give up to the good life

Annual Report

2008-01-22T09:29:00.001-06:00

This site is scary and beautiful.

The 2007 Feltron Annual Report is a well done report on the authors year.

And absolutely riveting.

I like the disclaimer on the drinks section: "Please note: Due to the vagaries of the author's recollection while consuming alcohol, several drinks may have gone unrecorded."

Can't Have Nothin' Nice

2008-01-11T12:34:00.000-06:00

Of Course, the wife and I bought a shiny new '08 Rav4 to carry our precious daughter and all the precious equipment that she requires (Stroller, Pack-n-play, etc.) to wherever we need to go as happy little family. So Dad, in rushing to daycare to pick up said precious cargo, got in an accident and now that shiny red paint is scratched and the smooth straight line of the driver's side is interrupted by an evil wound. It's still drivable and luckily my daughter wasn't in the car yet, so it could have been worse, but damn the luck!

No Time for Plots

2008-01-09T20:47:00.000-06:00

As I've found myself going out a lot less this year, I have to admit to watching a ton more TV. Most of it bad, most of it just a way to zone out and not think about anything. One of my favorite shows I've discovered is No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain. It does fall into the realm of mindless TV. It is mostly just him traveling to places near and far, drinking (alot), eating (weird stuff) and exploring the underground of a particular city. The hook is that he kind of the anti-travel-show travel-show.

He has written several books including the lauded Kitchen Confidential.

There is an interesting interview with him in The Onion.

In this interview he talks about writing fiction and he says,

"Things I can't say in non-fiction, I can say in fiction. But there's that damn plot thing. I really resent plot. I like creating characters and environments. That's really fun for me. But having to create a story arc is something I have always resented."

And here is where I get to my point, a few weeks ago, listening to MPR, I heard an interview with Nora Ephron where she says dissmisively that she can't watch a lot of TV because she like "stories," that she likes "plots." It had a lot to do with the way she said it, but it just seemed like the most arrogant thing to say. As if she were above anything that was just mindless fun, and that the people who might enjoy an hour of watching somebody get drunk and be a smartass are base and incapable of creating art.

Xmas Spectacular 2007 Pt. 2

2008-01-07T12:09:00.000-06:00

Part One is here.

7. Dress Blues – Jason Isbell

This is a devastating song about losing a friend in the war. Every couplet is like its own poignant vignette of the way loss affects people. “Now the high school gymnasium's ready/ full of flowers and old legionnaires/ Nobody showed up to protest/ just sniffle and stare

“But there's red, white, and blue in the rafters/ and there's silent old men from the corps/ What did they say when they shipped you away/ to fight somebody's Hollywood war?”

8. Chemicals Collide – Cloud Cult

This album, The Meaning of 8, hit me hard this year. The theme of loving and losing a child, and the vivid descriptions of a child’s carefree life resonated intensely to me. Becoming a parent this year, I can’t imagine not filtering the contents of this album through that lens. This CD was in my car when my daughter was born and I remember listening to it on my way to the hospital one morning when my daughter was just a few days old. It struck me dumb, as I spent that week in a daze, listening to lines like, “These days it’s hard to tell what’s outside from what’s in my mind.”

9. All The Stars – The Evening Rig

Jason Miller’s former band, The Crush, was one of my favorites when they were around. Reemerging after the demise of that band, The Evening Rig touches on the same topics of heartbreak, longing and regret. The sound is a bit different though, and while people may disagree with my comparison to the Drive by Truckers, I still see them going in that direction.

10. Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight) – The Ramones

The obligatory Christmas song on my CD. Not the greatest song, but I think it works.

11. Bus12 – The Umbrella Sequence

This came of the underrated record, Events. I just love the part where the music drops out and the last syllable of the word “Possibly” sails up and bridges the gap until the electronic-pop music starts again. This whole song is worth it for me just for those five seconds.

12. John Allyn Smith Sails – Okkervil River

Just as I knew that Mouthful of Bees would open this mix CD, I knew this Okkervil River song would close the CD. Wonderfully literate and clever, this dark song touching on John Berryman’s plunge towards the Mississippi cops a riff from the Beach Boys’ “Sloop John B.” Will Sheff’s voice gives me the chills. I think a lot about singers and whether they are really giving it their all, I don’t think there is any doubt that Sheff means what he says.

previous spectaculars: 2006 2005

Xmas Spectacular 2007

2008-01-04T18:05:00.000-06:00

Here is the first half of my Xmas Spectacular for 2007. This isn't really a best-of kind of list, it's just a bunch of songs that I thought sounded good together and wanted to share with my friends.

1. The Now – Mouthful of Bees

I knew from the moment I heard this song, the first track on my mix CD would belong to this group of youngsters. A frenetic, warbling, lo-fi song filled with a propulsive drum beat and guitar hooks to make Doug Martsch jealous.

2. Diggin’ on You – Stook!

I don’t know if this is the best song on Stook’s newest record, When the Need hit the Wax. The whole album is great with tracks like “Lovesick Firecracker” and “Hennepin Avenue” traversing the heart-on-sleeve lyrics of Stook and the musicality of The Band. What I do know is that driving home after a bad day at work, there is nothing to make you feel better than screaming along with the lines, “Hey, Hey, Baby, Baby/ Don’t you know you drive me crazy.”

3. Trampolining – Ice Palace

I was racking my brain, thinking off all the bands we covered in the HWTS podcasts this year. This is one that I kind of forgot about, but listening to it again, I have to say this is just catchy-as-hell pop song. And that is pretty much all I know about Ice Palace, except that their album, Bright Leaf Left, came out on Darren Jackson’s (Kid Dakota) label, Speakerphone Records.

4. Soulful Automatic – Little Man

Last year, when Duplomacy’s album, All These Long Drives, came out, I told people it would be in everybody’s year-end best-of list. They made it to mine, but not many other peoples. I said the same thing this year when Little Man’s album came out. It’s definitely on my list, and I’ve seen it on a few others. A classic-rock infused record, the songs are just plain good, and that’ll get me every time.

5. The National Side – Romantica

I was a big fan of Romantica’s first album; It’s Your Weakness that I Want. When I first heard the new album, America, I was a little disappointed. I think I was in the minority on that one. It took me a few listens to understand what was different. Romantica’s first album was a bit more eclectic, in my opinion. America is more focused and given time, I now realize that the songwriting is better, it’s just that the little R&B flourishes of the first album are abandoned for a pretty straightforward roots rock sound.

6. Clifton Bridge – Mark Olson

I haven’t always been a fan of Olson’s work outside of the Jayhawks. The Creekdippers seemed a bit too hippie for me. This album, however, features Olson’s intimate and fragile songwriting without a lot of pretext. This is what I love about music—the artist laying his or her feeling out on the table and saying, “have at it.” This song has nothing to do with the 35W Bridge, of course, but after that tragedy, this song certainly took on a deeper meaning to me.

Here are some previous spectaculars: 2006 2005

Part two is here.

Almost made it(s)

2008-01-04T11:49:00.000-06:00

Every year I make a mixCD for my friends around Christmas time. I am going to post the songs that made the cut soon, but here are a few that were in the running, but just didn't make the final cut.

Dan Israel - Triangle
Matthew Ryan - Blackbird
His Mischief - Rock Song (Hyperopia)
Cloud Cult - Pretty Voice

...And this

2008-01-03T22:28:00.000-06:00

While I was searching youtube for that maddening clip below, I found this human Tetris video. I think my favorite part is the sound effects.

Baby, Baby Let me Get Away From Meatloaf

2008-01-03T21:58:00.000-06:00

My wife is an admitted HGTV addict. Therefore my exposure to shows like Househunters and Design on Dime is more than I would care to admit. Lately, HGTV has been airing this commercial for a new show called Sleep on It.

The commercial spoofs Meatloaf's "Paradise by the Dashboard Lights." The problem with all of this is that the songs just gets stuck in my head. I wake up in the middle of the night with that song playing in my head. Driving to work, I'm singing, "Let me sleep on it/ Baby, Baby, Let me sleep on it." Please, Please, someone make it stop...

Top 89 of 2007

2008-01-02T20:33:00.000-06:00

I thought that there would be more local music on The Current’s top 89 songs of 2007. Six out of 89 is not a very good showing; I don’t think that necessarily reflects the quality of local music in the past year, but the quality of voters in the poll. The highest ranking artist is Brother Ali, which is no surprise, but I thought that he and Cloud Cult would crack the top 20, at least.

20. Brother Ali – The Undisputed Truth
22. Cloud Cult – The Meaning of 8
27. Dan Wilson – Free Life
42. Low – Drums and Guns
69. Prince – Planet Earth
79. The Alarmists – The Ghost and the Hired Gun

I did vote in the poll, but I can’t remember what I picked exactly. Locally, I know that I picked Brother Ali and Cloud Cult. I also picked Romantica, The Glad Version and Dan Israel. There were two artists that were not on the ballot, surprisingly, but I wrote them in anyway. They were Little Man and Stook. Some of the national acts I chose were Wilco and Okkervil River.

Places

2007-10-26T09:10:00.000-05:00

Places where my dog has thrown up in the past two days:

1. Dining Room
2. Kitchen
3. Back Steps
4. Living Room
5. Kitchen

Things #2

2007-10-25T09:17:00.000-05:00

Things that I say I could do without (but secretly, either because of obligation or the fact that I secretly like this thing or that I secretly enjoy hating this thing, I really could not do without).

1. The New York Yankees
2. My Job
3. McDonalds
4. ABBA
5. Washing Dishes

Things

2007-10-23T22:24:00.000-05:00

Things I could do without

1. Ann Coulter
2. Rush Hour Traffic
3. The new Rilo Kiley album
4. Tim McCarver and Joe Buck talking about baseball
5. The real estate market that, thus far, has not allowed me to sell my house

Salvation Blues

2007-08-17T13:07:00.000-05:00

It's Mark Olson weekend pretty much...
Unfortunately, for me, I have to go to Portage, WI for a wedding tomorrow, so I will miss his show at the 400 Bar. His new album is incredibly good. I talked about it in the HWTS podcast that came out last week, which you can listen to here.

Tony Thomas has an interview today with Mark Olson, which you can listen to here.

Olson is also playing at the fetus tomorrow at noon or at 2:00, depending on who you listen to.

I guessed and started the rumor that Olson would have some "special" guests with him and Olson himself, in his interview with Tony Thomas, intimated the same. Should be a brilliant show.

Happy Birthday

2007-08-17T10:51:00.001-05:00

My friend, Jen is having a birthday bash with some great bands. You should really go...

2007-08-11T15:11:00.000-05:00

My bridge story is like most people’s: not really about the bridge, but more about me. My sister-in-law called my wife to tell her to turn on the television. I was in the other room leaving a message for a friend whose dog had just died (a sad country song of a story in itself). “A bridge on 35W collapsed,” my wife said.

I thought first of the Diamond Lake Road overpass that they tore down a few months ago. I thought it must be an overpass somewhere that fell down—tragic, but relatively minor. I was wrong.

As I watched the news and listened to MPR constantly for the next few days, I couldn’t shake that helpless feeling. Like someone punched you in the stomach. I kept watching and listening, never really hearing anything new, but unable to turn away. I kept seeing this tangles mass of steel and concrete, splintered up towards the sky and swimming in the brown muck of the Mississippi. I couldn’t turn away. It looked to me like a movie, something not real, something that couldn’t happen a few miles from my house, something that doesn’t happen in Minnesota.

As I watched, my mind began to work in the exhaustive way it works—creating dark fantasies of myself driving over that bridge. What would I do?

Each day after work, I pick up my daughter from day care and drive her across town to our house in North Minneapolis. Each day I drive over bridges, past lakes and alongside that mighty river. I kept imagining myself with my daughter strapped into her Graco in the backseat, trying to get to her, underwater or teetering on the edge of a concrete cliff. These dark fantasies haunted me constantly. What would I do? How can I stand it? How can I protect this little, beautiful person? I didn’t want to tell my wife about these haunting thoughts, but I had to eventually, I couldn’t keep it to myself. I said plainly, “I keep thinking about being on the bridge with her. What if I had to save her, or worse yet, what if I couldn’t?”

“I know,” is all she said.

I think she knew, but I couldn’t really tell her what I meant. I couldn’t verbalize the twisted thoughts that were in my head. I couldn’t say them out loud.

Again, I kept looking at those images of the bridge. I couldn’t believe it was real.

I went out the Friday after the collapse to the 331 Club to see JG and Mary Everest. I was there by myself and I was enjoying the music, for the first part of the night, it was therapy to unnerve myself from the bridge and my nightmares. About 12:30 though, I found myself staring at the floor, daydreaming about that bridge. It was consuming me again, I knew it was right down the street and I knew that I had to go see it.

