Club 8 - Spring Came, Rain Fell

I just love their bossanova/indie pop vibe and breathy girl vocals. If you are in a band and you want me to like your music, just get a girl to sing about the weather and I will likely love it.




Also ask a poetic question like "Are we still nowhere?"

How Those Days Just Disappear.

Poster from The Lucksmiths farewell concert, 2009.

Sarah

Could someone email me the tracks to Sarah Records 83: The Sugargliders:

http://home.clara.net/koogy/sarah/disco/083.htm

I'd love it.

A few songs I love, right now.

Pretty much any time Christianity and alcoholism are mixed in a song, it's a winning combination. That is why I like this song by The Hold Steady entitled "212-MARGARITA."



This is my current favorite for listening while driving the VW. "Ghost Town" by The Specials. Please, if anyone would like to buy me a gift, purchase me the "Ghost Town" shirt from Supreme.




I found this video a few weeks ago (and by a few weeks ago I mean Valentine's Day). It puts original footage of Busby Berkeley's shows with the great Magnetic Fields song.

New LUCKSMITHS album

The Lucksmiths, my favorite band that is still banded together, have a new album. It's entitled "First Frost" and it's hitting my Discman and headphones in November 2008.

http://www.indiepages.com/matinee/catalog.html?id=cd049

The track listing is:

The Town and The Hills
Good Light
A Sobering Thought (Just When One Was Needed)
California In Popular Song
South-East Coastal Rendezvous
The National Mitten Registry
Day Three of Five
Never and Always
Lament of the Chiming Wedgebill
How We Met
Song of the Undersea
Up With The Sun
Pines
Who Turned on the Lights?

The Lucksmiths cheer me up. I can't wait to hear this.

Honda Trail 90

On June 3, 2008 Dan and I went to southeast Portland and he bought this baby, a 1965 Honda Trail 90. You meet the nicest people on a Honda.

Of course, my head wraps itself around the Beach Boys' song "Little Honda" at the sight of this "little motorbike." Here is a great video of the original song:



Being an indie rocker, I much prefer Yo La Tengo performing the song:

I like five songs.

Sorry I never post on this thing very often. Dear reader, I missed the Pinhead Gunpowder shows thanks to my stupid full time job.

Songs I like recently:

"The List" by Defiance Ohio off of The Fear, The Fear, The Fear

"What is your secret?" by Nada Surf off of The Weight Is A Gift

"Time of The Season" by The Zombies off of Oracle and Odessey

"Looking for Astronauts" by The National off of Alligator

"Subject to the Ladder" by Broadcast off of Tender Buttons

Go find them on your own.

West of Wakefield - "Lottery"

There is very little information on the internet about this band. They are called West of Wakefield and have one CD, the five song ep "Connecting the Dots." I believe they were from Michigan and released this CD around 2001. Here is the first song.

West of Wakefield - "Lottery"

I came across this as a DJ at WGSU in 2001. It has a real autumnal feel, with a song about winter. It's got a real midwestern pop-emo vibe, heavily influenced by The Get Up Kids and The Anniversary. The recording is clear, and I consider it so good it must only be listened to once in a year. Yes, pop punk worth savoring.

One of the members of this band went on to a band called Flashing Red Airplane, who are really good too.

Photo: Mamma Mias Pizza Geneseo NY Winter 2002.

The Mountain Goats on 2StrokeBuzz

2StrokeBuzz.com, the blog I have been reading longer than any other blog, recently referenced a Mountain Goats song in a post about a scooter rally, trumping anything I've written recently.

Check it out: http://2strokebuzz.com/index.php/?p=3700

Bob Nanna

I discussed two of Bob Nanna's acoustic covers at thepunkguy.com today:

http://www.thepunkguy.com/2007/08/01/bob-nanna/

Weakerthans return to USA!

My favorite band from Canada, The Weakerthans, are coming to the USA again!

Yes! They are supporting their new album, Reunion Tour, which should be good!

Click here for more information.

(picture: our friend Joe with John K. Samson of the Weakerthans)

Lucksmiths return to USA!

