Beginning to see the light

I've moved!

2007-04-30T16:50:56Z

MY BLOG HAS MOVED! Coming with? Wait to be redirected, or click here to head over to the new digs.

Battle of the Weekend sections.

2007-04-20T10:49:07Z

Pixnit, obviously, but anyone know who does the bad apples? Photo by sushiesque.

Friday = Weekend section day! Come, let's see see how they stack up this week. Ready?

Casually slipping "says David Bowie in an e-mail" into a story = 3 points, via The Globe. ("Said David Bowie during our weekly sushi date" would've taken the cake.)

Combining self-deprecation, restaurant-deprecation, and a joke in one sentence: "If you're the kind of diner with a bad short-term memory, you'll... wait, what was I saying?" = 2 points, via Globe Sauce.

Employing the words "shook his jowls violently" in a lede = 2 points, via NYT Theater section.

Using an almost painfully meh review to characterize a decidedly meh sounding concert, via NYT Music.

Pitting Oscar Wilde against the surgeon general, comparing cigarettes to nipples, and mourning the loss of a best bet pick-up line = 2 points, via WPost Weekend. Bonus: WPost Weekend wrote about the best barside outdoor smoking areas a few months ago = 1 point.

And our winner, for banning the words "Brangelina" and "TomKat" from the English language, and providing useful tips for unicorn hunting - in one article! = 475,892,563 points, via CSMonitor.

Now. Now.

2007-04-19T10:00:40Z

Looks like my typical Thursday afternoon.

You are probably not immune to Annie Clark's powers, so don't try to fight it. That's essentially what I was aiming to say here, but the Globe generally frowns upon writing things like "Go see St. Vincent now, or I'll come to your house and make you go!" So I had to write this instead:

It's no surprise that Annie Clark, the slender, Oklahoma-bred curly-haired beauty behind St. Vincent, sounds like the female version of Sufjan Stevens. She has played with Stevens, as well as the Polyphonic Spree, everyone's favorite choir-robed purveyors of uplifting pop. The surprise is that, as a solo artist, St. Vincent creates anything but lo-fi indie pop. Instead, she combines simultaneously sweet sentiment and boldly experimental instrumentation. ''Now Now,'' for example, from her upcoming debut, ''Marry Me,'' is a shifting fusion of music-box-like tinkling and whispery, call-and-response vocals that dissolve into screeching guitar distortion. Beggars Banquet will release ''Marry Me'' on July 10, but you can catch a preview tomorrow night, when St. Vincent opens for John Vanderslice at the Middle East Upstairs.

St. Vincent, "Now. Now."

Happy backwards day.

2007-04-18T14:49:35Z

Goldenstash flick by bluesocks78.

According to today's papers, the music industry is moving backwards. First, the good news: This guy in Nashville is on a personal mission to keep vinyl alive, and to be "the last vinyl plant standing, no matter what." Sweet news for someone who recently acquired a record player (read: stole from my parents’ house, along with most of their record collection. Minus the Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack - eek). Says another Nashville-based, determined vinyl savior: "You hear people use adjectives like 'warmer' and 'more round.' And there are other things beside sound quality. People know what the song titles are. It's not like, 'I like track 5.' You put the needle on and let it play through -- not jump around. You have more of an intimate relationship with the music." Word.

Over in greedy major label-land, the scheming music execs and has-been artists (Wang Chung, I may or may not be talking about you) have joined forces for their latest scam: re-record old songs and resell them! But wait, wasn't Nickelback already doing that? Zing! Says one of the desperate-for-attention artists: "To re-record our back catalog is a way of empowering ourselves." The euphemistic blathering continues - even Prince is joining the club. "Prince, for example, has re-recorded significant portions of his catalog that — thanks partly to technological advances — may rival the original versions, according to one person close to him." (Note: The "person close to him" is definitely Prince himself.-Ed.)