I drive down University to where the avenue intersects the interstate and I slowed and looked to my right. Powerful lights lighted the whole span and I could see a section of bridge tilted up towards downtown like a giant concrete launch ramp. I could see nothing beyond that, the road just dropped out of sight.

I drove home not feeling better, I sat on my couch and listened, through my headphones, to Cloud Cult’s The Meaning of 8. There are so many songs on that album about a parent and child separated by tragedy. It was just the kind of wallowing torture I needed. I stared blankly at the wall as I sat on my couch listening.

When I woke up the next morning, I felt better. The fantasies stopped. I still felt heartbroken and helpless, but I felt better. I think maybe my bridge story is still happening…

New Spins for the Old Drunk

2007-06-06T08:41:00.000-05:00

I may have embarrassed myself at the Spins last night.

Me: I don't know if this means I have a drinking problem, but if I have one beer then I just want like twelve more.
Alexa: That sounds like a drinking problem to me.
Me: Oh.

Anyway, here is what I spun at the Spins:

Gray - Heartless Bastards
New Drink for the Old Drunk - Crooked Fingers
Across The Line - Scott Miller and the Commonwealth
Trouble Doll - Matthew Ryan
Charango (Isla Negra) - The Dad in Common
Sangre de Stephanie - Lifter Puller
Sound System - Operation Ivy
Quarter-Life Crisis - The Cardinal Sin

Last Week and Next Week

2007-06-04T16:03:00.000-05:00

My Dinosaur Jr review is up over at HWTS.

What I didn't mention is that the friend who went with me to this show was the same sidekick for the last Dinosaur Jr show I saw ten years ago. The Boathouse, where we saw that show, has shut down now. Norfolk has a new venue called the Norva. I've never been there, but I can tell you the boathouse was kind of a weird place. It was actually on stilts on the water--an actual boathouse. During shows that were not 21plus they would put up a rail running perpendicular to the stage and they called one half the beer garden. When shows would get crazy the bouncers would be stationed along this rail and as kids tried to crowd surf or jump over the rail, the bouncers would pummel them.

Next Saturday come celebrate five years of internet goodness. The HowWasTheShow.com five-year anniversary party.

Saturday June 9 at the Turf Club. 9pm

First Communion Afterparty
The Slats
Jeremy Messersmith
Mouthful of Bees
Estate

Lullabye

2007-05-21T10:56:00.000-05:00

If you want your heart to break because of a beautiful lonesome song, then go here and listen to lullabye.

Alison played this song at the hoot this past Friday and it absolutely floored me.

Take a Look at my Girlfriend

2007-05-14T08:43:00.000-05:00

I stopped at garage sale in Northeast Mpls this past weekend and found this little nugget of vinyl goodness. Supertramp's Breakfast in America. I remember listening to this album a lot when I was a kid. I had it on a cassette tape and I just loved staring at the album cover with the city made out of breakfast cereal boxes and dished and cutlery. And "Libby" posing as a service industry statue of liberty. The music is good too. Released in 1979, this album is full of straightforward seventies rock. I've listened to the record about five times since Saturday afternoon.

The Spins Have Hit Glass

2007-05-13T21:06:00.000-05:00

I want to have some more to say from now on, but at this moment I wanted to post my setlist from the Spins this past Saturday. The Spins is an event hosted by HowWasTheShow.com where the writers and editors basically make mix CDs to play while they drink $3.00 mystery beers with whomever shows up. It happens every other Tuesday at the Nomad World Pub. The next version happens May 22.

1. Hayden - "The Hazards of Sitting Beneath Palm Trees"
2. Cloud Cult - "Chemicals Collide"
3. Brian Just - "Duluth"
4. Guided by Voices - "The Bride Have Hit Glass"
5. Story of the Sea - "Bubble Gum"
6. Matthew Ryan - "BabyBird"
7. Archers of Loaf - "South Carolina"
8. Lifter Puller - "Secret Santa Cruz"
9. P.O.S. - "De La Souls"
10. Lucero - "Bikeriders"
11. The Rockford Mules - "Crooked Tooth"
12. Self-Evident - "Automatic Lewis"
13. Dinosaur Jr. - "Sludgefeast"
14. Best Friends Forever - "The Loneliness Song"
15. Faces - "Ooh La La"
16. Alpha Consumer - "The Son of the C.E.O. of Rubbersuit Co."
17. Brother Ali - "Forest Whitiker"

Whew!

2007-05-11T11:53:00.000-05:00

It's been awhile. A lot has happened in the weeks since I last spilled my guts all over the internet.

I finally graduated from college. What does that mean for my future, I don't know. One of the outlets I had for writing has collapsed. It's not like I was making any money so maybe this will force me to get out there and sell myself to publications that pay their writers.

We had someone that really liked our house, but then decided not to buy it, but then thought maybe, but then decided to wait, but then put an offer on a different house.

But really what has happened since I last spilled my guts all over the internet is that a beautiful brown-haired little girl has entered my life and my heart and she just makes me go all soft inside. My little daughter, Penelope just totally rocks. That is why I have been away. The thing is that I really do miss going out to shows, hanging out with friends and drinking beer into the small hours of the morning. I do miss that. But when I am at home with P, I realize that is where I really want to be. When I am with her, I don't want to be anywhere else.

There, take that internet, my guts are running through your spidery little veins now!

Baby, Baby, Baby, Oh Baby (No Baby Yet)

2007-03-14T09:40:00.000-05:00

I am a worrier.

I get worked up; nervous and anxious about things. I burst at the seams when faced with simple things like: going to interview somebody, calling somebody on the phone, meeting people, going someplace new.

My palms get sweaty. My heart goes flutter-flutter. I can't sit still. My thoughts get all scattered and I just think and think about whatever kind of fantasies I can come up with about the way things are going to go wrong.

So if I get all goofy about calling my bank, imagine just how insane-out-of-my-head I am waiting for my baby to arrive. I can't focus on anything; work, school or writing. My wife is due in five days and has been having sporadic contractions for about a week now. Everyday I wake up and say, "Is this the day?" Don't get me wrong though, I am super excited about this. I just am not good at waiting.

I was going to do a Top5 in honor of my impending fatherhood, but all the songs I could think of or find that had something to do with "baby" were about the kind of "baby" that left you alone, or hit the bottle, or hit the needle, or died in a horrible car wreck. I don't really want to associate those things with my baby.

So I give you these things:
Some of the How Was The Show staff did a podcast for the excellent MinneapolisCast run by Tony Thomas. Andrea Myers, David de Young, Jennifer Paulson, Pat O'Brien and myself contributed and you can listen to it here. (I just realized that the song I reviewed. "Don't Take My Baby To War" has the word baby in it. Coincidence?)

Also, Chris at Culture Bully did an interview with Andrea and me about the local music scene and you can find that here.

They're Still Racing Out at The Trestles

2007-02-15T09:33:00.000-06:00

(Update: Jinx! Andrea totally blogged about The Cates today also. This will give people more reason to believe in the HWTS mafia. I swear it was innocent and we were not commiserating about our intentions. Her post is better than mine so go read it.)

I’ve been thinking about cover songs lately. Normally, if a band plays a cover I don’t get all that excited about it. That is unless they are able to do something special with it. I am not talking about Hairball or Boogie Wonderland type bands here. I mean bands that have a little shame about their covers. These thoughts have been buzzing around the back of my brain for a few weeks now, but last weekend something happened that made the buzzing consume my brain. I’ll get to that in a second though. The Cates - photo by David de Young

My house is on the market and I packed up most of my CDs and put them in storage. So most of my music (except for about 30 CDs that I just couldn’t stand to put away) are in boxes in the dark corner of a storage unit in North Minneapolis. My main repository for music is now my little green iPod.

Last weekend I found The Cates for the first time. Brilliant, aching vocals by these two women whose melancholy songs are tinged with just enough optimism beneath the surface to not feel suffocating, but are still sad enough to go perfect with a dim room and a bottle of wine. They played an amazing version of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.”

When the song started I thought, “Oh. This is a funny little song, this might be good.” But they weren’t going for a funny little song vibe, they sang that ‘80s pop song with as much soul as I think Lauper could ever imagine. It was then that it hit me what makes a great cover song. The lack of irony.

I’m sure lots of bands have covered “Girls…” or “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” or something along those lines with a tongue-in-cheek kind of hubris. A cue to the audience not to take this too seriously. But the best cover songs are the ones that say, “Listen fucker. I didn’t write this song, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t come from my gut. I am dead serious about this and you are going to feel it!”

I was looking through my iPod to find some kick ass cover songs, but I couldn’t find that many that had the qualities that made me love The Cates so much.

I am sure there are much more out there, but the only one I really found was Bruce Springsteen’s “Darkness on the Edge of Town,” covered by The Winter Blanket.

I am on a mission to find some more. And I will be checking out The Cates again. For sure.

(You can listen to Girls Just Wanna Have Fun on The Cates myspace page.)

I Thought Dinosaurs Were Extinct

2007-01-25T09:33:00.000-06:00

If I had to choose one favorite band of all time, that band would be Dinosaur Jr. Pitchfork has a story about how the reunited band is set to release a new album. I feel underwhelmed. I wish I was more excited, but I just feel like this is going to be a J Mascis wankfest - much like Mascis' solo work.

I guess I'll see. I'm sure I'll buy the album when it comes out because I am loyal.

Maybe I'll have to amend my gun-to-the-head admonition. I'll say, Dinosaur Jr. of the twentieth century is my favorite band of all time.

Top5 - HowWasTheShow-versary Edition

2007-01-22T09:17:00.000-06:00

I haven’t done one of these Top5s in a while. I used to do one a week, but as it went on the songs were less of what I was really into and more of whatever came up on my iPod when it was on shuffle. I thought of a good reason to write a new Top5 though. I started writing for HowWasTheShow just about a year ago and these are bands that I probably wouldn’t have given much thought to if I hadn’t gone to review them. In working for HWTS I am always looking for new bands that haven’t been covered a million times and that is a really rewarding aspect of music writing.

Eyeliner Blues – High on Stress

The first review I wrote for HowWasTheShow was of High on Stress. I really do dig the down to earth style of song writing the guys have. I am looking forward to a new album this year hopefully.

Cold Rusty Shiver – The Rockford Mules

These guys totally kicked my ass the first time I saw them. I gushed to the guitar player afterwards that they should be famous.

Shall We Laugh – The Dad in Common

The thing I love about covering live music is that on any given night you can be totally blown away by the unexpected. The Dad in Common’s recorded stuff is decent, but the performance at their CD Release show was unbridled craziness. It was a whirlwind of psychedelic gypsy gospel soul.

Last Resort – The Winter Blanket

I kind of knew The Winter Blanket before I started writing for HWTS, but covering them a couple times really cemented my love for them. I actually went to review them at the Triple Rock the same night I covered Mi and Lau. There was hardly anybody there and Stephanie Davila and Doug Miller played as a Duo. It was the first time I had seen them and I didn’t really know what to think. Looking back on it now, it was a laid back easy affair. Miller and Davila knew that with the audience barely reaching double-digits, they could be playful, like they were playing in their living room.

Bubblegum – Story of the Sea

I probably would have stumbled on to Story of the Sea without HWTS if only because I am constantly amazed at Ian Prince’s drumming. The band has such a rich sound for only a three-piece.

Aviette in the Pulse

2007-01-11T08:37:00.000-06:00

My first article for Pulse of the Twin Cities appeared yesterday. I wrote about Aviette.

Check it out.

Album of the Year

2007-01-05T08:49:00.000-06:00

I was lucky enough to have my opinions solicited by Chris R. from the Star Tribune for his critic's best-of-list this year. Of course all those opinions are rendered pointless now because between the time I submitted my choices and the end of the year, I purchased the Roma Di Luna album, The Face of My Friends.

If I could change my picks, this would be my album of the year. A folk duo that captures with the perfect blend of haunting vocals, barely-there guitar and occasional fits of fiddle, they capture an ethereal moment in time of a strictly American style of music.

The song "Don't Take My Baby to War" would be my song of the year. The best anti-war song I've heard in a long time.

Don't take my baby
Don't take my love
Don't take my baby

Gather your men around there's a draft coming to town
Leave tonight or else you better bury them underground
Don't take my baby to war

Choke on the oil you need/ to power that engine of sin
If you believe in these battles/ then why aren't you out there with them?

