Archies 2007

Seems like a tradition worth keeping, so we'll see how many I can come up with.  Warning - you may notice a theme.

• Change - not the coins, but the existential state
• Creative Kidstuff - taking all the guesswork out of those nephew/niece gifts
• Caribou and Dunn Brothers coffee - all the warm fuzzy of local, all the convenience of chains
• Remember the Milk and Mint - let the internet organize for you
• The Heights Theatre - cool and nearby, double ++
• Basements and garages - hmm, let's put that box somewhere and forget it for 3 months
• Ice chippers - to allow us to get into the garage in question
• The Q50 - maybe not "essential" downloads but at least "fun"
• IKEA - yes you can furnish your house from one store, if you're handy with an allen wrench
• Very Short List - a daily email that is actually quick and useful
• Facebook goes nuclear - is it still wasting time if you're doing it with friends?
• Finally having a frickin DVR - I know I'm shallow
• Ax Man Surplus stores - I probably laughed more here than anywhere in months
• The Electric Fetus - terrible name, great record store
• Gmail adds IMAP -  I find I like free things that work incredibly well
• Neighbors who bring you pies and cookies
• Hound Dog Pet Hotel - we'd never had to use a kennel before, but it turned out great
• Soul Jazz and Numero Group Records - awesomely consistent, consistently awesome
• Google Reader - finally RSS really is simple
• Turner Classic Movies - yeah, still
• Onion AV Club - yeah, still
• Surdyk's Liquor and Cheese Shop - yeah, distilled... oh and great wine/beer/food selection too
• Columbia Sportswear - winter schminter
• Neighborhood restaurants - of which there are plenty in MSP
• Being the old guy - I'm taking classes where the average age is probably 10 years below me, so I get to be the wise and weird one, and oh how I can fill that role
• Magazines like the New Yorker, the Atlantic, Harper's, Dwell, Readymade, and Good - pretty much why my "books read" list hovers around zero (and I'm scared that one day I will accept those free issues of The Economist I keep getting offered and I'll never go outside again) 
• The "In Rainbows" experiment - I'm always glad when success doesn't diminish nerve, but enhances it; oh yeah and the music was good too
• Fond farewells - and anticipated reunions

Sing the 2007 Songs

Well I kind of got this to work this year - so here's a fairly arbitrary sampling of some good 2007 musical productions:

They Just Keep On Coming, The Hits

I'm not sure how many more "oh my god I can't believe someone figured out how to do this" music web sites we're going to end up with, but the latest is Critical Metrics. Combining the references of something like Metacritic with the tunez of stuff like The Hype Machine, it's yet another excellent stop on the path to the New and Good.

And speaking of Hype, that site has also added a nifty "radio" function, streaming out songs from various music blogs, for when you'd rather have someone else decide. Why not?

Today's Quote

James Murphy - LCD Soundsytem: "I have other things I want to do with my life. We only get one life, and I look with incredible sadness on people like the Rolling Stones. I find them really depressing. Not to make fun of them, but when you look at these musicians, you interview them and they're on a comeback or something and they're like, 'Well, I just don't know what else I'd do,' I find that to be the most depressing thing in the world. I can't think of a worse reason to make a record, just because you don't know what else to do. It's like here's a list of shit I wish I had time to do; go fucking do some of it, you jackass."

whoa, two posts in the same day...

Ted Leo in The A.V. Club

With his new album Living With The Living just hitting, old ND homeboy Ted Leo is on the interview rounds (like, a lot!), so here's a good one from The A.V. Club. He even adds a comment too - that's dedication.

Party With Me, Punkers

Life as an unconnected Day Partier at SXSW can be fickle – if I can get in to a party, then so can anybody else (it's the quantity of them that bothers me, not the quality) – but the price is right. Wednesday was rainy so I ditched my initial plans and caught Ghostland Observatory at the KEXP broadcast, and while they were more subdued than their truly amazing performance at the Austin City Limits festival last fall, can’t hardly hold that against them. They know how to work a crowd and create a fun atmosphere, and while their dance-pop is often a bit standard, when they fully lock onto a groove they don’t let go.

