50 posts tagged “music”
I came across France's entry a while ago. By a guy named Sebastien Tellier. And it's awesome. Imagine if the Flaming Lips made dance music, and you couldn't understand a word Wayne Coyne was saying 'cause he's a French dude with awesome sunglasses (well, unless you spoke French).
So basically, that's all that needs to be said. Enjoy it. Because this is by far the coolest thing I've heard all year. Everyone needs to understand just how awesome this guy is. I also wish I had an all-white suit like that.
L.A. Guns are coming to Boise. I'm really tempted to go. Just to get drunk and kicked out.
Oh, and this song also rules:
Here's what I've been listening to lately:
Kraftwerk - The Man-Machine
Burning Spear - Hail H.I.M.
Om - Pilgrimage
The Velvet Underground - Loaded
Bum Kon - Drunken Sex Sucks (writeup coming soon over on W♥M! I really need to start cranking those out faster, and probably will now that Firefox 3 isn't a pain in the ass on Vox anymore!)
The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday
Big Black - Songs About Fucking
The Stooges - Fun House
Hot Water Music - Fuel For the Hate Game
The Pogues - Rum, Sodomy, & the Lash
Avail - Dixie
I haven't bought any records lately. And honestly, all I'm really looking forward to this year are Sigur Rós (but only if the vinyl release isn't like 50 bucks at the Record Exchange again) and The Hold Steady. No really interesting shows coming up. I kind of like the downtime and actually having some extra cash. Right now, I've got a good 60-some bucks saved up. I can't complain. I don't know when the next show we're playing is, but I hope it's not for a couple weeks, at least. I kinda feel like we should be spreading our shows out so we're not a "regular" thing that people will get bored with. I also kinda feel like we should be one of those bands no one will really know what to expect from, live. So far, we've pulled that off. Hopefully we can keep doing it.
In other news, I'm tired as hell from a restless sleep on my floor last night because of all the stuff stacked on my bed. And my back kinda hurts. On top of all the soreness from the weekend. But to be honest, it all kinda feels good. I enjoy work. It's too bad I hate employment and the restrictions that come with it. Oh, and I am definitely looking forward to my shoulders healing up so they don't feel like they're going to drop my arms when I lift my cab.
Oh, and I've done away with another way of talking to me. I quietly deleted both the Twitter and the Last.FM. Twitter just wasn't useful for me, and Last.FM is just kind of a crappy community full of really stupid people and trolls, for the most part. To be honest, I don't think anyone's really noticed I'm gone from Last.FM, which just validates that account's deletion.
Shows like every freakin' night! This is getting brutal! There's also a show tomorrow night at Ian's house and a show the night after at Neurolux.
Tonight was The Old Haunts (A Kill Rock Stars band featuring Tobi Vail from Bikini Kill; they sound like a more punk rock Old Time Relijun), Batman Vs. Predator (an awesome drum & bass noise/grind band), The Donna Vulture (straight-up New York Dolls style rock 'n' roll from here in Boise) and Sacco & Vanzetti (who sound kinda like something Plan-It-X would put out; they're basically my friends, Jake, Charles, and Ian, who also happens to be Erik's brother).
The show was a lot of fun. People really got into the touring bands. I thought the floor was gonna collapse under the weight of so many people dancing on it, and The Old Haunts' bassist had to move into the hallway by the kitchen because the room was so crowded he couldn't stand in it without getting run into by people dancing. The locals were a lot of fun. It was the first time I'd seen either of them. All in all, it was a good night.
The show was a damn good time. Hummingbird slayed, of course. They had a fill-in on bass, but he'd just gone on tour with them, so he was more than good enough. Those guys always rule live. Mike handed me a flyer for a show on June 8th with Empty Eyes, Skull Collector, and Murder and the Media Machine. That should be a good'un. The other local was Composure, and they had more a 90's straight edge vibe going on. Not really my cuppa tea, but they sounded pretty good, especially considering they had two fill-ins, including a bassist who'd had 30 minutes before the show to learn his parts.
The touring bands all shared a bunch of members between them, and, as a result, showed up in two vans instead of the three that would be expected. Saber Tooth Zombie set up on the floor. Their singer was really animated, and their sound seemed kinda rough, but they were engaging and a lot of fun. Life Long Tragedy was a bit more polished, playing thrashy stuff that's good for people to stomp around the floor to. Ceremony were fast, heavy, and impossible to take pictures of because of the excellent crowd reaction.
This was a pretty damn fun show. I should also point out that it's still very early in the tour, so everyone reading this can probably catch them, provided they read it within like the next couple days or something. Here's some crappy pictures to get you in the mood!
What is the most money you'd ever spend on a concert ticket?
I'm typically more hesitant to go to shows in venues because they're usually too expensive. Bars are usually better. Living rooms, garages, basements, and small outdoor shows are best because they tend to be either free, or really cheap. Usually no more than $5, and usually $1-3. And the crowds are better.
Actually, that's often one of the things that can make or break a show for me. Whereas venues tend to advertise on the radio and bring out lots of people who only go to huge shows and often have no idea how to behave at a show (often leading to fights, injuries, spilled beer on the floor, etc.), houses tend to just bring out the same general group of people and their friends to every show and create small local communities where pretty much everyone is friends with everyone else, or, at least, more or less courteous because that's how decent people act toward those they consider to be their peers (and who knows; that guy you talked to at the record shop might book your band someday).
