...been writing...reading...working...
someone just sent this link for the fun and fashion of split enz
is Dane Cook responsible for the return of the word doucebags? I confess - I have started listening to comedy (am listening to "Wild And Crazy Guy" right now, since the hilarious dude I TA for used it in class to talk about "word pictures") and Dane Cook's thing about the car alarms in NYC made me laugh until no more sound would come out of my embarrassed face.
Stop reading this right now and go read Ann Powers' new blog Eensy Weensy. Seriously.
Here's some pix of the Pavucina Festival I blogged about in August. My mug: 34, 44, 54, 55, 56, 58. 34 and 44 feature Martin from Ememvoodoopoka and the guy in 54-55 on the right is the singer/guitarist for the hardcore band Brood, from Pottsdam. 56 features a dude I met who had been at the CzechTek festival a few weeks prior and was telling me all about the police violence there. sort of.
And finally, yes I'm sure I'm the last person to post this:George Bush Doesn't Care About Black People song and video. The "Gold Digger" connection could have been more clever, but hey...
9.29.2005
9.18.2005
CMJ 2005 wrap up
So fantastic and low key, my CMJ 2005 mostly because I avoided the drama and hype by going to the path of least resistance. Highlights:
Thursday Dandy Warhols: My hype show, of sorts: Keep an eye for Williamette Week coverage. No opener, packed house at CB's (my last time there? I was a little sad but realized I hadn't been there since I last played there, and that, my friends, was a long time ago!). Most of the set was first two albums, just rumbly and gorgeous oblivion. A capella "We Used To Be Friends" with Courtney wearing a towel on his head was one of the more touching moments.
Mixel Pixel at Piano's: My recent Grooves piece on them might give you some idea, but I really love this band. Goofy, a little scrappy but all there musically and lyrically, with a sort of ridiculously charming live show involving homemade videos by the band, Paper Rad and Retard Riot while the three jangle video-game inspired sad tales of love and tornado-induced loss in front. The bass player also is like a sweet terrycloth spitting image of Sasha F-J, no kidding.
Friday: The Providence Noise show at the Hook: ha ha ha, love Whiney and that he got these weirdos together under the banner of CMJ seriousness. Caught R.L Stein and Friends: a nine-piece noise group sounding like AMM if it were fronted by Animal - shirtless dude with a contact mic collar and rope around his foot, dragging cymbals, flip kicking headstands danger danger destroy the set, "hey we're the opening band an no one is here but other noise people." Life lover and friend Lucky Dragons new material involves a carpet made by friend Muffy that the crowd crouches 'round, touching the metal-weaved strips and each other to change the sound. Luke is my hypercolor future hippie genius friend! Nautical Almanac was a three piece tonight with a dude on weird stand-up circuit box thing plus the usual suspects on violin, bass and shouts - organicly weird clean clear sound. Then Kites, my Provi-noise crush - doing a more subdued big amp inferfaced by tiny stand up bent box controller and mic he swung like those things kids at raves swing, broke the thing then used line noise to sculpt stompbox sound - sounds boring, it was fucking awesome. He's a genius. Avoided DFA and talked tinyness with Luke night and next day. Fantastic and needed.
Friday: Mixel Pixel at Standard Tap: Not as good a show and my first time in the venue - which is a cinderbox monolith of bad sound. Video worked better at Piano's bc of clean surfaces. Was dumb to charge admission for a showcase and let in now badges.
5RC/KRS at Knitting Factory: Caught BARR, old drummer of my tenure in Dopo Yume (as per CB's entry) doing his post-spoken word ackwardly clever in your face art politics b-boy thing. I like this for him so much, and the audience was so in to it and Brendan just radiates weirdly positive energy. Will be in my Masters, watch out.
Caught part of Excepter, who I'd never seen, and was so put off by the vox, as were apparently lots of folks, though the synth boogie beats were fabu.
Dissed at S.O.B's where apparently everyone was jamming Coco Rosie (arghgh) so I couldn't see Supersystem demolish !!! at their own game. Sigh. Home again home again.
