modernlife now!

2008-02-14T23:17:00.002-06:00

Big plans! Been tied up at the office—lots of extra assignments right now, on the homefront with a major reorganization enterprise, and with a couple new music projects, so this blog has fallen by the wayside. But good god has there been a lot of good political stuff to blog about. I'm not really reading a lot of music blogs right now—but I have been following the prog blog wars when I am. This blog isn't really the place for politics and I never go rushing to keyboard when I have something to get off my chest–so I am thinking of taking up a specialized political blog at my other blogspot home. Any takers? Okay, okay, I realize you've completely forgotten about me and I don't blame you. But if the people call for it, I will blog.

2007-12-12T15:58:00.000-06:00

No one tells me anything.
This is a sad, strange fucking story. Jeremy Blake was a bit of a superstar when I knew him back in high school–shit, I thought he was older then me, not a month younger. The guy was on track to becoming one of the notable artists of our generation. I'm getting a weird feeling thinking about NOU circle of characters and where they have ended up. No joking around, this is simply very sad and I'm not going to partake of the sensationalism that's continuing to cloud around the tragedy. More to the point, I feel a bit stupid being the last to know about these kind of things.

2007-12-10T15:39:00.000-06:00

{Rare} Nirvana live found!
In one of those rare moments where I actually scare myself with my accurate memory of things that should be forgotten, it took me about 12.8 seconds to find my missing Nirvana live tape, circa 1990 Chicago Metro. I wrote about it in the Chicago Reader back in 2002 or so, but I couldn't actually track it down until I remembered a box of cassettes stashed in my folk's basement. It was there, on top, with a live Jawbox set on the flip–no offense, but that's not quite as exciting. I'll digitize it soon, EQ it. Question is, what then? Post online? Send to Krist Novo?

2007-12-04T17:17:00.001-06:00

About time, 10 years worth, for some R.E.S.P.E.C.T. from the fourth estate, I should say.

2007-12-02T00:16:00.000-06:00

I'm only at the computer tonight because I'm coming off my second cold of the season—the last one lasted a full week in early October—I seem to have a lot going on in my stuffy head and I've already spent way too much time with my butt on the couch. But at least one good thing has come out of being stuck inside all day, my desperate effort to clean out a backlog of unwatched DVD screeners has moved along nicely—I finally sat down with The Situation, which isn't a half-bad Iraq drama featuring Connie Nielsen and that red-haired dude from "Life," make it a rental. Richard Lester's Royal Flash has amazing scenery and costumes, but as a farcical romp it doesn't really have enough comedic moments to sustain it. He should have written a role for Keith Moon. In other news, I actually read a book that wasn't 6 months old, Unmarketable, but found it very disappointing. If anyone cares, I'd be happy to explain what I didn't like about it, but I'm too foggy right now for a full review. I'm in a non-fiction, documentary watching mode and that reminds me... I recently discovered the most incredible cable channel going, Link TV,
and I haven't really had a chance to spread the word. I watched something called Good Copy, Bad Copy tonight that was really good—it totally hipped me up to yet another Brazilian electronic music genre, Techno Brega (or something like that). Ugh, starting to fade again.... incomplete thoughts, typos....

Listening station

Suede - Suede
Studio "East Side" and anything else I can find on blogs!
Stanford University Human Rights lectures (iTunes U)

2007-11-11T00:38:00.000-06:00

Er, 'tap tap' is this mic on? Man, the blog has a layer of dust on it, I'm actually impressed that I could even sign in here. Cough cough... No explanation or excuse, except perhaps that I really don't read many blogs lately, just grab music from them. Again, I have to blog during the day to get paid... so there may be something there. Let's just move on, shall we?

This Atlantic piece on quirk is way old news by now, but it came out right about the same time I was formulating a distantly related piece on the tiresomeness of preppy chic in all of its manifestations, be they leaden with irony or just part of the trend recycling game. I was IMing with a workmate the other day and all I could really offer about my discomfort with the regurgitation of preppy style was a 'I lived through high school in the ’80s so it's not nearly as cute the third time.' Something else occurred me—visiting in Italy in the mid-90s preppy chic was all the rage, because, I suppose 'grunge' and alt-rock hadn't really made the Italians hip to the fact that dressing like lumberjack junkie rent-boys was all the rage. Preppy was sort of a default setting for Europeans trying to look like wealthy Americans. {Side note: maybe these were just Italian clothes marketed to Americans that Italians also bought—I dunno} Anyway, the point being, that I associate preppy chic with a lot of political, personal and social baggage of the ’80s, which I shed to varying degrees way back in friggin' high school, then took from selectively afterward. Sometimes its nice to remember you wore a khaki uniform to school for four years. Preppiness as an attitude makes an impression that I can see from a mile way—polos and docksiders need not be involved, nor an actual prep school. Though I know punkers and rockers and grown-ups that could never shed their preppy high-school background no matter how hard they try. Of course, if you didn't feel the preppy wave in the ’80s—I was visiting the Midwest enough back then to know that it slammed the burbs of Cleveland and Chicago just as hard—than you can more easily adopt its affected, apolitical, Tanqueray-guy, false sense of superiority and be on your way—to where I don't know—Kanye's old pad maybe. It's a refreshing antidote to the nu rave style. But ask yourself this, would you be with the real preps in 1986? They were complete bastards. If not, why do you want to dress like them now? And if you think they'd have liked to have you around, you just plain don't get it.

2007-07-12T23:16:00.000-05:00

Pimpin' is actually quite easy.
I've been horrible about the blogging lately as I have been spending my free time drumming on my new drums all alone, running all alone, playing guitar with the cat on my lap, detoxing for two weeks (almost and not alone), starting to go to bars again, starting to bike a bit and avoiding the home computer and the very messy home office.

But hey, my pal Porochista has a book coming out and the cover is awesome. Buy that shizz.

And another thing, some nice guy did a nice Edsel fansite. Who would have thunk it? Or, it's about friggin' time, I should say. It may relocate, or may not.

See you at Pitchfork? I'll be working, y'all.

2007-04-24T17:55:00.000-05:00

Kevin Shields, revealed.
This is old, but worth a look for you MBV fans. I learned a lot. Example: Born in America?!?

2007-04-21T20:32:00.000-05:00

Hey, it's me again, a bit ashamed that the trickle of nonsense that made up the bulk of this MLN! phenom has dried up, it's the day job, man. Anyhow, a few things to get out there, just in the spirit of house cleaning... ITEM: Why is Amy Winehouse so friggin' polarizing among the muzo cogniesciti? I'm firmly in the sure secretaries love her but she's fuckin' awesome camp, but I keep getting flak from peers, fans and random folk that seems unjustified and unsubstantiated. Someone actually said that she has "no presence" the other night, which is just crazy talk. If you're gonna hate, at least hate acurrately, right? Besides, the record sounds like dynomite.

On another note, I had the pleasure of briefly shooting the shit with Nick Barat the other night, an editor/writer that often delivers the goods in an era in which lots of people get away with faking it. Two things about Nick: he's got much more of a sense of humor about hip-hop orthodoxies than you might expect and secondly we totally agreed about the level of mediocrity of a recent big name producer's record. Music writers never agree on anything. Weird.

In the cheap late adopter technology corner, here are a few tips for you on extending the life of the iPod. If your iPod suddenly says you have no songs and therefore no directory, hang in there, reset it a bunch of times, try pulling your songs off via iPod Access (it works even when iTunes says you're toast), then keep plugging it in to the computer. I was going into a third round of recovering files when suddenly iTunes decides everything is hunky dory. Video ipod, your services will not be needed, quite yet.

In other news, spring has hit Chicago and I like. Rooftop view of the sunset down North Avenue? Priceless.

2007-03-13T00:35:00.000-05:00

Is there some twisted logic to the fact that two new series that portray Irish-Americans in an unflattering light have debuted just before St. Patrick's Day? Or is it just unfortunate timing? It's kinda weird, right? The Black Donnellys, a preposterous Paul Haggis vehicle, is all about these ne'er do well working-class Irish young folk just can't stay out of jail and are drawn into a life in organized crime. The season opener tries to get away with a... they just had to brutally murder some nasty gangsters to start over. It doesn't have a lot going for it in terms of believability. Then there's the Riches, which concerns a family of Irish travelers (also known as the Tinkers) posing as upwardly mobile suburbanites. The Irish traveler con/scam artists do exist. They've been running repair and house-painting scams in the southeast and mid-Atlantic states, as I learned on 60 Minutes about three years ago. And with Eddie Izzard on board, I have to go with the later and issue a warning about the former.

2007-03-07T17:13:00.000-06:00

Dangerous job

2007-03-05T23:24:00.000-06:00

Tidying up
Because it is turn-your-spit-to-ice-shards frigid outside tonight, I bailed on seeing my pals spin records, watched lame TV and reorganized the links section to your right. I've also retitled the blog url, not for any reason other than I don't care to read my own name in a web address. If you have any objections, please register them now.

