Collective "memory"....

So I read this fascinating article in Wired today which explains how memory works as well as how fragile and malleable it is and how it can be manipulated.

I say this because I am now all the more chagrined that it took me almost a week to kick off this post, which is a bit of an experiment in collective memory.

Last week I blew off a LOT of steam with a LOT of people at the Doomtree show (by last count 13?). Some of these people were kinfolk and others I just met that night.

At the Wugazi after show, those of us that were still around circled around members of Doomtree and mixed it up with strangers while outside sleet was going for some kind of local record.

Since we were broken into little groups strategically placed throughout the venue like a league of assassins (kudos to Joe for that analogy), I thought it might be interesting to see the experience from other vantage points.

To put it more directly: I would like to invite others that attended to share their thoughts and favorite moments of the night in the comments. Also, I have an extra download code of No Kings if any y'all are lacking - first come first served.

Conversation topics might include:

Dessa's role in the group - are they holding her back or providing her with a platform for greater exposure?

Is it possible for my brother to be out in public without attracting the animosity of strangers?

Did you dress appropriately for the occasion? How do you know?

Before I open up the floor I will leave you with one of my favorite moments of the night:

The show is over and I am giving Shane shit for taking too long to select what he wants at the merch table. The crowd waiting to make their purchases is getting thicker by the second and Dessa is trying to navigate herself to the far side of it.

As she squeezes past, I am suddenly aware of these two teenage girls that are standing right next to me because they make an spastic but enthusiastic attempt to stop Dessa in this narrow aorta of space. Dessa looks at them both and quickly assures them that she would love to talk to them, but she is trying to find a comfortable space at the outskirts of this mass of people and she will stay right there for a while so come and find her, okay? And then she moves fluidly to the edges.

These two young women, I will never forget the look on faces at that moment - in an flash, their eyes said everything about crushing adoration, fan worship, or whatever you want to call it. They were freaked out and a little worried they missed or botched their chance to talk to their hero while also instantly intoxicated by being in such close proximity.

Should they ditch their place in the merch line and follow her right now? one of them asked the other. Her friend looked panicked; she didn't know!

"You can stay in line," I told them. "Dessa will be hanging out for a while. She wants to talk to you as much as you want to talk her." I said this with a casual certainty as I motioned over to another corner of the merch crowd where Lazerbeak was signing a fan's record, then I pivoted my gaze to another section where Mictlan was holding court with a group of folks.

The two girls seemed so grateful for this simple assurance - their devoted attention had been well spent all those countless hours because THESE TALENTED MUSICIANS WERE ALSO COOL PEOPLE!

It is an axiom that is proven so often I wonder why our default mental setting in the presence of musical talent is to assume the person wielding it is a self possessed asshole. Why do we always breathe a sigh of relief when someone whose art we admire turns out to be an affable and good natured person?

Oh, and if anyone could help me identify the song toward the very end of the set where all the members of the crew went batshit crazy-dancing I would be very grateful.

Reunion Round Table

So, I got a call from G$ this morning. He passed on the chance to see Van Halen this Friday. The tickets he could have picked up would have set him back $125 each but they are currently being scalped at $1,000 per.

His rationalization was thus: even though on paper it looked like a score, he couldn't get excited enough to justify even spending that much.

So the question begins to form in my mind - what possible reunion tour would have you so excited that you would throw caution to the wind? Cost be damned!

To frame this in the current times, no Lazarus like appearances are possible (i.e. Ramones); you gotta work with who is living today.

Doomtree Blowout

Tomorrow (Thursday night) I am going to this concert with ten other people. I have never been more certain of anything than this - we are going to be part of a helluva show.

I say "part of a show" because Doomtree concerts are participatory events. Not in the stereotypical hip hop way of being told to wave your hands, being told to make some noise (after you have waited two and a half hours past showtime for the act to take the stage). Doomtree come from the heartland and they are punctual and they don't have to ask for the crowd's enthusiasm because it is given freely.

Here are a few videos to whet your appetite. Doomtree can be very serious:

AND Doomtree can have fun. Warning: this video features a nearly nude Har Mar Superstar!

Here is one of the expertly shot tour diary entries that has been stoking the flames of my anticipation:

Lastly, this one is for Mr. & Mrs. G$ who refer to this concert as "going to see Dessa," I understand why you say it, but you might want to watch the video above this one or else you are in for a bit of a jolt when FIVE mcs take the stage at once:

Power Hour

So on Friday, G$ opened his home to an extensive road test of his new stereo system.

There are still a few kinks to work out but for the most part I am completely enamored. Most intriguing is this cd player that converts the signal to analog.