Saturday: Galapagos Secret Eye Showcase. Let me tell you this showcase made my festival! Friends Black Forest/Black Sea, from Providence, opened and set the tone with earthy-eyed space jams. Love to Miriam, math goddess and part of my cello rocker posse. The Big Huge is a fastidious two-piece from Baltimore that sounds like Tracy Chapman singing Nick Drake songs on the Appalacian dulcimer and accordion. Some newly made friends said "this music is just what people in Manitoba are craving" okay? An untapped market? I have to say, midnight birthday girl Larkin Grimm sort of stole the show tho - that girl can sing scary well, looking like I imagine Billie Holiday did, that three-quarter profile smile, all round cheeks, just howling howling. Saw friends Long Live Death live for the first time - true post-elvin minimal fairie rock with a touch of Lizard King swagger. And Fursaxa who I think I like better recorded - she always seems so unchangably sad there with her air organ loops, I want to give her a hug.
And with that, I wandered off into the full moon after summer perfect Saturday night back to my house to read and get my mind straight for this morning, when I FINISHED A DETAILED OUTLINE OF MY MASTERS!!! yay to me!
Thursday Dandy Warhols: My hype show, of sorts: Keep an eye for Williamette Week coverage. No opener, packed house at CB's (my last time there? I was a little sad but realized I hadn't been there since I last played there, and that, my friends, was a long time ago!). Most of the set was first two albums, just rumbly and gorgeous oblivion. A capella "We Used To Be Friends" with Courtney wearing a towel on his head was one of the more touching moments.
Mixel Pixel at Piano's: My recent Grooves piece on them might give you some idea, but I really love this band. Goofy, a little scrappy but all there musically and lyrically, with a sort of ridiculously charming live show involving homemade videos by the band, Paper Rad and Retard Riot while the three jangle video-game inspired sad tales of love and tornado-induced loss in front. The bass player also is like a sweet terrycloth spitting image of Sasha F-J, no kidding.
Friday: The Providence Noise show at the Hook: ha ha ha, love Whiney and that he got these weirdos together under the banner of CMJ seriousness. Caught R.L Stein and Friends: a nine-piece noise group sounding like AMM if it were fronted by Animal - shirtless dude with a contact mic collar and rope around his foot, dragging cymbals, flip kicking headstands danger danger destroy the set, "hey we're the opening band an no one is here but other noise people." Life lover and friend Lucky Dragons new material involves a carpet made by friend Muffy that the crowd crouches 'round, touching the metal-weaved strips and each other to change the sound. Luke is my hypercolor future hippie genius friend! Nautical Almanac was a three piece tonight with a dude on weird stand-up circuit box thing plus the usual suspects on violin, bass and shouts - organicly weird clean clear sound. Then Kites, my Provi-noise crush - doing a more subdued big amp inferfaced by tiny stand up bent box controller and mic he swung like those things kids at raves swing, broke the thing then used line noise to sculpt stompbox sound - sounds boring, it was fucking awesome. He's a genius. Avoided DFA and talked tinyness with Luke night and next day. Fantastic and needed.
Friday: Mixel Pixel at Standard Tap: Not as good a show and my first time in the venue - which is a cinderbox monolith of bad sound. Video worked better at Piano's bc of clean surfaces. Was dumb to charge admission for a showcase and let in now badges.
5RC/KRS at Knitting Factory: Caught BARR, old drummer of my tenure in Dopo Yume (as per CB's entry) doing his post-spoken word ackwardly clever in your face art politics b-boy thing. I like this for him so much, and the audience was so in to it and Brendan just radiates weirdly positive energy. Will be in my Masters, watch out.
Caught part of Excepter, who I'd never seen, and was so put off by the vox, as were apparently lots of folks, though the synth boogie beats were fabu.
Dissed at S.O.B's where apparently everyone was jamming Coco Rosie (arghgh) so I couldn't see Supersystem demolish !!! at their own game. Sigh. Home again home again.