There's no denying the long, genre-spanning list of excellent re-recordings out there – jazz music as a whole depends partially on reworkings of its evergreen standards. But usually the new version is enjoyable because the old one was. “You’re Beautiful,” for example, will never be a good song, no matter how many times James Blunt re-records it Or, hell, even if Thom Yorke, Jeff Tweedy and Ted Leo teamed up to cover it, it still wouldn’t be good. That would be amazing though.

However, re: using pop music in commercials, a new trend in the world of independent music as well – see Of Montreal’s Outback Steakhouse commercial, and was that a New Pornographers song I heard on another commercial recently? – I half-heartedly support it. Sure, it makes me feel slightly sick to hear Led Zeppelin classics accompany ads for environmentally unfriendly car companies, but what about the smaller bands? I recently chatted with some friends in a local band about this, and the general consensus was that they’d happily sell their tunes for commercial purposes – if only to make enough money to quit their day jobs and finally record that second album, not to mention spread their sound across living rooms nationwide.

But I’m still not buying anything marginally related to Wang Chung.

In other, unrelated news, VH1 Classic, aka the best TV station EVER is now replaying Pop-Up Videos, in addition to the enthrallingly awesome Classic Albums series. Let the learning begin - did you know that Jimmy Page played guitar on the original 1964 version of "The Crying Game," or that Tracy Chapman's high school classmates said that she was destined to marry her guitar?

Final note: Apparently David Day caught me at the Klaxons show.

Tube top troubles.

2007-04-19T11:45:49Z

Question of the day: How does Feist's glittering, Garment District-esque, gem of the disco era blue pantsuit not fall down in this video? Extra strength double-stick tape? Circulation-slowing too-tight elastic? The wonders of gravity?

"That Feist video is awesome, in a Carol-Ann Boardway School of Dance, colorgasmic sort of way."- Melissa

Cease & desist.

2007-04-16T15:04:00Z

Via Found.

Planning ahead (sort of).

2007-04-16T13:18:52Z

Via Calendar, if genre-mashing Mexican guitar duos aren't your thing:

Usually breakup songs are either sadly introspective or determinedly empowering (ask Kelly Clarkson). Rarely are they as cheerful as "Goodbye," by the Miami-based indie-pop trio the Postmarks. The song pays homage to '60s-era pop, with triumphant horns and tinkling xylophone mingling beneath lead singer Tim Yehezkely's whispered, woozy musings, setting the perfect backdrop for an amicable breakup. Luckily for the lucky-in-love types, the Postmarks' recently released, self-titled debut album is packed with orchestral pop songs concerning other topics - the weather, for example. They've expanded to a six-piece for their current tour, which includes an early show at the Middle East Downstairs on Tuesday, with Harry and the Potters, and Smoosh.

Blue Thursday.

2007-04-12T13:23:18Z

It’s already happening. The lit bloggers are all writing posts titled “So it goes.” His website has an appropriately simple message. Remember this Phoenix piece, about MySpace as the virtual equivalent to flower-filled roadside memorials? It’s doubtful that Vonnegut actually maintained this MySpace page, regardless, his comments section will likely blow up by the day’s end.

Read the sad news this morning, and I thought “I should do something.” But what? A MySpace comment hardly seems adequate for a person who profoundly inspired countless generations of writers - myself included – not to mention, well, everyone else. Who hasn’t picked up a copy of “Cat’s Cradle” and thought “Whoa”? When I first read it, I stayed up all night devouring every word, then sought out more Vonnegut at the nearest bookstore, then searched for used book stores, and scoured their dusty shelves for lost Vonnegut gems. I remember looking up one day last fall, and happily realizing, as I sat amongst three of my four new roommates, that we were all reading Vonnegut novels simultaneously - a sign of a good living situation.

So, back to the original question: what to do? Read as much about him as possible? Retreating to Google’s comfortably all-knowing arms, I found this interview from 2000, between Vonnegut and some lucky Harvard student, during which he wonders “how the fuck” he wrote so many brilliant novels, and shares some (now bittersweet) musings on the afterlife. He also shares this notable thought:

If I were a religious person, my first question would be "Where the hell is God?" But I never expected him to be on the job.

