National Public Viking

By the way...

2008-09-26T10:06:00.003-05:00

... I pretty much spend all my time on Thor's Rubber Hammer these days. I'm going to start a new blog and possibly a podcast on that domain by the end of October. The purpose of this blog died out a long time ago and I have an itch to write about music that doesn't necessarily fit into what I do at NPR Music.

Speaking of, here are some recent articles I've written:
6 a.m. Wakeup Call
Heavy Metal Road Trip

Also, my latest appearance on All Songs Considered:
Viking's Choice

OMG OMG OMG

2008-04-04T10:04:00.001-05:00

The Ladies are Waiting (Ladies in Waiting) Mix CD

2008-03-28T09:13:00.002-05:00

Subtitled: "The Best Songs of March 27, 2008"

Time for another mix, this time a very accessible pop-leaning one, perhaps to counter to the heavy-psychedelic mix I'll put up next week. Download link is below the tracklist.

1. "Canceling Stamps at the University of Ghana Post Office" from the Worlds of Music
Found this song via WFMU's blog and I can't help but smile every time I hear it. The field recording is exactly what it says and features most infectious whistled melody that perks up my day.
2. The Foxglove Hunt "That's Getting Personal"
What is it with me and coy synth-pop? I don't even like The Pet Shop Boys, but I just can't say no to Rob Withem's first project after Fine China (R.I.P.). Sounds like When the World Sings, but way gayer. (In a good way.)
3. Crystal Castles "Untrust Us"
The hipster factor here is staggering, but Crystal Castles' arty Nintendo-electro-pop is fun. Consider me a fan.
4. Manu Dibango "Groovy Flute"
The album is called African Voodoo. I didn't need any more convincing.
5. Invisible Conga People "Cable Dazed"
More hipster dance rubbish I can't help but enjoy. Of course they're from New York.
6. Religious Knives "96 Tears"
The noisy rock band has gone Doors. Here they cover ? and the Mysterians.
7. Jose Gonzalez "Love Will Tear Us Apart"
I had the recent realization that I do not like Joy Division. I always thought I did. But Jose, as always, delivers a lovely acoustic interpretation.
8. Javiera Mena "Sol de Invierno"
Heard this on WFMU yesterday and immediately took to the web to research. Turns out this fantastic Chilean piano ballad is a fluke among rather bad mainstream pop, but boy does it hit the spot.
9. Tahiti 80 "Desiree"
How can you go wrong with a Left Banke cover? A pretty great pop band covering the most underrated pop band of the '60s.
10. Big Dipper "All Going Out Together"
R.E.M. jangle-pop meets the muscle of Husker Du.
11. Richard Swift "Sign Language"
Lou Reed goes to Jamaica and comes back puffin' instead of shootin'.
12. Six Stars of Long Island, N.Y. "Had It Not Been for Him"
Yet another WFMU find yesterday (by the same DJ, no less). This R&B obscurity only seems to exist in the annals of that station, so I got it like I used to as a kid, but instead of dubbing a tape from the radio, I dubbed the archived MP3 stream onto the computer. Technology, man.
13. Warm Climate "19th Century Blessings"
An RPM Challenge friend in arms, except his record is way better. Bowie and Bolan on a serious headtrip.
14. The Homosexuals "Vociferous Slam"
My old station, WUOG, got the art-punk band's reissues and I played the hell out of this song for months. The Homosexuals just recently reunited for a show, so I finally bought the box set.

DOWNLOAD THE MIX
(Remember: The files will be unordered once you unzip the folder. I've included a text document with the tracklist so you can re-order the songs in iTunes.)

Spring Drains the Wallet

2008-03-24T20:19:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso UFO- Recurring Dream and Apocalypse of Darkness

Saw Acid Mothers Temple for the third time last night (second at the Rock n Roll Hotel). That band never fails to put me into a psychedelic third-eye trance. It was probably the heaviest/chunkiest, metal-inspired set I've seen AMT play, no doubt working out material from the new album, Recurring Dream and Apocalypse of Darkness, which I picked up as a glorious 2xLP gatefold vinyl last night. (Listening to it now, methinks AMT heard a SunnO))) in the last year or so.)

And in a "I'm not too old to go to concerts, am I?" moment, there was what appeared to be an 18-year-old couple making out throughout the entire set. In the front row, in front of me. It makes me wonder, "What kind of people make out to Japanese psychedelic-kraut-rock freakouts?" and "If this is going to start happening, do I want to go to shows"?

Sigh. The answer is always yes.

3/28-29: Spontaneous Infinity Festival @ Velvet Lounge
(Bunch of free-jazz groups playing this weekend, including Elliot Sharp, which I guess is cool. Let's hope it's not too wanky... right.)
4/3: Boredoms @ 9:30 Club
(ECSTATIC SUN-WORSHIP!)
4/12: Dark Meat, Monotonix @ The Red & The Black
(I can't imagine how this show is going to work: R&B has the smallest room in D.C., Dark Meat has 18+ members, and Monotonix does stuff like this. I will have a camera that night for sure.)
4/16: Evangelista @ Velvet Lounge
4/26: Jay Reatard @ Black Cat
4/26: The B-52s @ 9:30 Club
(You know what? The new B-52s CD, Funplex, is surprisingly good... at least the first 4 songs, but I'll probably end up at the Jay Reatard show anyway.)
5/4: Earth @ Rock n Roll Hotel
5/4: Stars of the Lid @ Iota
(Yet another show conflict. Slow-paced doom-country or slow-paced ambient/neo-classical? Choices.)
5/11: Radiohead @ Nissan Pavillion
(Liars were just confirmed as the openers. Score. Everyone I know says this way-out-of-way Virginia venue sucks. Minus score.)
5/20: We Versus the Shark @ The Red & The Black
5/23: Vic Chesnutt, Silver Mt. Zion @ Black Cat
(Two Athens artists in one week will remind me of what I miss most about the town. Don't particularly care for Silver Mt. Zion, but those Canadian commies did wonders as the back-up musicians on both the Vic Chesnutt and Evangelista albums.)
5/27: Loren Connors @ Issue Project Room (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
(It's in the middle of the week, but I've been putting off seeing the guitarist to whom I owe much of my personal playing style. He hardly plays outside of New York, so I need to make the trip. Looks like it'll be a solo show, which is exactly how I want to see him perform.)
5/30: Fern Knight @ Velvet Lounge

Also...
In news that would make many of my indie-rocker friends jealous, Carrie Brownstein (once Sleater-Kinney's face-melting guitarist, now NPR's Monitor Mix blogger) mentions my name in the latest episode of All Songs Considered when talking about the Athens band, We Versus the Shark. Word.

Jumping Viking!

2008-03-11T15:54:00.000-05:00

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I have tasted the salt of Death Valley

2008-03-10T19:52:00.002-05:00

|current sounds| Neil Young- Decade

We spent my actual birthday in Death Valley, California. The incredible thing about this state park is its diversity: mountain ranges, sand dunes, dried-up salt lakes, volcanic caters, canyons, Badwater, the lowest point in North America. The desert is a new landscape to me, so I was taking it all in with complete fascination.

Conquering the Valley of Fire (Las Vegas, Day 1)

2008-03-10T19:26:00.003-05:00

|current sounds| Sun Araw- The Phynyx

For my 25th birthday over the weekend, I flew out to Las Vegas to visit my friends Padmini and Braniff, both of whom I haven't seen in two years since we parted ways in Athens. Flying above the city, the lights were almost blinding: hotels and casinos practically line the landing strip, including the Death-Star pyramid casino.

Braniff and I spent most of Friday in the Valley of Fire, a stunning state park just 50 miles outside Vegas. Apparently, Captain Kirk died there.

After visiting Padmini's classroom and enjoying the amazing Lotus of Siam, we went to the MGM Grand to see Cirque du Soleil's Ka. Essentially a live action film, I was blown away from the stage itself, an acrobatic piece of design just integral to the production as the performers.

"I've got a loooooooove..."

2008-03-06T09:14:00.007-05:00

NEW HARVEY MILK ALBUM THIS IS THE BEST NEWS EVER.

They better damn tour up the east coast. I will travel hundreds of miles to see them.

Also, unrelated, but awesome: I want to make octopus.

Bull's Eye, Indeed

2008-03-05T20:01:00.004-05:00

|current sounds| Xiu Xiu- Women as Lovers

Ladies and gentlemen, D.C. has arrived. We have a Target and it's just a few blocks away. Best Buy, Marshalls, and Bed Bath & Beyond are all next. I no longer have to drive to Prince George's County to experience suburban bliss.

Tomorrow night I go to Las Vegas to see Padmini and Braniff for the weekend. This is beyond exciting.

This is my life next week... except I'll be enjoying it from the comfort of my office desk, producing concerts and generally not interacting with the real world much. Though, to be honest, the last time I went to a multi-day festival (2002?), I spent more than half the time just meeting lots of cool people. Bands suck.

Recent listens:
+ Imaad Wasif- Strange Hexes: Jimi Hendrix-meets-The Zombies kinda psych-pop. I'm a believer.
+ Gary Louris- Vagabonds: The Jayhawks' co-songwriter's first solo outing and it's every bit as charming as Hollywood Town Hall and Rainy Day Music.
+ Big Dipper- Supercluster: The Big Dipper Anthology (disc 1): '80s power-pop I never heard of until this Merge 3xCD reissue. Top notch stuff I bet members of the Arcade Fire ripped off and hoped nobody would find out.
+ Stars of the Lid- And Their Refinement of the Decline: Beautiful ambient/neo-classical double-disc I missed out on last year. Exactly what I was looking for... swooning string arrangements, blissed-out electronic drones.... lovely.
+ Wilco- Yankee Hotel Foxtrot: Pulled this out a couple weeks ago and couldn't remember the last time I listened to it. Picked up on a lot of the subtle stuff Jim O'Rourke put in the background and my it was a great discovery.
+ Klondike & York- The Holy Book: Sax/drums/electronics free-jazz duo. Maybe not the most original thing out there, but hell it's a lot of fun, a rare treat in a genre that takes itself way too seriously.

Donate to WFMU, Real Radio Freedom Fighters

2008-03-03T13:42:00.006-05:00

I haven't done so, yet (can't decide which premium I want!), but by the end of the week I'll start my second year as a WFMU pledger. If you listen to WFMU, read its hiliarous, informative blog, or just want to support freeform radio, please donate.

And this Sunday night, locals-to-FMU Yo La Tengo will once again play songs for pledges. SUPPORT NON-COMMERCIAL RADIO!

EDIT: I upped my amount this year, so I get two sweet premiums:
+ Woody's New Divisions of Plucked Strings: Previously unreleased tracks by contemporary guitarists, lutists, banjo players, etc, with inspiration from the Middle Ages to the avant-garde.
+ Evan Muse's Guitar Hero -- Japan!: The 6-string gods that you won't find on your Wii. From solo avant-improv to flamethrowing rock!

Show Me Your Quorum of Teeth

2008-02-28T20:22:00.004-05:00

|current sounds| FM3- Buddha Machine

So in my dizzy sickness I didn't even notice until just now that my second "Song of the Day" was posted. This one is for Earth, kind of Black Sabbath meets Ennio Morricone.

Earth: The Sound of Desert-Swept Doom

RPM Challenge Update:

The awesomely-titled Quorum of Teeth (thanks, Stephen) is finished. I recorded nine tracks in two nights this past week. (I imagine recording in our very cold basement might have something to do with my current physical state.) It's lonely, haunting blues akin to my musical guitar hero, Loren Connors. Because I know little about recording equipment and recording programs (and had little time to learn both), it sounds very lo-fi despite the very nice microphone Erik recommended to me. All the same, it only adds to the album.

Only having spent a day with it at most, I don't know how I feel about it. There are some improvisations I'm extremely pleased with, some not as much. I do, however, love the artwork. Might be worth it to print up 50 of these just for the hey of it to put on my label, but I have ten projects to think about first. (My tragic flaw: devising ambitious projects too big to handle in the time allotted... yet I always find a way.)

R.I.P Larry Norman (1947-2008)

2008-02-26T23:29:00.003-05:00

When I read that Larry Norman had died, I immediately called my mother. For both of us, he had profound impact on how we developed our musical ears and philosophies -- her as the Jesus Movement of the '70s began to take form, me as a nine year-old first learning what it meant to love music and perhaps understand the role of music as worship. We'd listen to her well-worn In Another Land LP together, and in some cases, actually discussed what Larry wanted to communicate with his words.

The Father of Christian Rock was a pioneer, a heretic, a saint and a madman. He was outspoken against the Vietnam War. He sang about the hypocrisy of the church, drug addiction and the end of the world, but above all, as Paste contributer Andy Whitman so poignantly wrote, he sang about Jesus. Though he'd constantly alienate both the churched and the un-churched, challenge both of them to re-think God and love, his main focus was Jesus... sometimes with a childlike innocence, others with a harsh inward glance.

All the while, Larry Norman was a gifted songwriter with a voice that could belong on any CCR or Grateful Dead record. And in some cases, a truly angelic voice, like on "I Am a Servant."

"I Am a Servant" is a ballad worthy of Carole King's touch, and even in its simple lyrics, I've always had an emotional reaction to it. You'll have to forgive the Youtube montage, but it's what I could find.

To live is a privilege, to love is such an art
But I need your help to start
Oh, please purify my heart,
I am your servant.

Lars Pillages Office, Leaves Behind Few Survivors

2008-02-25T13:24:00.005-05:00

|current sounds| Lair of the Minotaur- War Metal Battle Master

I have finally made my debut on NPR Music as a contributing writer, well, at least an acknowledged one. I've been ghostwriting for music pieces on All Things Considered and other news programs for almost a year now. I already have a Song of the Day in queue for Earth, but when we discussed our Oscars coverage at a meeting mid-last week, I volunteered to write a piece on Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood's disqualified score for There Will Be Blood.

Without further ado... Jonny Greenwood: Where Oscars Fear to Tread.

It's step one in getting more avant-garde and "out" music on NPR Music in a way that's accessible to the NPR listener/visitor. I have a number of ideas in the works.

I'm also slowly infiltrating Morning Edition's segue way music. My friend Nicole is now directing the show a couple times a week and asked me for music advice. She left my house one afternoon with 25 CDs. So now you might hear music by Ester Drang, Map, J Dilla, Matthew Shipp, Steffen Bascho-Junhjans, Crooked Fingers and various Numero Group compilations to put more soul & funk on ME.

Here were the first two shows with some of my music suggestions sprinkled throughout: Mon., Feb. 18 and Tues., Feb. 19.

Speaking of the Oscars, how wonderful was it that Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova won Best Original Song for "Falling Slowly"? Or better yet, that Jon Stewart recognized just how earnest and real these people were to bring Marketa back on stage to give her acceptance speech?

Ancient Mariner Returns

2008-02-20T09:58:00.004-05:00

|current sounds| V/A- The Garden of Forking Paths

I'm going to gracefully bow out of my original idea to make a pop album for the RPM Challenge. To be quite honest, a month is not enough time for me to record the album I want, especially with limited resources. There are many sketches and rough demos now, which is great, but the perfectionist in me wouldn't want those to get out.

So I'm going to spend the rest of the challenge recording a solo guitar and organ CD sounding something like Keiji Haino meets Alan Sparhawk (Low). Thus, I'm returning to my Ancient Mariner moniker.

Also...
Nigel Tufnel: "It's like, how much more black could this be? and the answer is none. None more black." (Requires Washington Post login, although I think you can use a NY Times password.)

RGRGRGRGRGRGRGRG

2008-02-15T13:52:00.002-05:00

|current sounds| Alemayehu Eshete- Ethiopiques, Vol. 22 (1972-1974): More Vintage! + drills

Photo: Tom

I don't know how much longer I can last.

"Grand Introductions" Demo Up

2008-02-12T10:29:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Brian Blade Fellowship- Season of Changes

First RPM Challenge demo is up. It's very rough, unmixed and unfinished. No vocals or drums, yet.

Here "Grand Introductions" here.

What was originally conceived as a pop project has become anything and everything. Songs are bursting from eight years worth of ideas, so one morning I'll spend an hour on a psychedelic-folk song while I spend the rest of the day on shimmering Brit-pop. Thus, I'm not quite sure how this is all going to turn out, especially since this first demo sounds more like Sonic Youth than any of the chamber-pop bands I thought I was going to take inspiration from.

A friend suggested this just means I'm a versatile songwriter. This is a good problem to have, I suppose. I walk home from work at night dreaming up cooing pop melodies and then sit down in my makeshift basement studio conceptualizing ridiculous albums like After-Dinner Mints: 10 Exotic Pop Arrangements for Strings and Guitar a la David Rose.

17 days left.

Male Bonding

2008-02-10T11:52:00.000-05:00

"I wuv you, Andy Pettitte!... or do I?" (Requires NY Times login)

Yes, I Heart Paramore

2008-02-07T17:08:00.000-05:00

|current| guess...

I very well realize that we're well past the period when today's up-and-coming bands are more familiar with "The Middle"-era Jimmy Eat World and Dashboard Confessional than the earlier stalwarts of the heavily pop-flecked punk/emo of my high school years. Bands like Mineral, Jawbreaker and Braid are all but nostalgic memories for the 23-27 year-old age group, which is just a sign that this now-casual music critic (yet still full-time nerd) is getting older. (Imagine how original Rites of Spring fans must feel.)

Imagine my surprise, then, that I'd fall for a band that -- just a year ago -- features a lead singer who just got her driver's license. Now, I'm not becoming a J. Edward Keyes here. I haven't quite hit the odd mainstream pop fetish most late 20s rock crits attain (usually out of boredom), but there is something about Paramore I can't deny.

Yes, Paramore. The "Christians in a band" pop-punk wunderkids that sound something like a mix of every artist that churns major gag reflexes: Avril Lavigne, Fall Out Boy, and just about every overly-energetic and cartoonishly-styled pop-punk band of the last four years.

I should have known this would happen. Every now and again, I like to pull out Designing a Nervous Breakdown by The Anniversary or that My Spacecoaster CD with the awful "Hamburgers" song, because they were very formative. These CDs were just as sappy and trite as the pop music on the radio, just cooler (?). So I hear this very young band Paramore pulling a lot of the same hooks, but better, and unafraid to release a well-manicured, very-compressed pop album (perhaps at the behest of the label, but it works in the band's favor). Then there's Hayley Williams with a voice that every faux-effeminate pop-punk frontman wishes he had. It's bright and biting, like if Kelly Clarkson actually made My December the rock album she wanted it to be.

I have to say, though, the mental picture of me at a Warped Tour concert watching Paramore with a bunch of Jnco-wearing (the kids still wear Jnco, right?) 14 year-old punks is hilarious. I almost want to do it.

A Celebration of Gluttony and Suffering

2008-02-04T12:48:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Kronos Quartet and Wu Man- Terry Riley: The Cusp of Magic

Shaking hands with the winner, Nick, he of five fried chicken breasts and five thighs. (Photo: Beth Novey)

Eight thighs and two breasts later, I am the silver medalist of Chicken Bowl XII. (You may remember my pathetic introduction last year to the world of amateur competitive eating.)

I had originally planned to start gorging on Thursday per Stephen's suggestion, to expand my otherwise small stomach's lining for maximum stuffage. I ended up eating lots of salads instead. Turned out to be a half-way decent plan of action. I knew things were changing for the worse when my greased hands began to shake around the eighth piece of Popeye's.

After some Tylenol, Pepto Bismal and a restless night of sleep (most dramatic dream I think I've had in recent times), I'm eating nothing but vegetables all week, perhaps some Zucchini Chocolate Crinkles to sweeten up the week.

RPM Challenge Update

The RPM Challenge has already hit a few snags. The mixer I want is on backorder everywhere and I'm quickly realizing I can't quite make the album I want given the resources at my disposal. I'm going to spend the next few days finding creative ways to accomplish the same ideas in different ways.

RPM Challenge: Introducing... Aethers

2008-01-30T10:07:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| The Roman Candles- Bang! Bang! Bang!

As far-out and as avant-garde as my tastes get - what Christa calls my "whimsy" - my first love has been and always will be pop music (with metal a very close second). For the past 5 or 6 years, I've all but abandoned pop music for the avant-garde, self-releasing solo guitar albums and improvised collaborations, and putting out free-jazz, ambient and noise CDRs on my label. So when I decided to take part in the RPM Challenge (write and record an album in 29 days, the month of February), I took it as opportunity to make the pop album I've always had in my head... or at least the smattering of ideas that have never congealed.

Aethers is the name of the project, and you'll be able to follow its progress here and on that link. I'm not actually sure how it will all turn out, but more than likely, it will be a tribute to the pop records that shaped my love for the craft in the early 2000s: The World Won't End by The Pernice Brothers, Hate by The Delgados, Leave Here a Stranger by Starflyer 59 and Secret Name by Low. Actually, it's quite telling that I first heard all those albums in my first two years of college.

Starting this Friday, I begin writing and once the rest of the recording equipment comes from Erik, I lay down tracks. Friends in D.C. and abroad have agreed to contribute flute, voice, keys, drums and guitar solos.

Wish me luck. I hate writing lyrics.

Ray Smuckles '08

2008-01-29T09:37:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| wyrd funeral folk music

According to this extremely uncomprehensive online quiz, I should back Hillary. Not sure how I feel about that.

93% Hillary Clinton
90% Barack Obama
87% John Edwards
87% Chris Dodd
77% Joe Biden
76% Bill Richardson
63% Dennis Kucinich
62% Mike Gravel
61% Rudy Giuliani
52% John McCain
37% Mike Huckabee
37% Tom Tancredo
36% Mitt Romney
24% Fred Thompson
18% Ron Paul

2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz

Twilight MP3 Now Up

2008-01-24T22:21:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Long Legged Woman- Nobody Knows This is Nowhere (I'm really flipping out over this. I'm going to put out their 7" single very soon.)

Photo: frankianz

Chris Schlarb has posted a 13-minute excerpt of the Twilight & Ghost Stories live premiere I performed in last December. You can find it at the bottom of his latest blog post, "In Twos."

The festival organizer sent me the full, unedited, unmixed half-hour version a little while ago, but this is a nice meaty morsel from the performance that kinda scraps a few parts that, in hindsight, were a little off. It was interesting hearing it for the first time since that night. Chris was right: my guitar tone sounded incredible. (Now if only I could translate that into the poor demos I record every now and again.) Just for interest's sake, Chris and I begin the piece and my guitar's the one that sounds vaguely like a sitar.

EDIT (1/28/08): The MP3 has been mentioned on Pitchfork's PR-happy "Forkcast" multimedia aggregation. It's at the bottom of their 40 Bands 80 Minutes DVD blurb. My name is included with Daedelus and Liz Janes as "among others." Look out, fame! The Pitchfork effect now takes its course.

I always knew he'd be the first...

2008-01-15T11:07:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| sniveling, coughing, other unpleasantness

Congratulations, love and prayers to my brother Erik and Jennifer! Erik, of course, made a huge production out of the engagement, including a massive after-party with family and friends. I expected nothing less and wish I could've been there. Can't wait to have a sister-in-law as wonderful as Jennifer.

Okay, back to oatmeal, tea, bed and sickness.

The Best Songs I Heard in 2007 (Last of the 2007 Lists, Promise)

2008-01-11T10:07:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Fleetwood Mac- Tusk

(Click for a larger image to print!)

I didn't want to dredge up end-of-the-year business again, but one of my roommate's friends made a "Best of '07" mix CD for her friends... and I just couldn't resist. My inner nerd was calling.