Saturday: Galapagos Secret Eye Showcase. Let me tell you this showcase made my festival! Friends Black Forest/Black Sea, from Providence, opened and set the tone with earthy-eyed space jams. Love to Miriam, math goddess and part of my cello rocker posse. The Big Huge is a fastidious two-piece from Baltimore that sounds like Tracy Chapman singing Nick Drake songs on the Appalacian dulcimer and accordion. Some newly made friends said "this music is just what people in Manitoba are craving" okay? An untapped market? I have to say, midnight birthday girl Larkin Grimm sort of stole the show tho - that girl can sing scary well, looking like I imagine Billie Holiday did, that three-quarter profile smile, all round cheeks, just howling howling. Saw friends Long Live Death live for the first time - true post-elvin minimal fairie rock with a touch of Lizard King swagger. And Fursaxa who I think I like better recorded - she always seems so unchangably sad there with her air organ loops, I want to give her a hug.
And with that, I wandered off into the full moon after summer perfect Saturday night back to my house to read and get my mind straight for this morning, when I FINISHED A DETAILED OUTLINE OF MY MASTERS!!! yay to me!
9.12.2005
drowned out by the technological cresendo of the city
The upside of coming back Praha drained and stuffed straight back to school is that I now have no idea that waking at 7:30am isn't very punk - makes sense. Get a lot done. Have some tea, chill with the cat, watch the baseball field get finished across the street (where I used to lay and curse it).
Monday is my "day off" and am getting a lot done, like finally listening to this Aural History lecture from MIT by Emily Thompson, jamming the Hardo Budoyo Ensemble and reading bits of Gendron's "Between Montmarte and the Mudd Club," which is becoming helpful in my art school musicians masters madness. 100 pages due the first week of December. Every day I must do something moving forward toward this not so difficult writing goal, but whoa! reading and research. Am going to post a paper I wrote later in the week, asking please please for comments and suggestions.
Also have dozens of CZ CDs, thinking about doing either MP3 blog here or finding podcast space. Hmm. Will consult the experts and let you know.
Monday is my "day off" and am getting a lot done, like finally listening to this Aural History lecture from MIT by Emily Thompson, jamming the Hardo Budoyo Ensemble and reading bits of Gendron's "Between Montmarte and the Mudd Club," which is becoming helpful in my art school musicians masters madness. 100 pages due the first week of December. Every day I must do something moving forward toward this not so difficult writing goal, but whoa! reading and research. Am going to post a paper I wrote later in the week, asking please please for comments and suggestions.
Also have dozens of CZ CDs, thinking about doing either MP3 blog here or finding podcast space. Hmm. Will consult the experts and let you know.
9.09.2005
quintron news
LETTER FROM QUINTRON:
As I am sure you all must know....me and Miss Pussycat got
out.....most of our instruments were also evacuated, but the entire
electronics lab was destroyed and many Pussycat paintings and puppets
were also lost. Also, the house (SPELLCASTER LODGE) is
questionable.......the front gable blew off and the whole downstairs
(the LODGE) was REALLY the underwater dance club for about 3-4 days.
Unfortunately the only things dancing were dead animals, benzine, E-
coli, fire ants, and human feces........Our entire building structure
being condemned is a real possibility. The good news is that as far
as I know all Rhinestone Records Krewe are ok......Trachiotomy rode
it out along with Strangebone (Jeff Matson), DJ Math Problem (Brian
Marchese), Mikey Serabrini, Danger Dan Fusilier (famous painter of
Mother in Law), Jamie & Raven, and many others. Antoinette K-Doe (of
the MOTHER IN LAW LOUNGE) also stayed and survived but her lounge
saw even deeper water than the Lodge. I know that many of you are
having various benefits and you should send your money to any place
that makes the most sense to you....if you are donating directly to
the Lodge please know that the $ will go to replace equiptment and to
re-build the Spellcaster because we have no insurance of any kind.