Furthermore, Google says, the news sites are buzzing. The Times has essentially the same thing to say as the Globe: he was the king of countercultural literature, a modern-day Mark Twain, a curly-haired caricature of himself, a scientific messenger of the apocalypse, a self-proclaimed humanist, the original dark comic.

We knew all of this before today, but should we be celebrating it? Start referring to all mirrors as leaks, and alcoholic beverages as yeast excrement? Smoke Pall Mall cigarettes (“the classy way to commit suicide”)? Find out his favorite drink and make it? But Google didn’t know what his favorite drink was.

But wait! What does the hoi polloi’s voice of all reason and truth have to say? I’m speaking of Wikipedia, of course, which already includes an update on Vonnegut’s entry, in addition to his eight rules for writing a short story. A few favs:

3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
5. Start as close to the end as possible.
6. Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them -- in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

In the end, I’ve decided to find solace in a Vonnegut quote from a 1973 interview with Playboy. Vonnegut wrote for and was interviewed by Playboy throughout his life, including a dual interview with Joseph Heller in 1992, though he once noted in an interview with Salon that no one ever reads Playboy. So here I am, reading Playboy, hoping he's found his utopia, and thinking, "I don't know how the fuck he did it either, but I'm glad he did."

"Human beings will be happier — not when they cure cancer or get to Mars or eliminate racial prejudice or flush Lake Erie — but when they find ways to inhabit primitive communities again. That’s my utopia."

Afterthought.

2007-04-10T17:28:00Z

Just learned via sQuare productions that tonight's Hearthrob is also a Klaxons listening party. Ha! Had I known that, I would've mentioned it here. Guess I'm late to the game. The party is tonight, and you're invited (see below).

They say she plays guitar and cries and sings.

2007-04-10T12:36:54Z

Photo by Thushan Amarasiriwardena

It's taking every ounce of journalistic integrity not to post a collection of live Lily Holbrook songs that I recorded yesterday at Park Street. They'll be available on Boston.com on Friday, but I'm impatient for someone else to enjoy their awesomeness. It's not that Holbrook doesn't have albums - she's recorded two - but her studio versions are no match to her sparse and soulful live renditions of The Cure's "Just Like Heaven," and Led Zeppelin's "Going to California," in addition to her own tunes.

Street music, much like street art, is a steadfast, yet consistently overlooked facet of everyday living - perhaps because we don't have time for beauty, according to a recent article in the Washington Post Magazine. The Post convinced internationally acclaimed violinist Joshua Bell to perform for 45 minutes for Washington's hurried Metro commuters, and were surprised at both the lack of interest, and lack of profits.

Do you stop and listen? Do you hurry past with a blend of guilt and irritation, aware of your cupidity but annoyed by the unbidden demand on your time and your wallet? Do you throw in a buck, just to be polite? Does your decision change if he's really bad? What if he's really good? Do you have time for beauty? Shouldn't you? What's the moral mathematics of the moment?

Yet I've seen and heard of Holbrook drawing crowds in Boston's equally frenzied T stops on several occasions - so what's the hook? Different street music scenes in different cities? Familiar songs - i.e. Ozzy Osbourne, the Cure - to draw crowds, as opposed to not often recognized solo violin pieces? Less frequent trains in Boston? Or is the combination of frantic schedules, overstimulation, and the time necessary to weed out the good versus the bad making us immune to everyday art?

Time to get your pen and your pencil.

2007-04-10T14:50:34Z

I'm totally stealing this from Wooster Collective, even though it sorta reminds me of Incubus' "Drive" video, minus the emo bare-chestedness. I don't know who made the Incubus video, but Geoff McFetridge's impressive resume includes the pocket slideshow-esque Air-accompanied "Virgin Suicides" title sequence (side note: what were those red handheld slideshow toys really called?), among other things. More on him here. Cool video, but no blurry dancing for this one.

