tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72329392545976225742024-03-14T03:18:59.281-07:00The PointThe Original Voice of North East KansasJackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07784672642240688882noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7232939254597622574.post-87310435221877455952011-08-12T11:42:00.000-07:002011-08-23T23:09:09.748-07:00HYPOCRITE IN A HIPPY CRYPT - AN INTERVIEW<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicfhJ2kcfUDc5Dt-Mgz4GUpi9jQJ9gOba4-pPVEHYsY0w-8c-Zp3qVflSyKkPpKLQ_-xFOdlpQGmzNqjt9sQomD4IIqHsrlCHafcmXNuLJNwI37tQ7W4zkPkTr7WNYPl3qpx-ZWGBqwD4/s1600/hipocrite.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 350px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 350px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5640041951111273314" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicfhJ2kcfUDc5Dt-Mgz4GUpi9jQJ9gOba4-pPVEHYsY0w-8c-Zp3qVflSyKkPpKLQ_-xFOdlpQGmzNqjt9sQomD4IIqHsrlCHafcmXNuLJNwI37tQ7W4zkPkTr7WNYPl3qpx-ZWGBqwD4/s400/hipocrite.jpg" /></a>
<br />Emerging from Bloomington, IN, Hypoctite in a Hippy Crypt is a solo project with an interesting name and even more intersting music. <em>Tweaker in the Park,</em> the debut for the legendary Gulcher Records, is like an updated version of Chris Bell's <em>I am the Cosmos: </em>it's a strange mixture of Elliot Smith's intimacy and Syd Barrett's trancendental meditations, at once folky and psychedelic, a shamanistic attempt to meld the music and the lyrics into some sort of strange communication that intermingles with the stars and the drunken points of no return that all heaven's dissent may or may not be trying to overcome in a His Name is Alive sort of way. It's indiepsychefolkedelia for the masses but really just for one guy and whatever demons and mastodons he'd confronted - the same one's we all face but don't have the courage to face.
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<br />A sample lyric from "A Little Late":
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<br /><em>"And now you're trying all your best, </em>
<br /><em>To bite the tears an not confess,</em>
<br /><em>The broken toys and broken dreams, </em>
<br /><em>Behind your bedroom door,</em>
<br /><em>Now's the time you realize,</em>
<br /><em>All the time's you've compromised, </em>
<br /><em>Who get's player one, </em>
<br /><em>And who's guarding the door.."</em>
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<br />It's rambling without structure and always tripping over itself - it's Bright Eyes without the artifice, and wrapped in a cushy dreamsicle that's both sickening and sweet, something you crave and hate yourself for craving - like heroin or, well, a Katy Perry song.
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<br />HIAHC continues:
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<br /><em>"Never quite on top,</em>
<br /><em>But never inbetween,</em>
<br /><em>You're always there,</em>
<br /><em>But you're never ever seen..."</em>
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<br />You can't resist that. I was lucky enough to get HIAHC to answer a few questions.
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<br /><em>ME: Ok so where does the name come from?
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<br />HIAHC: The name came from Kurt Cobain's diary, something about the imagery of it all just kinda stuck in my head after i read it. Its a funny thought really.
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<br /><em>How did you get hooked up with Gulcher Records?
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<br />I was recording some songs to help out a friend with his music school application, then next thing I knew I had an album, and through the magical internet pixie fairies, Gulcher heard the album and was interested, and they were crazy enough to offer me a deal.
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<br /><em>Influences?</em>
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<br />Hmm, the big ones would have to be Weezer and The Beach Boys. Rivers Cuomo is a melody mastermind, along with Brian Wilson. They have the kind of songs that make me replay a 20 second section of a song 30 times or so. Their melodies and how they are constructed just blow my mind some times.
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<br />Of course, the Beatles. John Lennons vocal techniques have always fascinated me. Syd Barrett's whimsical lyrics are have been huge as well. Elliott smith is also a pretty big influence, his guitar skills along with his vocal styles gives me chills, and lyrics that make a small puppy cry along with the person throwing it over a bridge. Throw The Unicorns, Beck, and Bob Dylan in there too. A lot of weird music has shaped the way I write.
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<br /><em>Here's a question, and by all means, feel free to tell me to fuck off if you feel like it on this one, but, lyrically, are you singing to someone in particular on this album?
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<br />Ha ha. I won't comment on this. Next question.
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<br /><em>Can you tell me about how the album was recorded?
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<br />The album was recorded in the basement of my friends dorm, so it kinda has a lo-fi intimate feel. He used some cheap studio mics. He has his own label, Tree Machine Records that he was starting up at the time. Is that the answer you were looking for?
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<br />Also, At first only an acoustic guitar was used, then we went back and added some electric guitar, and some shaker, and of course some drums durring mixing. any questions about the songs or anything?
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<br /><em>What are "The Crazies"? </em>
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<br /></em>The crazies.... are just the crazies. There is a women who roams around the streets and library of my hometown yelling at people giving looks that could kill Satan. She screams about voices in her head, and will scream at anyone she deems interferes with her psychotic delusions. I have had encounters with the mystic creature, its half humorous, and half spine chilling.
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<br /><em>What's the story behind "William J Harris"?
<br /></em>
<br /></em>No Comment. Sorry.
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<br /><em>I'm probably off base on this, but is "Tweaker in the Park" kind of, I don't know, a sort of concept album? I mean, are all of the songs interrelated in some way?
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<br /></em>There are definitely topics that could shift from song to song, and themes or ideas that are present more than once and through out the album. It's weird because a good number of people have asked me that. Would love to hear peoples interpretations of it.
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<br /><em>Any plans for a second record?</em>
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<br />I hope to record another album or an EP over the next few months, I have alot of songs to choose from, and have several track lists and ideas written up in my sketchbook..... or i could never make another song again. It changes daily.
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<br /><em>What about playing live? How do the songs sound live? </em>
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<br />The songs take on a more electric vibe when live, but it's for the better. Improvisation always makes it fun. One can expect dual cannon Yogo launchers to launch yogurt into the crowd. As well as caged animals of various types.
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<br />Here's a preview of the album - you should <a href="http://www.gemm.com/c/search.pl?&filt_section_ignore=1&disp_ad_format_mode=0&seller=GULCHER&artist=H&filt_skip=1">go to the Gulcher Records site</a> and buy it.
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<br />
<br /><iframe style="POSITION: relative; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 100px" height="100" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=3995806916/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" frameborder="0" width="400">&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://hypocriteinahippycrypt.bandcamp.com/album/tweaker-in-the-park"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Tweaker In The Park by Hypocrite in a Hippy crypt&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</iframe>
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<br />Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07784672642240688882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7232939254597622574.post-39907891053848055432011-08-12T11:29:00.000-07:002011-08-12T11:38:35.570-07:00Review: Crystal Antlers: "Two-Way Mirror"<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0BJlip74LayUOyLjcwXHAc5HDV-JwLBCovdOZzi35O_bP3jGYXd6yTfMqYNMItZip9iR3VoANLUs3jgMYJP4soyIpgUW_JpBo4KsWhaIFKqrmvyiMcgCVhlT2AV9U7h5y9Qzzk96nLOA/s1600/twoway.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0BJlip74LayUOyLjcwXHAc5HDV-JwLBCovdOZzi35O_bP3jGYXd6yTfMqYNMItZip9iR3VoANLUs3jgMYJP4soyIpgUW_JpBo4KsWhaIFKqrmvyiMcgCVhlT2AV9U7h5y9Qzzk96nLOA/s400/twoway.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5640040072718149138" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Crystal Antlers, </span><em style="font-style: italic;">Two-Way Mirror,</em><span style="font-style: italic;"> Recreation Ltd., 2011</span>
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<br />There's an air of desperation that emanates from <i>Two-Sided Mirror</i>, the sophomore full length effort from Long Beach, CA's Crystal Antlers. From the chaotic expulsion of sound that kicks off the opener "Jules' Story", <i>Mirror</i> careens and caterwauls through thirty four minutes of post psychedelic blank-core, shivering and shaking with the a sort of drug addled spirituality that's at once horrifying and infectious. It's like the whole album is chasing after something, reaching and grasping for an object dangling just out of reach that scrapes against the fingertips and bounces away frustratingly into the dark as the band is trying everything they can think of to reach it. As a result the album is disjointed and disconnected, full of false starts and incomplete ideas, a mix of genres and influences that sees Fugazi, Converge, Dead Meadow, and Arcade Fire all turning to say, "Wait. What?". It's a miasma, a complex trigonometry question trying to read basic poetry while pieces of all sorts of things fly all over the place in distraction. And every song has at least ten seconds of absolute brilliance rattling around inside of it, but it's wrapped around a smoky deception that's short of breath: these guys don't have it all figured out, though everyone was hoping they did. <div> </div> <div>
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<br />And that's the great fury of the day - the new album was supposed to be so much more. But maybe we see the trees and not the forest. Maybe we've been looking for lipstick and tight leather and are disgusted to find cracked lips and pajama pants and a hand outstretched for spare change, and when the band sounds exactly like 764-Hero or any of our other indie faves from ten years ago ("Fortune Telling") we get upset and push them and parts of ourselves away. A lot of critics have been saying that this album is missing something, criticizing the instrumental interludes ("Way Out") as superfluous, some even hinting at a sophomore jinx. I hate to get personal, but I don't agree. I think that this is where Crystal Antlers needs to be - honest and true, showing both their genius and the pretension and "everything I do is fucking awesome" swagger that comes with genius and I do not think that there are any accidents in <em>Mirror</em>. In fact, I think that everything about this album is carefully planned out and I think that it is a great album, essential in many ways, but not for the reasons that the members of Crystal Antlers probably think it is. I've said that <em>Mirror</em> is an album of desperation, an experiment in reaching and trying to touch things that might or might not be real. And it could be that what Crystal Antlers are chasing their own tail. Or it could be that the band is grasping at the ultimate secrets that rock and roll still has hidden away. Either way, the next album should be amazing.
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<br /></div>Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07784672642240688882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7232939254597622574.post-78451766612958984292011-07-24T17:53:00.000-07:002011-07-24T18:51:59.695-07:00Fuck .Yeah.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjearvLQKRbEbeTb12aER3VBL2Y4t4TzmLS060ADvtuJZZ5-nDLdyEdq-aco0SuC40_57kVr368ADTp-VX6NWtJ64DRGSdDr8wYXF3TtpbPdfE836H2yYw2c8B5MH8pQ1I1K1dRJoxs_cU/s1600/late+winter+2011+080.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjearvLQKRbEbeTb12aER3VBL2Y4t4TzmLS060ADvtuJZZ5-nDLdyEdq-aco0SuC40_57kVr368ADTp-VX6NWtJ64DRGSdDr8wYXF3TtpbPdfE836H2yYw2c8B5MH8pQ1I1K1dRJoxs_cU/s400/late+winter+2011+080.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5584553632814107554" /></a><br /><br />Just thought that ya'll might enjoy some great car art. Truly inspired.Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07784672642240688882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7232939254597622574.post-62604258721106711912011-07-07T14:53:00.000-07:002011-07-18T11:37:51.056-07:00B-R-A-N-E-S!!!!!!!!!!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSCZcsy0CFHGFs6akxTeK28IsEwO8OTfCzTYxkkP36xaLo8x0KNBnhaG1hXIerxYhhL4TEz0wBCTttvpWNkwJFTl28fxnOSAeztQUl5S6pxFODJhjsMe3yvxozf6bxSeR_m1jYDHtooe8/s1600/bran.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5626844832347448898" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSCZcsy0CFHGFs6akxTeK28IsEwO8OTfCzTYxkkP36xaLo8x0KNBnhaG1hXIerxYhhL4TEz0wBCTttvpWNkwJFTl28fxnOSAeztQUl5S6pxFODJhjsMe3yvxozf6bxSeR_m1jYDHtooe8/s400/bran.jpg" /></a><br />"You know that movie, <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">SLC Punk</span>? There were no punks in Salt Lake City and it smelled like farts."<br /><br />So says Ivy Slime, one half of the Portland based chaosynth outfit B-R-A-N-E-S, of the opening leg of the band's cross country tour. The band is slowly making it's way to Topeka, where they will appear at The Boobie Trap on Friday, July 8 with Primary Colors, an upstart industrial project from Oakland, CA, and locals Stand by for Radio Silence.<br /><br />"Now we're in Wyoming and there are a lot of hoodoo rocks and that's cool because we love geology."<br /><br />Yes, B-R-A-N-E-S loves geology. And theoretical physics. In fact, the band is named after a strain of thought which posits that the universe is comprised of 11 different dimensions known as membranes (or something like that, I'm not sure, they offered to Google it for me, but I decided to do it myself, which was a mistake: now I have a headache). But more importantly, at least for our temporal purposes, B-R-A-N-E-S also loves to make the sort of post-provocative, freak out industrial music that's at once hard to listen to and impossible to resist. Comprised of Slime on vocals and Susan Subtract on synths, the band came together in a strange way.<br /><br />"I was bedridden in-between hospital stays for a mutant kidney condition and heavily medicated when I finally decided to start writing songs for the dark dance anthems that Susan had been writing on his keyboards for years," says Slime.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8bbY6tWigb5ydagStBOHrqAf3CxeHQn5NynEbTebB4w8BAmdtM0MII43HJco7duKCThJ5WvY_PopfeJRt-ShbFZocwrX35ATLT-dC1dOUioEgxYjxkgJFxUU72Ow99E_-3WjXQ9KwUhI/s1600/bran2.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 265px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5626867827876500978" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8bbY6tWigb5ydagStBOHrqAf3CxeHQn5NynEbTebB4w8BAmdtM0MII43HJco7duKCThJ5WvY_PopfeJRt-ShbFZocwrX35ATLT-dC1dOUioEgxYjxkgJFxUU72Ow99E_-3WjXQ9KwUhI/s400/bran2.jpg" /></a> Equally influenced by the spastic experimemtations of Devo, the deviant derivations of The Birthday Party, and classic hardcore gothic ruminations, the band has developed a unique sound which they describe as "Batcave Wave / Wicked Noodle Music", which, of course, requires further explanation.<br /><br />"As dark as a batcave," says B-R-A-N-E-S. "And just as upside down. We have entered the era of 'Generation Spaghettification'; BRANES is music for wicked noodles."<br /><br />As far as what one can expect from their live show B-R-A-N-E-S are a little vague.<br /><br />"Twitching, lasers, STI's, 'surprises'," says B-R-A-N-E-S.<br /><br />But I would expect more than that. In fact, I would expect to see one of the most interesting nights of experimental music Topeka has seen in quite some time on Friday. Primary Colors sounds like quite the sonic experience, plus I think they just played with Zorch, who are awesome.And Standby for Radio Silence rarely disappoint.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB5_vzfHfjKAVuE-dDEIvS4uwZLcnaHs1ESbmfdEeFC9YIudvUjQprgG3FFF_361ElJ1stAZI4xJOwxs61pUJiBvVjOD7ppYyn1kWIwGWEruDpMW1e2UTOIGDvA4Eb7Fikh-eu_A_ksWE/s1600/bran4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB5_vzfHfjKAVuE-dDEIvS4uwZLcnaHs1ESbmfdEeFC9YIudvUjQprgG3FFF_361ElJ1stAZI4xJOwxs61pUJiBvVjOD7ppYyn1kWIwGWEruDpMW1e2UTOIGDvA4Eb7Fikh-eu_A_ksWE/s400/bran4.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5626869430749960978" /></a><br /><br />Listen to their stuff if I haven't convinced you:<a href="http://www.last.fm/music/branes"> B-R-A-N-E-S</a><br />Primary Colors: <a href="http://http//soundcloud.com/primary-colors000/sets/feral-scriptures/">Here</a>Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07784672642240688882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7232939254597622574.post-44089411399571413772011-06-26T21:59:00.000-07:002011-06-27T00:02:45.225-07:00The Driftwood Singers<iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rDJlmFbWGK8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />"Pearl Charles and I met two years ago through a mutual friend who knew that we both loved country music and how rare that was in Los Angeles," says Kris Hutson, one half of The Driftwood Singers, a Los Angeles based duo who will bring their unique brand of traditional Americana to The Boobie Trap on Tuesday night.<br /><br />"The day we met we both went back to my place and tried to sing some songs together and realized that our voices blended together well so we got to work immediately," Hutson continues. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy8obtXfW9lB-ArGmrJk2yr5cnokSv1HKMvjf7BhbSDm9-jzaqlFf40SmVybMyPvCiV7sr2joy6uYC1fuhFUnBAgIqkakOkfNl3K6oz8zSmz4sfiCptfGS_ywBsyybQSZaD6mWvfbFPmA/s1600/driftwood.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy8obtXfW9lB-ArGmrJk2yr5cnokSv1HKMvjf7BhbSDm9-jzaqlFf40SmVybMyPvCiV7sr2joy6uYC1fuhFUnBAgIqkakOkfNl3K6oz8zSmz4sfiCptfGS_ywBsyybQSZaD6mWvfbFPmA/s400/driftwood.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622780955681333778" /></a> What they got to work on was crafting a sound so traditional that it might sound foreign to modern ears. Made up of nothing more than two voices, a clumsily strummed acoustic guitar and an autoharp, their music has been described as "old timey", reminiscent of the dustbowl era, and, by the band itself as, the "stripped down kind of folk that one might have heard on front porches in the south in the 1930s", all of which work as fine descriptions for their sound. But the funny thing is that though the band is well schooled in the music of the past (they do a stirring version of the classic <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZPz2iL07bM">"Knoxville Girl"</a>), they play original music. And their music is both basic and complicated, ancient and hyper modern. It seems to say "OK, so we've gone this far with rock and roll and everything, but what if we went the wrong way. Let's look back and see if maybe we missed something."