Hiatus (take 2)

I've been getting the feeling like posting in this thing isn't serving any real purpose, so I'm going to take a break for a while. I guess what I'm saying is that all the things I've been posting here recently are things that I would like to actually talk to people about, not just post and forget. I guess that's sort how I see the concept of blogging (for me) right now in general. I don't expect anyone to read this who doesn't already know me, and I'd rather talk about the things I post in this blog with said people than just post them and never get any discussion out of them.

So, it's been fun, blog, but until I feel inspired again, I'll be seeing you.

It Might Get Loud

On my way to see the Hurt Locker last night, my cousin mentioned a documentary film she had heard about featuring Jack White, Jimmy Page, and the Edge. Thinking this was a project probably way down the line, I quickly agreed it sounded awesome, then promptly forgot about it.

Then, we sat down in the theater, and the previews rolled:

Seeing it on the big screen, materialized in front of me, I got downright giddy for this movie. Just the concept of three amazing guitar innovators from three distinctly different musical eras getting together to jam and discuss music...holy fuck. How can you not want to see this? Speaking from a personal perspective, I went through childhood with my dad showing me the music of The Edge (U2), and went through high school and college devouring anything Jack White was a part of (the White Stripes, the Raconteurs, the Dead Weather), so naturally I'd get excited to see this movie. I have a feeling, though, that this movie will end up being something that is accessible to a much more diverse audience than just people like me. When you get down to the bottom of it, this film's about the creative process; how inspiration comes and expresses itself, and how talent feeds off of other talent. It doesn't hurt that it's directed by the same guy who did An Inconvenient Truth, either.But seriously, I hope you're as excited as I am. This should pan out to be pretty damn cool.

Bragging Time

Ok, so this entry is going to be pretty much devoted to tooting my own (and my colleagues') horn. Fair warning.

First off, if you know me personally, you'll know I'm a former DJ/Program Director/Station Manager of 91.1 FM WDUB, Granville, OH. A small station, yes; but we've been able to claim Steve Carell as an an alumni, as well as placing in the top 20 for the Princeton Review's 2008 list of most popular college radio stations (during which time I was in charge of the whole station. toot toot). Anyway, the point is, though I am no longer an active part of WDUB, I still take great pride in all of its accomplishments, including most recently a deal with American Eagle to produce mix tapes for all of their national locations. That's right folks. WDUB was asked to make a mix tape for American Eagle. Apparently, the VP of marketing for AE lives in Granville, and loves WDUB enough (yes, I am aware of how many acronyms I'm throwing around here) to ask us to make a mix tape. The final product is a mix with UCLA's station, but still, to be a principle collaborator is still pretty cool. So, if you're ever in AE, and hear some rockin' tunes, thank the Doobie!

Here's the track list, just so you can know exactly when to feel extra grateful:

