RIP

DA BOOPA DA BOOPA

Can You Feel It?

Collage: jESiO

Pics: jESiO and the internet

Lucero at Jewish Mother

Got there just in time. Opening band Augustine were onstage tuning and my friends Flies With Honey saved a booth seat by the stage for me. Sweet.

The only band I know tonight is Lucero. I heard Micah from ELT and a couple of guys who work at Alpha were in Augustine but I didn’t know what to expect. Never even heard of Glossary.

Augustine starts. It’s country…but I’m not squirming? What’s this? I thought I was allergic…Essentially, Augustine is the Claritin for all of us ailing from this affliction with the CMT crowd. So drawn to Nashville yet so loathe contrived music.

And there’s a Fender. Being played well. These guys have a great stage presence and write and perform exceptionally well—especially when it’s not their full time job. The steel lap guitarist was fun to watch. His shoulders were popping and bobbing and weaving. He was played metal in his head, I think.

I recommend anyone check them out at a larger venue. Jury is still out on bar-size venues like Hell’s Kitchen. Apparently they’re playing with Long Division soon at 37th and Zen, but I can’t find the band’s website anywhere, so no links and no pics.

Glossary played next. They’re from Mufreesboro, TN, which to anyone into live music, you will know this is the nearest town to Bonnaroo. I like them based on this. Check out their Myspace and decide for yourself. The songs and stage swagger wasn’t bad. It also was nothing original or particularly inspiring. I was somewhat reminiscent of The Black Crowes.

Lucero you are my hero…Shit, that doesn’t rhyme. Guess that’s why I’m not the songwriter and rather the fan/critic. This was such a great night for Rock. That’s right Rock, not rock. These guys aren’t the loudest I’ve heard or the rowdiest…but whatever they did to that crowd at the Jewmom last Sunday, they brought the rock show kids out in full force.

There was a bottle of red wine being passed through the crowd. There was crowdsurfing! I hadn’t seen that in a decade! Sweet! Until they almost broke the light rig…one can was dangling for a while there.

During “Can’t Feel A Thing” the entire throng of bodies was fist and/or beer and/or girlfriend in the air, everyone singing along. It’s the moments like this that make rock concerts the best ones to go to. Yeah, you can feel claustrophobic at times. Yeah, your shoes are usually gross and your hair’s stuck in weird positions by the end of it. Sometimes you have that hangover whiplash thing going on for three days. Sometimes agresso-dudes are bogarting the dance floor. But…the communion of a sing-a-long for a non top 40 song is momentous. It’s you realizing you are experiencing the exact same emotion as everyone else in the room. It’s fun.

They had wind instruments. It wasn’t a jammy-jazzy vibe, though. It was Percy Sledge interludes with the best in today’s Tennessee scene, just really good south music. Metal horns and pickup trucks and fine art…something like that anyway.

I like Lucero records but after this, I’m converted. They were so good live that even if I go back and listen to their albums (which I previously thought were hard to define and thus mildly uninspiring), I’m going to know what they look like on stage and what they do to their audience and I’m going to like them more effortlessly.

Lunch

pic: jESiO

Waaaayy too much natural light in the window, but you get the idea. It was freezing outside, yet sunny. Let's pretend we're on a patio in Capri for a minute...Alas, it was just my dining room :(

Take A Picture It Lasts Longer

I just discovered HereNorth Photography out of New Jersey.

The pallete is subtle and mundane in the best way--the way that makes you see seventeen shades of beige.

Or make you think you've been there before.

Maybe you have. Photographer Adriana Cruz uses a lot of items from her daily life (including her sister as a model and the homes of friends and family for setting).

The comfort level she has in her surroundings shines through in the photography. It's warm and familiar.

Check her out here.

Art of a Different Color

pic: lastheplace.com

pic: dsusa.org

Normally this blog pertains to music and art...a hodgepodge of colors or brainwaves that inspire me. Today's inspiration is a little different.

I had lunch with a friend on 37th and Hampton. I live on Colonial and New York. AKA: Not Far.