It sounds pretty amazing to hear a track that you know like the back of your hand and feel like it has never sounded better to your ears before.

The album that got the most play was Mark Lanegan's Blues Funeral and for good reason:

Another new album that definitely is going to spend a lot of time on my turntable is Arrow by the Heartless Bastards, on Friday night we played "Got To Have Rock 'N' Roll" and "Down In The Canyon" and both induced bouts of air guitar on the very first listen.

For some reason, I was really keen to turn G$ on to a hard pop band called Runner & The Thermodynamics. They have been defunct for over six years and subsequently the best link I can find for them is a MySpace Page. I still encourage you to check them out!

http://www.myspace.com/runnerandthethermodynamics

That was weird, I just got done playing the track "So Sorry" from their MySpace page and then suddenly I am listening to Duran Duran's "Save A Prayer".

What makes a concert special?

Part of my job is to run a major concert fundraiser every year.

I asked the band that we are going to book this year to play one of their older, "classic" albums in its entirety to put a special spin on the event. It was meant to be tied to the 20th anniversary re-release of said album.

Found out yesterday that the album re-release has been delayed by several months.

Now I have to come up with other angles to make this show stand out from a typical performance. This is so we can charge a little bit more money for the tickets and raise critically needed money for a worthy cause.

This is a open call to the select readership of this blog for suggestions. What can we ask the artist to do to make this show memorable?

Feel free to post your ideas in the comments section.

Mood music

SO - this is a topic that I always want to ask of folks but it is hard to bring up in polite conversation: What songs do it for you? Y'know put you in that romantic sexy mood that Valentine's Day is all about.

Here are a few of mine:

Alpha - "Sometime Later" - this entire album Come From Heaven was a big one for me for the longest time.

Jane's Addiction - "Summertime Rolls"

Chris Whitley - "Chain"

New Wet Kojak - "I Want To See What's Up With When You Move"

Morphine - there are a lot of tracks really, but this NSFW video wins because, well it has nudity in it.

tsurufoto presents... Late Last Night with Crystal (NSFW) from tsurufoto. on Vimeo.

Top 10 Sleep Songs

So I didn't get to post last night because my daughter would not stay asleep. It was like she was jacked up on some kind of stimulant.

As I lay on her bedroom floor, trying to lead by example, I started to formulate a list of songs with sleep in the title.

None of these are lullabies and very few could be put in the category of "soothing" but a few of them do tap into the frustration that I (and probably many insomniacs) felt last night.

Search "Sleep" on your iPod. I bet you have at least ten songs to make a completely different list. How do they rank against these? I leave that to you to make your case. Here's my Top Ten.

10) "Talking In Your Sleep" - The Romantics - aka their other hit. This catchy little number came up quick during the process and lodged itself in my head.

9) "Sleep!" - Big Black - not exactly what I would wish for my child or any other. But this whole exercise was a catharsis really.

8) "Sleep Tonight" - Rolling Stones - an overlooked song on an underappreciated album, this one probably comes the closest on the list to my paternal tone as I occasionally rubbed my wired child's back

7) "Sleeping With The T.V. On" - Double Dagger - I love this song from their last EP, Masks & I regret not making it out to their final show here in Chicago.

And hey, by coincidence my last post references falling asleep with the t.v. on, which is something I personally never do. Weird.

"Remember that night when my mouth forgot how to work? And you said 'we are most beautiful when we struggle'. Well, sometimes my life has more beauty than I can handle."

6) "No Sleep Til Brooklyn" - Beastie Boys - thank you Beastie Boys, now I have two catchy choruses running through my head and my daughter is still restless and it is quarter past one.

5) "Sleep Is The Enemy" - Danko Jones - it is sure starting to feel that way. This is a tough track off their last truly masterful album.

4) "I'm Only Sleeping" - The Beatles - thanks to Terri Hemmert's Breakfast With The Beatles program Sunday mornings on XRT, my son can usually identify who is handling lead vocals on a Beatles track. So the Fab Four get the #4 spot because this one might make it on a mix cd soon.

3) "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" - Nirvana - I realize that this is a Leadbelly tune. But I was first introduced to it during the Unplugged session. Ever since the reissue of Nevermind came out I have been pining for Nirvana. I held the $79 4LP set in my hands today and gave it some serious consideration before opting to pay $20 for a Le Butcherettes album. Having a Reckless Records in the Loop has made my lunch hour a dangerous and seductive thing.

"My girl, my girl..." - please go the f*ck to sleep!

