the house of tomorrow night blog

HOTNS: mid-March through May

2007-05-14T10:59:00.000-07:00

So, I got busy/lazy and haven't gotten around to posting the rest of the excellent performances of Stephinsongs till now, but I think they're worth the wait. All songs were recorded by some combination of Oguz (the Local Live director) and me, with the exception of Meryll et al. which was recorded by Andrew of Meryll, former Local Live director. All of these performances are totally rad. Meryll blew me away with some unexpected guitar lines. Dakota from Peel played his guitar through a Marlboro box amp. Daniel Paquette (from Indiana) brought a "ban-tar-jo" that sounded freaking great. Loxsly pre-recorded their songs, which explains why they sound so well produced and intricate. Ethan Smith mocked Stephin's voice rather well, and he also figured out a way for a single person to pull off Absolutely Cuckoo. And AM Syndicate brought a full line-up with drums, keys, guitars, and even shakers. You've got to listen to all of it for yourself. There you are.

March 20: Meryll (plus special guests The Narrow Escapes and Team Amethyst)
Meryll - Acoustic Guitar
The Narrow Escapes - Meaningless
Team Amethyst - I'm Sorry, but I Love You

April 3: Peel
Peel - Absolutely Cuckoo
Peel - No One Will Ever Love You
Peel - Underwear

April 10: Daniel Paquette
Daniel Paquette - The Saddest Story Ever Told
Daniel Paquette - Book of Love

April 17: Loxsly
Loxsly - I Wish I Had an Evil Twin
Loxsly - I Don't Want to Get Over You

April 24: Ethan Smith
Ethan Smith - Absolutely Cuckoo
Ethan Smith - A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody
Ethan Smith - The Part I Like [a song inspired by Stephin Merritt]

May 1: AM Syndicate
AM Syndicate - When My Boy Walks Down the Street
AM Syndicate - Born on a Train

HOTNS 8: featuring The Theater Fire

2007-03-17T13:18:00.000-07:00

The Theater Fire from Fort Worth stopped by The House of Tomorrow Night Show to infuse the "country" in Stephin Merritt's songs with some bluegrassy twang. There were banjos, violins, mandolins, horns, keyboards, guitars, and drums, as well as some impressive falsetto (that is, there were no female vocalists). In addition to being some of the nicest guys you'll ever meet, they're great musicians, and I'm very happy to have had them perform on this show.

The Theater Fire "All My Little Words"
The Theater Fire "Busby Berkeley Dreams"
The Theater Fire "Yeah, Oh Yeah!"

HOTNS 7: featuring Peter and the Wolf

2007-03-08T12:48:00.000-08:00

Wow... another amazing show. Thanks to Red and Steve for playing some beautifully rearranged Magnetic Fields songs. Poor Red was suffering from the sniffles, but he managed to blow out some exquisite vocals anyway. And some of Steve's guitar parts still baffle me, especially during the chorus of Sunset City. Anyway, me like. Me like a lot. You like, too. Check it or (train)wreck it:

Peter and the Wolf "Sunset City"
Peter and the Wolf "My Sentimental Melody"
Peter and the Wolf "Born on a Train"

HOTNS 6: featuring Jerm Pollet and The Lovely Sparrows

2007-03-06T15:41:00.000-08:00

This show was out of control and totally silly. Local funny man/musician Jerm Pollet stole the first half of the show with witty banter regarding bunnies, toast, and guacamole, while the Lovely Sparrows graced the airwaves during the second half with a couple of nice renditions of Stephin Merritt songs, including a very pretty "World Love". Due to a rather unfortunate miscommunication, we didn't record the first 10 minutes of the show, including most of Jerm's version of what he refers to as "The Bunny Rabbit Song" (aka "Let's Pretend We're Bunny Rabbits"), but the parts of the show we did get sound like gold. Have a listen!