I'm working on a great blog post in my head about phrases that are used in music press releases that I never need to see again because they are utterly meaningless. One such phrase is "7.9 in Pitchfork." I'm blanking on the other ones right now.

In other news, execept for participating in the Guitarkestra, my live rock calendar has been bare for a while, but tomorrow night (Tue 6) I'm playing a show with Perfect Panther at the Empty Bottle. I'm not up on the other bands, but I will venture that it'll be one heckuva show and will feature no members of the Arcade Fire, nor will it feature a choir from Budapest.

2007-02-25T01:03:00.000-06:00

Blizzard of id
Y'all, I've got to blog for a living so this personal blogging has been hung out to dry for a bit. Tonight, cabin fever + snowstorm + too many glasses of gratis champagne last night = my feeble attempt to get back in the swing. I finally fixed my statcounter so I see who's coming and going here. It's like the surveillance cameras have been disconnected around here. Who knows who's been lurking about.

I wasn't planning on doing any shopping today, I just wanted to sell some stuff but I ended up buying some threads from hejfina, this amazing boutique that's usually way out of my price range but right smack in my neighborhood. Hejjie still has some awesome deals. Guys get over there and buy the Fred Perry sneakers while you can. Skinny guys, buy the Rag & Bone jeans for $30. And second and more importantly I scored a bunch of krautrock and prog stuff at Reckless, something like 5 LPs for $30. Ridiculous! There's some Michael Rother and some Le Dusseldorf in there.

Also props to all the kids who came out to the DJ night at rodan. It was billed as a 'space disco night,' but that was really Gabe's department. He's smooth! No train wrecks. I got props from these hip-hop DJs for playing a Police album track that they didn't know. Easily impressed I guess!

Also must admit I'm wishing I was with my family in VA right now, with all the technological upgrades I'm hearing about.

Also, on an archival note, all my ’90s writing for Washington City Paper will soon be online and free.

2007-02-16T22:52:00.000-06:00

The first black president?
Those who fall for every conspiracy theory and alternative history are tiresome. I enjoyed reading and citing the People's History of the United States whenever possible in college to send the conservatives into an instant tizzy. But these days, there's so much just plain absurd stuff going around.

But with the Obama campaign underway, it's been interesting that some of the R&B and dusties DJs on Chicago radio have seen fit to mention John Hanson whenever possible. The first elected official to formally use the title President of the United States in Congress Assembled, he often shortened to President of the United States on signed documents. The fact is that Hanson was the third of a number of "Presidents" of the U.S. under the Articles of Confederation (predated by Samuel Huntington and Thomas McKean) but the first President of the United States in Congress Assembled. It's truly bizarre to me that Hanson is not better known Constitution or no Constitution. The Articles established the weak union of the thirteen original states. Appropriately, people freaked out when the Articles were adopted, celebrating with the fireworks that we now associate with July 4th. Did people give a shit that it was a unicameral body and not the tricameral government we have today? Do you even know what I am talking about? Snopes has a different take but I think it's slightly misleading in its description of the Continental Congress as something along the lines of NATO. Apparently there's a lot of misinformation about Hanson going around and you can read about it elsewhere.

But one of the dubious and just plain silly things regarding Hanson going around on the internet is that his biography is often accompanied by what appears to be a photograph. People, the man died in 1782! Photography wasn't invented until the 1840s. Turns out that the photo going around is actually of a different John Hanson.

As to claims that Hanson was a moor, no one is really offering any information or family background that would even suggest it, other than mentioning that his grandfather might have been an indentured servant.

This ties in with my latest cocktail conversation piece, acquired via the New Yorker, which is President's Day doesn't actually exist. We get Washington's birthday off, some Federal workers get Lincoln's off as well, but basically President's Day was made up by the friggin mattress discounters to sell some more back stock.

2007-02-14T23:06:00.000-06:00

Real quickly... no theme here.
So I heard about the Pazz & Jop cover controversy. My take: unintentionally racist and just a bad art concept overall. But coming up with cover images for a weekly is extremely difficult and for every good one out there, there's probably five lousy ones. Alt weeklies tend to do pretty well with photography but illustrations? Somewhat riskier. Art direction isn't taken seriously enough in this country and I mean that. I seriously don't remember what I voted for, but my picks are up. As I mentioned in a blog for Time Out, I would amend my poll to include the Blue Van's Dear Independence and probably drop Spank Rock or something like that.

In my vacation news, I just got back from one of my favorite spots in Mexico for yoga/snorkeling/eating where unsurprisingly they show a much more interesting variety of new music videos on the satellite cable channels. They also have these channels where they show a bunch of movies featuring the same star, as in three from Tom Cruise, four from Wynona Ryder, etc. Hence, I saw Girl Interrupted and Beetlejuice again without really trying.

I just ate a bunch of high-end chocolate truffles with my Malbec so excuse me while I ramble on. The island has a "socialist village" on it which is extra interesting considering its proximity to both Chiapas and Cuba. The sign to the left kinda says it all.

2006-12-18T11:11:00.000-06:00

The depths of incompetence
The Donald Vance story is everywhere right now, but I must admit my jaw (quite literally) dropped at how stupid, unjust and just plain embarrassing it is for the military to arrest and detain a security office from Chicago who was actually an FBI informant on illegal weapons trading!

2006-12-12T23:54:00.000-06:00

meet Pippin.
He weighs 2lbs, loves to climb sweatpants with people in them, enjoys bouncing, shiny orbs, chirping and face cuddling.

2006-12-12T23:04:00.000-06:00

This old drum

Thanks to Kelly for inspiring this entry the other day during our staycation. I've been on a bit of a tear with getting some of my junk-shop drums back to playable if not quite Japanese hedge fund director/drum collector worthy condition. The big project, which was probably at least a 40 hour job, was recovering my 1969-70 Sonor Swinger kit. The kit was previously wrapped in some kind of diarrhea-stained grey discount wallpaper when I bought it from some Quebecois drum shop off eBay. It was cheap as hell, but I also bought a vintage Pearl kit the same month which arrived damaged which has resulted in a serious grudge against FedEx Ground and also a lot of emotional baggage connected with this otherwise, no-risk kit. So back to the drum thing. They look amazing now (see lousy cellphone pic above) and I would definitely recommend the project for anyone with some evenings they want to kill and an ugly drum kit. I ordered my drum wrap from Jammin Sam. Getting some decent drum wrap on your kit is also protective and older kits, however high quality they might be, are a bit fragile in many ways. There, there, you are getting very sleepy, yes?

PS, I have yet to actually play it since putting the finishing touches on it, so that will be the subject for another scintillating blog.

PSS, Found out during the process that while these German drums are roughly standard sized, the original hardware is actually metric. If you have got a line on metric sized thumbscrews, get a hold of me. Seriously.

2006-12-06T00:17:00.001-06:00

Top records of 2006, a work in progress

Top ten lists are a pain in the arse, but god, are they fun to read and sometimes I get paid for them.

Still shuffling this around... comments, suggestions? Hated the Rapture and Jenny Lewis at first, but ended up loving them, but they still didn't make the cut. Cat Power didn't make it, not sure why.

ALBUMS
1. Goldfrapp, Supernature (Mute)
2. Lindstrøm, It’s a Feedelity Affair (Smalltown Supersound)
3. LCD Soundsystem, 45:33: Nike + Original Run, (Nike)
4. The Ark, State of the Ark (Rebel Group)
5. Scritti Politti, White Bread, Black Beer (Nonesuch)
6. The Kooks, Inside In/Inside Out, (Astralwerks)
7. Love is All, Nine Times the Same Song (What’s Your Rupture?)
8. Vitalic, OK Cowboy, (Uncivilized World)
9. CSS, Cansei Der Sexy (Sub Pop)
10. Spank Rock, Yoyoyoyoyo (Big Dada)

Singles
1. Young People, Peter, Bjorn and John
2. Pop the Glock, Uffie
3. 45:33: Nike + Original Run LCD Soundsystem
4. SexyBack, Justin Timberlake
5. Daydreamin’, Lupe Fiasco
6. Waters of Nazareth, Justice
7. Anything by the Chromatics
8. Easy Love, MSTRKRFT
9. Magick (Simian Mobile Disco Mix), Klaxons
MORE TO COME...

Reissues
1. Cerrone, Cerrone 3, Recall
2. Thee Midnighters, In Thee Midnite Hour!!!! (Norton?)
3. Bee Gees, The Studio Albums 1967-1968 (Reprise)
4. The Byrds, There is a Season
MORE TO COME...

DJ Mix CDs
TO COME

2006-11-12T09:32:00.000-06:00

Everybody's talkin' bout
the inevitable U2 and One Bank merger.