"Daylight" - Matt and Kim

"Rudie Can’t Fail" - The Clash

"Summertime Clothes"- Animal Collective

"Star Witness" - Neko Case

"Never Had Nobody But You" - M. Ward

"I’m Good, I’m Gone" - Lykke Li

"Airport Taxi Reception" - Sondre Lerche and The Faces Down

"Rebel Rebel" - David Bowie

"Sunshine" - Lupe Fiasco

"People Gotta Lotta Nerve" - Neko Cae

"Spanish Bombs" - The Clash

"100 Yard Dash" - Raphael Saadiq

"Funny Little Frog" - Belle and Sabastian

"Dead Sound" - The Raveonettes

"Daft Punk If Playing At My House" - LCD Soundsystem

"Run To Your Grave" - The Mae Shi

"Kids" - MGMT

"Magnificent" - U2

"Take The Money and Run" - Steve Miller Band

"Riot Radio" - The Dead 60’s

"Fire cracker" - Ryan Adams

"Plastic Bertrand" - Ca Plane Pour Moi

"Getting’ Up" - Q-Tip

"Welcome to the Working Week" - Elvis Costello

"Again & Again" - Roots Manirva

"Heads Will Roll" - Yeah, Yeah Yeahs

"Death to Los Campesinos" - Los Campesinos

"Ready for the Floor" - Hot Chip

"Creator" - Santogold

"Before We’re Dead" - Ferraby Lionheart

"Santeria" - Sublime

"Alternative to Love" - Brendan Benson

"On the Table" - A.C. Newman

"Two Weeks" - Grizzly Bear

"Guns are Drawn" - The Roots

"Dancing Choose" - TV on the Radio

"Subterranean Homesick Blues" - Bob Dylan

"Rapper’s Delight" - The Sugarhill Gang

"Keep Me In Mind" - Little Joy

"Cobrastyle (feat. Mad Cobra)" - Teddybears

"Take My Time" - Junior Senior

"Go Your Own Way" - Fleetwood Mac

"Around the Bend" - The Asteroids Galaxy Tour

"The Devil Never Sleeps" - Iron & Wine

"Young Americans" - David Bowie

"The Reeling" - Passion Pit

"On Board" - Friendly Fires

"Fake Palindromes" - Andrew Bird

"My Girls" - Animal Collective

"Think I’m In Love" - Beck

"Drown in the Now" - Crystal Method F/ Mathisyahu

"Heavy Metal Drummer" - Wilco

"Gimme Little Sign" - Brenton Wood

"Scenario" - A Tribe Called Quest

"Do Your Thing" - Basement Jaxx

"Know Your Enemy" - Green Day

Moving on to the next boast, I'm apparently a decent photographer. While I was visiting a friend in San Francisco last fall, I snapped a couple of pictures of Alcatraz during a day of touring around. After that, I posted them to Flickr, and promptly forgot about them. Then, last month, I receive a notice saying one of my pictures has been entered in some online tour guide contest. No cash prize or anything, but still, the mere nomination of one of my pictures for any sort of contest is sort of flattering. Naturally, I submitted the photo into the contest, not thinking it would get anywhere. Fast forward to tonight, though, and I get an e-mail saying my photo has been selected to appear in Schmap's guide of San Francisco. Again, toot toot.

That's pretty much it for now. I had a long day at work, with plenty of verbal and physical abuse abound, so I thought some self-aggrandizing might even out the night.

Them Crooked Vultures

So, I've been sitting on this information for a few days (why I don't quite know), but there is a new supergroup in town to end all supergroups. Them Crooked Vultures is a combination of Josh Homme (frontman of Queens of the Stone Age), John Paul Jones (multi-instrumentalist of Led Zeppelin), and Dave Grohl (drummer of Nirvana as well as...oh come on, you know who Dave Grohl is). Needless to say, when I first heard of this team-up I did something that Merriam-Webster's dictionary refers to as "flipping a shit."

And as if this lineup as well as the promise of an upcoming tour schedule wasn't enough of a tease, there's now a 14 second video to taunt you even more.

A Softer World

Alright, so I discovered this site a long time ago, but I only rediscovered it's awesomeness recently. A Softer World is sort of a comic, and sort of not. While it has three panels (sometimes six), it uses photography instead of illustration and often forgoes funny punch lines for sadder or darker themes. To put it in the author's own words, "It should be noted that this is in the tradition of George Simenon's 'romans durs' (or 'hard novels') and not in the lesser traditions of comics like Peanuts or anything else not French." That's not to say that there aren't some darkly funny moments in this strip, but even there the humor tends to be a bit darker.

So yeah, this is what I've been wasting my time with as of late. I'm currently enjoying this so much that I'm considering stealing the idea, and making my own. Probably won't post them (at least not here), but they'll be fun to work on. We'll see.

Oh, and also, this is kindof nerdy, but it makes me happy to actually recognize some of the locations of these pictures from traveling. For instance, I've been to this exact tree on some obscure park in Oregon. The simple things in life, eh?

Fall Concerts in MD

With the summer coming to a close, I'm now starting to look once again at the local venues' calanders for upcoming fall shows. Here's a brief list and some descriptions of what's playing in the Charm City/DC area. Hopefully, I'll also get around this time to actually writing some reviews after the shows.

8/16 : Route 29 Revue (Old Crow Medicine Show/Grace Potter & The Nocturnals/Iron & Wine/Levon Helm) @ Merriweather Post Pavilion

As of now, it's not entirely likely that I'll be able to go to this show, just because I'm currently scheduled to work a shift during the show (ironically at a restaurant that's right next to this venue). Still, though, I'm doing my best to get out of the shift, because this show will be fantastic. I've seen two of the four acts live before (OCMS in DC and in Providence, and Grace Potter in DC), and they were both some of the best live music I've ever seen. In all honesty, I made up my mind to see this show before I even saw Iron & Wine and Levon Helm on the bill. Still, though, Levon Helm is legendary enough (both for his role in The Band as well as his solo career), and Iron & Wine's music is pleasant enough so that these additions o

nly make me want to see this show more. The only downside is that, because of the large lineup and bigger venue, tickets are a bit pricier than I'm used to ($35 for lawn seats).

8/28 : The Flaming Lips @ Merriweather Post Pavillion

What do you get when you combine Marvel superheroes, giant hamster balls, flying saucers, laser light shows, balloon animals, dancing Santas and aliens, giant projectors, and about a metric ton of confetti? A Flaming Lips show, that's what. You might think I made a few of those up, but take my word for it, every single part of that list plays an integral part of the experience that is the Flaming Lips. Hell, I even left a few things out. The point is, the Flaming lips is one of the most spectacularly over-the-top shows I've ever had the pleasure of going to, and it's going to take a lot to keep me from going again.

9/5 : !!! @ The Black Cat

There's two reasons I want to see this show. One is that it's !!!

(pronounced "chk-chk-chk", or any other trio of monosyllabic onomatopoeias actually). The other is that it's !!! at the Black Cat. If you've never been to the Black Cat before, it's a very intimate venue, which I almost always prefer to the large venues. Especially for music that causes dance parties to break out. In any case, though, I've heard through the grapevine that these guys put on an entertaining live show, and at $16, it's worth taking a gamble on.

9/11 : Ghostland Observatory @ 9:30 Club

I missed the chance to see this duo in NYC at the CMJ Music

Marathon in 2007, and I've been regretting it ever since. Although the live Youtube videos haven't blown me away so far, there was so much buzz around the live show of these guys back at CMJ that I'm still curious. Not only that, but their studio album sounds Robotique Majestique sounds like a supergroup of Freddy Mercury and Daft Punk. Don't believe me? Watch this (song actually starts around 1:05). And if that's not enough incentive, just look at these guys. They look just crazy enough to throw one hell of a live show.

9/20 : GWAR @ Sonar.

This. Show. Will. Be. Awesome. GWAR has been described as Kiss meets Rocky Horror Picture Show meets WWF meets the Simpsons. After that description alone, how can you not want to see this? Need more convincing? How about watching them - in character - on the Joan Rivers Show? Still not convinced? How about their music video that involves dunking on Jesus (around 2:25)? If you're still not convinced, I'm at a loss. Clearly you have no sense of adventure or penchant for the absurd.

10/15 : The Raveonettes @ the Ottobar

Since getting into the Raveonettes back in high school, I have missed every single opportunity to see them live for some reason or another (totaling about 6 opportunities). There is no way I can let myself miss another chance like this, especially when they're playing at my favorite dive bar in Baltimore. It's almost getting to the point where this band has become my white whale. Except that the Raveonettes never really took my leg and scarred my face. And I really just want to see them, not offer money to the first person who sees them and then kill them. But hey, I didn't say it was the perfect analogy.

Moving on, though, to describe the music, it's essentially like if Buddy Holly got his hands on a distortion pedal and got the guitarist from the Kinks to help out on solos. Their first two albums were recorded in one key apiece (B-flat minor for Whip It On, B-flat major for Chain Gang of Love), but they later abandoned this system for a full range on Pretty in Black and Lust, Lust, Lust. Either way, this Swedish duo can really rock, and I'll be damned if I miss another chance to see it live.

That's all of the concerts I have lined up for now. More will turn up, I'm sure, and I'll adjust my budget and calendar accordingly; but until then, this is what my fall is looking like.

Where The Wild Things Are trailer

That's right. There's a new trailer for Where The Wild Things Are. Unlike the last one, this one features a lot more dialogue, and it really gives a much better idea of what the movie will actually be like. Don't get me wrong, the first trailer melted my heart, but it didn't exactly give me a clear idea of what to expect for the full-length feature. This new trailer, though, gave the impression that the movie will be focused around a child fighting growing up, and how his fantasy world and reality collide. And yes, it still melts my heart. And yes, it still features "Wake Up" by the Arcade Fire.

Shepard Fairey at Tufts

While giving me a tour of the Tufts campus last night, my friend Jess showed me the mural that Shepard Fairey had set up back in January. (If the name Shepard Fairey isn't ringing any bells, he's the artist who designed the Barack Obama "HOPE" poster and, less recently, the "OBEY" posters featuring the face of Andre the Giant).

After seeing it last night, I made sure to set some tim

e aside today to go back and take some pictures. I tried to get the best angles for close-ups of each section, but a van parked right by the mural's left side prevented me from getting ideal shots of some areas, as well as a good all-encompassing shot. Either way, I hope you enjoy as much as I did. (For all of the pictures at full size, just head to my flickr page)

Garfield Minus Garfield

This website completely redefines my memories of one of my favorite childhood cartoons. In a good way:

"Garfield Minus Garfield is a site dedicated to removing Garfield from the Garfield comic strips in order to reveal the existential angst of a certain young Mr. Jon Arbuckle. It is a journey deep into the mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness and depression in a quiet American suburb"

Birthers

Ok, so the more I hear about this ridiculous movement, the more angry I get. For those of you who don't know, the "birther" movement is the belief that President Obama is not legally the President of the United States because he was not a naturally-born citizen. Never mind that a birth certificate has been produced and a House resolution passed declaring Obama the legal 44th President of the United States, these hard working Americans will not rest until a democratically-elected President has been run out of office.

Now, most of the birther arguments just make me chuckle, since about 95% of it is just repeating "there is no birth certificate." However, it seems as though some critics such as Orly Taitz have become so distant from reality that their legal actions may have some very negative consequences for our nation as a whole. Take, for example, the fact that Taitz is now representing army personell who are claiming they do not have to report for duty because President Obama is not their commander in chief. Worse yet? The army apparently agrees.

It's people like Taitz that are really starting to anger me. With quotes like "In Nazi Germany, if soldiers and officers questioned orders from the commander in chief, maybe 65 million people wouldn't have died." Seriously? Ok, I get it, you really don't like Obama's presidency. Still, though, likening his policies to the holocaust is too inflammatory to even be considered humorous. On the other hand, the full source interview of that quote is entertaining by at least showing that this movement's leaders don't have any idea what satire is.

In the end though, I agree with White House Press Secretary Gibbs in saying that there isn't a single thing that will satisfy this movement. It's clear this is just a fringe movement of people who are upset about Obama's election, and are willing to use any cray loophole necessary to overturn a democratically-elected commander in chief.

Movits!

Watching the Colbert Report last night, I got my first exposure to the Swedish hip-hop/jazz/swing fusion band Movits!. If you missed it, these guys have a sound that can best be equated to a mix of Cab Calloway and Run DMC but, you know, in Swedish. I was instantly hooked by this band the moment they started up their one-song set of Fel Del Av Garden; both for the band's sound as well as the visual awesomeness of a turntable/drum machine, saxophone, upright bass and microphone all being played by very well dressed and well coordinated Swedes (giving The Hives a run for their money).

The interview itself wasn't all that memorable, which is understandable considering this is their first US TV interview. The goal wasn't insight, it was just to make them likable to the viewers. Still though, I'd definitely be interested to see a more serious interview with this band at some point to hear them actually talk for more than one minute about their music.

Anyway, here's the video for the song performed last night, Fel Del Av Garden

I can't understand a single word of what they're singing, but I'm sure I'll be listening to these guys for quite a while now.

There and Back Again: A Greece Story

Instead of updating the blog every so often with a trip update, like I have in the past, I opted to just keep a personal, handwritten journal for this trip. I think this works out better for a couple reasons. 1. I didn't have to worry about finding internet or taking a computer around with me. Only a pen and paper. 2. I've grown to slightly dislike the idea of personal update blog postings, just because it diminishes the importance and fun of one on one conversations and storytelling. So, I'm gonna save the specific stories of day to day Greece trip stuff for my journal, but that doesn't mean I won't tell you about the trip if you ask.

I will say this, though. I had a blast. I ate great food, with a record 5 consecutive meals of gyros at the same place in Athens. I saw amazing things, ranging from the Parthenon to the volcanic caldera and black sand beaches of Santorini. I made new friends, from the people I stayed with to the people I met down in the bars. I was able to fully unplug and relax, with no cell phones, no internet, and plenty of time on the beaches. Oh, and I can now say I worked in a hostel. The things you'll do when you run out of money...

Here's a small selection of pictures from the trip. If you want to see the full reel, check out my flickr page (linked on the right).

Belated Beirut Review

It's taken me a while to get around to thinking up a review for March of the Zapotec/Holland, the latest double-EP from Beirut; mainly because I've been playing the hell out of a vinyl copy of Gulag Orkestar that I just got a hold of. A bit ironic, but I'm sort of glad I listened to the debut album before giving a proper listen to March of the Zapotec/Holland, just because it gave me a new and interesting perspective on both the two albums and the feel of Beirut's music as a whole.