I qualify the mix CDs as "the best songs I heard in 2007" as opposed to just songs from the Year of the Boar. So among 2007 material, there's vintage Neil Young, apocalyptic reggae, Brazilian psychedelic-folk lovers, great stuff I missed in 2006, and one of the greatest '80s power-pop songs ever recorded (disc 1, track 18).

Long-form songs have been excluded for time constraints, like "Psalm 42" by the '70s Christian commune band The Trees Community and the American debut of "Tevot" by Thomas Ades, a phenomenal piece I look forward to experiencing live myself one day. Therefore, the two mix CDs (you didn't think I could just do one, did you?) turned out fairly poppy and accessible by default. The mixes also miss the incredible vinyl records I purchased last year that are too many to list.

_____ and Dream Away:
The Best Songs I Heard in 2007, Disc 1

01. Jay Reatard "My Shadow"
02. Tahiti 80 "Chinatown"
03. The Mary Onettes "Lost"
04. Tegan and Sara "Back in Your Head"
05. Telenovela "Cinema Scope"
06. Nelson Angelo e Joyce "Vivo Ou Morto"
07. Long Legged Woman "Scalpels in the Sky"
08. Major Stars "East to West"
09. Serpent Throne "Wheels of Satan"
10. Culture "Get Ready to Ride the Lion to Zion"
11. Animal Collective "Fireworks"
12. Milanese "Caramel Cognac"
13. Gui Boratto "Acróstico"
14. ellul "Esophagus"
15. Burial "Archangel"
16. Yeasayer "2080"
17. Sondre Lerche "Say It All"
18. The Toms "Sun"

Download Disc 1

"Wasn't it a good year? Wasn't filled with talking":
The Best Songs I Heard in 2007, Disc 2

01. CJ "Who Knows?"
02. Scott Walker "Hero of the War"
03. The Dirty Projectors "Rise Above"
04. Neil Young "Don't Let It Bring You Down"
05. Cornelius "Breezin'"
06. Panda Bear "I'm Not"
07. His Name is Alive "How Dark is Your Dark Side"
08. Michio Kurihara "Pendulum on a G-String/The Last Cicada"
09. Richard and Linda Thompson "The Calvary Cross"
10. Low "Murderer"
11. Richard Swift "Most of What I Know"
12. Caribou "Melody Day"
13. Citay "Little Kingdom"
14. Jim James & Calexico "Goin' to Acapulco"
15. The Weakerthans "Sun in an Empty Room"
16. Feist "1234"
17. Smokedog "Piano Tuner"
18. Harvey Milk "Get It Up & Get It On"

Download Disc 2

You'll have to order the MP3s once you download the zip files, then click on the image at the top of the post for printable liner notes you can fold in half. It should fit into any standard jewel case.

Santa Conquers the Martians with MP3s

2007-12-24T16:53:00.000-05:00

If you need some last minute Christmas tunes, here are some free downloads.

Smokedog- Dog the Halls: Pretty straight-ahead Christmas covers from the krauty garage-punk duo. Kinda sounds like Hasil Adkins. Available from their myspace page.

I Heart Lung- I Heart Christmas: Totally goofy and light-hearted ambient-free-jazz takes on classics as well as a new tune, "Santa Claus vs. Dracula." Available from Sounds Are Active.

Woven Hand "I Wonder as I Wander": The free Sounds Familyre Christmas album is fine, I suppose, but I love Woven Hand's drone-folk interpretation of this song. It's an inspired version, especially it's nearly monochordal nature lends itself easily to such a treatment. Available from Sounds Familyre.

And, of course...
Ancient Mariner "Deck the Hall": Two solo acoustic versions of the old air by yours truly can be found here and here.

Happy holidays!

Top 30 Albums of 2007 or Why Can't Lars Just Listen to Feist Like Everyone Else

2007-12-20T17:14:00.000-05:00

You know, I write about music all day at work, where I've been especially inundated with list after list for the past two weeks, so you can understand if I'm a little less wordy and extensive as I've been in years past. That said, I'm not really sure what trends I find in my 2007 favorites. I began listening to Van Morrison and Bob Dylan in earnest, spent much less time (or even at all) with jazz and more with all things psychedelic and bluesy.

Quick note: I decided to exclude the 10 CDs I put out on my record label out of, I don't know, fairness to the list-making gods? Nevertheless, I loved them all -- any one of them could appear in my top 30.

1. Panda Bear- Person Pitch [Paw Tracks]
My number one albums in the last few years have been the kinds where there is an immediate connection – might tug at an emotion (like Sufjan Stevens’ Michigan, which I feel nothing for these days, but that’s another discussion), force a radical look at humanity (The Drift), or destroy the way I understand music (once again, Scott Walker's The Drift). Generally, it’s a very gut/heart reaction with the critic in me coming out third or fourth.

Strange thing is, I’m still figuring out if Person Pitch fits into that mold. Animal Collective and its members made some fascinating records this year -- Strawberry Jam (#13) and Avey Tare’s conceptually brilliant (if sometimes difficult to digest) Pullhair Rubeye. But it’s Panda Bear’s somewhat conventional pop record that challenges more than any of the others. The easy way out is to say it's Pet Sounds re-imagined in samples and extended compositions, which helps me explain it to friends. But what interests me most about Person Pitch is its construction, reliant entirely on samples manipulated, stretched and unidentifiable for a pop record. Sampling is nothing new in pop music, for sure, but mostly as beats, clever tricks or plunderphonic sound collages. But to limit your scope to bits of audio in a (more or less) traditional pop format with no "traditional" instrumentation... I think we're going to see more and more artists take Panda Bear's lead in the coming years.

2. Burial- Untrue [Hyperdub]
I don't know enough about "dubstep" music to really tell you how representative Burial is of the odd electronic genre, or if other dubsteppers consider his unexpected success a total fluke. Ignorance seems to be the main beef with Burial's fans, but in the end, the reason why otherwise uninterested indie-rockers, jazz heads and ambient music geeks latch onto Burial is because of its universality. Accessibility really isn't the word here because the hiccuping click beat, a standard of dubstep, isn't at all danceable, nor are Burial's disembodied voices that sing like ghosts without homes to haunt. Untrue is a record that nods off to melancholic sleep on the Metro at 2 in the morning, woken by the bitter cold of a cloudy night.

3. Rhys Chatham- A Crimson Grail [Table of the Elements]
It’s literally the sound of 400 guitars filling the halls of the Sacre Coure in Paris, a breathtaking minimalist composition despite its maximalist exterior. Chatham’s three-part work uses the grandiose to grand effect by turning a chord change into a stunning triumph, a hi-hat into a mantra, a potential storm into a rolling tide.

4. Boris with Michio Kurihara- Rainbow [Important]
I think I like the Japanese band’s shoegazing pop records more than I do their doomy sludge ‘n’ roll and drone explosions. Sure, Boris rock out Pink-style here with huge riffs and scrawly guitar solos, but it’s the delicate, lyrical songs on Rainbow that get to me. Thanks in no small part, of course, to Japanese psychedelic guitar god Kurihara (White Heaven, Ghost, to name a couple), who knows what it means to craft subtle textures out of so little.

5. Chris Schlarb- Twilight & Ghost Stories [Unusual Animals/Asthmatic Kitty]
Chris Schlarb has made two albums in two years that have struck a personal note with me, last year’s being A Prospect of Freedom by Create (!). I think more people have found a connection to Twilight, partially because of its folk tendencies but also because of its deeply personal nature. But as I ghost-wrote for NPR’s Second Stage: There is always the danger of the story consuming the art. When the emotional background of a piece of work — be it a painting, a sculpture, or in this case, an album — becomes the setting, it runs the risk of losing artistic integrity. However,Twilight & Ghost Stories recognizes its personal vulnerabilities and reveals a stunning collage.

6. Deathspell Omega- Fas – Ite, Maledicti, In Ignem Aeternum [Anja]
With most black metal bands centering more on self-hatred, general paganism and hellish mythology, and general misanthropic vibes (with an oddball environmentalist or two), fewer black metal bands – at least in America – hate on God and Christianity as much as their Norwegian forbearers. Well, Satan curse the French, Deathspell Omega not only hate on God and Christianity but do so in (what at least the liners tell me – the lyrics are indecipherable) an extremely (extreme!) intelligent, philosophical discourse. Now, the mysterious band hasn’t unconverted this Protestant, but Deathspell Omega has recorded one of the most innovative black metal albums in recent memory. The second part in a trilogy on humanity’s relationship with God and Satan, Fas – like many of the best BM albums of late – infuses a post-rock sentiment to break up the blazing monotony of buzzing guitars. Fas also has an element of the avant-guard, employing Bartok-ian interludes; thus, advancing the notion that black metal really is the strangest of all metal that has descended from Black Sabbath. But by far the most daring aspect of the album, especially given its lyrical content, is the use of a mass choir. It’s absolutely heretical (and Wagnerian, I suppose): These haunting voices that could very well fill a cathedral, providing fodder for Deathspell Omega’s aural argument.
This blurb originally appeared on Tiny Mix Tapes' Eureka Albums of 2007 article.

7. Fennesz + Sakamoto- Cendre [Touch]
After recently finding The Pearl in a used record store (Harold Budd and Brian Eno's 1984 ambient masterpiece), this second collaboration between Japanese neo-classical composer Ryuichi Sakamoto and ambient guitar/laptop dude Fennesz really spoke to me. It's not fair to put the two in the same plane, but both accomplish a stunning manipulation of an acoustic instrument (here, a piano), with the beautiful integration of laptop/guitar drones seeping through my headphones.

8. Gui Boratto- Chromophobia [Kompakt]
A joyful, expressive celebration of beauty and life in the beats of a Brazilian tech-house producer.

9. Oxbow- The Narcotic Story [Hydrahead]
If you think of The Afghan Whigs’ Gentlemen steeped in blues and raised on metal rather than sleezy R&B, you get an idea how Oxbow’s gritty Narcotic Story sounds. It’s tortured, it’s ugly, it’s a bit more real than most people are willing to stand.

10. James Blackshaw- The Cloud of Unknowing [Tompkins Square]
Can’t remember who wrote it – might’ve been the BBC – but what sets Blackshaw from his neo-Takoma/John Fahey brothers (many of whom put out stellar records this year, by the way) is just how clean his sound comes over the speakers. That was the appeal of many of the raga-influenced folkies – the sheer rawness of it, but there’s something nicely refreshing about Blackshaw’s polished compositions, his 12-string acoustic guitar seeming to circle forever.

11. Group Doueh- Guitar Music from the Western Sahara [Sublime Frequencies]
Just when you think psychedelic-rock/noise/folk/freak-jazz/whatever music has become too “out” even for your hardest hallucinogens – and really, at this point in the psych spectrum, are drugs even necessary anymore? – the trippiest sound mongers always seem to find the trippier. The man known as Doueh and his crew makes totally weird, psychedelic electric desert blues. It’s as rooted in their traditional Sahrawi forms as it is Jimi Hendrix and James Brown. Doueh’s guitar is a rusty buzzsaw, whirling and whirring above wild vocals that perfectly accentuate his spindly style. And who else but the globe trotting Sublime Frequencies dudes are gonna find such bizarre treasures? Sun City Girl Alan Bishop and Hisham Mayet discovered the group on Moroccan radio and went on a months-long search for the man behind these Hendrix-on-a-serious-transcendental-trip jams. This ain’t polished like desert blues legend Ali Farke Toure and sure ain’t got the production of Tinariwen. In fact, some of the tracks culled from the ‘80s sound like downright shit. But the bootleg quality only seems to magnify the blistering heat of the Sahara, Doueh’s sweat greasing the fret board for maximum soul.
This blurb originally appeared on Tiny Mix Tapes' Eureka Albums of 2007 article.

12. Low- Drums and Guns [Sub Pop]
After being less than enthused by The Great Destroyer (but ultimately loving parts of it because I just can’t say no to Low), I took immediately to Drums and Guns. The band’s become minimalist again, but only on the surface. The textures that come through the arrangements are some of Low’s most haunting. Alan Sparhawk’s lyrics continue to challenge me, especially “Murderer,” and he's letting his Richard Thompson love show in his guitar work, a development I hope he continues to explore.

13. Animal Collective- Strawberry Jam [Domino]
I liked this record well enough on its release, but it was their concert at the 9:30 Club that revealed what Animal Collective is all about: The beat. I had more fun dancing in the back with a bunch of dirty hippies than I would ever had with the cross-armed hipsters up front. As weird and as warped as their pop music gets, I hope their music will continue to explore the possibilities of noise in dance music.

14. Daft Punk- Alive [Virgin]
Alive turns the concept of the live album on its head. It simultaneously acts as a Daft Punk mixtape and mash-up of their entire career, even the ill turns of Homework, and recontextualizes it to not only celebrate Daft Punk itself but, more importantly, the history of electronic dance music.

15. Smokedog- Rogue Warriors & Blunt Force Trauma EP [self-released]
My new favorite band out of Athens, Georgia. 2007 alone saw 12 freely-distributed, self-released CD-Rs. Smokedog sound like a garage-punk duo that grew up on Captain Beefheart, Japanese psych-freakouts Les Rallizes Denudes and Can. All seriously lo-fi, really fun and – from my limited contact with the band – genuinely ecstatic about making music. I am stoked to release a compilation of their best tracks, thus far, on Thor's Rubber Hammer sometime early next year.

16. Battles- Mirrored [Warp]
I don’t have much to say about Mirrored that hasn’t already been said other than it’s one of the most fun records I heard all year. An absolute delight.

17. Telenovela- Saffron Songs [self-released]
How can one objectionably write about friends’ music? You can’t, so I won’t try. But I will gush. Having heard many, many early versions, demo versions and live versions of these songs for nearly a year, I felt very weird about the final product. A hard hitting riff would be downplayed to soft-rock proportions, an organ replaced with glitchy samples and vocals phrased differently throughout. I literally put down Saffron Songs and all Telenovela music for a month just to come to it fresh. When I did come back, I found a pop record I love more than any other this year (excluding Panda Bear). It completely baffles me that Telenovela has never been fully embraced by the Athens community, a city that's built its reputation on pop music. Only a few in that town seem to get it: Telenovela writes ridiculously smart pop songs laced with genuine surprises and clever allusions to pop music history.

18. Dirty Projectors- Rise Above [Dead Oceans]
At some point, Rise Above becomes more than David Longstreth’s odd re-imagining of a Black Flag cassette he only half-remembers, and instead he once again proves his warped pop genius in polyrhythmic vocal parts, gospel leanings and anarchistic (oh! There’s the Black Flag!) music philosophy.

19. Erik Friedlander- Block Ice & Propane [Skipstone]
Simple, yet multi-faceted solo cello recordings that rely more on the pluck than the bow. Friedlander didn't get nearly as much attention for this record as he should have.

20. Slow Six- Nor'easter [New Albion]
Instrumental post-rock has shamelessly cribbed the moods and predictable climaxes from modern chamber music and vice versa, but rarely do the two meet on the same terms. Heck, if the Slow Six ensemble can get a record on a respected neo-classical imprint like New Albion, they must be doing something right, which is why I checked them out. Nor'easter is full of dense, yet polymorphic arrangements, propelled by strings and an electric guitar that prefers to add textures rather than set a defining melody.

21. Jandek- Manhattan Tuesday [Corwood Industries]
Sounds like organist Ray Manzurek (The Doors) got a dark, ambient jazz band to back him up, which is pretty much what this live recording is – the "Representative from Corwood" on organ, Loren Connors on guitar, Chris Corsano on drums and Matt Heyner (Cold Bleak Heat) on bass. Excellently moody and psychedelic blues.

22. Damon & Naomi- Within These Walls [20/20/20]
One of those groups that consistently releases great material, but hardly ever something that merits superfluous praise. But the dreamy folk-pop duo (again, with the stunning hands of Michio Kurihara on guitar) has never been about the superfluous – just subtle, slightly Adult Contemporary songwriting. (Proof that I'm slowly turning into an easy-listening dude.)

23. Loren Connors- Hymn of the North Star [Family Vineyard]
The tape hiss is as audible as Connors’ soft blues musings, which is annoying on vinyl, especially since I need a new needle, but still, it’s Loren Connors, one of my biggest inspirations. This is his first solo guitar work in a while and one of his most sparse improvisations, thus far. The notes linger into silence, resting with angelic weight, tangible and ethereal as if the spirits he paints have found their kingdom for the first time.

24. Robert Wyatt- Comicopera [Domino]
It’s really all about Robert Wyatt’s voice, a fragile sound that can break your heart just as soon as it would rip it out. (Side note: When did Domino Records become so cool, releasing records by Wyatt and Steve Reid and reissues from Sebadoh and Young Marble Giants?)

25. His Name is Alive- Xmmer [Silver Mountain]
Warn Defever really has a really great ear for pop music even when the instrumentation, the influences and the rhythms suggest otherwise. On some cuts, he really lets loose with some Western Africa guitar riffs and Afrobeat horn arrangements. I get the feeling this is kind the record he's been wanting to make for a while. Also worth noting: His Name is Alive's killer tribute to free-jazz saxophonist Marion Brown, Sweet Earth Flower.

26. Tinariwen- Aman Iman: Water is Life [Wolrd Village]
More electric desert blues I loved this year. Aman Iman's cleaner production allows those winding guitar lines to shine with rhythms that drone in ecstasy.

27. Radiohead- In Rainbows [self-released, kind of]
I guess I’m including Radiohead out of obligation. While In Rainbows is technically a proficient record, brilliantly promoted and can contend with almost any other Radiohead album on a fresh listen, it’s the fact that it seems to cull pieces of their discography to remake old legends that bothers me a bit. Now, bands have looked back at their work and succeeded in finding new ways to discover old sounds, but I don’t get that distinction here. Nevertheless, it’s a good album, one that will get repeated listens.

28. Serpent Throne- Ride Devil Ride [self-released]
I really can't think of a better idea than to record the soundtrack to a lost '70s biker b-movie, even better yet, one that doesn't exist! Serpent Throne worships at the proto-metal throne of Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer and King Crimson, hard rocking through nine hell-blazing instrumentals. You half expect Ozzy himself to come in wailing at any moment. I think I listened to Ride Devil Ride every single day this past summer.

29. Yeasayer- All Hour Cymbals [We Are Free]
An impressive debut, no doubt, from these Brooklynites. Talking Heads rhythms run through a fish-eye lens all heaped up in the energy of a gospel choir or a Roxy Music LP. The band gets a little too serious on the second half of the CD, so that’s when I check out, but I’m all about "2080" and "Sunrise."

30. The Weakerthans- Reunion Tour [Epitaph]
I suppose my reasons for liking this record are more personal than aesthetic, but John K. Samson continues to be an under-appreciated lyricist and songwriter, even though continued press suggests otherwise. He decided to be a storyteller rather than a confessor, and his stories are tied to human emotion and thought more than ever.

ALSO LOVED OR HEARD TOO LATE
Ettrick- Feeder of Ravens [Not Not Fun]
Total destruction thrash-jazz that's eerily in control of its chaotic path.
Pissed Jeans- Hope for Men [Sub Pop]
My friend Zach said it best: "It sounds like everything he screams is just entirely foul."
Tuxedomoon- Vapour Trails [Cramboy]
How can outer-space smooth-jazz ever possibly sound this good?
Tigersmilk- Android Love Cry [Family Vineyard]
Rob Mazurek's challenging jazz project continues to astound.
Dinosaur Jr.- Beyond [Fat Possum]
A credible reunion album? Nah, couldn't be.

FAVORITE DISCOVERIES OF 2007
Jay Reatard- Blood Visions [In the Red, 2006]
If only I had found this album at the end of last year, it would've been right up there with Scott Walker's The Drift and Harvey Milk's Special Wishes. One of the best punk records I've heard in a long time.
Neil Young- After the Gold Rush [Reprise, 1970]
Neil said just about everything I needed to hear this past fall.
Bob Dylan- Highway 61 Revisited [Columbia, 1965]
Richard and Linda Thompson- I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight [Island, 1974]
Betty Davis- Betty Davis [1973; Light in the Attic reissue, 2007]
Pure RAUNCH.
The Trees Community- The Christ Tree [Pomegranate, 1975; Dark Holler reissue, 2007]
Kinda confirmed that I'm interested in studying the relationship of worship and music in a holistic context. A record that realizes that music from all the world is blessed to be used for praise.
V/A- When the Levee Breaks, Mississippi Blues - Rare Cuts 1926-41 [JSP, 2007]
My occasional obsession with old blues music sourced from crackly vinyl continued this year courtesy of the amazing JSP reissue label.
Young Marble Giants- Colossal Youth & Collected Works [Rough Trade, 1984; box set reissue, 2007]
Post-punk as minimalism. Great music I never knew about until this reissue.
Harvey Milk- The Pleaser [Reproductive, 2000; Relapse reissue, 2007]
Honestly, one of the best rock 'n' roll records ever made.
Culture- Two Sevens Clash [Shanachie, 1978; reissue, 2007]
2007: The Year Lars actually got into reggae music. See below also.
Dennis Alcapone- Forever Version [Heartbeat, 1971; reissue, 2007]

A FEW SONGS WITH REPEATED PLAYS
Long Legged Woman "Scalpels in the Sky" (from Delay 2007) [Pollen Season]
A psychedelic-pop dirge wrapped in the murkiest pump organ melody and acoustic guitars circling like scavengers. The prettiest song these psych-noise jerks have ever made.
Caribou "Melody Day" (from Andorra) [Merge]
The drum fills on this song are out of this world.
Michio Kurihara "Pendulum on a G-String-The Last Cicada" (from Sunset Notes) [20/20/20]
Best guitarist in the dimension.
ellul "Esophagus" (from ellul) [Sounds Are Active]
The last minute and half of this song is perfect.
Starflyer 59 "Minor Keys" (from Ghosts of the Future 7" series) [Burnt Toast Vinyl]
Gives me hope after the total bummer that was My Island.
Feist "1234" (from The Reminder) [Interscope]
Yes, like on the iPod commercial. So sue me.

DON'T GET IT
Blues Control- Puff [Woodsist]
Bloated Casio psychedelics? Just don't see what all the fuss is about.
Soul-Junk- 1959 [Quiver Society]
Literally, I don't get this one. Weird even by Soul-Junk's standards.
Sally Shapiro- Disco Romance [Paper Bag]
I really wanted this to be my new favorite dance record, but it's just so... boring. Cutesy vocals are all fine and good, but at least on Anniemal the producers put some bomb beats behind her.

STUFF I MISSED AND NEED TO CHECK OUT
Stars of the Lid - ... and their Refinement of the Decline [Kranky]
Future Rapper- Land of A Thousand Rappers - Vol 1: Fall of the Pillars [Unusual Animals/Asthmatic Kitty]
Vic Chesnutt- North Star Deserter [Constellation]
Pink Reason- Cleaning the Mirror [Siltbreeze]

On performing 'Twilight and Ghost Stories'

2007-12-18T19:42:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| King Crimson- In the Wake of Poseidon

You know, I think there's a higher per capita of pretty girls in Athens, Georgia (and the south, for that matter) than any other place I've ever been. And it can't possibly have to with what's in the water lately, because Georgia ain't got none.

I drove down to Athens two weekends ago to perform with Chris Schlarb in a live interpretation of his beautiful 40-minute sound collage, Twilight & Ghost Stories, at Next to Last Fest. (The CD's out on Asthmatic Kitty, home to Half-Handed Cloud, Sufjan Stevens and all those related acts.) Chris sent me an e-mail about a month or so ago asking A) what Athens musicians would be capable of handling a composed improvisation, and B) if I'd be willing to play acoustic guitar.