2006-10-31T17:16:00.000-06:00

Nothing makes you feel homesick like "Reign in Blood"
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SLAYER TO VISIT U.S. TROOPS WHILE ON "UNHOLY ALLIANCE" EUROPEAN TOUR
U.S. Headlining Trek to Kick off in January

Los Angeles, CA - (November 1, 2006) -- The members of the thrash/punk band SLAYER - Kerry King/guitars, Tom Araya/bass, vocals, Jeff Hanneman/guitars, and Dave Lombardo/drums - will take a few hours off from their current European "Unholy Alliance Tour" schedule to pay a visit to the 52nd Services Squadron located on the Spangdahlem U.S. Air Force Base in Germany on Wednesday, November 8. With a sizeable chunk of Slayer's core audience being enlisted men and women, this will be the band's first-ever visit to a military base.

The band, whose latest release, "Christ Illusion," deals with the brutality of war and religions fanaticism, scrutinizing America's role in Iraq and Afghanistan, will spend a couple of hours meeting and chatting with the soldiers, signing autographs, and possibly viewing a fighter aircraft or two.

Upon returning home just before Thanksgiving, Slayer will take the holidays off and then launch a headlining tour of the U.S. Dates are still being confirmed and will be announced shortly, but the intended cities for the tour include:

Tucson, AZ
Las Vegas, NV
Los Angeles, CA
Sacramento, CA
Reno, NV
Salt Lake City, UT
Fargo, ND
Sioux Falls, SD
Kansas City, MO
Atlantic City, NJ
Providence, RI
New York, NY
Ottawa, ONT CANADA
London, ONT CANADA
Hamilton, ONT CANADA
Rochester, NY
Youngstown, OH
Columbus, OH
Indianapolis, IN
Myrtle Beach, SC
Orlando, FL
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Washington, D.C.

2006-10-23T23:45:00.000-05:00

Impossible is Nothing
Okay, last thing tonight... This Aleksey Vayner stuff is addictive. Any bets on who picks up the reality show?

And, like ouch dude.

2006-10-23T22:54:00.000-05:00

Two items regarding Notre Dame.
The last five minutes of the game against UCLA = just mindblowing... For someone who basically ignored football for a good chunk of my life, it was terrifically exciting. Quinn to Samardzija was a beautiful thing considering the announcers had convinced me to give up on the game, but not turn it off. The Irish scored with 27 seconds on the clock which is usually when I have started my channel surfing.

The second item is almost too absurd to be believed but can be summarized this way: an immediate family member is (reportedly) currently the subject (a very small subject) of a desperate Republican attack ad! The best part... IN INDIANA! Yes, the Dugan family is a powerful clan with deep ties to the venerable Democratic party, but did you know that our power has the GOP twittering in its Men's Wearhouse specials all the way in the midwest? We do, yes, we do. I'm looking for the ad online right now!

2006-10-16T23:35:00.000-05:00

bad Brains
Looks like there is a new video compilation of the OG Bad Brains which is about time. I'm feeling kinda lucky that I managed to see them a few times (okay, twice) at the old 9:30 Club in the late 80s. I beg to differ with some bloggers who have discounted the Brains reggae tunes, which are pretty solid. Moreover, HR's reggae band "HR" was amazing live the few times I saw them.

2006-10-16T22:55:00.000-05:00

Studio 60
I'm not ready to pass judgement on the new Aaron Sorkin vehicle. I eventually succumbed to the West Wing because my Washington Metro area based parents basically fell for it hook line and sinker, and you can't beat the Martin Sheen as the liberal Notre Dame sweatshirt wearing President for wish fulfillment. An odd effect of watching Studio 60 is that a look behind the scenes of SNL ends up revealing a serious problem with the actual SNL, as in not so funny, soft politics. Years ago I noticed that SNL had become quicker to mock poor people or people with accents and less adept at skewering those in power. There's a parallel with West Wing in that Sorkin's faux SNL is being rescued by quick witted though emotionally damaged writers in the way the country was being run by someone more sympathetic on WW. Right? Anyway, all this is beside the critique which I intended to make of the Studio 60's godawful theme song. W.G. Snuffy Walden wrote everything from the Mary Tyler Moore, thirtysomething to My So Called Life and obviously West Wing. What happened bro? Not so oddly, when you watch the episodes online they don't use the theme song as far as I can tell, anywhere.

2006-10-11T23:39:00.000-05:00

Rite to your YouTube
I knew this guy in VA who probably had 100 hours of Rites of Spring videos. Finally a few surfaced last month. This tune they play at the old 9:30 Club was new to me, I don't think it was every released. The 9:30 Club very wisely videotaped every show at the club for years on end, so I'd expect that a lot of that footage will find its way to the video Tube.

2006-10-05T20:28:00.000-05:00

Catalonia capsule
A few days in Barcelona really just isn't enough. I feel slightly tortured that my trip was cut short at both ends (a sad story I'll spare you). Next time, I'm going to see FC Barcelona no matter what. But I did luck into hitting Barcelona during La Merce 2006, an annual cultural festival which involved lots of live music on multiple stages in downtown Barcelona which also brings out just about all the children in the city during the day and allows for drinking beer in public squares at night. I mostly stuck to Catalan folk bands or folky-rocky-ska bands, but also caught some Afrobeat on the main stage. Somewhere in the city, Neko Case was playing but she bored me to tears last time I saw her in Chicago. Dirty Pretty Things were playing a free show the afternoon I arrived. There were loads of gigs in the city on the 28th (the Rapture), but I was up in the Pyrenees pretending to be the Duke of Cardona for a night. Two shows I would have like to have seen were Digitalism and the Divine Comedy, but I'm sure they'll come around here. The drive from the Costa Brava into the Pyrenees itself proved to be one of the trips highlights. Next time, I'm putting the pedal down. No sleep til Andorra. The other revelation was this... Spanish food totally rocks (Cal Pep was everything it was promised to be and more) and Spanish wine... good God! I ended up drinking wines from the Ribera del Deuro region but Baldoma Seleccio, Lealtanza Magnum, Alidis tinto were some of my favorite reds. I got in the habit of drinking a glass of cava before dinner and took it easy on the Estrellas (which are in fact, just a type of beer made by Damm, I had no idea). Some of my favorite places were small, restored medieval towns that are pretty unknown. During the driving portion of the adventure, iCat was my companion, a Catalan station that plays the likes of Beth Orton, Cat Power, new Paul Weller alongside regional folky singer-songwriter rock. There are also a few stations kicking out the Ibiza anthems non-stop. The big revelation being that Catalan radio kicks ass over what you get in the States but that's Barcelona for you, really stylish but never, in my experience, annoying.

2006-10-04T12:26:00.000-05:00

World Inferno!
Jack's an old chum of mine, who I highly regard simply for the reason that the I last time I saw him he told me a priceless, revealing but very embarrassing story about a mutual friend. The new WIFS hit is "The Velocity of Love" but it is the slightly inferior "Only Anarchists are Pretty" that is the free download on their Myspace page. Oh well.

2006-09-22T12:13:00.000-05:00

Does anyone have any chain mail I can borrow? Just for a week. I'm going on vacation and I'M STAYING IN A CASTLE ON MY BIRTHDAY. So the hell with y'all!

2006-09-14T12:06:00.000-05:00

Maybe when you return to Cookie Mountain, you can see if they have some graphic designers there. What the hell happened with TV on the Radio's album cover? This looks like the cover for an early ’90s third-rate grunge metal act. At best, it's a lousy version of a Vaugh Oliver style 4AD package. The booklet is a bit better, but still. This band can self-produce its records, but it opts for slick, soulless design? It doesn't add up. Don't judge a book by its cover, Cookie Mountain is pretty decent.

2006-09-12T17:19:00.000-05:00

Olbermann!
I kinda like this guy.

2006-08-22T23:19:00.000-05:00

Peter, Bjorn and John
Who else is hip to these Swedes? Just heard 'em. The "Young Folks" remix is ace.

2006-08-22T23:04:00.000-05:00

You may have noticed...
a break in the blogging. It's been a busy month but also I'm supposed to be blogging at work, which really takes the fun out of blogging from home. That said, the Spike Lee Katrina "doc" running on HBO this week will make you sad, angry and nauseous all at once.

2006-08-07T23:25:00.000-05:00

Lollapalooza as it really happened.
I actually had a great time and that wasn't entirely due to my mixing of Sophia Coppola's new champagne with Vitamin Water, but it definitely had something to do with it. I'm not a huge RHCP fan, but Frusciante is just awesome to watch, even from 30,000 people away. {my lousy photos will not upload for some reason... just picture Perry Farrell in a white suit with a pink shirt with the Chicago skyline behind him.}

2006-08-05T11:23:00.000-05:00

The Power of Nightmares
I highly suggest you check out this BBC doc series (from 2004) if you are interested in the history of the Neo-Con and radical Islamist movements. The first episode of the doc traces the birth and rise to power of both Straussians and Islamic Brotherhood leading up to Afghanistan which found the Neo-Con and Jihadist revolutionaries teaming up against the Soviets. The big shocker for me was about the Team B, the NeoCon group which built up the myth of the Soviet threat in order to derail dentente. Also interesting is that the CIA and the NeoCons have been battling since the ’70s. A warning: this doc makes the pragmatist Kissinger look very very good compared to the nuts we have in power right now. I'm not sure if BBC AM is broadcasting this, if not, they should be.