Jerm Pollet "The Bunny Rabbit Song (end)"
Jerm Pollet "Papa Was a Rodeo"
Jerm Pollet and The Lovely Sparrows "I Wish I Had an Evil Twin"
The Lovely Sparrows "The Book of Love"
The Lovely Sparrows "World Love"

HOTNS 5: featuring The Karate Kids

2007-02-27T16:13:00.000-08:00

The Karate Kids (of Austin) stopped by KVRX to sing some Stephin Merritt songs with Karate Kid lyrics. See if you can find all the karate references! (Think: dojo, Miyagi, wax on and wax off.) All four kids dressed up as Daniel-san, and one of them was wearing an extra leg and a pair of arms to allow him to stay in Daniel's famous jump kick pose while still playing guitar. Hiya!

The Karate Kids "Chicken With Its Head Cut Off"
The Karate Kids "Meaningless"
The Karate Kids "Miyagi Had a Dojo"

HOTNS 4: Featuring CBA/Cry Blood Apache

2007-02-20T07:50:00.000-08:00

This week's Valentine's Day show was a lot of fun, thanks to Hans, Pahn, and Kaspar of Cry Blood Apache. They brought a CD of sampled/mashed-up Magnetic Fields covers that sound like they're being performed live on the air. "Give me a little more reverb and echo on these vocals... little more... yeah" Very clever. We all had a great time, especially during the Hans Hinrich Valentine's Day giveaway extravaganza, which was The Complete Runner, a special supplement to Runners' Magazine.

The Magnetic Fields "Absolutely Cuckoo"
The Magnetic Fields "Love Is Lighter Than Air"
Cry Blood Apache "Fido"
The Magnetic Fields "If There's Such A Thing As Love"
The Magnetic Fields "World Love"
The Magnetic Fields "I Don't Believe You"
The Magnetic Fields "Lovers From The Moon"
Cry Blood Apache "The Things We Did and Didn't Do"
Ilene Graff "They Were You"
House of Phallus "And Then He Kissed Me/ and the He Frisked Me"
The Magnetic Fields "Punk Love"
Cry Blood Apache "How Fucking Romantic"
The Magnetic Fields "The Saddest Story Ever Told"
The Magnetic Fields "Love In The Shadows"
The Magnetic Fields "The One You Really Love"
Cry Blood Apache "[Song Inspired By] Let's Pretend We're Bunny Rabbits"
The Magnetic Fields "I'm Sorry I Love You"
The Gothic Archies "Ever Falls the Twilight"

HOTNS 3: featuring Nick Hennies of the Weird Weeds

2007-02-09T15:04:00.000-08:00

fun show this week. nick hennies--the drummer from local experimental rock band The Weird Weeds--brought his acoustic guitar and played a couple of stephin merritt songs. especially impressive is nick's performance of "reno dakota", given the fact that stephin has said that it was one of the most difficult songs on 69 love songs to record, and nick nailed it in on his first go. other notes: i've adopted "absolutely cuckoo" as my intro theme song and "ever falls the twilight" as my outro song. Don't fall in love with me yet, we've only recently met:

The Magnetic Fields "Absolutely Cuckoo"
Stephin Merritt "Maria Maria Maria"
Future Bible Heroes "Memories Of Love"
Mission Giant "San Diego Zoo"
Nick Hennies (live) "All My Little Words"
The Magnetic Fields "Born on a Train"
The Gothic Archies "City of the Damned"
The Magnetic Fields "Josephine"
Nick Hennies (live) "Reno Dakota"
The Magnetic Fields "Asleep And Dreaming"
Nico "Chelsea Girls"
The Gothic Archies "In The Reptile Room (from The Reptile Room)"
Stephin Merritt "Shall We Sing A Duet?"
John Guilt "underwear"
Future Bible Heroes "But You're So Beautiful"
Ladytron "Open Your Heart"
The Gothic Archies "Ever Falls the Twilight"

In the summer windows, out through winter doors,
ever falls the twilight on our jagged shores...

