Shameless Plug
So… I play in a band. We started recording a cd in the fall of 2005, 6 months after I joined. We just released it. The experience was educational. Everyone in the band had some sort of life changing event, including a band changing event. I like most of it. It’s tough critiquing something you’re [...]
Two Gallants see a West Indian Girl go to Dr. Dog
I had a surprise business trip come up this week that is forcing me to see way more of the East Bay of San Francisco then I could ever imagine. In the 12 hours of preparation I had I made sure to fill up my iPod and grab a bunch of new cd’s that I [...]
You can tune a piano, but you can’t tuna fish !!!
Ever since inheriting my childhood piano from my parents, I’ve been meaning to get it tuned. Well, the time finally came. My band, the Preons, are planning on recording again very soon, and I would love to have some real piano on it. I’ve always really enjoyed the timbre that it produces, but the intonation [...]
Is Speakerboxx/The Love Below cool to listen to again?
I listened to the Speakerboxx half of Outkast’s 2003 Speakerboxx/The Love Below album today. Damn, it’s still a great album. It became so cliche 3 years ago that most people stopped listening to it (They kind of got the Gnarls Barkley treatment). Too much “Hey Ya” will do that to you. Which is as great, [...]
The Greatest Show on Earth
Last Thursday the Flaming Lips invaded the Paramount Theater. It was my third opportunity to see them, and every time I’ve been blown away. It’s one of those bands that you really have to be there to appreciate. I know that’s said about a lot of bands/shows/cities. But it’s damn true for the Flaming Lips. [...]
a Jealous Mistress
“The trumpet is a jealous mistress. She doesn’t allow me much time for anything else.” -Doc Severinsen The trumpet is a jealous mistress. The past six weeks have been hell on my trumpet playing. I took a week long class in the bay area, then got married and went to Hawaii for a week. Recently [...]
via Chicago
The Wilco show last night at Marymoor Park in Redmond was a really great experience. I hadn’t been to a show at Marymoor since WOMAD was staged there. They seem to be picking up the slack that the pier concerts used to do. I grabbed a bite to eat before hand from the Indian stand, [...]
Kanye asks Peter, Bjorn and John to be his backing band ???
Weird Indie bands, here’s how you know you’ve made it: Kanye West not only rhymes over your song, but asks you to be his backing band. That’s just what has happened to Peter Bjorn and John, as the Louis Vuitton Don has invited PBJ to accompany him when he plays Gothenburg, Sweden’s Way Out West [...]
Rufus Wainwright is ___________
… a damn fine musician. Does the guy sing anything bad? He is a diva to his core and loves allowing his voice to fill a room to the brim. His songwriting is interesting and his lyrics are socially relevant without sounding preachy or self righteous. … bat-shit crazy. When he came out in a [...]
Footprints
I love the album, Miles Smiles. It is one of the greatest albums of human expression. One of my favorite melodies is the Wayne Shorter track, Footprints. The melody is a treat to listen to; especially when played by Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Jack Dejonette, and Miles. enjoy:
Bonnaroo, Review Thursday
After getting our bearings in the campground it became evident to me that things were going to work out wonderfully. I was woefully tired due to my inability to sleep (or relax) on airplanes and subsequently kind of eager to get everything set up to relax. After setting up camp and taking a quick nap, [...]
Bonnaroo, review #1
So, its been a while since I arrived home from Bonnaroo. In the meantime, I’ve moved all of my belongings across town. I had meant to write this earlier, but I knew that it would have to wait until I, one, digested Bonnaroo, two, moved, and three, had some time to think about the Grand [...]
so it goes…
Life sure can be funny sometimes. I’m sitting in my basement listening to the new Preons tracks on my headphones through myspace. We started recording that album about 6 months after I moved into this house. Now, a year and a half later, 40% of that band is gone and the new iteriation is going [...]
says who?
How does music become popular? It seems there is no rhyme or reason for something to gain the all important buzz. The all-important buzz can be the difference in an album from being a 1k pressing from discmakers to a guitar players retirement. If the answer is, these bands are more talented and they music [...]
Alabama
Here’s a beautiful version of John Coltranes’ tune, Alabama. It’s so simple and so moving. It is the quartets reaction to the 1963 bombing of the 16th street Baptist Church in Birmingham Alabama. The KKK planted dynamite in the basement of the church attempting to instill fear in the civil rights movement. Four young girls [...]