You can screen the entire doc here:
Part 1

2006-08-02T13:32:00.000-05:00

Time Out Beirut
Everyone I know who's read these letters has found them pretty affecting. I actually have the complete text but I'm not really cleared to publish it. My thoughts are with my colleagues Ramsay and Amir Ben-David.

2006-07-31T23:17:00.000-05:00

Pitchfork, in brief
I had to split the scene a few times but I don't think I missed anything amazing. Word is that Spank Rock were killing everyone who hadn't heard them before, which doesn't surprise me. Os Mutantes videos I shot came out like abstract modernist paintings, must have something to do with the zoom button.

2006-07-14T13:54:00.000-05:00

Pre-Pitchfork Party
I'm spinning some records downstairs.

2006-07-06T14:52:00.000-05:00

What's the matter with North Dakota?

Nothing this weekend, really... crystal blue skies, waves of bright yellow canola and blue-lavendar flax. I met some really interesting people from different walks of life that are now connected to me. These nice folks had the displeasure of seeing me with a swollen mouth and I had the joy of coming home to a two-hour date with the dentist chair. Hopefully, I'll be back to normal someday.

On the way home, I borrowed What's the Matter with Kansas? (which I had bought my Dad for Christmas when it came out) and plowed through it like a 20-ton threshing machine running on high-test ethanol. It's a great airport book for travelling lapsed-leftists. It'll get your blood boiling, make you feel sorrow for the working religious right and also scare the crap out of you... in a good way. I know this falls into my book reviews of books that are easily available on the used shelf, but my stack of new books is just too intimidating. Tom Frank's book does a lot of repeating itself, but that keeps it focused. His periodic mentions of punk rock bands, the Embarassment and his chapter on his personal political journey via college at first irked me, but end up being quite memorable. He has great knowledge of his home state and for that alone, he holds attention. While we are on the topic, I guess there is a historically inspired indie music fest coming up in Lawrence. What's up with all these music fests?

In other news, my World Cup pool standings took some serious damage because I forgot to make my second round picks in time. How do I feel about the way things have gone? Remarkably good. France has been stunning in the last couple games. The talent-heavy Brazil never found its groove and neither did England really. Portugal seemed to have some heat, but it faded and they seem to play dirtier than anyone else. Italy began as a bit of an opportunistic, dare I say, lazy team, but really hit its stride later. I love the idea of Zidane winning the world cup in his last appearance. Right now, I'm pulling for France.

2006-06-27T08:59:00.000-05:00

Revenge of the Nerds?
Yes, it's true. Two of the world's richest men admit that free market capitalism is incapable of doing anything about poverty.

My quick Intonation festival top five:

1. Blue Cheer, not the original guitarist but I sure couldn't tell. They might have relaxed the tempo on a few tunes but were otherwise powerful, charismatic and real... which couldn't really be said of any of the other live acts.

2. Lupe Fiasco, skateboarders on stage, more paranoia about people downloading or recording his tracks, but he has a vibe and some pretty catchy tunes... okay, really just "Kick Push" but he was on.

3. Free-flowing 312.

4. the poster tent... I'm really into those skill-screened rock posters, even though I think it's hard to find one that both looks good and has good bands on it. I have a small collection that I have carefully unstapled from boarded-up walls on Division Street. There was a nice Tristeza poster but I can't even remember who that is. There was a killer screen for a Sonic Youth show in 2002 that I actually went to. But Sonic Youth?

5. The BBC fake Masterpiece Theatre tent. Guerrilla marketing can be annoying, but I really want to go in this tent and play pool, I just didn't quite drink enough to do that.

6. MSTRKRFT and Jordan spinning on Friday night at Smartbar with tons of sticky, nasty people dancing like some kind of futuristic pagan tribe.

2006-06-18T23:43:00.000-05:00

Strummer in 20/20
I gave a certain magazine editor a hard time a few years back for publishing an inaccurate bio piece on Joe Strummer. I knew that Strummer wasn't "working-class" as he was repeatedly described in the piece. The ed's excuse was "the writer has a lot of experience" or something like that, and "we don't pay our writers." Nice. Anyway, I was recently vindicated in a big way in Mojo magazine, which really got to the heart of the Strummer land of make-believe and even gave us the lowdown on Cut the Crap, that weird Clash album with the drum machine that I bought on cassette the day it came out. Crap was crappy, but it primed me for B.A.D. whom I still really like. The magazine with the shoddy fact checking and lots of freak folk in it still exists.

2006-06-02T10:45:00.000-05:00

A lot of stoner rock out there is bullshit, but I'm really digging on Danava, coming to Chicago in July.

2006-06-02T09:36:00.001-05:00

Frere-Jones is the crunkest member of the Magnetic Fields
I think he's on fertile ground in this piece on why recent British pop (or indie) exports don't often connect with mass American audiences, but I'm not sure what it is. He seems to say (let's infer) that a puritanical American music biz can't handle the social realism of songs about prostitutes, certainly a stretch. He cites examples of inoffensive, upifting fluff like James Blunt that has gone into the charts. Thankfully, he doesn't mention the Spice Girls, even once. Is he saying that Americans prefer uplifting fluff? When I was living the UK (early 90s), uplifting, schmaltzy fluff was all you heard on the radio. The Brit indie scene was ace but in retreat and post-grunge dominated the music press, except for Suede who laid a lot of the groundwork for the resurgence Britpop.

What he doesn't get into wondering is why are some American bands able to go over to the UK, get big (so quickly) and use that as a launching pad for US success while others seem to fall flat in the UK. I'm not sure I have an answer. I do have some anecdotal knowledge of how the British music industry sometimes worked in the ’90s which might be a contributing factor. At least one band I know had their label pay off a British music journalist to write glowing profiles of the group before its UK tour. Voila... a cheap investment produces a five year career! Does it still work that or did it ever? I have no idea. Can anyone explain Adam Green for me?

Another thread to be explored is the government programmed radio angle. The BBC has only a few channels and manages to expose a massive amount of people to a wide variety of music and styles often programmed by experts and actual DJs rather than commericial-funded corporate monoliths. Why do British people give a shit about dance music, for instance? On the other hand, why has commercial hip-hop failed to get a foothold in the UK? Traditionally, the music press in the UK has more influence, but radio also matters more there than it does here. Man, I'm rambling...

2006-05-31T17:40:00.000-05:00

I know a famous person
Erik Wemple is a super solid guy and ace editor who also falls into the slim category of newspaper men that actually take my calls. I congratulate him on his new gig at Village Voice.

2006-05-24T10:44:00.000-05:00

Make-up time
So backpedaling on yesterday's post, Jay let me know that he didn't do what I suggested he did in the interview and he's correct. Thanks Jay, you've given this blog some much needed gravitas. I can't talk about sneakers, Belgian ales or drum wraps for at least a week.

In the interest of making good, I should tell you that Babcock is
appearing on AirAmericaRadio's "the Marc Moran Show" on Monday, May 29 in a 20-minute segment discussing the Arthur v Godsmack episode and also Arthur's forthcoming CD (curated by Chicago's Josephine Foster) which benefits anti-military recruiting campaigns.

2006-05-23T12:54:00.000-05:00

Judgment day for Godsmack?
This is almost a month old but it's been a hot topic this week.
The guy from Godsmack definitely deserved to get some serious flack for this and props to (we don't do fact-checking, we just love pentagrams) Arthur magazine's Jay Babcock for going for the throat. But sometimes when music writers do politics, they forget to do so journalistically. Babcock doesn't stop to consider that the administration and the military are really two different, conflicting entities these days. He is subscribing to a Vietnam-era idea of a monolithic government/military complex. Anyone who has followed the lead-up to the Iraq invasion should know that the administration ignored the advice and dissent of top military advisors and also that many retired military officers have publicly opposed the war from the outset. I think Babcock could have done what he wanted to do without introducing unsubtle radical politics into the discussion. At the same time, I like the idea of some radical left O'Reillys out there shifting the angle of the debate. I just like it better when they are a bit more logic-bound and informed.

Also, anyone seen this doc Baghdad ER? is very well done, horrifying but not sensationalistic at all.

2006-05-23T11:09:00.000-05:00

Be afraid, be very afraid.

2006-05-22T16:56:00.000-05:00

Good Lordi.

The Finnish band Lordi won the Eurovision song contest with its original song 'Hard Rock Hallelujah.'