<br /><br />But that's what I say about every band I like, right? My babbling aside, Hutson has a more coherant description:<br /><br />"Though we might occasionally throw some cover songs in the mix, we primarily play original songs which often comes as a surprise to people because we like to write songs that draw from all genres of American music. You can come to see the Driftwood Singers play and hear songs that might draw from Stax era soul songs and others that might draw from 40's honky tonk music."<br /><br />Their debut EP "LOOK!" was recorded at home on a hand held cassette recorder. An unconventional choice, of course, but one that seems perfect for the duo. As Hutson explains:<br /><br />"Most 'legitimate' recording studios are dark rooms with no windows. When we tried to do our EP in one of these studios, it seemed like everything just fell flat. There was no urgency or life in our performances because we were in an enclosed space that seemed so far away from any of the places and circumstances that the songs dealt with. We ultimately ended up simplifying our recording process so much that we started using a handheld cassette recorder with just a built in microphone. The fact that we were in our own living room, where the songs were written, without a bunch of microphones in our faces, freed us up to focus more on the performance of each song."<br /><br /><iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/g05qqr8u3Ko" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />I wanted to ask Mr Hutson several more questions, but The Driftwood Singers are currently on tour, heading south from the appearance at the North by Northeast Music and Film Festival in Toronto to Topeka on Tuesday, June 29th. Hopefully they're not travelling by horse and buggy because it should be a great show.<br /><br /><a href="http://thedriftwoodsingers.bandcamp.com/">Get "LOOK!"</a><br /><a href="http://thedriftwoodsingers.com/">The Driftwood Singers dot com</a><br /><a href="http://www.facebook.com/driftwoodsingers?ref=ts&sk=app_178091127385#!/pages/The-Trap-Bar/41017242535">The Trap</a>Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07784672642240688882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7232939254597622574.post-18262216447776946522011-03-21T23:13:00.000-07:002011-03-25T09:13:47.424-07:00NEW BACKLASH ALBUM<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdxBrnCk-84h_b_4FSG6nFFR_DYL2hPn3hWZN4avp8ki-2d7DPdkBmR-oFc5-Upy2TsXjXzz63tLLCYZUm-zCR4o4K3MUm2dtEmdt1cic6kT8lpRraw0uMJwwE8NpuSsElFnvgrkm3N1g/s1600/3.jpg"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; display: block; height: 276px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587876949664106162" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdxBrnCk-84h_b_4FSG6nFFR_DYL2hPn3hWZN4avp8ki-2d7DPdkBmR-oFc5-Upy2TsXjXzz63tLLCYZUm-zCR4o4K3MUm2dtEmdt1cic6kT8lpRraw0uMJwwE8NpuSsElFnvgrkm3N1g/s400/3.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I'm planning on writing a more in depth story about this later, but I wanted to put something out now just to (hopefully) get a few people excited. Despite the fact that Backlash is "officially" broken up, the band is releasing a final album of original material (and by original, I mean manifestly different from anything you've heard from them before - if you're a Backlash fan you will be surprised by this album, to say the least, and if you're not a Backlash fan you probably will be if you buy this album) titled <em>Circling the Drain</em> which will be out in a few weeks. Singer/guitarist Shawn Ames says that the band is done after this and that they almost definitely will not play this album live, which is unfortunate because, well, of every local band I've seen/talked to or whatever in the last year, Backlash seems to be doing the most interesting stuff.<br /><br />Backlash, of course, has always been known for being a straight ahead rock and roll band. While they have dabbled with piano based balladry in the past, the bread and butter of the band has been balls to the wall rockers like "Bad Monster" - songs about drinking beer and rockin' out - songs that they thought their fan base wanted to hear. But the new album sees the band branching out and finally resorting to exploring their own interests. In my conversations with Ames, both for this story and personally, there was a strange sparkle in his eye as he talked about the album coming together. He continually mentioned The Beatles as a major influence on the album and Ames later said that the vocal harmonies on the new album are "pretty reminiscent" of <em>Abbey Road. </em>Ultimately he likens <em>Circling the Drain</em> to Backlash's version <em><span style="font-style: italic;"></span>Sgt Peppers</em>. As a result, though Ames says that the band has maintained their standard influences like The Who and Alice Cooper, the band has begun to explore other areas of influence that are not usually associated with your common bar band.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3kTM2gau_YP4mBhui0LnSzXOgXd78BrVBelTyix-9DX3EC3sbjZcSP1rK29T9vlZda-yCkGTiGw88uqhvWPmzsNxEPmru0MJa-jCf1mUiYx8k1Bs8jU3QwjicPHpXpQ0O-U1YLovr-J8/s1600/2.bmp"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 300px; float: left; height: 400px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587877284671743250" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3kTM2gau_YP4mBhui0LnSzXOgXd78BrVBelTyix-9DX3EC3sbjZcSP1rK29T9vlZda-yCkGTiGw88uqhvWPmzsNxEPmru0MJa-jCf1mUiYx8k1Bs8jU3QwjicPHpXpQ0O-U1YLovr-J8/s400/2.bmp" border="0" /></a> "We've completely gone over the edge with this stuff," says Ames. "The new album starts out as straight up the middle Backlash. Then it gets into stuff that sounds like we went into Pakistan or we went down to New Orleans. It's insane!"<br /><br />Also, this is the first Backlash album to be created with only current material.<br /><br />"This is the first record that Brian and I didn't cull from old material," says Ames. "We didn't go to something that I wrote five or six years ago. All of this is from October 2010 to literally this last Saturday <em>(note: this interview was done on March 3, 2011).</em> There's a lot that I did just this last Saturday that creeped the hell out of me. I don't know where it came from but it's creepy."<br /><br />About the recording of the album, Ames insists "it's just like a regular band". Songs were written and presented to the other band members and no one said "that sucks" so Ames went with them. The songs are a mix of straight ahead Backlash style rockers with titles like "My Old School (Wants to Kick Your New School in the Ass)", to "Shake It" an infectious acoustic rocker done "completely on the fly" with a riff that "came out of nowhere", according to Ames. "Circling the Drain" is a fucked up Willy Wonka boat ride sort of experiment that will make your skin crawl, and the five layers of vocal harmonies that backbone "The Quiet Life" will make you realize why rock and roll was once important.<br /><br />But it is the twists and turns in this new album that will make it worthwhile listening. "Cheap Thirlls" is an epic song that breaks from a straight ahead rock and roll song into a miasma of psychedelic exploration reminiscent of Pink Floyd. And the masterpiece of the album, "A Deeper Understanding", which Ames describes as "his baby" will blow your mind. It's full of backwards guitars, sitars and shit like that, and the breakdown of the song is like the sun bursting over the trees at dawn.<br /><br />"It's about as un-Backlash as you can get," says Ames. "There's just too much stuff on here that separates us from every other band in this town."<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipB6CMMrQEjSq9mM4G7GmnYAKUZqZGRxsqFNX2yZPRxvNUEYijcHYyvaKUp-rcjl4XHs3tGyZP269UBEm2nQ1aeFE_1sjyFwP90SKc1FbIXvIQcpIqXWfnHTnyUFwyiLWM5C2IvTQ_KYI/s1600/1.jpg"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; display: block; height: 300px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587878429420464466" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipB6CMMrQEjSq9mM4G7GmnYAKUZqZGRxsqFNX2yZPRxvNUEYijcHYyvaKUp-rcjl4XHs3tGyZP269UBEm2nQ1aeFE_1sjyFwP90SKc1FbIXvIQcpIqXWfnHTnyUFwyiLWM5C2IvTQ_KYI/s400/1.jpg" border="0" /></a> Check it out, when it comes out, April 29th, 2011. Here is their <a href="http://www.myspace.com/backlash">Myspace</a>.Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07784672642240688882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7232939254597622574.post-4346927784740039222011-03-15T22:25:00.001-07:002011-08-26T22:45:24.672-07:00Rumors, Facts, Opinions, WhateverHaven't done one of these in a while and instead of talking about why I'll just talk about important stuff. Here are a list of rumors and facts about craft beer in Kansas that I've stumbled across in the last few weeks/months that I thought I might pass on...
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<br />1) If you're a fan of Boulder Beer Company, and particularly if you like Hazed and Infused, please check the dates on anything you buy, especially 22oz bombers. The date printed on the bottle is a "pull date" - meaning that the beer should not be sold after that date. That means that the brewery does not want the beer to be on any shelf after that date. I have a personal story related to this but don't feel that I should relate it here. However, if you see some outdated Boulder on the shelf of your favorite store please email the brewery and let them know: webguy@boulderbeer.com
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<br />2) In fact, you need to make a habit of checking all dates on all beer that you buy. Of course, you should be doing that anyway, but I know for a fact that there are some shady products lurking on shelves out there and you should remember that if a brewery takes the time to put a "Best Before" date on their beer they do so for a reason. And that reason is that they do not want you to buy it after that date. Distributors and retailers don't always understand (or lets be honest, don't care about that) and most of them think that you are too stupid or ignorant to check. If you find outdated beer tell the store you bought it from. If they don't care email the brewery. If you have any questions, <a href="http://sites.google.com/site/freshbeeronly/">here is a great reference point for figuring out the dates on your bottle</a>.
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<br />3) Lagunitas, Green Flash, Magic Hat, and Firestone Walker should start appearing in Kansas coolers soon.
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<br />4) That Boulevard Chocolate Ale bank rush was fun, wasn't it? Did any one notice the $75 price on ebay in the aftermath? <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/Boulevard-Brewing-Chocolate-Ale-Smokestack-Series-14-/250778193610?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a638b8eca">It's down to $50 now </a>that it has hit other states.
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<br />5) Stone Brewing Company <a href="http://www.facebook.com/#!/StoneBrewingMO">will be in Missouri</a> sometime this spring. Minnesota too, from what I've read. This is interesting because a few years ago all the talk from Stone was that they were considering pulling their distributors and focusing more on their base area in California. Regardless, it's great news, though I'm sure a Kansas license isn't in the works. But, hey, Arrogant Bastard is now only a several minute drive away!
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<br />6) Regarding Widmer Brothers Brewing Company. The more Drifter Pale Ale you can send this way the better. It's a great beer. One of the best beers available in Kansas in my opinion.
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<br />7) <a href="http://www.averybrewing.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53&Itemid=75">Avery in cans</a>. Soon. White Rascal, Ellie's Brown, IPA. By summer, or so I've heard.
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<br />8) PBR sucks from a bottle. How's that for the idea that good beer doesn't come from a can?
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<br />9) Code: Supposedly witty 19th century writers love light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440-490nm. They also supposedly love Kansas sometime in the coming months or year, as per a fairly unreliable source.
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<br />10) Best beer I've had lately: Annie's Amber from High Noon out of Leavenworth. Very tasty amber, robust and a bit hoppy. Nothing like a typical amber, which probably accounts for the <a href="http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2102/6651">negative reviews</a> on Beer Advocate. Also, keep an eye out for the Halcyon Wheat from Tallgrass, an unfiltered wheat in a 12 oz can - their new summer seasonal. Can't find a link for this yet but it is good!
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<br />Cheers!
<br />Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07784672642240688882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7232939254597622574.post-90016546275993226962011-03-07T12:54:00.000-08:002011-03-07T13:15:46.176-08:00CONJURE ONEThere is a large contingent of people who would count Rhys Fulber as one of the more important figures in electronic music in the last twenty years. He is certainly one of the most prolific. At the age of sixteen he began collaborating with ex-Skinny Puppy contributor Bill Leeb in Front Line Assembly, contributing the song "Black Fluid" to FLA's second demo <em>Total Terror</em>, released in 1986. Here is that track:<br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/G0FJpxI4G7Q" frameborder="0" height="390" width="480"></iframe><br /><br />Fulber became a full-time member of FLA in 1989 and with his help the band would go on to release some of the most influential industrial music of the early 1990s, with <span style="font-style: italic;">Tactical Neural Implant</span> (1992) becoming a benchmark of the genre. In addition, Fulber collaborated with Leeb on the ambient pop project Delerium, and he has done production work for bands like Fear Factory and Paradise Lost, among others. His resume behind the boards is substantial and includes references from artists as diverse as Yes, Motley Crue, Josh Groban, Megadeth, and Mindless Self Indulgence. He has worked with vocalists like Sarah Mclachlan and Sinead O'Connor. And, interestingly enough, he played keyboards on the live recording of that Nailbomb show, <em>Proud to Commit Commercial Suicide</em>, at the Dynamo Open Air Festival in 1995. Really, it seems like the guy can do almost anything and work with anyone, but he is most remembered for his work with FLA.<br />Here is a hilarious clip from the Canadian Music Video Awards in which FLA are awarded the "Best Alternative Video" award for 1992. Leeb and Fulber don't appear until the 3:07 mark, but it is still worth watching.<br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6Gz26ZIf1PI" frameborder="0" height="390" width="480"></iframe><br /><br />In 1997 Fulber developed Conjure One while on a break from Front Line Assembly and has since released three albums of what Fulber has called <a href="http://www.musicaldiscoveries.com/reviews/rhysfulber.htm">classical and eastern influenced atmospheric pop structured music</a>. His latest release is <em>Exilarch</em>. Here's a track from that album:<br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/68V3x_zQHWs" frameborder="0" height="390" width="480"></iframe><br /><br />A friend of mine brought to my attention the fact that Mr Fulber is currently touring with Conjure One and coming to my area so I decided to bother him and see if he would be nice enough to answer a few of my jackass questions, and I thought that a few of you might have some sort of interest in hearing what he's up to nowadays. Of course, he was willing to answer my jackass questions, because he's a very nice guy, but he was very busy, so it's a very abbreviated "interview".<br /><br /><em>The Point: How is the music of Conjure One different from that of Front Line Assembly?</em><br /><br />Rhys Fulber: "I think Front Line dealt more in a science fiction type reality where as I feel Conjure One is based more on earthly emotions and the ancient rather than the future. Also Front Line was much more testosterone based where as Conjure One incorporates the female element and a balance of the two sensibilities."<br /><br /><em>How influential was Kraftwerk in your, for lack of a better term, musical evolution?<br /></em><br />"I assume it was pretty large as it shaped my taste at a very early age - I saw them in concert when i was age 6 as my parents took me with them in lieu of a babysitter. That whole period of electronic music from the 1970s is one of my main influences."<br /><br /><em>Your bio says that your latest release Exilarch "rediscovers the roots that initially inspired you to create music". Can you elaborate on that statement?</em><br /><br />"That is referring to the above statement about 1970s electronic music. I feel I channeled a lot of my original influences into this new record."<br /><br /><em>Your work in Conjure One seems to be be concerned with synthesizing Eastern music with Western music. Where do you see those two styles of music intersecting?</em><br /><br />"Eastern music has always been something I've gravitated towards, maybe because of the emotional and introspective quality a lot of it has, but its also simply sounds and a style I like. Its also a region of mystery and fascination to me outside of just the music, especially central Asia, where you get the added bonus of Soviet Bloc surrealism colliding with ancient silk road tribalism. There's two songs on the new record, "Places That Don't Exist and "Nargis" where you can hear this combination."<br /><br /><em>What can people expect from a Conjure One show? </em><br /><em><br /></em>"We try to be as live as possible within the parameters of live electronic music and not having a 5 piece band, and what we perform live is not exactly like the recordings. It also evolves from show to show. We try to incorporate some improvisation as well, and we have some imagery projected behind us from the artist who designed the Exilarch cover."<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Conjure One will be performing at the Riot Room in Kansas City with The God Project, NZEKT, and The Resistance on March 15th. </span><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/conjureone">Myspace</a>Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07784672642240688882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7232939254597622574.post-50294691916470248412011-02-07T15:33:00.001-08:002011-02-07T15:33:44.566-08:00PACIFIST!!<div>It's a great irony of modern times that you really have to love a band that constantly tells you not to listen to them. It is, after all, immensely better than a band begging you to listen to them via that Myspace thing or being told by dumbass writers, bullshit radio personalities, or whatever, that "This band is saving rock and roll!".<br /><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJR30TEVNI0gnDo0ee71h1-HIYLY1_UionyStz_iu1HIFteC3X1-PhXjS67wGxGWBv3Y5Qmdb1mMx-IeQKQXRW8_zWo11V6eicPftIIZ2oevW_ISFaWE1KcEHJynQDsAusPypj6kosADCi/s1600/pacifist.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5562676785109471346" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 398px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJR30TEVNI0gnDo0ee71h1-HIYLY1_UionyStz_iu1HIFteC3X1-PhXjS67wGxGWBv3Y5Qmdb1mMx-IeQKQXRW8_zWo11V6eicPftIIZ2oevW_ISFaWE1KcEHJynQDsAusPypj6kosADCi/s400/pacifist.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"></span>Pacifist is not going to save rock and roll. They are a grindy sort of chaos band from New Orleans that promises to combine "precise musicianship with chaotic physical feats", which is awesome. And, technically they are amazing, but Pacifist didn't seem too interested in talking to me about Pacifist for this story, which is fine, because I really dislike doing interviews anyway, and, they were to busy corrupting the Southern part of the US on tour so it's probably best that I just offer up some of their music for anyone reading this to judge for him/her self whether the band is all precise with their musicianship or chaotic with their physical feats. This song is called "Happiness" which is from the EP <i>Everybody Loves Fun</i>. I asked the band what the strange, long, pink object the vocalist is seen holding in the video is and they replied thusly:</div><br /><div>"A dildo. Lol! We tried to be as silly as possible as opposed to other bands trying to be tough."