being continued

Steve Earle/The Revolution Starts...Now
Duke Ellington and Count Basie/First Time! The Count Meets the Duke
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Soundtrack
The Flaming Lips/The Soft Bulletin
The Frogs/Starjob
Marvin Gaye/Let's Get It On

This Thursday, to The Canyon. Or at least, the rim...

random algorithmic whack-a-mole

In a sort of warm up for any future Big Listen and just for the general hell of it (what other good reason is there), I've been listening to every tenth CD in my collection. Today's list:

Miles Davis/doo-bop
Deconstruction
DJDAN Beats4Freaks
Drums&Tuba/Vinyl Killer

Yesterday:
Cordero/Cordero perdido en la ciudad
Cracker/Get Off This single
D'Angelo/Brown Sugar

And such and such.

It has the desired effect of confronting many skeletons in one's CD buying closet. One gets the pleasures of, say, not having to choose which Beatles CD to listen to, and the frustrations, of, say, landing on a stupid single in the middle of an otherwise full discography. Not to mention the headscratching of, say DJDAN. Of course, everything has it's story, and we'll be seeing Matt W. soon....

Finished Blood Meridian (first book, post-Abbeyfest), and can still feel the coagulation encrusting my skin. Took a much needed step back from the west and the deep churning burn in the soul, into the comfort of good old fashioned short stories with Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies.

Also rediscovered the comfort of fine cinema with Ernst Lubitsch's Heaven Can Wait. Great Criterion disc. Watching Molly Haskell and Andrew Sarris talk was wonderful. One can actually lead a legitimate life, even in the perverted arts. Next up: Sullivan's Travels.

Good movies, engaging literature, any and all music...just need some tacos.

rock bubbles

Abbeyfest is complete. Closed the circle (not always round) with Desert Solitaire. Way too much info to process in a rambling computer post. I am shoving myself back into the real world by reading Cormac McCarthy--hopefully the bloodlust will divert.

What is this blog? How much goes into it? Stew or Sauce? I mean, we're only floating a pinkyful of topics over the course of 14 months. It certainly is no journal--no post concerning anything personal (Aiden Casimir).... Should we subscribe to daily babble? Leak pretentious word puzzles? Hide in the caves and fling scat?

Viva Ghoul-A-Rama.

It just isn't a journal if someone is going to read it.

blood for oil

General update on the whopping two topics previously mentioned.
Re: below entry. Guys who were standing in front of us at Cracker show videotaping posted almost entire show online: cracker.vontay.com. Despite early promises, I'm not sure if we'll see the last four songs. I've created audio from the video and am sated. Was going through semi-crises before that show concerning purchasing of music--keeping abreast with the world and pitchfork, or setting into the comfort of the ark already constructed. Cracker tipped the scales to the comforts. Actually, they gave the first push, but the discovery of archive.org really toppled things. archive.org is my new best friend. That and my good ol' computer speakers (del oso). Now that 97x is back in my life, I don't have to stress as much about not hearing anything new.
Of course, none of this has prevented new cd purchases. I did cave to Joe Pernice's sweet charms and now have a rockin' 42 minutes of sugar. And the winner is...Wait to Stop. Also ordered up Arcade Fire from Merge, finally. Kudos to Merge on availability of streaming audio. I have just become living proof that listening to music online does not cut into CD sales. Also see M.I.A., which even Amber is kickin'. Other CD news = found a used copy of Black Light, well worth the pesos. And que onda Guero?? I just don't know. I can't shake the sadness about that one.

Abbeyfest: Currently on Monkey Wrench. Went through Slickrock and Cactus Country (lively reads, but obviously for the cash), and Black Sun, which does work quite well, despite all the rash fcking. Moving tribute by Bowden, altogether a well packaged read. It's amazing how frontloaded the fiction is in the bibliography--after Monkey Wrench, the thunder begins. Brief inner debate on reading Abbey in constant circuit--perhaps adding a third to the back and forth.

Of course, the big news, The News, concerns Upton Sinclair. I knew PTA had it in him, and if it does come to pass, it is going to rain some fcking black gold judgement all over the screen in a wonderful way. No sense in the usual bandying about for how it will play--it will kick all your asses and mine through the seat. And with the DDL? Me-ow.

Anyway, some things on the horizon to keep tabs on--Hotlanta and Slickrock being chief among them. Amber also owes me a hike on Sunday, so we'll see if the soul gets enough salve.

Away with your pixies, vaya con Russ

jwk

that gum you like

Tuesday, Chris came down for some shthot David Lowery/Johnny Hickman acousticish action. Instore at Hear's Music (size=closet) was great, they signed our tickets (tickets "001" and "002"...oy). Setlist:
Big Dipper (finally realized how I should play this with Amber)
All Her Favorite Fruit (According to Lowery, "Big Dipper's counterpart"--Johnny played Harmonica on this.)
San Bernadino Boy (from Johnny's solo album--super crowd pleaser)
51-7 (brief story about concept of New Roman Times)
One Fine Day (interesting choice--arrangement definitely made a better case for the song than album version--the backporch gothic comes out a lot more).

Afterwards, off to the usual Mexican food--decided on sitdown, tried to hit Mi Nidito but it was mysteriously closed. Wound up at El Minuto--Chris got to check El Tiradito. El Minuto was a great little neighborhood Mexican place--lots of groups of friends talking and such. Great interior w/lots of lights. Good, reliable Sonoran plate food (I had carne seca...mooo tummy...). Wasted drunk crew right next to us was super annoying, but they were in Professor and Statement Phase, so harmless. Unfortunate uses of "esse" and "muy bueno" by same.

