The photo above is Kenny Bloggins doing his angry Michael Gira face, exhibited with the gatefold spread of the Can’t Find My Way Home 12″ by Swans. I love this single. It was a going-away gift from punk rock historian Uncle Bill Widener when I moved to Chicago. I like to crank it when I take my relaxation bubble bath, complemented by only the finest sacred oils and incense imported from India. This, among other reasons, inspired a little write-up on Swans.
First, boo’s been into reading rock biographies as of late. In the past month, she’s read memiors by Beatle wives Pattie Boyd and Cynthia Lennon, Clapton by Eric Clapton (not joking about the title), and Everyone’s Fucking: The Fleetwood Mac Story (okay, I am joking about that one). Now she’s in the middle of the new Sonic Youth biography, Goodbye 20th Century by David Browne, which she says is excellent. The first half of the book details Thurston Moore’s relationship(s) with experimental/no-wave luminaries in the New York area, Michael Gira in particular. She was excited to discuss with me all the reasons why Michael Gira, at least at the dawn of the ’80s, was pretty much a doo-doo head, albeit an intriguing one. Secondly, Swans is not recognized nearly enough for being a premiere shoegaze band, and as such, I wish to entertain an argument for this premise. And thirdly, M. Gira’s playing a show this evening in NYC for five binks. All these reasons seemed poignant enough to me to write an entry, so let’s begin, shall we? Continue reading ‘Me and Michael Gira Down By the Schoolyard’
Words do no justice to the awesomeness of above illustration. As reported earlier, the noise community has stopped tinkering with feedback loops for a moment or two in the name of civic engagement. Noise for Obama, with a most triumphant Wonderful Rainbow-themed background, launched roughly two weeks ago and now has some artist statements up with pledging of support and general thumbs-upness for Obama. Continue reading ‘The Dow is Down, Noise For Obama is Up’
I’m not going to review the My Bloody Valentine show, at least in the traditional sense. Any show review more than a couple of paragraphs long while taking itself very seriously is innately stupid. At that juncture, such writing is fodder-saturated music critic masturbation, an attempt at trying to connect multiple points together and relate them to a particular concert or band when all you’re really doing is trying to show the world how smart you are. Fuck that. Unless it’s the Concert for Bangledesh, a live show is nothing more than a band who wants to rock it out in front of other people besides themselves and their recording engineer. It’s as simple as that. A long review also, statistically speaking, permits the phrase “rocked the [insert venue name]” to rear its ugly dome at some point, which I will not stand for.
So instead, I’d like to stave off the pretense and simply construct a grocery list of thoughts, then provide you with a couple of videos to czech out. First, I want to talk about my day today. How was yours? Well, great, that’s good to hear. Well, mine’s been busy. Besides uploading videos and returning missed calls, I’ve been taking time to learn American Sign Language. Continue reading ‘My Bloody Valentine – 9.27.08 – The Aragon, Chicago – Videos and Setlist’
Sweet sassy molassey! I had no clue that Roky Erickson, 13th Floor Elevators‘ mastermind and D.A.R.E. role model by example, is performing with the Black Angels next week. And I found this out from, get this, a pay-per-click advert on FaCeBoO!klol. My lameness has reached critical mass.
Having just returned from a quick east coast jaunt, Roky got his permission slip signed again and is heading back out, starting October 4th in Dallas and moving westward like the Oregon Trail. The Black Angels will play an opening set for Roky, then serve as his backing band. The two Texas reverb purveyors are also in the studio to work on some old Erickson-penned songs, as well as to collaborate on new material (possibly the follow up to Directions to See a Ghost). I love Roky. I love the Black Angels. I feel total damage for not being able to attend these shows. But let me know how they go – vibes, set list, whatever. Dates after the jump. Continue reading ‘Roky Erickson and the Black Angels Buddy Up’
Hey you, plaid shirt starin’ at your feet! Why are your arms crossed? You’re in the sacred inner circle of Lightning Bolt’s Church of Noizze… you don’t just stand around, wenis! The F is wrong with you? You can get away with that at the Low show, but not in the Church. Continue reading ‘Lightning Bolt at ATP – Full Set’
This is the, what, third time I’ve referenced Sesame Street on this blog. I love Sesame Street. If I wasn’t a lame 9-to-5er, I would still watch it. So today’s news roundup is brought to you by the letter B – Boredoms, Benoit Pioulard, Boduf Songs, Bedhead, the /b/ board, baseball, booters, and the Bear Market Bailout. Botta bing!
Anyway, there are so many songs (11 MP3s to be exact), and so much content here, that I have no idea what to categorize this entry as. So consider this your News and Super Swingin’ Mix for the day. I’m not posting again today, this post is epic and I’m tired.
Let’s do this like Buddhists… Continue reading ‘News Roundup: Brought to You By the Letter “B”’