The band bears a striking resemblance to the costumed metallurgists GWAR who originally hailed from my home country of NoVa.

2006-05-19T17:16:00.000-05:00

One rather curious (but obvious) sidenote to the hip-hop/race discussion going on is that political hip-hop's audience consists largely, if not overwhelmingly, of white folks. Here's a Village Voice piece from a while back that gets into it.

2006-05-18T12:40:00.000-05:00

More on Merritt/Hopper/Frere-Jones.
Wishing I had the Prince on my playlist so I could play "Controversy."

2006-05-13T19:21:00.000-05:00

The not-so-rare seven-inch that inspired a movie.
Some old friends hit me up about a split single from the ’90s which I did the graphics for way way back in my Indiana days. Evidently, the record or the performances around the time it was released inspired an indie rock doc film (which neither of the bands on the single appeared in). This mp3 posting is pretty hilarious for its alternate history (ie: none of these musicians have passed on to my knowledge).

2006-05-11T17:30:00.000-05:00

I will post some listening station suggestions. I can’t tell you the racial make-up of all the musicians involved. You’ll just have to figure that out for yourself, or not.

Camera Obscura Let’s Get Out of this Country (Merge)
Country-tinged forlorn female stuff with some Joe Meek-esque production details, much better than that snoozey new Neko Case record.

The Lee Boys, Say Yes
Gospel with a shredding steel-guitar that sometimes turns psychedelic.

Sonic Youth, Rather Ripped (Geffen)
Hey this is melodic, this isn't that weird, this kinda rocks.

Monsieur Gansbourg Revisited (Verve Forecast)
The songs of the one and only Serge Gainsbourg are redone by the likes of Jarvis Cocker, Portishead, Gonzales, Marc Almond in English for our listening pleasure. It’s one of those tribute records that ranges from the super weird (Sly & Robbie with Marianne Faithful) to the predictable (the Kills sounding like Blonde Redhead).

Radio 4 Enemies Like This (Astralwerks) Way more rockin’ than the last album which was a stinker in my book. Good guys, though.

Tony Allen Lagos No Shaking (Honest Johns)
The extraordinary Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen (longtime Fela Kuti associate) does his thing well here, but its more about simmering and grooves than seething intensity. It falls on the laid-back end of Afrobeat, maybe slightly on the smooth touristy side rather than the raw freaky side.

2006-05-09T17:43:00.000-05:00

Okay, now this is just getting crazy.
No, I don't like watching car wrecks. The responses should be showing up here and here.

And flash, Albini weighs in as only Albini can and will do.

2006-04-28T17:18:00.000-05:00

Kristol has his day.
This guy usually gets away with murder on TV but Colbert (who's Report is actually often hit-or-miss) gets him on the ropes and keeps him there. Cobert vs. Kristol (QT).

2006-04-27T15:16:00.000-05:00

Talkin' Nat Geo World, y'all
Er, yeah... I contributed a bunch of stuff to the fresh, hot, online National Geographic World Music Guide.

2006-04-25T23:43:00.000-05:00

The Tax is playing with E'Nuff Z'Nuff.

2006-04-25T23:07:00.000-05:00

Zizek anyone?
I'm thinking of heading over to In These Times for the Zizek panel tomorrow night. Who's in? The other option is to go sell stuff down at Hyde Park Records.

Hit the archives at Hyde Park Records for MP3s of some of the rarest stuff they've sold lately. An LP called The Mail Must Go Through by the Cult (not the She Sells Sanctuary one) and a D.R. Hooker album that went for a cool grand.

While last week was a social and sonic overload, this one seems to be about work, dull interviews, fascinating interviews, Elizabeth miniseries immersion (love the Helen Mirren, didn't need the graphic decapitations) and few frustrating scheduling conflicts for the rock bands. And what is up with the arctic backlash weather around here? I froze my ass off today in v-neck sweater, windbreaker and wrinkled-up Burberry dress shirt.

And I almost forgot... a new feature of this blog will be to track newspaper stories that jack from articles I've already published or something like that. The New York Times recently ran two pieces on modern auction house Wright 20 and Richard Wright in what seemed like the same issue. I profiled Wright in the Chicago Reader back in 2002 or something like that.

2006-04-17T18:04:00.000-05:00

Opening band blues
I'm not talking about being the opening band, which is its own kind of blues I suppose but watching an opening band blues. The New York talent pool is running a bit shallow right now and Blood on the Wall has found that its number has come up (mixing metaphors, I know) and its time to tour with Karen O's band, whateveryacallem, er, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. BOTW just don't have it, nothing to offer really but some tired Pixies-isms and proto-metal grunge. Miggy is a cool guy and good drummer, but sorry pal, they're not giving you much to work with. I think New York bands voted them their favorite local band... possibly they meant to say favorite local band to drink beer with and tour with, because the other night they made the YYYs look good, really good. KO was bouncing gold-sparkly something that you couldn't take your eyes off. Some tunes didn't go anywhere but mostly it was worth driving up for and leaving early from. James Murphy kicked out an early DJ set later that night, bursting with disco both obscure and classic. He played a giant-drumbreak-sporting Rare Earth track, a band that you must respect simply because Motown named its sub-label after them, the first band signed to it.

It was a great social party weekend for me, highlights being the mime-styling dancing at Sound-Bar, the mind-expanding set (loads of Benelux goodies, Bad Brains, the Catherine Wheel soundtrack, a disco track called "Exercise Your Ass Off") from Nick Common Factor at Derek's converted bakery loft and the endless real lime and tangerine juice margaritas and gourmet homemade salsa bar at my in-laws easter fest. We made enough guac for 22 people and I think I ate half of it.

2006-04-17T18:00:00.000-05:00

You'll be blazed by Average Homeboy.

2006-04-12T14:47:00.000-05:00

Gravitas
Loading the dishwasher doesn't allow as much time for deep reflection as doing the dishes by hand. But it allows more time for scanning cable for something of substance. Last night, I sat riveted by The Tank Man, a Frontline piece on China that looks at the politics and economics of China through the lens of Tiananmen Square. You can watch the special here. I had a Tank Man t-shirt for many years that pictured the anonymous Beijing resident. My cool-as-hell aunt had given it to me. She bought it from the Asian students organization at her university. One of the most shocking moments in the special features four students at Beijing University that don't recognize the photograph of tank man.

2006-04-10T14:09:00.000-05:00

I don't want to be at work today so I'm reading Music Thing.

2006-04-09T23:27:00.000-05:00

The Tooth of Crime

I caught the opening night of the Tooth of Crime at Straw Dog tonight, missed the first 20 because I was parking and with the Cubs playing, parking spaces just weren't happening. This edition of TofC is a bit different from the one I drummed for in college. Sam Shepard has deep roots in Illinois even though he's identified so much as a Californian. He was also a drummer, which makes sense if you know about the scene that's all about rhythm and British Invasion drummers in the play. Tooth was written while Shepard was living in London in 1972. But evidently, he revised the text at some point. Now, it contains references to hip-hop and seems to be more concerned with authenticity, relevance and the way the dialogue about music in the culture dances around those questions. I swear the TofC that I knew was a bit more about being an outlaw, driving fast and how being on top of the charts only makes one alienated from one's self as well as an easy target for the next generation. I remember it being a bit more Death Race 2000, but maybe it's just me.

I must suggest that anyone with Sundance (or BBC 4 in the UK) lock on to City of Men. Tivo, tape or just cancel your plans to see this. I screened the first four episodes and it just gets better and better. The first episode provides a challenging political theory backdrop for the situation in the favelas in which the stories are set, comparing the gangsters to England and France in the days of Napolean and trade wars. As for point of view, imagine an American television program that portrays kids in the slums not so much as victims, but as fully formed people who can be both creative and wonderful and selfish and stupid. The gangsters themselves are also well-drawn. There's a bit of baile funk in the soundtrack and some stuff that sounds like its from a Brazilian Morrissey.

More here in Portugese.

2006-04-06T16:34:00.000-05:00

I'm in the throes of new office Mac bliss. I didn't realize that my old eMac was slowly grinding to a non-working condition. It all went down yesterday and now I'm kicking it live with a newly souped up eMac that does two things my old comp quit doing. It plays CDs and it opens and closes windows. I also archived like 4,000 emails after dumping like 5,000 more. All in all, it's a spring cleaning of the digital variety that makes me feel good.

A quick survey of blogs and I discovered that the music writer blogger that I find repulsively pretentious in writing but actually quite nice in person is exactly that way on in the blogosphere. Not so shocking.

So the CDs are getting listened to at a furious rate. I'm hopefully screening the new Matthew Barney joint this weekend. Also, I will suggest you see the Devil and Daniel Johnston. I have a piece in the next Time Out on DDJ and I trust you will enjoy the film even more than I did as I saw it in a lousy screening room with a notebook and a bunch of crusty academic types.