Spent Friday at Wuxtry Records seeking out any CD with John Fernandes' handwriting on it. Dude has never steered me wrong before, and he wasn't in that day, so I found a couple discs with his over-ecstatic blurb-age on 'em: Joyce's Nelson Angelo e Joyce (transcendent Brazilian psychedelic-folk/pop) and Sisa's Orgia (kinda wacky Syd Barrett-inspired Spanish psych). Ran into Phillip on campus (yes, after walking under the arch), and later met up with Chris for the first time at The Grit. Oh, how the Golden Bowl was devoured, the Terrapin sipped and the Raspberry Pinkerton cake consumed with glee.

This happened, too (inexplicably the only photo I took all weekend):

Bummed around mostly on Saturday with lunch at Clocked and a trip to Agora (scored the following vinyl: Neil Young- Decade, Max Roach Quartet- Speak, Brother, Speak!, Lonnie Liston Smith & the Cosmic Echoes- Expansion, Black Sabbath- Sabbath Bloody Sabbath to frame).

Twilight & Ghost Stories is an album Chris Schlarb spent four years on, with contributions from 50 people/musicians. I have to admit I was curious how our live interpretation would be structured and how it would be received. Made up of Chris (direction, acoustic guitar), Liz Janes (ukulele, voice), Daedelus (electronics), myself (acoustic guitar, voice), Drew Smith (drums), and Aaron Jollay (trombone), we were cued by a series of lights by Chris with only one rule: No single idea could last more than two minutes.

Chris and I began the piece with a loose melody he'd written and sent via e-mail. Our guitars rang with yearning (my B-string very awesomely buzzing like a sitar, thanks to a botched DIY fix to the nut), with field recordings of rain filling the outdoor venue.

It's difficult to write just how the rest of the performance happened because so much seemed to transpire in just 30 minutes. I specifically remember playing a bluesy slide guitar to accompany Liz Janes' reading of a Robert Browning poem, and some particularly inspired moments from Drew and Aaron, getting a little free-jazz without blowing out the stage. All in all, the piece came together in a very significant, seamless way, which I can't say often of most composed improvisations.

I'd rather not over-romanticize the event, but hope that all the musicians and the audience found something expressive, perhaps personal, in the performance.

Chris is currently mixing together the performance and will send it over in a few weeks. I'm not sure if it's going to be released via Archive.org like past Next to Last shows, but photos should pop up soon. I'll post a link when that happens.

And a quick sidenote: Daedelus' set was the highlight of the night for me (well, besides of course, my performance). I knew very little of his work beforehand, so it was a total delight to come to his music with new ears. Classic funk and soul, old-timey jazz and grandiose movie soundtracks manipulated, resequenced and given a fresh outlook via laptop and the amazing Monome (watch this video, in particular, for a demonstration).

D Street Blues

2007-11-26T16:07:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Sun Ra- The Complete Disco 3000 Concert

Literally 15 seconds into Slate's "DC Scandal Tour 2007" video, you can see the red brick building where I first lived in the nation's capitol. Then the next two minutes tick off embezzlements, fondlings and stranglings all along D Street SE, where I spent the summer of 2006. I frequently forget just how shady and downright evil this city is sometimes.

Speaking of residencies, looks like I'll be moving again soon. Sigh, one day I'll live in a place for more than one year.

Bjorn Again!

2007-11-25T12:33:00.000-05:00

|current listening| Ed Askew- Little Eyes

Midwest Solo Roadtrip '07

2007-10-29T20:33:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Baroness- Red Album

From October 18-25, I took a solo roadtrip of the Midwest, to see family and discover this part of the country where I was born, but have never really known. You could really liken the trip more to a mobile vow of quiet solitude (except at night when I stayed with friends or family), so there's not really much in the way of grandiose photography here or shananigans. And then, of course, are the times I just forgot to take pictures, like hanging out with Nicole's family in Chicago (twice), jamming with my brother (and cousin Johnny) at church, or along Highway 61 (Minnesota and Wisconsin) or the wonderful mistake of Highway 44 (Ohio).

Does 'The Office' suck a little now that Jim and Pam are together?

2007-10-11T21:04:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Starflyer 59- Ghosts of the Future 7" Series (specifically, the "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" Smiths cover)

Apparently there a few former UGA and WUOG folks still linking (or starting to link) to the NPV. I feel as if I'm letting down the potential adoring public! I'll try to make more of a concerted effort (not easy to update a blog at work since my back is to the office and susceptible to roaming superiors).

For starters, expect to see more downloadable mix CDs. They're the things I nerd out over most these days -- mix CDs, that is -- and, besides, I always want to find a reason to connect my latest favorite freak-out band to Kylie Minogue (thanks to Christa, one of my remaining links to top 40 and '80s dance music). Possible themes: Put on Your Puffy Jacket, Let's Dance! and I Don't Know, It Sounded Like a Good Idea at the Time.

Recently...
+ Finished a three-Saturday printmaking workshop and produced some material that wasn't totally bogus. I think I may look into monotype more, especially knowing the DIY way now. Expect to see one or two of the works appear in some future Thor's Rubber Hammer artwork.

+ Bought a yoga mat. Have attempted to regularly stretch with some discipline. Haven't made it to a class, yet, but once I get back from a week-long vacation, I plan to go at least once a week until I know what I'm doing.

On the horizon...
+ MIDWEST SOLO ROADTRIP '07.
+ Recording Christmas songs as gifts to my friends. (Well, I still need to select them. I'm open to ideas. Keep in mind these will probably be solo guitar a la Lars, but I'm no stranger to the multi-track or an actual pop song. I do have a concertina, tin whistle, organ and piano at my disposal after all.)

Button Up the Presidency

2007-09-28T10:28:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Mike Osborne Memorial Broadcast on "Give the Drummer Some" (WFMU)

So I've already made my super-political geek friend Nathan jealous about this, but my favorite sweater (a dark blue zip-up made of comfort) made its international web debut on npr.org a week or so ago. The photo editor came over to the music folks asking if anyone had a sweater she could borrow to display 2008 presidential campaign buttons, so I lent her mine, which always stays at my desk when Facilities decides to jack up the A/C. You can see it here for all net-ternity.

Why Don't You Join the Foreign Legion (Mix CD)

2007-09-13T11:54:00.000-05:00

A friend recently pointed me to an episode of This American Life about break-ups. We’re both going through them at the moment for two seemingly different reasons. One is the breaker-upper, the other the breaker-uppee, and yet we still hold onto those feelings because, well, they’re there.

In her story, independent radio producer Starlee Kine finds comfort in bad break-up songs… like Phil Collins-bad. In fact, she even calls him to seek break-up songwriting advice. (Her song is cute in typical smarty This American Life-style – I expected nothing less.) It got me to thinking about a recent mix CD that included a couple break-up songs and I decided just to flesh it out.

Here I am in my first real entry in months writing about break-up songs. This is really the stuff of pitiful Live Journaling. But at the same time, it’s bittersweetly therapeutic. Half of these songs really have nothing to do with how I feel right now. In fact, I don’t even really listen to much “sad bastard” music, mostly because it all sounds whiny to me. (Once I was asked if I liked Elliot Smith, to which I responded, “I don’t really listen to sad bastard music. I’d rather listen to someone like Leonard Cohen. That is depressed man music!”)

Why Don’t You Join the Foreign Legion is basically a way to look at all the aspects of this occasional rite of passage and how people have dealt with it, laughed at it, or not been able to deal with it at all. I’d like to think I’m having a good sense of humor in this selection of songs, poking a little fun at myself, especially since that’s how I tend to handle difficult and awkward situations.

If you scroll to the bottom, you can download the whole mix for your broken-hearted pleasure.

Why Don't You Join the Foreign Legion

1. The Pernice Brothers “7:30” - The World Won't End
How do you pick one song from your favorite album of all time, one literally filled with oh-so many choice love-lost songs? Do you pick the one where Joe Pernice can make “all the shit I put through you” sound like the sweetest, most sincere line from a breaker-upper? In the end, I have to go with a fast tempo and shimmering, brilliant ba-da-da harmonies.
2. The Mountain Goats “Have To Explode” - Tallahassee
I like the taut energy and the stoic emotion of “Have to Explode.” John Darnielle’s re-appearing “Alpha Couple” have certainly spit more vitriol in the past (or even just two songs later on this album: “Oceanographer’s Choice”), but there’s a brilliant, stark image of these two people that shouldn’t be together so much that they have to be, and how that contradiction’s stasis will eventually find a violent way to break that tension.
3. Adam Again “Stone” - Perfecta
When you yearn to quench emotional exhaustion.
4. The Star Room Boys “Why Do Lonely Men and Woman Want to Break Each Other's Hearts?” - Why Do Lonely Men And Women Want To Break Each Other's Hearts?
Lots of tear-in-my-beer songs to choose from, especially on this album from the Athens, Georgia twang traditionalists, but the song title really says it all.
5. Billy Boy Arnold “I Wish You Would” – Vee-Jay: The Definitive Collection
Man, that harmonica just howls the hurt, doesn’t it?
6. Pavement “Cut Your Hair” - Crooked Rain Crooked Rain
Boy breaks girl’s heart. Girl gets a new haircut thinking he’ll take her back or maybe some boy will ask her out. Steve Malkmus exposes us for when we want to be obvious.
7. Prefab Sprout “Goodbye Lucille #1” - Steve McQueen
A bit of tough love from the ‘80s and the namesake of this mix. Lots of great lines, palm-muted guitars and overly-earnest posturing, but this one really gets to the heart of get over it: “Ooh Johnny Johnny Johnny why don't you join the foreign legion / Ooh Johnny Johnny Johnny you're still in love with Hayley Mills.”
8. Starflyer 59 “Messed Up Over You” - Gold
I refuse to believe this song or even the entirety of Gold isn’t about Jason Martin’s most heart-wrenching romantic failure, but he’s claimed it isn’t. Still, nothing quite quenches my thirst for a seriously distressed, wallowing-in-distortion solo like the one on “Messed Up Over You.”
9. The Smiths “I Know It's Over” - The Queen Is Dead
Possibly the best irritatingly depressing song by The Smiths. Morrissey is so out of it that his vocal climax is excruciatingly moaned just under the pitch. It simultaneously makes me want to punch him in the face and hug away his pain (“Oh, mother, I can feel the soil filling over my head”? Geez.)
10. Rainer Maria “Tinfoil” - Past Worn Searching
I really tried to avoid any of the mid-‘90s emo I wept through high school, a genre that doesn’t know how to happy. But I’ll be damned if screaming “Goddammit, I’m not talking about my heart/ Like it’s something you could break” isn’t the most cathartic sing-along.
11. Fine China “I Dropped a Bomb on Your Heart” - When the World Sings
A coy synth-pop song by way of Morrissey, all heart-broken, green to love and the many, many mistakes to come.
12. True West “Look Around” - Hollywood Holiday Revisited
I don’t know if this song actually has anything to do with break-ups, much less relationships, but amidst personal introspection, I like the big picture view of “Look Around.” Just take a grand step back from yourself to see everything else that’s going on outside.
13. Scott Walker “The World's Strongest Man” - Scott 4
Oh, to have a voice like Scott Walker’s and make the lyric “And didn't you know that I'm not the world's strongest man / When it comes to you and your world I'm lost” simultaneously the most powerful and vulnerable words ever sung.
14. Songs: Ohia “Being in Love” - The Lioness
“Being in Love” has the kind of lyrics and performance that really lends to any interpretation, whether it be one of desperate hope or bitter desolation. I suppose that’s what makes it great. “We are proof that the heart is a risky fuel to burn.”
15. The Magnetic Fields “All My Little Words” - 69 Love Songs, Vol. 1
Stephin Merritt hits the nail on the head.
16. Lavender Diamond “You Broke My Heart” - The Cavalry of Light
I feel silly including a song that’s been re-purposed thrice-over as the indie break-up song of the last few years. But “You Broke My Heart” really puts the power in the hands of the break-uppee, which is why it’s so successful. I still don’t get what this “calvary of light” business is at the end. Maybe that’s what singer Becky Stark rides in on, white stallions made of rainbows and cardigans, when she confronts her old lover. That aside, you’ve never heard someone beat a tambourine so triumphantly in your life.
17. Jay Reatard “Oh It's Such a Shame” - Blood Visions
I needed some punk rock on this mix… bad. Something to kick out the (self-pity) jams.
18. The Weakerthans “Sun in an Empty Room” - Reunion Tour
I must have listened to this song eight times in row as I moved into my new place just two blocks away from my old residence. John Samson wrote “Sun in an Empty Room” about an Edward Hopper painting by the same name and, well, let’s just say it’s frightening how one’s biography can resemble another.
19. Crooked Fingers “Sleep All Summer” Sleep All Summer 7"
What makes the 7” version of “Sleep All Summer” so much better the original is that its been stripped of its excess. I’ve grown to love Dignity and Shame since it came out, but it was album tainted by slick production and superfluous arrangements in unnecessary places. Here it’s just Eric Bachmann, his voice and nylon-string guitar, with a cellist and female vocalist recorded live to an empty church hall. Its lo-fidelity recording gives the song the heart-broken character it needs, especially when the two voices singing “Why won’t you fall back in love with me?” become distorted from not only volume, but what seems like genuine emotion, as if we’ve stepped into a moment we shouldn’t have.

DOWNLOAD the mix here.
Tracks will be out of order once you unzip the files, so just order them in a playlist.

Summer Mixes with Obnoxiously Long Titles Made Up of Onion Headlines, Inside Jokes, and Lars' Obsession with the Pyschedelic

2007-07-27T13:52:00.000-05:00

It took almost a month and a half of procrastination and selection, but Jamie and I finally finished up our 4xCD box set of our favorite summer jams. I might share these online very soon, but here are the tracklists for those interested.

I'm also working on a bonus disc of fuzz-rock slow-burners (think Black Sabbath and other stoner-rock bands) and other mind-trippy music. Two 40-minute tracks of psychedelic collage.

Area Man and Area Woman Need to Get
Together, Look Out Window, Just Saying

1. KOUFAX Let Us Know
2. J DILLA Workinonit
3. JIMMY EAT WORLD If You Don't, Don't
4. CROOKED FINGERS You Threw A Spark
5. DAVID BOWIE Starman
6. BRITNEY SPEARS Toxic
7. ISHUES Game Time
8. BLONDIE Heart Of Glass
9. THE DISMEMBERMENT PLAN Following Through
10. ELF POWER Will My Feet Still Carry Me Home
11. THE MAKES NICE Waves Of Summer
12. PAULA ABDUL Straight Up
13. THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS Another First Kiss
14. DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS Dead, Drunk, And Naked
15. THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS Letter from an Occupant
16. NICKEL CREEK Young
17. THE FLAMING LIPS Fight Test

Colin Firthquake Levels Houston,
Reunites Conjoined Lovers

1. SMASHING PUMPKINS 1979
2. SUNNY DAY REAL ESTATE In Circles
3. TELENOVELA Breakfast with Birds
4. SHUDDER TO THINK Beauty Strike
5. THE BEATLES She Said She Said
6. THE B-52S Rock Lobster
7. TALKING HEADS Once In A Lifetime
8. MISSY ELLIOT Hot (Ratatat remix)
9. DIRTY PROJECTORS Six Pack
10. THE DOVES Pounding
11. THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA The Garden of Earthly Delights
12. VIVA VOCE One In Every Crowd
13. THE LEMONHEADS It's A Shame About Ray
14. SAL PARADISE Welcome
15. YEAH YEAH YEAHS Maps
16. STATISTICS Another Day

Riiiiiidin’ the Cymbal HARD or
How Could One Man Possibly
Have That Much FUNK?

1. KELIS F*** Them Bitches
2. YEAH YEAH YEAHS Date With The Night
3. THE CLASH This Is Radio Clash
4. C.J. Who Knows?
5. CAKE Jolene
6. SLY & THE FAMILY STONE Poet
7. ARCHIE SHEPP Attica Blues
8. BLACKALICIOUS Sky Is Falling
9. CHARLES MINGUS Moanin'
10. CAETANO VELOSO Maria Bethania
11. CODY CHESNUTT Rock n Roll
12. THE ROLLING STONES Shake Your Hips
13. THE PHILLISTINES Teezie 2005
14. NAS Made You Look
15. BJORK Innocence
16. JAY MITCHELL Tighter & Tighter
17. DAVID BOWIE Five Years

Dirt off ya shoulder? Please clean it up.

Bummer on Sunblack Road,
Sipping Rattlesnake Milk

1. OAKLEY HALL Angela
2. JACK ROSE Revolt
3. ANOMOANON Down and Brown
4. R.E.M. (Don't Go Back To) Rockville
5. FAIRPORT CONVENTION Matty Groves
6. TELENOVELA Default Wistful Summer Jam
7. THE BANJO CONSORSIUM My Sugar Melted
8. WILCO Spiders (Kidsmoke)
9. STARFLYER 59 The Hearttaker
10. MASSIVE ATTACK Teardrop
11. PAVEMENT Gold Soundz
12. THE VELVET UNDERGROUND Oh! Sweet Nuthin'
13. NEU! Hallogallo

Weddin's and other such suchery

2007-06-04T22:12:00.001-05:00

|current sounds| Michio Kurihara- Sunset Notes and the loud whirrr of two fans

So these pictures are over a week late and this post is almost three months since any significant update. Demand is apparently high.
A) Call it a genuine disinterest for writing on here
B) be excited that I like to read again (currently reading The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Connor and, stifle the shocked expletive those who know my hate for such obnoxious literature, Consider the Lobster by David Foster Wallace)
C) get pumped that I play music constantly (might upload some recent recordings on the Ancient Mariner myspace page)
D) just bought a Gibson Dobro Resonator Hound Dog Guitar on eBay. Hopefully, it will be on my doorstep by the end of the week. I'm unbelievably excited to explore the instrument and the blues. I've already purchased a steel slide and have been practicing on "Alice" (my acoustic).

This is how I return to the blog-pool?

2007-04-16T15:47:00.000-05:00

current sounds Black Sabbath- The Dio Years

Seriously, Clipse, I want to be your friend. Don't hold out on me, dogg.

Just soothsayin'

2007-03-15T10:11:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Light Shall Prevail- Defeat the Reign of the Horned One Through the Light of Christ

Those Finnish Kick Some Major Arse

2007-03-14T18:50:00.000-05:00

Best new album of early 2007. Hands down. More later when I'm not stressing out and staying late at work. *

* I'm basically manning the entire SXSW coverage by NPR (with some help, of course). All of the technical stuff is boring, but y'all might like to know that I wrote just about every bio for all of the bands from whom we're featuring live concerts.

Support WFMU!

2007-03-13T13:24:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Selwyn Lissack- Friendship Next of Kin (really out-there South African avant-jazz recently uncovered - great record!)

How This Works...

Support Freeform Radio!

I listen to WFMU online quite frequently and read their multimedia, multi-genre, multi-topic, multi-weirdness blog religiously. In my mind, WFMU is the best free-form radio station in America. No one equals them in specialty programming, their original talk shows are all hilarious and/or informative (not in a morning shock-jock way) and, most importantly, they have the most knowledgeable DJs around. To show my appreciation, I just made a $75 pledge. Because WFMU is cool, I'm getting some sweet swag in return: a WFMU Sasquatch Drummer t-shirt and one of the DJ-curated compilations (Tony Rettman's Man, I'm Glad to Know You, a collection of unreleased jams by bands like Mouthus and Blues Control - rad).

So I'm hoping that if anyone out there listens to WFMU, that you'll pledge and keep them on for another year of sonic savagery!

Tangziners Unite!

2007-03-12T19:59:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Rosie Thomas- These Friends of Mine

A momentous meeting occured over the weekend. I have known Matt Ralph for approximately 7 or 8 years, probably 10 years by name, and we met for the first time in person late Friday night. I joined Tangzine sometime in late high school as a contributing music reviewer and he was its editor-in-chief. A year or so later, I was made music editor and for a large part of my time at Tangzine, we were the only two running the show: writing reviews, collecting folks for features, editing each other's material and hand-encoding HTML (which took hours). I took a sabbatical away from criticism to focus on school and WUOG in 2003 (2004?) while Matt still posted an article or CD review once in a blue moon. We still kept in touch over e-mail and instant messenger and had many failed attempts to hang out. So thank his brother and 8th graders for their D.C. field trip for Matt to come visit from New Jersey.

And I don't have a lovely picture to accompany it, but my old roommate Christa was in town two weekends ago for an Amnesty International shindig. We dined at Etete, an unbelievably good Ethiopian restaurant off U Street. She told me recently unearthed family secrets. Juicy stuff! The kind of material worthy of a short story or, hell, a trashy romance novel. I expect to see My Great-Aunt, the Homewrecker at Wal-Mart soon.

(I just realized how disgustingly appropo my "current sounds" are right now. *Sigh*)

Besides standing behind Robert Siegel in the lunch line...

2007-03-03T12:54:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| better people- white lighter

If you ever wondered exactly what it is I do at NPR, here is a small list of stories and features I've made web pages for and other things I've contributed:

Wrote the introduction ("copy" in journalism terminology) to Abandoned Language by Dälek for All Songs Considered.

Made a fancy web page for an All Things Considered story on Lorraine Gordon, the owner of the Village Vanguard.

Wrote the introduction to The Slow Bang by Madeline for All Songs (and she wonders why Bob mentions The Sugar Shakers! :).

Built the listener-driven Valentine's Day songs page.

Helped coordinate the Best CDs of 2006 extravaganza.

Update the Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz website every week.

Scalpers Are Invited

2007-03-02T17:27:00.000-05:00

Why did the one-time Dismemberment Plan show sell out in less than a minute?
I believe there's a special circle in hell for scalpers, especially when said show is a benefit for Cal Robbins, the son of J. Robbins (DC musician/producer) who's diagnosed with SMA.

Seriously. That's not right in so many ways.

Leroy Jenkins (1932-2007)

2007-02-27T11:46:00.000-05:00

Painting by Bruni

I was sad to hear that avant-garde jazz violinist and composer Leroy Jenkins had passed away on February 22nd. I only had the opportunity to see him perform once at the Vision Festival in 2005. He meditated microtonally on his violin and someone danced interpretively. (I was definitely more interested in Jenkins.) That was probably my first exposure to such music and would subsequently introduce me to Indian ragas and Western composers like Harry Partch and La Monte Young.

WKCR, the phenomenal Columbia University station which I've been meaning to highlight here, will do a full day's tribute to Leroy Jenkins on February 28th. These musician festivals are always a real treat (I still remember Lennie Tristano day) as the station DJs play through the entire discography in chronological order especially including sessions when the artist was merely a sideman. I will be listening to WKCR all day tomorrow for sure.

My McRib Plays the Bass

2007-02-14T17:20:00.000-05:00

(Inspired by this Tiny Mix Tapes news story. Also, too much time on my hands at work.)

Top 5 Things Annoying Me Right Now

2007-02-14T14:58:00.001-05:00

|current sounds| Atomic- Happy New Ears!

Sleet. It's hurting my face.

The internet abbreviation "kthx" for "okay, thanks." Both convenient and condescending!

Surfing penguins. It's gone too far.

Online magazines too lazy to write about music they'll never really get behind.

Japanese nerds that post videos of themselves playing old-school Nintendo games.

