Corporate Speak, Pt. 58

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

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

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

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

Go forth and do your thing.

331 Club in Peril

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?

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

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

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.