And I cannot possibly stress the importance of that community enough. Here in Boise, we've seen plenty of people come and go with the trends over the years, and we've seen plenty of people become more deeply involved in the city's culture. And while it's not much, to be honest, there is nothing I'd trade it for. While I'm all for touring bands being able to go to as many towns as possible, because that in itself can affect a music scene in a positive way, I really don't feel it should be seen as a substitute for things that are locally produced.
The problem as I see it is that local scenes are losing their identities. A lot of hardcore bands from Boise sound exactly the same, stylistically, as hardcore bands from Salt Lake, who sound exactly the same as hardcore bands anywhere else. Indie rock bands ape the styles they hear popular bands playing and bring nothing new to the table. But there's another scene here that does have a pretty distinct aesthetic, with significantly less visibility.
For an example of what I'm talking about, take hardcore in the 80's (the DIY ethic of which is where the roots of indie rock lie in the first place). Bands like Descendents, Adolescents, and The Circle Jerks couldn't have come from anywhere but the L.A. Minor Threat, The Faith, and Bad Brains had different sounds entirely that were distinctly D.C. New York, Boston, San Francisco, and countless other scenes had their own unique sounds. By the mid-80's, hardcore bands started popping up in other places with totally unique sounds. The point is, by listening to a band, you could probably make a pretty accurate guess as to where they were from. This was due largely in part to the DIY ethic that held the scenes that produced them together.
What the internet has created, unfortunately, is a "too easy" way of hearing music from everywhere. Whereas local bands used to provide that initial contact with underground music, now it's easy to just skip that stage and listen to whatever the critics decide is cool at the click of a button. What this has lead to is a pseudo-underground that's just as bland and indistinct as the major label world it seems to think it's a reaction to. There's no local identity. Just a lot of bands trying to be bands from somewhere else and making boring music that lacks the context that made the bands they're aping great. And indie rock bands are rockstars now. They're touring in buses and staying in hotels rather than touring in vans and crashing on the floor of the house they just played at after everyone goes home. And it's great that they're able to tour comfortably. Don't get me wrong. But there's no interaction with or dependence on their fans forcing them to form a relationship with the people who are supporting them, anymore. There's usually nothing stopping them from disappearing backstage, getting paid, and driving off after a show without saying a word to anyone.
Thankfully, a lot of bands understand this and still keep it DIY, especially in the hardcore scene. Unfortunately, over the years, a lot of bands haven't stayed true to where they came from. I'm all for listening to what you like and keeping up with what's out there, but just keep in mind that that 20-30 bucks you spent to go to Warped Tour or see Death Cab For Cutie or Against Me! at the huge, corporate-owned club downtown with all the kids who won't even talk to you or remember your name would've probably been better spent (or saved) seeing your friends' bands play to their friends (and your friends) in your friends' living rooms, because those bands are the only things keeping real independent music alive and relevant right now. There are lots of good bands out there, but the ones that are directly relevant to you - music made by people you actually know - are the only ones that actually matter.
Went to the Palm Reader show tonight.
It was shaping up to be a good'un.
Adam and Rob played acoustic sets. Rob's was three songs long and included a Robert Johnson cover, except turned into an ovaltine commercial. Adam's was longer, and really good. Only played one song off the Drip Drip Drop CD, but the others were all cool, too.
A band called Amo Joy from Indianapolis played. They were impossibly twee and fun as hell.
Palm Reader remembered to bring the 4-track, and actually started recording.
They got a few minutes of good-ass jam in.
Doug Martsch came out to see them.
And the fucking neighbor came over to complain and the whole thing got shut down. Lame.
Got nice and drunk with Robbie and Cade after the show. That was nice. Made some nice sounding plans for future parties. Stuck around, sobering up, 'til about 4 AM and gave Cade a ride home. I introduced him to Spiritualized, Yo La Tengo, and Times New Viking. I have no idea whether he was sober enough to remember any of them. Keep in mind that this guy used to be a Mormon. Guess he just understands how much more fun corruption is.
Got some nice sounding plans for tomorrow.
Got some good plans for this month. Totalitarian family face-melting, etc.
Sorry to The Heavenly States for missing your show.
Maybe next time, assuming your turnout was better than Tyler's house's, and there is a next time.
...Who Calls So Loud (ex-Portraits of Past/Funeral Diner) May 17th (thanks to IllicitBeef for the heads-up on that).
65daysofstatic May 24th.
Ceremony May 26th.
Casiotone For the Painfully Alone May 30th.
Russian Circles June 8th.
Totalitarian Family (Palm Reader/Mystick Crystal Revelations) June 16th (we're playing that!) at Tyler's house, and maybe at Baby Sale house June 13th (Palm Reader alone might be playing that, not us).
I think it's awesome that there even is a house called Baby Sale.
I didn't get any pictures of Blacklisted or Genghis Tron because Blacklisted started a half hour early and I wasn't there for most of their set and I was too far away to get any good pics during Genghis Tron's set. Also, Converge is the single hardest band on Earth to take pictures of. Especially when your camera's battery is getting ready to croak. Seriously! Those dudes don't stop moving! Ever! Anyway, this was the best show Idaho has ever seen. Genghis Tron, Baroness and The Red Chord (who I didn't think I'd like nearly as much as I did) killed it. Converge killed it even harder. I caught Blacklisted's last couple songs, and they played pretty good straight up hardcore. Basically, this show ruled, and I feel incredibly sorry for anyone who wasn't there. Writeup over on W♥M will be up sometime tomorrow!