The Lucksmiths are coming back to the USA this September to play shows. Though no tour is confirmed, my sources have these shows listed so far:

Seattle's Crocodile Cafe on September 24, 2007. LINK
Washington DC at DC 9 - September 30, 2007. LINK

That's not all! The Lucksmiths have a new double CD coming out entitled "Spring a leak" which, like "Where were we?" collects b-sides and rare tracks from the last few years. Reportedly, this is going to be 45 songs. After that they are going to do a new single and a new album. All these will be released in the United States on Matinee Records and elsewhere on Mark from the Lucksmiths own Lost and Lonesome Recording Company.

One track from "Spring a leak" is up for RA streaming on Matinee's site. It's a cover of their fellow Australians' band The Sugargliders' track "Dolly." I highly reccomend this track!!!

Apples OTE mentioned on Indie MP3

Apples of the Earth received an approving nod on indie-mp3.co.uk

http://www.indie-mp3.co.uk/2007/07/my-space-has-talent.html

(Photo: rain on the sunroof of my VW.)

Sarah 100

I stumbled upon a great find. This blog has posted two Sarah Records compilations in their entirety: the last one, Sarah 100: There and Back Again Lane, and the first one, Sarah 587: Shadow Factory. Sarah Records is perhaps the greatest record label in music history. A boy/girl combination named Matt and Clare decided to do a label of all their favorite pop bands, releasing mostly seven inches. They had a zine called "Are you scared to get happy?" and included poems, mostly about being in love near some river in England, with each release. They decided to break up the label after 100 releases, noting their art was theirs to make and theirs to destroy, and it was perfect while it lasted.

Both compilations include the fantastic track "Pristine Christine" by the Sea Urchins, proving it as a true superhit. Shadow Factory also includes The Orchids great song "Apologies."

Here are bands featured:
The Field Mice, The Orchids, The Poppyheads, Northern Picture Library, The Springfields, Another Sunny Day, 14 Iced Bears, Boyracer, Brighter, Action Painting! and more!

Please do yourself a favor and download these if you have ever wondered what "pop" music would sound like on the radio in a perfect world, or in the future as imagined in 1966.

Sarah 100: There and Back Again Lane

Sarah 587: Shadow Factory

Sarah Records on Wikipedia

Stylus guide to Sarah's first fifty releases

Apples of the Earth - "Pearl Jam is not a very good band."

I'm not going to give you an mp3 of this yet. It's not finished. But some recording is better than no recording. This is my band's song "Pearl Jam is not a very good band." You can hear it on our Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/applesoftheearth

This song is a response song to the local 94.7FM KNRK radio station playing Pearl Jam all the time. I should also mention that we are available to play shows in the greater Portland, Oregon area. So book us a show at your house or at your favorite club! Here are the lyrics. Enjoy.

Pearl Jam is all you ever wanted in a band. You bought all their record company issued live bootlegs from their old tour. Did you buy them for the Who covers, or because you wanted to hear "Daughter" as performed in Milan, Italy in the summer of 1998? Would you like me
any better if I were Eddie Vedder. Yeah you would, and truthfully I would too. What's the song about the lonely woman behind the counter in the small town? I've not heard that one in years or if I did, neither I nor Jessica could remember it. What's the guitarists name anyway? Was it Mike? Did you like Yield, Versus, the new album with the avocado on the cover? Did you buy it the first week it was out? I tried to get you in to Pavement and Built to Spill. I made you a
CD-R of "There's nothing wrong with love," but I don't think you listened to it. So hey I give up, yeah I quit.

THE VERY BEST OF...

A lot of bands that I love are never going to be big. They're on the decline, they've broken up, no one knew them to begin with. It goes like this. But, in my mind they're huge. They're fantastic. And anyone who saw them years ago or even heard of them is rad. They've had superhits stuck in my head for years.

And it's better if this happened for my friends, too. This was the magic of college radio - there were secret superhits that only we knew about. Tons of bands like this: The Dismemberment Plan, The Weakerthans, The Wrens, Ted Leo. Bands that were sort of pop, sort of punk, all indie.

Now, it's been years since I first heard these bands. I feel I should be stopping by Best Buy picking up their "Gold" collections, their best ofs and box sets. But these bands will probably never have best ofs.

That's where I come in. I'm going to put together some best ofs for my favorite bands that will never have their own.

First on the list is Jawbreaker. I'm trying to get Dan into Jawbreaker, so I'm going to pick out my ten favorite songs and see if it works. Wish me luck.