He has kissed me goodbye
He has no fear of giving his life
But I carved my heart in his hand
So when they find him they'll know he's mine
Don't take my baby to war

Don't take my baby
Don't take my love
Don't take my baby to war

Catch Roma Di Luna January 10th at Barbette.

Xmas 06

2006-12-22T09:35:00.000-06:00

Time for “Bob Longmore’s Xmas Spectacular 2006.” This is in no way a year-end best of list. It is a collection of songs that I put together for friends to enjoy. These are songs that I came to enjoy this year and I thought would sound good together. If you’re interested in last years list, check it out here.

Draw Us Lines – The Constantines

A very powerful opening track with swirling feedback that yields only slightly to a thundering beat. I know nothing about this band. In fact, I am pretty sure this is the only song I’ve ever heard by The Constantines, but this one song is really good.

De La Souls – P.O.S.

From the fantastic Audition record by P.O.S. this year. This is actually one of my top records from this year. I think this song, among others, showcases the sensibilities of P.O.S., a mixture of hip-hop and punk rock.

Province – TV on the Radio

I liked TV on the Radio before this year and I liked their new album Return to Cookie Mountain, but it wasn’t until I saw them live at First Ave. that I really fell in love with them.

New Resolution – Heartless Bastards

A hearty fuck you song from the throaty growl of lead bastard Erika Wennerstrom.

To Go Home – M. Ward

The best song recorded in a basement in Memphis in 1962 that was actually recorded in a modern studio in the beginning of the 21^st century.

Junior High Smiles – Beight

This is such a beautiful song, anchored by Brad Senne’s aching voice floating in and out of falsetto. It captures like no other song, the feeling of the sweaty palms and fluttering hearts of teenage crushes.

Duluth – Brian Just

I saw this guy this past summer and was absolutely blown away. He plays intricate finger-picked melodies on his guitar so majestically, it pisses off every other musician in the room because they want what he has.

Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis – Neko Case

A Tom Waits cover, this is the pseudo-Christmas song of this year’s collection.

On The Way Back Home – Lucero

Every day I fall a little more in love with Lucero. Ben Nichols’ gravelly, whiskey voice sounds like every hung-over morning where you’re unsure of how much remorse you should have for the night before. These guys put on a hell of a show too. I wish I would have seen them when they came through a month or two ago, but I did see them back in April, and it was legendary.

Sister Jack – Spoon

One of those bands I “discovered” this year. I’m slow sometimes. I heard their album Gimme Fiction and said to myself, “Why the fuck haven’t I been listening to these guys?” I love this song because in my youth, I played in a dropped-D metal band (although the name was not requiem, but SoulSplitter, I’m not proud).

Poor You – Bellwether

Another album that was indeed on my best local album list this year. Sometimes the term AltCountry gets thrown around as some sort of stuck-in-the-mud putdown, but these guys are AltCountry in the most flattering sense of the word. Brilliant songs beautifully played.

Forest Whitiker – Brother Ali

Another one of those, “Why the fuck haven’t I listened to this before?” albums. Another kind of a fuck you song where Ali says you don’t have to like me, ‘cause I like myself.

Merry Christmas!

Jim Walsh, You Magnificent Bastard

2006-12-20T10:11:00.000-06:00

It pains me to think that I will never write something as kick-ass as this:
(From City Pages)

Tim O'Reagan
Tim O'Reagan
Lost Highway

The test of any classic album is if it plays as well in the morning with coffee as it does at night with whiskey; in the bedroom or car; in the loud or quiet hours. O'Reagan's debut has been with me in every moment imaginable since it was released on House of Mercy Recordings last year, and properly released by Lost Highway this year. His voice reminds me of something a friend of mine wrote about her aging face—"a wizened disaster"—which is to say that most things get more beautiful with age, but some things, like a drummer-turned-unleashed-crooner, get positively translucent. —Jim Walsh

The Death of Music and Cory Branan

2006-12-14T11:39:00.000-06:00

Personally, I couldn't picture my life without record stores, but Chris R. in the Strib file the millionth report about record sales slowing. I love the smell of records stores. I love the rows of CDs sitting there ready to be taken. I love the vinyl stores, with that plastic smell mixed with the smell of your Grandma's attic. Please don't take that away from me!

And now I'm going to tell you to listen to music online. Cory Branan made a believer out of me last Sunday. This Memphis musician is a bad ass. Check out his streaming album, 12 songs, for yourself. Cory Branan

Say What Now?

2006-12-05T11:51:00.000-06:00

I finally broke down and bought a pair of earplugs.

I figured if I am going to keep seeing Ian Prince play drums, I need them. I saw Kid Dakota a few weeks ago and I was standing right in front of the stage and Ian was absolutely blowing me away. But really I should have got a good pair along time ago, hopefully this will cut down on the buzzing in my ears when I get home after a show.

Matthew Ryan Day

2006-12-01T12:45:00.000-06:00

Matthew Ryan has been one of my favorite artists for years now. His new album, From a Late Night High Rise, holds loads of promise. Tom Hallett from Pulse has a great article this week about a few of the things Ryan has gone through in the industry and personally to get to this point in his career.

Ryan played a show here last winter at the 400, which I covered for HWTS. He also came through town with his side project Strays Don't Sleep, which HWTS also covered.

Ryan commented that he sure wasn't coming to Minneapolis in the winter again, I can't say I blame him, hopefully we'll see him in the spring.

Corporate Speak, Pt. 58

2006-11-29T10:18:00.000-06:00

I got a meeting request today and the subject was "Discussion around network whatchamacallit."

Wouldn't we be more productive if we had a Discussion about network whatchamacallit?

Bloggity, Bloggity, Blog

2006-11-28T12:35:00.000-06:00

It's strange having a blog sometimes. Like when I know that other people actually read what I've written on this thing. Or when I want to write something that I hope nobody will read. Or the opposite, when I write something that I hope everybody reads. These are things out of my control.
Here is my cheese sandwich lately.

I took three classes this semester, which has totally burned me out. Two of the classes have involved an assload of writing. One in particular is a 500-level advanced writing class that has forced me to write things that were previously buried deep down in my psyche. These thoughts were safe as long as they remained untouched.

The assignment was to write a twenty-or-so page multi-genre project about anything. I chose to write about the ensuing birth of my first child, which probably would have been fine. It would have been a nice happy story about a new baby and a proud father, but I just couldn't have that. Instead I started thinking about my neglectful father and the kind of parenting he gave me. Of course on top of that, three years ago he succumbed to cancer after a long painful battle. So I chose to write a story juxtaposing my dad, myself and my unborn child. This study took me to emotional places that I had long ago blocked off.

Writing has always been therapy to me, whether stories, poems or songs, it was a way for me to work out on paper where my head was. I was not prepared for this story though, I began to dread working on this paper because it forced me to think about guilt and pain and consequence. And also about what kind of father I can be to my kid.

This paper is just about done, along with this semester. Hopefully all those thoughts constantly swirling around my head will settle back down into cobwebs and I can begin to devote myself more to the writing I've been meaning to do. Like pointless ramblings about songs that nobody cares about.

Best Albums

2006-11-21T08:37:00.000-06:00

By the first week in January I will be ready to vomit at the site of so many top albums of the year lists. Right now though, in the middle of November, I'll play.

The Current has a vote going on for the top 89 albums of 2006, which they are going to play on New Year's Day. They allow a person to vote for up to 20 albums. I really want to vote for 20 albums and there are certainly that many albums that I enjoyed this year, but I don't know if they are worthy of the "Best" tag. Now this voting process that the Current has is not too keen on requirements for an album to be considered best. There will probably be many people who go on their and vote for the first 20 that come to mind, there is nothing wrong with that, but being the nerd that I am, I am going to suffer and agonize over my list. Here is what I have so far:

Duplomacy - All These Long Drives
Eric Bachmann - To The Races
The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls in America
Lucero - Rebels, Rogues and Sworn Brothers
P.O.S. - Audition
Stook - The Soundtrack to my Minneapolis
TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
M. Ward - Post War
Brian Just -Every Tree and Every Stone

and even though I haven't heard the entire album yet, I am sure it will be one of my favorites this year

Matthew Ryan - From a Late Night High rise

Juan Apagado at the Acadia

2006-11-14T12:54:00.000-06:00

Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!

7:30pm at the Acadia Café in Minneapolis

See some high flying acoustic entertainment from…

Juan Apagado

Nick Leet (from High on Stress)

Jim Soule (also from High on Stress)

and

Aviette

Election Day

2006-11-07T09:03:00.000-06:00

Go forth and do your thing.

331 Club in Peril

2006-11-02T15:15:00.000-06:00

Do something.

Dear Community Member:

As of November 15, 2006, the City of Minneapolis will require the 331 Club to cease providing amplified music and entertainment. We are asking for your support in fighting this ban by the City. With your support, the 331 Club can continue to provide an exciting and progressive music venue in North East.

The city’s concern is that it needs to regulate businesses impact on their communities (ie noise, traffic etc). And amplified entertainment is considered to have an unacceptable level of impact to the community. We think that, rather than harming the community, the music programming at the 331 Club is providing an important opportunity for local musicians and performers and is making the North East community a richer place.

We are asking you to write a letter to your city council member and to Mayor Rybak in support of the 331 Club. Please tell them how the developing scene at the 331 Club has had a positive (or negative) impact on the local community. Your feedback will be important to the City Council’s decisions regarding the future of North East.

Thank you for your support,

Jarret Oulman
General Manager
331club
jarretoulman@331club.com

Note:

Diane Hofstede can be reached at
Minneapolis City Counsel – 3rd Ward
350 S. 5th St. Rm 307
Email: diane.hofstede@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
Phone: 612-673-2203

Mayor R.T. Rybak’s office can be reached at
Room 331, City Hall
350 South Fifth St.
Minneapolis, MN 55415
jared.nordlund@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
(612) 673-2100 phone

How am I supposed to know if you're high?

2006-10-25T09:39:00.000-05:00

There was a lot of hype around Lifter Puller back in the late nineties. I tried to resist just because everybody kept saying how great they were.

I was at the record store a month or two after the band broke up and I found a used copy of Fiestas and Fiascos. I was blown away and I was kicking myself for not ever seeing them. I learned a lesson that sometimes when everybody tells you how great a band is, that sometimes it's because the band really is great. I did get a chance to see them when they played a few reunion shows in 2003 when the Triple Rock opened.

Then came the Hold Steady. Some are turned off by Craig's voice, but I love it. Some are turned off by the big guitar riffs, which border on classic rock shlock at times. I think if you see it live though, you can really understand that this band is something special.

I saw the Hold Steady last night at a sold out First Ave. They played for an hour and a half and, of course, it was incredible. Craig Finn is such a dynamic front man, he knows how to engage the audience for sure.

Here is an interview the boys did with Mary Lucia at the Current.

Giving Up to the Parent Life

2006-10-20T11:51:00.002-05:00

So Mrs. Give Up to the Good Life and I are breeding. I sometimes stop to think about what it means to be a parent and you can imagine that fucks with my head something good.

I think it is impossible to wrap my head around it. I still think of myself as a kid trying to figure what to do with his life. Maybe because I am still trying to figure out what to do with my life.

But,

I have found that there are some seriously cool kids stuff out there. You can bet your ass my kid is going to be rocking a Ramones onesie at some point:

And this Johnny Cash onesie:

Also there are these lullaby CDs of bands like Radiohead, The Cure and Tool(?). I'm not too sure about my toddler listening to too much Cure though, that might have repercussions down the line somewhere.

Anyway, while this whole parenthood thing scares the hell out of me, I know it's going to be indescribably fun too.

TVOTR

2006-10-13T09:38:00.000-05:00

photo by RockNRollStar

It was last winter. I was standing by the bar on the music side of the Triple Rock waiting for some band to go on. It was a weekday night and it was snowing outside and their were only a handful of people in the bar. Over the soundsystem came this amazingly complicated weird music with soaring crazy gospel-chanting vocals. It was TV on the Radio.

I'd heard "The Wrong Way" before, but didn't give it much thought, but this night it sounded amazing. I realized that TVotR are not a headphone band, their music is best at bone-rattling volume, that is when it speaks to me.

I saw TVotR last weekend and their live show even further solidifies my fandom. They take the slickly produced sheen of their albums and turn it into raw live energy.

Here is my review from HWTS. Here are some more pictures from Rock 'n Roll Star.

Who Goes There?

2006-10-05T08:34:00.000-05:00

Yawn!

Oh! Hello. You scared me, I didn't think anyone was still here.

I've been busy (and lazy). Too busy (and lazy) to blog even. I am attempting a comeback though.

First things first... This badass website that I do stuff for won an award because we are all badasses and the Minnesota Music Academy knows this.

