30 June 2009

off the wall

I'm watching a special Michael Jackson edition of 48 Hours on CBS and it's still difficult, if not impossible, for me to grasp the fact that the man is dead. Michael was so big he eclipsed life itself, and this extraordinarily rare feat is further emphasized, ironically, by his death. Unbelievable.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the King of Pop sold 415,000 albums in the four days since his passing. Additionally, a staggering 2.3 million songs were digitally downloaded (legally, of course) during those four days.

The King is dead; long live the King.

xx

28 June 2009

two reasons

Sundays in Indiana – when you can't purchase booze and Deastro plays a 4PM show at The Vollrath.

(I was under the impression that, like most rock shows, Deastro would play around 9 or 10 tonight. No, not in the Hoosier state. I was really eager for the show too. But it's not to be. So, basically, fuck my life.)

xx

bizarre

Bizarre...

Late night legend Ed McMahon died Tuesday.

Seventies icon Farrah Fawcett passed Thursday.

King of Pop Michael Jackson passes later that Thursday.

And now pitchman Billy Mays (the OxiClean guy and star of the Discovery channel program Pitchmen) is dead. His wife found him unresponsive earlier this morning. Mays was 50 years old.

Strange times...

xx

27 June 2009

posner piece about mj

The terrific investigative journalist Gerald Posner has written a sad but apropos essay about MJ's tragic youth and untimely death.

Read "A Death Foretold" here.

26 June 2009

some thoughts

Driving home from work: "Beat It" on repeat.



As the pieces fall, it appears that Jackson's death was related to his abuse of prescription drugs. With that in mind, here's an idea: Maybe law enforcement – city, state and federal – could divert funds from the war on marijuana and funnel those monies into battling the deadly epidemic that is prescription drug abuse.



Twenty-four hours later and I'm still reeling from the news. Surreal...

xx

25 June 2009

why you should see deastro this sunday at the vollrath

(The following blog post was interrupted, initially, by the news of The King of Pop, Michael Jackson, being rushed to UCLA Medical Center from "cardiac arrest." Shockingly, his death was announced some two hours later. I wanted to continue with this post because there are few things – if anything – that I am more passionate about than music. I can't imagine life without it. This passion started when, as described in an earlier post, at the age of four, I heard Michael Jackson's Thriller. Deastro is no Michael Jackson, but his music, like the sounds of so many other musicians I surround my life with, remind me of that initial flicker of sound. When a song catches you, it stops you and everything in your orbit; the sound triggers some mysterious inner signal. I don't know, it's difficult to explain but impossible to ignore; and those who share my passion know exactly what I'm writing about. The music of Deastro is, not to be melodramatic, but magical. It really is. But, I suppose, music possesses some supernatural quality, which is why it attracts us so.)

Last weekend The Vollrath hosted indie darlings The Rural Alberta Advantage. This Sunday the neighborhood bar hosts Deastro. And I'm very eager for this one, boys and girls. Deastro, which is 22-year-old electro whiz kid Randolph Chabot (live he is accompanied by Jeff Supina, Mark Smak and Brian Connelly), released his second album, Moondagger, earlier this year on Ghostly International (if you like The Field, check out Ghostly International artist The Sight Below). I've never been able to connect with his debut, Keepers, but Moondagger is a different (and wonderfully glorious) beast. To classify this album as "electro-pop," "synth-pop," whatever, is severely undercutting the scope of musical territory covered here. Each track is dense, but neither Cabot's voice nor his instruments drown in the mix. Upon a recent listen, Paul Simon's Graceland came to mind; there are some progressive rhythms within Moondagger that aren't indigenous to "electro-pop" records, and Chabot instills an organic, earthy energy into the cold components of his hardware. I've gotta say that, thus far, Moondagger is my favorite release of 2009. It's a grower, but if you give the album time and aren't discouraged by the album's first two songs ("Biophelia" and "Parallelogram"), which are a bit challenging, it will wrap around your spirit like cosmic ivy.

If you need to know why you have to check out Deastro this Sunday at The Vollrath, you can listen to the album HERE at spinner.com. (BTW, the fact that this album has been largely ignored by such indie-review beasts like Pitchfork and Cokemachineglow is, well, criminal!)

Or, just watch this live performance:

Deastro @ Be - Proud Gallery 09.05.09 from Be Events on Vimeo.


 

larry king on mj

I wanted to grab this quote from Larry King because I think it appropriately contextualizes Michael's death and his turbulent final years.