Secret Secret Horrible Music Club

2007-02-13T10:11:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Alice Coltrane- Journey In Satchidananda (now making beautiful music with John again)

This Saturday I will be in Athens, Georgia to promote the first, big release for my label, Thor's Rubber Hammer Productions, a compilation of Athens "noise" artists called Deeded to Itself: Athens Southernoise. The idea began just before I left Athens when I asked a friend if he wanted to do a split noise EP to put out some material that didn't really fit into what I was doing at the time. It soon turned into an idea of collecting music from the under-documented experimental Athens scene that didn't have a connection to the Elephant 6 tribe (who have been compiled a number of times). In fact, it had only been a day after I had put out some feelers on the project when Jeff Tobias (We Versus the Shark) called me in the morning expressing a great interest in being involved in any way possible (he contributes as "Orthopedics"). Finally, eight months later, Deeded to Itself will have its CD release party at the Secret Squirrel (the most organized and coolest DIY venue I've ever been to) on Saturday, February 17th.

TRHP will also release albums by Long Legged Woman and Chartreuse, both on the Deeded CD, as well as a very limited Elephant 666 Orchestra 2xCD (crazy stuff some compadres and I did two summers ago at WUOG) on Saturday. I didn't mean to be so prolific right off the hitch, but the label feeds my creativity, especially since I'm working with musicians that I respect and want to promote.

Artwork for Chartreuse, Long Legged Woman, and Deeded to Itself, respectively. (I designed the latter two.)

Prince will take your eye out, fo' realz

2007-02-07T16:44:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Led Zeppelin- Led Zeppelin [Box Set] (Disc 2) & this song by The Go-Betweens on repeat

Here's what I was looking for!

Maybe I'll be seeing folkie Vashti Bunyan on Friday night?

Chicken Bowl 2007

2007-02-05T15:28:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Long Legged Woman- The End of False Religion

I work with Stephen Thompson, founder of the Onion AV Club, at NPR. He's also the creator of "Chicken Bowl," a 10 years+ tradition to consume as much fried chicken within the space of the Super Bowl every year. No longer in Wisconsin, the contest's now based in D.C. Being of small stomach and without strategy, I only ate two breasts, two thighs, and two wings. I never want to see a piece of Popeyes Chicken again. I think Stephen, the night's clear winner, ate 11 pieces total. He's a man's man.

Speaking of men, why can't I find a picture of Prince's awesome, Halftime Show guitar silhouette online, yet?

I just turned down a free ticket to tonight's Sufjan Stevens Kennedy Center show, for which literally thousands of precious indie-kids camped out in 20-degree temperatures. Sorry, the prospect of seeing Sufi and his clan in butterfly-bird wings with the National Symphony Orchestra sounds like the most annoying spectacle imaginable. My love/hate relationship escalates.

Video find of the day: Cecil Taylor and his hummingbird hands (circa 1981). And, yes, that is a brief clip of Bill Dixon in the beginning. I wish I knew what program this was from.

You plump for the roast pork loin, dogg? Oh, proclaim that roast pork loin!

2007-02-02T15:02:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Grant DJ-ing on WUOG

Saw these while buying a tuna salad sandwich from the upstairs cafeteria and given my obsession with thai food as of late (Jamie and I can make a mean green curry chicken), I had to try them. Don't believe the lie that is Spicy Thai because it's actually quite weak in that regard. More like a polite slap on the tongue than that climatic scene in Oldboy where, well, maybe I'm taking the simile into a place it shouldn't go (if you've seen Oldboy, you know what I'm talkin' about). BUT the ginger is righteously flavorful, something that I'm tasting (and still enjoying) even two hours after consumption. Plus, Kettle Chips always has that great, hearty, thick crunch that always makes me look at a bag of Doritos with derision.

In addition to the curiously (and disturbingly) morbid Cyanide & Happiness, I now also read the Achewood comic on a daily basis (thanks to the convenience of RSS feeds). I stumbled across "Ray's Stupid Cell Phone Conversation" and was immediately hooked. Like most of the humor that forms my own, it's outrageously, sometimes violently absurd and surreal. Also, quite, how shall I say, decidedly manly? (As Ashley would often comment, that is such "boy [insert music, movie, etc. here].")

Simultaneously, Chris Onstad (the author and inker) began two music-based series that each lasted two weeks: the Mister Band plot and the Story of Rustmouth and Silent Bird Wallace, possibly the best fictional blues singers names ever (both link to the initial stories, check the Nov./Dec. 2006 archives for more). Both are somewhat intertwined, but I would love to see Rustmouth's story fleshed out as it's one I think could earn a Peabody Award (are graphic novels eligible for such an honor?).

Notes On A Scandal:

Cate Blanchett is HOT in bangs.

I have never been more terrified Judi Dench in my life. Nobody should smoke a cigarette like that. Goodness.

I do not hate the new Of Montreal album. (Yes, that was hard to admit.) Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? is all about Kevin, Kevin, Kevin and ooohhh is he mad! It's the angry post-punk kick in the pants that boy needed if he thought he was going to get away with ABA-format synth-pop songs on Sunlandic Twins. Dig especially on "The Past Is A Grotesque Animal," the twelve minute kraut-disco rant that gets downright NOISY: overbloated synths and a pissed-off former twee-popper spewing hate. I'm sorry I ever doubted you, Kevin. (Does he kinda look like Adam Ant in that photo?)

Lazy recap in pictures

2007-01-22T23:01:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Mission of Burma- Snapshot (especially The Wipers "Youth of America" cover)

Our first ever dinner party at the house was a rousing success.

Leah baked her destined-to-be-world-famous "Orgasm in Your Mouth" Chocolate Cake (Leah's title, but appropo).

A different party, one on MLK, Jr. Day in fact.

We bought some board games: Scrabble and Balderdash, the latter of which I split the sides of the other contestants by way of a popular underground motorcross sport called "hillsopping" - you probably don't want to know and it's not family-friendly, which this blog tries, and sometimes fails, to maintain. But here are some of the roomies and Michael visiting from NYC working on a puzzle. I already hate the puzzle, so I'll be the jerk who puts in the final piece after everyone else has done the work. Aren't I rad?

Ecstatic that I now live in a city that snows. (I'm sure I'll be over it in due time, but let this Georgia boy beam while he still can.)

Lars's Favorite Discoveries & Reissues of 2006

2006-12-27T14:16:00.000-05:00

So here's the last of the year-end features. I was going to do a meta-list (a list of my favorite lists) like last year, but decided that was silly, boring, and redundent. BUT I absolutely must point out my favorite two: "A Few Sac-Ripping Cassettes of 2006" by Emerson Dameron and Webhamster Henry's Top 10 Imaginary Recordings of 2006, both hilarious fake lists, the first being a gut-busting take on Aaron Dilloway's own particular brand of gonzo noise criticism.

Anyway, here are the new-to-me discoveries and favorite reissues of 2006:

Twink- Think Pink [Polydor, 1970; Akarma, 2001]
I spent a good part of early 2006 listening to late '60s and early '70s psychedelic music, but it was Twink (née John Alder) that became an obsession. At this point, drummers weren't exactly an integral part of the songwriting process, but when you listen the many UK psych records to which he contributed (The Pretty Things- S.F. Sorrow, Tomorrow- Tomorrow, The Pink Fairies- Neverneverland, The Deviants- Ptooff!, all landmarks of the early UK scene) and then listen to the records the same bands recorded after he left, Twink's influence is obvious. His warped sense of the pop aesthetic sculpted the sound of UK psych and would even inspire the likes of Syd Barrett and Marc Bolan without ever being properly recognized. Think Pink is an acid-psych masterpiece on all accounts with the freakiest folk freak-outs and the fuzzed-to-hell electric guitar trips. Probably one the most revelatory discoveries for me in the last few years.

Roy Harper- Stormcock [Resurgent, 1971; Science Friction, 2001]
I asked John Fernandes (yes, of Olivia Tremor Control and Circulatory System fame - it's not really name-dropping if you saw him every other day) what record I should pick up last time I was at Wuxtry in Athens and he went straight for this one. "I heard some of your songs and thought you might really dig this, man," and then John bounced around like John bounces around when he gets really excited about a record. (How I miss talking music with John!) I don't know how Harper at all reminded him of my own music, but I've certainly moved more this way since owning Stormcock. Epic, yet intimate progressive folk music with songs seven to thirteen minutes in length that brings together Pink Floyd’s Meddle and Bert Jansch's late '60s material. One of the few records I actually just sit and listen to.

Patty Waters- Patty Waters Sings [ESP-Disk', 1965; ESP-Disk', 2002]
Phillip actually gave me a CDR promo for Waters's Complete ESP-Disk' Recordings, but I forgot that I had it and bought Sings at Tower Records's massive "going out of business" sale (15 CDs for $70? Amazing). No matter, I like to support the label when I can, even if it was only $3. Of course, it's important to mention her thirteen-minute vocal freak-out on "Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair" that's as disturbing as it is powerful, but I'm especially attracted to her more vocal/piano jazz songs that are deceptively simple and "traditional." They’re downright haunting, almost scary, as if Waters stalks the subjects in "Why Can't I Come to You" and "You Loved Me."

The Khan Jamal Creative Arts Ensemble- Drumdance to the Motherland [Dogtown, 1972; Eremite, 2006]
The mere mention of the following words will make any jazz collector salivate: "long-lost" and "out-jazz." I thank Dusted Magazine for turning me onto this once rare piece of black psychedelic jazz. The opening cut alone rivals the ambient dub-noise of Human Animal (Wolf Eyes) with live reverb manipulation that swarms with bass clarinet and endless drums. In addition to being the most spaced-out free-jazz record this side of Sun Ra, Drumdance roots itself in African tribal rhythms as well as funk; thus, maybe creating the first dub-funk-free-jazz exploration (?). I delightfully grin every time I put it on. Love love this one.

Julie Tippetts- Sunset Glow [Utopia, 1975; Disconforme, 2004]
I listened to many Julie Driscoll/Tippetts albums in 2006 (notably, Streetnoise with Brian Auger, an amazing jazz/folk-rock album) in as close as a chronological order as I could follow. Her transition from a semi-pop-star to a free-jazz vocalist is a fascinating trajectory and it's on Sunset Glow that she's right in the middle. She began to experiment with improvisation, breath control, and phrasing, all of which would be fully realized with her husband, Keith Tippett, but on Sunset Glow she's still in a psych-rock and pop/folk format. The songs are modal allowing the remarkable line-up of musicians (members of the Canterbury avant-rock scene) as well as Julie to freely improvise on the loose score. In five minutes, she’ll seamlessly move from a soft coo to vocal acrobatics without breaking a sweat. If anything, I’m floored by the life-affirming handclaps in "What Is Living" every time.

Harvey Milk- Courtesy and Good Will Toward Men [Reproductive, 1997; Relapse, 2006]
Harvey Milk- Anthem DVD [Chunklet, 2006]
2006: Year of the Milk. Seriously. Preceding Special Wishes in September (my #2 album of the year), the Athens trio saw a re-release of the most confounding metal record of the '90s (Courtesy) and the already essential (and quickly out of print) Anthem DVD, a three-hour live concert documentary with performances from their humble barn-burner punk beginnings in 1994 to the unrelenting and emotional sludge of the band's reunion in 2005. The album, revered among its fans as the definite Harvey Milk release, is as weird as all of the metal freaks at Aquarius Records say it is: long passages of purposefully repetitive doom-metal riffs (to the point of no longer resembling metal at all), creepy piano passages, early '90s indie-rock aping, classic-rock guitar solos gone haywire, thick, disgusting & distorted sludge, an uncomfortable (in a good way) take on Leonard Cohen's "One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong," and Creston Spiers's unmistakable bone-jaw howl. I don't how successful this particular reissue has been, but I hope that in light of all the doom and drone-metal craze, that some metal and/or avant-garde kids are taking to the Milk. Courtesy was way ahead of its time and, in many ways, still is. Here's to hoping that 2007 will see reissues of My Love Is Higher Than Your Assessment of What My Love Could Be and The Pleaser and the much-rumored new line-up of Harvey Milk including metal-weirdo visionary Joe Preston (as long as he just plays bass and doesn’t sing, I’m nuts about this).

David Crosby- If I Could Only Remember My Name [Atlantic, 1971; Atlantic/Rhino, 2006]
I literally just started listening to David Crosby's first solo record last week (thanks to an NPR "Song of the Day" feature), so I'm not all that well-acquainted with it, yet. My knowledge of Crosby extends to his time in The Byrds, but I have the feeling it's high-time (heh) for me to explore his work in CSN&Y, too. Totally lazy/hazy Californian psychedelic-folk/rock with cosmic electric guitar work by Jerry Garcia.

Kath Bloom- Finally [Chapter Music, 2006]
It's more than appropriate that Kath Bloom sees the collection treatment the same year as Loren Connors (Night Through, #7 on my top 30 list) as she spent the first half of the '80s as his vocal collaborator (rumor has it that Chapter Music will reissue those long out-of-print records, too!). Those collaborations were more on the avant-garde side of things with Bloom’s sinewy vocals wrapping around Connors's abstract blues. Finally collects from the straight folk and country career that Bloom's followed when she picked up the guitar again in the late '90s, but it's her uncharacteristic vocal style that leads you strangely in. Her voice warbles with an alto vibrato that trails off with sorrow like on the heartbreaking "A Homeless Dream" or "Forget About Him."

Josef K- Entomology [Domino, 2006]
Best-of treatment for the early '80s Scottish post-punk band with the 'tude of Gang of Four and the pop sensibilities of The Cure. The rhythm section is standard (funky bass, danceable drums), but necessary to ground the band because if this was a guitar duo, it'd be like Sonny Sharrock's overdubbed solo Guitar album for the new-wave. Man, the guitar work is totally out there with a matching vocalist to boot. Favorite song of the moment: "Chance Meeting [Postcard 7" Version]" (love the horns at the end, very unexpected).

Karen Dalton- In My Own Time [Just Sunshine, 1971; Light In The Attic, 2006]
I get miffed when someone suggests that because a musician doesn't write his/her own material that it's automatically of lesser value. Off the top of my head, I could rattle off ten names from the jazz pantheon alone that often out-shine the original songwriters for the hits which they are known. Jazz vocalists, Billie Holiday in particular, are a good reference point for Karen Dalton, a shy singer coming out of the late '60s folk revival. Unlike her debut, an acid-folk-rock record recorded unbeknownst to her, In My Own Time is a more country-tinged affair with a full-on electric band. Like Bob Dylan, who counts Dalton's voice as one of his favorites, she got flack for going electric, but when you listen to her interpretations of soul and traditional folk songs, there's absolutely no other way she could have gone about it. Listening to Time, I have to wonder if Chan Marshall (Cat Power) wasn’t profoundly influenced by Dalton as both radically reinterpret classics to the point where the songs are so different that they’re almost unrecognizable and newly canonized.

Lars's Top 30 Albums of 2006

2006-12-22T12:15:00.000-05:00

Sparing you the lengthy introductions that often accompany these lists, I must preface this by mentioning that the top ten are solidly-placed. #11-#30 are up for position moving at any time because some days that NOMO record is better than Return to Cookie Mountain. It's just how I work.

Also, I'd be remiss if I did not at least acknowledge Pink by Japanese heavy-rockers Boris. They put out one of heckuva rock album that really gets me going, but it wasn't released state-side until this year. I heard it in '05 when it came out and, well, I never know what to do in those cases. Needless to say, recognition is due.

On with it!

01. Scott Walker- The Drift [4AD]
There is literally nothing like The Drift. No concrete precedent exists for its simultaneously flat and three-dimensional sound palette – a canvas being the best image to compare, albeit one of truthful horror. The architectural compositions of Iannis Xenakis give us something to work from, but even that's an intangible source. The "blocks of sound" are meticulously, and some would say, maliciously placed with long sweeps of strings, dark Ennio Morricone guitar, unconventional percussion (e.g.: a slab of meat), horrible silence, and Walker's voice, a fascinating, piercing instrument of its own. And the pulsating tension never gives way. The oddly compelling thing about The Drift is that despite its impenetrability it is overwhelmingly human. Such an ambitious and seemingly antagonistic work both presents and attempts to answer the purpose of music as the only genuine form of human expression. Nothing's explicitly laid out, mind you, but the subtext lies in these blocks of sound, of the bleak human condition in which the only way Walker can relate is through the death and dying bodies of Elvis Presley's twin brother and Benito Mussolini. For many years to come, The Drift is an album that will continue to dialogue with our conscious, even those unwilling to speak back.
This is the blurb I wrote for the Tiny Mix Tapes Top 25 Albums of 2006 article.

02. Harvey Milk- Special Wishes [Troubleman Unlimited/Megablade]
Special Wishes carries the gut-wrenching resonance I’ve always felt a heavy record should. It’s no coincidence that Harvey Milk occasionally covers a man of such emotional intensity as Leonard Cohen because the band’s detuned heaviness is not one for the sake of being heavy, but one that’s burdened and aching.
See my full review.

03. Josephine Foster- A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing [Locust]
I defer completely to Phillip’s exceptionally written review on this one. Out of all the neo-folkies, Foster’s actually doing something powerfully unique.

04. Joanna Newsom- Ys [Drag City]
I didn’t *hate* Milk-Eyed Mender, per se, or necessarily dislike it, but I certainly couldn’t digest it all in one sitting for all the excessive preciousness given in three-minute spurts. Then the 24 year-old harp-slinging elf comes out with a five-track, 55-minute concept album about… well, something to do with the title (pronounced “eese,” by the way) and I instantly take to it (hrm, what does that say about me?). Her compositions are stunningly crafted, then accentuated by Van Dyke Parks’s lush orchestral arrangements. And just when it goes over the top, Newsom magically grounds the song to earth. My love for Ys was confirmed tenfold when I saw it performed by a five-piece Appalachian folk ensemble. Someone please release a live recording of this past tour.

05. Califone- Roots & Crowns [Thrill Jockey]
Califone's been at the "New Weird America" folk movement longer than most. In fact, they were abstracting American music years before the annoying term was even coined. The trend has thankfully had its perks for the band and Roots & Crowns happens to be the most fully realized and exciting Califone album to date. It's spindly, alternate universe backporch-folk with some of the best modern interpretations of the Beach Boys sound ("Spider's House," for example) that I've ever heard. Love love love this one. I can't recommend it enough.

06. Keith Fullerton Whitman- Lisbon [Kranky]
Not too often you’ll find a live album on my year-end list, but then again, KFW has been on these lists for the last couple of years, so I can’t imagine one without him! I read somewhere (might’ve even been Whitman himself) that compares Lisbon’s musical arc to Miles Davis’s In A Silent Way, which, in some abstract way, makes complete sense (or at least makes for a great listening exercise). Whitman’s “playthroughs” system (to put it very simply, an acoustic guitar run through a laptop) sees a 45-minute exploration that brilliantly unfolds and deconstructs on itself around the 30-minute mark. Blows my mind every time.

07. Loren Connors- Night Through [Family Vineyard]
Essential 3xCD collection of his 7"s, compilation tracks, private CD-Rs, and plenty of extras. The attraction to his solo guitar work (and collaborations with partner/vocalist Suzanne Langille) comes in how one can visually hear Connors’s fingers on the fretboard, on the strings themselves. He stretches notes with a violently delicate vibrato both solo and in the on/off-again psych/stoner-rock band Haunted House (two unreleased jams presented here). One can see the notes right next to each other, like Mark Rothko’s paintings who Connors considers his greatest influence. The music is spare and simple, even at its most distorted, but intense and full of texture.
See my full review.

08. Juana Molina- Son [Domino]
Of the 30 albums on this list, four are solo female artists. All four reside in the top 10. Just realized that now. Anyway, this one in particular was a fast favorite, though very much a sleeper hit for most. The Argentine always seems to get positive press, but never much of a concrete fan-base, which is a shame because her organic/electric folk music (acoustic guitar with live loops and manipulation) is even more pronounced live. Son’s a bit more subtle in its electronic textures than past albums and shows off Molina’s songwriting.

09. Comets On Fire- Avatar [Sub Pop]
Cathedral was my #2 album of 2004, but whereas their Sub Pop debut was one of an endless cave of reverberating psychedelic freak-outs, Avatar is its bluesy, jazzier companion with honest-to-goodness songs and blue-eyed soul vocals. Is Sub Pop slowly taming its wilder roster (Wolf Eyes being the other) into some alternate pop universe? Might be one of the few shady Sub Pop business practices I can get behind! Hrmmm, who should they tame next?

10. Neko Case- Fox Confessor Brings the Flood [Anti-]
Full disclosure: I actually bought this album because Kelly Hogan sings backing vocals on it (please, please, Kelly, record a new album!), but quickly fell for the Playboy-nominated female-indie-hottie’s spirit of the Grand Ole Opry. Not that it’s actually country or even “alt-country,” just that Neko’s recorded something heartbreakingly timeless.

11. Current 93- Black Ships Ate the Sky [Durtro]
It is on Black Ships Ate the Sky that David Tibet finally realizes the vision he began with Thunder Perfect Mind (1992), a gothic folklore that's achieved an underground mythology, a sound that is both harrowing and delicate. Loosely framed around eight versions of "Idumea" sung by eight different vocalists (Antony, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, and Shirley Collins, to name a few), a song about God's judgment on the Edomites written by Charles Wesley in 1763, the album's almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Well, at least in the narrative Tibet's built out of his reoccurring "black ships" dreams that challenge our conceptions of the sacred and the profane. The thing is, like David Eugene Edwards (16 Horsepower, Woven Hand), Tibet presents a God that's to be feared for His power to redeem, so his profanity becomes sacred. Once again, an outstanding cast of musicians joins him: newcomers Ben Chasny (Six Organs of Admittance) and drone master William Basinski as well as the usual suspects Steven Stapleton (Nurse With Wound) and Michael Cashmore. The guitar interplay between Chasny and Cashmore is particularly inspired: it drones with impending death in its strings, yet retains a redemptive melody like an Orthodox liturgy. Tibet's half-sung/half-spoken delivery has finally found its rightful accompaniment.
This is the blurb I wrote for the Tiny Mix Tapes Top Eureka Albums of 2006 article.

12. Wolf Eyes- Human Animal [Sub Pop]
The poster boys of noise writing actual songs? It’s not the definitive statement modern noise has waited for, but Wolf Eyes is getting there. Expect to hear more folks follow suit in 2007.

13. Rafael Toral- Space [Staubgold]
I’m actually still wrapping my head around this one, especially since I’m queued to write a review for TMT, but given the position on this list, it’s obvious that Space has struck me. The Lisbon experimental guitar pioneer ditches the six-string for his “space program,” an electronics-based medium that realizes a kind of space-jazz neither Bill Dixon nor even Sun Ra could have possibly imagined.

14. Liars- Drum's Not Dead [Mute]
Amazing what a change of location can do to a band. Germany turned these mediocre dance-punk Brooklynites into an emotionally compelling avant-rock band.

15. TV On the Radio- Return to Cookie Mountain [Interscope/4AD]
Am I little upset that TVOTR didn’t lay down as many sweet doo-woppin’ harmonies on their major label debut? Yeah, but it’s still one helluva rock album, one that still has a lot of soul behind it. I still have to ask, though: Trent Reznor? Really?

16. Marc Leclair- Musique pour 3 femmes enceintes [Mutek]
What I imagine Keith Fullerton Whitman would sound like recording a minimalist/ambient techno album (although he probably did). I love the story Leclair evokes through his instrumental concept album about pregnancy: the music develops more “life” as the album progresses and almost goes all-out “pop” (gross) once Musique’s child is born.