UPDATE: Several people have e-mailed to say that the toy I'm thinking of is called a ViewMaster. More on that here. Thanks guys!

Bring your nieces and your cousins.

2007-04-04T09:14:56Z

I inadvertently saw Cold War Kids play twice last weekend, Friday night at the Middle East Downstairs, and Saturday at Northampton’s Pearl Street Nightclub. Both shows sharply contrasted with the California-based indie rockers’ gig at Great Scott last fall, most notably in terms of the crowd. The Great Scott show felt like a house party, complete with technical glitches that the small-but-dedicated crowd, most of whom probably read about the band on an MP3 blog, or saw them open for Tapes ‘N Tapes last spring, happily ignored. I dragged a few friends who had never heard of them to that show, and they were instantly addicted. This time around, they were dragging me to the band’s sold-out gigs – hence my weekend o’ Cold War Kids.

The sweaty, lyric-belting crowds at the Middle East and Pearl Street seemed younger, though no less enthusiastic than the audience at Great Scott – I stood next to a group of awkwardly hip pre-teens steadfastly attempting to ignore their chaperoning father. They were a reminder of the quick spike in fame the band has seen in the past six months (I caught them on MTV news the other day), since they released their debut album, “Robbers and Cowards” (V2/Downtown Records), and an indication that any Pitchfork-influenced backlash has not taken root.

The fall show also had a deliciously frantic, anything-goes sort of feel, while last weekend’s polished performances adhered faithfully to a firm set list. The foursome burned through their higher energy tunes – “Hang Me Up to Dry,” and “Saint John,” for example – perhaps too quickly, building up crowd energy that then had no outlet as the band eased through a string of slower numbers (two of the nearby pre-teens darted into a dark corner to make out at this point). Openers Delta Spirit and Tokyo Police Club joined in for a frenzied onstage party on “Saint John” – it was kindergarten music class meets drunken marching band practice, in a good way.

Two newly enjoyable facets: they’ve mastered the art of successful song segways, and incorporated some ambitious covers into their repertoire, including Tom Waits’ “Dirt In the Ground,” and Sam Cooke’s, “A Change Is Gonna Come.” The former made for an intriguing introduction to “Hospital Beds,” the latter a much-needed enlivened encore.

The catalytic focal point was, as always, lead singer Nathan Willett’s wholehearted ability to squeeze every ounce of emotion from their songs and saturate the audience with it. Cold War Kids’ songs, full of thumping, clanging stomps, make you forget he’s covering some serious topics – alcoholism, hospital stays – but his voice, full of imperative honesty and half-shouted pleading, does not. It’s a comforting mainstay, regardless of any ups and downs of the music world that the band may face.

Opener Delta Spirit is a band to watch – “People, Turn Around!” their soulful, country-fried closer is instantly infectious, begging for raised lighters and swaying sing-a-longs.

Another version of this review, via Bostonist.

And you wanna know what is, and also what is not.

2007-03-30T15:20:22Z

Another blatant display of thievery, via Globe Calendar:

In an online diary for Slate in 2002, British musician Robyn Hitchcock wrote, "If God had wanted us to listen, she'd have made us all into therapists." That's the essence of Hitchcock, always true to his brilliantly bizarre brand of poetic psych-folk, regardless of whether anyone's listening. While the rest of England was into punk, Hitchcock began his varied and prolific career by playing psych-rock songs with his band the Soft Boys. Now he's on tour with the Venus 3 in support of his recent release, "Ole! Tarantula" (Yep Roc), an album filled with guitar-driven melodies, Beatles-esque harmonies, and an appropriate number of references to spaceships and insects. Hitchcock and the Venus 3 will play T.T. the Bear's Place tonight; both therapists and non-therapists are welcome.

Looks like the show is sold out. Maybe you know how to work some magic with the door person?

Geoff Edgers caught up with the ever-quotable Hitchcock in Today's Globe.