2) "When You Sleep" - My Bloody Valentine - I remember reading how Kevin Shields and Co. were trying to capture the sensation of having just woken up from a deep sleep with the vocals on Loveless. They certainly nailed it.

1) "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" - The Tokens(?) - I am not 100% who did this tune originally. This is the one that I know and I have heard about a gazillion times. We put it on the first mix we made for my son because he was so into animals at the time. How many car rides have I belted out this song? Impossible to count, really. But in the end, it gets the top spot because it is truly a unique and rocking good time. Just try and keep up with all the crazy stuff they throw in there.

Hush, my darling don't fear my darling, the lion sleeps tonight.

Imagine you nod off on the couch with the t.v. on...

and you wake up to this.

I am still trying to figure out what I think about Die Antwoord. They have a head scratching car crash quality to them. How much is a joke? Who is in on it?

Their songs are super catchy but also irritating. They are like Satan's Black Eyed Peas.

But the fact that this was on broadcast television is pretty cool. Thanks to Dangerous Minds for helping me out tonight. It is late and I wanted to post about Anna Calvi but I can't do her justice tonight.

Alternatives to the Superbowl...

I went to Home Depot yesterday while the Superbowl was in full swing - turns out that is a great time to go if you want to get the undivided attention of their staff.

When I think of the myriad of alternative ways that I have spent Superbowl Sunday by far the coolest was in 1997.

Filmo, SD and I went to see the Brotzmann Tentet at the Unity Temple in Oak Park. I seem to remember it was in the middle of a snowstorm.

I can't find a video of that particular performance which is a shame because I think that week was the only time Mars Williams was in the group - I like Mars and I don't think he gets enough credit.

But here is one of the mighty Peter Brotzmann (a musical hero to Bill Clinton) and his tentet in 2004.

My already limited consumption of free jazz has narrowed to practically zero since having kids. Just watching this video makes it clear that I need to find some time to stare back at the abyss...

On this day in 2009...

P.O.S. just reached out through Facebook and reminded me that on this day two years ago his album Never Better was released. It ended up being my favorite album of that year.

This is what I had to say about it back then:

I can not adequately convey this album’s depths or multifaceted dimensions in just a three song go round of the iPod. This might be the only hip hop album I have purchased since Obama was elected. Maybe it has been the only one I have connected with because it triggers such a complexity of emotions. The irony of waking from a long dark nightmare and being blinded by the stark light of what is ahead.

P.O.S. is definitely a very skilled and passionate MC. He doesn’t spell everything out immediately but I believe patience pays off with this album. I have had a full year to digest this diverse collection of songs and they continue to reveal themselves to me while also getting my blood pumping – it is both hopeful and cynical, it is furtive while it walks in broad daylight. It is too big for just the backpackers but too fucking crazy for dilettantes.

Look for me to campaign hard for you to join me at the Bottom Lounge on Thursday, March 18.*

*(So, I managed to bring Shane, Wendi, G$ and Lorenzo along for the ride)

Favorite tracks:

Let It Rattle, Drumroll, Savion Glover, Purexed, Graves, The Basics, Optimist, Terrorish, Never Better, The Brave and the Snake.

HEY - if my blog manages to gain any readership before Feb. 23, 2012 there will be another chance to catch P.O.S. along with his crew of homies at the Bottom Lounge.

This time it will be me, G$, Mrs. G$, Shane, Wendi, Joel "Shut-Yer-Fucking-Face-And-Listen" Frieders, my brother Ben, and the one and only Joe G.

Punk Rock Girl

I just figured out my pick to represent songs about first love:

Well, my first love anyway.

When this song came out I was just a high school kid in love with a wacky punk rock chick.

We asked for Mojo Nixon/They said: He don't work here!

So we said: If you don't know Mojo Nixon then your store could use some fixin!!

Songs about First Love

I got an email yesterday from my friend RW. He was about to get a call from Sound Opinions to comment on an upcoming Valentine's Day episode. The theme was "Songs About First Love."

This is the song he picked and what he wrote about it that elicited the call:

"Scene of a perfect crime" - Concrete Blonde

I was always struck by this song. It's about first love, but it's about looking back at first love after, after we've been hurt, after we've become harder.

I guess it's a lament, it's grief.

You can never be that innocent again, so you never can be hurt like that again. First Love is the scene of a perfect crime.

"Whatever became of the child I was
I never want to lose her no
I won't give her up
and now my heart is harder,
my skin is getting tougher and tougher
That was another world then
That was another time
You can never go back to the place where love is blind
You can never go back to the scene of a perfect crime."

I don't have an immediate response other than I like his pick and his rationale.

What song would you pick to represent first love?