17. Create (!)- A Prospect of Freedom [Sounds Are Active]
I think a large part of why I never wrote about A Prospect of Freedom was because I was listening to it at a dark point in my life (this, by the way, is one of the few times I’ll be this personal on this blog): fresh out of college, spiritually decrepit, discouraged by unemployment, uncertain about my future, and generally doing a whole lot of nothing during the day. In many ways, Create (!)’s third album, a study in patience and meditation, was my musically inspiring grace during this time. I imagine someone could have had the same experience with Pharoah Sanders’ Jewels of Thought or Talk Talk’s Laughing Stock (both of which are good reference points for Freedom) when these albums were first released.

18. Xasthur- Subliminal Genocide [Hydra Head]
Unlike most of his black metal companions and influences, Malefic places his emphasis on atmosphere, an oppressive, funeral-paced, lo-fi descent. Guitar riffs are obscured by multiple washes of murky, buzzing distortion (riffs almost post-rock in their deliberate choices), gothic keyboards and synthesized choirs overtake the drone, and drums, if audible or even present, are only there to establish a basic rhythm.
See my full review.

19. Jack Rose- Jack Rose [aRchive]
Beautiful lap slide guitar album that, I believe, is already sold out of its 1000-copy limited pressing. Probably the best musician and songwriter of the emerging experimental folk guitarists looking back to the Takoma Records (John Fahey, et. al.) hey-day.

20. Herbert- Scale [!k7]
Herbert may not have broken through on his most accessible electronic-pop album to date, but he still made a more cohesive and exciting release than Hot Chip and Junior Boys.

21. The Goslings- Grandeur of Hair [aRchive]
Noise for people who don’t like noise: The Velvet Underground’s White Light/White Heat re-imagined as distorted, droning bliss.

22. Melted Men- Rotten Hut Florist [Nerve Rust]
Besides having my favorite cover artwork of 2006, the Athens, GA wacky noise-sters finally manage to record an album that captures the bizzaro performance art of their live shows. It’s like fractured, broken-beatz hip-hop by the Knights Who Say ‘Ni’ with lots of gongs and other assorted gamelan instrumentation. Yeah, that’s probably the best description I can muster.

23. Andrew Hill- Time Lines [Blue Note]
Hill’s third return to the legendary Blue Note label is nothing short of a minor jazz miracle. The pianist has never released a bad album, but he’s definitely been mining the same material over and over again in his older years. The compositions are meticulous, but never feel constrained. One of the essential jazz records of 2006.

24. Ali Farka Toure- Savane [Nonesuch]
King of the Desert Blues’ final album recorded in his native Mali. Strangely haunting and hypnotic. Even after his death, it still feels like no one knows about Toure.

25. Keiji Haino & Sitar-Tah!- Animamima [aRchive]
Japanese psych-rock legend playing the droning hurdy-gurdy with twenty sitar players (!) and a Tuvan throat-singer?! It’s like Haino pulled out a dream I never knew existed! The two discs run through your chest like hands made of barbed wire and goose feathers.

26. The Necks- Chemist [ReR/Fish of Milk]
The Australian kraut-jazz-by-way-of-Terry Riley trio never seems to do wrong. The addition of the electric guitar in their extended semi-composed improvisations was a long time coming and produces explosive results, yet doesn’t shine above the individual pieces.

27. Bizzart- Bloodshot Mama [Sounds Are Active]
Bizzart did the smart thing and went Soul-Junk-less on his sophomore full-length – not that the abstract hip-hop genius of Slo-Ro and Glenn Galaxy didn’t make Ear Drung a Soul-Junk clone, just that the influence loomed heavily over. You can tell that Bizzart chewed his lyrics grit, blood, and all on Bloodshot Mama –- his flow impassioned by the world failing around him. The music and production, too, take on the same issues much heavier and defined as ever with carefully controlled noise bedding Bizzart’s words.

28. NOMO- New Tones [Ubiquity]
Definitely brings out less of the "hipsters digging on Fela Kuti" vibe and more of a genuine vision that doesn’t really need or want to adhere to a specific style as long as the aesthetic jam remains.
See my full review.

29. Blame Game- Ask Someone [Stickfigure]
There were hints of greatness in this Atlanta quartet scattered throughout their evolving existence from a screamy hardcore band to some kind of jazzy Don Caballero/Ornette Coleman/Captain Beefheart monster, so this long-ish four-song EP is exactly what I’ve waited for. Blame Game ingests their influences, but come out writing/improvising seamless pieces with remarkable maturity. Even better heard live.

30. Owl Xounds- Toxic Raga [Colour Sounds]
Andrea Centazzo had Ictus Records, Derek Bailey had Incus Records, why shouldn't drummer Adam Kriney have Colour Sounds to release his own material and various collaborations? Owl Xounds has the biggest output and for good reason: disgusting, psychedelic freak-jazz in the spirit of the ESP-Disk' fire-music of the '60s and '70s. Featuring fellow New Yorker Gene Janus (upright bass) and Old Time Relijun main man Arrington De Dionyso (bass clarinet, voice), this particular incarnation of the revolving Owl Xounds unit hits pockets in all thewrong places creating harsh textures and an all-around racket. But it's a damn good racket. One that thrusts out of the grimy spaces of the room, hits the corner table, bangs the hell out of its knee, trails blood and scabs through the doorway, but convulses with delight at the bad-ass scar its gonna get. Lest you think this yet another punk-jazz sparring match, though, Kriney's got the chops and sense to let the racket swirl (or, to be nasty, maybe even swill) from time to time instead of the constant quarterback blitz of most punk-jazz. Too good to stay a limited edition release.
This is the blurb I wrote for the Tiny Mix Tapes Top Eureka Albums of 2006 article.

The Et Cetera Lists of 2006

2006-12-20T13:41:00.000-05:00

Instead of releasing a massive year-end entry upon the inter-waves, I'm doing so in four installments: singles of the year (already posted), the et cetera lists (today), top 30 albums of 2006, and favorite reissues and older discoveries. The last two, I hope, will be up by the end of the week if not by the end of the year.

Albums Not in My Top 30 Worth Mentioning

Anathallo- Floating World [self-released]
The band I once referred to as the "emo band with horns" completely took me by surprise with this more fully fleshed-out release. Rides a little on Sufjan Stevens's coat-tails (and Radiohead's, too, for that matter), but I keep coming back to its honest sweetness.

Kidd Jordan, William Parker, Hamid Drake- Palm of Soul [AUM Fidelity]
The seasoned New Orleans saxophonist Jordan simply does not have enough records as band leader, so to hear him in a more subdued, meditative environment (as opposed to his free-jazz blow-outs) is quite arresting. Would've made my top 15 had I heard the album when it came out in June.

Pernice Brothers- Live a Little [Ashmont]
I have a feeling Joe Pernice will never quite equal The World Won't End, but that doesn't stop him from consistently writing great pop songs. His voices gets a little more breathy on this one, which is a little annoying, but I can't deny songs like "PCH One" and "Zero Refills."

Lair of the Minotaur- The Ultimate Destroyer [Southern Lord]
Big, huge balls of ogres. See my review.

Jeffrey & Jack Lewis- City & Eastern Songs [Rough Trade]
A bit unfocused and maybe a little too produced for an anti-folkie record (though kudos on trying to finesse Jeffrey a little, Kramer, that's a tough job), but how can I not recognize the lyrical genius of "Williamsburg Will Oldham Horror"?

Records I Still Need to Hear From 2006

Ornette Coleman- Sound Grammar [Sound Grammar]
Critically lauded by many as Coleman's best material in years. The bits I've heard really revved me up. Gotta hear it.

Converge- No Heroes [Epitaph]
This band is fifteen years-old? For some reason that makes me feel like an old, crotchety head-banger yelling, "These kids and their infernal screamo-metal. I remember when 'breakdown' meant windmill-swingin' riffs and a roundhouse kick to the face. Not some pansy-ass anorexic singing like a sickly pre-pubescent school girl!" *Ping!* in the spit can. Still, Converge has yet to make a bad record, especially since they continually explore their sound.

Burial- Burial [Hyperdub]
Phillip loves this record and he doesn't steer me wrong often. The clips I've heard online sound very intriguing.

Biggest Letdowns of 2006

Danielson- Ships [Sounds Familyre]
I'm hoping that this album will click with me somewhere down the road because I definitely understand what Daniel Smith's doing with it. I just don’t know if I want him to veer into the "precious" territory that his protégé-turned-indie-superstar Sufjan Stevens has combed over so heavily in the last year.

Sunn O))) & Boris- Altar [Southern Lord]
I actually had to illegally download this much anticipated avant-metal collaboration because Southern Lord has ignored my frequent e-mails informing them that they shipped my order to the wrong D.C. address, which I can't access (my sublet from the summer is being renovated). So minus ten points for Southern Lord (even though they've had a banner year). Altar sounds nothing like what I expected, which is good and bad, and it fails in places in which they should have shone. Still cool on most counts, though.

Isis- In the Absence of Truth [Ipecac]
The Danielson and Sunn/Boris records I still enjoy on some level, but this is by far my biggest disappointment of 2006. Isis's greatest attribute has always been their attention to restraint and with their slow-moving ambient doom-metal, it was like an epiphany, especially when they began to incorporate the cinematic twinkles of post-rock on Panopticon. Here Isis abandons restraint to the wind with busy drums in front of the mix, wanky guitar solos, and predictable vocal melodies that mimic the guitar lines. It's all very boring.

Lars's Favorite Singles of 2006

2006-12-17T13:10:00.000-05:00

I am painfully out of touch with pop music, especially in the mainstream. Thus, compiling a list of 2006’s best songs is by no means a definitive take on the hooks and choruses that shook my moneymaker this past year. I spent the last two years delving into whimsy (as Christa called my tastes in the comments section) and music produced way before I was born, which does include some more single-worthy material.

Anyway, on with it! In no particular order or ranking, here are the songs that struck my fancy in 2006.

Eric Bachmann “Man O’War”
It was about time that Bachmann made a proper solo record (okay, I know, he released Short Careers under his name, but it’s an instrumental soundtrack), so it’s a shame that To The Races, depressingly recorded in a hotel room while living in a van, doesn’t quite live up to par with his Crooked Fingers releases. Nevertheless, this happens to be one of the best songs Bachmann’s written. The tenderness in his voice has always been endeared by his gravelly delivery, but he lets out all of his vulnerabilities here as he sings most of the song in his upper register – something that took me by surprise. The chorus itself is enough to make your heart leap up into your throat with a powerfully held note in desperation.
Listen to this song via NPR.org.

Hot Chip “And I Was A Boy From School”
As much as I am to loathe flamboyantly coy synth- and electro-pop, there are always one or two bands that end up writing my favorite singles. From the consistently good DFA production house is Hot Chip, a very British five-piece that may have out-Herbert-ed Herbert’s attempts at a commercial release this year (though it should be noted, Herbert’s Scale made my top 30 albums list, and not Hot Chip). “Boy From School” flips up the collar on your denim jacket with a galloping electro-beat and sweet, soft vocal taking a calming presence to the dance-alone-in-the-corner song.
Watch the video via Youtube.

Junior Boys “In the Morning”
I made fun of Phillip for liking Last Exit (I think I may have likened it to the Backstreet Boys) and may need to reconsider after this song. Yes, MORE COY SYNTH-POP. It’s relentlessly sexy, gorgeous and subtle textures that come in and out of the mix, and with an unexpected, sick breakdown in an otherwise laid-back dance tune. Love it.
Listen to this song via Myspace.

Beyoncé “Irreplaceable”
My love for Beyonce is no secret. There is absolutely no irony either. And the fact that she’s recorded an incredible song that isn’t a party-bumper floors me. It’s a chick-folk empowerment ballad. What?! Her delivery is endearing, an attribute I’d never regularly associate with Beyonce, and sincere.
Watch the video via Youtube

CSS “Let’s Make Love and Listen to Death From Above”
Brazilian party music that’s ultra-hip, ultra-hot, ultra-mindless fun. The album suffers from the constant repetition of all three, but I can’t deny this single. Dig the “Thriller” faux-theremin and the disco guitar riff, especially.
Watch the video via Youtube

The Pipettes “Pull Shapes”
The Pipettes are the living manifestation that anything can be repackaged and sold to hipsters as long as it has a new ‘tude. In this case, ‘60s girl-groups. I can’t lie, it’s fun music and perhaps modern escapism dressed up as rebellion. Music politics aside, though, “Pull Shapes” is hands down my favorite single of the year. The string arrangements are ridiculous Phil Spector fair, the girls have a little punky punch to their vocals, and not to mention, it’s just a great damn great dance song, especially since it sounds like a 33 sped up to 45 rpm. Oh, and they’re hot. Very hot.
Watch the video via Youtube

Kim Leakena & DJ Lux "Chang Sdap Bot Pleng Noe Neaq (I want to listen to pop music)"
Okay, this probably came out a few years ago, but when WFMU's Beware of Blog (see link on side-bar) put up some MP3s of this Cambodian electro hip-hop/pop singer this past summer, I started putting this song on every mix. The reactions were polarizing at parties: gleeful giggles and utter revulsion in response to Leakena's high-pitched, cartoon-y Khmer vocals that chirp and squeak. Amazing.
Download the song from WFMU.

A Blur of Blonde

2006-12-15T14:48:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Mclusky "To Hell With Good Intentions" (on repeat)

On Wednesday, NPR had its annual Radio Rundown Relay Race literally around the office building. Daniel (pictured above, in the lead) assembled a team of former summer '06 interns which I dubbed The Blonde Bombshells, a four-person powerhouse set for glory: Daniel, Emilia, Laura, and myself. We printed up signs to duct-tape on our clothing. On the front: "Summer '06 Interns - Yeah, We're Still Here"; and on the back: "And We're Going to Kick Your @$$ - Happy Holidays!" (My idea, of course.) Being young and sprite, we aimed for the coveted first place (other distinctions were slowest team, "most NPR," most likely to run the race to get out of work, etc.). Alas, online music producer Stephen Thompson gave my former summer cubicle-mate Jenel a 20 foot lead once Laura handed off the baton to me. I crossed the finish line just 10 feet behind Jenel. 2nd place: the first losers.

Watch the Radio Rundown Relay Race video.

But like your fifth grade olympic games, everybody won. Our team won dinner for four at Fuddruckers down the street and today I half-enjoyed a free burrito courtesy of California Tortilla (specialty burritos are so amazing in theory, why aren't they in actuality?!).

It should be noted that Phillip Buchan, one of the most dedicated and aesthetically forward-thinking music directors WUOG has ever known (plus one of the best friends a guy could have), DJ'ed his last shift on Wednesday night. I'm sad to say I only caught thirty minutes of the show as I thought he planned to do his final shift today, but the funny thing is that looking at the play list, I probably know what he said about every album. He sent out dedications to his friends and apparently (and awesomely) saw it fitting to attach my name to "1970" by The Stooges.

I don't even want to think about my last show at WUOG (yes, a twelve-hour Christmas special). It's too bad I didn't record any of it, but then again, I'd never want to relive tearing up as I back-announced for the last time and turned off the station.

Why don't my Nordic roots protect me from the cold?

2006-12-04T21:11:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Expo '70- Exquisite Lust

Are the Golden State Warriors still a basketball team? Who knows? I don't care enough to type it into my Google-bar. I'm not even sure why I've just thought of it. Were they ever a good franchise? All pointless questions with answers transcending levels of unimportance.

Mad props to Marvin and all of those involved in the Tiny Mix Tapes redesign. Doesn't look anything like the other music sites out there, which is saying a lot. Makes me wanna write more reviews so they'll appear all pretty-like on the inter-waves. Get ready for the year-end list blow-out on December 15 (I think). I'll post my top 30 albums of 2006 nearer to that date with a top 5 new "old" discoveries (all of which were recorded in the first five years of 1970).

I did end up getting to see Joanna Newsom some weeks back courtesy of Emilia's last minute hook-up (literally a woman handing her a free ticket with the caveat that she give to someone who'd appreciate it). Actually seeing her was a bit of a challenge as she's a wee thing and sits at a harp and the room was packed, but I gained a whole new respect for her during the show. Her new album, Ys, features the orchestral arrangements of the one and only Van Dyke Parks (most famously known for his lyrics on Pet Sounds). On tour, she's taken Parks's gorgeous score and re-arranged it for a small Appalacian folk ensemble. Absolutely stunning renditions. I'd love to hear a nice live bootleg from this tour.

I know I've seen other shows of recent... hrm... Eric Bachmann (sans the Crooked Fingers moniker), which makes the sixth time I've seen this man play live (first time as a solo act). DCist gave him a bad review (and for some reason, gave the wildly - and very drunk - "meh" Amy Millan, the latest in indie-rock frontwomen going country, a kind one). Their music reviewers are kind of idiots. Maybe I actually should have persued writing for DCist instead of giving up on neglectful editors.

Also saw some experimental folk guitarists: two underground cult legends, Max Ochs (of Takoma Records fame) and Peter Walker, and a considerably younger Jack Rose. The main draw, unfortunately, was for Rose. Don't get me wrong, his interpretation of the raga-folk as pioneered by his tour-mate Walker is inspired, and his new self-titled record of lap slide guitar work is among his best, but those who left after him really did themselves a disservice by missing out on Peter Walker. He told beautiful stories inbetween songs about his life being threatened in the caves of Spain if the flamenco guitar he'd been studying down the road wasn't good enough. Or how the steel-string acoustic he eventually brandished for some hypnotic raga-folk was sold to the folk singer Karen Dalton in 1972, and later bought it back from her in 1992. His warm eyes pierced the audience as he played - quite uncharacteristic of the usually intense, self-absorbed virtuoso player. Definitely made me look on what I'm doing as a musician now and wonder, "Why even bother?" and then continue on in contradiction.

Jamie and I love Heidi Klum way too much:

\m/ once again

2006-11-16T23:57:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| various Chartreuse tracks (Drew, I love it!)

Ladies and gentlemen, the halls of Odin shout praise! On Monday, February 19th, this young Viking shall swing his hair valiently to
SLAYER!!!

Man, forget Joanna Newsom. The greatest metal band of all time - the one for which I purchased my first ever red t-shirt (un-thought-of for many years) to iron-on in black Cooper Black font "SLAYER" and wear on my second day at NPR for the National Day of Slayer - will drench the walls of the 9:30 Club with the blood of the ears shorn from auditory battle.

And, yes, I did buy a ticket just now. Not taking chances on this one.

No cute elfin/Nordic-mixed babies for me

2006-11-15T14:51:00.000-05:00

The Joanna Newsom concert has sold out. I've been spoiled too long by shows that seemingly never sold out in Athens to pre-order tickets.

Freaking out at half-time

2006-11-14T23:44:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Radiohead- I Might Be Wrong

Man, I always wanted a big band to cover "National Anthem" by Radiohead and it looks like I got my wish (well, at least it's a major section of the Radiohead medley). The Arizona (?) group really went all-out on the horn freakout! I would love to see that performed live.

Some music crits and hyper-sensitive bloggers get mad when marching bands arrange popular tunes for competition as if they have special ownership of their favorite band. I tend to go anarcho on art and music like that - I think it's all up for grabs. Now, there is a distinction: creative, genuine use that either (or simultaneously) celebrates and/or deconstructs the piece or, well, just plain rubbish. For the latter, it's usually a "know it when you see it" situation. And sometimes, art deserves, nay, needs to be reduced to rubbish.

Too many good concerts coming up, which brings last month's lackthereof to equilibrium:
+ Joanna Newsom, P.G. Six @ Black Cat (11/17): I understand Newsome's performing Ys, the phenomenal new album, in its entirety on this tour. Wow, oh wow. Maybe she'll marry me? Or at least bear my children?
+ Dirty Projectors @ Rock n Roll Hotel (11/20): Would love to go to this, but may need the $$$ for the show below. Although, D-Lo's been known to screen The Getty Address videos on a big projector (duh), which are all pretty sweet.
+ Charalambides @ 611 Florida Ave (11/21): Because I'm such a good guy, I gave my copy of A Vintage Burden to Phillip when I should have just hoarded it. :)

Oh, and what the #$%&!

If I had a dime for every...

2006-11-09T23:20:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| No-Neck Blues Band- Qvaris

I'm walking back home from the metro listening to "One of Us Cannot Be Wrong" by Leonard Cohen when I hear a car horn and a man shout, "Hey!" I turn to see a somewhat distinguished black man in a nice vehicle, so I cautiously approached with some good distance still between us. I noticed he's a little inebriated. When I stop, the following dialogue ensues:

"Oh, you're not a girl," the man states dejectedly.
"No, no I'm not."
"Hrm." Looks at his staring wheel and then back at me.
"Well, I'm gonna go back over there."

I'm afraid of what he would have said if I was.

Maybe it's time for a haircut.

[EDIT: Christa called me out in the comments and rightly so. I should have mentioned that this particularly street after dark can be a little sketchy, so anyone shouting "Hey!" can make you apprehensive.]

The left side of County Election

2006-11-07T12:16:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Rafael Toral- Space

As nearly apolitical as my friends and family think I am, I do vote (despite a hatred of all politicians). And now that I live in a district without any representative in Congress (sorry, Green Party, statehood's just not going to happen), it's hard to get jazzed about elections when all you have to vote for is a mayoral candidate that's already acting as if he's got the job. Nevertheless, I would have gone to the polls today if it were legal. DC has a rule, as many states do, that you cannot vote 30 days after registering (getting a driver's license) in the district. And since I didn't want to register with a party (can't bring myself to support either of the two majors), I can't vote in future primaries. So there you have it. I imagine DC residents feel as lost and hopeless as I do when it comes election time, which is probably why a good bit of them eventually move out to Silver Spring and Bethesda, Maryland.

How did I end up in the capitol of the free world again? :)

Stuff that's ruled me the past week or so

2006-11-06T01:18:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Keith Fullerton Whitman- Multiples (this rules, too, by the way)

The Fruit Medley cup from Dilettante Chocolates is divine. Dried fruits wrapped first in milk chocolate, then in white chocolate. The taste just gets better the farther your teeth sink in. My favorite is the apricot. Trader Joe's sells it.

It's been almost two years since I've bought a pint of Ben & Jerry's. The foodstore had them on sale, so I treated myself to the new 2006 flavor "Dark & Tan," the ice cream giant's tribute to, well, beer. Its creamy stout top gives way to a swirl of more cream swirled with rich chocolate. I have a feeling I'm going to feel the same way about "Dark & Tan" that coffee enthusiasts feel about a good coffee ice cream. Just don't confuse the name for a British militia.

We got a piano. I found it on my daily Craigslist "Free" section perusal. It belonged to the ex-girlfriend of a man in Silver Spring and if nobody picked the piano up, he'd use it for firewood. Jamie and I drove out to his place and besides a few unplayable keys, it works well. All of the roomies sit in the living room reading while Jamie plays Chopin. I don't need to mention how ideal this is. Between my acoustic guitar and Jamie's new 1927 Chase Brothers piano, we serenade the house.

The. coolest. new. instrument. ever.
Reactable approaches music-making like an analog synthesizer, but is sensor-based with a fully tangible (and seemingly easier to master) interface that allows multiple users to interact with each other. Soooo cool. There are more Youtube demonstrations here and here. Watch them and mess your pants. The software's downloadable (and open source for you tech geeks), but the downside is buying the equipment, though I get the feeling all you need is a wide-lens digital USB camera and a large, round (glass?) table. I'm definitely interested.

