Gouge Away…
Posted on June 22, 2006 at 3:48 pm | No Comments
I’ve got an embarrassing backlog of things to write about, some of which have been sitting in my draft folder for over two months. Pathetic, I know. A job change, along with a busier than expected spring, put me way off my game, and it’s been all I can do just to set aside the hours of editing it takes for my weekly live mp3s posts.
That said, it’s time to play catch up, so over the next week or so I hope to chip away at the pile, a few items at a time. I’ll start with the semi-timely stuff first, and work my way down to things that I still think deserve some love. Here goes something…
It’s the return of Curve! Well, kinda. When I saw that there would be a track entitled ‘Coraline‘ by ‘Rose Berlin (featuring Curve)’ on the upcoming tribute to writer Neil Gaiman (‘Where’s Neil When You Need Him?‘), I had to investigate. Could Dean Garcia & Toni Halliday really be making music together after calling it quits in early 2005? Well, the music on the track is indeed by studio-genius Dean, but the vocals are by none other than his 16 year-old daughter, Rose Berlin Garcia, who has a MySpace page right here. You can hear four of her own songs there, and while she writes the melodies and lyrics, daddy Dean comes up with the bass, guitar, and drum programming. She’s got a pretty great voice and songwriting ability given her age, so I’m looking forward to hearing her Gaiman-inspired track. And trying not to feel old when I look at her photos page.
For now, you can get one preview song from the ‘Where’s Neil When You Need Him?‘ disc, which arrives in stores on July 18th. It’s by one of Magnetic Fields main-man Stephin Merritt’s other projects, Future Bible Heroes, and the track is ‘Mr. Punch‘, which can can be found right ovah yondah.
If you missed out on the gorgeous Undertow Orchestra (Vic Chesnutt, Mark Eitzel, David Bazan, & Will Johnson) show I shared up back in February, you can download another shared show torrent over at Digital Panic.
Greg Dulli’s Twilight Singers and guest Mark Lanegan recorded a 3-song set for KEXP recently, and it hit airwaves and the internet this afternoon. If you missed it, you should be able to stream it at some point right here.
To tide you over, here’s one of the songs they performed, an ace cover of Massive Attack’s ‘Live With Me‘, with Lanegan on lead vocals…
Dulli’s old band, the amazing Afghan Whigs, will get their very own Rhino Records retrospective this September entitled ‘Unbreakable‘, much like the Replacements got a couple weeks back. I can only hope that, like the ‘Mats, the Whigs reunite and hop back in the studio to crank out a couple of new songs to throw on the end of the thing. Dulli’s a busy guy, and a couple of the other Whigs have ongoing bands of their own, but my fingers will remain crossed.
Here’s a fix for fellow Afghan Whigs fans, though: A professionally shot video of The Twilight Singers performing the Whigs’ ‘Fountain & Fairfax‘ live at the Theatre of the Living Arts in Philadelphia on May 30th, 2006.
I missed a screening of ‘We Jam Econo – The Story of the Minutemen‘ when it came through Boston awhile back, so I’m glad it’s finally out on DVD next Tuesday, June 27th. It’s a 2-disc set with more than 5 hours of extras, and pre-orders not only get the disc early (uh, better hurry on that one), but get 20% off the list price from the official Minutemen store. Amazon.com and Deep Discount DVD also have it available for 25% off, but buying direct and giving a bigger share to the ex-Minutemen is the way to go. Check out the trailer here.
Picked up a bunch of tickets today, including a couple for Beirut’s first Boston-area show this Saturday night (thanks to cpr). It’s at the smallish Lily Pad in Somerville’s Inman Square, and the tix are selling fast at the oh-so-fine Twisted Village record shop in Harvard Square (update: second show added). That’s the only place to ensure advanced entry, and it’ll cost you $10 cash, no cards. Check out some Beirut songs on their MySpace page, natch.
While I was out I also grabbed tix for the Bottomless Pit (ex-Silkworm) / Magnolia Electric Co. show at the Middle East in September (that’ll sell out, mark my words), and stopped by the Brookline Booksmith to get a couple for Wil Wheaton’s July 1st at the Coolidge Corner Theatre. It’s a mere $2, such a small price to pay for guaranteed geekery. And I mean that in the best sense of the word.
I’m thinking I should prolly also snag advance tickets for The Legends at TTs on July 10th. Consider this a memo to myself.
In other news, I was goofing around with Nina (that’d be our super-sweet dog) in the backyard last night, and she accidentally tagged me in the face with her paw. One of her toenails scraped an inch-long gouge in my left cheek that started spurting blood like a leaking levee. Scary stuff, but not her fault… we were play-boxing and I missed an easy block (still, you can tell she feels guilty).
No stitches needed, but it appears I could end up with one bad-ass scar. I asked my doctor if I’d wind up looking like a Bond villain, and he said no, but with the right accessories… perhaps a pirate. Hey, Doc, I’m the one who makes the jokes, you’re the one who’s supposed to make me feel better. Aaarrrrrrrr.
