I Left My Gripe In Seattle

The vehicle that is Blogspot is an interesting one because you can save posts as drafts, post other entries while saved ones sit in limbo, and when you finally find it ready to resurrect, they are backdated. Though they may have been completed latest, they appear as far back as the date and time when you first began composing the post. (It is, in fact, around 11:15pm EST on Wednesday, August 9th, and I'm not even going to bother figuring out how to modify the date/time on this thing.)

But my brain doesn't work that way, so the fact that I haven't posted anything since my first morning in Seattle has a thick finger pointing in the direction of Seattle's Blood Brothers. The five-piece didn't play the Capitol Hill Block Party, but they did open for the Murder City Devils' second consecutive night of playing. This performance, however, was at the Showbox theater downtown, and differed very much from the calamity of MCD's first night of their reunion.

My focus, for the moment, though, is on Blood Brothers. I'd mentioned here about how displeased I was...nay, fucking dis.ap.point.ed at their latest full-length and EP. I've ranted in both reviews about how betrayed I felt as a diehard fan who now crosses my arms and rolls my eyes in frustration. Not in pretension, but in the sentiment of being truly let down by a band that I - someone who's met editors crazy enough to publish my music criticism in various publications - toted as being THE next big thing. THE groundbreakers.

They're nothing but a joke, and their poor excuse for a live set at the Showbox on Sunday, July 30th in Seattle only furthered that feeling. Most of their set consisted of the new garbage they've put out, ignoring their first three full-lengths save an earlier b-side, "Pink Tarantulas." Ending with "Cecilia And The Silhouette Saloon," they drew the song out longer than they should have, varying the tempo and experimenting with the vocal styles. The pinnacle a capella point of "Where is love now?" mid-way through the song was a bastardization of both the recorded and previous live versions before they committed musical Crimes with their awful fourth full-length.

Later in the evening, when Spencer Moody of Murder City Devils was half-way through the set, he noted that the Blood Brothers have influenced them more than they've influenced the Blood Brothers. I'm going to take that as a kind and grateful gesture, being that the next five days that I spent in Seattle getting acquainted with friends of friends who were born and raised in the area and its music scene all informed me of one unanimous thing when it comes to the Blood Brothers: "Eh, I don't know, no one's really into them here - I think it's more of an East coast thing."

Maybe, but being a born and raised East coaster, they need to stop, backtrack, and notice where they've been going terribly wrong. The hole can't get any deeper from here.

SO! With that off of my chest, I hope to continue my regularly scheduled blogramming. Thanks for listening.

/rant

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Additionally, I spent the week with two real photographers. Before I plug them, take a look at my attempts of taking photographs...


The rose garden in Portland, Oregon - by far the cleanest city I've ever seen, awesome burritos (La Bonita), and two of the best alternative weeklies I've read (Wilamette Weekly & Portland Mercury)


Seattle was so awesome that I died and went to heaven. Or I just snuck a photo from my plane ride back to New York...


The sidewall mural of Oldschool Pizzeria in Olympia, WA - oh, and of COURSE we drove past Sleater-Kinney Rd while listening to youknowwhat! Also overheard in the car: "Hey! Is this where Courtney Love went to SKEWWWELLLL?! In Olym pee ya ya ya ya ya yaaaaa..."


And the plugs - music photographers to cream your pants to:
Justin Dylan Renney (host with the most)
Rachel Leah Woliansky (traveling amiga)


Oh yeah, and this too...

Voted greatest music store in the world by Colin Greenwood of Radiohead. Too bad I don't remember the name of it (it's in Ballard, though!)

Seattle Tonight: An Affair Of The Heart

So the posts will be slow this week, as I've marched onward to Seattle for the Capitol Hill Block Party with the full intention of seeing the Murder City Devils reunite in approximately twelve hours from now. My introduction to the band is memorable.



In November-or-so of 2002, I think, I was sent to cover a Sum 41 show at Irving Plaza in NYC. It bombed. It was godawful, and nothing like the very cool Sum 41 show I'd seen on a shitty, tiny Warped Tour stage in the summer of 2001. This was before the band was known, by any means really, in America, and were not completely bloated and full of themselves. The show was going terribly, and I was miserable, until my editor and photographer who had accompanied me said she wanted to go to the Bowery Ballroom to see the last NY performance of MCD - a band that was on the last leg of their last tour. Trusting her instincts, I followed.