Venice Is Sinking is mad at me because I think "Andropolis" sounds like "My Heart Will Go On." Okay, Lucas, it doesn't have the same chords (or even the same number of chords as mentioned), but when you listen to the flute melody, there's a Kate Winslet flying on the Titanic vibe (not too mention the same intervals and pacing for a measure and a half). And the sustained guitar line echoes the same. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, Venice Is Sinking. This is why I miss DJ-ing Sound of the City (the local music show at WUOG) with Robi: calling out local bands and taking them down a notch (it's not that we were mean, but not even the local weekly would offer this important service to the community - except maybe Gordon Lamb). It's all in good fun and I think (hope) the band, that I like quite a bit to be honest, knows this.

BEST NEWS OF THE WEEK
After some phone calls and meeting that quickly turned into an interview, flippin' NPR has hired yours truly to help develop their online music project. I start on Wednesday as a full-time temp-to-hire. Isn't that just dandy? Don't know long the temp thing runs, but here's to hoping they'll want to keep me on.

Blelvis

2006-10-31T00:17:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Liz Janes- Done Gone Fire*

Not that Phillip and Zach weren't great company, but I forgot to mention the best part of our Thursday evening revelry: Blelvis! Yes, indeed, the black Elvis Presley who knows all 1,112 songs in the King's catalog (not to mention countless trivia). He approaches the three of us walking past Adams Morgan on 16th Street with a cheerful, "Sideburns!" (referring to Phillip's chops). He introduces himself, give his spiel, and proceeds to challenge us to name any obscure Elvis song. Now, Blelvis couldn't have picked a better trio of music nerds than us (in fact, most of us were ready to reach into our wallets at his very name), but we were all admittedly at a loss. He moves on quickly asking us to give him any word and he'd find a way to associate it with an Elvis song. He prefaces Zach's word, "angry," with, "I shouldn't say this of the King, but this song sucks, but I know it," and rattles off a verse. For my word, "quiche," he asks, "Is that a fruit of vegetable of some kind?" "It's an egg-based pie." "Oh, cuz Elvis has lots of food songs." Then he sings something about a papaya (pa-pie-ya). Stretching it, but clever. And on Phillip's "monkey" pick: "Now this is a Chuck Berry song, but Elvis sung it, too."

Blelvis just kept walking with us along 16th and wanted to clarify that he could've been "Bladonna or Blibberace, but I am Blelvis!" I really wish I could've run home to grab my mini-cassette recorder before we parted ways. We appreciatively handed him some bills and reveled in the incredible spectacle. And now you can, too... or at least a snippet courtesy of the Rock n Roll Psychosis public access TV show filmed in 1988: Blelvis Lives.

*my review on Tangzine back in the day

Bulleted, slightly expounded-upon list of the past week

2006-10-29T15:48:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Greg Davis- Curling Pond Woods

TUESDAY

I decided to take a "day off" from writing cover letters and submitting resumes to hike a portion of the Appalacian Trail in Maryland. I took the website's advice and started the trail off Weverton Road where I hiked a somewhat intense 45 minutes up a steep switchback trail. My calves have not known such pain for quite some time simply because I hadn't worked those muscles in at least two years. After that, an easy hike even if the windchill made it feel like 30 degrees out. I made it out to Gapland Park and saw a sign that read, "Weverton Cliffs - 6 mi." and sadly had to turn around since my running shoes aren't exactly prime for hiking (two fat blisters can attest to that). On the way back, I stopped at the Ed Garvey Memorial Shelter, the best-looking and most-equipped hiker's stop I've ever seen (I plan to use it at some point), and stopped to talk for nearly an hour to three older gentlemen I'd met at the beginning of the trail. They all come from the local church and the pastor among them gave me his card so we could meet up on the trail again some time.

Speaking of, former NPR intern Michael asked me if I wanted to hike the AT. A resounding yes! We're not sure when this will happen, but it's something I've always wanted to do. Once I get some nice hiking boots and some gear, I'm going to start training.

THURSDAY

Zach and Phillip came to visit from Athens. We walked the length of 16th Street, ate at the Front Page (their home pale ale - excellent as always), talked music (how I miss my music nerd friends!), met all of my roommates (who all wished Z + P could have stayed an extra day), and went out for a drink later at Wonderland. So great to have some of my dearest friends visit on their fall break. And these aren't road-trip-type people!

Also got some new Telenovela jams from Zach.

SATURDAY

Forgot "partying Halloween" happened tonight, so I didn't have a costume ready to go out. But wouldn't be awesome if I wore this?

SUNDAY (today)

Bought pre-packaged Indian food from Trader Joe's. Ran into one of the few people from high school (who went to UGA with me) that I liked, Shannon, at TJ's and hugged excitedly. Apparently, she doesn't live too far away from our house, so now I have a new-old friend in town!

If you give a man an egg, then he will fish for a lifetime

2006-10-18T19:11:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Radiohead- Hail to the Thief

I post this picture of a broccoli-maple bacon quiche to prove to my mother that I am, in fact, eating well. This was my first attempt at the eggy "hey, it's a breakfast and a dinner" meal and it turned out all right (I really wanted spinach, but the foodstore was out - DCers are still greedily storming the shelves after, what, three weeks of no spinach?). I even made the crust. Everyone in the house cooks like a star, perhaps even Silas (our new fifth roommate who officially packed the fridge tight), though we've yet to see his talents. Jamie likes hearty, veggie pies, Sarah's all about ginger, and Nicole's been blowing us out of the water this past week with stuffed spaghetti squash and some of the juiciest chicken I've had in a while. Sarah's convinced we need a cooking show and as soon as we can get our hands on a digital camera (Sarah and I both have video editing software on our Macs), we're going to film episodes for the Google-conglomerated-YouTube. We're not joking.

Speaking of YouTube, these three Argentine pre-teens (if that!) are the greatest thing to happen to metal right now. All I know right now is that their names are Emilio, Jorge, and Victor, their dad (who makes a cameo in the Slipknot video) filmed it sometime last year, and that these kids understand that metal is fun. Seriously, watch that Slipknot video (never thought I say something like that) - that kid in the Pikachu shirt (awesome) is almost the same size as the imitation Stratocaster he's wielding! All three kids are ridiculously (multi-)talented for their age and get that Sepultra and Iron Maiden are joyous expressions of rock n roll.

Also, did Jeffrey cheat? Christa alerts us to the scandal! Only tonight's ruffle-tingling Project Runway finale (or "FIN-ALE-LEE" as Heidi Klum would say) will tell.

(Wanna Go) Back to the (Former) USSR

2006-10-11T14:02:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Wolf Eyes with John Wiese- Equinox (yep, still listening to it)

The New York Times has an article on Georgian wine and the country's splendid return to their ancient ritual and rite. Reading about the writer's experience with former Soviet country's bend-over-backward hospitality brought back many memories of my time doing mission work and playing music for two weeks there. A host will literally save up a month's salary if a guest agrees to come over for dinner, a grand feast of shashlik, heavily olive oiled cucumbers and tomatoes, kingali (Georgian dumplings), and hachipuri (a very salty cheese-bread - quite divine). As C. J. Chivers mentions in the article, guests are the equivalent of gods, especially Americans whom Georgia now anxiously welcomes as tourists after years of civil turmoil (there's still unrest, but no where near as bad as after I left in 1999). Now that I'm not 16 nor a tetotaller and an aspiring wine enthusiast, I feel like I should travel back to Georgia, peruse the vineyards, and sit on the rock beaches of Batumi on the Black Sea.

Looky what I found on one of my old websites. I cannot remember the names of the two on the left (though they were my favorite students at a camp we directed for one week), but there's a spikey-haired Lars (nicknamed "Metallus" by the kids for my metal necklace) sitting next to Lika, my first international crush. Jason, one of my team members, pulled me aside within a few days to inform me that Lika, at 18, was already married (not an abnormal practice in Georgia). My first attempt at Slavic hook-up-age thus thwarted.

"You know where I learned to do my make-up? From the TV, yes I did!" (overheard in Wheeling, WV)

2006-10-09T16:22:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Wolf Eyes with John Wiese- Equinox

Of all the places to spend a weekend, Wheeling, West Virginia certainly isn't the highest on most lists. But every October, the Appalacian town is host to the regionally famous Oglebay Fest, a weekend full of arts-n-crafts shopping, livestock showings, beer, and drunken men playing German drinking songs (at least until 2PM when they've already had too much and let the CD player handle things). My roommate Jamie hails from Wheeling right on the West Virginia-Ohio border and invited some of us to join she and her aunt. Sarah, Emilia, and I still aren't exactly sure why we enthusiastically joined, but I'm sure it had something to do with just wanting to get out of the city for a couple of days.

Aside from the gorgeous drive through southern Pennsylvania with leaves starting to change fall colors and generally being in great company, I was definitely interested in just taking in the rich, cultural Americana of the festival. Kiddie tractor pulls, German-American accordian music, Pittsburg Steelers fanaticism, really big hair and excessive make-up, regional dialect - loved every second of it without irony. Too many people look at such a culture find nothing but humor in it and with good reason, I suppose (I am strong perpetuator in keeping nothing sacred), but this is a genuine way of living, and perhaps Appalacia possesses one of the few true "cultures" white folks, in particular, have.

I squealed with joy when we pulled off for some late morning breakfast and found a Waffle House, the first visit for Emilia (pictured) and Sarah. Now that's a happy face!

The beautiful Oglebay Festival grounds.

Sarah and Jamie enjoying German sausage and a dark ale.

I'm never in my own photos. My camera is large and intimidating.

On Damien Jurado...

2006-09-24T23:40:00.000-05:00

For the longest time, I wanted to write songs like Damien Jurado. His earlier contributions to the "indie-folk" fare were more imaginative than Elliot Smith, at least I thought so. He carried depression like Mark Eitzel, but found most of his inspiration from Dylan and Neil Young's more folky material. Narratives filled his lyrics, but not as boring literary tropes (Decemberists, I'm looking at you). He never covers these stories with grossly exaggerated metaphors or sickenly bloated images, just presents the stories as themselves.

Jurado lost my attention after the one-two punch of Ghost of David (2000) and Four Songs (2001), arguably his best work. The former feels like a confessional: warmingly dark like a bottle of cabernet after a funeral. While Elliot Smith's "Needle in the Hay" perfectly accented the attempted suicide scene in The Royal Tenenbaums, "Tonight I Will Retire" is the contemplation that fingers the revolver sitting on the bedside table.

He followed with a straight-ahead indie-rock album, a rather boring traditional folk outing with Rosie Thomas (whom I love), and last year with a mish-mash of stripped-down folk and a couple songs ripped straight off The Lioness (by Jurado's tour-mate Songs: Ohia). Needless to say, I lost interest. Not that I didn't appreciate Jurado moving into different musics, just that his newfound tastes lacked his strong songwriting.

I'm happy to write that And Now I'm In Your Shadow (out October 10, 2006) is a great album. As much as I love her, it's good that Rosie Thomas does not collaborate here. Jurado relied too heavily on her sweet harmonies. Instead, an unknown from Berkeley, California named Jenna Conrad sings along. She doesn't particularly stand out, but it's what Jurado needs. He sticks mostly to his acoustic guitar with light arrangements of violin, piano, electric guitar/bass, and drums scattered throughout. It's not a full-on return to any particular part of his discography, more like a realization that he stretched his songwriting styles too thin and has found himself in a more comfortable place that pushes his craft further.

Jurado comes to the Black Cat with Rosie Thomas on October 9th.

A dirty joke about Liberace...

2006-09-18T13:23:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Jefferson Airplane- Surrealistic Pillow

I am now the current owner of this delightful Baldwin "Orga-Sonic" Organ!

I'd been wanting some kind of junky/antique-y organ, keyboard, or synthesizer for quite some time now and came across this old beaut on Craigslist last Friday. Only $50, a steal, though it's a little temperamental. Nicole, bless her heart, drove out to Laurel, Maryland with me (got lost both ways, of course) to purchase the instrument from some retired Navy man. Nice guy, but didn't say the most PC things about the Mexicans currently living in his daughter's old residence. Example: "I'll sell the 'Spanics for a dollar!" *Pulls collar to side, makes Erin's patented awkward noise*

Speaking of noise, the Warehouse Nextdoor just announced their Sonic Circuits DC festival line-up for October. Four straight nights (and one afternoon) of broken electronics, harsh noise, humming drones, and EAI (some acronym for the more destructive or even more esoteric free-improvisation). I'm trying to get Phillip and Zach to come up (come on, Zachary, you can play and record on the new organ all you want!) and one my publications to get me a press pass.

Thur 5
Matterlink
Los Glissandinos
Koen Holtkamp
Queens
Scott Smallwood
Andy Hayleck
Ben Owen
BLK w/ BEAR
(in the Warehouse Next Door & Black Box Theatre)
8:30

Fri 6
Harvey Bainbridge (of Hawkwind!) w/ Spaceseed
Yellow Swans
Mouthus
Kohoutek
MoHa!
Robert van Heumann
USA-USB
SKIF++
(in the Warehouse Next Door & Black Box Theatre)
8:30

Sat 7
If, Bwana
Violet
Michael Gendreau
elmapi
Northern Machine
Jeff Carey
Office-(R)6
PHO
DB
(in the Warehouse Next Door & Black Box Theatre)
8:30

Sun 8
Phill Niblock
Mikroknytes
(in the Warehouse Big Theatre)
2:00

Sun 8
Wolf Eyes
John Wiese
Ovo
Mr. Natural
Harrius
Facemat
HZMT
Mat Weston & Tone Ghosting
(in the Warehouse Next Door & Black Box Theatre)

A tale of two record stores

2006-09-12T23:12:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & Trinity- Streetnoise

This past summer I purposely avoided record stores in DC as I had very little money (to the point of dumpster diving... yup, my inner Athenian punk came out), but this past week I've had nothing but time to explore the neighborhood. Stumbling upon Crooked Beat in Adams Morgan and Som Records off U Street was, therefore, inevitable.

I walked into Crooked Beat (2318 18th St NW) sometime late last week after finally finding a Julia's Empanadas (even though I'd just eaten, I gleefully wolfed down a spinach empanada). The first thing I hear coming into the below street-level store is '80s music, a continuous mix of synth-pop. I can only take so much synth-pop, but I was there to scope out the selection, so suffered through New Order I did (sorry, I've tried to like New Order, but to no avail). On the whole, the selection is decent, if a bit... okay, quite hipster-oriented. Lots of vinyl, which is a plus in my book, though mostly Merge, Matador, and other top-level "indie" label material (two points for tons of Soul Jazz LPs). The metal section was weak consisting mostly Southern Lord titles (that's not a diss on Southern Lord, by the way) and the jazz CD selection... it made me want to punch the clerk in the face. Literally, all Miles Davis and John Coltrane with scattered Atavistic and Thrill Jockey releases (those two labels only included likely because they also put out more indie-rock friendly stuff). The '60s/'70s section also left something to be desired, especially with all these great reissue-specific labels popping up in the last few years. Needless to say, I left a little disappointed.

Feeling particularly adventurous, I walked the length of 14th Street this afternoon all the way down to Rhode Island Avenue (quite a hike) and on the way back I saw Som Records (1843 14th St. NW) tucked away under some hair salon. I'd read earlier in the summer that one of the dudes from Crooked Beat went off and started his own record store and boy am I glad I found it! ALL VINYL. Do I need to repeat that? 80% of the store is prime used material and seemingly all in moderate to mint condition with great selections in jazz, rock, country, soul/r&b, and even some space set aside for soundtracks, kids records, and spoken word. The other 20% of the store are new releases mostly from labels I trust to buy from without even hearing the music. Good deal. The owner's a nice guy and went to school in Athens (that would explain the obscure '80s Athens band posterbills on the walls). I smiled widely upon finding this most coveted treasure (it's the "current sounds" above):

Yay for record stores!

Did I say daughter? I meant Octopus!

2006-09-12T10:11:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Ali Farka Toure- Savane

I read the Athens alternative weekly paper Flagpole less and less these days (slowly converting to the Washington City Paper), but I do head over to the website every now and again to catch up on Athens music gossip via Gordon Lamb's "Threats & Promises." More importantly, though, I make sure I read the new Patrick Dean Big Deal comic. I was sore to learn today that this past week's strip will be his last for Flagpole.

For the past nine years, Dean has pen and inked the up-until-recently third page comic (how Flagpole could ever think to stick him in the back with the passable "local comix" page I'll never understand). Admittedly, I didn't like Dean at first. I remember the first semester of my freshman year at UGA when Laura came running up to our group of friends at Blue Sky Coffee (RIP) exclaiming, "This week's comic is genius!" All that I can remember is something about the College Avenue four-faced clock battling some kind of monster and looking at Laura with my patented "You're an idiot" face. Gradually, Dean grew on me and every week his absurd humor became something of an obsession. Who knows where came up with characters like the Hillbilly Yeti or a college-educated Frankenstein pretending to be stupid just to make the acquaintence of a prestigious Ivy League professor? Dean rarely repeated characters or extended situations (though he loved to tease his readers with "Next week on..." end tags), which could make for a dizzying experience if all his strips were read in one sitting, but I'd still buy an anthology in a heartbeat (hear that, Flagpole? Hill Street Press?). Heck, I even bought one of Dean's prints at Bizzaro Wuxtry that featured some train-robber looking guy with mosquito wings (unfortunately, it currently sits in my parent's basement - so many things my little station wagon couldn't contain).

I think Dean still has plans to continue his comics or at least that's what his blog leads me to believe. I have too many favorite strips to list here, so check out his website and that blog to scroll through some more recent material.

Oh, okay, here's a classic.

Metalocalypse

2006-09-10T23:21:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Hate Forest- (some compilation I found floating on the internet- warning: only for those who seriously, deeply enjoy and thrash out to buzzsaw metal... I'm looking at you, Drew and Jace)

Metalocalypse is the best new show on Adult Swim... ever. Well, nothing will beat Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law or Space Ghost Coast to Coast (classic), but tonight's episode, "Dethfam," literally had me squeel and laugh with brutal delight at the silly metal references. The restaurant the band Dethklok takes their families to: Burzum's; the wheelchair store for the bassist's stroke-ridden grandpa: Gorgoroth's; and something was called Marduk's, too. All legendary and slightly obscure black- and death-metal bands (well, at least to kids who think Korn is metal). Brilliant.

For the hey of it, Immortal will pile-drive all you suckas. Death to false metal!

R.I.P. Dewey Redman (1931-2006)

2006-09-06T21:20:00.000-05:00

Dewey Redman was a phenomenonal tenox saxophone sideman, most notably to Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry. He also managed to make some ensembles with Pat Methany and Keith Jarrett quite remarkable (which is a feat in itself because I'm not particularly a fan of either). His work as band leader was of equal and often greater value pushing the instrument to new sounds, yet remaining accessible, especially when he followed Don Cherry's example and began to incorporate African musics into his playing.

As soon as I can find Tarik (and some choice live bootlegs) in two boxes of recently converted plastic sleeves, it's going on full blast.

The former NPR interns take over Columbia Heights! Locals stunned and amazed.

2006-09-06T17:29:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| The Cramps- Songs the Lord Taught Us

Welcome to the new abode in the Columbia Heights/Petworth area! It took a few days to get everything moved in mostly because I always take my sweet time when it comes to settling into a new place. I rented a pickup truck from Zipcar for a total of $75, which is a heckuva deal considering U-Haul is nearly 3 or 4x as much, to get the bigger items transported from Capitol Hill (muchos gracias to Nicole for the help). Jamie and Nicole are moved in, Sarah should stake her claim in the next day or two, and mystery roommate Remle (a cohort of Sarah's) comes in two weeks.

Now the tour...

Erik, my subletter and owner of Lujo Records, is getting married soon and didn't need some of his furniture, so he gave it to me! An Ikea bed.

A swank desk (I bought the Ikea leather chair yesterday off Craigslist for cheap... of course got lost on the way to Arlington, VA doing so).

And this great shelving unit currently holding clothes, records, books, cassettes, and sound system (how I've missed you, turntable, this summer).

Instead of clogging the blog (that sounds downright nasty) with photos, know that our place has two floors and a basement apartment (complete with full kitchen and bath). The main floor is quite spacious and will take some time to fill. Thankfully, the previous tenants left a big table for the dining room. The kitchen's narrow, but full of cabinet space for all five roommates.

Late Monday night after a Trader Joe's run (my life has new meaning), we ordered pizza from Radius (a great place Nicole and discovered on Mt. Pleasant) and drank three-buck chuck for our first dinner-on-the-floor.

Jamie and Nicole.

Nicole and Emilia, the latter who's not our roommate (though came close!), but doesn't live far away and will host tonight's Project Runway party.

Bjornicus

2006-08-25T15:38:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Unwed Sailor- The Marionette and the Music Box

Poor Bjorn hasn't been his goofy self lately. Worms and arthritis, mostly the latter. He turns nine this December, so I suppose he's getting up there in age, but still sad to see him in pain. Thanks to medecine, he's in better spirits today and will perhaps maintain his puppy-like energy after massage therapy from my parents' neighbor, Alana. She's my brother's age and, I surmise, studied to be a masseuse this past year. Mom and Dad told her about his arthritis and one weekend while she pet-sat Bjorn, studied doggie muscles and gave Bjorn a massage. He was like a new canine! Alana's offered her services cheap, so we're trying to decide whether we want Bjorn to become dependent on these twice-a-month visits.

It's been nice to chill at home, get things ready for the move to D.C., but I'm definitely ready to put my life in motion in the Capitol. Spent a good amount of time converting eight mailcrates of CDs (picture below at the early stages of the project)...

... to three boxes.

I did this through 1000 CD Gatefold Sleeves from Bags Unlimited. I still have 200 sleeves left over, but keep in mind that I kept all digipaks, box sets, and specially packaged albums intact. Once I settle in, I'll send for some of their plastic storage boxes. It's going to make moving and space issues much easier.

And for the heck of it, a beautiful wash of flowing blonde hair!

Emilia and Lars rocking out at the Boat.

An excuse to share this cute cartoon

2006-08-20T19:38:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| The Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus (various MP3s courtesy of Jason at Opus)

No, the blog's not dead. I'm just not spending much time on the internet now that I'm home in Georgia. And come later this week (or next week depending on my car situation... as in, where to store my car), I'll be moving back to Washington, D.C. I'm taking a bit of a risk moving to the city for a job that may or may not exist down the road, but I'm willing to take various jobs and live with some former NPR interns in the meantime.

Therefore, National Public Viking will continue, though not as an intern but as a, ahem, working man. Updates to follow.

My guest spot on All Songs Considered

2006-08-11T18:29:00.000-05:00

Don't really have much time to write about the past week's events (tomorrow!), but I just wanted to guide y'all to an episode of All Songs Considered, which I guest-hosted with Bob Boilen. I selected all the music and had a discussion with Bob about my time at WUOG and Athens, and also the idea of music as entertainment versus music created for the self.

The show's achived here.

I'll have a full account of the experience recording the show in due time.

Twizzlers Cola & Cherry

2006-08-06T21:25:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Reno 911 on the TV

While picking up some toothpaste, I walked down the candy aisle today. Much to my surprise, there's a new Twizzlers flavor! Cola & Cherry. It says "limited edition" on the front of the bag, which means the company's not too sure about keeping this one around, especially after the mostly boring multi-fruit-flavored bag that came out who knows how many years ago (the "orange" was delicious, though).

I do love biting off the ends of these licquorice sticks and using them for straws in sodas, so a Cola flavor was so inevitable. The flavors have been separated to, you know, mix and match as you please, which is a good idea. Unfortunately, I'm sad to report that the brown Cola Twizzler tastes like battery acid. I don't even want to know what it would taste like after sitting in a Coke can for ten minutes. In fact, it'd probably ruin the Coke.