Second. Nick Leet nudged me from my slumber and although it goes against the arbitrary and self-imposed rule of one gig per year, Juan Apagado will play again on Nov. 19 at the Acadia. So all those songs that I forgot how to play after my last gig, I'll have to relearn them, and then I will play the hell out of them.

Top5 - Let the music do the talking...

2006-09-08T12:59:00.000-05:00

1. I’ve Got a Plan – Scott Miller & The Commonwealth

I’ve got a plan
To be such a man
That she will see
That I was worth having

2. A Magazine Called Sunset – Wilco

There’s a magazine called sunset
And a tape machine that won’t let
Me ever forget this impossible longing for you

3. Know Your Onion! – The Shins

Shut out, pimpled and angry
I quietly tied all my guts in a knot
I gave up trying to make em,
Figured it take em to long to look up
And besides
It was undeniably clear to me, I don’t know why
When every other part of life seemed locked behind shutters

4. California (Part II) – Mason Jennings

I tell you what I’m going to do
I’m gonna’ lighten up
I’m gonna’ throw a box of books and my beloved guitar
Into the back of my truck
And try my luck
In California... California… California… California

5. Rock For Lite Brite – Lifter Puller

You got a bong you call the Babylon
You picked the name up from a Bad Brains song
Hey Rastafarian, I heard you’re quitting school
Smoking weed and cleaning swimming pools

Top5 - not Top5 edition

2006-09-01T11:15:00.000-05:00

I don't have time for a full post this morning. I just want you to go listen to Brian Just. I've been listening to his Every Tree and Every Stone EP constantly for the last week. I especially love the song "Duluth."

Townes says 10 percent is in your fingers
another 10 is flowing through your throat
and 80 comes from signposts and gravel roads
that's folk music and it comes from on the road
yeah...

Other quick notes from locals...
Probably not surprisingly, Malachi Constant reportedly broke up. It was probably just a matter of time.

The ever-awesome Aardvark records is closing according to GF. A very cool record store and NE is worse off for its closing.

I am not Howard Hughes

2006-08-29T12:46:00.000-05:00

Hurray!
I left the house this weekend and went to a real live rock and roll show. Well, okay, it's really not that big of a deal. It's only been a few weeks since I went to see a show, but I tell you, it felt like a year. I saw Ada Jane for the first time and I was impressed. Matt Marka's voice is huge and they have a ton of energy.

I was really excited to see Eagle*Seagull though. I had heard some buzz about them and I can say the buzz was justified. The songs are chaotic and loud, but chaos sometimes sounds kick ass.

The one thing that kind of ticked me off was the singer's attempt to acknowledge Ada Jane. He stumbled over the name for a minute until finally after someone yelled Ada Jane from the crowd for the third time, he said, "Oh yeah. Ada Jane." It smacked of indie-rock-hipper-than-thou-pretense.

I saw the E*S singer walking around during Ada Jane's set and the E*S merch booth was a few feet away from Ada Jane's, so I am not sure why he didn't know the name of the band that had been playing in some form for the two plus hours before his band got on stage.

Maybe it was just me. Maybe I was just in a crusty old curmudgeon mood. It's been known to happen.

Top 5

2006-08-25T09:29:00.000-05:00

I feel like I have been crazy busy this summer, but I know that I really haven’t done that much. It seems like when I have a lot going on that I just want to pile more of top of that. I start school again next week, so I will probably end up writing more. Who knows?

Late at Night – Buffalo Tom

When I was in a band I always wanted to write songs that sounded like Buffalo Tom, but they always ended up sounding, well, I don’t know what they sounded like. I can tell you that they fell far short of sounding like Buffalo Tom.

Saturday – Big Ditch Road

BDR are playing Saturday at the Hex. Go see them! You won’t be disappointed. I love the bridge where the swirling guitars drop out and leave Darin Wald out in front of the song, contemplatively singing the lines:

I cleaned up my face
Cleaned up my place
In case it went well
In case it went well

Customer – The Replacements

One of my favorite Replacements songs of all time.

I’m in love withthegirlthatworkdjfoasidjjsldkfj…I’m a customer!

Wash My Hands – Arson Welles

I really liked this Minneapolis band, but I think I was in the minority on this. Last I heard a couple of the guys moved to LA to pursue production full time.

They were kind of a spacey indie rock that just played well in dirty clubs like the Entry. Now that I really listen hard to the lyrics, I realize they are not exactly poetry, but who cares?

Can you wash my hands with your dress pulled off?
I got a stained glass window and a terrible cough
But the miracle is you’ll never break my heart again

5. Might – Archers of Loaf

One of my favorite all time bands. The lead singer, Eric Bachmann, has a new solo album out this week that I plan to pick up tomorrow. If the things I have heard about the album are true, you may see an Eric Bachmann song in future Top5s.

Two Things

2006-08-18T15:44:00.000-05:00

Pitchfork has a download of "Chips Ahoy!" from The Hold Steady's forthcoming album, Boys and Girls in America. The Hold Steady are also playing First Avenue in October.

The always entertaining Minneapoliscast has a 30-second interview with Mark Mallman. Pretty funny.

Have a good weekend.

Top5 - Moving Pt. 2

2006-08-18T15:18:00.000-05:00

I was having so much "fun" at work that I almost forgot it was Friday. Here is the disc 2 as promised.

Disc 2 - NYC

1. New York, New York - Frank Sinatra
If I can Make it there
I'll make it anywhere

2. Fairytale of New York - The Pogues
It's Christmas Eve, Babe
In the drunk tank

3. I'm Waiting For The Man - The Velvet Underground
I'm waiting for my man
Twenty-six dollars in my hand
Up to Lexington, 125
Feel sick and dirty, more dead than alive

4. 53rd & 3rd - The Ramones
53rd & 3rd, Standing on the street
53rd & 3rd, I'mtrying to turn a trick
53rd & 3rd,You're the one they never pick
53rd & 3rd,Don't it make you feel sick

5. New York, New York - Ryan Adams
Hell, I still love you though New York

6. Talkin' New York - Bob Dylan
You sound like a hillbilly
We want folksingers here

7. Downtown Train - Tom Waits
The Downtown trains are full
of all those Brooklyn girls
They try so hard to break out of their little worlds

8. Thank You, Lord, For Sending Me The F-Train - Mike Doughty
Here this train speeds underground

9. The Only Living Boy in New York - Simon & Garfunkel
I got nothing to do today, but smile

10. New York - The Ashtray Hearts
There's nothing in New York City
It's just a long, long way from here

Top5 - Moving pt1

2006-08-11T10:09:00.000-05:00

Friends moving away is an inevitability. But it is an inevitability that sucks. We get older and life changes. I know that five years ago I couldn’t imagine the situation I am in now: married, with a house and a dog. When I was in my early and mid-twenties, I moved around a lot. I thought that is what I should be doing. I should be discovering the world and discovering myself. So I have been in one place (Minneapolis) for almost nine years now. I love it here. I feel like this is the place I should have been all along. The one desire I had, but never acted upon was trying my luck in NYC.

My close friend the redheaded kid is moving to NYC on Tuesday. We were in BLH together and we talked about moving the band to NYC. We said if we are not going to make it, we’d rather not make it in NYC. Good luck friend. I can’t say I’m not a little envious of your move.

Here is part one of the mix tape I made for him as he leaves Minneapolis behind. Next week I will post part 2 – the NYC disc.

Disc 1 – MPLS

Uptown – Prince

Where I come from, we don’t let society tell us how it’s supposed to be

Always Coming Back Home to You – Atmosphere

These alleyways and these streetlights have seen my best days

Nice, Nice – Lifter Puller

We went from upstairs at the nice, nice
Up to Franklin up by 15th
And Jenny got dressed as we circled the block
We did the secret knock and stuck their hands through the mail slot
And 1, 2, 3, 4, that’s the way that Jenny scores

Good Night Goodbye – Mark Mallman

I got a friend in New York City who I call

On My Mind – Romantica

When the lights go down up on 1^st Avenue

Minneapolis – Lucinda Williams

Snow covers the streetlamps and the windowsill
The buildings and the brittle, crooked trees
Dead leaves of December

Bring Back the Firing Squad – Valet

At Stand Up Franks you are the joke

Ten Thousand Lakes – Kid Dakota

The thought of 10,000 lakes makes me feel smaller

9^th & Hennepin – Tom Waits

It was 9^th & Hennepin and all the donuts had names that sound like prostitutes

Skyway – The Replacements

It don’t move at all like a subway
It’s got bums when it’s cold like any other place

Chronicles

2006-08-10T09:23:00.000-05:00

In the few weeks I have before I start school again, I've been trying to catch up on some books that I have missed in the last year. I have been reading Bob Dylan's Chronicles for the past week and I am about two-thirds of the way through.
I remember everybody gushing about how revealing this quasi-autobio was when the book was first published. I find some of it interesting. Dylan has a tendency to get stuck and ramble on abstract philosophical points which I find absolutely boring and tedious. It is fun to get some insight on how some albums were made and what he was going through at the time. Later in the book when he is talking about recording Oh Mercy, he just sounds so self-important that it is a bit hard to penetrate.
Then again, he is Bob Dylan, he is important.
Overall I like the book even if Dylan is not the greatest writer.

Top 5

2006-08-04T10:11:00.000-05:00

Not that anybody asked why there was no Top5 last week, but here is the return…

Steady as She Goes – The Raconteurs

I didn’t go to the show this week at First Ave., but my wife did and she is even more in love with Jack White than she was before. By all accounts, this show was incredible. I kind of wish I would have gone.

Solitary Man – Crooked Fingers

My guess is that Eric Bachmann got tired of people saying he sounds like Neil Diamond so he decided to confront the issue. A pretty straightforward cover except with a mandolin and a trombone (I think that’s what I hear). Bachmann and crew pretty much nail the song and as it turns out, he doesn’t sound as much like Diamond as you might think.

Street Car – Hayden

I think Hayden took a big step sound wise on his album Skyscraper National Park. The production sounds smoother than on the previous album, The Closer I Get. But what permeates through all his albums is the brilliant songs that musically and lyrically shimmer with longing. As anybody who knows me can attest, I am a sucker for a sad song.

I parked underground the night you left
It took me an hour and a half
To find my way back up above
There’s nothing up there without your love
Speeding out, filled with doubt
And heading home
Playing with the lines, thinking of time
And freaking out

Half a Heart – Bill Janovitz

As I said before, and as I’m sure I will say again. I’m a sucker for sad songs. The only thing that that makes these sad songs better are two-part harmonies – I’m a sucker for those too. I was looking through my music for things I haven’t listened to in a while and stumbled across this album. From one of my favorite bands of the nineties, Buffalo Tom, Janovitz has released a couple solo albums. This song is off the excellent, Up There. With him on this song is a singer named Chris Toppin. They sing beautifully together on bittersweet lyrics:

Oh half a heart, it only means it’s not over yet
Like the smoke that lingers in the air from your cigarette
Oh half a heart

That’s How You Sing Amazing Grace – Low

Another album I came across while perusing my music library. This is the opening track from their album Trust. I am usually not a big Low fan, but if I am in the right mood for it, Low can definitely kill.

Rockstar or Teddy Bear?

2006-08-03T13:46:00.000-05:00

I just finished listening to the streaming archive of Mason Jennings' appearance on the morning's Midmorning program on MPR. I go back and forth on Jennings' new album Boneclouds. There are moments when I am into it, but mostly it either bores me or even invokes cringes. I can't question his integrity, I do think he is sincere in everything he does. I think maybe he is a little too heart-on-the-sleeve sometimes. There are certain songs on Boneclouds that I dig, but as a whole the album dissapoints me. I have to admit that I do hold Jennings' to a higher standard than most. I really think he can handle it though.

Having said all that. Whenever I hear him speak I just think he is so lovable that I just want to hug him. More than any other artist, I feel protective of him, like he is still a secret. I know that is no longer true. He is global. So it has inspired me to go back and give his album another chance.

Almost Chicago

2006-08-01T16:21:00.000-05:00

I almost went to Chicago last week.

When I was asked if I wanted to go on a trip to Chicago, I thought to myself, "Yeah. I'd love to go to Chicago for a week on the company's dime. Sure, I'll work during the day, but at night I'll have the windy city at my disposal."

Well, when they asked me if I wanted to go to Chicago what they meant was, would I like to go to a really far out suburb of Chicago. I was asking around while I was down there and a local said, "Yeah its about 45 minutes drive to Chicago if there is no traffic."

I've been to Chicago enough to know that there is always traffic. So I spent the majority of last week in Chicago's version of Maple Grove. Fun.