</div></div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Wn6oJ1sOK7w?fs=" hl="en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="385" width="640"></embed></div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"></span>I'll admit that I tried a gimmick with this band - I asked if we could do a fake interview with me acting as an ultra-conservative journalist asking them questions, hoping to get some vile responses. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but Pacifist didn't share my amusement. Here are their answers to those questions.</div><br /><div><i>The Point: How often do you pray?</i></div><br /><div>Pacifist: We don't.</div><br /><div><i>The Point: What is your favorite passage from The Bible</i>?</div><br /><div>Pacifist: Don't have one.</div><br /><div><i>The Point: How does the message of Jesus fit into the message you send in your lyrics and what message are you trying to send the children of the world?</i></div><br /><div>Pacifist: JUST PARTY!!!!</div><br /><div><i>The Point: What do your parents think of your music?</i></div><br /><div>Pacifist: Our parents hate our music. They think we suck!</div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div>Personally, I don't think that the music Pacifist has produced sucks, but I will leave it up to you to judge for yourself.</div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/iwEBlDUGXgk?fs=" hl="en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="385" width="640"></embed></div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div>Pacifist is currently touring through the Midwest but they'll surely make their way to your neighborhood sooner or later. If, like me, you're in Kansas, they'll be here on February 18, with a Bad Religion tribute band called No Control that I hear is fucking awesome.Lock up your daughters and your dogs. </div><br /><div><a href="http://www.myspace.com/pacifistmusic">Myspacething</a></div><br /><div></div></div>Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07784672642240688882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7232939254597622574.post-28771807721510561542010-10-11T20:59:00.001-07:002010-10-12T18:18:43.371-07:00MOSE GIGANTICUS<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirxhiJuQj3AJqH-Zc8QMC2FZnR5WFXkX4E85o-FznK_E1ctvvy__CuKogjvGXyI3Cp3ZwrYTD2PR6KBpWwKdOcRnXQh58vi8d6Gwk3nMzlBqHkXqqe-zkgt4nv4ASmB-HbgPySwa8CG70/s1600/mose2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirxhiJuQj3AJqH-Zc8QMC2FZnR5WFXkX4E85o-FznK_E1ctvvy__CuKogjvGXyI3Cp3ZwrYTD2PR6KBpWwKdOcRnXQh58vi8d6Gwk3nMzlBqHkXqqe-zkgt4nv4ASmB-HbgPySwa8CG70/s400/mose2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527034322090010306" /></a><br /><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Philadelphia's Mose Giganticus has been getting a lot of publicity lately for a variety of reasons. First, vocalist/keyboardist, Matt Garfield (the only permanent member of the band) plays the keytar, which is awesome. Second, he tours the country in a van fueled by vegetable oil that he and a few friends converted from gasoline, which is really awesome. Also, he's been known to fund his tours by participating in medical research experiments, which is both awesome and creepy, but still pretty awesome. And <i>Gift Horse</i>, the bands' recently released second full length and Relapse Records debut, which explores the correlations between God and Satan and the inherent flaws in Christianity, is quietly being hailed as one of the most impressive releases of the year in metal circles, which is awesome as well. So things are going great for Mose Giganticus, which is, of course, awesome as well. But...</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Am I the only one that sees something slightly, I don't know, apocalyptic about the idea of a keytar wielding bearded metal dude driving around the country hopped up on experimental medicine in a van fueled by discarded french fry goo, singing songs about one of the oldest problems in western civilization to a bunch of teenagers and college kids? It's like some strange relative of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_S._Thompson">Hunter Thompson</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Manson">Charles Manson</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Foreman">David Foreman</a> escaped from whatever attic he was being held prisoner in and decided to travel the world spreading the strange, sweaty gospel he'd cooked up while living on the scraps of food his CIA captors would allow. This is the guy your parents should have warned you about - the guy that kept them awake late at night worrying that you'd meet him in some slimey bar once they'd sent you off with all of that college money they'd been saving since you popped out of mommy's belly, and then you'd drop out of business school, start studying the history of Inuit art, develop rampant addictions to heroin, meth, and sex, and worst of all start voting democrat, or even worse for Ralph fucking Nadar or socialists like Obama. This is the guy you're supposed to run from when you see him, the guy you're supposed to avoid at all costs, the reasons cans of mace and home intruder alarms exist...</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Which is exactly why I expect to see all of you this Sunday when Garfield brings the socially brutal sonic assault that is Mose Giganticus to The Boobie Trap in Topeka. Luckily we were able to distract Garfield from all of his corrupting of the youth for a few moments to answer a few questions...</div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i>The Point: You' re on tour down south right now right? How's that going?</i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">Matt Garfield</span>:</span> </i></span>Things have been going rather well this year. We've been touring since May and, yes, we're making our first pass through the south right now. We're in Texas heading north to Kansas, then we'll be hanging a right and heading east-bound and down on our way to "The Fest 9" in Gainesville, FL, our second pass through the south. We normally tour in "IZ", our tour bus powered on recycled waste vegetable oil, but IZ is getting some repairs done at the moment, so we're touring in a newly acquired "spare" tour van this time around.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><i>Can you give me a short history of Mose Giganticus? How the band came about?</i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkKuDfLRcTcpP0xH7Hb5IjSvfXmCqGmentmqiiKuS186ect55sLHQVzpLawDLmFxuINoG2fBMzIc7uTgT79qB9VrCyeaNNjprGdMv9reAYEzXQa8Nf9Sfk1LLlYdZB4mrB6QXjr2ZQB4M/s1600/mose3.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkKuDfLRcTcpP0xH7Hb5IjSvfXmCqGmentmqiiKuS186ect55sLHQVzpLawDLmFxuINoG2fBMzIc7uTgT79qB9VrCyeaNNjprGdMv9reAYEzXQa8Nf9Sfk1LLlYdZB4mrB6QXjr2ZQB4M/s320/mose3.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527331831513985986" /></a>Mose Giganticus is and always has been my personal project. I started this in 1999 as a solo project, but didn't write anything recognizable as the "Mose Giganticus of today" until about 2005- which eventually became my first record, <i>The Invisible Hand</i>. Once that CD was out, I started touring as a solo act across the country. By 2008, I had brought on a backing band to expand the live sound of Mose Giganticus and released my next EP, <i>Commander!. </i>I booked us an 8-month tour to Alaska and back and put together our vegetable oil powered bus to make the trip in. That tour was amazing, but it took a lot out of me physically, mentally, and financially. In 2009 I started writing and recording my next album, <i>Gift Horse</i>, but the year was marred by a series of unfortunate events such as multiple catastrophic vehicle failures, canceled tours, and financial desperation. It almost knocked the wind out of my sails completely. But, by the end of 2009, I was in talks with Relapse Records over the songs I had recorded for <i>Gift Horse</i> and 2010 has been a complete turn around. We released <i>Gift Horse</i> on Relapse in July and we've been on tour since May, so things are back on track.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="page-break-before:always"><i><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Regarding the new album "Gift Horse". You've described it as concept album about the Christian notions of God and Satan, but i've also read that you're an Athiest. How does that perspective help to inform an exploration of Christianity?</i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Yes, both of those statements are true. <i>Gift Horse</i> is a concept album about the ageless struggle between the mythological figures of the Christian old testament God and the fallen angel Lucifer. Its an amalgam of biblical interpretations, mainstream pop-culture beliefs, and a bit of my own interpretation of how the argument between these two deities may transpire. Being an atheist, the story told is not religious in it's approach. I was raised Catholic and spend 12 years in Catholic school, but started questioning and stopped believing as soon as I was old enough to know better. Not being fettered by the beliefs associated with this subject matter left me free to explore the characters and their interactions without bias. I find the story and religious mythology surrounding the Battle of Armageddon to be fascinating. I'm a sucker for an "end-of-the-world" story.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>I read or heard an interview with you in which you said something to the effect of "Every album I do is a concept record and probably always will be. It's just how i work." Why is that?</i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"><i> </i></span>A</o:p>s most artists might say, I work best when I'm inspired. From time to time, I become consumed with fascination over certain topics. I like to approach each album as a complete packaged idea- music, art, lyrics- all contributing to the overall concept. I wouldn't know how to work with a mish-mash of different ideas for each song. It would feel disjointed and unfocused and would make it difficult for me to gain momentum. Maybe it's an obsessive fault of mine that I can't divert my attention to more than one topic per album? Maybe that will change over time? But for now, concept albums seem to work best for me and I don't intend to change that soon. So for now, I'm in search of the next topic of inspiration to explore for the next album.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The sound of Mose Giganticus seems to have grown heavier over time, and especially with 'Gift Horse'. Is that something that you've consciously pursued or is it just an natural evolutionary thing (or am i full of shit altogether?).</i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOwNUkJdwu80B99E_JwEvVezZ2M-ua7EyfNJo8RAiCW43EKUWiy82MzPRQccKJ6-AeQM7ReBdA54V0VwgxpOl0yTwzh0-tOpcRPEnwLdZ4PivKkPTqx_nyblHII8g_mzWPzUweaQ6eNHg/s1600/mose4.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOwNUkJdwu80B99E_JwEvVezZ2M-ua7EyfNJo8RAiCW43EKUWiy82MzPRQccKJ6-AeQM7ReBdA54V0VwgxpOl0yTwzh0-tOpcRPEnwLdZ4PivKkPTqx_nyblHII8g_mzWPzUweaQ6eNHg/s320/mose4.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527332257011408498" /></a><br />Ha ha, no, you're certainly not full of shit! There has definitely been a sonic progression towards the heavy-side. It's come about through the evolution of my personal musical taste and how I've been able to adapt the resources of Mose Giganticus, as in my personal abilities. I've enjoyed the challenge of working keyboard and vocoder into heavy music in a way that I felt contributed to the overall sound rather than distracted from it. On the last EP, <i>Commander!</i>, I wanted to try to write a heavy, doomy song and the track "Days of Yore" came out of that. I really liked the way the setup of Mose Giganticus (keyboard, vocoder, electronics) lent itself to that style, so with <i>Gift Horse</i> I wanted to further explore<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>that writing style expanded into a full album.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>What effect has working with relapse had on your songwriting?</i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Well, so far, working with Relapse has had very little effect on my song writing because I wrote all of "Gift Horse" before I was involved with Relapse at all. However, Relapse has certainly influenced my song writing through it's previous signees. Relapse has maintained an impressive roster of heavy bands over the years and it'd be silly to think that almost anyone writing heavy music today could be completely outside of their influence. When Relapse heard the first version of <i>Gift Horse</i> that I had recorded, we began talks of a partnership and I'm sure the influence of bands such as Mastodon, Baroness, and Neurosis were apparent to them.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>What can people expect from a mose giganticus live show?</i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i></i><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Mose Giganticus comes from a long history of DIY touring. We bring that ethos to the show every night. I squeeze out everything I have in me at our shows. Each show starts loud and heavy, and ends with me standing in a puddle of sweat and a coarse rasp of a voice left in me. I've been told on more than one occasion that as heavy as we sound on <i>Gift Horse</i>, it does no justice to our live set.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Mose Giganticus will be appearing at The Boobie Trap, 1417 Sw 6th, in Topeka on Sunday, Oct 17, 2010. (Photo credits: Jana Miller, Geoff Hall)</i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i>More Info: </i><a href="http://www.myspace.com/mosegiganticus">http://www.myspace.com/mosegiganticus</a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07784672642240688882noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7232939254597622574.post-42240621526901782502010-06-15T21:55:00.000-07:002010-06-18T14:48:03.279-07:00BACKLASH!!!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigxhc9solITdhr5ATqvUfXzxKcPf46B44NX-Rfopsq196x31mXVj6ro2OUYXU2aL4g1rvgcOdXEg7A3SS3mEAL8TwtA3otSRNXnOocVu8bBHAMWkF-aKLeWhhvKCPw0FQtxsWRBSeLoBg/s1600/backlash.jpg2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 282px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigxhc9solITdhr5ATqvUfXzxKcPf46B44NX-Rfopsq196x31mXVj6ro2OUYXU2aL4g1rvgcOdXEg7A3SS3mEAL8TwtA3otSRNXnOocVu8bBHAMWkF-aKLeWhhvKCPw0FQtxsWRBSeLoBg/s400/backlash.jpg2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484233480072906322" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp1OENRglfApnMfBX-vssC1rGH75jz8fcPL4dnGw66I-PTwTg6X3SLsStViHsPw8xAartwpXEuR8NUemXLW5AJjZzBSMShQeM_SjaBaT7VqXhLKyFL9JZolZHvOcMi7GSfsLd6YI12sRA/s1600/backlash+band.jpg"><br /></a><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">I know it’s weak to start with a quote, but after struggling through the smarmy world of rock music criticism (and the even smarmier world of rock music "journalism") I’ve come to relish the rare moment when a band actually has something interesting to say.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>“There’s all these young kids in their twenties and thirties trying to be Nickelback. Let Nickelback be Nickelback and be yourself. Because if you’re trying to chase after a fashion you’re gonna be running forever.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> That quote comes from Brian (No Last Name), guitraist for Backlash. </span>It’s a simple logic, but it is one which has fueled the history of rock and roll, inspiring young aritists and visionaries, igniting revolutions in sound and emotion from Elvis to John Lennon, to Iggy Pop, to Sid Vicious, to Kurt Cobain and beyond. The band is always different (Nickelback is only the latest best example) but the sentiment remains the same. Be yourself, play what you like, follow your own vision – be yourself. It’s that feeling that has kept rock and roll from suffocating itself all these years, kept it moving forward (however slowly), and, incidentally, kept people like me from getting real jobs.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>Backlash is a <st1:city><st1:place>Topeka</st1:place></st1:city> band. Like every other band that’s ever formed in this city, they’re not visionary and they’re not revolutionary, but they’re about as rock and roll as they come. The band was born in <st1:place>North Topeka</st1:place> bars in the early 1990s, at a time when original music in <st1:state><st1:place>Kansas</st1:place></st1:state> seemed to be taking off. <st1:city><st1:place>Lawrence</st1:place></st1:city> had an active scene, (Paw and Stick had signed to major labels and were on MTV) and <st1:city><st1:place>Manhattan</st1:place></st1:city> was making a little noise (Truck Stop Love), but <st1:city><st1:place>Topeka</st1:place></st1:city>, though only a stone’s throw from the scummy trails record executives were leaving in <st1:city><st1:place>Lawrence</st1:place></st1:city>, was off the map. But that doesn’t mean that there weren’t bands here.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>“We never played <st1:city><st1:place>Lawrence</st1:place></st1:city> in the early days,” says Shawn Ames, guitarist and vocalist for Backlash.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>“We were stuck down in <st1:place>North Topeka</st1:place> for years and years. We started as a country band and then realized we could play old rock and roll and still play in country bars. And that was the only way I was able to survive.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>The band survived for years as a cover band regularly playing spots like The Twilighter and other notorious <st1:place>North Topeka</st1:place> honky-tonks.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>“At the time it was pool cues and brass knuckles,” says <st1:city><st1:place>Ames</st1:place></st1:city>.</p><p class="MsoNormal">“College Hill still existed,” says Brian (no last name tendered), the bands’ guitarist. “If you could dodge a bullet.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>“It was either new country or old rock,” <st1:city><st1:place>Ames</st1:place></st1:city> continues. “I got tired of <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_dqSCIrO4tcXK5mbJlasFCFYeq224idoWtlQjFWwXZFLhQFP41ugWsUrzgMz1a4DALFjMXf_zHwZ0pxJ_W0mxVoC-unt1NaRRenBfKB-gXipaWt5pOfbW0DDNdTaANhlnue1xqYOMS5I/s1600/backlash+shawn.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 170px; height: 256px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_dqSCIrO4tcXK5mbJlasFCFYeq224idoWtlQjFWwXZFLhQFP41ugWsUrzgMz1a4DALFjMXf_zHwZ0pxJ_W0mxVoC-unt1NaRRenBfKB-gXipaWt5pOfbW0DDNdTaANhlnue1xqYOMS5I/s400/backlash+shawn.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483241231484209058" border="0" /></a><br />playing “Achy Breaky Heart” twenty times a night so I was like ‘Come on let’s play some old rock – it’ll be fun!’ And then it just kind of blossomed. We did that from 1993 to 1997 and then one of the members died and it fell into my lap and I just ran with it. Whatever happened is my fault.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><i>(Left, Shawn Ames)</i></p><p class="MsoNormal">“Progressively it went from oldies rock to 60s rock, to 60s and 70s rock, up to harder and heavier rock up to whatever the hell we feel like playing,” says Brian.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>Today the band has repertoire of over three hundred songs, including covers and originals to choose from, but while, as <st1:city><st1:place>Ames</st1:place></st1:city> says, covers are “the bread and butter”, it is the original works that are the main attraction. Hopefully.