"There will be lots – I fear what's coming now – stories about 'What Michael Jackson did to me' and 'My arrangement with Michael Jackson.' The tabloids next week are going to be horror stories, and in this realm of a little calmness, let us miss what was his talent; what he gave us was his talent, and since that's all we know to be proof, let's just look at that. He gave us his talent, and we sure liked that."

Larry King

the king of pop is dead

Wow. TMZ is reporting that Michael Jackson has died. Thriller, his 1982 release, was the first record that made an impression on me. My mom has old home movies of me lip syncing and dancing to, among other songs from the album, "Billie Jean," "Beat It," and of course, "Thriller."

This is really shocking news. Damn.

xx

23 June 2009

who i really wanted to see

As I penned my previous blog post I was hiding something. Indeed, I really had no desire to see the Rural Alberta Advantage.

With apologies to the RAA, this is who I really wanted see Saturday night.




I heard his version of "Free Bird" is stellar.

22 June 2009

raa @ the vollrath

L, JRo and I went to last Saturday night's Rural Alberta Advantage show at The Vollrath in Indy, and honestly, I have mixed feelings about the show.

A band that calls themselves Come On Caboose opened the show; incidentally, the band's acronym is COC. This is a very appropriate acronym because COC's lead singer was very much a cock. If you are in an unsigned music band and are attempting to endear yourself to a potential fan base, acting like a sarcastic wiseass probably isn't the best tactic. Just sayin'.

COCs aside, I came to see The Rural Alberta Advantage. It was great to see and hear songs from the band's impressive debut performed live. Nils' voice sounded great, Amy's contributions were perfect and Paul's drumming was incredibly tight. (I could spend all night watching a crisp and precise drummer bang the skins; it's utterly mesmerizing.) So why the mixed feelings? The RAA's set was painfully short. The band played for a brief 40-45 minutes and offered no encore. I don't know. Maybe Canadians don't like the Hoosier state. Maybe it was a comfort-zone issue; perhaps the trio felt other songs weren't ready for prime time. Whatever the case, I know the audience wanted more. Hell, one guy I met at the show drove from Detroit – a five-hour drive, mind you – to see the RAA. I drove 90 minutes to see the band and felt a bit shortchanged; I can't imagine how he felt.

Perhaps the RAA's eager fan base is expecting too much too soon. After all, the band was plucked from relative obscurity when eMusic highlighted their self-released debut last year; just several months later Saddle Creek Records signed the group. This eagerness highlights the Internet's impact on the music industry, primarily indie acts. A band that has "the goods" can penetrate the Web's membrane and reach listeners on a global scale – literally. Seriously, do you really think the RAA thought they would be playing Indianapolis when they formed four years ago? The band's debut has been on the greater WWW for approximately eight months; that's light years in the age of the Internet. Undoubtedly, the Web has greatly accelerated time, or at least the sense of time, so other obscure indie acts take heed: the beam of countless eager listeners could be focused on you in the click of a page. Will you rise or plummet under the Wavves?

It could be worse, of course. Bloggers like myself could be pleading for less live music from "the next big indie band" and not more.

Visit the RAA's MySpace page for upcoming tour dates.

I snapped a few pics and uploaded "Drain the Blood" and "Frank, AB" to YouTube, which you can view below. (The audio in the vids is poor because they were shot with my digital camera – a Canon PowerShot A570IS.)

xx










19 June 2009

saturday night live

The neglect of my bloggy blog is not an intentional act; I simply haven't been able to find blogging time since summer session started. I'm taking two classes – two classes that would normally transpire over 16 weeks are condensed to eight because of summer session. Concepts in Mathematics has not posed much of a problem thus far. Anatomy & Physiology is a different matter. Unlike Concepts, I, for all intents and purposes, must level an A in A&P. Missing an A would considerably diminish my odds of entering the nursing program. The amount of material I must cover in a single week is quite extraordinary.

I may be busy, but I WILL find the time to catch The Rural Alberta Advantage show tomorrow night (Saturday) at the Vollrath in Indianapolis. Indeed, the band is touring (Vollrath show kicks off the tour, btw) to promote their superb debut album Hometowns, which was released digitally via eMusic last year. The band landed a deal with Saddle Creek Records a few months ago; Hometowns will get a proper release 07 July. And rightfully so. Hometowns is sure to land on many best-of-2009 lists come December. The album showcases simple yet sound songwriting and… well, I cannot give an appropriate review of the album because I've lived with it for so long. Some albums creep into your life and become enmeshed with the fabric of your experience, and when that lovely combustion happens, you can no longer assess the music because it – it being the sounds that construct the album – has become an all-encompassing canopy of sounds, images, feelings, reactions.