Rolled into Solar Culture about 8--opening band had just arrived. Solar Culture is a great space--long narrow gallery, walls stuffed with art, elevated stage at end of room. Sat down on some old movie theater seats and watched Creosote, who was apparently not actually Creosote, do soundcheck and promptly leave for 20 minutes, causing us great anxiety, disdain, and/or outrage. We started noticing people wandering in with six packs and brown bags and realized that the place is BYOB. Alas. Creosote eventually wandered back and whipped through their bland-to-decent-to-whydon'ttheyleave set. Kind of Howe Gelb with less creativity crossed with the Gin Blossoms with less songwriting talent. Anyway, easily forgotten, and certainly in the tradition of lackluster-to-devestatingly putrid opening bands recently.
David and Johnny opened with 4 Johnny solo tunes--something about Costco Socks which was another instant pleaser; a slower tune "about people who fall through the cracks"; wonderful version of "Whole Lotta Trouble" by previously arranged request; and finally, "Friends", a great duet with David ("That's the kind of friend you got", etc.). They then went into "All Her Favorite Fruit", following with "Big Dipper". Apparently "All Her Favorite Fruit" is set in 1944 in London and "Big Dipper" is set in the 80's in Santa Cruz. "Fruit" arrangement was even better than the in-store, more force and more harmonica. The two were in a very easygoing and chatty mood, despite recovering hangovers from drinking at the Big Fish (nonetheless, the whiskey came out towards the end...). The setlist has, of course, drifted apart at this point, but here are most if not all of the tunes:
51-7
Been Around the World
EuroTrash Girl
Might Makes Right (this is great in subdued quiet acoustic setting--more excellent harmonica work from Johnny--it was amazing how he essentially stood in for the rest of Camper)
I'm a Little Rocket Ship (with G4 assistance)
That Gum You Like is Back in Style (also with G4--David went on at some length about the conceit behind this one...lots of indecipherable code...had everyone pretty entertained--he did namecheck "Nashville" for Kennan Wynne)
Sweethearts
Duty Free (this is still worth the price of admission on for Countrysides)
Pictures of Matchstick Men (this was after the whiskey, and Johnny was ready to rip on the electric)
Take The Skinheads Bowling (I suppose we just need to accept that this is their "Galileo" or what have you--it's always great but I just can never get into it as an anthem...)
There was also a really fantastic song which we didn't know--I spent all day yesterday trying to figure out what the hell it was, to no avail. The lines I remember are "When will this shit end/I need better friends", and there was something about being drunk when the goons kicked his door down. Also some driving on the coast imagery...anyway it was a great tune and I hope to encounter it again someday.

After a short break, Johnny came back up, said that David had punched him and run down the alley, and proceeded to play "San Bernadino Boy". Still worked. Somebody then shouted out for "Dr. Bernice", which he seemed to think was a good idea, but by the time he got David back on stage, it didn't happen. Perhaps the Maker's was setting in... Anyhow, they closed with "One Fine Day", which was again good, but we couldn't help feeling a little cheated by seeing the same five songs twice in one day. Strictly personal, however--they were all great arrangements.

Thing we wanted to hear but didn't request or necessarily expect (with varying degrees of seriousness): Ain't That Strange; Nostalgia; Good Guys and Bad Guys (Casey's request...alack poor Casey...); We Eat Your Children (of course); Ain't Gonna Suck Itself (how genius would that have been)...etc. We got into a game while waiting in which we kept saying "I heard they're not even going to play (insert song title)". Let's just say everyone was a winner.

The show certainly had the effect of me pulling out all the Cracker/Camper discs, but I kept finding that what I wanted to hear was what I had heard the night before. We shall hope for a tour document, who knows. Key Lime Pie has come closest to satisfying the itch, mostly for "Sweethearts" and "All Her Favorite Fruit", which keep growing towards masterpiece status. Key Lime Pie is definitely the missing link, and somehow the most direct line to New Roman Times.

One final note: WHY THE HELL DIDN'T CHRIS GET "SONGS OF THE SALT RIVER PIMA"???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????


Adieu, compatriots de nada

jwk

abbeyfest '05

So far...

Desert Solitaire
An Interview at Pack Creek Ranch
The Brave Cowboy
Fire on the Mountain

No Jonathan Troy besides UofA Special Collections (not going to go sit in there for two weeks) or Powell's for 3400.oo. May get to it in the end. Started with Desert Solitaire before nailing down the chronology. Last 3 books all from the library--Brave Cowboy is limited edition signed and with intro by Kirk Douglas, also has plates from Lonely Are the Brave. Penciled price on front page was 95.00--somehow this was available for checkout...?? Had to wait some for Fire on the Mountain to come in. Brave Cowboy and Fire on the Mountain surprisingly readable, having had no positive expectations for fiction. Next is Appalachian Wilderness--just found it at Bookman's, overpaid horribly but it's pretty anyway.
Chris seems to be dragging his heels--I may be the only one on the raft.

Big Listen still in the works, gotta wait for work to settle down a bit.
Just ordered Deltron with Lovage Comanion from 75ARK--couldn't take it anymore. Self-fulfilling birthday present. Currently being tempted by Joe Pernice and his goodies...

Fuzz out.
jwk

i hear a flute

oh no, a blog. look for The Big Listen coming soon. various rants sure to follow.