So now you know, and if you see me out at a show, you no longer have to silently debate whether or not to ask me what the hell is wrong with my face. But if you catch me telling someone I was in a knife fight, don’t ruin my fun with the truth.
[Live MP3s] David Bazan in Cambridge, MA 2006
Posted on June 21, 2006 at 6:23 am | 2 Comments
First, the semi-straight facts: In the beginning, Pedro the Lion was David Bazan, and David Bazan was Pedro the Lion. A revolving cast of musical friends made up the studio and touring band, and he/they released a couple 7-inches, an EP, and then his/their first full length, the brilliant ‘It’s Hard To Find a Friend‘, on Seattle’s Made in Mexico Records in 1998. Their next stop was Jade Tree, who re-released the album, co-released another EP, and then put out the second disc, ‘Winners Never Quit‘, in 2000. A couple excellent full-lengths later, frequent touring bassist TW Walsh (a damn fine songwriter in his own right, but more on the great new Soft Drugs EP later this week) became an official PTL member, and helped create what would become their last official output, ‘Achilles Heel‘, in 2004. Meanwhile, David had decided to record some songs sans-guitar, just keys and drums, so his newly named Headphones released a debut disc in 2005.
During the overlap, you wouldn’t see Pedro play any Headphones songs live, nor would you see Headphones perform any Pedro songs. A short time later, David decided to retire the PTL band name, part creative ways with co-conspirator TW, and resolve to put out his guitar-based songs under his own name. So as a solo live performer, he now pulls from a long list of whatever material he wants. In his own words from the stage: “It’s a Venn diagram that intersects right here with me.”
He came to Cambridge a couple nights back to sing his songs of death and doubt in front of an obviously enraptured crowd at TT the Bears. I’m not sure I’ve ever missed any of his various incarnations’ Boston area appearances, and this one surely ranks with the best of them. Songs spread throughout his recorded history, along with all the songs from his newly released ‘Fewer Broken Parts‘ EP (which conveniently appeared in my mailbox just hours before the show).
More on that disc after this gift, mp3s of David’s 17 song set (with bonus between-song banter), shared here with his kind permission…
Live at TT the Bears
Cambridge, MA
Monday, June 19th, 2006
[ Download all 27 tracks below in one .ZIP file ]
01. April 6, 2039
02. The Poison
03. Priests and Paramedics
04. Fewer Broken Pieces
05. Of Minor Prophets and Their Prostitute Wives
06. Q&A #1
07. Selling Advertising
08. banter
09. Bands With Managers
10. Q&A #2
11. Hot Girls
12. I Do
13. Q&A #3
14. How I Remember
15. banter
16. Slow Car Crash
17. banter
18. Transcontinental
19. banter
20. Slow and Steady Wins the Race
21. banter
22. Backwoods Nation
23. Of Up and Coming Monarchs
24. banter
25. Cold Beer and Cigarettes
26. banter
27. The Longer I Lay Here
For those keeping score: Song 1 is from the PTL ‘Progress’ EP; 2, 9, 12, & 19 come from PTL’s ‘Achilles Heel’, and 3 can be found on their ‘Control’ disc; 4, 7, 14, 22, & 25 are all from the new solo EP; 11 & 16 are both Headphones songs, and 20 is from PTL’s ‘Winners Never Quit’; 5, 23, & 27 are all from ‘It’s Hard to Find a Friend’.
I think David’s been doing candid mid-show question & answer breaks for about as long as he’s been playing out, and depending on what the audience serves up for Q’s, the A’s can be worth the price of admission alone. Better some potentially interesting interaction than the cliche between-song cheeze you might get elsewhere (and if you’ve never seen Sense & Sensibility… spoiler alert!).
There’s a lot I dig about the guy: Aside from the obvious (his knack for catchy melody, his way with words, and that voice), I admire his ability to channel the darker aspects of humanity in his songs, his willingness to not only sing frankly about his faith but to question it (for which he has this agnostic’s respect), his politics, and his refreshing honesty, both within his lyrics and his conversation. He’s not afraid to wear more than just his heart on his sleeve.
Pay special attention to song #7 above, the Q&A that precedes it, and the words that follow it. It’s ‘Selling Advertising‘, the first song on the new EP, and it’s pointedly directed at Pitchfork’s head hooer, Ryan Schreiber. As a longtime P-fork detractor, I’m glad to see Bazan put himself out there and mix it up with the so-called ‘indie tastemaker’. Back in 2000, there was a long string of infuriating reviews of records I loved (and even a couple I didn’t) that were so poorly written that they formed a lasting foundation for my disdain, which has since been diluted a bit by apathy. I still occasionally hit them up for news alone, but even that is becoming irrelevant; their daily updates increasingly include items I’ve read elsewhere much earlier. A friend pointed me to their recent review of the Billy Bragg box set, complete with misquoted lyrics and inaccurate song titles… so it seems not much has changed. It usually makes me feel dirty to even mention ’em, but this deserves it.