And then there is this fezteefal stuff going down. Chicago is turning out to be a kind of music festival central for this summer. We're getting Lollapalooza again and the Intonation and Pitchfork festivals, which have a big nasty rivalry going. Music festivals are a good time and a good value cash-wise so I say bring-em on. I think the Intonation might have the most adventurous line-up, Pitchfork the most solid and Lolla (obviously) the biggest and safest names. The Intonation fest is curated and dominated by Vice Records associated artists.

2006-03-31T14:13:00.000-06:00

Gizoogle
Do y'all know about this already?

2006-03-28T10:36:00.000-06:00

Miami action
I'm just back from Miami. You can read all about it, here.

2006-03-04T23:59:00.000-06:00

The time of the season...
Putting aside the fact that I'm taking some mild prescription painkillers to deal with my torturous teeth situation (soon to be resolved), its been a really interesting couple of days. Its the first time, in a long time, when I've felt the Chicago social vibe has been so pleasant, in that I've gone out to a few events (the Stop Smiling anniversary party) and come home early having seen many more friendly faces that I was expecting to encounter. There's also something really strange (but not good) in the air, in that I know about four or five couples recently split or on the verge of splitting. Also, there's something about constant pain, or a minor crisis that you can only manage not really escape that puts a lot of things in perspective. Argh, here it comes again.

Listening Station:

Soledad Brothers The Hardest Walk (Alive)
A lot of the Ohio garage stuff is vastly overrated but the SB joint that drops this month is excellent. They come to Chicago March 16.

I just got new music from Dem Franchise Boyz and a stack of Eurasian traditional music with DVDs. I've got the Big Apple Rappin' comp and the Masekela singles comp to dig into but I'm saving my VHS copy of Wonderwall for my op recovery day. Though I considered blowing 30 bucks on the Brigitte Bardot DVD, tripping with Jane Birkin will have to do. For now.

Also, there's been some chatter on the net about the Chisel rarities project and trust me, it is coming along, but very slowly. Some significant material has been put in the post to me but yet to arrive. Then there's mixing, selection, mastering, sequencing and security council approval to happen yet, so maybe 2007?

Also on the release front, the Perfect Panther CD should be out in a month or two. We're wrangling with the artwork issue right now and some DC/NY/Bmore gigs are in the works.

Oh and this is from a protest outside the Homeland Security building in Chicago. My pics of Cabrini Green getting the wrecking ball treatment this past week didn't come out. Something about the fact I was driving when I took them, I suppose.

2006-03-03T20:00:00.000-06:00

The Agony
My wisdom teeth have picked this week to cause me constant, unbearable pain making the writing of sentences almost impossible. It's pretty awful. In the meantime, I've been watching the Nick Sylvester situation unfold with some interest. Also, I gotta give props to Simon Reynolds for hitting me back almost immediately about my review of Rip It Up and Start Again. Go buy it, seriously.

2006-02-18T12:08:00.000-06:00

Spin finally sold
Considerably less than $5 million?

2006-02-18T01:13:00.000-06:00

Can you date this Fugazi show?
I wanna say... Wilson Center or All Souls Church, 1989! I remember the dude in the Gorilla Biscuits shirt... or I want to.

2006-02-18T00:44:00.001-06:00

What's Norske for S C O R E ?
Last weekend, I was led by some unseen force to a pretty crappy estate sale in the northwest suburbs. It was semi-cleaned out and just basically dingy, sad and almost the kind of place you walk in and walk right out of. There was, however, a little plastic electric piano (busted of course), lots of LPs in good shape (mostly lounge) and an entire set of vintage couches and loveseat (polynesiany tiki bar style). But I became taken with a painting hanging in the basement, clashing badly with the wood paneling, and on the suggestion of my life partner, went for it and made an offer. So I end up somehow squeaking the painting in the Golf and heading out into the vortex of Ikea and outlet shopping. Turns out the painting from 67 or so, of Norwegian origin and was originally sold to a notable Norwegian architect. Now, I'm not Norwegian, but I seem to be getting pulled towards Norway and modernist (even futurist) Norway in particular. I buy a piece of original art about every 6 years, but so far my track record is really good.

In other news, this blog is doing pretty big numbers on Fridays, which is quite ironic considering I usually work a long Friday, as I did today discounting an afternoon siesta. Siesta and a temperature of 7˚ don't really jive I know.

Also, I really wanted to see a rock band at a house party tonight, but after eating and contemplating the absence of mercury moving conditions I thought it better to retire early after taking in some sleep-inducing bobsled racing.

2006-02-17T16:31:00.000-06:00

Not exactly Robert Frank, but you get the idea...

2006-02-09T16:32:00.000-06:00

Remembering Sly
I broke into my house, kinda says it all.

2006-02-08T00:20:00.000-06:00

Country Ass
We've got this thing at work about "country ass" this and that. We picked up the term country ass from some music message board but believe me we've made it our own. The total opposite of country ass is the band Owls and Crows. They've got MP3s, they play all the time and they rock me in a pleasing manner. I've spent the last hour downloading DC hardcore 7"s and listening to the Fall singles collection. My hate has an appetite of its own. I don't want to name names, but I'm kind of confused as to how a band that sounds like Smog singing for Spacemen 3 made someone's top ten of the year. Maybe in like '98, but come on...

2006-02-02T14:11:00.000-06:00

Pazzin' and joppin'
The poll is up. There are some "essays" too, but I don't know that I will be reading them.

2006-01-30T23:11:00.000-06:00

Loose
A night (post-gym) of drinking Argentine wine (farewell Marshall Field's wine shop) and munching on Indian flavored crispy things (thank you Trader Joe's) put me in blogging mode, but I somehow lost my first take. Note to self: save drafts. Anyway, I planned to catch up and lay down some things I've had in mind for a while, but all of those ideas seem to have left me right now.

Must have/throwin it on the iPod
Beth Orton - Comfort of Strangers (Astralwerks)
Folky, moody but with a soul jazz lightness to it at times, just got this today and I'm loving it, comes out Feb 7.

Actively disliking
Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins - Rabbit Fur Coat (Team Love)
This is just kind of icky, thin faux country that leaves me cold. Why is she getting so much press? Maybe because she dated Donnie Darko, I have no idea.

2006-01-28T20:46:00.000-06:00

So blogging has not been a priority in the new year and that is unlikely to change. On top of that, I’ve somehow lost all the mental blogging notes that I am usually in the habit of keeping. I’ve been trying to just get the last cough out of my system from this annoying cold I had last week. Which brings me to the story of the cold, and how colds evidently are some kind of reaction to stress. The Tax went to Ohio for the weekend to play some shows in Athens and Columbus with the Tough and Lovely. I ended up renting the vehicle (Mitsubishi Galant = solid!) and doing most of the driving. While driving all day isn’t always a great way to get amped for a live gig I actually think I played better than I have in some time. I’m kicking myself for not recording both nights. I also learned that rockers in Ohio partee all-night in the manner of Quiet Riot and city slickers like me just can’t keep up. So everything went ultra smooth. I particularly like visiting college towns that the hip bands of the moment completely ignore. Athens isn’t all that remote, but its just out of the way enough that it rarely shows up on a tour itinerary, except for that of comedian Jeff Garland who was playing the night after us at the University. So I get home and 24 hours later I feel awful. Ohio thrifting wasn’t as spectacular as I had hoped but one of the guys somehow walked in and found several Flaming Groovies Cds just waiting for him. There was that kind of magic in the air in Ohio.

My Norwegian posse was just in town and hanging with Anita and friends was probably the biggest shot of inspiration I’ve gotten in years. Lots of amazing chit-chat and eating and drinking type action. Typical of Anita… I give her directions to Cabrini Green which she wants to see on the way out of Chicago, the Norwegians hug goodbye and set off in their blue bomber and a I get a text later that she’s met someone at Cabrini who’s lived there their entire life and is making a documentary about the project before it comes down forever and she’s totally psyched. The combination of that enthusiasm for life, desire to follow your own interests and the do-it-now attitude is pretty rare. I wish I could have some kind of infusion of that zest every few months. We’re planning a Numusic junket for the fall with a few days at the family compound in “the archipelego” on the fjords outside of Stavanger, can only be heavenly.

In other news, I’ve just got a voracious appetite for music biographies, documentaries and critical surveys. I’m pounding about one book a week. Don’t ask me why. I’m wading through the somewhat dry Under Review DVDs for Syd Barrett and the Small Faces. The British take a single by single analysis of a band’s career, which makes for some really compelling analysis.

I’m going to see Jah Wobble a bit later tonight after mojitos, expecting a dubby, roots reggae kind of thing, but I have no idea.

