year-end mixes had somehow disappeared off of Mediafire, but they’re back up now, so if’n you had trouble downloading those sweet little packs of joy, have at it.

Hello Vegetables 2009

Hello Vegetables 2008

Hello Vegetables 2007

Why Are There Computers Week continues here at Hello Vegetables, so here’s some more video!

Usually when I see lip-synced performances from old TV shows it’s pretty boring, but I could watch Haysi Fantayzee lip-sync “Shiny Shiny” a million times.

And I could watch this part a billion million times:

The sound sync is off on that one, though, so for the whole song try this un: