eli's personal stash

2009-09-18T10:11:00.000-04:00

I've moved! Find me at www.elielioh.com.

song of the day - 6.25.09: gavin rossdale - forever may you run

2009-06-25T13:43:00.001-04:00

I generally am opposed to bashing musicians I don't like, and haven't done so on my blog yet, because I think they deserve credit for pursuing a musical path at all, and it's not like I can do any better. But I just could not resist with Gavin Rossdale.

The other day, I was telling my roommate about the No Doubt show that I went to recently, which turned out to be quite a satisfying concert experience, even from the very back of the lawn at Nissan Pavilion. Somewhere in the conversation, we got to talking about Rossdale (aka Mr. Gwen Stefani), pondering what he was up to these days, since he certainly wasn't making music. We laughed.

Then, the very next day, surfing the music video section of my On Demand service, who's name should appear but the great Gavin Rossdale, former front man of 90s rockers Bush? I pressed "play", not knowing what to expect, and definitely not expecting what I actually saw.

The song is a forgettable rock ballad, but the video is an unforgettable masterpiece of ridiculousness. This is probably the best unintentionally-funny music video I have ever seen. I want to describe it more, but you should just watch it. Just know that I was disappointed when he did not turn into a wolf. Enjoy.

song of the day - 6.22.09: the veils - sit down by the fire

2009-06-22T16:10:00.002-04:00

My most recent song obsession has been "Sit Down By The Fire" by The Veils. I don't even remember how I came about this album, but it was just sitting there on my iTunes, so I figured I'd give it a listen. It reminds me of Echo & the Bunnymen, and Arcade Fire, but it deserves recognition for being just plain good songwriting.

father's day haiku

2009-06-21T18:54:00.001-04:00

your stories like mine
have no beginning or end
father's son i am

Concert Review: The National - 5/25/09 at the 9:30 Club

2009-05-26T00:54:00.007-04:00

The National are one of my top five favorite bands in the universe. Their last two albums, Boxer and Alligator are "go-to" albums on my iPod, and I've now seen them live three times. As much as I love them, I have to say, they're one of those bands that is better on a recording than live. Not that they aren't good live, but there's something missing in the live performances. Their cool, polished sound doesn't translate perfectly, and they don't have the proper instrumentation (even with nine people on-stage tonight).

Tonight's show featured an awesome opener, Colin Stetson, a saxophonist who also played in the horn section for the headliners. He did some things with a sax that I did not know could be done. I highly recommend giving him a listen. Also, the horn section added a lot to a few of the songs they played, like "Fake Empire" and "Squalor Victoria".

The National played four new songs as well (see setlist). My favorite of the new ones was "Runaway", with which they opened the set. Here's the very shaky, poor-sound-quality video I took of it:

They played 15 other songs, mostly from their last two albums. I was disappointed not to hear "All the Wine" and "Looking for Astronauts", two of my favorites, but I'm sure they had to mix up the setlists, since they played two shows at the 9:30 Club last night.

SETLIST
Runaway (new)
Start a War
Mistaken for Strangers
Brainy
Secret Meeting
Baby We'll Be Fine
Slow Show
Vanderline Crybaby (new)
Squalor Victoria
Abel
Ada
So Far Around the Bend (new-ish)
Apartment Story
Green Gloves
Fake Empire
-----------
City Middle
Mr. November
Blood Buzz Ohio (new)
About Today

song of the day - 5.22.09: peter bjorn and john - nothing to worry about

2009-05-22T13:27:00.001-04:00

Peter Bjorn and John's new album Living Things has a lot of good stuff going on. It's an album worthy of year-end considerations. They've gotten a little more adventurous with their sound, and it's worked out just fine. Their Scandinavian charm is fully intact. My favorite track on the album is "Nothing to Worry About." This song rocks on it's own, but the video makes me love it even more. It's a mash-up of screaming children, hip hop beat, and PB&J's usual indifferent, dryly comedic vocals. Add the crazy Japanese dance/biker/Elvis gang from the video in the mix and you have a treat for all the senses! Ok, just sight and hearing. Those are definitely the top tier of senses though.

songs of the day - 5.15.09: feeling good

2009-05-15T10:50:00.010-04:00

I love American Idol. There, I said it. Most reality competition TV shows make me want to gouge my eyes out with a spork, but American Idol holds a special place in my heart. Next week's Season 8 finale will include two of my favorite contestants of all time: Kris Allen and Adam Lambert. In the four seasons I've watched, I'm pretty sure the talent has been the best this year. Adam Lambert is the cream of the crop and maybe the best contestant Idol has seen... ever.

However, even though his mad vocal skills and emo hairdo are the bomb dot com, I think Adam's gotten a bit of unfair praise from the judges. Paula is unabashedly in his corner to win the whole shebang, and it seems new judge Kara Dioguardi has joined her. One of the songs Adam was heavily praised for (on Rat Pack week) was "Feeling Good," written by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse for the 1965 musical The Roar of the Greasepaint—the Smell of the Crowd, and probably most famously performed by the great Nina Simone.

Adam pulled the wool over the Idol judges' eyes on this one. The judges gushed about his original rendition of the song, but really, it was a straight ripoff of the version performed by Muse on their album, Origin of Symmetry. Too bad the judges have such limited record collections; they've probably never even heard of Muse (Randy definitely would've dropped the name if he knew). It's a trick Lambert's been pulling all year, like on his rendition of Tears for Fears' "Mad World" which sounded a heck of a lot like Gary Jules's version. David Cook copied covers regularly last year, as did Chris Daughtry in Season 5, and probably every other "rocker" on the show. (How do I know the judges have limited record collections? When Blake Lewis performed 311's "All Mixed Up," the judges revealed they had never heard of 311... uhh, WTF?)

But you know what? Who cares if he's covering covers? He sounds good. That's what counts in this competition. I don't really care if he wins or not. American Idol has a way of ruining talents by forcing them to put out terrible records, so I'm not holding my breath, but I have a sneaking suspicion and hope that Adam will transcend.

Album Review: "The Hazards of Love" by The Decemberists

2009-04-22T22:53:00.006-04:00

Anyone want to hear about some music? Remember when I used to write about music regularly on here? Those were the days. It's not like I haven't been listening to new stuff or thinking of old favorites that I'd like to share with my friends on the interweb. I just got it in my head that I didn't want elispersonalstash to be a music blog. But when I wrote about other stuff, I ended up getting some crazy people all riled up about what God told them to tell everyone else they can and can't do. Those people are lost causes, so I'm back to writing for my people: music nerds, plus my friends and family.

Today, I'd like to introduce you to the album most played on my ipod in 2009: The Hazards of Love by the Decemberists. I'd never been a huge fan, though I liked the song they wrote about me, "Eli the Barrow Boy." This album changed my perception of the Portland indie rockers, led by Colin Meloy. They managed to put together a concept album that tells a clear story that actually also sounds good. In fact, it rocks out at some points.

The story of the album is about two lovers, Margaret and William, and the attempts to keep them apart by William's crazy jealous adoptive mother, the Queen of the Forest. Yes, there's magic. Yes, there are ghosts. Yes, there's a dealmaking river.

The story is good enough that it would totally hold up as a musical or rock opera or something. But that's not what makes it a great album. Meloy and company weave a few recurring melodies and themes throughout the album, which makes it flow better than most albums these days, which are more collections of singles. The instrumentation is really creative... banjos and slide guitars one moment, buzzy reverb and shredding the next. The guest vocalists on the album are superb, and Meloy can sing too. His singing is almost as good as his unabashedly nerdy lyrics (pull out your dictionaries!).

The album starts off kind of slow, and definitely focuses on exposition more in the early going, sacrificing on the musical end a bit. The album really picks up at track 8 and never looks back. What's track 8, you ask? It's a little ditty called "The Wanting Comes In Waves / Repaid." OK, so the title isn't great. But the song really is. If this song was played out on the stage, William would be on one side singing about his longing for Margaret, and the Queen would be on the other side singing about what an ungrateful pain in the ass William is. William's song is folksy and very Ren-faire-y. The Queen's song is badass blues. The transitions are smooth, and the track works quite well, though probably better in the context of the whole album.

Track 9 is a little guitar interlude, which just calms you down for a bit before they blow your mind with track 10, "The Rake's Song." The Rake is the nasty villain of the story, and this song is our introduction to his evil ways. It's kind of odd to listen to a singer going on about killing his children, but since it's in the context of a fictional story, it works, and it's richer for its provocativeness. There are some awesome rhymes in this track, and Meloy is at his best vocally too. You can download "The Rake's Song" for free from the Decemberists' site.

If you are even the slightest bit inclined to enjoy the musical theater format, and if you like good rock music, then get this album. Read the lyrics as you listen so you get the whole story. Enjoy!

Russ Merva Emerges to Confirm His Ignorance

2009-04-21T14:25:00.009-04:00

Shortly after the November 2008 elections, I wrote this post about Prop 8, and singled out a man named Russ Merva, who was pictured holding a sign in support of the successful (in that it passed) measure.

Well, Ol' Russ Merva Googled himself and found my post. He left a comment which is really worth reading if you ever wanted to be terrified at a person's stupidity. Here's what he had to say:

WOW- what a honor, I have a blog dedicated all to me!
Yes, I'm that guy on the picture, just for the heck of it I Googled myself and- Vuala! -here I am... and a blog... addressed to me.
Well, I'll seize the moment and will try to answer some tough questions you're asking me, Eli.
Ready?! Here I come:

Even if gay marriage happens it will not last long, why you ask?
Well, because:
1) it is not natural, and as a result there are consequences, to start with: AIDS, and other freaky illnesses that follow this kind of lifestyle
2) there are many more reasons, but the main reason would be because... Yes Eli you guessed it(not that you guessed, but because you knew it deep inside..., where nobody sees or hears you, yeeees deep inside...) GOD will judge GLBT people from turning away from him.

Some things are true whether you believe or not, and God is True.

Up until 1963 or 64 American Psychiatric Association was considering Homosexuality a mental disorder, but then again because of threat of being murdered, poor doctors "switched" their minds and changed definition to a "love between two same sex partners".

Eli, I now that you are a smart man, needless to say confused - can I recommend you this site- http://www.conservapedia.com/Homosexuality.

Please don't get me wrong, I do wish you the best and may God open your eyes, so you don't end up..., therefore read it, there is a lot of good information.

May God save you.

P.S.

Enlightened Human Being as you like to refer to yourself, let me enlighten you on what happened to society, empires if you will, that were (may I use this phrase again...- yes, thank you) Enlightened Human Beings that you are?
I'll be more specific: Great Empires like Greeks, Romans, Byzantine tell me Eli what happened to them?
Went down in ruins.

Why?
MORAL DEGRADATION

P.P.S.

USA DESTRUCTION 101- Ignore your conscience, spit on morals.

I'm not going to respond to everything he says. What would be the point? He will in all likelihood die a bigot. Also, he didn't bother to answer the question of what the gays ever did to him, and why it's so important to him that his bigoted views be enforced on people he has nothing to do with.

I kind of feel bad for the man. He clearly has no capacity to think for himself, and to top it off, he probably sees the writing on the wall: Prop 8 was the turning point. Prop 8's passage was a devastating loss for truth, fairness, and justice, but America recognized it as such, and is not going to let it happen again. I'm sure it's been a bad few weeks for Russ, what with Iowa and Vermont joining Massachusetts in allowing gay marriage. Russ and his fellow willingly-ignorant Bible-thumping sociopaths, are losing this fight, and he must be pretty sad about it.

Here's a video that I think sums up the gay marriage debate pretty well. Watch it Russ! It's full of truth, unlike your Conservapedia article (which carries the laughable tagline: "The Trustworthy Encyclopedia"... HAAAAHAHA).

Statesmen Gone Wild: Free Speech Plundered Over Porno Pirates

2009-04-03T14:03:00.002-04:00

This post relates to pornography, but does not link to or show any actual pornography, so it is safe for a hidebound killjoy like MD State Senator Andy Harris (R-Baltimore and Harford) to read it. Yesterday, Harris painted a cross on his chest and crusaded against the evil heathens at the University of Maryland (which I'm proud to call my alma mater) because the school's student union scheduled a screening of "Pirates II: Stagnetti's Revenge," apparently the highest-budget XXX-rated porn in history.

Harris ignored the facts that 1) no state money went toward the screening, 2) IDs would be checked at the door, 3) Planned Parenthood was invited to lead a discussion about safe sex practices before the screening, and 4) no one was putting a gun to anyone's head to attend the screening, and he proposed an amendment that would have cancelled ALL state funding to the school if they showed a XXX porn. Skittish University officials forced the cancellation of the screening. Good for you Andy! Now the world is free of porn... except for being a few keystrokes away from any person with an internet connection.

I'll try to refrain from injecting my own opinions about pornography, but last I heard, it is legal, and I do believe there's this thing called "free speech" that's supposed to prevent legislatures from meddling (censoring) when something "inappropriate" but legal is going on. But Andy doesn't care about that. There's boobs! We can't show boobs to adults who want to see boobs! That would be terrible! And definitely worthy of shutting down the flagship university of the great state of Maryland after 155 years of service!

Here's what Senate President Mike Miller, who said he would have supported the amendment, had to say about it:

I don't believe in censorship, but at the same time, I don't think that film was appropriate in a state building on a state campus. . . Yes, the amendment was overkill, but at the same time, it would have passed because it forced legislators to either vote for hardcore pornography or university funding.

It's a nice little quote, but it makes no sense. A "nay" vote on the amendment = porn and funding remain. A "yea" vote = no porn and funding remains or yes porn and no funding, but the Senators are in no way voting on whether the school is allowed to show it... perhaps because they have NO RIGHT WHATSOEVER to do so. They are just legislating the morality of porn by threatening the purse-strings of one of the most important institutions in the state. Legislators wouldn't have been "forced" to do anything at all. Just like students are not "forced" to see the movie. They totally reached beyond their powers on this one.

And my very own State Senator, Jamie Raskin (D-Montgomery), did me proud by saying just that:

The proposed amendment was a direct affront to freedom of speech. . . The Supreme Court has been clear that student groups enjoy First Amendment rights. It's not the movie I would have chosen for myself or my kids, but that's the beauty of the First Amendment: People who want to see it can go, and those who don't want to don't have to.

Well put, Senator Raskin (that's him on the right, Harris on the left). I'm so thankful that my representative in the State Senate understands that he has not been elected to legislate what is "decent" or "appropriate" to be shown to consenting adults.

I would love to see the University call the Senate's bluff and show the film anyway. Any court would strike down the Senate's actions, and the public outcry against closing down the University over such a trivial matter might put the Senate back in its place. Also, I hate to see my supposedly liberal state behaving in such a backwards way. It's not like UMD was going to be the first school to show it. UC Davis showed it without incident, as have other schools.

Sadly, an (unscientific) poll in the Baltimore Sun shows 60% of voters think the University did the right thing by cancelling it. Apparently we still live in such a puritanical society that we'd rather give up our rights to freedom of speech than allow some college kids to watch a porno.

The Murse Revolution

2009-03-31T15:05:00.001-04:00

Recently, I was at a party, and a friend of mine spilled some pasta salad on his neatly pressed khakis. No problem, I have a Tide-To-Go pen for ya. That'll come right out.

A few months ago, my girlfriend's car overheated, and we had to stop at a gas station to peer under the hood. It was night-time. No problem, I have a headlamp!

Just about every single day, I commute to work on the Metro, and some loud-mouth jerk is yapping away on his cell phone about some nonsense. No problem, I'll drown that noise out with my iPod and Shure Sound Isolation headphones.

Unless the cell phone conversation is really interesting. Then I'll break out the digital voice recorder. Or maybe I'm inspired by some comment to write a poem or plan a blog entry. I have my Moleskine notebook and multiple colors of Pilot pens for that. Or maybe I want to distract myself by defacing an anti-choice advertisement on the train. I have my red Sharpie for that.

Whatever I need, I've got it with me, because I carry a murse. Yes, a man-purse. It's technically called a messenger bag, but let's face it, it's a bag with a strap filled useful things that one carries around daily. It's a purse (or murse). I'm not ashamed of it either. I like to be prepared for things. Why should my being a man preclude having all of these items with me at all times?

Here's a look at the contents of my murse on a typical day:

Also, you might find my lunch, some mail, sunglesses, a water bottle, ibuprofen, or a camera (not pictured, duh). Of course, what makes my murse much more useful is the fact that I have a tiny Acer netbook that fits in one of the external pockets.

Sadly, men are still uneasy about carrying murses because of their perception as a women's accessory. In this classic Seinfeld episode, Jerry is ridiculed and called a girly man for carrying a "European carry-all" with him instead of a wallet.

But the episode clearly illustrates that pockets and wallets do not suffice! Poor George starts having back problems because of his enormous wallet, and eventually loses its contents in a gust of wind. If he'd had a murse, he would never have had such problems.

Why should women have all the fun and convenience of being able to carry a book or a handheld videogame or a sock full of nickels at all times? It's unfair. Downright sexist. So I hope that the murse revolution is coming.

Thoughts on the Recession

2009-03-19T11:27:00.001-04:00

Did you know there's a recession going on?! Of course you did. Even if your job hasn't been affected at all, you noticed, because it's everywhere. I noticed too. Here are some of the things I find interesting:

+ Most marketing and advertising is still as shameless as ever: It seems like every tv commercial and internet ad out at the moment mentions the "tough economy" in some way or another. They emphasize that, in these tough times, it's important to be wise with your money, so you really should buy ABC insurance or XYZ pickup truck. We're supposed to be bailing out these jerks? They have jobs. Could they be any more insincere in their advertising?

+ To be fair, there are a few examples of companies behaving well: I saw a commercial that said Hyundai is selling their cars with a guarantee that if you lose your job in the next year, you can return it. That sounds like a winner of a proposal to me. The company looks good, like it cares. Not that I'm in the market for a car, but it makes me more likely to buy Korean.

+ I thought I noticed a change in retail service. It looked like service was getting better, with people working just a little harder so they're not the next one to be laid off. Then I got really crappy service at Eggspectations, and kicked some dirt on my theory. Still, I'm very curious to see if, as the unemployment rate increases, people will start taking their jobs more seriously. I recognize that there will always be the odd jerk out there serving you coffee with a scowl to whom you'd like to say, "Hey, I ALSO worked all day." Hopefully now there'll be less of them.

+ Partisanship is alive and well in Washington. I don't think it's Obama's fault. Republicans need to come up with some idea that is not tax cuts. They also need to drop the hypocritical cries for less government. I wish there were more sane Republicans for Democrats to reach out to, but it seems they've all been replaced by Democrats, and we're left with the radicals that come from the reddest of red states.

+ You know what would be great for the country right now? If those AIG execs who got the money just voluntarily gave back their bonuses. If ever there was a chance to cash in on changing the public's opinion of the financial system, it is now. They don't need that money! They're rich folks. And it's not like they're giving it away. They ARE buying something by giving the money back: public backing, the good will of a nation. AIG is toxic now. I doubt they did anything that was at all uncommon in the industry, but it's extremely popular to harp on bonus-giving at the moment, on both the right and the left. It won't do any good if they're forced to give it back. It has to be a grand gesture of voluntary support for a nation in need of such grand gestures from everyone, not just the president. That's what change is, people!

It's an interesting point in our nation's history. I'm not satisfied with the news we get from traditional sources; it's just too narrow in scope, I think. I hope the internet cultivates some bigger, more radical ideas for charting the course of the nation's and world's future. But I'm not holding my breath.

Sleep Apneopoly?

2009-03-04T00:48:00.003-05:00

I went to the doctor's office the other day to see if I could get tested for sleep apnea. I'm almost certain I have it. It's an annoying sleep disorder that makes me stop breathing in the middle of the night, then have a jolt as my body panics from lack of oxygen. It makes it so my sleep isn't as restful as it should be. Everyone who's slept near me says I have it.

The appointment started with answering what seemed like hundreds of versions of the same two questions on a handheld computing device from the '80s (do you get sleepy a lot during the day? do you snore or stop breathing a lot in your sleep?). Then, another lady and I watched a 19-minute educational video (that's VHS) about sleep apnea, complete with overly dramatic re-enactments and testimonials. This other lady had it bad. Her regular breathing sounded like the average person's snores after a night of heavy drinking. She actually fell asleep during the video, which I found hilariously appropriate.

After the video, the lady in charge (I don't know what she was, a nurse, a technician, a specialist, but not a doctor) came in and gave a spiel about treatment options. There's surgery, a mouthpiece, or the dreaded CPAP machine. This doesn't include behavioral changes like weight loss, restricting alcohol intake, and sleeping on your side. So, to my surprise, most insurance, including my own, does not cover surgery or the dental piece, because they are not proven to be effective, but they do cover the CPAP machine, because it's a sure thing, or so the nice lady said. It costs about $600, not including the recommended humidifier attachment before insurance.

So nice lady took snore-breath lady to another room to talk individually, and I was left to wait. In the room where I was waiting, I noticed that all the posters on the walls, all the pamphlets, and all of the devices laid out had the logo "ResMed" on them. This is the company that makes the CPAP machine. I don't like being marketed to in my doctor's office. It seems like there should be no place for that when my health is at stake. It seems this is too much to ask, though. When I got my turn with the nice lady, she told me I'd be scheduled for a sleep study, and that my insurance would cover the breathing machine if I needed it. So that was that. I left the doc's.

Now, something does not sit right with me about this whole CPAP machine thing. The lady who saw me seemed more sales rep than medical professional. All the obvious branding and single choice of CPAP brand set off my corporate bloodsucker alarm. The fact that insurance companies don't cover the options that don't involve selling me an expensive machine just because the other options aren't proven to work made me more dubious. Doctors hand out stuff that they're not sure will work all the time. That's like half their job. Trial and error.

So, don't get me wrong. I'm gonna try it. None of the cost comes out of my pockets, and the potential benefit of getting a completely restful night's sleep for the first time in my life is pretty appealing. I'm definitely NOT excited about sleeping with an ugly, uncomfortable-looking mask on my face every night for the rest of my life (especially since I'm an avid cuddler ... TMI?). I'm just concerned at another possible example of insurance and medical supply companies treating me with the most profitable method, and not necessarily the best. I can't wait for healthcare reform, man.

song of the day - 2.27.09: violent femmes - waiting for the bus

2009-02-27T21:09:00.006-05:00

Anyone whose daily commute involves a public bus knows the frustration the Violent Femmes are singing about in this song. Why, this very morning, as I waited about 15 minutes for a bus that's supposed to come every ten, this song was playing on repeat in my head (and then on my ipod). The Violent Femmes' indifferent slacker sloppiness and deadly catchy melodies are what makes them so likable. This song is hilarious, yet so true. It will always play in my head during a particular life situation, just like "I'm So Tired" by the Beatles plays when I'm so tired. Admire the simplicity:

Hey mister driver man, don't be slow,
'Cause I got somewhere I gotta go.
Hey mister driver man, drive that thing fast,
'Cause my precious time keeps slipping past.

15 rock albums that shaped my taste over the years (part III)

2009-02-22T02:43:00.004-05:00

See also: Part I (Nos. 1-5) and Part II (Nos. 6-10)

11. Sigur Ros - ( )

I heard about Sigur Ros from one of the unlikeliest of sources: my blue-haired roommate Colin who was, at the time, pretty much exclusively into punk rock. He'd read about them in some music mag that said something extremely complimentary about it. He liked it, so I gave it a listen, and I fell asleep. Actually, this is probably the best album I can think of to fall asleep to. The words are some jibberish combination of English, Icelandic, and made up sounds, so there are no lyrics to occupy your mind. The tempo is slow, and the mood is dramatically mellow. This is night-time, headphone music. I have no idea what they're saying, but I think it's better that way, because the singer's voice acts as just another beautiful sounding instrument along with the reverbed guitars played with violin bows and the synths hovering idly on whatever note or chord would be most likely to stir up some sadness and awe. Getting into Sigur Ros opened me up to ambient sounds like SOAD opened me up to metal.

12. Dismemberment Plan - Change

The Dismemberment Plan embody the "grower" label for me. I love all four of their albums, but it took a lot of listening to each one until I "got it." I got into D-Plan's discography in a backwards manner, literally. I started at the end, and worked my way to the beginning. Change was the DC band's last album, and their most accessible work too. It was a good starting point. Songs like "Time Bomb" and "Following Through" kept the CD in my car stereo long enough to let songs like "The Other Side" and "Pay for the Piano" settle into a comfortable space for my ears. This was, and arguably still is, my favorite band. They're a bit too weird for most people, but the mix of indie/emo/post-punk/prog sounds is right up my alley. The lyrics are clever, sometimes deep, sometimes funny, and the eccentricity of lead singer Travis Morrison really shines through in all of their best work. Sadly, the band broke up before I ever knew about them. They played two reunion/charity shows at the Black Cat two years ago, and the first one of those still ranks as my favorite concert of all time.

13. Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Neutral Milk Hotel represents the first band on this list that I was not told about by someone I know personally. I just found them based on reviews online, which seems so obvious to me now that I'm kind of obsessed with this stuff, but reminds me that the internet has made such a difference in every area of life. I'm sure I gravitated to this album because of an existing affinity for bands like the Flaming Lips and Modest Mouse, who I think owe at least some of their inspiration to this great but short-lived band. This album is the work of what I think must have been some sort of mad genius. All the best musicians are a little mad, but NMH almost flaunts it. The genius part is what makes it so interesting though. The music and lyrics represent timeless songwriting. The crazy sounds you hear may irk you at first, but they all come together to paint a surreal, dreamlike picture of love and loss, or at least that's what I think it's about.

14. Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium

Just when I thought I'd fully swayed from prog to indie rock, Mars Volta came along and called me back. This album blew me away on first listen, and still blows me away every time I listen to it. I think this album is one of the most amazing things to come out of rock music in the aughts (...hmm future blog post?). This album incorporates some of my favorite features of prog bands like Rush and King Crimson, classic rockers like Pink Floyd and Zeppelin, with some of the smoothness and class of Latin music, and the edge of post-punk. High praise, I know, but this album and their next one, Frances the Mute, definitely warrant it. It didn't bring prog-rock back to favored genre status for me, but it reminded me how unimportant it is to have a favorite genre, because there are always going to be exceptional bands and albums that defy the boundaries and just sound like damn good music.

15. Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand, The Faint - Danse Macabre, The Rapture - Echoes

I know, I totally cheated here. It bothers me a little, too. I don't think I would put any of these albums on here on their own on this list. I got into all of them around the same time, and all three of them together contributed to get my ass on the dance floor. Until not too long ago, I was one of those guys that refused to get up and dance. Then, the infiltration of dance beats into my favored genre of music got me wanting to move my feet. It's unfair to the bands to lump them together like this, but in my life, these are the songs I put on at parties to get people moving, even though it usually ends up being me alone.

Honorable Mention:

Beatles - Abbey Road

Dream Theater - Scenes from a Memory

Yes - Close to the Edge

Cake - Fashion Nugget

Fiona Apple - When the Pawn...

The Walkmen - Bows + Arrows

Sufjan Stevens - Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lakes State

The National - Boxer

cupid max

2009-02-21T00:49:00.002-05:00

My cat, Max, was in the V-day holiday spirit.

my friend and guitar teacher, aaron geller, playing michael brecker's "delta city blues" on guitar

2009-02-20T01:36:00.002-05:00

15 rock albums that shaped my taste over the years (part II)

2009-02-18T00:41:00.005-05:00

15 rock albums that shaped my taste over the years (part I)

2009-02-17T20:16:00.012-05:00

I often think about the scene in "High Fidelity" where John Cusack's character, Rob, explains to Dick his new organizational scheme for his record collection: autobiographical. I have no desire to organize my entire collection in this way, nor can I think of how, given that it's mostly in digital form. But I am posting here the next best thing: a list of 15 albums, arranged chronologically in terms of my awareness of them, that shook up my music taste when I first heard them. (FYI: This is not my list of 15 favorite albums of all time. That will come sometime between "later" and "never.")

1. U2 - Joshua Tree

I'm pretty sure this is the first complete album I ever consciously listened to in its entirety. I was about four, and I fell completely in love with "With or Without You," which my four-year-old brain was somehow convinced was sung by the bearded dude on the cover (not Bono). It's funny to think that my long and twisted journey into rock music fandom started with a band that, in retrospect, was already nearing the end of its serious musical relevance, yet is still producing "hit" records that I would never in a million years pay money for. Nevertheless, Joshua Tree's anthem-rock odes to the American West will always hold a special place in my heart.

2. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik

This was the first CD I ever owned. I'm pretty proud of that. A lot of people I know wouldn't want anyone to know what their first CD was, but I stand by mine 100%. I asked for the album for my 10th(-ish?) birthday from a group of friends, one of whom chided me that I had poor music taste. Ha, if only he could hear what I listen to nowadays. Coincidentally, the Chili Peppers were also at what I now consider the end of their creative relevance with this album, and they too continued to make mainstream "hits" that I would never buy. But this album was and still is fantastic. It was right at the crossing point between their spastic funk and chilled out alternative periods, a phase I wish would've lasted longer.

3. Weezer - Weezer (Blue)

I'm starting to notice a trend here. The first four albums on this list are all by artists who have gone majorly downhill in recent years, yet have the mainstream backing that allows them to sell out stadium shows with ease. Weezer's self-titled debut (the first of three self-titled albums... jerks!) was a staple of my middle-school post-grunge alternative diet. I was a little too young and perhaps not yet angry enough to fully appreciate grunge when it first came out. Bands like Weezer, Beck, Green Day, Blur, and Oasis dominated my interest in those formative years. The Blue album remains in my top ten(-ish?) albums of life to this day, and has one of my favorite songs of all time too, "Say it Ain't So." Also, on a personal note, in 7th grade, when I was dating Elain Szu, "our song" was "Buddy Holly."

4. Dave Matthews Band - Under the Table and Dreaming

I had a long love affair with DMB from late middle school until early college. It'd be easy for me to say that I'm embarassed of this period, since I don't really like them anymore, but I will not. In my defense, this was before the days of downloading music, and the rock music on the radio in the late 90s was a steady stream of garbage (Third Eye Blind, Matchbox 20, Blink 182). During this dark period of mostly boy-bands and bling-bling hip-hop, DMB's fun, mellow songs were the best of what was around. Appropriately, the opening track on this album was called, "The Best of What's Around." Anyway, even though I no longer consider myself a fan, I still contend that DMB's first three studio albums were all pretty good, including this one, which had their first big hits, "What Would You Say?" and "Ants Marching." Also, interestingly enough, the second (and final) time I dated Elain Szu, in 8th grade, "our song" was "Satellite."

5. Dispatch - Bang Bang

This one is sort of cheating, because I never listened to Dispatch songs in album form, and had to Google their discography just now to figure out which album I should put on here. Why? Because to me, Dispatch = Napster. My freshman year of college coincided with the peak of illegal downloading on Napster. Dispatch was one of the bands that benefited the most (at least in terms of fame) from Napster, because their popularity spread like this: friend > AOL Instant Messenger > me > Napster > CD Burner > Discman. Yes, the process has been streamlined in the last decade, but this band, and specifically songs like "The General" on this album, were the prototype for peer-to-peer music sharing over the internet. Their jammy songs were pretty good too. Yes, they lacked depth, but back in the early aughts, we weren't looking for complexity. We were looking for things that were free. When the RIAA took Napster to court, Dispatch held a benefit concert for the cause, attended by Napster founder Shawn Fanning, in his ironic Metallica hat. I met the band at that gig at the 9:30 Club, and then I was one of 110,000 people to attend a free reunion/farewell concert in Boston a few years later.

Stay tuned for Parts II and III in the coming days.

Album Review: "The Crying Light" by Antony and the Johnsons

2009-02-06T23:04:00.006-05:00

At first listen, Antony and the Johnsons' The Crying Light probably isn't for anyone but the most morose among us, freshly off being dumped by the loves of our lives. After subsequent listens, it probably still isn't for most people. It's so very unconventional. But for those open-minded enough to allow Antony Hegarty's irresistably weird voice to do its magic, there's the bountiful reward of a stunning collection of songs making up his third full-length album. His quivering, almost operatic singing style is unlike anything else out there on the rock scene. It might even be a stretch to call this rock music. That's neither here nor there. The only classification that matters to me is that it's beautiful music.

The Animal Collective album is the 2009 release getting all the attention so far, but this one is my pick for album of the first month and six days of year. Not that Merriweather Post Pavilion isn't very good. It is, and deserves any attention it gets. But The Crying Light is so direct and sincere in its appeal to the sad boy or girl in you without being cheesy that you have to recognize it as a rare piece of art.

Video for "Epilepsy is Dancing"

Concert Review: Andrew Bird - 2/3/09 at the 9:30 Club

2009-02-04T11:32:00.009-05:00

The slacker blogger is back with another concert review. If not for my unsustainable addiction to concerts, this blog might have died long ago.

Last night, Andrew Bird brought his enormous bag of tricks to the 930 Club and wowed a full house for about an hour. It is truly unfair how much talent this man has. Don't hog it all! This guy is probably the best violinist in rock music (by a large margin). He might be the best whistler in the universe. He's got a silky tenor voice that hits some tough notes with grace and ease. He writes probably the most intelligent music out there (you'll need a dictionary to understand what the songs are about). And he's a passable, if not amazing, guitar player. One of his skills that I didn't know about before the show was his live looping prowess. I'd read somewhere that his shows included a lot of looping, which made sense, considering there are often a lot of violin parts layered over each other. But he pulls this effect off live with the same ease with which he shows off all of his other amazing skills. He'd play a few notes on his fiddle, then some harmonies, and pretty quickly, there's the dense, rich sound of a chamber string group.

Now, here's the problem: For all his talents, I think Bird should be better than he is. I think he's coasting. By almost any other musician's standards, his latest two albums would've been triumphant, career-making stuff. But I'm not buying it for him. His songs border on becoming boring, which is shocking given his many talents. He's not a bad songwriter. He's just not as ambitious as I would like. He should be pushing the envelope with crazy stuff on a regular basis, but he only does on a semi-regular basis.

A lot of the show blended together for me, as I'm not as familiar with the individual songs on the last two albums as I am with those on Mysterious Production of Eggs. He only played one song from that, my favorite of his albums, "Fake Palindromes," and I wish he'd just not bothered, because his rendition last night was annoying. He pulled the "I'm-gonna-change-every-single-note-of-this-song" trick, making it impossible to even recognize except for the sweeping violin riff. My favorite song he played was the first encore, one that I think is not on any of his albums (called "Why? / Somedays" on the setlist), but I'm not sure. He went super-bluesy with it, and it worked well. I think he was trying to act like a drunk. He should do that more.

So, perhaps I'm being unfair by criticizing Bird for not being as amazing as I think he can be. It was really worth it just to see his mad skillz at all things musical. But I still hold out hope that, one of these days, he's gonna come out with something that's equal to his limitless talents. I can't wait.

Setlist (according to NPR anyway, though I know it's missing at least "Fake Palindromes"):

Instrumental from Soldier On EP
Water Jet Cliche
Masterswarm
Oh No
Effigy
Natural Disaster
Tenuousness
Nomenclature
Not A Robot, But A Ghost
Privateers (formerly The Confession)
Plasticities
Anonanimal
Fitz and the Dizzyspells
Imitosis
Souverian
Why? [Encore]
Tables and Chairs [Encore]

For some pictures that don't suck and the concert recorded in full, visit NPR's page for last night's show.

Concert Review: Frightened Rabbit - 1/19/09 at Rock and Roll Hotel

2009-01-20T01:36:00.005-05:00

First off, let me say, I'm not very good at taking pictures, apparently. I need some better skills and/or a better camera. Or just get to shows earlier or something. Anyway, I resolve to improve the quality of photos on this blog. This right here is just poor.

So, on with the review.

This is the second time in three months that, on the eve of a massively significant day in our nation's history, a foreigner has driven home the importance of the occasion. Billy Bragg came by the 9:30 club just before Election Day to tell DC how much our votes meant to him and the rest of the world. When Frightened Rabbit came on the last day of the Bush presidency, the significance of the day was not lost on them either. The Scotsmen said there was no other place in the world they would rather be right now than in Washington, DC for this occasion.

Their enthusiasm showed in their performance too. At least I assume it did, even though I figure these guys are the type to go balls-to-the-wall for all their shows. Most of the songs were from the new album, Midnight Organ Fight, one of the best albums of 2oo8. They played one track from their first album. Check back later for a setlist once I get my shit together.

Anyway, I really like this band, and their show, though not quite as powerful as the recording, was another treat for this very exciting long weekend. Ok, it's late, and I'm starting my Inauguration day trek into the wilderness of Obama-crazy masses in less than two hours. See you in the Obama Era.

Concert Review: Department of Eagles - 1/17/09 at Johnny Brenda's (Philadelphia) setlist included

2009-01-18T02:23:00.010-05:00

Too bad more people don't know Department of Eagles. Maybe if they did, their tour would've come through the nation's capital. I had to go up to Philadelphia to see the band that earned the highly coveted prize of my #1 album of 2008. That would be In Ear Park (read my review). I love that album. I think it's a masterpiece. I also think their first album, The Cold Nose, was very good too. Apparently even the band members themselves think that one was bad, though.

Fred and Dan, the two official members of the band, were working the merch table at the venue, a nice little spot called Johnny Brenda's that I liked quite a bit. I had an embarassing little chat with each of them where I mumbled something about loving them and wanting to have their babies, or something like that. Anyway, I never know what to say in those situations.

So this show was only the 3rd time they'd played as this band, but for most of the show, I wouldn't have been able to tell that. They were pretty tight. Fred and Dan were joined by the bassist and drummer from Dan's regular band, Grizzly Bear. They're solid pros. Apparently, quite a bit of arrangement was necessary to make those songs from In Ear Park performable live. They didn't manage to arrange my favorite song, "Herringbone," though.

They played most of the rest of the album, along with one track from Cold Nose, "Sailing by Night," as well as two or three new numbers and a cover of JoJo's "Too Little Too Late" as a pretty entertaining encore. Yeah, that JoJo. Both of the new tracks featured some awesome looping of vocals by Dan. He can really sing. He has a raspy, sweet voice that keeps pitch really well. Very faithful to the album. Guitar work was good too. Dan even broke out the banjo for one song, "Balmy." I'd have liked some more of the electronic effects worked in there. Still, it was a darn good show. Totally worth the trip.

shameless pepsi ads

2009-01-15T22:53:00.006-05:00

There are a lot of people making money off Barack Obama-related merchandise and marketing. Here's one particularly ambitious attempt. There are countless shirts, hats, and pins graced with his name or likeness. I don't particularly like it, but insomuch as it indicates a greater participation in and awareness of politics and government, I'm ok with it.

But there's a line. I walked out of the Metro at Union Station the other day to this sight:
This is DC's train station, a landmark of the city, and it's plastered with Pepsi ads that blatantly capitalize on the Obama campaign's message of hope for this struggling nation and world. We are in the midst of the worst economic crisis in generations, coming off of eight years of the worst leadership this nation has seen, and we are on the verge of taking our first breath of some badly needed hope... and Pepsi has to stick its ugly corporate logo on it and cheapen the whole damned thing.

There's no "O" in "we" so Pepsi had to make a slight modification. Disgusting.

song of the day - 1.8.09: frightened rabbit - the twist

2009-01-08T11:58:00.011-05:00

"Song of the day" is back in full effect after a month of slacking! Ok, it wasn't all slacking. A lot of that month I spent working on my year-end top albums list and year-end compilation. While I was working on those, I came across a band I can't stop listening to these days: Frightened Rabbit.

I saw them on a top album list on eMusic, and the blurb said the album, The Midnight Organ Fight, was produced by the same guy who produced Boxer by the National. That was enough for me. I downloaded the album, and it's been on pretty constant repeat for the past month (along with Jay Reatard's 2008 Matador Singles). This album is a "go-to," to steal a term from roommate Ed. The one your fingers will navigate you to on your iPod without even thinking. It also ended up at #5 on my top albums list of 2008.

Today's song, "The Twist," is a good example of what's so awesome about this band. First of all, it's helpful to know that the whole album is basically the dude's reaction to a break up (as so many great albums seem to be). The genius of this album is the simple, catchy rock hooks, the singer's Scottish whimper of a singing voice, and the incredibly clever lyrics. He has a way with words, for sure. He's one of those song-writers that can really make you feel what he's feeling with his words. He uses lewd language and profanity really effectively too. He doesn't hold back. Here's a sample from this track:

Lets pretend I'm attractive and then
You won't mind, you can twist for a while
It's the night, I can be who you like
And I'll quietly leave before it gets light

So twist and whisper the wrong name
I don't care nor do my ears
Twist yourself around me
I need company, I need human heat
I need human heat

Oh, and guess what. DC folks are in luck. Frightened Rabbit is playing at the Rock & Roll Hotel on 1/19 for a mere $12! I will see you there.

song of the day - 1.7.09: hallelujah

2009-01-07T14:40:00.009-05:00

As I eagerly await the new American Idol season (yeah, I said it!), I've been reflecting on the highlights of last season. Besides lamenting the defeat of David Archuleta at the hands of the much less talented emo-comb-over-boy David Cook, the most memorable moment for me was when the goofy, dreadlocked Jason Castro sang a passable version of one of my favorite songs of all time, Hallelujah.

The song, originally written by the greatest Canadian ever, Leonard Cohen, has been covered by pretty much anyone who can carry a tune, from Imogen Heap to Bob Dylan (ok, Dylan can't really carry a tune, but you know what I mean). It was used in Shrek, Scrubs, Dateline, Third Watch, Basquiat, Without a Trace, and a whole bunch of other TV shows and movies, especially when someone has died.

Apparently Cohen wrote over 80 verses, most of which he scrapped, but about 15 of which are mixed and matched by the various cover artists in their attempts to bask in the light of someone else's masterpiece. Only a few of the verses are Biblical references. Other verses imply a more sexual meaning. Apparently, Jeff Buckley described his version as an homage to "the hallelujah of the orgasm."

There's plenty of argument over who did the best cover of this song. I say it's Jeff Buckley. His version really is something of a spiritual experience. It's so moving and beautiful, I dare you to listen to it and not get goosebumps. Try it! John Cale did a great version too, and some say his is the version that everyone else bases their covers on, not Cohen's. I can see that. Rufus Wainwright does a great cover too. You can judge for yourself. I've posted 15 versions of Hallelujah here, and I dare you to listen to them all back to back. Ok don't, and definitely don't start with U2's version, because it's horrible.

2009 releases i'm excited about

2009-01-05T16:46:00.004-05:00

animal collective (jan 13 - cover art above)

andrew bird (jan 27)

franz ferdinand (jan 27)

mos def (feb 9)

built to spill (spring)

doves (april)

eminem (spring)

mf doom and ghostface (?)

muse (?)

postal service (?)

wilco (spring)

amy winehouse (i'll believe it when i see it.)

Concert Review: Gogol Bordello - 1/2/09 at the 9:30 club (Setlist)

2009-01-05T13:29:00.003-05:00

Showmanship. There's still a place for showmanship. Gogol Bordello shows are the place. Friday night, they made good on my expectations of a crazy-awesome show, and I have the bruises and sweat-stains to prove it. The Gypsy punk band from various parts of Eastern Europe by way of the Lower East Side have a reputation for being one of the best live acts around.

Frontman Eugene Hutz is the one that makes sure the reputation is upheld. He must have endless supplies of energy or cocaine, because it seems unfathomable that a man can be that much of a spaz on a nightly basis. Spaz in a good way, of course. He jumps around with his shirt off and bellows his songs in a voice that I've seen best described as, "somewhere between that of Borat and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog." The fiddle and accordion make up the rest of the vital parts of the band's crazy Eastern European Gypsy style, and the guys playing them were quite the virtuosos. Then there are the two identically dressed hot young girls that come on for to bang on drums and cymbals and dance and sing backup and look hot, which they do very well.

The front of the crowd is not the place to be if you're not into getting jostled around and shoved a little. There wasn't any out-and-out circle-pit action, but it was close to that level of mayhem. Fantastic show. Definitely go see them at some point in your life, even if you don't care for the music.

Top 25 Albums of 2008

2008-12-29T18:49:00.006-05:00

This was hard. Much harder than I thought it would be. I listened to about 75 albums from 2008, but there were so many more that I thought I "should" listen to, to be fair. Well, time ran out, and here's what I ended up with. I'm happy with it. I'd really appreciate your comments. Also, see my FULL list of reviews of all of the albums I listened to.

25. Beach House - Devotion
Very nice Nico-esque sound they have. It's retro, for sure, but not the same kind of retro everyone else seems to be ripping off lately. These Baltimoreans have done my home state proud.

24. AU - Verbs
I heard these guys open for the Dodos, and it took a few songs, but I eventually got into their sound. For some reason, I end up comparing a lot of bands to Animal Collective, but I think it's apt here. They have that same sense of how to make the bizarre beautiful.

23. Delta Spirit - Ode to Sunshine
Not consistently good through the whole album, but there are a few outstanding tracks. Their old-school folk/soul lo-fi sound feels comfortable from the moment you hear it.

22. Kanye West - 808s and Heartbreak
As much as I dislike the guy for his attitude, there's no denying his ear. Yeah, maybe he isn't a very good singer, but he knows it, and makes up for it with some appropriate effect-work.

21. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
Fun and dancy, this record doesn't take itself too seriously like a lot of electronic music. The synths and beats make for perfect party music that owes plenty to Depeche Mode and other earlier electronic groups, but still sounds modern. I think the singer could use some voice lessons though.

20. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
All quality songs. This mellow folk rock rookie in the Iron & Wine mold has some stellar melodies and a haunting sound that will touch your heart and be appropriate for the soundtrack to Gray's Anatomy (woops, too late).

19. Deerhunter - Microcastle
This album has multiple personalities. Its ambient, spacey, trippy side makes it pleasantly groovy. Its power pop melodies and hooks give it a familiar feel. "Never Stops" is a really good track.

18. Santogold - Santogold
Hopping back and forth between new wave, reggae, hip hop, and hard rock, (even a taste of country) this exciting new artist is fresh and filled with the funk. Can't wait to hear what she has to give us next.

17. The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely
Jack White's "other band" is better than his regular band (The White Stripes). Yeah I said it. This isn't his side project. This is the real deal. Unlike White Stripes albums, this one keeps moving the whole time, not pausing to marvel at Jack's virtuosity. This is about the songs, not the man. The rest of the band must bring out the more practical rocker in him.

16. Amadou & Mariam - Welcome to Mali
Blind husband-wife duo mix traditional and modern sounds with soulful song-writing. I have no idea what they're saying, but they've got me convinced.

15. The Dodos - Visiter
This duo, sometimes trio, is downright nasty with the skills. Acoustic guitar, drums, and singing (and sweatpants). That's all you need, apparently. Their music is a frenzy of activity that you should be shocked to learn comes from just two young dudes from San Francisco. Full review.

14. Shugo Tokumaru - Exit
When I first listened to it, I thought it would surely be one of my top 3 albums of the year, but it didn't take too many spins before I realized it's just a very very good album. The multi-instrumentalist from the nation of my birth did the homeland proud with a little gem of an album. It's fun, trippy, airy, and concise. Full review.

13. Sigur Ros - Med sud i eyrum vid spilum endalaust
The Icelandic group's most accessible album to date. Mosts of the songs are single-length and of fairly standard song structure, unlike much of their more ambient catalog. A good listen for sure, even if it seems to cater more to the masses. They're still near the top of the active psychedelic music scene.

12. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
It took a long time for me to appreciate this album. It seems to be on everybody's top ten list, and I just didn't see it until I listened to it in the morning. Some albums are night-time music. This is morning-time music, for me at least. My beef with it for a while was that it's not very original, as it borrows a lot from the 60s and 70s era psychedelic and folk scenes, especially the Beach Boys. I know everyone borrows, but it just seemed too similar. But I realized that regardless of whether the style is new, the songs are great, and the melodies are timeless.

11. Jay Reatard - Matador Singles '08
What is he? Indie? Punk? Who cares, it sounds so good to me. It's defiant, angry, paranoid, confident. Everything he seems to be as a person.

10. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
Another innovative electronic group making beautiful sounds with blips, beeps, and buzzy beats.

9. Elbow - Seldom Seen Kid
This Mancunian group have been one of my favorite bands for a while now, but this album seems like their best, most confident work so far. Also, their show at 6th & I historic Synagogue was my favorite show of the year, and I went to a LOT of good shows this year.

8. Dr. Dog - Fate
They might be higher if not for a weak final three tracks. This band has been one of my favorite music discoveries of the year. They're awesome live, and this album, an indie/blues/folk fun-ride, complete with great vocal variety and harmony. Full review.

7. The Cool Kids - The Bake Sale
Midwest hip-hop duo lay witty, self-deprecating rhymes over minimalist, old school beats. My favorite hip-hop album since Madvillainy. Ok, so I don't listen to that much hip-hop, it's true. But this has fulfilled my undernourished taste for it for '08, and I think '09 will be a year of hip-hop exploration for me.

6. Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing
The future of music? This electronic group put together a great effort filled with hard beats, dramatic buildups, and a fascinating mix of melody and noise.

5. Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight
"I am armed with the past, and the will, and a brick / I might not want you back, but I want to kill him." These are the kinds of raw emotional lyrics, sung with a wobbly, earnest voice, that make this album great. It's produced by the same guy who produced Boxer by the National last year, and the two albums share the quality of breathing new life into the conventional rock style with just good song-writing and production.

4. The Walkmen - You & Me
Roommate Ed proclaims, "Sounds like Bob Dylan" and dismisses it. Whatever, he does have that great-singer-that-can't-really-sing kind of sound to him. There's so much more though. You feel like you're in some grainy independent film that's vaguely set in the past, but feels particularly timely, if that makes even a lick of sense.

3. TV on the Radio - Dear Science
This album occupied my top spot for a good portion of the year, and might have suffered from being the first of these top 3 that I heard, and therefore, the least fresh. It's amazing. They deserve all the praise they're getting. I think they finally put it all together on this record, where in their previous efforts, there were good tracks, but not a good album. Also, read my full gushing review.

2. Portishead - Third
Wow, who knew a band could go away for so long and come back with an album this good? I guess it's not unheard of. These alt-electro-rock-ish veterans know how to make some amazing sounds with their instruments, machines, and voices. To use a cliche term, the songs take you on a journey, and all the stops on that trip are beautiful and strange.

1. Department of Eagles - In Ear Park
First off, props to Brooklyn for putting out so many good records this year (this one, TVOTR, Santogold, The Hold Steady, MGMT, Vampire Weekend). Nicely done. This one takes the cake though. It's a full album, stunning from start to finish. They ditched their out-and-out electronica sound and humor (which were good too) and focused on making a spooky folktronica masterpiece. Daniel Rossen, also from Grizzly Bear, has a beautiful and earnest voice that colors the album with vivid, pained strokes. Also check out my full review.

inconvenient year-end technology failure

2008-12-24T21:42:00.003-05:00

If you happen to be in the market for a netbook, and you are trying to decide between the Acer Aspire One and the MSI Wind... get the Wind. My friend Rachel got the Wind in September. I got the Acer in October. My Acer is now dead, or something like it. It won't turn on. I'm sending it back for repairs. This is annoying because:

I'm obviously an internet fiend.
I can't work on my annual Christmas mix, and it'll have to be delayed.
I can't work on my year-end top albums list because all my music is on that laptop.
My desktop (which I'm using to write this post) is a six-year-old hand-me-down piece of garbage that crashes every five minutes, and certainly doesn't fit in my man-purse.

Meanwhile, Rachel sent me a link saying that Wired named the Wind the Top Gadget of 2008.

On top of that, my new LG enV2 phone, which I also got in October, turns off every time I put it in my pocket. Garbage.

songs of the year: 2008

2008-12-21T15:18:00.001-05:00

The year's coming to an end, and I'm still working on my albums of the year list, but here's something to whet your appetite.

Ten Favorite Songs:

10. Department of Eagles - In Ear Park

9. Fuck Buttons - Sweet Love for Planet Earth

8. MGMT - Time to Pretend

7. Sigur Ros - Gobbledigook

6. Amadou and Mariam - Sabali

5. Elbow - Grounds for Divorce

4. Frightened Rabbit - I Feel Better

3. TV on the Radio - Dancing Choose

2. Portishead - The Rip

1. Dr. Dog - The Old Days

Bonus! Least Favorite Song:

My Morning Jacket - Highly Suspicious

Why I Hate Of Montreal

2008-12-19T13:20:00.002-05:00

Of Montreal being annoying in Baltimore, 2007

I don't usually go around actively hating on bands. I respect musicians for putting themselves out there for public critique, and I usually just ignore bands I don't like. But Of Montreal is an exception. I can't stand them. I first heard them on Satanic Panic in the Attic, and it was an OK album, but I found the unchecked glee of the singing highly annoying. Don't you know rock music is about misery?! The next time I heard them was on an Outback Steakhouse commercial. I generally groan when bands I like "sell out" and do commercials, but Of Montreal took it a step further. They changed the words to one of their own songs to make the jingle for the Outback commercial, "let's go Outback tonight." Here's the original song, "Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games." That is criminal! An "indie" band shilling for a corporate steakhouse and changing the words of their own song?! Who does that? They deserve maximum mocking. That happened a while ago, though. The indie-heads know that's old news. The last straw for me, however, was even older news than that, which I recently found with the help of my good friend Wikipedia. Of Montreal is not from Montreal, but from Athens, Georgia. Maybe I'm the stupid one for assuming what shouldn't necessarily be assumed. Maybe everyone else caught on to that long ago. But me? I just learned about it, and I'm angry at being deceived for so long. Also, it didn't help their cause that their new album, Skeletal Lamping, sucks.

Overboard?

2008-12-19T12:36:00.002-05:00

This is the scene in my car lately. I've been working on a year-end best albums list, and the end of the year is coming fast. I still have a lot of albums to listen to. No time to waste uploading to my ipod. Is there a law against operating a laptop while driving?

Concert Review: Wilco - 12.14.08 at Lyric Opera House in Baltimore

2008-12-15T20:01:00.006-05:00

I got tickets to Wilco even though they're not a band I've ever fallen in love with. They kind of occupy the same sort of vague territory of appreciation without outright affection that the White Stripes, Ted Leo, and Broken Social Scene fall into for me. But I knew they write good songs, and they have a reputation for being an excellent live act to see, and the choice of venue had me sold.

The Baltimore show was one of only a couple that Wilco are doing this tour without Neil Young, so they get to be the headlining act. Funny, that they are opening for Neil Young, but the one time I saw Neil Young, he opened for Dave Matthews Band... something is wrong here. Anyway, the venue of this show, the Lyric Opera House, was a big selling point for me too, because shows I've seen this year in fancier seated venues have all been excellent (Sigur Ros, Elbow, Mos Def).

And what do you know, I got exactly what I paid for. (Ok, not exactly... I bought two tickets thinking, surely, I could convince one of my friends, or some poor hipster out in the cold of Baltimore to see the show, but I couldn't find a single taker, and had to totally eat the cost... and that's the 2nd time that's happened in two weeks! WTF?)

The thing that struck me about this show is that this is just a very good, professional, band. They're tight, they have no weak links, they take their craft extremely seriously. That being said, one of the more memorable parts of the show came when Tweedy messed up a verse on "Jesus, Etc." about which he seemed really embarassed. He explained that, what had gone through his head to make him lose his place in the song was, he was thinking about how cool it'd be if characters from "The Wire" (best show in the history of tv) like Omar and McNulty were real and came to a Wilco show. It was a stark contrast from Nick Cave, who seemed to not give a damn about stopping in the middle of "God is in the House" or explaining why.

So in conclusion, even if you don't like Wilco that much, you should go see them if you get the chance, especially if your friend is offering them to you at a discount and would probably even give it to you for free.

Might Could at Orion Studios

2008-12-08T01:28:00.004-05:00

My friend and guitar teacher Aaron is in a band called Might Could. Usually, they're an acoustic prog guitar trio plus bass sometimes. At Orion Studios in Catonsville on Saturday night, they were that for the first set, and then, for the second time in their existence, a metal cover band for the second set. They rocked the house two times over.

Concert Review: Dr. Dog - 12.3.08 at the 9:30 Club

2008-12-04T11:30:00.005-05:00

For the pre-encore setlist, see the previous post.

The encore was:

I Hope There's Love
OHNO
Fuck It

This was my second Dr. Dog show in five days and third in the past three months. From these shows, I've learned it's best to see this band up close, not hanging back or from a balcony. Though not the most danceable of musical styles, a lot of their appeal is their high energy. I used to always be a "near-the-stage" kind of concert-goer, but lately, in my old age, I've been favoring the balcony or the "hang-back" method. This is fine for mellower shows. But I hung back at the Dr. Dog show in Philly a few days back, and it just wasn't as good.

The 9:30 club set was pretty similar to both of the previous sets I saw. All three opened with "The Old Days", the first song of theirs I ever heard, and still one of my favorites. The sets were all heavily from their two latest albums, Fate and We All Belong, but featured a few old ones sprinkled in there. They're a really well-rehearsed band, and I definitely respect them for that.

The real treat in being up front for the show was the crowd. Dr. Dog fans are my kind of people, I guess (except for the couple that was making out hardcore in the front row). They sing along, but not obnoxiously; they dance; they're good-natured. I'm glad I saw this show, because after watching them from next to the sound board in Philly, I was starting to question whether this band was as good as I'd thought. The answer: yes, they're that good. If you ever get a chance to see them (and you will - they tour a lot), learn the songs, buy a ticket, and stand in the front with my people.

dr. dog 930 club setlist

2008-12-04T01:59:00.000-05:00

full review coming later.

song of the day - 12.1.08: portishead - nylon smile

2008-12-01T21:32:00.011-05:00

This Portishead track is sure to give you goosebumps. Beth Gibbons's ghostly whisper hitting all the right notes, the driving hand-drum rhythm, and the blips and moans of indistinguishable electronic and instrumental fills create a trance-like feel. It will transport you to a creepily beautiful landscape painted by three great musicians from Bristol. Enjoy the ride, readers. Enjoy.

song of the day - 11.29.08: amadou and mariam - sabali

2008-11-30T02:21:00.009-05:00

I'd never heard of this duo before two days ago, but apparently Amadou & Mariam have been around for quite a while now, doing their thing. They are a blind couple from Mali who mix traditional and modern sounds to make some really cool songs like this one, "Sabali." This song sound simultaneously old and new, and either way, it's just a stunning melody that needs no context or explanation. It was produced by Damon Albarn of Gorillaz and Blur fame. Also, apparently they have a huge fan in Manu Chao, who approached them to collaborate on a previous album, and I haven't found anything saying this, but I swear he's on at least one of the tracks on the album Welcome to Mali, off which "Sabali" is the first single,. Expect to see this album somewhere on my soon-to-be-posted "Top [some number] Albums of 2008" list.

Concert Review: Dr. Dog - 11.28.08 at Starlight Ballroom in Philadelphia

2008-11-29T02:13:00.008-05:00

I'm seeing Dr. Dog again in 3 days in DC, so I'm gonna do a full review of both shows then. For now, here's the set list of the Philly show. Sorry, kinda blurry on the encores.

Set list:

The Old Days
Hang On
The Way the Lazy Do
Fate
Today
Worst Trip
From
The Ark
The Breeze
Say Something
Army of Ancients
My Friend (?)
Fat Dog (?)
100 Years
The Girl
My Old Ways
Alaska
The Rabbit, The Bat, and The Reindeer

Encore

Keep a Friend (?)
Ain't It Strange (?)
Die, Die, Die (?)

song of the day - 11.27.08: maritime - guns of navarone

2008-11-28T01:35:00.005-05:00

Maritime is kind of an indie supergroup, except the word "super" implies that the members were previously in well-known bands. If you consider The Dismemberment Plan and The Promise Ring well-known, you're probably a pretty devoted music fan. Maritime's original lineup featured two members of the Promise Ring, and Eric Axelson of the Dismemberment Plan. (D-Plan happens to be one of my favorite bands of all time, and I actually found myself dancing next to Axelson at Wonderland Ballroom last year, and I think he was surprised I knew who he was.) Both of the bands had broken up, and those three got together and made some good stuff. Axelson had already left the band by the time "Guns of Navarone" was written for their third studio album. I'm not sure what makes this song and the album it comes from (Heresy and the Hotel Choir) so appealing to me. The sound is poppier than I usually like, but they're just good, catchy tunes that deserve recognition for being so.

Giving Thanks for the Little Things

2008-11-26T12:20:00.006-05:00

With Thanksgiving around the corner, I thought I'd list some things I'm thankful for. I'm not gonna bother with the obvious things (family, friends, health, etc.). I'd rather focus on the littler things that bring the little joys to my life (many of which are foods):

ice cream sandwiches, cheese, Gmail chat, Crisp & Juicy, The Onion, Twitter, dimsum, Gatorade, Honey Bunches of Oats, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Popeyes, U-Topia, Jameson's Irish Whiskey, Jack Daniels, Knob Creek, bacon, craigslist, perforated edges, high thread-count sheets, Moleskine notebooks, Pilot Precise pens, foosball, fantasy sports, Everton, the Redskins, Five Guys, costillas, Rafa Nadal, Zooey Deschanel, Fiona Apple, Daniel Day Lewis, Shure headphones, Apple, Microsoft, American Apparel, Converse, Ibuprofen, earplugs, text messaging, Slate magazine, the BBC, NPR, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, David Simon & Ed Burns, dance parties, Skype, electric toothbrushes, mayonnaise, Old Bay, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Beau Biden, Banana Fana Fo Fiden, butter, Black Cat, Girl Scout Cookies, sunsets, clouds, Sweet Baby Ray's bbq sauce, Wikipedia, Klean Kanteens, Fatwallet, murses, hoodies, shoe horns, graffiti, Sharpies, Kurt Vonnegut, the National Park Service, Ikea, the Dude and Walter, sand, wind, rain, rocking chairs, Grandma Utz potato chips, YouTube, Hillary Clinton, onion rings, clementines, dark chocolate, Facebook, Bell's Oberon, Hunter S. Thompson, Mitch Hedberg, HBO, DVR, On Demand, Ledo pizza, Tastee Diner, mix tapes, fire, tennis, Kinder Buenos, Boggle, and rainbows

Amazing Feat

2008-11-25T10:15:00.000-05:00

I accomplished something amazing the other night, something I doubt many people can claim to have done. I chipped a tooth in my sleep. That's right. I chipped one of my upper teeth with one of my lower teeth.... while sleeping. How, you ask? I wonder how myself. I must have made some sort of sudden movement in my sleep, perhaps something dream-related. I don't remember. I woke up to the disturbing sensation of something going terribly wrong in my mouth.

It was only a tiny chip, hardly noticeable, but I could feel the bits of tooth floating around my mouth. Few things make me cringe more than even the thought of my teeth cracking. I'm cringing right now, while I write this. (Cringe... I like that word. It sounds like what it means.) It's even more frightening to think that, since it happened once, it could happen again, and I have no protection against it. Basically, I could permanently fuck up my teeth in my sleep. What do I do? Wear a mouth-guard to bed? That's a quality-of-life sacrifice I'm not willing to make.

Ugh. I might as well get dentures now and get it over with.

Prop 8 Protest & March in DC

2008-11-17T22:30:00.001-05:00

When Proposition 8 in California passed on Nov 4, marriage equality for gay couples in the entire U.S., not just CA, suffered a huge blow. Anti-gay groups across the nation will doubtless be emboldened by the "success" of their CA (and Utah) counterparts' vicious and unnecessary attack on civil rights. More of these propositions may arise, and more state Constitutions may be amended to deny the right of marriage to many citizens. All they have to do is collect (or forge) some signatures, then pour a lot of church money into highly deceptive advertising and marketing.

Now that Prop 8 and similarly disastrous initiatives in other states have passed, there's no imminent election on which to focus the marriage equality movement's attention. The goal now is more vague, and there's a risk of losing momentum after such a disappointing loss.

There's hope that this won't happen, though. Facebook members across the country organized protest marches for Sat., Nov. 15, and the Event Invitation for the DC march got over 3,000 "attending" responses. I have no idea how many people actually showed, but I'd guess it was at least 1,500, possibly thinned out by some unfortunately-timed torrential downpour.

This was a protest against a vote that already happened. It was about being angry. It was about continuing the fight. I hope there's a backlash against this kind of injustice, now that the focus can move away from the biggest election of the past few decades. This is a start, but it needs to keep going. And it needs to grow.

That's my sign! If you don't get it, watch this Keith Olbermann's Special Comment. Photo by flickr member: dcjay64

Photo by Jamison Grella

Photo by JG

song of the day - 11.16.08: dave grohl - everlong (live acoustic on howard stern)

2008-11-16T12:24:00.002-05:00

This could just as easily go under the post from a few days back about stuff that reminds me of my college days, but I forgot about it when I wrote it, and I haven't done a song o' the day in a while, so here you go. It's one of the better-known Foo-Fighters songs out there, but I much prefer this acoustic version from the Howard Stern Show, which, if you're to believe the banter on the recording, was the first time Grohl played it unplugged. I listened to this version so many times that the talking by Stern and Grohl are part of the song in my mind.

Album Review: "In Ear Park" by Department of Eagles

2008-11-13T22:20:00.005-05:00

We're coming up on the end of 2008. I decided that this year, I'm finally going to actually try and listen to as many "significant" albums as possible and put together a "best of" list. So the new stuff is hitting my iTunes fast and furious, and there's a lot to like.

Department of Eagles' second album, In Ear Park, is one of the ones to like. In their follow-up to 2003's The Cold Nose (a lost gem of an album), they've really come up with a formula for beautiful music. Nose, brilliant as it was, was disjointed and immature. Each individual track carried some completely different idea, and the album as a whole suffered for its lack of cohesion. Park has no such problems. The indie experimentalists from Brooklyn have found their musical voice; it's simultaneously chilling and warm, tight and free.

The original band-members, Fred Nicolaus and Daniel Rossen, welcome members of Rossen's other band, Grizzly Bear, to the mix and form a sort of hybrid of the two bands. The engine of ideas for DoE remains with its original members, but the tightness and psychedelic melancholy are influenced by Grizzly Bear.

The album is emotional and haunting, and strikingly beautiful. Have a listen to some of the sweet sweet magic here:

This is a pretty faithful live performance of the opening and title track. The album stays thoroughly interesting from beginning to end despite never rising to the playful energy of Nose. Other highlights include "Phantom Other", "Herringbone", and "Floating on the Lehigh", but the album is best appreciated as a whole. Not to spoil a surprise, but this album will surely make that top 10 list I'm working on.

stuff that reminds me of my college days

2008-11-12T14:44:00.005-05:00

Cannibal! The Musical

End of Ze World

Don Hertzfeldt

Wesley Willis

Gonads and Strife

Strong Bad Emails

Napster and Dispatch

Battlebots

Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo

Where the Hell is Matt?

2008-11-12T01:14:00.005-05:00

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

This video was sent to me months ago, but I never thought to put on here til now. It serves no real purpose but to put a smile on your face or a tear in your eye as you marvel at how such a simple act can bring people together in the furthest corners of the world.

Album Review: "Exit" by Shugo Tokumaru

2008-11-11T01:03:00.007-05:00

I think I might forego doing numerical ratings for my album reviews here, because clearly, I'm only writing about the ones I like anyway. So it shouldn't surprise anyone that I liked Exit by Shugo Tokumaru quite a bit. Maybe even a 10. I didn't think there would be an album to challenge TV on the Radio's Dear Science for my favorite album of the year, but here it is. (Stay tuned for the results of that contest.)

Shugo Tokumaru is a Japanese multi-instrumentalist who has shockingly little biographical information on his Wikipedia page. After this album, he deserves to be a star. Even though I'm Japanese, most Japanese music doesn't appeal to me. This album is different. Way different. It has opened my mind to a whole new kind of rock music that is exciting to say the least.

Tokumaru's sound is filled with acoustic instruments and organic sound effects accompanying his sweet, high pitched Japanese pop crooning. It's definitely aptly labelled as psychadelic, but it doesn't use the typical psychadelic techniques like trippy electric guitar and electronic sounds. It acheives its trippiness with haunting harmonies, droning acoustic instrumentation, lots of out-of-tune bells, and other natural-sounding effects that remind me of an acid trip in the woods of Bambi.

There isn't a loser on this album. The highlights are "Green Rain," with its complex rhythms and its use of all the instruments you'd expect to find in the closet of an elementary school music classroom; "Clocca," mystically dissonant pop song; "DPO," a dizzying romp that sounds like a punk song played with a ukelele and a Fisher Price xylophone; and "Wedding," which opens with a beautiful banjo (or steel guitar?) part that gives way to a frantically joyous refrain of the same melody.

This is one of those albums that makes me happy that I am a fiend for finding new music. It's not likely that I'd have found this if I was even slightly less obsessive about music. I can't imagine an album like this existing and my never hearing it. Sadly, there are probably many such albums, and I'm not obsessed enough to find them all. But Exit is the kind of prized find that will sustain my interest in digging through the obscure, because it is a true gem of an album.

Who are you, Russ Merva, and what did the gays ever do to you?

2008-11-07T13:58:00.009-05:00

Russ Merva holds up a "Yes On 8" sign as a bus emblazoned with "Vote No On Prop 8" passes in Sacramento, Calif., Monday, Nov. 3, 2008. Both sides of Proposition 8, were out the day before Tuesday's election trying to drum up support. If approved, Prop. 8 would change California's constitution to ban same-sex marriage.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

The AP picture above ran in a lot of newspapers on Thursday after Proposition 8 in California passed. The ballot measure called for an amendment to the State Constitution saying, "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." The measure passed with a 500,000 vote cushion.

Here's my question: WHAT THE FUCK?!

I am so disappointed in California right now. That state has dropped ten notches in my eyes. This is supposed to be the bastion of liberal ideas, the trailblazer of progressive policy. How could they so overwhelmingly pass a bill that annulls the 18,000 same-sex marriages that have occurred in the state since June 17, after the State Supreme Court ruled that gays could marry?

So, Mr. Russ Merva with your yellow "Yes on 8" sign, what do you have to say for yourself? What was it that not only made you vote for such a measure, but actively campaign for it? I don't mean to pick on you, as there were about 5 million other Californians with you on this issue, but you obviously consented to being in this picture by giving your name. You clearly wouldn't mind being a poster-boy against gay rights.

So what the hell did the gays ever do to you, Russ? What's it matter to you whether Dan and Tom are married or not? I don't tell you you can't marry a woman because it goes against my morals do I? Maybe I should say it's against my morals to have idiot douchebags marry and procreate, so we should prohibit it by amending the constitution. How about that?

Of course, that'd be ridiculous. But no more ridiculous than what your movement managed to get passed.

I'm gonna take a wild stab at the real reasons you voted for this amendment:

You realize that the wheels of social progress are turning, faster and faster, and the social construct you put all your chips into (presumably the church life) is going to look more and more antiquated and stupid. You don't want to look stupid, right? So you fight back against those who would make you look stupid, the more enlightened human beings who accept the realities of the world instead of the gospel from thousands of years ago that isn't relevant or even fully understood. That, and you've always had a thing for fairy tales.
You find gay people repulsive because you grew up never seeing any. And like most other people with a tiny little underdeveloped brain, your instincts make you hate what you don't understand.
You think "traditional marriage" is actually a real thing, even though your own is in shambles. Perhaps the tradition you're referring to is the get-married-for-the-wrong-reasons-and-being-miserable tradition that so many Americans follow, leading to a ridiculously high divorce rate.
This is your issue. You don't go out and picket against people who steal, deceive, and murder. You go out and picket against people who love each other but happen to be of the same gender. To you, this makes perfect sense, somehow.
You think it's about evolution. You think, "we were meant to procreate, and same-sex couples can't, so it's wrong." Well, Einstein, does that mean if some crazy person had cut your dick off in a fight, you shouldn't be allowed to marry either? How about that?
You heard some smart-sounding person say that it's not government's place to be involved in gay marriage, and it should be up to the faith communities, since marriage is traditionally a religious practice. Of course, you forgot to consider that, well, if government shouldn't be involved in gay marriage, should it be involved in straight marriage? Bah, don't be ridiculous.

I'm sure there are other reasons those 5 million people voted to take away the rights of people who never did them any harm whatsoever. It just hurts my brain to try and come up with them, because they're all SO STUPID. The only smart thing in that picture is what's on the bus: "Unfair, Unnecessary, Wrong."

Concert Review: The Mountain Goats - 11.06.08 at the 9:30 Club

2008-11-07T10:00:00.003-05:00

This was the third time I saw the Mountain Goats in the past year or so. The other two times, both at the Black Cat, were better shows for me. Not that John Darnielle and Co. did a poor job or anything. They are excellent showmen, and really do try to connect with their audiences. I just think they're much better suited for the more intimate setting of the Black Cat.

For some reason, I was really tired and couldn't get pumped up for this show. Maybe it was the enormous "Educated Consumer" cheeseburger I had at DC9 before the show. Maybe I'm still drained from Election Week. Maybe my nightly sleep-deprivation is catching up to me. Whatever the reason, I managed to fall asleep for bits of this show. It's not the first time I've done that at the 9:30 club; I fell asleep at an Iron & Wine / Calexico show a few years ago, too, but the circumstances of that night (dramatic fight with GF, lullaby-like songs) made it more understandable, I think.

What I do remember between catching a few Zs was Darnielle being his normal self-depricating, hilarious self, telling long, ridiculous, dramatic stories leading up to his songs, then singing his heart out. He is one of my favorite performers to see, and I'm glad that he is back on his feet and touring. Last time I saw him, he hinted at some grave illness that would keep him out of action for some time. Well, it wasn't very long. I'm glad he's feeling better. Next time, just play at the Black Cat. Thanks!

Come Together

2008-11-05T23:09:00.005-05:00

This blogger Ze has a good idea. He figures, with the election finally over and the real task of fixing the ills of America ahead of us, it's time for red and blue to unite. So he started a project called "from 52 to 48 with love," where Obama voters can reach out to McCain voters with photographic gestures of reconciliation. I like it.

Living in the most liberal part of one of the most liberal states in the Union, I don't know very many Republicans. The few I do know are wonderful people who happen to have different opinions about what the country needs. In the heat of election season, it was easy for me to focus on the worst parts of the opponent party: the mega-rich corporate thieves, the bigots, and those who would use God's name to hurt people who mean them no harm. But looking around objectively, I can see that most of these so-called opponents want pretty much the same things I do: peace, prosperity, opportunity, fairness.

After the unnecessarily long and agonizing election process has stirred up all this antagonism and division, it's important to remember what we're actually voting for: the leaders who will create the best situation for our country and our families. That can't be accomplished when half the country is moaning about how their choices would be doing a better job and the other half is laughing at them for not being able to do anything about it. No, that just won't do. The country and the world are in some very difficult and dangerous times, and there's no time for partisanship. I'm not saying to stifle dissent and disagreement. Without those, the fight is already lost. I'm saying we shouldn't let the differences that separated us over the last two years of election-mania keep us from working toward meaningful solutions. A few pictures won't can't fix much, but it's a start.

#44

2008-11-05T11:37:00.001-05:00

Marylanders: Vote NO on Slots

2008-11-03T16:45:00.008-05:00

Voters in Maryland will doubtless be handing Barack Obama ten electoral votes tomorrow. While I do urge anyone reading this in VA, PA, or any other swing state to vote Obama, that argument has been beat to hell by greater minds than mine. I'd like to use this space to encourage Maryland voters to reject Question 2 on the ballot, a measure that would allow slot machines at racetracks around the state.

The state is running a pretty huge deficit right now: $430 million. Cuts will have to be made from the budget or taxes will have to be raised. No one wants those things to happen, but it's a reality. Slots are being trumpeted as the cure-all for Maryland's budget woes. They will single-handedly fill the budget gap with $600 million in new revenues, supporters say.

Well, that's garbage. The numbers for revenue are based on having current MD gamblers who travel to PA, WV, and DE gamble MORE in their own state, and for a large number of new gamblers to start the nasty habit. Also, the $600 million number was pondered before our current economic downturn, and that number will be much lower, just from people having less money to spend on entertainment, which gambling is supposed to be.

"We'll still bring in a lot of revenue," you say? Well, that's true, but where will it come from? MD will not draw out-of-state gamblers in any significant numbers. Thirty-seven states have slots approved in one form or another, including the aforementioned neighbors. So the people putting dollars into those machines in MD will be MD residents. So, it's a tax on our own people. Fine. But it just so happens that the demographic of slot-users are disproportionately low- and moderate-income residents. So, it's a tax on our own poor people. Am I missing something here? How is that helping our state's economy?

The revenue gained from gambling will be at least partially offset by the costs required to deal with public health and social issues such as gambling addiction, alcoholism, and broken up families. People living within ten miles of a casino are 90% more likely to have a pathological gambling problem than those who don't. So, we're gonna create a whole bunch of addicts so we can save some money on property taxes? I don't like it. Why not just have crack-dispensers that we can tax the hell out of? We'd be the richest state in the Union!

So, we're gonna make more people poor, and tax the hell out the current and future poor, and give people something to blow their money on instead of food, clothing, or savings? Where do I sign up?!

Oh yes, then there's the "save the horseracing industry" argument. That was once the main reason for supporting slots, after all. You know what? Screw the horse-racing industry. Fully 1/6 of the revenue from slots will go into the pockets of these already-wealthy breeders and owners who often aren't even from MD. Not to mention the fact that horse-racing is a cruel practice where the animals are forced to race with injuries and pumped with steroids, often resulting in early deaths. I say the horse-racing industry isn't worth saving.

Unfortunately, the support for this question has come from Democrats like Gov. Martin O'Malley, Baltimore's Mayor Sheila Dixon, and Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett. They seem to be taking the approach of holding their noses and closing their eyes while they push the "Yes" key on their no-paper-trail Diebold voting machines. It's understandable that our leaders are under enormous pressure to fix the state's economy, but I think they've lost sight of the sacrifices they'd be making for an unknown number of extra dollars.

So, there you go. PLEASE, VOTE NO ON SLOTS TOMORROW!

I did a poor job citing in here, but I assure you, everything I said in this article comes from one of these four sources:

Washington Post editorial

Baltimore Sun editorial

Baltimore Sun columnist Dan Rodricks

Daily Kos article

comments?

2008-11-03T13:41:00.009-05:00

I've updated the settings on this blog to allow comments from anyone, not just blogger-users, so go nuts everyone. Comment away! I look forward to any reactions, suggestions, critiques, and praise you'd like to post. Especially praise.

song of the day - 11.2.08: billy bragg & wilco - california stars

2008-11-02T15:37:00.004-05:00

In 1998, Nora Guthrie, daughter of American folk singer Woody Guthrie, organized the recording of some of her father's lyrics by an unlikely pairing of American folk band Wilco and British singer Billy Bragg. California Stars is one of the tracks off the resulting album, Mermaid Avenue. This video isn't an official video, just someone's individual work posted on YouTube, but I really like how it was done. The song itself is a testament to the talents of all three of its creators. It seems more like a song that was always destined to be made than a piecemeal collaboration by three very different musicians.

On an unrelated note, I'm excited to finally get the chance to see Wilco, as I managed to be one of the lucky few to get a ticket to their show in Baltimore on December 14. Hooray.

playlist gadget

2008-11-02T02:03:00.002-05:00

I finally added the feature that this blog has been needing since its birth: a playlist gadget. It's on the right-hand side, and it features full-length versions of previous "songs of the day" and whatever other stuff I deem blog-worthy right now. Enjoy!

song of the day - 11.1.08: al green - belle

2008-11-01T11:37:00.000-04:00

Al Green has one of the greatest voices in R&B history. With this golden voice, Willie Mitchell's production, and the Hi Rhythm Section, Al Green churned out several of the definitive R&B songs of the 70s. Then in 1977, he left Mitchell and his band and created The Belle Album. The title track, "Belle," is as beautifully crafted and smooth as any of his previous hits. For the first time, he provides the lead guitar track for his own work as well. This album was also the first that he made since being ordained a pastor, and the last of his his records that could be considered secular. He made Gospel albums thereafter. While his best work was probably behind him already, this track is still one of my favorites by Green.

Reacting to Question Time in America

2008-10-30T22:59:00.009-04:00

Yesterday I went to a very different kind of show than the musical variety I frequently ramble on about on this page. I was in the audience for the most watched political show on the BBC, Question Time. They normally shoot in different parts of Britain, but this week they had a special U.S. episode on the election.

On this show, the host, David Dimbleby, moderates as members of the audience ask questions of a panel of guests. Tonight's panel: Elizabeth Edwards (health care advisor to Obama and wife of John), Christopher Nixon Cox (McCain campaign exec. director in NY and grandson of Dick), Clarence Page (Pulitzer Prize winning journalist for the Chicago Tribune), Simon Schama (the only Brit on the panel, a professor of history and art history at Columbia U. and author and tv presenter), and Cheri Jacobus (Republican strategist and possibly spawn of Satan).

The audience of 150 was supposed to be evenly distributed between Reps and Dems, but it didn't seem that way at all. Based on how I got a ticket for this, which was to just sign up on their website and get a call from them 5 minutes later that I at least existed and had a brain, all two days before the show, I don't see how they could've possibly planned out the audience demographics and political preferences. To do their sound check, the exec producer chose five volunteers from the audience to sit in as the fake panel. Wouldn't you know it, all five were conservatives and McCain supporters. Then there was a mock discussion with the audience asking questions and making comments. This is when I realized I was not in the DC that I know, but some alternate reality DC where there are a crapload of Republicans saying ridiculous things and whooping loudly when other Republicans say ridiculous things. I was scared that this crowd was going to be the face of America to millions of people around the globe. "We're not all like that!" I wanted to shout out when the cameras were rolling.

David Dimbleby came out, followed by the panel. The banter was typical of what I'd expect to see in an American TV talkshow debate: Republicans reciting talking points (including accusing Obama's foreign policy stance of being only talking points), Democrats being flabbergasted by outrageous and erroneous comments by the Republicans and trying to be heard over their counterparts, and the crowd booing, cheering, and heckling. It was quite a raucaus affair.

I was glad to see that the liberal panelists were the clear intellectual and oratory superiors of the group. Schama in particular was extremely witty and insightful. When one Republican jerk, who claimed to know that America was well liked around the globe because he'd been to 55 countries, said that Schama was a "typical professor," Schama countered that the man was a "typical blowhard." That was brilliant.

Another highlight of the hour was when Jacobus said that Obama's plan to reduce taxes for 95% of Americans will be a handout to people who hadn't worked to earn this. The audience was shocked. Dimbleby was also shocked, and he quieted everyone down to ask her if she wanted to clarify what she said, AND SHE REPEATED THE SAME THING.

The farsical nature of the Republicans' policy proposals (like giving people the freedom to cross state lines to get their healthcare... if they happen to be one of the lucky few who can afford it or fighting to attain VICTORY in Iraq .... uh, how do you win a war when the result is everyone being worse off than they were before, if they're fortunate enough to be alive anyway) was only surpassed in shockingness by the large number of people in the crowd who cheered so enthusiastically for them. These people looked like any other sane people we see in our daily lives, but they are clearly not sane people.

When I got home, I checked the show’s website to read the viewers' comments, and was really disappointed by what I saw. Several commenters said it was the worst episode of Question Time they’d ever seen. They rightly ridiculed the Republicans, but they also took the disorderliness of the crowd and the panel as some sort of sign of American inferiority to the prim and proper Britons.

"I'm sure they didn't improve their battered American image withtheir usual ignorance and arrogance but that's just it with a lot of them - They don't care what anyone else thinks," says L Thomas from Croydon. Well, L, it's funny that you should bring up the words "ignorance" and "arrogance," because that is precisely what you've displayed in your comment. Ignorance in your blanket generalization about Americans through one television program that featured some idiot Republicans prominently, and arrogance in allowing such a program to validate your obviously preconceived hatred for Americans.

It's also funny that you should mention that we don't care what anyone else thinks, because you know what? We don't. This is the election for the President of the United States of America. When you ask us who we want for Prime Minister, we'll ask who you want for President. Fair is fair. L, I'll admit that there are a lot of Americans out there that are ignorant to the world around them, but you are proving yourself no better by failing to recognize that, WHOA, Obama is actually favored to WIN this election, and that would have to mean that these people you speak of are in the minority. And that would also have to mean that you are guilty of exactly what you criticize Americans for: being ignorant and arrogant. Take a look in the mirror, L.

So, this post took a turn there, didn't it? I don't mean to belittle the fact that, for the past eight years, our nation's government has been run by a bunch of assholes who do indeed act arrogantly in the world community. But these assholes are not America. The only thing American about them is that they took an idea and created an extremely effective innovative use for it. Unfortunately for the world, that idea was deceiving the American public in order to give more power and money to the corporate devils who have taken over this once great nation. I hate what America has done in the past eight years. I am ashamed of it. I understand the world's anger. But it's almost time for the world to put that anger aside and welcome an America that will finally be moving in the right direction again under President Obama.

song of the day - 10.30.08: cool kids - gold and a pager

2008-10-30T12:39:00.002-04:00

I have to confess: I'm kind of obsessed with this song by The Cool Kids at the moment. I have trouble explaining why. The beat is minimalist, the rhymes are clever but not amazing, and the "chorus," if you can call it that, is just a slowed down voice saying, "With a little bit of gold and a paaaager." But I'll be damned. This song is ridiculously addictive. There's some quality about it that makes it so interesting. Maybe it's how the MCs pronounce their words in such a saracstic tone. Maybe it's the homage to a bygone, happier era in hip hop music. I don't know, but I like it.

song of the day - 10.29.08: sufjan stevens - for the widows in paradise, for the fatherless in ypsilanti (live)

2008-10-29T12:58:00.001-04:00

The world is a better place with Sufjan Stevens in it. He's such a talented musician, and he's kind of wacky too. This live version of "For the Widows in Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti" is off of his Greetings from Michigan, The Great Lakes State, the first of two albums he wrote about states (the other was Illinois) that were devoted to the stories he learned about and the towns he saw while living there. At one point, he claimed he would write an album about each of the 50 states, but he must've busted out a calculator and realized there was no way he could follow through with that. I think he's given that up. He also has an extensive catalogue of Christmas tunes that he releases every year, which are actually good, unlike most of the garbage you're subjected to during holiday season. If you don't know him, check him out. He's one of the best around.

song of the day - 10.28.08: tv on the radio - dancing choose

2008-10-28T23:59:00.002-04:00

I wrote some extensive praise for TV on the Radio's new album, Dear Science, in a previous post. This song, track 3 on the album, is my favorite on the album, and is in the running for my favorite new track of 2008. It's a new direction for TVOTR. They've always been energetic, but this song takes that energy to frantic new heights as it builds subtlely over three glorious minutes. The frenzy of Tunde Adebimpe's crisp rhymes alternates with the soothing chorus, and little by little, horns grow the song's intensity to a thrilling climax that leaves you wishing the song was another three minutes longer.

check out this verse:

though he expresses some confusion
bout his part in the plan,
and he can't understand
that he's not in command;
the decisions underwritten
by the cash in his hand
bought a sweater for
his weimariner too

Concert Review: Billy Bragg - 10.27.08 at the 9:30 Club

2008-10-28T09:40:00.006-04:00

As anyone who reads this blog regularly can see, I've been to a lot of shows lately. I love music more than anything, but going to shows so frequently was getting sort of tiresome. So, naturally, I wasn't extremely pumped to go see Billy Bragg, an artist I respect greatly but have never become a huge fan of, on a cold and rainy Monday night.

I was stupid to think that. This was one of my favorite shows I've seen this year, and I've seen quite a few. Billy Bragg was an absolute delight.

To call this a concert might not even do the events of last night full justice. He was on stage for about two hours, but a large portion of that time was more like a lefty voter rally and a stand-up comedy routine. For those who don't know, Billy Bragg is extremely political. I believe he's an outright socialist. It was not at all lost on him that he was in the nation's capital a week before the biggest election in recent American history. He ranted about the upcoming end of "American exceptionalism" and the need for universal healthcare. He also praised America for nominating a black man as a major party Presidential candidate. He kidded about the confusing nature of our red/blue political party designations, since liberals are red and conservatives blue everywhere else in the world. His stories covered subjects as wide-ranging as attending an anti-racism Clash concert when he was 19 and the haircut he got in Ithaca, NY on his current tour. He has a great sense of humor, and is very good at articulating his beliefs about politics and society.

But, even though his stories and rants were highly entertaining, his songs were better. I've never seen the stage of the 9:30 club so empty. It was just Billy Bragg, his guitar, his mic stand, two amps, and a coffee table with his lemon echinacea tea. No support band, no lights show, just Billy Bragg playing and singing his heart out on a Monday night. And it was great. He is getting on in years, for sure, but he has not lost any of his energy on stage, and he's still very good vocally. He surprised me with how well he can sing.

He opened the show with "Help Save the Youth of America," which fit in nicely with the political themes of the show. He mixed in old classics, new numbers, and covers, and even though I'm not that familiar with his catalogue, every song was performed in his unmistakable, passionate style. He played mostly electric, but mixed in some acoustic midway through the set. He had some hilarious banter with the crowd as well.

For the encore, he brought on the Watson Twins (the opener, also known for having recorded and toured with Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley) to provide some beautiful harmony for the first number. Then he played "A New England" to close out the show with the entire audience singing the chorus.

I'm so happy to have seen this show. It was such a pleasant atmosphere, especially after the gang of Republicans near us left in disgust, apparently having shown up not realizing Billy Bragg is about as lefty and political as musical artists get. "He's a Socialist! What did you expect?!" taunted the girl next to us. Ah yes, the perfect preamble to one of the most politically important weeks of my lifetime.

Concert Review: Broken Social Scene - 10.22.08 at State Theatre

2008-10-24T13:01:00.002-04:00

Broken Social Scene is the perfect name for this Toronto indie supergroup. Their band behaves more as a collective of individual talents that complement each other well than as a single unit with a single sound. The result is a wide range of musical styles and talents on display. This is great, but they can be hit-or-miss, because some of the talents are just better. But they act democratically nonetheless.

At this show, there were as many as nine people on the stage playing at once (even their roadie got in on the action). They usually had seven or eight people on stage, with almost all of them switching off instruments. Only guitarist Andrew Whiteman (aka- Apostle of Hustle) and drummer Justin Peroff stayed on their primary instruments for the entire 2 hour and 19 minute set. They also played at least one song written by each of five band members.

The band's core members, Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning, each came out with solo-ish albums recently. I don't own these records, but from what I heard at the show as well as from a devoted fan, Drew's was good and sounded like a BSS record, and Canning's was not so good. That sounds about right, because my least favorite songs of the show were Canning's, including one horrible attempt at a funk/soul song. I don't know what the actual dynamic between the bandmates is, but Canning seems like the odd one out. He seems like the unhip dad of the group.

Missing were the two main female vocalists of BSS: Feist and Emily Haines (lead singer of Metric). Elizabeth Powell of Land of Talk, the opener (from Montreal, nice sound), filled in ably for the songs that needed a female voice. She stole the stage on two of the highlights of the show: "7/4 (Shoreline)" and "Anthems for a Seventeen-Year-Old Girl."

The other highlights were "Fire-Eye'd Boy" and a really interesting experimental piece called "The Happiness Project" where the multi-instrumentalist/brass/woodwind guys wrote a sax part to play over the spoken word of one of their neighbors... You had to be there, I guess. They finished the pre-encore set with "Ibi Dreams Of Pavement (A Better Day)," and they did something that totally made my night. Mid-song, they quieted down the instrumentals to a whisper, and Kevin Drew instructed the audience-members to let out all their negative feelings by shouting as loud as they could for the rest of the song. I shouted so hard, my voice is still not right two days later. And it felt so good. How often do we get to scream at the top of our lungs in a situation where we won't cause panic or annoyance? I was very thankful for that part of the show.

Like their recordings, BSS's show had some hits and some misses. Also like their recordings, though, it gave a feeling of satisfaction at having heard a very good band play some really creative, innovative music. Kudos to them.

song of the day - 10.20.08: chromeo - momma's boy

2008-10-20T13:18:00.003-04:00

I've totally been slacking on the songs of the day. I'm not sure why. There are a million songs I could write about. Here's the one that's stuck in my head today. It's a hilarious and catchy song called Momma's Boy by electro-funk duo Chromeo, who describe themselves as the only successful pairing of an Arab and a Jew since the beginning of time. Do yourself a favor, and don't dismiss this song right away because it sounds silly. It is silly. That's sort of the point.

Five-Second Rule

2008-10-20T12:06:00.003-04:00

The other night I went out drinking for a friend's birthday. After several drinks, I made a quick trip to 7-11 and got a vanilla almond Haagen Dazs ice cream bar. It cost me something like $4, but those things are a-mazing. And everything tastes better at 2am after a few pale ales and bourbons. I also bought it knowing that at least one of my friends would want a bite of it, and I was happy to share. As I walked through Mt. Pleasant from the Raven to Tonic, I savored my first bite of creamy, chocolaty, almondy goodness. Then I handed it over to Jess, who almost dropped it in the handoff, but made a clutch save. I thought to myself, "Damn, I'd have been pretty pissed if she'd dropped my precious Haagen Dazs bar." She took her bite and handed it back to me. And I dropped it on the sidewalk.

"Five-second rule!" Jamie yelled out. I don't know if I'd have done this sober, but I went ahead and picked up the ice cream, examined it for a second, and took another bite. Then Jess had another bite. Then I forgot about it entirely until today. Some would have looked down on Jess and me for eating food, especially food with liquid-ish properties, off a sidewalk in DC. Some might even call us barbaric. "Maybe the kitchen floor in my house, but not the sidewalk!" they'd say.

I don't know if anyone actually believes the five-second rule to be scientific fact. I'm sure bacteria takes much less than five seconds to contaminate a food surface on contact. I would venture to guess that for anyone who follows the rule, it's just an excuse to eat something you really wanted, even after it's slightly tarnished.

I decided to do a little googling to see if there's been any research on this subject, and in fact there was. I found some interesting things. First, women are more likely to eat something off the floor than men. Cookies and candy are more likely to be eaten off the floor than broccoli or cauliflower. The first one makes me snicker. The second one makes me say, "No duh." But there are some actually useful bits of info as well. For instance, although bacteria can transfer in less than five seconds, the amount of time spent in contact with a contaminated surface does affect the number of bacteria transferred. So, although the five-second rule is arbitrary, it does hold up in that, if you're quick about it, you've got a better chance of not getting sick. The difference between five seconds and a minute is tenfold. However, apparently MythBusters tested 2 seconds vs. 6 seconds, and found that there was no difference in the contamination. Another bit of info the researchers (not MythBusters) found was that most surfaces aren't very contaminated at all. They didn't test sidewalks, but the surfaces they did test around the campus of the University of Illinois had so little bacteria that they thought they were doing the tests wrong.

So, what does this mean for the five-second rule? Unclear. You can't really be certain how contaminated a surface is, but I don't see why a sidewalk would be any worse than a kitchen floor. And we eat stuff off tables that could have vermin running around on them when we're not looking. We put our mouths directly on soda cans that have been exposed to the potentially unwashed fingers of vending-machine-fillers. I'm no scientist, but I think the contamination of sidewalk is overrated. So, I conclude that Jess and I did the right thing. Neither of us got sick. And we got to enjoy a few seconds of Haagen Dazs pleasure that a more germ-phobic person would not. So hooray for the five-second rule.

Late arrival to the coffee party

2008-10-16T03:37:00.007-04:00

I can't exactly remember when I first noticed the trend toward a more mainstream appreciation of coffee in the U.S., but I always dismissed the coffee-snobbery as just an overblown yuppie fad. Well, if it is an overblown yuppie fad, you can now count me in as a follower.

I thought I'd seen coffee-snobbery in DC, but apparently we don't take it nearly as seriously as the caffeine-junkies of the Pacific Northwest (as well as many other places, I presume). This shouldn't be surprising, as Starbucks started in Seattle, and subsequently took over every single street corner in the world. I have no idea if this is true or not, but a Seattlite told me that the Emerald City has the most coffee shops per capita. And hot damn, are there a lot!

I visited Seattle with a San Fran coffee fiend friend of mine. She introduced me to the macchiato. The word alone used to scare me. Why such a fancy Italian name for a cup of coffee? Aren't there enough other fancy names? Well, it turns out the macchiato is now my new favorite coffee drink - a good one anyway. Espresso straight up is a little too bitter, and lattes and cappuchinos are too foamy. The macchiato is the baby bear's porridge of espresso drinks. Juuuust right. It literally means "marked" or "stained," meaning it's espresso with a stain of milk. A skilled barista can make sweet looking designs with the milk/espresso mixture too.

I had macchiatos at five different places in Seattle and Portland. The best one was at a little stand on the street in the Capitol Hill neighborhood in Seattle, a magical little place called Vivace. The staff were friendly and skilled, and the coffee was soooo delicious. I'm not up on the coffee-lingo, but to my untrained palette, it was smooth and flavorful, and just the right consistency. (Vivace gets bonus points for being right near Dick's a walk-up fast food burger joint that is a Seattle institution.) Other good cups were from Caffe Vita and Stumptown in Seattle, and ... another Stumptown in Portland (where the chain originated).

I'd had all of those good macchiatos, so I guess I didn't appreciate how hard it can be to make it correctly. Thinking all macchiatos were made relatively equally, I ordered one at the coffee shop across the street from my Portland Hostel, called World Cup Coffee and Tea. I don't know if it was the beans, the machine, the barista, or all of the above, but that thing was awful. It was bitter, foamy, and didn't have any cool design. This made me appreciate my earlier cups and baristas even more.

I hope I can find a place that makes good macchiatos in DC. If anyone knows of one, I'd love to hear from you. Until then, I will just reminisce about those delicious tiny cups I had on a street corner surrounded by hipsters and homeless people. Ahh memories.

Determined to see a show in Portland

2008-10-14T04:35:00.004-04:00

The second leg of my trip to the Pacific Northwest is in the beautiful city of Portland. (I've seen quite a bit in my short time here, but I'll save the details and pics for a later post.) Even though my nights here are not particularly good ones for going out on the town, I was determined to see a show to get a glimpse of the city's supposedly rich music scene. The pickings were slim for this Monday evening: a Henry Rollins spoken-word performance for $26.50 or a young local singer-songwriter named Mya Elaine for $0.00. No offense to Mr. Rollins, but I think I chose wisely.

I walked to the venue, the White Eagle Saloon, from my hostel. Portland gets props for being such a pedestrian-friendly city. I walked across the entirety of downtown, over a large drawbridge, and along a highway in the dark and managed to not get myself killed.

I got a late start after helping an Australian-sounding Londoner hostel-mate top off his phone credit, so I missed a good bit of Mya Elaine's set. When I joined the audience, there were only about five other people watching her play, and four of them turned out to be friends of hers. This was baffling, because she was pretty damn good.

She performed solo with her acoustic guitar. Her songs were folksy/bluesy, her guitar-work was crisp, and her voice was sweet and versatile. She reminded me a little of Iron & Wine, Jewel, and David Gray. It's not like she has a growndbreaking sound, but she played her songs confidently and beautifully.

Unfortunately her recordings on her MySpace page don't do her justice. I'd just recommend seeing her play if you happen to be in Portland at the right time. The price will probably be right, and Henry Rollins probably won't be there.

Concert Review: Black Kids 10.10.08 at Neumos in Seattle

2008-10-11T23:45:00.003-04:00

I guess my exploration of Seattle wouldn't be complete without going to a live show of some kind, as it has such a rich musical tradition. My friend Katie and I made an impromptu decision to see the Black Kids and the Virgins at a place called Neumos in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. This show should not and will not be the yard stick by which I measure Seattle's music scene, since the bands are neither from Seattle, nor very talented. My blanket judgments of the city's music scene are adjusted accordingly.

It's pretty apparent to me, though, that the city's ultra-hip status is in danger of being run out by yuppies. The famed Crocodile Cafe, a Seattle music landmark, has closed. Belltown, the neighborhood at the epicenter of the grunge scene, has become overrun with condo developments and fratty bars. I've only been here a couple of days, but I would bet a lot of Seattlites would agree with me that the Emerald City is in a cultural decline.

I'm not sure what kind of reputation and regular crowd Neumos has, but the people at this show were less hip than I expected. Capitol Hill, after all, is the heir to Belltown's hipster throne and has not yet been completely gentrified and condo-ized. I'm sure part of the reason for this was the quality of the bands, but I can't help but think non-Seattlites give the city more credit than it is currently due for being cultural and musical trend-setters. Anyway, Seattle definitely still is very cool. Just more yuppified than I expected.

But wait! Isn't this supposed to be a concert review? That's what the title says? Oh dear, I better get on with it then.

I didn't catch whatever the first opener was. The second opener was the Virgins. They were pretty bad. It's not their fault they aren't talented. It's just sad that this band has actually gotten so hyped by their label. Shouldn't record contracts be handed out by people who know good music from bad music? Clearly that's not very important these days. The Virgins are similar to the Killers and the Offspring in that they're all bands whose only real talent is doing bad impersonations of other bands... only the Virgins are much worse. The singer couldn't sing his own songs, and they just looked like a bunch of amateurs. But, enough about them. They suck, you get the point.

The Black Kids came on with the benefit of having the bar set really low for them by their openers. Though Katie would disagree, I think they sucked much less than the Virgins. They were at least tight instrumentally, could sing their songs, and had some genuine energy. Their synth-heavy dance music and Robert Smith-esque melodramatic vocals made me want to get up and dance... but the Seattlites wouldn't have it! I'd have thought the whole point of going to this show was to show off some dance moves, but these folks were content to do the standing still. I was pretty surprised. Katie and I agreed Seattlites are a self-conscious lot.

But I digress... again. The show... well, it wasn't bad, definitely worthwhile, but didn't leave much of a musical impression on me.

Yup, Seattle Is In Fact Pretty Cool

2008-10-10T02:36:00.010-04:00

They have an incredibly nice library.

Poetry on the buses! Brilliant!

The original Starbucks. I'm told they made a few more since.

High tech cranes

Pike Place Market

So, I've been in Seattle for a little over 24 hours now, and I have to report on some discoveries:

The rain is seriously not that bad. It's like a light drizzle that comes and goes.
They must be the most caffeinated populace in the world.
Their bus system is crazy. But everyone says thank you to the bus drivers. Even the crazy people.
KEXP is a fine radio station.

Cascadia

2008-10-07T16:51:00.002-04:00

"The Doug"- a proposed flag of Cascadia

Tomorrow, I head to the Republic of Cascadia.

Concert Review: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - 10.6.08

2008-10-06T23:43:00.010-04:00

I know Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds have a fiercely loyal following, and that he deserves every bit of the adoration of his fans. He's a very talented musician and songwriter, and he's still coming up with quality albums well into his middle-aged years. But this show was a disappointment for me. It probably didn't help that I had a headache, and I'm sure I'd have enjoyed it more had I had a few beers and been on the floor instead of the balcony. And probably the biggest factor in my non-enjoyment was the fact that I'm not that familiar with his catalogue. There were definitely a lot of people there who had been listening to him for decades, and who had probably seen him a dozen times. They seemed to think the show was amazing. "That was one of the best shows I've ever seen," said a 50-something, tattood, soul-patched, spikey haired, aging hipster. I just didn't see it.

They did a bunch of things that annoyed me, actually. These things made me think about all the things that annoy me at shows in general. Here's a list:

It really annoys me when singers completely change the melodies of their songs when they play them live. Ok, so you've sung them a million times and you want to make it interesting. I'm all for improvisation, as long as it maintains the same feel and sounds good. On songs like "Red Right Hand" and "Deanna," Cave just seemed like he was winging it because he couldn't hit the high OR low notes.
I had a real problem with the showboating tonight. I expected and enjoyed Nick Cave's antics. He was all over the place, jumpin around, making fun of his bandmates and the audience, doing pelvic thrusts to accent his singing. I enjoyed it. It was one of those Bad Seed guys that pissed me off. The one that plays the violin and what looks like a tiny electric guitar (electric mandolin? electric ukelele?). That guy looked like a psychotic homeless man/ serial sex offender. He had crazy long hair and a crazy long beard. He made vaguely sexual movements throughout the show. He did the playing over the head thing with his violin, which in my book, should only be done if you are playing a solo or something really impressive, which he was not. And most of the time he was doing all this showboating, I couldn't really pick out what he was playing in all the commotion of the 7-piece group. I'm sure he's a very talented guy, but he was a distraction to me.
It always ticks me off when people yell out song requests between songs. I accept that there's always gonna be some asshole who will do it, as much to call attention to himself as to actually have the song played. There were a lot of those assholes tonight, but Nick Cave actually encouraged the calling out. I'm not sure which, if any, songs he actually did play because of a shout-out, but he made clear that he was listening, and even asked, "what else do you guys wanna hear?" after the first encore song. Don't encourage them Nick! Don't make them think it's ok to do that at all the other shows I have to see with these people, where their shouting is just an annoyance to the audience AND the band.
They had the amps up so freakin loud that I actually regretted not wearing earplugs. I never wear earplugs. Not to System of a Down. Not to Rattler. Not to any show I've ever been to. I rarely regret it. I listen to my Shure inner ear headphones for several hours a day, often at pretty high volume. My eardrums can take a beating. This show was excessively loud. I don't know whether to blame the band or the 930 club sound guys, but I am definitely slightly closer to deafness than I was before the show. There were a couple of times, maybe from feedback, maybe on purpose, there was a burst of sound so loud that it HURT, and I grimaced. What's the point of that? Who's gonna enjoy the show any less if it's slightly less deafening?
The band tonight committed what I consider a truly unprofessional musical sin, too. One I'd never actually witnessed. They were playing "God is in the House," one of my favorites of their songs, and they messed up and stopped a whole bunch of times. Then Cave just said "fuck it" and gave up on the song, promising to come back to it later. Then he didn't come back to it. What the hell!? Who does that??
Another thing that irked me at this show, which was not at all the fault of the band, was the demographic of the crowd. It wasn't any different than I'd have expected: a lot of older white people, especially men. Not that there weren't young people, but I saw a lot of people that could've been my parents. Still, no big deal. The band itself is full of old guys too, and they've been around for years and years. The thing that irked me was that I saw my future in these old single men with long hair trying desperately to be hip, but just not pulling it off. I don't judge them. For all I know, they're enjoying their lives more than anybody. I just don't want that for myself, and I see myself heading in that direction. I'm already obsessed with music, and not much of a ladies man, and go to a lot of shows, and try to dress hip, and have long hair, and wear band t-shirts, and search out obscure bands. I don't want to stop going to shows. I just don't want being a music fan and critic to take over my life. This blog isn't helping that, but I'm having a good time doing it, so I won't rain on my own parade. Still... eeek, it's a scary thought.

I'm sure there were other reasons I came away from that show with a bad taste in my mouth. It wasn't a great day for me to be going to a show, what with my headache, lack of sleep, and generally snarky mood. And it's not as if there wasn't anything good about it. I enjoyed the beginning of the show a lot. They had great energy and chemistry, and they were very good showmen. The show just happened to poke at a couple of my pet peeves, and it took away from the whole experience for me. Oh well.

[I asked Ed, my housemate who I saw the show with, to write a guest post/review of the show. Hopefully he will do it, because he is a longtime fan, and he liked the show, and it'd be a nice point-counterpoint.]

Set List:

1. Hold on to Yourself

2. Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!

3. Tupelo

4. The Weeping Song

5. Red Right Hand

6. Midnight Man

7. God Is in the House (gave up)

8. Love Letter

9. Today's Lesson

10. The Mercy Seat

11. Moonland

12. Deanna

13. Papa Won't Leave You, Henry

14. More News from Nowhere

Encore

15. Your Funeral, My Trial

16. Jesus of the Moon

17. Get Ready for Love

18. Stagger Lee

suggestion box

2008-10-06T11:27:00.004-04:00

I'm uninspired today, but I wanted to post something, because I won't have much time over the next week and a half. I'm going to Seattle and Portland to do some exploring and memory-making.

Anyway, today, I want to invite comments from anyone and everyone about what I can do to make this blog as interesting as possible, so it gets on your (and others') daily list of sites you peruse.

Recommended Viewing: The Story of Stuff

2008-10-04T00:12:00.002-04:00

A good friend of mine introduced me to this online video that I think is pretty awesome. It's about our consumer society and its effects on the world. It's really well-made and entertaining too. The clip above is just a teaser. Go to www.storyofstuff.com for the full 20 minute video. It'll be well worth your time, I promise.

song of the day - 10.3.08: delta spirit - trashcan

2008-10-03T12:45:00.003-04:00

Delta Spirit opened for Dr. Dog when I saw them at IOTA about a month ago. I was pleasantly surprised. As if it wasn't sweet enough that I got to see Dr. Dog at such an intimate venue, I learned about a new band too.

These guys have a very classic rock, folksy kind of sound. Singer Matt Vazquez's voice reminds you of the nasal hollering of Bob Dylan. He also reminded me a little of Julian Casablancas of The Strokes in the way he can sing on pitch in a shouting voice. They're solid song-writers and instrumentalists, if unspectacular. Their Wikipedia page describes them as "Americana/soul," which is a good label for them, especially because of Vazquez's singing style.

"Trashcan" was their finale at the show I went to. Multi-instrumentalist Kelly Winrich actually beats on a trashcan lid with a drumstick through out the song. The steady, grooving piano part is also vital to the song, and to the band as a whole. But really, the highlight of this band, and of their live performance, is Vazquez. He can really belt 'em out.

The Hilarity of Failure

2008-10-02T16:10:00.006-04:00

My older brother likes to tell a story about when I was a baby, and I was watching him and my dad play badminton. He says that every time one of them missed the birdie with their racquet, I'd crack up with devilish laughter. Apparently this was one of the first recognizable personality traits I exhibited as a human being: my finding humor in watching people fail. [No, that's not a baby picture of me. It's somebody else's devil baby.]

Things haven't changed much on that front since I sat in that stroller. I still find people's mishaps utterly hilarious. Nothing makes me laugh more than seeing someone fall. I've tried to analyze this part of myself, but haven't come up with much. I don't think I'm just an evil person who enjoys watching others mess up. I think it has more to do with the fact that these falls and spills are unexpected, spontaneous, comic events that happen in otherwise mundane settings. For the record, I don't enjoy watching people get hurt. I actually am pretty squeemish about that. But as soon as I realize someone's public fall hasn't resulted in any injury other than to his ego, I cannot hold in that same cackle from my infancy.

So, naturally, the site failblog has been a godsend for me. It's a site where users upload the most extreme failures they've witnessed. Not only does it feature some of the most hilarious spills I've ever seen, but it also features other comical errors like poorly designed signs, poorly executed building plans, and countless pages of other hilarious pictures and videos.

I pretty much wrote this whole post to lead up to the following video, which is basically the funniest thing I've ever seen.

Upcoming Shows [Updated]

2008-10-02T09:21:00.000-04:00

gogol bordello

I go to a lot of shows. Here are some upcoming shows that I plan to see and would recommend that you see.

10/6 nick cave and the bad seeds (930 club washington, dc) sold out
10/22 broken social scene (state theatre, falls church, va)

10/27 billy bragg (930 club washington, dc)

11/6 the mountain goats (930 club, washington, dc)
11/28 dr. dog (starlight ballroom, philadelphia, pa)

12/3 dr. dog (930 club, washington, dc) "soft sale"

1/2 gogol bordello (930 club, washington, dc) "soft sale"

1/3 gogol bordello (930 club, washington, dc) "soft sale"

See you at the show.

song of the day - 10.1.08: the knife AND jose gonzalez - heartbeats

2008-10-01T15:36:00.002-04:00

Since it's been over a week since my last song of the day, I'm giving you all a double-dose today. It's still one song, but two versions. The original version of today's song, "Heartbeats" is by The Knife, an electronic duo from Sweden, and was released in 2004. It's a somber but danceable electropop groove. The singer's voice is captivating, and the dirty synth hook is addictive.

Jose Gonzalez, also a Swedish artist, but of Argentine descent, covered "Heartbeats" on his 2006 album, Veneer. I swear, he could make a living just playing covers; his version of Massive Attack's "Teardrop" (better known in the U.S. as the opening credits song for FOX's "House") is another solid cover. What makes the covers so good is that he makes them thoroughly his own. They are mellow, acoustic versions of synth-dominated electronic songs with female lead vocalists. He's not afraid to change up the melodies here and there either. (Apparently, he also covered Joy Division's classic, "Love Will Tear Us Apart.")

Album Review: "Dear Science" by TV On the Radio

2008-09-30T10:20:00.008-04:00

If you can't handle a praise-fest, stop reading right now. TV On the Radio's new album, Dear Science, is SO GOOD that it'd be impossible for me to write a balanced review of it. There's just nothing bad I can say about it. I don't say this lightly either. There are very few albums by even fewer bands that I think have made an album worthy of this treatment. OK Computer, Nevermind, Whatever People Say I Am That's What I'm Not...maybe a handful of others in the last 20 years.

My point is, this is a fantastic album. I think TVOTR have forced themselves into the conversation of "best active band in the world" (with my personal criteria being: if every band in the world released an album tomorrow, whose would be the best?). Before I listened to Dear Science, I'd have said Radiohead without much hesitation.

This album delivers on the promise of the Brooklyn five-some's first two albums, which had some great singles ("Staring at the Sun", "Wolf Like Me", etc.), but lacked cohesion, direction, and got a bit boring at times. They've stuck to the same mix of instrumentation: distorted, buzzy guitars and synths, soulful and funky bass, driving drums, horns, sax, "loops", some strings, and the wicked wailing of Tunde Adebimpe.

Their sound is more mature now. They seem more confident. They've dropped the outright melancholy and added a touch of light and hope. It's not like they've turned into Belle and Sebastian; they've just breathed a new liveliness into their songs.

The result is a collection of gradually intensifying symphonic rock anthems, beautifully constructed electro-ballads, and furiously funky dance tracks. Everything they try on this album works. Adebimpe's voice is controlled chaos, laid over precise beats and intricately crafted melodies that actually go places, unlike a lot of other bands' songs.

Key tracks:

"Golden Age" - The album's first single. This funky little number with a funky bassline and retro brass chorus has the feel of an anthem while also moving airily and freely.

"Family Tree" - Coldplay wishes they could write sentimental ballads with this much depth. This track features strings and synths, with subdued vocals pouring out syncopated beauty.

"Crying" - A good example of their newly positive sound. The funky little guitar riff and Adebimpe's falsetto make the song light. It moves, it grows. It's the new TVOTR at its best.

"Dancing Choose" - This is my personal favorite. Its frantic rock-rap verses give way to a slick, smooth chorus, which gives way to even more frantic verse with saxophone harmonies that build in intensity throughout the song. It's an absolute instant classic.

"Love Dog" - This is stunning track featuring strings, synths, driving beats, syncopated falsetto, and some heart-wrenchingly beautiful chord progressions.

Rating: 10/10 - An absolute classic. This album will define this band and maybe even all of rock music for the decade, as OK Computer did for the 90s.

Concert Review: The Dodos at Sonar - 9.28.08

2008-09-29T22:32:00.007-04:00

I thought Baltimore's music scene was supposed to be so hip, especially compared to DC's. Why didn't this show sell out? The Dodos are a damn good band, and they were playing at a very intimate venue for not much money. What else do you want, Baltimore?!

The openers for this show were a surprising treat. Wye Oak, a duo from Baltimore, played some good old timeless electric guitar rock music that borrowed a little from Tom Petty and Sheryl Crow. Their songs were very well written and well performed. I'll certainly be checking them out. The second band, AU, were a duo too, but they didn't borrow from any classic rockers. That band consisted of a really talented pianist and drummer who couldn't be bothered with conventional things like melody and time. I commented to a friend after their first song that they sounded like Animal Collective if they sucked. That was harsh. They definitely grew on me as the show went on. I amend my statement to, "They're like Animal Collective if they were slightly less good." And I love Animal Collective. I find myself comparing a lot of bands to them, and I should stop doing that. I guess what I really mean is that they are kind of out there, psychedelic, and have a lot of strange noises and rhythms melded into an interesting and sometimes beautiful sound.

Then came the Dodos, the third duo of the night! Ok, they had a third guy join in on half of their songs. They played a short set because Meric Long, the singer/guitarist was sick with mono. They didn't even play an encore. But what they did play was enough to convince me I was overly critical of them in my review of their album, Visiter. These 2 (sometimes 3) have some SERIOUS instrumental skills. I wouldn't have thought 2 people could make a sound so full, especially the percussion. The guitar was precise and lively. The drums were even more precise, and even more lively. The singing was better than I expected, especially considering Long's illness ("creepy crawleys in his throat"). I'm wondering whether the off-pitch parts of the album were the result of poor standards of the producer or band in the studio.

The highlight of the show was "Jodi", which was their last song. Before the song, Long said, "I do apologize, but this is gonna be our last song. It's called Jodi, and it's in the key of H." It was just as fast and frantic as it is on the album. I guess I'm happier to have seen them go balls to the wall for 45 minutes than to play a subpar, less energetic set of regular length. I felt like I got more quality show for my money because of the openers anyway. I can't wait til they come by again when they don't have mono.

Friends Rockin Out, Me Getting Sentimental

2008-09-28T01:57:00.005-04:00

Tonight, I watched 3 of my best and oldest friends play "Rock Band" at a party. No one else was in the room. They faced the TV with their plastic "instruments", and I faced them from the corner of the room. I wish I had a video recording of those couple of minutes they were playing Nirvana's "In Bloom". Watching them play (and I mean play like children play, not play like bands play) gave me such a pure and simple joy. I want to remember them that way forever.

Five Guys: A Beautiful Thing

2008-09-27T19:34:00.004-04:00

Oh, Five Guys Burgers and Fries, how I love thee.

The best place for burgers and fries
Is the restaurant called Five Guys
Your heart will be hopping
At the sight of the toppings
Give their founders the Nobel Prize

I'm a relatively recent convert to the famous DC burger chain. I'd heard some rumblings about it a couple years ago. I thought it was just another chain. Burgers are good, but they never really excited me that much unless they came from nice restaurants. My roommates insisted that I was destined to love Five Guys, since they regularly witness my love for delicious greasy food. And damn it, they were right. I first went a few months ago, and angels sang as I took my first bite. I don't know what they put in those burgers, but they're like heaven in beef form.

For the uninitiated, the place only sells burgers, hot dogs, and fries. You can get 2 patties or 1. And you can get all the toppings you want. And they have boxes of peanuts for snacking on while you wait. That's it. That's their business.

But the burgers are a miraculous achievement in human history. They're juicy (ok, greasy) and flavorful, and once you start eating it, you're committed to not putting it down, because it will disintegrate otherwise (not that you'd want to put it down anyway). And then there are the fries, which are like boardwalk fries, and come in 2 sizes. You can get them cajun. You should get them cajun. Then drown those fuckers in vinegar and ketchup.

Unfortunately, I cannot eat Five Guys as often as I'd wish, because I want to live past the age of 30. It is not a place for the health conscious. Don't even bother looking at the nutrition facts posted on their website. But as a reward for a hard week of blogging while I should be doing work at work, I'll go to the new location in Columbia Heights and get my fix. And then I'll go home and write poems about how much Five Guys means to me. Thank you Five Guys.

Concert Review: Sigur Ros at United Palace (NY) - 9.18.08

2008-09-25T09:26:00.011-04:00

Ah yes, the long-awaited Sigur Ros review. Even though I've been to two shows since this one, this one is still freshest in my mind. It was quite the spectacle. Those Icelanders know how to put on an ambient show... fo sho.

First, the setlist, copied from the Sigur Ros message board:

***********************

01 svefn-g-englar
02 glósóli
03 ný batterí
04 fljótavík
05 við spilum endalaust
06 hoppípolla / með blóðnasir
07 svo hljótt
08 heysátan
09 viðrar vel til loftárása
10 inní mér syngur vitleysingur
11 sæglópur
12 hafsól
13 gobbledigook

encore:
14 illgresi
15 popplagið
***********************

For most of you, and for myself, a self-proclaimed Sigur Ros fan, those song titles mean next to nothing. They certainly don't make it easy for their English-speaking audience. (This is the band that released an album called "( )" with all untitled tracks!) Suffice it to say, they played a bunch of beautiful, trippy, almost supernatural music to an adoring crowd. The venue, an old converted church I believe, was stunning in appearance and acoustics. It was an emotional experience for a lot of people, I think. I definitely heard a few sniffles.

Lead singer Jonsi's angelic voice did things I didn't think were possible, like sustaining the last beautiful high note of the opening song for what seemed like an hour and still putting a little flourish at the end of it. The instrumentals were what they had to be, but not spectacular. The violin bow on the guitar makes such a cool sound, it makes me wonder why more bands don't do it.

In the background was some creepy, grainy, blurry footage of children and dolls, and occasional close-ups (also grainy) of the band members' hands and instruments. They definitely have a strange aesthetic. In addition to those images, the drummer was wearing a crown of some sort, and Jonsi's coat had what looked like tinsel hanging from it. More power to them, though. They'd be nothing without their creativity and eccentricity.

They closed the show with an energetic rendition of "Gobbledigook", with members of the opening band banging away at drums and the audience clapping along. Actually the clapping ruined it for me. Audiences can not be depended on to have rhythm or keep time, especially for a song with so many time changes. It's distracting to hear the ever-quickening claps fall out of sync with the band.

I enjoyed each and every track of the set, though, until the encore. I could've done without both of those. The first one was one they'd supposedly never played live before, and featured three of them on acoustic guitars. They dedicated it to one of their crew members who was sick. The song was pretty boring. They're not the same without their sound effects. The second song was one of those ridiculously long building crescendo pieces that always annoy me for displaying the band's self-indulgence. Encores are extra, though. The rest of the show was very nice. It was most definitely worth the trip to New York to see it.

Bonus:

Gobbledigook lyrics and translation!

(thanks Shanie)

(also thanks to jen lemen for the picture)

smoke smoke smoke

2008-09-24T12:27:00.005-04:00

On Friday, I will have gone six months since quitting smoking cigarettes. I'd been smoking off and on for about 6-7 years. Camel Lights. I'm very pleased with myself. I haven't had ONE cigarette in that whole time. I intend to keep it that way for the rest of my life. I loved smoking, but the health risks are just too much. I knew that when I was smoking too, but I just told myself I'd quit soon, and I'd be alright. And then I did. I hope I'm alright. Before you read on, let me make clear that I definitely would discourage anyone from smoking, and I would encourage any smoker to quit as soon as possible. That being said...

Nobody needs to hear a diatribe against cigarettes. The scientific evidence is overwhelming, and we're beaten over the head with it every day. Yes, we get it, smoking is bad. What interests me right now is the fact that millions of people still smoke, even though they know damn well about the health consequences. From my own experience of quitting, I can confidently say that for some people, the addictive aspect of smoking is not why we do it. It wasn't that hard for me to quit once I decided to. Obviously, everyone has different levels of self discipline and is affected differently by chemicals.

But why did I smoke? It wasn't only nicotine addiction for me, and I doubt it's the entire reason for most smokers. And smokers are not all idiots or bad people. No more so than non-smokers. No one seems to want to admit it because of the huge backlash against smoking these days, but there actually are benefits to smoking. Certainly not health benefits, that I know of anyway. Social benefits, which, in the grand scheme of things, are just as important, aren't they?

Human beings don't exist merely to live as long as they can. At least some of us exist to experience life and its infinitely various pleasures. And smoking happens to be a pretty good tool for that in some ways.

First, there's the interpersonal factor. Being a smoker can get you into or out of a lot of conversations. Smokers share a bond, perhaps because they know they're partners in telling all their health conscious friends to go fuck themselves. There must be billions of conversations that have started as the result of asking a stranger for a cigarette or a light. Some of those conversations must have ended up in happy marriages and lifelong friendships. Smoking is almost as useful for getting out of conversations too. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten bored at a party or bar and was able to excuse myself to go out and have a cigarette. They're a useful tool for getting away with things you might've looked awkward doing otherwise.

Then, there's the fact that it breaks up the day. Going out for a smoke was often a time when I could take a step back and reflect on my day or my life in between the regular activities of life, especially work. It's a way to hit the pause button on the day so you can get a fresher start when you hit play again. For some people, this is a very important ritual to have. Looking forward to these breaks can be motivation to work harder to get to them. Of course, smoke breaks are probably just as often used for procrastination, but I look at that as a wash, because procrastinators will do anything to avoid their tasks for a while, not just smoke.

Also, although haters scoff at the notion of smoking being cool, it definitely is cool, to certain people anyway. It completes an image or persona in a way that few other things can. This may not make logical sense, but to say it's not real is to be in denial. I'd certainly been told by more than one girl that I looked sexy with a cigarette. Tell me that isn't a benefit!

It also tastes and smells good to some people. "Ew," some of you are probably thinking, but I bet you drink diet soda or eat liver or fruit-by-the-foot, to which I say to you, "Ew." Then there's the fact that cigarettes give you something to do with your hands and mouth, for those of us with uncontrollable oral and manual fixations. I fidget a lot, and it gives me a very subtle comfort to be doing something with my fingers. Smoke itself is also aesthetically pleasing. It looks cool when it blows around and changes the look of things, like clouds on a small scale.

The list could probably go on and on for a lot of people. As I said before, I'd hate to be misinterpreted as encouraging smoking in any way. I do not! All I'm trying to say is that unilaterally judging smokers as ignorant, disgusting addicts is too simplistic. We make progress through understanding problems. Understanding and validating certain aspects of smoking can help ingratiate you to someone you are encouraging to quit. Judging and repeating well-known facts usually won't do the trick. If you truly want to help someone, let go of your anger and establish a connection of understanding. Be a friend, not a judge.

Concert Review: Built to Spill at 9:30 Club - 9.23.08

2008-09-24T11:40:00.010-04:00

It's not everyday you get to hear one of your favorite albums played in its entirety. Yesterday was one of those days for me, and I rather enjoyed it.

I'll get to the rest of my comments on Built to Spill's performance of their 1997 masterpiece Perfect from Now On, but first a few words about the opener, the Meat Puppets. I was vaguely familiar with them as an early alternative band from the 80s or 90s. I'd forgotten that some of their songs were performed by Nirvana on the now-legendary MTV-Unplugged album. That was one of my favorite tracks on the album. Also, it turns out two of the Meat Puppets' members backed up Nirvana on a few of the tracks on that live record. So, the 9:30 Club crowd was treated to a performance by someone who was respected by a legend, but I don't think most people noticed or cared until they played "Plateau", which was the only song that anyone in the crowd sang along to (after I got there anyway, maybe midway through the set). Their performance was nothing special. Nineties-folk-country-alternative has not aged well. During one song, though, they brought out a cardboard cutout of our sitting president and ripped his head off. The crowd seemed to like that. It felt a little bit like the eve of the revolution.

When BTS front man Doug Martsch and his band mates (3 guitarists including DM, a bassist, a cellist, and a drummer) came on the stage, it was hard not to notice how out-of-style and outdated they appeared. Martsch wore a baggy orange t-shirt (with a picture of Kurt Vonnegut - that is cool) and baggy blue pants, and he was sloppily bearded and balding. He looked like somebody's unemployed, alcoholic, uncle. Bizarre.

Then they started playing the first familiar chords of "Randy Described Eternity", and everything made sense again. His innocent, high, pleasantly whiny voice sang out his insightful lyrics over intertwining guitar melodies:

Every thousand years, this metal sphere ten times the size of Jupiter floats a few yards past the Earth. You climb on your roof and take a swipe at it with a single feather; hit it once every thousand years. Til you've worn it down to the size of a pea. Yeah, I'd say that's a long time, but it's only half a blink in the place you're gonna be. Where you gonna be? Where will you spend eternity? I'm gonna be perfect from now on. I'm gonna be perfect starting now.

Gotta love those lyrics. The album is full of witty, ironic, deep lines. It's also full of excellent guitar-work and song-writing. And they played the whole damn thing. It was quite a treat. Perfect differs from other albums in that the songs are longer and more musically ambitious than their other more poppy albums (which are still very good). They were very faithful to the recording, except for a few missing guitar solos (most notably on "I Would Hurt a Fly"), which was a little disappointing. Otherwise, Martsch and company did exactly what they came to do: play a decade-old modern classic from beginning to end. The guitar melodies were crisp, the cello fills were rich, and Martch's singing got stronger as the night went on.

Their first encore was "Car", a fun little poppy track I really like from There's Nothing Wrong With Love. I was happy to hear it. I wish they'd just ended the show there, though. For their second encore, they played a song I wasn't familiar with, and don't care to be, since it went on for about 20 minutes of self-indulgent, boring "jamming" that I can do without. There were so many fake-me-out almost-endings to the song that I can't help but think they were playing a joke on us. Good one Doug. It didn't take away from the rest of the performance, though.

The show was great. Somehow, it didn't even sell out the 930 club, even though tickets went on sale months ago. What the hell? How does Vampire Weekend sell out two shows in December and Built to Spill not sell out one?! Anyway, if you ever have a chance to see them, please do. Martsch is an indie rock giant in my book. He'll spend eternity in rock heaven.

oodles of doodles

2008-09-23T15:06:00.006-04:00

song of the day - 9.23.08: department of eagles - romo goth

2008-09-23T14:43:00.003-04:00

Department of Eagles are such a fun band to listen to. They dabble in a lot of different styles of rock and electronic music, and even a little hip-hop, and they do it all shockingly well. These two former NYU roommates don't seem to have much of a following, but they're legit talents. The singer, Dan, is also in the slightly better-known group, Grizzly Bear. Romo Goth is a quick little foray into punk rock that feels more like it's by some dudes with spikey leather jackets and pink mohawks than a pair of indie-rock geeks. Looks like they have a new album coming out in October. Stay tuned.

Concert Review: Mos Def at the Kennedy Center - 9.21.08

2008-09-21T23:53:00.010-04:00

What? Mos Def the rapper? At the Kennedy Center? Yup, he seemed as surprised about it as you are (if you're surprised). OK, maybe he wasn't surprised. After all, he's a jack of all trades (rapper, singer, poet, actor, probably a bunch of other stuff), so why should it be a stretch that he performed on the same stage where Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zuckerman performed the night before? It's not. He nailed it. He's as awesome as I thought.

I have to admit, I'm not actually much of a fan of Mos Def, not because I don't like him, but because I don't end up listening to a whole lot of hip-hop. Amongst rappers, he's one of my favorites, though. But I don't have much knowledge of his songs, so, no there's no playlist here. The Kennedy Center's website previewed the the show thusly: "Artist Mos Def explores hip hop, jazz, and soul with his band, drawing from original compositions and material by Miles Davis, Beyoncé, James Brown, and Gil Scott-Heron, among others." Sadly, along with not knowing much Mos, I don't know much by these other artists either, so I'm not sure how much original stuff he played and how much of it was a rendition of an old (or new) classic.

All I can say is, Mos Def really puts on a show. He's talented and smart, hilariously charming, and genuinely sentimental. He had a band called "Amino Alkaline - The Watermelon Syndicate" backing him up. They consisted of piano/keys, guitar, drums, bass, an 8-man brass section, 10-woman string section, and a DJ in a pear tree. They had a projection screen showing old-timey photos, tributes to recently deceased heroes Isaac Hayes and Bernie Mac, as well as this awesome picture:

That shot got the crowd really excited. Including me. I mean, damn, what an awesome picture of an awesome moment in American history. Mos didn't shy away from political statements. He even sang his version of the national anthem, featuring a substitution of "and the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air" into almost every line of the song. It was funny and poignant, but it wasn't the musical highlight.

He and his band switched it up from jazz to hip hop to rock to spoken word to soul effortlessly, and didn't seem uncomfortable with any of them. Two of the covers I did recognize were Madvillain's "All Caps" and Radiohead's "Reckoner", which both did justice to the wonderful originals.

The venue just didn't seem right, though. People seemed to be uncomfortably wondering why everyone else wasn't getting up and dancing. The sound wasn't great, either. They couldn't seem to get very crisp amplification for the vocals, so his raps were muddled and incomprehensible unless you knew them already. Also, the Kennedy Center staff seemed overly eager to get the show over with. Toward the end, a blond woman who was clearly not associated with the band was quite obviously telling the musicians to pick up the pace. The show started at 7:00 on the dot and let out about two hours later, which, admittedly, with no opener, was a decent length for a show. But Mos and the crowd seemed like they wanted more. There's nothing wrong with the Kennedy Center keeping to a different set of procedures from the 930 club. The venue just seemed to make things a little bit stuffier than most Mos Def fans were probably comfortable with. Or maybe it was just me. Who knows? All I do know is that I saw a good freakin show.

Mix Tape Gripe

2008-09-17T23:29:00.007-04:00

So, if you know me at all or have scrolled down this page, you'll know that I'm very big into music. I find out about a lot of my music from searching the internet. Sites like metacritic, emusic, last.fm, pandora, and even amazon have broadened my musical horizons in a big way.

But a lot of the music I find out about, I've been introduced to by people I know. My favorite way of finding out about new (or new to me) music is from mixtapes (ok, mix cds, but tapes just sounds so much better). I'm constantly thinking about mixes I can create, often with a recipient or theme in mind. Introducing people to music is one of my favorite things to do--thus much of the content of this blog.

And I love getting mixes and devouring what another person considers the best of the best. Songs I fall in love with from mixtapes always have the extra sentimental pleasure of reminding me of whatever thoughtful fellow music-fiend was kind enough to make it for me. That is, unless I get a mix from someone I'd rather forget about. Then, however great the songs are, they come with a little side dish of pain.

And wouldn't you know it, a few months ago, I was given what I begrudgingly admit is one of the best mixes I've ever heard, only to be rejected by this mix-maker. I don't have any serious hard feelings or anything. I didn't know her that long or that well. It probably never would've worked out, but I did like her, and I still feel I was judged kind of unfairly. I'm ok with that kind of stuff though. Love hurts, etc.

The thing that really really annoys me, you see, is that she had such damn good music taste. She's given me all these songs to love for the rest of my life, which I appreciate, but damn it, I'll probably always associate those songs with her. A lot of the songs and bands I've raved about on this blog, she could take credit for introducing me to, and there are a lot more that I haven't referenced, out of spite. I'll probably sprinkle them in over time, so as to appear less enthusiastic about her taste, on the off-chance that she comes across this page (woops).

Songs that bring sad or painful associations are nothing new for me, and probably are familiar to a lot of people. Who among us hasn't had one of our favorite songs permanently attached to the memory of some ex-love or friend? I guess my gripe is that this pretty meaningless relationship is going to leave such a significant and permanent mark on my musical taste and memory. It annoys me greatly. Grrr.

song of the day - 9.17.08: jeff mangum - naomi (live at jittery joe's)

2008-09-17T15:23:00.004-04:00

I love music with innovative electronic sounds and high production quality as much as the next audiophile, but sometimes, all it takes to make a great recording is a man and his guitar at a coffee shop. Jeff Mangum, of Neutral Milk Hotel quasi-fame, lets it all out on this recording of "Naomi", a song that appears on NMH's first of two albums, On Avery Island. The show at Jittery Joe's was recorded as a live album called, appropriately, Live at Jittery Joe's. You can hear babies screaming, candid song introductions from Mangum, and audience interaction on the album between the stunning performances of songs from both of NMH's albums. How I wish I could have been there. I'd strongly recommend all of this album and both NMH albums to anyone, but this track is the best of the lot. I don't even usually like live recordings, but in this case, it works so well. On full display are his typically simple chord patterns strummed in accompaniment of his unique, raspy, dramatic voice. The lyrics are too bizarre to understand, but we can catch his drift with the raw emotion in his voice. Brilliant song. Brilliant performance. Enjoy.

song of the day - 9.16.08: toots & the maytals - 54-46 was my number

2008-09-16T09:20:00.005-04:00

Apparently, 54-46 refers to the prison tag number "Toots" had when he was jailed in Jamaica. He may or may not have been in there for ganja. Wikipedia has let me down on this one. One thing's for sure, though: this song is an absolute classic, one of the defining songs of reggae and early ska, and one of my favorite listens when I'm in a good mood (ok, that's 3 things). It's got great sing-along-ability and head-bob-ability. They used this song in the opening credits of This Is England, a movie I'd definitely recommend. The contrast between the light-heartedness of this song and the depressing footage of the Falklands War in this opening sequence had me sold on the movie from the very beginning. Anyway, check it out, and "Give it to me one time ... HUH!"

song of the day - 9.15.08: bob dylan - girl from north country fair

2008-09-15T09:27:00.005-04:00

It's my dad's birthday today, so in his honor, the song of the day comes from one of his favorite artists. I suppose I can credit both of my parents for instilling in me a love of music. It's the best gift I could've received. So, thanks, and happy birthday Dad.

"Girl from North Country Fair" is my favorite song by Dylan, and in fact, it's one of my favorite songs of all time by anybody. It's such a simple, perfect tune, and it tugs at my heart every time I hear it, the way few other songs can.

avalanche (a poem... or song lyrics?)

2008-09-15T01:00:00.004-04:00

[NOTE: I can't stand bad poetry. Hopefully, this isn't that bad, but I can't tell. I'm more nervous posting this than anything I've posted before, not because it's a particularly special poem to me, but because I don't want to be looked at as a dude that writes bad poetry.]

avalanche

the man wants a dollar and five

and to make sure i'm alive.

candy aisle avalance; fluorescent sun.

somebody call 9-1-1.

i'm fine. i'm fine.

that voice sounds like mine.

ten would've done; had twelve just in case.

can't stop til the brain is erased.

snickers spell your name.

buzz goes up in flames.

pounding skull can't distract;

can't forget the simple fact;

never enough; never could be.

no idea where you hid that key.

i'm great now, as you can tell.

you're good too? that's swell.

dream drawing - 6/2/08

2008-09-15T00:54:00.003-04:00

song of the day - 9.14.08: animal collective - who could win a rabbit

2008-09-15T00:38:00.007-04:00

Animal Collective give me hope for the future of music. They're definitely not for everyone, but they are amazing nonetheless. And they're from Baltimore. No point in trying to describe them or this song. Just listen.