I then made it down to some Denton TX party featuring Midlake, who had some tech problems with their piano (pet peeve #1 – when a band does a 45 minute sound check for a 20 minute show) but fortunately played long enough to make it worthwhile. And their performance of “Roscoe” further cemented it’s position on my Great Song list. Yes I almost wept.

Thursday I met up with a couple friends and we did some aimless wandering around Red River, catching a mini-set of Sally Timms and Jon Langford, then over to the Scoot Inn for a taste of the Brooklyn Vegan party. The new management has really opened up the back patio for shows, plus the Ice Cream Man was there giving out free treats, so that’s a good start. Hella started playing and I admit that’s not really my thing, so I opted to go inside for Brothers and Sisters instead, then back out for Mew. Considering they’ve apparently been around for a while, boy do they all look like 16-year-olds. That Danish lifestyle must be good for ya. I was also pleased that they could really pull their layered sound off live (effects pedals = layered sound, I guess).

For Friday, I’m going to get lazy and point you to Pitchfork, as I spent most of the afternoon camped at Emo’s with them. Especially once I figured out that if I left I’d have an easier time getting in the governor’s bathroom than back in there. But the Forkers showed their muscle by bringing out a superb lineup – Fujiya & Miyagi, taking imitation to such sincere heights of flattery that it becomes interesting in its own right (at least I dig the whispery vocals); The Ponys, loudest band of the day by far, though with some muddy sound because of/despite that; glimpses of Beach House and Menomena; 30 minutes of aerobics with Girl Talk and his laptop full of music snippets (I’m not cool enough on the latest club tunes to recognize most of his rap samples, though); and a rousing closing set by Peter Bjorn and John. Not a lot of elbow room but still a jolly day.

Saturday found me wandering again, as the added bonus of St. Patrick’s Day on a weekend brought out ever more drunken fun-seekers. I checked out the Mess With Texas party at Red 7 before that line got out of control, and caught Deerhunter and The Black Lips. Also a sign announcing free Dewar’s… at 1 pm. Could get innaresting. Deerhunter had a good sound and some odd performance-arty moments (bass player douses guitar player with water, guitar player tries to kick him and falls down, gets up with blood on face, etc.), and I literally had to come home and Google their singer to see if he was “okay.” He mainly performed wearing a green sundress and is one of the thinnest people I’ve ever seen. Turns out he has something called Marfan’s Syndrome, so at least he’s not just strung out or wasting away and everyone’s too cool to step in.

Then it was over to Club DeVille and Hot Freaks blogger party, though I found a chair and a magazine while the Young Knives played in the background somewhere. The Rosebuds got me up on my feet and dancing to my limited extent, with the most exuberant show of the weekend. Their singer also diced it and cut his cheek – am I a bad luck charm or something?

The afternoon sort of dribbled away there, as the line to get in the other half of the party looked intimidating, and I wasn’t that concerned with seeing the Polyphonic Spree again. So instead I took in a film fest screening of Monterey Pop, and lemme tell you, if Janis Joplin, Otis Redding or Jimi Hendrix had played this weekend, they would have been the most exciting shows in town by a factor of hundreds. 40 years, people. Are we making progress??

The Lala Peel Session

The internet continues to make music obsessing easier and faster - now only if it provided an income I'd be set. Those adopting mp3 blogs as the 21st century's radio (and who own Macs) should check out Peel, an iTunes lookalike that will grab songs and blog pages while you steam your milk or whatnot. If you like what you hear, click one thing to download and another to add it to your iTunes. Who needs all those expensive servants?

They might come in handy fetching the old CDs from your closet that you want to trade on Lala, however. I'm just getting started on this, but the story goes that if you have some discs that don't come out of hibernation much, you can send them off to new homes and get a different one for $1.75, shipping included. I'm not sure yet how often the, you know, good CDs actually become available (is anyone really crazy enough to give up their Numero Group discs? I hope so...), but for those "gee I've always intended to check that out but I'm sooooooo lazy" albums it seems worth the gamble.