It reminds me of the one time I went to LA for work. I was so excited to check out a city I had never been to before. I was only scheduled to be there for one night, but I figured I would have time to do something fun in LA. It didn't work out that way. I worked until 7:30 pm, got to my hotel by 8:00, then fell asleep in my clothes on the hotel bed. Awesome.

Juan Apagado is too strong

2006-07-28T11:55:00.000-05:00

For some reason the MySpace profile of Juan Apagado was deleted in the last couple days. I have no idea why, I didn't recieve any emails notifying me of any issues with my account. Weird. I sent a message to the MySpace folks to find out why Juan was deleted. So I wait. Obviously, jealousy of my immense talent played a part in all of this.

Edit: Juan Apagado has reappeared. Strange.

Top5 - Giggin' edition

2006-07-21T10:05:00.000-05:00

A very simple and plain Top5 this week. I’ve picked a song from all the people playing the Acadia on Saturday. Since this is my blog and I am narcissistic, I have chosen two of my songs. One from my old band, Bubba Loo Hugby and one from my alter-ego, Juan Apagado.

Don’t forget about the Acadia Saturday night.

On That Day – Jim Soule
1995 – High on Stress (Nick Leet)
Heaven and Children – Brian Just
Hank – Bubba Loo Hugby
She Said – Juan Apagado

My Life with Radio

2006-07-19T07:28:00.000-05:00

Driving home the other day I was listening to The Current as I often do. A song came on with what sounded like a 15-year-old girl singing, and I was like, "Man I know that voice from somewhere. What is it?"

Then came the chorus, "mmm-bop, badoodybop, mmmbop, fjaposidcho..." or something like that. Was I a)terrified, b)amused, c)suicidal, because for a moment I though I might like this song, d) all of the above.

answer: d

Thank you Mary Lucia.

Top 5

2006-07-14T10:20:00.000-05:00

Coppertone – Duplomacy

All These Long Drives is an amazing album. I saw them live last weekend and this song stuck with me. Andy Flynn and Adam Egerdahl perform some devastating vocal nuances.

Forest Whitiker – Brother Ali

I’ve heard of Brother Ali for a few years now, but I haven’t really checked him out. I saw him once at First Avenue, but I was not impressed. I’ve changed my mind though. I don’t remember how I got the mp3 into my iPod, but it is there now and one day it jumped out and bit me.
To everyone out there who’s a little different
I say, “damn a magazine these is God’s fingerprints
You can call me ugly, but can’t take nothing from me
I am what I am Doctor, you aint gotta’ love me”

Dress Blues - Drive by Truckers

Mary Lucia has been playing this song on her show for a few weeks now. When DBT were last here, guitarist and singer Jason Isbell played this song live at the Current studios. This is a killer song about a young man dying at war and leaving his family behind. Don’t believe me? Check it out yourself.

New Resolution – Heartless Bastards

I am really digging this band. Singer Erika Wennerstrom has a voice as big as Dallas. I am usually into mopey depressing lyrics, but this is as hopeful as you can get. I guess, in addition to despair, I also appreciate people who can say Fuck You so eloquently.
My new resolution is to be
Someone who does not care what anyone thinks of me
‘Cause I don’t even like myself half of the time
And what’s the use in worrying what’s on other people’s minds

I Saw Her at The Anti-war Demonstration – Jens Lekman

I just saw that Jens is playing the Triple Rock in a few weeks. If I am around, I would like to check him out. He reminds me of local band The Deaths, in that he seems to revel in 60s psychedelic rock. Like The Deaths, he pulls it off sincerely.

Juan Apagado at the Acadia

2006-07-11T08:41:00.000-05:00

My yearly attempt at rock stardom is coming up on July 22.
Thanks to Nick Leet for hooking up a kid.

Top 5 - New (to me)

2006-07-07T10:13:00.000-05:00

What I have been listening to this week:

Catholic Boys – The Mad Ripple

Yes I have a man-crush on Jim Walsh. I don’t think I am the only one. Walsh’s songs are filled with as much heart as his articles have been for as long as I’ve been reading him. This is one of those songs where it is so simple, yet so beautiful, that you just find yourself nodding along thinking, “Man. I wish I had written that.”

Ghostly Feeling – Beight

I finally bought this album after downloading and falling in love with the song “Junior High Smiles” months ago. Brad Senne, the voice and soul of Beight, created a wonderful mix of introspective acoustic and powerful pop songs. “Ghostly Feeling,” I think, combines these two extremes skillfully.

Where the River Bends – Tim O’Reagan

This buzzed about album was finally released and rightfully received a fair amount of press. There is nothing mind-blowing on the album, but it is good. Big Beatles hooks highlight the songs, not to mention quite a bit of the Jayhawks’ sound as well.

Extraordinary Machine – Fiona Apple

I heard this song on Mary Lucia’s show last week and had to go and buy the album. This is an orchestral big band swing song. The rest of the album sounds like, well, Fiona Apple. I wish it sounded more like this title track.

Out of Sleep – Bubba Loo Hugby

Narcissistic? Probably, I am a musician turned writer I think it is part of the job description. Really, I am getting ready for my gig as my nom de guerre, Juan Apagado, July 22 at the Acadia. I was listening to this song that I haven’t played in at least five years and trying to figure it out. It should be a good time. It’s fun to go back and revisit songs that I haven’t thought about in a while. I played once last summer and before that it had been about 4 years.

Duluth

2006-07-05T16:28:00.000-05:00

In writing my review of Wilco at the DECC Auditorium this past Sunday, I left out the opener, Black-Eyed Snakes. They were deserving of a write up, but there was so much Wilco to write that I just didn't have room

Black-Eyed Snakes were quite fantastic however. I could see the veins on Alan Sparhawks neck and forehead as big as extension cord wires from my seat in row L. That guy sings from his soul and his gut for sure. It was like he was posessed. My wife turned to me a few songs in to instruct me to buy this CD for her. Will do.

Duluth was OK. I knew we shouldn't have gone to Grandma's to eat, but we did and it sucked.

The toilet in my hotel room didn't flush.

The alarm clock in my room was set an hour fast, only me nor my wife did not notice. We got up an hour earlier than we thought we were getting up. We didn't realize it until we had already checked out and were waiting in the lobby for our friends with whom we drove up. So we had to kill an hour on a Monday morning in Duluth. It was all fun though.

Top5 - Wilco Edition

2006-06-30T11:13:00.000-05:00

I am taking a little road trip up to Duluth on Sunday to see Wilco. I just saw that the Black-Eyed Snakes are opening. I think it should be a good time. I am writing a review for HWTS. I think this is my first review of a big national show like this.

In deciding on a top5 I had some tough decisions to make. It would take a lot more effort and time to come up with an actual best of list. So, here is the five that I thought of this morning. I intentionally discounted anything from the Woody Guthrie albums just because that would make my decisions that much harder. I did try to pick a song from each album, but I didn’t pick anything off of A Ghost is Born, because I still don’t really get that album. (Also, note that I am not sure what that EP is called, in iTunes it is listed as the Australian EP, but I always referred to it as the More Like the Moon EP and this is my blog so whatever I say goes.)

Have a great Independence Day weekend y’all.

Ashes of American Flags – Wilco (from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot)

I absolutely love the first verse of this song. It is so literal, but so beautiful at the same time.
The cash machine is blue and green
For a hundred in twenties and a small service fee
I could spend three dollars and sixty-three cents
On diet Coca-Cola and unlit cigarettes

Passenger Side – Wilco (from A.M.)

I spent a couple days visiting a friend in Alton, IL in the early nineties. This song reminds of that visit. Mostly because we were drunk the whole time and we didn’t have a car so we walked and bummed rides and took taxis all over this little southern Illinois town.

The Lonely 1 – Wilco (from Being There)

Another absolutely beautiful song. There is a heartbreaking sense of longing in Tweedy’s voice. It gives me the roller coaster feeling in my stomach just thinking about it.
When I get home, I turn off the alarm
I check the phone, no messages on
I play the ones from yesterday
I play your song just to hear you say that
You, you are the lonely one

My Darling – Wilco (from Summerteeth)

I do miss Jay Bennett’s contributions to the band, but I also appreciate that Tweedy is constantly searching for something new. As much as I like Summerteeth or Being There, I am glad Tweedy is not settling for making those albums over and over. It does seem that it has gone from a band to Tweedy and some guys who happen to be in Wilco at the moment.

Magazine Called Sunset – Wilco (from More Like the Moon EP)

Just a catchy as hell song that comes from the EP that appeared after Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. I can see why they wouldn’t include this song on that album as it sounds more like a Summerteeth era Wilco song.
There’s a magazine called sunset
And a tape machine that won’t let
Me ever forget this impossible longing for you

Top 5 - Summer Edition

2006-06-23T12:52:00.000-05:00

In honor of the official start of summer, here are the top 5 summer songs.

Summer Babe – Pavement

Summer of 1995 is when my Pavement crush fully bloomed. At first, it was Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, but then I explored the album Slanted & Enchanted. The songs on that album sound like a sweaty, sticky and humid summer day.

405 – Death Cab For Cutie

I was unemployed the winter of ‘01/’02. What does that have to do with summer songs? Nothing. I did fall in love with Death Cab during that time though. This song about giving up and just going to get drunk resonated with me. I am no stranger to that feeling.

Misguided by the 405
‘Cause it led me to an alcoholic summer
I missed the exit to your parents’ house hours ago
Red wine and cigarettes
Hid your bad habits underneath the patio

Three Days – Jane’s Addiction

The summer before my senior year of high school I discovered Jane’s Addiction. They were so powerful and vulnerable at the same time. I remember riding around in my friend Aaron’s Mom’s car, looking for places to skateboard or just driving around killing time. This was our soundtrack.

Nuthin’ But a “G” Thang – Dr. Dre

Rolling around Denver in Buddy Keechel’s low rider pickup listening to all these hip-hop groups I had never heard of was how I spent the summer of 1993. The Chronic definitely got the most play. Remember back when Snoop Dogg was just a kid?

Stars and Stripes of Corruption – Dead Kennedys

The first punk rock album I ever bought. It came from Mother’s record and tapes at Pembroke Mall in Virginia Beach. It was a cassette tape and I think I bought it just after school let out for the summer in the year before, I think, 9^th grade. I didn’t understand the beauty of this song until a few years later, when I was jaded and cynical enough to empathize.

I'm not sure what to call this

2006-06-22T13:16:00.000-05:00

This statue is in Boston Common.

Both Heather and I could not quite figure out what it is supposed to represent.

We were not the only ones standing around laughing and taking pictures.

I think they put it there just to mess with the tourists.

Please know this...

2006-06-21T09:46:00.000-05:00

If we are in a meeting together and you use the word "guesstimate," please know that I am concentrating hard to send from my brain to yours electromagnetic daggers that will destroy you.

The word is simultaneous, not sim-u-taneous.

Tucson is city in Arizona, Tuscan is a form of Tuscany, a region of Italy.

Top 5

2006-06-16T12:34:00.000-05:00

Why I Act This Way – The Winter Blanket

I’ll be at the Kitty Cat Klub tonight to try to review the Winter Blanket again. I’ve tried twice before, but for various reasons, haven’t got the job done. I’ve never seen a show at the KCK before tonight. I haven’t heard that much about it as a music venue either. I hope that it doesn’t piss me off.

Can’t Hardly Wait – The Replacements

The new “best of” by the Replacements came out this week. Maybe this is one of those music snobbery things, but I don’t really like “best of” albums. I like to hear albums as entire pieces of work, rather than a collection of singles. That’s not to say I don’t own any albums like that, it’s just that I would rather hear what was left off the greatest hits.

I Hate My Generation – Sloan

This is off my favorite Sloan album, Twice Removed. Honestly, I haven’t cared much for their other albums. The musical chairs version of singers always made me happy. I love good two or three part harmonies. I’m a sucker for ‘em.

What could you both possibly share?
Other than the color of your hair
Shawn said, “We both play guitar.”
Never even have to say a word
That’s the best thing that I’ve ever heard
You have left your fingerprint on me

Junior High Smiles – Beight

A friend told me about Beight a while ago. I downloaded this song from Beight’s myspace page and then didn’t pay much attention. Then it snuck up on me a few weeks ago. The falsetto during the chorus just makes me smile and think of sunny days in high school just hopelessly crushing on girls in the parking lot after school. Is that weird?