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>“We did our first record in 2003,” says <st1:city><st1:place>Ames</st1:place></st1:city>. “I’d always been writing songs before that but we just thought that we had the chance to bump it up to the next level.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“When I first started writing songs for the band Shawn kept telling me ‘Keep it simple. Keep it simple and stupid,” says Brian. “And I was like ‘This is simple’. And he’d say “Keep it SIMPLE.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“He would come up with all these glorious riffs and all these lines tacked into these small sections,” laughs <st1:city><st1:place>Ames</st1:place></st1:city>. “And I said, look, we get drunk a lot and we play and I gotta be able to teach the guys that come through the revolving door how to play it so keep it simple.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Their first album, <i style="">Dressed For Success,</i> was recorded in one day in 2003, and three albums have followed since, culminating in 2009’s self-titled release, which, among their fans, has been the band’s most controversial.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“I knew people were gonna look at it and go, ‘Okay it’s the record without Danny’,” <st1:city><st1:place>Ames</st1:place></st1:city> continues. “But we managed to finish it and it all sounds like Backlash.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“Danny” is Danny Tallent, an incredibly gifted bassist from Oneida, KS who worked with the band from 2006-2008. Tragically, Tallent was injured in a car accident (which took the life of his wife Ashley Tallent) in 2008, and is no longer able to work with the band. Tragedy is nothing new to Backlash – it’s part and parcel of the band, an integral part of understanding where the band comes from these days. In addition to the injury to Tallent and the death of his wife (to whom the band dedicated it’s last record) the band has had to deal with the death of two original members (bassist Steve Miller and guitarist Larry Torneden) and several close friends.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>In many ways, the band’s struggle with tragedy is summed up in the chorus of the song “Everything Changes”, the fifth track from <i style="">Backlash</i>:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span><i style="">“Everything changes,<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style=""><span style=""> </span>Nothing stays the same,<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style=""><span style=""> </span>Build your empire on shifting sands,<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style=""><span style=""> </span>And pray it never rains.<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style=""><span style=""> </span>It all seems so familiar,<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style=""><span style=""> </span>But at the same time so strange.<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style=""><span style=""> </span>Everything changes,<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style=""><span style=""> </span>Nothing stays the same.”</i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i style=""></i>“What happens with this band is it gets to a point where it peaks, then somebody dies and you go all the way back to peg one,” says Ames. “Then you go and you peak, then someone dies, then you go back to peg one. That’s why it’s been eighteen years this year in the same band playing the same music.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>But, to alter the proverb, the more things stay the same, the more they change. In addition to numerous lineup changes, Backlash has also experienced a change in songwriting, shifting from their classic, straight ahead, badass rocker sound to a more accomplished, even thoughtful approach. <span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“The biggest problem we had with the last record is we’d really grown up as far as songwriting goes,” <st1:city><st1:place>Ames</st1:place></st1:city> continues. “[The last] record was completely different than the first three. The first record was like three minutes – ‘I’m gonna fuck this girl, I’m gonna drink this beer, I’m gonna drive this car’. This last one there moments where there’s a little <i style="">Dark Side of the Moon</i>. There’s Beatles elements. It goes from quite to loud without being bombastic. We’ve grown up.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“I got into an argument with someone the other day about how we lost our fan base because of the way we sound now. We just grew up, man… It’s like ‘Wow you’ve got acoustic guitar, you’ve got piano, you’ve got symphony, and the arrangements - you know we’re not just talking about pussy and beer.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXSU4IG3YpxnzQrVpi8aOiSoTA1fjFYQ3Jx1vfMjruL_uh_7wuW-qSNzZKKCIXGRGiiwRIa7048-PgXxzriswqFqPl7EpLGB3VMS070Fq7qjQF-Hjp6mufkSggua31Vv4cLqysx-sqDaQ/s1600/backlash+brian.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 170px; height: 226px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXSU4IG3YpxnzQrVpi8aOiSoTA1fjFYQ3Jx1vfMjruL_uh_7wuW-qSNzZKKCIXGRGiiwRIa7048-PgXxzriswqFqPl7EpLGB3VMS070Fq7qjQF-Hjp6mufkSggua31Vv4cLqysx-sqDaQ/s400/backlash+brian.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483242072814513810" border="0" /></a>“There’s only one band that can get away with recording the same album over and over again and that’s AC/DC”, adds Brian. “I wish we had that magic where we could just record the same album over and over again”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;"><span><i>(Right: Brian performing at Truckhenge)</i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>“It’s like pulling teeth to write a song like ‘Bad Monster’ <i style="">(</i>track one from<i style=""> Dressed for Success)</i> these days because I’m in a whole different world,” says <st1:city><st1:place>Ames</st1:place></st1:city>. “Our second record was basically our rebuttal to <i style="">The Eyes of Alice Cooper</i>. We were both floored by that record. The second record sounds just like it. For me it’s hard to write that stuff now because it’s so freaking simple.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"> And keeping it simple is not something that Backlash seems to be interested in these days. Inside the band, the songwriting <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGPrBaO01GjgIj4_pRB3axchsGpMVkcL-WgAscM_60e9-d6dVLa4WrfUD8xExtmfbpBff4Uy62bLC23ghk5GsGxqyZSVUoKbmAdkJNzBvwNZraBiw7zV4maEN_V4yzWbnWOpwGyBjh0KQ/s1600/backlash+drummer.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGPrBaO01GjgIj4_pRB3axchsGpMVkcL-WgAscM_60e9-d6dVLa4WrfUD8xExtmfbpBff4Uy62bLC23ghk5GsGxqyZSVUoKbmAdkJNzBvwNZraBiw7zV4maEN_V4yzWbnWOpwGyBjh0KQ/s400/backlash+drummer.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483242734531725634" border="0" /></a>responsibilities are shared by <st1:city><st1:place>Ames</st1:place></st1:city> and Brian, and drummer Ron Prothe, all of whom have different influences.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><i>(Above: Drummer Ron Prothe)</i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“Between the two of us our biggest influences would be the glam scene,” says <st1:city><st1:place>Ames</st1:place></st1:city>. “We both grew up on Alice Cooper. But where we split is he’s more Motorhead, punk rock era, where mine is going off into Genesis, Marillion, proggy stuff.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Melding those two influences, which essentially come down to the minimalist punk ethos of less is more, and the prog philosophy of more is not nearly enough, is far from an easy task And keep in mind, after 18 years most bands, regardless of their level of success, rarely “grow” or evolve. For the most part they remain stagnant, rehashing the same shit, playing their greatest hits, reworking their most popular songs, or releasing half-assed crap every few years just to make an excuse to tour (anyone hear the last Neil Young album?). It’s just a paycheck to most bands at that point, and the vast majority of fans are too blind or too drunk to care that they’re being hustled. It is to Backlash’s credit that as fan bases dwindle and venues disappear throughout not only Topeka, but Kansas and the rest of the nation, the band has chosen to continue to grow artistically rather than stick to what fans expect, or even demand. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“It’s a wicked edged sword,” says <st1:city><st1:place>Ames</st1:place></st1:city>. “People expect three or four songs on there to be what you’d expect to hear. Fans come and go. I don’t think a lot of the fans realize that we’ve grown up and that things happen with a band that makes everything different. It’s like Brian’s always says, you change a band member, it brings in a whole other crowd of people who’ve come in at chapter 16. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“My days of playing tribute music are just…,” <st1:city><st1:place>Ames</st1:place></st1:city> trails off, as if reticent to continue. “You know, I’ve been fucking playing “<st1:place><st1:city>Sweet Home</st1:city> <st1:state>Alabama</st1:state></st1:place>” for 18 years every fucking night. It’s a four headed monster because there’s Backlash that plays covers. There’s Backlash that plays its original material. Backlash that does the Pink Floyd show. And then, when we’re fronted by JD Nash we’re JD Nash and <st1:street><st1:address>Red Circle</st1:address></st1:street>, and that’s countrified, southern hippie, Indian relations rock. So it’s got four different heads on it. We’re not just pigeonholed into one thing. One night we’ll be with JD Nash, the next night we’ll do covers, and the next night we’ll play The Boobie Trap and do our own material. We cover all the bases, but still we’re like the most loved hated band ever.”</p><div style="text-align: left;">In 2008 the band embarked on their most ambitious project to date – a faithful reproduction of the touring version of Pink Floyd’s <i style="">The Wall</i>, complete with the infamous construction of The Wall between the audience and the band.</div><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>“The owner of a local bar had an idea to draw people into his bar by having bands do tribute shows,” says Brian. “We were asked to do an Alice Cooper tribute… [But] we decided to joke around, do a Spinal Tap thing and I said ‘I know, we’ll do <i style="">The Wall </i>and put shoeboxes in front of the stage so it’s sort of a Spinal Tap version of <i style="">The Wall</i>!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“We thought it’d be funny to take the biggest arena show you could think of and put it on this little postage stamp,” laughs Ames.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“And then people wanted to pay to see it so we went from shoeboxes to actual bricks,” says Brian.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYKwMVIvXLP1mIIskLBY2PWL7b4cF9u8Wf40PZQFB_9t_CG4WRZ7WV3V8kJ5LqHk__7qEAqum_E8to_odMFR7BGIZ6uTOSJ1I8kRyRCsb-opzB5P7fKUHFwvy_WN7Cled8qayFmM7hrMk/s1600/backlash+the+wall.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYKwMVIvXLP1mIIskLBY2PWL7b4cF9u8Wf40PZQFB_9t_CG4WRZ7WV3V8kJ5LqHk__7qEAqum_E8to_odMFR7BGIZ6uTOSJ1I8kRyRCsb-opzB5P7fKUHFwvy_WN7Cled8qayFmM7hrMk/s400/backlash+the+wall.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5483245048171647714" border="0" /></a><i>(Above: The Culmination of 'The Wall')</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“[It’s a] hell of a live show,” says <st1:city><st1:place>Ames</st1:place></st1:city>. “It’s about as close to Floyd as you’re gonna get because we’ve stayed really true to the show. All the elements we create from scratch. There are only two elements in that show we’ve actually pulled from the album, but everything else, like all the symphony stuff that you hear in “The Trial” I had to create from a keyboard. Took me about six months because I’m not a trained pianist at all – I’m not a trained anything!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Despite the occasional technical problem (“Fewer than Pink Floyd”, <st1:city><st1:place>Ames</st1:place></st1:city> insists, laughingly), and the general apathy of <st1:city><st1:place>Topeka</st1:place></st1:city> audiences, the show has been a success.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“That’s been the funnest thing in the last couple of years because for one, and I’ll say this egotistically, nobody else is doing it,” says <st1:city><st1:place>Ames</st1:place></st1:city>. “And it’s not as easy as it looks. It’s a hard album to do. But we’ve got it mastered down to a science. So it’s all pieces and bits, it’s all timing and when it all works together, you can’t beat it.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">And as the band continues to grow and explore new areas of songwriting it’s hard to say that their best work isn’t ahead of them. A summer full of shows looms on the horizon and they’re kicking around the idea of recording a new album. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“I’d like to do another album, because I think our best work is ahead,” says <st1:city><st1:place>Ames</st1:place></st1:city>. Or at least a good shot at it. There’s really not a showcase venue around here except The Boobie Trap. Times are really tough around here but they’ve always been like that. So if we do something that’s bombastic and fantastic and it’s the best album anybody’s ever heard besides <st1:state><st1:place>Kansas</st1:place></st1:state> that’s come out of here, nobody will ever hear it because we don’t get a chance to play it.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“My whole goal since I’ve been with Backlash is to create a definitive sound so people say “That’s backlash” whether that sound sucks or not,” says Brian.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">“And that’s how we’ve been able to survive like a bad cockroach is we adapt,” adds <st1:city><st1:place>Ames</st1:place></st1:city>. “We never practice, at all – it’s like pulling teeth to get us into the same room with each other so everything is always done on the fly and some people dig it and some don’t. That’s the only way I think to play music.”<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in; font-style: italic;">Backlash will be playing July 17th at The Jolly Troll in Holton. Find them on the web at:</p><span style="font-style: italic;">http://www.myspace.com/backlash</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">http://www.backlashband.net/cool.html</span>Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07784672642240688882noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7232939254597622574.post-19012251949782901382010-05-16T22:48:00.000-07:002010-05-16T22:54:18.429-07:00FREE STUFF!!!!<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><i><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; white-space: normal; "><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><i><div style="display: inline !important; "><i>FREE STUFF!!!</i></div></i></span></i></span></span></div></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><i><div style="display: inline !important; "><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "><i> </i></span><i>Too cheap to buy </i></div></i></span></i></span>music? Too afriad to steal it? Check out these artists that offer their stuff for </i><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"><i> </i></span><i>free online...</i><div><i><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRA9qD36OtbL-TzNOno8DPnKHLsFh9y2o6LRLxbwQuqgz_nJPVeg1p9IfGAkIPY0pk9y0JF1lSz43ARVKeuPPNE7rJ4NBqXaChpkCrqN-RJOU03ZKknJSqw5GzLB0ERfjdPLhAkb6_yJM/s1600/we're+late+for+class+-+a+hundred+on+the+hyena.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRA9qD36OtbL-TzNOno8DPnKHLsFh9y2o6LRLxbwQuqgz_nJPVeg1p9IfGAkIPY0pk9y0JF1lSz43ARVKeuPPNE7rJ4NBqXaChpkCrqN-RJOU03ZKknJSqw5GzLB0ERfjdPLhAkb6_yJM/s320/we're+late+for+class+-+a+hundred+on+the+hyena.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472112240347341090" /></a><div><i>We're Late For Class, A Hundred on the Hyena, Self Released, 2010</i></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">We're Late for Class is a Massachusets based, drug fueled, prog-jazz acid fusion getup that has released over forty seven albums in just a few years. They are signed to no label, have a rotating cast of twelve contributors, and give all of their music away for free on their website. Here's how the band describes their stuff:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">'You’re invited to experience something the remainder of the planet will never, ever hear. Something that, by all rights, shouldn't even exist... (We are) Noisemakers who don’t want your money. Improvisers with no ulterior motive for fame. Layabouts lacking the secret desire for padded riders filled with quarts of Jack, spare tube socks and roast beef heavy backstage deli trays A gang of pot smoking, acid dropping, ecstasy driven misfits who do this just because we do." </span>- Coop</div><div><a href="http://werelateforclass.blogspot.com/">http://werelateforclass.blogspot.com/</a></div><div><br /></div></i></div>Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07784672642240688882noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7232939254597622574.post-48650581396265388912010-05-16T22:41:00.000-07:002010-05-16T22:47:10.067-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb84U_NTZDIb06h42TtrokpF5eKVAEolb4Fo3YQ011pltStAIM0TOOctgCWlDim-eeqsNcVvQz4Bh-2yepNXfgFrGsiEOPHLrCOtlfgLN45Di0L2k8PVvYgujCC8cT57ylW5kwutis55Q/s1600/bonnie+prince+wonder.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 295px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb84U_NTZDIb06h42TtrokpF5eKVAEolb4Fo3YQ011pltStAIM0TOOctgCWlDim-eeqsNcVvQz4Bh-2yepNXfgFrGsiEOPHLrCOtlfgLN45Di0L2k8PVvYgujCC8cT57ylW5kwutis55Q/s320/bonnie+prince+wonder.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472110517436065266" /></a><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><b><i>Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, The Wonder Show of the World, Domino, 2010</i></b></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>This may sound corny, but I still remember the first time I heard Will Oldham. It was one of those life affirming moments that just stick with you and I'm not embrassed to say that it changed the way I thought about not only music but humanity and the world itself. In some small way it made me a better person, and while I may be a total shit, there is a part of me hanging in some basement somewhere that is still decent enough to sit through a whole Bonnie 'Prince' Billy album without getting cynical.</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>But no one ever calls him on his shit, and there's this general reverential air about him whenever he so much as opens his mouth that is dangerous. Some of the things Oldham has done are downright stupid, such as the time he, Will Oldham, re-recorded the music he made under the moniker Palace, under his current name Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, the most self-indulgent and narcisstic moment of the 2000s. A moment a lot of ciritics (well, me, really) sort of gave up on the idea of indie rock as a living-breathing form of music. Oldham's work has always been more about the image - the backwoods Appalachian outsider artist that never lived in in the mountains and has been commercially and critcally embraced since his debut - than the actual music.