Mr. Bazan’s beef: One of those hack reviews I mentioned was this one of Pedro’s ‘Winners Never Quit’ disc. A near-personal attack that talks little about the music, it’s a shining turd of an example of P-fork at it’s worst. And while it’s not written by Schreiber, word is he’s responsible for the random numbers that rate every reviewed release. Ever wonder why a write-up’s text occasionally doesn’t really jibe with the rating? Well, there ya go. More evidence of the douchebaggery: This swell PTL news item and another little review.
Have at thee, Schreiber! The lyrics to David Bazan’s ‘Selling Advertising‘…
You’re so creative with your reviews
Of what other people do
How satisfying that must be for you
Am I a Christian? Are you a Jew?
Did you kill my Lord? Must I forgive you?
I know it’s hard to be original
In fact, nothing scares me more
Because Jesus only lets me do
What has been done before
The path of least resistance
The ancient holy wars
The same old easy targets
Yeah, we’ve all been there before
So if it starts to get you down
Just pretend
That you don’t make your living
From selling advertising
Tracking trends, corralling demographics,
And maximizing traffic
Then if you get tired of making taste for free
You can always start a band with me
Or anybody
As David himself says after the song, not exactly open to interpretation, eh? Gotta love the religion-teasing he throws out there. And how many points do you think P-fork will give the EP? It’s a catch-22: Too low and they’re taking the bait, too high and they’re attempting to cover their hipster asses (‘hey, look at us, we’re above that petty stuff!’). Can they resist the urge to get even muddier, and instead just ignore it?
To stream the entire ‘Fewer Moving Parts’ EP, which includes 10 songs (five new ones and their acoustic demo counterparts), head to PureVolume. You can also hear a few of them over at his MySpace page.
The title track (which Bazan called ‘the saddest song I know’) is a great one about his musical split with TW Walsh. ‘Backwoods Nation‘ takes a look at the sorry side of the close-minded America we’ve seen over the last five years, and has been reworked nicely from a previous appearance on a 2002 Jade Tree compilation (that vocal distortion in the live version is a cool touch). Another song, ‘Cold Beer and Cigarettes‘, lived a couple of previous lives as ‘The Devil Is Beating His Wife‘, which you can find online as an acoustic demo (also on the EP) and an electric demo as well.
Forget about online availability, though — This EP is something you really need to hold in your hands… not just for the higher-fi, but for the beautiful drawings by Eisner-nominated artist/publisher Zak Sally (more than just the ‘ex-Low bassist’). The mini-comic-slash-lyric-booklet helps make the thing a genuine work of album art (if only it was an actual LP). Buy the whole pretty package either straight from the Undertow music collective or from Jade Tree, or at an upcoming show, where you can also score a larger version of the Zak Sally art in the form of a spiffy tour poster. The remaining dates…
Wed 06/21 Hoboken NJ @ Maxwell’s (early show)
Thu 06/22 Philadelphia PA @ World Cafe Live
Fri 06/23 Washington DC @ Black Cat Backstage
Sat 06/24 Pittsburgh PA @ Club Cafe Live
Sun 06/25 Newport KY @ Southgate House – Parlor
Wed 07/19 Portland OR @ Doug Fir – w/ Micah P. Hinson
Thu 07/20 Eugene OR @ WOW Hall – w/ Micah P. Hinson
Fri 07/21 Chico CA @ Market Cafe – w/ Micah P. Hinson
Sat 07/22 Modesto CA @ Xclamation Festival w/ Micah P. Hinson
Sun 07/23 Pomona CA @ Glass House – w/ Micah P. Hinson
Mon 07/24 San Diego CA @ The Casbah – w/ Micah P. Hinson
Tue 07/25 Los Angeles CA @ Tangiers – w/ Micah P. Hinson
Thu 07/27 San Francisco CA @ Bottom of the Hill – w/ Micah P. Hinson
Sat 07/29 Seattle WA @ Tractor Tavern – w/ Micah P. Hinson
Some links before I go…
- Kirstiecat has some words and pictures from David’s recent Chicago stop, the first of the tour.
- The Onion AV Club writes a bit about the Chicago show as well.
- Yeti Don’t Dance writes up last night’s Brooklyn show here.
- Indie Interviews chatted with him back in March, and I shared up a bonus excerpt here.
- Get your Bazan-centric chat on at the PedroTheLion.org forum or the Undertow messageboard.
- Save me some bandwidth by streaming the above show on the Hype Machine.
The ever-present fine print: Recorded with a Sony ECM-719 mic and a Sony MZ-RH10 minidisc, converted to .wav and then edited to 192kbps mp3s. Mp3s are made available for a limited time, and are not reposted once removed.
This particular set may be available for a very limited time, as for the first time I’ve exceeded my bandwidth limit for the month (blame radiohead & cat power). I’m limping along until July begins, and while my provider may pull the plug at any moment, I’ll do my best to return quickly… tall dollars be damned…