Tuesday, February 27, 2007

girls will be girls and boys will be from phoenix



never in my many years of seeing bands did i ever run across something as strikingly original and challenging as the sun city girls. the only thing that comes close was seeing mark pauline at the contemporary temporary in la around 83, johanna went sometime in 81 or so...non and monitor were interesting for sure yet too arty for my then 20 year old tastebuds. the sun city girls are just a spectacle and a treat and frightening all at once...one of the last times i saw them perform was in tacoma at the java jive and they went from a free jazz freakout to 'natural high' by bloodstone - perfectly crooned with the falsetto voice not missing a note. after that, i recall them hitting all spots musically which words are difficult to describe however let it be known, my jaw was on the ground.

i recently learned the drummer charles gocher passed away last week after a long battle with cancer. i want to wish him and his family peace and thank him for pushing me to the limits on my musical knowledge.

paz.

Friday, February 23, 2007

i am going to jump out your window



and fall on my head...

i forgot to mention - - happy new year!

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Horace Greely did not say that...!



i am drawn to sad art, literature, music and words. this is not to lend to the idea that i am sad or tragic for pretty much everything is damn good in my life. still, i want to dive right into the sadness with all that is around me - - especially music. more than a couple years ago i really got into joseph arthur's "come to where i am from" which deals with death, addiction, break-up's...but in a good way. that album turned me inside out with his singing "i wonder if you think about me...what i heard is you consider me dead. i guess that's fair of you, i was never good to you. i am ashamed of making you feel all my pain. when i sleep, sometimes i still think we speak. is it a dream?". well, that is just a smattering and i really want to talk about lucinda williams' new record "west". i love lucinda and her words always sink into me like ink on paper and this record hit me immediately. she lays it all out on this recording and her voice sounds more assured than ever with a hearbreaking verve that is close to chilly. the opening track "are you alright" had me in a grip while sitting and listening to it that i just put it back on immediately after hearing the five minutes go by the first time. this track and really, all of them are resonating as i hear the echo of ms. williams saying "unsuffer me" as though we were the best of friends.

i joke when i wrote above that joseph arthur sang songs about despair, etc. in a good way but not really. what i am trying to say is more about the universal connection we all have with these sad situations. lucinda williams really nails it here. along with joni's "blue", zimmerman's "blood on the tracks", beck's "sea change" this is a drop dead amazing recording. and i for one can't stop listening.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

persistance wears down resistance



i just had a challege...i was about to start reading one my weekly magazines which arrived yesterday. no, not the decision between the new yorker or entertainment weekly (laugh with me people) but what to listen to while doing so. it was a battle between elo - because i love 'showdown', augustus pablo or sly and the family stone. winner: sly and the family stone but out of nowhere, right under the sly cd is "grotesque" by the fall. god, i can't read while listening to this distracting record and i am proving that right now by typing this dribble.

i feel old saying this but that might be because everybody i know is younger than me however this record brings back some pretty good memories. punk, er, whatever makes me feel old. listening to elton john or bowie should since i was listening to them when i was 12, not like the fall when i was 18. i was young at 12 and at 18, i was like i am now, a know-it-all who really barely knows a damn thing. worse but the fall remain. i saw them in brighton when i was 18, high on hashish and i still count that show as one of my favorites. delta five opened and damn it, this was pretty impressionable to a 18 who thinks he knows everything. mark e. smith scared me and still does. weirdest looking guy ever. i have a download for you if you want and here it is http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5OA78US6.

yes, i really was thinking about listening to elo. saw them when i was 15 and did not have a clue.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

V (an vliet) [meets] D (evoto)



i'm living like crazy
driven to be lazy
i blush like a tomato
pale as a chipped potato
you're a real peach
just out of reach

we're all cooking the same goose
a recipe of fiction
i stew in my own juice
in another kitchen

you think i'm a lame duck
i don't give a real f*#k
i don't give two hoots
you're too big for your bossy boots
i love you you big dummy

Friday, February 09, 2007

well fitting levi

i push. i pull.
and an awful lot these days. this morning i wake up to say to the person closest to me "what's next?". i get no answer so instead i read primo levi and he takes me out of my head into the stratosphere.



in case you don't know, primo levi was born in turin, italy, in 1919, and trained as a chemist, was arrested during ww dos as a member of the anti-fascist resistance and deported to (member of the tribe) auschwitz in 1944. his experience in the death camp and his subsequent travels through eastern europe were the subject of powerful memoirs, fiction and incredible poetry which my dad told me about years ago - did i listen to him? kinda. kinda not. mr. levi died in turin in 1987. sometime this year, more of his writings are going to be published and i for one can't wait. his stuff always makes for perspective and reflection for me - or, a wake up call telling me to do it to it! i thought the green onion pancake was special AND IT IS, but this guy makes it all happen.

viva primo!

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

i got headache in my lower back


here is a green onion pancake!

now, don't you feel better??
i do! oh dear readers...all four and half of you, i got writers block or maybe just indigestion but i have so much to write about but i can't seem to spit it out. but i will, oh yes, i will. soon i'll write about lt. watada (!!), this film is not yet rated, brunch at the kingfish cafe, factums, westside gat syl'dozer and der oranj frenz, making fun of people and the weirdo at the goodwill named doug - he's my new friend! oh yeah, and me being at the two different places at the same time.

until then, i love you all. ok, not you.

Saturday, February 03, 2007

das gut - !



damn! i get a certain taste and flavor in my mouth and i want more. once again i digress for here is the taste i want to write about - zergut eggplant appetizer. i love the name of this stuff. funny only in that i use it for so many things other than putting it on a cracker. this stuff is so inexpensive too @ $3.20 for a 19oz jar at pfi here in the emerald city! crazy stuff too - last night i had to hurry and make dinner to get out and i added the magic 'appetizer' to some pasta along with feta, spinach, garlic, you get the picture....incredible. deerhoof & ugetsu were a good distraction last night however i am now thinking about my exquisite dinner last night.

Friday, February 02, 2007

Thursday, February 01, 2007

talking with whee


i have no problem casting a huge net here and say that the uk has produced some of the worst bands in recent years, say, ten or so years. i am just not a fan of the wee sound or twee sound or knee or tree or whatever it is. the singers don't sing, they seem to whisper (hello albarn) and the music is just not there for me. when did this start exactly? i dunno and i don't think it is fair to say all uk music is awful but belle and sebastian among others just don't do it for me. these guys do! the mighty CLINIC!


i saw these guys about five or so years ago and they were fantastic! i don't really concentrate on the goofy surgical masks - a gimmick for sure - but the music speaks for itself and this new video is proof. freaky sounding and just aggressive enough to give you a slight jab, clinic put out another great record after kind of slipping on the winchester cathedral lp. i don't like the horrors, the artic monkeys and i will give the good, the bad and the queen a listen thanks to paul s. and tony a. in the band but until then, enjoy CLINIC!