All Your Failures Are Training Grounds
Posted on August 27, 2004 at 3:50 pm | No Comments
Ok, um… August 27th!? Where did that come from? I’m looking in the rearview and summertime is fading fast. Back to school sales and student infestations abound. Not complaining (yet), this summer’s been one of the good ones, but sheesh. Although autumn is my favorite season, I’m not so ready for September.
(I’m assuming I say the same thing every late August. Archive search not necessary.)
The office is kinda quiet today, so it’s time to rattle off a couple weeks of gathered links and things that’ve grabbed me. I’m all over the map on this one… music, movies, politics, comics, alligators, and cheese… a bonafide schizo-post. Be warned.
Hey, new Pixies song! How ’bout that? Well, technically “Ain’t That Pretty At All” is a cover from the upcoming Warren Zevon tribute disc Enjoy Every Sandwich, but it is only their second recording in over a decade. Sounds more Pixie-ish than the iTunes-only “Bam Thwock”, and it’s rockin’ my headphones mightily. Kim n’ Frank switching off on vocals? It’s a happy day indeed. It’d be happier one if they’d confirm some Boston tour dates.
The vigilant mighta noticed that I put up a new Mp3 of the Week on Monday, but totally spaced mentioning it. So now I am. It’s apropos of my Donnie Darko post last week, being that it’s Pavement’s cover of Echo & the Bunnymen’s “The Killing Moon”, the original having been unfortunately removed from the film’s opening scene in the new director’s cut. The cover comes from Pavement’s Major Leagues EP.
How do I love thee, Largehearted Boy? The counting of the ways increased by one after he posted links to Brandon’s full-set recordings from July’s Merge Records’ 15th anniversary celebration. Superchunk, Essex Green, tons more. Thanks for the hook-up, yet again.
Ted Leo fans take note: Gawker.com Interview. Shake the Sheets trumps Hearts of Oak in my book, and that is no easy task. Ted’s in town (sans guitar) tomorrow night, doing some DJing at ZuZu. Sure to be some swell songs spun.
Hot off the presses, via the Middle East mailing list…
“After his wildly successful sold-out show at the Middle East Downstairs during the DNC, the Middle East is thrilled to welcome Ted Leo back to Cambridge for two nights this December. Tickets go on sale September 4.
The first night will be open to people of all ages. The second night will be 18+ and will feature the Boston debut of Ted’s brother Chris’s band, Vague Angels.”
Aces. I’m so very there.
Speculation: Mr. Leo got inspiration for the title “Shake the Sheets” from the Seam song Tuff Luck? Doubtful, but discuss.
The video that’s linked off Touch & Go’s site, for The New Year’s “Disease”, is near-perfect in it’s simplicity. I’m lovin’ it (even more than I’ve heard some people love Micky D’s).
Oh my. Mr. William Shatner, the wacked-out troubador, has returned. His full-lengther, “Has Been” isn’t out until October, but this page has audio samples and interview clips. Spoken vocals over Ben-Folds-produced music, a song co-written with Nick Hornby, backup singers, and a cover of Pulp’s “Common People”? I’m listening right now and stifling the laughter. Oh Captain Kirk, my Captain, you kill me.
So the next Jimmy Eat World disc also arrives (I will never, ever, no-never use the phrase ‘drops’ when it comes to release dates, promise.) in October, and their site forum is all aflutter with long-since tired download debates (the album has, of course, shown up on file-sharing servers). I treat it as a personal choice (since I still buy what I love, regardless of the burn), so I’ve got no qualms about the early action.
What I don’t get, though, is the little freaks who jump on some band’s own official messageboard and shout out download links and early opinions to the masses. Weak.
(For the record, I’m more Clarity than Static Prevails, and not so keen on Bleed American. The new one somehow ends up blending all three, so I’m game.)
Speaking of Static Prevails, some kind soul posted links to the demo recordings of that early record in this thread here.
Never thought I’d see a write-up on X at CNN.com. Their new ‘best of’ (Make the Music Go Bang) is the reason why. Might have to pick that up.
Alright, my time here at work is running out, and I’m certainly not going to stay late on a summer day just to finish a silly blog post… so the rest of this will have to wait until later. No alligators or cheese action for you.
I’ll leave you with this, my new mini-obsession of the moment …
The Kingdom of Loathing is a simple, sarcastically hilarious, online stick-figure RPG. Login, choose your name and class (I’m “Tomator”, a Sauceror… as opposed to a Pastamancer), and start gathering meat. You’ll start at Mount Noob, and if you’re lucky, you’ll get to check out Degrassi Knoll. I cannot wait to do battle in the Orcish Frat House. Come, join me, or do you not have enough Moxie?
Comments
Leave a Reply