As for writing (I just typed wiring), I promise to get back in the swing of things. Entry to come… Whats with friends of mine dating famous writers, getting their book jacket photos taken by famous photographers? Why is it that I’m drawn to the idea of working with undiscovered talent? Its not that I’m cheap, or is it? Or is their a camaraderie of being semi-am or semi-pro that makes things more fun than working with big names and bigger egos?

2005-12-26T23:17:00.000-06:00

Lost and found in PA
One of my projects this week is to clean-up and even clean-out my rehearsal space and hopefully find a place for this Sansui RA-500 reverb that I brought home from the keystone state. A new relative happened to have one sitting in his workshop and who was I to stop him from passing on his junk down and across a few generations. I'm reading good things on about the RA-500. I was reminded as I drank wine in a giant 70s resort style hot tub in the Poconos this past weekend of how much I dig Philly, even the slightly gentrified Philly of today. I was taken out in little Italy for perhaps the finest meal ever in PA (more later for my Philly tribe), had drinks in the almost-so-chic Rittenhouse Square and then dragged the relatives down to gritty but still happening South Street strip on the way to the airport. Man, I just might have to move back to the #3 homestate at some point. I'm also burning with that desire, after hanging out with 70+ year old relatives with heartbreaking/inspiring stories of toil and romance in the mid-century factories of the industrial and prosperous USA to construct an accurate family tree, to research the United Mineworkers history, to visit some long neglected relatives. It's interesting how something that seems to drag you down as a youth (extended family) can be so fascinating as you start to ripen.

Top tending
I've gotten a case of Top Ten fever for this end of the year time and I've been reading the magazine, blog and critic's top tens with interest and in some cases, just plain whattheeff. In the past, I considered these things way too nerdy. I kinda think Top 25 or Top 50 lists are just plain silly... and top 100 is bordering on cop-out. Here's some links to a few:
Pitchfork, SFJ, Mark Jenkins, NME...
2004's Pazz & Jop which will soon be replaced by 2005s.

I'd like to throw some other polls out there. What was 2005's most covered song? Over-hyped band? Over-rated record? 2005's worst "underground" trend? And music journalism's worst case of following the prevailing wisdom? Another thing... the year-end issue of Rollin' Stone is quite well-done and contains some genuinely passionate, informed political stuff. Who'd have thunk?

2005-12-21T23:51:00.000-06:00

Almost postal
I really don't have it in for publicists. They're cool, I guess, it is just that I was gunning for anyone and everyone yesterday and by that I mean kind of growling at people in my office, but on the inside. No, publicists just happen to throw themselves in my crosshairs by email, phone, mail and IM at every possible moment, so when they also show up in the publications I read, I notice that.

On the catching up with the last six months of culture tip, I finally say Me and You and Everyone We Know... Someone is calling me, gotta go.

2005-12-20T17:14:00.000-06:00

Crossing the line but nobody cares
Take a look at the list below and ask yourself: Which of these publications allows publicists to write about their own bands (or write music editorial copy at all)? Which allows people in the employ of record labels (or the label owners themselves) to write for them? Which publications are actually cross-promotional devices for record label/marketing companies? Also ask yourself, which of these magazines allows label owners or publicists to submit year-end top-ten lists which are published? Also, ask yourself... should people currently working publicity be writing editorial copy of any kind, even unrelated to their clients? Just thinking about that kind of thing right now. Comments are welcome.

The Fader
Stop Smiling
Chicago Reader
Time Out Chicago
Black Book
Nylon
XLRBR
Urb
Spin
Rolling Stone

2005-11-19T22:33:00.000-06:00

It was hot and then suddenly not
A few days of indulgence... decadent sun, surf and gourging broke up this very stressful month very nicely. With another holiday travel week approaching (yo' DC), my workload suddenly goes from managable insanity to total friggin insanity. I've found that beginning the day with a triple latte from Intelligentsia in the Monadnock building makes the day speed along faster, things get written and suddenly I'm free to go. Still, the contrast between laying on the beach all day and devouring a Big Star biography with a $1.50 Dos Equis lager at my side and being strapped to the eMac for 11 hours trying to transcribe interviews with German DJs done via cell phones has kind of made me crazy. It might my post Playa, winter hibernating instinct, but suddenly building fires, wearing thick wool sweaters, snacking on the couch watching Orson Welles obscurities before retiring early sounds like the ticket, though I suppose I only did that once this week. Either that or just getting home early. Sleep is nice.

Oh and Rob Jovanic's book Big Star : The Short Life, Painful Death, and Unexpected Resurrection of the Kings of Power Pop is just fine, very straightforward with just enough romance and a healthy dose of the tragic to keep a Big Star fan enraptured. It gives the other members of the band a lot of attention. It's difficult to read it and not come out the other side more sympathetic to Chris Bell who didn't have much of a second chance and a bit more frustrated with Alex Chilton, who's had dozens of them.

Had a drink on the rooftop bar at this place Basico in Playa Del Carmen and was simply in awe of the whole design vibe.

2005-11-07T11:36:00.000-06:00

Perfect Podcasted
I don't know how I feel about this, but mostly I'm cool with it. Is all podcasting good podcasting? Perfect Panther has been podcasted by the anthem.

2005-11-01T00:14:00.000-06:00

NPR archive action
In case you missed it or you are my Mom, check out the 848 segment I did with Steve Edwards. Go to Eight Forty-Eight—October 18, 2005 and hit the headphones. They spelled my name wrong, but I totally forgot Steve's name while we were taping so all's fair.

2005-10-19T23:41:00.000-05:00

The Pile Up
I've been reading up on the whole American Apparel sexual harassment suit situation. There are dozens of articles that have come out in the last few months in everything from Business Week to Nerve. Many bloggers seem to have made up their minds on Dov Charney and AA. I'm having flashbacks to the Spin sexual harassment case back in the ’90s. Just to put things in perspective, the EEOC publishes these statistics, showing that on the federal level about 48% of SH cases end with "no reasonable cause."

2005-10-19T23:15:00.000-05:00

A Clockwork Tartan
I've definitely been guilty of the visiting the tourist-friendly, upmarket center of a European city and thinking "wow, everything is wonderful here." Reading Irvine Welsh today, I was shocked to hear just how bad the violence is in Scotland these days. Remember this is a country without easy access to guns.

2005-10-19T14:31:00.000-05:00

Can't let go...
of the whole cassette thing, especially after seeing this japanese guy's site. I dumped about 100 in my last move and now I'm almost regretting. Although, admittedly, none of them were yellow. I had a preference for the Denon tapes like the one above.

2005-10-18T18:27:00.000-05:00

Radio Ga Ga
I was on the radio this morning talking about Chicago DJs. Check it out. With some very clever editing, they made me sound informed and articulate.

2005-10-16T20:40:00.000-05:00

Daley dose
No, not Richard Daley, but Sean Daley, one of the funnier and more entertaining music writers in the game today has a blog here. I have nothing in common with Sean tastewise, but some of his writing for the Washington Post and DC City Paper has made me laugh out loud. He ended up in St. Petersburg, Florida which is lucky for them, though I can imagine he has to tone down the sarcasm for his new readership.

2005-10-16T12:27:00.000-05:00

Baby On Board?
So I've had an idea for a more substantive blog entry kicking around for a while, but I never find the time to kick it out. And here I do a quick search to see if anyone else has done the same and I find that someone else is on the same wavelength, or was a year ago at least.
So briefly: When I first got into punk, one the first things my skate pals turned me on to was Black Market Baby. I made a cassette of all their material (probably "Youth Crimes" and "White Boy Funeral," but I can't be sure) and listened to it incessantly. This stuff was political, it rocked, was well recorded and was local to boot. The band's sound was a bit more influenced by British oi, the Ruts, 999 and Sham 69 but they had a sharp intelligence in vaguely ominous political tunes like "The Prophet" that put them in a different class than boot boys Iron Cross. BMB wasn't a Dischord band so they didn't benefit from the rise and romance of that local label, but they had a serious local following. They were more like the leather-jacketed toughs of punk yore rather than the new Vans-sporting, sensitive guys that would take over the scene in the later '80s. By the time I got into them (84 roughly), I think they had a rep as being the old men of the scene with a lot of the late '70s punk baggage that the "positive" scene was supposedly leaving behind. A cloud of drugs, booze, ego hung over the name. An Ian Mackaye-produced second album has never been officially released! That could all be totally wrong, but those were my initial teenage impressions of BMB. I'm dying to know where that cassette is, as I don't think they have an official CD compilation out at this time. I believe I do have some of their stuff on a compilation called Bouncing Babies. On the other hand, the related Crippled Pilgrims stuff was collected (from virgin vinyl, not master tapes) and reissued by Parasol/React.

2005-10-16T11:22:00.000-05:00

Primary Colors
Evidentally y'all can't resist the temptation of anonymous comments. I can handle whatever you dish out, but I tend to think anonymous comments are just bogus. I've made a few on a couple of crazy right-wing blogs just for kicks, but I felt quite infantile doing so. Maybe you can go back to prank calling your prom queen, since you now need to register to comment here. There's a documentary on the Congo on, so I gotta go. Also, Jotz, I'm gonna spray my pithy soundbites all over your pretty little blog.