The problem remains that it's quite possible for a lad to spend so much time acquiring music that there's not much left to enjoy it, but I'm sure I'll come up with a system. Do iPods work in the shower?

Some Good Songs of 2006

Day Player - Austin City Limits Fest

Between proscrastination and absent-mindedness, 3-day passes for this year's ACL festival were gone before I thought about buying one, but I also think I'm now more comfortable in the "one big day" role vs. the three-day marathoners. Let's say I'm more of a sprinter. Or a power-walker, perhaps. All that stamina - who even wants it? So Saturday was it for me.

I forgot to check the batteries in the camera before heading out, so readers will need to content themselves with the 2.5 billion other photos of this on the internet. Just imagine my usual perspective - a ways back from the stage, off to one side, right next to the group of shirtless 18-year-old guys shouting and staring intently at their phones.

A good mix of old and new faces for me, the day began with Marah (the 11:45 choices were fairly slim) who at least went ahead and segued right into a cover of the Who's "Baba O'Riley" instead of pretending their songs sounded nothing like it. And they had the best between-song jokes - one guy looked over the sunbaked crowd and explained, "When we found out we were playing this festival, I got all excited and spent all my money, like $8000 on a new light show. Hope you're fucking digging it."

Next was Federico Aubele, who plays a laid-back tango-meets-downtempo mix that is probably better suited to a dim dance floor than sunny field, but such is life. He and his crew seemed mostly unknown, but had the crowd swaying en masse by the end of the set.

(A quick weather note - yeah, hot and humid, what else? But never brutal, with occasional awesome breezes and cloud cover. And the heat does get the clothes to come off, though not always on the people you want to see. If only certain cops were allowed to work shirtless, and frat brothers forbidden to...)

Then several hours of sampling, including French rockers Phoenix (decent, never exciting), Austin oddball duo Ghostland Observatory (great "show," so-so music), Nada Surf (a bit of a letdown, as they have a number of songs I like but sounded too tame), TV On The Radio (I couldn't get very close, but their unorthodox, not-all-that-catchy songs were soon driving away the idly curious), and the venerable Los Lobos (still venerable).

The best show of the day came from Calexico, which serves me right for underestimating them. One of those bands I've managed to see, without really meaning to, probably a dozen times now (they seemed to play every SXSW party for several years there), they punched things up considerably for the festival setting. At least 3 or 4 songs wound up in an extended, big full-band frenzy I associate with the end of a show, but then they'd just start up on another one. And this is a band that doesn't just put 8 guys on stage for no reason - pedal steel, accordion, trumpets, vintage keyboards and lots of little shaky percussion things all used to full effect. Plus guest warbler Salvador Duran, who I know nothing about but would guess is someone impressive. Okay guys, I'll never doubt you again.

Fittingly, the next act I really caught (I won't count watching The Raconteurs on a video screen from behind a tree 1/3 of a mile away) was Iron and Wine, recent Austin transplant Sam Beam's excellent group, which really does seem to be a band now and not just him, a guitar, and wonderful vocals. Not that he's forsaken those last few, fortunately. Rocking a beard big enough to hide several spare capos, Beam's warm and lush voice is his biggest asset, and he wisely keeps it prominent even with a louder racket going along. I apparently missed the point where he became a big deal among the youth of today (and frankly don't really get it either), so was taken aback somewhat by the excited "Woo!s" accomanying lyrics like "One of us will spread our ashes round the yard," but then we all know I am old and out of touch, so what's one more piece of evidence.

The night's big headliner (other than Willie Nelson, who I decided to skip for crowd-control reasons) was Massive Attack, who I'm so late in coming to that it hardly seems worth trying to catch up. But they provided some tasteful beats, a good lighting backdrop, and Horace Andy, so the few songs I took in went down fine.

Then it was on to the deceptively short shuttle bus line, where I only realized we would be making 4 long switchbacks much too late to change my mind. One downside to the Day Pass - you only get one chance to get the logistics figured out.