Kind of Like Spitting - “March 25th, 1998"

On Friday I was walking around town when I ran into Ben Barnett. Ben is the artist formerly known as the one man band Kind of Like Spitting. On my computer, the top two most frequently listened songs are Kind of Like Spitting ("You Got Served," "A Song for Annie's Harmonica") and so it really brightened my day to say hi to one of my favorite songwriters.

Ben told me he is getting training at Stumptown Coffee and has formed a new band that's looking for another guitarist. I forget the name of this new band, but I told him I would love to see them play when he gets it together. He told me to "myspace me" and then he and I both had to get back to work.

Here is my first favorite Kind of Like Spitting song:
Kind of Like Spitting - "March 25th, 1998"

What's your interpretation of the course of events that swings from a line on the outside of the fence. I got in a fight at the Team Dresh show and always fighting, me, it came off macho. And I am a lion roaring out loud. In my dreams I'm angry I never touch the ground. I feel like I'm flying somewhere underneath the sheets. I took your bracelet from the bathroom I've had it ever since we met. check your lipstick in the mirror, sway and swing your hips. Head out to the New Bad Things show at the end of Burnside at the oh hell used to be the x-ray, not all that familiar with the history of this town, only been here for a short while, but you knew it. Say your sick of all the narrow eyes and all the lies and the actors feeding on our hearts. We had this one drive, don't talk, don't lie. Everyone is on call for a job that they hate. Check the mirror, check the bathroom, check the toilet, filling up this room. Room that you made yourself from the hangers from the closet down, he was asking for it but you knew it.

Purchase the album "The Thrill of The Hunt" from Redder Records.

PREEMPTIVE V DAY

Pre-empting Valentine's Day, here's one of my favorite Valentine's Day songs. It's off of an out of print compilation entitled "Ooh Do I Love You." I like this song because it's a ridiculous metaphor and also references the band singing the song ("the Plan has love for everyone!")

THE DISMEMBERMENT PLAN - "THE LOVE WAR"

http://www.dismembermentplan.com/plan_audio/mpeg/dplan_the_love_war.mp3

Everybody here is a freak
And if you disagree you're even weirder
The world should disinherit the meek,
So let's go for broke and arm the gates of authority
It's what we allow,
And if we're better looking then victory is ours
To spin the bottle, baby, and how,
We've got a war to win, let's win it now

The love war was won with a single love bullet from a love gun
And the Plan has love for everyone!
Don't be left out when a love war breaks out Yeah, oh-wah-oh-wah-oh-oh
It's treason in this town to not be getting down
Yeah, oh-wah-oh-wah-oh-oh
And every day could be Valentine's Day (Oh, oh, oh, YEAH!)

Lovin' is a threat to The Man,
And if he had his way he'd squash it out right
Despising what he can't understand,
So arm yourself and defend your letter
Try to make a joke of it might
But the history of freedom will never be denied...
The carriers of liberty's lights: Oh, Jefferson, Voltaire, Thomas Paine, and Barry White!
The love war was waged by a million love soldiers in a love rage,
And the Plan is fighting every day!
Better pick a side when the love war arrived Yeah, oh-wah-oh-wah-oh-oh
Lives to be loved and the love war needs you all Yeah, oh-wah-oh-wah-oh-oh
It's treason in this town to not be getting down Yeah, oh-wah-oh-wah-oh-oh
And every day would be Valentine's Day
And everyone would love to choose to love in their own way
So do your part; the traitors are kissed at dawn, that's what they say
And every day could be Valentine's Day!

Fun Deficit - "This Is The Dream of Evan and Chan"

I have a lot of posts on this blog that you don't see. I write them up and decide not to post them. I had the idea to post this song back in October, but didn't, and I haven't posted any exclusive music since then. So here's a song that I recorded. It's the song "This is the dream of Evan and Chan" by Dntel/Ben Gibbard aka The Postal Service. I recorded it back in 2002 in Geneseo, before I also realized I was in love with Cat Power. It's kind of whiny, so be warned. For the record, I recorded two discs of 'official' material as Fun Deficit. The first was the self titled ep: four songs released in 2002. I made copies of this and gave most of them to my friends and one to Bob Nanna. Then I recorded "When I Forgot What I Had Been Wishing For" which was so good that I never made any copies for anyone. It still might be too good. Anyway, enjoy this cover. If I were to bust into the same song right now, my roommate Greg would probably cover his end of the heat vent with a pillow.