It will also go to keep the show on the road for many of the above
mentioned Hurricane heroes. The reason I am writing this is because
I have been asked by benefit organizers to explain somehow what is
happening and where the benefit funds for Rhinestone Records will
go.......so, that is my explaination about money........as far as
what is happening.......i don't know what the fuck is
happening.....this is biblical and it is breaking my heart to see New
Orleans burnt, flooded, neglected, ethnically cleansed, and basically
shoved underwater to drown........but we can breath underwater baby.
Cajun Atlantis has just begun to emerge and the moment those fuckers
let us back in the gates, we are going straight to the gun store and
then to the boat bar for all the free drinks we can drink. Thank you
all for everything........WE LOVE YOU!...............sincerely, Mr.Q
and all of Rhinestone Records
P.S. website will be updated soon and all QUINTRON AND MISS PUSSYCAT
tour dates are NOT being cancelled, although Harry Merry may drop off
as the opener for this coming Fall tour........we must tour with a
New Orleans band now................we will definitely have some
stuff to talk about in the van.
QUINTRON & MISS PUSSYCAT TOUR DATES
wed OCT 26 - BATON ROUGE, LA @ Spanish Moon
thurs OCT 27 - Shreveport, LA @ venue TBA
fri OCT 28 - HOT SPRINGS AR @ Hot Springs Film Festival
sat OCT 29 - MEMPHIS, TN @ HI TONE
sun OCT 30 - BLOOMINGTON, IN
mon OCT 31 - CHICAGO, IL @ EMPTY BOTTLE
wed NOV 2 MINNEAPOLIS, MN @ 7th ST. ENTRY
thurs NOV 3 - MILWAUKEE, WI @ Mad Planet
fri NOV 4 - DETROIT, MICH @ venue TBA
sat NOV 5 - TORONTO @ The Silver Dollar
sun NOV 6 - MONTREAL @ Zoobizzare
mon NOV 7 - MONTREAL @ Zoobizzare
wed NOV 9 - NEW HAVEN CT @ Cafe 9
thurs NOV 10 - BOSTON, MASS @ Middle East Cafe
fri NOV 11 - PROVIDENCE, RI @venue TBA
Sat, NOv 12 - BROOKLYN, NY @ venue tba
Sun NOV 13 - NEW YORK CITY @ Mercury Lounge
tues NOV 15 - Rochester, NY - THE BUG JAR
wed NOV 16 - CLEVELAND @ THE GROG SHOP
thurs NOV 17 - PITTSBURG @ CLUB CAFE
fri NOV 18 - PHILIDELPHIA, PA @ First Unitarian Church
sat NOV 19 - WASHINGTON DC @ THE WAREHOUSE NEXT DOOR
As I am sure you all must know....me and Miss Pussycat got
out.....most of our instruments were also evacuated, but the entire
electronics lab was destroyed and many Pussycat paintings and puppets
were also lost. Also, the house (SPELLCASTER LODGE) is
questionable.......the front gable blew off and the whole downstairs
(the LODGE) was REALLY the underwater dance club for about 3-4 days.
Unfortunately the only things dancing were dead animals, benzine, E-
coli, fire ants, and human feces........Our entire building structure
being condemned is a real possibility. The good news is that as far
as I know all Rhinestone Records Krewe are ok......Trachiotomy rode
it out along with Strangebone (Jeff Matson), DJ Math Problem (Brian
Marchese), Mikey Serabrini, Danger Dan Fusilier (famous painter of
Mother in Law), Jamie & Raven, and many others. Antoinette K-Doe (of
the MOTHER IN LAW LOUNGE) also stayed and survived but her lounge
saw even deeper water than the Lodge. I know that many of you are
having various benefits and you should send your money to any place
that makes the most sense to you....if you are donating directly to
the Lodge please know that the $ will go to replace equiptment and to
re-build the Spellcaster because we have no insurance of any kind.