On an unrelated and awesomely awful note: 1 video camera + 1 Casio keyboard + lots of ways to violate plants = this. Click on "I Miss You Remix" and enjoy.

Do it and do it again.

2007-03-29T11:03:19Z

This is intriguing, and what online journalism should be - make sure to click on all of the associated links.

Computer camp and more.

2007-03-28T19:57:00Z

I'm currently immersed in the worlds of both the "Old Rave" scene (quite possibly the only Rave scene) and the supposed "New Rave" (or nu-rave, or neu-rave) scene - look for a piece in the Globe before the Klaxons' sold-out show at Great Scott on April 10. Until then, enjoy this Datarock video gem from the depths of You Tube - how did I miss this the first time around? My favorite part is the old-school diskette covered in hearts.

Let's not try to figure out everything at once.

2007-03-30T15:16:24Z

If you thought the magazine was addictive, the website is even worse. Warning: "Find of the day" can lead to a Wikipedia-like click-through affliction, resulting in an unthinkable amount of lost time - and that's ironic (Found Magazine = lost time). The Found folks are cultural anthropologists and social documentarians, who find beauty in our crinkled Post-Its and lost Polaroids. That seems both vital and admirable, as the notes and photos of the world steadily become digitalized and pixelated. Who will find the lost scraps of the internet?

It's not a toy, but it's loads of fun.

2007-03-27T10:47:42Z

The question is not what to do, it's what not to do. And now for some blatant stealing:

Via Globe Calendar:

While the Canadian indie-rock supergroup Broken Social Scene generated buzz as the kings and queens of Toronto's collaborative music community, another Toronto-based group was quietly employing the same concept. The five members of the instrumental outfit Do Make Say Think have been creating jazz-fused post-rock music with a rotating cast of musicians for more than a decade. Their musical approach is one of imaginative curiosity, with no qualms about recording in barns or other unorthodox places and using spacey electronic bleeps. As a result, they've produced five textured albums on Montreal-based indie label Constellation Records. At the Middle East Downstairs tonight, they'll play with Franco-American electronic duo the Berg Sans Nipple.

Via Bostonist:

God bless garage rock. While you're waiting for the bloggers to leak Icky Thump, fulfill your inner desire for early White Stripes-era guitar heaviness, via the ferocious double bill of the Black Lips and The Ponys, Tuesday night at the Middle East. Atlanta-based rockers the Black Lips formed their band before any of them were legally able to drive a car, and seven years later they've been both hailed and condemned for their notoriously raucous live shows, and landed a deal with Vice Records. The New York Times called them "the hardest working band at South By Southwest," and they should know – they followed the band around with a video camera. Watch the video here. The Ponys are up-and-comers as well, with their recent release "Turn the Lights Out," on the taste making label Matador. Their show with the Black Lips is bound to be packed, sweaty, and full of fierce, psychedelic-fringed noise – just the way we like it.

Possible to swing both? Or maybe you just wanna dance.

Thank God it's fatal.

2007-03-26T10:41:00Z

Daytrotter, everyone's favorite spot for live music and amusing illustrations of musicians (okay, tied with Band in Boston), apparently became the superhero version of itself at SXSW. They stepped up their usual two live recordings per week, and did 26 recording sessions in five days - word is they're still recovering. According to an e-mail from Daytrotter mastermind Sean Moeller:

We overtook the band SOUND Team's Bog Orange studio and went to town, recording 26 sessions in five days there. It was extremely productive and we procured some incredible sessions, the likes of which include all of the following: SOUND Team, The Little Ones, Peter and the Wolf, Voxtrot, Sparrow House, Tacks, The Boy Disaster, The Mountain Goats, Sea Wolf, The Comas, O'Death, The Foundry Field Recordings, Alela Diane, The Ladybug, Transistor, Malajube, Sondre Lerche, Brother Ali, 31 Knots, The Presidents of the United States of America, Benjy Ferree, The Dragons of Zynth, Richard Swift, Willy Mason, Dios Malos, Rafter, Bishop Allen, Black Fiction, Simon Dawes. These sessions will begin rolling out onto the site shortly. We're thinking about adding a third session per week to allow for these amazing sessions to get to you, the people, faster.