2005-10-15T00:45:00.000-05:00

Three's company
The Beeb Troisieme is coming on strong again. You know about the Office and probably Little Britian as well (my promo DVD may, unfortunately be scratched). But have you caught wind of this bizarre, surreal show called The Mighty Boosh? After reading a bunch of tiresome blogs by music writers I really wish I had the entire season of the Boosh on DVD and the desire to drink more beer. Last night, I described it to someone as one of the surreal dream sequences from the Young Ones stretched out to a full thirty minutes. A friend pointed out that BBC 3 is an all digital channel which explains the more experimental nature of its programming. Now, I must sleep. But if you have time, check out the clips.

2005-10-14T12:52:00.000-05:00

Hicks is at it, again
My high school chum Sander Hicks is on the road in support of his newest book, The Big Wedding which, from what I have read, basically accuses all the relevant jihadists, bankers, mercenaries, drug dealers, and world leaders of being in collusion in a profitable charade called the war on terror. I'm certainly curious. You might have seen Hicks in Horns and Halos or read some of his stuff from Soft Skull Press. This morning I did a short radio interview about Chicago DJs with a talk radio host on AM 890 here in Chicago, kind of on the conservative culturally clueless bent. It went surprisingly well once I got the ums out of my system. I'm going to be on the NPR affiliate WBEZ Monday afternoon, so listen.

2005-10-13T22:48:00.000-05:00

Nao Wave
I've been lazily assembling a library of Brazilian post punk compilations the last couple months. Post-punk music in general has that combination of vitality and artfulness that always gets me. I guess in part, because it was really the music era that I lived through and discovered through my kookier friends with older brothers at a very young age. Hearing comps like Nao Wave (Man Recordings, Berlin) or Soul Jazz THE SEXUAL LIFE OF THE SAVAGES - POST PUNK FROM SAU PAULO, BRAZIL gives you a pretty good idea of what happened when Gang of Four and the Contortions hit South America, but I'm glad to report most of the music rises above mere imitation. And on Nao Wave, you get a lot more Brazilian percussion thickening things up. Even As Mercenarias the all-female punk/funk post-punk group from Sao Paulo is suddenly hot shit. They have a disc out on Soul Jazz of their early '80s recordings and are reportedly playing London sometime this year. As for electronic post-punk of the Anglo variety, the audio that I got with the mediocre DVD doc on the Sheffield music scene is totally a gas and I even threw one of the crazier tracks on during a DJ set. And in response to any accusations that being into Brazilian post-punk is obscurantist or pretentious... just tell me that you've actually heard good new indie rock lately, because, honestly I'm unaware of it.

2005-10-11T00:11:00.000-05:00

Just barely Kate Moss related
One of the perks of European travel is getting to see what's hot on the pay for play music videos channels in the hotel room. On the upside, the new Goldfrapp single "Ooh La La" is GODHEAD as is the album Supernature. If you like T. Rex and you like electro music, it will mess up your world. I'm actually going to have to order the album on vinyl or something to bask in its lusciousness. She's in the top ten in the old country. On the downside, watching 3 minutes of the Babyshambles was excruciating when its the only thing on in English. You can get away with being the lead singer on crack, but an entire band being on crack is just pathetic and thusly, so is the music (though I think Primal Scream might have something to say about using the same drugs to speak a common musical language). Speaking of which, has anyone hear the tapes of Primal Scream and Nation of Ulysees? Come on Dischord, you can't be holdin' out like that.

2005-10-10T23:16:00.000-05:00

Redesign fever
Both Salon and Time Out London recently unveiled redesigns. I gotta say I'm not in love with the new TOL, but might learn to like it. Salon, at first glance, looks good and sexy.

2005-10-10T22:07:00.000-05:00

The lady likes to rock, on occasion
I spent the weekend organizing during the day. I took on the office and came out victorious. There's now a wide swath of visible flooring where there was previously boxes of books, CDs and wedding gifts that fall into the category of "whattheheckdowedowiththis?" Next, selling off a big chunk of the CD library before it becomes an issue in the relationship. Three nights in a row, I went to see live music. Chicago is a really with-it town and people often have really good taste, but this weekend made us look like followers rather than leaders. A big group of friends were all hyped up about the Fiery Furnaces show, which was mildly entertaining. They were rhythmically amazing, but I think that Eleanor basically has one vocal idea that she works to death and the brother really shouldn't sing at all. To be fair, it was at Logan, which is a pretty place to look at but sounds like hell on a good night. Dungen at the Bottle was as amazing as I hoped, though the guys never reached the peaks in terms of volume and jamming controlled chaos that they did last time. They sounded so good that I listened to the set without earplugs for the most part with no ringing the next day. But leave it to Jamie Lidell to blow my mind again, this time at the sedate MCA theatre. He switched between straight soul deliveries and abstract beatbox creations with ease, some of his jams last 15 minutes. The crowd jumped on stage at the end in a goofy Rocky Horror moment that I would have joined had I been 10 years younger. Saw lots of people there too.

2005-10-03T19:12:00.000-05:00

My home away from home.
Moving really sucks, but moving rehearsal spaces really, really sucks when you are moving up four floors. I forgot how heavy all my junk is and wishing I had thrown a spring sale.

2005-09-25T14:00:00.000-05:00

Norway, not a recap
Numusic in Stavanger was amazing and I really wish I had taken the time to blog while I was there. But comp time is expensive there and half-the-time I was just fighting to stay awake or fall asleep. Instead, I took copious notes in a reporter's binder which is always on my desk and never at home where I blog. But my photos are at home, right? Get it?

2005-09-25T13:34:00.000-05:00

On the dancefloor, energy is neither created nor destroyed
I keep swearing off late nights and that one more drink, but this past week had too much going on. Tuesday night was a quick, see 'em and we're gone at the Franz Ferdidand show. Kelly was critical of Alex's vocals, but I thought it was a good, energetic, if short set. How many concerts do you get home from at 10:45pm? On Wednesday, a last minute, everyone-is-going, why-aren't-we? concert at the Chicago Theatre from Sigur Ros was a major revelation. What an incredible band, incredible acoustics, etc.? Better yet, the fellas from the band and their stage tech Jez met us at Sonotheque later that night for mad dancing to Indian techo from the MIDIval PunditZ. The entire club was freaking out in a very San Francisco style, meaning I think there were a lot of yoga practioners there. With the encouragement of the posse, I was experimenting with some mime dancing, y'know... man fishing, man running, hurdler, skateboarder, basketball dribbler, etc. The singer from Sigur seemed to be fond of smacking my ass ever now and then. I also got to meet the PunditZ on the way out. Wisely, I had switched to Evian at about 12:30pm so I wasn't too damaged. Thursday was early night in with Dr. Dugan coming by for a pre-Columbian meal at the always amazing Maiz and a walk to the Western blue line in the grey morrow. Friday night turned into a crazy tour of clubs and bars with some fun friends visiting from New Mexico. I was toting the LOMO Colorsplash camera around and taking photos of whomever wandered in my path. I discovered that I do like dancing to Kanye at two in the morning with a bunch of strangers. But ultimately, I think I might be done with gin-and-tonics. They seem to punish me extra hard.

2005-09-21T01:16:00.000-05:00

Total Incompetence
Some months ago, if you remember, I pondered the question of whether the character of the current administration was one primarly defined by extreme idealogical zeal or of complete ineptness. I guess we know the answer now. The events of the past few weeks have been saddening to say the least, but also just downright scary, confirming the level of arrogance and incompetence at the highest levels that once seemed only a strong accusation. I guess the naive part of me always thought to itself, 'well FEMA, they won't screw things up no matter who they are answering to.' Also, the national press seems to have been shocked into actually questioning the government on some things. A silver lining, perhaps.

Also Perfect Panther has a new website. The band also has a fantastic new mini-album length recording that we will be releasing before the end of the year.

Right now, it's live music and out-of-town guest week of craziness. I've seen Nouvelle Vague, Seu Jorge, Franz Ferdinand and there are more shows coming later in the week.

2005-09-14T16:02:00.000-05:00

Listening Station
I'm almost at the end of my rope with some the emo thought bubbles that people are publishing on their blogs. They remind me of the journals I kept freshman year in college when I was a Maximum Rock and Roll reader getting ready for the revolution. So anyway, back to the music... No you can't download it here.

Desmond Dekker
You Can Get it If You Really Want double CD
(Trojan)

Various
Searching for Soul: Soul, Funk & Jazz Rarities & Classic from Michigan 1968-1970
(Luv N' Haight)

Recently interviewed:
M.I.A., Jamie Lidell, Carl Craig