I ate the whole bag anyway. Haven't had my Twizzler fix all summer.

It's the Boat!

2006-08-06T19:18:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| The Goslings- Grandeur of Hair

WEDNESDAY

Jamie and I hosted a Project Runway party. We cooked chicken parmesan (or something close to it), green beans, and made up a salad. Mashed potatoes, you just weren't meant to happen, sadly.

The hardcore PR fans are slightly underwhelmed by this season of the show as a good bit of the fashion designers are already established in the field. I'd like to think it's allowed the producers give the contestants harder challenges (like designing and showing a dress for Ms. USA's Ms. Universe pageant). We're all hoping it'll get better.

At least Jamie and I are going to try to have a Puffy Paint Project Runway party this week.

Christina and Jeff.

(L-R) Rita, Arwa, Kyle, Jessica, and Sarah.

(L-R) Nathan, Jeff, and Christina.

THURSDAY

The rescheduled Sleater-Kinney concert was one of those kinds of experiences that make you forget every show you've seen in the past year. It even converted our NPR sound engineer after I told him two nights earlier why S-K is the best rock band in America. The band closed with a sick version of "Dig Me Out."

FRIDAY

After a particularly hectic Friday, all that really needs to be said can be summed up in this picture:

Michael and Nicole's party at "The Boat."

Transformers! More than meets the eye!

2006-08-01T22:29:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Vashti Bunyan- Just Another Diamond Day

Near the end of the Rogers Sisters set, the crew at the 9:30 Club began to usher in people from backstage and check the wiring close to where I had my laptop set up for the live chat room during the Sleater-Kinney show (I moderate the chat room for the NPR Live Concert Series). I didn't think twice about it, but when the house lights came on, and Bob Boilen turns to me and says, "I think they might cancel the show," I still hadn't pieced it together.

Reportedly, a transformer outside the building was overheating and even caused a small fire outside the front doors of the building. The fire marshall caught wind and immediately came to shut down the show. A man had to stand in front of the sold-out audience and tell them they show was cancelled and had to evacuate. I did not envy him. The crowd, for the most part, sadly complied, but an angry mob formed outside. But really, since when is an angry mob of indie-rock kids that threatening?

No word if Sleater-Kinney will be able to reschedule. Would've been incredible to see "Entertain," "Oh!", or "Dig Me Out" live. This is their final tour before they go on "indefinite hiatus." I'm bummed about it, but my heart especially goes out to the fans that travelled across the country.

Here's the scene outside the 9:30 Club:

Every NPR story should be introduced with the grimmest metal ever made

2006-07-29T23:13:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Burzum- Burzum

An artist's rendering of our valiant hero (or, really, Sarah's mind wandering during a meeting a few weeks ago)

Around seven o'clock, the crazy ideas that often appear after hours of concentrating too hard came full throttle. I heard the theme to the Legend of Zelda introducing a story on orchestral musicians' use of beta-blockers (performance enhancers) and laughed wildly at the thought of black-metal band Burzum and their punishing "Feeble Screams From Forests Unknown" serving as this summer's theme music. Just think of it:

From NPR in Washington, D.C., this is... [Hosts Nathan and Rhitu destroyed by buzzing guitars, blast-beats, and the indiscernible screams of...] DRIFTIIIINNGG IN THE AIIIRRR ABOOOVE A COOOOLD LAAAKE IS A SOUL FROM AN EARLY, BETTER AAAGE!!!!

The music director position for Intern Edition has turned out to be as challenging as I knew it'd be. I have never thought of music in terms of 5, 10, and 15 second clips, especially since I gave up on pop and rock music for a year to study and purchase extended free-jazz blow-outs and noodling psychedelic-rock jams (hey, time well spent). As with all art, I tend to view and listen to music as a cohesive whole. I value an artist's work in its entirety and rarely on single works of genius (or luck). I'm approaching this program to present a coherent aural piece, which is the only way I'll be able to justify three guitar strums from Jack Rose.

Arriving at noon, I listened to the entire program minus music and host tracks. I wanted to discern a pace to the stories, what music (if any) each used, what kind of ambient sound was recorded (e.g., traffic, children laughing), and pick up on key themes. In the end, I'm going mostly on gut, which is how I DJ-ed at WUOG. I'd hear a certain rhythm by The Specials and knew I had to play "Manteca" by Dizzy Gillespie afterward. But I want to keep the whole of the show in mind, especially since this isn't an off-the-cuff improvisation.

My cube overtaken by CDs.

I sift through that large collection of CDs every day to screen and review music for All Songs Considered and Open Mic, but I came back to my pile plus my own 300 gigs on the external harddrive, the extensive NPR music library, and a few stolen discs from Stephen Thompson (NPR Online Producer, former Onion founder, and my mentor) to undertake the task of selecting ten clips. TEN. The shortest is five seconds and the longest are four 59 second "beds" of music spoken over to introduce upcoming pieces. The hardest have been the latter, especially since I refuse to use any cliché post-rock like Explosions In the Sky or Mogwai (for the uninformed, post-rock is more or less predictable, instrumental rock music). It's been a mix of jazz, afrobeat, folk, and Tropicalia, so far. Diverse, but would sequence brilliantly to a mixtape. Still haven't found a way to include The Velvet Underground, which has been my goal, but I'm willing to sacrifice smart art school kids making rudimentary pop music for the sake of the show.

And, yes, I am going to see The Devil Wears Prada tomorrow with Jamie and others excited to have our coming-of-age/pop-culture needs pandered to. Christa will be proud.

"All things oooordinaaaary"

2006-07-22T22:18:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| For some reason, I've been listening to whatever emo songs I could find online all day. There's no accounting for taste.

Today's heart-on-sleeve-for-no-good-reason-other-than-nostalgia mix:
And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead "Source Tags & Codes"
Jets to Brazil "I Typed For Miles"
Mineral "Gloria"
Rainer Maria "Tinfoil"
The Anniversary "All Things Ordinary"
The Promise Ring "Why Did We Ever Meet"
Cap'n Jazz "Little League"
Braid "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" (Smiths cover)
Cursive "The Radiator Hums"
Sunny Day Real Estate "In Circles"

I've been a neglectful blogger. And every time I do write, it's about a concert. Well, at least y'all know I'm being entertained. Next week you can expect to see an equal amounts of updates as I will be taking on my Music Director duties for Intern Edition. I lost my reporter for the IE piece I was producing, so picking out appropriate segue-way music for the program will certainly make up for the time spent in front of a computer editing audio.

Now for the concerts.

THURSDAY

For some reason, Emilia (Audience and Corporate Research intern) and I have never hung out in the same circles, so she suggested we go to Fort Reno for a free punk rock show.

I get really excited about community-driven DIY (Do It Yourself) projects like the Fort Reno Park summer concert series, which the Tenleytown area seems to really support. I can't say the same of Athens, Georgia's government, which for the most part chooses to overlook DIY venues, but isn't afraid to slap an eviction notice when more affluent development comes around (RIP Tite Pockets).

The Engine Room, a local female-fronted band made of high schoolers, opened. For what they were, it wasn't bad. Kinda reminded me of Ted Leo & the Pharmacists in the guitar work, though they ran the gamut of trendy indie music including a disco-punk-ish number. The bass player was the stereotype of the high school band musician: ripped jeans, shaggy haircut, slumped over, but instead of a Nirvana t-shirt, he sported Mission of Burma.

As I later explained to Emilia, Heather, and Jacob (the latter two library interns who joined us later), my roots will always be in punk rock (and metal for that matter). Some of my best college memories were spent in crowded house shows with everybody's sweaty bodies pushing and colliding into each other. The effect, then, in an outdoor venue is not the same, but still fun. The Max Levine Ensemble's a band that played Tite Pockets quite often, but I never got the chance to see them. It's not the kind of thing I'd listen to more than 30 minutes of; nonetheless, their quirky pop-punk will sustain my house show love for a while.

At least until Ian Mackaye's pop band The Evens plays on July 31st! Never got a chance to see the legendary Fugazi, but I understand this new project of Mackaye's puts on a good live show.

FRIDAY

Tonight was by far my most anticipated concert of the summer: Konono No. 1, a 25-year old group from the Congo whose primary instrument is the likembe (a type of thumb piano) electrified by homemade amplifiers and very old megaphones. I've been a fan since early last year shortly after Dutch avant-punk band The Ex announced Konono's generally unknown existence. It's appropriate and unfortunate that the air conditioning broke at the Black Cat that evening ("It's like we're really in the Congo!" someone commented).

Chopteeth, a local Afrobeat group, opened the evening to a excitedly responsive crowd. Still somewhat cooled by standing outside, all of the interns I convinced to come (Jamie, Sarah, Jeremy, Nathan, and Emilia) all danced hard. The band mixed originals with Fela Kuti covers, the father of Afrobeat. Chopteeth were a solid band, especially in the horn section whose heavy-hitting arrangements really pushed the rhythm.

We all went outside to catch our breath and thankfully there was a breeze. We hesitantly climbed the stairs of the Black Cat once again to see Konono and the stifling, smoke-filled heat was even stronger and more pungent than before. We managed to shake our tail feathers for twenty minutes of Konono's nearly droning, tribal (forgive the adjective) rhythms surging through the near-heat-stroked audience (sweat was no longer an issue as it all evaporated within minutes). I even managed to rip my good pair of jeans (I'm now down to two I can wear to work) in one-upping Sarah by busting a move on the floor. :) But for fear of heat exhaustion, we all left the venue around the same time and convenened outside to get some pizza nearby.

Even in my exhaustion, I manage to fist-pump.

Jamie and Emilia.

Jeremy, Jamey (sp?), and Nathan.

Nathan and the classically posed Sarah.

Lars... future karaoke star?

2006-07-15T20:44:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| The P.A. system at the 9:30 Club (lots of classic soul - Wilson Pickett at the moment)

I'm about to get two and a half hours of my hometown's finest Southern rock: Athens' own The Drive-By Truckers agreed to have their D.C. show webcast live. It'll be nice to see some familiar faces including my old Live in the Lobby sound engineer Brian Spett, who's been a roadie for the band a while.

The extremely attractive 2006 NPR summer interns. Photo by Meghan Gallery.

It's been an exhausting week, actually, partially from work and mostly from lack of proper sleep. My living quarters, while convenient and having a great suite-mate who shares my love for Project Runway, are full of dust and mold. I have a tendency to become very weak-bodied and tired in such an environment. Thus, after celebrating the launch of the Intern Edition website yesterday (I selected the music for the promotional video: Phoenix, Old Time Relijun, The Pipettes, and then Jeremy sequenced the end montage to the Smashing Pumpkins), I went straight home to crash and watch TV, talk to Helen, and sleep until 11 this morning.

A former WUOG alum e-mailed the listserv this past week to get D.C.-area WUOGgers to meet up at a bar off U Street this past Thursday. It was great to see Nina and Matt again both of whom I knew as I first joined the station as a sophomore (actually, it was Nina who encouraged me to join at the end of my freshman year), but the rest of the folks (about ten total) were all alumni from the '80s and mid-'90s. Cool and somewhat telling to find out that all of them were involved in radio in some capacity. One in particular wants me to visit him at Voice of America, which broadcasts news, informational, educational, and cultural programs all over the world.

Afterward, Nina, Matt, Laura, and I went out and now I am a believer in the power of karaoke. I never did karaoke in Athens despite the popularity of Foxz (much to my friends chagrin). Nina and Matt busted out "The Thong Song" and Laura went solo on "Hearttaker." I was mighty tempted to try my hand at "What A Fool Believes," but I'm going to reserve that for my next visit... and there will be one.

Wet, black boughs in the National Gallery

2006-07-11T19:16:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| The Necks- Chemist

I have never been more tempted to publically air guitar than today with the Tuesday morning metro ride to work. Converge's "Heartless" begged and pleaded to have its receptor thrash his long, golden locks about the subway car in metallic ecstacy. These petals on a wet, black bough* needed a jarring from their 8:30 ride, but I did not unshield my invisible axe, though expectant looks seemed to ask for anything out of the ordinary. I am sorry to say that I failed them.

Woke me up, though! (*My apologies to Ezra Pound.)

This past Sunday, I lost track of time in an art gallery (isn't it just like me to hole up in a gallery on a beautiful day) and only saw the last thirty minutes of the World Cup Final (looks as if the World Cup Death watch ended at 63 victims). I don't know why I keep going back to the National Gallery East because I'm always disappointed. First of all, the gallery physically separates historically "canonized" art (pre-1850s or thereabouts) from modern and contemporary art as if both cannot co-exist aesthetically, thematically, visually, etc. (That's another entry.) The permanent collection, which houses Rothko, Picasso, and Warhol, are all nice, but don't give the kind of relevatory spark they once did. Don't get me wrong, these pieces still speak deeply to me (seeing a Picasso enthralled, confused, and revealed more about myself at age seven than anything else up to that point), but the presentation is stale... dreadfully academic. Most of these artists valued the experience of art, yet the story the National Gallery has written in its "modern wing" does nothing to engage the senses (fine, Linda Brooks, I did learn something from your Museum Politics class).

Some good did come out of the day, though. I attended a lecture on Giovanni Bellini's Feast of the Gods (1514/1529) to coincide with the Bellini, Giorgione, Titian, and the Renaissance of Venetian Painting exhibition. J. Russell Sale gave the 300-person hall (almost capacity - everyone over 30 years old except for this curious 20-something) historical, cultural, and mythological contexts for Bellini's masterpiece told in the excited and nerdy rhetoric of a curator eager to share his knowledge. He lost my interest when it came to the painting's unconfirmed patron, Alfonso d'Este, but, as with just about any Renaissance work, revived everyone's interest with bachannal details (read: sex and Greek debauchery): Priapus's extensive "member," a tanked Mercury with a bowl on his head instead of a helmet, and a very frisky Pluto enjoying the fruits Persephone.

Oh, art.

Speaking of air guitar, my friend Jace (AKA Zombie on a Rainbow, Esq.) won 2nd place in the National Air Guitar competition, so hearty devil horns I raise to him. Here's the Jace of Spades in action:

I'm famous!

2006-07-08T14:48:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| The Hidden Cameras- Awoo ("Hump from Bending" is a stroke of pop genius) & Starflyer 59- I Win

First off, I should mention that my name has been podcasted over the internet-waves by All Songs Considered host (and one of my bosses) Bob Boilen. I was in Bob's car on the way to record a concert a few weeks ago and I was telling him how my friends Phillip, Zach, and I had all really gotten into the '70s Brazilian psychedelic albums that had been reissued lately on Shadoks and Time-Lag. He told me to get some of it for the show in which I quickly and enthusiastically e-mailed Nemo at Time-Lag for the new Lula Cortes reissue. Nemo said it wouldn't be ready until September, but wanted to send a copy of Satwa's self-titled 1973 psych-folk masterpiece as well as the Marconi Notaro reissue. Bob came to me a few days later gushing over Satwa's raga-like sitar and 12-string guitar jams. So on All Songs Considered: Episode 115, Bob mentions my name in the introduction the Satwa track. Sweet.

And now, the week in review...

TUESDAY,

After some sushi (this, my second try with sushi, went better, but I'm still not crazy about it), a group of the interns headed over the Warehouse Theater for the Hear Now series, which is a group of indepedent producers and sound engineers that share their latest audio pieces every few months. I am particularly fascinated with the ordering (or un-ordering) of sound, especially field recordings; naturally, I was enthralled and hung over every word spoken by Flawn Williams, an audio engineer for NPR/National Geographic's Radio Expeditions. The audio stories that he crafted from field recordings were beautifully rich in texturally evocative sound: specialized mics to capture the vibrations of a bug that communicates through plant stems, week-long drunken revelries celebrated with song and drum, and a 60 second version of King Kong.

My interest comes from the late night racket I would make on Crisis!, a two hour program on WUOG that showcased one of three things: 1) avant-garde and noise music, 2) live free-jazz/psychedelic/noise made by local musicians, or 3) improvisational audio collages. My friend Winston really got me into the third aspect of the show in which we'd layer spoken word records with ambient, jazz, or easily recognizable popular recordings to recontextualize the sound. Often we'd spin records backwards at speeds no turntable needle can normally withstand and put everything through mixing board effects, etc. etc.

To hear such professional sound architects share their work and explain microphone techniques and excerises was a great opportunity and just adds to my list of dream-jobs. Heather S., whose intern position escapes me right now, took notes (I had no pen or paper), so I'll be grabbing those from her.

FRIDAY, 7/7

Sarah and I left work with her National Desk friend Jack to hear jazz at the Sculpture Garden. The musicians they have play every Friday evening are never anything spectacular, but, as I've said, good enough to drink wine and eat cheese to. We partook in neither wine nor cheese, but just enjoyed the laid-back atmosphere and walked around the garden.

Sarah with Thinker on a Rock by Barry Flanagan.

Myself pondering Thinker on a Rock. Meta like feta.

We (now Jack-less) stopped by the National Mall for the New Orleans portion of this summer's Folklife Festival. We caught some of The Hot 8 Brass Band's excellent set. The group was really solid playing a mixture of traditional New Orleans jazz, Dixieland, and even a little Fela Kuti-influenced Afrobeat. If we had had more energy, both of us would've been dancing with the folks really getting into it near the stage.

The Hot 8 Brass Band @ the Smithsonian Folklife Festival

A stop at diner, a game of late night croquet, and many episodes of Arrested Development later (now with Johnny and David, two of Sarah's Yale friends), I got home very late and just want to do laundry and maybe take advantage of the "Fajita Orgy" at Tortilla Coast right across the street.

And for those interested, there's a well-done interview with Kieran Hebden (Fourtet, Fridge, Steve Reid's musical sparring partner) over at Dusted Magazine. Kieran has some great things to say about improvised and composed music.

Willie the Warlock deserves his own post

2006-07-04T21:14:00.000-05:00

One of the greatest out-of-left-field pop songs of all time now has a music video: "Willie the Warlock" by Billy Q. Effinger. I cannot express to you the awesomeness of this song. The four-octave vocal range, the cut-up karaoke accompaniment, the Harry Potter-inspired lyrics, the fact this is 42 year old man never recorded a song until two years ago. You can expect nothing less of this crazy magician-at-a-birthday-party video either.

I am the warlock surpeme
Nothing's real as it seems
except my love for you
Do you know it's true
that I am immortal
but you have a power unseen
over me

Is it so wrong that I spent most of the day watching the Project Runway marathon?

2006-07-04T18:05:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Scott Walker- The Drift

FRIDAY, 6/30

Man Man.

NPR took a huge chance by including Man Man as part of the "Live Concert Series," but it just makes me more proud to be just a small part of an internationally recognized organization. Most writers will tell you that Man Man is the descendent of such avant-garde visionaries like Captain Beefheart and Tom Waits, but in all honesty, they're just a rabid pop band cranking out tribal carnival jams. I've been skeptical about them on CD, but they definitely made a fan out of me at show. Dressed in tennis clothes and white war paint, the band literally played on top of each other in a tight circle. In performance, this is hell to pull off, but they did because they practice (that was very clear). I think they also convinced the very pop-conscious audience, too, even some of my fellow interns who had never heard of them before.

The Fiery Furnances, on the other hand, were a disappointment. The odd quirks that both repel and attract me to their complex pop songs were nowhere to be found. Instead, the sound was streamlined to loud, distorted rock. I do like it when an otherwise "strange" band comes out of nowhere and delivers a balls-out foot-stomping version of a silly pop song, but the Furnaces did it for the whole set... so much that it actually became boring (many people left half-way through). Made me wish I could've been a few blocks away to see Juana Molina (WXPN, an NPR member station, did, thankfully, record her show in Philadelphia. It's beautiful).

Here's a link to a stream of the Fiery Furnaces/Man Man show.

American Heiress covers.

I've finished my second album under the Ancient Mariner moniker. It's called American Heiress and each specialized cut-out artwork will feature a classic (or, at least, classy-looking) female model. The two pictured are of Edie Sedgwick, Andy Warhol's first "it" girl.

Musically, it's much much better than Queynte Geres, which was recorded when I wanted to be free-improvisation guitarist Derek Bailey, but still believed in riffs. Someone left me a message on Myspace commenting that some of my new songs reminded him of gamelan music, which I took as a high compliment. There are also a couple attempts at ambient music with actual singing... well, more like echo-ed ooh's. I'm pleased with the 30-minute album and surprised by how un-abrasive or un-"out there" it came out.

Next project (on the opposite end of the spectrum): Athens, Georgia noise artist compilation.
Release date: I'm hoping it'll be out by late August or September.

WUOG's in my blood like a cytotoxic T-cell

2006-06-30T18:49:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Man Man soundchecking at the 9:30 Club

Just when I thought I could get away from WUOG listserv wars. good ole Erin sees fit to add me to the WUOG Alumni listserv (nothing but love for you, Erin!). Right off the chain, my inbox floods with former wuoggers debating pre-recorded radio for hours the station's off the air. I remember the issue was tossed out there when I was on the exec board for two years, but none of us really wanted to do it. It reeked of soulless pap, it went against everything we stood and still stand for: 26,000 Watts of College Radio Debauchery (still love that slogan). In fact, the station's causing so much ruckus that it interferes with chemistry research on campus. I feel bad for the labcoats, but that's hilarious. I've heard lore of WUOG's airwaves transmitted through hairdryers, microwaves, even braces (!), but never an entire chemistry building. Awesome.

WUOG's one ray of cynical sunshine in its news division was the hoarse-throated Chris Tucker. For a lot of listeners, he was WUOG. His infernal hatred of the school's newspaper, the student government association, greeks, indie-rockers, Republicans... well, you get the idea... with his quick wit was the only reason to listen to the otherwise useless "Talk Block" on Wednesday evenings. He recently brought to the blogging community's attention the existence of the WUOG, Please Stop Sucking website set up on Myspace.

It's no secret that some Athens townies harbor ill feelings against its only (more or less) free-form station. Most of them are ticked that they can't DJ, which, no matter how many times it's explained to their baked minds, they just cannot: the station's officially a part of the university and it's a legal issue. Most of them are even more are mad at the music philosophy, one that excludes much mainstream radio, even legends like Neil Young and Elvis Costello who don't really have radio play anymore. The music philosophy's been debated ever since WUOG decided to support more indepedent artists and, frankly, no one will ever come to a good agreement. In short, they can just get over it because it hasn't been WUOG's prerogative to play Top 40 past or present for a long time.

I have little problem that this page was made, but it has no argument. In fact, I would encourage "WUOG, Please Stop Sucking" because every organization has room for improvement (yes, even amatuer, college student-run radio stations), but at this point, it's just a group of bored townies that need jobs (or, better yet, need a vacation or to leave). Those around while I was still working at station know I was relentlessly hard on DJs to do a better job (exploring the archives, be somewhat personable, umm... don't suck - to put it at their level). Looking through the "friends" list, I could've predicted every one. It's the same list of folks that enjoy happy hour every day at the punk/rockabilly bar, local bands that didn't make rotation (heck, even national bands that didn't make rotation), and then people who just think it's funny/will give them points. In fact, I probably know who started it, a certain band that's never been on the friendliest terms with WUOG and decided to make an enemy out of me recently.

I'm encouraged by the idea of media responsibility. Up until a few weeks ago, I had no idea there was such a thing as an ombudsman, someone who investigates complaints against an organization and attempts reconciliation. Jeffrey Dvorkin, who's unfortunately leaving NPR next month, has served as ombudsman since 1997. He spoke to the interns about the integrity of the journalist, which coming from UGA and knowing many of its J-school types, made me apprehensive at first, but he deals with integrity on a real level, not just as journalist himself. When I mentioned this to Helen recently, she said, "Sounds like a job you'd love!"