Fun Deficit - "This Is The Dream of Evan and Chan"

In case you don't know: Evan, Chan
This song's entry on Wikipedia: LINK

It was familiar to me,
the smoke too thick to breathe.
The tile floors glistened;
I slowly stirred my drink.
And when you started to sing, you spoke with broken speech
That I could not understand,
and then you grabbed me tightly.

I won't let go, I won't let go.
Even if you say so, oh no.
I've tried and tried with no results.
I won't let go, I won't let go.

He then played every song from nineteen ninety three.
The crowd applauded as he curtsied bashfully.
Your eyelashes tickled my neck with every nervous blink,
And it was perfect until the telephone started
Ringing ringing ringing ringing ringing off...

The Best Concerts I Saw in 2006

In 2005 i only saw 2 bands that weren't my friends. Those shows were Jason Anderson and Casiotone For The Painfully Alone. Granted, both were fantastic, and of course my friends bands were fantastic (Kalpana, Get Awesome Ninjas, Pink Cammies) but this year really was epic.

I saw a lot of great shows this year, and some I even went to with girls. This is a nice new trend that I would like to continue in 2007. Strangely, my top three shows are all ones I went to alone. It was a tough task to narrow it down to a top 5, but there were some real standouts that were just absolutely stellar. Some of the close ups include: Kind of Like Spitting, Jonathan Richman, Damien Jurado, Flipper, Japanther, This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb, Jeffrey Lewis, and The Thermals.

5.
For fifth place, I would say the Mirah show was fantastic. This was the record release party for Mirah's new remix album entitled "Joyride." The album has great cover artwork of the Fremont bridge, which is quite close to my house, and the show was really close too - at the Here was what the flyer said: 8pm, $5 - Featuring performances, visuals and DJ styles by Mirah, Mt. Eerie, DJ Beyonda, screamclub, Bryce Panic, DJ Anna Oxygen, Pash".
I almost didn't go to this show because I was really getting into sanding my Vespa beforehand, but then Dan twisted my arm and we drove off in the rain even though it was super close. When we walked in Calvin Johnson was selling merch and Phil Elvrum was playing guitar and singing. There were tons of cute girls there and this one band had a song about being a pedestrian and how they love walking around. But I don't even know what band that was because all the acts were so pretentious that they didn't introduce themselves. However, Mirah was super cute and her songs are fantastic and I absolutely loved it.

4.
Earlier in the year, on June 8th at the Wonder Ballroom Joe and I saw The Streets and Lady Sovereign. I didn't really "get" lady sov, but the Streets were so great. They busted out all these songs I had forgotten about and it was really dancy. The crowd was super hip with lots of those tee shirts that have offset designs on the bottom and sides that I own none of. Mike Skinner poured brandy straight into peoples' mouths in the front and it was like a big party. It was fantastic. North Star Ballroom at 635 N. Killingsworth Court. This show took place on November 26, 2006.

3.
So the only reunion show on this list took place at the Roseland Theater on July 26. I have seen Weezer play three times and all three were really cool, but none of them were as rad as when I saw THE RENTALS this summer. Ozma, one of my old favorites opened and they weren't as great because they changed some members, but The Rentals were awesome. Matt Sharp came out dancing wearing an Ozma tee shirt and big glasses strapped on to his head. He bounced around and they played a ton of hits, up to and including "I Just Threw Out The Love of My Dreams" which is technically a Weezer song. The moog synths sounded great and the Matt's singing was top notch. The crowd there was kind of jockish, strangely and I went with a friend but after they played "Friends of P" and I left I called him on the phone and he was across town at some bar, so I consider this show to be one I went to solo.

2.
Okay so imagine you're driving cross country in the snow and by accident you stop in some weird town in the middle of nowhere and imagine the singer of your favorite band is playing an acoustic set at a crappy bar and no one is there but you and also imagine he played your favorite song by said band. This is what happened to me in February when I saw Bob Nanna play in Iowa at Gabe's Oasis.

1.
In an ironic showing of capitalism prevailing for a socialist singer, the best show I went to see this year was also the most expensive. I shelled out $27 to see BILLY BRAGG play at the Aladdin on October 2, 2006. It was so fantastic. I once again went by myself and sat IN THE FRONT ROW! Billy Bragg is so charming and his songs are so punk rock and, dare I say, emo. He had the best stage presence and banter of anyone I've ever seen play. I can't believe I almost didn't go to this show. I loved it!