Wooden Sjips/Autolux

This isn't so much a post as much as me bragging about going to see Wooden Shjips and Autolux at the Independent in a mere hours. More to follow.

Quick Update

After preforming some extensive research (ie wikipedia) I learned that the Whistle tips video below in over five years old. I've also found several remixes of said video which are equally as entertaining. The focal point of this update is to tell everyone I found this great site http://themightybooshonline.com/ that has the Mighty Boosh episodes available to watch. This is quite excellent news for those of us (like myself) who live in the US and do not get BBC3 on their cable provider nor have a dvd player that reads all sectors (the series dvds are formatted for non US dvd players). For those who don't follow the Boosh, its the show that the Old Gregg video was captured from in another post below, recommended viewing. I am going to add it to the links in the corner. Other important news worth mentioning is Wooden Shjips and Autolux are playing this Thursday @ the Independent. Tix are $16 and doors open at 7:30 show starts at 8pm.

Random Bay Area

Yeah, So my friends up in Nor Cal enlightened me to this. Its from the bay, buts its so bad its good. Tahoe is alright, my shins are bleeding from doing laps in the snow and I cant feel my fingers tips
This is the arguably the funniest thing I have seen in a while discounting Buddyhead rants of late, it gets almost as good as Ol' Greg, as seen in an older post.

Iggy Time

Ive been listening a lot lately to a combination of solo Iggy Pop records, mostly his first two releases the Idiot and Lust for Life. For the uneducated, David Bowie played an integral role in both records (producing both, and working up music on the Idiot tour that would become Some Weird Sin, the track listed below and other numerous music related to these projects). Just as Iggy provided a vital role in Bowie's Heroes (Pop's approach to writing lyrics). In fact, the creative symbiotic relationship that fostered between Bowie and Pop during the late seventies yielded some truly great and inspiring music (note: the late Ian Curtis of Joy Division fame, listed the Idiot as his favorite album, and it played in the back round while he hung himself). I am backing Lust For Life more, atleast for now. I love the looseness of the Sales brothers (Hunt-drummer, Tony-bass) rhythm section, especially Hunt, who pounds the distinctively propulsive party beat on the title track, Lust For Love, that now is such a staple of Carnival cruise line commercials and the opening music to the film Trainspotting.

Some Weird Sin.
http://www.mediafire.com/?24uiemsjy0z

I also forgot to include on my top music of 2007 unearthing the entire catalog of the (late and great) Fluid (someone needs to seriously reissue their catalog) Ive included the song, Much Too Much from their 2nd lp, Clear Black Paper. This song totally steals the koolaid from the Stooges' Raw Power, which is not actually a bad thing.

Much Too Much
http://www.mediafire.com/?2h2nmlye9dm
The song still slays, although not quite as hard as Raw Power, but then again most music compared to the first three Stooges albums amounts to weak sauce.
I am off to Tahoe to Go Off for MLK Weekend.


*Note* this photo was stolen from this site http://modobs.wordpress.com/2007/08/06/look-what-youve-done/

Top 2007 and whatevers

So my top 10 picks are up at
Soundsect.com's top 20 albums of 2007

http://soundsect.com/feature.php?id=13
Here's a better list of favorite music from this year
Its sorta in order by soundsect.com's listings:

Les Trois Malheures- S/T Ep
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Baby 81
Alcest - Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde
Boris Vs. SBGM- Damaged 10''
The Duke Spirit - Ex Voto Ep (Neptune is going to be SWEEEET)
Les Savy Fav - Lets Stay Friends
Queens of the Stone Age - Era Vulgaris
The 2007 output of the following bands:
The Manhattan Love Suicides - S/T, Kick It Back 7'', Keep It Coming 7''
Wooden Shjips - S/T, SOL 7'', Loose Lips 7''
Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond
Boris and Michio Kurihara - Rainbow [2007 sparked a curious interest Boris, I am still trying to process the releases that I picked up, namely the Sunn0))) joint album, Altar (I know this came out in 2006, but I was late to the dance). So far the Damaged 10'' and Rainbow are my favorites.
Countless Cure Boots (standing out the most are Downloadfest 07 [cuz i was there and on the floor staring lovingly at Robert and company as they tore through nearly 30 years worth of music, dropped a new tune, although not the top of the new three, I would have been spazzing out more if they had played b-sides [yeah, yeah I am Cure dorkus], Mexico 07 trilogy [showcaing the three new singles coming out later], SBD 89 Tour Comp, London 7.24.90 [which so far has my favorite version of A Forest], Hartford Matrix mix 96, Netherlands 1980 [Simon's bass is so thick in the mix], Finsbury 93 [disc 2], JAMC Boots(especially the wealth of 2007 reunion shows, and my personal fav ULU London cuz its got Happy Place on it) and Dinosaur Jr. Boots [Beyond material showcased and it sounds even better live than on record]
Noel+Gem 2006 solo shows [This sparked an interest to seek out more Oasis, which is alot better than I thought or remembered growing up]

