Hot Ass Show This Weekend

I'm still not too convinced that "blog promotion" works all that well, but I've gone ahead and included the poster for this Saturday's show here. I'm especially excited about this one as we are playing with a band called Flora V. Fauna. The bass player in the band is none other than Vern Rumsey, who just happened to be in one of my favorite bands of all time, Unwound! Their albums, especially Fake Train, Leaves Turn Inside You, and Repetition spent a huge amount of time on heavy rotation for me. Especially during the mid to late 90's. Well, Vern and I have a mutual friend in Rob Allison, and Vern contacted me about setting up a show sometime. I said, "sure that sounds awesome," and now we've got a kick ass event this Saturday!

UPDATE: I've just learned Seattle's weekly alternative paper, The Stranger did a small write up about the show. They discussed how Vern from Unwound has a new trio making their Seattle debut, and how Speaker Speaker bring the jumpy pop punk. Funny enough, I was responsible for booking and setting up the show, but The Vague Prophets weren't even mentioned. Oh well!

Driving Vistas

Ever day I drive home on the 99 (AKA the viaduct) and it offers some pretty damn fantastic views. On clear days, you can see downtown, the Olympics, the Cascades and (rarely) Mt. Rainier, sometimes simultaneously. I try not take it for granted that I live in such a beautiful, cool place. On this particular day I was so inspired, I whipped out the old iPhone and took these shots:

Overrated Bands and the Critics Who Love Them

Do you ever wonder why all of a sudden a band becomes the darling of critics? I've often pondered this myself. It's as if there is a top secret community of "taste makers" that meet inside of a giant volcano in the Philippines and suddenly decide what's going to be "cool" this season. It could also be due to a lack of originality, where reviewers simply read what others have written and rewrite the copy verbatim.



. . .and the winner of the most overrated band of the last five years goes to (drum roll) TV on the Radio. First let me say, I don't dislike TV on the Radio. I own three of their albums and listen to them on a somewhat regular basis. They're hard to classify musically, and I love that. Their blend of pop, punk, R&B, and hip hop is "interesting" if nothing else. But do these guys really deserve all of the hype? I mean Jesus, Spin Magazine awarded them "album of the year" for "Return to Cookie Mountain" in 2006, and named them "Band of the Year" in 2008. They were given the cover both times. Critics heap praise on them like they're musical messiahs, who have returned to save everything rotten about modern pop. Like someone once said about Radiohead, "they could release an album exclusively featuring the noises made while shitting and critics would hail it as a brilliant new direction." Maybe it's the fact they're primarily an African American band consisting of Brooklyn hipsters, and this makes them "cool." Perhaps white intellectual writers are afraid to say anything negative about them for fear of being labeled a bigot?



Radiohead, by the way, are not overrated. They receive an equal amount or more positive press, but since their music is in fact the work of inspired geniuses, they are not overrated. They are what Chuck Klosterman would call a "rated" band. Read his article on this, it is excellent.

I could go on forever about bands that somehow become "hip," but aren't that interesting musically. To save you the time (and paragraphs) I'll go through them quickly.



Joanna Newsome. She is gorgeous, but sings like a retarded kindergarten student. Who exactly decided this is good?



Vampire Weekend. Another band I like, but how difficult is it to find a tape of 80's African music, copy it almost verbatim and present it like you're the new cool thing?



Fleet Foxes. Robin Pecknold's voice is stunning, but where the hell did these guys come from? I live in Seattle, and I'd never heard of them until this year. Now they've played SNL, toured everywhere and released 200,000 + copies of their Sub Pop debut.

Alright, I'm done being the bitter grump. What bands can you think of that are way over hyped? I'd be really curious to hear from you, maybe we can get in an argument over it!

Kinda Hot In These Rhinos

A Couple of Releases I'm Looking Forward To

This is the cover for the new Cursive album, somewhat nastily entitled, "Mama I'm Swollen." It's out on March 10th. I was somewhat disappointed with the last record, "Happy Hollow," but the previous two albums, "The Ugly Organ" and "Domestica" are among my favorite recordings of all time. "The Ugly Organ" made it on to my "Favorite 10 Albums of All Time" list. I have high hopes for this album, look for a full review once it's released.



This is the one I'm really excited about. Sonic Youth's 16th album, "The Eternal" will be released on June 9th. This album also marks their first on Matador, a perfect post-Universal label for the band. It appears that Mark Ibold (former bass player of Pavement) is now an "official" member of the band as well. He has toured with SY for the last few years, but this will be the first album he plays on. My favorite song title on this forthcoming album is "Calming the Snake." Brilliant! If I am lucky enough to receive a promo advance copy, I'll put a review. Otherwise I'll be anxiously awaiting "The Eternal's" arrival in June.

A Man That Loves Stuff

When you have a second, check out my friend Bagel's blog. Now this is one man who loves stuff. In fact, he's a huge fan.

Here's the problem. Bagel is by far one of the best storytellers I've ever known, but he has ZERO stories on his blog. Whether it's drinking in Europe as a young teenager, his Grandma doing timed car jacking drills, or cruising the playa in a driver less truck while blowing up propane containers (one of the best), Bagel's stories are without fail entertaining, engaging, and hilarious.

So please, please, please help me urge him to write out some of these out on his blog. I promise you won't be disappointed!



Got one!

Camel Ecstasy

This photo was sent to me from my friend Julie. One of those "bad timing" pictures where whatever the person is doing is completely innocent, it just doesn't appear that way. My favorite part of this photo is the look on the camel's face. Is it just me, or does it look like this camel is really enjoying itself? So, I've decided to start a project named "Camel Ecstasy." What does "Camel Ecstasy" sound like? You'll know soon enough. . .Who wants to be involved in this project?

UPDATE. My dear friend Joel discovered the real story behind this photo:

Here's the real story on this pic. This pic was taken at the Sex farm, The one in Eastern Washington, where the guy was fucked to death by the Horse, a few years ago. There is NOTHING INNOCENT about this pic. the camel was sold into sex slavery at a young age, and this man is in the midst of a ROLE PLAYING GAME. nOW YOU KNOW

Hopefully this is true. Working on a Sex Farm! It's big in Japan.

The Passion Fruit of the Christ

This morning I was thinking it would be funny to have a movie (or at least a song) called, "The Passion Fruit of the Christ." Well I looked it up on Google, and of course there was already a play called that. Damn. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to come up with something else.

I also like it when bands name themselves after existing bands or celebrities, then slightly "tweak" the name. Some of my favorites:

BURGER KING DIAMOND

JOHN COUGAR CONCENTRATION CAMP

REO SPEED DEALER

BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE

MARY TYLER MORPHINE

THE SAMUEL JACKSON 5

FAT CHICK FROM WILSON PHILLIPS

(No really, I'm serious. They're a band from Chico, CA. Not sure if they're still together)

Oh Billy. . .Ohhhhhhhhhhh Billy!!!

The Only People For Me

This is one of my favorite quotes of all time. It's from Kerouac's "On the Road:"

"The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars."

PUT THE FUCKING LOTION IN THE BASKET!