The way the water drips off of you
When we’re running from the bus to school
Makes me wanna run and hide
‘Cause I feel so shy, shy, shy, shy, shy-y-y-y
Run around you-oo-oo
Shy, shy, shy, shy, shy-y-y-y

School’s Out – Soul Asylum

This Alice Cooper cover begins Soul Asylum’s After The Flood live album. This is number five because my summer class end next Tuesday and I am so ready to actually enjoy summer instead of stressing about homework.

School’s out completely

Say What Now?

2006-06-12T11:49:00.000-05:00

Last night, Kare11 ran a story about the Dixie Chicks' new album and how they are not backing down from their anti-W remarks a few years ago. Dan Wilson and Gary Louris each helped the chicks with some songs for their new albums. Kare11 reporter Scott Goldberg reported this and then somehow made the leap to Bob Dylan to Prince to Doomtree in the span of about 90 seconds. Apparently they are all purveyors of the Minnesotan protest song. The piece was fluff and a nice way to get the two most famous Minnesota musicians on the air. Oddly, Goldberg didn't have any comment from the Dixie Chicks, Louris or Wilson.

He also failed to mention that even though the Chicks have the number 1 country album on the charts, they are recieving no airplay from corporate owned country radio. Goldberg did mention that the chicks may have to cancel some concerts because of slow ticket sales. A fact the chicks themselves deny.

Overall this is a worthless story. There is so much good music in this town that if the television stations wanted to do an interesting story they would have no problem, but I guess they think the soccer mom from Minnetonka may not understand or appreciate that.

Top 5

2006-06-09T08:19:00.000-05:00

It's been a busy week so I didn't have time to work a proper Top 5 into shape. Luckily there is the trusty shuffle feature on my iPod. So here is a cheater's edition...

The Ashtray Hearts – English

This is one of those local bands that I think should be huge. Their spare, alt-country sound just evokes heartache. Singer-Guitarist Dan Richmond’s and multi-instrumentalists Aaron Schmidt’s voices harmonize so well together that every word sounds absolutely sincere and immediate.

Broken Social Scene – Almost Crimes

It is 8:00 in the morning and my brain is not quite up to full speed yet. I can’t think of an accurate way to describe BSS. I will say that sometimes their music just irritates me and then sometimes I just totally dig it. It is very dependent on my ever-swinging moods.

Pearl Jam – Don't Believe in Christmas

PJ’s fan club single from a few years back. It has a heavy garage sound. I believe it is cover of a 60s garage band. (I think it is the Sonics, but I can’t be sure.)

Don’t believe in Christmas
Don’t believe in Christmas
‘Cause I didn’t get nothin’ last year

Stook – Deliverance From Your Eyes

I still need to make it out and see this guy. From the glowing reviews from the HWTS crew, I think the live show is probably something special. He definitely shows his skills on record, but I feel like he is one of those performers that would shine with the energy of performance.

I’ll be back time after time
Lead that straight and narrow line
Doesn’t anybody hear my cries
When I’m begging for deliverance from your eyes

Hayden – Woody

This is a short little love song from the vastly underrated Canadian folk singer. There is a live version of this song on Live at Convocation Hall where Hayden explains the origin of the song. He adopted a stray cat and each spring the cat disappears only to return looking disheveled and, “obviously up to no good.”

I am just sitting here
wasting my time
Til you come home
from your escapades
In the backyard
with your friends of late

I would be worried
if you didn't do this
every spring
when the grass grows
and there's birds and trees
and the sun shines
and you don't need me

Black T-shirt

2006-06-07T21:05:00.000-05:00

I'd been meaning to share this picture for a few weeks now. This guy was at the Dad in Common CD release show at the Turf Club in May.

Back in Black

2006-06-05T18:48:00.000-05:00

I was going to post some pictures from my vacation to Boston and Virginia, but I left my camera at my Mom's house. I should have some photographic evidence by the end of the week.

We went to a Red Sox game, visited my cousin, drank alot and spent a shitload of money in Boston.

We slept, hung out by pools, walked down the beach and enjoyed dinners bought by relatives in Virginia.

One interesting, if slightly uncomfortable incident to relay.

We went to Chicho's in Virginia Beach which is on the strip down by the beach. I used to go there when I would come home and have drinks and party. They have the best pizza in Virginia Beach in my opinion.

So we went there on a Wednesday night and it just happened to be Lifeguard night. They had some heavy metal cranked on the sound system, which I didn't really enjoy at all. But some people who did enjoy the music were the throngs of tanned young lifeguards. I would guess aged 21 or 22. Meanwhile, me and the wife sat there drinking our Corona and eating our pizza feeling very, very old. I think it is the first time I have felt like a tourist in my hometown. An old tourist to boot.

Okay maybe that story was only interesting to me, but aren't blogs all about self fulfillment.

Top 5 - Boston Edition

2006-05-26T11:32:00.000-05:00

Real quick:

In honor of my trip to Boston, here is the beantown edition of the Top 5.

1. Dinosaur Jr. – Freak Scene

Of course my favorite band could not escape the Boston Top 5. I don’t know what else I could say about J and company. This is off the album Bug, which was Lou Barlow’s last album with the band.

It’s so fucked I can’t believe it
If there’s a way I wish we’d see it
How could it work, just can’t conceive it
Oh what a mess it is to leave it
Sometimes I don’t thrill you
Sometimes I think I’ll kill you
Just don’t let me fuck up will you
‘Cause when I need a friend it’s still you

2. Pixies – Gigantic

My feelings about the Pixies goes in cycles. Sometimes I listen to them and think they are the greatest band I’ve ever heard. Sometimes I think their music sounds really dated and stale. I have always loved the way that Kim Deal’s and Black Francis’s voices worked together. This song features mostly Deal’s angelic voice.

3. Buffalo Tom – Taillights Fade

Another one of my favorites that happen to hail from Boston. This song is from Let Me Come Over, which is a little rawer than their later work. You can hear the great songwriting still.

4. Morphine – Honey White

I’ve never been a huge fan of Morphine. I know there are people out there who are totally infatuated with this band. I can see how that is possible, I just could never really get into it. There is a great story on First Avenue’s website about the ghost of Mark Sandman haunting the stage. (I can't find it on the website anymore. If anybody knows where to find that story let me know)

5. Blake Babies – Girl in a Box

This album was so cute and full of bubble gummy pop music with a dark edge. No song shows their subtle wit and darkness better than this one in my opinion. The only song on the album Sunburn in which guitarist John Strom sings lead vocals.

And I hope I die in the nighttime
With a beer in my hand
And you by my side
I got a girl in a box
We play games, I’m anything I’m not
But I wanna be, yeah, I wanna be
She’ll be a slut, or a dirtly little whore
Or the girl next door or my bride instead
Or I’ll cut off her head
If I want to

Top 5 - Birthday Edition

2006-05-19T13:02:00.000-05:00

1. The Beatles – Here Comes The Sun

The Wife bought me Abbey Road on vinyl for my birthday, which was yesterday. I haven’t really had a chance to listen to it yet because I didn’t get home last night until 9:30. It was quite a birthday, I worked from 7:30 to 4:45 and had school from 6:00 to 9:00, so I didn’t really get to do anything fun.

2. The Hold Steady – Multitude of Casualties

I have this album already on CD, but the wife bought “Separation Sunday” on vinyl as well. It is hard to pick a favorite song on this album. This one popped into my head though: “She said I shipped it out from Boulder/ Packed in coffee grounds and wrapped around in dryer sheets.”

3. Bob Dylan – If Not for You

Continuing the birthday gift related songs, I got a Bob Dylan T-shirt as well. I played this song at my wedding (as well as Such Great Heights by The Postal Service). It was funny because a lot of the people at the wedding had never heard me sing before and were shocked that I could actually pull it off. “If not for you/ babe, I’d stay awake all night/ just waiting for the morning light/ to come shining through.”

4. Fugazi – Nice New Outfit

I didn’t know what song to pick to correlate to my new pair of Chucks. I remember seeing Fugazi when I was, I think, 18. The guys just came out in jeans and plain T-shirts and black Chucks. They just had the white house lights on the whole time, letting only the music and their passion sway the audience. I’m sure there’s gotta be a better song to go with Chucks, but I can’t think of any right now.

5. The Go-Gos – Vacation

The only reason I have this song on here is because I am going on Vacation next Friday. Look for a Boston related Top5 next week before I leave.

New Soul Asylum Song

2006-05-17T11:06:00.000-05:00

Perfect Porridge has a link to the new Soul Asylum song, "Stand Up and Be Strong."

I've listened to it a couple times now. I like Pirner's voice. It sounds rough and raw and he sounds emotional. It has the intensity that I thought his solo album lacked. The songs is startling in its positivity. I can't wait to hear it the context of the full album.

Rambling

2006-05-16T10:34:00.000-05:00

Some random thoughts on a Tuesday morning that feels like it is still Monday morning.

I have an iPod mini, which holds a little over 1,000 songs. I have way more music than that so that means my iPod is always at capacity. Whenever I get a new CD that I want to listen to on my iPod I have to remove some other songs from the iPod. This process is a lot harder than it sounds. I scroll through the library and try to decide which songs I can live without as if I don't have the CD sitting on a shelf at home. I take this way more personal than I should. It is some sort of guilt for removing a song from the iPod. Weird. I know.

I got Mason Jennings' new album yesterday. I agree with Andrea about the expanded production. I like it. I was dissapointed with the stripped down nature of Jennings' last album, "Use Your Voice," because of its stripped down nature. I still don't think the sound on "Boneclouds" is as lush as "Century Spring" was. That album seemed a lot warmer to me. I'll probably have more thoughts after a couple more listens.

On a personal note, I am taking classes this summer and I am hating it (of course). We are doing a group project in my Document Design class. I hate group projects to begin with and this class only lasts six weeks which is an insanely short amount of time to complete the design project we were assigned. I am also taking an independent study Anthropology class. I thought independent study would be a relaxed pace. No. I have four anthro books to read in about a week and a half in order to answer the first three essay question that are due. I have no idea how I will get this done. Freaking out has commenced.

Top 5

2006-05-12T09:21:00.000-05:00

The Dad in Common – Bat and The Beehive

These guys are a psychedelic jazzy folky rock band. The got up and played some songs with Mi and L’au when I saw them back in February. I had no idea who they were at the time. Listening to this song on their myspace page makes me hope for good things at their CD release show tonight at the Turf Club.

The Replacements – Message to The Boys

While I admit that hearing a new song with the title of The Replacements attached is exciting, but isn’t this the same as any of Paul Westerberg’s solo albums? The song is decent enough, but it is not going to change anybody’s life. I think this reunion of Westerberg and Tommy Stinson gets people thinking about some Replacements shows or maybe a full-fledged Replacements album. That is a lot more exciting than this song. Although I think a new Replacements album or tour is highly unlikely.

The Constantines – Draw Us Lines

Who the hell are the Constantines? I don’t know a thing about them, but this song kind of fell into my lap (err, iPod). Are all there songs this amazing? This is an anthemic, feedback-laden rouser. It makes me feel like I can conquer the world (or at least make it through another day).

The Fiery Furnaces – Here Comes the Summer

I used to love this song. I don’t anymore. The same things that made me love it; Eleanor’s voice, the backwards guitar effects, the fuzzed out guitar hooks, are the same things that sound like fingernails on a chalkboard to me now.

Dinosaur Jr. – Thumb

This is one of my favorite songs by one of my all time favorite bands. I just read that two more Dino Jr. albums will be reissued this year — Green Mind and Where You Been. Although I appreciate reissues, especially for bands that I discovered late, I wish they would sell the reissues as two discs: one disc containing the original album then the second disc containing all the extras. That way a new listener can hear the album as it was originally intended and then go delve into the b-sides, live tracks or whatever the record company decided to add on to the reissue.

An Open Letter to Scott Miller and the Commonwealth

2006-05-11T12:58:00.000-05:00

Dear Scott,

What is with all the war folk songs? Okay, I know, our country is at war. I can understand why it would be on your mind. The problem is, well, how do I say this… they’re not very good.

Hang on a second. Let me backtrack to the Turf Club in St. Paul. I must be five or six years ago now. You were opening for the disappointing Kelly Hogan and you stole the show as far as I could tell. It was just you and your guitar and several angry shots of bourbon. You sang songs from “Thus Always to Tyrants,” your first solo album. I think maybe because we are both from Virginia, I felt a connection.

I went to the Electric Fetus the next day and was surprised they had your album stocked. I bought it. I loved it. It was gritty southern folk rock. There were some dirges, some rockers, some honky tonks and some spirituals. It was everything I would want on an album by a guy from my home state. I even found the Civil War songs enjoyable. (Although, I still don’t get the whole southern fascination with the Civil War. Maybe that is why I am a “Northerner” now, a “Yankee.”)