Reiusses:
Sea Hags, Shark Move, Joy Division -Unknown Pleasures. I didnt buy alot of reissues this year,

Books:
God is Not Great
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows
I am American (And So Can You)
Slash
Presidential Courage
The World is Flat
Getting back into fiction, 3 Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch [fuck you media mail,the 4 Novels form the 60s by Philip K. Dick, this actually came based on the post below [I havent started reading it yet, but I really enjoyed 3 Stigmata, so I think I will like these].
Rereading the Prydain Chronicles three times and its still as good as when i first read them 13 years ago.

Movies
Anything that had Judd Apatow's name attached to it, man knows how to make me laugh and thats what I look for in movies.
I wish there was more here but I didnt make it to alot of movies, I waste all my money on music and books.

TV Shows
30 Rock (so many star wars references amongst a very smart, hilarious and well written show)
the Office
Flight of the Conchords
The Wire (new season underway, fuck yeah!)
Real Time w/ Bill Maher

Last but surely not least, the friends and people who've affected my life in a positive manner in 2007, you are an esteemed collective, both the catalyst, keeping me on track to tackle my objectives and the source of light that guides me home when i lose my way in the dark. Much love and respect.

Thats about it, so far 2008 is pretty great, the new Black Mountain, mentioned below, slays.

Overdue Xmas gift

I finally got my overdue christmas present in the mail today. I am stoked. I am still a bit of a newb when it comes to the canon of Philip K. Dick, this assembled collection contains what a few pundits argue are some of his strongest works: "The Man in the High Castle", "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (the only work I am familiar with at this point)", "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" and "Ubik". I've also added a new link, Redroom: Where the Writers Are, its social networking site of writers and books, it basically helps authors promote their work and offers a data base of well known books and such. A famous man, Billy Madison, once said, "reading is good, lets start the story".

The Jesus and Mary Chain

Photo property of Soma Soma Scene.

I am really pleased to share a morsel of my review way back from October 29, 2007 of Friday evening's Fillmore starring the Jesus and Mary Chain. The rest of the review can be read over at Soma Music Scene.

"Mark Crozer and Phil King were very proficient; they let their playing do all the talking. Drummer Loz Colbert held me in awe; I was
not very familiar with his previous bands Ride and Animal House, but he played exceptionally well, at times looking like a frenetic
octopus.
Miranda lee Richards, introduced as a friend of the band, came out and sang on Just Like Honey and Some Times Always. Both
sounded pleasing to the ear, most notably Sometimes Always. The song was never one of my favorites, but this rendition struck
me in a very profound way. Richards' airy vocals gave me chills.

The band ran through Darklands, and Nine Million Rainy Days as encores. Nine Million Rainy Days had a similar effect on me the
way Sometimes Always did, hitting me in a way the studio version never did - Jim's delivery sounded more impassioned, with a
sense of deprived yearning, as he sang the words:

And this room becomes a shrine thinking

Of you and the way you are sends the

Shivers to my head you're going to fall

You're going to fall down dead.

The band ended the evening with Reverence. The song sounded exceptional. Due to my close proximity to the Williams'
speakers, I was able to physically feel fragments of the feedback. The air from the speakers rattled my insides with a harsh
dissonance; the squalls of feedback were well timed in conjecture with William’s turbulent foot stomps, reminding me of Godzilla
attacking Tokyo."

Rest of the review here www.somasomascene.com/jamc_sanfran.html
Also as a treat here is the encore to Sept. 7, 2007's show @ Brixton Academy, Darklands and Nine Million Rainy Days (both of which appear for the first time during the 2007 reunion shows).

http://www.mediafire.com/?a0tdjrkwjn2

http://www.mediafire.com/?1gom1gmvzjy

Other JAMC news, the four cd B-sides collection is due sometime at end of February or March, and a new album, aswell (no date reported as of yet). On the band's myspace page there are a couple of new songs up in demo form
http://www.myspace.com/jesusandmarychainband

Upcoming Gigs:
03/11/2008
London @ the Roundhouse, Camden, UK
03/12/2008
London @ the Roundhouse, Camden, UK

Old Gregg

I think this speaks for itself. Oddly hilarious and equally disturbing.

