Category: Music

Things I Like – August (it’s been three years since the last one) 2009 edition

1. Bruce Sterling’s closing talk at Reboot 11. First half is the standard Sterling mix of favela chic, distrust of hairshirt environmentalism, and what the next ten years is going to look like. The talk’s last half is a practical guide to getting rid of the unnecessary clutter in your life. If you’ve read the last Viridian note, the talk pretty much reviews it a year down the line. Plus it offends a non-trivial segment of the nuTechologist/Boing Boing crowd which makes me love it more.

2. Speck Mountain’s Some Sweet Relief. I dislike using “x meets y” metaphors, but the “Mazzy Star meets early Spiritualized” description is so spot-on here. Good enough shorthand, but it’s more descriptive of the band’s approach than any overt aping. Best of all, it sounds remarkably current. One of my favorite albums of the year so far.

3. Being Human. I’m the last person that would consciously seek out a vampire TV series, much less a vampire/werewolf/ghost one, but Being Human is well-written, funny when it needs to be, scary when you least expect it, and actually compelling. Superior to all other paranomal shows currently running.

being_human.jpg

4. Cowboys And Turbans. Indian food served vaguely Mexican-style. Amazingly great and within walking distance of our apartment. Epic win!

5. Enormously large flat-screen televisions. We’ve been resistant to them because of what it represented, especially in a sinking economy (we’re in foreclosure, but we have a giant SUV and a flat-panel TV!) but after a couple of run-ins with annoying theater crowds it was time to throw in the towel and just get one. DVDs do look fantastic.

The Church at The Roxy

I was killing time out in front of the club, watching people be interviewed for a documentary on the band’s tour when the interviewer said to me “you look like someone who would be a fan, care to say a few words?” Turns out he was someone I knew from the Seance list so I agreed. The question was “what is it you like about The Church?” and my answer went something like:

“Complete obstinacy. I can’t think of any other band who’s been around as long as they have who are stubborn enough to not break down and retrace their path back to those two songs that got them here in the first place. Every new album sounds just enough like themselves to be familiar but each has an implicit statement of ‘this is what we’re doing Right Now.’ Never would have figured on a group of fifty year olds, thirty years into a career, going full D.I.Y. into some of the best moody psychedelic Floyd-esque around.”

I took some photos, but since it’s me, they’re mostly of amplifiers and effect pedals so here’s some video from Solana Beach the night before:

and the full session from KCRW:

And yes it was me who sent in the proposal for a 33 1/3 book on Priest=Aura.

Coachella

Until someone uploads some video of Brian Jonestown Massacre’s tremendously gritty it’s-Medway-1982-or-1965 set (especially the “When Jokers Attack” blow out) if I had to pick a favorite moment from yesterday it would be this (unsurprisingly)

For the full effect, imagine that a truck-sized Tesla coil is shooting off to your right and a sixty foot flaming tiki torch spire is outgassing behind you.

Two other things worth taking a picture of…

Coachella Winehouse ambulanceCoachella trash can

Other favorites: Yeah Yeah Yeahs (especially their cover of “Human Fly”), Peter Bjorn and John (who I knew nothing about until yesterday), Public Enemy (of course), the east side Lemonade stand, and the lentil curry stand next to it.

My Bloody Valentine again

It sounded about how it looked and vice versa…

My Bloody Valentine

My Bloody Valentine

My Bloody Valentine

I wasn’t sure if the room acoustics of the El Rey would be completely overwhelmed by the sound, but it was actually easier to hear what was going on now than at the Total World Anhiliation of the Santa Monica show last year. The band was looser, false starting a couple times, occasionally smiling, and utterly killing it with all the power of an asteroid strike. Deb and Colm don’t nearly as enough credit as they should.

More photos on Flickr.

And to repost: Here are the details of Kevin’s guitar set-up and the band’s sound design.

No Line On The Horizon Preinterpreted

From the I Make Music subboard of ILX:

it would be awesome if various music people on this board would each claim one of these song titles, then write and record a song with that title, then put a link to it on this board. the songs don’t have to sound like U2 or have anything to do with U2 at all. the u2 album comes out march 3, if we could get this all done before then, it would be awesome. anyone interested?

The end result (of which I have a small part) can be found here.

imm-no line on the horizon preinterpreted.gif

UPDATE: There’s a Facebook group for the project now.