</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>But Oldham has a way of redeeming himself with each transgression that's impossibly endearing. <i>Wonder Show</i>, his sixteenth release, bears witness to Oldham's slow rebirth as the quiet arbiter of antebellum wisdom and bromantically bearded harmonizing ala Fleet Foxes that's so fashionable these days. The opening track "Troublesome Houses" is a simple, folksy acoustic ballad that wouldn't seem out of place on a Crosby, Stills, and Nash meets James Taylor concept album. As would the collossal "The Sounds are Always Begging" - a plaintive ballad about the destruction of a family and the protective recluse that is music. </div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>At times Oldham wheedles into the abstract lo-fi compositions that have plagued his work in the past. "Where Wind Blows" and "With Cornstalks Among Them" find the harmony and grace of the above tracks dissolving into spontaneous warblings that blur the lines between gospel majesty and indie rock in a way that is surprisingly workable yet somewhat unfinished, like a project or experiement instead of a fully formed song. Oldham's distinctive voice mixes well with that of Emmett Kelly (of the Cairo Gang, Oldham's backing band on this record), unlocking harmonic points that thread together with a lonely precision that's both pathetic and remote, glorious and unheard of in their own way - the essence of a great Oldham work. Highly reccommended for fans and newcomers alike. </div>Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07784672642240688882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7232939254597622574.post-2694620709514762572010-05-16T22:22:00.000-07:002010-05-16T22:41:13.153-07:00On the Obovoid and other Places of Interest<div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"></span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>A major part of my job here is to link you guys and girls up with great deals around town. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I've recently had the good fortune of getting my old job at the much ballyhooed (at least in these pages) Murphy's Liquor Exchange, so I'll no longer be able to freely expound upon how great that store is, so you'll be hearing a lot more about the rest of the great deals around Topeka, Lawrence, etc, in these pages from here on out because I don't plan on leaving Murphy's for a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">loooong</span> time. And, all of you who've emailed me have an open <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">invitation</span> to come there between the hours of 10:00 AM and 6:00 PM, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday and talk beer (or whatever) with me. I'll be the guy trying to look busy. </div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>And that's a good thing. Sean Murphy, who owns Murphy's, knows his shit - he knows and respects good beer and, like all great <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">connoisseurs</span>, opts for quality over quantity, emphasizing how good a bottle or a six pack is over it's name brand. But there are a lot of places around town that simply have no idea what their doing - managers and owners who either order everything just because they can or who stock something because a salesman gives them a good deal. And that's where I come in. It may take a bit of time, but eventually even the most stern-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">fisted</span> 25% markup asshole will come around to the 'just get rid of it state of mind', and relegate some great treasures into the dusty markdown bins of their stores. This is gonna be fun...</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwQJSt-Iy7W2mpHY2vjqUQQAxJqrB2rvCSFHzDUHDYoo5-KJ0hf4VSZ8u00iw8fxJ84ErXHBajBLut_iVtzH2qQ7qjbqADlM8M-6kkfLp_yArqoOpGtvSporMBx7-cyHPXy4k1wdk1dzY/s1600/obovoid.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 82px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwQJSt-Iy7W2mpHY2vjqUQQAxJqrB2rvCSFHzDUHDYoo5-KJ0hf4VSZ8u00iw8fxJ84ErXHBajBLut_iVtzH2qQ7qjbqADlM8M-6kkfLp_yArqoOpGtvSporMBx7-cyHPXy4k1wdk1dzY/s320/obovoid.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472106669302327314" /></a> </span></span><div><span class="Apple-tab-span"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Listen. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Obovoid</span>.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Grattidge</span> Liquors is a small store on the east side, located in the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">CaliforniaCrossing</span> shopping center at 29<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">th</span> and California. It isn't a 'destination' store, but offers a nice selection of somewhat crafty sort of stuff. A small cooler of mishap, really, some Sam, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">som</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre;">e</span> Flying Dog, some of that ridiculous Ed Hardy stuff, nothing Indiana Jones about the place. No risk taking. It has a great location, on the way to the lake, so if you're headed out to Shawnee for an afternoon or some lame party, rather than resorting to the paltry selection at The Dock, that horrid place, you should check out <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Grattidge</span>. They sell a limited amount of singles (located in a cooler at the end of the wine), most out of season (but not outdated) stuff that doesn't seem to have been mistreated or abused at all. I've recently purchased several winter brews there that tasted just fine. The best buys are by the register, which is where they put the stuff they've seemingly given up on. Currently several bottles of those wonderful St Peters brews are gathering dust for under 5$, but the most intriguing find is the numerous bombers of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Obovoid</span> nestled amongst the forgotten stuff for $2.99 - this is surely a find worth mentioning.</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>I've been looking for a reason to write about <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Obovoid</span> since it was released back in 2008. If you've never tasted or even heard about the Void here's some background. It's an oak-aged oatmeal stout clocking in at 40 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">IBUs</span> and 8% <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">ABV</span> in a 22 oz bottle (there are six packs out there somewhere that list the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">ABV</span> at 6.8%, I've read reviews but never seen them anywhere). It's brewed by the Boulder Beer Company in (duh) Boulder, CO and began as a release in their vaunted "Looking Glass" series, the progenitor of such memorable brews as <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Mojo</span> Rising, but has become their fall seasonal, though it's rarely seen in Topeka for whatever reason.</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Regularly priced in the $6-$8 range at $2.99 the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Obovoid</span> is an absolute steal. It's a complex beer, a bit intimidating in appearance, but <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">surprisingly</span> smooth in execution. Pours jet black with a head of nearly the same color which <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">subsides</span> quickly leaving a beautiful <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">graffiti</span> of lacing on the glass. A lot of oat-stouts can be overwhelming, too robust to enjoy, almost like eating a sandwich. The Void resists this temptation, though it definitely approaches the precipice and you can tell that the masters at Boulder, who've been making craft beer since 1979, held back, opting to make a beer you'd rather drink than talk about, my favorite kind. </div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg29HX5i_DU5kbYFhRnmd30Uu8dOCJgz_XbOVDnF-Vyk6XjxeBxOWGculGTV2w10v-Tqie7u38dtP5vqwT53ksVS_BTTlCg93l1MFMmL2Te9d5QRnLAJF4qXBngDWn3zjX8N9mxjU7DkPo/s1600/sierra30_logo.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 176px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg29HX5i_DU5kbYFhRnmd30Uu8dOCJgz_XbOVDnF-Vyk6XjxeBxOWGculGTV2w10v-Tqie7u38dtP5vqwT53ksVS_BTTlCg93l1MFMmL2Te9d5QRnLAJF4qXBngDWn3zjX8N9mxjU7DkPo/s320/sierra30_logo.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472108194578613602" /></a><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Speaking of good deals, I hate being the harbinger of bad news but if you're expecting one </span></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre">on the new 30<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">th</span> anniversary stuff from Sierra Nevada, you're going to be in for a terrible surprise. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre">They're being offered to stores in the Topeka area in absurdly limited quantities. From what I've </span></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre">heard the north east quadrant of the state is allocated only four cases. One salesman I spoke to </span></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre">(well, eavesdropped on, actually) had only four bottles to offer his clients. Take away at least a </span></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre">case for the inevitable store owner confiscation of a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">bottle</span> or two and I estimate only about thirty</span></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> six people in our area will be lucky enough to buy one of these babies. Hopefully some of you will </span></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre">share.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Oh, yeah, and the asking price? It'll probably be around $15-17 bucks for a bottle, which pretty much counts me out unless someone from the SN camp wants to toss a 'donation' my way (and, really, I'd take a few ounces delivered via USPS in a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">sippy</span> cup, I'm not picky). If you haven't heard about it then, not only are you shopping at the wrong store, but be prepared to be blown away: it's a collaboration between Ken <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">Grossman</span> (of SN) and Fritz Maytag (of Anchor). It's a monster, snifter appropriate stout, that weighs in at 9,2% <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">ABV</span>. Early reviews have been excellent, receiving an A- from Beer Advocate reviewers, though you'd have to think that at least some of that is due to the enthusiasm surrounding this release. </div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The one bit of good news surrounding this whole release is that it is a series. There will be four releases all together, all collaborations between pioneering brewers like Charlie <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">Papazian</span> and Jack <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">Mcauliff</span>, with the exception of the final release, an oak-aged blend of Bigfoot, Celebration, and Pale Ale that is perhaps the most mouthwatering concoction I've ever heard of. This is the one I'm saving my money for (I've stepped up my use of the curse words at home specifically so I can put change into the 'swear jar") - and I don't think I'd be out of line or premature in crowning this monster 'Beer of the Decade' this early in the going. Even if it lives up to 5% of the hype it's going to receive (it won't be released until October, so we probably won't sniff any of it until late November round these parts) it'll be an amazing <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">achievement</span>, setting the standard for the rest of the decades.</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>That's about all I got right now. With the warmer weather these days, brewpub road trips seem imminent so be on the lookout for me if you're behind the bar at Hank is Wiser or LB Brewing since you're tops on my list of places to visit. I'd also love to do a story on a local home brewer, not only for the opportunity to try your beer and bullshit about beer but I know dick about <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">home brewing</span> (except for the fact that I SUCK at it) so it would be nice to learn a thing or two. And again, you're all welcome to stop by Murphy's and shoot the shit about all stuff beery, or the Royals if you're so inclined. As always, drink safe, drink smart, drink well and share. Cheers!</div></div>Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07784672642240688882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7232939254597622574.post-39638806407459226512010-04-13T23:25:00.000-07:002010-04-13T23:29:36.060-07:00Blast from the Past #1 - PUKE-O-RAMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPJ03dj7Kkdd0qYh8bT2EMM34jGxBa8euqTH248-4GIvoP5XwWxjVUkFU43ERNKPOdmFJfLP9mf-XzHF_TaWfGrU6A6686CcJrtneBDorRMbXiwjHXUctSgDZ6_brTsjZIZOyhkjMFaH8/s1600/pukeorama.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 127px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPJ03dj7Kkdd0qYh8bT2EMM34jGxBa8euqTH248-4GIvoP5XwWxjVUkFU43ERNKPOdmFJfLP9mf-XzHF_TaWfGrU6A6686CcJrtneBDorRMbXiwjHXUctSgDZ6_brTsjZIZOyhkjMFaH8/s400/pukeorama.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459875905945137026" /></a><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>"Fast, loud, and retarded."</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></span>That's how Jeremy Yoho describes the sound of the band he used to front, Topeka metal-punk misfits, Puke-O-Rama and, looking back, that's probably the most accurate description possible. Raucous, beligerant, and staunchly anti-social, the band formed in the mid-90s as a trio, the brainchild of guitarist/songwriter Seth Coulter who wrote songs about worshipping Satan, rioting against the cops, hating the fire department... All normal teenage stuff. Yoho was brought in later as a vocalist and the band gave several memorable performances in basements and abandoned houses in and around Topeka/Lawrence.</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></span>"Everyone in the band but me was really pretty talented," Yoho recalls. </div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></span>Blurring the lines between metal and punk was the bands calling card. They mixed grindcore and melody, chaos and collision with tight riffs, and lyrically lambasted everything from love to music, even offering dance advice to listeners.</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></span>"Don't do the pogo / When you're jumping up and down / If you do the pogo /I'll knock you on the ground," sang Yoho in the appropriately named party classic "Don't Do the Pogo". </div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></span>Unfortunately, Puke-O-Rama never amounted to much. The band recorded a split demo with fellow Topeka punks Count Zero in 1995 and Yoho left the band soon after. The remaining members continued on as a trio for a bit before disbanding in the late 90s. Yoho joined the army last year.</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></span>"I spend 50% of my time sitting on a mountaintop in Egypt," he says. "Sounds mystical - but it really isn't. The air's thin and it gets mighty cold at night. Presently, I'm sitting in my federally sanctioned bedroom a little bit closer to civilization and I just woke up with a wicked hangover. I don't really drink anymore though, at least not much, so I don't know how that happened."</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></span>Puke-O-Rama's legacy, however, is undeniable.</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></span>"I heard a guitar riff on the new Metallica album that was exactly the same as one that Seth used," Yoho says. "Not kidding. I'd accuse them of ripping us off if I didn't know that there is no way in hell they've ever subjected themselves to our demo." </div>Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07784672642240688882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7232939254597622574.post-56389705379464762792010-04-05T14:59:00.000-07:002011-08-26T23:29:29.075-07:00Brew News - Spring, 2010<span style="WHITE-SPACE: pre" class="Apple-tab-span"></span><span style="WHITE-SPACE: pre" class="Apple-tab-span"></span>
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<br />There are a few things that all of my drinking buddies know about me. First, I practically had to rush home and change my pants when I noticed that thirty packs of Iron City cans had arrived at my favorite store (Murphy's, 29th and Topeka). The moment I saw them my mouth began to water with visions of hours of lakeside drinking unhindered by clumsily hiding bottles at the sound of a park ranger's truck. I'm not saying IC is the nectar of the gods, but it's a huge step up from the High Life I'm usually forced to drag with me to the lake, or the occasional dusty case of Yuengling I track down if I'm out of town.
<br /><span style="WHITE-SPACE: pre" class="Apple-tab-span"></span>Another thing my friends know is this: I ain't no hophead. Never been one. I've tried. Hell, I've even faked it, to no avail. It's just something about my pallette: almost every high IBU concoction I bring to my lips turns out to be a mistake, and the gnarly shape I somehow contort my face into after the first drink is (I'm told as I've never seen it) both comical and terrifying - an otherworldly cross between the Elephant Man and Jim Carey that defies logical explanation and is worthy of National Enquirer consideration. I've always defended myself by saying things like "I don't put flowers on my steak, why would I want them in my beer?", and "I'll take a Heather Ale over an Imperial IPA anyday", which is ludicrous and untrue. To me, hops are the meat of a beer, the part a patron can really sink their teeth into, and an overly hopped brew is like a steak or slab that's been burned beyond recognition, one dimensional and bland.
<br /><span style="WHITE-SPACE: pre" class="Apple-tab-span"></span>That said, I still get excited whenever a new huge IPA hits theshelves, and, though reluctantly, I'll usually end up buying it, dragging it home and forcing myself through it in the hopes of being pleasently surprised. I like being pleasently surprised. It's pleasent. And so, predictably, on my last run to the store I nabbed a few singles that looked promising and sat down determined to approach them with an open mind. Here we go...
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<br /><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZBA4s0tu1y0RlLKTX67Ozo0c4Upwx74dQe5n5tchWxF4WEF4OCjV6k1JTbs4ZED_BQhmXt9Q2SlsFCxuMk0qK4FYtQ9kBAaftLl0p1JIT-8Jdvcd7lOTPBdvKi4qGxK-mx6ZRFsI_ioE/s1600/ranger.png"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 307px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456777312654225986" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZBA4s0tu1y0RlLKTX67Ozo0c4Upwx74dQe5n5tchWxF4WEF4OCjV6k1JTbs4ZED_BQhmXt9Q2SlsFCxuMk0qK4FYtQ9kBAaftLl0p1JIT-8Jdvcd7lOTPBdvKi4qGxK-mx6ZRFsI_ioE/s320/ranger.png" /></a></div>
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<br /><div><b><i>Ranger India Pale Ale, New Belgium Brewing Compnay, Fort Collins, CO</i></b></div>
<br /><div><span style="WHITE-SPACE: pre" class="Apple-tab-span"><span style="WHITE-SPACE: pre" class="Apple-tab-span"></span></span>Honestly, you could see this coming a few years ago when New Belgium released the Mighty Arrow Pale Ale in their sampler 12 pack. It was obvious that they were testing the water for something new and you could tell that a simple pale ale, while good, wasn't their ultimate goal. The funny thing is, I spoke to a very nice representative at New Belgium about the Mighty Arrow at the time of it's initial release and she told me very enthusiastically that it was "The big one, a whopping 35 IBUs!" which, at the time was quite high for NB. After all, I got a little pissed when they drastically raised their prices during the hop shortage a few years ago because Fat Tire and Sunshine Wheat aren't exactlyhyper hopped brews, so what gives? But bygones are bygones and I dropped my ill-advised boycott of NB a while ago and I'm glad I did, otherwise I would have missed out on Ranger. </div>
<br /><div><span style="WHITE-SPACE: pre" class="Apple-tab-span"><span style="WHITE-SPACE: pre" class="Apple-tab-span"></span></span>At 70 IBUs and 6.5% ABV Ranger is pretty ambitious for an American Belgian style brewery, particularly one as high profile as NB. Ommegang has nothing like it. Even Boulevard's Single Wide is only 59 BUs, so Ranger seems like a great leap forward. It's like if Anheuser Busch came out with some sort of slightly hoppy ale or dumped a bunch of lime juice into Bud Light.... Oh, yeah, nevermind. </div>