Every Tuesday night from 10 till 11pm
only on KVRX Austin

HOTNS 2: featuring {{{ SUNSET }}}

2007-01-31T14:09:00.000-08:00

Last night's show was just wonderful, thanks to {{{ SUNSET }}} (Bill Baird of Sound Team). He brought a version of "There Are Two Kinds of People" that he recorded on a mini reel-to-reel. He had bought that unusually appropriate instrument from a thrift store for $7.95, and it sounded amazing. By coincidence, we had just played the Magnetic Fields' original version as part of the playlist I had made up earlier that day, so we shuffled the mics around (with pace!) once we realized what was happening. The tape on the reel was old and warped, so gave the song a warbly, undulating quality that sounded great. He also caught me very much off guard by asking me to sing backup vocals on "Nothing Matters When We're Dancing", so apologies for that. Click on the songs for mp3s of those tracks, as well as for the Irving Berlin track (after whom Stephin's chihuahua is named). You should visit my dj page at kvrx for more information about these songs.

the gothic archies "ever falls the twilight"
magnetic fields "babies falling"
future bible heroes "blond adonis"
{{{ SUNSET }}} "nothing matters when we're dancing"
stephin merritt "world is not made of flowers"
magnetic fields "there are two kinds of people"
{{{SUNSET}}} "there are two kinds of people "
the wild stares "babies falling"
the 6ths "here in my heart (with anna domino)
waterloop "take a chance on me"
magnetic fields "infinitely late at night"
gothic archies "Dreary, Dreary (from The Miserable Mill)"
eddie cantor "oh, how i hate to get up in the morning (reveille)"
magnetic fields "distant plastic trees"
mike doughty "book of love"
the 6ths "You You You You You (w/ Katherine Whalen)"
magnetic fields "The Flowers She Sent And The Flowers She Said She Sent"
riff raff "take a chance on me"

HOTNS 1

2007-01-23T19:25:00.000-08:00

Well, my first Stephin Merritt show got off to a bit of a rocky start, and I talked a bit more than I should have, but at least the songs were not entirely horrible:

1. The Gothic Archies "Ever Falls the Twilight" (the new despair ep)
2. Stephin Merritt "Sorry, Wrong Show" (Showtunes)
3. The Magnetic Fields "Love Goes Home to Paris in the Spring" (The House of Tomorrow EP)
4. Future Bible Heroes "A Thousand Lovers in a Day" (Eternal Youth)
5. Stephin Merritt "Some Summer Day" (Eban & Charlie)
6. John Foxx "Touch and Go" (Metamatic)
7. The Magnetic Fields "Smoke and Mirrors" (Get Lost)
8. Future Bible Heroes "Don't You Want Me" (Reproductions)
9. The Magnetic Fields "You Love to Fail" (Distant Plastic Trees)
10. Laurie Anderson "O Superman (for Massenet)" (Big Science)
11. The 6ths w/ Mary Timony "All Dressed Up in Dreams" (Wasps' Nest)
12. Future Bible Heroes "She-Devils of the Deep" (Memories of Love)
13. The Removal Express "Blond Adonis" (meaningless...)
14. The Gothic Archies "Smile! No One Cares How You Feel" (The Tragic Treasury)

Tune in to KVRX Austin 91.7fm on Tuesday, 10-11pm to catch my next show! soon: musical guests! here is my tentative guest calendar:

1/30: {{{ SUNSET }}} (Bill Baird of Sound Team)

2/6: Nick Hennies (of the Weird Weeds)
2/13: Cry Blood Apache
2/20: The Karate Kids
2/27: The Lovely Sparrows + Jerm Pollet

3/6: Peter and the Wolf
3/13: The Theater Fire
3/20: Meryll
3/27: Voxtrot

4/3: Peel
4/10: Single Frame
4/17: Loxsly
4/24: Bexar Bexar

5/1: AM Syndicate
5/8: Just Guns

This is going to be great!

intro

2007-01-19T18:41:00.000-08:00

so... i'm obsessed with stephin merritt. i have a stephin merritt radio show at 91,7 kvrx austin 10-11pm tuesday nights (the first show is this tuesday). i've had a couple of stephin merritt sing-alongs, which were a helluva lot of fun. i've scoured the web for guitar tab, covers, sources, more covers, radio appearances, guest DJing, and interviews. turns out i'm not the only person in austin who likes this guy. here are some of the local bands who may make an appearance on my radio show at some point this spring: pink nasty, bexar bexar, mission giant, shuttle debris, nick hennies (of the weird weeds), cry blood apache, karate kids, peter and the wolf, the theater fire, voxtrot, loxsly, single frame, dakota building. i'm, like, wicked excited.