It was total mayhem. We got there in time for the last half of the set, and I was completely blown away by the amount of people in the venue, on the stage, and going wild. Probably one of the best shows I'd ever seen in my life. My article on the Sum 41 shows smashed the band, and praised the Murder City Devils in the end for saving my night.

So tonight marks this (as I'm aware) one time reunion of the band. In a way, I hope they don't tour and reunite a la Lifetime etc., but I also know that it's going to be so fantastic (considering I've flown all the way across the country to see them in their hometown, no less) that I'll want a second helping.



Upon their break-up back then, the members went on to do some cool projects. Pretty Girls Make Graves and Modest Mouse acquired key members, and frontman/professional drunkark Spencer Moody went on to do the John & Spencer Booze Explosion cover project and Dead Low Tide (a short lived band that sounded like sub-par MCD minus Derek Fudesco when he went on to PGMG). Additionally, there is an official after party following the block party, in which Spencer will be DJing under some ridiculous pseudonym like DJ Fatty Tubs or something.

Moody became one of my quiet idols. After seeing their documentary "Rock N' Roll Won't Wait," - whereas my mother simply dismissed them as KISS wannabes - it was decided that he was insane and brilliant. The wreckless abandon in which Moody lead his crew on stage and in studio and in life was memorable to me. So tonight, we'll be in the same bar together, so maybe we'll get into a fistfight. Who knows.

So with that, I'm off. For those of you in New York, you should seek out Think About Life because they're coming down from Montreal to play a few shows. If you're in Boston, well, I don't know. Go make my bed.

Murder City Devils - "Midnight Service At The Mutter Museum"

Aronofsky Returns With His Third Writer/Director Piece - Yessssss.

Several days ago, the extended trailer for the newest film by Darren Aronofsky, The Fountain, was released, and it explains more about the story than both the former trailer (which was released sometime late last year) and the oversized Vertigo graphic novel (which bordered too much on the frenetic watercolor, aesthetically, and said squat about the script if you ask me). Having projects on his resume such as Pi and the Oscar-nominated, Hubert Selby Jr. novel-turned-film Requiem For A Dream as the director and sometimes writer, Aronofsky is one of the few names in film that I - someone who tries too hard to keep up with music that knowledge of any other facet of the entertainment industry is a laughable attempt - keep up with.



Additionally, Ellen Burstyn will be in this film again. She was phenomenal in Requiem, but got beat out for the Best Actress nominee by Julia Roberts for stupid Erin Brock-o-bitchwhatever.

Also, it was rumored that Brad Pitt was going to originally play the lead, but thank god he's not. Hugh Jackman will probably be a much better fit, even though I can't look at him without recalling his flamboyant gestures from Boy From Oz.

On the music side: I've heard Mogwai is joining Clint Mansell + Kronos Quartet in scoring the film. Sick.

Website: The Fountain
Quicktime Trailers: The Fountain

I Am Wasted I Am Ready

Fact: I am not wasted.

Fact: I fear over-sleep.

Nearing 3am, I'm still nerding up my sidebar code, and there has been no music aside from the hum of the unnecessary air conditioner for the last hour.



So much for going out and having a life...

In spirit of the great mindfuck that sleep deprivation and/or insomnia will have on you, here is a six and something-minute White Rose Movement remix that actually appears as being forty minutes long. Thanks a lot, bitrate. You goddamn jerk....

Audible: White Rose Movement - "Girls In The Back (Richard Clouston's cosey new beat mix)"

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Quick news: I'm going to Seattle and Portland for the first time next week. I'm headed out specifically for the Murder City Devils, who play the Capitol Hill Block Party on Saturday. Otherwise, it's visiting friends I haven't seen, renting a car with Rachel, and stopping off in New York for a quick return before rushing back to Boston to see Page France for the five millionth time.



God damn, I love that band.

Audible: Page France - "Jesus"

Beauty And The Beast

I love this and hate this. It both creeps me out and delights me. Thom Yorke's "Atoms For Peace" - from The Eraser, and my second-favorite song on said recently released solo record - with Kelly Clarkson's "Because Of You" vocals spread across like melted butter.



+



= this


Link taken from the wonderful musicisart. blog

No more leaky holes in your brain, and no false starts...Because of you I never strayed too far from the sidewalk

HOT! Pixies to release new DVD

I like the Pixies. A lot. Hearing them doesn't bring memories of adolescent past flooding back into my realm of thought, but I think they're important and good songwriters. I love them the way you love Sonic Youth, but I guess that kind of makes sense - they're all five hundred years old or so at this point.



loudQUIETloud is the name of the new Pixies DVD that's coming out on November 7th (just in time for...oh, nothing really), and will focus on the tensions and resolutions that the band went through around their big break-up in 1992 and unexpected reunion in 2004.

Trailer: loudQUIETloud

But of course, there will be music.

Tracklist is....
Where Is My Mind?
Hey
Here Comes Your Man
Umass
Caribou
Gouge Away
Nimrod's Son
In Heaven
Wave Of Mutilation
Something Against You
Bone Machine
Cactus
Vamos
Monkey Gone To Heaven
Iris

Website: http://www.loudquietloud.com

Oh! I'm Ready For It! C'mon Breeng Ehhhht

I am not sick of Snakes On A Plane jokes. Nor have I had my fill of hearing the new Cobra Starship song, "Snakes On A Plane (Bring It)." I think the movie is going to be classic (no one else could star in it BUT Samuel L.), and the song is going to be an interesting novelty in about six months. Kicking off deez muthafuckin' snakes on a muthafuckin' plane, the song launches into Midtown's Gabe (you know the super-crush from MTV's Real World) and several other unmentionable rock stars.



I saw this today, though, and I'm a little WTF. Yeah...WTF. You know what I'm saying here. And I mean below, not the photo above. (Ok, well, that too...)

A message from Gabe Saporta of Cobra Starship:

1, 2, 3, 4, who's punk what's the score.
I'm so punk rock that I walked away from a half-million dollar deal at a major label to sign for no money to Decaydance/Fueled By Ramen. And when I say a half-million dollars, I don't mean, a half-mil all-in including video budget, tour support, promotion, etc. I mean a half-mil besides all that--a half-million in cash. And when I say no money, I mean, pay for the recording and that's it. Nada. Can you imagine turning your back on all that money? I didn't even look at the FBR contract, I just signed on the dotted line and drew a peace sign. It was one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make, but like the Wolf says: in this business, success only come with control. This year Decaydance is takin' over.

I'm half "Nice job, Gabe" and half "Uhh, sorry, I'm fresh out of sympathy hugs right now *cough*" I mean, really, thanks for clarifying that you had to walk away from $500,000 of pocket money. I'm sure that was hard, but is that going to make me more intrigued about Samuel L?

I think not.

He does a fine job by himself. "Haven't you evah seeeeeeeeen [his] movies?!"

Whatever. Up the punx, Gabe. Wanna dumpster?

Bang Bang Drop N' Roll

Los Angeles-based Shiny Toy Guns may very well become a new obsession of mine within the next two or three weeks. Yeah, the approximation/predictive assumptions of mine are rather lame, but I've been listening to the Tommy Sunshine Brooklyn Fire Retouch of "Le Disko" for weeks now (on the treadmill and off). The track, as a remix, has been gaining recognizable favor in my brain, but it's been listened to exclusively on the shuffle, so I haven't pinned a name or face to the sound.


We want to fan your fire...

But now I can. And soon you will too. Act now and gain some cred (not the luddite kind), as their to-be-titled release is tentatively scheduled for October...

Audible: Shiny Toy Guns - "Le Disko"
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/shinytoyguns

P.S. Do not be fooled by the treadmill comment. I am not fit.

Where Is My Curly Fry?

I'm deleriously tired, but I have something to say...and with this one comment I will lose all respect from just about every friend with good music taste.



That new AFI album? Decemberunderground?...

I love it.

I. LOVE. IT.

So far? All of it. Every damn song. Especially the single, "Miss Murder." I gave it a rave review. I love this album to bits regardless of how tepid Sing The Sorrow was and how much I've missed "Through! Our Bleeding! We! Are One!"

I love everything about this album, including the stupid *beep*boop*beep* of the phone pad in "Summer Shudder."

So maybe it is "Fuck You Mom-core," as Boston's Weekly Dig so gracefully put it. I think they also referred to the albums twelve tracks as "shit covered AIDS nuggets"...something like that. Regardless, yeah. It's good. And I'm actually sad to: (a) be missing Warped Tour (b) have missed them when they headlined in Boston and (c) have walked off when they began their headlining set at this year's Bamboozle. I left to go talk to a drummer who is completely full of himself. Whatever.

Anyway, I had to come clean. Now I can rest easy, and wake up tomorrow ready to face the consequences...

heyyyyyy miss murder can iiiiiiiiiiii
heyyyyyy miss murder can iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
maaaaaaaake beauty stay if iiiiiii
take my liiiiiiiiiiiiiife

woah oh ohhhhhhhhh

Admit it, "The Missing Frame" = U2 for the Hot Topic generation

Website: http://www.afireinside.net

Keys To My Heart

You may or may not know that I have a soft spot for female musicians who rock the piano. Fortunately, I've branched off over the last few years from a decade of devout Tori Amos fandom, but certain artists draw me back in. Regina Spektor came close, but Sweden's Frida Hyvonen took first place.



Her new album, , has an innocent girl vibe in vocals, but a ferocious honesty in the lyrics that invoke Joni Mitchell and other classic ladies that carried a tune farther than we could ever imagine. Her single "You Never Get Me Right" is a great goodbye song to end off that mixtape for your soon-to-be-ex. They'll certainly get the message after this one.

Frida is making her rounds at select venues around the US, as she branches out from her Swedish homeland where she's already developed quite a fanbase in the last three years.

07.20 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church*
07.21 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom* (SOLD OUT)
07.22 Boston, MA - TT The Bear's Place*
07.23 Rochester, NY - Bug Jar*
07.24 Cleveland, OH - Beachland*
07.25 Cincinnati, OH - Southgate House*
07.26 Lawrence, KS - Bottleneck*
07.27 Des Moines, IA - Vaudeville Mews*
07.28 Minneapolis, MN - The Triple Rock*
07.29 Bloomington, IN - Second Story*%

*with Jens Lekman
%with Early Day Miners

Audible: Frida Hyvonen - "You Never Get Me Right"
Website: http://www.fridahyvonen.com

-----------------------------------------------

If you're not obsessed with the Frida track, then perhaps you should go visit Jens Lekman. Fall in love like how you did with Belle & Sebastian before they were cool. You're a straaaaaangerrr, Barcelooohhhh naaaaahhh...



Audible: Jens Lekman - "I Don't Know If She's Worth 900 KR"
Website: http://www.jenslekman.com

Advanced Warning: In Black And White

I particularly love coming across music that reminds me of the kind of punk-emo amalgam that thrived in the 1990s (i.e. Inside) before it turned into a verse-chorus-verse mainstream. Bands with demos, or nothing more than just their practice space recordings are always welcomed onto my stereo. "Thermocline" and "Air Of The City" brought me right back to that time and place. Boston's In Black And White are four guys who love their tofu buffalo wings, good beer, and their band. I'm sold.



The release of their full-length will be coming out sometime in September, after a patched together tour that will include ABC No Rio in New York. Their practice space sessions reminisce Cap 'n Jazz and The White Octave in the best of ways. I'm hoping that the new record will offer something new, but the nostalgia I get from their four tracks are enough to get me through the summer.

Myspace: In Black And White

Opa En Brasil!

It's bad enough that I slept on plans to go to see Diplo in Boston tonite, but sitting at home in my air-conditioned apartment eating chocolate I've come across the show's opener: Bondo De Role.


We're having fun...honest! See below if you don't believe us...

Pronounced "bonn-juh doo ho-lay," you could say it's an equation of 3 MCs + 2 DJs = 5 stars. Whereas "Solta O Frango" sounds like a cha-cha Psapp, "Melo Do Tabaco" is Kathleen Hannah a la Bikini Kill abandoning the English language against a turntable chop n' screw of Ugly Kid Joe's "Man In A Box."