Over a $22 lunch, I complained about a few things in my life and she did the same. We weren't "woe is me," however, there was some self pity peppering the pita chips.

I walked over to Muddy Paws and bought my dog some treats. Ahh! Sunshine in the city! Walked back to my car and a kind sir pointed out my front tire was flat. Grr...

There was a gas station with an air pump on the same block. I cautiously drove there and realized I had no change. No cash even. Across the street was a Bank of America. Five dollars in ATM fees and two precarious trips crossing Hampton Boulevard during lunch hour later, I'm back at the air pump working on my tire. I'm frustrated.

I drive home and flip through radio stations. Commercial. Commericial. Commer--- The Heath Calhoun 400 coming to Richmond International Raceway!

Wait. What?

For those of you who don't know, Heath is an Army Vet whom I've known since childhood. Same church youth group. Same high school. Etc. I haven't seen him in years, but childhood friends generally don't leave the memory. I remember doing this hybrid hanglide/skydive thing with him at King's Island and the adrenaline rush lasting for what seemed like forever.

He joined the Army and went to Iraq. He lost his legs. He's one of the most successful people I know despite all of this. I'm not a good military writer and won't do justice to what great things need to be and have been said about him, so I'll post some links at the bottom of this if anyone's interested in specifics. 

Anyway, the point is this: Inspiration often comes in the forms of art, music, movies. The next time you're blessed to break down directly between a bank and a gas station, five blocks from home, on a warm sunny day, with legs to get you to the ATM and back, after dropping more than some people spend in a week on a salad, don't complain.

I live here in this military town but don't hang with a lot of miitary people. I don't go to their mall, their movies, their bar. Don't mingle, basically. So today I'm just stopping and taking a second to say THANK YOU. REALLY. Check out the links below for some great feelings.

Heath's Wikipedia page

Richmond Times-Dispatch article on the race being named for him

His profile on this year's Olynpics Paralympics Site

Heath wins the Crown Royal "Your Name Here" Contest

My Week (8 Days) in Rock

Tuesday: Academy of Rock at Jewish Mother

pic: missourilife.com

Kids playing loud rock. Dads throwing metal horns in the air while Moms videotape. Ahh..childhood memories. Wait. Nevermind. Nothing as cool as Academy of Rock existed when I was 12.

Friday: Flies With Honey at Gil's

pic: mike huizenga

All original set. I rarely get to hear only a snipet (it's more likely a three hour bonanza of indie, rockabilly, grunge, redbull). This was great. Matt gets way more into it when they're his own songs. It's more cohesive.

The sound guy there sucked. I heard the term "EQ Nazi" floating around. It was great to get so many Norfolk people down to a Beach venue...especially one so out of the way.

FYI: Gil's is in a shopping center on the corner of Holland and Shipp's Corner if any of you like your rock hard...metal, grunge, FM99 style.

Sunday: Lucero at Jewish Mother

pic: memphisflyer.com

I'm going to write a completely separate review on this tomorrow. I took pics but haven't had a chance to upload them (work work blah). Great night...First time I saw crowd surfing in close to a decade. It was real rock and a reason I hope the Jewish Mother remains cool in its new digs.  For now, check out AltDaily's preview of the show.

Wednesday: Today the Moon Tomorrow the Sun at Hell's Kitchen

pic: john cachero

I've blogged on them before.

And written for AltDaily about them.

And EFFING LOVE THEM.

For fans of Metric, sludgerock, eyeliner, SXSW.

Howlin

Bob Dylan with Allen Ginsberg at Jack Keruoac's grave

Howl is coming and it had better come to Norfolk. It opened the 2010 Sundance Film Festival to a packed crowd. Telling the story of Beat writer Allen Ginsberg's highly influential poem, Howl, and the censorship controversy surrounding it, I anticipate this film will have important parallels to today's indie culture.

