TVOTR

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?

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...

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

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

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

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?

1. 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.

2. 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

3. Customer – The Replacements

One of my favorite Replacements songs of all time.

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

4. 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

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

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

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

1. Uptown – Prince

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

2. Always Coming Back Home to You – Atmosphere

These alleyways and these streetlights have seen my best days

3. 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

4. Good Night Goodbye – Mark Mallman

I got a friend in New York City who I call

5. On My Mind – Romantica

When the lights go down up on 1^st Avenue

6. Minneapolis – Lucinda Williams

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

7. Bring Back the Firing Squad – Valet

At Stand Up Franks you are the joke

8. Ten Thousand Lakes – Kid Dakota

The thought of 10,000 lakes makes me feel smaller

9. 9^th & Hennepin – Tom Waits

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

10. 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

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

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

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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?

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

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

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

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.

1. On That Day – Jim Soule
2. 1995 – High on Stress (Nick Leet)
3. Heaven and Children – Brian Just
4. Hank – Bubba Loo Hugby
5. She Said – Juan Apagado

My Life with Radio

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

1. 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.

2. 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”

3. 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.

4. 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

5. 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

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)

What I have been listening to this week:

1. 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.”

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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

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.