It will also go to keep the show on the road for many of the above
mentioned Hurricane heroes. The reason I am writing this is because
I have been asked by benefit organizers to explain somehow what is
happening and where the benefit funds for Rhinestone Records will
go.......so, that is my explaination about money........as far as
what is happening.......i don't know what the fuck is
happening.....this is biblical and it is breaking my heart to see New
Orleans burnt, flooded, neglected, ethnically cleansed, and basically
shoved underwater to drown........but we can breath underwater baby.
Cajun Atlantis has just begun to emerge and the moment those fuckers
let us back in the gates, we are going straight to the gun store and
then to the boat bar for all the free drinks we can drink. Thank you
all for everything........WE LOVE YOU!...............sincerely, Mr.Q
and all of Rhinestone Records
P.S. website will be updated soon and all QUINTRON AND MISS PUSSYCAT
tour dates are NOT being cancelled, although Harry Merry may drop off
as the opener for this coming Fall tour........we must tour with a
New Orleans band now................we will definitely have some
stuff to talk about in the van.
QUINTRON & MISS PUSSYCAT TOUR DATES
wed OCT 26 - BATON ROUGE, LA @ Spanish Moon
thurs OCT 27 - Shreveport, LA @ venue TBA
fri OCT 28 - HOT SPRINGS AR @ Hot Springs Film Festival
sat OCT 29 - MEMPHIS, TN @ HI TONE
sun OCT 30 - BLOOMINGTON, IN
mon OCT 31 - CHICAGO, IL @ EMPTY BOTTLE
wed NOV 2 MINNEAPOLIS, MN @ 7th ST. ENTRY
thurs NOV 3 - MILWAUKEE, WI @ Mad Planet
fri NOV 4 - DETROIT, MICH @ venue TBA
sat NOV 5 - TORONTO @ The Silver Dollar
sun NOV 6 - MONTREAL @ Zoobizzare
mon NOV 7 - MONTREAL @ Zoobizzare
wed NOV 9 - NEW HAVEN CT @ Cafe 9
thurs NOV 10 - BOSTON, MASS @ Middle East Cafe
fri NOV 11 - PROVIDENCE, RI @venue TBA
Sat, NOv 12 - BROOKLYN, NY @ venue tba
Sun NOV 13 - NEW YORK CITY @ Mercury Lounge
tues NOV 15 - Rochester, NY - THE BUG JAR
wed NOV 16 - CLEVELAND @ THE GROG SHOP
thurs NOV 17 - PITTSBURG @ CLUB CAFE
fri NOV 18 - PHILIDELPHIA, PA @ First Unitarian Church
sat NOV 19 - WASHINGTON DC @ THE WAREHOUSE NEXT DOOR
9.01.2005
when the levee breaks
friends,
you may know of my lifelong love for new orleans. my father worked at tulane, my aunt went to tulane and she and her husband lived there and worked for texaco for quite some time. In 1998 I too lived there for a summer, one of the best summers of my life and certainly one of the most influential to me in terms of thinking about the impact of music on a community. I have gone to maybe seven Mardi Gras' celebrations and have marked Magazine Street as the place of my retirement, in 2035.
It was at Tipitina's that I went to my first real punk show, in 1995, to see Fugazi. I stood in line for two hours in the rain next to a man in a lovely ballgown with my boyfriend and we thought it was the most magical place on earth. Tipitina's, I have come to realize through writing a story about them, is one of the most community-minded nightclubs in the country, with mentoring programs for teenagers, with co-op practice spaces and 'band office spaces' and in raising money for various charities. I have yet to hear of Tipitina's status.
It was Prytania Street Theater that gave me my start in film, selling tickets and popcorn with with the surliest and most wonderful group of goth kids, rockabilly robot builders and future art stars one could imagine. I have yet to hear of the Theater's status.
The best DIY events happen because Anthony at Turducken makes them happen. He's a math tutor, show promoter and one hell of a swell guy. He's high and dry in Texas.
Royalty of the 9th Ward Quintron and Miss Pussycat make amazing, bizarre music and avant puppetry. They also run a speakeasy called The SpellCaster Lounge, which was an amazing place for shows and hanging out. The 9th Ward is featured in some of the NYTimes photographs of area's hardest hit. Their press agent said that the couple and their instruments are safe, but that all else may be lost.