Don't miss the show. When Pitchfork and your "hip" friends are all over the RAA in July, you'll be kicking yourself for missing this one.

xx

16 June 2009

proof

Here it is: Proof that President Barack Obama is, like, the most awesomest president EVER. Watch the 28-second vid, kids.

12 June 2009

pin the tail on the black man

So, here is what we know:

President Barack Obama "was created by Jews" and "does what his Jew owners tell him to do."

The President wants to "get in [individual states] and control the people."

President Obama is preparing the country for its "final leap to socialism."

The President has made America less safe because, you know, he might be a Muslim.

And many citizens of America are concerned about the mounting red ink in Washington. Because, you know, turning the country over to the dangerous hands of a Jewish/Muslim socialist isn't cheap. Well, a story in the 09 June 2009 issue of the New York Times analyzed the horrific deficits the federal government will be mounting in the coming years, and, when the right-wing propaganda and fear mongering are pushed aside for some number crunching (you know, actually looking at hard data and NOT vomiting assumptions), President Obama is directly responsible for only 10% of the national debt. Here's the breakdown:

Business cycle        37%

President W. Bush    33%

Bush/President Obama    20%

Obama            10%

Obviously, the President is now responsible for 100% of the debt, but this analysis proves that much of the red ink came from his predecessor's Republican – the party that supposedly prides itself for fiscal responsibility – pen. For more info behind the numbers, read the full story, "America's Sea of Red Ink Was Years in the Making," here.

xx

09 June 2009

this is an update

I am a newly-minted 31-year-old. (My birthday was Saturday… oh, and somebody special baked me the most delicious chocolate cake – complete with candles and chocolate icing! It was yummy!)

I opened a Twitter account, although I'm not sure why. This blog is, and will continue to be, my main hub for all things me; however, if you wish to follow me on Twitter, check me out HERE.

Summer classes began yesterday. Sixteen-week classes are condensed to eight weeks for summer session, and I'm taking Anatomy & Physiology 101 and Concepts in Mathematics; needless to say, the following eight weeks are going to be busy.

This has been an update.

xx

(Did you know? General Motors officially launched the Saturn brand in 1990, and in the 19 years of its existence, the "different kind of car company" NEVER turned a profit for GM. The inmates [see: Bob Lutz, Vice Chairman of Global Product Development at GM] were, and still are, running the asylum at GM [as well as the UAW]. Gotta love it! "American Business – if it ain't workin' right… well, who really gives a damn!" And am I the only person who sees irony in the fact that China, in 2008, purchased more GM cars and trucks than any other country, except the United States, in the world? We buy cheap and environmentally unsound products from them, they buy cheap and environmentally unsound autos from us.)

04 June 2009

eager for four

Looking forward to the following shows:

20 June (Saturday)
The Rural Alberta Advantage
@ Vollrath
Indianapolis

>=<->=<->=<->=<->=<->=<->=<->=<->=<->=<->=<->=<

25 June (Thursday)
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
@ Russian Recording
Bloomington

>=<->=<->=<->=<->=<->=<->=<->=<->=<->=<->=<->=<

28 June (Sunday)
Deastro
@ Vollrath
Indianapolis

>=<->=<->=<->=<->=<->=<->=<->=<->=<->=<->=<->=<

05 August (Wednesday)

No Age/Deerhunter/Dan Deacon
@ Rhino's
Bloomington
(Get your tickets ASAP, kids. This one's gonna be BIG.)

>=<->=<->=<->=<->=<->=<->=<->=<->=<->=<->=<->=<

03 June 2009

interview project

If the work of David Lynch has ever intrigued you I recommend checking out his recent work, Interview Project. The online venture features Lynch's "team," which is a group of filmmakers led by his son Austin, interviewing Americans that the group met during their 20,000 miles-in-70 days trek across the fruited plain. The Project will release a new interview every three days for a year; it was launched Monday.

Jess, the Project's first interview, was discovered while "waiting for his trailer to be repaired so that he could go live alone in the desert." If Jess and episode 41's T.J., who is featured in this preview on VBS.tv, are any indication, the subjects of Interview Project could have slipped from a David Lynch film. Think of Project as This American Life meets Lost Highway.

Check it out.

xx

02 June 2009

plug

I have made my usual spring/summer foray into the world of eBay. Unlike seasons past, I'm not going the wholesale-to-resale route. I've decided to use my knowledge and love of vintage/ironic tees to -- I hope -- make an extra buck or two.

So, if you are in the market for a kick-ass '70s Indiana University tee (among other dope shirts), check out my listings right here.

If these initial auctions go well, I could be coming to a Goodwill near you.

xx