Ugly Kid Joe! I could be at Great Scott right now and nostalgic about that stupid, Alice In Chains-wannabe band from the 90s that made my Beavis & Butt-head loving, 13 year old self swoon.

Don't even get me started on the AC/DC-meets-Salt n' Pepa magic on "Melo Do Vitiligo"...so good.

Do yourself a favor and go see them...for me:


...told you so!

7.19.06 Avalon, New York, NY
7.20.06 Warsaw, Brooklyn, NY
7.21.06 Mummers Museum, Philadelphia, PA
7.22.06 Sonar, Baltimore, MD
7.23.06 Black Cat, Washington, D.C.
7.24.06 Drunken Unicorn, Atlanta, GA
7.25.06 The Republic, New Orleans, LA
7.26.06 Warehouse Live, Houston, TX
7.27.06 The Parish, Austin, TX
7.28.06 Haileys, Denton, TX
7.29.06 The Granada Theatre, Lawrence, KS
7.30.06 Pitchfork Music Festival, Chicago, IL
7.31.06 Varsity Theater, Minneapolis, MN
8.2.06 Hi-Fi Calgary, AB, CANADA
8.4.06 Celebrities Nightclub, Vancouver, BC, CANADA
8.5.06 Neumos, Seattle, WA
8.6.06 The Nightlight Lounge, Bellingham, WA
8.7.06 Doug Fir Lounge, Portland, OR
8.10.06 Mezzanine, San Francisco, CA
8.11.06 Ex_Plx, Los Angeles, CA
8.12.06 Casbah, San Diego, CA

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/bondedorole

Out Of Ice

I won't give away which big, glossy publication this is, but I will say that this is, by far, the greatest out-of-office auto reply I've ever received in e-mail:

Subj: Out of Office

That said, I will be checking e-mail periodically. If you have an emergency, call *beep*. If *beep* doesn't pick up, dial *beep*. If *beep*'s away, you're in deep trouble. Both *beep* and *beep* are notoriously unreliable. Don't hold it against them. They didn't ask for any of this. It's their uncle's fault for stealing their Star Wars collectibles during a casual visit and hawking them on eBay back in 2002. Everything's been weird since. Life's hard, but you knew that.

Oh, and quickly, during my trip from Boston to New York and back over the weekend, I really (still) could not stop listening to The Field's new EP, Sun & Ice...particularly "Over The Ice."



(Lest we forget that The Field is a moniker for Axel Willner...Axel. A name like that means you should give it a go.)

Buy it: Boomkat
Read about it: Resonator
Audible: The Field - "Thought Vs. Action" (this is from their other release Things Keep Falling Down...I'm going to be a total asshole and state that if you don't like this song, then you just don't get it...yet...so LISTEN!)

*beep*

I Love You But I've Chosen French Fries

Wait wait wait! It's Monday morning, I'm nearing the end of my venti iced coffee from Starbucks (go ahead, say it...my Scion's parked around the corner too), and before I actually start doing the job that pays my bills, I have to let you...yes you...Boston and beyond that Mr. Lif is doing a remix contest.



I love you but I've chosen copy-and-paste:

Mr. Lif remix contest! Remix "The Fries" for your chance to win a Gemini CDT-05 Hybrid Turntable!

Definitive Jux Records, Gemini, Sandbox Automatic and IndieVirus bring you the official MR. LIF “THE FRIES” REMIX CONTEST. Download the acapella for “The Fries,”cook up a dope, original remix, and you could win a brand-spanking new Gemini CDT-05 Hybrid Turntable, a $100 gift certificate to Sandbox Automatic, one of five autographed, limited edition 7” vinyl “The Fries” singles from Def Jux, and more. Download the vocals below and get to work. ALL ENTRIES MUST BE RECEIVED BY JULY 31st. See below for more information on prizes, rules and submission details. See submission guidelines below.