When I first listened to Gulag Orkestar, I got the impression that Zach Condon (originally the only member of Beirut, now the leader) was a true international; someone who embodied and cherished the Balkan culture that he was performing with. A man without nationality, if you will. Listening to Gulag again, though, I realize this was very shortsighted of me. Rather than sounding like a native, Condon's vocals overlay the sounds of distant lands like a genuinely curious traveler. Someone who is interested in the culture, wanting to infuse himself with his new surroundings, but ultimately someone who will leave and take what he has learned back with him.

This newfound take on Beirut's music was greatly reinforced when I listened to March of the Zapotec. This EP doesn't sound like the New Mexico native's renunciation of his old home and culture and subsequent love affair with his new home in Mexico. Instead, it sounds like the lingering memories of a small town in Mexico harbored in Condon's creative consciousness. The instrumentals, like any material souvenir one might bring back from a trip, sound like authentic samples (with just a subtle hint of American perspective) taken from the local music of Oaxaca, Mexico, where Condon traveled to before making this album. The track "My Wife" is a prime example of this. His vocals, however, reveal the instrumentals to be no more than a backdrop for the music of a foreign traveler. Condon met the locals, interacted with their music, but in the end, cannot write songs as one of them; only as an outsider who met them.

The second half of this double EP, Holland, is an entirely different creature. Originally credited to Realpeople, one of Condon's pre-Beirut pseudonyms, the electronic sound of Holland feels like a stranger's account of a long and lonely night on the euro-trash club scene. Like March of the Zapotec, Holland's vocals carry the sound of a foreign traveler set to the backdrop of what this traveler remembers hearing in the local music scene. At its best, Holland can be pleasantly haunting, such as in the track "Venice." At its worst, however, it sounds like Condon stumbling out of a European club at dawn, slightly drunk, and trying to sing like David Bowie while an organ grinder plays in the background. At least, that's how "the Concubine" sounded to me.

Overall, this double-EP release from Beirut is solid. You'll be interested for at least a couple of listens, as long as you accept Beirut for what it is: the musical travel diary of a wanderlust American.

TV on the Radio on the TV

Last week, TV on the Radio made several TV appearances to promote their album "Dear Science;" which was by far one of the best (if not the best) albums of 2008. Now, having seen TVotR live a number of times as well as an owner of all their albums, I had high hopes for their performances.

Unfortunately, not all of their performances delivered. On the Colbert Report (below), the vocals seemed to race ahead of the drumming, causing the beat to accelerate to the point where Tunde Adebimpe, lead vocals, was more concerned with spitting out all the words in time before the song ended. The band's SNL appearance (not available due to NBCs copyright) was no more satisfying, either. Performing their song "Golden Age," TVotR seemed to be plagued by a combination of bad acoustics and terrible soundboard management. Either way, these two live performances fell well short of what I had hoped to be a great opportunity for TVotR.



That isn't to say all of their TV spots were bad, though. Their appearance on Letterman playing Dancing Choose" was pretty awesome on its own merits, not to mention the very cool stage location of a fire escape outside the studio building.



Whatever. At least nothing this band could ever do will ever be as painful as watching the Ting Tings perform live.

A Very Brief Goodbye to 2008

Five days late and a few dollars short, here's my recap of 2008 as promised. I was going to do a "best-of" list, but to be honest, that would imply that I've listened to everything that was worth listening to (I didn't), and that I remember everything that I liked that came out this year (I don't).

So, instead, I've decided to make a short list of songs that I dug, or at least feel deserve mention, from this past year. Again, though, there was a lot that came out earlier in the year that I just plain forgot came out in 2008, so forgive me if there's some songs you feel I should've included but didn't.

That said, here we go.

1. Antony & the Johnsons - Another World
2. the Black Keys - Attack and Release
3. Bon Iver - Flume
4. Cat Power - New York
5. Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal
6. Ghostland Observatory - Heavy Heart
7. Girl Talk - In Step
8. Gnarls Barkley - She Knows
9. the Hold Steady - Stay Positive
10. Islands - the Arm
11. Jamie Lidell - Where D'You Go?
12. Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue
13. MGMT - Time To Pretend
14. My Morning Jacket - Highly Suspicious
15. Okkervil River - Lost Coastlines
16. Old Crow Medicine Show - Caroline
17. Ratatat - Falcon Jab
18. the Raveonettes - Lust
19. Ray LaMontagne - You Are The Best Thing
20. Santogold - Lights Out
21. Sparks - Let The Monkey Drive
22. the Ting Tings - That's Not My Name
23. TV on the Radio - Halfway Home
24. Wolf Parade - Language City