<br /><div><span style="WHITE-SPACE: pre" class="Apple-tab-span"><span style="WHITE-SPACE: pre" class="Apple-tab-span"></span></span>I fell in love with Ranger pretty quickly after pouring it into my trusty Old Style mug. It's a beautiful looking beer, strongly copper in color and sporting a fluffy pillow of tasty foam that laces the glass with crinoline etchings of delicious residue as the beer sinks sip by sip. It's incredibly drinkable, and while the hop presence dominates the smell and taste of the beer it doesn't attack the pallette. The bitterness is slight, just a mild tingle towards the end of each sip that tickles the back of the tongue. Hops are the dominate taste, but Ranger doesn't fray the tastebuds with a shocking hop bath. Instead, due to an intense dryu hopping with Cascade hops, it's almost like a hop flavored amber rather than a typical IPA. It's a fun beer to both to drink and look at, and surprisingly sessionable - exactly what I've come to expect from NB.</div>
<br /><div><span style="WHITE-SPACE: pre" class="Apple-tab-span"><span style="WHITE-SPACE: pre" class="Apple-tab-span"></span></span>Something unexpected, however, (at least for me) is a enjoyable Imperial IPA. Unlike a lot of people, I've never been impressed with the "Imperial" tag brewers have been slapping on their brews. To me, it's a great example of the nauseating self-propaganda techniques ad-execs use to make a quick buck, but hey, there's enough simpletons out there to make it profitable, so whatever. To me, it ain't Imperial unless it's wearing white armor and walking around the Death Star. That said...</div>
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<br /><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9JPdonapgLcG7koCZdd7cZhAeELC8rZGyy9qYWBan23Vmw4mzg6hCBfZA7xUjZSIUYtlwutK6-snU3UYpHiONSk7Y0LC_fV0TOBG0cqQuxXNHkdz8FtzQ0O2wyGDJ-74RCLDZbziYpHI/s1600/hop+czar+(2).jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 229px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456777862065304034" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9JPdonapgLcG7koCZdd7cZhAeELC8rZGyy9qYWBan23Vmw4mzg6hCBfZA7xUjZSIUYtlwutK6-snU3UYpHiONSk7Y0LC_fV0TOBG0cqQuxXNHkdz8FtzQ0O2wyGDJ-74RCLDZbziYpHI/s320/hop+czar+(2).jpg" /></a></div>
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<br /><div><span style="WHITE-SPACE: pre" class="Apple-tab-span"><i><b></b></i></span><i><b>Hop Czar Imperial IPA, Bridgeport Brewing Company, Portland, OR</b></i></div>
<br /><div><span style="WHITE-SPACE: pre" class="Apple-tab-span"></span>It would be unfair to say that I was underwhelmed by the Czar. But it is Bridgeport's fault for calling it Imperial. When I hear Imperial expectations are raised. That's the point of calling it Imperial. I get prepared for an experience. It's irrelevant, really, whether it's good or bad - I'm looking for something memorable. Which is not what you get with the Czar. Don't get me wrong, you get a great beer, one that you'll want to drink regularly. And at 7.5% ABV and 85 IBU's you can drink three or four of these a night a few times a week and be perfectly happy. Fulfilled even. But you're not going to be blown away.</div>
<br /><div><span style="WHITE-SPACE: pre" class="Apple-tab-span"></span>In many ways Hop Czar epitomizes Bridgeport itself. It's a great, flavorful beer that doesn't over-achieve or over-shoot it's boundries. It's recieved good reviews but nothing stellar, and provides a nice back bone for a style that's been plundered and pillaged like a Viking conquest over the last ten years. The IPA and Imperial IPA may be close to running it's course and it's nice that both of these powerhouse breweries have finally contributed their two cents to the conversation.</div>
<br /><div><span style="WHITE-SPACE: pre" class="Apple-tab-span"></span>Well, that's it for now. Be back next month with a few more thoughts and such, and maybe one of those brewery visits I promised last time. Cheers! - jack</div></div></div>
<br />Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07784672642240688882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7232939254597622574.post-89030694723147613602010-04-05T14:52:00.000-07:002010-04-05T14:58:25.428-07:00Spoon, Transference, Merge Records, 2010<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ6THMNNN1ioVZM7-2R7WkvepwGSFVB5e4qhgKhS-d_FKYBDxskoCUBUanHVTx5Ip6rX03hcpQXWGx2GWAEHuuTvfLgOzJpj1uQUV6Tvas9ElLwPgL8vCf8wUPNmZSsC3H5_NBAwGviqU/s1600/spoon.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ6THMNNN1ioVZM7-2R7WkvepwGSFVB5e4qhgKhS-d_FKYBDxskoCUBUanHVTx5Ip6rX03hcpQXWGx2GWAEHuuTvfLgOzJpj1uQUV6Tvas9ElLwPgL8vCf8wUPNmZSsC3H5_NBAwGviqU/s400/spoon.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456775933337026466" /></a><br /><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>From the beginning Spoon has always seemed like a career rather than a rock band, and leader Britt Daniel has always seemed like more of an investment manager than a rocker, more Colonel Parker than Elvis, more Malcolm Mclaren than Sid Vicious. Spoon has been the next big thing for the last fifteen years but have never pulled their tour van over the hump, and there's a good reason for that. Spoon has always epitomized what people distrusted about indie rock - they're pretentious, pregnant with their own self esteem, and hung up on a smug confidence in their own abilities. </div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Like Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, bandleader Britt Daniel has always wanted to "make it" in the real world, and has had a sense of entitlement to rock stardom that never sat well with the listening public. Even as the biggest and most respected indie rocker in the land Daniel has seemed unhappy, ready to compromise whatever necessary in his desire to transcend his meager, but dedicated fanbase. </div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Spoon has never made a great album. They've done some great songs but have never been able to hold it together long enough to really wow someone. Until now. While Transference, their seventh full length, may not be a 'This is Our Music" statement, it is a "My my, hey hey" kiss off to the both the haters and lovers that have expected so much out of the band. Dropping most of the pretensions that have plagued the band, Daniel strips the sound down to the basics and does what he does best: basic, rooty rock ditties that are flightly enough to dance to but still have the teeth to stick in your head all the live long day. It's quirky without being weird, poppy without pandering and it's the first Spoon album that just seems like a Spoon album, rather than an attempt to set or defy trends. Daniel is not a trendsetter. He's not a rebel either. He's not a lyrical genius, and he's not a guitar god. He never has been. He's the leader of a decent rock band of mild influence and appeal. For once he seems to be comfortable with that. Now he can finally get to work. - Stacks</div>Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07784672642240688882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7232939254597622574.post-75821475445750236002010-02-20T22:31:00.000-08:002010-02-24T17:49:37.241-08:00Reasons to be Good - A Short Conversation with Ryan Davis, State Champion of Kick Ass New Bands<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Rt6BoH_otfvKATdWZSseV3Hl0qrtaSfdIFzpBHF_Fc-ZOc0jf_4zgHgScrB-tAInOGcigJv-bvyMjhF8s56fA6m4F6ErmoKSsGV1G5p1ydASOJiePYjj7qR3W6gNk3-I8bj-ZGOBYSU/s1600-h/state+champion.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Rt6BoH_otfvKATdWZSseV3Hl0qrtaSfdIFzpBHF_Fc-ZOc0jf_4zgHgScrB-tAInOGcigJv-bvyMjhF8s56fA6m4F6ErmoKSsGV1G5p1ydASOJiePYjj7qR3W6gNk3-I8bj-ZGOBYSU/s200/state+champion.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441990032570174914" /></a> I first stumbled upon Louisville, KY newcomers State Champion while bumming around music geek message boards one night and didn't think much of them.There was a buzz about the band, but something about their crunchy, guitar driven alt country just didn't sit right. The songs seemed confused and sloppy, the country punk seemed romanticized at best and contrived at worst. A few days later I gave hem another chance and I don't know, maybe it was the right combination of a few Pabst Blue Ribbons and the early evening light of a long and frustrating day, but it just hit me, the music clicked in my brain and I 'got it'. Since then I've listened to their first full length, <span style="font-style:italic;">Stale Champagne</span>, about a thousand times, played it for every friend I have, found myself humming the tunes while doing the dishes, and relished the fact that I've reserved a spot for myself on this bands bandwagon before they get 'big', which is bound to happen any day now. <br /><br />The band is the brainchild of Ryan Davis, a Kentucky bred art student turned songwriter who spent the better part of the past decade writing songs in a flat in Scotland and ploughing the fertile fields of the Louisville underground to piece his band together. Unlike most bands, which develop naturally through a core of bud's and beers, State Champion went through countless changes in lineup and arrangement, from Davis performing solo, to a two piece, to Davis solo again, etc. <br /><br />"I struggled for a long time with what it meant to perform solo," he says. "If it was the kind of music I was intending to make or if it was only reflecting my laziness and lack of resources. I eventually hit a wall performing alone and began collaborating with anyone I knew with an instrument. Whether he or she was worth a damn or not was entirely secondary."<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDQ7gZM4nhkpAp6lhWWZTsfB0jkQY90Angn9tp4cxrCabcK7nzS5rdywbGxicMS7K6Nxsinvpb971q5soYjS-D7ioOUMkbhNtUS7AUm0bT4TjAKyBUtSJd4WXhxkT-6ZGKmkYAclXHDAg/s1600-h/state+champ+3.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDQ7gZM4nhkpAp6lhWWZTsfB0jkQY90Angn9tp4cxrCabcK7nzS5rdywbGxicMS7K6Nxsinvpb971q5soYjS-D7ioOUMkbhNtUS7AUm0bT4TjAKyBUtSJd4WXhxkT-6ZGKmkYAclXHDAg/s200/state+champ+3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441990259786447282" /></a><br />"Some were better than others," he continues. "Some were more interested than others. Almost all of them were friends, roommates, borrowed musicians of more established bands. I eventually arrived at a group of folks with whom I clicked enough to consider keepers. They were committed enough to tour and understood the songs well enough to make up for my shortcomings."<br /> <br />Exactly what those shortcomings are is a mystery. On record the band is nearly flawless. Unabashedly blending endearing lo-fi sensibility and polite farm boy twang with 90s-ish guitar heroics, <span style="font-style:italic;">Champagne</span> is a major power surge for a scene which has been thirsting for authenticity since everyone starting pretending <span style="font-style:italic;">Yankee Hotel Foxtrot</span> was a masterpiece. The songs that make up the record have a natural and honest feel to them, and they're possessed with a 'love 'em or hate 'em so what, we're not trying to impress anyone', attitude that's undeniably, well, impressive. More than being a genre record, it's a record of the Midwest, a record of experience, from influence to execution. Davis cites songwriters like Will Oldham, Conner Oberst and Jason Molina as major influences, but it's more than that. <br /> <br />"You grow up in Kentucky with this warped view of the world, wishing you were from New York City or somewhere in California," Davis says. "You listen to Nirvana and Jesus Lizard growing up, anything to avoid what came long before you, historically. I remember buying a Misfits shirt in 5th grade before I'd ever even heard them because I knew it was good. Then I went to the mall and bought <span style="font-style:italic;">Collection II</span> and was like "What the fuck? This sounds like Elvis!" Took me a minute to wrap my head around it."<br /><br />"When I was in Glasgow, alone in that flat with an acoustic guitar that I barely knew how to play I was coming from a year in American art school," Davis says. "I was having new bands shoved down my throat. Le Tigre, Animal Collective, all this wacky shit. But when I sat down to write that first batch of songs, it came out kind of sounding like country music. I didn't understand it, but I guess there is something inherently Southern that was just sort of boiling over the years, soaking in it for so long.<br /><br />"Now that this record has been getting a little press, people talk about how we are paying homage to the greats of alt-country. Bands like Uncle Tupelo and Drive By Truckers and I have never heard a single one of these bands! Just makes me wonder if dudes like Jeff Tweedy and Ryan Adams started writing songs like that for the same reason I did. Because they loved both The Byrds and Black Flag, and that's just how their brain chose to deal with it."<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Check out State Champion at their MySpace: <a href="http://myspace.com/iamstatechampion">myspace.com/iamstatechampion</a></span><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Buy Stale Champagne here: <a href="http://sophomoreloungerecords.com/records.html">http://sophomoreloungerecords.com/records.html</a></span>Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07784672642240688882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7232939254597622574.post-49521183586753002532010-01-22T23:37:00.000-08:002010-01-22T23:42:47.636-08:00A Wolf in Punk Rock Clothing - Wolfgang and the Noble Oval and the Early Days of Punk Rock (An Interview)<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQJcLwa6UYYEJ7Mn0hEXfXLMsic86WV9ToV7JfRkC-yM-iCRJ5v03zp9GnTXHQStZFTTRNFXPG-Ir2UyAN7IYvWG5uey5nBSbcWcKUGatUWq6roelC4MiOHMkDw9hYJ-GGsljb3r_cO9LD/s1600-h/wolfgang.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 397px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424428041610285378" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQJcLwa6UYYEJ7Mn0hEXfXLMsic86WV9ToV7JfRkC-yM-iCRJ5v03zp9GnTXHQStZFTTRNFXPG-Ir2UyAN7IYvWG5uey5nBSbcWcKUGatUWq6roelC4MiOHMkDw9hYJ-GGsljb3r_cO9LD/s400/wolfgang.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div align="left"><br />Like most local scenes in the early days of punk, the history of punk rock in St Louis is a largely untold story lost somewhere between the haze of youthful hangovers and the slow alzhiemers of fruitless job hunts, countless changed diapers, and well, just growing up. But unlike most scenes, the origins of punk rock in St Louis can be pinpointed, almost to the exact minute, with the formation of Wolfgang and the Noble Oval in 1971. Comprised of two individuals who would later become among the cultest of cult legends, vocalist/guitarist Wolf Roxon (of NYC proto punkers The Tears, The Metro’s, and Walkie Talkie), and Jon Ashline (vocalist and drummer for midwestern noise-freak legends The Screaming Mee-Mee’s), Wolfgang and the Noble Oval predated the faintest grumblings of punk rock, making music that defied conventional notions of what music could be and, more importantly, who could make music. In an age dominated by the grandiosity of larger than life bands like The Eagles and Led Zepplin, Roxon and Ashline simply locked themselves in a bedroom and pounded out raw, stripped down rock songs that eschewed the style over substance ethos of the popular rock music of the day.<br /><br />"The bulk of music in the late 1960's and early 1970's had lost its primitive, rhythmic appeal," Roxon recalls. "Rock'n'roll was basically dead except for oldie shows. The contemporary guitar and keyboard stars were showing off their fine-tuned skills, the writing was either pretentious or banal, and everyone looked like spoiled, boring 'rock stars.' In short, we loved basic, root rock, not overproduced spectacles."<br /><br />With titles like ‘Whoa, Jonny Gimmie That Beer" and "Eva Braun, Spinnin’ Round", Ashline and Roxon's recordings provoked confusion among listeners accustomed to the pandering so prevalent in the music of the 1970s.<br /><br />“Most [listeners] expressed horror and couldn't believe their ears,” recalls Roxon, who now lives in Vermont, of the reception of the bands recordings.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ1q4eUUowm5UxSu-Wk9aFqoP6A6pv0U7owBwid0sk9VOZCXTl2RjDz8b_S80tbYu3KeWfTqkoP0M9U-9EQWU_LtenXOqXZMPgF7pBkc2TzW8ka2-cNzXshiQUdDlzj44vxHhpAqZNIa9R/s1600-h/wolf+roxon.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 275px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424509190997338594" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ1q4eUUowm5UxSu-Wk9aFqoP6A6pv0U7owBwid0sk9VOZCXTl2RjDz8b_S80tbYu3KeWfTqkoP0M9U-9EQWU_LtenXOqXZMPgF7pBkc2TzW8ka2-cNzXshiQUdDlzj44vxHhpAqZNIa9R/s400/wolf+roxon.jpg" /></a><em><strong>(Left: Roxon post-W+NO)</strong></em><br />Roxon and Ashline met as teenagers in 1968 while working at the same <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burger_Chef">Burger Chef</a> restaurant in suburban St Louis. Both considered themselves normal teenagers at the time, but something about their relationship must have been a bit different since rather than spending their time tossing the old pigskin around, the pair spent their time obsessed with music.<br /><br />"We usually hung around Jon's house, spending most of our time producing what were called “break in” recordings," Roxon says.<br /><br />A predecessor to modern day sampling techniques, break in records were popularized in the 1960s by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dickie_Goodman">Dickie Goodman</a>. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDNlSpKLEEo">His recordings </a>consisted of an interviewer asking questions to real or imaginary individuals, which were met with responses cut from popular music.<br /><br />“We would pretend to be interviewing fellow workers at Burger Chef and might ask, ‘What do you want from this job?’,” Roxon recalls. “The answer might be a ‘sample’ from the Beatles version of ‘Money’—the sung line ‘Just give me money—Thats what I want.’<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA_Ap1JhAe3tZ4x3u6soqj7CqMT82cURN0DJwHN_z1HMdM0AcjBpxc4VXEIsJ8godKF48fwylTYg3YXY68h4Mo4Oy5kL2UfgWTy5pel6JiuCjy92pcl9e5JA7Lt2azCCn1uAfJNv0o_WDE/s1600-h/ashline.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 248px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424511701721020098" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA_Ap1JhAe3tZ4x3u6soqj7CqMT82cURN0DJwHN_z1HMdM0AcjBpxc4VXEIsJ8godKF48fwylTYg3YXY68h4Mo4Oy5kL2UfgWTy5pel6JiuCjy92pcl9e5JA7Lt2azCCn1uAfJNv0o_WDE/s400/ashline.jpg" /></a><br /><strong><em>(Right: Ashline in the mid-1970s)</em></strong><br /><br />“It may sound stupid and mundane today,” Roxon continues. “But that was high tech stuff back then. The average person thought we were engineering geniuses and our bosses couldn't figure out how we could be smart enough to pull this off yet unable to make a decent tasting hamburger!”<br /><br />"But the real importance of this hobby," he continues. "Was that, in searching for music samples, I plowed through Jon's record collection. He was light years ahead of me. I mostly listened to top ten hits. Suddenly, my exposure to offbeat music was greatly increased by hanging around Jon who led me down the road of ruin by introducing me to record collecting."<br /><br />Through Ashline, Roxon discovered the music of The Stooges, The Velvet Underground, The Godz - music which today holds a heralded place in the history of rock, but at the time was obscure and strange. Punk was still a few years out and bands like The Stooges and The MC5, while critically acclaimed, were receiving more death threats than royalties. Mixed with their burgeoning creative desires, the music inspired the duo to create their own music as well. Over time Ashline and Roxon began to experiment with writing actual songs using actual instruments and actual recording equipment in 1971.<br /><br />"There comes a point when you want to do produce something of your own," Roxon continues. "I practically begged Jon to form a group with me."<br /><br />"I had been writing lyrics since childhood," Roxon recalls. "I played a little guitar and could bang out a few current hits, that is, on a good day when my guitar was in tune. Every so often we would manage to have a practice session and usually, in the end, there was a mutual agreement that rock stardom was not in our cards."