Anyway, the kids and rockers are back out there again today, while I'm safe inside, sitting down and out of the sun and rain. You tell me who more hardcore.

And Party Every Day

Just getting around to a SXSW music wrap up, or more accurately a "freeloader going around to day parties during SXSW" wrap up. For locals, there seems less and less incentive to participate in the official festival when there are literally dozens of free shows going on all day all over town.

I have some photos up at Flickr, with highlights of the few days of music including Ted Leo & The Pharmacists (twice), Jose Gonzalez, Art Brut, the Go! Team, Dengue Fever, Calla, Spoon, The Fiery Furnaces, The Crystal Skulls, The Essex Green, Rogue Wave, and of course catching brief samples of many other bands who I never identified. Yes, the lines and invitations and rsvp's can get a little annoying, but when I remember I'm not paying for any of it, it's hard to complain.

I Believe It

Just as soon as I was feeling halfway savvy, checking around on various mp3 blogs occasionally, here comes The Hype Machine and reduces me to trembling. But... juh... man, I should learn more about computers. I'm starting to feel like any half-baked idea I've ever had turns out to already exist, full-blown, 25x better. What is left to contribute but my gratitude?

Holiday Tunes

For me December doesn't usually mean so much Christmas music (though you gotta have some Bing Crosby sometime) as thinking back on the music for the year. And let me tell you, there's a lot of it. I could probably make an equally long list of records I haven't gotten to yet.

Trying to hang with the tech-savvy, I have created an iMix on iTunes (yes iThink this iThing is getting out of hand) with some of my 2005 faves. Listen and listen well.

For those not on the Apple bandwagon, here's a big list:

• SONG - ARTIST - ALBUM
  
• The Purple Bottle - Animal Collective - Feels
• Chewing Gum - Annie - Anniemal
• Hope There's Someone - Antony & The Johnsons - I Am a Bird Now
• O, KY - Archer Prewitt - Wilderness
• Do the Whirlwind - Architecture In Helsinki - In Case We Die
• Formed a Band - Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock & Roll
• Evil Eye - Ash - Meltdown
• Don't Run Our Hearts Around - Black Mountain - Black Mountain
• Powers - Blackalicious - The Craft
• Cold Hands (Warm Heart) - Brendan Benson - The Alternative to Love
• Burn That Broken Bed - Calexico & Iron and Wine - In the Reins EP
• Bees - Caribou - The Milk of Human Kindness
• My Own Face Inside the Trees - The Clientele - Strange Geometry
• The Mask - Danger Doom & Ghostface - The Mouse and the Mask
• 16 Military Wives - The Decemberists - Picaresque
• Wrong Time Capsule - Deerhoof - The Runners Four
• We Were Gonna - Dengue Fever - Escape from Dragon House
• Heard Somebody Say - Devendra Banhart - Cripple Crow
• Mystified - Dirtbombs - If You Don't Already Have a Look
• Forget Myself - Elbow - Leaders of the Free World
• Knock That Door - Enon - Lost Marbles and Exploded Evidence
• Around the Corner - The Evens - The Evens
• Here Comes the Summer - The Fiery Furnaces - EP
• Time to Undress - General Elektriks - Cliquety Kliqk
• Your Little Hoodrat Friend - The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday
• Jezebel - Iron & Wine - Woman King EP
• This Time It Will - Jeff Hanson - Jeff Hanson
• Hwy 5 - John Doe & Neko Case - Forever Hasn't Happened Yet
• Failure - Kings Of Convenience - Failure EP
• Paradiso - Konono N1 - Congotronics
• Tribulations - LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem
• '75 aka Stay With You - Lemon Jelly - '64-'95
• Just Stand Back - Low - The Great Destroyer
• I'll Be Yr Bird - M. Ward - Transistor Radio
• I Can Not Have Seen the Light - Magnolia Electric Co. - What Comes After the Blues
• Apply Some Pressure - Maximo Park - A Certain Trigger
• Empty - Metric - Live It Out
• Way West Way - Mommy and Daddy - Duel At Dawn
• Yekermo Sew - Mulatu Astatke - Broken Flowers Soundtrack
• Off the Record - My Morning Jacket - Z
• Baby We’ll Be Fine - The National - Alligator
• Star Bodies - The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
• Forecast Fascist Future - Of Montreal - The Sunlandic Twins
• Black - Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy
• What's It Like Mary Jo? - The Orange Peels - Circling the Sun
• Atmosphere - The Oranges Band - The World & Everything In It
• My So-Called Celibate Life - Pernice Brothers - Discover a Lovelier You
• Today - The Ponys - Celebration Castle
• White Wave - Portastatic - Bright Ideas
• Where There's a Road - Robbie Fulks - Georgia Hard
• Outnumbered - The Rosebuds - Birds Make Good Neighbors
• Two Dedications - Sam Prekop - Who's Your New Professor
• Rollercoaster - Sleater-Kinney - The Woods
• I Turn My Camera On - Spoon - Gimme Fiction
• Chicago - Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
• Psyclone! - Super Furry Animals - Love Kraft
• Cells - Teenage Fanclub - Man-Made
• Amerimacka - Thievery Corporation & Notch - The Cosmic Game
• From: Skulls - Thunderbirds Are Now! - Justamustache
• It's All the Same - Wilderness - Wilderness