How exactly does one become an ombudsman? He has an intern.

Anyway... got off track there. Chris is a funny guy.

[EDIT: Removed the comment about the UGA school newspaper. I had incorrect information.]

Discovery Channel's Tales of the Poor Male

2006-06-29T17:53:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| T.I.- King (putting on my hip-hop hat sidewaaaays)

When limited by his surroundings, the young, post-graduate male seeks nourishment in the strangest places. Most likely, it's what he can find that remains, something like a scavenger picking through cabinets, tupperware, and finally opening that questionably oversized can of baked beans in an effort to feed his meager hunger.

Just yesterday, the long-haired being discovered stale bread, frozen turkey dogs, and cans of black eyed peas and string beans. From these disparate elements, he managed to create this thing of improvisational beauty:

And now, he has gone through the tupperware to find what was left of said creation replacing the stale bread bowl with rice for some kind of poor dirty rice imitation.

We shall return next week after our subject has earned his wages.

Flooding, S-K wants to be mommies, more bass, singing bridges

2006-06-27T19:25:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Hot Chip- The Warning & The Pipettes "Pull Shapes" (single of the summer!)

So if you don't follow the news, D.C.'s been hit by some serious storms. Some of the Metro was under water, there were flash floods, entire streets were shut down. So I spent last night dumping water from the various pots and bowls I set up in the kitchen and the bathroom. Nasty yellow-ish water leakage.

America's best current rock band, Sleater-Kinney, will go on indefinite hiatus after the summer, which can mean one of two things: a permanent break-up or a reunion tour in two to three years. Still, it's saddening news only made more difficult by the fact that all of my S-K albums are on vinyl and sitting in my parents's basement, so I can't listen to them. The band, however, is coming to D.C. on August 1st. Robin (Producer, All Songs Considered) is currently trying to secure us for a live webcast.

News from the homefront:
Athens's own grinning math-metal trio Coulier played their last show at Athfest this past week. The promise of 9 bass players and Navid (drums) made me almost wish I was back in town for the event. Thankfully, they taped it...

Part 1:

Part 2
Part 3

Oh, and this is the coolest thing I've read all week. (Scroll to the bottom of the page and "play" the interactive Harmonic Bridge!) The exhibit closes on July 16th... maybe I can go to New York City by then? I want to make a trip or two anyway.

[EDIT: I'm dumb. The Tate Modern is in the UK.]

"Viking Food Pillagings" Debut

2006-06-26T17:42:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Jai Agnish- Mechanical Sunshine

Since I didn't do anything that interesting this past weekend (other than a trip to Georgetown), I will now debut a new section of National Public Viking: "Viking Food Pillagings," the restaurant review portion. Any schmo can do a food article... just look at Flagpole's "Grub Notes" or the Washington City Paper's "Young & Hungry."

The rating scale is out of five viking heads: 1 being poor, 5 being Thor-hammerly awesome.

BURRITO BROTHERS
Two locations: 205 Pennsylvania Ave. SE & Union Station

The Food

I love burritos. This is no secret. I always seek out the closest locally-owned burrito place everywhere I visit in search of the world's greatest burrito. Agua Linda back in Athens currently holds that title (pour on the cheese, hold on the red sauce, thank you). The burritos here are good, but it's the fajitas and the tacos that deserve praise. Burrito Brothers marinates their meats and keeps the juices fully in tact when grilled with fresh green peppers and onions. The salsa's freshly homemade, too, which always earns a couple extra points in my book. However, the biggest surprise was the roast pork tacos. I don't really like pork or any pork products besides bacon, but the lady misheard me order pork a visit or two ago. It's juicy and bites off in nice, thick strings, so it doesn't get stuck in your teeth.

The Assembly/Presentation

Probably the messiest Mexican food I've ever had. The aluminum foil anything's wrapped in is absolutely necessary. They could take a lesson from Taco Stand and wrap their food tightly in stronger tortilla wraps.

The Service

Nice little Mexican lady has taken my order the five or so times I've already come to Burrito Brothers. Always kind and willing to do a last minute change with no guff.

The Aftertaste

Aftertaste is an important factor in my dining experience, especially Mexican. Athens's Taco Stand tastes great and hearty going down, but you do feel a little gross ten minutes later. That said, it's all about the marinade here. Don't know what's in it, but the taste stays consistent even a half an hour afterwards.

ZZ Toppin' pysch

2006-06-24T13:54:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice- Dead Lecturing 7.20.05 & Zodiac Mountain / Religious Knives- split tour EP

FRIDAY, 6/23

I somehow made it through another tiring Friday after getting home at 1:30AM (Bob and I did a live webcast of the Gomez/Bad Plus show and I actually had more fun "moderating" the live chat than the actual concert!). Delicious Vietnamese food was had for lunch at the redundantly named Cafe Deli: lemon-grass shrimp curry. Sarah's convinced I should write an epic poem about metro vs. bus riding.

Went, once again, to the Warehouse Nextdoor, this time for a night of drone. I have yet to make an "avant-garde" (for lack of a better term) concert buddy, but after one of the opening acts, Davey Wrathgabar from The Visitations, an Athens band, came up to me. I had forgotton that he was spending the summer deep sea fishing with his dad on the Chesapeake Bay. After the show, Davey even invited me to go deep sea fishing with them one weekend... why not? Sounds like fun.

I think the saddest part of the evening was the fact that the decent-sized crowd came only for one of the opening bands whose name I never caught (just because you're some hot-shot local band doesn't mean everybody knows you who you are... small bands please take note). It's probably better off that the trio never introduced themselves because I'm about to rip them a new one.

"Drone" is a genre I finally got into sometime two years ago more or less as a result of purchasing Fripp & Eno's Evening Star on vinyl (technically an "ambient" record, but the purpose is the same). Bands like Sunn O))) have certainly made drone not accessible but more understood than someone like, say, Keiji Haino's moaned masterpieces. D.C seems to lack the strong local music scene one always heard about, especially in the '80s and the mid-to-late-'90s; thus, this opening band seemed like the de facto "experimental" group. Athens is guilty of that when it comes to certain musical niches, too.

Don't get me wrong, the trio had some moments of deafening glory. Layers of loops built on each other with the occasional Robert Fripp-ian guitar lick and a distorted Earth-like climax of Black Sabbath riffery. I actually enjoyed that. My issue comes with the lack of purposeful movement. Okay, so you've got an arsenal of effects pedals and some nice, loud amps. Now convince me. The drummer spend most of his time creating "ambient" percussion with literally a box of gongs, cymbals, and clacking wood attached to string when all I wanted him to do was just freakout on the set. There actually was a moment when I thought he might as he hit the snare drum, but (and I hope I have misinterpreted this reaction) the Fripp-lovin' guitarist shot back a dead glance as if to say, "No." This happened three times.

What kind of musical relationship is that? Set up those kind of parameters before a show. Limits are fine. I give them to myself as a musician all the time. But do not bring the audience into it. That's poor showmanship, plus it makes for a less-inspired set.

The second opener, Chris Grier, played a 20-minute set all by his lonesome. The music was fine, though nothing spectacular: self-looped improvised post-rock with some Sonny Sharrock-like shards of sound. I would've stayed the whole time, but the shrill, treble-heavy tones were too much. I am no gear-head, but as an audiophile, I beg of Chris and all guitarists out there, do not play a single-coil pickup Fender guitar through a Sunn amp head. The sound is just grating, which I don't think Grier intended. Sell your Sunn amp head and buy a Fender Twin Reverb. You'll get the sound you're going for and not cause potential fans to leave the room.

Religious Knives.

Religious Knives, which includes members of Double Leopards and Mouthus, put on a two-song set of droning psych a la Confusion Is Sex-era Sonic Youth meets the Velvet Underground (the latter particularly for the drummer's Moe Tucker-ish rhythm). I definitely got into the near black-metal dirge of Maya Miller's electric piano put through effects pedals. She moaned wordlessly as Michael Bernstein monotonally sang over an open-tuned guitar. Very rad.

Zodiac Mountain.

Zodiac Mountain is a duo between Wooden Wand main dude James Toth and Clay Ruby (Davenport Family). Didn't really know quite what to expect, but as these two tall men picked up their guitars, the latter in a cowboy hat wrapped with a bandana, I got excited when they started out with a ZZ Top three-chord rocker. I don't even know why. About three minutes into it, Clay Ruby started pulling out some heavy psych-rock riffs and sang like a Southern rocker. Toth took this as a challenge and began solo-ing high on the fret-board for some of the most out-there pysch without drums I've ever heard. Davey and I begged for more after two ten-minute songs, but no dice. James was a really cool guy to talk to afterwards, though.

And since I have yet to put any pictures of myself on this, here's one on the metro:

Zombie On a Rainbow, Esq.

2006-06-21T18:44:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir- Rachmaninov: All-Night Vigil op.37 (this album is absolutely stunning)

I have finally mastered rice. This may seem like a grossly simple task to overcome, but ever since I moved off-campus at UGA to persue the illustrious life of a college (and now, post-undergrad) bachelor, I have never been able to cook rice. It's either burned or sloshed. Mix it with soy sauce for a stir-fry and the meal's a horrible disaster.

Tonight, I conquered no-name brand white rice. Tomorrow, I shall slay dragons. It's a natural progression.

NPR offers a neat (am I the only 23 year old who says, "neat"?) opportunity through Next Generation Radio called "Intern Edition." It allows NPR interns to fully develop, write, produce, promote, and sequence their own 60-minute program that's aired via podcast for the company and the online audience. I chose to produce someone's piece because I wanted to do something other than writing for this internship (plus I'm fascinated with collecting and ordering sound).

Today, Michael (Music Unit, Performance Today) and I took a train to Baltimore, Maryland to interview Tim Page, a Pulitzer Prize winning music critic with the Washington Post. Without going into much detail about Michael's piece, we spoke with him about music criticism in the 21st century in relationship to the internet and the "blog" phenomenon. Tim turned out to be a great interview subject and seemed genuinely excited by offering his expertise to two prospective journlists.

Tim Page (left), Michael (right).

For our rock n roll brethren in Manhattan, the Bowery Ballroom will be hosting the US Air Guitar Championships finals tomorrow night. The sold-out show will feature none other than Athens, Georgia's own air guitar (and real guitar) god Jace Bartet, AKA Zombie On a Rainbow, Esq. There is no doubt in my viking mind that my hair-swinging equal shall blast through cement walls with his air-ness. Need proof? Two short videos of Jace rocking out Slayer's "Reign in Blood":

Go forth, Jace, and rule as a Zombie should on a rainbow, esquired.

Theodor Adorno had safety pins in his fedora

2006-06-19T18:29:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| West Wing on the tee-vee & Brian J. Davis "Every Work of Art is an Uncomitted Crime" from the Minima Moralia EP (download the whole EP here. Best punk record ever put out by an art snob.)

Michael, Jamie, Nathan, and I all went to Georgetown Sunday afternoon for some lunch at Pizzeria Paradiso. It took us an hour to find such a place since three quarters of Georgetown is too expensive for lowly paid interns (makes you think about the fact that Georgetown is the only area of D.C. without an accessible metro stop, right?).

Here we are practicing our interviewing skills for our upcoming Intern Edition stories (link to last year's program).

Michael, our fearlessly fake interview subject, sang French arias and shared a story of foreign affairs... the romantic kind.

Afterwards, three of us saw A Prairie Home Companion, the nerdiest of films for three National Public Radio interns to attend. Robert Altman really was the perfect man to direct. Both Garrison Keillor and Altman have such a unique sense of fantasy that skeeters on reality that skims off another fantasy. Most people would call that pretentious and they'd be partly right, but I think the best art is the kind that's not necessarily easily recognizable. Altman captures that beautifully. It'll probably be my favorite movie of the year.

A high-end dog food company used "I Think I Need A New Heart" by the Magnetic Fields in a commercial. I find this quite amusing. Great song, though.

New season of Project Runway on July 12. Heck, yeah.

I like neopolitan ice cream... but mostly the vanilla

2006-06-17T21:17:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Robert Fripp & Brian Eno- Air Structures (live bootleg, 1975)

Stuff I wish I had brought to Washington, D.C.:
+ Bicycle: I've been surprised at how bike-friendly this city is, especially where I live and on the Mall. Not that it doesn't take long for me to walk to and from work each day, but a bike certainly gives me more of an aerobic exercise.
+ Kitchen things: wok, blender, teapot... we have none of these things. I particularly miss beating my vegetables into submission with the wok.
+ More nice clothes: NPR's version of "business casual" is t-shirts and jeans (at the least), which is awesome, but I feel so strange walking through Capitol Hill among all these suits and ties. I do have some decent attire to get by, though.

Stuff I miss in Athens, GA:
+ Sweet tea: Unlike Georgia, sweet tea is not legally required to be served in all restaurants.
+ WUOG: Of course I miss WUOG! Especially my favorite DJs. I listen online when I can.
+ Seeing Telenovela play every few weeks. (Have fun opening for Danielson!)
+ Wuxtry Records and Agora.
+ Vision Video's 5 old movies for 5 days for $5 deal.
+ Little Italy Pizza & Subs

I'm reviving my dance music phase out of nowhere (I blame it on all the great techno Forced Exposure Distribution sent us last week). Two years ago, for about a month, I was obsessed with house and drum-n-bass, usually of the ambient variety. All I've been listening to lately has been music like Out Hud, The Juan Maclean (got the 2xCD remix compilation at the office... rules), and Marc Leclair. And now I really want to DJ a dance party. Better be careful, I might start collecting 12" DJ singles. (Too late. Already have 10, I think).

The WFMU World Cup Death Watch is now up to 18. USA tied Italy by a fluke. Then again, I once scored on my own team in my soccer years.

I'll "unexpectedly quit" you!

2006-06-17T16:33:00.000-05:00

|current sounds| Franco Battiato- Fetus

I did have a nice long entry about the Sonic Youth show I attended for All Songs Considered, my realizations about radio vs. magazines writing, the goodies I bought at Eastern Market, the Freer & Sackler Galleries, and James McNeill Whistler, but my internet browser decided to "unexpectedly quit".... twice.

In lieu of lofty prose, here are pictures of the Sonic Youth show and a punch in mouth to technology.

Be Your Own Pet, a spastic Stooges-infected punk band a la Yeah Yeah Yeahs, opened for the Yoof. They're on Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace label. The band's decent on CD, but were an intense live band, especially on the last two songs thrashing harder than 18 and 17 year olds should.

Thurston Moore's (Sonic Youth) specially tuned guitar army. You have no idea how tempted I was to touch them.

Sonic Youth.

Set list:
Jams Run Free
Pink Steam
Reena
Incinerate
Drunken Butterfly
Do You Believe in Rapture?
The Neutral
Pacific Coast Highway
Rats
100%
What a Waste
--first encore--
Turquoise Boy
Or
--second encore--
Shaking Hell

Two nights at the Warehouse Theater/Nextdoor

2006-06-12T21:35:00.000-05:00

SUNDAY

My old college radio station, WUOG, spun the self-titled debut from Mammatus quite heavily when it came out a few months ago. Comets On Fire (whose new album Avatar might be one of the best of the year) has been championing the band and rightly so. It's the pounding Hawkwind-ly stoner-rock drenched in psychedelic fuzz that's been seeing a revival lately. The set comprised of two long jams totalling out to 25 minutes both thick with vibrato-ed E-strings and intense wah-wah. Mammatus didn't get into any free-improv freakouts like on the CD, but kept a steady head-swirling sludge the whole way through... not that I'm complaining.

I hated to miss Residual Echoes, whose last album I unfairly wrote off, but the Metro closes at midnight and it was 11:40PM. Tis not safe to walk so late in D.C.

As for the opening bands, Vincent Black Shadow did a decent Stooges/MC5 psych garage-rock thing, but in the end I couldn't tell you how they really sounded... so that's a negative in my book. Facemat reminded me of the crazy improv my friends and I did on Crisis! during the last two summers: wacky bordering on annoying with some inspired moments of genius.

MONDAY

Nathan, the Washington Desk intern, invited the crew to a reading at the Warehouse Theater as part of the F.W. Thomas Series. (Thomas was a mediocre politician or something rather. Nathan could correct me and add witty commentary connected to the night's readers!) Fact is, I have a short attention span when it comes to book/poetry/grocery list readings (I hated that attending such readings was a requirement for a creative writing class last year), especially when it comes the McSweeney's ilk. For this reason, I couldn't really tell you what some of the performers did other than sing a song about falling love with a person with a boring job, act more adorable than one really should when talking about his cute cartoons, and something about being pounded by nine year olds.

Alas, there was a reason for my attendence: Andrew Beaujon reading excerpts from his book Body Piercing Saved My Life. Beaujon's the managing editor for the Washington City Post, which seems like a decent local weekly, so far, and an agnostic who took on Christian rock and Christian rock culture for this book. Now for the past year I've been interested in how agnostic/atheist America views this strange subculture of Christian rock, youth groups, and, in general, modern evangelicalism. Documentaries like Hell House, Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music, and Danielson: A Family Movie have all been released within the last three years to the interest of non-Christians, in particular. I've only seen Hell House, a mostly fair, though still disturbing, look at the "Judgement/Hell House" phenomenon, the charismatic Protestant alternative to haunted houses on Halloween. There's also the Michael Stipe-produced movie Saved!, which could have been a excellent satire on Christian private schools and religious hypocrisy, but ended up being more mean-spirited than anything else.

Even though I have not read the book (I'm sure it's a well-priced paperback, but I can't afford much of anything at the moment), I felt immediately calmed by Beaujon's demeanor. Beaujon spoke with fairness and honesty in his first public reading. When people in the audience snickered at some of the foreign youth group-isms described at the wildly popular Cornerstone Festival that he attended for research (and I attended twice: 1997 with my cousins & 2002 for a Roadside Monument reunion show) or the admittedly over-the-top Gen-X/reaching-to-the-youth quotes from the Mars Hill pastor, he allowed a second of laughter, and then continued on leaving the rolled eyes unacknowledged. This, I believe, kept the audience interested. He wasn't there to confirm or deny the strange ways of "alternative Christianity," only to present it as a viable culture, one that's as detailed and misunderstood as any select group of people.

From what he read, I felt like I already knew it all, which was both familiar and discomforting at once. In high school, Christian rock and all of its trappings were a large part of my life. I didn't hear my first Black Sabbath record until I came to college. Instead, I learned stoner-rock from Adam Again's Perfecta, which I'd still pit against any other sludged out record as one of the most drug-induced depressive albums ever recorded (and, if it should ever happen, would likely be the focus of a book I want to write someday on how Christian rock both ruined and uplifted my life). The politics and hipsterism of the Christian punk/hardcore scene in Atlanta (and Marietta, too, or especially) were awful and repressive, and probably a large part of why I ultimately rejected it almost altogether when I moved to Athens to study English and become a music nerd.

Most of all, I found Beaujon's reverence for his subjects a breath of fresh air. Even though the Mars Hill pastor uses pop-culture to relate to his congregation, Beaujon always mentioned the true focus of the sermon, which, in the whole reading, I found astounding. It would've been too easy for him to take the low road and paint an ugly picture of the backwards preacher with the crazy ideas, but he instead presented the whole of the argument, an attribute I find disgustingly lacking in Christians, agnostics, and atheists alike.

So to Andrew Beaujon, I thank you for giving the life of my past a fair chance.

Out on Friendship Heights

2006-06-11T01:04:00.000-05:00

After the party, I walked down Western Ave. towards the Friendship Heights Metro. Coming within feet of the escalator, I heard what sounded like two tenor saxophones going at it arrhythmically, each pulsating after the other in an indeterminable time signature. Excitedly, I awaited to reach the bottom of the escalator expecting to see some gruffy looking jazz players, but realized halfway down that these noises came from the escalators themselves. Never have I wanted so much to have my mini-cassette recorder or even my laptop to record such stunning incidental/environmental music. I could have easily sat there for an hour attempting to configure a pattern only to give up and let chance rule. John Cage eventually gave up composition because he felt that the world already produced such beautiful sounds without him interfering. I feel like I could do the same someday.

Inspired by the escalator, I put on Insen by Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto, one of my favorite albums from last year. It's truly a work of ambient beauty. Noto's electronic clicks and stuttered beats form a soft enclosure over Sakamoto's warm, yet closely chorded piano work. Insen is quiet enough so that I could hear the environment around me. It was the perfect escalator transition. As "Moon," which has the album's most harsh (or at least most defined) beat, came through as someone's spilled Coke streamed down the isle while a black woman in white sang softly to herself about Jesus. The rumble and screech of the rails collided with reversed piano loops (some I actually experimented with when I lived on Pulaski St. in Athens on Tim's out of tune piano) adding their own percussion.

I can now see why so many avant-garde musicians (in jazz, modern composition, whereever) find such inspiration in the subway. It pretty much sings for itself.

Goooooooaaaaaalllllllll!!!!!!!

2006-06-10T12:41:00.000-05:00

| current music | Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs "She May Call You Up Tonight" (Left Banke cover) from Under the Covers, Vol. 1

Man, the Swedes just missed a perfect chance to score against Trinidad and Tobago. It's a dead tie right now with no goals scored, though my father's home country's keeping the ball on Trinidad's side of the field. The best part is: I'm watching the World Cup in Spanish. Sure, I could find ESPN, but I landed on Univision first.
[Edit: They tied 0-0.]

WFMU, the best free-form radio station in the country that always an ear and eye for the strange and hilarious, has a contest on their blog to guess how many people will die World Cup-related deaths this month. Predictions have ranged from 4 hooligan deaths to 254. The British police denied soccer hooligans to leave the country for Germany, which is good or bad depending on how many soccer fans those WFMU listeners think will die.

Some of the interns went to the Eastern Market this morning for brunch and a little shopping.

Sarah (National Desk) and Jamie (Music Unit).

Jamie (Music Unit) and Jen (Arts & Entertainment Desk).

Nathan (Washington Desk).

A blurry Jeremy (Digital Media) says, "I'm down with vegetables."

Nathan then took us to Capitol Hill Books, a used book store that easily beats Jackson Street Books back in Athens. Stacks line the walls, overflow shelves, and even take over the restroom (the foreign language dictionary/grammar section!). I came away with both Dante's Purgatorio and Paradiso translated by Allen Mandelbaum (I want to re-read Inferno this summer, but have never read the entire Divine Comedy) as well as A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce (one of those books I just never read).

Everytime I see the Capitol, I hear the West Wing theme even though it's not the White House

2006-06-08T16:54:00.000-05:00

Lest my relatives think I've turned devil worshipper based on the last entry, know that my love for metal music is purely aesthetic. I've been a metalhead ever since I popped in Mortification's EnVision EvAngeline at a Christian bookstore when I was 12 years old. Metal, to me, celebrates theatrics and musical excessiveness better than any other kind of music. It's ridiculous, but awesomely so. I mean, if any fire-and-brimstone preacher ever wanted to really put the fear of God into a group of kids, he'd play "Black Sabbath" by Black Sabbath. It's the kinda song Jonathan Edwards could get behind.

Not since the unstructured meetings of the various camp staffs I've been on have I attended an actual "business" meeting until today. It's something I'm going to learn this summer, thankfully.

Ha. I watch West Wing reruns in D.C. I wonder how many people do in this city... er, district. I think this is the episode Donna puts the move on Josh. Shows what I take away from it, eh? Yay for the Bravo channel.

This weekend: shopping at the Eastern Market, maybe going to one of the Smithsonians with other interns.