<br /><br />But it was by the grace of fate (or Santa Clause) that the duo actually came together as a band.<br /><br />"The watershed moment of our history came when Jon's little brother received a toy drum set for Christmas from K-Mart marketed as <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/benmastaw00t/3910798095/">The Noble Oval</a>. It was a toy set, not a cheap set of adult drums. You could pick up the entire kit with one hand."<br /><br />"They were crap," recalls Ashline of his first drumset. "Made out of tin. The heads were crap. The bass drum was oval shaped, that’s why they were called that."<br /><br />New rhythm section in tow, Roxon and Ashline began to record in Roxon’s bedroom. The sessions were impromptu with lyrics and music largely conceived in the moment.<br /><br />"We started playing our own compositions basically, on the spot," Ashline says. "One take songs, we did a couple covers. Most of the stuff was recorded on real cheap cassette players in his bedroom because we had no studio per se. We’d just get the recorder out, press record, and start playing."<br /><br />"Only Jon Ashline could have played those drums while singing and, simultaneously, creating lyrics," Roxon says. "Jon had natural rhythm. A solid, steady driving beat was his forte. I give him a lot of credit."<br /><br />"Jon even attempted a drum solo with his toy set of drums," Roxon recalls. "We debated rerecording the solo by just throwing the drums down my basement stairs. It was a tough choice."<br /><br />The second session was similar in approach but carried a different attitude.<br /><br />"I had written a song called 'Eva Braun-Spinning 'Round' but we once again composed the rest as the tapes rolled," says Roxon. "The four letter words were really flying out of our mouths in this session. Both Jon and I had been dumped by our girlfriends and we were loaded to the gills with anger, frustration, and Michelob."<br /><br />"After the sessions," Roxon says. "We would get together with Bruce Cole (future member of The Screamin' Mee Mees) and drive to Steak and Shake or the midnight flicks at the Varsity Theatre in University City, MO and listen to the tapes. Bruce really got a kick out of the recordings and helped us decide which songs were keepers. He also named the group by calling us 'Herr Wolfgang and the Noble Oval.'"<br /><br /><strong><em>(Below: Roxon, center, with The Tears at CBGB, NYC)</em></strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXnn2UHp0e8tVUJgT3j7jYl1g346xk2oKuRZk8PXYz_XN4xOGKyopSXuXkpzJ6l4IBLBJ8C7ysvHxEZJ8n_02Qw2iPfHORSSjYHeyNfMDzVzUUHNqpOQPk3bbuK_GsKB27XCPZZleovFdO/s1600-h/wolf+roxon+2.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 279px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424513813449283858" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXnn2UHp0e8tVUJgT3j7jYl1g346xk2oKuRZk8PXYz_XN4xOGKyopSXuXkpzJ6l4IBLBJ8C7ysvHxEZJ8n_02Qw2iPfHORSSjYHeyNfMDzVzUUHNqpOQPk3bbuK_GsKB27XCPZZleovFdO/s400/wolf+roxon+2.jpg" /></a>What emerged from the sessions is an endearing snapshot of two young men fumbling through the short history of rock music in an attempt to discover their own little niche. The songs are largely simple, but not simplistic; often comedic without being flippant or absurd. You can hear the elitism of The Kinks mixing with the street corner prophecies of The Godz and The Fugs, the venomemous blasphemies of Iggy Stooge emerging from the polite innocence of Buddy Holly. It was, in a word, the optimistic beginnings of rock and roll wrestling with it's tortured future. While the recordings may lack the nihilistic bite of the punk that would come later, the Noble Oval songs were created with the same spirit that made groups like the Sex Pistols and The Ramones possible.<br /><br />"Today, whenever I play our songs for anyone, their first response is “That's not punk rock!!!,” Roxon says. "The problem is that the average person defines punk rock as music sounding and influenced by the Ramones, Sex Pistols and other groups in the scene in the later 1970's—what became the sonic definition of punk. But, to us in 1970, the punk rock movement was still six to eight years in the future. Punk, at that point, had not been defined. It was more of a spirit, an attitude and an image. And if it wasn't defined in 1976-77, it certainly wasn't in the early 1970's. So we, in our own way, were redefining the character of rock'n'roll. It should be fun, energetic, aggressive, rhythmic, spirited, and simple. In the end, a whole new generation of rockers discovered what we already knew.”<br /><br />“In the early 1970's,” Roxon recalls, “So many musicians emulated and imitated the stars who stood at the top of the heap. Other than the ability to imitate, they offered little. They played in the same style, wrote songs that sounded the same, and looked the same. They laughed at us because, not only were we lacking in musical skills, but we had no desire to sound or be like them."<br /><br /><em><strong>(Right: The Screamin' Mee Mee's)</strong></em><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX4P6gML9_Whe5SSX6LFGmpUV2IXVNMv3dmVL3AWD2hbVle7KEnClqjxGoW3UiRbA4Q_NWiQB-5uV8NfF4nF3HKWK9vCDvBMy-vydu2FIgzrrLIvnWNlnlpXvXJsrskZjM_AWs061hbqOG/s1600-h/ashline+2.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 400px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 275px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424514938904960322" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX4P6gML9_Whe5SSX6LFGmpUV2IXVNMv3dmVL3AWD2hbVle7KEnClqjxGoW3UiRbA4Q_NWiQB-5uV8NfF4nF3HKWK9vCDvBMy-vydu2FIgzrrLIvnWNlnlpXvXJsrskZjM_AWs061hbqOG/s400/ashline+2.jpg" /></a>Wolfgang and the Noble Oval didn’t officially break-up. Ashline went away to college and eventually (with friend Bruce Cole) became one half of the infamous proto-garage mindfuck rockers The Screaming Mee Mee’s. The Mee Mee’s would continue terrorize eardrums throughout the ‘70s and '80s with basement recordings that carried on the ‘push record and play’ aesthetic Ashline had championed with The Noble Oval.<br /><br />After Wolfgang and the Noble Oval Roxon formed the cult proto-punk outfit The Moldy Dogs in St Louis before moving to New York and forming The Tears, The Metros, and Walkie Talkie, for whom, legend has it Madonna once auditioned as a vocalist. Roxon rejected her.</div><br />"My later groups were serious attempts to become successful in the music business," Roxon says. "while we always had our kicks, especially in Walkie Talkie, we also had our disappointments, frustrations and failures lurking at every step up the food chain. Wolfgang and the Noble Oval never had this problem. We kept our musical aspirations simple and, in that sense, we were purist. As for the contemporary, universal rejection by our peers, it fueled us instead of infuriating us. We could have cared less because we really loved what we were doing."<br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><span style="font-style:italic;"><span style="font-style:italic;"></span></span></span></div>Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07784672642240688882noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7232939254597622574.post-28331853114977180992010-01-14T22:27:00.000-08:002010-01-14T22:41:04.369-08:00Running Down Paul Schneider<strong><em>On the Corner<br />Support Local Music <br />by Jack Partain</em></strong><br /><br /> Sitting in his office in Rundown Studios, producer and engineer Paul Schneider seems less like a geeky recording tech than an ambassador for the craft as he explains the philosophy of his studio.<br /> <br />"I’ve had bands of my own." he says. "But the main thing that I was never happy about is that most studios if you’re a struggling band you’d go record and they’d just give you a rough mix and if you wanted a pro mix then you’re talking $700 hundred bucks a song and most people can’t afford that."<br /><br /> "So I opened this studio with that in mind, trying to provide a professional level mix with-out as much cost."<br /><br /> Intelligent and articulate, Schneider, who is also a local fireman and veteran musician, knows the importance of quality recording for a young band.<br /><br /> " I will do demos for people," he says. "But I really don’t like to. I think it’s detrimental to the band. If they’re gonna record they might as well just go all out. People make a decision within the first 15-20 seconds and if it sounds like it was recorded by the band people don’t even give the song a chance. But if it has that polish and production on it people will give it a chance. The body and the message of the song will have more of a chance to come through."<br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgklJ5W8i92KWh3lk_6NkiFhT0_1vn0jECew0jzmrrsdBscOxfVphwmMdWYyn7FW0gwPwU-LUkXt2w1-Mg_Q1IJSU7Cu7whZX1GCM35T1FlkRK3tcigcD-UL9QVEgjQOJ-VYf1rUKFvC6g/s1600-h/paul+schneider.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgklJ5W8i92KWh3lk_6NkiFhT0_1vn0jECew0jzmrrsdBscOxfVphwmMdWYyn7FW0gwPwU-LUkXt2w1-Mg_Q1IJSU7Cu7whZX1GCM35T1FlkRK3tcigcD-UL9QVEgjQOJ-VYf1rUKFvC6g/s400/paul+schneider.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426851148065187586" /></a>Discreetly located in a converted central Topeka storefront, from the outside Rundown Studio's is doesn't seem like the hip spot for local musicians it is quickly turning into. But inside, the building seems like the perfect place to get the creative juices flowing. Comfortable and lacking in pretension, Rundown is different from a lot of other studios in that it doesn't flaunt it's hipness. Perhaps because it reflects the personality of it's creator. <br /><br /> "I started construction in July 2008 and I built the whole thing myself," Schneider says. "It was just an empty space."<br /><br /> After officially opening in January, 2009 Rundown has pro-duced an interesting array of artists including hard rock (Come Ascendancy, Brass Knuckle Betty, Another Day Gone) emotronic (Lawrence's Shout it Out Loud!) and classical/celtic (Kansas City's Rehtaeh). A major reason for this popularity may be Schneider's hands on approach to production.<br /><br /> "I pretty much do everything from engineering right on up to producing," he says. "So when a band comes in, I’m the guy setting up the mic’s, I’m the engineer, I’m the guy picking what pre-amps we go through and how it’s mic’d and how it’s played and then of course I do the mixing and then I also do the mastering.<br /><br /> "I’m one of those guys that Iikes to do everything," he continues."I'm kind of a control freak."<br /><br /> Largely misunderstood by the listening public, paradoxically the producer is often overlooked in the recording process, many times thought of as little more than a knob turner sitting in a dark room pushing buttons. Schnieder says it's more than that.<br /><br /> "As an engineer I’m able to apply everything that I know about music and really delve into things," he says. "Take it to an art form level which is what a lot of producers don’t do. They never delve into 'If I take the EQ on a guitar and dramatically change it, what does that do?'<br /><br /> "Everybody’s different in how they produce, how they mix, how they record," Scheider says. "I’ve got my own little way to do things, a little bit of a unique sound, even though in todays market a lot of bands, most bands will come in and say that they want a live sound, but when you get down to the finished product they want what they hear on the radio and a lot of the time what they don’t understand is that takes a lot of backend work and of course you have to get what you need on the front end. My philosophy, the way I do things probably might be different from some peo-ple but, most of the time, the music comes out with the feel of what the band is doing."<br /> <br />And like any great producer, Schneider says it's easy to see himself as part of the band he's working with.<br /><br /> "That’s one of the fun things about it," he says. "Yes, you do become just like a member of the band. They joke around with you and you have your place in the band. What you’re doing is taking all the elements of the band and bringing them together to make a specific sound. So a producer or mix engineer ends up being very important to the group. If you stick with a person then that’s what defines the final sound. And a lot of major bands, that’s what they do, they get a producer and they stick with it."<br /><br /> And sticking with it is something Schneider knows something about. Music has always been a part of his life.<br /><br /> "I played guitar, piano and drums since I was a kid but I al-ways played other peoples stuff," he says. "I was a big Van Halen fan."<br />"When I was thirty I started writing music and put out a CD called Movin On. When I listen to it now it’s about the most horrible production I could think of. But it still sells on iTunes. I don’t understand why – Europeans have a weird taste for music."<br /><br /> And his experience in production is lengthy and nearly obsessive.<br /><br /> "I’ve been mixing for fifteen years," he says. "But as far as producing other people, probably the last four or five years since I’ve had a band come in and I feel comfortable giving what I consider the best for the song in my opinion." <br /><br /> "I’ve always loved music," he continues. "Production gives me the ability to go so far inside music. There so many things, so many sides of it, from a production side. This year I've probably spent a good thousand hours in here." <br /><br /> In the next year Schneider plans on focusing even more on his work and finding new bands to work with.<br /><br /> "I spend so many hours in here," he says, without complaining. "It’s hard for me to go out and listen to bands and approach them and say I’d like to produce you. I’d like to be able to do more of that."<br /><br /> But what about getting rid of that pesky ghost? Artists at Rundown have reported sightings of ghostly activity within the studio, and Schneider has photographic evidence. Paranormal fan or haunting critic?<br /><br /> "It's not a mean ghost," Schneider says. "A lot of bands hear about it and are like 'Yeah, that's cool'."<br /><br /> Visit Paul's MySpace for more info: myspace.com/rundownproduction<br /><br /><em>Artists that have recorded at Rundown Studios:<br />Shout it Out Loud!, Emotronic, myspace.com/shoutitoutloudks<br />Another Day Gone, Metal, http://www.myspace.com/anotherdaygoneks<br />Rehtaeh, Celtic/Classical/ Gothic, http://www.myspace.com/rehtaehsmusic<br />Tiger Team Eleven, Metal, http://www.myspace.com/tigerteameleven<br />Jerrod Guth, Acoustic, http://www.myspace.com/jarrodguth</em>Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07784672642240688882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7232939254597622574.post-65303198558492138102010-01-05T19:54:00.000-08:002010-01-06T20:32:37.677-08:00Talking Ex-Patriot Blues - Bruns on Japan<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhivR_ReKEiOlFeM1JMcOc10gsY8jbfHNlg9oyMJe1J5Nvp_VnqBTnJe6oHlz0uIOB8QigK6ohDZlywIcH0jS4nx4ljSzWlybGjXS7rZPU7Bs-NKJanpCkEnkJfxQYrqg85gUIjsIDCUOc/s1600-h/1.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhivR_ReKEiOlFeM1JMcOc10gsY8jbfHNlg9oyMJe1J5Nvp_VnqBTnJe6oHlz0uIOB8QigK6ohDZlywIcH0jS4nx4ljSzWlybGjXS7rZPU7Bs-NKJanpCkEnkJfxQYrqg85gUIjsIDCUOc/s400/1.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423850091156083794" /></a><br /><br /><em>Editors Note: Todd Bruns is a native of Lawrence, KS currently living in Seoul, South Korea where he slaves away as a professional vacationer and taster of odd alcoholic concoctions. Occasionally he gets a paycheck for instructing Korean tweenagers in the wonders of the English language, of which his mastery is legendary amongst bartenders and broken-hearted girls worldwide. He also happens to be the best friend of the editor of this publication, and one helluva guy. Without further ado, his latest offering...</em><br /><br /><strong>"Japan Thing"</strong><br /><br /> It’s hard to write about Japan without going with the usual “Japan is weird” angle. Everybody’s seen Lost in Translation. Everybody knows about the weird shit you see, like pigeon-toed mini-skirted 20-something girls carrying around large pink teddy bears for no apparent reason. Robots, game shows, 4-story 24 hour arcades, capsule hotels, and anime porn; they’re all there, and they come to no surprise to anybody. Japan is different. <br /> <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAaECtFMUBDIlrALdkS7-n96k7Yi1Gf9uI4huwq0SWzkI3u1LbD-JXwC8hpqe9j2UpAIEZ8fY99rg78CkjRG6C5p34OSHAdTh0qpbETiUpi1ayvT9Cm2v0DVh8uK7aWieMVCNMm8oRU4o/s1600-h/2.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAaECtFMUBDIlrALdkS7-n96k7Yi1Gf9uI4huwq0SWzkI3u1LbD-JXwC8hpqe9j2UpAIEZ8fY99rg78CkjRG6C5p34OSHAdTh0qpbETiUpi1ayvT9Cm2v0DVh8uK7aWieMVCNMm8oRU4o/s400/2.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423840575202317730" /></a>My relationship to Japan is also different than that with most countries. Keep in mind, I’m no weeaboo. I don’t watch anime, I don’t read manga and I’m not into any otaku bullshit. Yet, when I’m there, I think a lot about what Japan means, what it is, and where I fit into it during my short stay. My consideration of the Japanese ethos never ceases throughout the duration of the trip. I’ve spent time in a lot of countries, and when I’m in, say, Belgium or Singapore or Spain or Thailand, I don’t fret so much about this kind of thing. I’ve been to Bangkok twice, and I was certainly bewildered the first time, but the second time I landed there, I felt like I knew it, I owned it, and I sold my Lonely Planet my first day back. My recent trip to Japan was my fourth, and the third to the city of Fukuoka, but I still spent the whole time halfway lost (the lack of street names doesn’t help) and pondering the idea of “Japan.”<br /><br /> I presume this level of introspection comes from my familiarity with Korea. My first trip to Fu-kuoka was only three weeks into my Asian sojourn, so I didn’t recognize a great deal of differ-ence between the two countries. My friend CC was living in Fukuoka at the time, and she kept me under her wing to some degree. While talking with her, it came up that a lot of the strange idiosyncrasies of Japan exist in Korea as well - society frowning on women smoking outdoors, mini-skirts in cold weather, amazing multitude of convenience stores, people dressing their dogs, karaoke being in a small room with friends rather than at a bar, and others. Plus, at this time, I couldn’t speak or read a word of Korean, so both Korean and Japanese were total moonspeak to me.<br /><br />My second trip was to Fukuoka as well, three months later. Much like the first trip, I was in town for one night to get a Korean visa. This time, armed with an extremely rudimentary under-standing of the Korean language and the ability to read it, Japan suddenly seemed vastly different from Korea. Plus, an extra three months of Korea under my belt accentuated the difference be-tween Korea and any Asian “other.” Suddenly, I noticed the cleanliness, the quietness, the less oppressive architecture, and the markedly more expensive transportation. Japan and Korea were nothing alike. I could read a menu in Korean, and I could order food. Again, I was under CC’s wing, but less so this time, she had to work more so I explored more on my own. My school had booked my hotel and paid in advance, so all I had to do was show up. When circumstances for the first time dictated that I had to find a meal on my own (between a couple meals with CC and free hotel breakfast, this only happened once), I copped out and headed to the dreaded Macdonalds.<br />The notion of Japanese menus and total lack of language knowledge was too much for me. I’ve eaten local in plenty of countries where I didn’t know the language, but its a lot easier to figure out, say, a German or French menu written in letters than completely indecipherable Japanese script. <br /><br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjonIfVLDxIR2dWvxHie0Um9r5AT_aGJfxHCo3cBpAu5rkufimVswHNOoir59sWEL1GO-7Mfpx6F0hqq_Gwi92Mfh5yIrmLqg0F0O4NSqqGr-WABlpWy1Heoll4zliDpTjO5vNJ1sYkrik/s1600-h/3.