Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Happy Samhain


i saw Samhain (on the November Coming Fire tour...ooh scary!) once as an attempt to get a glimpse of Misfits greatness since i never saw that band. it was at the old Ritz in nyc (currently Webster Hall) and man, it was not so great. worst guitar sound ever, and i don't think Danzig had begun his workout regime yet because he was wearing a fishnet shirt (always a good idea!) that accentuated his spare tire(s) in a fun way. November Coming Spare Tire!

i've got some Necco Wafers and Bit O' Honeys in a bowl but kids never come to our house anyway so i think we'll be eating them in the Merge office tomorrow...

in the player:

I'm Not There Original Soundtrack
Snuff - Reach
Akron/Family - Love is Simple
James Blackshaw - The Cloud of Unknowing
Randy Weston - Mosaic Select box set

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Going to The Hill

in a bizarre turn of events, i'll be on an early flight to our nation's capital tomorrow in order to appear before the Senate Commerce Committee tomorrow. i'll be giving testimony in a hearing called The Future of Radio, mainly speaking about the importance of low-power, non-commercial, and college radio, the need for diversity in an age of media consolidation, and the importance of net neutrality. all important stuff that you would think is somewhat obvious, but you still gotta get up there and say it i suppose! i will report back.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Lance Hahn RIP


terribly sad news out of SF with the death of Lance Hahn. Lance had a band called J-Church, was a tireless champion of the best qualities of punk rock, and was a buddy of Superchunk's from way back; it was always great to see him and though i knew he had been sick with kidney problems for awhile the news is shocking. Lance had a sense of humor about the whole being in a band thing, but took it seriously as well and i was always blown away with how prolific Lance always seemed to be even while weathering personal storms (homes burning, kidneys failing, etc). though i didn't see him often over the last decade, we miss you, Lance. 40 years old, too young.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Please Don't Stop Me


"wow" or more accurately "holy $#i+!!" is the first thing that came to mind when i first heard about Win and Regine from the Arcade Fire joining Bruce and the E Street Band onstage in Ottawa the other night...if you're a fan of either you've probably seen the clips already, but if not you need to...the excitement of the people filming the thing is one of the best things about it. so not without a tinge of jealousy (of those in attendance and those onstage both!) i present the links...

State Trooper
Keep The Car Running

State Trooper hadn't been played live with the band since 1984. I wonder if that's Little Steven's mandolin or if Win brought his own?

Friday, October 12, 2007

TGIFF


man, so much music i'm having trouble keeping up...much of it fabulous:

Mekons - Natural i'll pretty much buy a new mekons record regardless, but i was interested to hear that they'd gone off and done an acoustic record or something off in a cabin in the wilds, and while i suppose you can tell, to me it just sounds like the mekons, which is a great thing. it's woodsy but it's definitely not 'freakfolk'. and it's definitely not without teeth. The Hope and the Anchor is a weird, beautiful song.
Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala i'm not obsessive about this guy like some but i've enjoyed everything i've gotten. funny words and some nice disco moves on this one, too...
Jose Gonzalez - In Our Nature apologies for not learning how to do accents in blogger, but i think you can figure out the name regardless. not as hypnotizing as the first record immediately, but maybe that's because there's no element of surprise this time...gets grittier than the first one did though and has a few other surprises that prevent the record from drifting into the background (though it can live there if you want it to).
Magik Markers - Boss i miss some of the spazz, but i'm looking forward to spending more time with this record. it may be "surprisingly tuneful" to some, but that i was expecting, i just want it to hit me with more energy, but i think it's starting to...hope to see them live soon as they kill it.
Kevin Drew - Spirit If... i liked but almost never listen to that last Broken Social Scene album, but that "Backed Out On the..." song with Mascis hooked me and this album's been on heavy rotation recently. nothing conceptual or collective or overworked about it, just a straight-up catchy guitar indie rock record with a pleasing looseness.
Feist - Reminder speaking of that Canadian collective thing, despite a Feistly bludgeoning from the media and Apple, this record retains it's appeal and is not going away soon.

While we're on the subject of Canada, the Carolina Hurricanes have been making a living up there this week, first with a satisfying pasting (7-1) of the Leafs monday night, and then holding on to be the previously-undefeated Sens last night in Ottawa, 5-3. they are showing some real aggressiveness and speed missing last year. the defense occasionally still leaves Ward out to dry but he's been playing so solidly it usually hasn't mattered...3-1-1 is a start i can live with happily...

Thursday, October 04, 2007

hockey's back, so's the blog

we have a new addition to the family, and having a 2-week old in the house is less conducive to blogging than you'd think. still, i've found time recently to go see the Dirty Projectors, who get better and better, and attend game 1 of the 2007-2008 NHL season, in which the 'Canes lost for the fifth year straight on opening night....still, it was a good game and i wasn't too bummed. Cam Ward kept them in the game and had a spectacular save in the first. Carolina blew two 5 on 3 chances and the defense seemed a step slow. Koivu came through in the OT for the Habs and we get a point...still, excited about the season.

been rocking a lot of good new music (and old) around the house during paternity leave...

Kevin Drew - Spirit If...
Bruce Springsteen - Magic
Mum - Poison Ivy somethingerother
Allen Toussaint - Life, Love & Faith
Black Lips - Good Bad Not Evil
Bill Evans - Trio '64
Anita O'Day - Mosaic box
new Iron & Wine
Okkervil River - the Stage Names
Lee Scratch Perry - Super Ape
Amadou & Miriam - compilation of older stuff

lots more on deck...