Next came your “Upside Downside” album. I felt this album had a more polished sound, but retained enough of that grit to keep me faithful. (You know that grit I am talking about? Sitting in the humid Virginia sun, your skin oozes sweat that coats your skin evenly and that ooze weighs heavy on the back of your neck and you start to feel worn down. It is a slimy sweat, the consistency of motor oil and when you wipe it away, there is a few moments of relief before your glands recoat the uncovered area.) I thought Amtrak Crescent was a brilliant song, “Well the Amtrak Crescent is a north bound train/ When you can't afford to stay no more in New Orleans/ So I bought the cheapest ticket and I carried my clothes/ And the blood beneath my eyes from a broken nose/ When life goes wrong this train goes on and on.” Red Ball Express however, was a misstep in my opinion. I think when it comes to story songs; they are best left in the past, with Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and George Jones. That song just didn’t feel authentic to me.

That brings me to the new album, “Citation.” There are just too many of these story songs. Like on Say Ho. Do we really need a three-minute two-step ode to Sam Houston? Or Jody. “I just shipped out and then lickety-split/ Jody’s watching TV on my TV set.” How can you make a song about a wife cheating on you with your best friend while you are at war sound that emotionally vapid?

I’m sorry. It’s not all horseshit. The first half of the album is pretty good. Freedom’s a Stranger is a great coming of age song, “Those drums they shook the speakers/ The bass it shook me to the core/ If the Boss had been a preacher
He could‘ve led us to the lord.” This is the kind of stuff I want more of; the blood and guts and tears, not the “there once was a man so great,” kind of crap.

See that wasn’t so bad. I didn’t even mention you hanging out with those dumbass git’r done guys.

Also, would it kill you to play a show up here again?

Love,

re: Dear you,

2006-05-09T11:42:00.000-05:00

First of all, what is with this living in darkness crap? You always said flowery stuff like that. Look, you drank just as much, if not more, than I ever did. Sure, I drank, I smoked a little, I kissed some people. There is a fine line between having fun and being out of control. I never even got close to that line. You are always so serious about things. You can have fun and you can say things without it having some enormous hidden meaning. You were always trying to figure out things that didn’t need figuring out.

I’m reading what I have written and I sound angry, but I am not angry. I did love you and I still think about you. You’re right though, an ocean and ten years is an insurmountable distance. I’m glad you wrote. Take care of yourself (and relax).

Dear you,

2006-05-08T11:38:00.000-05:00

Has it really been ten years? The last time I saw you it was a Sunday morning when I left Lucky’s Luke. I said goodbye with my eyes from across the room. It was right after all the lights came up to properly illuminate that German dude laying unconscious on the dance floor. He slipped and hit his head on the edge of the concrete step that formed the outer limits of the recessed dance floor. Anyway, that was an awkward morning. I know as well as you why we never kept in touch. We were once so close that an ocean was just too far. Does that make sense? Lucky’s was a bad scene. I remember that. Degenerates of every sort hid in the corners. I don’t live in the corners anymore. I heard that you moved to Hamburg. I heard that you still liked the darkness. But that was years ago.

Top 5

2006-05-05T11:30:00.000-05:00

I took last Friday off and sat around the house wishing the rain would stop. It is just like me to extend the wettest weekend of the year. Not all was lost though; I made a Matthew Ryan playlist on my iTunes. It was difficult to shape that playlist down to a manageable number. I started with about 28 and honed it down to 19. Here is the Top 5 of that Top 19.

1. Matthew Ryan – Nails (From “Regret Over the Wires”)
Just last night I saw you creepin’ ‘round
So vacant, so lost, talking too loud
Still, all I need is a little bit of luck
A con that cons and a good haircut
Still, all I need is a little bit of luck
The kind that comes with a good haircut

2. Matthew Ryan – The Little Things (From “Regret Over the Wires”)
Desperate is as desperate does
A little talk I give myself
The little things, the little things
Mean everything

3. Matthew Ryan – Chrome (From “May Day")
It’s not the fact that you walked out that bewilders me
It’s not the sleep that I can’t steal that wires me
It’s not the coffee or the pills
It’s not the space that I can’t fill
That kills me
Well in case you didn’t know I got a heart made of chrome
It’s been dead since it was twisted
And in case you didn’t know I got a heart made of chrome
It’s been burned, but it’s still willing to try
And shine

4. Matthew Ryan with Lucinda Williams – Devastation (from “Concussion”)
Coffee is sweeter, days are sharper
Since I lost her, Since I lost
From the steps of St. Marks cathedral
I watch the steeple stab the clouds
Who’s lonesome now?

5. Matthew Ryan – Sunk (From “East Autumn Grin”)
I used to think
That nothing lasts
But I was wrong
Cause some things last
Like the ache of watching
And letting you sink to
Sunk

Jann Wenner is a sellout

2006-05-04T09:19:00.000-05:00

This is a fluff piece about Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone. The reporter, Peter Carlson, and the founder of Rolling Stone magazine, Jann Wenner, talk about how the magazine is better than ever, but the piece reads more like an obituary.

Wenner is a classic example of the idealism of the sixties selling out for money in the eighties. Hippies turned to Yuppies. Now Wenner wants to be relevant again, good luck.

The Answers to your Questions

2006-05-04T08:09:00.000-05:00

1. six
2. boogers
3. Wyoming
4. The bumps that form on the back of your neck in the seconds before you are struck by lightning.
5. A 16-bit hexadecimal number which represents the meaning of this blog.

Those Crazy Canucks

2006-05-03T08:10:00.000-05:00

Maybe I underestimated Avril Lavigne.

A group of Canadian artists formed the Canadian Music Creator Coalition in response to what they feel is misrepresentation by the major labels. Apparently some musicians up there in the north realized that suing music fans for listening to downloaded music and then bellyaching about slumping record sales doesn't make sense. The major labels who claim to be protecting their artists just got bitch slapped by those artists. Those canucks realize that the major labels are just trying to protect their dinosaur of a business model so they can protect their bank accounts.

Included in the new organization are artists such as Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLachlan and Broken Social Scene. In a related event, Celene Dion asked, "What's an Internet?"

Top 5

2006-04-28T10:53:00.000-05:00

Matthew Ryan – Irrelevant

It is no secret that Matthew Ryan is one of my favorite artists ever. (And that is not hyperbole) “Irrelevant” is a classic desperate, dark and depressing Matthew Ryan song off his debut album, Mayday.

There’s only one light on in the house

And that’s the light up in the hallway

Shining off the back of my head

And I’m concentrating hard

On the cigarette to the ashtray

And the ashtray back to my lips

So I lean up from my easy chair

I rub my three-day beard

Give a thousand-yard stare

As I recall all the time and the money

We spent

Before I became irrelevant

Willie Nelson – Crazy

I’ve been thinking about Willie for two reasons. 1) I went to Glueks last night and caught the last hour and a half of Mary Lucia’s live broadcast. When I think of Lucia, I think of her playing Willie Nelson’s version of “The Rainbow Connection.” 2) On Sunday night at the 331 Club, there will be a Willie Nelson tribute with a ton of artists participating.

I have always liked Willie’s version of this song better than Patsy Cline’s. I prefer the raw, shaky voice as opposed to Cline’s beautiful instrument. That is not a knock on the supreme vocal talent of Patsy Cline. It’s just that I hear more emotion and passion in Willie’s trembling voice.

Rolling Stones – Can’t You Hear Me Knocking

I was just listening to Sticky Fingers. I always think of this song as the song after “Wild Horses.” I actually had to go look at the name, but the name doesn’t matter, what matters is the rocking guitars and that kind of boogie sex rock that the Rolling Stones are so good at creating.

The Dames – Taiwan

I went to Grumpy’s downtown recently and for the first time I didn’t play the jukebox. Usually when I am there, I will play a Pixies song, a Pavement song and this song by The Dames. It is too bad the Dames called it quits because they were one of the few acts that could possibly define themselves as metal that I liked.

Archers of Loaf – Harnessed in Slums

At Glueks last night, I met up with one of my oldest friends. I knew this guy in Germany in the early nineties. I started thinking about those days and how much I absolutely loved this band. (I still love this band)

They were the best at that angular bright dual guitar attack. I regret that I never got to see them live, but as I said I spent those few years in a small town in Germany, which didn’t make many touring band’s itinerary.

They did play once at the Entry after I moved to Minneapolis. I though about going, but I can’t remember why I didn’t. Then they broke up before they toured again. Sad.

New look

2006-04-27T13:15:00.000-05:00

I am playing with new templates. The colors aren't exactly the ones I want, but I am going to work on it. For now, I have to go and do some real work.

Best of what?

2006-04-26T08:47:00.000-05:00

Apparently City Pages' readers feel that Dazy Head Mazy is the best band in the Twin Cities.

Really?

Are you sure?

I didn't even know they were still around. It's not that I don't doubt that they are extremely popular. It's just that I don't think they are that popular with City Pages' demographic.

undescribable disdain

2006-04-25T09:24:00.000-05:00

I bet at the front entrance to the clear channel radio complex there is a picture of Jack Sparks with a caption that says, "If you see this man, press the red panic button under the desk."

I love that Sparks is so passionate about music. I think I know what he is feeling when his veins bulge from the sides of his neck as he discusses the ways Mick Anselmo is ruining country music. It is the same rage I feel inside when I am talking to a user on the phone and trying to get them to right-click on an icon and they start babbling on about some stupid unrelated thing that is happening. See. I can't even describe my rage accurately. I am wasting time writing this post because I have two support calls to make that I know are going to put me in a fould mood for the rest of the day.

Okay. Here goes. Pinch my nose and just dive in. I need a new job...

Roller Coaster Race Car Rock 'n' Roll Blue Jeans

2006-04-24T10:59:00.000-05:00

I went out to the Hex on Saturday to cover the Stingray Green CD release show. I just wasn’t feeling rock and roll that night. I sometimes get a really bad anxious feeling when I am out. I get that roller coaster stomach where your guts kinda shake and flutter and there is a slight rush of endorphins to the head. This is sometimes thrilling, but sometimes scary. Anyway, I just didn’t want to be around all these people having a good time. I left halfway through the last band’s set just to spend the 15 minutes it takes to get home, alone.

You know I started the Friday Top 5 thing in homage to Jim Walsh’s Monday top 20. Because he is brilliant, he now is doing themed lists complete with pictures. My favorite one is number 26, "Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down," by Uncle Tupelo, alongside a picture of President W.

Better spirits later.

Top 5

2006-04-21T08:46:00.000-05:00

It’s been a busy week for me. I had a fifteen-page paper and a presentation due on Wednesday about the ACLU. I have a few more articles to finish up for a news writing class I am taking and then I am done for the semester. Unfortunately, I won’t get much of a break. I am taking three classes this summer and in the fall. Plus, I may be taking on a bigger role at the school paper, The Metropolitan. (This is still up in the air at this point.)

I knew I would rely on this trick eventually, but I didn’t think it would be only few short weeks into this top 5 nonsense. Here it is: the next 5 songs that play randomly on my iPod.

P.O.S. is Ruining My Life – P.O.S.

So just breathe and just breathe in and out
You’ll feel a whole lot better
Close your eyes and you’ll see
That if you can’t see them
Then they can’t see you
Just
Close your eyes

405 – Death Cab for Cutie

I love the line, “Leave your bad habits underneath the patio.” I think they played with Franz Ferdinand (Zzzzz!) last night. HWTS should have a review shortly. I had a long drunken discussion about DCFC with a friend last weekend. I can’t remember the details (due to the drunken part of the conversation) but I know he was telling me that Plans is a lot better than I give it credit for. I don’t know if I agree with that no matter my level of sobriety.

So Pretty – Kid Dakota

What can I say… I am a sucker for these dark depressing indie rock songs. I remember when I first saw Kid Dakota; I thought it was like nothing I’d ever seen before. I still feel that way about this first EP.

Sweet Caroline – Neil Diamond

Damnit. I knew this random iPod thing was going to embarrass me. Yes. I like Neil Diamond. If you can get past the cheese factor, the man is a great songwriter.

Winners Never Quit – Pedro the Lion

I am not really a fan of Pedro. I bought this one album a few years ago and I liked it. Then I saw him live and it just totally ruined his music for me. I have never been bored to numbness at the Entry before or since. I do like this song though.

Top 5

2006-04-14T11:06:00.000-05:00

Mary – Langhorne Slim

After seeing Mr. Slim last weekend I finally get it. The show featured Slim and the Memphis band Lucero. I had a feeling that I would like Lucero, but I was ambivalent about Slim.