Anyone interested in some "Best of 05" CD swapping, hit me at gregrmurphy at gmail.com

Ready For The House

So yeah, I was there man for Jandek's first US show, in Austin on August 28. And here's what went down.

First off, just about any show would seem cool in the Scottish Rite Theatre, a Masonic temple built in the early 20th century. Many secrets about the world are contained within; coming soon on the schedule is a stage production of Charlotte's Web.

Next, this was one seriously reverential crowd (and not as totally male-dominated as I'd figured). When the house lights just baaaaarely started to dim, the entire place fell completely silent and stayed that way for several minutes. I was torn between yelling out "I want your baby, Jandek!" or some other stupid thing, and savoring the rare feeling of belonging to a respectful audience. (I chickened out and went for the latter.)

And then there he was - ghostly pale (albino??), wearing black pants, a dark blue shirt, and a black fedora-type hat. He walked on the stage, slowly opened his guitar case, strapped it on and away we went. He had several youngsters playing with him, two drummers and a bass (bet they're glad they answered that "musicians wanted" ad).

Which, I guess, brings me to the music. I've listened to a few of his records a few times, but wouldn't call myself a devotee. Here's why - every song involves him playing his axe in a manner that can only be described as "chicken scratching," while both drummers play random noises (one of them was into taking his cymbals off their stands and rubbing them on the other drums...) and the bassist freely explores his frets, with no recognizable rhythm, melody or structure emerging. Every now and then he'll lean to the mic and talk/sing his lonesome lyrics (which actually are evocative), then it's back to strumming & plinking. My biggest curiousity was whether he'd ever touch the tuning pegs, cause like how can he tell? I think he may have once, however, so I can only assume it all sounded right to him.

Anyway, this same pattern was reproduced maybe 12-15 times, only the lyrics changing. And after precisely 90 minutes, the guitar went back into the case, and our man strolled back off stage. Do I even need to tell you there was no between-song patter? Or ironic cover songs?

Given his schtick, I can't answer why he waited this long to start performing; it's not like he had a lot of technique to hone. But in any case, one more of life's mysteries has resolved itself. Watch for announcements of Bigfoot's State Fair tour any day now.

The prescription is rock

I was able to catch Ted Leo + Pharmacists on Sunday night at Emo's, and they put on a stellar show as always, despite the Texas humidity once again wreaking havoc on Ted's "rare" retro equipment. We even got a quick Rush cover, if I'm not mistaken.

Ted was one of the first people I met at Notre Dame, as I had a radio show following his ("The Hardcore Show" of course, back in his straight-edge days) my first year. It's been a treat watching his progress over the years, going from obscurity to MTV2/Conan O'Brien level success without changing his ethos, watering down his music or (most impressively) burning out. But he's married now and may not keep touring forever, so if he comes to your town, I say see him now and live with no regrets.