FIRST PRIZE:
1. One (1) Gemini CDT-05 Hybrid Turntable
2. Featured download on Definitive Jux and IndieVirus websites

SECOND PRIZE:
$100 gift certificate to Sandbox Automatic

RUNNER-UP (FIVE WINNERS):
Autographed, limited edition 7” vinyl “The Fries” single

Click here for official rules + a downloadable a capella version of "The Fries."


I suddenly want french fries...

I Love You But I've Chosen I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness

ILYBICD...what an acronym that makes. I think it's obvious enough that the love for brooding synths, thick bass lines, and sigh-laden vocals are alive as well. Remember that band, what were they called...The Curious Division? The Joyous Cure? Well, I can't remember now, but I'm sure they'd be proud...



Austin's I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness is probably carrying the moody torch around with the best idea in mind. It's been easier to love this Austin-based band - who've actually been around for some five years now (and include production of Spoon's Britt Daniel...makes sense) - if you're an ex-goth still trying to make it by in the prevailing indie rock scene.

So so good.

Audible: I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness - "According To Plan"
Website: I Love You But I've Chosen To Call My Website, Simply, ChosenDarkness.com

Stuff Yawn?

Sufjan. I just don't understand. The people I associate with either:
1. talk of him obsessively, but make fun of him to no end
2. have never heard of him
3. have heard all about him but never heard his music
4. own his music like its a give-in, but never mention his name and respond to inquiries of their opinion on his music with an average of, "eh...it's good."

I don't know where I fit in, and now Mr. Stevens is about to release another record about another state and go on another tour. The indie rockerati is creaming in their tight jeans, and I'm still listening to Page France and A Silver Mt. Zion going "Wha happen'd?"

Well, as I said, he's touring again. Go:

Mon. Sept. 11: Nashville, TN, Ryman
Fri. Sept. 15: Austin, TX, Paramount Theater
Sat. Sept. 16: Austin, TX, Paramount Theater
Tue. Sept. 19: New Orleans, LA, House of Blues
Weds. Sept. 20: Atlanta, GA, Fox Theater (PASTE Fest)
Thu. Sept. 21: Chapel Hill, NC, Memorial Hall
Sat. Sept. 23: Indianapolis, IN, Egyptian Theater
Sun. Sept. 24: St. Louis, MO, The Pageant
Mon. Sept. 25: Milwaukee, WI, Pabst Theater
Tue. Sept. 26: Chicago, IL, The Riviera
Thu. Sept. 28: Philadelphia, PA, The Towers
Fri. Sept. 29: New York, NY, Town Hall
Sat. Sept. 30: New York, NY, Town Hall
Mon. Oct. 9: Los Angeles, CA, The Wiltern
Weds. Oct. 11: San Francisco, CA, Zellerbach Hall
Fri. Oct. 13: Portland, OR, Crystal Ballroom
Sat. Oct. 14: Vancouver, BC, St. Andrews Cathedral
Sun. Oct. 15: Seattle, WA, Paramount

P.S. Does he really love "teh Jesus" that much?

P.P.S. Yeah, I know...I'm just not getting it. Someday...

Crimes Still A Crime

It's no pun to say that it breaks my heart to finally bear this one-woman listening party of the latest EP from Blood Brothers. Taken from their last full-length, Crimes, which I gloriously bashed in an old issue of Ghettoblaster, "Love Rhymes With Hideous Car Wreck," has been extracted from that awful album and turned into an EP ("to hold us over until the next album," says the press release). "Ladies And Gentlemen" makes my chest well up, and my tear ducts begin to spasm out a bit. Can I even make it through all seven tracks?


photo by the very talented Rachel Leah

Please don't misunderstand - I want to love this record. Blood Brothers are a band that were near and dear to my heart. By far the only band to ever cause me to completely lose my shit in the pit. Every show they played in New York was a therapy session for me, evoking all of my demons, and happily mixing them with everyone else's sweat. It was on the floor of a Blood Brothers show that I'd understand.

That all ended after 2003's Burn Piano Island, Burn. One of the best albums I've ever heard, I couldn't imagine them getting any better. I was right.

Please, guys. Please let this be one big joke...

That is a pretty nifty little job with the mandolin in "Metronomes," but that's probably because I'm Greek, you know...

http://www.deargodwhydothebloodbrotherssucksomuchnow.com