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjonIfVLDxIR2dWvxHie0Um9r5AT_aGJfxHCo3cBpAu5rkufimVswHNOoir59sWEL1GO-7Mfpx6F0hqq_Gwi92Mfh5yIrmLqg0F0O4NSqqGr-WABlpWy1Heoll4zliDpTjO5vNJ1sYkrik/s400/3.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423841326646101874" /></a>My third trip to Japan was to Tokyo for five days. Tokyo is an international city. Like New York or London, it’s the capital of the world. It’s weird, sure, but it’s not that hard to figure out. I mean, New York is a challenging city to deal with, but some random Sri Lankan dude who doesn’t speak English would have an easier time dealing with New York than, say, Cincinnati. <br /><br /> This brings us to my most recent trip to Japan, again Fukuoka, again for a visa. This time, CC was no longer there, and the school didn’t reserve a hotel. The boss gave me a couple hundred bucks for expenses, and I was on my own. I did my usual trek out to the Korean consulate, a path I know all too well, before searching for lodging. I originally planned to stay in a capsule - they are cheap, and would make for a good story, but then it occurred to me that it would just be another “Japan is weird” story, so I headed to the only hostel in town in hopes that they would have a single room available and that there would be some cool people to meet, since I was on my own. Score on the first portion, they did have a room so I could skip the communal bunks. Miss on the latter point, after napping in my room for a bit (I was on no sleep), it seemed that nobody hanging out in the hostel’s common room had any interest whatsoever in leaving it. Not me, I had company money to spend. That, and Fukuoka is widely known for its Ramen. I wasn’t about to repeat my previous timid Mc-mistake, I was getting world-class ramen, language barrier or no. <br /><br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLdcUhgZBDJroaRk4uEXR5rn1BA5uJV6aib9mduGS3AT2K83JY7LSypkxkrotrNP4WxvzuaAzv__Lx2hA_BJlfDtKz8AqoUNaGjhXVvCO3aGiViOoaFqqEMA9FNvFlbdQHZRal-NGCWug/s1600-h/4.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLdcUhgZBDJroaRk4uEXR5rn1BA5uJV6aib9mduGS3AT2K83JY7LSypkxkrotrNP4WxvzuaAzv__Lx2hA_BJlfDtKz8AqoUNaGjhXVvCO3aGiViOoaFqqEMA9FNvFlbdQHZRal-NGCWug/s400/4.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423850989166026418" /></a>Japanese people are widely reputed to be shier than Koreans, but this is not the case regarding the language. Koreans that work in restaurants often are reticent to speak to foreigners in Korean, and try to use the four or five English words that they know, even when it is apparent that the foreigner in question understands some Korean. This is not how things work in Japan. At the noodle shop that I ate at (reputed to be the best in town, and it was fantastic), the wait staff always spoke to me as if I were fluent. At the pachinko parlor I went to later (stupidest game in the world, pachinko, I’ve never had less fun losing 10 bucks gambling) I ran into the same situa-tion, the worker who taught me the game spoke the same way (then again, pachinko parlors are so loud, he could have been speaking English for all I know). It grew to the point where I was embarrassed about not knowing Japanese, although I was only in town for one day. Again, this doesn’t happen to me in other countries. <br /><br /> Maybe the reason I focus so much on Japan and it’s Japan-ness while I’m there is because it is the most similar place to Korea. The only other country I’ve had such a hyper-awareness of what country I’m in at all times is Canada. Canada is almost exactly the same as the US, except for the amazing multitude of differences that I can’t help but focus on every minute that I’m there. Is Japan Korea’s Canada? Well, pop-culturally and socio-economically, it would have to be the other way around. Maybe that’s why Japan perplexes me so. It causes me to think of myself as an Asian Canadian. Yikes.Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07784672642240688882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7232939254597622574.post-69618031735404465422010-01-05T19:43:00.000-08:002010-01-06T14:43:55.168-08:00From the Vaults #4Witch, <em>Witch</em>, Teepee Records, 2006<br /><br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEU6I74BCg5dz8-m7rvzCSePLQhyphenhyphenYbxlo6CwoIZn3_YwIMJ6S9x0Pz5f2kqY3_OhiYAaMohwsHWKPK1nVmBQVzsWCJjpZqdkoF5AthKULYw1olbC8OrL71TBAbBLv-nDWSQK5aTRLDiak/s1600-h/witch.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 199px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEU6I74BCg5dz8-m7rvzCSePLQhyphenhyphenYbxlo6CwoIZn3_YwIMJ6S9x0Pz5f2kqY3_OhiYAaMohwsHWKPK1nVmBQVzsWCJjpZqdkoF5AthKULYw1olbC8OrL71TBAbBLv-nDWSQK5aTRLDiak/s400/witch.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423467868595420258" /></a><br /><em>From the Vaults</em> <br /> Witch is a Vermont based doom metal band featuring Kyle Thomas on vocals and guitars, Dave Sweetapple on bass, Asa Irons (Feathers) on guitar, and guitar hero J Mascis (Dinosaur JR) on, um, drums. Anti-climactic? To say the least. While it is hard to believe that the old fart resisted laying down a single lick on the bands self-titled debut, especially since metal is the one genre of sub-rock which has never devalued or mocked the majesty of the lead guitar, <em>Witch</em> is a grand album that revels in metal tradition without being regressive. <br /> They might tell you it sounds like Sabbath but it doesn’t, Witch is a great deal less focused. Their compositions are tangled, hazed out mantras that drift strung-out and lazy through the subterranean echoes of Witchcraft’s sonic spelunking, and Dead Meadow’s winding chaos. But this ain’t stoner rock and there ain’t none of that southern rock nonsense metal bands get distracted by too often these days. Mascis does a respectable job on the kit abusing the skins, and Iron’s astounding resume, from the avant folk to lo-fi whispers and now metal may just prove him some sort of genius. Or the band could just be a big joke; its still to early to tell. -Jack<br /> <em>From the vaults is a regular series compiling the previous output of our fearlessly fearful, constantly on my ass editor/boss/friend Jack Partain. For those who don't know, Jack spent ten masochistic years toiling in the wonderfully tedious and poverty worshipping world of rock music criticism, writing inspired reviews of bands no one would listen to before he decided to tell everyone to get fucked start doing his own thing, which he should have been doing all along. <br /> We're going to publish some of these things here from time to time in the hopes that someone will actually buy these albums that he loves. Some of these things may not even be legal to print due to copyright restrictions, which is why, in case your some lawyer asshole, we're not going to mention where they were actually printed first. So good luck tracking it down through all the indie rock detritus if you want to sue us. Oh, and when you do, tell the editor to send that check he promised. Whatever. Rock on, fuckheads. <br /> Much love,<br /> -marshall</em>Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07784672642240688882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7232939254597622574.post-30064802699230318902010-01-05T19:37:00.001-08:002010-01-06T14:44:39.294-08:00The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Who Killed Sgt Peppers? - 2010The Brian Jonestown Massacre, <em>Who Killed Sgt Peppers?, </em>A Records, 2010<br /> Back in the day a new release from BJM just meant that a new week had begun. The band was so prolific, it seemed impossible to keep up with them. But ever since bandleader Anton Newcombe defected to Iceland, the band's release dates have become such special occasions that even longtime devotees can feel like a tuxedo and a scented invitation are required just to listen to their new stuff. Which isn't a bad thing. If there is one band out there that has paid their dues, it is BJM, and that dedication to keeping it real allows for a certain amount of well, understanding. So they've cleaned up, kicked the drugs (supposedly), and started writing lyrics in French. But does that mean they've gotten better? <br /><br />That depends. The gritty, schizo genius that characterized their early work has largely evaporated over the years, and while <em>Who Killed Sgt Peppers? </em>shows flashes of the chaotic brilliance Newcombe was once possessed with, most of the album seems to trip itself into dance dance electronica Eurotrash shit. It lacks an organic feel and seems like it was made by a machine,rather than a human, like a Kraftwerk album. Even stand out tracks like "Unger Hinfr" are cold and lonesome sounding, as if, when you drop all the badass swirling dissonance and sassy vocals, the song itself just wants a big fat hug.<br /><br />Newcombe's always been fiercly independent and adamant about following his own creative vision and dancing with the voices in his head, but as a songwriter he's always wanted us to join in. At times, he was the closest thing to John Lennon most of us had ever seen. I'm not sure that's the case anymore, which is a shame. <br />-stacksJackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07784672642240688882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7232939254597622574.post-80462599170557939962010-01-05T19:25:00.000-08:002010-01-05T19:35:54.511-08:00Local Album of the Year! 2009 EditionLocal Music<br />Album of the Year<br />Charles McVey, <em>Animal</em>, Impure Records<br />There were several great releases this year by local bands. Lawrence's Left on Northwood unleashed a monster at the beginning of the year with <em>Gut Check Personality</em>; veteran Topeka rockers Backlash finally unveiled their self-titled magnum opus, a fist in the air rock-on statement that was hard to ignore; and then, of course, there's Kick Kick, whose <em>Powerplay</em> was a flawless power pop masterpiece that still hasn't left our office stereo. But, despite the quality of those releases and several others, one album just kept kicking around our heads here at The Point, Charles McVey's gutsy, passionate, and thought provoking <em>Animal</em>.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYM0PuvHbaI15-7aBOuNn7fvn9a03n79uJG0wWH5adPmBhOJevSe4cvythmURWvxoaamMrtlVGxmhIg-XgGmikJr4J45JxGsspl9ZdlX3DqLmm0QQzZYOIr-NxEh3VhjOeYB9NQ2hNjFc/s1600-h/charlessmcvey4.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423463352217195202" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYM0PuvHbaI15-7aBOuNn7fvn9a03n79uJG0wWH5adPmBhOJevSe4cvythmURWvxoaamMrtlVGxmhIg-XgGmikJr4J45JxGsspl9ZdlX3DqLmm0QQzZYOIr-NxEh3VhjOeYB9NQ2hNjFc/s400/charlessmcvey4.jpg" /></a><br /><br />It is dificult to single out one reason why <em>Animal</em> was chosen. It is a very listenable album of piano driven college rock that sways from the intimate to the furious with ease. Anchored by his longtime, outstanding rhythm section of Max Paley (bass) and Erik Kessinger (whose drumming is a real bright spot), McVey comfortably excercises his well-honed (and underappreciated) talents as a songwriter. It's the most focused he's ever been, and his gruff, sexy voice hovers over the recording like the angel of some broke down old time blues singer. The production, as well, is remarkable - nearly everything about this album, even the saxophone (Dan Kozak) is perfectly executed.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhavZXvh_0g6cZx6dX3irN_QceHCNVR51FaBUKlTw0VZt2qecRwcHnxr9cZAeZzPhyPytM7_CI7OyGc2IoeXpODSCnjTKcPAkS4Vor48HVG2HGjAFh2n4CTc-4pDvahdyohsza5B9yOWg8/s1600-h/mcvey.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhavZXvh_0g6cZx6dX3irN_QceHCNVR51FaBUKlTw0VZt2qecRwcHnxr9cZAeZzPhyPytM7_CI7OyGc2IoeXpODSCnjTKcPAkS4Vor48HVG2HGjAFh2n4CTc-4pDvahdyohsza5B9yOWg8/s400/mcvey.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423464069159390802" /></a>But Animal is more than a pop album. On the surface it is a deeply personal exploration of one mans sexual identity in relationship to his faith, and his decision to relinquish his faith because of it's hypocrisy. It is an incredibly bold statement about religion and humanity that few artists (local or otherwise) would have the balls to make. But it is more than that. Throughout the album, McVey asks questions we all should be asking, demands answers that we all should demand of our authority figures, and makes decisions we should make based on the (lack of) response received. At heart, <em>Animal </em>is not the personal album it was billed as, but a defiant social statement that cuts to the heart of the state of modern man. It's an album of disconnect, confusion, and, ultimately, the enlightenment that comes from the realization that all of the authority thrust on us, be it spiritual, governmental, social, or parental, does not equal love. And that nothing is more important than love. Nothing. Congratulations Mr McVey, you've made one for the ages, and made a few lives better. - Marshall Stacks<br />Contact Charles through his Myspace: <a href="http://www.myspace.com/charlessmcvey">http://www.myspace.com/charlessmcvey</a>Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07784672642240688882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7232939254597622574.post-60590040325745604072010-01-05T18:53:00.000-08:002010-01-12T19:57:08.398-08:00End of Year / End of Decade Best of Lists!The end of the year is time to give thanks to the hardworking souls who write the stuff you read here in <em>The Point</em>. These folks sit at their desks for hours, staring at glowing monitors, battling hangover induced writers block and urges to just go fuck it all and get that job at WalMart their mothers keep telling them they should have, just to move a little love into the world in the form of an honest, well thought out review, interview, or editorial. Ironically enough, here at <em>The Point</em>, gratitude is shown with copies of <em>The Beatles Remastered</em> box set (which none of us could afford and were to afraid to steal online) and the option to do end of year lists instead of actually write something. This year, being the end of the decade, allows for an added bonus - best of the decade lists. Sure they're annoying and cumbersome, pretentious and forgettable, but please indulge us for a minute or two. Speaking of which... For those you out there who think that music journalists aren't an integral part of your "scene": I don't care how many hits you have on your MySpace, or how much "the industry is changing", no one is going to take your shitty band seriously for long without friendly writers to tell them why they should listen to you. Good music + good journalism = rock stars and underpaid journalists. Just keep giving me the free records and I'm happy. - Stacks<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRkjUyLLMNG2b73Lux9vxp0gIQXXWCUzJ08MVBP0ID3udj24cJdvX3vyk2-XDVSFeP_g0mqK3pqba-4-Q7gTrIjvbJRnvbwyhPxrsmuuThFqfm-79xNTbfgcbu7GIELYkKx90mDRZY4sk/s1600-h/magnus2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRkjUyLLMNG2b73Lux9vxp0gIQXXWCUzJ08MVBP0ID3udj24cJdvX3vyk2-XDVSFeP_g0mqK3pqba-4-Q7gTrIjvbJRnvbwyhPxrsmuuThFqfm-79xNTbfgcbu7GIELYkKx90mDRZY4sk/s400/magnus2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423458622061464402" /></a>Magnus Cooper. Contributing writer, expert on noise rock and pretentious indie rock, leader of the second wave of 'spock rock'. <br /><strong>Best of 2009</strong><br /><em>No surprises here, guys. I like what I like, hate what I hate. Can't kill the fuzz. Kill the fuzz. Happy new year, everyone!</em> <br />1. The Paper Chase, <em>Someday this Could All Be Yours</em>, Kill Rock*s <br />2. Lightning Bolt, <em>Earthly Delights</em>, Load Records<br />3. Animal Collective, <em>Merriweather Post Pavillion</em>, Domino Records<br />4. Raekwon, <em>Only Built for Cuban Linx... Pt. II</em>, EMI Records<br />5. Dirty Projectors, <em>Bitte Orca</em>, Domino Records<br /><strong>Faves, 2000-2009</strong><br />1. Black Dice, <em>Beaches and Canyons</em>, Domino Records, 2002 <br />2. Bright Eyes, <em>Lifted (or The Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground),</em> Saddle Creek, 2002<br />3. Radiohead, <em>Kid A</em>, Capitol Records, 2000<br />4. Lightning Bolt, <em>Hypermagic Mountain</em>, Load Records, 2005<br />5. Lightning Bolt, <em>Earthly Delights</em>, Load Records, 2009<br />6. Panda Bear, <em>Young Prayer</em>, Paw Tracks, 2004<br />7. Bon Iver, <em>For Emma, Forever Ago</em>, Jagjaguwar, 2008<br />8. Cheveu, <em>Cheveu</em>, Born Bad Records, 2008<br />9. Dirty Projectors, <em>Bitte Orca</em>, Domino Records, 2009<br />10. Converge, <em>Jane Doe</em>, Equal Vision Records, 2001<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGbGrVK9hKQiqrhhAXH39CTbwttYCkCgeXBSicPI2HS3eEpHWqPWsmvZlsdfNoRyYswbUwJxiSMsi2wfxmWV0zUvEH8o8GuG0ILr6BPP5kCh-wVssdSDYYWRSdE1ZcWjet8Z2qSJ1TcWM/s1600-h/marshall+(2).jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 304px; height: 373px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGbGrVK9hKQiqrhhAXH39CTbwttYCkCgeXBSicPI2HS3eEpHWqPWsmvZlsdfNoRyYswbUwJxiSMsi2wfxmWV0zUvEH8o8GuG0ILr6BPP5kCh-wVssdSDYYWRSdE1ZcWjet8Z2qSJ1TcWM/s400/marshall+(2).jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423459084541705666" /></a>Marshall Stacks: Music editor, <em>The Point</em>, last true Ramones fan, pain in the ass.<br /><em>What a year, what a decade (sigh)! I'll give it a try...</em> <br /><strong>2009</strong><br />1. Neil Young, <em>Archives Volume I, 1963-1972</em>, Reprise Records<br />2. <em>The Beatles Remasters</em>, Capitol Records<br />3. Thirteenth Floor Elevators, <em>Sign of the Three Eyed Men (Box Set)</em>, International Artists<br />4. Wolf Eyes, <em>Always Wrong</em>, Sub Pop<br />5. The Thermals, <em>Now We Can See</em>, Kill Rock *s <br /><strong>Decade (Note: The Avett Brothers would have been higher if not for their last release...)</strong><br />1. Ramones, <em>Ramones (Reissue)</em>, Sire / Rhino<br />2. Ramones, <em>Road to Ruin (Reissue),</em> Sire / Rhino<br />3. Ramones,<em> Leave Home (Reissue),</em> Sire / Rhino<br />4. Ramones, <em>Rocket to Russia (Reissue),</em> Sire / Rhino<br />5. The Exploding Hearts, <em>Guitar Romantic</em>, Dirtnap Records, 2003<br />6. Radiohead, <em>Amnesiac</em>, Capitol Records, 2001<br />7. Tom Waits, <em>Alic</em>e, Anti, 2002<br />8. Television, <em>Adventure (Reissue),</em> Elektra, 2005<br />9. Neko Case and Her Boyfriends, <em>Furnace Room Lullaby</em>, Bloodshot Records, 2000<br />10. The Avett Brothers, <em>Introducing... Emotionalism</em>, Ramseur Records, 2007<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjroIxAt-COhCkN9mIP3rHWAbUGPtSdWdRDM7K9jQC8_iRuxo2px1_BxQMoGOUbQyELIlMWgPxclJnHuefKSrZSCiEuVjRD46iYD5bEEjtDMaU8qDNIGL3-oh9FDI1k6BnlZxJiem8Tjcw/s1600-h/me.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 311px; height: 246px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjroIxAt-COhCkN9mIP3rHWAbUGPtSdWdRDM7K9jQC8_iRuxo2px1_BxQMoGOUbQyELIlMWgPxclJnHuefKSrZSCiEuVjRD46iYD5bEEjtDMaU8qDNIGL3-oh9FDI1k6BnlZxJiem8Tjcw/s400/me.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423459474316165570" /></a><em>Jack Partain, Editor, The Point. AKA, "the guy that isn't going to let Marshall write smart ass comments about him here".</em><br /><strong>'09</strong><br />1. The Felice Brothers, <em>Yonder is the Clock</em>, Team Love Records<br />2. The Flaming Lips, <em>Embryonic</em>, Capitol Records<br />3. The Mountain Goats,<em> The Life of the World to Come</em>, 4AD<br />4. Vic Chesnut, <em>At the Cut</em>, Constellation Records<br />5. Assjack, <em>Assjack</em>, Curb Records<br /><strong>Decade</strong><br />1. Godspeed You! Black Emporer,<em> Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antenna's To Hea</em>ven, Constellation Records, 2000<br />2. Sodastream, <em>Looks Like a Russia</em>n, Trifecta Records, 2000<br />3. Whiskeytown, <em>Pnuemonia</em>, Lost Highway, 2001<br />4. Sun Kil Moon, <em>Ghosts of the Great Highway</em>, Caldo Verde Records, 2003<br />5. The Mountain Goats, <em>Tallahassee,</em> 4AD, 2002<br />6. Red House Painters, <em>Old Ramone</em>, Sub Pop, 2001<br />7. The Great Lake Swimmers, <em>Ongiara</em>, Nettwork Records, 2007<br />8. Royal City,<em> Little Hearts Ease</em>, Rough Trade, 2004<br />9. The Avett Brothers, <em>Introducing... Emotionalism</em>, Ramseur Records, 2004<br />10. The Mountain Goats, <em>The Coroners Gambit</em>, Absolutely Kosher, 2000Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07784672642240688882noreply@blogger.com0