CKB – Quartz City

2025 in shows

Some (but not all) of the shows I saw in 2025:

The Bevis Frond – March 12, The Lodge Room, Los Angeles, CA

Michael Rother – March 22, The Broad, Los Angeles, CA

BEAK – April 2, Zebulon, Los Angeles, CA

Charli xcx – May 1, Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY

Gang of Four – May 26, Pappy and Harriets, Pioneertown, CA

Joan Baez & Neil Young – April 26, City Hall, Los Angeles, CA

The Hives – September 25, Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles, CA

Spiritualized – September 28, Orpheum Theatre, Los Angeles, CA

Stereolab – October 26, The Bellwether, Los Angeles, CA

Gina Birch – October 28, The Roxy, Los Angeles, CA

Miki Berenyi Trio – October 28, The Roxy, Los Angeles, CA

Ed Kuepper and Jim White – November 4, 2220 Arts + Archives, Los Angeles, CA

The Saints – November 5, Teragram Ballroom, Los Angeles, CA

The Mars Volta – November 26, Pasadena Civic Auditorium, Pasadena, CA

Wet Leg – December 15, Grammy Museum, Los Angeles, CA

Listening to 2025

Everything in my music library that has “2025” in the date field. Most can be found on Bandcamp. All are recommended! (larger version on Flickr)

Listening to 2022

Everything in my music library that has “2022” in the date field. Most can be found on Bandcamp. All are recommended! (larger version on Flickr)

A Limbo, A Way Station

Momentum has been in such sort supply that even acknowledging the scarcity takes a draining amount of effort. I’m relating hard to what Chris D. succinctly posted to Instagram in October:

Feeling an emotional exhaustion I cannot recall ever feeling before. But maybe that’s just being overdramatic. Even though I have had anywhere from 1 to 4 days of fairly continuous work each week since the beginning of the month (here at home), the rest of my days and nights are filled with equivocation with myself, poised between inertia and still feeling constrained by covid. It feels as if I’m in a limbo, a way station (I guess we all are, though, to some degree.) But one feeling that really bothers me is my reticence to follow through on phone calls and messages. Nothing to do with the people at all so much as my feeling of no longer being able to communicate about even the most mundane of matters, unless mandated by outside work. I feel somehow relieved if I return even one phone call or text or email in what most people would consider a timely manner. I’m posting this not out of the need to make excuses, but to explain to people I may not be getting back to as quickly as I should. It’s really beyond procrastination or depression or despair, but more like my psyche is purposely blanking the slate. Although my psyche is not doing a particularly good job of it.
Chris D. on Instagram

If I had to pick one word that delineates the past year it would be this one: “exhaustion.” Nervous apologies to everyone I’ve ghosted on.

2018 in shows

Some (but not all) of the shows I saw in 2018:

Steve Kilbey – April 28, private home, Sierra Madre, CA

Le Butcherettes – May 12, The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA

The Brian Jonestown Massacre – May 27, Fonda Theatre, Los Angeles

Hedgehog – June 15, B10, Shenzhen, China

Wanda Jackson – July 7, Marty’s On Newport, Tustin, CA

The Bangles – July 14, Pershing Square, Los Angeles

My Bloody Valentine – July 22, Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles

Charalambides – October 7, Blank Forms, New York City

Spiritualized – October 11, Kings Theater, Brooklyn

Shearwater + friends play David Bowie’s Berlin Trilogy – October 19, Brookfield Place, New York City

Lady Gaga – December 28, Park Theatre at Park MGM, Las Vegas

My 2018 album list

All of them are recommended

(larger version on Flickr)

Checking in with Philip K. Dick

He’s buried with his twin sister at Riverside Cemetery in Fort Morgan, CO. The story is that Phil & Jane were born prematurely as their parents were on their way west from Chicago to California. Jane never made it. The loss underpins much of his creative work and the subsequent anger, blame, and self-analysis hangs over his background like an oily fog.

The town has a PKD festival now.

Someone left a robot button on top.

On the road: Colorado

I’d like to believe that the WPA artist who made the figurines intentionally made one who’s just sick of everyone’s shit.

Burned forest at Mesa Verde.

Despite the weed rush, it’s still the Rockies.

4379 miles later

As always, the idea is to avoid interstate highways whenever possible.

Owning the means of production

I just assassinated all of my social media accounts. All of them. The corpses of my Twitter and Facebook profiles remain out on the field until I sort things out here.

I’m keeping Flickr around because I like using it as a photo host but can anyone convince me that it’ll be there this time next year? How about in three years?

I’ve long advocated that everyone should own the means of production and it’s time to put this into practice.