James Franco (aka: My Favorite Actor Today) is playing Ginsberg. He's done the historical character before (James Dean movie and Milk). He's also a UCLA graduate in English who is now in duel graduate programs at NYU and Columbia. He won't be frivolous here. He's got enough education to understand the significance of the story.

pic: 4.bp.blogspot.com

Think hipsters are specific to the 2000s? Wrong. The Beats were the original hipsters.

From "Howl":

"angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night"

This is pretty much the same as what Modest Mouse's "Black Cadillacs" is about, without all the "fuck fuck fucking around." And speaking of f-bombs, if not for trailblazers like Ginsberg, the rest of us wouldn't be able to say or sing the right words for the moment sometimes...well, unless you're on the Oceanfront.

Genres

pic: derekerdman.com

Most Saturdays I either do a Pandora Station or set the IPOD to random...Last weekend, however, I ended up listening to (minus two) every Radiohead album...it was so amazing.

This weeks' not as awesome...However, in continuation of staying for a whole album...creating a mood, etc., here's what developed:

Lucero: 1372 Overton Park

Lucero: Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers

I'm seeing them live on Sunday and decided to do a couple of their albums for refresher. Heard they kicked it last weekend at SXSW, FYI. The rock is there more than country or punk I'd say. Though all their online reviews call them a mix of the two. I don't hear it. I hear good music, but the sound is on its own.

Lead singer Ben Nichols' vocals are rough. Not in a sexy howly kind of way (a'la KOL)...or a desparate poetic Cobain way either. They're straight up raw. They get really good in parts, but sometimes they're distracting. As a whole, though, I'm a fan and happy they're gracing the 757 with their presence.

Helio Sequence: Keep Your Eyes Ahead

It's a subtle album. More genre-defined than Lucero...but shifting seamlessly between atmospheric, indie, great intricate guitar,  straight rock...They're my favorite new discovery of 2010, even though random songs have ended up on my IPOD for two years now. Hearing them cohesively is sometimes a dealbreaker when it comes to bands you find on Pitchfork, etc. In this case, Helio has made the cut.

The soft strumming of "Shed Your Love"....for fans of Bright Eyes, Decemberists, Ryan Adams...then the very next song is "Keep Your Eyes Ahead" which is more fast paced with blurred indie edges, happy/poppy poor man's Smiths vibe but with slightly more guitar...love the secret little drum rolls throughout...

pic: userserve-ak.last.fm

After hearing Lucero and Helio...naturaly progression would be Ryan Adams...he ties the punk and alt-country together better than Lucero (for me)...he's not as rough around the edges...has a bit more pretty in his pissfire. Also, he's got the Helio Sequence connection--while he doesn't do it all on one album, if you listen to Ryan Adams' catalogue, he's got a LOT of genre morphing going on.

\

Ryan Adams: Gold

This is the kind of album that sucks you have to say is one of your favorites. It's his most commercial. Weird twist of fate his first single post-Whisketown was in Fall 2001 and entitled "New York New York."

It became an unofifical anthem and hopefully helped his career...I can't help but remember feeling similar to the feeling when your parents discovered Facebook.

But I love it. Love Sylvia Plath and harmonica. Love New York. Love "Stars Go Blue."

Ryan Adams: Love Is Hell

Off the bat, genre is flipped right round from Gold.

"Lyrical Scientist" begins...

Piano starts by itself. Then slows. Then Ryan's voice fast talking a'la Thom Yorke jibberjabber. But you understand all the words.

Then he's singing and playing and basically gives Tori Amos a giant run for her money. I'd love to see them duet/battle. How did I not notice this is Radiohead meets Tori? Any DJ's think they can mash this up? If you're reading this, DO IT! POST IT!

Album continues is its lazy day frolick.  By now, Ryan's graduated from Whiskeytown and moved onto a Dean Martin highball. If anyone regularly reads my Saturday playlists, you know I'm a fan of good covers. Ryan's version of "Wonderwall" by Oasis shows up here.

Haunting. Exactly what a cover song should be. He takes it and knocks it on its side. It's no longer pop. It's pain. I read Oasis took Ryan Adams on tour. Wish I'd seen that.