Home Grown Poems

I was thumbing through my copy of American Poetry: the nineteenth century volume earlier and it inspired me to go through some poems i wrote last year and share.

Broken Guardian

Your eyes don't kiss the sky,
Only now dilated, perspired tears cascading the floor,
Wasn't supposed to be this way,
I have forsaken as a Gargoyle,
Too long I sat idle collecting dust.
Annihilating the burns of summer's grace pressed upon my lungs, as
I struggle to recover my breath under a neon sky, clouds swirling orange, pink
And chaotic purple as the sun reluctantly dissolves across the horizon.
Unaware of the impeding storm circling overhead,
A shell of goose bumps explode up my spine,
Innocence tempestuously peeled like fruit,
Paralyzed with terror, seething crimson rage,
White spots crackle under the shadows of my clinched eyes,
Lacerating hero's wings, I reel off my pedestal,
Oaths lose their meanings, a cold reminder of regrets never healed,
Too many tears slip through my finger tips, hitting the ground with the force of Bedrock, crushing the Earth, I can never cleanse the stain,
I am a broken guardian.

May

Dusk during the opening weeks of May,
I crave the sun's decaying warmth,
Slow dancing over my arms like embers under a hushed flame,
A gentle spotlight to all those unhindered by the shielded cover of trees,
The wind sputters small breezes, rendering the sun's waning heat harmless as a small
Child.
Gusts gently caressing my cheeks and the back of my neck,
Sweet smells of pollen and nectar hang in the air flooding my nostrils,
I inhale and exhale like I never breathed before, the scents overwhelm me,
In this fleeting crux I feel so grateful to be alive.

Twilight
At 3 am when the city sleeps the night off, I am saved.
The Night frozen for a few hours til the sun births a new day,
I dont care much for the renewal, I linger for those dwindling hours,
Beset by the brush strokes of a petrified night's sky.
Unbridled hope and optimism lift my thoughts until sleep pulls my away and I plummet deeply into my bed giving way to uneven rest

Current Reads

I am about One hundred pages from finishing the 3.0 version of Thomas Friedman's "The World is Flat." I have to say that I've enjoyed it so far. I became of fan of Friedman's work after reading 1999's "The Lexus and the Olive Tree" (another book on globalization) a few years ago. As an American student, I find similar parallels to my own academic experiences in regards to the chapters detailing the growing disparity in terms of quality education and funding options for American schools. Education is held in the highest esteem in other countries and yet here it is never brought up in political discussions and continues to slowly erode. My big soapbox question is if we're supposed to be the next leaders of this country, why are the current leaders not enabling us with the necessary tools to do so?

Shark Move

I don't know much about the band Shark Move. They were a 1970's Indonesia prog-rock band. They only released one album, entitled "Ghede Chokra’s". Due to the untimely passing of original keyboardist,Saman Loebis, from a car accident they were unable to solider on. This was recently reissued on Shadoks and is a great slab of 70's other worldy prog-rock. It may border on the cheese at times but its still a good album. Besides, how can anyone not like a band called Shark Move? Here is my favorite track,

"My Life."
http://www.mediafire.com/?8hejpskpsrl






(photo from the jagjaguwar website)

Some other sick news is the new Black Mountain, "In the Future" drops on Jan. 22. But if you pre-order the album from Jagjaguwar, you'll receive a digital download of the album on Jan.8, two weeks before its released.

From the Jagjaguwar website: "BLACK MOUNTAIN's "In The Future" CD/2xCD/2xLP

BLACK MOUNTAIN's "In The Future" is now available for pre-order. When you pre-order the record, whether it is the limited-edition 2xCD version, the regular 1xCD version or the 2xLP version, you will receive a digital download code that will allow you to get FREE FULL ALBUM MP3s as early as January 8, up to two weeks before the release date. (And if it isn't obvious, the 2xCD version is the same price as the 1xCD version, and comes with three additional songs, so you might as well order that while supplies last.) The link will be up until the release date, January 22."

Go here to pre-order: http://www.scdistribution.com/cat/jag_catalognew.php