I am thinking of trying to put together a benefit for folks hit by this, reaching out from NYC to NOLA. More to come.
you may know of my lifelong love for new orleans. my father worked at tulane, my aunt went to tulane and she and her husband lived there and worked for texaco for quite some time. In 1998 I too lived there for a summer, one of the best summers of my life and certainly one of the most influential to me in terms of thinking about the impact of music on a community. I have gone to maybe seven Mardi Gras' celebrations and have marked Magazine Street as the place of my retirement, in 2035.
It was at Tipitina's that I went to my first real punk show, in 1995, to see Fugazi. I stood in line for two hours in the rain next to a man in a lovely ballgown with my boyfriend and we thought it was the most magical place on earth. Tipitina's, I have come to realize through writing a story about them, is one of the most community-minded nightclubs in the country, with mentoring programs for teenagers, with co-op practice spaces and 'band office spaces' and in raising money for various charities. I have yet to hear of Tipitina's status.
It was Prytania Street Theater that gave me my start in film, selling tickets and popcorn with with the surliest and most wonderful group of goth kids, rockabilly robot builders and future art stars one could imagine. I have yet to hear of the Theater's status.
The best DIY events happen because Anthony at Turducken makes them happen. He's a math tutor, show promoter and one hell of a swell guy. He's high and dry in Texas.
Royalty of the 9th Ward Quintron and Miss Pussycat make amazing, bizarre music and avant puppetry. They also run a speakeasy called The SpellCaster Lounge, which was an amazing place for shows and hanging out. The 9th Ward is featured in some of the NYTimes photographs of area's hardest hit. Their press agent said that the couple and their instruments are safe, but that all else may be lost.
I am thinking of trying to put together a benefit for folks hit by this, reaching out from NYC to NOLA. More to come.
home again home again. vma 1am whisky bs
it's one a.m. wednesday, i have completely lost my voice but i am home. well, i am in brooklyn. tomorrow begins school and then all moves from there.
VMAs. wtf "My boyfriend tells me about all the cool bands like....AFI..." umm. your boyfriend has bad skin and his band sucks. put that on a t-shirt, duffy. and girl, you could throw darts at the racks in HMV and have better taste than him, so dump him, date yr nearest nerdboy record clerk and make some Suicide dreams come true.
do i like "since u been gone" any more cause girl got wet like some fugly afterhours OSU bar Janis Joplin wannabe? likely.
Gwen. shafted.
umm...STAY WITH THE BOYFRIEND RUFUS. weird. just straight(or not) weird. how did hip hop rule the VMAs but frozenface BJ and thee AmerIdiots win all the awards. "I'm glad rock still has a place on MTV" yes, well...
Shakira. man, did they drop the ball with budget on her number. Yikes. Just saw that video for the first time in Germany and seriously, it looks like some crazy workout ad. A sexy work out ad, but still. Is that shit with the stomach sexy? It freaks me out. She looks possessed. By muuusssiccc.
VMAs. wtf "My boyfriend tells me about all the cool bands like....AFI..." umm. your boyfriend has bad skin and his band sucks. put that on a t-shirt, duffy. and girl, you could throw darts at the racks in HMV and have better taste than him, so dump him, date yr nearest nerdboy record clerk and make some Suicide dreams come true.
do i like "since u been gone" any more cause girl got wet like some fugly afterhours OSU bar Janis Joplin wannabe? likely.
Gwen. shafted.
umm...STAY WITH THE BOYFRIEND RUFUS. weird. just straight(or not) weird. how did hip hop rule the VMAs but frozenface BJ and thee AmerIdiots win all the awards. "I'm glad rock still has a place on MTV" yes, well...
Shakira. man, did they drop the ball with budget on her number. Yikes. Just saw that video for the first time in Germany and seriously, it looks like some crazy workout ad. A sexy work out ad, but still. Is that shit with the stomach sexy? It freaks me out. She looks possessed. By muuusssiccc.
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