Art/Everywhere

This Spring and Summer, Granby Street is being transformed. Thanks to a few local, dedicated creatives, vacant storefronts all along Granby will be turned into a giant art exhibit.

Opening night is May 1, 2010. Stay tuned for more info and check out the links at the bottom of this post if you're interested in participating or attending.

 

Vacant Building in Greensboro

pic: historymarker.typepad.com

 

If you're an artist, I encourage you to submit. 

pic: sabrinawardharrison.com

This is an amzing opportunity for an audience of thousands.

Info/press pack

Call to Artists/How to Submit

Break You

Found this pic when cleaning out the attic. It's from Breaks Interstate Park in Grundy, VA (ie: where I grew up). I think I took it with my old Canon Elph (before digital cameras existed) but not sure.

Tattoo Blue

Tattoo Artist Gabriel Cece just posted his latest work on FB and I am inspired.

Also, I realized I'd never put him on my blog.

I wrote this for AtlDaily a few months ago.

This is one of my favorites. Reminds me of Tim Burton.

Check him out and let him draw on you. It's worth it.

Dear Daria

Halloween Idea #5

The March Halloween nominee is Daria from the most productive and artistic era of MTV: the 1990s.  I'm thinking Adam could be Trent. He already kind of looks like him. Quinn and Jane Lane costumes would also be no prob...

Pros: easy to make and funny.

Cons: maybe too easy? Adam and I may just end up looking like ourselves with old clothes on?

Only 7 months to go!

UPDATE:

I went as Daria to my friend Sarah's 90s party over the summer. Here are two pics from that night:

ramblin worker art profile

I just discovered Ramblin Worker via an old friend's FB.

Ramblin Worker (aka Steve MacDonald) is an artist from San Francisco who uses a sewing machine to make "paintings."

This is one of my favorites.

And this.

For all my bike friends in Norfolk and beyond :)

Check out his website for more. He also does various fashion and writing projects.

Guitars

Pete Yorn

Dear Pete: I love you. You're nonchalant and whimsical and mix enough humor and poetry to make me like all your songs.

Dear Everyone Else: You should also like Pete. He's a great musician and also a great guy. I've met him a few times and he's professional and fun at the same time. He has great taste in other musicians (check out his live shows, always good cover song choices).

pic:www.puremusic.com

Nick Drake

I'm just starting to get into Nick Drake. His voice was earthy and deep...strictly tone-speaking, he sounds similar to Rufus Wainwright. However, he's way less campy and way more rustic/accoustic. I wiki'd him and he was also batshit crazy. That's always a good quality in a dead 60's rock star.

pic:2.bp.blogspot.com

Thom Bjork

Yes. Yes. Yes. Bjork has Eurotrash ethereal high note squaw princess sleek rock candy DOWN. And Radiohead...same, but sometimes with more guitars. Everyone should check out their mashups. They're my favorite mashups online today.

Witchcraft

 Great hollow drum sound...70s sleaze vibe...hints of Danzig or Zeppelin/Sabbath (I think Withcraf is better than Wolfmother regarding 70s metal throwback, but others probably disagree). Then they pull out a ballad like "Sweet Honey Pie" and you hear Nick Drake or Leonad Cohen.

pic:www.pastemagazine.com

Foo's Cover Arcade Fire

Foo Fighters' cover of Arcade Fire's "Keep the Car Running": lots of energy. Dave Grohl's "whoa-oh"'s are sooo good. Wish I'd been there...the original song is great...but this one is Americana---like Springsteen went back to the 70s and pounded out a classic rock/indie rock hybrid.

Ben Gibbard's covers MJ 

Accoustic. Haunting. These thriller nights are not danceable. You don't envision zombies in 80s fashion doing the zombie shuffle. You sort of see whatever craziness Cormac McCarthy sees when he's writing a book...and at the same time you think the thrill of "Thriller" could be about th Romeo & Juliet kind of of crazy love.