Yeah, I was hoping they'd throw them all up at once too, but we'll all just have to chill for now and bookmark it.

Don't throw your hands up.

2007-03-21T10:14:08Z

This kid is better than Good Charlotte.

My hometown paper, a local rag we call the Washington Post, deemed post-punk wannabes Good Charlotte worthy of an extensive magazine piece last weekend. Good Charlotte hails from Southern Maryland (where I was born, holla!), and they’re all set to release a new album next week – only problem is, their music is still not good. So why the lengthy press coverage?

The basic summary of the piece is: Good Charlotte marketed themselves as the loser rockers, and somehow gained fame in the early 00’s, via a mix of simple guitar chords and shouts of “Everything will be alright!” or “It’s the little things!” or “This is the anthem! Throw all your hands up!” Rinse. Repeat. Then, while music critics and serious DC hardcore punk fans tried to keep from throwing up, their career took off. They took a break to bang celebrity heiresses, Australian models, and former Disney stars, and now they’re back – not with anything even half-decent but hey, they’re nice guys. One time they had an argument and didn’t talk for a whole day! They eat cookies on their tour bus! They always sign autographs!

Josh Freedom du Lac is one of the best music critics out there, but what was the point of this?

It's okay to run, we expect you back.

2007-03-15T11:52:05Z

Apologies for the delay in posting something new – I’ve been plagued by looming deadlines and an unfortunate, unrelenting case of the flu, and consequently spent most of the week trying to stop coughing long enough to write.

Notable finds this week, courtesy of my houseboundedness:

On repeat (in no particular order)
1. “Safe Travels,” by Peter and the Wolf
2.WOXY’s live streaming. Warning: the DJ's incessant discussions about SXSW may make you want to hop the next plane to Austin. But the live bits are good.
3. The One AM Radio’s latest album, This Too Will Pass. Hrishikesh Hirway, the man behind the band, e-mailed yesterday to say he’ll play a free show at the SMFA on March 31.
4.I was lucky enough to visit Juliana Hatfield and Frank Smith (pre-sickness, and pre-moving to Austin) in a recording studio hidden away in the depths of Allston, when they were recording their new joint EP, which will be out on Hatfield’s label, Ye Olde Records. The music is Hatfield and Frank Smith at their best – textured and somewhat dark, with harmonious hooks and southern twang. No word yet on exact release date (beyond “late spring”), but Hatfield played songs from the EP live on WERS today, and she’ll play a solo show at Felt next Thursday.

Sweet dreams
From Today’s Globe: First, the makers of 13 sleep drugs must put warnings on their labels about two rare but serious side effects:

Sleep-driving, along with other less dangerous "complex sleep-related behaviors" -- like making phone calls, fixing and eating food, and having sex while still asleep.

Yikes! Hide your keys and cell phone, and don’t sleep near anyone you wouldn’t want to have sex with… Read the rest here.

Reason to get Showtime
Besides Weeds. This week the Phoenix talks to Ira Glass about This American Life’s upcoming television offshoot. Read the story here.

Maybe William Safire should write about the undeniably brilliant adjective “unfuckwithable.” Sasha Frere-Jones uses it, Sharon Steel uses it, but who started it?

Fucked up = Beautiful
This is one way to review a record:

An old roomate had thought it would be a good idea to blast Modest Mouse's "Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset" while simulateously lighting ashtrays full of fingernail-polish remover. The night ended with shards of glass and soggy cigarette butts littering the linoleum (the ashtrays got too hot and shattered). But it was a good idea—even with the bloody feet that ensued. It was a good idea because no band embodies the fucked up and beautiful like Modest Mouse.

Um, what’s up with the spelling errors? Bonus points for using the word “awesomest” in the lede. It is an excellent album though, even without drugs. Read the rest here.