After seeing Langhorne Slim live though, I have a different opinion. He puts on a raucous and fun show. Talented enough to remake the songs live, weird and scary enough to keep you guessing what was going to happen next.

Sister Jack – Spoon

Spoon is one of those bands that when I finally heard them, I thought, “Why haven’t I been listening to them all along.” I like this song because of the line, “I was on the outside looking in/ I was in a dropped-D metal band we called requiem.”

I was once in a dropped-D metal band and it brings back those memories. (Good memories)

Styrofoam Plates – Death Cab for Cutie

I couldn’t even listen to this song for about a year after my Dad died. I can relate to some of the things in this song, and I feel very guilty about that.

We 3 – Soul Asylum

This is one of my favorite Soul Asylum songs. I have Soul Asylum on the brain this week. They played this past Wednesday at the Fine Line, and there is a Rock for Karl benefit tonight at the Entry.

Don’t be careful with your love – Jim Walsh

I have a bit of a man crush on Jim Walsh. Just because he is a brilliant writer and this is a funny, sweet song.

Music journalism?

2006-04-12T09:54:00.000-05:00

I know it's a very popular TV show, but does American Idol deserve articles from a local music journalist? I know there are many people addicted to the show. I know there are even people whom I would consider hardcore music fans that enjoy the show. But I think most anybody would draw a definitive line between entertainment value and artistic merit.

When record companies whine about shrinking profits, do they realize what the idolization of pop music is doing to their bottom line?

The encouragement and subsequent rewards of the soulless, bubble-headed singers promotes karoake puppets.

3 years

2006-04-11T13:04:00.000-05:00

Three years ago, I wasn’t surprised.

The battle was long, for you especially, but for us also.

The battle was un-winnable.

So, here it is. Three years since you’ve gone.

The anniversary kind of snuck up on me this year. I was walking down the hall here at work, and like a poison dart to my brain; your face appeared. Then I heard your voice in my head. Then all my thoughts have been black since.

I remember the night I flew back to Virginia. I slept in the office that you had downstairs. You called it an office, but NASCAR paraphernalia filled each square inch of that room. It was your “racing room.” That was an uncomfortable night. Every time I opened my eyes I would see Jeff Gordon, then I would think of you. Every time I closed my eyes, I swear I could hear you talking in the kitchen. You would say, “Hey there!” just like you always did when you saw me.

Here it is. Three years later. I can still hear you. Sometimes I hear myself say something like, “Hey there!” Sometimes I’ll hear myself say that, or something equally insignificant, and I’ll…

Well...

I’ll think of you.

Because that is all I can do.

I miss you Dad.

Have fun play-humping your guitar player tonight you fucking clown...

2006-04-08T12:07:00.000-05:00

Jack Sparks is so awesome.

A passionate "Fuck You" to a poster boy of poseur country music.

Top 5

2006-04-07T08:53:00.000-05:00

1. Manifesto – Valet
After writing this, I had this song in my head for the rest of the day.

2. At my job – Dead Kennedys
This is the way I feel some days when I am stuck in my gray “veal fattening pen.” Jello Biafra’s snide, sarcastic singing delivered with a clockwork beat and droning guitars.

I’m working at my job
I’m so happy
More boring by the day
But they pay me

3. What is Truth – Johnny Cash
A coming of age storytelling song in that sing/speak delivery that Mr. Cash employs sometimes. I found this song on the Johnny Cash box set, the first disc of which contains 27 songs. This song came on my iPod and the first verse stuck with me for some reason.

The old man turned off the radio
Said where did all of the old songs go
Kids sure play funny music these days
And they play it in the strangest ways
Said it looks to me like they’ve all gone wild
It was peaceful back when I was a child
Well man could it be that the girls and boys
Are trying to be heard above your noise

4. Bikeriders – Lucero
I just watched “If I Should Fall from Grace” about Shane MacGowan and the Pogues. An excellent look at MacGowan and the way he has decided to live with his demons and the people around him have accepted his demons.
I just bought this Lucero disc because I am covering the show Saturday at the Triple Rock. I swear this song sounds exactly like a Pogues song.

5. Break My Heart – Malcolm Middleton
I was considering the Arab Strap show last weekend, but I ended up not leaving the house too much thanks to a mountain of schoolwork. It did make me think of the solo album by Malcolm Middleton (one-half of the strap). I thought this album was brilliant and severely underappreciated. A lot more poppy than the typical Arab Strap album, but the lyrics are still mostly about chicks and drinking though.

You’re gonna break my heart I know it
But if you don’t
You’re gonna break my run of happiness
And destroy my career
I’d rather feel full than to sing these shit songs
I’ll sell my guitar and never look back

Music Industry, Schmusic Schmindustry

2006-04-06T11:31:00.000-05:00

This is my opinion. If you are involved in promoting artist’s creations, shouldn’t you be concerned with that art and not the money that art can put in you and your companies bank accounts?

Three stories that point to innovative artist marketing tools, the return of the single as a viable commodity and the music industry trying to stop the world from turning.

British singer Sandi Thom hosted 21 concerts in her basement which were broadcast on her website. This stunt helped her garner a record deal with Sony. Here is where my skeptical and cynical side comes in. I think that maybe she wasn’t struggling as much as her and her manager would like you to believe. This reeks of a publicity stunt for her new label. I could be wrong though. I think either way it is a cool story. I like the idea of it, maybe this will launch a myspace concert series where we can watch 16-year-old suburban kids play Metallica covers in their parents basement.

A single by Gnarls Barkley hit number one on the British charts. What makes this newsworthy (or blogworthy)? The song “Crazy” has not been released on an album yet, and in fact, has not been released in any physical form. This song exists exclusively as a download. This is the first strictly digital song to reach this milestone.

Finally, the RIAA says that importing songs from a CD into iTunes violates the “fair use” copyright laws. The RIAA doesn't want people to listen to music apparently.

...when inertia grabs the whole damn band.

2006-04-05T09:28:00.000-05:00

“What do you want to do?”
When I say I am working on a writing degree, most people ask this question. I say, “Write!”
This week someone asked me why I write about music. All this got me thinking…

I write because I enjoy the process of writing. I like the pressure of trying to find the perfect word and saying it in the perfect way to coax out a bit of emotion in a sentence. I like rearranging the words on the page to make them do slightly different things. This is the reason I write anything.

I can readily admit that I am insecure about my writing talent. Anytime someone compliments me I feel awkward and lose the words to thank that person for reading. I am still trying to find my voice as a writer.

When I was 10, I found my brother’s albums. There was a couple of Rush albums and Synchronicity by The Police. I listened to those albums everyday and memorized the words and I would sing along in the living room before anybody else got home. It was my secret. I have been obsessed with music ever since.

I moved to Minneapolis 14 years later and started a band. I started going to all these clubs and I would see some amazing local bands. They weren’t always good, but they always interested me. Where I grew up, local bands played backyard barbecues, and if they got really lucky they would get a gig at some beach bar, but those gigs came far and few between. Any beach bar that hosted local bands usually, for some reason unbeknownst to me, wouldn’t last long. So, here in the Twin Cities, to see these young bands, and be in a young band that could gig every week in great clubs, even legendary clubs was something special to me.

My band disappeared, but my love for local music has not. I love seeing a band on the stage of the Entry thinking, “Holy shit. This is it!” And they are right: This is “it.” I never grow tired of seeing bands pouring their guts out on the stage, even if it is for 10 people on a Tuesday night.

I know that I would like to be able to pay my bills by writing. I know that is not happening quite yet. My goal isn’t necessarily to be a music writer, but if I am put on the spot, that is what I know. I have in interest in politics, in culture, in human-interest stories. But I don’t have the passion for anything but music. Music is what I think about constantly, music is the thing that I can talk about for hours. I can be ambivalent about most any other topic, but when it comes to music, I am going to have an opinion. I guess that is why my fledgling writing career has gravitated towards music. This is my manifesto.

2006-04-03T09:10:00.000-05:00

Today should be a national holiday. Baseball opener. I have sat, in previous years, in front of my TV for 12 hours of baseball. This year I am at work; sweating it out in the gray lifeless cubicles of corporate America, instead of sweating it out on my couch with a cold beer.

Maybe next year I can return to the dream.

The real season starts tomorrow with the Minnesota Twins.

Top 5 for Friday March, 31 2006

2006-03-31T16:58:00.000-06:00

I’m stealing a bit from the walshfiles. I can’t quite do 20 songs a week, so let’s start with five.

1.Between Us to Hold – Hayden: A soft ballad from this underrated Canadian songwriter. I’ve been a fan for years, but I just recently purchased the album, “The Closer I get” on which this song appears. When I first got it, I drove around in my truck in the snow with this song repeating in the CD player.

I held your arm as you hit the strings
I pressed your fingers down
and started to sing

2.Cold Rusty Shiver – The Rockford Mules: My new local band crush. If I were a writer with influence in this town, I would try my best to make these guys known. I will try anyway. I love the little staccato slide part in the bridge.

3.Eyeliner Blues – High on Stress: Another new local band crush of mine. When I close my eyes and listen to their album Moonlight Girls, I picture Nordeast, Minneapolis and dive bars: two of my favorite things. I love any song that can deftly name check Keith Richards and the Ashtray Hearts.

4.New Drink For The Old Drunk – Crooked Fingers: A frenetic violin punctuates this march song for aging hipsters. I am still on the fence about Crooked Fingers. I think I am still bitter that I never once saw the great Archers of Loaf in concert. I still have unresolved feelings for the Archers, so I can’t quite let Eric Bachmann move on. I am glad, though, that he moved on in an unforeseeable direction. I enjoy this carnival/ show tune/ folk incarnation much more than I would have an Archers style noise punk continuation.

5.On My Own – The Winter Blanket: A haunting, spare song desperately sung by Stephanie Davila. A perfect soundtrack for a dark room and a cold martini on chilly winter night.

Your perilous prescription list
The problem’s still left unknown
Fighting against
My own guilt
And I can’t do this on my own
If you have
To go------
I pray
You’ll come back home
Home--------

Two Shows Last Week

2006-03-28T09:32:00.000-06:00

I have two reviews that went up recently. Story of the Sea and The Rockford Mules.

The Mules are kickass.

That is all for now.

Club Underground

2006-03-26T12:11:00.000-06:00

I went to Club Underground for the first time this past weekend. That place is a really unique venue.

When you walk in the upstairs, which is the Spring Steet Bar and Grill, it looks like the typical old-school NE bar. That is, the people there look like they belong there on that barstool, playing those pulltabs and drinking those Michelob Golden Lights. That is why I love NE.

But coming up from a concrete staircase in the corner you can hear the machine gun drumming rising up from the basement.

Walking into Club Underground it looks like it could easily be a VFW meeting place or a venue for a fundraising church bingo game.

The sound is surprisingly good in there. I think it has to do with the low ceilings. There is not a lot of room for sound to bounce around.

I wrote in my notes for the show I was reviewing, "Punk Rock Rumpus Room."

Ways not to impress audience members at your Turf Club show

2006-03-22T11:55:00.000-06:00

I saw a band last night from Baltimore. They weren’t that good, but that is not my point.

I don’t know if it was the Turf Club’s fault or this band, but I walked in at 10 p.m. and watched them setting up their equipment. I wondered if it was the second band setting up. No. It was the first band just getting around to setting up at 10 p.m. on a Tuesday night.

They went through a pretty drawn out sound check. These guys are on tour, I know they have sound checked before, so I don’t know why they just seemed so confused about the whole process. It took them a half hour to finish saying, ‘OK. A little more vocals if you can… If you could give me more vocals that would be nice, but if you can’t that’s OK. Alright, a little less vocals now.”

Obviously exhausted from that grueling sound check experience the band sat at a table in front and smoked cigarettes for the next half hour. Finally, at 11 they start playing. I won’t go into the performance, I didn’t care for it, but they would have had to jump through burning hoops of fire to impress me at that point.

So, here is the kicker to the whole story: They are off the stage by 11:25.

Here is the final score:
Sound check: 30 minutes
Performance: 25 minutes

Don't call it a comeback

2006-03-20T15:31:00.000-06:00

...actually you can call it a comeback.

I have been moderately busy for the last year (well since I stopped blogging in August). Look at the "recent writing" links to the right for a smattering of what I have been up to lately. Oh, and I got married too.

So, this reincarnation of GUTTGL will feature some of the haphazardly written fiction and essays I used to do, but will also feature more music and typical "bloggy" type posts.

I am reviewing two shows this week for How Was The Show. Story of the Sea at the Turf Club on Tuesday and The Rockford Mules at Club Underground on Saturday.

Stay tuned for that and much more.